#thank you so much again for entrusting me with your fun AU!!

[ir-dr]

Day 3716 - 6 February 2025

🦋

A commission for @scarlet-flowers!

.//projectTiGER

[rollinouttahere-writes]

Wait; I don’t remember much about some arcs, but the foxy the pirate arc was fun; if you’re willing to do anything with this it would be much appreciated!❤️

It’s about on child lucky/reader during the foxy the pirates where they take the reader during one of the games, trying to win her back. Since she’s a child and has no idea what’s going on, she starts crying and stuff, but once they win her back that she’s so clingy and won’t let go of them to the point where she just holds onto on their legs when they win her back and if they lose again; she starts fighting tooth and nails to not let go.

Or something else. I just want to read more child lucky stuff if you have any! Thank you for reading, have a good day author!

I keep telling myself that I’m not going to spoil Lucky Break… but y’all keep giving me these plot bunnies and I keep caving instantly

When I wrote Get Back Here! I’d only imagined the deaging to be temporary, but now this ask has me thinking about it being permanent and now Lucky has been factory reset into a four year old. It’s a very interesting dynamic to think about. I’m gonna have to write about this some more… I’m hereby calling this the Little Lucky AU

I’ve written something like this about the Foxy Pirates before actually! It was just a short drabble, here, but it’s got a similar vibe. The davy back fights do not mesh well with yanderes, and considering that normal, regular-ass Zoro suggested just killing them and leaving in the anime, I think I underplayed how dangerous yandere Zoro would be tbh

Ok so into the spoilers for Lucky Break. They would not get Lucky at all. Period. Why? Because they couldn’t have come in at a worse point in the story. Don’t get me wrong, the Straw Hats wouldn’t take it well at any point, but by this point in Lucky Break they are unhinged. Skypeia is a really bad time for Lucky, and it really messes with adult Lucky so child Lucky is going to be severely traumatized by it. Enel winds up being the tipping point for the Straw Hats going from low-key yandere to full on yandere. Everything post Skypeia takes on a darker tone to match it and the yandere elements of the story go from subtle to very intense.

By the time they get to Long Ring Long Land, Lucky is looking like she got thrown down a flight of stairs, electrocuted, and strangled. This is concerning to see on an adult, and is horrifying to see on a literal preschooler. The Foxy pirates aren’t even really being malicious when they try to take her, they’re genuinely concerned (and also suffering under the effects of Lucky’s amulet which becomes much more potent post Skypeia). They have a team meeting beforehand and are all like “so we’re gonna take the baby and leave the rest of them behind, right?” and no one disagrees.

But needless to say, all of the Straw Hats are on edge and fucking feral so this concern is not taken well. This was supposed to be a drabble, but as per usual I have no self control and wrote a whole ass chapter basically.

3.9k words

Resisting the urge to pick at your scabs was hard on a good day, but when you were feeling sick to your stomach with nerves, it felt impossible not to do. Not wanting to make Chopper upset, you move your hands to grasp at the brim of Luffy’s hat. Partially to keep your hand busy, and partially to keep it from falling over your eyes again.

You guess it made sense that they wouldn’t let you participate, but that didn’t make having to be separated from your friends any less nerve wracking. Luffy had tried to bring you onto his boat regardless, only relenting when Nami bitterly admitted that they had a point and you would be safer on land. 

Terrified at the idea of being alone, you immediately began to tear up and protest, but Luffy made a compromise with you. Since the race was going to be so dangerous, he needed someone to look after his hat and keep it safe. So, if you could be brave about being by yourself for a little while, he would entrust this task to you. Part of you still wasn’t happy about this, but you didn’t want to let Luffy down, so you put on a brave face and accepted. 

Now you were left to sit on the cliffside overlooking the start of the race, waiting for it to begin so it could be over already. At least not everyone else will be in the games after this. From your perch, you could see your friends frantically scanning through the crowd. Oh, they were probably looking for you.

Standing up, you maintained your hold on Luffy’s treasure with one hand and waved to them with the other. Sanji was the first to spot you and pointed you out to everyone else. They all swiveled their heads in your direction, and the relief on their faces was palpable. Everyone waved back at you, and Luffy stood up, rather shakily on his raft, to call out to you, “Don’t worry, Lucky! We’ll win this no problem!”

There were some chuckles coming from the audience, and the weird looking announcer guy felt the need to comment on this, “Oh! What’s this? The Straw Hat’s captain thinks they’ll win this no problem? A bold claim to make from someone who has never seen the might of! The! Foxy! Piiiiraaates!”

You winced at the sheer volume and noise of feedback, not able to resist the urge to cover your ears. Luffy’s hat fell over your eyes, blocking out the view but doing nothing to block out the noise. You already didn’t feel good, and that was not helped by the roar of applause and cheers coming from the crowd. 

The breath lodged in your throat. The onslaught of noise felt like it was coming at you from all angles, melding together and ultimately amping up into an obnoxious ringing in your ears. Your knees buckled, making you fall onto your behind as you struggled to force yourself to remember how to breathe.

It’s too much! It’s way too much! It’s-

“Hey!” Two familiar hands fell onto your shoulders, snapping you out of the downwards spiral you were falling victim to. One of the hands moves to lift the brim of the hat just enough for you to make eye contact with your best friend. He smiled, and just seeing it was enough to soothe you a little, “It’s going to be okay! Don’t listen to them, we’ve got this!”

“Y-Yeah, of course you do,” you choked out.

Luffy brought you in for a quick but tight hug, smushing your face into his red shirt, “That’s it! We’ll be back before you know it!”

“Luffy! If you’re not in your boat by the start of the race you will be disqualified!” The announcer shouted, causing you to flinch again.

His grip on you tightened, and while you couldn’t see it, you just knew that he was scowling. His neck snapped towards the announcer furiously, “I will be! Stop being so loud about it!” Gently, Luffy pulled you away from him, offering another smile. His voice was quieter than usual, “Don’t worry about it, we’ll beat them and be out of here before you know it.” 

With a quick pat to your head, he rocketed himself back to his raft, nearly flipping it over in the process. While the exchange had eased your fears a little, there was still an overhanging discomfort about the situation. What would happen if they didn’t win? Who would those other pirates take? You shook your head. No. You’re not gonna think about it! Luffy will win, you just know it.

The distinct sound of grass crunching beneath feet made your shoulders tense up. Hesitantly, you turned to identify who was coming up behind you. It was two people. One of them was the captain, you think Luffy said his name was Split-Head? Yeah that sounds right. The other one was some big monkey-looking guy. You’re pretty sure his name was Hamburger, a funny name but who are you to judge?

Split-Head grinned at you, but it was not providing the warmth and comfort that Luffy’s gave you. It reminded you of a sleazy salesman that your mother yelled at in the mall one time for being too pushy. Maybe he’ll go away if you ignore him? You hope so.

“Why hello there, young lady! Your captain didn’t include your name on the roster, can you tell me it?” Split-Head was now crouched down next to you, much too close for comfort.

You kept your head down and shrugged, “I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.”

This didn’t deter him in the slightest, “Aww, come on! You won’t make friends that way, kid. You can trust me! I’m captain Foxy of the Foxy pirates!” From your peripherals you could see him puffing out his chest in pride. His name is Foxy? Split-Head is more fitting in your humble opinion. He must think really high of himself. “There, now I’m not a stranger!”

It seems like this guy isn’t going away any time soon. You dug your heels into the dirt anxiously, wishing he would leave you alone. “Yeah, well… you’re still strange,” you mumbled.

Split-Head-Foxy let out an offended gasp, then fell to his knees with a gloomy aura looming over him. Wow. He’s pushy, full of himself, weird, AND dramatic. You rolled your eyes and took a decisive step away from him, looking out at the ocean as the race finally started. 

It was then that it dawned on you that this race went around the whole island, meaning that you’re going to have to run to try and keep up. Emphasis on the try. Without a word to the two pirates bothering you, you ran after your friends’ boats. Both of your hands were tightly grasping the hat on your head to prevent it from flying off. Sure, there was a string attached to it around your neck, but you didn’t want to risk it.

Immediately, it became obvious that you were not going to be able to keep up. Even if you were at your best, you wouldn’t be fast enough. But with how injured you were, everything was sore and the pain of your muscles pulling on your scabs made your run more like a trot. The Straw Hats’ boats were getting farther and farther away, and you could feel frustrated tears prickling at your eyes.

There was the sound of… galloping? Yeah, galloping behind you. Pretty soon, Foxy pulled up next to you riding Hamburger like a horse. Man, this guy just keeps getting weirder.

“Looks like you need a ride there, kid. Why don’t you hop on so we can watch this race together, hm?” Foxy held out his hand to you, smiling smugly. Memories of your preschool teacher telling the class to never get in a stranger’s car came to mind. A monkey man isn’t exactly a car, but you think the same idea applies here.

You shook your head vigorously, “No, I don’t wanna go with you.”

Foxy’s smile fell, and his hand drooped. He plastered it back on his face after a moment, “Kid, you’re not going to be able to keep up, just come with me. I’ve got some candy! I’ll give you some if you hop on!”

A stranger offering you candy to get in their vehicle was another thing your teacher warned you about. Yeah, this was definitely a bad guy you shouldn’t talk to. You doubled your effort to run a little faster to put some distance between you and them, “No! Leave me alone!”

They sped up, closing the gap in seconds. Instead of saying anything, Hamburger simply reached out and plucked you right off your feet then dropped you onto Foxy. Naturally, you started thrashing and screaming, “Let go of me! Put me down! Stranger danger!”

Hamburger laughed at your terror, “What a feisty child.”

“Quit laughing Hamburg, she’s kicking up a storm,” he was frantically trying to get a good hold on you. “Calm down! We’re not going to hurt you, we’re help- OW!” You managed to land a good kick to his face. Despite that, he was able to hold onto you. He spun you so that you were facing away from him.

His hand grabbed your face and turned it to gaze out at the ocean, “Look! We’re caught up now!”

True to his word, you could see the contestants. Your face scrunched up in confusion, not seeing Luffy and Sanji’s boat anywhere. Or Zoro and Chopper’s. Were they that far ahead? Yeah, that was definitely it, had to be. You could still see Usopp, Nami, and Robin at least. Seeing them made you feel a little calmer.

“See? We were just trying to help you out,” his smug grin was back. “Now how about you tell me your name?”

As much as you didn’t want to, he probably wouldn’t shut up about it until you did, “It’s Lucky.”

“Lucky? Is that supposed to be a nickname or something?” “It’s my name! You asked and I told you, stop bugging me about it,” you grumbled. You want to get down, but you get the feeling they wouldn’t let you do that. At least you get to follow the race now.

Foxy fished around in his pocket and pulled out some brightly colored objects, “Here, I bet you want some candy, don’t you?”

It’s bad enough that you’re riding with him, you’re not gonna take any candy from this weirdo, “No thank you, I don’t want any.”

He sighed and stuffed it back in his pocket. You hoped this would be the end of his chattering. Unfortunately, it didn’t appear that luck was on your side today. Or this week, really. Foxy held out your arm, scrutinizing all the scabbed over burns on it, “How did this happen, Lucky?”

“It’s none of your business, I don’t wanna talk about it mister,” you huffed. You didn’t want to even think about that ever again. About him. About how cold and uncaring his eyes were. About how much it hurt. Your shoulders started to shake and your lip trembled.

“Whoa, hey it’s okay! You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to!” Foxy brought you in for a hug, but you really didn’t want it. You squirmed and tried to get away from him, but he wasn’t letting you.

“What’s this?! The last remaining Straw Hat boat has broken into first place with incredible speed!” The announcer shouted.

Wait. Last remaining?! How was there only one boat left?! You looked out to see Usopp, Nami, and Robin barreling towards the finish line. They were going to win! They needed to if they were the only ones left.

Foxy cursed under his breath, “Hamburg, you need to hurry to the end goal!”

Hamburger only nodded and sped up. You were kinda impressed by how fast he was able to go. Despite being pestered by these two so much, you were smiling and kicking your feet in excitement. They were going to win this race! And then they would win the other two races, too!”

A little ways before the finish line, Hamburg came to a halt, and Foxy hopped off. You took the opportunity to scramble off him, too. You rushed to the cliff and called out, “You can do it! You’re gonna win!” If they heard you, they didn’t react.

“I wouldn’t count your chickens before they hatch, Lucky,” Foxy stated ominously. He held out his hands and made some weird shapes with them, like he was trying to make shadow puppets. All you could do was eye him curiously, trying to figure out what that was supposed to mean. You don’t have any chickens, why is he talking about counting them? Weird. 

His fingers were pointed right at your friends and then he said something about a slow-slow beam. Your friends, who were previously rocketing towards the finish, abruptly slowed down to a crawl, seemingly unable to move. Your jaw dropped as the other boat with the pointy nosed girl on it took the lead and then, much to your horror, won the race.

You whipped around to Foxy, who was looking quite proud of himself, “What did you do?!”

“I put my devil fruit to good use, that’s what! I can slow down anything with my slow-slow beam.”

“That’s cheating! You’re a cheater!” You stomped your foot angrily, pointing an accusing finger at him.

“No it’s not. I said there were no rules in this race, didn’t I? That means I’m allowed to help my team from the sidelines if I want.” He tried to pat your head, but you slapped his hand away.

“But that’s not fair!”

“Life isn’t fair, kid, you should get used to it and be a good sport about your team losing,” Foxy had the audacity to try and scold you for your behavior. Who does he think he is?!

“I hate you! Stupid Split-Head!” You kicked his shin before running off to try and find your friends, you need to tell them about this. 

Due to how large Foxy’s crew was, it was difficult to find one of your friends. Especially when everyone was trying to get you to stop and talk to them for some reason. Finally, though, you spotted the red shirt that you would recognize in a heartbeat. 

“Luffy!” 

That catches his attention, alright. He whirls around and then runs to meet you. Knowing the drill, you lift your arms so he can pick you up. He does just that, holding you out in front of him, “There you are!” His clothes were wet and water was dripping out of his hair, he must have fallen into the ocean at some point.

Your first order of business was to return his prized possession to him. You pulled the hat off your head and placed it onto his, albeit a bit crooked, “I kept your hat safe for you!”

“I knew you could, good job Lucky!” Luffy pulled you in to balance you on his hip and used his free hand to ruffle your hair.

Now onto the big thing, “Luffy, that Split-Head guy is a cheater! He’s got a devil fruit that makes stuff super slow and he used it on Usopp, Nami, and Robin! He uses his fingers to do it!”

“Is that what happened?!” The grin he was previously sporting dropped and he looked surprised.

You nodded, “Mmhm! I saw it myself!”

Luffy mimicked your nod, humming in thought, “Well now that we know about it, we can look out for it in the next game. We’ll figure out how to beat it, don’t worry!”

You looked away, picking at his shirt nervously, “Are you sure? You said the same thing about winning the race, but…” 

He tensed up from that, “Hey, come on! Have some faith in me, in all of us. We’ll win the rest of the matches for sure!” Luffy knelt down to put you on the ground, “Now how about you go stand with the others, okay?”

“Okay,” you didn’t really want to leave him, but you needed to listen to him. He probably had important captain stuff to do. It only took a second to spot some of the others. They weren’t far away and were watching your interaction with Luffy. You hurried over, squeezing yourself in between Robin and Sanji.

Sanji dropped onto his knees and brought you into a tight hug. He was also soaking wet. “Were you okay being on your own, princess? No one bothered you, did they?”

“I’m okay. Some people did bother me, but I gave them the slip after I kicked one of them in the shins,” you declared proudly.

Sanji’s face pinched in fury, “Who?”

“Um,” you took a second to remember their names again. “Oh, Foxy and Hamburger!”

“Hamburger? Do you mean Hamburg?” Robin asked, stifling a chuckle. Oh yeah, Foxy did call him that, didn’t he?

“Yeah, that. They kept trying to talk to me and made me come with them to watch the race. I didn’t want to, but Hamburger- I mean Hamburg, picked me up and made me come with. Oh, and Foxy tried to give me candy but I didn’t take any.”

Sanji was scowling and looked ready to go on a rampage. Forcing himself to take a deep breath, he let you go and stood up while digging his cigarettes and lighter out of his pockets. He was muttering about caving their heads in later.

The announcer and captain were standing on a stage and said that it was time to announce who they were taking for their victory. Your heart sank and you clung onto Robin’s leg nervously. Who were they going to steal? Would Luffy really be able to win them back? What if they won all three rounds and stole three of your friends? Robin pet your hair reassuringly.

“We have decided on who is becoming a Foxy pirate! It is none other than,” there was a pause for dramatic effect. Your stress was climbing with every second. The announcer took a deep breath and finally finished the sentence, “Lucky!”

Everyone fell silent, but for only a second. Then chaos erupted.

“Absolutely not!” Nami shrieked.

“You said she was too young to participate!” Sanji interjected.

“We said she was too young to participate in the fights, not that she was off the table for this part,” Foxy pointed out with a smirk.

“She’s four years old! What could you possibly want from her?!” Sanji was already mad before the announcement, but now he was furious.

“That doesn’t matter, you need to hand her over now, lest you want to break the rules,” Foxy reminded him.

Sanji was distracted from his argument as he heard a sob behind him. From you. Robin was quick to scoop you up, cradling you in her arms and trying to calm you down. “Now look what you did! She’s crying!” Sanji barked at them.

“I don’t wanna go, I don’t wanna!” You wailed, clinging onto Robin like your life depended on it. Which, as far as you were concerned, it did.

“Pick someone else, Lucky isn’t going to go with you,” Luffy spoke. His tone was cool, but the words were sharp.

“Don’t tell me what to do, straw hat. I’m making the rules here, not you. She’s a pirate, is she not? She needs to learn not to be such a crybaby. Besides, once she’s with us she’ll see how nice we are!” Foxy crowed proudly. 

“This is cruel, she’s just a child!” Robin chimed in, clutching you to her chest even tighter.

“Quit complaining so much, it’s not like we’re going to hurt her any worse than she’s already been hurt. We’re probably better suited for protecting her than you are,” the pointy-nosed woman was now approaching you and Robin, looking annoyed. “Now give her to me. Come here, Lucky! Do you want to go get some cotton candy with me?”

Her reaching for you only made you scream louder, “NO NO NO! I’m not going!” She tried to grab you anyways, but Robin was quick to put a stop to that. Arm sprouted from the woman’s body and immobilized her. 

Robin backed up by several paces, “Get away from her, you’re just going to make this worse!”

At this point, tears were pouring down your face and you felt like you couldn’t breathe despite how frantically your lungs were working. You coughed and hacked between hysteric breaths and sobs. Your heart was pounding out of your chest and your head hurt. They were going to take you away. You were going to be taken away from your friends again. Just like in Skypeia.

They were going to steal you.

They were going to hurt you.

“Don’t let me get taken away again!” You wailed at the top of your lungs.

Foxy scoffed, “This is getting ridiculous! Fine, if you won’t give her to us then I’ll tak-”

His sentence was ended abruptly by Luffy’s fist connecting with his face. A sickening crunch cut through the air. Before he even hit the ground, Luffy’s hand grabbed hold of his jacket and pulled him close. As soon as he was in range, Luffy was on him. 

He climbed on top of him and as Foxy was raising his hands to defend himself, Luffy grabbed them and snapped his fingers before he could put his devil fruit to use. Then Luffy began wailing on him, furious, raw screams erupting from his throat.

Everyone was frozen in place, shocked at the display, but then the crowd rushed at Luffy to save their captain. They couldn’t even get close, though. Zoro leapt into action, cutting them down like paper. You weren’t able to see anything else after that, as Robin snapped out of her own state of shock and buried your face in her neck. “Don’t watch this, Lucky,” she whispered.

A hand landed on your head, gently stroking your hair. It feels like Sanji. He confirmed this by speaking lowly, “Robin, get Nami and Chopper and head back to the ship. Prepare it to set sail, it looks like we’re not going to be finishing these games after all.” He peaked around her shoulder to be able to look you in the eyes, “Don’t worry Lucky. We will never let you get taken away again, I promise.”

Many Foxy pirates swarmed around you ready to attack, only to get sent flying by Sanji. He didn’t even look back at you and Robin, “Go! I’ll protect you so just focus on getting the others and going back to the ship.”

“Right, let’s go Lucky,” Robin held you securely in her arms and ran. “Navigator! Doctor! We’re leaving, follow me!” They didn’t need to be told twice, cutting through the crowd to run in tandem with you and Robin. “We need to free the ship and get it ready to sail!”

“Should be easy enough,” Nami said. She caught your eye and switched to a softer tone, “When we get back to the ship, I need you to go hide in our room until one of us comes to get you, okay?”

“O-Okay,” you sniffled pitifully. At least the tears had stopped now. You chose to nestle in closer in Robin arms for the duration of the sprint back to the Going Merry, eager to leave and for this to all be behind you.

[tinyhockey]

be my fire in the cold - winter exchange 2k23

well this is something eh? i went into this hoping to get up the courage to write my first hockey fic and ended up writing about 9.3k words of christmas fluff. who'd have thought!

big thank you first and foremost to @antoineroussel for organizing this exchange! thanks to my beta readers @hockeytwinx @neuroweird and @thewonderzebra, and to @2manytabsopen @jostystyles and @teex for help with characterization.

and lastly, but most importantly: thank you to @lifeofpriya for giving me such wonderful inspiration and answering each and every one of my probably very annoying questions! from your magical winter exchange elf, i hope you enjoy! 💖

quick note that this is an OC fic and an AU. have fun reading!

“Santa, tell me if you're really there…”

Priya hummed to herself as she sent off another email, unconsciously nodding her head to the sound of Ariana Grande belting through her airpods. She’d had her Christmas playlist practically on loop over the past six days, as if determined to broadcast as much holiday spirit as possible directly into her ears. She didn’t think anyone could really blame her for that, though. There were only so many days out of the year where it was socially acceptable to blast Santa-themed music. It only made sense to make the most of them.

Besides, it had been a slow morning at the office. Priya had been hired as an intern (paid, thank-you-very-much) back in October, and she had quickly learned that there was no such thing as an average workday. Sometimes she found herself rushing around running errands for every person who passed her desk; thankfully, most of them were friendly, with a few exceptions she preferred not to dwell on. Other times, like today, she had to stop herself from browsing skincare websites or looking up last night’s baseball highlights. Thankfully, she’d found that her long hair typically hid her earbuds, meaning she could listen to audiobooks or k-pop albums to make the time go by faster. Unfortunately, they were sometimes too good at soundproofing.

“Don't make me fall in love again if he won't be here next year…”

“Priya!”

She jolted at the sudden call, eyes darting up, only to see her manager standing before her desk, a wry smile on his face. She quickly reached over to pause the music on her phone, tucking her hair behind her ears as she removed her airpods.

“Sorry, Dougie,” she smiled sheepishly. “I’m working, I swear.”

“Sure you are,” he teased, letting out a laugh. 

“No, seriously! I just sent off some emails. I just figured, you know…” Priya shrugged. 

“It’s fine,” Dougie shook his head fondly. “You’re fine. I’m sure you can get your work done while you listen to carols.” 

“Maybe I’ll be better with some Christmas music,” Priya responded. “Almost everything is.”

Dougie’s smile grew. “I’m actually glad you said that.”

Priya was halfway to matching his expression, only to suddenly take notice of the bright red folder in his hands. She quirked an eyebrow upwards in suspicion. “Should I be worried?”

“Oh, yeah. Extremely.” After a second, he clarified, “I’m kidding.”

“I figured.” Priya nodded towards the folder. “What’s in there?”

“Oh, right! So.” He leaned forward across her desk, as if he were entrusting her with some great mission. “Every year, we have this big company holiday party towards the end of December. There’s always music, and it gets catered with all this awesome food. One year, they even had an open bar. Now that was a fun time.”

“It sounds like it,” Priya laughed, eyes still trained on the folder. “So is this an invitation, or…”

“Oh. No. Well, kind of,” he laughed. “See, the last couple years, it’s always been planned by the same two people. But one just retired, and one’s out on maternity leave. So…”

“You entrust it to the intern,” Priya finished, tutting in fake disapproval, though her smile was clear even as she shook her head. 

“It won’t just be you. Not that I don’t think you could pull it off alone.” Dougie passed over the folder. “Tom and Linda left all the major stuff in there. Who to call if you have questions about the space, which caterers they usually hire, all that stuff.”

Priya flipped through the folder as Dougie spoke, running her finger down the pages. The photos of the ballroom showed a large but intimate space, with dim lighting and velvet curtains. It would be nice to hang some string lights over the windows, she thought. And they could set up some tables there, and maybe a photo booth if the budget allowed…

“Does that sound good?”

Priya glanced up from the folder, lips already curved into a smile. “Yeah, no, of course. Absolutely. It’ll be fun.”

“Great!” Dougie smiled back. There seemed to be something slightly more to it than just a happy sort of relief, but Priya couldn’t quite pin it down. 

He took out his phone, firing off a few emails. “You have anything going on at 4:30 today?”

“Not that I know of,” Priya shrugged. “Why?”

“I’ll book off one of the smaller conference rooms for you guys, then. You can get started on the planning. Normally we have it on the Friday before Christmas, so that gives you about two weeks or so.” Dougie smiled as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. “I look forward to it.”

He had already taken a step away when a question popped into Priya’s mind. “Dougie!” she called. “Who else am I working with?”

“Didn’t I just tell you?” he chuckled. “One of the other interns, from tech support. You might know him.”

No. No, no, no, please, no, anyone but-

“You’ve met Nico, right?”

Damnit.

“Uh, yeah, I think. Once or twice.” Priya fidgeted with the corner of the folder, hoping she’d kept her face in a neutral enough expression.

“Cool. Glad you two know each other,” Dougie smiled, that same strange tinge to his grin as before. “You guys will be great together, I’m sure.”

She smiled tightly. “Can’t wait.”

Priya waited until Dougie’s footsteps sounded far enough away, letting out a groan as she dropped her head onto her desk. Of course. Of everyone in the entire company, it had to be Nico.

She hadn’t started off disliking him. In fact, she’d almost thought he was cute. Alright, fine, she’d thought he was incredibly cute. When she’d seen him at the intern orientation, she’d been the first to come up to him and try to introduce herself. Instead, all she’d found herself met with was a dark look and a curt reply. She’d tried sitting with him at lunch, asking him about himself, even bringing in coffee for him. Every time, the same sullen stare, the same short sentences. She’d won over almost everyone else in the office. Nico was her one exception. 

Every so often, Priya still caught him staring at her. Across the cafeteria, in company meetings — she’d turn her head, and catch him just turning his away. She couldn’t figure out exactly what she’d done to irritate him so much. At this point, she wasn’t sure finding out would make the difference.

Sighing, Priya propped up the folder on her desk, studying its festive red color as she put her airpods back in. There wasn’t any going back on it now. She’d already agreed. Dougie was her manager, and she didn’t want to let him down. Maybe, she thought, starting her playlist back up, it would end up being fun. Maybe Nico wouldn’t glower at her too much, and the whole thing would go off without a hitch.

It’s Christmas, she thought, letting out a breath as she went to check her inbox. Miracles happen all the time.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ❄ ⁺₊⋆ ❄ ₊⁺ ⋆

4:30 found Priya sitting in the conference room, alternating between looking through the window of the door and her phone clock. Once or twice she considered messaging Dougie, just to ensure she hadn’t misheard him on the meeting time. To be fair, she was sure tech support was always busy, and something might have come up. With Nico, however…

It took another ten minutes for the door to finally open. Priya glanced up from the red party folder on the table, watching as Nico walked in. He barely even seemed to notice her, eyes glued to his phone screen as he typed something.

Seizing the opportunity to take a quick breath, Priya forced herself to smile in his direction. “Hey.” Nico didn’t respond even as he sat down in one of the free chairs, crossing one leg over the other. His eyes remained trained on his phone, seeming to be reading something before going back to typing. To her surprise, she thought she could almost see the hint of a smile on his face. 

Clearing her throat, Priya sat up in her chair, straightening her back. “So, um, looks like we’re working together, right?”

Nico was silent until he finished his typing, putting his phone face-up on the table. “Yes,” he responded, dark eyes seeming to study her — judge her, even. “Dougie gave you the folder.”

“Yeah. Yeah, um, he did.” She nodded, a tight smile returning to her face as she flipped it open. “I already called the venue owners, and we’re all set for the Friday night before Christmas. I didn’t want to do anything else before I asked you, but I did look up a few ideas, and I think-” Priya went to hand over some of the ideas she’d printed photos of, only to see Nico back on his phone, typing something. She frowned, voice trailing off into silence.

Nico finished typing, glancing up again. “You can keep talking. What ideas?” Priya took a breath, passing the papers across the table. “I looked up some holiday decorations, and I thought the Christmas tree made out of balloons was super cute. And then-”

“You can’t have a tree made out of balloons.”

Priya raised her eyebrows. “I’m sorry?”

“That’s silly. We could get a real tree for the same as it could cost for all of those balloons,” Nico rebutted, passing that page back across to her.

She frowned, looking back down at the photo. “I mean, maybe. But a lot of people are going to have trees at home, you know? And it’s easier to take down balloons than it is to get rid of a big tree. Plus, you’d get pine needles everywhere.”

Nico huffed out a sigh, shaking his head as he flipped through her other pages.

Priya felt her shoulders slump, softly biting down on her bottom lip. “Okay. Maybe it’s a little much for, like, just starting out.” She went back into the folder, taking out a blank sheet of notebook paper. “What about, like, a color scheme? Just so we have an idea in mind. I kind of like the traditional, like, red and green, but we could also try some sort of blue and white wintery colors. Or silver and gold, but that could look kind of dark in the ballroom, unless we got some lights. Oh, what about-”

She cut herself off as she looked up at Nico. Once again, his eyes were trained on his phone screen, as if she’d never said anything at all. Worst of all, there was a smile on his face, like the whole thing was amusing him.

Priya felt her mouth tighten into a line. Impulsively she snatched the papers from in front of him, quickly stuffing them into the folder.

“What are you doing?” 

She looked up, only to see Nico looking at her. He had the nerve to seem confused. 

“I’m going home,” she responded, gripping tightly to the folder as she stood, taking the long way around the table just so she didn’t have to step around him.

“You’re what?” Nico stood, following Priya as she left the room and began walking towards her desk. “Why? I was listening.”

“No, you weren’t!” she retorted sharply, finally turning around to face him. “I’m trying to get your opinions on this, because we’re supposed to be working together. Both of us. But instead you’re ignoring me, you just keep — texting your girlfriend, or whatever it is you’re doing.”

“I’m not texting my girlfriend,” Nico responded, his arms crossed across his chest.

“Then whoever it is! That’s not the point!” Priya groaned, running an exasperated hand through her hair. “The point is, I came here with ideas, and a checklist, and wanting to actually make this work. You show up late, which, fine, maybe you had something else to do, but then you turn down my ideas and you don’t even listen to me!”

“I told you, I was listening.”

“Were you? What was I just talking about, before I left?”

Nico opened his mouth, only for it to slowly shut. At the very least, he had the decency to look guilty over it.

“See? Exactly.” Priya sighed, beginning to walk backwards away from him. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll just… take care of everything.”

“But-”

“You won’t get in trouble. I’ll tell Dougie you had something come up.” She turned around, not wanting to hear any excuses he would somehow come up with. “It’s totally fine.”

“Priya...”

She didn’t turn back, walking back towards her desk, noting a lack of footsteps behind her. 

Well, she thought. Maybe Christmas miracles are in short supply this year.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ❄ ⁺₊⋆ ❄ ₊⁺ ⋆

The next afternoon found Priya bursting through the office doors, trying to speed-walk as fast as possible to her desk. Her class had gone on fifteen minutes longer than usual, meaning she’d had to book it to the office the moment her professor had finally dismissed them. It certainly didn’t help her bad mood. 

Not that she was in a bad mood. She was totally fine. Chipper, even. She definitely hadn’t spent yesterday evening on the phone to her best friend Jack, ranting about how immensely frustrating a certain coworker of theirs was in between mouthfuls of leftover pasta. And she surely hadn’t been awake until three in the morning, trying to brainstorm ideas on how to throw a company holiday party so unbelievably kick-ass that it made said coworker feel like a fool for not helping out. That was for someone who hadn’t put the entire situation behind them. Like Priya had.

Priya turned the corner, brushing some wayward hair out of her face, only to stop in her tracks. There, pacing in front of her desk, dark eyes trained on the floor, was Nico.

“What are you doing?” Priya asked before she could stop herself.

Nico’s head jerked up as he halted his pacing, as if he’d been so lost in thought he hadn’t sensed her approach. “Oh. Um. Priya. Hi.”

“Hi,” Priya responded, trying to keep her voice even. (Not that there was any reason for it not to be. Because she wasn’t frustrated. At least, Nico didn’t need to know that she was.) “Any reason why you’re burning a line into the carpet?”

“Why I’m… what?” Nico asked, brow furrowed.

Priya sighed, crossing her arms. “Why are you at my desk? Don’t you have, like, computers to fix or something?”

“No. I mean, yes, I do, but…” Nico huffed out a breath, squaring his shoulders. “I wanted to apologize.”

Priya blinked over at him, trying to process the other’s words. “You what?”

“For yesterday. What happened.”

Letting out another sigh, Priya shook her head slightly. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” she muttered, moving past Nico to begin unpacking her bag.

“No, I-“

“If Dougie put you up to this, I’ll talk to him about it. I told him it wasn’t your fault.”

“Priya-”

“Listen, it’s totally fine,” Priya continued as she took out her lunch bag. “I’ll take care of everything. You don’t have to worry-”

“Can I just talk for a second?” Nico interjected. Priya’s eyes flickered up, only to be met with a look of desperation she didn’t think she’d ever seen on the other. Her mouth shut before she could say anything else. 

Nico let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair. “Sorry. I — Dougie didn’t talk to me. I came by myself.”

Priya’s eyebrows lifted slightly, but she kept silent. 

“It wasn’t right of me to ignore you like that,” Nico continued, his deep brown eyes soft as they met hers. “You came in with all of these ideas, and I just shot yours down. And then I ignored you while you were trying to help. It was rude. You deserve better than that. So. I’m sorry.”

Priya’s face softened as Nico spoke. She’d never heard the other sound so genuine. “Oh,” she murmured. “Th-thank you for apologizing. I appreciate it. It’s, um, it’s totally fine.”

“Thank you for being understanding,” he countered, the barest hint of a smile crossing his face. 

“No, I mean, I get it,” she let out a breath, taking a seat at her desk. “Some people just don’t, like, get into the season. Not everyone likes Christmas.”

“I like Christmas,” Nico spoke up quickly, hands slipping into his pockets. “It’s just…” He sighed. “It’s hard, sometimes. To get into the, what is it called? Holiday spirit?”

Priya hummed in confirmation, keeping her lips pressed together as she studied Nico’s face. “Do you genuinely want to help?”

“What’s that?” Nico questioned.

“Do you really want to help me out with the party? Like, you don’t just want to apologize and pretend nothing happened. You actually want to plan it together.”

Nico nodded, looking deadly serious, as if the task at hand was a thesis paper and not some office holiday gathering. “Yes. I actually do.”

Ignoring the strange twinge in her chest at his expression, Priya grabbed a sticky note and pen, scrawling down her phone number. “Do you work weekends?”

“No. Sometimes I have practice on Saturdays, but always early in the morning. Otherwise, I’m not busy.”

“Fantastic. Sunday then.” She scribbled down an address, handing over the sticky note. “Meet me there at 10?”

Nico studied the note, nodding firmly. “Okay. I’ll be there.” He smiled, holding out his pinky. “Promise.”

Priya stared at his offered hand for a moment before it clicked. She reached over, linking their pinky fingers together. 

Nico gave her one last smile before walking off, still studying the note as he disappeared around the corner.

“Huh,” Priya hummed, shrugging slightly as she went to set up her laptop. It wasn’t until a few minutes had gone by that she realized she was still smiling.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ❄ ⁺₊⋆ ❄ ₊⁺ ⋆

Sunday morning came faster than Priya had expected, and she soon found herself sitting by one of the large windows in Woodland Coffee. The cafe was decked out in holiday cheer - there were stockings hung over the cozy fireplace, paper snowflakes dangling from the ceiling, and soft piano covers of Christmas songs playing over the speakers. Still, Priya’s focus kept drifting back and forth between the front door and her phone, its clock reading 9:59. 

Maybe this was all a set up, Priya thought to herself, sighing quietly as she began to scroll Instagram. Maybe he thought it would be funny to get my hopes up again, and then —

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. She glanced up, only to see Nico rushing over to the table, cheeks pink from the cold.

“Hi,” he managed out, catching his breath as he unwound his scarf. “I hope you weren’t waiting too long. There was an accident on the main road, so I had to go around all these back streets, and I’m still not really used to the area —” 

“Hey,” Priya interrupted, holding up her hand. “It’s fine. It’s, like, 10:01. You’re not late.” 

Nico sighed in relief, smiling as he took off his hat, shaking out his hair. “This place is cute,” he commented, glancing around at all the decorations. “I don’t think I’ve been here before.”

“It’s my go-to,” Priya told him. “They’re a godsend around finals.”

“I’ll bet. What do you usually order?”

“Depends on the time of year. But their peppermint mocha is amazing.”

“Peppermint mocha, got it. Be right back.” Nico smiled, draping his jacket over the back of his chair before heading up to the counter. Priya found herself smiling back, pulling the red folder out of her bag.

Soon enough Nico returned, cautiously carrying two white mugs with red trim. “Here,” he nodded, lowering one of them in front of Priya’s seat. “Peppermint mocha, right?”

Priya’s eyes widened slightly. “I, um, yeah. You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know,” Nico shrugged, taking a seat across from her, a soft smile on his face. He took a small sip of his drink, humming to himself.

“Good?” she asked, smiling.

“Mm. Very good,” he nodded. He took another sip before he sat up straighter, going to root through his backpack. “So, um, I did look up a couple things…” Nico pulled out a manila folder, opening it on the table, only for a few dozen clippings to come spilling out. “Or, um, more than a few,” he admitted, cheeks slightly pink.

“Whoa,” Priya let out a laugh, though she met his eyes to make sure he knew it wasn’t a mocking one. “That’s… wow. This’ll be great to work off.”

Nico smiled back, gesturing towards her folder. “But I want to see yours too. I liked some of the pictures you had. The ones with the string lights over the windows?”

“Oh, uh…” Priya flipped through the pages quickly, taking out one to place on the table. “This one, you mean?”

“Yeah, that one,” Nico said. “But I was thinking, maybe we could make them white lights instead? It would look good with whatever colors we used.”

Priya looked over the photo, slowly nodding. “Yeah. I like that. Plus it’s sort of dark in there, from what I can tell, so it might be best to have the brightest ones possible.”

“Speaking of the room. I was looking over some of the photos, and I think…” Nico took out the page he was referring to, pointing to the picture. “We could put the tables downstairs, and maybe use the second floor for something else. I don’t know what, though.”

“I was thinking maybe a photo booth?” Priya suggested, her eyes suddenly lighting up. “Or, oh my god, what if we got one of the managers to dress up as Santa?”

Nico let out a laugh, dimples showing through as he threw his head back. “Yes. We have to,” he insisted, getting out a pen to scribble down the idea. “And we can get Dougie to be an elf, because he’s so tall.” 

Priya found herself laughing along with Nico. “I don’t know if there’s a pair of tights in the world that would fit him.”

“Oh, we’ll find some,” Nico grinned cheekily.

The hours flew by quickly after that. By the time the clock struck noon, the two had planned out the decorations, the entertainment, the food and drink, and everything they had to do in the next few weeks to get everything done. In truth, they probably could have wrapped up faster if they’d kept their focus entirely on the party. But Nico kept interjecting with jokes and questions about her, and, well, Priya would be rude if she didn’t respond in kind.

“So I know you like to read and listen to music,” Nico hummed with a smile, drinking from his third mocha of the day. “Do you like any sports?”

“Oh, yeah,” Priya nodded. “Baseball, football and hockey.”

“I love hockey,” Nico grinned. 

“Really?” she smiled, taking a sip of her own drink. “Do you play or just watch?”

“Oh, no, I play for my college. I used to play football too.”

“You did? You don’t seem the type,” Priya commented.

“Why — oh, you mean American football. No, um, soccer. They call it football in Switzerland.”

Priya raised her eyebrows. “I never knew you were from Switzerland.”

Nico laughed. “The accent didn’t give it away?” 

“I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a Swiss accent before yours,” Priya countered with a smile. 

“That’s fair,” he chuckled, leaning back in his seat. “But yes. Born and raised.” 

Nico’s face seemed to grow almost forlorn as he spoke, eyes growing distant. Priya’s brow furrowed.

“Do you-”

“So-”

The two of them laughed, Nico shaking his head.

“You go.”

“No, you go,” Priya prompted, taking another sip of her mocha.

“Just… you said that you like to read,” Nico murmured, fidgeting with a stray pen. “If I was… looking for a book, to get for someone. What would you think?”

Priya thought the question over, putting a hand under her chin. “That’s a hard one. It depends on what they’re interested in. Nonfiction, or the classics, or mysteries.”

“What about you?” Nico asked, draining the last of his coffee cup.

“I mean, I’ve always loved Jane Austen,” Priya told him. “Something about her writing just makes me feel… hopeful, I guess. Like love like that can really exist.” She blushed, setting down her cup. “I bet that sounds silly.”

Nico made a noise of disagreement, his dark eyes studying her. “I don’t think it does,” he told her. “I think it’s nice. To think that way.”

Priya smiled shyly, taking a final sip from her mug. “Thanks.”

“Of course,” Nico smiled back, glancing down at his phone to check the time. “Oh, wow, it’s the middle of the afternoon. I should get going. But, um —” He stood, pulling on his coat. “You work all day on Tuesday, right?”

“No, Wednesdays and Fridays,” Priya offered, going to pack up her own belongings. 

“Okay, Wednesday then. On our lunch break. We can go out and grab some supplies?” Nico offered, putting away his folder. “Ask Dougie if we can steal a company credit card?”

Priya snickered, shaking her head. “I doubt that’ll happen. But, yeah, that sounds fun.” She was surprised at how much she genuinely meant it.

“Great.” Nico tore off a scrap of paper, writing something down and handing it over to Priya. “I’ll come by your desk at noon. Promise,” Nico smiled. He held out his pinky finger. This time, Priya knew to hook it with her own. 

“See you then!” Nico called as he left. He stopped right outside, then turned around, waving through the glass doors with a goofy grin.

Priya let out a laugh, waving back at him. As he walked off, she glanced down at the paper, finding a phone number with a smiley face drawn next to it. Though she didn’t know it, her own smile grew to match it.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ❄ ⁺₊⋆ ❄ ₊⁺ ⋆

“What’s the difference between these?” Nico called, his brow furrowed in confusion.

Priya glanced up from her checklist, rolling the shopping cart over to where Nico was standing. Thankfully the aisles weren’t too full, given it was noon on a weekday. “Between what?”

“These,” he repeated, showing her two boxes of string lights. “They look the same.”

Priya studied the packaging, pointing to the one in Nico’s left hand. “I think this one is more of a warm white, like, tan almost. This one is cooler, almost blue.”

Nico looked between both packages, frowning as he did so. “I still don’t see a difference,” he admitted.

Priya giggled, taking a few boxes of the cooler lights and putting them into the cart, checking off the box on her list. “Okay, so that’s all set… I think all we need is the candy for the dessert table and we’ll be good to go.”

She’d come up with the idea when Jack had approached her, asking if he could bring something to represent Hanukkah to the holiday party. “I’m a horrible cook, but I’ve made jelly donuts a couple times and haven’t burned down the whole kitchen,” Jack had told her with a laugh. Something had clicked, and she’d quickly fired off a message to Nico, asking what he thought. Thankfully, he loved it.

Thus far, they’d had five sign-ups to bring homemade desserts — mini pies, gingerbread bars, peppermint bark fudge, snickerdoodles and Jack’s jelly donuts. Priya had already bought the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies, though she wasn’t sure if eight dozen was too few.

She snapped out of her worries when she suddenly recognized Nico humming along to the store radio, making her laugh. “You like Mariah Carey?”

“Hmm? Oh,” Nico laughed sheepishly as they strolled through the store. “Yeah. I’m not a huge fan of Christmas music, but… I like this song. I like that it’s more about wishing for someone rather than something.”

“That’s sweet,” Priya smiled at him, heart fluttering slightly (though she couldn’t quite place why).

She thought over Nico’s words as they walked down the crafts aisle, glancing around at the crayons and construction paper. Suddenly she gasped, stopping in her tracks.

“What?” Nico asked, turning around with a worried expression.

“I just had an idea,” she rushed out, going to grab a pile of forest green construction paper. “What if we made a wishing tree? Like, we made a tree out of construction paper and hung it up on the wall, and we made little paper ornaments. And people could come over and write their holiday wishes on them, and hang them up on the tree?”

Nico froze for a moment, letting out a soft laugh. “You just came up with that?”

“Yeah,” Priya nodded, shoulders lowering as she looked over at him. “I — is it -”

“It’s brilliant,” Nico reassured her, eyes sparkling. “Beyond brilliant. I’m just — I’m surprised you came up with that so fast. But, yes. Definitely. We should.” He went to grab red and white construction paper, along with some colorful markers. “You’re really good at this.”

Priya blushed, shrugging slightly. “I mean, you gave me the idea.”

“I think Mariah Carey came up with it to begin with,” Nico joked, putting their supplies into the cart. “We should send her a thank-you gift.”

Priya laughed, walking alongside Nico as he took over cart-pushing duties. “Speaking of gifts, have you bought all of yours yet? I’m still trying to figure out what to get my parents.”

Nico didn’t reply. Priya looked over, only to see his jaw tightened, the same forlorn expression on his face from when they’d talked about his home at the coffee shop.

“Oh, does — does your family not do gifts?”

“No, they… they do,” Nico told her, voice low. “Just… they’re all back home. My family, I mean. They’re all in Switzerland. So it would… it would take a while for any gifts to get to them.”

“Oh.” Priya stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets. “Well, I mean, you can give them the next time you visit, right? A late gift is still a gift.”

“I don’t know when that will be,” Nico admitted. “Plane tickets are expensive. And there’s still work, and school… it’s hard to find time to talk to anyone back home, let alone go and see them.”

“Yeah,” Priya nodded, biting her inner lip. It makes sense why he wasn’t into planning this, she thought, with everyone far away. “So, um… when you are home, for Christmas. What’s it like? In Switzerland? Is it much different from here?”

“I’ve only celebrated Christmas here once, and it was just with a few friends from the team,” Nico told her with a slight shrug. “But at home, we don’t set up the tree early like you guys do sometimes. The parents decorate it the night before Christmas Eve, and in the morning you come downstairs and see it. They used to tell us the elves did it.” He let out a laugh. “And then we usually have ham and raclette. Like, melty cheese, with potatoes. And my mom will make spitzbuben.”

“Spitzbuben,” she repeated with a slight laugh. “I like that word.”

“It’s like, um… jam cookies,” Nico told her after a moment’s thought. “They’re always so good.”

Priya’s face lit up as she nudged Nico’s arm. “You should make them for the party!”

“Me?” Nico asked, eyes widening. “Oh, no, I — I’m terrible at making food.”

“I can help you out,” she told him. “Ask your mom for the recipe. You can come over when I’m making the chocolate chip ones. Tackle them together.”

Nico’s smile slowly grew as he nodded. “Okay. If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure,” Priya smiled back, her chest hit with that same strange feeling as earlier. Shaking her head slightly to reset herself, she cleared her throat. “So, when do you give the gifts?”

“Oh, um, not… not on actual Christmas,” Nico told her, running a hand through his hair as they approached the food section. “Samichlaus — that’s what we call Santa. He comes on the 6th of December.”

“Really?” Priya asked. She was about to turn down the candy aisle when a realization hit her, making her stop in her tracks.

“Priya?” Nico asked, voice suddenly filled with concern. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she answered after a moment. “Yeah, I… I’m really sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” Nico questioned, hands in his jean pockets. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“No, I…” she sighed. “December 6th. That was the day we met, right? I mean… when we had our first meeting. About the party.”

Nico nodded slightly, face still reading confusion.

“You — I was so mad because you weren’t paying attention to me,” Priya sighed, guilt pooling in her stomach. “But you… you were probably texting your family, right?”

Nico was silent as she spoke, slowly nodding again. “Yeah. Yeah, my… my family was sending me messages. And some of my friends from back home.”

“God, Nico,” Priya whispered, letting out a sigh. “You could have said something. I would have understood.”

“I thought it was silly,” Nico confessed after a moment. “To be sad about missing something so… childish.”

“It’s not silly if it means something to you,” Priya told him, placing a hand on his upper arm. “I should have asked.”

Nico nodded slightly, meeting her eyes. “I should have said something. Or at least, not been so much of a jerk to you.”

“You weren’t a jerk-”

“No, I was. I didn’t — I took my feelings out on you. I didn’t want to even think about Christmas, and you had all these great ideas, and you were so happy about it… it wasn’t right of me to act how I did. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too,” Priya sighed, slowly lowering her arm to wrap around her waist. 

“You don’t have to be,” Nico told her, this time raising his hand to pat her shoulder. “It’s okay. You’ve done so much. And your ideas are incredible.”

Priya let out a shy laugh. “I try.”

“I’m glad you do,” Nico smiled, patting her shoulder once more before turning back to the cart. “Come on. We can get some candy for the drive home too.”

Priya smiled back. “Well, I mean, if you insist.”

“I do,” Nico grinned, the two of them making their way down the aisle.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ❄ ⁺₊⋆ ❄ ₊⁺ ⋆

Priya tightened her jacket around herself, shivering as she stepped out of the grocery store into the blustery air. When she’d gone shopping for supplies for her and Nico’s baking session, she’d thought a dozen eggs would be enough for the chocolate chip and Swiss Jam cookies. What she hadn’t counted on was burning the first batch of chocolate chip, then struggling with separating the yolk from the white for the spitzbuben, then Nico tripping and dropping two of the eggs onto the kitchen floor.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to get them?” Nico had asked, trying to mop up the splattered mess. “I feel bad sending you out into the cold.”

“It’s fine. There’s a store, like, two blocks from here. It won’t take me long,” Priya promised him, giggling internally at the kicked-puppy look of guilt he wore. “Just make sure the ones in the oven now don’t get burnt.” 

Now that Priya was thinking it over, it probably wasn’t the smartest idea to leave someone she’d only known for a few weeks alone in her apartment.  Particularly not someone who, before they’d started planning together, she’d been sure held some sort of personal vendetta against her. But things had changed. Nico was still quiet at times, but always in a way she could tell was considerate of the world around him. His eyes held the same intensity, but it no longer scared her away. There were still those instances of strange fluttering in her chest from time to time, but Priya refused to focus on those. Not while there was still so much to do before the party.

As Priya pressed the call button to cross the street, she suddenly noticed a collection of bright lights to her left. A row of booths had been set up along the sidewalk in a miniature Christmas market, with a dozen or so shoppers meandering between the string-lit tents. She could see some children stepping away from one with paper cups of hot chocolate and cider.

Priya glanced down at her phone to check the time, shrugging slightly. Though she’d gotten almost all her holiday shopping done, it couldn’t hurt to poke around. Besides, if nothing else, maybe she could bring Nico back some hot drinks to share.

She ducked her head entering the first tent, seeing it filled with fuzzy scarves and gloves. Reaching her free hand up to stroke the fabrics, mindful of her grocery bag, she walked further in, seeing a collection of multicolored, handknit beanies. They reminded her of Nico, she thought with a slight laugh. He’d worn the same black winter hat every time she’d seen him the past month. 

Maybe he could use a new one, she thought. Would he like the red, or — 

Priya paused in surprise at herself, pulling her hand back from the display. She hadn’t been planning on buying Nico a gift. They weren’t close like that — or were they now? They’d spent almost every day together since their shopping trip, sitting at the same lunch table and working on crafting the wish tree display. But that was just because of the party, wasn’t it? Once it had passed, they wouldn’t be attached to each other like they were now. Then again, more often than not their conversations had drifted away from planning, to music and sports and funny stories from each others’ pasts. She didn’t want that part to end. She — she liked Nico.

Biting her lip, head still spinning from the revelation, Priya turned away from the hat display, instead studying a glass display table of different jewelry. Her eyes scanned over the different earrings and bracelets, only to stop once they caught sight of a necklace. Hanging from black cord was a small gold-colored coin, two intertwining flowers etched into the metal.

“You like it?” 

Priya’s head jerked up, only to meet a smiling older woman in a purple headscarf. “It’s edelweiss.”

“Edelweiss?” Priya repeated, eyes returning to the necklace. 

“Yes. A flower that grows in the Alps,” the woman told her. “Very popular in those countries. Austria, Romania, Switzerland.”

Priya’s heart jolted in her chest, studying the coin, the way the flowers’ stems wrapped around one another.

“How — how much?”

A few minutes later, Priya carefully opened the front door of her apartment, two large cups of hot chocolate in hand.

“There you are,” Nico sighed, relief clear on his face as he made his way to the front door. “I was about to call you. Did you get caught up in something?”

“Just thought I’d stop for these,” Priya shrugged, handing over one of the cups to him. 

“Oh, wow. Thanks,” Nico smiled at her, his dimples clear as he took the grocery bag as well. “You’re the best.”

Priya let out a shy laugh. She glanced up towards Nico, watching as he walked back into the kitchen and ran a hand through his dark hair. He really is handsome, she thought. And sweet. And passionate. And —

“Priya?” Nico called, making her snap out of her thoughts. “You okay?”

“Yep! Yeah, sorry. Give me one second,” she smiled over at him. She turned to hang up her coat by the door, taking just a moment to reach into her pocket, running her fingers over the small crimson gift box. 

Not tonight, she thought. But soon. Probably. Maybe.

Taking a deep breath, Priya turned back towards Nico, smiling wide. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

⋆⁺₊⋆ ❄ ⁺₊⋆ ❄ ₊⁺ ⋆

The date of the Christmas party finally arrived. Priya had spent most of the day setting up the ballroom with Nico, securing the decorations and making sure the caterers had everything they needed. A few times she’d glanced over at Nico, a confession she wasn’t sure how to phrase on the top of her tongue, but she’d always swallowed it back. If she was going to completely embarrass herself in front of a cute boy, she was going to do it right. 

After a well-deserved nap, Priya had gotten to work preparing herself for the party. Instead of her usual uniform of sweatpants and a hoodie, she’d decided on one of her nicest outfits: a knee-length, deep green sparkly dress with long sleeves, paired with silver flats. She’d done her hair in a low bun, securing it with a velvet green bow, romantic tresses framing her face. She kept her makeup basic, but made sure to use her favorite red lipstick, double checking to make sure none had gotten on her teeth.

Priya did a spin in front of her bedroom mirror, smiling at herself. It wasn’t too often she got a chance to dress up — a fact she was largely grateful for — but it was still fun when the moment came.

Grabbing her handbag, her eyes drifted over to the burgundy jewelry box, still sitting atop her dresser. Was it even a good idea to give it? Would it be overstepping? What if he thought it was cheesy? What if it made him miss home even more? What if —

A knock on the door made Priya’s head jolt up, brow furrowed. She hadn’t been expecting anyone. Before she could think better of it, she grabbed the box, shoving it into her bag.

“Coming!” she called, making her way down the hallway to open the front door.

Standing there, in a deep red shirt and black tie, was Nico. “Hi,” he managed out, his voice sounding shyer than Priya could ever remember it. 

“Hi,” Priya responded, her voice soft to match his.

Nico looked Priya up and down, his cheeks pale pink. “You, um… you look beautiful.”

Priya’s own cheeks flushed. “Thank you,” she smiled shyly. “You look nice too. Very handsome.”

“Thanks.” Nico bit his lip, moving his hands from behind his back, handing out a bouquet of white and red flowers. “I… these are for you.”

Priya felt her heart leap as she took the bouquet, inhaling the sweet aroma. “Garden roses,” she whispered, meeting his eyes. “I love them. How did you know?”

“I, um, I might’ve asked Jack,” Nico admitted, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. “Just… you’ve been so great with everything, and… I wanted to thank you.”

Priya smiled, stepping forward to pull Nico into a hug. She could feel him tense in surprise for a moment, only to wrap his arms around her waist, chin resting on her shoulder. He smelled like warmth, and cinnamon, and the slightest bit of pine. She could already imagine herself getting addicted.

“Thank you,” Priya murmured into his shirt, closing her eyes for a moment. “You’re… you’re wonderful. Really.”

“I try,” Nico let out a soft laugh.

After a few seconds too long, Priya forced herself to pull away, shyly laughing. “I’ll, um, I’ll go put these in water.”

“Yeah,” Nico nodded, clearing his throat. “Yeah, no worries.”

Priya had gotten only a few steps away when a thought hit her, making her turn to face him. “What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you’d be at the party.”

“I am. I mean, I’m going. I just thought, maybe I could drive you. If you don’t have other plans.”

Priya smiled softly. “Yeah. Yeah, no, I’d love that.” She put the flowers onto the kitchen counter, making her way back to the doorway. “Jack said he’d drive me home, but I’ll just tell him to meet me there.”

“You sure?” Nico raised his eyebrows worriedly. “You don’t have to. I mean — I should have asked you first —”

“Nico. It’s fine,” Priya reassured him. “I want to go with you.”

Nico’s smile practically lit up her insides as he nodded. “Okay. If you’re sure.” He offered his arm, putting on a slightly goofy formal voice. “Shall we, my lady?”

“We shall, good sir,” she giggled, taking his arm as they made their way outside.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ❄ ⁺₊⋆ ❄ ₊⁺ ⋆

Even though she’d spent most of the day setting up for the party, Priya still found herself unprepared by how beautiful the ballroom had ended up. From her spot on the second floor balcony, she could watch the string lights glow, illuminating the smiling faces of the people below. She spied one of the tech heads, Miles, dressed up in a full Santa suit, taking photos with the marketing team. The playlist she and Nico had crafted was playing softly through the speakers, adding a pleasant hum to the whole scene. Somehow, everything had worked out.

Priya gazed over the crowd, only for her eyes to stop on a familiar face. Nico smiled at her from his place near the dessert table, motioning her down. She grinned back, nodding quickly as she made her way downstairs, carefully maneuvering around the guests.

“Hey,” she smiled, nudging Nico with her elbow. 

“Hey.” Nico let out a soft sigh, glancing around at the crowd. “We pulled it off.”

“I know,” Priya sighed with him. “Is it weird to say I’m proud of us?”

Nico glanced over, shaking his head slightly. “I don’t think it’s weird. Not at all.”

Priya’s eyes softened as she nudged him again. “Then I am. I’m proud of us. And you.”

“Me?” Nico laughed in disbelief.

“Yeah, you. I know it wasn’t the easiest thing for you, but… you really stepped up. I couldn’t have done any of this without you.”

“Well, I couldn’t have even gotten started without you,” Nico pointed out. “So. I’m proud of you, too.”

Their eyes met, the rest of the world seeming a distant blur.

“Nico-”

“Hey-”

They both laughed.

“You first,” Nico gestured towards her.

“No, no, it’s fine. You go,” she nodded.

“Just, I have to head out pretty soon,” Nico admitted, scratching the back of his head. 

Priya frowned slightly. “Oh. Do you want me to come with you?”

“No, no, stay and have fun. You’ve earned it,” Nico assured her, patting her shoulder. “I just wanted to let you know. Jack said he could drive you back, right? So you won’t be walking in the cold?”

“Yeah,” Priya nodded after a moment. “Yeah, no, I’ll just have to go find him.”

“Okay.” Nico smiled. A few seconds of silence passed between them. Priya bit her cheek, feeling her heart begin to pound in her chest.

Without warning, Nico stepped forward, pulling her into a tight hug. Priya closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around him, letting out a deep sigh. 

Eventually they pulled apart, Nico’s smile seeming to have a tinge of melancholy to it. “See you around,” he nodded.

“I — yeah. See you around,” she forced out, managing a smile. Priya let herself watch for just a moment as Nico made his way through the crowd. Then, straightening her shoulders, she turned around, beginning to search the room for Jack.

She found him not too far away, chatting with Dougie. “Hey, Prius!” Jack grinned, pulling her into a hug. “Did you have one of the donuts yet?”

“Not yet,” Priya admitted, laughing as she pulled apart. “But soon.”

“Amazing job with the party, Priya,” Dougie nodded.

Priya shrugged modestly. “It would’ve been better if we could have found you an elf costume that fit.”

“Wasn’t meant to be,” Dougie laughed, Jack chuckling along with him. “You know, I have to say, I wasn’t sure at first when Nico came to me asking to work with you. But you guys really came together.”

Priya’s eyes widened slightly. “He what?”

“Didn’t he tell you?” Dougie’s brow furrowed. “He came to me begging for me to put you on party planning with him. I knew you could handle it, but I always thought you two didn’t get along.”

“We didn’t,” Priya managed out, voice hitching. “Can you, um… will you excuse me a sec?”

Without waiting for an answer, Priya walked away, her head spinning. This whole time, she’d thought that she and Nico had been thrown together by some twist of fate, or that Dougie had wanted to minimize the tension between them. Nico had really asked for her? Why?

Priya was drawn out of her thoughts just enough to stare at the wishing tree she and Nico had assembled. It wasn’t too full yet, with only a few red and white baubles attached to the construction paper tree. Almost instantly, though, her eyes were drawn towards one particular ornament, with handwriting that felt all too familiar.

I wish I could tell her how I really feel.

Her heart stopped in her chest. Everything seemed to stop; the world became a blur. Before another thought crossed her mind, Priya found herself rushing out of the ballroom, hurrying as fast as she could towards the parking lot. Thankfully, there was still a figure standing outside of his car, wearing a familiar black winter hat.

“Nico!” Priya cried, running towards him. “Nico, wait!”

Nico turned around, brows drawn tightly together as he noticed her. “Priya? What are you doing out here? Can Jack not-”

“Be… be quiet for a second,” Priya told him, catching her breath as she finally approached the car.

“Priya, I don’t -”

“What did your wish mean?”

Nico’s brow furrowed further. “What wish?”

“The one you wrote on the tree,” Priya clarified, crossing her arms. “You said… you said you wish you could tell someone how you really feel. What does that mean?”

Nico’s eyes widened, a guilty expression taking over his face. “That — I — I didn’t think you would know that was mine.”

“I know your handwriting by now,” Priya pointed out. 

There was a beat of silence before she sighed.

“I don’t — I don’t get it. You hate me. Or you — you did hate me. Why-”

“I never hated you,” Nico murmured.

“Then why did you always stare me down? Why wouldn’t you just talk to me?”

He let out a soft sigh, staring down at the pavement. “I was scared,” he confessed. “You were so… so beautiful, and smart. And you just… you lit up the room every time you walked in. And I was just this… this boy who barely spoke English, and I was so afraid of saying the wrong thing.”

Priya’s face softened, her arms drifting down to her side. “Is that why you asked Dougie to work with me?”

Nico winced for a moment at having been found out, but slowly nodded. “I thought… it would be an excuse to get to know you better. And to spend more time with you. And I messed it up, because I was too in my own head. But you gave me a second chance, and…” He let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair as he glanced up to meet her eyes, his own dark and anxiety-filled. “I know it… it sounds foolish. But I thought…”

“Nico,” Priya whispered, stepping forward. Biting her lip, she quickly rustled through her bag, handing over the jewelry box.

Nico’s brow furrowed. “What… what is this?”

“It’s for you. For Christmas.”

Nico slowly removed the lid, carefully removing the necklace. “Edelweiss,” he whispered in awe, turning to look at her.

“I got it a few days ago,” Priya confessed, her cheeks pink. “I just… I thought of you. And I thought of… how sweet you are, and how supportive you’ve been, and how easy it is for you to make me laugh. And I-”

“Priya.”

Nico stepped forward, slowly closing the gap between them. Priya’s heart raced as he reached his hand up to cup her cheek. “Priya,” he repeated softly, before leaning in, closing the gap between their lips.

Priya felt her chest burst open, moving to wrap her arms around his neck. She’d never imagined a kiss in a freezing cold parking lot could feel so perfect.

Nico was smiling when he finally pulled away, his eyes sparkling. “Wow,” he let out a short laugh.

“Wow,” Priya repeated, a giggle rising in her throat. 

Nico leaned in once again, only to be interrupted by his phone vibrating in his pocket. “Damnit,” he cursed, quickly pulling it out. “That’ll be Jonas.”

“Jonas?” she asked, hands still on his shoulders. 

“My friend from Switzerland,” he told her. “I… after we talked about it, I went online and got a flight home. I’m leaving tonight.”

“Oh,” Priya gasped, her eyes wide. She pulled her hands away, shoving at him gently. “Oh my god, then, go, go! Don’t miss your flight!”

“Wait, wait,” Nico laughed, grabbing at her hands to hold them. “I have something for you first.”

“What?” Priya asked, a wide smile still on her face. 

“One second.” Nico quickly turned around, opening the back door of his car, pulling out a box wrapped in royal blue paper. “For you,” he offered with a smile.

“Nico,” Priya grinned. “You didn’t have to get me anything.” 

“I wanted to,” Nico countered. “Besides, you got me something.”

“But that was just something small, and you already got me flowers-”

“You’re going to make me miss my flight,” Nico teased, smirking.

Sighing, Priya carefully removed the paper, only to let out a gasp. “Is this… you got me the entire Jane Austen collection?”

“I noticed you didn’t have any on your shelves at your apartment,” he shrugged sheepishly. “And I… I got a set for myself too. Not as nice as those, but I thought… Maybe we could read them together. See what gives you, what was it… hope? For love?”

Priya’s heart fluttered as she placed the books on the hood of Nico’s car, throwing her arms around him again. “I love them. Thank you so much,” she whispered.

“Of course. And thank you. For everything,” Nico whispered back, turning his face so he could kiss her cheek.

The sound of a phone buzzing made them both groan, though they giggled as they pulled apart. 

“I really should get going,” Nico sighed, handing Priya back her book collection. “I fly back on the 2nd of January. Can we — can we talk then, maybe?”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course,” Priya smiled. “And I have your phone number, so I can FaceTime you. If you want.”

“I’ll always want to see you,” Nico admitted, smiling shyly.

Priya pulled Nico into another kiss, her hand venturing up to stroke a thumb over his cheek. “January 2nd,” she whispered as she pulled apart.

“January 2nd,” he nodded, holding out his pinky finger. She quickly looped hers with his, cheeks flushing red as he leaned down to kiss her knuckles.

“I’ll see you then,” Nico smiled. “Merry Christmas, Priya.”

“Merry Christmas, Nico.”

One more hug, one more kiss, and then he was off, car disappearing into the night.

Priya watched him go, feeling warmer than she’d ever felt. Quickly she took out her phone, moving towards her calendar app. Eleven days, she thought. I can make it that long. 

Slipping her phone back into her bag, Priya let out a blissful sigh. She glanced down at the books in her hand, stroking a finger over the spines, before she began to make her way back towards the ballroom.

I guess I was right, she thought with a smile. Miracles really do happen all the time.

[kairakeiji]

in my mind | keiji akaashi

pairing: akaashi x reader

tags: painter au, strangers to lovers

word count: 2.3k

for the lovely @sunkeiji - happy valentines day my love, i absolutely adore you <3

akaashi tended to think much more than he should.

he often lived in his head, spending more time with the thoughts that seemed to constantly linger. he was a lot quieter than his friends, but akaashi liked to think that it helped him with his art. after all, creativity seemed to hit him at the weirdest times, mostly when he was off in his thoughts. he’s deep in thought when he makes his way to the studio listening to music through his headphones, ready for the blank canvas to mock him once more for his lack of ideas when he feels someone tap his shoulder.

“excuse me?”

akaashi turns around to see you standing in front of him, a hint of panic in your features.

“do you know how to get to the c building?”

“oh,” he coughs, pulling out his headphone to speak to you.

“sorry,” you quickly add. “i’m new here, and i’m not too sure where all my classes are.”

his eyes widen, “no no you’re all good! i can help you find the c building.” he offers, to which you smile.

“okay okay,” you nod eagerly. “i’ve got a map on my phone if you need it, or you can just point to where i should go.”

akaashi blinks at the small map you show him before meeting your gaze. his next words leave his lips with ease, “i can just walk you if you want?”

why did he say that? the c building’s in the opposite direction of where he’s going.

“are you sure?” you question. “i don’t want to cause you trouble.”

no, he’s not sure. why is he going out of his way for a total stranger?

“yes, i’m sure,” he assures. “i can help you find your other classes too if you need.”

his heart skips a beat when he notices you relax, “that would be great, yeah thank you so much.”

“okay just follow me,” he smiles, turning around and walking back where he came. “can i see your schedule?”

and you nod showing him a picture of it on your phone as he continues to explain the locations and routes you should take. he continues explaining and walking despite you asking if he needed to go back to his class, completely ignoring the fact that the art studio was in the completely opposite direction. akaashi learns you’re a transfer, coming all the way from osaka to study in tokyo. he learns you’re staying in the dorm building close to the a building along with the fact that you don’t really like your roommate. he learns you’re a communications major and you learn he’s an art major, which is something you seem to find incredibly interesting. you ask to see his work and he simply shakes his head no. his art is the gateway to his thoughts, the ones he often keeps to himself.

and it’s a bit too early in your relationship for him to entrust those to you.

“so this should be the c building right here,” akaashi points out as he stops walking. “this should be where your literature class is.”

you sigh in relief when you catch sight of the building, “thank god,” you smile turning to him. “thank you so so much for your help.”

he nods, “of course, if you need any more help here please let me know.”

your eyes widen, “wait yes, i might need it,” you tell him with a small laugh. “can i have your phone number?”

“yeah,” he mumbles. “for sure.”

and the two of you exchange numbers. there’s a slight shake in his hand when he types in his phone number, heart beginning to race when he hands it back to you.

“akaashi keiji,” you read with a small laugh. “i just realized i never really asked for your name.”

“ln yn,” akaashi reads. “well it’s very nice to meet you.”

“it was nice to meet you too,” you nod. “i’ll be going now then, thank you so much again.”

“of course,” he answers. “have fun in class.”

“thank you,” you reply beginning to walk towards the entrance.

you wave back to him with a smile as you enter the building.

and suddenly akaashi feels a wave of ideas come crashing down on him.

it normally feels like a fever dream, every time akaashi steps back from the canvas to see a full painting. creating felt easy, he just often lacked the ideas and inspiration to do so. he seems to work in bursts, powering through an extensive piece only to run out of ideas for the following week. he’d call it writer’s block, but he’s not really a writer, painter’s block maybe if that’s even a real thing.

he still has no idea how he finished his admissions portfolio in time.

but there’s a sense of satisfaction when he looks at the canvas filled to the brim with blue hues. painting always feels like a fever dream, yet with this piece, he can recall every second of creating it. the interaction he had with you was short, yet he was able to turn it into a frozen moment. he felt like he had known you his entire life, so much so that he completely forgot to ask for your name because it felt like he already knew it.

the painting’s rather abstract, the true meanings behind it seeming rather hidden, yet to him, it seems to scream you. the way you seemed to remind him of the ocean, chaotic yet calming, full of life, the way he can hear your charming yet compelling voice in the waves, and the way he stood in the middle, walking on water, doing the impossible just to see you again.

he was the manifestation of the small figure in the middle with no discernable face or features, the one standing out in the sea of blue almost in awe of its sheer beauty.

there’s a small signature in black in the bottom right, signifying that the painting was his.

akaashi lets out a sigh as he stares at the painting, mentally giving himself a pat on the back at his creation before catching sight of the time. it’s been five hours since he arrived at the studio. the dark sky seeming unforgiving when akaashi realizes how much time has gone by. it’s close to 11 pm and a small yawn leaves his lips as he pushes his glasses up to his head. there was no one else in the studio, everyone seemed to trickle out as the hours dwindled down leaving akaashi alone with his thoughts.

the sink water’s cold when akaashi starts to wash his brushes and pack up his things as the paint dries. he contemplates leaving it at the studio to dry overnight, but he doesn’t want to leave something so intimate to him out in the open. his art always held sentimental value to him, and each piece held some kind of meaning. it was his expression of his raw emotions, and it seemed so weird to leave it for anyone to see. he was an elusive artist in a sense, carefully picking which pieces to show at art shows or to put up for a grade. he felt like he was giving a piece of himself to someone, and it was often a piece he chose with caution.

a small laugh leaves his lips when he recalls your question from earlier. the genuine curiosity in your features at his major made him smile. he’s never met someone so interested to see his art before, especially considering that you were nothing more than a pretty stranger.

“can i see your art?”

it was a question you asked with such ease, a hint of guilt hitting him when he remembers his answer.

“no, sorry.”

you didn’t even press further, simply nodding okay before switching to another subject. he thought that was considerate of you. but a part of him now wants your reaction to his newest creation.

so he says a quick prayer to whatever god seemed to be watching over him today before slipping the painting into his bag, praying that it stays intact as he makes his way back to his apartment.

the city air is quiet, something akaashi always enjoyed. there’s a chill in the atmosphere that makes him walk just a bit faster, yet there’s a sense of tranquility in his air that puts him at ease. his mind wanders back to you when he reaches his apartment building. he wonders how your day went, how your classes went. he wonders if you even found your classes, you seemed so incredibly clueless when he first spoke to you.

so when he kicks off his shoes and hangs his coat, it’s no surprise that he heads straight to your contact the second he hits his living room couch.

hey, it’s akaashi

did you find your classes okay?

the boy sighs in relief as he rests back on his couch, instantly sinking into the cushion. he’s been out all day, running errands and painting and it felt so relieving to finally be back home. his apartment’s covered in art, some of which have been shared with the world, others that have never left the comfort and privacy of his home. yet each of them holds so much significance to him.

the one hanging in his dining room was the first piece he created in the college studio, he loved the city night skyline and the way he made sure each tiny person was different.

the one on the ground next to his living room was in a small art show his university hosted. it was the first piece he ever put on display for strangers to see. he’s proud of that one, proud of how vulnerable it let him be.

and his newest piece, respectively leaning against the couch thankfully in one piece, was inspired by you, the stranger who caught his attention in a single interaction.

his phone goes off on cue, and he can’t help the small grin on his face when he realizes the text is from you.

i did yes, thank you again for your help :D

and then akaashi texts again.

no problem, text me if you need anything else, i’ll be here.

only for you to respond a second later.

i will! thank you!

but this time he senses that there’s no need for either of you to speak anymore.

and it makes him wonder if he’ll ever speak to you again. after all, you probably see him as nothing more than a kind stranger, a person who went out of their way to be of assistance. honestly, after that interaction, he doesn’t see any reason why you would call him unless you got lost once more. it makes his lips curl into a frown, especially as he catches a glance at that painting that’s leaning against the couch. he still wants to show you, even with the possibility of a negative reaction, and now he’s worried that day might never come. it’s late. akaashi’s certain he’s about to fall asleep on the couch before properly getting ready for bed.

but that doesn’t stop him from pressing your contact button, this time clicking the small phone under your name.

the phone rings once.

and suddenly akaashi is wide awake.

the phone rings twice.

this is dumb, he thinks to himself. he’s calling a complete stranger out of the blue, he doesn’t even know what he wants to say.

the phone rings a third time.

regret’s beginning to hit him a little harder.

the phone rings a fourth time.

but before akaashi can hit the end call button.

“hello?”

he freezes.

“akaashi?” you question, a hint of sleep in your voice. “you there?”

“yes,” he stutters, snapping out of his trance. “yes, i’m here. sorry did i wake you?”

“not at all,” you reply. “i’m just about to sleep.”

“oh i see,” he nods.

“why’d you call though?” you question. “do you need something?”

his next words leave his lips with ease.

“do you maybe wanna get dinner with me this weekend?”

there’s a beat of silence that follows, one that makes akaashi’s mind race as he stiffens, but your answer comes before he can say anything more.

“okay sure!”

his eyes widen, “you mean that?”

“yeah of course,” you answer, your voice much more awake now than before. “it sounds fun.”

“okay,” he sighs, relaxing a bit as relief washes over him. “does this saturday work? i’ll pick you up around 7?”

“sounds perfect,” you reply, and akaashi’s just certain that he can picture your smile.

“alright,” he nods.

“it’s a date then.”

and his heart drops, “a date?”

“yeah,” you nod, voice a little hesitant. “a date?” and a beat of silence follows, akaashi in complete disbelief at what he’s hearing. “only if you’re okay with it though,” you quickly add. “that was a little straightforward of me sorry about th-”

“it’s a date,” he affirms, and there’s nothing but certainty in his voice when he cuts in.

a small sigh leaves your lips, “perfect. saturday. at seven. date. okay got it.”

“okay,” he answers, a small laugh leaving his lips before his eyes catch sight of the small figure in the ocean once more, a smile unknowingly crossing his lips.

“well,” you sigh, “i have an early class tomorrow but i’ll talk to you in the morning?”

“sounds good,” he answers, eyes still on the painting. “goodnight, sleep well.”

“goodnight.”

but even as the call ends, the phone remains at his ear, attention still fixed on the painting, the piece of work he created off a single interaction. he’s walking on water just as the figure was, doing the once impossible just to admire the sea around him. his work, his art, and the ideas behind them all came from his thoughts, the ideas that lingered around in his head. yet today, the only thing akaashi seemed to think about was you. maybe his supposed painter’s block was over.

because he seemed to have found inspiration in you.

thank you so so much for reading!! reblogs are always appreciated <33

[avatarmerida]

Walking Home

This is inspired by @buggachat’s Bakery AU. I hope this is okay because I love this idea so much and I loved the winery arc. I wrote this assuming Adrien also lives at the bakery, though I don’t know.

——————————————————————————

“Okay no, no first of all they did NOT kick us out because I spilled. But IF did they did then that’s your fault!” Marinette exclaimed as the four of them left the restaurant.

“I didn’t mean that time,” clarified a bubbly Adrien as he ran ahead. “I meant when you kept turning the glasses into microphones and trying to get everyone to sing when they were still pretty full.”

“No! No! No!” she insisted, running up to him and giving him a gently tap on shoulder. “It was because you kept making chicken noises and they were awful!”

“They were amazing.”

“I don’t think you’ve ever heard a chicken,” she said smugly as she attempted to suppress her laughter at the memory. “It was so high pitched.”

“Bawk bawk bawk,” said Adrien quietly. Seeing Marinette suppress more laughter, he kept going and got louder. She couldn’t stand still, the laughter causing her to bend in half unable to catch her breath. Making her laugh was somehow so addicting and so he kept doing the awful chicken noise, getting higher and louder and faster. Passerbys gave them strange looks and rolled their eyes. Alya couldn’t help but smile at the thought that everyone who saw them must assume they were lifelong friends. Maybe even more than that.

“Oh wow I didn’t realize how late it was,” announced Alya, pretending to check her phone. She was fairly certain the two forgot her and Nino were there. “Ugh, I’ve got an interview scheduled for the blog at 8am.”

“Yeah and I’ve got to wake her up otherwise she’ll never get there on time,” added Nino with a laugh, catching on quickly. Adrien and Marinette snapped out of their bubble, seeing suddenly how ridiculous they must seem.

“We should do this again soon though,” said Alya. “All of us,” she added, looking at Adrien.

“Yeah, this was fun,” said Marinette, sneaking a glance at Adrien (though he didn’t notice) before turning back to Alya. “Are you okay to get home?”

“Yeah, we’re gonna grab a taxi,” said Alya. “What about you two? Are you okay? You didn’t switch to water when Nino and I did.”

“That was water? I thought you guys just switched to white wine,” asked Adrien. Nino chuckled and handed Adrien his phone so the two could make plans to hang out later in the week.

While the boys talked, Alya pullled Marinette into a hug to supposedly say goodbye.

“No girl, for real are you okay to get home? We can drop you off,” she whispered.

“No it’s okay you guys live the opposite way and you need to get up early,” whispered Marinette back. “The bakery isn’t that far and It’s not like I’m walking alone.”

“Exactly,” said Alya, pulling away but making sure the boys were too distracted by their conversation to hear theirs. “I know tonight was fun but you didn’t start the day being Adrien’s biggest fan. You’re okay walking home with him?”

“Yes Alya I’m fine,” she hiccuped. “I’m not even that drunk.”

“Marinette!” Adrien called suddenly, very excited. “Can we make pizza at the bakery?!”

“Oh my god pizzaaaaaa!” She exclaimed far too loudly, throwing her hands in the air. “Yes, yes let’s go! Bye Alya!”

She ran ahead and Adrien excitedly and instinctively followed her, the two a collection of giggle and hiccups stumbling between the street lights.

“Text me when you get home!” Alya called after the pair. They were quite a sight. She couldn’t help but smile at the fact that this morning Marinette couldn’t say his name without grimacing and now they were rushing off into the night. She wondered how Marinette would feel about the blonde boy tomorrow.

“Pizza, pizza, pizza!” The two exclaimed as they trudged down the sidewalk.

“Okay I know we have dough and cheese I don’t know if we have any pizza sauce,” said Marinette raking her brain. “Do we want toppings? Because I think we just have sprinkles, maybe we-ahhh!” Suddenly the ground came rushing at her, but before she had time to process what was happening she was stopped inches from the pavement. She looked up and saw Adrien had caught her in the knick of time. His hands were on her waist as if he was dipping her in a some eleaborate dance. The streetlight above him reflected on his golden hair like a halo.

He really was a good model, she couldn’t help but think as she found herself drawn to his light like an innocent moth.

“Sorry,” he said realizing the position they were in. “Force of habit, I guess. I didn’t mean, I mean I-.”

“Don’t apologize,” she breathed, not attempting to remove herself from his grip. “You’ve just got like catlike reflexes.”

“Yeah, I maybe??” He laughed. He couldn’t even explain her own pun to her as he pulled her to her feet. “Hehe, uh sorry if I distracted you again.”

“No, no it’s my own fault, I’m extra clumsy when I’m drunk,” she explained, bashful suddenly for some reason. “I’m a regular public menace. But thanks for not letting me fall on my face.”

He smiled. “Anytime,” he stood up straight and offered her his arm. “To ensure you don’t fall again,” he explained.

The logic of his reasoning negated any objections her former view of him held at the ready. He didn’t have to be kind to her when it was just them, and this must be why she held onto his arm so firmly and allowed herself to be so close as they walked. She suddenly felt guilty for her ulterior motives in inviting him out. The skeptic in her wanted to point out that maybe he was faking being drunk, or was so well versed at deception that alcohol had no affect on his ability to lie. But a larger part of her just wanted to rest her head on his shoulder as he led her home, contently listening to him ramble.

“Okay but why isn’t pizza a pastry?” he continued. “Like a lot of baked goods have cheese, they all have dough. Is it the sauce? But donuts have filling and the tomato is a fruit, I think-?”

“Maybe pizza can be your menu speciality,” she murmured, following the voice that told her to rest her head. “But you can give it a fun name and make it look different so they won’t know it’s pizza until they taste it. You’d think of a good name, you’re funny.”

“I’m funny?” he asked, genuinely surprised and flattered.

“I’m drunk, who knows what I’m saying,” she joked. “I’ll deny it but yes you are funny. I like when you write puns on the specials board.”

“Really?” He chuckled. “I didn’t think you’d be a fan of bad puns.”

“I’ve heard worse,” she murmured, her mouth moving faster than her mind. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

“Like what?” he tried, trying to careful in this new territory, but fighting his catlike curiosity . “Are you a secret comedian?”

“No, no but I was in love with a boy who made puns a lot,” she said quietly, almost just to herself. “It seems so silly but now whenever I hear a good one I write it down so I don’t forget. So I can tell it to him. But I’m never gonna see him again. That’s so stupid isn’t it?”

He saw tears forming in her eyes. “I think it’s sweet,” he said. “Is he someone you meet in New York? On your internship?”

She stopped, her mind had brought up another similarly between him and Chat Noir and that was extra confusing right now. But she hadn’t had anyone to talk to about Chat and it felt nice to share something about him aloud. She had to tread carefully though.

“I’m sorry if you don’t wanna talk about it,” said Adrien before she could find the words. “It’s none of my business.”

“No, it’s okay.”

“No, it’s not,” he continued, gently removing his arm from her. “You’ve already done so much for me, helping me at the bakery, letting me into your home, inviting me out tonight . You’re a very kind person Marinette and I’ve invaded so much of your space already, I shouldn’t be invading your privacy.”

“No, Adrien please it is okay,” she insisted. “I brought it up. And I... I’ve never brought it up to anyone before, to be honest. And it must be because... I like talking to you. Because-.”

“-of the wine?” He offered.

“-because we’re friends,” she finished, looking up at him with soft, truthful eyes.

“I think it is the wine,” he joked, only half certain.

“Here, I’ll prove it,” she said, keeping her purse and rummaging through its contents. Finally she found what she was searching for. “Here,” she said, placing something in his hand.

“What is this?”

“My lucky charm,” she said proudly, as he opened his hand to reveal a simple keychain composed of colorful beads. “I made it during my internship, it helped me when I had deadlines or a creativity block. I take it everywhere.”

“And you’re giving this to me?”

“Well I still plan on needing it and having it close by, so I wouldn’t just entrust it to someone I don’t want in my space would I? It’s probably not as flashy as the friendship bracelets Chloe made you but-.”

She was cut off as Adrien pulled her into a tight embrace. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”

She hesitated, but returned the gesture. “You’re welcome,” she said as the two stood in the middle of the sidewalk, embracing for probably a little too long. “Adrien, since we’re friends, I think I should be honest with you.”

He pulled back to face her, his face still holding a smile despite her dismal tone. “What is it?”

“Today, when I invited you...” she began, her pride almost too big a pill to swallow. “Well, I had ulterior motives for inviting you.”

“Really?”

“I thought, oh god I’m so embarrassed,” she pushed through. “I though you had ... a secret.”

“A secret?”

“Yes,” she buried her face in her hands, utterly embarrassed. “Ugh, and I thought it you got drunk enough you would blurt it out. And that’s so awful of me and I know it’s dishonest, but I promise you it’s not like that anymore. I was paranoid, I guess. I don’t know. But I’m so sorry. really do enjoy spending time with you-.”

“What kind of secret?”

“Huh?” She said, surprised he wasn’t mad. “Oh, i-it doesn’t matter. It was still wrong of me.”

“Well why couldn’t you ask me about it before?”

“I didn’t have any sort of proof,” she admitted. “Only a hunch.”

“Why?” He asked. He wasn’t mad but she couldn’t place his tone. People must have accused him of this before. She knew now he wasn’t his father, he was more than whatever his past held, and he didn’t deserve another faker. She knew he’d ask what she suspected and it would ruin everything but maybe she could make it less awful if she kept apologizing?

“Nothing major, just because of how you acted around me-.”

“I see.”

“-but I know now I was completely wrong,” she quickly went on. “Getting to know you tonight and spending more time with you at the bakery, I know I was wrong.”

“Oh,” was that all he could say? Oh?!

“Because you’re just so nice!” She went on, her drunk brain turning to rambling. “You’re actually a really great guy, and you’re just quiet at first, you’re ... a friend...”

“Just a friend?” He asked, the word holding his attention tight.

“Yes,” she said, hoping he was considering accepting her apology. “And I- oh darn it.” Suddenly, a raindrop fell onto Marinette’s cheek. Then another. Without warning the sky began to pour, and the pair sought shelter. Adrien took off his jacket and placed it over Marinette’s head to attempt and shield her from the rain, a fruitless attempt as the jacket immediately became soaked and heavy and helpful to no one.

As they made their way through the waterfall that claimed the sidewalk, an abandoned umbrella leaning against a building caught Adrien’s eye. He swooped in to grab and quickly opened it over Marinette’s head. “Ugh, I can’t see,” she cried, the rain causing her eye makeup to run and sting her eyes. She wiped it away, only to smudge it and give cover her face with a charcoal color. Adrien laughed.

“Mademoiselle Hamster, you look more like a raccoon now,” he wheezed. Before Marinette could offer a clever response, she saw the rain continued to fall on him as she was safely covered.

“You’re going to catch pneumonia,” she stated angrily.

“It’s not a very big umbrella,” he said, still laughing.

“Nonsense,” she said, yanking the umbrella handle to spin him in. “I’m not about to let you get sick and stick me with all the work at the bakery.”

But the umbrella was very small. And in order for them both to be covered, they had to stand very close together.

“Fine by me,” breathed Adrien, looking down at Marinette. She stood in front of him, her hands landing instinctively on his chest as if they were slow dancing. She was aware of this, but did not remove them. Her eyes went to the ground, not being about to handle the closeness with eye contact. In one hand Adrien held the umbrella, the other one slowly went to removed a strand of wet hair from her face. A bolt of lighting graced the sky.

“You were right you know,” he said quietly, the rain almost drowning him out.

“About what?”

“About my secret,” he said with a chuckle. “I thought I hid it well, but I guess I made it really obvious.”

“What?” Said Marinette, looking up at him is disbelief, her hands trembled. “No, no you’re still drunk, you don’t know what you’re saying. No, no I know now... after everything that happened it can’t be true.”

“Do you... not want it to be true?”

“I guess it doesn’t really matter what I want,” she admitted, bowing her head again. “Either it’s true or it’s not.”

“I promise you, it’s very true,” said Adrien, his voice softer than she had ever heard but somehow insanely familiar. He placed his free hand under her chin and lead her to meet his gaze.

“Wait, what did you think I-.”

“Marinette, I’m sorry that I couldn’t be more direct with you,” he began. “But I didn’t think I’d ever feel this way again since... you’re so amazing and I- I’m done keeping secrets; I do have feelings for you.”

“W-what kind of feelings?” she asked, a tiny portion of her intoxicated little mind convinced he was angry with her.

Adrien closed his eyes and leaned in close to her and his lips stopped mere inches from her own. Hesitating. Waiting. Silence. She looked at him, no streetlight caught his hair now but the shine remained. The glow was just him. He wasn’t a spy, he wasn’t a traitor, he wasn’t a villain. Her mind ran with things he was not until suddenly she realized what he was. Kind. Handsome. Funny. Charming. She had taken these things for granted before and thought they were lost and locked away forever. It was like they were reincarnated, her heart fluttered in an nearly forgotten familiar way as if to say she had been here before. As if to say this is exactly where she was meant to be.

Lighting crashed in the distance.

She chased the feeling and eliminated the space between them, drawn to him like he was magnetic. She could could blame it on the wine. She could blame it on the rain. She could blame it on the way his eyes were so gentle and vibrant at the same time like a lush green forest she wanted to explore until she was hopelessly lost. But she crashed into him like a she was a tidal wave, her arms wrapping around his neck as she pulled herself up to kiss him. He stepped back, surprised but pleased and tossed aside the umbrella in favor of having both his arms around her as he eagerly kissed her back. He lifted her off the ground, perhaps a little too overzealous, and the pair found themselves on the ground in the middle of a puddle. Only then did they break apart, like a dream they were rudely awakened from, and Marinette found herself laying on top of him.

Adrien looked at her, eyes wide and curious, awaiting a sign of how she felt. Even now, with her eyeliner smudged and her hair soaking wet, his heart skipped a beat in way it hadn’t done in years. What was she thinking? Should he say something? His mind raced with what to say next, he had imagined this confession thousands of times since he realized his feelings, but none of his scenarios went quite like this. He didn’t want to risk ruining anything, if there was even something to ruin. He played the last minute over and over in his head like a romantic film scene. He smiled a wide smile and if Marintee didn’t know any better, she could have sworn he was purring.

Marinette took that as her signal to lean forward, slower and more graceful than the first attempt and kissed him again. It was less rushed and more gentle, but also more certain. The umbrella was carried away by the wind, the two seemed to have forgotten about the rain or any storms between them.

The next day, Marinette awoke feeling sicker than she had ever felt in her life. Not only did she have a massive hangover, but being stuck in the rain had given her a terrible cold as well. Her body couldn’t decide which unpleasant feeling to focus on so she remained in bed, cursing the world.

“Hey girl,” came Alya’s voice from the doorway. “Heard you weren’t feeling too good.”

“Alya I’m dying,” moaned Marinette.

“Were you so busy dying that you couldn’t text me that you go home safely?” laughed Alya, removing the pillow from her face. “Omigosh you didn’t even wash your face last night. You really were trashed.”

“Ugh I don’t even remember it raining last night, but I woke up soaked,” complained Marinette.

“Wait, you don’t remember it raining?”

“No, after we said goodbye to you and Nino the night it a total blur.”

“Oh, does Adrien remember the rain?”

“I don’t know, we don’t talk,” Marinette reminded her, covering her head with a blanket. “I don’t know what I said to him on the walk home, but my throat is killing me so it feels like I was yelling.

“Wait, you don’t remember anything from the walk home?”

“No,” repeated Marinette. “Why? Did I drunk dial you or something?”

“Uh, no,” said Alya with a mischievous smile. “But when it started to rain I told the cab driver to drive by your place to see if you guys got caught in the rain and I’m so glad I did because I saw something very interesting.”

“What?”

Alya simply handed Marinette her phone and braced herself for the reaction she knew was coming. Marinettte had to do a double take at first. But there was no mistaking this was a picture of her. And Adrien. Kissing.

“WHAT?!” She exclaimed, giving herself a worse headache. “Ouch. Ugh, Alya please tell me this is photoshopped, this is a joke right?”

“Not this time, I am an eyewitness,” assured her friend. “I saw everything.”

“Oh my god, I can’t believe he kissed me,”

“Well you shouldn’t because if you go back a little bit you see it’s clear as day who kissed whom,”

“What?” But it was true. She swiped back and forth and there was no arguing that she pulled him in, she reached up, she kissed him. Twice. “Oh no.”

“Oh, don’t be embarrassed,” said Alya taking back her phone. “If kissing a former model in the rain is the worst thing you’ve done after drinking, that’s nothing to be ashamed of. I don’t see why you don’t like him anyway, you two got along so well yesterday.”

“Oh no no no I just thought it was another dream!”panicked Marinette.

“Another?” Teased Alya. “So you often dream about kissing Adrien?”

Only when he’s working with his supervillain father “I’m never drinking again,” vowed Marinette, burying her head in her hands. “Please tell me no one else saw those photos.”

“Just me and Nino, but I’m keeping them for blackmail,” confirmed Alya as she headed for the door. “Or to show at your wedding.”

Marinette threw a pillow at the door, just missing her friend as she took her leave. What had gotten into her? Besides copious amounts of wine, that is. She prayed that Adrien’s memory of last night was even foggier than hers. She wished she had Tikki with her to talk her through this without any judgment but she just had her. And all she could do was panic.

“Hey, are you up?” Came a small voice accompanied by a knock on her door. “I just saw Alya leave and I wanted to check on you if that’s okay.”

It was Adrien. “Um yeah, I’m fine. Just tired, I guess,” she replied. He didn’t come in, she didn’t invite him. He was still wary of her. That must be as good sign, right?

“A headache?” He chuckled knowingly. “I had one too. I made a smoothie and that kind of helped. I can bring you one. Or leave it in the kitchen for you.”

“Thanks,” she said awkwardly. Silence stood between them for what felt like hours.

“Listen, about last night,” Adrien said at last. Marinette braced herself for the worst.

“Yeah?”

“I wanted to say thank you,” he said outside the door. “It meant a lot, you guys inviting me out. I had a lot of fun, well the parts I remember anyway.”

“Do you... remember walking home?”

“Hardly,” he admitted. “Apparently it rained?”

She laughed. “Go figure,” she said. She cousins sent he was right: she did enjoy the parts she remembered. “But um thank you too for helping me get home safely. You’re a good friend.”

The sound of the word made him blush, he was grateful she couldn’t see his face. “Anytime,” he said. “Feel better, I guess I’ll see you later?”

“See ya,” she said, as she heard him walk away from the door and flopped on her bed in relief. Crisis averted.

Adrien made his way down the stairs, Marinette’s keychain in hand. The moments of last night replayed in his head. It was blurry to him as well, but a few moments stood out to him. Mostly, the way she said ‘lucky charm’ and the way her smudged makeup resembled a mask.

[14-3michelle]

So you want to write about Mafia/Gang/Mob Au s

I’ve read loads of mafia fanfictions, some were your straight up “the leader gets a guy and the rival gang kidnaps the guy and a huge ass war breaks out and they get the guy back and kisses” if you really want to know - yes wattpad however i switched up a few months ago - archive of our own; a few amazing ones were really detailed and actually made me change my whole opinion and how i perceived gangs thank you @/sugamins for house of cards.

Anyway so here are a few important bullet points to think about before writing about these kind of au s,

Let’s start :

– Now mafias usually consist of smaller groups of gangs - you have the main boss or whatever and then under them you’ve got a group of average number of people  that are entrusted to carry out orders/tasks. Usually led by old men who don’t do much shit and just attend meetings to satisfy the boss or they get killed (I’m joking) If these old men exist then there will be younger or people in those groups that take power and orders into their own hands. They’ll do it their way but still carry out the task. (hope that made sense)

– Mafias are constantly running (obviously, or the entire thing falls down), to assert dominance, they need money - everything runs on money. I mean it, money = everything. The richer the stronger. However; The smarter the better.

– Drugs, guns, prostitutions, gambling, corrupting taxes, running the stock, keeping order.

– Smaller people are usually not paid attention to, unless something is suspicious, your boss will not focus on runners (runners carry packets to get to client) or soldiers; unless it causes them huge loss or difficulty.

– Smaller rank = smaller clients. vice versa

– Most mafias run brothels on consent, workers are paid and want to do their job but then again it depends on how those people are. If you don’t like what you do, you won’t do it right = clients will complain - no mafia wants that.

– MAFIAS HAVE DOCTOR|S|/MEDIC|S|, it’s not just one doctor working his ass of for the main character and his gang getting shot all the time.

– Mafia’s always have rivals/opposition so that overused trope is not wrong or insensible. (depends on how you write it)

– Most mafias have “festivals” or occasions where bosses meet (bosses gotta have fun man) whether to discuss work or a celebration.

– They usually have a way to identify their own kind; tattoos, words, shoes (shoes??? wtf michelle)

– Psychological thinking or strategizing > Weapons/ “just getting to the fight”. Mafias can be ruthless but they still care about its own and try to cause less causalities - for themselves.

– Keep in mind the mafias are huge, there is no way they will entrust just one drive or system with all their information/details. They would have different mmethods of containing information and/or more than one SSD drive. (If your mafia uses drives/floppy disks/RAM)

– Sudden disappearance >>> unexpected death. If someone gets killed unexpectedly, it’s very likely and often overlooked. However someone’s disappearance is definitely unusual and will be investigated - not necessarily by the boss, it could be investigated by partners or friends which care too.

– Double-Crossing is a big NO.

That’s it really, i hope this helped - even a bit.

[dickwheelie]

I dont know if you're still doing requests but.., space pirates or just pirates au jmart 👉👈 i lov ur writing i think i might melt every time i read you

ohhh this was a fun prompt! it ended up being a little more space than pirates, but at least the jmart is there! thank you for the kind words and I hope you enjoy :))

___________

Jon didn't consider himself much of a hero. He had none of the necessary prerequisites, such as physical prowess, quick thinking under pressure, bravery, or a charming personality. He didn't even have the functionally useless but favorable bonus of dashing good looks. He may have been the captain on board a stolen spaceship, but that didn't mean he was particularly pirate-like himself. He entrusted the majority of the pirating to his small crew, who he privately considered much more capable than he was.

Tim and Sasha, he thought, now those two were hero types. They had the charisma, the skill, the bravery--they even had the good looks. Jon was perfectly fine with letting them take the wheel, as it were, in a crisis situation.

Such as the situation they were in right now.

The SS Magnus had been tearing across space, scanning for large, cushy vessels to pillage, when the mayday alert had sounded. Sasha, who worked communications, said that the mayday had come from an even smaller ship that was hurtling, out of control, through open space. The Magnus was the nearest vessel.

Tim took the pilot's seat and rushed to follow the downed ship's signal, but by the time he'd reached it, the ship had broken itself apart, leaving nothing but shredded metal in its wake. There were no signs of survivors in the wreckage.

Jon, Tim and Sasha shared a collective sigh of regret. They all knew the risks of space travel when they'd decided to become pirates, but it was never pleasant to be reminded of what could happen if a certain combination of things went wrong. Jon stared bleakly out of the cockpit window, then told Tim and Sasha that they might as well start scanning the wreckage for what they could find.

And then something bounced off the cockpit window.

"Was that--?" Jon said, dumbfounded.

"I think so," said Tim.

"Someone in a suit," Sasha said. "From the crash!"

And suddenly, Jon was the captain of a rescue mission.

Jon rushed towards the airlock at the aft of the ship, Tim and Sasha close behind him. When he reached it he could see outside the window the lone survivor, in their spacesuit, clinging for dear life to a handle on the side of the ship's hull.

Jon didn't pause to think. By the time Tim and Sasha arrived at the airlock, Jon was already suited up, and was about to open the innermost door.

"Jon!" Sasha called. "What are you doing?"

"They can't hold on forever," Jon said, "I have to grab them now!"

Once more he looked out the window at the survivor, trying to see beyond their blacked out visor, and caught a glimpse of a pair of wide, frightened eyes.

"It's okay!" Jon said, knowing the survivor couldn't hear him, but hoping they could read his lips. "I'm coming to rescue you! Don't, er, go anywhere!"

Jon put on his helmet and stepped into the airlock, hooking a long tether to his spacesuit. He let the airlock depressurize before opening the outermost door, floating out into the vacuum of space. Holding fast to the tether, he dragged himself out onto the hull, and found himself practically visor-to-visor with the lone astronaut.

Jon reached out his hand, and hoping they could see through his visor, said, "Take my hand! It'll be okay, I'm tethered to the ship!"

He couldn't be sure if the survivor had understood, but they did reach out their free hand, and for a moment their gloves strained towards one another until finally Jon caught hold of theirs, gripping it securely across the palm and wrist. He used the tether to pull them both backwards, towards the open airlock, and after a moment the survivor let go of the hull and clasped their other hand onto Jon's, letting him guide them safely back into the ship.

As soon as they were both inside and the airlock had pressurized again, Jon removed his helmet, breathing heavily with adrenaline, and watched as the survivor did the same.

Their hands moved shakily to detach their helmet, revealing dark curls and a brown face, covered in freckles and with a flushed, elated expression. The survivor looked to be a man, and a handsome one at that, though Jon refused to linger on that particular thought. At once he was at the survivor's side, checking for injuries, though with his suit on there wasn't much to see.

"Are you alright?" Jon asked him, though the question seemed silly considering how the man's day had been going so far.

"You . . . you saved me," the lone survivor said breathlessly, his eyes landing on Jon's. He had a nice voice, Jon thought absentmindedly.

"Yes," Jon said, not knowing what else to say.

The survivor gave Jon a beaming smile. "My hero."

"Um," said Jon. His stomach did something weird, and fluttery.

"I thought for sure I was dead. I'm pretty strong, but I wasn't sure how long I'd be able to hold on before spinning off into empty space. But you rescued me. Just like you said you would."

"I . . . try to keep my promises, yes," Jon said, hoping he wasn't blushing. "Who are you? What happened to your ship? Could there be anyone else alive out there?"

"Oh, right, of course. Sorry, my manners are a little rusty," said the survivor, with an awkward little laugh. "My name's Martin. Martin K Blackwood. It was just me on the ship. I was on a solo delivery run. The company I work for, Solus, they've been cutting down on personnel lately, so most shipping runs are solo now. Which means twenty-four-hour shifts at the wheel, minimum. It sucks, but it pays the bills. Or . . . it did." The survivor--Martin--stared out the window at the remains of his ship. "I'm still not sure what caused the engine to overheat and blow like that. I wouldn't be surprised if Solus weren't up to date on their safety checks. I managed to get my suit on and eject just in time, but then I was sure I was just gonna drift through space forever and die alone anyway."

Martin looked back at Jon, gratitude in his eyes. "But then you rescued me."

Jon wasn't going to be able to keep withstanding Martin's adoring looks if he kept this up. "I'm Jon," he said, trying to change the subject. "Captain of the SS Magnus. Illicit captain, rather. We're pirates."

"Pirates?" Martin's eyebrows shot up, and he looked Jon up and down. "You don't . . . seem like a pirate to me."

"We're basically only pirates by a technicality," Jon said. "We pillage the ships of the rich to give to those in need. Food, medical supplies, power sources, anything useful, really. Occasionally we'll steal a vessel, like this one, but that doesn't happen very often. There's only three of us, at the moment, so we make do however we can."

"Wow," Martin said. "So you're telling me--"

"I know," said Jon, "it's not all that impressive when you--"

"--I was rescued by actual pirates? And their swashbuckling captain is my hero?"

"O-Oh, well, um, that's not--" Jon was definitely blushing now.

Martin laughed. "Do you know how many romance novels I've read the back covers of that I'm putting to shame right now? Twenty-year-old me would be so jealous."

"I--I am not swashbuckling," Jon said, at a loss for anything else to say.

"Of course not." Martin grinned at him before his expression grew more somber. "Seriously, though, thank you. For saving me. I really had given up hope, for a moment there."

Jon nodded. "Of course. You're, ah, very welcome."

They shook hands, and Jon turned to the inner airlock door. "My crew are in there, waiting for us. Tim and Sasha. They're very good. We wouldn't have even found you and your ship without them."

"Then I'd better thank them, too," said Martin. "And--you said it was just the three of you right now, yeah?"

Jon tilted his head at him, unsure where Martin was going with this. "Yes, it is. But I assure you, we're a good team, we'll get you back to your home, or anywhere you'd like to go, safe and sound."

"That's sort of the problem," Martin said. "I . . . don't really have anywhere to go back to. If I go back to the company, they'll find out their ship was destroyed, and my insurance definitely doesn't cover that. If I go home, they'll find me just as easily and chase me down until I've paid. So . . ." Martin gave Jon a meaningful look. "Right about now would be a pretty good time for a career change."

Something clicked in Jon's head. He smiled at Martin, nodding sagely. "Yes, I see. I think we may be able to help you out with that, Martin." He thought for a moment. "You said you flew deliveries for Solus . . . how are you as a pilot?"

Martin grinned at him. "Good. Very good."

"Any moral qualms about stealing from the rich and giving to the poor?"

"None whatsoever."

"Then I don't see why we shouldn't bring you on board," Jon said, returning Martin's smile. "The SS Magnus has been looking for a new pirate to join her crew, and I think you'd fit right in."

Jon might not have been much of a hero, but he had managed to pull a man out of the way of certain death that day, and then bring him onto his crew, which had to count for something. At the very least, Jon thought as he introduced Tim and Sasha to their new pilot, the way Martin looked at him made him feel like the sort of person who really had done something extraordinary.

[blossom-hwa]

Put Your Arms Around Me (I’ll Be Warm For Days) - DAEYEOL

so I once swore I'd never write a vampire fic yet here I am breaking that promise because I saw this post explaining that once you rescind your welcome to a vampire they are obligated to leave and then this just happened

god I already feel embarrassed just queuing this I'm so sorry

Pairing: Daeyeol x gender neutral!reader

Genre: fluff, vampire!au

Triggers: mentions of biting like once? it never gets described

Word Count: 3k

In your arms, Daeyeol feels just a little more human.

Golden Child Masterlist

Spinning in the pouring rain, dreary gray clouds lining the sky with not a hint of sky in between, your laughter rings radiant in the air as Daeyeol watches from under the apartment overhang, umbrella closed by his side. A small smile lifts the corners of his lips, a smile that he no longer tries to hide – you know how feels. And though you haven’t given him a reply just yet, it’s a blessing nonetheless not to have to hide the love in his expression whenever he sees you free, happy, alive.

“Daeyeol!” You come running up, shoes squelching through streets already covered in a layer of water. Even as cold rain splashes and hits his skin, his smile widens as your wet face appears in his line of vision. “Come on, you stupid baby – just for a few minutes!”

“You’re calling me a stupid baby?” He scoffs in mock indignity, pulling you out of the rain. “I’m several centuries older than you, thank you very much, and I have more degrees than you will ever earn in your life –”

A wet hand hits his arm and your laughter rings again, music in Daeyeol’s ears. “And yet you’re still afraid of a little rain,” you tease, hand wrapping around his wrist. “How is it that you’re the immortal who’ll never get sick or tired but you’re also the one waiting out the downpour?”

“How is it that you’re the human who’ll definitely get sick and sniffly but you’re also the one dancing out in said downpour?” Daeyeol counters, shrugging off his coat. The chill strikes his bare arms but he ignores it, placing it over your shoulders. “You need a hot shower or you’re going to be sick all day tomorrow.”

“Hey, just a few minutes.” You beam at him, pulling the coat around you more securely. “Come on, please?”

He can’t say no. He never could, not when faced with you. Even though Daeyeol is a centuries old vampire and has seen enough of the world to make him lose faith in humanity multiple times (once quite recently), the sparkle in your eyes never fails to remind him that there’s still kindness, there’s still good, there’s still love in the world that might just prevail over all the bad. So he follows you into the rain and watches you spin under the showering droplets, arms held out wide (his coat is definitely going to need a long wash), and even as the cold air begins to seep into his already cold skin, he finds warmth in your laugh, warmth in your smile, warmth even in your chilly hand as it wraps around his fingers and forces him to spin around once too.

What wouldn’t he give to pull you closer, to bring your body right up against his so he can press a kiss to your rainy forehead, staring into your eyes as you gaze back with the same love that he holds for you? What wouldn’t he give to sway you gently in the downpour, water soaking your clothes as he wraps his arms around your waist and rests his head on your shoulder and simply stays there, soaking in the love of someone he cares for with all that is left of his heart?

But with no reciprocation must come restraint, and after centuries of life (or death, depending on how he thinks of it), he’s well-versed in the skill. Daeyeol loves you and you know this, but he’s also made it clear that he will never pressure you into an answer, will never force himself onto you no matter how long he must wait. He’s lived for centuries. He can wait a little longer for a reply to his confession, be it favorable or unfavorable, as long as you allow him to stay by your side.

You twirl around, eyes squinted nearly shut with laughter. A few feet away from Daeyeol, you stop and turn back to him with a look simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar, unfamiliar in that he hasn’t seen it on your face, but familiar in that he has seen it on his when Joochan drew that portrait of him staring at an off-canvas you, the softest glint of love in his eyes.

Love.

Real love.

But this time in your eyes, not his.

Daeyeol’s breath stutters in his throat. Hope rises in his chest, makes him feel an artificial warmth in his cold face and if he were still human his heart would be fluttering, pounding, racing as he returns your gaze –

But the look disappears in a second, replaced by a much more familiar expression of simple joy and laughter as you tromp through the puddles to brush a wet clump of hair out of Daeyeol’s face. Your fingers, though cold, send warm tingles up his spine. “It’s not fun if you just stand there and let the rain pour all over you, you know,” you reproach, eyes sparkling.

Cold disappointment eats through the previous warmth in his chest but Daeyeol swallows it down. He was probably seeing things, probably projecting his feelings onto you in a way that wasn’t real. And even if he wasn’t, just because you feel similarly doesn’t mean you’re ready to say it just yet. No sense in hoping or probing.

Daeyeol allows his lips to tilt in a little pout. “I just don’t want you to get sick,” he says, braving a hand to uselessly wipe rain off your face. “Come on, it’s been a few minutes. You need a shower and I need to cook dinner.”

You grumble a little but the reminder of warm food convinces you to escape the rain. Daeyeol lingers behind slightly as you head into the apartment lobby, gazing wistfully at your back.

No. He shakes his head. This is enough. All of it is enough. It is enough that you allow him to stay, enough that you welcome him into your apartment every day even if you rescind the invitation at night. It is enough that you accept his feelings even if you need more time for an answer, treasuring the heart he’s entrusted you even if you’re not yet ready to offer your own. Because even though you’re the only one for him, the only one who’s made him wish his heart could beat not just for life but for love since he was turned so many centuries ago, the only thing that matters to Daeyeol is your comfort and your happiness.

For as long as a genuine smile remains etched on your face, Daeyeol can find peace in your joy.

. . . . .

His hair is still slightly damp from the shower when the clock strikes midnight several hours later and Daeyeol looks up from his perch on the couch, frowning over his glasses at the two clock hands that signal his time to leave.

You look up too, squinting over your laptop at the clock. Daeyeol takes the moment to focus on the way your eyes still shine through the tiredness on your face. It’s a far cry from the rainy exuberance you wore a few hours ago, but it’s just as beautiful in a quieter, softer way.

A smile spreads over his lips, wide but a little sad, too. With this stolen moment of silent admiration comes the knowledge that it’s time for you to rescind your welcome, for him to make the lonely walk up one floor to his own apartment, for him to slide between cold sheets that won’t grow warm because his blood doesn’t flow and attempt to sleep while imagining you in his embrace. The next day will come sooner the faster he falls asleep, Daeyeol knows, and the sooner the next day comes the sooner he gets to see you, but that doesn’t seem to compute when all he wants is to feel your warmth by his side.

“I should go,” he says quietly, closing his literature textbook as he stands.

You nod, yawning. The urge to walk over and kiss your forehead is almost overwhelming but Daeyeol resists, only reaching out to pat your head softly as he passes by. “Mm, it’s late.”

Do you lean into his touch? Daeyeol doesn’t know. You’re always careful with your actions, careful in a way Daeyeol wishes you weren’t however much he understands, but this time when Daeyeol touches your face, he can’t help but hope you might have leaned in slightly, just slightly, even if it was unintentional.

“Goodnight, then.” He stops at the door to put on his shoes.

“Goodnight, Daeyeol.” You smile, though your eyes glint with a little something that looks like a mix of worry and… excitement? “Sweet dreams.”

He lingers a moment longer, debating whether or not to ask you if something’s wrong. Worry isn’t exactly characteristic in your expression, and even less so is the mixture of anxious excitement burning softly in your eyes. But he stops himself. It’s late, after all, and if you still look the same way in the morning, he can ask then when you aren’t so tired. His other shoe goes on and he swings open the door, glancing back one last time as you wave from the table.

One foot out the door, then the other. Daeyeol begins to close the door.

Then his eyes widen and he swings it back open before he can even comprehend his brief thought.

You don’t look surprised when he stumbles back into the apartment, clutching the doorknob so hard he knows it’ll break between his fingers if he doesn’t loosen his grip soon. If anything, a little smile curves your lips, shy and anticipating but gleeful, too, excited and glinting with a warmth that Daeyeol recognizes from Joochan’s portrait –

“You didn’t rescind your invitation," he breathes. “Did you –” he swallows, not wanting to consider the painful possibility but forcing it through his mouth even as hope blooms vibrant and full in his chest – “did you forget?”

The second it takes for you to open your mouth is excruciating, but his patience is rewarded when shake your head and smile. “No,” you reply, standing up. Daeyeol can barely breathe as you step forward, closer, eyes sparkling. “I didn’t.”

You’re close, so close that Daeyeol would barely need to move to slide an arm around you, to pull you into his chest and bury his face in your shoulder the way he wanted to so badly in the rain. He could lift his head, press soft kisses to your neck and jaw and cheek, moving towards your forehead and nose and then your lips –

Two warm arms wrap around his waist and Daeyeol stops breathing for real. Your body presses into his and Daeyeol winces slightly, wondering how you’ll react when you feel the distinct lack of a heartbeat beneath his shirt. But you don’t so much as flinch, only look up with a slightly uncertain expression when Daeyeol goes rigid beneath your touch. “Is this okay?” you ask, eyebrows furrowed.

“Yes,” Daeyeol replies, voice slightly choked for breath. “Yes, it’s everything I’ve – just –” He swallows. “Is this what you want? It’s not… not just because of how I feel, is it?”

At that, your expression relaxes, worry melting into exasperated affection. “Of course not,” you murmur, arms tightening around his body. Daeyeol almost gasps at the muted warmth that seeps through his shirt, rushing up his skin. “I trust you. I should’ve trusted you a long time ago, really. You’ve only ever treated me with love and care. You’ve never done anything remotely threatening to me and…” You lift your head from his skin and look at him with shining eyes. “I don’t believe you ever will.”

He moves, then, arms curving around your waist with maybe a bit too much strength but he grants himself a brief reprieve from years of constant restraint, allows himself to bring you close, close, closer as he tucks himself into your warmth, closing his eyes in bliss as your breath tickles his skin. “You had every right not to trust me,” he corrects you, murmuring into your ear. “I don’t blame you. When a vampire shows up in your life and you catch him feeding, of all things…”

“Still, Daeyeol.” His name takes a new nuance, spoken from your lips with love. “You’ve never done anything to me or anyone, really, not on purpose. You’ve only been loving and gentle and kind, and I trust you enough to give you my love.”

To give you my love. Besides his name from your voice and your laugh, Daeyeol has never heard anything lovelier to his ears. “I’ll treasure it,” he promises, pressing a soft kiss to your neck. He delights in the little shiver that races up your spine. “Forever.”

“As I treasure yours.” You pull back, smiling wide. “Do you want to stay the night?”

. . . . .

Somehow, Daeyeol ends up in your room, sitting on the bed uncertainly as he waits for you to come out of the bathroom. He doesn’t really know what to do – actually, what will you be okay with him doing? Will you allow him to curl into your warmth the way he yearns to, or will you want to maintain some space?

Your voice startles him out of his thoughts. “Daeyeol, I’m not going to bite,” you say, looking slightly amused as you reach around him to pull open the blankets. “That’s your job. Come on, get in or I’ll make you get up to turn off the lights instead.”

Like a child, Daeyeol slides between the sheets, letting you drop them back over him before switching off the lights. The room descends into darkness lit only by a sliver of the moon through the window as you settle into bed next to him, pulling the blankets over you both.

An arm slips under him and Daeyeol almost forgets how to breathe again when you bring yourself closer under the blankets, resting your head against his chest. “Is this okay?” you whisper, voice tickling his skin.

It’s okay. More than okay. Much more than okay. So Daeyeol just nods, pushing away the urge to take off his shirt and feel your warmth directly on his skin rather than through his clothes. It’s your first night in the same bed. You’d probably be uncomfortable. “Yes.”

“Liar.” You shift in the bed, the moon illuminating your face just enough that Daeyeol can see the eyebrow you’ve raised. “Am I making you uncomfortable? I can stop if you want.”

Daeyeol shakes his head as best he can. “No, no. I just…”

“Hm?”

To hell with it. Daeyeol swallows. “When I’m not around you, I feel cold,” he says. For heaven’s sake, if he was a human, his cheeks would be burning. “But when I am, I finally feel warm. And I…” He sighs. “I’d rather feel your warmth directly, rather than through my clothes.”

“… So you want to take off your shirt.”

His ears would also be red. “Yes. But if you’re uncomfortable –”

“No, it’s fine.” Your eyes look a little shy but it’s too dark for Daeyeol to really tell. “Come on, make yourself comfortable. I’m fine with it.”

“Are you sure? I –”

“Daeyeol.” You look up to face him fully as you smile wide. “Yes. I’m sure.”

The shirt falls to the floor and you pull yourself close once more. Daeyeol sighs as your warmth seeps through his skin, sending pleasant tingles all throughout his body as he curls into you, closing his eyes in delight. “Thank you,” he murmurs against your neck.

“Of course.” You shift slightly and Daeyeol blinks, ready to adjust to whatever position you find yourself in, but you only level your face with his, smiling brighter than the stars peeking through the window. “Do you mind…?”

It takes Daeyeol a moment to understand what you’re asking but when he does, he doesn’t bother giving you a verbal answer in favor of kissing you, eyes fluttering shut in bliss as you press back. His arm falls to your waist, curving over your body and bringing you closer as his other hand rises to caress your cheek. You sigh into his lips, your own fingers reaching up to tangle softly through his hair.

You break away for air, then kiss once, twice, three times more before it feels okay to stop. Daeyeol blinks slowly when you pull away the last time. His hand is still on your cheek and he rubs absentminded circles on your skin, soaking in the way you lean into his touch, and in that moment, he knows he could spend centuries waiting for your lips if it meant he would feel them, warm against his own, just once in a millennium.

“I love you,” you whisper, breath soft against his bare skin. Your eyes are fluttering shut but you keep them open, barely, just enough for Daeyeol to see the loveliness of your gaze before you close them fully for sleep.

He curls in closer to press a quiet kiss to your forehead. You don’t flinch from his cold touch, only sigh briefly before allowing your lips to curve sweetly, gently, as your eyes close. “I love you too,” he murmurs, kissing you softly one last time before settling into your touch.

Your skin bleeds heat into his, makes him feel a little more whole, a little more full, a little less like a blank, immortal vessel for the first time in centuries. It makes him feel as though his heart could beat again, could pump blood through his dead veins and turn him human once more. But even then, even if it can’t, it’s okay. As long as Daeyeol has you, as long as he can love you fully and feel the warmth of your affection in return, he’ll be happy, happier than he ever thought possible since the day he was turned.

Daeyeol smiles, pulling the blankets more securely around you as your breath evens into sleep.

He already feels warmer.

If you enjoyed, please don’t forget to reblog and leave a comment to tell me what you thought! Thank you for reading and have a lovely day <3

(1 reblog = 1 prayer for Daeyeol to keep this warmth :D he deserves it)

[odetogyus]

wait

↳pairing/s: idol boyfriend!yugyeom x fem!reader

↳genre: angst (w/ a happy ending lol), idol!au

↳warnings: profanity, mentions of alcohol consumption, trust issues

↳song: wait by maroon 5

✎author's note: idk what I was going through when I wrote this but this was from my 2018 archive and I think this baby needs to see the light of day,, so here it is!

—

"The concert should be done now," you thought to yourself while staring at your phone.

Since your brother's wedding was in 2 days, you didn't have time to fly to Toronto to see your boyfriend and his group perform. You've been on a few tours with them– sometimes working as a stylist for Yugyeom and the whole team. JYP himself even sends you an extra ticket to every single country the boys go to just in case you wanted to come with, but this time however, you had to stay home to help out with your brother's wedding.

It's been almost 3 years since you started dating Yugyeom. What started out as a very unexpected interaction at a dance showcase, later bloomed into something so beautiful. Your relationship wasn't always pretty. In fact, it's true what they say about the first year; it definitely is the hardest.

You've seen them grow, not just as artists but as people, too. You've built such tight relationships with each and every one of them, even the staff members. GOT7 was a family and you were over the moon to be a part of it.

After a few hours of waiting, you decided to take a hot shower before taking a nap. It was a tiring day for you and your family. The wedding was in 2 days and there were a lot of things left to do. You also knew very well that the boys come out exhausted after every show, and so you fought back the slightest feeling of worry in your head and fell into a deep sleep.

–

You woke up to the sound of your phone going off.

BREAKING NEWS

MEMBERS OF THE KPOP GROUP– GOT7, WERE SEEN AT A CLUB IN TORONTO AFTER THEIR CONCERT. MEMBERS MARK TUAN, JACKSON WANG & KIM YUGYEOM WERE SPOTTED HEAVILY INTOXICATED WITH 3 UNKNOWN WOMEN JOINING THEM AT THEIR TABLE. NO OFFICIAL STATEMENTS REGARDING THE INCIDENT HAS BEEN RELEASED BY JYP ENTERTAINMENT.

People you knew and didn't know were tagging you everywhere. Every photograph, every article, they all had their eyes on Yugyeom, and they all had their eyes on you, too.

Your brother's fiancée barged into your room shortly after the news broke out. She was always there for you, and the relationship you shared was a very special one. You trusted her, and you never hid anything from her after the first time she saw you cry.

"Y/N," your almost sister-in-law cooed. You both knew that it was very unlikely of Yugyeom to act that way, but then again, the people surrounding them aren’t always angels. No one really is.

Just then, the name you've been waiting to see finally popped up on your screen, but this time, you weren't sure if you had the guts to answer him.

"Should I answer?" You asked, sounding miserable as ever. Tears escaped your eyes, glistening like broken glass when the sunlight hits the surface.

"You need to hear it from him, Y/N. I'll be in the kitchen, let me know if you need anything."

Accepting the call, you swallowed hard enough and prepared yourself for what could either be the most painful truth you had to hear, or the biggest lie ever you had to believe.

"Y/N.. hey, please let me explain," Yugyeom's voice was incredibly raspy and shaky, and you knew damn well that he was in tears. It's only been a few hours since the incident, so it was safe to say that he was still quite hungover. You knew they were well taken care of, but what happened cannot be rewritten again. What's done is done.

"Go ahead," you answered. Holding back your tears is always the hardest when you know that you have no choice but to endure the pain.

"We had a few drinks, and we had fun. We had so much fun. The boys and I, the staff. Me and Jackson hyung tried the hose thingy, it was so– cool– but, but I'm sorry babe, I'm so sorry–"

"Do you just.. wanna talk when you’re not like.. this, Yugyeom? Because if you're gonna keep doing this, I might as well just hang up and talk to my fucking wall–"

Oh, the theatrics of a brokenhearted beast.

"No.. stop, listen to me, I'm trying to explain!"

"Okay, then do it," you said angrily. The tears from your eyes were flowing down uncontrollably. It was so painful that you couldn't even hear anything else but the sound of his lies breaking you continuously.

"Mark hyung joined us, and we got so drunk, and next thing you know, these random girls sat with us at the table. I don't remember a lot but– I think one even bit my neck– it hurts, and she– I think she sat on my lap but I think I tried to push her off but I passed out. I don't really remember anything else–"

"You know, Gyeom? Sometimes, I wish you knew what it's like to be the one that patiently waits for you to come home, hoping that the worries in your head just disappear. How could you be so irresponsible? Man.. how could you do this to me? To us?"

"Y/N, you know I love you more than anything else but for fuck's sake, will you please believe me? My head hurts so much and you're acting up! Jesus!"

Yugyeom knew not to push your buttons, but in that state of his, he pushed it all, not missing one.

"Well, if that’s the case then I’m sorry. I’m sorry for caring too much, and for being all up in your business all the fucking time. Have fun remembering how you got that stupid hickey of yours, I’m done–"

"No, you are not hanging up on me, Y/N. It was a mistake, okay? God, my head is killing me and I just.. need you to believe me. I drank too much, and I know it’s bad, but I swear to fucking God, I didn’t do anything to hurt you. I would never hurt you. But you need.. to stop being difficult.. you’re making things worse here–"

The tension grew even more. You were both screaming your lungs out at each other, thousands of miles away from the other.

"Really now?" You spat bitterly. That was it for you. The last straw. "Well then, I know my brother invited you to the wedding, but don't bother showing up. I don't want to see you."

Your harsh words must've hurt Yugyeom so much, that his screams of anger just managed to slip out of his already worn out body.

"You're really throwing this all away– huh? Almost 3 years worth of memories? Just because I made a mistake, just because I don't remember everything that happened to me while I was intoxicated? You think I wanted those girls to come close to us? You're so– Y/N, you really think I wanted to hurt you, don't you? So now.. you do this? You're really breaking up with me? On the phone? Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Trust, Yugyeom. Trust. You broke the most important thing we built. Do you know how hard it is to do this? To date someone like you? People send me death threats, Yugyeom. Just because I decided to be with you. Do you even know how I feel? Do you know how Mark's girlfriend feels? How Jackson's girlfriend feels? Because I do. We all fucking get it!"

"Okay, trust. But let me ask you Y/N, if things were so difficult, why are you still here? Why date me when you could've left? That's what you wanna do anyway, right? You wanna leave, you wanna be free, right?"

But it’s not freedom if it’s not with you.

The bitter taste of surprise was too much for you. It was never meant to hurt that much, but it did.

"Wanna know why I'm still here, Yugyeom?"

"Why," he spat coldly.

"Because I thought that– loving you, oh god, I thought that that was more than enough to believe that we'd make it. But at this point, maybe we're both just better off alone. Separate ways, Gyeom."

Yugyeom let out a faint laugh. The most painful laugh one could ever laugh. A laugh of defeat.

"You're really doing this, huh? This is what you want? You're really doing this to us–"

"You don't need to show up at the wedding.. I'll just, tell them about us after. We'll meet when we're both ready to talk. Be safe."

"Fuck this, Y/N. Fuck–"

And with that, you hung up.

Your heart was broken once again, not by the same person, but because of the same reason you kept your heart safe and hidden in the first place.

Trust.

Yugyeom was your true love. The man you believed to be was your person. The person you entrusted your fragile self to. The person you needed.

But maybe he doesn't need you.

Putting your phone on silent, you cried yourself to sleep, wishing you'd never wake up.

—

wedding day.

Your eyes were still tired and gloomy, but you were better. You haven't heard from him since the fight and although it hurt you too much to be that person to hang up and end things, you knew better than to mope all day and question your existence.

"You look so beautiful in that dress! I'm so happy you chose that style! It's just perfect," your brother's soon-to-be wife exclaimed. She was the one who held you tight when your heart broke for the wrong guy, and she was also the one who held you when Yugyeom couldn't. It's safe to say she's the sister you never had.

"Thanks, I'm happy to be here. I'm so excited for you and my brother. I don't know what you see in him but I'm thankful you stuck around."

The bride smiled with tears welling up in her eyes. "You stick around for the one you love, Y/N. Even when the storm hits and everything falls apart, wait it out, then love again."

The wedding venue was everything you imagined it to be. A beautiful pathway to the garden, red and white roses everywhere, and photographs of your brother and his soon-to-be wife hung from the stringed lights wrapped around the tall trees to create the most beautiful ambiance.

Your quick peek of the venue ended since it was almost time for the actual ceremony. You were one of the bridesmaids, and you had to be wherever the bride was.

From afar, a tall figure walked towards the venue in a red suit. His dark hair complemented his outfit, and his handsome face was the cherry on top of it all.

Yugyeom showed up to the wedding a few minutes before it actually started. He took his time exchanging words of happiness and support to your brother. Yugyeom's relationship with your brother started out like any other brother – boyfriend relationship, but the two ended up being very close friends. A few moments before announcing the beginning of the ceremony, Yugyeom found his way to his seat. He sat close to the front, but in the corner.

The ceremony began, and every second felt longer than it should have. Closing your eyes, you took slow, but steady, steps to the podium where your brother was. You both agreed to welcome the bride with your whole family present next to him.

dirty looks from your mother

never seen you in a dress that color, no

it's a special occasion

not invited but I'm glad I made it

He looked at you like it's the first time he's ever laid eyes on you. His heart thumped like crazy, seeing how your hair fell perfectly down the length of your spine, in a red dress that exposed most of your back. Yugyeom couldn't resist every urge to kiss you. Every thought of you possibly breaking up with him completely made the poor boy pale. He was madly in love with you, in every possible way, that losing you meant losing everything to him.

The moment you stood next to your brother, your eyes met his. The eyes you hated to look into, but missed the most. Yugyeom stared at you for a long time, before you both snapped out of the trance only you two were in. You saw him mouth a "wow" before facing the bride and giving her a hug.

Walking to your designated seat, your mind went crazy just imagining how hard it would be to keep your composure when Yugyeom would literally be inches away from you.

"Beautiful," Yugyeom said in awe as you sat next to him. "You're beautiful, Y/N."

Without looking at him, you extended your gratitude. "Thank you, Yugyeom," was all you could say.

You both tried so hard to focus on the wedding. For the most part, it felt like no one else was there. You were in the moment, and so was he.

The exchange of vows was definitely something. Every word your brother and his wife exchanged was pure love. And deep down, you prayed that the love you needed was Yugyeom's.

oh, let me apologize

i'll make up, make up, make up, make up for all those times

your love, I don't wanna lose

i'm begging, begging, begging, begging, I'm begging you

As if on cue, Yugyeom held your hand without looking at you. His hand was shaky, and so was yours, but you didn't pull away. You held onto him, too. You held onto him like your life depended on it, and you held onto the person that longs for you the most.

"I do," your brother speaks into the microphone, looking at his woman. Yugyeom holds your hand even tighter, saying the same words your brother said, loud enough for you to hear it. Only you.

I do.

The bride reciprocates, and tears immediately stream down your face as the rush of emotions take over you.

Not wanting to lose the love of your life ever again, you follow suit, and said the same words the bride said. Only for you and Yugyeom, it meant something else. Only something the two of you could understand.

I do.

You both stood firmly, not letting go of each other, when the officiator finally said the words everyone wanted to hear.

You may now kiss the bride.

Not wasting a precious second, Yugyeom pulled you into a tight embrace, holding your head against his chest. His lips planted kisses at the top of your head, and suddenly everything was right in the world.

The scent of his perfume was home to you, and it made you feel so much better.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm so stupid, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry," Yugyeom whispered, still keeping you in his arms.

"I'm sorry, too, Gyeom," you answered, trying hard not to let the tears roll down your cheek and ruin your makeup.

Yugyeom finally kissed you.

He kissed you without stealing the spotlight from the newly weds. He kissed you softly, but it was clear that he longed for it. For you. He kissed you just the way you needed to be kissed, reminding you that he is yours in full surrender.

"I love you, Gyeom."

You finally meet his gaze. The prettiest eyes you've ever seen, and he really was the best thing that's ever happened to you.

"I love you, Y/N. I love you."

Wait it out, then love again.

[where-dreamers-go]

Merlin x fem!Reader (Soulmate AU Part 2) (Text reupload)

(A/N: Hey, reuploaded this so that it’s not an external link.  Part One here.

Warnings: angst, fluff, romance.

Word Count: 4,709 words )

Camelot was in a time of peace. Soulmates were encouraged to be together and see one another without issue from stature. In Camelot’s past and in other kingdoms there was a sensitivity when it came to soulmates. Drama and angst were a given. Heartbreak and rendezvous were kept secret. It was still common, even back then, to keep one’s soulmate mark hidden for fear of talk and hidden agendas. Though times were changing the tradition was still held by most families.

Your family was no different aside from most family members knowing almost exactly what one another’s soulmate mark looked like. Most of the information you held about soulmates and what happened after they met one another was heard from those closest to you. Little bits of information here and there. Yet it was always stressed how it would be one of if not the strongest connection one could ever experience. A connection so strong that most could not fathom the entirety of it all.

You would gladly face that challenge.

On a cool afternoon, you and Merlin were to find out that apparently being separated for a long period of time wasn’t always an option.

At first it was the tugging, the usual but so much more of an intense pull towards one’s soulmate. Yet if one spent too much time away from their soulmate and it nagged into one’s mind long enough, it felt as if one was being pulled by their inner chest. It was almost to the point of having trouble breathing.

No one had cared to mention those details. Then again you had only met your soulmate a handful of days ago.

So there you sat on your legs, three days after meeting your soulmate and bent over a barrel full of soapy water with half-washed bedsheets.

Having been entrusted with knowing that he had magic there was an added weight upon your shoulders. Not to mention a lingering worry in your heart. Your soulmate was always with King Arthur and the knights of the round table. Not to forget that he never wore armor nor chainmail to protect himself while going out on hunts. Or worse. You only knew of a small amount of stories Merlin had told you recently. Those stories kept getting riskier and more dangerous in their descriptions of what had to be done. You started understanding Gaius’ behavior towards the young man. You just dearly hoped he didn’t have to do anything of that again or soon.

Everything was per usual, collecting used bedsheets from the rooms of the castle and going downstairs to clean them. Not what you’d call fun, but it was fine. You had not run into trouble in the tasks before, however your life had changed a lot recently. Regardless, you had been left to your own devices in the vast room with your mind wandering. It hadn’t taken long until you were hoping that Merlin wasn’t too busy and that the King was taking time off from teasing him.

Once you thought about it, you dearly hoped that Merlin was alright.

Images of Merlin running through a dark, moldy, and soldier-filled castle wasn’t the best to be filling your mind’s eye. No armor and unfamiliar halls added to the picture. Worry, fear, and anxiety rolled through your being in moments.

An uncharacteristic pull in your center drew you back to the present.

“Ah!” You squeezed your eyes shut, hoping for the pulling to pass. Even the burning of your mark when you were about to meet Merlin wasn’t nearly this intrusive.

There was work to be done.

Hitting your fist against the barrel was a fruitless attempt to get your mind off of the pull. Your teeth ground together uncomfortably as you avoided biting your tongue. Even then, breathing through your nose was difficult still.

Another pull drew out a painful gasp from you.

The rapid sounds of boots hitting the floors outside gained the attention of your ears at the last second. They only became clearer and louder as you focused on your breathing.

“(Y/N)!”

Merlin rushed into the room. Nothing had a chance to become an obstacle as he made his way straight to you. In a moment he was pulling you away from the barrel and into his embrace for much needed contact.

Relief hit you like a gust of wind. Your chest felt lighter and your airways clear.

“Are you alright?” Merlin huffed, blowing some strands of your hair out of place.

“Yes. Now I am,” you allowed yourself to lean into him. “Thank you.”

It was much easier to breath for the both of you.

Merlin silently thanked the Universe that he had made it to you before anything serious happened. One of his hands cradled your head to his neck. Warmth and safety shared.

“Are you alright?” Your fingers meandered across the back of his shirt.

He swallowed, “I’m fine. You had me worried. What happened?”

“I-I...I don’t know. Thinking about you as I was washing those sheets. I was just worrying. Perhaps more than I thought I was.”

To Merlin, he knew you were having those feelings and he detected your fear. He felt the tug to be near you. It was very apparent. Something that he could not ignore. One that he didn’t.

“Do you think it was because we were apart?” You murmured.

One of his hands stroked your side as your breathing gradually started evening out. All the while your hands rubbed the texture of Merlin’s blue shirt between your fingers for added reassurance.

“We should ask Gaius.” Merlin piped up. “He might know more about what happened.”

“Should we go now?”

“Yes, now.” He pulled back to look at you. “The chores can wait.”

Walking into what was turning into your new home, the pair of you found Gaius standing behind one of his work tables.

“Gaius.” Merlin quickly made his way over to his mentor, his hand still clasped with yours.

“What’s the matter?”

Eyebrows knitted together as he visibly braced himself for whatever Merlin had to relay to him.

“I felt an growing sense of worry and fear that wasn’t my own and then there was this very persistent pull. My first thought was to find her and she was in a worse state than I was, but we were fine once we were together.”

Letting out a breath of air, the older man looked relieved.

That made you wonder again what he could imagine Merlin getting into. You decided against imagining anything else at the moment.

Merlin waited patiently despite the questioning look in his eyes.

“You perceived her feelings, correct?”

“Yes,” Merlin nodded.

“Alright. (Y/N), you felt distressed?”

“Yes.” You answered with slight growing suspicion.

“The pair of you are still fresh in meeting one another, however there could be other factors to what just happened.”

“Like what?” You questioned.

“The time allowed....or rather the time you can both stand being physically apart may depend on how one of you is feeling. Some days you might need the other more than the day before.”

“So if Merlin was in trouble....I would know?”

“Why do I have to be in trouble?”

“I’ve taken the privilege of telling (Y/N) about some of your shenanigans.” Gaius raised his eyebrows at the young man. “But, yes, I think either one of you would know when to find the other.”

“Sounds handy,” you mused. “But I could do without the intensity of it all if one of us was not in any real trouble.”

Merlin rubbed a hand over your back in circular motions.

“So it all varies depending on us? That’s all?” You pressed further.

“That is the general idea,” Gaius answered. “Which was why I recommend that you both....sleep near one another. For the time being.”

Both your eyebrows and Merlin’s shot up in response.

“We’ll move the cot into Merlin’s room for now. Then we will see if that will help until you two are more accustomed to being soulmates.”

. . .

On the first day you had met Merlin, you had learned more than a handful of knowledge about Camelot than you had your entire first week of living there, especially when it was just you and Merlin in his room. You couldn’t help but to ask Merlin what happened to between Arthur and Guinevere that Gaius was referring to when they found out. Evidently, they had gone through a lot. Especially being they didn’t know what the burning and such of their marks meant when neither mentioned it to the other. Your soulmate didn’t spare on details that he had of the pairs ups and downs, many of which he was a part of. Then again he had plenty of stories to tell you later.

By the time dinner had long ended, you were about to return home when you were told otherwise. You stayed the night. It was much to your surprise and Merlin’s when Gaius highly advised it. The older man did not hide the fact that staying in your home for the night wouldn’t be wise when you hadn’t spent much time with Merlin, your soulmate. Something about it being healthier for you and giving you peace of mind in the long run. The Court Physician promised to let you both know when you would be able to sleep in your own home without worry.

Close proximity was in mind. However, you had never heard of such recommendation even from your family. Perhaps you were missing something.

You figured the older man knew much more than he let others have knowledge of. Also being that it was a rather strange and personal request to have you and Merlin stay together. Even Merlin found it a bit odd. It raised more questions for the pair of you.

Then again, Gaius did have restrictions set up. Meaning they had set up a cot for you in their small physician’s home. One that they hid with a folded room divider. Although Merlin had offered you to take his bed, you declined much to his many counter arguments.

That night your mind whirled with memories and feelings stuck with you. It was still freshly thrilling to have met your soulmate. That and to feel such unconditional love and acceptance. The two of you had barely met yet it was as if you had known him forever.

By morning it felt completely normal. Felt as it should be. Neither of you wanted to go to work at all.

It was only through motivation and Gaius’ warnings that the pair of you went to work.

. . .

The armory of Camelot. The ever present scent of metal and the slight lingering smell of perspiration. Putting away training equipment was of course left up to Merlin.

He spent most of time thinking about his soulmate rather than his next chore. That was neither a surprise nor a problem for the sorcerer. Merlin had spent numerous moments alone wondering what it would be like to meet his soulmate. Being as he had past such an achievement in one’s life, he happily indulged himself in thoughts of you.

Even in the short time he knew you there were flutters and warmth inside of him when simply gazed over at you. Every morning he awoke, you were the first to cross his mind. When he’d see Arthur and Gwen walking together, he’d remember the softness of your hands. Each step on a stairway caused him to smile as he was reminded of how he finally met you. The one he cherished and would cherish every day of his life.

Merlin could not wait to learn more about you and in turn could not wait to fall further into his relationship with you. Every sunrise and each sunset was another day to share and experience life.

He paused in his actions at the feeling or perhaps sensing that you were nearby. Merlin peered over at the doorway, waiting for any movement.

An infectious grin appeared on his face once he saw you enter the space.

You both greeted each other with wide grins and a welcoming hug of warmth.

“What are you doing here? I mean of all places, (Y/N).”

“I just wanted to see you.”

Fingers lightly traced patterns on the other’s hands. Grins turned to smiles and the armory was the last thing on Merlin’s mind.

He kissed your forehead.

“Merlin, why do you have dirt on your face?” You reached a hand up and attempted to rub it off. “You didn’t take a nap outside while Arthur was training did you?” You teased.

“No.”

Like clockwork, Merlin let out a yawn. He mentally cursed.

“Maybe we shouldn’t have stayed up talking so long,” you pursed your lips.

“Maybe, but I enjoyed it.”

“Even the part where I woke you up by poking your leg?”

“That was my favorite part.”

“Was not,” you laughed.

You removed the rest of the smudge on Merlin’s face and poked his side.

Again, he kissed your head.

Merlin adored you and each second spent with you. He wondered how many more days Gaius would recommend you staying in his room. It wasn’t that he minded at all, however he felt as if there was something he wasn’t quite understanding from Gaius’ end.

. . .

Prior to your little scare while washing dirty laundry, you had other types of startling moments, but the good kinds. Thank goodness. For your soulmate Merlin had always seemed to slip in out of nowhere to greet you with a hug and a kiss on the temple. Sounded cute enough, however he could literally be silent upon approach.

Less than scary, but a little unsure was during the first morning of knowing you were soulmates. Merlin had formally introduced you to the knights which was practically an event in itself. Those who were closest to him either hugged you or took your hand in a short ‘hello’. The support and happiness was enough to ease your mind in knowing that you weren’t able to tell your family in person. The knights beaming at the sight of you and Merlin hand in hand could brighten any day.

Even though you had been in Camelot for some time already, realizing you were soulmates with Merlin opened up a whole new world of friendships. One of those being Gaius who had welcomed you in with a smile and open arms. Not to forget his advice that you didn’t mind receiving, he was the Court Physician after all. In time you’d grow to have even more people to rely upon.

. . .

Perhaps two hours since you last saw Merlin and you had eaten a noon meal, you were returning to your chores with a large empty basket in hand. Working inside of a castle seemed to be just as much work as up-keeping the farms and such back home.

As you passed by another castle servant you smiled. Some had already found out that you and Merlin were soulmates. The kitchen cook gave her condolences.

Even with Merlin’s friends quite excited about him finding his soulmate, you and Merlin still had to keep their soulmate marks secret. A flying golden dragon was a common mark. Too dangerous and risky to let anyone know. Added that it wasn’t proper to be walking around and showing off your soulmate mark. Even if there were those bold and curious enough to ask what it was.

Glad that you weren’t lugging around another hefty load was an added perk to your already fine day. That was until you were spooked.

You were walking down a long stretch of hall in the castle when your wrist was abruptly grasped and you were pulled between a wall’s indent, hidden from view.

“Merlin.” Your tone was stuck between a scolding and relief.

“Hello (Y/N),” your soulmate tucked you into his embrace.

“You startled me.”

“I’m sorry,” Merlin ducked his head to be hidden in the crook of your neck.

Humming a little, you dropped the empty basket at your feet in exchange for clasping your hands behind his back and keeping him close.

It was such instances that made you realize how much you enjoyed affection.

When Merlin held you, you felt both grounded and weightless in your presence. It was something you shared mutually. A closeness you both craved no matter the distance.

The whole world seemed to quiet and light up all at once while in the little hideaway you both had created.

To be frank, you were a little surprised how Merlin was able to get away for a moment. Even in the short time knowing each other, you had come to realize just how much work Merlin had for himself each day. Between keeping his true nature and self a secret while protecting Arthur, Camelot, all the people he cared for; chores for Gaius, and chores from Arthur; it was a wonder he didn’t pass out from sleep exhaustion. Apparently, as you learned, Merlin was use to it. You came to understand exactly why he had literally flopped onto his bed on more than one occasion. You’d never laughed at the action since then.

Of course you had your own job as a servant in Camelot’s castle; something Queen Guinevere was happy to hear because that meant you’d be close enough to Merlin. It was something that the King and Queen of Camelot had discussed shortly after Arthur had found Merlin with you surrounded by a mess of laundry on the floor. The couple wanted to make certain that you wouldn’t be too far from Merlin. They cared <i>a lot</i> about their friend.

No matter what happened or what you did, at the end of the day you were with your soulmate, Merlin. Safe, warm, and happy together.

Interestingly enough, during one of your nights together, you had heard from Merlin that Arthur and Gwen had swirl marks behind their left ears. His story even lead to him telling you how Gwen had discovered Arthur’s mark first when the pair were having secret meetings together.

You quite enjoyed listening to Merlin’s stories late at night when he could tell you ones no one else knew about. Your favorites so far were how he met his friends and some really funny stunts he had witnessed. Most of which so far involved Gwaine and Merlin’s involvement one way or another.

It wasn’t every day that you could talk so openly with someone you truly connected with.

. . .

Almost two weeks had passed since you had met and a little less than a week since Gaius had deemed it safe for you to stay in your own home at night. A certain someone walked you home at night and left after a long embrace.

Merlin was missing your company. It didn’t take much for you to know. Despite both feeling the same Merlin knew that you did have your own home to upkeep. Added that you were both strong enough to spend some time away from one another even if neither of you actually wanted to. Merlin counted himself lucky that he didn’t have to find excuses to be with you longer those first few days. The other nights that followed seemed almost extra and not singularly necessary as foretold.

However, questions always arose in the sorcerer’s mind referring to Gaius’ decisions. It wasn’t until the first night you were sleeping back in your own home that through a stare down and a serious expression at the dining table that Merlin was able to get Gaius to tell him another reason why you were kept under their care for well over two nights.

“Because I wanted to make sure there weren’t any....side effects.”

“What kind exactly, Gaius?”

“The magical kind. You are powerful, Merlin and there is no one out there like you. I had to make sure that your--(Y/N) didn’t suffer any sudden side effects because of being away from you too soon. All soulmates are effected differently. I wasn’t about to have her out alone and frightened when she would be safe with you. It’s one thing to have soulmates separated just after meeting one another and showing an emotion uncontrollably. It’s a completely different story when one of the soulmate’s is a powerful sorcerer.”

“You were afraid that (Y/N) would unconsciously use magic.”

“I was. There’s no telling what your connection could lead to, Merlin.”

“I know that it will be something great. I believe that.”

It was afternoon, the sun shining bright high above and a light breeze in the air. Merlin had everything planned; giving Arthur and Guinevere their afternoon meals to carrying specific supplies out of the castle without you spotting him. He was a little too good at that.

The sorcerer had asked you earlier to meet him in a specific spot outside. He had even marked the location with a small scrap of dark blue fabric on a low tree branch. Just in case.

Arriving at the designated location, his heart was pumping faster the closer he was to your form. Sometimes he found it hard to breathe, to focus on something so simple. If he thought too deep about how all of it was real, tangible, you were in his life.

You turned around to face him before any words were able to leave his mouth.

“Merlin,” you beamed and he felt his heart contract.

His eyes taking in how the afternoon light fanned over your features nicely, distractingly. As you walked up to him, he felt more aware of life the closer you were.

“(Y/N),” Merlin finally found it in himself to speak.

You both hugged each other. Feelings of glee, excitement, and minimum anxiety were perceived between you both.

“So what are we doing out here exactly?” You inquired, eyes all alight.

“It’s a little surprise.”

“Little? I’ve found you’re not the kind to have ‘little surprises’ in your life.”

“That’s fair.” Merlin stated before taking a step back to bow and offer you his hand. “Shall we?”

“We shall,” you grinned as giddiness had overtaken you.

Happily, you accepted his hand and allowed him to lead you passed more trees basking in the daylight.

After a little bit of walking, you both came to a quiet spot where a blanket and a small basket was laid out. He lead you straight there.

“When did you have time to do this?” You asked.

“Oh, that part’s a secret.”

You laughed lightly as you both sat down atop of the fabric.

Merlin had really gone out of his way for this.

Would he always have surprises up his sleeve?

Surrounded by nature and positive energy the two of you ate snacks, talked, and more than enjoyed the other’s company. You took a couple of opportunities to steal glances at Merlin when he wasn’t looking. It was more of a challenge than it sounded. It wasn’t long until your curiosity about his magic reappeared. Given that you were both alone it seemed safe enough to ask him.

“So...I know that you can make flowers just appear in your hands, but can you move things or is it just elements? Plants?” You asked, gazing up at him from your lounging position.

“I can do a lot more than grow plants.”

“You can move rocks?”

“Yes,” Merlin answered, finding your phrasing amusing. “I can control parts of weather, stop something or someone from falling, lite fires, and help cure people. Some of which are from spells.”

Mouth agape, you stared at your soulmate.

“Stopping a bucket of water from spilling. Lightning once, but I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Lightning? That’s...that’s frightening, but...it is natural. The power of nature. I guess it isn’t so different than stopping water midair. Then again, I can’t really picture you using lightning or conjuring it? What I mean is that....how can it or you be actually frightening if you were using me to stay warm the other night when you were walking me home?”

“True,” Merlin ducked his head a bit.

“It isn’t scary at all. Just different.”

Blue eyes glanced back to you.

“It’s a good thing I really like different.”

Crinkles were visible by his eyes as he chuckled. Deep and airy all at once.

You adored every crease and every happy sound he emitted. Knowing that you had years to learn and love his quirks and charms filled your heart with an added zing. To have a life intertwined with someone such as Merlin was everything you needed and everything you hadn’t expected.

Birds chirped and communicated nearby as you and Merlin continued relaxing underneath the shade of trees. The soft hum of nature and her energies set the perfect balance for your picnic date.

A raise of your hand and you were poking a finger where you knew Merlin’s mark rested behind his shirt. A golden shape of a dragon hidden from view.

Your lips pressed together tightly as he gently took ahold of your hand and pressed your open palm over his chest. Internally, you sensed the mixtures of strong emotions he was experiencing. All centered around you. The joy, the compassion, and the ever expanding yearning.

You released a breath you had only became aware that you were withholding. In the back of your mind you knew that Merlin wanted to share more with you. Not knowing exactly what yet sensing you might any second caused your heart rate to rise. You were certain he noticed.

Merlin lowered himself further onto the blanket and held himself up on an elbow. The natural light appearing from between the leaves above added extra blue shades to his already cerulean eyes.

With a light touch, Merlin brushed back some of your hair away from your face, his eyes memorizing each small detail of your bright eyes. In a fraction of a moment his gaze slipped lower. Slowly, however steady without an ounce of hesitation his lips greeted yours with a gentle caress. Sensitive and aware, he pushed no further.

As you reciprocated you felt his lips morph into a small smile. It was then that you truly felt his heartbeat underneath your palm.

The kiss was a blissful moment seeming to suspend time. In midst of it all you encountered a weightless, bright, and inviting feeling. What it was exactly, you weren’t sure of its name. Whatever the feeling was you did not want to part from it.

“I love you, Merlin,” you murmured as his forehead rested on your own.

You could feel a golden heat radiating from him as he grinned, the skin crinkling beside his eyes dearly.

“I love you, (Y/N).” Merlin declared, pulling you closer and into his arms. “I love you so much.”

The sorcerer never wanted to let you go. Every touch, every word, and every breath of air felt right. He wanted to live in this moment of pure happiness forever. To see you smile and feel the warmth of your skin.

He adored you. He cared and cherished you. The sorcerer’s heart could burst with the sheer amount of love he had for you.

Love.

Merlin knew what it was, he knew what it meant. That golden feeling.

Love wasn’t new for him, but this love. This love that he had reserved for you was entirely different. It consumed him in the best way he could ever imagine. It was the kind of love that could build kingdoms, soar over mountains, and dive into the deepest trenches of the ocean. A type of love that could overcome and conquer anything while bringing light with each new day.

That was the love Merlin had for you.

[chibinekochan]

I saw your post about requests, I hope I'm not to late! I fell in love with your Lucifer & Diavolo AU where they adopt a child! Any wholesome moments with the kid & them or the brothers/undateables would be so heartwarming! I especially love Beel so maybe Beel, as the biggest and with a big love of his family, seeing the kid and being like "so tiny, must protect" and becoming like her personal giany buddy 🥺❤

Ahhhh that au is so wholesome. I'm happy to revisit it. Note that the reader is a toddler-aged kid.

2.8k words

My Obey me! Masterlist

It's a normal evening with your loving parents. At this point, you are used to living with the demons.

It's chaotic at times but they all really adore and spoil you.

One evening you are plotting a surprise party for Lucifer's birthday.

Knowing that Diavolo just can't keep a secret, you rope the brothers into helping you.

"Uncle Mammon, I need your help." You know your very well-trained puppy eyes will do the trick.

"Umm sure… what do you need?" Mammon has a bad feeling already.

"I want to surprise Papa with a party but it's so hard to do. He is like a superhero who knows everything." You pout a little in frustration.

"Hearing you call him Papa makes me feel so uneasy." Belphie sighs from the couch.

"More like a spy or something." Satan chimes in.

"Belpie don't be grouchy and if he is a spy then he is super cool." You are still unable to say ph but nobody minds that.

Both just shake their heads.

"Mammon, will you help me?" Your puppy eyes get even bigger.

He shifts around uncomfortably. "Well I'd love to but sadly I'm super busy."

"But Uncle!" You use your best pouty face.

Causing Mammon's face to twist in agony. "Trust me little one, I'd help but Lucifer has giving me this task so I have to do it." He obviously feels bad about it.

You cross your arms. "I'm pretty sure my power is bigger than his."

"Well, yeah of course. You are the most powerful one without a doubt, but Lucifer can be pretty scary if I don't do my job." Mammon fully agrees but he knows what punishment will await him if he doesn't do as Lucifer told him to do.

"Papa isn't scary at all." You huff.

"Now, now no reason for that big frown on your face." Asmo chimes in. "I'm just the right demon for you. I happen to have some time and as your most awesome Uncle I will help you with that party of yours." He talks to you with a big grin.

"Wow, you are the best Asmo! You beam at him with a big smile.

"Totally unfair," Mammon mumbles.

"Too bad Mammon. I yet again get to save the day." Asmo grins in a winning manner. "So what are your plans?" Then he faces you.

"I want to make loads of flowers and string them up and then I want to make a huge cake for everyone to enjoy and we also need music. Oh and snacks and games of course." You remember your own birthday parties with glee.

"I see you have some pretty big plans. You can count on me for the decorations. I ask Levi for some music. He has a big collection that even Lucifer envies. For the cake, I'm sure we can entrust Barbatos with that." Asmo is already fully in planning mode.

"That sounds like everyone else will do the work, but I want to do it." You huff lightly.

"I see, in that case, everyone will assist you. Satan, you and Belphie will help us with the flowers." Asmo can see that you won't budge so he quickly changes his plans.

"Hey, why me?" Belphie grumbles.

"You make great flowers." You try to encourage him.

"I'm sure mine is better." Satan shoots back.

"Great, I will tell everyone to come and bring supplies. Let's make some room over there." Asmo whips his phone out and sends an SOS to the other brothers.

"Yeah, I will make a sample so they all can look pretty." With great joy, you make your way over to the table.

"Some need this more than others." Belphie glances at Mammon.

"Hey, I saw that, and let me tell you my paper flowers can win prizes." Mammon seems to be seriously offended.

"Say that when you aren't too busy slaving for Lucifer." Belphie teases Mammon.

"Just wait and see. Once I'm back I'll show you!" Mammon basically rushes out of the room, almost running into Beel on his way out.

"Huh what was that about?" He is carrying a big box with him.

"Don't mind him. Just join us. We are making flower decorations." Asmo just shrugs, already halfway into an elegant-looking paper flower.

"Alright, but why are we making them?" Beel places the box down, and there are parties and flower-making supplies thrown into it.

"I'm throwing a party for papa's birthday." You tell him with great enthusiasm.

"I see that's a great idea, but why isn't Diavolo doing that?" Beel knows that it's usually his duty.

"He is very busy, so I took it on myself to do it." You are feeling troubled thinking about your busy dad.

Beel nods with understanding. "I see, then we need to make sure it's a great party."

"That's the right spirit, Beel." You smile at him.

"I'm not that good at making these though." Beel sighs at the paper.

"It's pretty easy, let me show you." With great pride, you show Beel how to make them.

Beel copies your moves and manages to get a pretty decent flower.

"Good job Beel. I knew you could do it." You pat him on the arm.

"You are very good at this." Asmo smiles gently.

"I'm trying to become reliable." You smile sheepishly.

"That's a pretty big word there, little one. Great job learning that one." Satan nods with a smile.

"Thanks I'm trying to use bigger words but it's not easy." You sigh slightly.

"No worries, you are getting there." Satan encourages you.

You nod feeling motivated.

"Have you made new friends lately?" Asmo asks curiously.

"We got a new kid the other day but they are shy. It's hard to play with them." This only bothers you slightly.

Asmo nods in understanding."Just give it time. Kind of like with Levi."

"What about me?" Levi just enters the room, like on command.

"We were talking about a new kid who is shy." You look at Levi, wondering what his advice might be.

"I'm not shy, just socially awkward." Levi looks troubled.

"Isn't that the same?" You don't have an idea.

"Children's words are indeed sharp tools." Levi sighs deeply.

You look at the others seeking help, but they all shrug.

"Come here and make some flowers," Belphie commands Levi over.

"Ummmm okay." Levi sighs. "I got the music you wanted, Asmo."

"Just put that next to my makeup." Asmo points over to the couch.

For a while, you all make flowers until you decide it's enough.

"So next we should make a huge cake. I also want decorations. Maybe a castle cake would be great." Your eyes sparkle just thinking about it.

"Hmm, that might be an issue since we don't have that much time." Satan knows it can take days to make a cake like that and there isn't enough time at all.

You pout, feeling very disappointed.

"How about cupcakes? We can decorate a bunch of them. They will look great and it's easier to make a whole bunch of them for everyone." Asmo brings up a great plan.

"That would be awesome but a birthday needs cake." You agree but aren't fully satisfied.

"How about we make a special cake for Lucifer and cupcakes for everyone else?" Beel thinks it's a reasonable compromise.

"That sounds great. I will make his cake and you all can make the cupcakes." You agree to that plan.

"I will help with that. The cupcakes would be too tempting anyway." Beel knows you can't do it by yourself.

"And I keep Beel from the cake." Belphie chimes in with a smile.

"Sounds great. Do we have all we need?" You look at Satan.

"We have enough for the cake and some cupcakes. I will go and buy more ingredients while Asmo and Levi can handle the first batch of cupcakes." Satan has a very reasonable plan.

"Okay." You agree and all of you walk over to the kitchen.

It's a bit chaotic giving everyone space to work but you somehow manage.

In the middle of mixing the dough, with the help of Beel, you come to a sudden realization.

"We forgot about candles for the cake." You feel pretty upset by this realization.

"It's not a big deal. We can't put enough candles on the cake for Lucifer's age anyway." Belphie shrugs.

"It's very important. Without candles, it's not a birthday cake." You sternly look at Belphie.

"Hmm we could put one candle on it would that be enough?" Beel seems to understand that this is important to you.

"Dad said it's rude to remind adults of their age so that would be a good idea." You remember Diavolo saying that when it was Asmos birthday.

Beel nods. "I will get it for him. Belphie you take over supporting the little one."

"No, I need to get the right one. I will go!" You blatantly refuse.

"Okay, then I will assist you with that." Beel can't send you alone and he knows you can be pretty stubborn so this seems to be the best solution to him.

You nod.

"Can you take over for me, Belphie?" You look at Belphie.

He yawns. "Sure, have fun you two."

"It's not fun, it's an important mission!" You sternly speak.

"That's right." Beel agrees with a nod. "Do you want to ride on my shoulders or hold my hand?" Beel looks at you with a smile.

"I can walk alone too." You turn away from him.

"I know but I will feel lonely." Beel gives you puppy dog eyes, he is almost as effective as you are.

"Fine, but only because I don't want you to feel lonely." You pout slightly and then take his big hand.

"Thank you. We will be off Belphie." Beel nods towards Belphie, who just waves to us while mixing the dough.

Together with Beel, you make your way to the store.

You stand in front of the candles to pick the right one.

Beel gets distracted for only a moment by a new chocolate bar.

That is the moment when a demon approaches you.

Your parents have taught you what you are supposed to do if a stranger approaches you.

"Hey, are you all alone here?" The demon has a friendly tone but his demeanor doesn't match that.

You keep your distance and shake your head.

The demon comes closer. "Not wanting to talk?"

"Stay away." You loudly and sternly tell the demon off.

The demon seems to find that pretty funny.

You get ready to yell out loud and glare at the demon.

Then the demon looks scared and walks away.

You huff proudly and look for Beel. Who without your knowledge has seen the demon and glared at him, scaring the demon.

"Is everything alright?" Beel is worried about you.

"Yeah, I'm a strong one after all." You puff your chest.

Beel pats your head. "Definitely."

"Oh, this candle is good, what do you think Beel?" You suddenly see a purple candle.

"Looks perfect, let's get it." Beel smiles and grabs the candle, he is just glad that this didn't affect you at all.

You pay and return to the kitchen.

A lot of cupcakes have been done by now and Mammon has also returned and was promptly put to work, distracting Lucifer.

Belphie passed out but the cake is all ready to be decorated.

You beam at the sight. "It looks great."

"All thanks to your hard work." Beel smiles and starts to prepare for the frosting.

You apply it, creating a very colorful cake in the process.

"What do you think?" Proudly you show the cake to everyone.

"Looks great." Beel approves.

"It's so stylish, I'm jealous." Asmo takes a picture of the cake.

Everyone else also approves.

"Now all that is left is to decorate the room." You start to feel tired but can't wait to see Lucifer's face.

"You can leave that to us." Levi can tell you are getting sleepy and is just trying to help you.

"No, let's go." You wave him off, feeling responsible for the party.

Everyone just sighs.

So you all start to decorate the ballroom, Barbatos helps with this part as well.

It takes a while and your tiredness is getting worse but you are stubborn and push yourself.

The brothers get worried about you and look at each other.

"Hey, can you help me, little one?" Belphie is sitting on the couch.

"What do you need?" Despite being tired, you are eager to help.

"I need a nap, but can't get to sleep so can you help me pass out?" Belphie yawns to support his claim.

You are a bit wary at his request, but you know he needs his rest. "What do I have to do?"

"Just lay here next to me until I pass out." The couch is pretty big so it's not an issue.

You hum a bit, wondering if this is a ploy to get you to rest.

"Pretty please?" Belphie uses his sleepy puppy eyes against you.

He learned well.

"Okay but only for a little bit." You feel a bit reluctant but join Belphie anyway.

"Thank you." Belphie smiles and you pass out next to him before you even know it.

Once you wake up the whole room is decorated and looks very beautiful.

You look at it in awe but then feel disappointed since you didn't do everything on your own.

"Hey, little one." Asmo is the first to notice that you are awake again.

"You did such a great job with this all." Barbatos smiles at you.

"But you did the most." You pout.

"No, you did the most. I mean come on we can't do anything like this without a fight." Mammon sighs.

"Wow, that's surprisingly honest of you Mammon." Satan laughs.

Mammon huffs. "Well anyway, it's time for you to do the most important job anyway."

You light up instantly. "What job is that?"

"Get the birthday boy, of course." Barbatos calmly states. "I will get Lord Diavolo."

"Ah, of course. Get ready everyone, I'll be right back." You basically runoff.

"Be careful when running," Barbatos yells after you, you wave him off.

You dart around the corners to Lucifer's office. Almost crashing into him.

"Hold on right there! What's the big rush, little one?" Lucifer seems confused.

"Papa, you need to come with me right now!" You don't have time to explain and grab his hand.

"Is there an emergency?" Lucifer wonders what the rush is about.

"No, just come." You feel impatient and start to drag him behind you.

"Alright, I'm coming." Lucifer figures that everything will make sense soon and simply follows after you.

You keep dragging him until you reach the ballroom. "Close your eyes."

Lucifer does just that, still feeling very baffled.

You open the door. "Now you can open them."

Lucifer removes his hands and sees the colorful decorations.

"Happy birthday Lucifer." Everyone cheers loudly for him.

Lucifer is pleasantly surprised.

"Did you all prepare this for me?" He is pretty surprised.

"No, it was all the little one." Asmo winks at you.

You don't want to lie though. "We did it all together. My uncles helped me a lot."

"I see, thank you, everyone." Lucifer smiles at everyone.

"Hell froze over for all I know," Satan mumbles lightly.

"Let's cut the cake, I'm hungry." Beels stomach rumbles.

Everyone giggles at this.

Diavolo brings the cake in. "It looks so lovely don't you agree?" He smiles brightly.

"It really does. You did that, didn't you?" Lucifer smiles gently at you.

"I did." You admit shyly.

Lucifer blows the candle out and compliments the cupcakes before having a slice of cake.

"Do you want a slice too little of one?" Lucifer gently asks you.

"But it's your special cake." You want to have some but feel rude about it.

"It is even more special when I share it with the people I love. Diavolo will have a slice as well." Lucifer cuts you a piece.

"Alright, then I will enjoy it." Your eyes sparkle seeing the cake.

Everyone enjoys the party after this.

At some point, you pass out, no wonder after all the work you did.

"Look at that being all peaceful," Diavolo whispers.

"Did you have any idea about this party?" Lucifer wonders about it.

"No, they must've heard that I was too busy to plan anything fancy this year." Diavolo feels a bit bad about that.

"Let's bring them to bed." Lucifer carefully picks you up.

In your sleep, you snuggle close to his chest. Softly snoring.

"Our child has a bright future ahead of them. I wonder what kind of partner they will get when they are older." Diavolo muses quietly while walking beside Lucifer.

"I don't want to hear anything about partners for the next 1000 years." Lucifer sighs.

Diavolo chuckles. "I want to see them happy but I have to agree."

They both place you carefully in your bed. Leaving you to dream about your next great adventure.

[moonchildsaurora]

Garden of Words

✤ prince/king!Yunho x tailor!reader ✤ genre: Prince AU // angst, fluff ✤ t/w: sfw, lots of bittersweetness, rated PG ✤ count: 3.5k+ ✤ [ part 2 ] of Lacuna miniseries

a/n - look, when I was writing my plan out for this, my notes only centered around the garden scene. . .and here we are 3000+ words later hahahaaaaaa, this is what happens when the mind goes “what if” and gets invested in the before/after rather than just the now 😔 one day I’ll be able to write shorter, sweeter pieces but today isn’t the day. I’d like to whole-heartedly thank anyone who reads through this entire piece, for your time and hopefully it was worth it. Also I’ve decided to have a little bit of fun with subtly featuring other members in each others’ mini stories, so see if y’all can spot who the next character we’ll be visiting next! 💙 P.S. paragraphs in all italics are flashback scenes!

“Excuse me, are you the fae of the garden?”

The watering can of butterscotch shade in your hands tilted back to pause in the sprinkling of water droplets on the freshly bloomed red gardenias. Turning around, you found the source of the small tinkling voice.

“Good morning Young Prince,” you greeted him, setting the watering can down on a nearby bench before making your way over. Sunlight shone abundantly down on the Royal Glasshouse, some areas where the stained-glass windows stood were bathed in colourful hues. Where the light hit your peachy robe made of georgette-silk gave an ethereal glow to your figure.

The Young Prince looked at you with wonder as you bent down to his level before speaking to him again, “and how did you manage to find your way here, little one?” You recognised the mahogany velvet capelet that wrapped around his form; after all, just two weeks ago were you tirelessly hand-sewing those dainty pearls that left a trail of constellations across the velvet surface.

“Hmm…I followed the pretty blue butterflies!” the Young Prince excitedly pointed to where several of them were fluttering over the yellow hibiscuses. Of course he would, he is the King’s son after all and his smile was perfect proof of that too.

Your eyes soften and the sides of our lips tilted further up, “Well they definitely have led you to a special spot haven’t they?”

“Please don’t tell anyone!” the Young Prince turned to look behind him quickly, as if to check if the coast was clear before taking a few shy steps closer to you. He brought up his little hands to cup them around his mouth and anticipating that he was going to whisper, you leaned in with a listening ear. 

“I’m not supposed to come here on my own but Father brings me here sometimes and always tells me that the flowers here are most happy because of the fae who cares for them. I wanted to meet the fae because they never are around when Father and I are here.”

With great effort you suppressed the giggles that threatened to spill out, not wanting the Young Prince to think that you were laughing at him but rather at how adorable of a pout he formed by the end of whispering his little secret to you.

“Who told you that you couldn’t come here by yourself?”

“Everyone says that this glasshouse is Father’s most favourite and no one should come in without him saying ok. Even Mother doesn’t come here.”

Now it was all starting to make more sense to you, trust him to give you a title like fae of the garden. Letting out a gentle sigh, you gave the Young Prince a reassuring smile and held out your pinky.

“I promise not to tell, if you don’t.”

His eyes sparkled immediately as his little pinky was quick to curl around yours, “Oh thank you great fae!”

The soft spot in your heart grew once more.

“Would you like to see what fresh blooms will greet us today, Young Prince?” 

The initial shyness he had melted away and the eager tug on your hands with a delighted laugh was a clear answer to your question. You let him lead you down the cobblestone pathway, patiently answering his questions whenever he’d point out flowers to you along the walk.  

“Ah! Father’s favourite flower!”

The both of you slowed to a stop where the sea of multi-coloured freesias clustered, like a protective circle, around the Juliet Rose bush. With glowing apricot coloured petals that looked tender to touch, the rose bush stood dignified in the middle. Oh, the amount of care and love that went in to growing these roses, it truly is the treasure of the Royal Glasshouse.

You could still feel the phantom prickles on your fingertips from when you’d accidentally catch on one of the thorns whilst pruning. But you also remembered the warm hands that used to encompass yours and those same hands fought many more thorns to build this piece of Eden just for you.   

“Shall we get some to give to him later on?” you suggested, having swiftly gone round the corner to retrieve the pruning knife from the crate.

“Yes, yes! Oh but won’t our shoes get muddy going in there?”

“Your Father didn’t mind losing many good white trousers to the dirt when he used to tend to the garden.”

“Father did that?” gasped the Young Prince, his eyes locked on as you moved with practiced ease. Still unsure as to whether he should risk a scolding from his tutor later on, he stayed behind the pebble border.

You hummed in reply, tip-toeing to avoid disturbing the freesias to reach the rose bush. “He drove the palace tailors mad with the amount of buttons he’d lose…but it was all worth it in the end.”

Your hands cupped one of the larger roses, observing the intricate layers of petals within the heart of the bloom. Just like the layers of memories that stirred within you in that moment.  

”Not again Your Highness!”

Shoving the tunic you had been sewing to fix up a rip at the seams to the side, you hurried over with a handkerchief towards the Crown Prince as he came out of the Royal Glasshouse. When he wasn’t attending his classes or royal duties, all free time was spent on the garden. The only rule was that no one but the Crown Prince was allowed inside.

“Blossom, we’ve talked about this. You know I’d prefer it if you used my name.”

“That’s the last thing you should be worrying about now! The Queen won’t be too thrilled to know that you–“

A snow white camellia was tucked behind your ear, distracting you to a pause. Your hand immediately reached up and your fingers were met with the morning dew still upon the petals.

“This is first of the few that have successfully bloomed.”

“You’re distracting me on purpose, Yunho!”

“Well it got you to say my name, did it not?” he laughed, crouching down slightly to allow you to help wipe some of the soil off his cheeks. Even as you continued to fret over his mess of a stained blouse that certainly will cause a ruckus over afternoon tea, Yunho looked at you with so much affection that it would’ve made the rest of the flowers blush.

“You are impossible,” with no real bite to your words.

“And yet you’ve stayed by me all this time.”

You weren’t just the child of the Queen’s personal seamstress, no, you were Yunho’s first real friend within the palace. He treasured the friendship, for being with you meant Jeong Yunho could breathe freely. 

The hallway had a woeful chill despite the midday sunlight streaming through the arched windows. Perhaps it was reflecting your current state of mind, your feet scurrying with haste to carry you to the safety of your chambers. Only behind closed doors did you allow your walls to crumble.

“It’s settled then, we shall entrust you with the task of creating the wedding gown. After all your sewing skills are immaculate and the Princess herself personally requested for you.”

Your mind kept replaying the announcement, echoes taunting the reality right in your face. Extremely confused at the absence of feeling on top of the world that you’ve been tasked with such a prestigious request nor were you jumping with joy knowing that Aethevintis and Cilon were officiating a strong alliance through a royal engagement.

“Every tailor in the kingdom would’ve killed for this job! Soon you’ll be making a name for yourself!”

The palace staff showered words of encouragement and your mother couldn’t be any prouder…

...yet it did nothing to ease the piercing cold emptiness that invaded your shattered heart.     

“Blossom that would be considered as assault against the Crown Prince.”

You threw an unamused look his way, right after you had nearly kneed Yunho in the face when he effortlessly hitched you over his shoulders. Without so much as giving you a valid explanation as to why he arrived unannounced at the tailors’ room, only to whisk you away from your half-sewn bodice.

“Some of us need to work, Yunho!”

“You’ve been working a fair bit lately, I simply miss spending time with you.”

Now that you have actually acknowledged your feelings towards him, you couldn’t afford to let such words feed the false hope; not when you knew there will be an inevitable split in your pathways. You had been purposely avoiding him since preparations for the Engagement Ball have started, under the guise that you needed complete focus on your commission. It numbed the hurt inside temporarily, but you couldn’t deny that you’ve missed him.

Terribly so.

“Where exactly are you taking us?”

Scrunching your nose slightly at the smell of hay and heavy worn leather upon entering the stables, you noticed the saddle was already on Yunho’s Friesian stallion. Had he planned this beforehand?

“On an adventure!”

Of course, Yunho may have forgotten to notify you that he was supposed to be at a council meeting at that moment instead of bolting out of the stables like your lives depended on it.

He needed to breathe again and you decided to run with him for once, rather than away. The faint shouts of his name could be heard in the distance but consequences be damned if it meant seeing his radiant smile be set free and feeling the steadiness of your entwined hands.

“Watch your step.”

For whatever reason you couldn’t fathom, that Yunho somehow managed to sneak away from his own Engagement Ball without getting noticed and now was guiding you through an alternate and poorly-lit route towards the garden. Had it not been for his insistence that this matter was of great importance, you would’ve dragged him back in to the Grand Hall yourself.

Not even daring to think about the implications of his future wife being left, having to wait inside and what should happen if any of the guests or palace staff saw you with the Crown Prince in this questionable state?

“I’ve already talked to Captain Song and requested for his guard unit to ensure this area is kept clear for tonight, so you needn’t worry.”

His warm hand that held onto yours gave a reassuring squeeze, dampening your anxiousness just a little. You ended up facing the entrance to the Royal Glasshouse, the window panes were crystal clear in the dark that you could see the stars that hung above in the night sky in the reflection. Admittedly this place hadn’t graced your mind in months and you immediately felt disappointment towards yourself for not checking in with Yunho over time about his progress.

As you were about to speak, your vision suddenly goes pitch black.

“Hope you don’t mind but it’s a surprise,” Yunho whispered softly and only then did you realise that those were his hands covering your eyes. Wordlessly you nodded and allowed him to lead you in, an array of floral scents hitting your senses almost immediately, indicating that you both have made it well in to the glasshouse.

Something brushed against the top of your head unexpectedly and you flinched back, hitting Yunho’s solid chest.

“It’s ok, it’s just the blue jade vines. I’ve got you.” You wished your heart would stop fluttering as you felt him shuffle around you.

“Had it been anything else, I would’ve been right out the door and never stepping foot in here again,” you murmured.

You heard Yunho’s low chuckling before, “And leave me behind? That’s harsh. Who would I ever share this with then?”

His hands lifted and you blinked a few times to settle the initial haziness. Your breath caught in your throat as you took in the view; there were lanterns both hanging from the roof and ones scattered around to illuminate the interior with a soft glow, fireflies danced about unbothered and even with the vast amount of plants it wasn’t a suffocating space.

Taking tentative steps to look at some of the flowers up close, you couldn’t help but let out a breathy laugh. Just when you thought Yunho couldn’t get any more incredible than he already is.

“Yunho, this is…you really did it! From which fairytale did you pull this garden out of? All of this is exquisitely stunning!” you said, gently running your hand over the pink and white baby’s breath bushes.

Unbeknownst to you, Yunho’s barely keeping himself together under his calm façade. His heart has been yearning to just go against all odds and take you away with him but that meant condemning you to a lifetime of hardship, in a world where tradition doesn’t take too kindly to change.

He would never do that to you.

If he couldn’t be free to love you openly, then he’d love you in all the ways that required unspoken words. He poured his time and love into creating something, untouched by others and solely from himself, that he could give to you.

Just like he already has with his heart.

So when you heard him call your name, rather than the usual term of endearment he’d use, it set off the butterflies in your stomach. He reached out for you and you met him halfway.

“Did you know these are my favourites? They’re still young but as they grow, you’ll see that they aren’t just ordinary roses. They’re called Juliet Rose.”

Yunho showed you around the garden, telling you of the different flowers and their meanings. Peruvian lilies for lasting bonds, bluebells for devotion, gladiolus for strength, chrysanthemums for happiness, carnations for faithfulness. You were so caught up with keeping track that you nearly missed what Yunho had said next.

“–for an undying love or you’re the only one…”

“What...did you say?”

A barely-there whisper as you choked the words out. The running water from the mini fountain in the lily pad pond was the only sound among the silence that stretched between you both. And then there was the feeling of dread again, that you needed to run. Far away. Now. “W-We should go, th– your future fiancée is wait–“

You barely made it past 4 steps before Yunho caught your wrist and this time, he wasn’t going to let go. He called your name again.

“Please look at me.”

Perhaps it was the desperation in his voice that got through to you, telling you that you’d deeply regret it if you were to leave. So you willed your heart to stay through the pain and to stay for Yunho. It wasn’t until you felt damp velvet against your cheeks that you realised it was from the tears that cascaded down from your eyes and soaked in to Yunho’s suit, for he held your shaking form close to him.

“I’m such a fool.”

“Well, I guess we’re both just fools very much in love then.”    

And then it dawned on you.

This entire garden being Yunho’s vow to you, which made you cry even harder than if he would’ve just confessed out loud to you right from the start. 

Your hands grasped onto his back, fisting the fabric as you buried yourself further in to him. Noting that he smelled of clementines on a cool breezy summer day, you ingrained that scent to your memory. Wishing upon all the stars above that time would stop and allow you both to just live in your little garden.

“And with your permission, could you allow this fool to be selfish for a while more?”

A light kiss to your forehead before your face was tilted up, sore tear-stained eyes meeting his matching ones. “You? Selfish? Impossible.” Keeping your voice soft, partially from not wanting to break the peaceful ambience as you clumsily wiped his tears away.

Yunho knows he already has been selfish especially with time, he can’t stop it but he can draw it out at least. And he’s selfish in wanting to take from you when he knows he cannot give back entirely. But if it’s once in this lifetime that he gets to have you before having to return to the cruel world of normality, then he will get on his knees to beg for your forgiveness for being selfish.

He pours out everything in to the searing kiss he places on your lips and whilst you never imagined your first kiss to be like this, at the very least you finally have closure. Swollen lips, rosy cheeks and warm hands that refused to part until the very last second. Words that you both have been meaning to tell each other over the years are woven into poetries.

The garden kept it all, kept your love safe and your hearts safer.

“Do they make you happy too?”

Just like that, you’re brought back to the present. “What gave it away little one?” you asked, glancing to smile at him before focusing on cutting off two large roses.

“You were making the same face at the roses as Father does when he’s happy…when he tells me about you and the garden,” replied the Young Prince with honesty. The blue butterflies from before came fluttering around the roses that you held in your hands, much like the ones that stirred inside you once more when you heard the words.

Some things never change, do they?

You started to take the thorns off the stems with the pruning knife before replying, “They do, and this is my happy place.” Once you deemed the stems were safe enough for the Young Prince to hold, you made your way back over to him. You knelt down and presented the roses to him, “What do you think?”

He cautiously took the flowers that dwarfed his small hands, peering in to the layers curiously and taking a whiff of the delicate scent. “They’re really pretty! I think Father will like them very much!”

“Shall we go look for a few more blooms? You can create your very own little bouquet.”

The Young Prince made little noises of excitement and rushed to hold on to your hand once more, continuing on the quest to pick more flowers. It wasn’t until awhile later when you were showing the Young Prince how to arrange the flowers he picked to tie them together, that you heard the sound of approaching footsteps.

“Father!”

If Yunho hadn’t already learnt how to harden his heart these past years, the scene before him would’ve surely made him cry with happiness. For a second he could pretend that this was real, that you were the one with the aquamarine diamond band around your finger and that he was coming to join his actual family for tea in the garden. His eyes never wavered from yours, even when his son came barrelling in to his legs waving his bouquet merrily in the air.

“Your Majesty,” you greeted with a formal bow, not missing how Yunho’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.  

“Father, I finally got to meet the great fae! We spent all morning finding these!”

Only when you subtly flicked your eyes down towards the child did Yunho respond, quickly reaching down to take the bouquet from his son’s outstretched hand and bringing him in for a hug too.

“I had a feeling I’d find you here, sneaking off from your tutor again,” amusement lacing Yunho’s tone, “and what an intriguing choice of flowers you’ve got there.”

Father and son both adorning mirrored grins on their faces, “they’re for you, do you like them? And I’m sorry for sneaking in here Father!” said the Young Prince, little brows furrowing slightly.

“Very much, thank you…the both of you. And it’s ok as long as skipping your lessons doesn’t become a habit,” said Yunho as he ruffled his son’s hair affectionately and drew his gaze back to you.

“Unfortunately we must take our leave now.”

“How come? Do we really have to go?” The Young Prince seem to have inherit the puppy-dog eyes from his father, putting on the best pout he could muster as he looked between the two of you. Yunho shook his head, bending down to pick his son up. “Remember Grandpa and Grandma are coming by for lunch? Your Mother even asked the cooks to prepare our favourite dessert,” as if attempting to appease him.  

“But…I wanted to spend more time here!”

“You’re always welcome back here little one, if His Majesty is ok with that–”

“Of course, although I hope it won’t be too much trouble?”

You gave a gentle smile and eyes twinkling with mirth, “Considering he hasn’t lost more than two dozen buttons within the last two weeks nor requires daily stitch repairs, I’d say it won’t be too much trouble at all Your Majesty.” That drew out an apology and light laughter from Yunho.  

You walked the King and the Young Prince back to the entrance of the Royal Glasshouse, and just before stepping out Yunho turned to you once more. “Have you stopped by the pond recently?” the random query puzzled you.

“I thought I saw something interesting growing there the other day.”

Please go.

Right after waving a goodbye to Yunho and his son, without a care of making it obvious you hurried to where the lily pads floated at. It wasn’t hard to miss the bundles of serene blues nestled in the damp soil near edge of the pond. As you got closer, the realisation of what those were made your heart soar and ache at the same time.

A couple of tears fell onto the sea of blue petals as you reached out to cradle them with your hands.

“As if I could ever forget…my beloved King,” you whispered to the forget-me-nots that silently delivered Yunho’s words for you—

This garden is forever yours and so is my love, always. Never forget that.  

[gilbertsannegirl]

The Scientist

Merry Christmas to @rootedbutfl0wing! Sorry it’s a couple of days late, but I really hope you do enjoy it! Hope your Christmas was wonderful, and it was a lot of fun getting to know you a little bit :) And thank you @kindredspiritssecretsanta (@royalcordelia) for once again hosting this wonderful event! Once again, cannot wait till next year x

Read it on AO3 / fanfiction.net

2019 Fic

2018 Fic

Summary: Based on The Scientist by Coldplay, which I thought kind of fitted Anne and Gilbert a lot (have a listen if you’ve never heard it before! It’s a beautiful song). Major moments of their relationship from Gilbert’s point of view, along with missing scenes and an AU ending, definitely enemies to friends to lovers. Hope you enjoy!

Come up to meet you; Tell you I’m sorry; You don’t know how lovely you are

 Red. He saw it, red hair. Never was there another colour like it. Gilbert slowly turned in his seat to see a scraggly, freckled girl seated next to Diana Barry. Who was this girl? The sun glinted steadily through the window onto that hair that had drawn his eye in the first place. Why it’s as red as carrots, he thought, continuing to do nothing but stare at the girl who he had never seen in his life. She glanced his way, to which he winked at her, smiling smugly that she’d looked.

After a muttered word to Diana, the girl gazed out the window and, at least what Gilbert began to believe, blatantly ignored him. Feeling the need to see those grey-green eyes look his way once more, he began to rack his brain for ideas. Carrots…

“Carrots,” he hissed softly while tugging gently on the red hair he’d already grown so fond of, “Carrots.”

She whirled around in horror, her eyes flashing a delicious shade of green. “How dare you!” she screamed, and the next Gilbert knew was she’d gone and smashed something over his head. Was that a slate? Either way he found himself apologising profusely to Mr. Phillips who’d rushed to the scene.

Ann Shirley has a very bad temper. Ann Shirley must learn to control her temper. * Was written on the board, and the girl grimly marched to the board placing an ‘e’ at the end of each Ann. Anne Shirley. What a beautiful name for a beautiful girl. Anne stood seething under that sign for the rest of the afternoon, glaring every now and then at the boy who started it all.

At the end of the day Gilbert waited behind for Anne to leave after her lecture from Mr. Phillips. Intercepting her at the door, he glanced into her eyes, “I'm awfully sorry I made fun of your hair, Anne," he whispered contritely. "Honest I am. Don't be mad for keeps, now." *

The lovely girl with the golden, red hair snubbed her nose, and marched away with Diana at her side. Despite this, he grinned dumbly. She’s simply lovely, he thought his eyes following her down the road as she made her way towards what he assumed to be her home.

 I had to find you; Tell you I need you; Tell you I set you apart

 With the mayflowers in hand, Gilbert set off towards Patty’s Place, smiling sweetly at what could come of this particular visit. He found Anne in the orchard her head buried in a book, and he smiled slightly at her usual Anne-ness.

Handing her the Mayflowers, he carefully told her of his plans for the summer: staying in Kingsport to work at the Daily News Office. Gilbert watched as her face fell, hoping this was as good of time as any to ask her the question he had yearning in the back of his mind ever since that fateful day he called her carrots. She quickly composed herself however, and before she could make any more excuse to leave to pick violets, he said, “Things can't go on like this any longer. Anne, I love you. You know I do. I - I can't tell you how much. Will you promise me that someday you'll be my wife?” **

Anne quickly turned away shaking her head. Gil’s face fell immediately. Perhaps he was deceiving himself all along. Had she really never loved him? What about at Echo Lodge? Surely there was something in her eyes then. She begged for his forgiveness, and he gently, in person and heart, let go of her hand.

“There isn't anything to forgive. There have been times when I thought you did care. I've deceived myself, that's all. Goodbye, Anne.” ** And as he walked away that day, malice entered his heart. He must never think of Anne Shirley again.

 Tell me your secrets; And ask me your questions; Oh, let’s go back to the start

 Gilbert sat, his work sprawled across his desk as he ran his hands carefully through his curls. Biting his lip, he thought carefully about what was bothering him so. It has been a year, a year to the dot. His eyes glistened with tears once more as he remembered the terrified look on Anne’s face as he told her of his love for her. Oh, how he regretted it now. Shaking his head, he recalled their beautiful friendship, dwelling on the secrets that she had lovingly entrusted him with.

“Gil,” Anne said, a little melancholic after a particularly deep conversation between the two of them, “Could I tell you something? Something I’ve never told anyone else?”

He looked at her curiously, “Not even to Marilla or Diana?” At the shake of her head, he swallowed carefully, “You know you can tell me anything.”

“Well, I never really thought of it till now. Do you really think anyone could love me? I mean romantically? I’m afraid that I’ve not grown up surrounded by love that I don’t know what I’m looking for. Marilla and Diana, they think me foolish with my fantastic ideals of love. But when I was about 5 or 6, I was living with a family who’d hired me as a work hand – to look after the children, you see. I remember their eldest son was much older than their youngest children. He was about 15 or 16. He wrote poetry and was melancholic. He was the only one in that household that ever paid any attention to me and snuck me food when no one was looking. I didn’t love him romantically of course, I was only 6, but I feel that’s where this all sprouted from in the end. Don’t you think it’s strange that these memories come back to us so many years later?”

Gilbert had stopped their walking a while back. He looked deep into her eyes and whispered, “Anne…”

Anne cleared her throat at the intimacy in his voice, and Gilbert immediately thought himself an idiot for letting such intimacy come about in this private moment, “Um, I should… go. I’ll see you later Gilbert.”

Thinking back to this moment now, just a few weeks before they went to Redmond, he knew how idiotic it was to ask for her hand. He wasn’t the brooding hero she had longed for her whole life – he was plain old Gilbert Blythe, ex-best friend of the most remarkable woman to walk the earth. Yes, she was…

 Nobody said it was easy; It’s such a shame for us to part; Nobody said it was easy; No one ever said it would be this hard; Oh, take me back to the start

 Gilbert saw the radiant girl – no, woman – waltz into the newly decorated hall on the arm of Royal Gardner. Her figure was dressed in an apple green with a low scooped neckline, and her ruddy tresses were laced with small snowdrops. She’s simply beyond beautiful tonight, and you can’t have her. He sighed, lacing his fingers with his ruddy curls, and pacing near the wide window that showed the snow covered land. His best friend – ex-best friend, he scoffed – was on the arm of another man and if the whispering around him was true, she would continue to be on his arm forever.

He felt a gentle tap on his shoulder, and he swung around to see Christine Stuart with a small smile gracing her lips. “Gilbert, are you ready for our dance? The band is set up now.” In the short while of pacing, the room had come to life. Women and men dressed to the nines, chatter erupting and creating an atmosphere of warmth. He nodded and grabbed her hand, placing it in the crook of his arm as they meandered to the dance floor.

They twirled and swayed slowly to the tune that was being softly played. Violins, piano, and flutes all filling his head with sweet song. Not as sweet as Anne, the thought rudely interrupted. He shook his head, gracing a glance at the couple dancing not two feet away from him and his partner. And I guess that is the man who will sit and read her Tennyson by firelight. Yes, but you would do that for her too…

“Gilbert, is everything alright?” He quickly looked up and then down, realising that he had stopped their slow dance and there were people hurrying to avoid crashing into them. “You’re awfully pale. Did you want to sit down for a spell, or perhaps get some air?”

“Um, yes please. I just need to be alone for a little while. Will you be alright? I’ll be back by the next dance.” Christine opened her mouth, but Gilbert had already started walking away continuing his pedantic running of fingers through his hair. Oh, why did you ask her to marry you anyway. You ruined everything; she could still be on your arm as a friend – best friend – not on the arm of that Royal guy. He gasped in the cold air and his hardened heart frosted over as the rivers seeped from his eyes.

 I was just guessing at numbers and figures; Pulling your puzzles apart; Questions of science, science, and progress; Do not speak as loud as my heart

 Every day Gilbert placed one foot in front of the other to pull himself out of bed, through the door and into the gates of Redmond to face his studies, and it was paying off. Another year without Anne; another year of topping every class. It was the easiest distraction from the rushing thoughts and escorting Christine around to various social gatherings. Pouring into schoolwork was always something he had enjoyed, but especially now when it was the only thing in his life that he could fully control. Especially when flashes of red hair and green eyes invaded his dreams every night. Especially when he couldn’t have her.

 Tell me you love me; Come back and haunt me; Oh, and I rush to the start; Running in circles, chasing our tails; Coming back as we are

 It hadn’t been so long ago that they were walking through Hester Gray’s garden – she was picking flowers and he was desperately trying to see more in their friendship. Days often turned to dusk while they were together. And oh, they could talk, or rather Anne could. In every memory he had of her, there were glimpses of moments that he had misconstrued as love. Fleeting touches – of course they were by accident – meaningful glances – Miss Lavender’s wedding, I think she did love me then, perhaps for a moment.

Anne was still very much on the arm of Royal Gardner at every social gathering, while Christine Stuart was on his own arm. The distractions of schoolwork and being up for the Cooper prevented Gilbert from taking in much of the gossip that surrounded the couples. In the back of his mind, he knew what they were saying. Gilbert to wed Christine and Royal to wed Anne. He knew the gossip around his love life was not true, Christine was engaged to another man and he didn’t think of her in that way. But Anne… All of those rumours could very well be true. Where would that leave him?

“Gilbert!” No… it couldn’t be her. “Gil!” And just like that her red hair was staring him in the face.

“Anne?”

“Yes, of course. Gilbert, I just wanted to congratulate you. It seems we are both on the honours list, I’ve just come from the dean’s office. Here,” she shoved a piece of paper into his hands, “see for yourself. It’s all so exciting!”

And in that moment Gilbert allowed himself back to those friendship days of Lover’s Lane, the Dryad’s Bubble, the Lake of Shining Waters, and imagined what it would be like to be with her in those places now. She continued to chatter but stopped when he suddenly gathered her into his arms. “Thank you, Carrots.” And he walked away, leaving her mouth wide open and a few tears gathered on her eyelashes.

 Nobody said it was easy; Oh, it’s such a shame for us to part; Nobody said it was easy; No one ever said it would be so hard; I’m going back to the start

 That moment of the honours list sustained him for some time. She was radiant at convocation in her dress with his flowers. His promise to her all those years ago. If we make it to graduation I’m sending you a bunch of Lilies of the Valley. The Cooper’s Prize was his and Anne had made the honour’s list for English. Well, of course. In the times that he has known her she has been the storyteller, and so honours in English was never a negotiable thing.

The dance began and through the crowd he could see her. She was once again in a shroud of pale green taffeta, his flowers laced through her hair. Everything slowed as they made eye contact with one another. He stumbled towards her, dropping Christine from his arm. As if in a daze, he made his way through the ballroom. But then he saw the haze of her eyes, and the shock in her face as she turned towards the entry of the room. She began to run out into the cool of the early summer night.

In that moment Gilbert knew exactly what he was doing, and yet his knees never stopped knocking, his hands never left his curls. He was going after her. And this time nothing was going to stop him. In the craze of the ballroom, he flung himself around dancing couples and out the door. In the moonlight he saw the pale skin of her throat accentuated by the curls let loose down her back.

“Anne!” She stopped her dazed walk but did not turn to face him. He quickly caught up to her and placed both hands on her cold shoulders. “Anne-girl, what’s wrong?”

“You did it again.” She murmured, which he barely caught through the howling wind.

“What?”

“You call me Anne-girl, you send me gifts, flowers, you never break your promises. And yet you look at me in the same way you always have, even after I broke your heart. Gil? How can you still look at me that way? I’ve never deserved it Gil… I’ve never…” It broke his heart more to have this precious girl crying in his arms over unspoken words, glances, and touches. But he did speak his heart over two years ago in that orchard. Could it be that she’s changed her mind? “And now, you’re going to marry Christine and it’s all my fault that I never understood… I never understood…”

“Anne-girl,” he said in reverence, “is that what this is about?” She pulled her head off his chest to look into his kind, hazel eyes, and he reached up to wipe away her tears. “I’m not engaged to marry Christine. It’s all silly rumours, one’s which I never paid much attention to anyway. You see… I have a dream. I persist in dreaming it, although it has often seemed to me that it could never come true. I dream of a home with a hearth-fire in it , a cat and dog, the footsteps of friends – and you!” ***

And there was once again that moment in which Anne looked at him like he thought he must look at her and he knew there was no separating them again.

 *Anne of Green Gables Chapter XV

**Anne of the Island Chapter XX

***Anne of the Island Chapter XLI

[ancientstone]

Alright so AU where Geralt doesn’t realise he’s been given a decoy Ciri

Perhaps Geralt goes to fetch Roach, maybe someone stops him to mention the ballads they’ve heard or some guard decides to question why he’s there, either way, he doesn’t notice the hidden passage in the palace, and therefore, not half an hour later, leaves Cintra not with Ciri sat scared under a cloak on his horse, but this girl:

In my head I’ve taken to calling her Alice, so that’s her name now.

Full name: Alice Cavannah of Cintra

Calanthe needs a child who can pass as Pavetta’s daughter, and it just so happens that currently staying in the palace for the banquet set to take place that night is a nobleman and his family - in particular, a nobleman who is on the wrong side of Calanthe’s temper, has been trying to redeem himself for years and gain a better position in court, and has a daughter roughly Ciri’s age.

For her parents, the decision wasn’t hard, mainly because her Father, who she is almost completely distant to, declared that she would go. In comparison, Alice is far closer to her Mother, but that doesn’t stop anything as her Mother goes along with whatever her husband says, merely absently nodding her consent as if being asked if she would like fish for dinner.

Alice also has an older brother, one who would be knighted not a few hours later (the knighting scene in episode one), and sending off their daughter in place of Ciri and having a son knighted in Cintra firmly puts their family name in Calanthe’s good books, much to their delight.

It also helps that Alice had a similar schooling to Ciri, and knows of the local nobles, lords, and ladies. If they tried to play off a peasant girl, their ploy would be blown within minutes.

“You’ll be back soon, I’m sure.” Calanthe promises breezily as she digs through Ciri’s wardrobe to find a dress for her to wear, to give her a more princess-like appearance. “Once all this nonsense with Nilfgaard has blown over, the Witcher will bring you right back.”

“Yes, your majesty.” Alice whispered, squeezing her hands together tightly to try and save off crying.

She’s told to quickly says her goodbyes, and then gets a cloak dumped over her head to avoid prying eyes who could call out the fraud. The Witcher, who she is told is named Geralt of Rivia, the Butcher of Blaviken, helps her onto a horse, and slowly they leave the city, Alice glancing back to see if her parents are watching. They’re not.

Her brother is, though. He waves at her from a window. She hesitantly waves back.

So, they head out, a tense silence between them. Alice is scared stiff, mainly because she’s never heard much about Witchers, being in Cintra most of her life. She knows Calanthe hates them, and doesn’t entrust this Witcher to look after her granddaughter, so tries to be as quiet as possible, less she angers the man with two very sharp-looking swords. 

Alice is also terrified that Geralt is going to figure out that she isn’t Ciri, and, not being a princess, will be killed for it. Her parents are unlikely to avenge her death (gods, her death might even be good for them - sacrificing their only daughter in the name of the Queen is sure to get them higher titles), so it wouldn’t matter if he did.

She spends the time nibbling her lip, a habit her Mother is always scolding her for, and praying to any God willing to listen to the thoughts in her head that she sees this out alive.

Geralt, meanwhile, is having a Panic™

What do you say to a princess? How does Ciri expect to be treated? Will she mind camping, or will he have to get inn rooms every night? Does he have enough coin for that? They gave him a bag of her belongings, does she have a bedroll, blankets, more suitable clothes for travel, better shoes? Is it rude to ask? 

The only other princesses he’s ever met either stabbed him in the gut or tried to eat his organs. Ciri probably won’t do that. He hopes. Then again, if she’s Calanthe’s blood, maybe he’ll be dead by morning.

Should he take her to Kaer Morhen? Or will the Nilfgaardian threat blow over before they get there? Is it better for them to head to the Blue Mountains or should they just hide out in the forests somewhere and wait and see?

Whatever he decides, the one thing he does know for sure is that this girl is completely petrified.

“It will be okay, Princess.” Geralt says roughly, as awkward as anything. “No harm is going to come to you.”

Her eyes are huge as she stammers, “T-Thank you, Witcher.”

“Call me Geralt.”

She flinches, squeaking, “Thank you, Geralt.”

Fuck, Geralt thinks.

They don’t come to any inns as dusk begins to fall, so Geralt tries to find the cleanest spot he can among the trees for them to make camp. He helps her down, and she shies away from his offered hand as if expecting to be hit before eventually taking it, and then sets about making camp.

Turns out, the palace didn’t think to give her anything practical, surprising for the granddaughter of the Lioness. The bag is mostly dresses, shoes only suitable for palace floors, and a hairbrush and a few toiletries.

He goes to swear, and then reminds himself not in front of the Princess.

“We might have to get you some new clothes.” He says, and she jumps at the sound. “We want to hide from Nilfgaard and anyone else who may try and find you. That will be easier if you dress plainly.”

What Geralt expects, he doesn’t know, a bit of a tantrum, perhaps? Something about how a lady of her status can’t go around in cheap fabrics like a commoner? Tears?

He doesn’t expect the girl to bite her lip, nod, and then hunch her shoulders around herself, trying to look as small as possible, swamped in her cloak and eyes to the floor.

The night is spent almost entirely silent. He goes out and hunts, gutting and skinning the hares away from camp so he doesn’t spook her, and then cooks a pretty bland stew that the Princess seems to force down out of politeness than a real hunger. He then gives her his bedroll, something she’s hesitant to do until he reassures her that he can go without sleeping, and meditates most of the night, listening for threats and the sound of her breathing. 

She cries at one point, trying to stifle her sniffles in her hands.

Over the next two days they move fast and far, not talking to anyone and putting as much distance between Cintra and them as possible. Slowly, as if she realises that Geralt is not going to eat her alive, the Princess begins to relax. That doesn’t exactly make her chatty by any means, or any less stiff and jumpy, but in their brief, stilted conversations, she seems less worried that he will bite her face off. A small improvement, but an improvement nonetheless.

Surprisingly, it’s Roach that brings them together.

Ciri takes to the mare straight away, and voluntary begins brushing her down each night, muttering soft things that she thinks Geralt can’t hear into the horse’s ears.

“She doesn’t tolerate most people.” He says as he builds a fire, pausing to observe them.

The Princess ducks her head. “O-Oh.”

“It means she likes you.”

“Oh!” For a split second, her face brightens, and she spins on her heel to gently pet Roach’s nose. “I like her too. What’s her name?”

“Roach.”

The Princess turns towards him, her face not quite disgruntled, but showing more emotion than she has so far. “Like the fish?”

“Hm.” Geralt nods.

“Why did you name your horse after a fish?”

“My brother named his horse Scorpion.”

“Is it...A Witcher thing?”

“Not reall-” Geralt stops, thinking about it. “Actually, I suppose it is.”

The Princess turns before he can see her expression, but he thinks she may be giggling. A lump forms in his throat, and he swallows it down.

Meanwhile, with Alice, she can’t decide if this is fun (she gets to explore the countryside, see other places, have a horse, camp, get dirty) or most frightening thing she’s ever done (she’s pretending to be the Princess of Cintra, if she messes up, the Lioness with solely blame her, not to mention punish her family. There’s so much on her shoulders that at random moments all she wants to do is weep)

Geralt doesn’t seem as frightening as he first appeared, and he’s actually been really nice, not asking complicated questions she doesn’t know the answer to (does he already know about Cirilla’s life? Her favourite foods? Her favourite song? She doesn’t, and dreads saying something that could contradict what he already knows) and keeping his distance.

He also named his horse after a fish.

On the morning of the second day, they camp outside a town, Geralt wanting to wait until most of the main morning traffic has passed before entering. To pass the time, she carefully twists braids into Roach’s mane (who preens under the attention), watching out the corner of her eye as Geralt goes over sword practice.

In a brief moment of boldness, Alice asks, “Is it...Hard, to use a sword like that?”

Geralt pauses, glancing towards her. “In a way, like most skills it becomes easier over time.”

“My-” Alice nearly outs herself by saying brother, quickly redirecting, “Grandmother uses a lot of swords.”

“Yes. Did she ever teach you?”

Oh Gods!

“My...My Mother didn’t let me. Said it’d make me brutish.” The news of Pavetta’s death was widespread, when it happened. She can recall her parents talking about it for years afterwards. “When she died, my Grandmother kept her wish.”

Geralt’s expression does several different things, and the longer the bout of silence draws on the closer Alice finds herself huddling against Roach, as if asking the horse to hold her up.

Stupid! She chastises mentally. That’s the Lioness! Of course she taught Ciri! And you just insulted her daughter! Wait until the Queen finds out about that!

Finally, Geralt grunts, something he seems to do regularly, before easing his stance, relaxing his shoulders. “Would you...Like to learn?”

Alice blinks.”M-Me?”

“Being able to defend yourself is one of the most important skills you can have, and I’m sure your Mother would prefer you alive and wielding a blade than dead and weaponless.”

The Lioness is going to be fuming by the time she gets back.

Still, somehow, Alice finds herself nodding , and Geralt hums, putting down his sword and pulling out a smaller dagger. “Come here.”

She does, and he places the dagger into her hand, adjusting her grip and inching her fingers into the correct positions. It’s heavy, surprisingly so, and Geralt carefully puts his hand around her wrist.

“Ideally we’d do this with one made of wood, but I only have this, so we won’t do much just to be safe, but I can show you how to hold a blade, and how to use it in a pinch.”

“Okay.”

“It’s not a toy.” He says sternly, meeting her eyes. “Don’t swing it wildly, don’t touch the edge, and when in doubt, drop it and step back, understand?”

“I do.”

He hums again, pleased, and then carefully starts the lesson.

Alice, surprisingly, finds herself enjoying it. She can see what her brother saw in it when he was younger and still in training. There’s something about learning the different stances, the hand positions, the control, that feels good, right, almost like the beginnings of a new hobby.

Her favourite hobby is still needlework, though. Alice adores a night by the fireplace carefully stitching away.

They keep on going until lunch, which is when they stop to eat (a little to her disappointment), and then head into town, Geralt dropping a handful of coins into her palm and pointing out a shop.

“Go buy yourself a few set of clothes, ones good enough for a winter outside. Don’t go with fashions, go with practicality. I’ll be outside.”

“Okay, I understand.”

The fabrics on offer are cheap, bland, and all variations of dim green or brown, however, with a little help from the shopkeeper, Alice is able to find some items which work. She switches into one of her new purchases, pulling on a new pair of boots, before heading back outside.

She keeps the dress she’d been wearing, though. It belongs to a Princess, and the Queen may be angry if she loses it. Alice gently tucks it into her bag.

“Good.” Geralt nods his approval and Alice finds herself smiling shyly, before they turn to leave.

It is as they walk away, following the road northwards, that they catch wind of a conversation by another set of travelers passing by, on their way south.

For a split second, Alice freezes, before whipping around so fast that her head spins dizzy. Her eyes follow them, and her vision mists with fear-struck tears as her jaw drops low in horror.

Beside her, Geralt goes as still as a statue, his skin pale.

Cinta has fallen.

......

Anyway, this is getting super long so I may have to come up with a part two, but I’ll leave this here for now

Oh, and I’m totally naming this the Double Trouble AU

[leemaht]

can i rq a break up au w/ futakuchi and 36 56 62 feelin angsty lately 😳😳

your wish is my command! i definitely didn't cry writing this, haha. wouldn't do that.

*****************************************

the last chance you had

prompts: ‘you know that i love you, right? right?’; ‘stay away from me! i don’t want to see you!’; ‘i know what i said and i know i can’t take it back but i want you to know that i didn’t mean it.’

warnings: angst, toxic relationship, mention of sexual harassment/rape, swearing, mentally abusive

pairing: futakuchi kenji x reader

summary: this is a sad little story about futakuchi kenji, who doesn’t know how to express love and care until it is too late. or rather does not realize how much of a jerk he is until it is too late.

notes: this is a goddamn whole lot more dark and angsty than i intended, so enjoy with caution

****************************************

thursday. a normal day for futakuchi kenji, or so he thought.

wrong he was. it was the day he would lose the one and only love of his life. the person he thought he would spend the rest of his life with. the person he had imagined to marry and start a family with. you.

it was the day you finally gathered enough sadness, lonesomeness and unhappiness for the barrel to run over. it wasn’t like you didn’t love him. your love was never the issue. there were several reasons leading you to this breaking point.

1. futakuchi kenji made you believe he didn’t care about you.

he forgot important events easily. he forgot about your first anniversary and even after you reminded and presented him your thoughtful gift you had spent so much time and money on, he shrugged it off and told you it wasn’t a big deal.

he forgot about your birthday, he didn’t even congratulate you like every other of your friends did. all his teammates knew about your birthday and remembered him, most of them had congratulated you themselves. but your boyfriend decided to text you the word ‘congrats’ at 11 pm.

and it was true. futakuchi didn’t care about all this ‘minor stuff’, all he cared for was you so he thought that was enough. but you didn’t get that idea. for you it was just hurtful.

2. futakuchi kenji made you feel alone.

he forgot about you in general, you thought. it happened more than once that you were scheduling a date and he left you hanging. it happened more than once that he left you waiting for hours, alone at a shady location without answering one of your many calls and text messages, sometimes even in the rain and wind. one time at school he had asked you to come to the park this evening and even though it was a normal week day, you had agreed. you arrived at 8 pm as settled, waiting on a park bench for your boyfriends arrival, but he never came.

after about two hours a text message from him came in.

‘do you want me to come over now?’ it said, as if he didn’t even know what he had done.

‘leave me alone.’ you texted back hoping to animate him to ask you what was the matter but he left you on read.

you made your way home, locked the door and cried the whole night after being cat called at least 7 times on your way back in the dark night. futakuchi didn’t write you for the next few days, making you feel even more abandoned then before. he took your ‘leave me alone’ literally and intended to give you room to breathe because he honestly forgot about his request of meeting you. he assumed you had a private problem and didn’t want to barge in. after becoming the new captain of the team his life got a lot more busy, so he forgot about the little things. he was a very forgetful person to begin with but it got worse since then.

3. futakuchi kenji made you feel ashamed.

he couldn’t keep secrets. there you were entrusting him with some of the most important secrets of your life and the told them to others without a second thought and with a smile on his face.

the time you got a bad mark on one of your tests you had learned for so long. you asked him not to mention it to your parents when he would visit you this afternoon, because you wanted to tell them yourself. and he agreed. only five minutes later he bragged to your parents how his mark was so much better than yours, to which your parents sent him home and gave you a lecture about why you would keep secrets from them.

when you texted him about this he thought it was funny how you got so angry at minor inconveniences and made fun of you. he intended this to be his apology and brighten up your mood but when you didn’t text him back he let you be.

the time one of your grandparents died and you asked him not to tell anybody, because you only wanted your friends to know. this day you came too late to class but when you entered everybody, including the teacher gave you a pitying look. that’s when you knew he had told all of your classmates even though you told him not to. you cried silent tears of disappointment but everybody assumed they were because of sadness and tried to comfort you. you hated this kind of pity and attention and left, crying even more than before.

but futakuchi didn’t follow you but left you space. he was the kind of guy who thought space and silence could fix everything.

the time you did something embarrassing and asked him not to tell anybody but when you went to the gym to give him his bag he had forgotten in the classroom you clearly heard him tell his whole team the story. you dropped the bag so loud it made him look at you, turned around and ran away crying. he didn’t follow you though. you know, ‘space’. you earned a lot of empathy of aone and the rest though as they realized you suffered as much from futakuchi as they did. maybe even worse.

4. futakuchi kenji made you feel unimportant.

he always put you in fourth place. his first place was volleyball, his second place was his family, his third place was his school work and in fourth and last place was you.

he cancelled important meetings with you for stuff like ‘my mom wanted me to buy flour. she said it was alright if i did it tomorrow, but i want to do it now.’ he ditched you for lunch because he rather ate and discussed with his teammates. the cancelled dates because he met up with his teammates. when you asked to study together for a test, he refused because you only ‘slowed him down’.

5. futakuchi kenji made you feel unloved.

all this facts put together and also even though you were dating for over one and a half year now and you had said it so many times, he had never before told you that he loved you, made you feel this way.

the first time you said it was 7 months into the relationship. he answered with ‘thank you.’ you assumed it was too soon for him and left it, but the more you said it the more he dodged.

‘i love you’ ‘right.’ or ‘ok’ or ‘i know’

you honestly couldn’t remember a single week in the last 6 month in which you didn’t at least cry 3 times because of him.

thursday

one day after the worst day of your life. you had talked things out though, for now at least.

after all the fights and break downs you had,you decided to give your boyfriend one last chance and promised yourself, if he blew this up you would end all this suffering and break up. you wanted to be happy again, something you hadn’t been for a while or at least not with futakuchi.

you wore your most cheery smile and pick him up after practice, but events took a bad turn.

after practice had ended you greeted your boyfriend with a big smile and sweet words, which he didn’t return of course. he just nodded in your direction and gave you a quick peck and disappeared in the changing rooms. koganegawa was the first one to leave the changing room. he was also the one bringing doom.

as he walked past you you attempted to greet him as usual, but he wasn’t as cheery as you were used to. rather he looked at you a little suspicious. after asking him what was the matter he answered.

‘captain was in a bad mood today.’ he said gloomily

‘hm, why was that? he seemed normal to me.’

‘well, he said something about you screaming at him yesterday for no reason.’  by this time more people had left the changing room and stood by you.

‘that’s what he said? ‘for no reason’?’ kogane nodded. you looked down on the ground with a defeated smile as the tears started flowing. kogane tried to comfort you clueless and aone patted your back slowly as he guessed what was happening.

after about two minutes futakuchi stepped out of the changing room last, locked after him and walked towards your crying form.

‘hey what you crying about?’ he rather stated then asked, without the slightest hint of worry or empathy.

you clenched your fists at his reaction. ‘did you tell everyone i screamed at you for no reason yesterday?’ you asked though gritted teeth. kogane and aone were still standing behind you as a kind of moral support as both of them... all of them knew how futakuchi was.

‘huh, that’s what all this is about?’ he stated unimpressed. ‘yes, i did.’

‘do you seriously believe that?’ your anger grew more and more but you referred from shouting.

‘yeah.’ you only nodded absently. ‘then tell me the reason.’

‘are you telling me you forgot about all i said yesterday?’ he averted your gaze.

‘kogane.’ you spoke up. ‘did he tell you guys that the day before yesterday was our one and a half years anniversary?’

‘no’ he answered.

‘interesting. did he tell you that he forgot about it until i reminded him?’

‘no’ he answered again.

‘alright, did he tell you that he asked me to come out to the park yesterday, when it was already dark outside? and that he texted me again and again that he would be there in 5 minutes but never actually showed up and made me wait for 3 hours in the darkness and cold?’

‘no..’ kogane was shocked, so was the rest. but the story didn’t end there.

‘did he tell you guys, that on my way home two weird guys followed me, so i had to run? the funny thing is they also started running after me.’ you stated in sarcasm hiding your fear. ’did he tell you that they followed me until i was home and that they even knocked on my door, so that i had to wake up my parents? did he tell you that they actually broke a window trying to get in, so that we had to call the police who told us that those two guys were convicted criminals?’ by the time you reached this point of the story you were in tears. the whole team looked as if they were ready to throw punches at futakuchi. some of them hugged you or offered comforting words. they already did way more for you than futakuchi ever did in your whole 1 1/2 years.

‘did he tell you that when i told him, he made fun of me and said i shouldn’t act like such a pussy?’ you ended your story. truth is futakuchi had gone crazy after you told him all of that. he wanted to prank you by cancelling the date but would have never thought that this would take such dangerous turns. he hadn’t slept for a minute that night and paced around his house aimlessly. but he didn’t want you to know that and tried invalidate the situation a little bit. after you hadn’t answered anymore he assumed you had gone to bed already. aone grabbed futakuchi by the collar.

while the scene unfolded itself you spoke up.

‘futakuchi. i’m done. i can’t take all of this any longer. the worst part of this is that this wasn’t even the worst thing you ever did. but i can’t or don’t want to accept this any more.’

‘w-wait. what are you saying.’ he stuttered still in the grasp of aone.

‘i’m saying that this is over. i’m breaking up.’ with this you turned around and walked away, leaving the rest of the team in awe. aone let go of futakuchi and paced after you, offering to walk you home.

futakuchi screamed your name and tried to losen the grip of kamasaki who took aone’s spot to run after you but you screamed back.

‘stay away from me! i don’t want to see you! never again.’ as your tears started flooding again. aone put a protecting arm around you as you two walked out of reach.

friday

this day futakuchi arrived at school with a black eye. [kamasaki lost his temper] and you ignored him all day. but this afternoon there was a knock on your door.

it was him.

‘y/n, please open up. we need to talk.’ he sounded desperate. you opened it a slit. ‘i have talked so many times,i’m done with it.’ you wanted to close the door again but he put a hand against it.

‘you know that i love you, right? right?’ he was now in tears.

‘you sure didn’t act like it.’ you deadpanned hoping to overtone the emptiness and sadness you were feeling inside. futakuchi broke, not knowing what you meant. in his eyes he had tried his best in showing you his feelings and knowing that you didn’t think the same made him furious. but before he could even say another word, you already closed the door and left him, like he did so many times. he reflected.

reflected on his behavior just now and yesterday and always and knew he had fucked up.

you received one last text message from him this day, saying:

‘ i know what i said and i know i can’t take it back but i want you to know that i didn’t mean it. and what i did. i know i am a horrible person. please. please, tell me you forgive me.’

you texted back:

‘i was breaking because of you. i have endured all of this long enough and yesterday i decided to give you one last chance and you blew it up. i think i deserve to be happy, but i cannot with you. i can’t forgive you for all the things you did to me. you made me a broken mess. also, if you hadn’t meant it you wouldn’t have said it in the first place.’

you pressed ‘send’ and waited for the signal that he had read it. when you saw that he started typing, you blocked his number and put your phone down.

this night you didn’t cry because of him, but because you knew everything would be alright from now.

[classywritings]

Euphoria

Originally posted to Ao3. This is part 2 of my 2019 Halloween specials. Within this AU, Joker is a vampire.

A crash startles you awake. Jolting up in your bed, your sleep-blurred vision immediately turns to where the source of the sound came from. You swear under your breath and reach for the lamp at the side of your bed to turn it on, but, a foreign hand snaps out and stops you.

“Wh”—

Another hand reaches forward, keeping you from crying out in alarm. You whimper, body shaking as your blood pumps hot throughout your veins. However, it’s quickly soothed when a pain filled voice whispers.

“It’s only me, treasure.”

Slowly, the hand at your mouth goes away. You keep silent, though, listening for any sound that someone is aware you’re no longer alone in your room. Outside the wind blows gently against the walls of your dorm as the occasional falling leaf brushes against the window. No other sound is heard, making relief wash through you. The last thing you want is someone coming to investigate the crash that sounded in your room. At the same time, you also thank the heavens you got lucky and don’t have a roommate.

“Joker,” your murmur, reaching out to the male as you shift to sit on the side of the bed. He’s breathing heavily, which is unsettling. “What’s going on? Is something wrong?”

He doesn’t say a word, instead only hovering close to you. You can feel his body heat all around you, keeping you sheltered from the chill of your room in the absence of blankets. You pull yourself closer to him, reaching out. He’s shivering, too, which is even more worrying than his silence.

You purse your lips. “Sit down, please. You’re worrying me...”

Being gentle, you help the male sit down beside you. An arm wrapped around his waist reveals him to be even worse off than you thought. Not only is he shivering and breathing heavily, but you swear you feel...

Ignoring the chill in the air as you step away from Joker, you move to turn on your lamp. He doesn’t stop you this time, but when you turn back to him his gaze is squarely upon you. You ignore than in favor of staring in wide open shock at the male’s ruffled appearance.

“Oh my god. Joker, what happened?!”

The dark colors of the male’s outfit hides most of it, but there's still no mistaking the dark patches of blood across his body. The majority of it flecks his torso as parts of his sleeves and undershirt have clearly been ripped and is showing skin. The most worrisome thing, however, is the fact the wounds you can see haven’t healed yet. As far as you’re aware, Joker’s accelerated healing due to being a vampire should have kicked in already, but it clearly hasn’t.

“I’m...” He grimaces as he shifts his position. “I’m okay.”

You stare long and hard at him. “No, you’re not. Don’t try to lie to me. Why haven’t your wounds already healed?”

Finally, the male looks at you. It’s a gaze filled with such pain that it makes your heart break a little. You’ve never seen him like this; he’s always so calm, smooth, and confident around you. “I was attacked by a vampire hunter,” he says slowly. “Their weapons are laced with a poison that affects my healing abilities.”

Your eyes widen. “Is… is there a way to reverse it?”

Once again, Joker looks away from you. You see him swallow, his Adam’s apple bobbing. He has stopped shivering and is instead sitting straight as a board, looking as if he’s going to bolt at any second. Just to make sure he doesn’t, you move closer to him. This only makes him stiffen further, but you'd rather him be uncomfortable than have him bolt on you.

“Well? You know I’m willing to do anything to help.” Carefully, you reach out to grab one of his gloved hands. He lets you take it between your’s, but still doesn’t make eye contact. “Please, Joker.”

The male inhales slowly, then lets the breath go heavily after a few second pause. Even more slowly, his eyes come back to your own gaze, meeting it with such an intensity it takes your breath away. It’s further stilled when a deep ruby color takes over the dark gray of his irises. “Drinking blood is the only way to counteract the poison,” he whispers.

Oh. Oh.

Such an answer should’ve been expected in your mind, yet your head refuses to wrap around it. You stand there, your hands still holding one of Joker’s. He doesn’t move, just watching you with that silent intensity.

It’s now your turn to gulp. Your stomach flip-flops anxiously, but you push it aside in favor of rising determination. Carefully, you sit yourself down upon Joker’s lap, also letting go of his hand. Once comfortable, the male loosely wraps an arm around your waist, his eyes narrowing in obvious confusion. Any other time you’d laugh at such an expression, but this time you just smile instead.

“Well, allow me to help you, than,” you say, gently smiling still. Joker gasps audibly, which draws that small laughter out of you. Before he can protest, like he clearly wants to, you speak again. “I told you: I’m willing to do anything to help. Even if that means drinking my blood.”

Red eyes search your own, his free hand rising to cup your cheek. His thumb brushes tenderly over your skin as he continues to search for any hesitation. When he finds none, he pauses, his lips pursed once again. “Are you sure?”

You nod. “Positive. I trust you.” Joker has snuck away and into your room many nights now. His first visits were brief, yet, due to his insistence on visiting, the male had grown on you despite the little amount of time spent together. He clearly had no bad intentions—he just wanted to visit someone who didn’t want to see him arrested. And once he had found out you were a fan of him and his merry band of thieves, he started coming over almost every night after their heists.

After a month of visiting, he entrusted you with an even deeper secret. Only his fellow thieves were aware of this; you were the first outsider to be told he is a vampire.

Then, it wasn’t until a few nights ago you found out why he decided to visit you in the first place. He had caught your scent while out on a heist. It had intoxicated him so much he followed it all the way to your dorm, where you slept peacefully. It explained why you awoke with a start that night, feeling like you were being watched in your sleep. Apparently he made a hasty, silent retreat when you awoke, but had vowed to himself to see you again and greet himself properly to you.

All this gathered together, you trust the male. You may not know the identity behind the mask, but that doesn’t matter. Joker is a thief, but honorable and compassionate. His actions alone are enough to attest to that.

Joker closes his eyes and when he opens them again the ruby is a much brighter shade than before. “It will sting when I first bite you,” he murmurs, his thumb circling the skin of your cheek again. “I will make sure it doesn’t hurt any more than that.”

You nod, that being all you can reply with. Once again, you hold your breath. This time it is in anticipation for what is to come. Joker stares into your eyes for a moment longer before he pulls your body flush against his. You gasp, it stuttering as you feel warm breath fan across your neck. A full body shiver possesses you, goosebumps rising up wherever they can. More further rise up when you notice the hand that was upon your cheek has moved into your hair, it entangling in it gently.

You resist the urge to swallow, still waiting with bated breath for Joker to do anything more. His breathing still fans across your neck as he seems to almost hesitate.

“Joker?” You inquire, unsure. Your response is a subtle peck of warm lips to your neck. You stiffen, your eyes widening. A few seconds pass before another small kiss is laid to your skin, then another and another. A deep exhale is stuttered past your lips as you shakily wrap your arms around the male, drawing yourself impossibly closer to him. His kisses should be soothing, yet, they only make your heartbeat skyrocket.

The hand in your hair scratches your scalp as the lips trail up to your ear. The tension in the thief’s body has completely disappeared. It seems to have leapt onto you instead. “Easy now, love,” Joker whispers into your ear. This eases your tension slightly, but it isn’t enough for the male. He pulls away, looking at you warmly. “Are you sure that you want to do this? I can feel your anxiety...”

It’s your turn to look away, a bashful color making itself known on your cheeks. “I already said I’m willing to do anything. I just… I just thought you’d bite me and get this over with.”

A low chuckle catches your attention. Looking back at Joker, you see him grinning impishly. You stare hard at him, almost gasping when you see a glimpse of his fangs. His red eyes are such a bright carmine they almost seem to be glowing now, too. “Ah, but where’s the fun in that, treasure?”

You gasp finally, caught off guard when the male swoops in for a kiss on the lips. It takes a moment for your brain to catch up with the present, but once it does you reciprocate. Your hands grab a fistful of the male’s long black coat to gain some sense of grounding, otherwise it feels as if you may float away.

Much to your silent dismay, the kiss doesn’t last long. Soon enough Joker pulls away, his head burying back into your neck. However, his lips don’t leave your skin as he continues his exploration of it. You’re putty in his hands as you wait for him to finally do what you’ve been waiting anxiously for.

He doesn’t make you wait much longer. He kisses your skin a few more times before you feel him hover his mouth over where you can keenly feel a vein in your neck pulsing. The only forewarning you receive comes in the form of a growl before a sharp pain makes itself known to you.

You almost cry out in pain, but a hand snaps out and encloses over your mouth. Instead all you can do is cry into the larger, gloved hand. You squeeze your eyes shut, the pain seeming to last an eternity, even if it is only a few seconds. When it washes away you still don’t relax, however, sitting deathly still in Joker’s lap. You must’ve calmed somewhat enough for the male, for soon you hear a low, crooning purr from him.

You hold still, yet, you notice something as the seconds tick by. There’s no more pain—actually, you feel something else entirely. Euphoria slowly settles over you, which makes your body relax from its tense position and your breathing settles into slow inhales and exhales. You’re not sure if it’s a side effect of your blood being taken or if Joker and his vampiric abilities have something to do with it. You’re starting to wonder if it’s the latter, though, considering he did state he wanted to make sure you felt no pain after the initial bite.

When Joker pulls away, you bury your head into his neck. “How do you feel?” He asks you. All you can reply with is a hum, which makes the male chuckle. “Good, I imagine. That’s all the better.”

His lips attach back to bite, but when his fangs sink into your flesh again no pain makes itself known. Instead, all you feel is a wave of warmth wash through you. It makes you groan quietly, shivering once again. Joker growls in response, and presses his body to yours insistently. Your eyes are squeezed tightly shut as the euphoria continues to wash over you, masking the slowly rising dizziness.

After a few minutes and with a rippling growl, Joker pulls away from your neck. You stay where you are, having no energy to move. It’s hard to miss the rigidity of his body. He must be holding himself back from drinking any more. A good thing, too, for your sure your dizziness would’ve gotten worse had he gone on any longer.

“How are your wounds?” You ask him. Normally you’d pull away to inspect them yourself, but you’re doubting you’d be able to check him over properly with the state you’re in.

“Completely healed. Thank you, treasure.” He kisses your forehead as he relaxes. Your grip on his coat falls slack, exhaustion creeping up on you. It’s only furthered as Joker strokes your hair and rubs soothing patterns into your back. “I feel much better, as well.”

“That’s good.” You nuzzle into his neck, humming. “‘M happy to have helped.”

Joker chuckles, kissing your cheek. “Why don’t you get some sleep? I’ll watch over you while you rest.”

Your vision begins to darken further as you feel sleep begin to cocoon your consciousness. All you can reply with is a simple “okay” before unconsciousness takes you.

The next morning, you awake to the sound of heavy rain pattering against your dorm’s window. Groaning, you roll over onto your other side and stare blearily at your clock on your nightstand. You’ve slept in until almost noon. Thankfully you’re classes aren’t until later in the afternoon today.

Slowly, you sit up. Your eyes trail across your room. You see no sign of anything out of the ordinary—no thief is around to greet you.

Suddenly, your eyes catch sight of something on your desk. Curiosity rising, you walk over to it, your eyes widening when you see what awaits you. Joker may not be here to wake you up himself, but a gift placed carefully on your desk is enough to speak of his presence.

Mindful of where you touch them, you pick up the bouquet that’s settled on your desk. Hydrangeas, gardenias, and red roses make up the large set of flowers, and they’re all tied together with a black ribbon. You eye to bouquet with a smile while your hand trails up to healing bite mark on your neck.

“You’re welcome, Joker,” you mumble to your silent room.