#the bloody mary one never fails to make me giggle

[rosietrace]

「 Three Roses 」

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Central Character(s) ; 『 Maria Alarik, “Bloody Mary” 』 | 『 Lancelot Novellion, “The Second Son” 』

Others ; Davidson Novellion | Noor Jawahir

Mentioned ; Isfrid Aneira | Astrid Aneira | Roya Callistis | Gwendolyn Schnee (vaguely mentioned)

Pairing(s) ; Maria & Lance | Davis & Noor | Roya & Gwen (hinted at)

【 All Ocs belong to their respective owners and will be credited at the end. 】

Synopsis: “Nothing in the world belongs to me, but my love, mine all mine all mine.”

Warning(s): No angst just tooth-rotting fluff, okay that's a lie there's a little angst, Lance got advice from Roya so that's a plus, Door content‼️‼️, they're so Mitski coded it's actually insane, cute banter ig

[ Apologies for any out of character moments ]

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Maria stared down at the rose in her hands, or rather, the multiple roses in her hands. Three, total.

They've been in her possession for somewhat of a long time, by now, and no matter how much Noor questioned on why she kept them for so long, Maria persisted in saying she'd rather keep the roses until they're nothing but wilted stems.

Lance had been generous in giving her roses during special occasions. It was embarrassing for Maria how silently giddy she was in the back of her head every time he gave her a rose— a small, but meaningful declaration of his affections for his Bloody Mary.

It made her chuckle, every so often, when she remembered the teasing Lance would get every time she and him parted ways, and Davis met his baby brother soon after to relentlessly throw onslaught after onslaught of teasing.

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“Another rose? For me?”

Maria smiled, crossing her arms. Yet another joint event between RSA and NRC — this time hosted by RSA — and Lance made it an opportunity of his to sneak Maria away from everyone else.

Now, they leaned against the bookshelves of one of the deeper, darker parts of the Royal Sword archive— with the second son of BlackHeart making a valiant effort in trying to, quote on quote, ‘kabedon’ Maria.

Which he failed. Miserably. He was lucky Maria wasn't teasing him, yet.

He cleared his throat. Barely a word in, and a flush of pink dusted his cheeks. “I… I guess I've turned it into a bit of a tradition.”

“A tradition I don't mind,” Maria's smile widened, if not ever so slightly. “It's not something to be embarrassed about.”

“Try telling that to my brother…” Lance felt exasperated just mentioning Davis; and that wasn't even bringing up what Maria could only assume was a massacre of teasing if Lance ever told Davis he'd steal her away from the crowd.

“Hmm, true,” Maria tilted her head closer to Lance, “your brother's kind of a handful.”

Lance raised a brow. “Kind of?”

“You have reason to doubt that, Novellion?”

“Many, actually.”

“Pffft- He isn't a manchild, Lance.”

“In public.” Lance clarified, crossing his arms. “He's not a manchild, in public.”

She giggled. “Is there something you aren't telling me, Lancelot Novellion?” Maria questioned with a mock-stern tone.

He smiled, tilting his head back at her. “Maybe, maybe not. You can never truly know.”

Maria whistled, her nose brushing against Lance's. “You're getting a whole lot smoother, Lancelot Novellion…”

He chuckled, his forehead soon pressing against her own. “I'm glad you think so.”

His arms wrapped around Maria's waist, bringing her close enough for his nose to breathe in her scent at the crook of her neck.

Maria lightly smacked his shoulder. “Lance!” She scolded, though it wasn't much of a scolding with the way she was smiling.

In retaliation, Lance's only line of defense was the rose that remained in his hands, which he soon offered to Maria. Thankfully, merciful Bloody Mary that she was, Maria accepted.

And for good measure, an additional kiss to Lance's cheek.

The highlight of Maria's day was the red of Lance's face after the fact, as well as the rose she received by way of unofficial tradition.

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The second rose given was just as special; Maria and Noor were the ‘plus ones’ of the Lucretius brothers during a particularly eventful noble gathering in the BlackHeart empire.

Noor eyed the sea of aristocrats before her, whistling lowly. “Hoo… would you look at that,” she gave Davis a look.

He recognized the meaning of that expression in less than a heartbeat. “At what, dearest Apollonia?” He brought her hand into his, amber eyes meeting hers.

“Lots of people to mess with,” Noor answered, a low laugh escaping her lips.

Davis brought a hand to his chest, his gasp nothing short of theatric. “Sweet Apollonia…” his feigned shock transitioned into a cheeky grin that was soon paired by a kiss to Noor's hand. “... you are nothing short of perfection.”

With that, the pair were off. Lance wasn't surprised Davis was so willing to go along with Noor's antics; being the heir to the throne, he might've had a lot of responsibility… but compared to his little brother, Davis was less likely to get a scolding from his mother while their father was currently bedridden from unknown circumstances.

“And… they're off.” Isfrid Aneira blinked, bewildered and possibly concerned over how the events of the night will go on from there.

Her sister, Astrid, was beaming with energetic intensity. “Not going to lie… I kinda wanna see how this'll go..”

Isfrid’s eyebrows raised. “Huh-?”

“She's joking,” Lance chimed in, eliciting a slight yelp on the part of Isfrid. “Hopefully.”

“You better start hoping a little more hopily!” Astrid decreed, rushing off to wreak havoc alongside Davis and sweet, sweet Noor.

“Hopily isn't even a word….” Isfrid murmured, letting out a quiet, ice cold breath. Naturally cold to the touch, even now.

Lance shrugged. “It'll work out… probably.” The probably was doing the heavy lifting for that sentence. Not a good sign, in Isfrid's eyes.

Lance and Isfrid eventually went off on their own ways; the latter following her sister to stop her from — hopefully — not getting into too much trouble, while the former…

Lance found Maria on the balcony, isolating herself from the rest of crowd. Dressed for spectacle with skin that shone like the moon, it was like he couldn't focus on anything else once his sights were set on Maria.

With a heart skipping its beat, Lance crept up to Maria, lightly tapping her on the shoulder to garner her attention away from her undivided gaze upon the night sky. No stars, only the company of the moon.

“Oh,” Maria smiled slightly, leaning back and relaxing against the balcony once it processed to her that it was just Lance. “Isolating yourself from the crowd, too?”

“You could say that,” Lance said softly, looking between her and the moon. “Davis and Noor are at it again.”

“When are they not, though?” Maria retorted.

Lance couldn't argue about that. “True.”

After a beat of silence, Lance muttered. “... You look beautiful.”

Maria averted her gaze from the color of his irises to the gleam of the moonlight that they were currently bathed in. “... Thanks.”

“You're someone who naturally attracts attention,” Lance's voice was soft, velvety. “You… you're like the flame that attracts so many, many moths.”

And I am one of them, he thought to himself. Not even the least bit ashamed of it. Because unlike his brother, Lance was okay with putting his pride aside.

He awaited Maria's response. He'd predicted that she'd comment on how he was one of those moths. But instead, what she uttered was, “You're becoming more poetic, as of recently.”

While he wasn't anticipating a comment like that, Lance also wasn't surprised she'd comment on it at all.

“You have Roya to thank for that.”

Roya — frighteningly and hopelessly enamored man that he was for, in Davis' words, ‘his special little snowflake’ — had given Lance a thing or two when it came to improving on his… lackluster efforts in poetic flattery.

Maria's eyebrows shot up. “Roya? Roya, as in, Davis-wants-him-dead Roya?”

Lance couldn't fight the laugh that unexpectedly left him. “Yeah… yeah, that Roya.”

There again, that dramatic pause of silence awaited them so exquisitely, so beautifully. Not as beautiful as the moon and the light that shone over them.

Not nearly as beautiful as Maria's entire being.

That being said, Lance knew he had to go. He had as much responsibility of being a prince as Davis; albeit, a much smaller reach, lesser influence on the people Davis would later govern in a not so distant future.

He looked over at Maria, his hand gently grazing her chin, turning it slightly; all so she could meet his eyes.

“I have to go now…” unlike his brother, Lance wasn't the least bit ashamed of how unapologetic he could sound with such simple words.

“Ah,” Maria brought Lance's hand, the one that tenderly grazed her chin, up to her cheek, pressing it against the touch of his palm against her face. “I… understand.”

Lance kissed the crown of her head, smiling at Maria. He needn't say another word to her, having bid her adieu.

Only then, when his presence was nowhere beside her, did Maria finally notice the rose he'd placed on the balcony’s stone railing.

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Lance never quite had what Davis had. The attention, the pride, the glory that came with being the heir to the throne— Lance had never grown up believing that the BlackHeart throne would ever be his.

And that was fine with him. He didn't want, nor need, the throne the way Davis did.

Nothing in the world seemed to truly be… Lance's. For even when the world was his playground, with an emperor that conquered realm after realm and an empire wealthier than most kings— nothing could distract Lance from the obvious fact that those were never his.

They were Davis'.

Davis, on the throne. Davis with the world at his fingertips.

Davis, with his charm and cruelty, destined to make the history books; whether good or bad it did not matter.

Undoubtedly, that was likely what made Lance's love for Maria so… perfect.

The world was never his. He could gaze up at the moon and tell its patron, Artemis, Selene, it did not matter who— he could tell the god with the moon as their symbol that the world was, and never will be, his.

Nothing in the world belonged to him. Not once, not ever, never for free. There would always be a price to pay if he were to be selfish.

The moon was there. Before and after, it would always be there, shining down on Lance.

He took a good look at it, now. Currently sitting on the balcony of his dorm room, he felt more comforted at that very moment than during any part of his childhood.

After one look up, he took a look down. Maria slept with her head nestled on his lap, lips parted, eyes fluttered shut.

Beautiful.

Lance had often called Davis ‘creepy’ for staring at Noor for longer than Lance would deem appropriate— but now… his brother was free to call Lance a hypocrite for that, now, with the way he gazed down at Maria's sleeping form.

Gently, he took out his gift for her, to end the day; a dark red, rose. Matching that of the streak in Maria's hair, the color of her eyes.

Lance stared at it for a long while, looking at it to make sure that it was nothing short of perfection in the same vein as his father expecting that from Davis— Maria deserved nothing but the best.

Breathing had never felt so difficult when it was around her; to Lance, she was the flame that attracted so many people, so many moths— treating him with humanity, not putting him on some pedestal.

He'll wake her, eventually. The night was still too young to do it, but when the time came, Lance would wake her; and he'd make sure that she'd wake with only the most perfect rose he could find. The one he held in his hands just wasn't enough.

He smiled down at her, the way only a fool in love would smile. His hands moved parts of her hair from her forehead, admiring every little detail he could find about it— memorizing every part until it was all he could think about.

Loving Maria felt right. Loving her felt as easy as breathing.

She taught Lance, a prince who'd done nothing but give until there was nothing left to give, that it was okay to be selfish.

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【 Taglist / Credits 】

↳ In order of OC appearances/mentions

Maria Alarik — @jasdiary

Lancelot Novellion — Me 😈

Davidson Novellion — Also Me 😈

Noor Jawahir — @/jasdiary

Isfrid Aneira — @/jasdiary

Astrid Aneira — @starry-night-rose

Roya Callistis — Also (x2) Me 😈

Gwendolyn Schnee — @/starry-night-rose

|| @authoruio || @fumikomiyasaki || @nem0-nee || @sakuramidnight15 || @hallowed-delights / @terrovaniadorm || @twsted-princess || @absolutelyobsessedkiya / @twistedsongstressofstarz || @mystery-skulls-ghost || @valse-a-mille-temps ||

[luvrodite]

tag game!

Rules: list eight shows for your followers to get to know you better.

I was tagged by @st-eve-barnes thank u lovely!!! these are not in any particular order, just what came to mind!

gilmore girls: i watched this for the first time during my last year of high school and it's become one of my comfort shows. definitely my go to when i want to watch something but i'm not in the mood to start something new

teen wolf: shaped the better part of my teenage years, and recently (a year or so ago) rewatched it with my sibling. i miss that era of my life so much lmfao 2015/2016 and comic con interviews etc (for all the big shows at the time, honestly, it was so good)

supernatural: oh my god. watched the bugs and bloody mary episodes in like ?? 2010 when i was eight or something and it was a core memory. properly started watching it when i was 15 i think and i was literally such a die-hard fan of the show. one of my og tumblr blogs was literally just me rb-ing spn self inserts. such a fun time on the internet. bit of a cult tbh but fun times, even though i never finished it.

derry girls: another comfort show!!!! never ever fails to make me giggle and i always return to it every few months. so so so dear to my heart <3333

anne with an e: SO dear to me oh my god. the whimsy! the romanticism! one of the few shows i consistently stuck with through to the end, from release to cancellation. shaped my young adulthood, from i think 15 to 18. came at the perfect time of my life. so so dear to me.

normal people: i think about marianne and connell almost always. came at the perfect time of my life, too. i watched it just before lockdown in 2020, but only the portions set in highschool, i think and then finished it a year later, after so much in my life had happened. i have complex feelings about sally rooney and the book but it never fails to make me feel something, watching paul mescal and daisy edgar jones. the high school portion is what stands out to me most i think, because it was what i remembered so much when lockdown and all that came with it happened.

marianne: i watched this with one of my best friends, and i really really liked the cinematography, and the storytelling. loved the production, and the subtext, all the messy feelings between the protagonists and the themes of friendship and family and love. really creepy and scary, but also felt so human.

the sex lives of college girls: so funny! did not like the ending to the last season, but i liked the characters a lot prior to that. also love ensemble cast shows <3 loved the development of their friendships and their character arcs (leighton!!!!!) watched this during the summer hols this year and stayed up all night watching it hehe

no pressure tagging some of my lovely moots: @theold-ultraviolence @flowerpotmage @oldtowrs

[yellow-berrys]

commitment | sirius black x reader

summary: maybe growing up makes you unsteady. (slowburn, but written super fast bc i’m not patient enough LOL !!)

navigation | masterlist 

There were rushes of rose petals everywhere in the school. The soft, silk-like surface grazed against your fingers every time you reached a hand out to disrupt their patterns of hearts and proclaimed messages of love from one student to another. It was Valentine’s Day, and you loved it. 

Even though there was no one to celebrate it with, you did like the blushing boys acting as if the flowers their partners presented them with didn’t make their year. And the pretty pink peonies that sat in the vase on McGonagall’s desk. Her husband had given them to her. 

Sirius Black thought he had made it clear enough. He threw pointed glances at you, but you just blinked back at him, turning back to your conversation confused. He thought it was a good contrast to his usual air of nonchalance, of unbotheredness. 

A candy that landed in your hands signed off with his initials had been poached by Peeves, but you saw the three letters. S.O.B. You thought it had stood for “Society of Business”, and laughed the shameless, blatant advertising off.

As he sat next to you in class making constant conversation and throwing in the most obvious flirts, your ears simply glossed over them. He was infinitely flattering and infinitely smooth, but he was like that with every single girl, even the ones he never had any interest in. 

You, knowing he couldn’t be serious, didn’t mind. In a couple hours, he’d be flirting with someone else. 

—

“Does she even know I exist?” Sirius flopped onto James’ bed, eliciting an annoyed grunt from the latter. 

“Probably not,” James replied, “That or she’s bloody oblivious.”

A quieter voice piped up, “She just knows your reputation, Sirius. I don’t think she wants to get hurt if she believes that you like her and then she turns out to be so wrong.”

Peter’s comment left a silence in the room. 

“Insightful, Wormtail,” James agreed. 

Sirius groaned into a pillow. “What do I do?”

“Dunno, Pads, I’m no maestro, I’m still failing at wooing Lily.”

“Maybe you need to be more obvious, Pads,” Peter advised, “Be more forward, make an effort.”

“I am.”

“More.”

��

So Sirius did. He asked one of your friends for your timetable, which they gladly gave him, giggling. 

It was labelled with thoughtful things like “McGonagall’s favourite flowers are pink peonies.” And “Slughorn enjoys pineapple crisps.” 

“So, what’re you planning on doing with it, Mister?” She asked him and if he was embarrassed or nervous, he didn’t show it. 

He said coolly, “Remus needed it to consolidate the times for prefect duties. He’s at the library right now.” 

She giggled again, “Sure, sure. Run along, Ravenclaw house needs me to change the riddle.”

He bumped into you on the way to the library, after seeing LIBRARY written in your handwriting underneath the last class for today. 

You weren’t headed to the library, but away from it, and collated your things which had wobbled in the jostle, smiling politely at him. “Evening, lovely.”

“The evening is quite lovely, isn’t it?” You replied confusedly at his poor phrasing, “Remus isn’t in the library, Sirius, it’s far too beautiful of an evening for even a bookworm to be cozied up in the library.” 

“I wasn’t looking for Remus,” he smiled at you, pearly white teeth flashing and dark grey eyes looking so, so, sweet. 

“Oh, well I must let you be on your way then,” you clutched your books to your chest and regained your steps. 

“Don’t. Let me hold those for you.”

“They’re not that heavy.” You still held the books out for him. 

“I’m sure, lovely,” he says as he takes them out of your loosened grip.

“How was Valentine’s Day?” 

“First, no, second Valentine’s that I’ve third-wheeled Peter and Mary.”

“Really? Set your eyes on someone, have you?”

“Matter of fact, I have.” Your eyes sunk momentarily in thought, a sadness forming and dissolving within you. You sort of liked Sirius, despite all the girls and the glamour. He was harmless underneath his cold front. 

“Damn. I would’ve never thought of the day Sirius Black, Gryffindor casanova with the sparkling grey eyes and stoic attitude, would settle,” you joked. 

“Well you can think now,” he insisted, “And you know the girl.”

He hoped you might’ve connected the dots. 

“Sally, Polly, Harriet…” you rattled off name by name, and to no avail, because you never saw that special glint in his eyes. 

“A little closer to home.”

“Marlene?”

“One day you’ll get it.”

You huffed, “This is stupid. I’ll never get it.” 

—

“Why doesn’t she know, Moony?” 

“Pads, you can’t expect her to, it isn’t so obvious on her part at least.”

“I swear I’m making it as obvious as I can!”

 “Really? Because you’re being pretty secretive about it all.”

“Am not!”

“Maybe you’re just not ready, Sirius.”

And Sirius thought about it. He surely was ready to love you, but he wasn’t ready to outwardly express that. 

“It’s okay if you’re not comfortable with it yet, Pads. Feelings are complicated, and these ones especially are all so new to you.”

“Maybe I’m not ready yet. Is that- is that okay?”

“It’s perfectly fine.”

—

“Would you, like, commit though?” Your friend asked, head in her boyfriend’s lap. 

“I don’t think I can. Having another person rooted deeply in your life makes it harder to navigate it freely. I enjoy the liberties of being young, and I don’t want to give that away.”

“Your…admirer…would you date him if you knew who he was?”

“I don’t think so, why, I’m barely old enough to form coherent thoughts, I can’t establish a relationship this young. My prefrontal cortex is still developing!”

The boyfriend chimed in, “He’ll wait, I’m sure.”

“He doesn’t need to,” you smiled wistfully, “This will just be a fond memory I’ll look back on and say, ‘Wow, it sure felt nice’ to my grandkids. I’m not ready and that’s perfectly fine.”

—

Through the rest of your years at Hogwarts, you kept on receiving random but thoughtful gifts, things in your favourite colours, patterns, catered to your hobbies. As Lily grew closer to James you found yourself around Sirius quite a lot. He had grown even prettier than last summer, you thought, he looked more relieved, less reserved. His hair curled into little tendrils and his grey eyes had lightened a little. 

When you graduated, directed right into Auror training at 17, you and Lily agreed to share an apartment right by Hogsmeade, where Lily was training to become a professor. And as the war approached steadily, Lily soon received her position in Potions, and her and James moved to be a little closer to Hogwarts. She found out she was pregnant and became anxious about how close the war would breach so she moved to the establishment with the highest level of protection- Hogwarts. You were shipped to Albania, barely twenty years old, in the rocky, unsteady terrain, fighting the Death Eaters. The battle lasted for a year, and it ended in a Ministry victory. It was a ghastly matter but the Minister had ensured many hundreds of doctors, therapists and psychologists were hired to keep you safe. The Death Eaters treated their own forces terribly, resulting in a rebellion and eventual dismantling of the force. Voldemort had left a lightning scar on Harry Potter, who was to be heavily connected to him, but He Who Must Not Be Named was killed right after.

 You didn’t come home a different woman. Maybe you had changed a little though. War had toughened you up but the scars had been healed nicely on your body. Perhaps you had also grown up. Most importantly, after seeing so much lack of longevity and mortality in Albania, all you desired was steadiness. 

After being promoted to Head Auror, your role became managerial and consistent, and at the ripe old age of 21, barely old enough to drink, you reunited with Lily and the Marauders. Peter, you realised, was now in Azkaban for his crimes. Sirius still looked the same, he modelled for famous magazines, clothes brands and looked painfully similar to his Hogwarts years. Remus was enjoying a peaceful life in Wales with Tonks, a fellow Auror. 

You always blew by pictures of Sirius sultrily staring into the camera, clad in a trench coat worth thousands of dollars, or shirtless. It made you miss him, the soft underneath the cold, the warm underneath the hard. It made something in your heart yearn for the first time just to look into those grey eyes again. It also made you irrationally angry. They didn’t know the best side of Sirius, they knew this side. 

—

As you did sweep past large posters and flashing screens, you made your way to the ToysRUs. Harry was turning 2 in the next week and you were looking for a fake broomstick. As your fingers brushed along the plastic of a toy guitar, a deep voice boomed, “Sweetness? Is that you?”

You looked around and met familiar grey eyes, the owner smiling so gently as he ran a hand through his hair. Pink rose onto his cheeks and he stumbled ever so slightly whilst striding up to you. He stopped before you, stalling, and there was a moment before he was scooping you up, hugging you till you couldn’t breathe. 

“I can’t believe you’re back, darling,” he whispered, and your heart swelled, “Marlene, she’s back!”

Oh and your poor heart, falling faster than your head over your heels. Of course Sirius had someone now, he would always have someone anyways, just never you. 

“So I was right in that conversation,” you murmured, and he grinned. 

“Were you?” He felt much more confident and ready for commitment. He only hoped he might be able to win you over. 

Marlene appeared, grinning and you screamed, tackling her, squealing in her ear. 

“Why can’t I get this reception?” Sirius asked. 

“Black, you’re the one who facilitates it. It’s always been like this, I remember,” Marlene winked at Sirius who scowled handsomely. 

“Oh Marls, I’m so glad to be back, for heaven's Albania has not a single charming view. It’s all rubble now anyway. At least the beast is gone. It’s all done. Harry’s safe, James is alive and can inherit Monty’s shampoo business. How are you, Marls?”

Marlene smirked, very feline-like. She really hadn’t changed. 

“Perfect. Sirius and I are sharing an apartment and I’m just about to move out. Say, why don’t you move in? Sirius bought it anyway.”

“Yeah, I could, I’ll pay rent too,” you nodded towards Sirius, who pulled Marlene aside. It made your heart ache. 

“Marlene, we didn’t agree on this.”

“Dorcas and I are moving in together anyway, I’m doing you a favour.”

“I’m going to be flustered 24/7! They do shoots at my house, you know? I’ve got to look put together.”

“You’ll be fine. Keep shopping with her, I’ve got to run.” 

“Marlene-“

“C’ya dude.”

As she fled the scene, she winked at you and you turned to Sirius.

“Anyway, how are you, Sirius? Jeez, you look exactly the same as you did five years back.”

“Fine, lovely, modelling and all that.”

“Just all that? You own your own apartment, Sirius, you’re 21. That’s amazing!”

“What about you, sweet thing? Heard you’re working in the Ministry now.”

“Not the politics side, just the Auror department. Did you hear? Rowan Gregory…”

You eased into your old conversations, and your eyes settled on a beautiful mini broomstick. 

“That one?” You looked up at Sirius. 

“That one.”

He took the broomstick off the shelf and grinned at it, “Jimmy’ll love this one.”

“Lily won’t,” you laughed, “I’ll go get some books.”

As he stood there dumbfounded, a worker stacking boxes grinned at him. “Whipped.”

“Like cream,” he replied, smiling back.

“You might want to tell her,” the worker nodded and he just shook his head, “Am I really not being obvious enough?”

“What enough?” You reappeared, carrying a stack of books. 

“Let me take those,” Sirius interjected before the worker opened their mouth. 

“They’re not that heavy,” you sighed, even though your grip had loosened and you were already handing him the pile.

“I’m sure.”

You smiled to yourself. He really hadn’t changed much. 

—

You felt trapped in this party, the flashy colours flamboyant for your taste and intriguing music nothing you could snob about. 

So you slid into a room, presumably the host’s. You didn’t even know why you were here, you were tagging along with Lily to this party that everyone had been raving about. Sirius was here, and so was James. 

Lots of couples stumbled into the room, before running out, as they saw you gloomily looking around. One flicked you a twenty dollar note and told you to “have some fun, babe,” before she left with her boyfriend. You sat on the floor, properly exhausted. 

Knocks on the door followed and you were surprised at the person’s politeness. “Come in,” you say and they stride in. 

It was Sirius. He hadn’t been drinking, partying or dancing too hard. 

“Hey,” you greeted.

“Hey,” he offered you a little mug of hot chocolate, “Gracie said you weren’t feeling very well.”

You grimaced, “Gracie was correct. Return the twenty to her, will you? Say she can keep it for her honeymoon to Madagascar.”

He pushes it gently back into your palms, “I will. Do you want to talk?”

“I just don’t like this party, I guess. The music reminds me of Albania.”

He replied with a thoughtful, “You know, this is my apartment.”

“It’s nice,” you say genuinely. 

“Yeah.”

And Sirius felt lame. He really couldn’t do anything with you looking up at him, eyes burning with interest. 

“I can’t do this,” Sirius groaned, “Do you like me or not?” 

“I- of course I like you, Sirius,” you reply, delicately. 

“No, do you have feelings for me?”

“I might.”

“Do you?”

“I like you, okay?”

Sirius sat there frozen and you sighed, waiting patiently. 

“I couldn’t- I couldn’t like you.” Immediately his eyes snapped open, “Wait- that’s- no, that’s not what I meant.”

“That’s okay, it’s okay, it’s fine,” you whispered, more to yourself than to him, before exiting quietly.

—-

You never told anyone about the incident, moving in with Sirius seamlessly. But you buried yourself in work and friends, trying to ignore the way your heart ached whenever you saw him. This would just be like the school days, and those had passed eventually. 

You almost had forgotten about it all when you received a text message from him. 

Meet me at Bonnie’s Cove.  

At the same time, Marlene wrote to you;

We need you at Bonnie’s Cove. 

Bonnie’s cove was a lovely expanse, filled with inky orange and crimson hues as the setting sun waned into the pearly whiteness of the moon. The masts of boats were illuminated by the constellations of the navy sky, and rails guarded the rocky shores from passerbyers. 

Your hair was whipped by the evening gusts of dry wind as you stared into the distance. You would have never imagined your life taking this certain turn of events. You were tapped on the shoulder gently and swivelled to find Sirius, an earnest look on his face, donning the most beautiful ochre coat. 

He leant over the railings, hair falling and quickly being swept back. 

“I wanted to clear up what I said the other day.”

“You don’t need to, Sirius, really,” you reply quickly, smiling, “I’ll be over it in some time.”

“No, when I said that I couldn’t like you, I only meant another thing.”

You sighed. 

“I meant that I have feelings that are too elaborate to be just like. I love you, and I have since we were sixteen.”

“Sirius…”

“I know, I messed up, and I’m sorry, but I’m being serious,” he paused, his eyes slates of authenticity, “If you will,” he adds with a tiny upturn of his lips. 

You stand over the railings, and it feels liberating as you see him against the sunset.

“What do you want to do now?” you speak softly. 

He seems to regain himself, “Maybe a date or two,” he reciprocates your quiet tone, “Or a hundred. We can go from there, take it slow.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah.”

[placeinthemiddleofnowhere]

Bring me a dream

Part 5: Watermelon Bloody Mary

Status: Ongoing

Masterlist

Pairing: The Corinthian x F!Reader

Warnings: 18+ Minors DNI, smut, horror elements, body horror, manipulation, angst, oral f! recieving, PinV, dirty talk, corruption kink (Corinthian) , shy inexpereinced reader

A/N: Ok guys, this is a bit of a departure from what I've written already, moving away from purely soft and cuddly stuff and into some nightmare territory. Hope you guys still enjoy 👀💕

Also P.S Thank you so much for all of your lovely comments and reblogs and for being so invested in my lil fic. Much appreciated everyone ✨

-🍰-

Even after an hour of you being gone, Corinthian lay in bed, gently caressing the empty spot where you’d been laying all morning. Your warmth had long since faded from the cool sheets and the feel of your lips on his felt more and more like a ghostly memory than a physical feeling. Though, it didn’t stop him replaying your needy touches over and over in his mind like they had been imprinted into his every neuron. 

That settled it. He was addicted to you.

It's not like it hadn’t been clear for a while, he had inkling that what he felt was…well more than he’d ever felt for anyone before. He just wasn’t expecting it to hit him so hard was all. Even with the warmth of your love, it still felt like stumbling headfirst into a brick wall when he thought about how vulnerable you made him feel. Like he’d never get enough of you, and if anything should ever happen between you both he’d crumble into a pile of sand. 

“Fuck,” he moaned out loud, running a hand through his roughed up hair. “What’s she doin’ to me?”

It didn’t feel like he had enough breath in his lungs anymore. His chest felt achingly full and if he really thought about it, it didn’t feel like such a bad thing at all. It was as if he’d never have to leave that bed as long as he knew you’d return. 

What the hell had happened to him?

He hadn’t even felt a hint of the need to kill. The thought of blood dripping through his fingers no longer appealed, it was overtaken by you and your nerve-flushed skin and giggles and big innocent eyed stares long ago. And now that he knew what you looked like writhing underneath him all breathy and begging for him…well that was enough to make him live up to his promises all on its own. 

He couldn’t do anything that would jeopardise how you felt about him now. He couldn’t lose you.

He finally found himself sitting up in bed and casting a look over to himself in the mirror in the corner. He distantly hoped it would have captured an image of the two of you caught in a fit of passion, but instead he only saw his own reflection. His pensive face and bare chest were paled in the afternoon’s glow and his glasses were gleaming jet black. 

He swallowed thickly and pulled the shades off of his face, tilting his head as the gnashing teeth met the mirror. His thoughts became clouded and he looked away from himself, gritting his jaw and grunting softly. 

It was always the same after you left him. Always the onslaught of anxiety that made his head thunderously heavy. He was always reminded of the man he truly was, not the man you saw him as. The nightmare. 

Not good enough.

Not what she really wants.

You couldn’t even please the one that made you. How can you think to please her?

How can she even stand your presence? 

Corinthian had done all he could to be the best nightmare he could be and still Dream had tried to erase him as if he were an awful sketch of a failed masterpiece. He couldn’t even live up to his intended purpose, so how on earth could he be what you wanted? What you needed. 

Furthermore, he was corrupting you and he didn’t even have the shame to stop himself. He was turning you against Morpheus’ vision after all those years of being his perfect creation. He loved listening to you moaning for him. Listening to you begging for him to do all sorts of nasty things, it was like a hit of cocaine. It made his head tingle in ways it hadn’t before when he saw you making breathy requests in the dark hollow of his room. 

As much as he didn’t want to turn you into something you hated, something like himself, he couldn’t live without you now.

He breathed deeply and tossed the sheets away from himself, walking naked from his bed and toward the kitchen. If he couldn’t settle his mind with his usual pursuits, sex and killing, then at least he could fall back on a stiff drink. That would take the edge off of his souring thoughts. 

The air in there was brisk, made his muscles tighten as he reached into the cupboard and poured himself a glass of whisky. The bitter honey liquid washed down his throat like cooling lava and after he’d downed the whole glass, he poured another few fingers. Yes, this would distract him. Would let him forget his propensity for fucking up for a little while. 

“Goes down smoother ‘n lead,” he chuckled to himself, thinking of a surly bartender that he used to know years before. 

With a shake of his head, he took his tumbler and slunk over to the record player, sticking an old Waits record on low. The growling melodies crackled out and sent him into a blissful fog as he draped across his sofa like a renaissance painting. He felt pathetic, like a lovesick school boy. He couldn’t help it though.

After a few merciful seconds of silence in his mind, he swivelled his head from the back of the couch and was greeted with another reminder of the night before. The plate of brownies had been abandoned there, left uncovered in the haze of passion you’d both been overtaken by. And now there was a full stack left, all for him. 

“Oh man…”

He could still remember the last vision he’d had, could still feel the raw emotion that laced them. You had been so nervous, and in turn he’d thought that he’d be greeted with some terrible vision. Though, when he’d finally saw you both there on the dance floor, locked in each others arms, well that was enough to shatter through his veneer and make him weak. 

He didn’t need to think about reliving that twice. He took another gulp of his whisky then grabbed a brownie from the top of the pile, sinking his teeth into the rich chocolate and smooth nutty textures. The flavour soon faded away and once again he was transported to another realm far away. His living room dissolved before his eyes and soon enough he was back in the club under the golden LEDs and you were wrapped in his arms like something out of a movie. 

He could feel the bass vibrating through his body, could feel the way your breaths were tickling by his neck. Gods, and your soft skin brushed against him like Egyptian cotton. His heart thrummed with the rhythm of the faded music and his head felt like it was swimming in the reverie of your hold on him. He could stay there in that vision forever. 

You were a dream in every way. And he was the shadowy figure that crept upon you like a sickness. Though, while lost in the fantasy you’d created he couldn’t bring himself to think about that for even a second. No. He wasn’t a nightmare there, he was your dream. And his horrible thoughts couldn’t penetrate that vision for as long as he was inhabited by your magic. 

And he had a whole lot of magic to get through. 

 -🍰-

“Casey!”

Your entire face felt like it was going to melt in embarrassment, you’d never been so mortified in your life. 

“I’m just curious! I swear I won’t judge. Like was he big big or was he like…big big?” Casey asked, putting on silly voices and gesturing wildly with her hands. 

“I’m not answering that!” you squealed, shutting your eyes and running toward your bedroom door. 

You’d been in the house for less than five minutes and within that limited space she’d already interrogated you within an inch of your life. If you weren’t the subject on Casey’s hands, you’d of course be delighted by her ability to get information, but unfortunately you were. And you'd cracked like an egg. 

Jeez, she could be relentless! You shut your door with a rattling  bang and slid down it, giggling as you processed what you’d just done the night before. 

Of course you’d spent the entire morning with Corinthian and cuddled and kissed and even gone another round, but even now you couldn’t wait until you saw him next. 

Your heart was beating like a humming bird. And just as you’d begun to linger on the soreness between your legs and the heat that was rushing through your body you were rudely interrupted. 

Although, you couldn’t say you were even surprised, in fact you were shocked Casey hadn’t stopped the door before you’d even shut it. 

“You better open up because I’m not leaving till you do, roomie!”

Ugh! You absolutely weren’t going to disrespect Corinthians privacy, you couldn’t….

Well maybe you could share a couple details.

“Fine. I’m not answering questions that are specific to certain body parts though!” You sighed, humphing yourself up so you could open the door.

You grabbed the handle and opened it only to be greeted with her best Stanley Kubrick impression, jumping as she pounced through the doorway. Apparently there was no time to waste! She grabbed your wrist in her iron grip and dragged you over to your bed, ready to begin her round of questioning again. 

You had no choice but to sit down with her, crossing your legs and trying not to let the gleeful grin escape your face. She would be able to practically taste your excitement in the air, she didn’t need to be further encouraged. Though, the minute she opened her mouth you couldn’t help but squeal and clutch a stray cushion to your chest. 

Ok, you were maybe a little more than excited to get to share some details with your friend. 

“So…moving on from my earlier question - was he good?” 

“He was amazing,” you sighed, avoiding meeting her eyes. “He was so supportive and sweet and- and he was so gentle even when he- well… um…”

“What!”

“He asked if I wanted it harder and I said yes and oh my god- I thought I was gonna scream the place down,” you laughed, collapsing back onto the bed. “My legs were so shaky after I didn’t think I was gonna walk again!”

Casey’s laugh chimed with yours and soon enough you were both in a fit, shaking the bed with your full bodied giggles. It was the first time you’d ever talked about sex like that with someone and it felt good to be able to share the experience. It felt human. Like nothing you’d have even thought about in the dreaming. 

“I can’t believe you!” Casey snorted, “you’re little Miss innocent baker one minute, never talking to any boys and suddenly you meet this dream guy and next thing I know you’re getting paralysed by dick!”

“Ah, Casey!” You squealed, throwing your pillow.

“Getting it so good you can’t walk right after is a badge of honour! Shout it from the rooftops!”

“I’d rather not scare him away, thank you very much,” you retorted.

“Scare him away! That’s like a badge of honour to men,” Casey grinned, “he’d be thrilled knowing you thought he was that good.”

You thought in her words for a minute, and as it circled in your mind for a few minutes a grin spread across your face. That morning, it actually had been you telling Corinthian how amazing he’d made you feel that had led to round two. It made you think there really was something to Casey’s advice.

“Well, in any case, I can officially say that I’m hooked,” you smirked, lying back against the sheets.

“Hooked on that magic thing,” Casey said, raising her eyebrows.

You rolled your eyes and watched as she widened and closed her hands, looking pointedly at you. Ok, so she wasn’t going to let this go. There was the slightest temptation to give in and nod as she widened the gap between her palms, though you decided you’d stay resolute. 

“Not answeringgg,” you sing songed. 

“Well it was worth an extra shot,” she huffed, throwing her hands up in the air. “I can’t believe you’re off getting to have passionate movie sex and I’m stuck in all night without my bestie to help wing-woman me.”

“As if I’m ever the wing-woman” you snorted. “Lurking in the shadows and watching to make sure no one spikes you.”

You laughed at your own joke, thinking back to all the times you’d watched as she talked to a guy and you anxiously hoped that he wouldn’t be the one to sweep her off her feet. Sweep her away from you. Though, it was Casey’s expression getting more serious that made you realise that maybe you’d underestimated yourself. 

“And it's that kind of vampirey stalker support I need to be able to have the courage to talk to those guys on a night out,” she said matter of factly, “Like, really though. I miss you coming out with me. We never do spontaneous nights out anymore! When was the last time we even went out together?”

You breathed in a heavy sigh and felt your face fall as you’d looked at your friend. You’d been so wrapped up in the excitement of being around Corinthian and exploring your lies together that you had blown off Casey for a little bit. Sure, you still had your late night chats and made sure to catch up in the downtime, but you hadn’t made any intentional plans with her. 

If you really thought on it, you hadn’t really been an amazing friend as of late. And what’s more, you had been the one discouraging her away from guys at the club in the first place because you didn’t want her to abandon you. Yet now you were off galavanting with Corinthian. The same person that was able to call you out on your jealous streak. 

Well, you decided then that it was time to stop being so selfish. She’d taken you out and was the reason you’d met Corinthian, you could take her out and find someone to give her some ‘magic stuff’ too. 

“You’re right. I’m really sorry I’ve been totally man crazy and we’ve not gotten to hang out like we normally would. It’s been a total whirlwind lately with him! But, you know what? It’s payday this weekend which means there’s going to be plenty of people out looking to buy my super pretty, funny, amazing best friend some drinks,” you grinned. 

“Oh my god, yes! You have no idea how excited I am right now!” she said, jumping up into action and presenting her phone to your surprised self. 

You had some idea of how excited she was. 

“So, there’s this new cocktail place that’s opened up and I’m thinking we head there for a couple of drinks and then we hit the club, and we can go on the hunt for some classy guys to take with us and then-”

You listened as she continued to rattle off one of the most packed itineraries she’d mapped out yet and settled against the wall by your bed, smiling and nodding along through her excited breaths. You truly had it all at that moment. It was a feeling that you never thought that you’d have again ever since Morpheus had abandoned you. The feeling of contentment - of being whole. 

Everything- or rather everyone that you needed was right there in your life. You had Casey, your rock and your constant source of excitement, and you had Corinthian. Slowly but surely you were building a family, you were developing a new purpose. You were living for you, and not for the whims of your master. And honestly? That felt much better than the life you had before. 

 -🍰-

Soon enough the weekend had rolled around and you and Casey’s getting ready routine was fully underway as you sat in her scattered bedroom. While you’d managed to find a floaty black dress that you liked, Casey was still shoving random things over her head and huffing as she found that they weren’t quite right. Apparently that night had to be perfect, and she couldn’t accept a dress that was any less than that. 

“Ah! What am I supposed to wear! It feels like a gremlin’s been creeping around my wardrobe and stolen all the things I like,” she fumed.

You giggled as you watched her stomp and huff behind you in the mirror, footfalls fading on the worn cream carpet and hands outstretched to the ceiling. She was always like this, but it never got any less entertaining to you. In fact, she was such a distraction that you almost smeared your mascara, causing you to bite your lips and stop your makeup while your face wasn’t a scribbled mess. 

You were a getting ready veteran, and you knew Casey had more nonsense to get out before you were both through. So, you knew it was your time to shine.

“And what is it you think you would like better than what you've pulled out, hm?” you asked teasingly, turning in your chair.

“I don’t know! Just something better than whatever all this is,” she groused, folding her arms and aggressively falling onto her bed.

You laughed again as the bed creaked with her big flop and walked over, looking at the array of scattered fabrics that now littered the surface. You could hardly see the cartoon puppy print of her sheets under the multicoloured clothes. And so, as usual, you decided that if she couldn’t choose after going through this many outfits you would. As was commonly the case.

“How about this? What was wrong with this?” you asked, holding up a forest green playsuit.

“I’ve worn that so many times,” she moaned, rolling around so that she could see your pick. “Plus that ones too ‘I’ve just come back from a day at the beach and now I want to sit around with a glass of wine’. I want to give a ‘sexy, just jump me’ sort of vibe, you know?”

You snorted and tossed the playsuit down amongst the other discarded clothes. Well you were certainly in for a performance tonight. Hopefully there would be some decent guys and you wouldn’t have to rescue her away from too many creeps, you thought, trailing your eyes over the other options. 

You held up a couple of other choices, going through a nice top combo that didn’t have good enough bottoms to match and a hot pink dress that was apparently the result of a drunken SHEIN purchase. It resulted in a few laughs when you held it up and realised how revealing it was, it was less of a dress and more of a napkin really. 

However, you eventually hit the jackpot when you went diving into the back of her bursting closet and found a sparkly gold dress that you hadn’t seen her wear in months. You knew that one thing was for sure, she’d be hard to miss in that! It shimmered with sequins and would cling to her legs, showing a little skin from the opening in the back. It wasn’t one she wore often, it was pretty striking, but apparently confident Casey was out to play.

“It’s perfect,” she squealed, hugging you and taking the dress from your hands. “This is the one!”

“I’m glad,” you said, jokingly rolling your eyes. “I was afraid we’d have another January twelfth on our hands. How long did it take then? An hour, two hours…?”

“Oh, hush you!”

You smirked and walked back over to her mirror, hovering your hands over a set of different lipsticks, wondering if you should go dark or sparkly. Then, as you escaped into your mind for a minute you couldn't help but let your thoughts stray to earlier in the week when you’d last worn lipstick. When you’d trailed kisses all over Corinthian’s chest and then lower toward his-

“Getting lost in a thought again?” Casey interrupted, flicking your shoulder.

“Hey!”

“Hey, yourself,” she tsked. “This is our night!”

“I know that,” you defended, finally picking up a sparkly lipstick you were always fond of. “I just can’t help it sometimes.”

“Mhmm, well you know what you can help?” she said with a smile, leaning in close to you in the mirror.

“What?” you asked, narrowing your eyes suspiciously.

“Covering up that big ass hickey he left on your neck,” she said, nudging you with her shoulder. 

You gasped as she said it and twisted, looking at the side of your neck in the mirror and realising that now that you were wearing something that was more revealing, you could see it clear as day. Your entire face heated like a radiator and your hand shot over the purple bruise, acting like the faster you covered it up, the faster she’d forget about it.

“Shame you can’t do that the entire night,” she grinned.

You huffed and shot her glare, picking up the foundation you’d thought you were finished with and hastily finding your brush in amongst the mess on the vanity. How could you have forgotten about that? Ugh, why had you even suggested it in the first place! Though, you had to admit, even with the embarrassment that was flooding through you then, it had felt damn good to receive at the time…

“Focus woman! We can’t be late to the reservation!”

“Jeez! Ok, ok, I’m going,” you grinned, applying a thick blob of makeup to your brush. “Not my fault he’s so hot!”

-🍰-

So apparently hickeys were a bastard to cover. Who knew?

Despite that though, you’d both made your way out of the house and rushed over to the new cocktail bar, overly excited to try out the menu. Of course, according to ritual, you’d both read out pretty much every drink there was on your phones while you both rode in the taxi, already choosing out your first orders. It wasn’t like you could just walk in blind after all!

And at this place especially, you were glad that you hadn’t. When you’d both walked through the dark wooden doors, you were in awe. You were both ushered in by the doorman then were promptly swallowed into shadow and bathed in pink lights and trailing faux flowers that dangled from the ceiling. There were several tables all illuminated by their own pink haloes that all had dark velvet chairs pushed into them and glossy black tables, one of which you were led to by a server.

She had a pressed white shirt and an excited walk, swaying as she led you to the table. Her long blonde ponytail moved with her and you watched it swish back and forth, entranced before you sat at your table.

“Welcome to The Dahlia! Have you been here already or is this your first time?” she asked, looking between both of your amazed faces. 

“This is our first time,” Casey answered, quicker to snap out of her reverie than you. 

“Exciting! Well, here we like to offer table service, so I’ll be coming by to get your orders. So if you need anything at all, just let me know! We have our cocktail menu here,” she said, handing you both a shiny menu card that you more than knew off by heart, and then handed you a bigger book as well. “And then this is our beer, wine and spirits here. We have plenty to choose from, and there are descriptions for what everything is, but if you have any questions I’m more than happy to help! Should I give you both a second to decide?”

“Actually we know what we both want to order,” you smiled, setting the menus down. “We might’ve had a little look in the taxi coming over…”

“Oh, amazing! Love a customer that knows what they want,” she giggled, throwing you a wink. “What’ll it be?”

You bit your lip as Casey smirked from the corner of your eye and listed off your orders. Then of course, the blonde had given you another wink when she left. That was enough to make you break and join Casey in a fit of poorly concealed giggles once she was a little ways away. Out of earshot, you had hoped.

“Do you think you could stop being so damn alluring for like a second and save some for the rest of us?” Casey said, sighing sarcastically as she settled into her chair.

“Well I can’t help that I’m clearly such a catch round here,” you said, wiggling your eyebrows conspicuously. “I’m irresistible, darling!”

“You’re such a goof,” she snorted. “I’m glad we’re out together though! This place is amazing. It’s like being in some kind of fairy den.”

“I know right! I love the flowers, they’re so pretty.”

You both took a second to look around again and let your eyes trail over to the bar where the server had gone to relay your order. It had a dark tile splashback and a wall full of so many different spirits you didn’t think you recognised them all. Though, really you were just keeping your eyes on the prize, looking out for the sugary candy floss that was bound to come your way. Ugh, it had been too long since you’d had your last sugar fix!

“This reminds me of a garden I used to walk through sometimes,” you said absently, trailing your eyes to the ceiling above, admiring the soft pink flowers that dangled from it.

“Oh yeah? I’m surprised, you always made home sound like it was…well not great,” she shrugged, trying and failing to find the right words.  

“Well, yeah, this was before- uh before things fell apart. I had this…neighbour that used to have the most beautiful flower maze. Kinda reminds me of that,” you smiled, trailing as you thought of one of the few dreams you’d known from back home.

“Aw! That sounds so cute! We used to have a cranky neighbour that was obsessed with his apple trees growing up and my brother always used to sneak into his garden and steal them. Then, one day, I was supposed to be his lookout but I got distracted by a butterfly that had flown right by me. Then, when I tell you that that man was the same colour as his apples, I’m not lying, man he was furious! All I heard was this scream one second and the next my brother comes jumping over the fence, apples flying everywhere out of his hoodie and then the neighbour is SHOUTING down the door for our mom to come downstairs and then they ended up in a screaming match together. That man hated us,” she laughed, shaking her head as she recounted her tale. 

You’d both laughed it off and after a little while longer, you got your drinks which were just as impressive as the bar itself. You’d been given a wide pink coloured martini glass overflowing with candyfloss and it tasted so sweet, you could practically feel rainbows exploding in your eyes. It was pretty strong as well, in fact just a few sips in you were joking and laughing around with Casey even harder than you ever had before. 

It was already shaping up to be a fun night out. You’d barely even felt a single itch to text Corinthian, and even though you’d felt a notification buzz in your purse you stayed resolute, not wanting to give into your base instincts. Casey had been right earlier, this was you guys’ night out together. No Corinthians allowed.

Though, later on in your evening, as Casey found herself trailing to the bathroom yet again, you found yourself about to give into temptation. Just as you’d reached your hand down to unbutton your purse, your server wandered up to you and placed a tray down on the table, setting down a couple of very tall, very red drinks onto the shiny back surface with a smile. You frowned as she went about her job, wondering what she was doing. You hadn’t ordered any more drinks yet. 

“You two are lucky girls,” she beamed, catching your furrowed brow. “You got these compliments from a secret admirer, he said he ‘wants you to drink up for the night ahead’. They’re our signature watermelon bloody Marys.”

You tilted your head and simpered, not quite sure what to do with your face. A secret admirer? Was it actually her and she was pretending otherwise? Could you be bold enough to even ask?

Though, as it turned out you were wrong, you weren’t kept in the dark for long. She gave one of her signature winks and looked over to a man that was getting up from his stool at the bar. He had a long black coat and scraggly hair that covered his face as he whisked past, moving through the shadowy room before taking his leave through the heavy wooden doors. 

“And he’s not even sticking around to chat. Must’ve just wanted to pay you guys a compliment,” she said with a shrug, quickly picking up her tray and whisking herself off. 

Odd.

You frowned again and studied the drink, sitting up so you could see its contents. You weren’t normally one for a bloody mary, they were usually so bitter and you much preferred sweet things. Though you couldn’t deny, there was a hint of something syrupy when you smelled it. When you looked over the red salty rim it seemed to have two balls of watermelon bobbing alongside the usual celery, rolling around in the glass like a pair of bloodshot eyes. 

That struck you as being even weirder. It seemed like something that Corinthian would’ve bought you in the early days, something to tease you with. It was such a strange choice of cocktail to send to you both. Not that you were an expert, but it seemed like most guys would send something prettier.

“Ooh, did you order something?”

You broke out of your thoughts as Casey returned to the table and shook your head, looking from the drinks and back to her as she sat down. You bit your lip and turned to the door for a second again, but when the stranger made no sign of returning you sighed and explained that they’d been bought for you.

“Free drinks and we didn’t even need to speak to anyone yet?” she giggled tipsily. “Tonight is gonna be great!”

You smirked and soon enough, you’d forgotten all about your ‘secret admirer’ and relaxed back into the night. Things were running smoothly once again. Or rather, so you’d thought. After leaving and paying the extortionate bill you’d both run up, minus the bloody marys of course, you’d both hopped in another taxi. 

You were both game to hit up your usual spot, ready to do some dancing and find Casey someone cute to talk to. The backseat was now a strategy room and you were both the chief councillors of the plan of attack, talking animatedly about how you were going to get Casey laid - much to the driver's chagrin. Though, halfway into the journey you were held up in traffic. The taxi had come to a full stop, settling for a few minutes at at least several points.

Casey had threatened to jump out and sprint, thinking that she was being funny. Though soon it became a reality that getting out and walking actually would be faster than driving. So, after paying the reduced fare and giving a small tip you both stalked down the street, determined to get to the club before you’d be caught in an endless queue and refused, heels clacking down the street like castanets.

Then, just to top things off, you were getting endless calls all of a sudden. The buzzing was easy to ignore at first, afterall, you and Casey were on a mission. Though soon it became more annoying as the vibrations ceased to stop and they ran through your already chilled body, making you regret walking through the cold night without a jacket on.

“Oh my god! Who is that?”Casey laughed, “Is it who I think it is?”

“I have no idea,” you frowned, folding your arms over your chest. “All I know is I’m not doing anything till I can feel my fingers again.”

She nudged into you from her spot at your side, but continued to keep at your pace.You were both speed walking down the street like a couple of suburban fitness fanatics. The club was all you could think about. The warmth, the dancing and the drinks. However, just as you were about to turn the corner and reach your coveted spot, you were both stopped in your tracks and ripped from your thoughts.

A scream rang out in the night, followed by shocked gasps and chatterings. It had you both turning to each other with gaping mouths and wide eyes, holding each other fast with your confused stares. However, you weren’t held there for long. You both turned the corner and were shocked as you were met with flashing blue lights and noticed several police cars and an ambulance parked outside The Annex club. 

“What the hell?” you both gasped in unison.

The two of you strolled over toward a gathering crowd and peered over their heads, thankful that you had heels on so that you could see past the onlookers without getting too close. You couldn’t see much at first, all you noticed was streams of people leaving the club, racing away in their uncomfortable shoes and hardly taking a look back. You had no idea what was going on, but It was enough to get your throat constricting.

What could have so many people running like that, you’d wondered. Why are they so scared?

However, after a few seconds of peace, when there were no more people fleeing the scene you finally realised why. You heard him at first, heard a blood curdling scream that tore through the night like a knife slicing against metal. It had you wincing and covering your ears, heart beginning to thud like a jackhammer. It was the scream of someone that was terrified, someone in pain.

“Holy crap, what is that?” Casey gasped, clutching your side as the wail continued. 

You weren’t left in the dark for long. The culprit came struggling down the stairs and through the doorway, being dragged by several police officers, squirming in their grasp. He was waving his arms and kicking his legs, roaring like a banshee and desperately trying to get free. He looked in terrible shape, his clothes were ripped and he was covered in blood, his hair was a matted mess on top of his head. 

“It’s so dark! It’s so dark, please, why is it so dark? Please, please! Help me! Help me!” The man screamed, still scrambling against the officers in his hold.

You gasped and covered your mouth as you studied him further and noticed his eyes. They weren’t dark and hidden by shadow, they weren’t obscured from your view, rather they weren't there to be seen in the first place. He only had empty sockets where two orbs should be…

“Oh my god, what happened to him?” The crowd asked, everyone erupting into questions as you all watched the man get dragged toward the ambulance. 

“Where are his eyes?” 

“What’s happening?”

“Get this on film, someone take a video!”

You opened your mouth a couple of times, gaping like a fish as you listened to the crowd and focused on the scene before you. You had no idea what to think, you could barely process what was happening. Nothing could’ve prepared you for what would happen that night. 

And nothing prepared you for what Casey would say as the figures drew closer and the man came further into view while they dragged him to the nearby ambulance.

“Oh my- isn’t that…that’s the guy- that’s- that’s the guy that I was talking to when we were here before,” she stammered, “That’s…the same thing he was wearing when we were talking. It was on the news…”

You blinked a few times, trying to process what she was telling you, feeling like you were floating in the ocean, witness to a violent shark attack as you wobbled on your feet and stared ahead. Casey’s grip only got tighter on you as the realisation came to her and the buzzing in your purse continued to go, seemingly never ending and adding to the waves of shock that roiled your stomach.

You couldn’t help it. You broke away from Casey, away from the crowd, and released the contents of your stomach, dancing on your feet and falling to the ground as your head swam. 

How could this be? 

What the hell was happening?  Who did this?

-💕-

Tag List

@ravenous-says-stuf @jvybirrd @padawansubscription @pinkybee926 @heurimariquinha @the-corinthian-og-begay-docrimes @autistic-dream @heartache97 @juniebugg @mischiefmanaged71 @loonylunalovegood77 @suzubeans @proximateez @aureliel @belle643 @hollybell51 @seraferna @anotherromanticpoet @pinkcyclewitch @nebulastarr @terzoskaz0o @baarishkiboond @philiasoul @tea-effect @ryethebrokengae @maysrain @gortycs @lucienmikaelson @rosaren2498 @dais-hime

[dorikaze]

the one with tatsumi got me kicking my feet and shii😭 anyway,, could you do hiyori + daffodil? if it hasn’t been done yet ^^

T. HIYORI, 10 daffodil “the sun is always shining when i’m with you”

A/N: glad you liked the tatsumi one nonnie! as i mentioned before, i wasn’t 100% sure about it, but nonetheless! happy to see so much positive feedback on it! thank ya! i was scrambling my brain trying to think of how to write hiyori’s speech patterns but i like how it turned out!! hope you do too ^^ (i also hope you caught my little pun … hmm, good weather, i wonder what it means? wink wink) kickstart!

hiyori never once failed to make your day. you had thought this many times over the course of your relationship, but it’s times like this when it’s most apparent. you watched him fuss over bloody mary and you couldn’t help the smile that spreads across your face. it’s full of adoration. anybody could tell from a glance that you were absolutely smitten. hiyori was always so, so incredibly bright, shining even in moments of respite. this, you had also thought many times, even before your relationship.

you’ve always wanted to tell all this to hiyori, but you were never sure how. you think the words have finally come to you now though.

“hiyo,” you call out.

he glances up to you then back down to bloody mary with a grin. “hm?”

you rested your chin in the palm of your hand. “i’ve had something on my mind for a while … can i say it?”

“oh? i’m curious,” his full attention was on you now. “what is it?”

you huffed, “it’s so weird! like, how does it even work!? i’m stumped …” he didn’t say anything, but you could tell that you got him. “i just don’t get it! the sun is always shining when i’m with you, why is that?”

his cheeks flared but he let out his pretty laugh. “of course it’s always sunny! good weather means good fortune, no?”

you giggled at his response. “i mean it though,” you replied seriously. “you’re my sun, hiyori. i love you.”

“aw, i love you too!” he lifted up bloody mary. “now come here and let us give you some kisses!”

you lightheartedly rolled your eyes and shuffled towards the two.

you love hiyori so much. you don’t think that will ever change.

© dorikaze 2022 all rights reserved ! likes ‘n reblogs are appreciated!!!

[xhanisai]

Bite off more than you can chew and you’ll choke.

(AO3) (FFN)

Summary -  "But Lila cared more about the middle finger that Adrien shot at her when no one else was looking." To summarise, if you hurt the Ladybug, you can count on the Black Cat to absolutely annihilate you without mercy. A.K.A. A wonderful crackfic where Lila gets karma shoved up her ass by Adrien every time she tries to hurt Marinette.

A/N: I'm having an affair with dumb bitch juice. Shhh. Don't tell angst. ~(x)~ . . . "Heh, looking good~" The Italian teen winked to herself one last time at the mirror and then striked a pose that radiated pure confidence and clearly, a drop dead gorgeous Goddess that has ever descended this miserable planet. Luck was on her side today, lil ol' Rossi could feel it in her bones. 'Today is a wonderful day to knock down Dupain-Cheng a peg or two...' Lila hummed perversely, olive irises twinkling with mischief and sadism. She applied another coating of her favourite orange lip gloss and spritzed her body with some more pumpkin spice flavoured perfume (that was apparently a one of a kind DKNY product that the company themselves have gifted her, that's right Juleka). Digging out one of the hundreds of pictures she has of Adrien Agreste in her drawer, she planted a sloppy kiss on the face (lil hoe thinks she's being seductive smh smh), whispered something absolutely filthy and then made her way out of the house with a green apple in hand. As she walked, numerous plans and ideas were concocted up in her head whilst she happily chewed through the sour, bitter fruit that could compete with her own acidic heart. Certainly, her plans weren't going as smoothly as she'd like, given that not only has Marinette stood strong, Alya and Nino still stuck to the raven haired girl like glue and the model boy actually dared to threaten her to withdraw Mari's expulsion. Of all people, he threatened her! Who the hell did he think he is? He should be nothing but a spineless pretty face, a decoration to her growing fame. Ugh! Shaking her head and refocusing her thoughts, Lila took one last, harsh bite from the fruit and then tossed it away without a second glance, hitting an unsuspecting rat with wings- pigeon, an unsuspecting poor pigeon. Looks like M. Ramier will be akumatised later on if he ever sees the splat of feathers on the pavement. She didn't give a damn. Instead, a sinister, almost feral like smile stretched on the brunette's lips as she spotted her prey up ahead, sitting on the front steps that led to the collège. Quite a few passerbyers and students gave Marinette either a disappointed look or a disgusted grimace. Most pretty much ignored her, leaving the Asian bowing her head down in embarrassment, making herself look as small as possible. 'Like the useless mouse she is.' Lila barely held off the urge to giggle. After making Cheng look like such an evil cretin and even managing to get her expelled, her reputation has almost been tarnished! Marinette went from one of the most popular, prettiest, kindest girl in school to the most conniving, horrible, wench in a matter of a day. She would have been gone forever had it not been for Adrien's stupid- SPLASH!!!!! No way. No. Fucking. Way. Lila gaped like a dead fish, unable to comprehend what had just happened as her once dry, stylish clothes dripped with dirty puddle water and the stench of dirt clung to her hair and skin. The now filthy looking teen snapped out of her stupor and glowered at the offending car that DARED to zoom through the ginormous puddle only to gawk again when she registered the vehicle's familiarity. Lila wasn't able to do more than budge an inch as a certain model stepped out of the car in front of the collège and lifted Marinette to her feet with his hand. He gave the petite girl a warm smile that only sickened the Italian girl to the core even further and when he interlaced his hand with Marinette's, leading her inside the building, Lila couldn't stop the ferocious growl from escaping her throat. This was meant to be HER day today. A fresh splatter on her head from up above proved otherwise. Her hand shot to her head, face twisted in a witch like grimace as slick, gooey slime coated her fingers and hair. Lila mustered up as much venom as she possibly could in her eyes, tilting her head up, only to see the very same pigeon that got hit by the apple, glare back. Neither of the two noticed the wry smile that Adrien let out as he shielded a flustered Marinette inside the building... ~(x)~ Full classroom? Check. Mme. Bustier temporarily out of the room? Check. Dupain-Cheng opening her backpack whilst oblivious? Check. Lila wiggled in her seat like a cat waiting to pounce on the mouse (not like those in cute youtube videos), eyes narrowing at the back of Marinette's head, awaiting for the right moment to act. You see, earlier on, Lila planted one of Chloe's prized earrings (dumb barbie never learnt her lesson when it came to bringing family heirlooms to school) in Marinette's bag, planning on calling her out of stealing it to further crush her reputation into smithereens. Knowing Chloe and her illogical grudge against the girl, the consequences would be so much more worse for Marinette considering she's the mayor's daughter and all- . . . Wait... What? Lila blinked twice, thrice, then rubbed her eyes and blinked again. 'What in the world???' "O-ooooh! Who put this pretty flower in my bag?" Marinette twirled the lavender rose between her fingers in awe, admiring the beautiful plant with a cute blush on her cheeks. She gave the rose a sniff, cheeks glowing further as she hummed pleasantly. "It smells so nice!" Her smile was so disgustingly sweet, Lila could have sworn that the girl was radiating diabetes. Maybe she should pretend to faint and blame it on Marinette somehow? "Looks like you have a secret admirer, girl~ Did you know that lavender roses mean love at first sight?" Alya playfully poked Marinette's cheek, waggling her eyebrows whilst the rest of the girls in the class- sans Chloe, Sabrina and of course Lila herself, gathered around their class president's table. Their coos and questions were deaf on the seething Italian's ears as she was hyper focused on Adrien's face. The way his eyes lowered knowingly and his lips upturned into a secret but smug smile. The way his head tilted towards the side ever so slightly as he watched the French-Asian with so much...love. Lila was close to throwing up in her mouth. 'So that little Prince was the one who replaced Chloe's earrings with that stupid flower...huh...has he caught on...?' Just as that thought passed through Lila's head, the sound of Chloe bragging about her new earrings filled up the room with the addition of Sabrina's praises. The brunette cocked an eyebrow, dissatisfied of her plan failing in ruining Marinette's life further and getting Adrien wrapped around her pinky, where he belongs. With a string of Italian curses muttered, Lila opened her bag and- "CHE CAZZO È!?" Lila launched the provocative bag away with another scream and when it landed on Kim's desk, dozens of spiders pooled out like a tidal wave, causing the athletic Vietnamese to jump up ten feet in the air with a high pitched yowl and that in turn created a mass panic in the classroom. "Ah- đéođéođéo- KEEP THEM AWAY FROM ME!" Kim let out another screech, forcing himself into a baffled Alix's arms as the spiders scattered whilst everyone else stood on their desks to avoid the wonderfully adorable critters. "LILA! WHY THE FUCK DO YOU HAVE THOSE MONSTERS IN YOUR BAG!?" Kim cried out as soon as a shocked Mme. Bustier returned to the classroom. The red headed woman gawked at the floor and then grimaced before sending a stern look towards Lila, hands on her hips. Everyone in the class froze at her stance. "Lila, we know that you've just returned from a campaign to save a species of highly venomous spiders from going extinct but that does not permit you in bringing them to school. You'll be on rubbish duty for the rest of this week and M. Damocles shall discuss with you later on for a more suitable punishment after that. Everyone else, please remain calm and carefully step out of the room." The olive eyed brunette didn't get a chance to defend herself as everyone comically sped outside at a speed that would make even Sonic The Hedgehog jealous. Nino and Ivan were held piggy back style by their respective girlfriends whilst it took Alix, Max, Nathanael and Juleka to tear a petrified Kim off the wall (In turn, Rose held him bridal style as if he didn't weigh more than a feather). When she saw Marinette shyly grasp Adrien's hand to lead him out, Lila saw red and looked away before she did something she would regret. In amidst her internal monologue, she missed Adrien's dangerous smirk as his eyes glinted devilishly. The boy tightened his grip on Marinette's hand, much to the girl's surprise and delight whilst his kwami snickered in his blazer's inner pocket. ~(x)~ "Whoa!" Marinette let out a yelp, numerous files slipping out of her hands as she flailed her arms to regain balance. Unfortunately, she ended up tipping backwards towards the edge of the stairs much to Lila's entertainment. If she couldn't break Marinette's godforsaken will and reputation completely, a few bones or so should satisfy her ruthless heart- "Marinette! Be careful!" With amazing speed, Adrien caught the girl from behind, interlocking his arms around her body in an iron grip without even wincing at the weight of her mass colliding with his chest. A few passerbyers, including Rossi herself observed the scene with incredulous expressions. The latter pissed at the stupid prince charming's bloody timing! She didn't know what annoyed her more. The fact that her plan failed for the umpteenth time or the useless anime like tropes that seemed to play when it came to blonde boy and noir girl. "Ack! Thanks Adrien..."  Marinette expected a simple 'No problem Mari,' from the boy but was taken aback by his malicious glare that was directed at the tanned girl before them. She couldn't help the squeak that escaped her when his grip tightened as he lead them up the stairs, standing a mere feet away from Lila. His hold on Cheng wavered between protective and possessive. Marinette found it kinda hot. "You know, we have bins for a reason Rossi. Be sure to chuck your litter away or else someone could get hurt." His voice was gravelly and alarmingly low, indicating who would really get harmed in the situation. Lila hated the way her blood chilled to ice and the unpleasant shivers that shook her spine before mustering the energy to plaster an innocent smile instead of running away. "Oops. Silly me," She bent down to pick up the can she conveniently dropped earlier on, causing Marinette to trip in the first place. "My arthritis has been acting up all day-" "And I painted the Mona Lisa, yeah, whatever." Marinette and Lila, both only close enough to hear, widened their eyes at Adrien's passive aggressive tone. Without wasting another second, the boy tugged Marinette along, heading away from the scowling Italian. The sickening duo seemed to get closer and closer every second, causing Lila's blood to burn with rage. "He's definitely caught on...that boy is more slippery and sneaky than I thought...as expected of the son of Gabriel Agreste." Lila growled severely, crushing the can in her grip- SPEW! Oh. The can was never empty from the start. Steam figuratively shot out of her ears as the fizzy drink dripped down her hair, face and clothes, smearing her layers upon layers of caked makeup that took her hours to do this morning- after she went back home to shower and changed into fresh clothes when she was soaked by that dirty puddle, courtesy of Adrien's fucking car! 'GAME ON AGRESTE.' ~(x)~ Lila planted that wretched goose- pigeon, that wretched pigeon in Marinette's locker, anticipating a commotion or SOMETHING. However, when the unsuspecting girl, accompanied by her trio of friends, opened said locker, there was no pigeon. Instead, out popped out a ridiculously cute, handmade Chat Noir doll. According to Marinette's and Alya's babbles, it's a doll that the former has made ever since the pathetic heroes of Paris made their debut. "But how did it get here? I don't recall bringing it in with me today," Yes, Lila also wanted to know how the FUCK that cursed plush appeared out of thin air. It certainly wasn't there when she shoved the feathered pterodactyl in. "Maybe you brought it with you by accident?" Nino quipped. "Didn't you have that phase back in école where you'd always bring a teddy that you slept with for company?" "WEDONOTTALKABOUTTHAT." Marinette retorted back with gritted teeth, slamming her locker door for emphasis but the way she hugged the Chat Noir doll protectively afterwards did little to intimidate the bespeckled boy. In fact, much to Lila's disgust, the trio melted at Marinette's obviously fake cuteness. Unbelievable! Where did that pigeon go anyways!? Never peeling her eyes away from the nauseating quad, Lila snatched the door of her locker open, grinding her teeth- "COO!!!" ...only to be attacked by a flurry of feathers and a sharp beak. This time, whilst she, along with a 'helpful' Alya and Nino managed to rip the bedeviled thing off her face, Lila caught a shit-eating grin on Adrien's lips as he watched her suffer without a word. 'That little BASTARD! He did this to me!' Rolling his eyes as if Lila was nothing but a three year old throwing a tantrum, he threw an arm around Marinette's shoulder who looked more confused than anything. "What is Jacques doing here?" Lila almost scoffed at the Asian's question. That failure of a bird has a name? And familiarised with Marinette no less? No wonder he was currently a bitch and half in her ass! No one answered Mari's question regardless. Though surely, that sinister cat of a model held the answer. "I'm more curious of whether you sleep with that little Chat doll or not, Marinette~" He teased, much to Lila's dismay and Marinette's embarrassment. Alya and Nino momentarily forgot about the clearly traumatised Lila, simply to join in with the jesting. "N-N-NO! HAHA- what a silly question Adrien!" Marinette slapped the teen's shoulder with a bit more oomph than the usual friendly slaps, cheeks reddening and eyes flickering to the side. "She can't go to sleep without it~" Alya confessed on her best friend's behalf, glasses twinkling impishly at Mari's cry of "Traitor!". "One time when she was at mine for a sleepover, she forgot to bring Petit Noir along and stayed awake all night without his presence. She's so pure, isn't she?" Marinette was left as a blushy, squealing mess as the rest of her friends chuckled fondly. If it wasn't frowned upon in this country, Rossi would have gladly kicked them all out the window one by one till their sorry necks snapped but even she had some sort of control. "Adorable, absolutely adorable." This time, Lila did throw up in her mouth as Adrien swept Marinette up into a bone crushing hug with the most disgusting look of 'love' tattooed on his face. The hazel eyed brunette stormed out of the locker room with a growl, deaf to Alya's questioning shouts of her name. She was going to TEAR that boy apart from limb to limb! Adrien's grin only grew at her departure, daring the idiotic girl to try and pull another stunt again. ~(x)~ During a photoshoot that Lila was assigned to model at, every time she attempted to inappropriately run her hands down Adrien's torso or shoulders, she ended up getting bitten by god knows what. The more she tried, the harder the bites were and towards the end, the shoot was cancelled as her skin was covered in tiny little bite marks that resembled wasp stings or even a terrible allergic reaction. The horrid girl never noticed the tiny God of Destruction that lingered nearby his chosen who in turn delivered a little fistbump to his precious friend with a smile far too saccharine to be innocent. ~(x)~ Just before their French lesson began, Lila staged a scene by crying out in pain when shoving her hand in her bag and 'finding' multitudes of sewing needles in them. Surely the class would turn their heads towards Dupain-Cheng with animosity as she claimed that Marinette must have sabotaged her bag that day. Instead, much to her surprise, the majority of the class defended her with an alibi. "But M. Dupain and Mme. Cheng hid away all her sewing stuff for the rest of the month so that Marinette could concentrate for the upcoming exams!" Gee thanks Rose. "Marinette was at mine's yesterday night to study and sleepover so there's no way that she did that," Godammit Alya. "I'm pretty sure 'Nette's needles are silver in colour, not bronze." Shut up Lahiffe. "She would panic if she steps on an ant, how could she hurt a person?" Really Alix? Really? "Marinette and I were stuck in the closet all break so there's no way she's managed to sabotage your bag, Lila." Agreste- do you even know what you're implying here? To summarise, the case was neutralised with a theory that one of the textile upperclassmen students must have accidently put a container of needles in her bag, thinking it belonged to the department. But Lila cared more about the middle finger that Adrien shot at her when no one else was looking. ~(x)~ Lila tried tripping Marinette again but this time, she was caught by the Japanese fencer girl who 'politely' thwacked Lila's knees with her foil and told her to get out of her class. That ice queen never left Marinette's side for the rest of the day. When Marinette arrived to the morning classes with a disturbingly gorgeous, sheer white sundress in hand, babbling about how she was going to alter it after the exams to her friends, of course Lila gave into temptation by altering it herself. By altering, she meant smothering the skirt of the dress with non washable red paint. Marinette returned to the afternoon classes wearing the dress but with the red stains magically transformed into a flawless gradient and decorated with faux red rose petals on the edge of the skirt and the tip of the bust. The poor Italian was rewarded with the grand scene of Adrien claiming out loud how 'beautiful' his 'Princess' looked without shame and twirling her around in the air. Next, Lila somehow snuck a snake out from the zoo (getting bitten a million times and even throttled at one point by said creature) and secretly let it loose at the Dupain-Cheng bakery when she was only 'looking around'. The snake ended up getting its own tank and promoted the bakery, increasing the numbers of customers because surprise surprise, it's the year of the snake according to the Lunar calendar and everyone saw that slimy creature as a symbol of good luck! M. Césaire let the family keep the snake. Marinette named him Aspik much to Adrien's ambiguous delight but then changed it to Viperion when the boy accidentally tore apart her favourite ball of yarn. ("Little bug how could you do this to me!?") Lila even tried to start a rumour going where she apparently witnessed Marinette kissing a strange, delinquent after hours in creepy alleyways and got a little frisky with him. Adrien turned that around on her by asking why she was spying on him and Marinette, both wearing scarves that poorly concealed their ravaged necks. The rest of the day was spent with students gossiping about the new developments of 'Project Adrienette' and suddenly the despicable duo were dating. The rest of the students and teachers decided to switch to Lila as a target to send their scrutinising eyes at. It took Lila twenty-four hours of staring at a blank wall to digest the fact that she unintentionally nudged those two together in her pursuit of destroying them both. Twenty four hours of gaping with dead eyes and not moving a muscle whilst her phone buzzed with the latest gossip on Adrien and Marinette. An immediate news report on Ladybug grabbing Chat Noir into a heated kiss after an akuma battle that almost sent them running for their money, confirming their relationship broke Lila out of her daze and left her screaming inside her house. ~(x)~ The classroom door slammed open, revealing a dishevelled, crude looking Lila Rossi, heaving for air like she's just ran around the world in twelve days. Her hair was dirty, greasy and stuck in ways that defied physics. Her clothes were torn, stained and slick with unnamed substances. Her face was covered in stings, scratches and red marks that ruined her usually flawless make up. Clearly, a drop dead gorgeous Goddess that has ever descended this miserable planet. The students paused whatever they were doing, curious and slightly concerned at the state of the Italian's exterior. Lila let out an animalistic growl, pointing a finger at Adrien Agreste who paid no mind to her and carried on reading his book whilst Marinette Dupain-Cheng slumbered away peacefully in his lap. "I don't know how you did it or what dark magic you played on me or what voodoo dolls you have been using, but you'll never get away with humiliating me! Both of you!" Everyone's eyes widened at Lila's desperate and frustrated tone, now facing the boy bearing the brunt of her bite. Much to Rossi's screaming irritation, Adrien only flipped a page of his book with a hum like someone has just asked him whether he'd like some sugar with his tea. "STOP ACTING DUMB AGRESTE! I KNOW IT'S YOU WHO TRIED TO RUIN MY LIFE!" This time, she received eye contact from the boy. Instead of retaliating back, he put a finger on his lips and- ...shushed her. She was going to fucking KILL HIM. "My Marinette has pulled two all nighters in a row for the exam we just had this morning- which you missed by the way. So, she's sleeping right now. If you have some respect, keep it down." His tone was polite, sophisticated and angelic and his face was softened into the most sweetest smile. A front for the devilish cackle and demonic smirk that was threatening to burst out the seams of his fake exterior and Lila was able to sense it with ease. She didn't get a chance to yell back as Chloe suddenly interrupted. "And what has my Adrikins done to you? Other than get brainwashed by that ridiculous rat and start dating her of course," The blonde pursed her pastel lips, ignoring Adrien's comments on 'I'm not your Adrikins,' and 'Stop being mean to my sweet girlfriend,' and whatever nonsense he was spouting. "Oh wow...hahah...where do I start?" The hysteric girl began, blind to everyone else's distressed gaze at her behaviour. "The spiders? The pins? The ghost bites? That damn ugly bird that can't seem to find another place other than my head to SHIT ON!?" The object of her hate only raised a brow in confusion. "YOU'RE BEHIND IT ALL! I KNOW IT'S YOU!" "...Lila, were you bitten by those spiders that you were protecting during your campaign like a week ago? I think you need to see a doctor." Was the reply she got from Adrien before he went back to his book. "Also, this book mentions that being pooped on by a bird is a sign of good luck! Maybe you'll have a good fortune coming your way after you get better, Lila~" The baffled girl stared back grotesquely, jaw dropped and eye twitching, unable to comprehend the Adrien Agreste before her right now. She didn't even protest as Rose and Juleka hauled her flat ass out of the class, to the nurse's room, debating whether or not to call the ambulance for the mad girl. 'What...The...Actual...FUCK!?' ~(x)~ After the classroom door was closed, leaving behind a questioning class, a cat hero fighting the urge to burst out laughing and a bug heroine stirring awake. "Hmm...what happened Chaton?" Marinette hummed out, still half asleep and she nuzzled against the hand that cupped her cheek. Adrien replied with a genuine, soft smile full of love and a bit of his feline mischievousness. "I'll tell you later, Bug. Get some sleep, okay?" He pressed a chaste kiss on her lips, gaining a brilliant smile in return as Marinette settled back to sleep, relishing the way his fingers combed through her bobbleless hair. 'Mission accomplished, Plagg,' Adrien mused to himself, winking at his kwami who peered out of his bag whilst Tikki shook her head at her counterpart; albeit with more love than anger. The boy dived back into his book, tuning out the discussions that the rest of his friends were sharing regarding the impertinent wench that was just gotten rid of. Hopefully, they won't be seeing her for a very long time. Jacques the pigeon would be delighted in making sure of that. After all: If you hurt the Ladybug, you can count on the Black Cat to absolutely annihilate you without mercy... . . . ~(x)~

Dictionary 

'đéo' - Vietnamese for 'fuck no!' 

'che cazzo è' - Italian for 'What the fuck is this?'

[dakotafinely]

Mud dogs find out about some off the smol's powers (like 3llies weapon summoning, marie's feral/demon form, ect.) What kind of chaos ensues?

(also thanks for answering my first ting!)

Of course! Sorry it took me so long to answer this one! I’ve been... existing... but I finally have enough time and motivation to answer this! So let’ s go!

3llie: Weapon Summoning

The first time 3llie summons a weapon it’s when the gang is running from the police.

The smol’s weren’t supposed to be there, but Loathsome noticed that they always found a way to show up. But his mind wasn’t on scolding them right now.

It was on escaping the barrage of bullets and keeping the smol’s out of the line of fire.

3llie had begun panicking. Especially after Mickey actually got hit. Letting out a curse as he gripped his side. He lagged behind on accident. 3llie looked back. The police were gaining on him. She had to do something, anything.

She didn’t hear Dastardly scream at them to come back as she charged toward Mickey in a blind panic. The desire to keep him safe the way he would them to strong to resist.

Mickey had flinched away. Eyes closed tight as he saw a police officer charge at him with no mercy. Intent to harm clear across the yokai’s face. He fully expected a hit or another gunshot.

There was a beat of nothing. Mickey’s eyes snapped open. Staring at the large aqua green shield being carried by a very tiny child. 3llie looked back at him with tears in their eyes. Clearly scared and relieved all at once.

The shield was large. Looking similar to that one show Mickey began putting on for the kids whenever it was snack time. What was it called again? Steven Universe? No, that didn’t seem right. Whatever, he’ll think of it later.

Right now he scooped up 3llie, slithering away while 3llie tried her best to just keep the shield up.

Marie: Demon form

Loathsome was just out shopping. Marie wanting to get out of the house, joined him.

He was to busy worrying about keeping her safe. After the incident with 3llie’s reveal of powers. He was afraid people might start hunting down the kids with intent of using them for their own gain.

But he was fairly sure Marie didn’t have anything like that. Which is what worried him the most.

If the girl can’t defend herself against any yokai, then he had to be at the top of his game.

There was this guy, someone forgettable to Loathsome. Though the feeling was not mutual.

He approached in the market place. Seeing Loathsome hand Marie a brightly colored lollipop. The yokai thought he had the perfect leverage.

Marie yelped at the rough tug. Lollipop falling right out of her hand at the tight grip. She probably would’ve been calm had she not seen the panic on Loathsome’s face.

Loathsome never panic’s, time to scream bloody murder.

No one else cared, used to many different types of screaming children in the market place. Believing it was just another child having a tantrum.

She began crying as the stranger scooped her up. Running off before Loathsome could take her back.

There was a chase. Marie crying and reaching toward Loathsome the whole way.

The yokai eventually found a dead end in an alleyway. Begin to foolish to truly look where he was going. He ran straight into the wall.

A yelp and a curse as he dropped Marie. The man broke his nose. Badly

Blood dripped onto the girl as she tried to resist the smell. She’d gotten pretty good at it but the adrenaline rushing though her veins had other plans.

Loathsome arrived a second to late. Watching Marie tear into the man. Leaving nothing unscathed as she ripped him open. The demon side of her eating till it was satisfied.

When Marie was licking her arms clean is when Loathsome finally snapped back to reality. This was a child who at any moment could’ve killed him.

Yup, this was fine.

Hey, at least it eased his worry about her not being able to defend herself.

Zoe: Weapon Summoning & Telekinesis

The boy’s knew in advance about Zoe’s weapon summoning. After Loathsome returning from the shopping he asked all the kids to tell him if there was any powers they had.

She had genuinely forgotten to tell them about the telekinesis

Maybe it was because they never truly had the hang of it. It was pretty easy for Zoe to practice weapon summoning with 3llie during playtime. Though that had to be stopped because it was “Too dangerous” Dastardly said.

Telekinesis was something she never often used or thought about.

There was a rival gang. Out for revenge. Not against the mud dogs, something none of the group would’ve even cared about.

Dastardly was just trying to get the kids home. Walking them home from the park.

The building next to them exploded. Sending the smols far enough off that they were safe from debris. Plus Zoe and 3llie summoning protective armor for the group instinctively.

3llie had begun corralling the others to a tree nearby for Dastardly to find them at. Already knowing Loathsome and Mickey would be on their way. The explosion close enough to the house it would make them come to check on the group.

Mia was checking for injuries, having begun carrying around band-aids just in case. As none of the adults were ever good at remembering at one particular item no matter what.

Zoe was looking around for Dastardly, the yokai having not been flung as far as they had. Still within the derby. Her eyes caught him barely crawling away from a large chunk crashing down near him.

He didn’t see the one flying straight toward him, even larger than the first. It’d kill him instantly.

Zoe called out to him, urging him to move. But the rat’s ears were still ringing from the explosion. Body still sore he was mentally debating just laying there. Until he realized Zoe was yelling, running toward him.

He tried to tell them to stay put. But he couldn’t even hear his own voice.

He noticed the shadow getting larger above him at a rapid pace.

Whole body turning as he watched the boulder come down toward him. Eyes shutting at the last second. Simply praying his fate was quick.

Nothing, slowly the ringing stopped as he heard the cackles of flames, just tiny enough to make him slowly open his eyes.

It was inches from him, barely hovering above him that he could reach out and touch it.

“D! Get out of there!” “Come on!” “Are you okay?”

The voices made him whip back to reality. Looking over to his kids. Most standing by a tree far enough from the disaster he felt a piece of relief over him.

Then there was Zoe.

Hands up braced, face scrunched up in concentration, staring right above him. Fully focused on the debry that was seconds away from killing him. It took a moment to click. That she was the thing holding it up. He scrambled out from underneath it toward them.

As soon as he was safely out from underneath it. Zoe dropped their arms with a relieved sigh. Looking up at Dastardly with concern. While Dastardly looked back down at her with amazement.

This kid just saved his life.

Mia: Nothing, just a sneaky little thing

The boys sat in a jail cell. Not really caring about their predicament or what punishment would await them for their most recent failed heist.

No, their minds were on the kids.

“What do you think they’ll do?” Dastardly finally spoke up. Finally looking up after staring at the stone floor for hours. Loathsome shrugged

“They’ll make it I’m sure. They survived without us before.” He tried his best to keep a calm form. But his insides were completely jumbled. He was an anxious mess, just hoping the kids would find someone kinder, safer then they had been for the group.

“But, they shouldn’t have to,” Mickey spoke with a bite in his voice. Something rarely heard by the other two. They perk up. Mickey was curled up, anger clear in his eyes despite the fact he didn’t meet their stares. He was glaring at a corner, as if it was the corner’s fault the kids were now alone.

“No kid should ever have to...” Mickey trailed, Dastardly and Loathsome sharing a glance. All of them knowing exactly what was on the Eel’s mind.

“Well, then let’s find a way outta here,” Loathsome said, trying to get the trio’s confidence back “we’ve done it before!”

Before the other two could protest. A grate popped out from above them, falling in the center of the floor.

A tiny head with long hair pops out. Grinning at the group.

“Come on! We gotta get outta here before the poice realize what’s going on!” Mia speaks with mischief in her eyes.

“Kid, what’re you doing?” Dastardly asks, standing up. Just in case Mia falls straight through.

“Breaking you out! Silly!” Mia can’t help but giggle a bit at the question. Unaware the trio was having a silent panic about the kids while being.

“How’d you even... I thought you said you had no powers?” Loathsome said confused, remembering Mia telling him she was the only one without any special powers. Could she have forgotten hers like Zoe had?

“What, I don’t,” Mia said with the small shake of her head “Cops are just dumb and these vents are easy to navigate with a map!” with that, Mia put a hand out, unfurling a map of the vents above them.

“Though it’s pretty yucky in here,” Mia comments as the trio looks at the map in surprise. Now she slowly pulled herself out, the trio all moving to stop her from hurting herself. Dastardly gently placing her on the floor.

“Where are the others?” Loathsome asked as she walked over the cell door. Pulling out a hair-clip and a nail file. Beginning to fiddle with the lock.

“Marie is distracting the entire group of dum-dum’s with this realllllyyy lonnnnng story,” Mia spoke absent mindlessly “3llie is sitting in the ice cream shop with Zoe down the street. We stole some of your money to get some by the way.” Mia comments looking to them to give a tiny shrug. The trio looked at each other as Mia popped open the cell door.

“I- how do you know how to do that?” Dastardly asked with concern, none of them taught her that. Mia shrugged.

“Got bored, learned it on YouTube.” Mia states, before gesturing for them to come along with her.

“I think we’ve got...” Mia thought for a moment “3 more minutes before Marie will be done with her story. Come on I think the map showed an exit this way.” Mia lead the trio out the back door.

They went around the building, blindly following Mia in a state of shock as she brought them to a small ice cream shop. The joyous shouts of Zoe and 3llie waking them from their state.

“I... how’d we end up picking the weirdest kids off the street?” Loathsome leaned over to Dastardly as the group of smols talked excitedly with Mickey. Marie having joined them not moments later.

“Not sure,” Dastardly replied “but I think we’d be the ones lost without ‘em” he jokes.

Not me taking this to the absolute extreme. I hope you liked it, I had fun writing it! I think I had the most fun with Mia’s though not gonna lie just “this powerless child, but not weak child” is my fav kinda thing to do. Thanks for the ask! Sorry again for taking so long to answer it.

[thecatprince]

Luckier Than Most

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Read on AO3

Pairings: Eventual Prinxiety

Summary: Roman comes up with a couple of nicknames and there is some light hearted fun!

Warnings: Mentions of death (I mean, have you read this fic? when is there not.) and mentions of grieving people.

Authors Notes: Sorry for the wait in updates! Credit for the headcanon of Roman writing down his nicknames and the nicknames ‘Patrick Lazy’, ‘Ghost of Christmas Sass’ and ‘Virgil the Unfriendly Ghost’ (I think that is all) goes to the fantastic @manyfandomsonelog (go check them out and thanks for letting me use your ideas!!). Enjoy this chapter!!

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Chapter Five - Ghoulish Nicknames

Roman sat on his bed, a notebook in his lap, fiddling with the pen in his hand. Virgil was over across the street, checking up of Patton. He had picked up this little habit of going over to everyone’s houses, just to look at his friends and see them again. He had told Roman it helped him to see them again, but every time he came back he looked a little bit sadder. Roman couldn’t do anything to stop him though, and so he was currently taking this time alone as an opportunity to come up with some ghost nicknames.

Roman had a notebook full of nicknames he had for Virgil, and a couple extra for each of his other friends. He had spent countless nights thinking about them and jotting them down, and now he had quite an impressive list. However, having his best friend be a ghost meant that new nicknames were needed. He looked up a list of famous ghosts, and was surprised to find the list was quite short.

Roman looked back at the nicknames he already had on his list. He had some pretty good ones, if he did say so himself. Patrick Lazy, Virgil the Unfriendly Ghost, Ghost of Christmas Sass (Virgil better appreciate that one, he was very proud of that one). But three nicknames weren’t enough. What other fictional ghosts were there? Bloody Mary! That was a ghost right? So… Bloody Virgil? Bloody Emo? He wrote both down, deciding to choose whenever he used them. Harry Potter had tons of ghosts! Nearly Headless Nick, Bloody Baron, Grey Lady, Moaning Myrtle. Alright nicknames… Moaning Emo? Oh god no that sounded far too sexual! Roman sighed, but wrote it down anyway, making a little note to comment about basilisks and bathrooms if he ever used that one. He looked at the list of ghosts he had looked up. Many names he didn’t recognise, and many were just listed as ghost, but a couple he knew of. The Hogwarts ghosts, the ghosts from a Christmas Carol, Danny Phantom… Emo Phantom? He couldn’t just keep replacing one word with the word emo, there was more to Virgil than that. Come on, Roman, think, what are some words to describe Virgil? Sassy, snarky, clever, anxious, emo, cute (objectively of course), hot (again objectively), he had a nice smile, his eyes were pretty cool, freckles…. Shit stop getting distracted, focus on his personality…. He’s nice and funny and oddly charming, but can’t make those into nicknames. Think Roman think!

“Whatcha doing?”

Roman jumped, startled out of his train of thought. He tried, and failed, to hide the contents of the notebook, but Virgil noticed the title before he could do so.

“Ghost nicknames? Wait, Princey, you write these down?” Virgil said, a look of pure amusement on his face. Roman face flushed a deep red, and he gave an offended Princey noise.

“Pfft No!” Roman scoffed. “What would make you think that?”

“Gee I wonder… maybe the title on the page?”

“Oh shut up!”

“So tell me Princey, what ghostie nicknames do you have for little old me?” Virgil lay down on the bed and looked up at Roman with a huge grin on his face.

“As if I would tell you that easily.” Roman stood up and put away his notebook, then flopped down on the bed next to Virgil. “So where did you go this time?”

Virgil sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I went to see Patton, as always, and he seemed to be going through a depressive episode, but I didn’t stay for long because Logan came over and I felt like I was intruding too much, so I went to see Janus and he seemed okay… I think… it was hard to tell. I stayed for about half an hour there, because he wasn’t really doing anything and I hadn’t seen visited him since… well… you know. And then…. I went to see my parents….” Virgil’s voice wavered a bit and trailed off.

“I’m sorry Virgil,” Roman said gently. He reached to take Virgil’s hand, but it only hit the bed. Virgil blinked rapidly and looked up, trying his best not to cry, but a couple of tears slipped out and rolled down his cheeks.

“I sometimes forget that I am dead… that I am gone from these people’s lives. I have gotten used to the whole not being seen thing… I think, but I forget that I am dead. Some part of me just thinks I am invisible and that I am just looking out for my friends, but I am… dead. I can never see them again.” Virgil took a deep breath, trying to steady his voice. Tears were streaming down his face now. Roman gave him a sympathetic look. “And my parents… they are so sad. My mother, she was crying, and she never cries, and my dad, he look just empty. He is normally so full of life… I never wanted to die, Roman… I didn’t mean to die…” Virgil was fully crying at this point. He sat up and put his head on his knees, hugging his legs. Roman put his arms around Virgil, and rested his head in Virgil’s soft hair… no, that wasn’t right! He couldn’t be… but he was! He was touching Virgil, holding him as tight as he could, with no air between them.

Roman held Virgil for as long as possible, not wanting to let go, in case this was a fluke. Virgil slowly calmed down, his heavy crying turning into gentle sobs, which eventually became shaky breathing. As Virgil calmed down he became less solid, and Roman felt the weight of his friend lift from his arms, and soon his hands were just passing through empty air, although Virgil looked as solid as ever. Virgil lifted his head from his knees, looking at Roman with dawning realization on his face. Roman just looked shocked, and slightly sad.

“Were you hugging me?” Virgil asked, his voice barely a whisper, as if hardly believing it to be true. Roman nodded silently. The two sat in shock for a moment, taking in the reality of a situation that defied the laws of every possible science.

“How?” Virgil asked after a while.

“I don’t know. I just really wanted to hug you, so badly, and so I went for it, kind of without thinking, and it… worked,” Roman said. Virgil looked down at his feet, a look of deep concentration on his face. “Are you good there, Patrick Lazy?”

Virgil smiled up at Roman in a way Roman had never seen Virgil smile before. It was soft and gentle, carrying more emotion than Roman could comprehend and yet somehow he understood everything the smile was trying to convey. The look stayed for a moment or two, before changing into a grin of amusement.

“Was that one of the nicknames on the list?” Virgil asked, laughing. Roman gave an offended scoff at the jab.

“Pfft what? Of course not!”

“But there is a list? You didn’t deny it!” Virgil said in a singsongy voice.

“Oh shut up!” Roman scrambled over the bed to try and get closer of Virgil, who ran over to the other side of the room, laughing.

“What are you going to do? Punch me? I’m a ghost, genius! You can’t touch me!”

Roman gave an annoyed huff, but there was a smile on his face, and soon he too was laughing, the sound filling the room. Virgil paused at the sound of Roman’s giggles, staring at his friend, who was sprawled out on the bed, bent double with laughter, his auburn hair a mess from chasing Virgil and a look of pure joy on his face. Something stirred deep within him, but he didn’t know what, nor did he care at that moment. For now everything was good.

[hookedonapirate]

Hey Hannah hope everything is well during this weird time. Quarantine and all that :/ I would like to submit a oh daddy prompt if you’re still accepting those? I was thinking Emma and Killian need a Plummer or a cable guy to come to their house but it turns out to be one of Emma’s ex and killian feeling a bit territorial takes her to their bedroom to make her scream to prove a point 😉

A/N: You got it, Nonnie! Hope things are going well for you, too :)

Based on this one-shot: Oh Daddy

Other Oh Daddy Prompts: 1. You’re being an awfully bad girl l 2. Daddy, can you pass the potatoes? l 3. Better than coffee l 4. Caught In a solo act l 5. Naughty School Girl l 6. Busted l 7. Bless Me, Father I 8. Tell Me When to Grab the Cupcake

Rated: Explicit

Proving a Point

Oh, fuck. It's him.

  Peering through the peephole, Emma's initial inclination is to dash to the bathroom and climb out the window which leads to the backyard. But then Killian would have to answer the door which would not be good. Her boyfriend and ex-boyfriend alone in the same room to talk about her? Oh no no no, that was not going to happen. And based on his timing, and because they were expecting a plumber, Graham must be him, because why else would he be here? No, he's here to do a job, not get her back. Besides, she’s a grown-ass adult in a committed relationship, and for once in her life, she's unbelievably happy, so she can open the freaking door to let her ex-boyfriend unclog her pipes. Ew, not in that way. Her sink’s broken and needs to be fixed. So she hauls the door open to let him in.

  His face lights up when he sees her, and she doesn't fail to notice how his eyes leave her face for a second to roam down her body. She's wearing nothing but a silk pink robe since his knocking had interrupted a hot, steamy moment in the bedroom. 

  Yesterday, Killian told her what time to expect the plumber so she wouldn’t be surprised to find a strange man in the house when she woke up, nor would she be waltzing around the house naked (because when it’s just the two of them, Killian definitely isn’t opposed to her walking around in the nude, and in fact is always trying to enforce a no pants policy for the evenings. But because Mary Margaret and David have a key to the house and walk in whenever they feel like it, the no pants policy is out of the question). But she couldn’t help herself when Killian is in bed with her, his morning wood pressed to her butt. She thought they’d have enough time for a quickie, but they were sorely mistaken when there was a knock on the door earlier than expected. Instead, he asked her to get the door so he could take a moment to cool down. 

~*~

  “Emma?”

  He doesn't recognize the voice when he leaves the bedroom, but he hears Emma greeting him in a similar manner as if they know each other.

  “Graham…”

  Killian stops in his tracks and lingers in the hallway, his brows creasing as he tries to recall why that name sounds familiar. 

  “It’s been a long time. How are you?” he hears Graham say enthusiastically.

  Ah, yes, Graham is one of her ex-boyfriends. He remembered Emma talking about him a while back. They had a three-month fling a few years before Killian met her. He remembered Emma saying he was too emotionally unavailable after a jealous, manipulative ex-girlfriend sort of broke him when she ripped his heart out without so much as batting an eye, and he couldn’t seem to bounce back from that.

  Knowing his relationship with Emma wasn’t serious, knowing that, despite the sex being the key component in that relationship, Graham wasn’t able to bring her to orgasm, and then hearing how tight Emma’s voice is when she talks to him, Killian exhales a deep breath of relief. He’s not worried. 

  When he steps into the living room, he notes that the guy is... somewhat attractive. Brown, curly hair, slightly defined muscles, a face that could probably qualify as aesthetically pleasing to most people. He appears to be around Emma’s age, maybe even younger, but much taller than her, Killian bitterly notices when Graham is close enough to her.

  Too close. 

  Especially when Graham throws his arms around Emma and draws her into a hug. A hug that’s way too tight and far too long for Killian’s liking. Not to mention, very unprofessional and inappropriate. Isn’t he the fucking plumber?

  Killian’s jaw ticks as he watches this complete stranger, to him at least, rubbing Emma’s back affectionately.

  Who the bloody hell does this wanker think he is?!

  But judging by how Emma doesn’t mold into the hug, whatever feelings Graham still harbors for her are definitely not mutual. 

  Killian’s presence is not even noticed yet, by Graham at least, as he enters the living room and stalks toward them.

  “I never thought I’d see you again,” Graham says huskily in her ear, as though he’s speaking to a lover, rather than an old fuck buddy. He pulls away only slightly, still gripping her shoulders.

  And Killian doesn’t like it one bit.

  Graham takes his time giving her a once-over, and Killian balls his hands into fists, suppressing the urge to lunge at this ponce and punch him in the nose. “You look good, Em. Real good.”

  “She’s gorgeous, isn’t she?” Killian asks condescendingly before jumping into Graham's line of sight, placing a possessive left hand on Emma’s back and pulling her in for a quick kiss on the cheek. Graham finally tears his gaze away from her, taken off guard as Killian turns his head to look at him, extending his right hand and smiling widely—and ironically. “I'm Killian, her boyfriend.”

  He can see out the corner of his eye, the slight smirk on Emma’s lips as Graham shakes his hand in hesitation. “Graham Humbert,” he says, and of course has to add very casually, “Emma and I used to date.”

  “Briefly,” Emma adds quickly and turns toward Killian, wrapping her arms around his waist and kissing him on the lips as though to ease his worries, letting him know anything she once felt for Graham is nonexistent. 

  Killian knows this, he knows Emma’s love for him runs so much deeper than anything she ever felt for Graham. No, it’s not Emma he doesn’t trust. It’s the wanker staring at his girlfriend with longing looks, googly eyes and also perhaps a hint of jealousy as Killian grabs her hips and pulls her into him. Emma responds by placing her hands on his chest, nuzzling his nose with hers and kissing him softly. Killian smirks against her lips as he feels the other bloke’s jealousy intensify.

  Graham clears his throat, speaking awkwardly. “So, uh… I’m here to look at your pipes.” 

  Emma and Killian force themselves apart and return their attention to Graham after his words remind them of his presence. 

  “Right,” Emma says, forcing a smile at Graham. 

  As she leads the plumber to the kitchen, Killian watches as he openly checks out his girlfriend’s ass. He growls.

  You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!

  “The pipes are the only thing you should be looking at, mate,” he barks with evident disdain, emphasizing the t. But it’s not until Graham stops and turns around to look at him, when Killian realizes he actually spoke out loud, instead of to himself like he’d intended to.

  “What was that?” Graham asks, cocking a brow.

  Killian heads for the bathroom, passing Graham along the way and planting a firm hand on his shoulder, squeezing it with a warning grip as he murmurs in a polite tone, “You heard what I said.”

  Embarrassed for getting caught staring, Graham hangs his head, whispers an apology and proceeds to the kitchen. 

  Killian goes to the bathroom to calm down, clutching onto the edge of the counter to prevent his jealousy from consuming him. He has to take a long, deep breath and splashes some cool water over his face to cool down, but knowing Emma’s in the kitchen with her ex in nothing but her bathrobe, knowing how unbelievably sexy she is and knowing very well Graham is taking full advantage, makes his blood bubble. He’s not happy Graham turned out to be their plumber. He should’ve just figured out how to fix the plumbing issue himself, but his attempts only resulted in him discovering that the blockage seemed to be further down where the pipes disappeared into the wall and he knew it was time to call a plumber. 

  He dries his face with a hand towel and returns to the kitchen to find Graham not working and instead, leaning against the counter engaging Emma in small chit chat.

  Un-fucking-believable.

  Graham is being all flirty and charming, and although Killian knows Emma’s only trying to be nice and is not at all interested in her ex or his attempts to reconnect, he doesn’t like it. He doesn’t like it one bit. 

  So instead of listening to any more of Graham’s bullshit, Killian swoops in, grabs Emma’s hand and tugs her out of the kitchen so fast, she giggles over the threshold. And because he wants so badly to show Graham what he’d missed out on by not caring enough about Emma’s pleasure and instead, leaving her unsatisfied in the sack (and because apparently he’s a child) Killian pulls her into the bedroom, closes the door, crushes her lips with his and throws her on the bed like a rag doll. Her giggles echo against the walls as he drags his lips down her neck, growling against her skin. 

  “Daddy’s not jealous, is he?” she asks in amusement while tipping her head back, moaning as Killian nips the soft skin at the juncture between her neck and shoulder.

  “Of course not,” he claims breathily and undoes his pants. He rips Emma’s robe away from her lovely breasts and draws her soft nipples into his warm mouth, instantly making them hard as his cock stiffens against her nub. Without wasting another second, he takes his cock in hand and places the tip against her entrance, thrusting into her.

  Emma moans and snakes her legs tightly around his waist, eagerly taking his entire length as he fucks her rough and hard, making her scream, “Oh, Daddy! Harder… please!”

  Killian groans and gives his Swan exactly what she wants. What she needs. 

  “Yes, Killian, yes!”

  There’s something about knowing her ex is just outside the door listening to Emma scream her boyfriend's name in ecstasy, letting Graham know exactly who she belongs to as he makes her come undone—something Graham could never do—that makes his blood run hot. Killian brings her to orgasm over and over again, each time making her scream so loudly, he’s sure the entire neighborhood can hear.

  After they’re done, both flushed and clothed and back in the kitchen, he doesn’t have to wonder if Graham heard them or not because judging by how flustered he is, how crimson his cheeks are and how much he stutters when explaining how he fixed the sink, he definitely heard. 

  Killian has to suppress a smirk.

  Graham gathers his tools and says earnestly to Emma, “I’m glad you found someone who’s capable of making you happy after I couldn’t.” In more ways than one, Killian is tempted to add. “It was nice seeing you again.” He glances at Killian. “And it was nice to meet you.”

  Killian grins big and wide as he opens the door for Graham. “Oh, believe me when I say, the pleasure was all ours.”

  Graham stumbles ungracefully over the threshold, almost tripping and falling and dropping his toolbox but catching himself on the doorframe. Killian can sense Emma is suppressing a laugh as Graham flashes them a forced, awkward smile before turning around and taking off. 

  Killian chuckles as he flings the door closed, never seeing a man so flustered or embarrassed in his entire life. As he scoops Emma up into his arms and carries her off to the bed again, her giggles reverberating through the house, he almost feels sorry for the poor bloke.  

  Almost.

[manage-mischief]

Star Struck

Read on AO3 here. 

Summary: Prompt: “I couldn’t function without you.” 

Lily Evans was having an awful day. James decides to try and make it better.

Author’s note: Written for @angelinathebook‘s writing challenge. Shameless fluff. I think I’m going to write for Jily more often: this was so fun to do. This takes place during 7th year, after Lily and James had been dating for a few months. Hope you enjoy!

Lily Evans was having an awful day. She had been up all last night on patrol as Head Girl, dealing with some incompetent first years who had injured themselves trying to touch the trunk of the Whomping Willow. The incident reports had taken hours for her to complete. This morning, she had headed to her classes with a massive, ear-splitting headache. She could barely concentrate during Potions, had accidentally set a cushion on fire in Charms, and was sure she had failed this afternoon’s Transfiguration exam. All she wanted to do was return to her dorm and sleep for the foreseeable future. She should have known that she wouldn’t be so lucky.

As she made her way back to Gryffindor Tower, a voice called out from behind her.

“Hey, Lils!”

Lily smiled and slowed her pace to allow her best friend, Mary MacDonald, to catch up. Despite her immense fatigue and desire to avoid human interaction, she could never be irritated at Mary. The girl was just too damn sweet.

“Hey Mare, you headed back to the Common Room?”

“Of course! That’s where everyone’s headed, isn’t it? I suppose they all want to see,” Mary giggled. When she saw the blank expression on Lily’s face, however, her laughter died.

“Oh. You…you didn’t hear…”

“What didn’t I hear?” Lily questioned. As she climbed the stairs, she now noticed the unusually thick flock of students around her. An electric excitement ran through the air as the young Gryffindors whispered in hushed, urgent tones. The whole house seemed to be making their way back to their dormitory.

“I can’t believe they actually did it,” a small third-year gossiped with her friend.

“Well, they didn’t really, did they? I mean, that’s what I heard. That they failed and are all stuck in it now! That’s why everyone’s going back to see,” her companion replied.

“I guess so. But, still, it’s a hilarious prank, even if it hasn’t gone quite according to plan. They’re so funny! And the tall one, he has such dreamy eyes,” the first girl sighed.

Lily’s mind filled with dread. So, someone—or rather—some people had tried to pull off a prank in the Gryffindor Common Room, and it had gone miserably wrong. She looked at Mary, not even wanting to ask…

“I think it was an accident…they didn’t mean it…” Mary quietly muttered, avoiding her gaze. Lily’s unspoken question had been answered. Dammit, James.

Lily stormed up the final steps, shoving her housemates out of the way a bit more aggressively than was necessarily appropriate. She reached the portrait of the Fat Lady and took a deep breath, attempting to gain some last-minute composure before she walked in on whatever mess her boyfriend and his mates had concocted.

“Hungarian Horntail,” she gave the password, rubbing her temple. The Fat Lady looked down upon her with sympathy. “Correct. Are you sure you want to see? It’s a lot to take in, and you look exhausted.” Reluctantly, Lily nodded. The painting swung open.

Lily had thought she was prepared to witness whatever stupidity awaited her. She had thought wrong. The scene that was unfolding before her was so bewildering, so utterly idiotic, that it took her several moments to fully process.

Students stood on their dormitory stairs, craning around each other for a view of the chaos that was ensuing. Lily felt a mob of people behind her in the portrait hole, pressing in to get a closer look. For the Common Room was no longer the Common Room. The entire place had been transformed from a cozy castle hangout to a hot, damp, sticky bog. The chairs and couches that normally occupied the space were all covered in a thick, black mud that looked to be about waist high.

And, in the middle of the monstrous, muddy mess were none other than her boyfriend, James Potter, and his three best friends.

“Oi Pete, stop moving! You’re splashing mud on my glasses!” the black-haired boy snapped.

“Sorry!”

James had yet to recognize Lily’s presence. She remained in the portrait hole, vaguely aware her house mates’ giggles. Every member of Gryffindor seemed to be there, all witnessing the same scene: James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin —Merlin’s balls, she’d have thought he at least would have known better—all stuck in the muddy bog that they had evidently created.

The four boys continued to struggle for a few moments, but it was no use. They remained stuck, unable to break free from their dirty prison.

“Moons, watch the hair,” Sirius cried as Remus attempted to pry his mud-soaked hand off of his friend’s scalp. “Ow!”

“Shut it, you two,” James shouted. “We need to figure out how to get out and get rid of this mess before Lily—”

“Ahem,” Lily coughed. Slowly, all four boys turned—as much as they could, given they were trapped in enchanted mud—towards the redhead in the entryway. “Too late.”

James’ face turned beet-red. His hands shot up to his hair unconsciously, mussing it up. He swallowed. “Oh, hey Lils. Have a nice day?”

So, he was going for the casual act. Ok. She could play along. “Ah, you know, nothing too special. After being up all last night, I was hoping to turn in early. But, it seems like some idiots made sure I can’t get to my room, doesn’t it? How strange! You wouldn’t happen to know anything about this mess, would you?”

Sirius snorted, amused at the sight of his best mate being publicly mocked by his girlfriend. Lily turned her head and glared daggers. He shut up immediately. Her gaze shifted to Remus, who refused to meet it. At least he had the audacity to look ashamed of himself.

The four troublemakers regarded one another, silently debating who was going to be the one to tell Lily the truth. She stared back at James. Despite her annoyance, she was curious about what had caused this predicament.

“Well,” James finally spoke. “We modified this portable swamp we bought at Zonko’s. Those one’s they sell there aren’t very effective,” he paused and looked up at her hopefully, wondering if he could get away without having to explain the rest.

“And?” Lily pressed. The rest of the Gryffindors fell silent and watched intently, like they were spectating at a very intense Quidditch match.

James sighed. “And we were going to use it to transform the Slytherin Common Room—they totally deserved it, Mulciber and Avery hexed a first-year muggle born this morning—and well…Peter sort of…dropped it…”

Lily’s eyes widened. “He…dropped it?”

Peter whimpered. All eyes had focused on him. “Nice going, Pettigrew,” someone scathingly remarked.

“Hey!” James came to the defense of his small, squirrely friend. “Shut it! Anyways, well, it ended up being dropped and activated and we hadn’t exactly tested it to see how the mud would work and well…here we are,” he gestured to himself, his friends, and the mud that trapped them. “We can’t seem to figure out how to get rid of it…”

Lily wanted to stay mad. Oh, how she wanted to stay mad. But, looking at James’s cheeky, apologetic grin, her annoyance melted away. She drew her wand and began mumbling some incantations for getting rid of magical messes that she had learned about earlier in the year. Sure enough, the mud began to disappear, and the Common Room returned to normal. Now, all of the Gryffindors’ eyes were focused on her, filled with awe and admiration. It was a good thing she paid attention in Charms.

“Oi,” she cried at the dumbfounded spectators. “What’re you all doing still standing around? Show’s over, folks!”

Instantly, the crowd scattered. Lily hopped gracefully down onto the now mud-free floor and walked over to James, who was sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. She rolled her eyes. “Git,” she muttered, but her small smile betrayed her irritated tone.

Sirius walked behind her and patted her on the back. “Nice one, Evans. You’re a champ!” He grabbed Remus’s hand and dragged him up towards the boys’ dorm. Remus shot her an apologetic look before he vanished up the stairs.

“That was brilliant, Lily,” James praised her. “Seriously. Thank you. I know it was idiotic, and immature, and—”

“—and we’ll have to think of another way to stick it to those wannabe Death Eaters,” Lily finished. James stared at her in shock and admiration.

“Oh, you bloody bet we will,” he joyfully exclaimed.

“As long as you run your ideas by me, Potter. Because, from what I saw here tonight, I think you’re in desperate need of my supervision.”

“I promise, Lily. Honestly. I couldn’t function without you.” His tone was joking, but his expression was sincere.

“Clearly,” she stated, holding back a yawn. She frowned, remembering the day’s events and her exhaustion. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I just really want to go to sleep and forget this dreadful day ever happened.” She turned for the stairs, but he grabbed her hand, pulling her back towards him.

“Hey,” James’s hazel eyes sparkled. “How about I make it up to you? You go take a nap. Meet me back here at midnight. I promise I’ll do my best to improve this shitty day of yours.”

Lily’s insides swelled with warmth. Despite what anyone may think, James Potter was a sweet and caring boy. He may have been an idiot, but he was her idiot. “It’s a date,” she smiled. Their hands lingered as she walked away from him, up to her room. A wide grin was still plastered on her face as she flopped down onto her bed, thinking of the boy who would be waiting for her when she woke up.

At midnight, Lily crept down the stairs, careful not to wake anyone. There were only a few other students studying when she arrived at the Common Room—none of them James. She glanced around and checked her reflection in a decorative suit of armor while she waited. After a few moments, she felt a tap on her shoulder. However, when she spun around, no one was there. She scanned the room. Still no sign of James. All of a sudden, the air in front of her rippled. An instant later, she found herself staring at her boyfriend’s disembodied head.

Lily jumped backwards, wide-eyed. “Bloody hell!”

James’s head laughed heartily. “Sorry, Lil, I couldn’t resist,” he said, cheekily. “Here, come on in, there’s plenty of room.” He revealed the rest of his body as he pulled open what appeared to be a slightly-used cloak. She nervously looked around to make sure no one else was watching, and then darted into his open arms. He folded the cloak around her body and pulled it over their heads.

Lily felt her heartbeat pound in her chest as they were pressed together under the garment. She glanced back and noticed that her reflection had disappeared from the shiny surface of the suit of armor. “Wow, an Invisibility Cloak!  I thought these were a myth! I’m impressed, Potter,” she teased.

“Only the best for you, dear,” James didn’t miss a beat. “Shall we?” He gestured at the portrait hole.

“Trying to get us caught out of bed after hours, are we? Just when I thought you’d had enough trouble for today.”

“Well, are you going to join me, or not? Because I could always get Sirius to come instead. Though he’s not nearly as fun to snog,” James winked. Lily’s face broke out into what she now referred to as her uncontrollable “James grin”—large, beaming, playful, and usually accompanied by the shaking of her head. She had been wearing this expression a lot, lately. No one brought out her goofy, carefree side nearly as much as James Potter did.

“If you insist, James, lead the way.”

The pair maneuvered themselves out of the portrait hole, remaining under the cover of the cloak. About half way down the corridor, James put a hand on her shoulder, signaling her to stop. He pulled out a ruddy old piece of parchment and examined it pointedly. “Hm, no, we should be ok, he’s on the first floor…”

“Who’s on the first floor?”

“Peeves,” James said, matter-of-factly.

“And you know this how exactly?” Lily asked suspiciously, trying to peer up to see what was on the paper in his hands. Quickly, though, James stuffed the parchment into his back pocket.

“I have my ways,” he cryptically remarked. “Point is, we won’t be attacked by flying dung bombs on our way to the Astronomy Tower. C’mon.”

The couple climbed up the stairs to the tallest tower of the castle. James opened the door to the open-air observatory and revealed his surprise.

Lily gasped. A picnic blanket had been arranged on the floor. Spread out upon the red and white gingham was an assortment of her favorite treats: Cauldron Cakes, treacle tarts, and, to her delight and surprise, a bag of her favorite Muggle candy, Skittles. Two goblets had been set to the side, as well as several bottles of butterbeer. James gently pulled the cloak off of them and jerked his head at the display.

“After you, m’lday.” He took Lily’s hand and helped her take a seat on the blanket. He plopped down beside her. The night was cool and clear. She looked up and noticed that he had arranged their picnic in the perfect position to gaze up at the glittering stars overhead.

“James…”

“I know, I’m an amazing boyfriend and you don’t know how you got so lucky,” he joked, dramatically. Lily chuckled.

“This is…well…it’s absolutely perfect.” She reached for the bag of Skittles. “How did you even get these? And…is this butterbeer from The Three Broomsticks? What do you do, keep a stock?”

He flashed a mischievous smile. “I have my ways…and had some time while you were sleeping. Seriously, it’s the least I could do. It seemed like you were having a bad day. And, I see it as my quintessential duty as ‘Boyfriend to Miss Lily Evans’ to cheer you up when you’re feeling down.”

Lily’s cheeks reddened. She grinned shyly as she reached into the bag of chewy candies.

“Here,” James said, “hand me some of those. I need to see what all the fuss is about.”

After the pair had eaten and drank their fill, they sat silently together, leaning shoulder-to-shoulder, staring up at the sparkling heavens above.

“You know,” Lily remarked, “I reckon I’d have enjoyed Astronomy classes a lot more if they had been more like this.”  

“Yeah, I reckon I would’ve, too,” James replied, turning his body so he was facing her head on. His untidy black hair rustled slightly with the wind. His glasses sat slightly crooked on his face, and Lily gently reached her hand up to straighten them. As she slowly drew her hand away, he took it and kissed it. He moved his other hand to brush a strand of red hair from her face. Her eyes fluttered downward, shyly. Slowly, timidly at first, the young couple leaned in closer until, finally, they bridged the gap between them. Their lips met, and Lily felt the familiar flock of butterflies explode inside of her: butterflies that always appeared when James kissed her.

Their soft kisses became more intense. Her hands ran through his mop of hair, while his moved up and down her body. She broke away for a moment.

“Better than Sirius?” she teased.

“Loads,” James laughed before he pulled her back in.

And so, the couple remained glued together well into the night, exploring each other under the stars…  

….

“James?” Lily turned her head to look at him, comfortably leaning back into his warm chest, his arms wrapped around her.

“Hm?”

“What was on that paper?”

He laughed and shook his head. “I knew you wouldn’t turn a blind eye. Trust me, it’s better if you don’t know. I’ve already shown you my Cloak. I can’t be giving away all of my secrets.”

Lily pouted.

“After we graduate, I’ll tell you,” he relented.

“Bold of you to assume we’ll be together after we graduate,” Lily quipped, though secretly joyful that he had spoken of a future between them.

He stared down at her, his gaze suddenly intense. “We will,” he said, so seriously that it made Lily’s heart skip a beat. “I know we will. I told you before, Lily. I couldn’t function without you.”

And, as her green eyes stared into his hazel ones, she realized: she didn’t think she could function without him, either.

[lilwenney]

looking for affection in all the wrong places (iii)

pairing: will x female!reader warning(s): alcohol, swearing, implied smut, & once again general nonsense word count: 4.6k a/n: part three of five, part i and part ii / first off i want to show love to shan for helping beta this chapter when i was feelin real nervous about it, she’s a life saver <3 / once again we have fun this chapter so i hope you all enjoy x 

December 2019 London, England

Monday morning at The International was the meeting spot for (Y/N) and Will every single week during her semester. What was once a special studying spot turned into a hangout spot after Will left his flat to find some peace and quiet one day, only to end up with him tagging along with her to the sacred cafe just off of Queen Mary’s campus. 

No matter how early she showed, before her 8 a.m. class or for lunch, Will always showed ten minutes later. This day was no different. Sitting near the windows with a toastie and a coffee, she watched Will cross the busy street from Mile End Park with a backpack slung across his shoulder, and walk straight into the cafe where she and dozens of other students were cramming for their last bit of exams before break. 

After ordering a coffee, he pocketed his wallet and made his way over to the table, their eyes meeting and they smiled.

“Studying?” Will asked while dropping his backpack on the floor.

She shook her head, sitting her coffee cup back down to the table. “Not yet, I’m finishing a paper for one of my last general courses.” Across the table Will sat his laptop out, fishing out a notebook second. He mostly came to the cafe to do emails and finish up the business-side of YouTube when he wasn’t just generally being annoying. “What are you doing today?” 

“Ah, editing a video I recorded last night with George. We were on Discord for hours last night.” He said plugging in his mouse. 

A moment later one of the employees whisked around the front counter and brought Will his coffee, sitting in on the table, and they both let out quiet thank yous before he returned to the front to greet another customer. 

After taking the first sip of his latte, Will sat back in the chair and looked at her. Her eyes flickered over the top of her laptop screen and she raised a brow, prompting him to speak up first. “You know we’re going to have to talk about Friday, yeah?”

She swallowed hard at the thought of talking about what happened - their tequila-fueled makeout session against a wall of their mate’s flat. She hadn’t seen him since Friday night as her and Cleo spent the weekend at Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland, which she was partially grateful for. She didn’t want to talk about it, but now that he was sitting in front of her, it was less awkward than she thought. 

“Yeah, we probably should,” she said, “listen, Will, what happened Friday-” 

“Should definitely happen again next Friday.” 

(Y/N) almost choked on her coffee as the words slipped past his lips and interrupted her. She held tight onto the cup, tempted to drop it from the shock, and stared at him intently. He smiled, holding up a hand.

“I know that sounds so weird, but listen,” he licked his lips, “I know Hanna, okay. She is going to show up to every fuckin’ party James has for the rest of his life with another bloke. She is petty as shit which is something I overlooked, but just knowing that I can get a rise out of her by making out with you? I’ll take that any day over standing by and watching her try and do the same.” 

“She did try it.” 

Will cocked his head. “What?” 

“Whenever we split to go get drinks, I saw her all over him, but she was looking directly at us.” She explained, taking another sip of her espresso and sitting the cup back down. “Do you want to do it to make her jealous and try and get her back or what is it for?” 

“Just to get under her skin,” he said. “And you want to do the same with Adrian, yeah? That’s why we necked it in the first place?” 

She laughed slightly at his wording, never failing to get a laugh from his accent either. Her eyes focused on the nicked edge of her cup, finding it more comforting than admitting her feelings while looking at him.

“Yeah, I do,” she finally said, “he had the nerve to walk in there with someone and I just- I just wanted to get him back, you know? It’s shit that he came with another girl literally three days after we split.” 

Will scrunched his brow. “Why you are attracted to that fella is beyond me. I can admit he’s handsome but for god's sake is he a bit of a prat.” 

“And to think he went to school with James.” She dismissed and Will let out a laugh.

“You’re smarter than him though, that’s for bloody sure.” 

There was an eye roll in the mix there as she laughed, remembering when Cleo said the exact same thing last week. She grabbed her cup and took another sip, now taking note of the time on her watch. She had a study session with a group of her classmates in half an hour at the library, and from her spot at the cafe, it felt like a world away. 

She quickly finished off the espresso and sat the cup back down onto the table, frantically grabbing her laptop and highlighters to shove inside her bag among her textbooks and notes. Will watched on, looking at the clock on his laptop, then literally clocking why she was trying to shove everything together in a matter of seconds.

“Going to study?” 

“Yeah,” she said grabbing her notebooks and shoving them in too, “I have an exam this Friday and we’re all meeting every day this week to study before class.” 

“What’s it for this time? The same nonsense class as last month?” 

“It’s not nonsense Will, but yeah,” 

“What was it, something like molecular science astronomy?” 

She stood up from her chair and threw on her coat. “Molecular biology,”

“Yeah that shite,” Will waved her off before leaning back in his chair to put all his attention back on her from his laptop. “Once again, too smart for him, and apparently too smart for everyone else too.” 

(Y/N) took one last glance at the table, grabbing her planner and phone and shoving it into her pocket before looking at Will. They shared just a moment looking at each other, almost like they were trying to figure out what they were thinking, but mostly, it was just that she didn’t know what to think until she blurted out; 

“So necking it this Friday?” 

Will licked the inside of his cheek, laughing as he was taken aback by her sudden forwardness, “same time and place.” 

“See you, you knob,” she said with a laugh while walking by him, heading to the door. He said a quick goodbye over his shoulder as she left the cafe, pushing through the door and into the London cold. 

***

It was nowhere near the same time or place that (Y/N) and Will were together a week ago, because this Friday, she was already drunk by 10 p.m. and showed up to Will’s flat with Cleo by her side. 

She pre-gamed the party with her classmates after their final exam, and she was feeling good in every way - her semester of university was finally over, she passed her final exam and dental clinicals, and she finally got to wear her favorite mini-skirt. For the first time in a very long time, she felt on top of the world. 

They had caught wind that Will was pre-gaming with George and Alex at his flat before heading to James’, all because of a single text from Gee, so they barged in, loud as usual. 

“WHAT’S UP FUCKERS?” She called out, the door slamming open and hitting the door stopper before bouncing back on Cleo who rolled her eyes. 

Will heard her voice from downstairs, and without a doubt, his neighbors heard her too. Sliding the black tee over his head, he walked out of his bedroom and jogged down the stairs to see (Y/N) - she was smiling when their eyes met, and he could tell by the flush in her cheeks that she had been drinking already.

“Bloody hell we haven’t even made it to the party and you’re already pissed.” He joked, making it to the bottom of the stairs. She opened her arms out and he stepped into her side, allowing his arm to slide around her shoulders.

“She’s been drinking since 6.” Cleo said as she sat the drinks on the counter. “It took me half an hour to get her out of the flat because she kept changing outfits, and then falling over while changing.” 

She looked up at Will, a beaming smile meeting her glassy eyes. “I passed my exam.” 

His eyes then brightened, “oh sweet, congrats on passing whatever bullshit you said that was..” He affirmed his words by rubbing her arm gently, thumb grazing over the skin of her shoulder while they laughed. On the counter next to them he spotted Cleo cracking open a bottle of vodka. 

“How about you two get some of the glasses from the cabinet and we’ll take some celebratory shots.” He offered and everyone agreed, even George and Alex in the living room who were fucking around making dumb TikToks. They ushered into the kitchen and Will felt her move from under his arm straight over to the counter where Cleo was. 

While grabbing his denim jacket from the back of the sofa, Will looked up at the group who was laughing as Alex’s (plastic) shot glass split and broke in his hand, but he was looking more at (Y/N). Her hair shined under the lights of his flat, her skirt hugging her in all the right places. When she giggled before taking the shot, he couldn’t help but smile as he downed his own. 

The group sat in his kitchen and had another drink before heading out, taking the lift down to where an Uber awaited to whisk the five across the city to James’ flat. 

Walking with Cleo in the back of the group, she took the chance to look at Will - he ditched a hat for the night and his hair looked soft, and he chose to wear a denim jacket and a pair of black denim jeans. She always thought he had the best style out of their friend group, but it messed with her head and her fluctuating feelings to admit it, because for that second she allowed herself to be attracted to him. 

The other three knew immediately that something was up between them. 

They were in the back of the Uber giggling, his hand on her lower back when she climbed out, and just the general vibe they were giving off made it clear that even just for a second, they might be more than just friends who made out at a party once. In the lift, Cleo rolled her eyes at the sound of them laughing behind her and took another drink straight from the bottle of vodka in her hand. 

And just like last week, the lift doors opened to reveal an already packed flat in front of them. In the back of the lift, (Y/N) reached over and slid an arm around Will’s torso, leaning against him for support. The vodka shots were beginning to mix with the margaritas she had downed with her classmates. 

“You are already a handful, aren’t ya?” He teased, holding her close as they stepped off and into the corridor. Cleo was greeting everyone in the doorway and they slowly made their way forward. 

She giggled and gripped the material of his denim jacket in her palm, staring up at him with eyes full of stars. “Will you dance with me?” She asked with almost an innocent tone. How could he ever say no to that?

“Give me a bit and I’ll definitely consider it.” 

Multi-colored lights danced across the walls in the foyer, leading them like moths straight to the living room where everyone else was. They pushed their way inside, through the bodies, and straight to James. He had already downed three drinks since the pre-game, so he was greeting them all once again with giant hugs and even kisses for the boys. 

Laughing with James as they hugged, she looked over his shoulder to see Adrian in the kitchen. He was standing with the same brunette like last week, this time no drink in his hand, but this time his eyes were trained on her. She quickly looked away, hoping he wouldn’t notice her second-too-long gaze, and then sunk back down to her normal height as her and James pulled away.

Behind her, Will noticed Adrian, too. They met eyes across the heads of everyone else between them, and Adrian tilted his chin up before turning away. Similar to Hanna and her, Will woke up Saturday morning to a few petty Instagram stories from Adrian, but he mostly found them funny rather than anything else.

When she leaned back from James, Will stepped up behind her, tilting his head down to meet the shell of her ear. “Do you want to get a drink?” 

She looked at him over her shoulder with a raised brow, “as long as you’ll dance with me after.” She always drove a hard bargain, and in all fairness, Will didn’t mind dancing as long as it was with her. 

“It will take more than just one, but I’m willing to give it a try.” 

He reached down between them and grabbed her hand, their fingers lacing together, and he led her right by the kitchen and around the edge of the room to the drink table. Adrian watched as they moved together, and when they stepped into his view from the kitchen, he saw interlocked fingers and quickly looked away, turning all his attention to the girl on his side while mentally fighting with himself to turn back around and watch. 

This time James had stocked up on the tequila per their request, so there was no need to raid the cupboards for it like last Friday. James wound up missing a pineapple because everyone was looking for more drinks at 2 a.m., and they never found the Inflatable Penis Bandit either.

Across the room on the sofa with her legs thrown over her date, sat Hanna. She had shown up earlier than everyone else with the same guy she had dragged along last time, and replaced her own little-black-dress for a pair of denim jeans and a cute top, hoping to catch Will’s attention, but instead all she got was the back of his head in her direction as he laughed with his date. 

(Y/N) caught the daggers shooting into her skull from across the room, Hanna’s gaze heavy directly at her, so she decided to take the first initiative of the night. Will handed her a shot glass, this time they were miniature red cups, and they took the shot together after a quick toast. The tequila in her system began to add up, and it served as courage when she leaned up and kissed Will after they slammed their shot glasses back down onto the table.

It was a decision made with quick thinking, catching Will completely off guard when she grabbed his jacket and pulled herself up to his mouth, but a second later he sunk into her. His hand gently cradled the back of her head, allowing her to control the way her lips dragged across his before she pulled away with a giggle.

“Was that okay?” She asked, nose nestling against his before she leaned down to her normal height. 

Will looked down at her, watching the lights bounce off her face and glassy eyes, and he smiled. It was more than okay. He wanted to kiss her again, regardless of who was watching, so he did. His answer was given by kissing her again, this time it was long, it was sultry in all the right ways. Her head that already began to spin, whirled in circles with the feeling of his warm hands on her skin. She liked having him this close. 

“Wait,” she pulled back and Will’s heart picked up, afraid that he may have crossed a boundary, but was comforted when she continued, “do you think James has a strawberry mixer?” 

He breathed out and moved his hands to hold her face. “Another margarita, that’s what you want, innit?” She smiled and nodded. “I’ll go see if they have anything for it.” 

“No, no, no, don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about me.” Her words slightly slurred when she shook her head, simultaneously reaching up to wipe her lipstick off the corner of his mouth, and they both laughed. “You go have fun.” 

Will’s smile faded, and over the music, he could hear someone calling out for him. “You’ll be okay?” 

“Okay, I’m gon’ find Cleo again,” she said with a slow nod, “now go on, be careful!” 

Will chuckled, nose scrunched. She was already so drunk he found it almost endearing. “I’ll be careful.” He repeated before pecking her cheek with another kiss and they split apart, the warmth of his hand on her shoulder remaining as he moved past her - she headed to the hallway where she last saw Cleo, and Will headed straight to the kitchen where Ethan and Mark was calling out for him, a drink in his hand and they greeted each other. 

More people began to pack into the flat, the music growing louder, the lights moving around the room faster. The room was hotter with the moving bodies, and the drinks were overflowing shot glasses and cups, turning the dial of the party up a notch. 

Will found (Y/N) an hour later while she was dancing with Cleo and Gee. 

He had been making his way around the party, talking to everyone, and also, in the meantime, managing to make a margarita. Throughout the night he had also kept an eye on her - watching her dance on the table, take a shot with Fraser, and as she took photos with Gee and Astrid. 

From the patio where he stood with Simon and Joel not twenty minutes after he left her alone, he looked through the glass to see her sitting with Astrid on the floor, Kenji on his back between them, fully enjoying the belly rubs and attention he was receiving. Will smiled because it reminded him of the time she came to Newcastle with him, how she sat on the sofa with his mum and Darcey the entire time, giving the dog all of the attention instead of him. 

Walking onto the makeshift ‘dance-floor’, Will carried a frozen glass in his hand. James didn’t have ice so Will had to improvise and stick the full glass in the freezer for an undisclosed amount of time (he forgot about it), but it was still the thought that counted. Stepping between, he caught her attention amongst the other bodies, and she started her walk to him. And then when she spotted the red slush in the glass in his hand, she gasped, pausing her movements to step over and grab it with both hands.

“I think you are my new favorite person.” She said, taking it from his grip, raising to her toes to peck his cheek with another kiss; for those watching, they imagined, but it was mostly for themselves. 

When they started talking, she noticed the slight bounce in his stance, his smile was wider - he had a few shots of the tequila with James and Calum, and now he was starting to feel his cheeks warm up, suddenly everything was funnier too, for both of them. She laughed as he began to sway his shoulders to the beat of the song, head following along - it was EARFQUAKE, Tyler, The Creator. 

“Come on,” she reached down and her cold fingers locked around his, guiding him to the same spot she was just a few moments ago. Everybody was rocking back and forth, some singing along to the lyrics, and they were right in the middle of it.

They stopped among everyone else, sandwiched between the sofa and shoulders of everyone else, and began to dance to the sound of Tyler’s voice. In the mix of colors, Will looked down at her when she grabbed his hand and used it to spin herself around, smiling when she collided with his body again, sending them both into fits of laughter. He was also impressed with the fact that she managed to not spill a single sip of her drink. 

“You’re cute,” he said under the music, but close enough to her so she could hear. 

Her cheeks flushed, from the alcohol or from his words, she didn’t know. “I called you cute the other day and you laughed at me,” she pouted, gently slapping his arm, “so why should I take this compliment?” 

Will smiled down at her, a hand reaching out to brush her hair from her face, and her chin instinctively tilted upwards to him. “Because unlike you, I mean it.” 

“I meant it too!” (Y/N) called out and Will laughed before leaning down and kissing her. 

He wasn’t kissing her because specific people were looking, he kissed her because in the moment, it felt right. It would have been wrong if he hadn’t.

When a song with a heavy beat replaced the current one, a switch flipped, and Will allowed her to press forward against his chest, her hips gyrating against his lap. His hot hands guided her hips, moving with her, their noses nestled, breaths hitched and kissing, both losing their inhibitions in the melody of the song. 

But a few minutes later when the song changed to Vossi Bop, the feeling of the room lightened, everyone immediately rushed to their friends or to the table for more drinks, all rapping along with the words. Everyone lost their shit to Stormzy. The last time she heard the song was in Paris and that night ended with her throwing up in a bush outside the venue. 

Her and Will danced through Stormzy and AJ Tracey, sharing the margarita he made, laughing with and at their friends as they stumbled around, and singing the lyrics to every known belter. Similar to Vossi Bop, when the playlist shuffled Wonderwall, the room came together and this time, sang along like a family. 

(Y/N)’s arm slid around Will’s shoulders, pulling herself close to his side as they smiled from ear to ear and sang to each other. “I SAID MAYBEEE, YOU’RE GONNA BE THE ONE THAT SAVES MEEE. AND AFTER ALL, YOU’RE MY WONDERWALL.” 

In a fit of laughter and joy, she leaned forward and tilted her head, pressing a kiss against Will’s cheek, and then the corner of his mouth. He smiled as she broke apart from him, twirling herself in circles to the ending of the tune, pointing to him while finishing off the lyrics. 

When the song came to an end, Will stepped forward and grabbed her face, his fingers locking behind her ears, and he kissed her. It wasn’t playful, it wasn’t sweet, it had meaning, intentions laced behind it. 

It was a mix of the alcohol, the known euphoria of Wonderwall, and the fact that she looked so damn sweet looking up at him. Her eyes fluttered shut, free hand placing on his arm while she focused on the feeling of his lips on hers, the taste of strawberry mixer and tequila. 

It was the Arctic Monkeys One For The Road that propelled them forward, their bodies clashing together, kisses sloppy, a shift in their nature. Sweet and fun turned quickly into rushed and lustful, lighting their insides aflame. When their lips broke apart, Will glanced behind him, and then pulled her with him as he shuffled back onto a chair. In the small corner of the room, she straddled his lap, the colors dancing across her skirt while his fingers wound in her hair and they kissed messily.

It wasn’t a sudden realization of love, it was infatuation, it was lust. When they made out at the party last Friday, that was the realization that they needed - it was something they could do all the time, because they genuinely liked each other. They were always friends, but there was the underlying tone of the potential for more. Friends who didn’t mind to neck it at every party were bound to have some feelings for each other eventually. 

And that’s how they wound up in the hallway outside of James’ flat, her back pressed against the cool surface of the wall, his hand on her thigh, pushing the material of her skirt up the higher his palm climbed. 

Her heart was pounding against her chest, unable to calm it when his hand gripped the back of her thigh. Everything he was doing was amplified by the alcohol - her sensations running on a constant high, pushing exhilaration when his tongue slipped into her mouth. The music from inside the flat was muffled behind the closed door. 

Boy, I’m looking for affection in all the wrong places And we’ll keep falling on each other to fill the empty spaces

Their lips parted for a breath, and she tilted her head up, nose grazing his. “Back to mine?” Was all she could make out, her lungs filled with fire, breath ghosting over Will’s lips.

He looked at her, searching her eyes for something, anything - hesitation, regret, but instead, all he saw was reciprocated feelings staring back at him. A neediness, a desire. Will didn’t even respond, instead reaching over and smacking the button for the lift, giving her an answer in the form of another kiss while they both laughed. 

Within minutes they were in the backseat of a taxi on the streets of London, his lips on her neck, her hands creeping under his shirt. Chills ran up her spine, from the cold, from his hands sliding under her skirt. He smiled against her lips and she felt him taking root inside of her when he kissed her again. 

On the other side of the city no less than ten minutes later, they slid out of the backseat in front of the residential building and dashed to the lift and into her flat, this time, their affection wasn’t overshadowed by the fear of freaking out an innocent Uber driver.  

Her keys dropped onto the foyer table, his jacket tossed onto the floor. He brought a hand up to the side of her face, long fingers wrapping around her jaw and twisting in her hair, and they were kissing again, just like before, but somehow better. It’s sweeter, it’s deeper. He wanted her, and by the way her hands slid up his shirt, hooking around his belt, it made him feel like she wanted him too. 

Pressing forward, she pushed him backwards towards her bedroom at the end of the hall. Will shuffled back into the wall by trying to turn too early and they let out a laugh before their lips reconnected. He slid a strong arm around her waist, pulling her with him while he used his memory of the floorplan to her flat, in the best way he could, to guide her with him to her bedroom. 

Will backed up against the wall, hands sliding down to touch her hips, her thighs, while his lips found the delicate skin on the side of her neck. Reaching blindly behind her, she felt the doorknob against her palm, and pushed the door shut, shutting off the bedroom from the rest of the flat. 

Oh, I’m looking for affection in all the wrong places And we’ll keep falling on each other to fill the empty spaces

[yourdeepestfathoms]

Lion Heart

Word count: 1062

Prompt: “Please stop rolling your shirt sleeves up, it’s terribly distracting.”

———————

“Please stop rolling your shirt sleeves up, it’s terribly distracting.” Bessie said patiently.

Strangely, Maria actually glowered at the woman before her scowl faded into a tired expression. She sighed and buried her head in her arms on the dining room table. Bessie blinked at her from the couch, then set her book down and walked over to her.

“Maria?” She gently touched the drummer’s shoulder. “Everything alright?”

“I’m—fine.” Maria tried to growl, but it came out weak and shaking. She sounded like she was about to cry.

“Talk to me, sweetheart,” Bessie said. “What’s wrong?”

Maria shook her head and tried to bury her face further into her arms, but her nose was already pressing uncomfortably against the table top. She had no choice but to pull her head back and try to swiftly wipe her eyes. Bessie noticed, though. Of course she noticed- Bessie saw everything.

“Oh, Maria...”

Protective, loving arms wrapped around Maria and that was enough to make her break. She began to cry into Bessie’s shoulder, clinging to her shirt like it was her life line.

“I’m- I’m sorry,” She wheezed out. “I-I— I’ve been—” She sniffled, trying to piece her words together and failing miserably. “I’ve been having s-some bad thoughts lately. A-about you...and what happened...a-and how it’s all my fault!” Her voice broke off at that and she spiraled into painful sobs that managed to rock Bessie’s own body to the rhythm of her grief.

“Maria...” Bessie murmured, slightly shocked by this outburst. “Sweetheart, that was not your fault! You didn’t make that decision!”

“B-but I c-could have helped you! I-I could have stopped it!” Maria cried, distraught. “I-I could have...stopped him...”

“Nobody could stop him.” Bessie said. “Maria, listen to me: what happened was not your fault at all. You did the best you could.”

“My best wasn’t enough!” Maria wailed.

A sharp grasp on her forearms made the drummer squeak. She’s pushed backwards, out of the safety of the crook of Bessie’s neck. She looked fearfully into Bessie’s flaming eyes.

“I’m sorry...!” She whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut and waiting for Bessie’s rage to maim her like the paws of a giant grizzly bear.

She had seen the effects of Bessie’s anger before- when some entitled white woman was yelling at a poor waitress they were at, Bessie had reared up in an instant and rained absolute hellfire on the lady; when a historian felt the need to bring up FitzRoy to her and she damn near attacked him, even if it spurred a series of angry tweets about her being “rabid”; when some punk kids yelled “Bloody Mary” in Aragon’s face on the street, so Bessie tripped them; when a hormonal college stagehand wouldn’t stop commenting on Jane’s bust size, so Bessie slipped laxatives into his drink. But Maria has never been at the tail end of her anger and that scared her. She hadn’t meant to make Bessie mad, but she should have known with the woman’s relatively short temper. Plus, she deserved it, anyway. This was her punishment.

But instead of being yelled at or even hit, Maria’s face is gently cupped and her gaze is raised to meet Bessie’s eyes. She realizes the flame in them wasn’t one of anger, but of protectiveness and concern.

“Maria, your best is more than good enough. It’s just what I need.” Bessie told her. “And you being here with me? Being able to see you every day? It’s worth more than you’ll ever know. So please don’t blame yourself for what happened. But if it really does bother you that much, think of this life as your new chance to make up for what was lost. We’re together again, sweetheart. And you’ll never have to worry about losing me again because I’m not going anywhere.”

A fresh wave of tears filled Maria’s eyes and she collapsed into Bessie’s arms, crying all over again. She’s held protectively, feeling Bessie’s hand rub up and down her back comfortingly.

“Thank you, Bessie,” She wept. “Thank you, thank you...!”

“Shh, shh,” Bessie murmured to her sweetly. “It’s my pleasure, sweetheart. Anything for you.”

Anything for me.

Hearing that made Maria feel just a little bit better. However, it wasn’t until two days later that her depressive mood passed completely.

She had just been getting home from a walk when Bessie raced down the staircase, tripping on the last step and careening forward in a very ungraceful manner before catching herself. She watches this amusement before the bassist is right up in her face.

“Go sit on the couch!” Bessie barked.

“Wh-what?”

“Just— Go!!” Bessie snapped and Maria scampered over to the couch. “Now close your eyes!”

“Why?”

“Just do it!!”

Maria closed her eyes.

“Keep them close. Don’t you dare peek!”

Maria hears Bessie run back upstairs. In takes a minute, but the footsteps come down. She does as she’s told and keeps her eyes firmly shut. However, they fling open when something squirming is set in her arms.

Maria nearly launched the thing across the room until she realized it wasn’t something that would hurt or a very large moth. It was, rather, a little brown rabbit with the cutest, biggest, most endearing eyes she’s ever seen before. It looks up at her curiously, it’s adorable pink nose twitching away.

“B-Bessie,” Maria stammered. “What...what is...”

“I got him for you,” Bessie said. “You’ve been really upset lately. If your breakdown two days ago wasn’t evidence enough. So I wanted to get you something to cheer you up!” She smiled lovingly. “Well? What do you think?”

Maria looked back down at the rabbit sniffing her in her lap. She gathered him up in her arms and nuzzled him, tears springing free from her eyes.

“I love him,” She whimpered. “Thank you... Thank you, Bessie...”

Bessie glowed with pride. She sat beside Maria, who leaned against her. She rubbed her back.

“Don’t cry into him already!” Bessie laughed. She gently wiped away some of Maria’s tears, causing her to giggle. “Come on. You still gotta give him a name.”

“Right!” Maria held the bunny up in front of her and studied him. “Hmm... He kinda looks like a Benny!”

“Oh, how clever. Changing one letter from the species name. The next time we get a cat I’m gonna name to Cet.”

“Oh— Shut up!!”

[ashes-and-ashes]

Don’t Leave Me

“Don’t leave me!”

They are running down the hallway, sides aching from laughing, the wooden floor smooth underneath their socks. Remus is ahead, rounds the corner and sprints up the stairs, Sirius behind him.

“Don’t leave me,” Sirius calls out. “Seriously, don’t. I don’t want my ass to be put in detention- “

“If we don’t fucking move, they’re going to catch us.” Remus giggles as he pushes open the door, holding it open for Sirius. “We have to get back to the - “

“To the common room.” Sirius skids in front of the wall, panting. “Asmodeus,” he says, and the bricks start to crumble, rearranging to form a doorway. “Come on!”

Remus nods, grabs his hand and they are sprinting down the secret passageway, up a level of circular stairs to the top of Gryffindor tower. “I swear,” he says, panting, “I can’t wait to see their faces tomorrow - “

“Red and gold hair,” finishes Sirius. “Just in time for the Quidditch Championships - “

“Classic.” Remus laughs as they finally reach the portrait, the Fat Lady peering down at them suspiciously. He smiles, glancing over at Sirius. “Thanks for coming with me.”

Sirius smiles. “Anytime.”

~

“Don’t leave me!”

He’s clutching onto the handle of his broom, the wind whistling through his hair as he hangs in for dear life. Beside him, Sirius is laughing, zooming around the Quidditch Pitch in huge circles. Remus curses, wrapping his frozen fingers tighter around the wood. “Sirius Black, if you let me fall - “

“Relax Moons!” Sirius swoops down next to him, the stars reflecting off his hair. Strands fall down, onto his face and he impatiently tucks them behind his ear. “You have to be fluid. Let your body take over.”

“Great advice,” grumbles Remus. “Let your body take over. What is this, a B grade romance?”

Sirius flips him off, spinning his broom so he shot off towards the sky. He looked vaguely like a demon from that distance, all flying hair and shattered light and his cloak streaming behind him. Remus grits his teeth. “Bugger off,” he calls, and Sirius laughs. “Come on Re! Follow me!”

Remus swallows, looking up at Sirius, who was rapidly disappearing into the darkening sky. He ground his teeth, glancing down towards the ground, and swallows. “Bastard,” he mutters, gripping his broom tighter and pointing it towards the heavens.

~

“Don’t leave me.”

Tight words from gritted teeth, Remus’ hands squeezing Sirius’ as he lies on the floor. He’s panting, sweat plastering his hair to his face, curled up in a fetal position on the hard boards, trying not to cry out as the moon rose higher in the sky. “Please. Don’t....don’t go.”

Sirius’ heart breaks, watching Remus writhe on the ground. His back arched, a strangled sob tearing out of his throat, his teeth gritted. Blood wells from his lip, where he had bitten down, and Sirius watches it trickle down his chin. He knew that trick, of biting down, of letting blood replace the screams. He’s done it many times before, swallows down the agony and locks it away.

Remus lets out another moan, and Sirius swears. He’s always been able to do something, always been able to give Remus a potion or a spell or a compress but this time there’s nothing. He had done everything he could and Remus was still on the ground, screaming as his body broke apart.

He curses, tightening his hold on Remus hand. Remus doesn’t react, just squeezes Sirius’ fingers, so hard they go white, and Sirius swallows. “Shit, Re. There has to be something I can do. Can I - “

“Don’t.” Remus takes a shaky breath. “Please. Don’t leave me.”

“Never,” Sirius promises him. “I won’t go.”

~

“Don’t leave me.”

Remus nods. He’s sitting, on the edge of the bed, staring down at the bloody gashes in Sirius’ back.

Scarlet lines, dripping blood, the pale edges of torn skin where the spells had caught and ripped at the flesh. Some of them were shallow, a long, wide gash, but others were deep. Remus swallows, one hand hovering over a huge mark stretching from Sirius’ shoulder to his waist. It oozed blood, staining the cloth underneath him, red muscle and the gleaming white of bone.

Sirius grits his teeth, his fingers wrapped around his pillow. He takes a shaky breath, his body trembling, the bed vibrating underneath him. “God. I never knew....”

“Bitch.” The word is tight, a mere hiss of air really, as Remus stares down at the wounds on Sirius’ back. “Bitch. What the hell....how long....”

Sirius closes his eyes. “Does it matter?”

Remus just shakes his head. “Bitch. She should be sent to Azkaban.”

“She won’t be.” Sirius winces, letting out a strangled moan as the wounds on his back pulsed. “She’s too....high up. They won’t sentence her. Not without concrete proof.”

“Those - “ Remus flings out his hands. “Proof? Those fucking gashes aren’t good enough?”

Sirius shakes his head. “Not unless you can prove she did it.”

Remus is silent, the room spinning around him. When he finally swallows, he barely recognizes his own voice. “I’ll get her. I swear it.”

Sirius just sighs. “I wouldn’t stop you if you did.”

~

“Don’t leave me.”

Sirius is sleepy, the sounds of the battle raging around him. He’s aware that he’s lying, in a warm and sticky pool of red, his fingers dripping in it. He stares at the crimson, the way it completely covered his hand. Gryffindor colour, he thinks, and a drowsy smile forces its way onto his face.

“Shit.” Someone swear from where they are kneeled above him, but he’s too tired to care. He ignores it, focusing on the red drops, the way it slid down his hand like a ruby rope. “Shit. Shit shit shit shit - “

“That’s a bad word,” Sirius says. He frowns. “There a are lots of bad words. Like Ass and Dick and Crap - “

“Shut up.” The voice is louder now, and Sirius winces. “That’s not nice.”

“I don’t particular fucking care.”

The words holt him, as if someone attached cables to his brain, and the world suddenly sharpens around Sirius. He’s lying on his back in the middle of some desert, Remus’ anxious face looming over him. There’s a piercing pain in his side, the edges tingling with every breath he took, and Sirius coughs. “Re?”

Remus curses. “You fucking idiot! What the hell - why would you jump in front of me?”

“You were about to get hit,” Sirius says. He tries to turn onto his side but fails, wincing. “Jesus. What did I get hit with?”

“Some sort of purple fire.” There’s the sound of a bottle being uncapped, a metal tin being forced past his lips. “Drink.”

Sirius does, and Remus puts the bottle away. The world starts to spin again, the shadows lengthening, and Remus swears. “Shit, Pads. Stay awake - “

He says more, but Sirius is too tired. Remus is still talking when he falls asleep.

~

“Don’t leave me.”

They are standing in the hallway, Remus carrying a bag in his hand. In the other, he holds a file, a Black-and-white picture of himself on the cover.

Remus John Lupin. Werewolf.

Underneath the title, there were a bunch of small, white words.

Assigned to camp 1839FG. Arrival: Priority.

Sirius swallows hard. “You don’t have to do this.”

Remus shakes his head. “I’m not stupid, Si.”

“I never said you were - “

Remus cuts him off. “The order needs intel. Badly. We have no idea what’s happening, no idea what’s going on. If I can get just a smidgen if information, just enough to predict where they’ll attack next - “

“You could save lives.”

Remus meets his gaze. “Exactly.”

The silence between them stretches out. Sirus coughs. “Be safe. Please. I....I can’t lose you too. First Reg and then Marls and Dorcas and Mary - “

“I’ll be safe.” Remus leans forwards, brushing his lips against Sirius’. “I promise.”

~

“Don’t leave me.”

He whispers the words, traces the moon on his forearm with shaking fingers. The cell is cold, water collecting in puddles around him, and Sirius shivers.

They hadn’t bothered to give him shoes, his feet raw and exposed to the air. The brand on his shoulder ached, the skin around it still raw from the iron they had pressed into his skin. He presses his arm against his stomach, wincing at the flare of pain from his ribs. When they broke his wand, they broke a part of him too, bent him double with the pain. He wonders if that was a thing, dying from your wand being snapped.

If he squints, he can just barely make out the moon, glowing in the darkness of the sky. He hates his teeth, looking back down at his tattoo, the light making his cell glow silver.

143. That’s how many moons he’s missed, how many moons he’s abandoned Remus. 143 moons, spent rotting away in this shithole of a cell, his body aching and feet bleeding and he didn’t care. He would do it again, would happily spend the rest of his life in this place if it meant Remus was happy.

But Remus didn’t know. Remus thought he was a murderer, a traitor. Remus thought he was the Spy.

Sirius grits his teeth, slams his fingers hard into the wall. The impact sends a shockwave of pain up his arm but he ignores it, pounding the wall again and again.

“Don’t leave me,” he pleads.

But of course there’s nothing but silence in his cell.

[boarix]

Wraith in the Ruins: A Fallout 4 Story Part XVIII

Lighthouse

Trigger warnings: canon violence/language/gun, alcohol and drug use. Mature/sexual content - not explicit  

Bloody Mess warning!

Please Enjoy!

 Marie stood in the doorway, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. After about five minutes or so, she began tapping her foot in a staccato of irritation, “Did you want something or not? I’m very busy.”

Atom’s Assassin didn’t bother to turn around, “You are massing in Crater House, yes? We had agreed to wait.”

“My followers are impatient.” Despite not having been invited, she briskly walked around the chair the ghoul was lounging in to fold her arms and glare down at them, “This is taking too long. You are taking too long.”

Infamy’s leader was toying with their favorite weapon: a combat knife with a serrated, wicked-looking blade. Flipping it around the back of their hand and thumb with remarkable speed, they locked eyes with her, “You have no followers. Those with you follow Atom. Atom rewards patience.”

“Yes, well, while you sit here and patiently wait for this church’s roof to cave in, my followers and I will take back Kingsport Lighthouse!”

“You will be annihilated.”

Anger caused her to react without thinking; swatting the knife out of the ghoul’s hand and sending it spinning to a dark corner. In the space of a heartbeat the ghoul was out of their chair and lashing out with a backhand that sent the young woman crashing to the floor.

“You will bring those Children back to this church. You will all wait.”

As the glowing one moved to retrieve the knife, their radiance illuminated the room which revealed a large number of ferals, standing perfectly still, in arcing rows around the chair. Marie hadn’t even noticed their presence and felt the whole thing to be incredibly unnerving.  

“But, what are we waiting for?!”

Turning, the ghoul went to the doorway just as an Infamy runner stepped through. There was a brief, whispered conversation before Atom’s Assassin turned back to her.

Cackling madly, they brandished their knife and spun in a circle, “They are here! Ahahaa!”  

“Who? What’s happening?!”

The mad ghoul roughly pulled Marie to her feet and shook her, “It won’t be long now; the Pretender’s doom has arrived in the Commonwealth!”

  “Did you make those pants?”

Shaun looked up from the workbench, “Yeah why, are they weird?”

“No, I like the color. Green is a good color on you. They look like they fit nice…”

He favored her with an indulgent smile, “Grandma, do you want me to make you a pair of green slacks?”

“Oh ho, not pants but slacks?” Her smile broadened when he rolled his eyes, “Yes, please make me a pair of slacks.”

“Are you coming back home after ghoul training?”

Wraith didn’t answer at first. She wanted to but since she had no idea how long learning to influence feral ghouls would take, let alone if she was even capable, she didn’t want to make promises she couldn’t keep.

She had intended the past week to be a vacation of sorts, but found herself elbow deep in reports and meetings instead. In addition to the seemingly random attacks, Infamy had taken to raising radiation levels in some of the southern settlements.

She also spent as much time as possible with Danse; helping Curie with his rehab and his occasional skips in memory. Now, with it being her last day, she was spending it with Shaun and found that she really didn’t want to leave at all.

“Oh, honey… I don’t know… There are too many variables to give you a definitive answer.”

“You’re using lawyer-general speak again,” He stuck his lip out and nodded, “I could go with you…”

“No. Absolutely not.”

His caramel complexion couldn’t hide his flush, “Why not. Is it because I couldn’t defeat Infamy? Do you think that I’ll be a burden?” He had balled up his fists, “I know I screwed that up but…”

“I don’t find you to be burdensome. You didn’t screw anything up! I need you to stay and help Mac…”

“That’s brahmin shit! That’s what YOU TELL LITTLE KIDS WHEN THEY WANT TO HELP YOU BUT YOU THINK THEY’LL BE IN THE WAY!” When Wraith didn’t cut him off and start yelling back he lost some of his momentum, “I’m sorry I let Danse and RJ get hurt!”

“You three were a team. Not one of you failed to fulfill… ugh… Okay, no more lawyer speak.” She got up from her stool, “I can’t lose you. And it’s not just you! I’m keeping Mac, Danse… I’m being completely selfish, I know… If I can keep all you strong fighters together, you will be able to keep each other safe, when I’m… gone.”

“Are you going to let the Valentines leave?” Her honesty had taken the wind out of his anger, “I’m surprised you let Grandpa John go.”

She furrowed her brow, “For the last time; I’m not a tyrant! I’m not going to hold innocent people against their will! I want them to stay and I already made my case, plus Curie wants to study Ellie’s pregnancy… wait… Grandpa John?”

Shaun’s blush deepened, “Cause you two… you know… he asked you to marry him. What the heck am I supposed to call him?!”

“I’m sorry, you’re right. Are you going to start calling Mac ‘grandpa’ too?”

“No, that’s weird.”

She nodded after a couple seconds of rapid blinking, “Okay, I guess that tracks.”

MacCready opened the door and stuck his head through, “Hey guys, Danse, Curie, the Valentines and dinner are here so stop yelling at each other and come in the house.”

“Technically speaking, RJ, the workshop is still in the house.”

“Who’s ‘Dinner’, they sound nice.”

MacCready sighed and slumped his shoulders, “Hilarious. You two done?”

“Did Dinner walk here on their own?”

Shaun started giggling, “How many legs do they have?”

 Dinner was very nice and the conversation pleasant. Although space was limited the group squeezed together amicably and Valentine, a wonderful story teller, was regaling them with child-friendly versions of the behemoth and alien artifact cases.

“… climb the whole way up with me tied to her back! Of course, I told her she’d do just as well building castles in the air…”

“Mr. Colonel Garvey Minuteman has a castle! He said that grandma Wraith fought a monster there this one time and it was really big!” Duncan threw his arms out wide, knocking his cup off the table. His father neatly caught it however, and not even a drop was spilt. His excitement turned to dismay at the near loss of juice and he hung his head, “Sorry, daddy.”

MacCready tousled his hair, “Don’t be sad, Dunk. Spilt drink never hurt anybody; just work on your aim.”

“I still say I could’ve pulled us up and out with no problem.”

Valentine smiled and shook his head at her, “You are aware of a distinction between could and should.”

Wraith stuck her lip out in much the same way Shaun had, “You never know unless you try.”

“I tried cheese today!” Duncan’s confidence had returned.  

Danse grimaced, “You’re a braver man than I. The smell reminds me of the training mats in the Citadel…”

As Valentine finished his tale, with he the unfortunate ending of Imogene, Curie leaned slightly forward and her eyes tracked his mouth with a hungry intensity.

“And this alien artifact, where has it gone?”

“Well… I’m not sure, actually. I was in and out at the time.”

“It’s put away.” There was a warning edge to Wraith’s voice. “I’d have destroyed it if I could.”

“Oh, but why? Surly this item would be of great use, not only to the scientific community, but to the studies of medical…”

“No!” Wraith gentled her tone, “No, Baby Bird. It is evil and cannot be used for anything but.”

“It’s like the One Ring!” Shaun deliberately directed his comment at MacCready.

“Oh, jeez. Not you too! I’m surrounded by nerds.”

“What’s this now?”

“Oh, Danse, it’s from this great book grandpa John let me borrow. You hav’ta read it!”

MacCready smirked, “Yeah, just when you’re finally starting to feel better…”

Shaun took the snide remark rather personally and so his retort had real venom, “You’re face looks better, now that you shaved that beard!”

Danse’s eyes snapped up to lock with the sniper’s, “You grew a beard? A full beard?”

“Yeah, so what?” His shrug was meant to be nonchalant.

Danse expression was unreadable, “Nothing, just surprised.”

“You’re surprised that I grew a beard? I’ve had a goatee…”

“Surprised that you’re physically capable of growing more than those rat whiskers you normally sport.”

Normally such banter would quickly degrade into actual bickering, but after giving Danse the One Finger Salute, (making sure Duncan didn’t see) MacCready laughed and flashed a bright smile.

After dinner, the group settled in to play cards: the children, Danse and MacCready playing Go Fish while the other four grown-ups indulged in Euchre. After a couple of hands, Wraith began making a conscious effort to memorize the evening. She planned on using bright-spot memories like these to battle against future bouts of her berserker rage.

Acknowledging her addiction to Buffout was only a small step in combating her tendency to slide toward madness. She had publicly denied, on more than one occasion, that she was a tyrannical monster but didn’t want to fall into the trap of declaring yourself a savor to the people whose house you’re burning.

  “I’m sorry I scolded you, Curie.” Wraith had followed Danse and Curie out the door and across the yard. Watching Danse use a cane made her feel all the more guilty over the decision to keep the artifact’s location secret. “I shouldn’t have spoken to you like you’re a kid…”

“Ah, Madame, please don’t worry about it. Forgive me for saying so, but I feel you have been treating me as your daughter since almost the first time we met.” She arched her arms out to mimic her Miss. Nanny silhouette, “Even when I was just a metal egg.”

Wraith chuckled, “Well I guess it’s reassuring to know that I have at least some maternal instinct.” She took her by the shoulders, “I know why you would want to study it. I don’t blame you but… it has a way of… pulling at you. Shaun’s analogy wasn’t that far off.”

“I… understand. I was only, so excited! Here was a thing from another world! A… a science beyond the capabilities of the one I am only barely familiar with. One with an almost unlimited capacity for healing…” She looked at the clinic door that Danse had just struggled to open, “He gets lost in his memories and he’s still, so very thin…”

“Time, Baby Bird. With you caring for him, maybe not as much as you think.”

“It was a group effort that saved mon amour. Even Monsieur MacCready, with his Beard of Solidarity…”

“His… what?”

She laughed, “Danse had told me a story of how, when a member of your unit is badly damaged, so that they cannot shave their chins, the rest of the group stops this as well. This is done regardless of the team member’s gender, of course. Those who cannot grow a beard will sometimes shave their head… the focus on hair in this instance is rather fascinating, don’t you agree?”

Wraith felt a surge of pride in MacCready, “He takes such care with his goatee. They bicker so much I had no idea that they were that close.”

“Perhaps it is like siblings, oui?”

“How did Mac find out about the hair thing?”

“He came to me and asked what he could do. For some reason telling him the story that mon ours told me made me feel a little better. And when I saw that he was honoring him this way, why, I felt… I’m not sure how to put it…” Curie’s face lit up, “Robert is a protector, and this act was very much him shielding and bolstering my resolve. Which, is what I believe, it is meant to do.”

  She could feel the heat of climax pooling below her navel even as MacCready began to shake beneath her. Bearing down as he thrust upward, the breath was driven from them both each time their hips came together.

Their lovemaking would appear a desperate, clinging act; exciting and needful as their first. Yet, it was practiced and refined with each moving in concert toward and against the other. They fought to hush their moans and gasps of pleasure, as to not disturb the sleeping household.

The realization that they might finish together heightened the anticipation of release and Wraith couldn’t stop her cry of passion at the mere thought.

Pushing himself to an almost seated position, MacCready attempted to silence both their cries by kissing her fiercely. Head swimming, he came almost as soon as he felt her muscles contract, somehow maintaining enough control to last until she finished.

Collapsing back to the bed, he kept his arms around her, holding her to him to feel that wonderful sensation of oneness that was almost better than the orgasm.

Almost.

“Shit, Wraith… That was amazing!”

“Ah ah ah, potty mouth. You’re lucky Hancock isn’t here to punish you. Not that you’d mind.”

“Not that I’d mind.”

Wraith nuzzled his chest, “I wish the three of us could be together more. Not that I mind havin’ a bedfellow at every port…”

“Every port?!” He raised his pitch in mock indignity, “Are you sleeping with jabber-jaw?”

She pushed him playfully as she rolled away, “That’s not nice!”

“Ha ha! Doesn’t change to fact that you knew who I meant!”

“I’m gonna tell Piper on you!”

After a bit of cleanup, a check on the children and MacCready settled in her arms, Wraith let her perpetual exhaustion take hold and settled into a light doze.  She entered a dream almost immediately.

The cave was dark and full of the echoes of dripping water. At first random and natural, it swiftly changed to a rhythmic percussion.

Voices. No longer was it mere water. A multitude of vaguely familiar voices, chanting her name.

“Wraith! Wraith! Wraith! WRAITH!”

Then, like smaller streams coming together to form a great river, the cries became a defining torrent.

“WRAITH! WRAITH!”

It was cold! And the voices swirled around and through her. She desperately tried to ask them what they needed but when she opened her mouth, their chant poured forth.

“WRAITH! WRAITH! WRAITH!”

Then, with a flash of light, the voices ceased. The darkness returned, this time heavy and oppressively hot. There was a sizzling noise, like a burning fuse. The outline of a figure materialized from the inky black.

“Pippa…” Deacon lifted his face; glasses gone, his eyes shone, as if from within, “Pippa please…”

“Yes! Tell me! Anything. I’ll give you anything! Please, tell me what…”

“Please…” The light from his eyes spread until his whole body glowed.

“DEACON!”

“Please, don’t; you’re killing us.”

  The following morning dawned grey and the clouds in the east were leaden with the promise of rain. Wraith didn’t want announce her departure to anyone who may be watching and so planned to use the settlements back, secret door. She had extended a tunnel she found in the basement of one of the original houses, so that it led further into the hills north of Sanctuary. Doubling as Bear’s tannery, it was rarely used by the community due to the odor and its true purpose known by only a select few. After saying her final goodbyes in the kitchen, Wraith, dressed as a male settler, left by the office door and walked briskly to the last northern house on the left.

“I still say this is crazy,” Bear’s deep, rasping baritone rolled like thunder from a dark corner, “like something from Astoundingly Awesome Stories.”

“It’s ‘Tales’, Bear. I thought you were just going to drop off my kit, whatcha need?”

“I never gave ya yer present. Catch!”

Wraith easily caught the object the large ghoul tossed to her. Turning it over in her hands, she gasped in appreciation of the artistry: using the pale hide of the albino deathclaw she had slain on her way to D.C, he had created a helmet in the likeness of her defeated foe. There were a pair of horns, beautifully intricate scales and a visor sporting a pair of faux eyes outlined in blackened steel.

“Oh, Bear! This is the coolest thing I think I’ve ever seen! It’s so light!”

“Light in weight but super heavy-duty, thanks in part to the ballistic weave. There’s some in the suit too.”

“You made a whole suit?!”

“Yeah, I wanna see you in it before you leave. I couldn’t do a final fitting cause it was a surprise, so haveta make sure it fits ya.”

It fit perfectly, of course. It came in four pieces: a vest, jacket, pants and over-the-knee boots. And it wore exactly like her modified wet suit; allowing her a range of motion as if she wore nothing at all.

“I suppose it’s fine.” Bear’s overly critical eye scanned her from toe to crown, “Ya lost weight again.”

“Tch. It’s your imagination. This is so awesome!”

“One more thing,” Not wanting to risk injury, he passed her a wrapped bundle. “I found this in the armory. It was a little bit beat up so I replaced the fittings for ya.”

When Wraith returned the stolen egg to a distraught deathclaw parent, she had found a gauntlet festooned with the sharp, blade-like claws of a deathclaw near the nest. Picking it up, she considered it a consolation prize, but had never once used it. Now, she slipped it over her hand and struck a dramatic fighting pose.

“How do I look?”

“Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. Start calling you General Deathclaw.”

“Ugh, don’t I have enough nicknames?” She embraced him carefully.

“There’s throwing knife pockets throughout, even in the boots, a belt with clips and compartments for extra storage and the jacket should fit over your shoulder holster… are you wearing it out?”

“I sure am! This is perfect; I’ve used Phil the Settler too many times anyway. And if anyone should happen to see me, they’ll probably think I’m a raider boss.”

“Well, I’m happy if yer happy, Wolf.”

 The midmorning rain beaded on the armor and rolled into the channels that Bear had strategically crafted; wicking the water away from her eyes and face. She had greatly lamented the loss of her original custom Marine helmet to the ruin of Gunner Plaza, but found that the range of peripheral vision in this new one to be far superior then even its replacement. With the horror of the previous night’s dream forgotten and delighted by the sense of freedom, she flew through the bush unimpeded by the weather and almost completely invisible to any of the Wasteland’s people or fauna.

Just as the warehouse and fence of Wicked Shipping came into view, she felt an odd prickling sensation and instinctively dodged to her left.

A trio of feral ghouls rose from the underbrush.

“Well, Zen time’s cancelled.” She crouched slightly and waited for them to rush her.

“Not to worry, General,” The echoing and otherworldly voice belonged to a glowing one. Dressed in the humble robes of the Children of Atom, he beckoned to her from the shop roof, “come along inside, sister. They surely will not harm their friend.”

Harkness yawned and waved at her by way of greeting. He was sitting in an office chair with his feet up on the desk of one of the former Flynn brothers. “Those are some fancy duds there, General Dragon-Lady.”

She removed the helm and wrinkled her nose at him, “Nice. You two just get here?”

“Nope.” Groaning, he stood, stretched and removed a pot of steaming water from a hotplate, “We headed out from Goodneighbor as soon as I got back. Sun called ferals to him the entire way; it was pretty surreal.” He waved a mug at her, “Tea?”

“Actually, yes, thanks.” She accepted the mug and idly played with the steeper. “You said he called to them?”

“Not very many and not out loud. He says that when you’re done, he will lead them to the Glowing Sea.”

“Like a Pied Piper, huh?”

“I actually think I know that reference.”

“As do I. And I approve.”

Sun of Atom swept into the room with a floating grace that left Wraith green with envy. Almost immediately the prickling sensation returned and she outwardly flinched away from the ghoul.

“Apologies, Mother’s Chosen One; I’ll turn down my intensity.” He smiled warmly at her, “It is extremely gratifying to learn that you are so receptive. Perhaps this training will go swiftly and we each can return to our chosen paths.”

She forced a smile of her own, “I’ll bank on your optimism, but please refrain from using that title,” The forced grin had started to make her cheek twitch, “if you must be formal, please call me General Wraith. Although, I’d prefer you refer to me as…”

“Wraith the Undying?” Harkness had a stole-the-last-cookie grin, “Or maybe, Death in the Shadow?”

Determined not to let him nettle her, she continued as if he hadn’t spoke, “as Wraith. Just ‘Wraith’ is perfect. How may I call you?”

“You may use ‘brother’ or ‘Sun’ as you are comfortable, sister Wraith.” He accepted a mug from Harkness, “Will you be leaving us, brother? I know you are resistant to rads, but it may yet be too dangerous for you to stay.”

“Oh no. I’m not going anywhere. I haven’t finished fixing the fencing and besides I’m going to stay and make sure things don’t get out of hand.”

The ghoul laughed, “I am well practiced, and I can assure you that no harm will come to your friend.”

He leveled a stern gaze at Wraith, “I’m not worried about you harming anyone, Sunny.”

She wanted to argue, but considering their past encounter, felt she couldn’t blame him. Her guilt must have made a clear mark on her face because Harkness’s softened almost immediately and he brought a hand up and rubbed the back of his head.

“I’m sorry. I’m really tired and it’s made me a grouch. Are you two going to start right away? I kind of wanted to watch.”

“I’m afraid there won’t be much to see until the fence is done. I’m holding them here for now but as soon as I let go they’ll either attack or wander off.”

“What about the glowing one in the warehouse?”

“She’s pushed me away every time I’ve asked her. She is very strong and I may be unable to hold her.”

“Was she here already?”

Harkness frowned and shook his head at her, “She came yesterday; just sort of appeared in the yard outside. We left the warehouse doors open and she went in by herself.”

“I believe she heard me and was curious. And now I am feeling that she’s waiting for something.”

Harkness washed his face with his hands, “That sounds really ominous.” Letting his hands fall to his sides, he shook his head to crack his neck, “I guess I’ll go finish up the fence.”

“It’s still raining…”

“The wet fence, then.”

Wraith frowned at his back, “How many ferals are out there?”

Sun crouched over a pack in the corner and began rummaging through it, “I managed to call twelve on the way here…”

“And Our Lady of Perpetual Radiance makes thirteen.” Harkness’s shoulders sagged as he stepped out into the drizzle.

“Lucky thirteen.”

Having found what he was looking for, the ghoul waved Wraith over to him, “We can use this to sit on…” He spread a woven, padded mat on the floor, not unlike a picnic blanket, “no sense in being uncomfortable, any more than we have to.” In one fluid movement, he descended to a seated, cross-legged position and motion for her to sit across from him.

Wraith set her jacket over the back of the chair and removed her boots before joining him. “It’s been a while since I’ve meditated. Over two hundred years, in fact.”

Probably something that would have helped me. I could teach Shaun and we could make mats!

“I think that you will find this to be a very similar practice.” He looked into her eyes, his omnipresent smile warm and disarming, “Why don’t we start with your overall impression of feral ghouls. What was your first reaction?”

She frowned, “Unfortunately the first ferals I came across were some of my neighbors from before… Ms. Rosa and… and her son. They rushed me and… well… I honestly didn’t know it was them until after. Her dress… I recognized her dress.”

“I’m sure, at the time, you had no alternative.”

“I didn’t understand what they were at first. And now; as much as folks think they’re mindless… sometimes I can see a glimmer… when they pick up a teddy or even a pencil, and put it in their pocket,” She lifted her hand and closing it, made a fist around an imagined object, “I can see the flash of memory, of a time when they were people, and not monsters.”

Sun’s smile faltered but he held up his hands when, assuming she had offended him, Wraith attempted to apologize.

“It is alright, sister. I myself am no longer human and because of my glow, am considered to be a monster, even amongst non-feral ghouls. But, having witnessed horrific calamities that those still yet named human have done; I count myself instead as, not a monster, but closer to Atom. And there is a domain that I happily occupy, no matter what others deem me as.”

“If you and Infamy are closer to Atom and doing his bidding, then I say you are well within the realm of monsterhood.”

His smile went out like a candle, “I cannot abide Infamy’s tactics. Their use of ferals as fodder is unforgivable! I would rather see them mercifully slain than used as soulless killing machines.” He steepled his fingers, “When Brother Harkness came to me for help and described who you were, I took it as a sign. I came without hesitation because I knew that it was His will.”

“I can admire your conviction to your beliefs, but they aren’t mine. I’m having a real hard time with this whole plan. I question the idea of assuming the identity of a religious figure. No matter what good I might do, it’s still a lie.”

“I’m not here to convert you. But, I know that you are part of Atom’s plan.” His smile had returned, “Ask me anything. I embrace questioning my faith. After all, what credibility would it maintain if it couldn’t stand up to scrutiny?”

She narrowed her eyes, “Give me one truth.” She leaned away and folded her arms, “Let’s start there.”

“I too have traveled to the Sacred Spring, drank from its waters, seen visions provided by the Mother. Among some that were terrifying I was struck by a singular image,” He abruptly stood up and went to his pack. “I made a sketch as soon as I was able to hold a pencil.” He handed her a piece of paper as he sat down, “The Mother spoke to me; she named them ‘Harbinger’.”

The crude drawing was of an upright, humanoid deathclaw.

“The Mother showed me you.”

“Hmm. That… does look a little like my armor.” She wrestled with the fact that she had just received her gift that morning and no one apart from Bear had seen her in it.

“I left the Capital Ruins because Harkness is a good, trustworthy friend. I had a suspicion of your significance but wasn’t sure until I saw you today. You and the Harbinger are one and the same. I came here to help him, but it has been revealed that I am meant to help you!”

“Okay, Sun. I will agree that you came here with good intentions. And whether or not that,” She tapped the drawing gently, “is me, shall remain to be seen.”

“It is a place to start.” He returned his sketch to his pack and returned himself to the mat. “When you are ready, I’m going to reach out to you, and I want you to describe how it feels.”

Telling herself not to flinch, Wraith closed her eyes and nodded, “A little like a static charge; doesn’t hurt but it feels a little… zappy.”

“Do you feel any impressions? See any images?”

“Nope.”

“Very well. This time I want you to try and push back. I want you to imagine a wall or shield, blocking the zappy feeling. It may help you to think of it as an attack. Find where it is hitting you, and try to stop it.”

For several minutes the two sat across from each other, quietly waging war.

“We should stop for now.”

“Oh, thank god. I have to pee so bad…”

Sun tilted back his head and laughed, “Is that what it is? Your attention was very strong up until about fifteen minutes ago, ha!”

“You mean I’m actually doing something?”

“Certainly. Your light is very bright, even at rest. It is no wonder you’ve been able to ask them for help without any training.”

“My light?” She shifted her weight, uncomfortable but stubborn in her excitement for knowledge.

He laughed again, “Go to the latrine!”

On her way back, she spotted Harkness. At that moment he happened to pull his arms up over his head, stretching and yawning, affording her an opportunity to size him up and watch him move in the light of day.

He really is a big one. At least as big as Danse… he moves a little lighter though…

“You know, General Death in the Shadow, most people would get pretty excited, having someone as important as you, eye them up and down like that.”

“And what? You’re not most people?”

Jeez! He irks my very soul!

“I don’t see wanton eyes filled with lustful assessment. It’s not flattering; it’s scary.” He came to stand directly in front of her. Almost toe to toe, “I see you deciding how best to kill me.” He folded his large arms and glared down at her, “How did you put it? Ah, yes; ‘rip me in half’.”

“Ouch.” Reminding herself that he came a very long way to help and that she did in fact threaten to kill him, Wraith tried hard to be peaceable, “I truly apologize for both my actions and demeanor when we first met.”

He tilted his head to the side and squinted, “That’s it?”

“I’m sure that I would find ripping you in half to be… at least half again as difficult as I may have suggested.”

Letting his arms fall to his sides, his blue eyes widened before he erupted in bombastic laughter. Shaking his head, he patted her none-to-gently on the bicep, “Harley’s right; you are the scariest person ever!”

He had no idea how much those words hurt her.

“Yeah, that’s me; the Commonwealth Monster.”

“Tell Sunny I’m just about done with the fence. I’ll come in and make food when I’m finished.”

Noting the grim line of Wraith’s mouth, Sun turned up his glow and literally gave her his brightest smile, “Harkness is a moody sort of person. He fusses at me a great deal as well.”

“It’s not all on him. I just wish… nope… We need to focus on the ‘here and now’.” She forced a smile of her own, “Tell me about lights.”

“The lights of the soul,” He settled back to the mat, “you may see them in your mind. You’ll call out to them, guide them and push them.”

“So, when you’re pushing at me, my light is where you… aim?”

“If that analogy helps you, then yes.”

“So if I can see your light, can I talk to you? Make you do stuff?” A horrible thought had crept through her mind, “Even if you don’t want to?”

“Ah, yes. This brings us to something very important. Wraith, you must always be the brightest light.” He set his hands together and briefly touched their tips to his scarred lips, “Most sentient beings carry a light inside them and most of those are strong enough to withstand any attempts at manipulation. It is possible to be overwhelmed however, so think of yourself as a lighthouse. Your radiance is a strong beacon of hope and you gather the smaller lights to you. You offer them peace, direction, safety and tranquility.” Separating his hands he waved them in a gesture of dismissal, “You do not ever go to them. Don’t follow the lights!”

“I’m sorry, but why? I know that they aren’t just…”

“Infamy and I are not the only Children who have herded feral ghouls.” Sun’s eyes filled with pain and sorrow, “Some of the other parishioners started to call us The Necromancers.” His smile was sad, “I’ll admit, I thought it was very cool and along with our friends, I began to act like… well, rather high and mighty. Some of us, rather than simply move ferals to more convenient and safe locations, started aiming our small collections at wastelanders who might have offered us some slight.” Now his eyes filled with guilt, “It went too far, of course. People died; people who didn’t deserve that level of admonishment.”

“So, the Necromancers became infamous… then Infamy?”

“Yes. At this point I was still a member, but I was having problems reconciling the deaths… and I wasn’t the only one.” He leaned toward her, “There was a power struggle within the group; those who wanted to return to The Necromancers and those who chose Infamy. Each faction had a leader and when the two faced off, Atom’s Assassin came out on top. Multiple ferals were used in their attack, and once their opponent was lost in a sea of overwhelming lights, Infamy took hold of what little of their mind was left and bent them to their will.”

Brow furrowed, Wraith stuck out her lip, “Wait… and you… you all think I’ll somehow be able to…”

Leaning back, Sun waved his hands dismissively, “Oh, no. This isn’t a coup d’état; it should be sufficient for you to simply demonstrate your ability to herd fearls. We are seeking to establish credibility to the claim that you are Chosen and therefore not a pretender as Marie has claimed.”

Suddenly overwhelmed, Wraith surged to her feet and bolted for the door. At that moment Harkness was heading inside to prepare a meal and so the two nearly collided. Near tears, she muttered an apology as she ducked under his arm and twisted away.

She didn’t get very far. Just past the remains of the semi-trucks were the three feral ghouls she had seen that morning. She stopped and crouched, instinctively preparing for battle. They all but ignored her, continuing to pick unknown detritus from the grass and putting it their mouths. As she watched them she patted herself down, stopping when she realized what she was searching for.

“Need a cigarette?” Harkness, seeming to appear from midair, leaned against a truck cab and offered her a pack.

“No, thanks. I’m after something a little stronger.”

“Oh, yeah. Buffout, right?”

“Christ! Does everybody know?!”

Pushing himself away from the vehicle, he folded his arms and gave her a pitying smile, “Hancock didn’t tell me, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Let me guess…”

“No, it wasn’t Harley either.” He watched as the ferals shuffled away toward the warehouse, “I figured it out on my own. When we met you acted so out of character from what I was expecting that I knew something had to be off. That and the ability to lift me off the ground with one hand…”

“It’s been getting steadily worse; every time I got scared, or even nervous, I’d pop a Buffout ‘just in case’.” It was easier to watch the ferals then meet his eye, “I’d take one and I’d calm down because then I was strong enough to handle what was coming. The times that I’ve lost control… I didn’t take it because I wanted to… no matter who they are or what they’ve done the people I’ve killed are, well, people. When I go berserk there is a good chance I won’t remember the little details of the murders I’m committing. Curie has warned me that it was all psychosomatic; I thought I was controlling myself with the chem when it was actually all in my head.”

“Let’s fight.”

“I don’t wanna fight with both myself and you.”

“No, I mean spar.” He widened his stance, bent his knees slightly and raised his fists, “Harley says you used martial arts to help Cait overcome her lingering cravings. Maybe it’ll help you too.”

“That’s not a bad idea, actually.”

Plus, I might get to sock you one - guilt free.

They spent the next few moments testing each other with quick jabs and minor kicks. Nothing connected as they each skillfully deflected the others probing attacks. Wraith found herself thoroughly enjoying the exchange and let herself relax and focus on the movements of her opponent.

He’s really quick! He may have Danse’s frame but he moves like Deacon. I wish the two of us could’ve done some exercises like this. Although, if it was anything like sparing with Hancock then other things would have… No, he never thought of me that way… What a thing to think about now!

Sensing her distraction and hoping to capitalize, Harley stepped in close and aimed a knee at her midsection. Dropping her hips to guard, she wrapped her arms around his torso and hefted him into the air while swinging him slightly forward. On the backswing she used his body’s momentum to pop him up and over her back and slam him to the ground.

“OOOFFFHA!” Utterly defeated he made the time-out signal with his hands and attempted to gain air into his lungs.

“Ooo! Gotcha good that time.” She hoped her smile wasn’t too obvious, “You let me know when you’re ready for round two.”

Wheezing, the large man took her offered hand and let her pull him to his feet, “No thanks! I don’t want to wrestle anymore today.”

She held on to his hand, “Thanks for this, really. I was freaking out and… you made me feel better.”

Laughing ruefully he placed his other hand atop hers and gave it a pat, “I’m glad you tossing me around made one of us feel better.”

Sun had come to look for Wraith and was confused by the juxtaposition of fighting and laughter, “Are the two of you… well?”

“She’s better and I’m going inside to cook because my ego and I need to prove that there is something I’m capable of being successful at.”

“The… fence looks… complete…”

“Thank you, Sunny. I can always count on you to be mildly complementary.” He lifted a cautionary finger, “Don’t let go of the ferals just yet, I want to make another circuit before you do.”

As the three of them headed back to the office, Wraith felt the now familiar sensation of a mental intrusion. Sun, who was slightly ahead of her, felt it as well and he stopped and turned toward the warehouse. The three feral ghouls had stopped feeding and were standing perfectly still; staring intently at the building that contained the feral glowing one.

“She’s calling us… she… ah, she’s lost interest.”

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to keep her in there? If she’s that powerful…”

“Not to worry, sister Wraith. I am quite proficient in my craft. Even if I cannot move her as I like; I’m confident I can keep her in a state of peacefulness.”

Wraith’s tone was grim, “And if that fails, I am confident in my proficiency of my craft.”

  After they ate, (Sun more out of polite interest than necessity) Harkness asked the other two to clean while he made a final check of the fence, “I’m going to circumambulate one last time before you take off their mental leashes. It would be less than polite to let them wander off into someone’s tato plot.”

Wraith and Sun spent the remainder of the day cross-legged on the mat, quietly sparing until the sun made the western hills its grave.

Exhausted from the training, Wraith fell asleep almost as soon as she lay down for the night.

She was back in the cave.

“I have to find the source!”

The dripping water proved directionless; echoing through her ears and reverberating from the rough, pitted walls. She spun in a circle: searching, searching, searching… Drawn to the faint light cast by glowing fungus she moved as though floating. A faint flicker at the corner of her vision caused her to flinch and spin away.

“Pippa, you need to stop.”

Deacon phased in and out of focus, as if he was using a glitching Stealth-Boy, and no matter how she twisted and turned, she couldn’t see him but from the corner of her eye.

“Please stop or we’ll die.”

His voice came from directly behind her. She spun around; putting her back to the mushrooms to see him fully. His tear-streaked face was a pallid green from their illumination.  

“Stop what?!” She tried to go to him but could no longer move, “Stop how?!”

As before his eyes began to glow, brighter and brighter it spread until his whole body shone. It created a strobe-like effect when combined with his flickering in and out of sight. Then, ever so slowly, he raised a hand. Clutched in his fist was a single glowing fungus and he offered it to her as if it were a rose.

“This one is yours.”

  Wraith’s next three days followed a pattern: breakfast, meditative combat, lunch, meditative combat, sparing with Harkness, dinner, meditative combat then bedroll. Thankful that the cave dream didn’t manifest again, she got some much-needed sleep each night.

On the fourth day she had a breakthrough.

“HA!” Her forceful shout corresponded to a particularly successful mental push. The result of which knocked Atom’s Sun over and made Harkness jump out of his chair.

“What?! What’s happening?!”

Scooping the ghoul from the floor, Wraith spun them round, “Eeeeeeeee! That was awesome!”

“Please!” The glowing one somehow managed to look even more green, “I’m about to be sick!”

“I take this to mean that progress has been made.”

“Yes, very much so.” Grateful to have his feet touching the floor, he wobbled slightly but was smiling, “Congratulations, sister Wraith. Now we will work on refin…”

As if in response to their celebration, there came an incredible psionic pulse from the warehouse’s glowing resident. It was so powerful in fact, that Harkness turned along with the other two to stare toward the building next door.

“Whoa!” Wraith’s voice was hushed in awe, “Radiance just threw down the gauntlet.” She pointed toward the ceiling, “Let’s go check up on her.”

On one of her previous ghoul-problem checks, Wraith had created a makeshift bridge between the roofs of the two main buildings. Once the trio crossed over they quietly moved around the catwalk until they could see the feral glowing one.  

And what a sight she was: bathed in light of her own making, Our Lady of Perpetual Radiance stood perfectly upright with her arms slightly raised and palms facing her hips. Sensing them, she turned and took several elegant steps in their direction. Her poise and grace called to mind an expert ballerina. Further, rather than the normal growths, welts and malformed lumps caused by ghoulification, she was adorned in glowing funguses of varying pastel hues. There was a large concentration trailing up her spine to encircle her scalp which made it look as if she had been crowned by luminescent jewels.

“She’s a queen.” Breathless, Wraith couldn’t take her eyes off her.

Tilting her chin slightly downward, Radiance gave the other woman an intensely scrutinizing look while sending out another powerful mental challenge.

“She’s here… for me…”

“Wraith!” Harkness stepped between them, “Hey! Snap out of it.”

“Sister Wraith, we should return…”

Nodding wordlessly she followed behind them in a haze.

 The next 3 days passed with much the same routine. The difference being that after her sparing with Harkness, Sun would take her to the warehouse roof where they would alternate trying to connect with Radiance and the other feral ghouls.

This made Harkness very nervous and he made several comments to that effect. When asked “why” he couldn’t properly articulate his forbearance, “It’s dangerous. The other ferals… that is what you came here to learn but her… I don’t know. We didn’t bring her, she brought herself.”

  On the ninth day, Wraith awoke with a start and leaped to her feet. She could hear voices, raised in anger, coming from outside. One of them was Marie’s. Quickly donning her new armor, she slipped out a window while activating a Stealth-Boy.

Once outside, the early dawn light shown over a grim scene: the bodies of several ghouls, both feral and clad in Infamy’s darkened Children’s robes, lay across the grass in between two of the semi-truck trailers. A few living members ringed a kneeling, and obviously injured Harkness while Marie held Sun of Atom at gunpoint. A glowing one, whom Wraith presumed to be Atom’s Assassin, sat on the top of one of the trailers, letting their feet swing in and out of the opening.

Marie’s voice was shrill, “How could you?! How dare you kill your own people?!”

“Tch. Don’t waste words on that foolish, old Necromancer.” Infamy’s leader had their dagger out and was playing with it in a way that was clearly meant to be menacing. Pitching forward, they did a perfect flip and landed lightly on their feet. Purposely bypassing Marie and her hostage, they held their blade under Harness’s chin, forcing his eyes up slightly to meet their own, “Where is the Pretender, hmm? Where is Death in the Shadow?”

“She’s no pretender, Infamy. I promise you; Wraith’s the real deal.”

Infamy was intrigued.

“Don’t listen to this… blasphemous lout! He himself aided Morningstar in infiltrating the Apostles of the Holy Light by acting as a member! He is no less an enemy than she is!”

Marie had taken to waving her pipe pistol around as if it was a visual aid. Distracted by her wrath, she was easily disarmed by Sun who, in turn, put her in a headlock with the muzzle at her temple.

“Oh! Unhand me you… bastard!”

Infamy was amused.

“Hear us out. Please, my… please.”

Arching a hairless brow, Atom’s Assassin sheathed their weapon and folded their arms, “I’m all ears. Oh, hahaha; that’s funny cause I haven’t any! Ha ha heeee!” They gave Sun a dismissive wave, “By all means, kill that obnoxious psychotic. Ha! We only need one in our party and I am more than sufficient! Hahaha!”

Instead, Sun released her and backed away with his hands in the air, “She’s barely more than a child.” He directed his emphatic smile at her, “You have your whole life in front of you. You can be anyone and do anything. You can stop this right now; by telling the truth!”  

She spit in his face.

Wraith flinched. She was unwilling to act because she couldn’t figure an attack pattern that would guarantee the survival of her friends. At war with herself, her patient side was winning, but the berserker would not be silent.

In a gesture of good faith, Sun returned the pistol to Marie. Raising his hands he turned back to Infamy’s leader. “Wraith is by no means a false profit. In fact she makes no claims of prophecy herself. High Confessor Tektus proclaimed her Chosen because she, being granted the Mother of the Fog’s holy Icon, aided in the preservation of our sect in Far Harbor.” He placed his palms together as in prayer and brought his hands to the ruin of his nose. “I too have made the pilgrimage to the Sacred Spring. Atom has not yet granted me the clarity to fully understand the visions I received, but ultimately, I believe Wraith to be our friend and ally.”

“Lies!” Marie returned to waving her weapon, “She is the destroyer of Crater House! She has slain countless of our brothers and sisters! She is no friend; she is a heartless killer!”

Infamy fixed her with a withering glare, “Be quiet for now or I will silence you forever.” They set a finger to their lips and shushed her. Then bringing the digit away from their face they shook it back and forth in the air, “Ah ah ahhh, Sunny boy. I myself have heard the settlers speak of their leader as a ‘master over ghouls’ and they call her ‘priestess of Atom’ awayyyy up north. If she didn’t start this herself, as you claim, then she certainly didn’t stop it, as I know.” They put their hands on their hips and leaned toward their fellow glowing one, “Infamy doesn’t care much for those to garner fame at Atom’s expense!”

“She is no self-proclaimed priestess, and is prepared to denounce this publicly over Radio Freedom.” Sun smile was sly, “As for her ghoul mastery; we are prepared to give you a demonstration of her abilities… as a Necromancer.”

Marie, in an attempt to hybridize scoffing and laughter, ended up chocking and coughing instead.

Infamy was confused.

“How? Unless my mother was right and I’ve finally gone blind, she is no glowing one; feral or otherwise.” They folded their arms and turned to where Wraith was hiding, “Please, by all means, show me your power.”

Wraith deactivated her Stealth-Boy and walked out to them with her hands in the air, “I’d say you’re far from blind.”  

Marie hissed.

“I don’t know how you put up with her.” She gave Harkness a searching look, “How bad are you?”

“I’m fixing to live.”

Atom’s Assassin closed the distance between them remarkably quickly, “Take off your helmet, if you would, General. I’d very much like to see your eyes as we speak.”

Wraith refused to flinch away from the heat as the ghoul placed their face less than an inch from her own. She couldn’t prevent the involuntary gasp of air however, and was once again amazed that a being capable of generating that much heat and light would do so with a complete lack of body odor.

“You’re defiant of Marie’s claim that you are a heretic of the Church of Atom? That these rumors of your prestige are in fact, the propaganda of others and not of your making or design? Do you have the ability to call and control feral ghouls? Did you lay waste to the settlement of Crater House and slay the Holy Guardian at Kingsport Lighthouse?”

The rapid-fire questions put Wraith back on her heels, “Yes.” She lifted her chin defiantly, “I didn’t know that Kingsport was a claimed site. Outside of the… guardian, there wasn’t anyone there when I scouted it for a settlement. I destroyed the war camp at Crater House due to repeated attacks of the established Minutemen settlement, and only after my attempts at diplomacy…”

“I care not for your reasons.” They leaned away and waved Sun over to them, “What exactly did you see on your pilgrimage?”

“A figure with a remarkable resemblance to General Wraith, named as ‘Harbinger’. I know not of what she proceeds.”

“All Atom’s knowledge is granted to the patiently devout.”

The now familiar sensation of a glowing one’s summoning buzzed in Wraith’s mind. Shortly, a quartet of feral ghouls shambled their way over to stand in a row in front of the group.

“Now, I shall release them…”

“Wait! She is but a novice…”

Infamy’s eyes blazed at the interruption, “Atom will protect her, if that is his will. That being said; you have five minutes or I’ll kill you all.” They clapped their hands, “Isn’t this fun?! Wheeeee!”  

Marie snorted.

“You can do this, Wraith.” In pain, Harkness’s voice was strained and horse.

Almost immediately the ferals rushed her. This fostered suspicion that they had been ordered to attack rather than simply “let go”. She stayed ahead of them; happy to move them away from her friends.

During her training she had found that tapping into her berserker side had actually helped her when connecting to the ghouls.

Two sides of the same coin, it seems.

Donning her helmet and relaxing her mental self-restraint, she sent out a tentative greeting to her pursuers. As soon as she saw their lights she knew that these were reavers. Atom’s Assassin had deliberately chosen some of the most powerful of his arsenal to test her. Little did Infamy’s leader know that she had been practicing with a feral of Radiance’s caliber.

Come to think of it; why hasn’t she been throwing challenges at Infamy? Maybe I just piss her off…

As she wooed the ferals she felt what could only be an attack from Infamy. Distracted, she stumbled and was hit hard on the side of the head by one of the feral ghouls. Thankful for her armor, she spun away from the reaver unhurt.

Infamy’s attack made her angry, but she channeled it into an attack of her own and broke through to two of her assailants. These immediately rounded on their allies and pinned them to the ground.

Infamy was shocked.

“Well… well...” They snapped their fingers and the guards surrounding Harkness immediately broke away and retreated through the hole the group had cut in the fence. “It seems as though Atom has seen fit to grant you special abilities. We will be returning to the Capital Wasteland now. Once there, I shall meditate long and hard on this Holy Lesson…”

“You CANNOT BE FUCKING SERIOUS!” Spittle flew from Marie’s mouth as she shrieked, “YOU PROMISED ME YOU WOULD DESTROY HER! SHE IS A MONSTER! I WILL NOT LET HER GET AWAY WITH THIS…”

She shot Atom’s Sun, point blank, in the temple.

Infamy, Harkness and Wraith all ran to them but Wraith, already lost in her berserker’s rage, reached them first.

She ripped Marie in half.

At that exact moment the garage door of the warehouse burst open in a white-green blast of radiation. Surrounded in a nimbus of prismatic light, Our Lady of Perpetual Radiance seemed to float across the grass as she came to Wraith’s side. The two of them together was an image out of the darkest of nightmares: Wraith in her blood and intestine draped deathclaw armor and the apparent queen of all radioactive monsters.

The others could only stand back and watch as Radiance reached forward and grabbed Wraith’s head in her scorched and twisted fingers. She pulled her forward until their foreheads met, then spun away toward the south east. Not even slowing down when she met the fence; she simply melted her way through and continued on at a swift pace. All the remaining feral ghouls followed her through.

And Wraith followed with them.    

  Thank you so much for reading! Like what you’ve read? Looking for more? Please see my master link post in my tags under Wraith in the Ruins. As always, my ask is open for questions/comment/concerns. More to come! =^..^=

[benhardyisdaddy]

Just Between Us - Part 1

MASTERLIST 

(hello this is the story from the ask i was sent!!! im actually really excited bc ANGST ANGST and ANGST sksks this is just the first part and im excited for the second cuz i have so much planned. its not gonna be a slow burn i promise lmao i hope u all like this ily ALSO i DO NOT condone cheating whatsoever idc, im only writing about it for the sole purpose of the story idea that was given to me) 

Word Count: 2,302

“What do you mean you’re going on tour?”

Your best friend Freddie was sat in front of you at a small cafe he invited you to. The biggest smile ever filled his face as explains to you that his band, Queen, was taking off and fast too. He leans in closer and his eyes are wide with excitement.

“I mean exactly just that! Our management got a tour set for us! We’re going everywhere I always dreamed of going to, which is why I’m inviting, no, demanding you to come with us.”

Your eyes open wide as you laugh at his silly statement. You suddenly realize that he’s not joking and you stop. You shake your head and lean forward as well.

“Fred,” you start. “I can’t drop everything and leave. Besides, you have Mary. She should be the one going.”

“She can’t go. I was going to ask the both of you, because you’re the only person that can keep my feet on the ground. If you don’t go, I might actually go mad.”

He looks almost scared as he speaks to you. It breaks your heart knowing that you’re the only source of realism for this man. The way he clings to you as if you’re the very air he breathes. He needed comfort and you, his bestest friend in the whole world, were exactly just that. Like a security blanket he can hold onto when he gets scared. He watches you and looks down at his intertwined hands that are sat on the table. You think for a moment before slowly reaching forward and placing yours on top of his. He looks up fast as a gleam of hope washes over him. You softly smile at him.

“You better get ready to support me when I tell my job I’m leaving.”

Freddie’s once anxious look turns into another huge grin as he nods his head fast and stands up quickly, scooting his chair back. You stand as well as he rushes around the table and engulfs you into a tight hug.

“You’re my best friend. I’ll give you everything your heart desires.”

He pulls away as the two of you look at each other. You bring your hand up and stroke his cheek as he leans into it.

“And you’re my best friend, which is why I’m giving up literally everything for you.” you half tease, causing him to giggle.

“I promise you won’t regret this.” he whispers.

You smile and cup his face gently with both of your hands.

“I know.”

But sometimes promises just couldn’t be kept.

***

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

You stir around in your bed, now being awaken from a deep sleep you were enjoying. Today was the day the band would set off for their very first world tour. You had spent the last few weeks preparing yourself for the long adventure ahead. Mary had helped you pack four suitcases full of clothes and items you would need for the months ahead. And, of course, Freddie helped pay for all of it. When he makes a promise to you, he always keeps it. Or at least tries to.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

You roll over to your side and finally open up your eyes. That was most definitely knocking at your front door. You glance over at your bedside clock and squint your blurry eyes to make out 5:23 AM. You exhale and rub your eyes with your hands, trying to get rid of this fogginess in your head. Your nerves were insane at the moment too. Yeah, you were traveling with your best friend whom you’ve known since you were 5, but you were also traveling with a band who you have still have yet to meet. Ever since Fred joined this band, he’s been so busy with recording and writing new material. You’ve been so busy with your job as a receptionist and trying to make your failed relationship work, which wasn’t going well. You were terrible with goodbyes, so your soon to be ex would be greeted with a harsh slap in the face when he realizes you’ve left for a different country with another man. Men. Four men to be precise. You were eager to meet them and make a good impression.

“They’ll love you just like I do. They’ll see exactly what I see.” says Fred, helping you pack away some clothes.

“Fred, you make it sound like I’m something special.” you laugh as you tease.

He stops packing and looks up to you fast, his smile falling from his face as he suddenly gets serious. You pause as well and look to him.

“Because you are something special, y/n. Don’t you dare ever think less.”

You sleepily smile to yourself as you remember that conversation when suddenly another loud knock is at your door. You had completely forgotten about it and jump up from bed. You scurry around your dark room and try to find your robe. You eventually find it and slip it on, tying the string around your waist. You rush out of your room and attempt to fix your bed head.

“Who is it?” you yell out.

“It’s the one and only, darling! Now will you open the door, please?”

You smile to yourself as you turn the lock and open the door wide open. You freeze in your tracks and your eyes open wide. You were thinking you’d be greeted by one man at your door, not four. They all stare you up and down as they smile. Fred looks quite pleased with himself as he makes his way into your tiny apartment. Your tiny apartment that was not visitor friendly. You had been so busy with getting ready for the trip, you sort of put aside your clean up duties. As Fred walks inside, you move over allowing the others to follow behind him. Curly one, quiet one and blonde one, you think to yourself as they walk by. The blonde one glances over to you and smirks, causing you to look away fast and search for Fred.

“Freddie, it’s five in the morning. Why in bloody hell are you raiding my apartment?” you ask, walking up to him.

He’s just emerged from your kitchen holding a few glasses and a champagne bottle. He holds them up and smiles.

“Today’s the day we leave for the tour. Celebrating needs to start as early as possible!” he exclaims.

“I’m so sorry for intruding.” says the curly haired one.

“Yes, we tried to tell him not to bother you, but you know Fred…” says the quiet one.

You softly smile to them as the curly haired one holds out his hand for you to take.

“I’m Brian by the way. Nice to meet you.” he says sweetly.

You shake his hand and blush.

“And this is John,” he says as John holds his hand out for you. “And this is-”

“Roger.” says the blonde one walking up to you.

He holds his hand out as well and you take it. You can feel the hard calluses on his hands and instantly recognize him as the drummer.

“Nice to meet you.” you say, your eyes never leaving his.

You realize you were staring as you suddenly pull your hand back and look to the others.

“Nice to finally meet all of you.” you say fast.

Freddie walks up to you and hands you a glass of champagne as he sips on his.

“Fred,” you start. “I don’t think I should be drinking at almost six in the morning.”

He laughs and chugs the rest of his drink down fast.

“Darling, we’re rockstars now. This is a glimpse of your new life.”

All of the boys shake their heads and laugh as you smile at him. Roger walks up to you and looks around.

“Where’s your loo?” he asks.

“Oh, it’s in my bedroom on the right. Door should be open.”

He smiles and winks to you as he makes his way to it. Your stomach flips as you turn back to Fred.

“Alright, rockstar, at least let me change before you get me drunk before noon.” you tease as you walk to your bedroom and straight to a suitcase.

You unzip it and pull out the outfit you had planned for that day. You place it on your bed and turn around to grab some undergarments as your bathroom door opens up. Roger walks out and spots you, your back facing him. He smiles and watches you for a moment before speaking.

“So, you’re going on tour with us, huh?” he asks, making you jump and spin around.

You had almost forgotten he was in the bathroom. You nervously smile and nod.

“Freddie has a way of making me do what he wants.” you jokingly say.

Roger lifts a brow and laughs as he watches you grab your clothes from the bed.

“Lucky man.” he says before exiting your room.

You’re stood there by yourself as you stare at your door speechless. You come back to reality as you walk to your bathroom and take a quick shower and change. You finish getting around as you pack up the rest of your essentials that you will need for tomorrow. You place them in your luggage and walk back in the living room. Brian and John are sat on your tiny couch as Fred and Rog are stood by your kitchen counter, sipping on their drinks. They all go quiet as you walk out and you can feel your cheeks heat up. You walk up to Fred and take the glass from his hand and quickly chug it down. All of their faces turn into a mixture of shocked and impressed.

“Now she’s getting with it!” shouts Fred, making you laugh.

“If I’m gonna be stuck with you for months, I think I’ll need it.” you say winking at him.

“Smart girl.” calls out Brian.

Fred rolls his eyes then claps his hands together loudly, causing you all to jump.

“Well, we should get going.” he states as he walks in the living room.

“I thought we didn’t fly out until noon?” you ask, confused.

“Plans might’ve changed.” he says, spinning to face you. “The boys will help carry your bags to the van. Right?” he asks, looking at all of them.

They all nod and murmur yes as they stand up and look at you. You smile to them and show them all of the luggage you were taking. They oblige and begin rolling them out to the van.

“Are you ready?” asks Fred with a smile plastered to his face.

You take in a deep breath and smile back.

“As much as I can be.”

***

“Fred.” you say sternly.

You’re standing in front of the tiniest airplane you’ve ever seen in your life. It’s thin and short and you didn’t trust it one bit.

“I thought we were taking a regular plane.” you say, looking at him.

“This is a plane, darling. A jet actually.”

“A death machine.” states Roger, walking past you two and up the stairs of the jet.

“I hate flying, let alone on a plane this small.” you whine.

“Well like I said, we’re rock-”

“Rockstars. I get it.” you say, finishing his sentence.

He smiles to you and begins walking towards the plane. You follow behind him as you walk up the stairs and enter inside. It was tiny. A lady dressed in a white dress and her hair pinned up greets you with a warm smile.

“Would you like me to take your coat?” she asks sweetly.

You smile and thank her as you shrug it off and she takes it. You look around and watch as all of the boys admire the features of the inside. They go through the mini bar and mess around with everything they could touch. You shakily make your way to a two person seat and look out the window. A man who you assume is the pilot walks out of the cockpit and smiles to you all.

“Are we all ready?” he asks.

Suddenly, you hear a shout and look towards the opening of the plane. A man rushes up the steps all out of breath and holds up a hand.

“Sorry I’m late. Nobody bothered to tell me about the time change.” he says, looking at Fred.

Freddie just smiles and walks up to you.

“Y/n, this is our lawyer Miami. Miami, this is the most amazing human I know, y/n.”

You blush at his compliment as Miami reaches his hand out for you to shake.

“Miami?” you ask, confused at such an odd name.

He playfully rolls his eyes which makes the boys all laugh.

“Don’t ask.” he murmurs.  

Everyone takes their seats as someone sits beside you. You turn thinking it would be Fred, but it’s not. It’s Roger. You’re a bit surprised as you turn around to spot Fred watching you. He shrugs confused as he sits next to John. Roger smiles to you and you return one. You look forward and make sure your seat belt is buckled. The intercom pops on and the pilot speaks.

“Our flight is about to take off, so please make sure you’re seated and buckled in just like how the stewardess showed you. Our destination from London to Tokyo, Japan will be approximately eleven hours and forty minutes. I’ll let you all know when it’s safe to unbuckle and roam around. Have a good flight.”

You look to Roger quickly and your face falls.

“Japan!?” you ask.

He doesn’t know what to say to that. You look behind at Fred as he notices your nervous expression.

“Japan!?” you ask again even louder.

He awkwardly smiles and raises his shoulders a bit.

“Surprise?”

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[merakiaes]

Sleep - Edd Tollett

Pairing: Eddison Tollett x Clegane!reader

Requested: No

Prompts: None

Warnings/notes: Mentions of violence, rape, cursing, idk? This was like the last part deleted so it’s rewritten and therefor rushed. I was high on pain meds when writing this as well, so I don’t have a clue what it says. 

Wordcount: 5903

Descritpion: Part 3 of “Interesting Meetings”, someone turns up at Castle Black and comes between you and Edd for a while, in the end bringing you to spend more time together. 

On the eight day of your stay, a high lord with a name you hadn’t been bothered to remember, from a house you didn’t care enough about to learn the name of, arrived at Castle black with a few of his men and his daughter, whose name you also didn’t care enough about to remember.

He had come looking for Jon Snow after hearing he had abandoned, rightfully so, his position as Lord Commander, to propose a marriage between him and his daughter.

But as they found out he wasn’t there and the girl in question had started flirting with Edd, you had for some reason suddenly cared enough to learn that her name was Marygold.

The first thing that had run through your mind when hearing that had been who in the Seven would name their daughter Marygold, the second being that ‘Marygold’ would, over your dead body, steal away your only company.

It hadn’t taken long for you to see that underneath the innocent facade she put on, she was a snotty, two-faced sham, this being proven quite literally when she started some kind of competition for Edd’s attention once realizing how her interaction with him bothered you. 

And while you two hours in were about ready to chuck her off the Wall, a Clegane never backed down from a competition.

You thought, at least. 

An hour into the ‘competition’, you had, despite clearly winning with the way Edd would completely ignore her to talk to you, gotten fed up with her shrieking voice and feign innocence and chosen to just let her have her moment. 

Because you knew that you, in the end, would be the one who got to stay at Castle Black with Edd when she went back home in the morrow.

So you had tried to stay clear from Edd that day, fearing you might have snapped the girl’s neck had you stayed in her presence for one more minute.

Edd had noticed of course, and once again been left confused at how quickly you managed to change your mood. But as he hadn’t gotten a single minute alone, with Marygold and her father following him around, he just left you alone.

Because in truth, the girl was driving him mad with her giggles and compliments, and not the good kind. And he knew that if he was irritated beyond belief, you would have most likely stabbed the poor girl to death if he brought her anywhere near you with the mood you seemed to be in.

So you stayed clear of each other the best you could for an hour or two, something Marygold had been very glad about, until he then got told you had started a fight in the kitchen when a brother of the Night’s Watch had tried to cup a feel, leaving him to excuse himself from the Lord and his daughter to run to find you.

You were sitting in your lonesome in the common hall, your legs kicked up on the table like they always were, nursing a drink as you tried to calm down from the fight you had been in only minutes before and drown out the slight stinging sensation that was tingling its way up and down your side.

You heard from the steps outside the door that someone was coming, and as you had gotten familiar with the different men’s footsteps by now, you didn’t need to look up to know it was Edd.

Edd instantly spotted you in the corner of the room as he entered, his eyes immediately going between your face and the cup in your hand.

“You’re going to start drinking already?” He asked as he stepped into the room, looking at you with a judging look.

You twirled the wine around in the cup, smacking your tongue against the roof of your mouth. 

“You don’t know me very well if you think I’ve just started.” You responded without looking at him, foot shaking slightly on the table like it always did when you were restless and fidgety.

Silence fell over the two of you, leaving him to look at you.

He let his gaze travel from your uninterested face down your body, eyes taking in your cloak lying on the ground and your doublet being undone and hanging loosely off your shoulders, only then noticing the splotch of red on your white shirt.

“Is that blood?” He asked as he walked closer to you with rushed steps, his life flashing before his eyes as he thought of all of the ways your brother could kill him if he found out you were hurt under his watch, not finding it a very pleasant thought.

You hummed as you looked up at him, eyes drooping slightly from the lack of sleep mixed with alcohol. “No?”

He gave you an unimpressed look, but his eyes were panicked. “That’s not a question you’re supposed to answer with another question.” He paused. “Why didn’t you come tell me you were hurt?”

You rolled your eyes. “It’s only a scratch, it’ll heal.” You told him, annoyed.

“It could get infected.” He shot back, causing you to look at him with a look matching your current irritation.

“I cleaned it, it’s only the shirt that’s bloody.” You told him before proceeding to untuck the white fabric from inside your pants. “See?” You pulled the shirt up to show him the small, true to your words, clean gash.

Edd adverted his gaze at the sight of your exposed torso, ears warming up. You raised an eyebrow at this, but didn’t question it as you let your shirt fall back down,

“What’s with you today?” He asked you then, talking about the mood he thought you had left behind yesterday. 

You raised your cup to him a ‘cheers’ motion. “I’m bitter and I’m complicated.” You said. “It’s one of my many charms.”

He gave you a look. “I don’t think you know what that word means. Or how to count.”

“No.” You agreed. “I always was better with letters than numbers.”

Edd looked at you as you gave him another drooping smile, looking like you were about to pass out any second. 

You took a sip from your cup, going back to your previous activity consisting of twirling the liquid around. “Aren’t you supposed to be with Golden Mary?”

His eyebrows shot up. “Marygold?”

“Marygold, Marysilver. I don’t care.”

He scoffed, suddenly understanding where your sudden change of attitude had come form. “You’re bitter because of Marygold? And here I’ve walked around all day suffering her constant chatter so that she wouldn’t bother you.” 

You turned to look at him at this, raising an eyebrow. “I thought you liked the attention.”

“She’s alright.” He answered, although hesitantly.

You snorted. “She’s an insufferable fraud, a walking copy of Cersei Lannister, who, in case you didn’t know, is the biggest fraud of them all. She’s only nice to you because she’s flirting with you. She’ll be expecting you to be in love with her by tomorrow morning. I just hope you’re not that stupid.”

Edd gave you a light glare. “She’s been annoying me enough for four hours, no man would ever voluntarily choose to live with that.” He pulled out a chair to sit beside you. “I don’t like emotions, they’re messy.” You chuckled, glancing at him. “I think you mistake feelings for paint.” “Love is a fucking joke. There’s nothing more sickening than a man in love.” He shook his head, muttering under his breath at the thought of being stuck with a Marygold for his whole life. You narrowed your eyes at him, smirking. “Didn’t you say you signed up to be here just to get girls?” He looked at you with an almost offended look. “I was desperate.”

“You’re not anymore?” You raised an eyebrow at him, getting a glare in return.

A comfortable silence fell over the two of you, leaving the two of you to your own thoughts. 

You watched Edd for a moment, looking at him as he stared at the table, spacing out in what you thought was a desperate attempt to recover from being in Marygold’s company the whole day, before you turned to look at the window.

The dark had fallen, making you realize you had been in there in your lonesome for longer than you thought, and not until then did you start to feel the effect of the root slowly leaving your body, as your eyelids started to feel heavier.

Edd looked up at you to find you slowly dozing off as you leaned your chin on your hand, eyes falling shut and opening again in an attempt to keep awake. But with the way you were failing he couldn’t help but wonder how long ago it had been since you had slept.

He knew you had told him that you had slept the night before, but he knew this was a lie, having heard you move around in your room that whole night.

Noticing your head starting to fall down toward you chest, Edd finally stood up to tap your cheek lightly, causing you to shake awake just as you were about to fall asleep.

“How long has it been since you slept?” He asked you for what seemed to be the hundredth time while he helped you sit upright in the chair, having slid down when dozing off.

“I’m not tired, just drunk.” You chided, although the circles under your eyes told a whole other story.

“Don’t matter, you need to rest.” He grumbled, starting to pull you out of your seat, this causing you to pout sourly in your buzzed state.

As he took you outside and went to pull you to the left to take you to your room, you grabbed his arm and pulled him right instead.

“I haven’t gotten to see the top of the Wall yet, will you take me?” You asked, giving him a pleading look as you put your hand on his chest to tempt him, looking up at him through your lashes.

“The air is different up there. You get dizzy.” He only answered. “You can already barely stay on your feet, I’m not going to be the one to let you fall to your death.”

You pouted, squeezing his arm. “Please.”

He gave you one of his famous judging looks, but no matter how much he argued that feelings and everything related was shit, even he couldn’t resist the look you were giving him, giving in with a begrudging sound.

You let your face light up in a grin as you felt him drop your arm, wasting no time in pulling him by his furs towards the elevator.

It was a good thing the Lord and his daughter, and the rest of the castle’s residents, had gone off to bed, otherwise most likely having reacted to your undone clothing. 

“To the top we go!” You exclaimed as you entered the lift, and together you rode to the top.

You grabbed onto him for support as the lift shook to a halt a few minutes later and didn’t waste another second in the small space before exiting. 

However, before you could get very far, you stumbled in your step, the air, much like Edd had said, being very different this high up.

“Fucking hell.” Edd cursed under his breath as he caught your arm to prevent you from slipping, already regretting his choice to let you have your way.

“Try not to fall, will you? Your brother would kill me.” He grumbled as he walked by your side, still holding onto you.

You looked at him with a smirk. “Don’t let me and I won’t.”

And with that, the landscape became exposed to your eyes, having you in a state of utter shock and fascination.

As Edd stopped walking right before the roof disappeared from over his head, you walked a bit further, eyes widening as you took in the sight before you.

You could see trees reaching to what seemed to be infinity, the usually big pine trees looking like mere spots on the ground. Crows could be seen flying about around the treetops, and the snow was glimmering in the light of the torches on the Wall.

You were speechless. It was the most breathtaking thing you had ever seen.

And as Edd watched you from the side, taking in your rosy cheeks flushing even further from the cold, your dark hair whipping about in the snowy wind, and your pink lips parting slightly as you breathed heavily, he found himself deciding that was the most breathtaking thing he had seen.

The entirety of your stay, you had, although nice and flirty to him for most of the time, been in a mood. Anyone could see how bored and depressed you had been from having to stay at Castle Black when your brother went on what you called an ‘adventure’.

But now, for the first time since your arrival, you looked satisfied; free. And it was the most beautiful thing Edd had seen, your current state making you even more stunning than you had already been.

You had always wanted to lean down the edge of the world, eyes closed.

All your life you had longed for the most exciting experience you could think of, this being to be standing with one leg in life and the other in the grave; on the brink between life and death on your own terms.

Some might have thought you to be suicidal because of it, and maybe you were, in a way, but you had been trapped your whole life thanks to Gregor.

The things he had done to you, the things he had done to your brother, had left you scars you would never come back for.

And you stopping to call Gregor your brother hadn’t been the only consequence. You had felt dead inside ever since the night he pushed Sandor’s face into the coals and robbed you of your innocence while he made him watch.

This in turn, left you to constantly yearn for the feeling of being alive. And as you stood at the top of the Wall, you found that this was it.  

As you finally came back from your speechless shock, you walked closer to the edge, turning to look at Edd, finding him already looking at you.

“Hold my hands.” You told him, holding out your hands for him to take.

He looked at you strangely, but nonetheless removed his gloves and came forward, hesitantly taking your hands.

“Don’t let me fall.” You breathed, voice shaking with both fear and excitement.

“What?” Edd gave you a quizzed look, feeling his heart starting to beat faster as you backed closer and closer to the edge, not knowing what you were going to do.

You wrapped your hands around his forearms, his coming to do the same to yours to seal your grip into a strong one. And when sure he wouldn’t let you go, you leaned backwards slowly, the heels of your boots digging into the edge of the Wall.

Edd felt his heart skip a beat as you fell backwards, his grip instantly hardening as he dug his feet into the snow to be able to keep you up, not having been prepared.

“What the fuck are you doing?” He swore at you. “Have you gone mad?”

You laughed. “Probably.”

Edd watched as your eyes fluttered closed and your head fell backwards, your hair hanging down and flying around in the wind.

Your chest heaved up and down, the feeling having your heart beating so hard in your chest it felt like it would jump out of your ribcage. It was unlike any other, the mixture of excitement and fright sending you into a state of absolute glory.

This was what you had been wanting to do your whole life; having the power to decide by yourself whether you lived or died, something you hadn’t had that night all those years ago. 

There was no greater power.

If there was a God, if Death was real, you overpowered them both in this very moment, leaving them both to grab at air as you stood in the In-between where none of them could reach you.

Edd couldn’t understand what could possibly be running through your head in that moment, seeing you smiling in a way so relaxed he almost feared you were going mad.

He didn’t know if he should be scared about the fact that you were clearly out of your mind, or touched that you would trust him with your life without batting an eye. 

But after two minutes of thought and watching you hang of the edge like a crazy person, he decided to be touched, all while he was not quite ready for that kind of responsibility.

He half expected you to protest when he pulled you up, like you always did when he came in the way of doing something you wanted, but you didn’t say a word, only smiling as you crashed into his chest from the force of his pull.

“There’s something seriously wrong with you.” He shook his head as he pulled you away from the edge.

You didn’t answer, letting him pull you away from danger’s way and only looking up at him once you were safe under the roof.

Edd looked down at you and found himself flushing slightly as he took in the space, or lack there of, between you, not entirely sure if it was because of your exposed cleavage or the fact that you were still sporting the very same expression he had been admiring only moments before.

You didn’t know if it was the wine, the sleep deprivation or the final bit of White Annie that was still running through your veins that made you do it, but with the way he looked down at you, you couldn’t help yourself as you grabbed a hold of his neck and pulled him down to press your lips to his.

It was no charming first kiss, you would admit. Your teeth clashed together painfully as you had pulled him down slightly rougher than intended, and Edd’s back was bent in an inconvenient way as he was bent down to match your height.

But it was enjoyable none the less.

It took a moment for Edd to return to his senses, having frozen from the sudden change of position, but his hands soon came to rest shakily at your waist, his body reacting to your touch without him having a say in it.

He frowned into the kiss as he tried to break away, only managing to utter out a quiet “No.” before you had pulled him back.

“I- we shouldn’t, your brother-“, Edd managed to get out into the kiss, words muffled by your lips on his.

“I do not want to think about my brother while kissing you, please shut up.” You only breathed into the kiss before proceeding to push him backwards towards a wall.

Edd didn’t say anything else, just letting you guide him backwards while he twisted his body slightly so that the two of you could be more comfortable, the kiss softening in the process. 

However, before you could reach your goal, snow suddenly fell through a hole in the roof, hitting the both of you in the head.

“Fucking hell!” “Shit!”

You swore together, jumping apart as the snow melted into your hair and ran into your clothes. You shook your hands violently, desperate to get the cold snow off as it melted to water.

If you weren’t shaking before, you most certainly were now, your doublet and outer layers still being undone from when you had cleaned the gash in your side.

“We should get inside.” You said, wrapping your furs tightly around you in an attempt to keep in your body warmth, finding that it wasn’t working.

Edd only nodded, now having gone back to his usual quiet and unsure self, and together you rode down in the lift, not speaking another word to the other as you moved to your rooms.

Edd stopped by his door without looking at you, still a bit shaken up from the moment you had shared on the Wall.

You couldn’t deny your disappointment, but didn’t press it, instead only sparing him a glance as you walked past him to the door on the right of his, opening it.

Edd went into his room and you went into yours, and were just about to close your door when you heard Edd’s swears from next door.

You furrowed your eyebrows, wasting no time in walking outside again and going inside his wide-open door.

You had expected something bad to have happened with the way he was cursing in annoyance, but what you found was not something you would have called bad. 

You laughed at sight of Edd’s annoyed expression as he watched the giant direwolf that was sprawled out on his bed, seeming to be asleep as he was snoring lightly.

He looked at you, the situation having him irritated. “Wake him up, since it’s so funny to you.”

You narrowed your eyes at him, coming down from your little laughing fit. “It’s your friend’s pet, and your bed, wake him yourself.”

“You’re the one who just dangled from the Wall like it was nothing, you’ve proven yourself to be far more adventurous than me. Unlike you, I don’t like the idea of risking my life.”

“And I don’t like the idea of waking up sleeping animals.” You shot back. “Besides, I’ve had enough adventures for today. Come on.”

“Today.” Edd scoffed bitterly under his breath, but nonetheless let you drag him back outside by his arm.

“You can sleep in my room tonight.” You told him, as you closed the door to Edd’s room, leaving the beast to sleep in peace, and dragged the man in your grasp along to your room, pulling him inside. “I wouldn’t have been able to make a fire by myself, anyways. My hands are shaking too much.”

Looking down at said hands, Edd found this to be very much true, wondering if it was because of the cold or the lack of sleep. 

He decided for the latter, your sunken eyes giving him all the evidence he needed, the slight tremble in your step only proving it further.

Closing the door behind you as he walked inside, you went to lock the door like you did every other night.

Edd turned around at this, reacting almost instantly to the sound of the key turning in the door and the lock clicking into place. 

You rolled your eyes. “Calm down. I’m not killing you. I’m just preparing should anyone else decide to try and kill me.”

“I am calm.” Edd grumbled as he went further into the room, beginning to remove his wet cloak and proceeding to hang it over a chair, moving the chair to stand in front of the fireplace before going to work on getting a fire started.

You let your fingers untie your own cloak as you watched him roll up his sleeves and put a few logs of wood into the open space, admittedly being slightly, correction: very, disappointed that he hadn’t pushed you up against the door and taken you right then and there the same second you had entered.

You hung your cloak on the door and continued to watch him, witnessing the first spark appear under his hands, the sight causing your thoughts to wander to your brother, only then realizing how much you actually missed him.

He had been the one to raise you, taking the responsibility on himself despite only being three years older, taking the job that was supposed to be Gregor’s.

Being loyal to House Lannister, you had grown up on Casterly Rock, at first only having tended to the hounds in the kennel while Gregor was out doing dirty work for Tywin, but soon Sandor had been pulled into the gruesome line of work, as well, leaving you to spend time with Jaime and Tyrion during your days. 

But even though he had been taken away from you, Sandor had kept a close eye on you.

All his life Gregor had set fire to the world around him, Sandor coming to do the same in later years. 

But while Gregor had pushed Sandor’s face into that very fire and put his hands on you like you were just some dirty whore rather than his little sister, leaving you physically respectively mentally burnt, Sandor had never let a flame touch you, even if it meant getting exposed to his greatest fear in the process of saving you.

You had been separated many times, only when arriving at Castle Black seeing him again after almost a year. But you always found your way back to each other.

Sandor might have been a murderer, but everything he had done in life had in one way or another been to protect you. It was a debt you would never be able to repay, which is why you had been so mad to get left behind.

You knew he made you stay behind because he wanted to protect you, and for that you were grateful. But with everything he had done for you, the thing you wanted most in life was to repay the favor. Which you never got the chance to do, when he constantly had you sitting out on any potential danger.

You were pulled out of your thoughts when the fourth spark suddenly took to the wood and evolved into a small flame, soon spreading to the rest of the logs and slowly lighting up the room.

Edd stood up then, the task at hand being accomplished, and turned to look at you.

You met his eyes for a brief moment, before he looked away just as quickly. 

Edd flushed pink as his eyes landed on your form, your white tunic now being sheer and see through with the water soaking the fabric, causing it to stick to your curves.

Porridge. 

Horse liver.

Samwell Tarly.

He had to think about everything but you to not make a fool of himself by showing you how you made him feel, the most unattractive things he could think of coming to cloud his desires. 

“I’ll take the floor.” He cleared his throat, not sparing you another glance as he went to grab two of the furs and pillows from the bed to start setting up on the floor.

You gave him an unimpressed look that you knew he could feel even though he wasn’t looking at you. 

“You’re not taking the floor. The bed is big enough for both of us.” You told him, going to stand beside him and grabbing his wrist to stop him in his tracks.

He froze for a second, your cold hand resting on the bare skin of his forearm.

“Relax.” You laughed as you took in his tense form, grabbing the furs from his hand and putting them back on the bed.

“It’s a little hard to when I can see through your shirt.” He muttered, briefly glancing at your face with the usual unsure expression resting on his features.

You looked down, only then realizing you were showing through your tunic. As you looked up at him again, you scanned his face, noticing how he was staring into your eyes in an uncomfortable manner as he tried not looking down at your chest.

You stood there in silence for a moment, amusement clear on your face as you gave him a minute to make the first move, however, although not surprised, coming out severely disappointed when he didn’t.

Rolling your eyes, you grabbed his neck, taking matters into your own hands as you decided he had gotten enough time, pulling him down to meet your lips.

Like on the Wall, Edd froze by your actions, but this time, being tired of waiting, you didn’t let him ease into it by himself, once again taking matters into your own hands.

“Stop that.” He groaned against your lips as you pushed your chest closer to his, leaving him even more exposed skin to look at.

“Why?” You mumbled back, going to grab his hands at his sides carefully, placing them on your hips.

He didn’t react at first, keeping his tense stance, but soon enough his lips hesitantly started moving against your own. 

You smirked, taking that as a sign to continue, slowly using your own hands to inch his up your body, being sure that he was taking the fabric of your shirt with them.

“What-“ He paused. “are you doing?” He managed to get out between kisses as you slowly started backing him into the door, causing him to grab on to your waist for support, which in turn resulted in a small moan leaving your lips.

Edd’s ears perked up at the sound, his heart beating even harder.

“You didn’t like being able to see through my shirt. I’m fixing the problem.” You breathed out, voice muffled against his lips as you kept inching his hands further up your sides.

Edd’s heart was beating hard in his chest, and no matter how hard he tried to slow down his breathing, he couldn’t. 

Stop being such a little bitch. He found himself scolding himself in his head. 

He was grown man, for Gods’ sake, and here he was acting like a thirteen year old yellow-belly. He was going to scare you off soon enough if he didn’t do anything.

But his self-lecture was to no help as his hands came in contact with your breasts, flinching pathetically in reaction. 

You had to hold in a laugh at this, finding his nervousness amusing but not wanting to discourage him even further and ruin your chances by doing so.

You used your own hands to make his squeeze down as you let your teeth graze his lips. “What was that you said about emotions earlier?”

He shook nervously, debating whether or not he was actually going to go through with this. 

Breathing, he finally responded. “I mistook them for paint.”

And that was all you needed to grab the edge of his doublet, dragging him with you to the bed where you fell down together. 

An hour later Edd was sleeping peacefully next to you, the orange flames from the fireplace illuminating his face.

You still hadn’t dared to fall asleep, instead watching the shadows dance across his face as the flames flickered.

You liked him. More than you would like to admit, and this was the first time in your life that you had held such feelings towards a man. 

You didn’t want to ruin that by scaring him off with your abnormal sleeping habits.

You shifted slightly, turning your head to look at the small vial that was standing on the desk at the end of the room.

Your body was screaming at you to sleep, about ready to give up after not having slept for days, all while your mind was screaming at you to drink the root.

Being your usual stupid self, you, of course, did not go for the first and better option, slowly starting to lift Edd’s arm from around your waist, careful not to disturb him.

As you had almost managed to get his arm off, you slowly started sitting up, moving to put your legs over the edge of the bed. However, before you had the chance, you felt Edd’s arm pull you back, causing your heart to jump in your chest.

You whipped your head around to look at him, eyes wide and heart beating fast as you waited to see if he had awoken, but when he said nothing and didn’t move again, you figured he had just been moving in his sleep.

You turned around to attempt getting out a second time, repeating your previous procedure of getting his arm off your body.

“Stop moving.” Edd’s hoarse voice suddenly came from beside you, causing you to jump in fright.

Once again, he pulled you pack to his body leaving you to lie on your back as still as you could, looking at the roof. 

Edd went to go back to sleep, but when feeling how tense your body was in his embrace, he opened one of his eyes to look at you. “Why are you still awake?”

You glanced at him, before letting your eyes find the ceiling again. “I don’t like sleeping when I’m not alone.”

Edd opened both of his eyes at this, pushing himself up on his elbow and going to sit up. “I can leave if y-“

“No, no.” You told him quickly, pushing him back down and turning to face him. “I meant in general, this whole castle is full of people.”

He let his eyes inspect your face, running over your tired eyes and pale skin. “No one would hurt you.” He said to you, inquiringly.

“I know.” You ran your hand over your face, stopping to rub your eyes for a moment, before you put on a tired smile and laughed. “My mind just has a scary capability of being dark and demented.”

“You’re afraid of your dreams?” He asked, causing you to frown. 

You hesitated, going back to look at the ceiling. “Yes, I guess you could put it that way, as well.”

Edd was quiet for a minute, leaving you anxious that you had weirded him out to the point where he would leave, but in reality, he was just surprised at how vulnerable you had suddenly become, being used to your forward and confident attitude. 

He scanned your face, before finally speaking up. “I can stay awake. If you want to sleep for a while. I’ll make sure you’re alright.”  

Your head whipped around to face him, giving him the softest of looks, not really believing the words coming out of his mouth. “You would do that?”

Not once had you stumbled upon a person other than your brother who showed anything but judgement at the mention of your nightmares. And here Edd was, someone you had only known for a little over a week, willing to give up his own sleep so that you could get some rest. 

“If it means I won’t have to put up with your mood swings for the rest of the time.” He raised his eyebrows slightly, causing you to let out a laugh, eyes stinging with the mixture of sleep deprivation and touch.

“I’m sorry.” You laughed softly.

He didn’t answer, only looked at you as he opened his arms, urging you to come closer. “Come here.”

You moved into his arms slowly, your back coming to rest against his chest. You felt him place his face in the crook between your neck and shoulder, arm coming to rest around your stomach securely.

“Sleep, I’ll be here.” He ordered you, voice gruff, and as you grabbed his hand, your fingers automatically starting to scratch the back of it like you had done to Sandor’s your whole life, you were for the first time since your arrival finally able to fall asleep with the warmth of the fire and Edd keeping you safe.

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