#the everyone jab is directed at me i have not watched day of the departed

[applecranberryjuice]

My only Morro predictions

Secret third option: he just doesn't show up at all. The leaks were wrong, everyone was wrong, he's not even in the script notes, mass deception.

Awful hand writing transcriben under the cut:

1. Hey guys, MORRO here to show you how even good, or the people we look up to make mistakes BUT ALSO to remind you that the mistakes of the student aren't also the master's and that relationships between LEGOTM are complicated .

2. So glad we are on good terms after that one special everyone watched anyways I'm here to bully this stinky loser teacher Mcvisions into an accurately depicted panic attack bcz hes stupid dum dum and even HE couldn't break the cycle

[idkyetxoxo]

Sixteen | Allure | The Last Kingdom

"Train me to be as formidable as you, I want to be hailed as undefeatable," 

"Is that what they say about me, that I'm undefeatable?" 

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The journey to Aethelflaed's estate stretched out, a winding path through time and landscape. Along the way, I found myself delighting in the subtle art of teasing Sihtric, punctuating the journey with playful gestures. A coy tug of my lip, a deliberate sway of my hips upon the horse. Each motion seemed to ensnare him further, his gaze fixed, a knowing smirk playing upon his lips.

As we reached the familiar grounds, I dismounted with a light heart, greeted by the radiant presence of Stiorra. Unlike young Uhtred, she didn't despise me and my heathen ways. She welcomed me without reservation. Her likeness mirrored that of her parents, a reflection of beauty and strength intertwined.

"My favourite little one," I murmured affectionately, releasing Stiorra from our embrace. Her response was a scowl, directed not at me but at the sarcastic quip from Uhtred, who urged her to greet her father. With playful defiance, I stuck my tongue out at him.

"She clearly favours me," I teased, a smirk playing at my lips, as Uhtred scoffed in response, his scepticism thinly veiled. Yet, Stiorra's wink spoke volumes, a silent testament to the bond between us.

The arrival of Aldhelm cast a shadow over our reunion, heralding grim tidings. Aethelred's fate hung precariously in the balance, the absence of a succession plan leaving the estate shrouded in uncertainty. With a heavy heart, Uhtred instructed Stiorra to safeguard the children.

"How much longer must I remain a prisoner?" Stiorra questioned, her voice tinged with longing for freedom. In the hushed confines of the estate, her plea echoed like a whispered prayer.

"When he leaves I promise I will teach you how to wield a weapon just do as you are told for now," I whispered into her ear. Eagerly, she nodded, her resolve unyielding as she ushered the children into safety.

"If your words to her involve your peculiar brand of darkness, I object," Uhtred interjected, his concern etched upon his brow. In response, I silenced him with a gentle gesture, a finger pressed against my lips and he rolled his eyes.

As Uhtred and Aethelflaed prepared to depart with Aldhelm for the Witan in Aegelesburg, a solemn air settled over the estate.

"Do not worry, I'll keep a watchful eye over the children," I reassured Aethelflaed, my voice a whisper as she bid farewell to her daughter. A playful jab at the competence of Finan, Osferth, and Sihtric elicited laughter from Aethelflaed "I'm far more capable than that bunch in there" I added as she kissed Aelfwynn one last time.

──☆⋅☾⋅☆──

Stiorra and young Uhtred lingered outside, engaged in conversation with Aelfwynn, while Osferth and Aethelstan shared a quiet moment together. Meanwhile, Sihtric, Finan and I sat together as the men indulged in some game with cups. 

A burst of laughter escaped me as Sihtric's expression twisted in surprise when the last cup revealed nothing underneath. I ran my fingers through Sihtric's hair as he leaned back towards me humming in response earning a groan of frustration from Finan.

"Can't you two save this for another time when I'm not around?"Finan lamented, his arms crossing over his chest as he leaned back in his chair, his eyes rolling dramatically. His words prompted a mischievous grin to spread across my face.

"Go back to your constant bickering and flirting with everyone but each other," he added, his tone tinged with mock irritation.

"One day, you'll find someone," I teased, a smirk playing on my lips. "She might be a bit miserable, but I'm sure you'll manage to keep her trapped." My comment elicited a scowl from Finan, and I couldn't help but laugh at his exaggerated reaction.

"Very funny," he muttered, shaking his head. "You know, not everyone understands this constant love-hate thing you two have going on."

In a swift move, Sihtric intercepted, taking my hand and pressing a gentle kiss to it. His gaze locked with Finan's in a silent challenge as he completed the action, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"You see, Finan," Sihtric said softly, his voice carrying a hint of mock seriousness, "some of us know how to appreciate what we have." He glanced at me, his eyes filled with warmth and mischief, before turning back to Finan.

Finan threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. "I give up. There's no winning with you two."

I laughed again, the sound light and carefree. "That's the spirit, Finan. Now, how about some ale? We can toast to your future miserable lady love," I suggested, raising an eyebrow at him.

Finan's scowl melted into a reluctant grin. "Fine, but only if it means I don't have to witness any more of this... whatever this is," he said, gesturing between Sihtric and me.

Before we could move Stiorra sauntered into the room rocking back and forth on her heels, her movements a clear dance of anticipation. "Yes my love?" I inquired, prompting a swift reaction from both Finan and Sihtric, their attention snapping to me like magnets.

"You've never addressed anyone with anything other than their name or an insult," Finan interjected, his tone a blend of curiosity and surprise. Stiorra's smirk widened at the revelation, a glint of mischief dancing in her eyes as I laughed.

"Stiorra is deserving everyone else is not," I quipped, redirecting my focus to her. Her request hung in the air, a reminder of my promise earlier. With a nod, I rose, Sihtric's groan of protest falling on deaf ears as he moved forward to grab my hips from behind pulling me back towards him.

"Lesson one," I announced with a hint of amusement, seizing Sihtric's hands from my hips. In one swift motion, I executed a manoeuvre, flipping his body over and sending him crashing to the floor. 

His groan echoed through the room as Finan and Stiorra erupted into laughter. Sihtric lay sprawled on the floor, his protests drowned out by the chorus of laughter.

With a gleeful abandon, he rolled about, his movements a blend of exasperation and amusement. The infectious energy of the moment enveloped me, compelling me to join in the laughter. 

I blew Sihtric a kiss before wrapping my arms around Stiorra's shoulders, guiding us outside into the crisp air of the estate grounds.

We had spent the last half-hour sparring, with me imparting the basics to Stiorra. As we progressed to more intricate manoeuvres, it became apparent that frustration was creeping into her movements.

"Maintaining your composure is key, letting frustration guide your actions will only hinder your progress," I advised gently as her sword clattered to the ground in defeat.

"I just want to be as skilled as you and my father," she confessed, her voice tinged with longing. Placing my own sword beside hers, I reassured her, "With Uhtred's blood coursing through your veins, you'll become a fearsome warrior."

"After all, Uhtred and I were trained by the legendary Earl Ragnar," I remarked with a smile reminiscing. Stiorra's determination shone brightly as she expressed her aspiration to match my skill level.

"Train me to be as formidable as you, I want to be hailed as undefeatable," she declared earnestly. Her ambition sparked laughter from me. "Is that what they say about me, that I'm undefeatable?" I quizzed with a hint of amusement, earning a resolute nod from Stiorra, her conviction unwavering.

Grinning with satisfaction, I affirmed, "By the time I'm done with you, you'll be the next incarnation of me." Her smile widened as she enveloped me in a hug, our bond strengthening with each passing moment. Resting my chin on her head, I savoured the closeness between us.

As we embraced, I glanced outside and caught sight of men in the distance.

"Stiorra, Aelfwynn inside, now!" I commanded, ushering the two girls indoors while motioning for young Uhtred and Aethelstan to join us. As we gathered within the safety of the walls indoors, I relayed what I saw.

"There are men riding up towards the gate," I announced, prompting a swift reaction from Finan and Sihtric. With a sense of urgency, I retrieved my daggers, concealing them upon my person as best I could.

Stiorra stepped forward "I have a plan," she announced. Scepticism clouded my expression as she allocated hiding spots for everyone.

"And you?" Sihtric inquired, his gaze fixed on me. Running my fingers through my hair in frustration, I grappled with the decision. "I believe they've already spotted me. I won't hide. Besides, I refuse to leave Stiorra to defend herself if anything goes wrong," I asserted, determination lacing my words. 

Sihtric nodded in understanding before planting a kiss on my lips and retreating to his designated hiding spot upstairs.

Taking a seat on the empty chest, I watched as Stiorra confronted the men at the gate asking if they were lost, her demeanour unwavering.

"We've come to take Aelfwynn to Aegelesburg," the man declared, his voice resolute. Seizing the opportunity, I interjected, informing him "She's already been taken to Winchester by Uhtred, my brother."

As the man's gaze bore into me with suspicion, I met his scrutiny with a disarming smile. With a directive to search the grounds, the men scoured every nook and cranny, their scrutiny palpable.

Clasping Stiorra's trembling hand in mine I pulled her towards me, I stood my ground as the man's glare intensified. "You ought to stop looking at me and my niece like we're animals" I warned, my voice tinged with defiance. Though his gaze remained fixed, his men found nothing of note.

"Thank you kindly for your thorough search, gentlemen," I muttered under my breath as they departed through the gates, their dissatisfaction evident.

Stiorra turned towards me, her eyes reflecting a mixture of apprehension and determination. I offered her a reassuring smile before another resounding bang against the gates shattered the tranquillity of the moment. 

"Inside," I directed urgently, watching as she darted into the safety of the estate while I instinctively drew my dagger, its glint promising protection.

With caution, I approached the gates, poised for confrontation, only to be greeted by the unexpected sight of Uhtred. "Oh," I muttered sheepishly, as he entered the estate grounds with a furrowed brow.

As we congregated in the entryway, Stiorra recounted the encounter with the men to Uhtred, his expression shifting from concern to calmness. Relieved, I stowed away my dagger, my focus now on the exchange unfolding before me.

A sudden commotion jolted us from our conversation and Uhtred instinctively pushed Stiorra and me behind him. However, our fears dissolved as Sihtric descended from the second floor with a mischievous grin. 

"You idiot," I chided, albeit with a hint of amusement, delivering a swat to his stomach as everyone else emerged from their hiding places, their relief evident in their smiles.

"Looks like you've got quite the clever one here," Finan remarked, tousling Stiorra's hair affectionately as I shared a knowing wink with her. 

With the threat averted, we busied ourselves with preparations, gathering our belongings in anticipation of our journey to Ceaster.

───☆⋅☾⋅☆───

Finan and Sihtric duo >> 🤩

[dreamescapeswriting]

Curiosity Killed The Cat ~ LMH & LF [M] [Request]

WORD COUNT: 4.9K

PAIRING: Minho x Fem!Reader x Felix

GENRE: consensual smut, Hitman au, mentions of death, assisnation, bombings, blood, face riding, oral, threesome, M/F/M, after care, no protection

A/N: Please I had so much fun with this! I love writing AU’s so much!!! 🥺🥰💗 Hope this is okay for you my lovely little anon!

"If you don't stop tapping that pen I'm going to shove it so far down your neck you'll whistle when you breathe," Minho growled in Felix's direction as they sat together in an old beat-up car. All Felix had done for the last four hours was tap and click the pen over and over again deciding that he was single-handedly going to be the one driving force that made Minho want to quit his job.

"I don't see anything else to do," Felix countered as he stared back at his partner who simply glared at him before looking out of the window again. It was a stupid idea to stake out a university it looked suspicious that two men were waiting in a car outside but it was the bosses orders. Stake out the school and wait for the suspect to come out but it felt creepy. Although it was a university and most of the students were their age it was strange to them both.

"Have we actually seen him go in?" The truth was no one had seen the guy that they were after in almost seven months, he was good at hiding which was why he was nicknamed "The Chameleon," something Minho hated. Why give the bad guy a name it was only going to boost the ego even more. 

"He's supposedly acting as a student," Minho handed the folder over to Felix keeping his eyes on the door, the Chameleon could walk out right under your nose and no one would have an idea it was him. 

"Why a student? Surely it would be feeling for him to be a teacher," Felix flicked through the folder the guy was a serial bomber that his company had been after for years. He'd killed almost over 100 people with no remorse whatsoever. It was as if the guy was a robot, he didn't care who he hurt as long as he got what he wanted, not that anyone knew what that was. His clues were always so vague. One thing for sure, it wasn't money that he was after. 

The government had tried to pay him to stop the needless killings only for the guy to blow the bag up in the middle of the street. 

"Easier to hide...Won't be so obvious when things go missing around the school...The student we're looking at fits his usual MO." Minho sighed taking a deep breath and looking at Felix for the first time in an hour. It was beginning to worry him the closer the two of them got to catching the guy. Their job wasn't a simple catch him and arrest him, no, they were the last resort. Kill him on sight as soon as they know, without a shadow of a doubt that it's him. Assassins or as they were better known as now, Hitmen. 

"Transfers in the middle of the year, things from the science department go missing and then there's the-" Right as Minho was about to explain that there were constant fire drills the alarm began to blare out through the school. 

"Those," He mumbled staring back over at the double-doored exit from the school. There was no use sitting at the entrance when they knew he liked to hide from everyone, if he was the one doing this they needed to find him and quickly before anyone else got hurt. 

"Another drill?" You mumbled looking to your left to see your best friend Mina smirking at you, you rolled your eyes knowing why she was so happy. Thanks to the fire alarm she was going to get out of her final exam and pass it no matter what, 

"It wouldn't surprise me if you were the one pulling them," You mumbled sarcastically as you pulled your satchel over your shoulder, looking around for her so-called boyfriend. 

"What did you do? Get Farara to pull it?" You teased as you jabbed your elbow into her side, walking out into the courtyard and taking in a deep breath, 

"You need to relax, we've just finished exams and you're still studying," Mina rolled her eyes at you, it was always the same with her. She wanted you to let your hair down and relax while you wanted to focus on things that were important to you, like actually passing your course. 

"I have another two years to go, you're done. I'm just getting started." You reminded her as you looked around, you loved Mina with all of your heart but since meeting Farara she seemed to be getting in trouble more. Not only with the university but with the police. Just last week you'd been called down to the station to bail her out because she was caught driving around in a stolen car with enough products to set a whole house on fire. 

"Take a year off, come with me and Farara to England. He's going to take me away and spend time with his family." The more you heard about the guy the more worry began to grow inside of you. She'd hardly known him and yet she was planning to run away to a different country with him,

"What does he even do for a living? To get all of this money?" You questioned hoping she wouldn't get too annoyed with you asking her about him. It seemed as though whenever you asked questions she would get pissed at you, claiming that you were just trying to poke holes in their "relationship,"

"What does it matter?" She stared at you with a disgusted look on her face, 

"Hey, baby!" A voice cried out as a pair of strong-looking arms wrapped around Mina.

"Snuckums!" She practically squealed making you jump as she turned around and began making out with him grotesquely in front of everyone. 

"That's my cue to leave," You said loud enough for them to hear, turning to head home to your dorms when Mina grabbed your arm. 

"Party tonight. Come with us," She begged looking at you with pleading eyes, as you were about to decline Farara scoffed at the thought of it. 

"Y/n? At a party, don't make me laugh. She's the party pooper baby, she doesn't know how to have fun." For some reason, the anger bubbled up inside of you and it seemed to annoy you more. If Mina had been the one to say it it wouldn't have bothered you as much but from him, you wanted to prove him wrong. 

"I'll be there. Text me the details," You smiled smugly in his direction but he just seemed to smirk, it made you feel uneasy to see him smirking at you like that. 

"This will be great! A going-away party right baby!?" Mina squealed before making out with him once again.

After spending almost four hours trying to pick something to wear you finally felt ready to go and headed straight to the party. It was at the frat house Farara had been living in since he got to the university. The whole walk over from your dorms you could have sworn someone was following you along. 

"Glad you could join us, take this." Mina handed you a drink and then laid a flower necklace around you before disappearing into the house leaving you alone. 

The whole house seemed to be partying hard, loud music was blaring for different speakers each of which was playing a different song. People were already yelling and dancing drunkenly along the floor and not to mention someone throwing up in a flower pot. 

"You came pretty late, didn't think you were going to show," Farara smirked once he caught sight of you in the kitchen. You hummed before putting down the cup Mina had given to you, there was no way you were going to drink that night. Not unless it was water at least. You didn't know anyone besides Mina and she was clearly preoccupied with other things.

"We have juice boxes in the basement," Farara joked earning a laugh from someone else in the kitchen but Mina pushed him softly. 

"Leave Y/n alone, she came and that's all that matters. Come on, let's go dance." She pulled you straight into the living room without giving you a chance to answer her. 

"Isn't this fun?! I'm so sad you never got to have parties all year," She pouted at you, wrapping her arms around your waist as she swayed in time to whatever song she heard first. The mixture of the songs and stench alcohol all starting to hurt your head the longer that you stood there but you were at least going to wait an hour before heading home. 

"What the fuck are we doing?" Minho mumbled as he stared down at the jeans and shirt he was wearing, Felix had dressed in the same outfit only a different coloured shirt. When Felix suggested going to the party Minho didn't think he meant actually attending it.

"We're blending in." He chuckled laying one of the flower necklaces around Minho's neck who stared at him with a filthy look the moment it touched his chest. 

"What better way to find out information than going to the people that know the guy." It still didn't make Minho feel any better about being at some kind of dumb University frat party. Everyone was drunk and drooling over one another except for the girl that they had followed over, you. 

"Look," Minho nudged Felix and nodded in your direction as they watched you heading for the bathroom alone. You stood out amongst the rest, instead of dancing or drinking you were simply looking for a bathroom and keeping your head down. They only knew about the party because they'd overheard you and Mina talking about it earlier that day. 

"She looks like she could be here to help, we saw them speaking with one another earlier," Minho reminded Felix but he shook his head,

"She does look like she wants to be here, they didn't look like they liked one another." Minho shrugged his shoulders as he thought back on it, 

"All good acting," The two of them weren't sure if Farara had a partner this time but in all of his other bombings, he had someone. Someone who would take the fall for him, usually the good girl gone bad once they met him and fell for his traps. Promising them a life of happiness in another country, planning everything out so it would seem as though he truly loved and cared for them when he didn't. 

"I'm just saying we find The Chemelon, take care of business and leave," Felix whispered as they made their way through to the kitchen when they saw him. A loud laugh spread through the air that physically sent shivers down their spines, watching as he left out of the kitchen door and down the back garden. 

"Follow him," They said in unison as they headed out of the same door, keeping their heads down as they tried to see what it was he was doing. 

Stepping out onto the back porch you took in a long deep breath of the cold air, it felt nice to have it circulating through you instead of the stuffy air from inside. Mina had begged you to stay once she caught you trying to leave, making you promise her that you wouldn't go anywhere until she found Farara who had run off leaving her in charge of the party. In your mind, he was out fucking someone else since he seemed like a player but you weren't about to tell one of your best friends that. 

The longer you stood there the more you wanted to go home but as you looked down at the end of the garden you frowned. Inside the small shed, there was a flashing light coming through the window and you could have sworn you heard someone grunting. 

"I swear to god if this is Farara I'll murder him," You mumbled to yourself as you began to walk towards the building. All you were going to do was look through the window, if it was him you'd find Mina and tell her. If it wasn't him you'd just act as though you hadn't seen anything but the closer you got the more uneasy you began to grow. Something inside of you was telling you to turn back but you weren't about to let your friend get cheated on by some good for nothing low-life.

"Tell us what you're planning and maybe we'll let you off easy," Felix whispered in Farara's ear from behind him. They'd followed him out and found him packing up a suitcase which meant the bombing was sooner than expected from him. 

"I don't know what you're talking about," The boy stuttered as he stared between the two men in front of him, both of them had guns on display to intimidate him into speaking. As if being strapped into a chair with garden rope wasn't scary enough for him.

"Look, we know who you are. Just tell us where the bomb is," As soon as the word bomb left Minho's mouth he heard a gasp and branch snap from outside the shed. His eyes met with Felix and he nodded over to the side door where Felix could easily get out without being seen. 

Stepping back from the building you tried to move out of the way but ended up backing into someone who pushed you back to the window. Forcing you to stare through it as the man inside shot Farara in the chair he was strapped to. There was no sound from the gun you just saw a blur before Farara dropped forward, lifeless in the chair as blood pooled from the small entrance wound in his head. A small scream was building up in your throat but before you could say a word a hand was covering your mouth and you were ushered into the shed. 

"Clean up to Agents 322 and 366," The man who had killed Farara said down a small earpiece looking over at you with a small smirk on his face, 

"What a curious little kitten," Felix purred in your ear as he ran his fingers up and down your cheek making you shiver, 

“Curiosity Killed The Cat you know,” Minho chuckled as he looked over at you from his phone.

 "I'll ask you once, and only once." Minho lowered himself to your level, looking you in the eyes. 

"Do you know who he's working with? Your friend maybe? Could she have known what he was planning?" Bile rose up in your throat as you watched the blood pooling onto the floor, running along to Mino's shoes as he stood there. 

"Mina. S-She wouldn't have know...I don't think," You looked back at Minho, the gut feeling inside of you seemed to subside as you looked at him and Felix who was now standing in front of you. 

"You don't seem scared that we just killed your friend?" Felix questioned looking from the body and back to you, your eyes get dancing to and from Farara, half expecting him to jump up and have this be some kind of joke. 

"A friend? I didn't know him and he did nothing but belittle me...What was it you said about a bomb?" Curiosity began to build in Minho as he watched you, there wasn't even an ounce of fear towards them from you. 

"Have you heard of the Chameleon?" The realization hit you as you stared at Farara. 

"He fits the MO." You mumbled shocking Felix who just seemed to stare at you in disbelief. 

"You're training to be in the forces?" Minho asked as he laid a garden sheet over the body, your eyes staring back at him this time. 

"My father was an FBI agent, I know some things...I know you're not FBI." A smirk plastered across Felix's lips as he watched you and Minho interacting the way you were. It was the first time he'd ever seen Minho act so casually with someone in months, not to mention he seemed laid back. 

"How do you know that?" Felix quizzed looking over at you as he folded his arms over his chest. 

"For starters, neither of you have a badge otherwise you would have shown me by now, your guns aren't standard issue for agents...So you're hitmen...That or random psychopaths." Minho blinked at you before standing up straight when he heard a knock on the door. 

"Clean up crew," Minho pulled the door open and ushered you out with Felix on your other side. 

"Do you need help with her?" A female voice asked as you turned your whole body to see a female staring at you. 

"No thanks, you go and clean up. We'll take her home." Your eyes shot up to the one with the deep voice, Felix, and you frowned. 

"We'll make sure you get home safe," Minho added when he could see how confused you were. 

Leading you over to their car you stared at it, it was the same car that had been following you earlier. 

"You followed me here," The back door opened and you crawled inside, looking around at all of the empty food packets. 

"Ignore the mess, we were on a stakeout," Felix chuckled as he got into the front passenger seat and glanced back at you. 

"I'm Felix and this is Minho," He shook your hand and you felt a spark ignite inside of you. The way his hand fit around yours made you shiver a little, 

"Look at that, someone liked your touch Lix." Your eyes shot to Minho started up the car and smirked at you through the small review mirror. 

"Give us your address kitten," The small nickname made you clench your thighs as you could feel an aerosol building. After giving them your dorm address you began trying to pull yourself back together, you'd just watch them kill someone and yet you were getting wet at the thought of them calling you kitten. It didn't help that they were insanely attractive, Felix's muscles could be seen through the thin white shirt he was wearing and Minho's ass looked like he worked out an awful lot. You blinked, ignoring the growing wetness that was pooling between your legs. 

"Look at that, we haven't said one suggestive comment and you're squeezing your little thighs together," Minho chuckled as he reached a red light, turning to look at you from the front seat and licking his lips at the sight of you. Completely innocent and sitting there rubbing your legs together as if that was going to give you any kind of satisfaction that you were desperately craving. 

"My guess is she's going to go home and touch herself to the thought of us," Minho teased as he began to drive once again, watching Felix as he turned to look at you. His eyes locking with you as he reached behind to rub your knee softly. 

"I mean she doesn't have to think of us, we could do it for you princess." The car stopped outside your dorm but you made no attempt to move as the car was shut off. 

"Would you like that?" Minho questioned turning his body to look at you. The need to press your thighs together built up but Felix kept them apart, licking his lips as he waited for you to answer the question. A finger trailed up and down your knee and you shuddered, 

"Yes! Yes...Yes, I would like that," You spoke loudly as you stared at both of them, the two exchanged a smirk with one another before climbing out of the car and holding your door open.

"Then who are we to let a pretty little kitten go home needy," Felix growled in your ear, holding your arm as you all walked in the direction of your dorm room.

Neither of them wasted time when they got into your room, attaching their lips to either side of your neck as you let out small whimpers of pleasure. You could already feel each of them smirking against your skin, Felix's hands around your waist while Minho kept his on your breasts, massaging them softly with his hands whenever you would whimper. 

"Here we thought you were the good girl," Minho whispered making you jerk away from him, 

"I'm not. I'm sick of people saying that to me," You spat at him your eyes locking with his as he tilted his head to the side, a smug look on his face. 

"Prove it to me," Without another word you pushed him down onto your bed sinking to your knees in front of him. You pulled down the jeans he was wearing discarding them behind you, forgetting about Felix behind you until he laid down on the floor. 

"Up," He ordered, you rose to your knees and he slid under you so his breath was right against your core. 

"Looks pretty," He whispered referencing the bright pink thong you had worn under your dress that night, 

"But it needs to go." One snapping sound later and you felt a cool breeze on your core,

"Dripping wet Minho, you should see her." A finger began to trace along your folds making your hips jolt forward, 

"So wet, pretty and-" A small kiss was placed on your clit and your eyes widened, 

"Tastes define." Felix moaned out in a deep voice, you whimpered looking at Minho. 

"The confidence seems to have faded from you kitten," You ignored him pulling his cock free from his boxer and smirking at the length. He was larger than you expected but you slowly pumped him in one hand, looking up at him smugly as he jerked. Minho shifted a little, leaning back against the bed letting his elbow prop him up. Running your fingers over the indent under the head of his cock your smirk grew wider as he moaned out.

"Good girl," He breathed out as your tongue began to caress him, swirling around the head of his cock before you took him into your warm mouth pumping your head back and forth while your other hand rested on his thigh. 

"My turn," Felix whispered pulling you to sit down on his face as you let out a moan around Minho's cock who seemed to moan out in pleasure. Hollowing out your cheeks you ran your tongue over the indent you'd found earlier and he cried out gripping onto the sheets around him. 

"Oh shit!" You moaned out as you could feel Felix's tongue running through your folds while he worked two fingers in and out of you, curling them up to meet your g-spot making you cry out again. 

Minho thrust up into your mouth as you took him back, moving your head faster this time setting his whole body aflame. Each thrust of your head caused his whole body to stiffen and he looked at you, holding your face as he began to thrust a little more. You smirked around him nodding at him to let him know it was okay and he slowly began to thrust into your mouth. 

"S-Shit she likes that Hyung, clenching around my tongue." Felix chuckled as he continued to eat you out aggressively as you rode his face, your hips bucking little by little as you felt an orgasm beginning to build up inside of you. Minho thrust up once more before his whole body shook and he let out a moan of your name, cumming into your mouth as he rolled his head back. You swallowed every last drop and focused on the pleasure Felix was giving to you, gripping onto the bed as you rocked your hips in time with his licks. 

"So pretty when your face contorts like that," Minho chuckled as he began kissing you softly, holding your neck in his hand lightly as he forced you to look at him, 

"Do you like this? Two strangers fucking you?" You nodded as you let out a choked moan, pulsating around Felix's fingers as he continued to thrust them into you at a rough pace. 

"Cumming!" You screamed out as your hips continued to buck as your orgasm ripped through you, your legs shaking as you tried to stay upright on your knees instead of falling to the floor the way you wanted to. 

"Y/n?" Felix whispered as he pulled himself into a sitting position, watching you as you ripped your dress off from your body, you were ready and you needed one of them inside of you. Now.

Lips met yours over and over again as Minho pulled you up onto the bed, sitting back against the headboard as you straddled his lap. Kissing him wherever you could, lips, neck, collarbone, anywhere you could get your lips on him. Felix sat behind you naked, his cock pressed against your ass as you let out a whine. 

"Still so wet," Felix chuckled as he teased your entrance with two fingers, meanwhile Minho had worked his fingers down to your clit circling slowly. 

"Holy fuck," You breathed out as your head fell forward to rest on top of Minho's. Your brain was in a fog as they continued to tease you with their fingers until Felix sank two inside of you and Minho applied the pressure that made you cry out pushing your hips back into Felix. 

A third finger was added and your whole body felt as though it was on fire, your fingernails dug into Minho's arms as you cried out a mixture of both of their names. 

"Someone is ready for us," Minho chuckled as they removed their fingers making you whimper at the sudden lack of touch from either of them. Felix moved to the edge of the bed and sat in the same position Minho had before. 

"On the floor kitten," He whispered as you got onto your knees in front of him, this time Minho sat behind you with his cock at your entrance causing you to clench around nothing. 

"You sure?" You ignored the stupid question as you sank down onto Minho's cock crying out as you adjusted to the size of him. 

"That..Oh shit...That's a yes Felix," Minho moaned out as he held onto your thighs, grunting at the tight feeling as you wrapped around his cock. Smirking to yourself you looked up at Felix, taking him into your mouth and began to bob your head as you had done with Minho. The two men moaning out in pleasure as you controlled them, moving your hips up and down at a slow pace just to torture Minho that little bit more. 

"Fuck," Minho's hands gripped onto your waist and he thrust up harder and faster into you, his breathing jagged as he moaned out your name. Felix's cock twitched into your mouth as you began to roll your tongue around the head of his cock, reaching your hand down between your thighs to circle your clit. 

Fire was beginning to build in your stomach with both moans from men titling you over the edge. 

"Just like that," Felix cried out as you moved your head in time with Minho's fast thrust. The room filled with wet sounds and slapping skin as you cried out around Felix's length. Felix's hand rested on your cheek as he began to thrust into your mouth, grunting as he came down your throat holding you around him until his hips stopped jerking. 

"M-Minho! I-I’m cumming! I-I’m cumming!" You screamed out as he continued his sinfully fast thrusts until he came into you touching you deeply as your head rolled back against his chest. Clenching onto anything you could get your hands on, screaming out his name. Cumming around him as you pulsated in pure bliss, your whole body felt as though it was shaking. 

Minho smirked as you slept in his shirt, they'd managed to clean you up with a warm wet cloth and got you into bed. 

"Poor thing must be exhausted," He smirked running his fingers over your face as your frowned in deep slumber. 

"That was a nice reward though for finishing our job," Felix laughed as he looked at your body, you were curled up in a small clutching onto the sheets and he smiled. 

"We should get going, paperwork to report and all that," Minho mumbled grabbing a hoodie from your wardrobe as he turned to leave.

The morning you woke up images of what had happened flashed before you and if it hadn't been for the achiness between your thighs. You would have thought it a dream and yet, you were laying there in a shirt that wasn't yours and a note beside your bed,

Until next time Curious Kitten x 

Written at the bottom of the note were two numbers with the boy's initials by the side of them, you clutched the note against your chest as you laid back. Enjoying the memories of the night before. 

Tagline: @minholuvs​ @taestannie​ @sw33tnight​ @acciocriativity​ @mwitsmejk​ @taeechwitaa​ @justbangtanthingz​ @stillwithlix​ 

[thrndlngs]

three times shinsou misses the opportunity to kiss you + the one time he seized the moment.

── pairing, shinsou x fem!prohero!reader ── request: x times shinsou wants to kiss fem reader??? pLZ I NEED IT ── author’s note: this was super dope & cute to write. tysm for sending this in. i hope i did this justice and it wasn’t to out of character.  also reader has a water quirk & the two of you are in your early twenties.  ♡ 

i.

     "'toshi,” you whispered, chest against his as the two of you currently hid from the group of villains. your two agencies had partnered up in attempt to take down a new gang of villains who were transporting drugs from the city to the waters, the two of you were partnered because of how the two of you excelled in your respective agencies, shinsou was sent to aid in your patrols of the waters  ──  which is why the two of you are currently hiding in a storage closet on a ship. 

  “shut up.” you don’t take it to heart, you’re sure he means it as nicely as possible - he just lacks a few pages in the ‘vocabulary’ department. 

  “we need to do something.” you tell him, trying your best to meet his gaze in the tight space (which was nearly impossible because he’s towering over you at the moment). he doesn’t reply, not at first at least, if you looked hard enough you would probably see the gears in his head turning. 

  “──stop talking, it’s distracting me.” 

  your mouth quickly shuts, fidgety hands are now at your side, you were starting to get antsy and there was practically little to no room to move around without being heard - or seen for that matter. 

  “they switch the guards every ten minutes, in the middle of the switch, we run.” the purple haired male explained, taking a peak at the time on his cellphone. the two of you had to endure this for three more minutes. just three more minutes and you would be free.

  “three minutes,” you repeated, more to confirm this for yourself. you’re sure you wouldn’t last that long, after all, this was shinsou, the male you’ve had a crush on for quite some time now. how were you expected to last that long?

  “──think of it like seven minutes of heaven.”

  “we haven’t played that since── “

  “yeah, yeah i know, but just think of it like that. don’t think about the closet, just the game.” 

  you nodded quickly, meeting his gaze as the two of you stood there in silence. you’d be lying if you said you weren’t thinking about kissing him. it seemed like the perfect moment - it was just the two of you. if it were the last day on earth, you at least wanted to go out with a bang. you know?

  “let me get comfortable, you can do the same after.” you watched as he places either hands besides your head, slouching a bit against the wall so his back could have some sort of support. he nods to you, signaling for you to do the same. 

  it takes you a moment, the position shinsou is currently in causes your heart to skip just a few beats. were you disappointed in yourself for letting your mind drift.. elsewhere during a mission? for sure. did you care right now? absolutely not.

  you cleared your throat, widening your stance and trying to balance the weight in between your legs to help ease some of the weight  ──  but there wasn’t really much you could do.

  “two minutes.” 

   this had to be the longest three minutes of your life.

   “i think i just tasted my own sweat.” he complained. it feels like he’s sweating in places he shouldn’t produce sweat in.

  “i feel like a fish out of water,” you added.

  “──gonna start passing out if i don’t throw you in the water soon?”

  “says the one whose sweating to death.” 

  “and you’re dehydrated. guess we’re both shit out of luck aren’t we?”

  “yeah, but, i think this isn’t the worst way to die.” 

  he takes another peak at his cellphone, noting that there’s a minute left before the two of you could finally get out of this damn storage closet. “you’ve got a minute to tell me anything worse than dying like this.” 

  in hindsight ── there’s a lot that could happen in a minute, that’s the only reason you said something to begin with. “alone, i could die in this closet, alone and then you know, it would be lonely.” 

 “are you serious?” 

  “oh come on! that’s pretty serious!”

  “it ── it really isn’t,” he’s trying to laugh as quietly as possible and you playfully slapped him in his shoulder. 

 “okay, well, i wouldn’t want to die alone.”

  “mhm, scaredy cat.” his smile is infectious and for a moment, he forgets that the two of you are stuck in a storage closet. maybe now would be the perfect time to kiss you, when it’s just the two of you, waiting to make your grand escape, when the two of your are just centimeters apart. 

  “now’s our chance,” he whispered, straightening himself to get out first just in case. he doesn’t want to act off of impulses. if he kisses you, he wants to make sure it’s because you want him too.

ii.

     “good to see you when you’re not acting like a goldfish who just hopped out of it’s bowl.” the familiar voice teased from behind you, hands folded behind his head. if it were anyone else, you might have tripped them.

  “──don’t you have to go buy hair dye now or something?”

  “no that was after i made sure a fisherman didn’t take you on the way home.”

  “is this what do you do on your spare time? think of jokes that revolve around my quirk?”  

  he rolls his shoulder lazily, leaning against the apartment railing across from your front door. “they come naturally, no extra thinking required.”

  “and here i thought all the hair dye went to your brain.”

   this wasn’t out of the norm for the two of you, he would make the first jab and then you would follow suit. sometimes, the bickering could go on for hours  ──  regardless of task at hand (like the time the two of you were trying to detain a villain and shinsou had told the woman you were a water sprite), it’s an old nickname of yours, he had given it to you back at the sports festival when you were kids. you had earned it when you had almost drown mineta because he wouldn’t stop making inappropriate jokes and you had brought the entire water fountain down on him. 

  as the two of you stood there in silence, you, had your back against your door, hands folded behind you while he stood parallel, arms against his chest he wonders: is this the time he kisses you goodnight? 

  “d’ya want to come inside? i have leftovers? we could pull an all nighter like we used to do back in the dorms?” there’s a hint of hopefulness in your eyes and he would feel like absolute shit if he declined the offer.

  “only because you have food.” 

  he doesn’t kiss you goodnight then. and he doesn’t kiss you goodnight when you fall asleep on his shoulder after the second horror movie either. if you were anyone else, he would’ve left without a care in the world, but it’s you and you are different. 

  so he stays and tells himself that tomorrow will be a new day and tomorrow, he can try again.

iii.

     “i don’t dance,” shinsou tells you as you so desperately tried to bring him onto the dance floor. it’s a hero’s gala, everyone from your respective classes at U.A. were here, pro heroes from all around the world and some of your old instructors as well  ──  these aren’t his thing, you know that. you remember his attitude during the first two hours of the third year’s ‘goodbye party’ - not much had changed. he’s taller, a bit more handsomer and smiles more often. 

  “you do tonight, come on.” while you had dragged him by one hand, the other desperately tried to loosen his tie because it feels like he’s suffocating. 

  “──you’ll be the death of me woman.” he’s mumbling under his breath, one hand resting in yours as the other found its place at your waist.

  “because i asked you to dance? might i say this is on your list of horrible ways to die?” you teased, offering him that infectious smile that makes him go weak in his knees. he hates to admit the pull you have on him  ──  he might even go as far as saying you might have him wrapped around that finger of yours and you don’t even know it yet.

  “if it’s by your hands i would say it’s a merciful death.”

  “a merciful death? i’ll keep that in mind.” 

  “don’t test your luck,” you know he’s only messing with you  ──  

  you’re to busy enjoying the moment to think of some witty comeback. it’s something about the way your hand seems to fit perfectly in his. or how the two of you are able to move in sync without any words spoken in between the two of you that’s driving you insane.

  if you would’ve told your past self that you would be slow dancing with the hitoshi shinsou at a hero’s gala while the world around you disappeared you would’ve laughed at the idea. it would’ve seem silly to you  ──  stupid even. shinsou and you weren’t rivals like you and bakugou were, but, you had always found yourself trying to one up him. 

  yet here you were, swaying to the slow tune as you managed to snake your arms around his midsection and rest a head against his chest. maybe this was his chance: with the little distance in between the two of you, dim lighting and dressed to the nines. surely, this would be a good memory to relive later down the road wouldn’t it? 

  but he wanted to savor the moment. so he decides it against it  ── despite the ache in his chest.

  iv.

     "we did it.” shinsou muses, an awkward hand offered in your direction for you to shake. it’s been six months but your agencies had finally shut down the smuggling operation and you could finally take the break you had so desperately needed. you weren’t sure what to do with the outstretched hand, but, you give in anyways, resting your hand in his as he gave it a firm shake.

  “pleasure doing business with you.” you tell him, lips curving into a bittersweet smile. teasing, bickering and ‘playful’ sparring aside, you were going to miss him. you were used to patrolling and doing missions on your own but this was different. 

  “try not to end up on the other side of fishing hook, yeah?” it’s his way of telling you to be careful in shinsou’s teasing nature.

  “make sure i’m the one to grant you the merciful death.” please be careful, is what you want to say. though you couldn’t bring yourself to say it aloud - if you did, it would only confirm that you care about the purple haired pro hero more than you should. 

  he shakes his head with a laugh, “you’re the only one who gets the satisfaction.” 

  “it better stay that way ‘toshi.” 

  he doesn’t know for certain if your agencies would cross paths again. your agency was closer to the waters and he was closer in the city, the chance that you would run into one another again would be slim to none. 

 he clears his throat for a moment, retreating his hand from yours and placing them at your waist instead. he’s pictured this a thousand times but now that he’s in the moment he couldn’t manage to find the right words. it’s frustrating, really.

  “──hi.” you’re holding your breath in anticipation, was this another one of his games? was he going to kiss you? tell you a secret? use his capture weapon and tell you that he’s not letting you go until you admit something embarrassing?

  he doesn’t care anymore. doesn’t care if it makes him look like a love sick idiot when he kisses you like it’s the last thing he’s about to do before he dies, he doesn’t care if anyone’s watching or for the wrinkles you’ll cause since you’ve got a fistful of his shirt in a desperate attempt to close whatever little distance the two of you had between you. 

  you pull away first causing him to pout (which was actually cute but you’d never give him the satisfaction of knowing that) but you do laugh.

  “you know,” he muses, a hand reaching up to rub at the back of his neck sheepishly, a habit you hadn’t seen in years. “──i didn’t want to let you walk away without something to remember, my little water sprite.” 

  you rolled your eyes at the choice of nickname but were flattered nonetheless, your own arms finding their way around his neck, “who said i was walking away?”

[batsandbugs]

A Kiss With a Fist

AN: Hey everyone another fic coming at you! This is for the Maribat Drabble Exchange hosted by @eat0crow I’m so excited to be participating! My fic was for @pixiebuggiewrites​ who wanted a Daminette soulmate fic. Sorry I couldn’t squeeze anybody else in here it was already getting pretty long! I hope you all enjoy! You can also read it here on ao3! (Pictures are NOT mine)

Damian stormed away from the hotel, aggressively zipping his coat. He didn’t care where he was going, only that it was away from here.

He didn’t want to be in Paris. He didn’t want to watch out for incompetent amateurs. He didn’t want to ‘control your anger, Damian’. He wanted to be sent home.

The calm night taunted him, the Parisian streets were too bight and too clean, resembling nothing like his dark city. He missed patrolling, he missed his animals, hell, a part of him (a small, barely negligible part he would never admit to) even missed his siblings. But no, he was stuck here, under his father’s orders until the situation in Paris drew to a conclusion.

Considering it took five years for outside help to be even called in, he had no clue how long the mission would last. He still hadn’t met the so-called-heroes of Paris, but the research he conducted showed they were ill-trained, undisciplined, and relying on so much luck it was a fucking miracle their city wasn’t a smoking ruin by now.

He sighed, sticking his hands deeper into the pockets of his coat. He regretted not grabbing his gloves in his storm out. He’d been so irritated at his father that even though the man was on the other side of a screen, half-way across an ocean, Damian needed to physically leave to calm his anger. It left him little time to grab essentials for a chilly winter night like a hat, or gloves. He considered himself lucky for remembering to grab a coat at all.

He wandered for a solid hour, the cold sinking into his bones chilling the raging inferno that always seemed to bubble inside him. By the time he no longer wanted to scream at anyone, he was sufficiently lost, considering he hadn’t taken his phone with him either.

Coming to rest on a bridge he took a seat on a small bench. He puffed a warm breath of air into his chilly hands rubbing them together. Nighttime in Paris was so… different compared to Gotham. While big cities never truly slept, this was positively peaceful in comparison to what he was used to. He hadn’t even heard a single sound of ruckus or distress, which seemed strange considering the city was currently besieged by a magical butterfly terrorist.

Damian inwardly scoffed. Butterfly terrorist. True, being a Gothamite meant no room to judge, but he found it hard to think of a stranger string of words.

He sighed; Damian didn’t even know what his father wanted him to do here. Sure, he knew French and was a proficient fighter, but what could that even lend to the situation? They needed a detective, and, as much as he hated to admit it, Drake would have been the better option in that department. Unfortunately, he was off-world. Grayson was dealing with a problem in Hong Kong with Cass. Brown was paired with the rest of the Sirens taking care of Gotham along with Batman, and Todd…

Well, even he recognized what an awful choice Todd would be against a villain who literally used strong negative emotions as his weapon of choice. Damian had a temper; Todd was a ticking-time-bomb.

A high-pitched screech cut through the night air, before being noticeably muffled. Damian was on his feet and running before he even mentally acknowledged it. The thud of his boots on the cobblestone bridge sent small shocks through his legs. Another large clatter directed him off to a side street a couple of feet away. Three men had cornered a tiny slip of a woman, who held her purse like a weapon.

Damian saw red. “Hey, why don’t you pick on someone your own size,” he yelled in French. There was one benefit to being in a foreign city, Damian did not have to play the part of a clueless rich kid who couldn’t hold his own in a fight.

The brutes turned to him and grinned mean smiles. One guy stepped forward. “Come on man, we’re just having a little fun. You can join if you-” Damian cut off the disgusting words with a jab to the nose. Then he spun around, sweeping the second guy’s feet from underneath him, hitting him with a punch to the face to knock him out cold. The first guy hadn’t lost consciousness, but he was doubled over which allowed Damian to knee him in the stomach. Another punch to the face and he was out cold too.

He turned to finish off the last guy, only to see the woman roundhouse kicking him to the head. The burly man fell with a thud. The alley turned eerily silent, the only sounds coming from the sharp breaths of both Damian and the girl. His pulse fluttered fast; the heat of the battle warmed his chilled limbs.

A red purse laid on the ground near his feet. Picking it up he walked over to the small woman, no teen she looked about his age, who was still sharply breathing.

“Here, this is-” a blur is all he saw before a sharp pain spread across his nose.

Did she-

Did she just punch him in the face?

The shock of it sent him sprawling onto the ground, and he blinked away the tears forming in his eyes. Damian cradled his throbbing nose, anger bubbled once more under his skin before-

*Zing*  

The connection hit him like a train. A deep well of rightness spreading through him. He looked up through bleary eyes to find the woman staring at him in similar shock.

“You’re my soulmate,” they sputtered at each other.

Damian inwardly groaned. The League made initiates kill their soulmate should they ever find them to prove their loyalty. He grew up never wanting to find his soulmate, knowing they would serve as nothing but a distraction and weakness. Even when he joined his father, the idea seemed an unneeded liability. Sure, his brothers found their soulmates within the superhero community, but what were the chances he would too?

A small whimper escaped the mouth of the guy lying unconscious on the ground, knocked out by the woman the universe thought would be the perfect match for him. Damian tilted his head. She might not be a superhero, but maybe the universe knew him better than he first imagined.

“OhmygoshIamsosorry!” the flood of words spilled from his soulmate’s mouth, her face a deep shade of red. “I was just-”

“Acting on instinct and adrenaline? Appropriate, considering the threat you just faced,” he said without anger. “Your right hook is sufficiently adequate.”

“Um… thanks? Are you alright though?” She extended a hand to help him off the ground. He took it, his larger hand enveloped hers, but she showed a surprising amount of strength as she pulled him up. The contact sent another *zing* through his body, smaller and more subdued though. Damian found himself reluctant to let go.

“Yes, yes, I’m fine.” He suffered worse in training before. With the initial pain dissipated, all that was left was a dull throbbing that would be gone by morning. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” she said with a bright smile. He took the chance to finally observe his soulmate. She was small, couldn’t be more than 5’2, which meant at 6’1 he towered over her. She was of mixed descent, with dark hair spilling over her shoulders, and bright blue eyes. Her arms and legs were toned with muscle, and she held herself with grace and confidence. She wore a face of tasteful makeup and was clothed in a short red dress and a pair of strappy heels with no jacket in sight. He had no clue how she wasn’t freezing to death.

Her smile dimmed a bit. “Actually, no, I’ve had better days. Today has kinda been a perfect disaster; first I’m late for school, then I forgot my homework, and my class bully decided it was a pick-on-Marinette day. There’s a three-hour Akuma fight, involving mind-control, which is always a total drag. I finally get home to find my parents worried sick about me because I hadn’t answered my phone which got destroyed at the beginning of the fight. I go to my class’s senior Valentine’s day dance hoping to finally confess to the guy I’ve had a crush on for years, only to get humiliated because he already has a girlfriend, and everyone else in my class knew and decided not to tell me. When I get away not to cause a scene, not only do I forget my jacket, but I also get attacked by three bumbling idiots with more mouths than brains.” She chuckled, hollow and verging on manic.

Damian stood there, unsure how to take all of that. He filed away the fact she was being bullied, and that she commonly dealt with Akuma attacks. Both equally important, as far as he was concerned.

“Now, here I am, standing in front of my gorgeous soulmate I punched in the face, after beating up said earlier idiots, rambling my mouth off because I don’t know the meaning of the word chill. Yep! I’ve certainly had better days. Ohmygoshimatotalmesskillmenow.” She muttered the last part into her hands, but Damian understood her all the same.

He would come back to the gorgeous thing later.

“…Do you want my jacket? You look cold.” It wasn’t the smoothest thing he could have said, nor the most appropriate considering the mess of a day she’d had. However, the manners Alfred drilled into his brain came knocking and if he was cold with a turtle-neck long-sleeved shirt and a jacket, she must be freezing in all that… nothingness. He averted his eyes from her exposed skin, looking at her face instead.

His soulmate looked at him for a long moment, before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

“You know what, yeah, a jacket would be nice,” she said in a tired voice. Damian shed his coat quickly, not minding the sharp sting of cold that hit him. He helped his soulmate into the sleeves and took an odd little pleasure in seeing how tiny she looked in the folds of his jacket.  

“I’m Marinette, by the way, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” She wrapped the jacket closer cuddling into the heat. “Sorry for kinda freaking out on you there.”

“The kind of day you’ve had has surely broken lesser mortals. Any coping method is your due. I’m Damian, Damian Wayne. It’s a pleasure to meet you Marinette.” He smiles, although the gesture feels odd, trying to appear non-threatening. While his soulmate (and maybe he was coming around to this faster than he thought possible) was obviously skilled at dealing with a variety of stressors, he didn’t want to add any more and risk her being akumatized.

“You as well Damian.” She shivered despite the added protection of his coat, as a gust of wind swept through the alleyway. “As much fun as this conversation has been, it might be best for us to get out of the cold.”

“Indeed. What will we do with these inconveniences?” he asked, poking one of the guys with the tip of his boot.

She sighed, picking her purse from the ground where he’d dropped it. “We’ll call the police to come pick them up. They’ll be cold, but fine.”

Damian scowled, “It’s better than they deserve.” He sneered at the guy who offered for Damian to join them. Join them in assaulting this tiny, bright girl, who’d been through enough. His soulmate. The bubbling rage began anew, and he wished he’d done more than just knock them unconscious, they deserved far worse for thinking, daring, to touch-

A small hand rested on his arm, dragging him out of his violent thoughts. “I’m fine Damian. Even if you hadn’t arrived, I would have been fine. I can hold my own in a fight. This is Paris after all.”

“Tt,” Damian scoffed. “Fine. We’ll leave them to their fates.” And if their fates happened to involve complete ruination of their online lives, credit scores, and secure information? Well, that was hardly his fault, now was it?

“There’s a good café opened late around the corner. Would you- would you like to go there?” Marinette asked.

Damian smiled at the tentative offer. “I would very much enjoy that, yes. I’ve been out for longer than I should, coffee would be great right about now.” She giggled and he felt his stomach flutter. Funny, giggling always annoyed him, but that bright clear sound... he could grow used to that.

Walking out of the dark alley, listening to Marinette talk to the police on her phone, Damian sighed. The streets no longer felt too clean, or the lights too bright. Yes, he was colder, and yes this was a complication, but for some reason, Damian could not bring himself to care.

Maybe Paris wouldn’t be so bad after all.

[undyingskies]

Jealous

Hello everyone, I am back yet again with another Charlie fic! I really enjoyed writing this one, it was a lot of fun! Also it’s long about 3,000+ words, I read over it and edited it as much as I could, so I really hope I caught all the mistakes! As usual I am happy to take requests, especially because I am starting to run low on ideas! Anyways, hope you enjoy! xoxo 

Warnings: None really, there is a little make out sesh but it’s not long!

_________________________________________

        Season 2 came before you knew it, even though it felt like the renewal of Julie and The Phantoms took forever. But the minute it got renewed to now felt like a whirlwind of activities that happened before you could even take a breath in.

Now it’s two months into filming and this is the first time you’ve been able to visit your boyfriend Charlie since the start of it. You had to finish your semester of school before you could come visit him, knowing that you’d never get any schoolwork done if you came to visit during the semester.

It was a long two months and you truly could not be happier to be sitting smushed between Charlie and Owen in the car heading to set at 6 am. Any other time you would have dreaded being up so early but it didn’t seem so bad with your boyfriend’s hand resting on your thigh and the bickering of the two boys.

“You guys have been up for maybe an hour and you seriously haven’t stopped to take a breath from whatever you guys are arguing about this time.” You laugh, while pointing it out, because seriously it started the minute they woke up this morning and hasn’t stopped.

“Y/N, I feel like you’ve forgotten the dynamic that goes on between these two and their early mornings. We have sleep beauty number 1 and 2 here!” Jeremy laughs from the front seat.

You know he’s right; these two boys bicker non-stop anyways but especially on early mornings since they both love their sleep.

“Thanks for coming to set today baby, I know you got in yesterday but I don’t think I would have been able to get much done today knowing you’re sitting at the apartment waiting for me.” Charlie whispers into your ear sending chills down your spine and butterflies to erupt in your stomach at his early morning voice.

“Of course, you know I wouldn’t miss it for a thing besides I miss the rest of the cast! I’m excited to see them!”

A smile takes its place on Charlie’s face and he leaves a small kiss on your neck before turning back to look at his phone.

You originally met Charlie on the set of Julie and the Phantoms season 1. You never wanted to be on the big screen or some big actor but the industry always intrigued you so you signed up with a local company to be an extra for sets. It let you travel, see the business, and put money in your pocket when you weren’t doing school.

You were an extra for the crowd scenes, so basically any time the band played you were there watching. One day before they started filming, you were watching Dirty Candy perform and without thinking you started doing the choreography with them. You had been a dancer for about 12 years but a bad knee injury took you out of the game. Your love for dance never stopped though so you really enjoyed watching them perform.

I guess the girls had noticed you doing the choreography so they approached you asking if you were a new dancer on set. Embarrassed that they caught you dancing, you let them know you weren’t, you just watched them so many times you had memorized it by accident.

The girls were really nice and you quickly took a liking to Savannah and Tori, they would ask you to hang out while they practiced because you could pick out little details to fix or make better. From there it turned into a beautiful friendship, they started inviting you to hang out off set and to all the hang outs with the rest of the cast. Then before you knew it, you were a part of the group and always attached to their sides.

When you first met Charlie, of course he got your attention, his cute smile and energy would grab anyone’s. You never really thought much of it after though, but you always did notice that he would always look at you and for a little extra longer, he paid a little more attention to you when everyone was talking as well as you, and he always seemed to smile just a little bigger when he’d pull you into a hug to say hello.

Then one day he asked you out, just like that. Savannah and Tori mentioned that they thought he was going too but you didn’t think he would. Nothing ever really happened between you two, it was just a friendship where you flirted sometimes, but like you said before you noticed those small things but didn’t think much of it.

Of course you said yes though, he looked so nervous and cute that you felt yourself fall almost immediately after that. Which pretty much happened, after your first date  there was another and then another, and then you guys were in a relationship and pretty much inseparable.

A tug to your hand pulls you out of your thoughts, you guys had arrived on set and Charlie was tugging you out of the car. Sometimes the boy forgets his own strength and he has you tripping out of the car. He laughs and stabilizes you by grabbing onto your hips. He looks down at you, placing a sweet kiss to your lips that was quickly interrupted.

“Is that Y/N  we see?” You hear Tori squeal followed by a “Yes that sure is.” from Savannah. Then they’re both next to you pulling you apart from Charlie and engulfing you in a group hug between the two girls.

It does feel good to be back with them, they quickly became two of your closest friends during your time as an extra on the show and you never lost touch with them either.

“Charlie, they need you in costume quick, they want to start as soon as they can to-Y/N!!” You hear your name yelled and arms wrap around your waist.

You turn to see the one and only Madison Reyes, you’re quick to wrap your arms around her as well. You loved the girl and she felt like a younger sister to you, she always came to you to talk and tell you secrets. You had really missed her even though she did facetime you about once a day.

“Mads it’s good to see you, I’ve missed you girly!”

“I’ve missed you too ya know, those facetime calls just don’t always cut it.” She laughs. “Anyways they do need us, they want to start filming as fast as they can today.” She says turning to Charlie and letting you go.

“Well you wouldn’t mind if we stole your girlfriend then would you Charlie since you’re busy?” Tori asks. “Besides you had her all yesterday, it’s our turn now.” You laugh at the girl’s words and turn to your boyfriend.

“I guess it’s alright, I’ll see you on set then? You said you’d watch our performance today.” Charlie says while pulling you in for one last hug before you depart.

“Of course, you know I wouldn’t miss that!” He places a kiss on your lips before he leaves with Madi and you with the girls. Who are both staring at you almost two excitedly.

“You two scare me sometimes, so much energy so early in the morning.” All of you laughing at your words. You follow them to the area where they will be filming but they have chairs and breakfast set up as well. You’re sitting with the girls, just drinking some coffee for the time being.

“So how has it been Y/N, does it feel good to be back around this craziness?” Savannah asks you.

“It’s been good, as far as life goes not much has changed since we all last talked! I finished the semester strong and only have two semesters left which is a relief. I hope when I’m done that means I will get to be around more and to travel with Charlie. And of course if feels good to be back! I’ve missed it and everyone really. I was bummed not to be able to re-sign to do extra work but I had to focus on school.” You tell the girls.

“Oh of course, we get that. Everyone here just misses you so much especially Charlie! As much as I am glad, you’re here so we can see you, I may be more glad because now we don’t have to hear him complain about how much he misses you.” You laugh at Tori’s words. The girls decided to actually send you quotes of the day that Charlie said about how much he missed you, that boy was quite dramatic but the quotes did end up being the highlight of your day more often than not.

You’re engulfed in conversation with the girls and don’t even realize the time flying by. They talk about the new season how it’s going, the new dances that they’re doing, your relationship and any other topic you could really think of.

A flash of orange catches your attention, you know that orange beanie like that back of your hand and you’re glad to see that it’s making its appearance in season 2. You follow the hat as it’s weaving through people and see it stop in front of the cameras.

Charlie’s eyes catching yours, he gives you his dazzling smile and wave in your direction before Kenny pulls his attention back to him but not before Kenny throws a wave in your direction as well.

“Well we got to go, we’re all in this scene but we’ll see you after!” Savannah says pulling you into a hug, Tori quickly following her movements.

Now you’re left alone, to watch the scene unfold in front of you. It really is so much fun to watch them all interact with each other on and off the screen. It’s such a wonderful dynamic they all have going on.

This scene is some scene at school, where Dirty Candy confronts Julie. Julie has the boys behind her giving her comebacks to all the jabs thrown her way from Carrie. It’s actually a funny scene watching the boys yell the things at Julie.

Take one, take two, take three, take four, and then a large grumble erupts from your stomach pulling your thoughts away from the scene before you.

You look down at your watch to check the time, it has been about two hours and you’ve been so distracted by everything that you forgot to eat. The moment of realization makes your hunger grow about ten times more. You quickly make your way over to the food table.

There’s donuts, brownies, cookies, some croissants, an assortment of chips, and some breakfast sandwiches. Honestly it all looked so good, and your stomach was telling you to get a bit of everything. The donuts and croissants calling your name the most, and maybe one chocolate chip cookie as well. You’re finishing up putting together your plate and grabbing a water when a voice startles you.

“I’ve never seen you before, are you new here?” You turn to see a boy, probably about your age, dressed in the schools letterman jacket.

“Oh no, not really.” You say with a smile, turning back to grab your water and food, to walk back to where you were sitting.

“Oh really? I guess I’ve missed you around here then, what’s your name?” He asks, following your lead and sitting in the chair across from you. Guess this conversation isn’t over, you think.

“Ya, I’m actually just visiting. I was an extra for the first season. It’s Y/N.” You say hoping that was the end, but nope.

“Oh cool, I’m Josh.” He says leaning in, reaching out his hand for a handshake while scooting closer to you. Almost too close and beginning to ask more questions.

Little did you know, that someone’s eyes were on you watching the whole situation. The longer Charlie watched the more he could feel the pit in his stomach growing. He didn’t like how close that guy was sitting next to you or the way every time you said something he would just lean that much closer.

The look in that guys eyes could have made Charlie stop in the middle of the scene and yell something, but he’s too professional for that. But that look, he knows what that looks means, that guy liked you and he didn’t understand why you weren’t stopping the conversation. The pit in his stomach now a giant hole and his ears and face on fire from anger or is it jealousy he thought.

“And cut. That’s the last take for this one, great job guys!” He hears Kenny yell and before anyone could talk to him, he’s got his eyes locked on you and walking straight towards you.

A pair of arms wrapped around your shoulder and a kiss to your neck scares you, pulling you out of the conversation that never felt like it was gonna end. You can see Josh’s eyes widen at the action that just unfolded in front of him and before he could say anything you hear Charlie pipe up from behind you.

“Hi baby, who’s this?” You can hear him ask in a tone you never heard before; he sounds upset?

“Oh um this is Josh; he was just telling me about the role he’s playing this season.”

Charlie reached his hand out to shake Josh’s hand.

“Well it’s nice to meet you Josh, it’s weird that I’ve never seen you before. I appreciate you keeping my girlfriend company while I was just a little busy.” You can practically hear the jealousy coming from his voice and you don’t miss how Charlie emphases the world girlfriend.

Josh visibly gets uncomfortable by his words.

“Oh ya man, sure. Sorry, she didn’t mention she was here for her boyfriend, just said she was visiting.” He says giving an excuse to why he’s so close to one of the stars of the show girlfriend.

“Oh she didn’t, interesting...” Charlie says trailing off and giving you a look you don’t think you’d ever want to see again.

“As much as I would have loved to bring up the fact, I had a boyfriend there wasn’t much of a moment for me to mention it between Josh’s story telling.” You say getting upset at Josh and Charlie’s actions. Sass and frustration evident in your voice.

You can see Josh’s cheeks get slightly red. Charlie is quick to grab your hand and start to pull you away with a quick,

“Well nice to meet you bud. We’ve got to be going now.” He says while still pulling you away.

The minute you’re out of sight and hidden behind a wall Charlie has you pinned against the wall and his lips on yours.

He doesn’t even give you a chance to catch up before he has his tongue swiping your bottom lip to get in. He’s quick to bite down on your bottom lip, a moan escaping you.

Your hands entangle in his hair pulling him closer, his hands gripping your hips pulling you up to have your legs wrap around his waist. Charlie moves his hands down to cup your butt giving it a slap as he starts to attack your neck with his lips.

You can’t help but lean your neck to the side giving your boy all the access he wants, basking in the feeling of his lips on your skin.

You’re pulled out of your little world when you hear voices and they sound like they’re getting closer.

“Char...Charlie, stop, someone... there is someone coming.” You struggle to get out as he keeps kissing your neck, you place your hands on his chest to give him a little push away. You’re able to get him to detach himself from your neck and place you back on your feet.

Two people walk past you guys giving you small awkward smiles, definitely knowing what was happening due how close you guys were standing, the mess that Charlie’s hair now is, and what you can only imagine is two pairs of swollen lips.

When they leave, he’s quick to attach his lips back to yours. But you place your hands on his chest pushing you away a little bit, even though it took everything in you to do so because man is that boys mouth magic.

“Baby, what’s going on? As much as I know you and your love for what’s happening, it’s never this public.” You ask, slightly concerned at your boyfriends behavior.

He shakes his head a little and moves his hand to rub the back of his neck, a pink tint appearing on his cheeks.

“I just, I don’t know thought it’d be fun.” He says not making eye contact.

“Oh that’s some BS Gillespie, what’s up?” You knew your boyfriend too well and that was a cop out answer.

“I just, I didn’t like how that guy was looking at you, or sitting so close to you and then he brought up how you didn’t say you were here for me and I just I don’t know...” He trails off still looking away sheepishly.

A small smile does form on your face as his words, you’ve never seen Charlie get jealous and truthfully it was a little cute.

“Oh so someone was jealous?” You ask with a little laugh.

“What me? Jealous? No, never!” Again, he’s trying to brush it off; but with the lift of your eyebrows he knows you’re not buying it.

“Fine, I was jealous okay? I know it’s bad to be jealous but whatever...”

“Actually, I think it’s pretty cute.” You say with a little laugh, grabbing onto his arm to pull him closer to you.

“Really?” He asks with his signature smirk and that tone of cockiness he just always seems to sport just a little. He now has his arms wrapped around your waist pulling you just that much closer, if it’s even possible.

You give him a nod and lead his lips back down to yours to interlock them again. This time he pulls away but leaves his forehead leaning on yours.

“I love having you here, even if it means you get hit on by gross extras.” You laugh at his words and the fact that his insult is what a twelve-year-old would come up with.

“I love being here, you know that. I really did miss you.”

“I missed you too sweet stuff, just don’t forget you’re here to see your very handsome boyfriend.” You both laugh together at his words.

“How could I ever forget? Plus it seems like if he thinks so he gets a little jealous and I don’t mind the outcome of it.”

“Oh shut up, you’re my girlfriend just gotta make sure everyone knows.” You roll your eyes at his words and he leans down again to place another kiss on your lips.

“Yep, your girlfriend and don’t you forget it.”

You both laugh again as you pull him in for another kiss. Your boyfriend may be a little crazy but you wouldn’t change it for the world because nothing feels better than being able to be back in his arms and laughing in between sweet kisses.

[hobblywobbly]

What is Love (don't hurt me now) - Lokius

Loki's crush on Mobius is obvious to everyone except himself and self-assigned romance expert Casey decides to step in. (ft. nonbinary casey, casey pov, trashy romance novels, and two idiots trying to figure out what love is)

There aren't many things that Casey knows- the cons of living a life behind a desk. Quite literally. Things like fish, trees, rocks, flowers were all abstract terms only ever heard in passing, but if there was one thing they knew it was this. "You're in love with him!"

"I beg your pardon?" The god's brows furrow as he halts his movements, sandwich halfway to his mouth. Casey never thought they'd ever become friends with the guy- heck, they still weren't fond of him! He got their cart pruned, and threatened them! But Loki was definitely interesting and, despite everything, he actually cared. He would sit and listen as Casey rambled about work or their coworkers and always took the crust from Casey's sandwiches or brought him an extra juice box when working 'late.' Yeah, they'd consider Loki a friend.

“You are!" Casey repeats this time with more vigor. "I knew I wasn't just seeing things!"

"What are you talking about?" Loki sets his lunch down and sighs. "

You and agent Mobius! You two are in love with each other!"

"No," he holds up a finger. "No, you're getting it wrong. We are partners- coworkers- how do you know love, but not know what a fish is?"

"Oh, that's easy!" Digging through their satchel bag, Casey sets down a novel onto the table. "So remember how I told you some of the stuff that gets brought in we can keep?" "You'd be surprised just how many of these are brought in!" Casey beams. They watch Loki take the book reading over the cover curiously.

"To Tame a Variant?" Loki reads out loud, the bewilderment clear in his voice.

"That one Mobius lent me-"

"What?!"

"It's a good book!" The book is, rather carefully, laid back onto the table, three fingers perched on top, piercing blue eyes squinting at Casey.

"Horrible tastes aside-"

"Hey!"

"This-" he taps the book. "Is not what love is. It's what bored, suburban middle-aged women going through a mid-life crisis read."

Casey takes a moment before realizing the jab was directed toward them. "...hey, what does that mean-"

"And for that, I have decided this cheap excuse of a meal from the vending machine is much more engaging than whatever conversation you are trying to drag me into." Casey watches Loki lean back triumphantly in his chair.

He sips his water.

"So you're in denial!" Casey shrinks away when the water is ungracefully spat out across the table. "You almost got that on my shirt!"

"Me?" Loki coughs and gestures to himself. "In denial?"

"Yeah? It's called pining! You have all the signs! Just the other day you wrote him a letter, and got embarrassed when he read it out loud!"

"First of all, it wasn't a letter. It was a memo. Strictly professional! And I was /not/ embarrassed." Loki crosses his arms. Now, Casey isn't stubborn, nor do they strive to always be right, but if there is one thing they don't like it's when a love story's slow-burn goes on for too long. And sometimes one must take matters into their own hands.

"Whenever he leaves a room, you always sigh." Loki raises a brow.

"Am I not allowed to breathe!"

"Yes, but it's always so-" as an example, Casey sighs, mimicking Loki. "Wistful! Like that!"

"...that doesn't mean anything." Despite his words, Loki seems engaged, or at least taking Casey's observations into consideration.

"You two tangle your legs together under the desk all the time!"

"That's because Mobius has no regard for personal space."

"And you let him borrow your jacket!"

"Mortals get colder easier than gods."

"And the way you say his name it's so-"

"I can tell you this, Casey," Loki begins. "Is that, with all certainty, I am not...'in love' with Mobius, or whatever you believe."

"Have you ever been in love before?" That has him visibly stop. Casey wonders if they said something wrong until they can see the gears turning in his head. Almost giddy, Casey leans over the table, trying to get Loki to look over. "You haven't, have you?" Loki huffs and turns away.

"I don't see how this has any relevance."

"This changes everything!" Casey beams. "Think about it!"

"...well," Loki starts staring past Casey at the wall in thought. "I...I haven't had the...best role models when it comes to the 'romance' department. So I guess I'm just as lost on the subject as you are."

This is much more exciting than any paperwork, and they hadn't even known that was possible!

"So maybe it isn't love just yet. Not all romances begin with love at first sight, you know! Maybe you just have a crush!"

"A...crush." He rolls the word around on his tongue, face pinched. "I...guess crush would be the word."

"Crush what?" A third voice chimes in causing Casey to shriek and nearly jump out of their seat. A hand grasps their shoulder, steadying them. "Sorry about that." Loki seems dumbstruck. It's the closest Casey can get to. He is just staring wide-eyed at Mobius as if seeing him for the first time, eyebrows lifted just the slightest. "I just came to get Loki. We have an emergency, and I thought you might enjoy the trip."

"Don't think I haven't forgotten my plan on burning the TVA down," Loki says as if nothing had ever been wrong, grabbing his jacket off the chair and standing. Casey takes note of the fond smile he sends toward Mobius who returns it. "Thank you for the talk, Casey. It was...enlightening."

"You still haven't said what you plan on crushing." Casey hears Mobius saying as the two head toward the cafeteria doors.

They walk side by side, Loki's head tilted and their shoulders nearly bumping with each step. It was as if they had been sucked into their own little world. Loki says something and Mobius laughs, shoulders shaking with mirth, head turned up to him. And Loki smiles back, relaxed and staring at him warmly. Casey tucks their book back into their bag.

At least this time lunch wasn't a complete disaster.

[guiltgoreglory]

Heat Waves (Chapter 1: A Warm Welcome)

(Very) Brief Summary: Reader is a government contractor joining the team in Benghazi.  (Eventual Tanto x Reader) (2,684 words)

Chapter 2

Foreword: In this series, the reader will be loosely based off of Nikita from the TV show Nikita (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikita_(TV_series)). The reader has an extensive background in black-ops and is currently an independent contractor working with the department of defense in coordination with the executive branch. If you have any questions about the character, feel free to reach out to me and I can clarify. The story will generally follow the plot of the movie with the exception of a few scenes. Lastly, the POV will shift throughout the story, a change in POV will be signaled by a line.

Author’s Note: Hey guys! I have a full plot already set up but it has been a long time since I’ve written a fic. I’m so sorry if the writing is kinda shitty but I really wanted to get it down in writing. I hope you like it!

You closed your eyes and rested your head against the headrest, trying to find an ounce of comfort in the cramped seat. The dull hum of the plane was cut through by various murmurs amongst the travelers. After a minute or two, you deemed the effort fruitless, letting out a frustrated sigh. Instead, you opened your eyes and looked out the window, watching as the monotonous view trailed by. For the next several weeks, maybe even months, you’d once again become acclimated to discomfort. This shitty seat is probably as good as it gets, you thought. The department will likely have you shacked up in some storage closet on a grimy 20-year-old cot. You have had worse and at least you’d be occupied. 

Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed Silva shift. You turned, watching him from a row back, across the aisle. He grimaced as he took off his wedding ring, putting it into a small metal container. He didn’t appear to notice your gaze as you turned your attention back to the window, the heat already radiating in. You felt sorry for him. Leaving people behind is never easy, especially kids. Luckily, you didn’t have that problem. 

As the plane began its descent you skimmed the team comp in your head. You’d been thoroughly briefed on the contractors, on top of all the research you had done on your own. You were joining alongside Jack Silva. A family man in real estate. Pushed to fly back overseas for the money to support his family. From all that you had seen, he’s a good guy. He seemed to be good company. It’ll be nice to not be the only strange face, you thought.

You readied yourself. Benghazi is far worse than most believed. Ever since the department even suggested you might be helpful here, you’d been keeping track of the chaos. It was only a matter of time before it erupted into a full-blown civil war. 

As the landing zone came into view you checked your hijab, making sure not a hair was out of place. You wore a casual white button-down shirt with a gray tank top underneath. You unfolded the sleeves, covering as much of your skin as possible. Given the heat, you’d love to run out in something a little more breathable, but the beige cargo pants would have to do. Next, you checked your “cello” case that sat in the seat next to you. Moving the strap towards you for a quick and effortless disembark. Being you had its perks, one of which was bringing some of your own firepower. 

You cracked your neck as a familiar ding came over the com. 

“Welcome to Benghazi.”

_

The two men settled into the car, watching over all the civilians walking past. Rone leaned forward, pulling a handgun out of the back of his pants. “It’s loaded.” Jack accepted the gun readily, cocking it within his lap. 

“How’s the team here?” 

“Good. Three ex-marines, one ex-army ranger. It’ll be nice to have some more team guys around.”

Jack briefly glanced back at Rone. “Guys?”

“Yeah. We’re waiting on one more before we head out.”

“You work with him before?”

“Nope. Defense department assigned her.”

Jack furrowed his brow slightly, pursing his lips in surprise. “Alrighty then, what’s she look like?” Jack looked more intently for another westerner standing out like a sore thumb. 

“No idea. I’ve been told that she will find us.”

“Oh how ominous.” A smile tugged at the corner of his lip. 

Rone hummed in agreement as he eyed the rearview mirror. Out of the crowd, a body began to beeline towards the car. “Think that’s her.”

Jack nonchalantly stretched, turning towards the back of the car to catch a look. 

_

You approached the dust-covered truck, already craving shade from the burning sun. Your sunglasses did little to protect your eyes from the glare off of the ground. As you got closer, you could see Tyrone eying you from the side mirrors. You adjusted the straps of both your cello case and your duffel, making sure not to make any sudden movements. You made your way to the driver’s side door, turning to face him. “You Tyrone?” you asked, knowing full well it was.

“Yes, Ma’am. And you are?”

“Y/N.”

“Nice to meet you, Y/N. Hop in.”

You nodded, moving back towards the rear of the car. Swinging the back door open, you threw your stuff onto the ground next to the seat. Leaving just enough room for you to climb in. As you sat down, you angled yourself towards Jack so that you could have a proper introduction. He noticed your movement, turning back to face you. He reached out his hand for a handshake. 

“Jack Silva”

You took his hand. “Y/N.” 

He settled back into his seat as Rone started the car. “Just Y/N?”

“Just Y/N.” You affirmed. 

As Rone made his way through the city they began to catch up, making friendly jabs at each other. You yanked your duffel towards you, rummaging through the various clothes. You could feel Jack’s eyes peeking at you ever so often through the mirror, making sure you weren’t doing anything unsavory. Trust is earned.  Finally, you found your shoulder holster. You unbuttoned your shirt, throwing it on the seat beside you. You put on the holster, adjusting the straps as needed so that it sat comfortably. After you were satisfied you again began to look through your luggage, pulling out two black pistols. You loaded a magazine into both of the guns. The sound quickly drew the attention of both men as the conversation briefly paused before they returned to their conversation. You paid them no mind, knowing that any response would probably make them more antsy. You then cocked them before placing them within your holster. Grabbing your shirt, you put it back on, leaving it unbuttoned. It was opaque enough to conceal your firearms as long as no one looked too close. 

“So, Y/N,” Rone directing the conversation towards you, “The Defense Department didn’t tell me much about you. What branch you from?” 

You turned from watching out the side of the car. “Covert operations.” 

That definitely piqued his interest. Jack let Rone do the questioning, but it was clear he was just as curious as him. 

“Alright. SEAL Team?”

“Uh, no. It’s a little more complicated.”

“Oh I get it, you’re on some James Bond shit huh.” He chuckled to himself as you smiled and rolled your eyes.

“Pretty much.”

Rone left the questioning there, knowing he’d probably not get much more of an answer, at least not until you’d come to know him a bit better. The two of them shared a look before the car came to a sudden stop. 

“Shit. No, no, no, no, no this isn’t good.” Rone’s body tensed as he assessed the situation. 

Civilians began to run around the car, whimpering in fear. You straightened up, readying for a shit show. You positioned yourself in the middle of the back, between the two men so you could see as much as possible through the windshield. 

“Fuck.” Rone’s discomfort quickly seeped through his cool resolve. “Who the fuck are these guys?” 

“What do we got?” Jack stayed still, his eyes scanning over the various armed men.

“Brigade we coordinate with, February Seventeenth Martyrs. This ain’t them.” He looked back past you and he switched into reverse. Moving back a few feet, the path was blocked and the car jolted forward. “Shit we’re boxed in.”

You settled on your knees, carefully unclipping the straps keeping your guns in place, just in case. Both men leaned out of the window. Jack looking up towards the man on the balcony readied to run.

“We bailing?” He asked, voice calm and collected.

Rone, giving no response, pulled out his radio. “Base this is Rone. Come in, over.”

“This is Base, go Rone.”

“I’m in a Jam off Fifth Ring Road. I’m lookin’ at about 8 armed tangos here.”

“Copy that, sit tight.”

“Sit tight, that’s great advice.” Everyone in the car became increasingly more agitated as the armed militia made its way in your direction. 

You took a deep breath. “If we’re bailing we gotta do it now.” You glanced at your bags. You could leave the duffel. There wasn’t anything particularly important in there. The case on the other hand couldn’t be lost to a rampant terrorist cell, if you did, the government would be up your ass about it for at least another 10 years. You fidgeted slightly, knowing that the opportunity to flee was about to pass.

Jack clenched his jaw. “They got a KPV.”

Fuck this is bad. 

“Base we ain’t got all day.”

“Hey, Rone. They’re trying to get Feb 17 to back you up, but we’re coming.”

Deeming that transmission utterly useless, Rone whipped out his cell. “Oz I’m in a jam of Fifth Ring.”

“Ty.” Jack interjected as the men became uncomfortably close.

“Rone, 17 Feb QRF is being alerted.”

“Fuck that, the only Quick Reaction force I want is my guys.” Without an immediate response, Rone continued on. “Send them. I want my guys.” He said more adamantly. 

“Negative, Rone. Just hang in there.”

“Maybe I’m not making myself clear. I’m looking at multiple radical insurgents with AKs and a 50-cal technical set to blow my rover all the way back to Zimbabwe. Over.”

You watched as a man dressed in a disheveled suit made his way around the vehicles and debris. He’s the big guy.

“It’s not my call, brother.”

Goddamnit. Looks like we’re either talking our way through this, or we go out quick. The thought gave you the slightest bit of comfort.

Rone looked towards Jack frustrated. You could sense he felt an inch of guilt for getting his friend stuck in this hellhole.

“Here we go.” Jack said nonchalantly as he could given the circumstances.

You crossed your arms, giving yourself easy access to your handguns without looking too conspicuous. A man stood at the front of the rover, yelling something you couldn’t understand. He pointed his AK right at you, maybe it wasn’t on purpose but you couldn’t help but mentally scoff. Well, that’s not very nice.

“Welcome to Benghazi.”

The man in front banged on the hood as the leader moved towards the driver’s side window. Jack raised his hands up innocently as Rone smiled at the man. 

“Salaam.” Rone raised his badge up to the man in the suit as he gazed at him incredulously. “Libyan visa. Official. Libyan government.” The leader looked him up and down. 

The guy with the AK was now in Jack’s face. His gaze shifted forward, doing his best to remain calm despite the barrel of a gun being inches from his forehead.

“Friendly? Hm? Friendly?” Rone again gestured with his badge.

Rone whatever game you’re playing it better fucking work because last time I checked a friend of Al-Qaeda is no friend of ours. You did your best to blend into the back of the car, feigning as the harmless woman. 

“Pull over for inspection.” The leader said sternly.

Rone shook his head. “No.” 

“Pull over for inspection!” He was now angry, his voice shaking with every word.

Alright, this is how it’s gonna go. You crept your hands slightly closer to your guns.

Rone’s voice remained steady. “I’m sorry, sir. I can’t do that.”

The man at Jack’s door yelled once more. Banging his palm against the dirty surface. Then the slightest movement came from Jack. 

It’s showtime. You thought. You gripped your pistols and whipped them forward, pointing them as the secondary soldier positioned at the front of the rover. Jack and Rone acted similarly with Jack’s gun pointed across at the leader, and Rone’s gun pointed at the soldier beside the door. The soldier at the front adjusted his AK, pointing it more fervently towards the car. 

“Look up.” Rone pointed towards the sky with his empty hand, never moving his gaze from the leader’s eyes. “Go ahead, look up.” Some of the aggression left the leader as he looked towards the sky, confused. “You see the drone?” The man looked back down. “No? That’s okay. The drone sees you.”

Nice play, Rone. You thought to yourself. A couple of Americans? No problem. We don’t pose that much of a threat. But good ol’ American air support? Now that carries a little weight. 

“Sees your face. We know who you are.”

Jack, facing the soldier at his door, swallows hard. Keeping with Rone’s power play, he maintains eye contact.

“If anything happens to us, your home, your family, boom, gone. Give us the order to let us go.”

Jack, looking past the AK in his face, doesn’t flinch as the soldier gestures with his gun.

 “I want the car!” 

Within a brief moment, Jack and Rone switched their aim, with Jack now pointing his handgun at the soldier and Rone at the leader. You flinched ever so slightly at the movement, but you remained steady, watching for any worrisome movement amongst the militia. Adrenaline pumped through your veins as you could feel your heart pounding in your chest. You ignored the harsh metal of the rover digging into your knees. This was your guys’ only shot to make it out of this cramped alley. They had to think your little caravan of three had the power of the entire U.S. military revolving overhead when in reality, you were just three Americans with a couple of guns in the middle of fuckin nowhere.

“No, I’m not gonna do that.” Jack shakes his head, leaning forward towards the man. The energy around the car was beginning to shift. Despite the KPV having enough firepower to destroy your car, and about 5 cars behind you, you three possessed the upper hand. They recoiled at the barrel of your guns, not the other way around.

The leader’s eyes began to soften, his harsh exterior falling at the thought of losing everything. For a moment, you actually pitied him. “I earn the right to decide the future of my country.” You understood the sentiment behind his words. Once again the U.S. had shoved itself into the center of a country, with no right to do so. But you, and the men sat beside you, just wanted to keep others safe. You had no agenda.

“You’re talking to the wrong guy. How willing are you to die for your country? I’m ready to go right here, right now.” Easy, Tyrone. Don’t push it too far. 

The leader’s frown deepened as he considered the weight of Rone’s words. He slowly backed away from the car. “Leave here. While you still can.”

You stopped yourself from relaxing your figure even though it felt like the weight of the world had just been lifted off your shoulders. Rone leaned back into his seat, beginning to maneuver the car between the debris. Jack slowly lowered his pistol to the door as the car inched forward. You followed suit and lowered your guns into your lap. You could hear the leader yelling to his men, and their posture relaxed enough to show they weren’t an immediate threat. Air filled your lungs for the first time in what felt like 5 minutes, before you looked behind through the dusty back window, making sure the leader was true to his word and you weren’t about to get shot in the back. You settled back onto your seat, leaning back against the warm metal. You debated holstering your weapons but decided it was best to have them at the ready until you were within the walls of the base.

“We got air support?” Jack’s voice was calm but demanding. You knew the answer to his question but left Rone to give him the bad news. Rone didn’t take his eyes off of the road as he did his best to make it back to base in one piece. 

“We don’t have any fucking support.”

[bella-caecilia]

Silver 😍

Thank you for the prompt! I tried to include as many symbols as possible but I chose object of all desires as the main theme. It turned fluffier than I intended (maybe too fluffy but… meh idc) and for all the suckers for angst out there, angsty drabbles will come as well 😉 This drabble is set somewhere in series 1.

Silver – Object of all Desires

The remaining hours and minutes of the day trickled by as the family spent the moments after dinner in the drawing room together. Today it was just Robert, Cora, and the girls. That didn’t mean there was more peace in the room than with Mama and Mrs Crawley present because Mary and Edith managed to perform arguments nearly as full of blows as the elder ladies.

Robert leaned his weight more fully against the mantelpiece. With his right hand, he swirled the amber liquid in his tumbler. His eyes only shortly locked with the lulling warm colour of his drink before they sought the enchanting vision across the room again. Cora sat calmly on the edge of a settee, her shoulders and back portraying a straight posture with seemingly effortless grace. Her soft gaze wandered through the room, her expression relaxed, unbothered by the hostile jabs between her daughters. For a moment it seemed to Robert as if Cora didn’t belong in the setting around her. Her sparkling gown reflected the lights from the chandeliers and highlighted her porcelain taint. Her mind was far away, her expression one of tranquil absence. Only her celestial appearance was placed in the room.

Her gaze went to the dark windows. With something like longing, she observed the dark gardens, bathed in the light of the waxing moon. Robert could easily picture how she wandered the grounds in her thoughts as an attempt to escape the disharmonic family evening. He did not begrudge her. Robert knew that Cora’s thoughts were always with her daughters, lately even more so. It occupied her – as it probably should – to ensure them a promising future, to find them cordial matches. But it wasn’t easy he knew, and Cora took this task very serious, in a different way, though, than Mama had done. Cora’s commitment was not mainly based on the obligation to secure the family’s decency (as was Mama’s main driving force) but on a simple power that stood behind nearly all her actions, and it was love. Simply love. Robert had needed a while to understand that her pure kind of love was a heaven-sent gift, not something foreign and improper. It was an unbelievable strength that he wouldn’t underestimate this easily again. But Cora’s love toward all people made matchmaking for their daughters a very absorbing task for her. To see her being able to tune out for a change was reassuring for Robert. She needed that pause once in a while.

“I think everyone might look for something else,” Sybil’s voice reached his ears. “It isn’t wrong if Mary wants something else from marriage than you, Edith,” she tried mediating her sisters’ argument.

Edith turned her face away but Robert could see her annoyed and resigned expression. She wasn’t entirely defeated but it was Edith’s way of miffed and hurt resilience that wasn’t particularly nice to witness. Somehow, it made people look away.

“I think I’ve had enough straining company today,” Mary declared. Her straight shoulders and slightly snobbish look build a tight wall like a Mary-own armour around her. She smoothed her skirts as she got up from the sofa and turned to Cora to nod at her, bidding her good night, but Cora was distracted. Distracted by the tranquillity of the night outside.

“Good night, Mama,” Mary said. Cora’s head turned around slowly, and it took a moment until a soft smile appeared on her features after her daughter’s words had sunken in.

“Good night, my dear.”

Sybil’s look sought Edith who still sat huffily in the corner of the settee.

“Well,” Sybil looked between the three remaining possible conversation partners. Apparently, all not very promising prospects. “I think I’ll call it a night too,” she concluded. “What about you, Edith?”

Edith got up without words, and the girls left the room one after the other.

“Good night!” Robert called after them and sat down his glass on the cold mantelpiece.

When the sound of the departing steps of three pairs of ladies’ heels was swallowed by the closing door, Cora rose from the settee and went to the high windows. She was seeking the direct light of the moon as if she was pulled there by a string. Robert followed her slowly because she exerted the same force on him as the moon did on her. Cora mesmerised him. Somehow, this night in particular. He felt a little silly that he couldn’t take his eyes off his wife. He knew her by heart. How could there be something that he hadn’t seen until now? But here she was, wandering in front of him wordlessly from window to window, in and out of the silvery light, and every time the moon illuminated her again it highlighted another part of her. Once it was the gentle slope of her nose, another time it was the fine hair in the back of her neck. And always, the light was captured and reflected by her glittery gown. Robert wouldn’t have said it was a silver gown when Cora had come down for dinner wearing this dress but it certainly was silver now. He couldn’t even tell if she had worn it already some time, and he wouldn’t even have said that it was a particularly pretty gown. An ideal dress for a simple dinner with family. But in the moonlight, it was transformed, and it shone, and it flowed around Cora’s curves nicely, and it lured him into Cora’s immediate vicinity.

When Cora halted and turned a little, Robert’s thoughts returned to reality, at least a little. He now saw where Cora had guided them. He didn’t know if it was her intention to bring him here as well, maybe she was still as absentminded as he was until now. She stood in front of the double-doored floor level windows that served as an exit to the gardens. Only slowly Cora’s hand found its way onto the brass door handle where it rested for a moment.

“Let’s go outside for a moment,” Robert proposed in a soft tone.

Cora turned to him, ripped from her thoughts. The look on her face showed that it hadn’t been her real intention to leave the house. She really had just been dreaming, wandering in the garden in her mind, just as Robert pictured her doing it several minutes ago.

The surprised look on her face turned into a gleaming smile. The corner of her mouth only twitched ever so slightly but the brimming of her eyes held all the more joy.

“Would you really like to?” Cora asked quietly. She provided him with an inquisitive look. She knew very well that Robert wasn’t up to adventures in the evening when they weren’t up in her room already. Nightly strolls through dark rooms or moonlit gardens were usually put off as hokum by him when it came up as a rare suggestion from her. Going out into the gardens was something they had done on long ball nights when they had been exhausted from all the social interactions and the dancing, and when they sought some time alone. Going out when they were at home was something Robert saw no sense in. ‘We could very well just go upstairs if we want to be alone, Cora,’ he had argued. And enjoying the outdoors, as had been her next argument, could be much better done by daylight, he had said.

So, Cora was all the more astonished when Robert answered without as much hesitation, “Of course, I’d like to.”

He reached out his arm and put his hand on hers on the door handle. Gently he pressed onto the back of her slender hand. Robert could watch Cora hold her breath while he slowly moved their hands to turn the handle and open the door. Her eyes didn’t leave his and her body was tensed in anticipation. At this moment Robert got the thrill of taking night walks. Maybe it was the intense presence of the nearly full moon that bathed everything in a supernal way, maybe it was Cora’s very own radiance. Robert enjoyed it one way or the other.

A fresh breeze met them when the crack of the door grew wider.

“It’s a beautiful night,” Cora whispered as she half-stepped outside with her covered hand still on the handle. Robert followed close behind her.

“It sure is,” he breathed into her ear, being close behind her back. He only shortly saw the silvery leaves of the box hedges in front of them when his gaze was pulled to the bobbing fine curls in the back of her neck. They had adopted a light silver sheen as well. The finest of hairs even seemed to have shining transparency, as if the light of the moon had sucked all its chocolate colour from it and had furnished it with its magical silver essence.

Cora walked into the gardens and her treads got lighter with every single step into the shiny coated green. But as soon as Robert lost her contact, because her hand slipped so easily from his, his heartbeat climbed and the gentle wind made him freeze and shiver. He hurried to follow her. She seemed determined to keep walking but her wandering look revealed that she had no specific plan.

With quick strides, Robert caught up to her. “Give me your hand, Cora,” he said in a hushed voice. He didn’t dare to speak in a louder tone. It seemed unbefitting for the bewitched situation. Cora looked at him over her shoulder, and her hand found his waiting one assuredly. Her soft grin was warm despite the cold light and it seemed to transport gratitude she had when it came to him initiating a display of affection. Whenever he showed his softer side, Cora was grateful, and Robert thought she shouldn’t have to be. She deserved all the affection and loving in the world. She should never think otherwise. Her conscious gratitude showed that it wasn’t self-evident. He squeezed her hand to ban any uncertainty at least for this moment. He hoped he would be able to continue being worthy for her overflowing love and, God, her radiant, seraphic self.

Cora pulled him through hedges here and onto tight paths there, and then they reached a tiny pond. It was a pond Robert regularly forgot existed. It wasn’t exactly spectacular. Only one single fish of the prior population the gardener had placed there had survived. It was a plump and ponderous companion. Its greenish-grey scales seemed dull at day. Now Cora approached the small body of water until her shins touched the edge of the pond so that she could kneel on it if she wanted to.

“Look at him, Robert,” she whispered. They were silent for a while. Only the gentle sounds of the wind caressed their ears. “That is his hour. It’s his time to shine.” She pointed to the fish as if he was a long-known fellow, as if she knew him. And the fish really shone. Like a magical creature, it made its sluggish rounds in the circular pond. It reflected the shimmering light at least as much as the slightly moved surface of the cold water. It was impressive but it was not for long Robert’s focus.

“No,” he replied lowly. “It’s yours. Your time to shine. You’re radiant, Cora.”

“Robert,” she breathed. Her eyes flickered over his face. Her cheeks darkened a little, as much as Robert could tell. “Something has gotten into you tonight.”

“I blame it on you.” His thumb caressed the back of her hand. “You’re charming me tonight with your spell.”

Cora chuckled. She shook her head in adoration. “I hope it isn’t only for tonight,” she teased.

“No, it’s not,” he said, and his free hand encircled her waist. “This spell has been over me for a very long time you have to know,” he explained.

“I see,” she nodded conspiratorially. One of her hands came to rest on the row of buttons on his upper chest. “If Carson gave you something special for a drink tonight, I’ll ask him to do it more often in the future.” Cora tipped her head to the side, and Robert could watch the long expanse of her neck exposed to the smooth light. Slowly he moved his head forward.

“That won’t be necessary. I have no doubt I’ll stay intoxicated long enough…” he whispered against the sensitive skin of her neck. His lips slowly descended onto the warm skin. He gave it a very light kiss before he exerted the ever so gentle suck on her skin. “… if you allow me to drink the alluring scent of your skin, my darling.” Cora sighed and closed her eyes. This was answer enough for Robert. He buried his face in the crook of her neck. He started planting a few kisses there but soon he found himself just breathing in her sweet warmth. Their joined hands were pressed between their bodies, Cora’s other hand hold onto Robert’s dress shirt and her head rested against his temple. The couple took their time relishing their nearness. And Robert didn’t exactly feel like doing more. Not out here in the light of the observant celestial body above them. In the warmth of her room, Robert could show Cora more of his affection, other aspects of it. But now their close embrace was enough.

A low splash reminded them of the presence of the fish and of their surroundings.

“I don’t want it to be over,” Cora whispered as quietly as the wind. Robert could only catch her words because his head was just beside her lips.

“Shh,” he tried to soothe her.

Even if this moment of pure magic was momentary – it had been their young years that had consisted of so much of this magic – and if tomorrow the daily life with its struggles and triviality would return, this moment right now would be relished fully. Robert felt that it wasn’t a temporary glare, it was real magic. He just had to look at Cora to know.

[heytherejulietx]

hey love! i can ask a fred weasley x reader that fred is going to meet the family of the reader and they seem to be serious and "shady" people but are actually super funny and attentive? and reader’s sister talks about how she kept talking about him? i’m sorry if he got a little confused 🤡 . thanks, stay safe! 💙😼

Nervous ~ Fred Weasley

Masterlists

Notes - I loved writing this one so much ahhhh! Thanks so much for the suggestion, I hope this is what you had wanted! 💜

Warnings - None.

Word count - 1.4k.

“Are you sure they’re going to like me?” Fred asked as he looked down at his girlfriend, looking nervous. He’d fixed his hair almost a thousand times on the train journey to Y/N’s house, and fixed his shirt collar almost double that. It was clear that he was nervous about meeting her family - but she hadn’t been anywhere near as nervous when meeting his.

“It’ll be fine, Freddie.” Y/N assured him with a smile, gently rubbing his arm with her free hand. “They’re going to love you, okay? Honestly it’s going to go great. My sister is dying to meet you.” She giggled quietly as she continued walking towards her house.

“I know, but... wasn’t your dad involved with the Death Eaters not too long ago?” Fred asked almost hesitantly.

“Bollocks.” She scoffed. “My dad talks to Lucius bloody Malfoy once and everyone thinks he’s a death eater. Honestly.” Y/N rolled her eyes, before turning her head to look back up at Fred. “They’ll like you, Fred. Would I lie to you?” She asked, raising her eyebrows a little in questioning.

“No, but-“

“Exactly.” She cut him off with a beaming smile, stopping once they were outside of her house as she turned to face him properly. “Just as long as you’re being your wonderful self, it’ll go great. Okay? Trust me.” Still smiling she leaned up to peck his lips twice, before grinning a little once she’d pulled away.

Fred sighed softly and nodded as she’d pulled away. He gripped her hand a little tighter, letting her lead him to the front door before listening to her ring the doorbell.

Fred doesn’t think he’d ever been so nervous for something in his life. This was a big thing, meeting her family. If they didn’t like him then what would happen? He’d never expect Y/N to choose him over her family, so truthfully he was worried about what they’d think of him. He also knew her father worked at the Ministry of Magic. Whilst his father did too, they were in completely different departments - her father’s being much more serious. So he was expecting him to be pretty strict.

The Weasley boy was dragged harshly out of his thoughts once the door of the house had been flung open, and his girlfriend was yanked out of his reach and into another pair of arms.

“I can’t breathe!” Y/N giggled into the shoulder of the girl who she was hugging, a huge grin plastered over her face once she’d pulled away.

The girl stood in front of her had a pretty good resemblance with her; their hair being the same colour though the other girl’s was a little longer, their eyes the same colour, their face the same shape. After realising this girl must’ve been in her early twenties at least, he guessed this was her sister.

“I just missed you so much! God you have no idea how horrible it is being stuck alone with mum and dad.” The older girl giggled, briefly hugging Y/N again before turning to look at Fred.

“Oh, you’re Fred?” She smirked. “Y/N talks about you all the time, honestly I think I know everything about you already. It’s always Fred this or Fred that or guess what Fred did today.”

Y/N’s face was scarlet by the time her sister had finished speaking, scowling towards the smirking girl.

“You talk about me, love?” Fred murmured with a small smirk in his girlfriend’s direction, before turning his head to face her sister. “But yeah, that’s me. It’s nice to meet you.” He smiled friendlily.

“Ditto. But just one thing - you hurt my sister and I’ll smash your kneecaps in with a golf club.” She told him with a smile, causing both Fred’s and Y/N’s jaw’s to go slack. “The name’s Y/S/N by the way, you both better come in.” She walked back into the house with a laugh once she’d spoken, leaving the door open for the couple.

“That’s an empty threat, by the way. She doesn’t even play golf.” Y/N giggled as she took Fred’s hand again as she stepped into the house, shutting the door behind her.

“You talk about me all the time, now?” Fred smirked, chuckling when seeing her cheeks deepen in colour once more. “Don’t worry, love, I think George wanted to throttle me with the amount I talk about you.” He lightly squeezed her hand.

“I think George just wanted to throttle you anyways.” She teased with a giggle, before lightly squeezing his hand as she started leading him through the house. “Come on, Freddie. Kitchen’s this way - that’s probably where my mum and dad are.”

Fred spotted many framed photos on the walls as he stepped through Y/N’s childhood home, smiling as he looked at them. His smile grew a little more when seeing one of Y/N when she must’ve been about eight - holding a huge ice cream cone with chocolate ice cream all over her face, standing on the beach.

Though he soon shifted his gaze upwards when Y/N had let go of his hand to step forwards into her father’s awaiting arms, a nervous smile making it’s way to the boy’s face when watching her hug both of her parents. They seemed nice enough. Her mother looked a lot like her - with the same hair and features, though upon closer inspection he could see that she got her eyes from her father.

“Mum, dad, this is my boyfriend. Fred Weasley.” Y/N announced fondly as she stood back beside her boyfriend, looping her arm through his as she smiled.

“Fred,” Y/N’s mother stepped forwards, a kind smile over her features as she looked the boy over. “It’s great to finally meet you, darling. You’re all our Y/N talks about these days.” She chuckled, ignoring the embarrassed groan coming from her blushing daughter. “You’re such a handsome lad, I hope you’re good to her.”

“I am, Mrs. Y/L/N. She’s my everything.” Fred told her with a fond smile of his own as he lightly squeezed Y/N’s forearm.

“Of course she is, how could she not be?” Her dad piped in with a chuckle, before holding his hand out for Fred to take. “Y/F/N Y/L/N, it’s great to meet you son. I hope our Y/N isn’t annoying you too much, if you need any help just blink twice.”

“Dad!” Y/N whined whilst both Fred and her parents laughed softly.

“I would but I think she’d throttle me, I’ll just sneak off when she’s asleep.” Fred whispered comically back to her father, chuckling when feeling her lightly jab his side. He already felt easier - knowing her parents were genuinely nice people and that they already got along. His shoulders loosened a little as he let his smile be completely genuine.

“If she sleeps instead of ogling you, that is.” Y/N’s sister stepped back into the room, shooting her blushing sister a wink. “She’s made it abundantly clear how cute and dashing you look, in fact I remember this one time-”

“Okay! Thank you!” Y/N huffed, her cheeks a bright red as she took Fred’s hand in hers again. “We’re going to put our bags upstairs.” She shot her family a look before towing Fred out of the room and towards her bedroom.

“Oh come on, love, I really wanted to hear what she was going to say.” Fred teased as he walked into her bedroom beside her, smirking a little more when seeing just how red in the face she was.

“It’s nothing you haven’t heard from me already.” She rolled her eyes, before smiling as she cupped his face in her hands and leaned up to kiss him softly for a moment. “I told you it’d all go okay.”

“Yeah okay, I guess you did.” Fred sighed dramatically as he pulled away, his fingers tapping along her waist. “Thank you for bringing me, though. I’m glad I met your family.”

“I’m glad too.” She giggled, leaning up on her tippy toes to kiss him again, letting herself smile against his lips once his arms had tightened around her waist.

They kissed for a moment, before Y/N’s sister shouted up the stairs, “Come on lovebirds, stop snogging dinner’s almost done!”

Y/N pulled away from the kiss with pink cheeks, eliciting a chuckle from Fred as he pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. “Come on, love. You don’t want them actually catching us, do you?”

“I think I’d die on the spot.” Y/N cringed as she shook her head, at the same time taking his hand and lacing her fingers with his. “You know I love you, right?”

“Yeah,” Fred smiled. “I love you too.”

[heliads]

Training

As an Erudite and member of Jeanine’s inner circle, you’re more than a little surprised when she sends you to Dauntless so you can learn to protect yourself. Will you be able to prove yourself to your fellow Erudites, and also to your trainer, Eric Coulter?

masterlist

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

It wasn’t an easy path to get where you are today. Thinking back to that one moment all those years ago, when you had sliced open your palm and chosen Erudite in front of everyone you held dear, you never could have imagined the trials you’d have to face. The choices you’ve made, the people you’ve been forced to cut out of your life- they’ve all been for one goal: the future of Erudite.

You had worked harder than you ever had before, struggling to stay afloat when it seemed like everyone in the world knew more than you, and was keen to keep it that way. Yet, here you are- one of the most trusted members of Jeanine’s inner circle. You had helped form her plan to control the factions, had been there since the beginning and helped carefully mold it into the master scheme it was today. Everything had been for the future of Erudite as the crowning glory of the factions.

And here she is, sending you to Dauntless.

Jeanine sighs and shakes her head. “I know how you feel, but this is for the best. You need to go to Dauntless, not only to ensure that our forces there are prepared for the next few steps to take but also to protect yourself. If you train with Dauntless, in the private sessions so no one else suspects anything, you will have the tools to defend yourself if necessary. You’re one of my most important allies, Y/N. If you are attacked or even die, the entire project could fall apart.”

You look at her, still more than a little disgruntled. “Flattering me won’t do anything to convince me to do this.” Jeanine lets a small smile cross the usual thin slant of her mouth. “It’s not flattery if it’s true. Now come, your train departs shortly.” You follow Jeanine to the train station, somehow unsurprised by the fact that she’d planned everything so precisely. In all the time you’ve been around Jeanine, you’ve learned one thing: what she says will happen. Every single time.

By the time the train pulls up to a Dauntless station, Jeanine’s already briefed you. You’ll only stay for a week at most, but you’ll have private training sessions with one of the leaders. A few other members of Jeanine’s inner circle are here as well, so it looks like you’re not the only one she wants to protect.

You and your fellow Erudites enter the building through a back door, making sure that you are not spotted by any Dauntless who aren’t in on the plan. Even though they’ll shortly be under Erudite control, it would still be best if suspicions weren’t raised.

Eventually, you find yourself in a dark, high-ceilinged training room. A few Dauntless leaders and trainers come over and greet Jeanine, clearly they are in on the plan. The Dauntless are cocky and confident, seeming completely unfazed by the fact that they are actively conspiring against the other factions. They are clothed in all black, with tattoos detailing their skin. Your eye is caught by one man in particular, with patterns of black ink stretching up his neck. He returns your gaze with a smirk.

Jeanine turns to her fellow Erudites. “These are your trainers. Philip, you go with Alan. Clara, with Jasmin. And Y/N, you’ll go with Eric.” She points at the blond man with the tattoos you had noticed before. He raises his eyebrows. “I was told I was going to be training the best. She seems pretty small to be your best.” Jeanine’s face does not change, but her tone seems just a little bit icier. “She is the best.” Eric shrugs at that, unbothered, and gestures for you to follow him. This is going to be one long week.

You’re actually not as bad at hand-to-hand combat as you’d thought. Sure, Eric can beat you every time, but that’s to be expected- he’s been training as a Dauntless for much longer than you have. However, you’re able to block his blows, and even get in a few hits that you can tell he doesn’t expect. Maybe it’s just a perk of being an Erudite- you can think ahead to what he’s going to do and block the actions before he even makes them.

Unfortunately, this forward-thinking technique does not appear to help you actually win the sparring, though. On one such occasion, when you find yourself knocked down to the mat once more, Eric just sighs, irritated. “You’re clearly an Erudite- you’re thinking too much about what I’m going to do instead of just attacking. Don’t think, just do.” With that, he walks away, announcing a break. You’re left to join up with your fellow Erudites, who you’re grateful to see seem just as worn out and useless as you do.

You’re sipping water from a plastic bottle brought out from who knows what corner of the Dauntless training room when you see Eric talking to a few of the other trainers. You shift towards them, pretending to drink your water but instead listening to their conversation. Your eavesdropping is rewarded when you notice that they’re talking about the Erudites.

“They’re not that bad.” One argues. “I mean, they have good strength and they’re not nearly as bad as the transfers when they first start initiation.” Another trainer chuckles. “It’s kind of hard not to be as bad as the transfers. But these guys aren’t Dauntless. They don’t have Dauntless instincts.” The trainers nod in agreement. “I mean, I think mine is still trying to calculate the force and acceleration behind his punch before he even takes it.” The others laugh, and the trainer turns to Eric. “Hey, Coulter. You’ve been silent for a while- what are your thoughts? How’s L/N, does she seem like second-in-command material?”

You prick up your ears at that, but Eric just shrugs. “I expected more from someone I’ve heard so much about, but I suppose it’s only fitting that she’d be all brains and no fight.” You wince at that. You’re not sure why hearing Eric’s opinion matters that much to you- it shouldn’t, you’ve only just met him and you’ll soon be leaving him, but it still hurts to hear.

Behind you, the trainers are dispersing back into the rooms. “Okay, find a sparring partner. We’ll be doing actual fights now- you throw your punches, we’ll watch.” A sudden need to prove yourself is filling you, and you nod at Alan, one of your fellow Erudite. He is smaller and more timid than he seems at first, and he’ll probably be an easy match. 

The two of you head to a ring and circle each other warily. You know Alan won’t take the first move, and so you do instead- a quick jab at the lower arm, he thinks you’re attacking there so he goes to block, you knew he would do that so you circle up and hit him with an elbow to the neck. Alan stumbles back, clutching his throat. Your eye catches on Eric for a moment- he’s casually walking up to watch the fight. You turn back to a recovered Alan, ready to beat him and prove that you’re just as good as any Dauntless.

Alan takes initiative this time, trying to hit you with a fierce kick. You take advantage of his slight loss of balance by sweeping his legs out from under him, and then straddling him to pin him down. Alan struggles from underneath you, but you land a direct punch to the face and hear the satisfying sound of bone cracking. Something about the rush of adrenaline is like fire burning through your veins, and you can’t help but hit him once more. You rear your arm back for another punch, and then another, but you are distracted by the sight of Alan’s arm flopping to his side. You blink to regain your focus and realize that the Erudite is unconscious, knocked out by the force of your blows.

You quickly stand up, and keep staring at first at Alan's unconscious form, then the blood coating your knuckles, and then back to Alan once more. It comes to your attention that everyone’s staring at you, and you start to stammer out an apology. “Sorry- I didn’t realize- I didn’t mean to-” Eric cuts you off with a low laugh, and strides around the ring to talk to you. “Don’t apologize- that was the best you’ve done all day. Maybe we’ll make a fighter of you yet.”

So now you have Eric’s approval- and confidence in yourself. You find you enjoy fighting, maybe a little more than you’re supposed to. You train as hard as you can, reveling in the chance to take out your aggression. You’ve quickly made a name for yourself as the best among the Erudites, and it’s a title you guard with gleeful pride. 

On one of the last nights that you’ll be in Dauntless, you’re stretching after a day’s work. The training sessions had gone pretty well- you’d bested every opponent who’d dared spar against you. Another Erudite walks up to you, and hisses something under her breath. “You shouldn’t be so proud of yourself.”

You look at her, grinning. “What, you jealous?” The Erudite shakes her head, the same glare still present on her face. “You’re supposed to be Erudite, you know. Not Dauntless. I think you’re taking too much pride in being able to fight. When we go back to our faction, I think we’ll all remember how eager you were to give up being Erudite so you could punch someone and make Eric proud.” With that, she walks away, leaving you in stunned silence.

She’s right, of course. You lay awake for a long time in your bunk, hearing her words repeat over and over again. You weren’t meant to be Dauntless, you are an Erudite. It was proved in the test, and it was proved when you decided on Erudite in the Choosing Ceremony. Why are you so keen on proving yourself in the fighting ring? You’re only here for self-defense, and you most certainly should not be enjoying hand-to-hand combat so much.

Also, the Erudite was right about one other thing- Eric. Why does his opinion matter so much to you? Why do you look to him for approval after every fight, and why is it that you can only relax after a fight when you hear his voice when he’s leading you away from the ring?

It comes to you slowly, but the realization makes you groan inwardly. Of course- you love him. What else could it be? You turn over on your side, wishing for sleep to come. You know what you’ll have to do tomorrow, and how to prove to the others that you are truly their ally and that your loyalty lies only with Erudite, not with Dauntless.

When you wake up the next morning, you dress promptly with the other Erudites. When you all file into a room to eat breakfast, you sit yourself in between two of your friends. When Eric comes into the room, you don’t look at him at all, not even to wave your usual hello.

When you go into the training room, you stretch by yourself instead of warming up with Eric. The Dauntless announce that you’ll be sparring with the other Erudites once more, and you head over to the rings to pick a victim, walking right by Eric without so much as acknowledging him. You can see confusion and maybe even hurt (although you’re surely kidding yourself) spread across his face, but you brush it away. The Erudite who had spoken to you before comes over to you now, whispering once in your ear before heading away:

“Glad to see you’ve decided on your allegiance.”

Yes, you have- but why does it hurt so much?

The match passes in a blur, with you beating your opponent easily. You feel like a machine, forcing yourself through the usual paces without any joy. You shouldn’t feel joy, anyway, that would mean you were too much like the Dauntless, and you are only an Erudite. You go on ignoring Eric all day, much to his surprise, but if it means you aren’t questioned by the other Erudites, it’s worth it. Right?

However, it appears that you won’t get your way forever- just after practice is dismissed you start heading down a hall when an arm snakes around your waist and pulls you into a nearby room. You turn to face whoever’s grabbed you with an indignant rage, but the words die on your tongue when you see it’s Eric. He looks irritated.

“Why are you ignoring me?” His voice is dangerously level, but you just shake your head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. The last time I checked, I could talk or not talk to whoever I chose.” You try to leave so you can follow the others, but Eric pulls you back into the room. “What is this all about? You were fine with me yesterday, but something’s gotten into you today.” He draws back, and for a second he looks almost nervous. “I saw you looking upset after one of the other Erudite spoke to you yesterday. Is that why?”

Finally, you look him dead in the eyes. “It was. They reminded me that I am not a Dauntless but an Erudite, and I would do well to remember it. I know my allegiance, and it is not with this faction.” Eric scoffs, incredulous. “You think talking to me means that you’re trying to switch factions? Trust me, I’m just trying to help you.” You glare at him suspiciously. “Then why would that Erudite tell me that?”

Eric sighs, and you realize that he’s been hiding something from you this entire conversation. “You know why, don’t you? She wants me to stay away from you because of something you did. What is it?” Eric clenches his jaw, but he responds. “Actually, I think this is more about you. What would you want to hide from the others that would be so important that you’d cut off all contact with me?” You freeze. This is definitely not where you wanted this conversation to go. You try to leave, but Eric forces you to stay. “Just tell me.”

You can’t bear to look at him. “She found out I had feelings for you. Happy?” This is it- he’ll just laugh at you. What were you thinking, telling him? You force yourself to look up at him, but instead of incredulous, he just looks- relieved?

Before you know it, he’s kissing you. His hand finds your waist, and you can’t decide whether you feel more surprised or elated. When he finally breaks away, he looks at you with a smirk. “I’d say happy.” You laugh, and kiss him again.

When the train comes to take you back to Erudite, you find you don’t really want to go. Your whole life is in Erudite, and you can’t wait to keep working on your project with Jeanine, but you don’t want to leave Eric behind. He’s come to walk you to the train, and when he sees the train starting to arrive, he turns to you.

“It’ll be alright, you know. Just a few more weeks, and then we’ll have control over the factions. I’ll see you then, I promise.” You smile at that. “I know. Jeanine has to visit Dauntless a few more times, and I’ll do my best to make sure I’m at those meetings. Wait for me?” Eric chuckles. “Of course. See you then.” 

The train is here now, and you know you must go. “I’ll miss you.” You whisper, and head towards the train. “I’ll miss you too.” Once you step past the doors of the train, you look back at Eric as the train picks up speed and pulls away from Dauntless. It’ll only be a short time until you see him again.

[lunalovvvess]

I JUST mopped

Summary: based off of this ask/answer from @christhebish​ and @himbohargreeves​

Warnings: mentions of blood, cops, guns, and knives

•••

You really didn’t mind being the night shift manager. Really. Sure, the cafe was in a sketchy part of town, and yeah, the odd drunk person threw up on the floor, but you and your crew could handle it.

After all, you handled Rex’s stalker situation, Lisa breaking her water mid-shift, AND the Espresso Machine Fire of ‘17. You could handle a lot, but apparently your mother couldn’t handle going to your cousin’s wedding alone, and insisted you go as her plus one to the wedding. That was in the Appalachian Mountains.

You lost a week of work (thankfully, Rex kept the place running but still), and when you finally trudged back to the cafe, you were just hoping that the floors had been recently mopped. You did not expect to see Rex leaning over the counter, making heart eyes at the guy in the corner booth. You bump shoulders with him in your way past.

“Where’s Kendra?”

Rex finally looks at you.

“Hello to you too. She’s making out with her girlfriend. Don’t worry, she still has like, 10 minutes of her break left. How was the wedding?”

You tie your apron around your waist, double checking to make sure all your stuff was still in the pockets.

“Glad to see things haven’t changed. And the cake was made of fondant.”

Rex scrunches his face as he grabs a spray bottle.

“Gross. And there has been a new change around here.”

You don’t look up from the clipboard in your hands, skimming the supply lists.

“Oh?”

There’s no answer from Rex, but the sound of footsteps approaching the register makes you look up.

The guy from the corner booth is standing at the counter, and he’s, well, you understand Rex’s heart eyes. He also has a nasty looking black eye, but it’s nothing you’ve never seen before. Rex has noticed him by now, and practically skips to take his order.

“What can I get you handsome?”

The guy clears his throat awkwardly.

“Can I, uh, get a coffee?”

You tune out the rest of the conversation, trying to figure out how your crew used a month’s supply of caffeine shots in a week. Did the university have surprise exams again?

You’re pulled out of your thoughts by Kendra’s voice.

“Welcome back. You’ve already seen Rex drooling over the new regular?”

She’s washing her hands as you turn to her.

“Yeah, now mind explaining to me how we’re down a months supply caffeine shots?”

Kendra grins, tightening her apron.

“Okay so remember that robotics contest? Well they suddenly moved their deadline back a week, so we had...”

•••

Things settled back into a routine pretty quickly. You poured coffee, served danishes, kicked out influencers, and generally just tried to make sure the place couldn’t be shut down by the health department. The only addition was the new regular.

Every night, without fail, the guy showed up, usually with a new cut, bruise, or bloodstain, and ordered a coffee. Then, he sat in the corner both, while Rex made lovesick sighs in his direction.

Two days in, you asked him why he didn’t talk to the guy. Rex takes the opportunity to drape himself dramatically over the display case.

“I did! I’ve flirted with him, did the Elle Woods bend n’ snap, I even offered him my number! Do you know what he did?”

You don’t even get to answer before Rex barrels on.

“He didn’t even notice! He told me his phone was broken!”

“And you believed him?”

“Lisa saw him toss a broken phone in the trash in his way in. She didn’t tell me until afterwards and now I’m too embarrassed to face him. Do you think I should transfer to the day shift?”

You roll your eyes, and hand Rex a mop.

“Don’t you dare. If you leave me by myself, I’ll throw away your comic books.”

Rex whines, but he takes the mop.

•••

Thankfully, the crush only lasts another week. Rex gets a glimpse of the new delivery man and has his number three days later.

The regular (no longer new) still comes in, battered and bloodied. But he never got any on the floor so you didn’t mind too much. You were curious, sure, but not enough to be creating theories like Kendra was.

Speaking of Kendra, her break was over 15 minutes ago. You step away from the counter to find her when the regular walks in. Well, limps in.

He looks surprised to see you at the register which is... fair. Usually it’s a fight between Rex and Kendra to take his order. Rex, so he could ogle on the clock, and Kendra, so she could try and confirm whatever theory she’s come up with this week. Thankfully, he doesn’t notice.

You’re staring, specifically at the growing bloodstain on his leg. It’s okay, he’s also staring at you. A beat passes before he clears his throat.

“Can I get a coffee?”

You nod.

“Yeah. That’ll be 3.50.”

He hands you a crumbled up five.

“Keep the change.”

“Thanks.”

Your voice is sarcastic, but his money is genuine, so he gets his coffee and settles himself into his usual booth with a pained grunt.

You, very kindly, ignore it, and go about hunting down your wayward crew member.

•••

You had JUST mopped the floors.

Which is not the best thought to be running through your head during a robbery but there it is. The people holding you and your crew at gunpoint had tracked crud all over the floor. The floor that you literally JUST mopped.

“Eyes on me!”

The gunman in front of you shouts for your attention. You stand in front of your crew, and straighten up. Gently, you move your hand out of Rex’s and untangle Kendra’s hand from your apron ties. They’re scared, and you are too, but this is your place, and you’re not about to let a guy wearing pantyhose over his face tell you what to do.

“Give me all the money in the register!”

You were expecting that, and move towards the register. The guy watches you, but his hands are shaking. His partner is no better, but he still has a gun pointed at your crew.

It’s still early in the shift, so the stack of cash you have for them is... tiny. When you place it on the counter, their jaws drop.

“That’s it?”

You nod.

“Day shift clears out their profits before we get here. This is all we’ve made.”

They don’t like that, and the guy closest to you levels his gun to your face. Your eyes cross trying to look at the barrel.

“Where’s the safe.”

Rex barks out a laugh, but quickly smothers it behind his hands. The gun, and the person holding it, comes closer, pressing against your forehead.

“Why’s he laughing?”

You ignore the cold metal, and focus on keeping the shakes you feel in your hands out of your voice.

“We don’t have a safe.”

You feel the gun press harder against your forehead when the sound of breaking glass draws everyone’s attention.

Before you can see who it was, a knife whizzes past and jabs itself into the arm that’s holding a gun to your forehead. The guy barely has time to scream before another one lands itself in his leg. He drops, and you take the opportunity to duck behind the counter with the rest of your crew.

There’s more screaming, and the sound of punches being thrown, but no gunshots. You peek above the counter, ignoring Kendra’s whispered protests.

A figure in black is grappling with one of two gunmen. The other is yelling and holding his leg... which is bleeding on your floor. Damn it. A grunt draws your attention and you see the person in black take an elbow to the gut. You wince in sympathy.

The other gunmen is attempting to get up now, and you see that your savior(?) has their back turned. You quickly reach for the tip jar, heavy with coins and made of hard plastic , and push it as hard as you can across the counter. Luckily, it rockets across and falls on the gunmen’s head, knocking him out. Even better, it doesn’t break.

The noise catches the attention of the person in black, and when you get a glimpse of his face you have to hold back a yelp. Because you recognize him. You frantically reach behind you and tap your crew.

“Come look, quickly!”

Lisa, the reasonable one, shakes her head and you notice that she’s typing frantically on her phone. Good.

Rex and Kendra squish up beside you, and peek over the counter with caution. Their eyes widen when they see what you’re talking about. There, in a tiny domino mask that does NOTHING to hide his identity, is the regular.

Rex groans, while Kendra cackles (quietly).

“You owe me ten bucks and a frappe!”

You pull them back behind the counter, and Lisa rolls her eyes at the three of you.

“I talked to the owner, and he said that we don’t have health insurance so we should try not to get shot.”

The whoop of a siren interrupts Lisa, and you all groan in unison. There’s the sound of glass crunching, and you peek over the counter and come face to face with the regular. He stares awkwardly, and the police lights shine over his face. You have to stop yourself from asking if he wants his usual. Instead, you smile at him.

“Thanks.”

The regular nods, and looks around. The way he came in now has cops, so you helpfully point to the back entrance.

Lisa taps you to get your attention, and when you look back, he’s gone.

•••

You’re back in business the next day, with plywood over the window and a floor cleaned by the day-shift.

The regular walks in, as usual, and comes up to the register. You’re glad Rex and Kendra took their breaks at the same time, because the regular looks like he’s trying super hard to be casual.

“Can I get a coffee?”

You nod. He pays, gets his coffee, and walks to his normal booth. It’s business as usual, except for the fact that you now know he runs around at night with knives.

You’re so lost in thought that you don’t notice that another person is at the register. They clear their throat and you look up to see them flashing a badge.

“Can I speak to the manager?”

You raise an eyebrow and look down at your name tag that clearly states ‘manager’.

“Speaking. Is this about last night?”

The cop?detective? nods and whips out photo from his pocket.

“We’ve apprehended the suspects but there’s evidence that there was a person of interest on the scene last night.”

You stare at him blankly, until he gives a frustrated huff and practically shoves the photo in your face.

“Have you seen this man?”

You look at the photo. It’s definitely the regular. Rex and Kendra come in while you’re looking, and you turn to them.

“He wants to know if we’ve seen this guy.”

They both look at the photo, and shake their heads. You turn back to him.

“No one’s seen that guy. But we were behind the counter for a bit.”

The man shoved the photo back in his pocket with his badge, red in the face.

“Someone from the station will be in touch.”

He storms out without a glance. Rex and Kendra go to wash their hands and clock back in. You make a cup of coffee, and walk towards the corner booth.

The regular looks up as you get closer. You set the coffee down in front of him.

“I didn’t pay for this.”

Shrugging, you turn to go back to the counter.

“I know. Consider it a thank you.”

You don’t see his reaction, but when you get back to the counter he’s still staring at the coffee in shock.

Heading to the back for your break, you bump shoulders with Rex.

“I told you, the night shift isn’t so bad.”

[athingthatwantsvirginia]

If James Bond Was Bruce Springsteen

PART FORTY-FOUR OF THE DO YOU SEE HER FACE? SERIES

Pairing: Jess Mariano x Original Character (Ella Stevens)

Warnings: plentiful pop culture references

Word Count: 2.6K

Summary: Ella tries to focus on the future.

A/N: Surprise! Here’s the epilogue way earlier than I thought! Seriously, I have loved writing this story. Thank you so much to everyone who went on this journey with me. I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

five years later

Biting at the inside of her cheek, Ella struggled to keep her eyes open. One hand was on her stomach, and her free hand went to her mouth. Ever since getting pregnant, the nervous nail-biting was nonstop. She didn’t know exactly why, and she didn’t know exactly how to get it to stop, either. After Jess finished another passage, he cast her a glance and frowned when he saw her fingers resting on her lips. He scoffed and gently reached over to bring her nails from her teeth.

“You need to quit that, Eleanor,” he said.

Rolling her eyes, Ella shifted and readjusted her position with her head on his shoulder as he read. “Fine. I’m sorry. I’m just nervous to see your mom tonight.”

“Why?” he asked, furrowing his brows.

She sighed. Things had been tense between Jess and his mother as of late, since she had accidentally landed in a religious cult with her husband and daughter. They had managed to escape before being totally brainwashed, but the incident left a bad taste in Jess’s mouth. It reminded him a bit too much of his childhood, and the thought of Doula having to experience any of what he had made his insides squirm. The atmosphere of frustration had resulted in Ella and Jess waiting as long as possible to tell Liz and TJ about the pregnancy. Seeing them at Luke and Lorelai’s wedding was simply inevitable, and the news would be obvious. Ella was a little over four months along, and had a clearly pregnant belly, which showed in the simple gray dress printed with small black flowers she was wearing. Jess, Ella knew, was more likely worried about exposing his own baby to Liz, even before she was born.

Ella shrugged. “I don’t know. I just don’t want seeing her to make you too upset. We’re the ones who get to decide how involved she is.”

Jess let a small smile across his lips. He leaned down to kiss the crown of Ella’s head. “Don’t worry about me, honey. I know.”

“Okay,” she said in earnest. “Just let me know if that changes.”

“Will do, Stevens.” Then, he shut the book, saving his place with his finger, and looked over at her inquisitively. Her eyes were tired, and she was a little pale. “You can sleep if you want to. We don’t have to be at Liz and TJ’s any specific time. No one here is gonna care if you rest for a little while.”

“Maybe, Mariano,” she said, running her hand over her stomach absently. “I just hate being so tired during the day.”

“Hey, at least the puking finally stopped,” Jess said with an opportunistic chuckle.

Letting her eyes flutter shut, she laughed with him. “That’s true.” Up until two weeks earlier had seen Ella constantly slammed with morning sickness. The tide was recently changing to crazy cravings, barbeque sauce on top of a banana being the highlight of the last week.

A couple minutes later, with Jess back to his reading, Ella did end up dozing off. She was cozy on the Gilmore couch, wrapped in a black cardigan over her soft, worn dress. The autumn chill had just arrived in the Northeast, and Ella had yet to adjust to it once more all the way. The air smelled crisp and familiar in Stars Hollow. It was the first time they had been back in over a year, busy trying to get pregnant, and then freaking out once they finally did. But distance had indeed made the heart grow fonder. Ella was happy to be able to see everyone again, and the idea that she was free to leave whenever she wanted, guilt-free, made the trip infinitely more enjoyable. The little blue house was finally sold to a young new family over eighteen months prior.

She floated back to reality at the sound of Luke’s heavy footfalls down the stairs. Opening her eyes, she didn’t move. Instead, she watched with Jess as Luke descended from the upstairs in his wedding suit. They’d barely arrived for the visit when Lue had raced upstairs with self-conscious requests for honest opinions. Then, he’d remained upstairs for twenty minutes fussing over himself before finally returning. Ella fought back a laugh as he came down, but he did in fact look decent in the suit. A fond smirk came over Jess’s face as he shut the book with a snap, putting it beside him.

“Well, where’s Right Said Fred when you need ‘em?” he drawled dryly.

Ella snorted, finally raising her head from Jess’s shoulder. “I second that.”

Luke barely noticed their compliments, instead fiddling with the small silk square meant to go in his pocket. “The guy who sold me this suit put this thing in the box. I don’t know what the hell to do with it.”

“It’s a pocket square,” Jess explained, brows furrowed. Even he knew that one after being forced to wear a tux at the launch party for Dave Eggers’ collection at Truncheon last year. “Do the math.”

“Oh,” Luke said, looking down at it. Realization dawned on his face and he put the pocket square in its rightful place. “Oh, it looks kind of nice.”

“Sure does, boss,” Ella said, biting back giggles. Luke was like a deer in headlights.

“So, this is the big outfit for tomorrow,” Luke announced, finally turning to them and putting his arms up to show them the look. “Get it all out now.”

“I like it. You look like James Bond if James Bond was also Bruce Springsteen,” Ella said.

“That’s what it is!” Jess said with mock excitement and wide eyes, pointing to Ella.

“But, I think it’ll make Lorelai’s whole life, Luke. Seriously,” she said with more sincerity, almost pride.

“Thanks, kid,” he said shyly. Then, he looked at his nephew. “Jess?”

Jess paused for a moment, then stood up and spoke with gravity. “Turn around?”

“Jess,” Luke said, sighing in exasperation.

Raising his eyebrows expectantly, Jess gestured in a circle. “Turn.”

Luke did as Jess said, spinning in a slow circle. “Well?”

“You are a very handsome man,” Jess answered.

Luke rolled his eyes. “All right.”

“I mean, very hot,” Jess continued emphatically.

“I got it,” Luke said.

Jess chose not to take the hint. “Rande Gerber hot.”

“Enough, Jess,” Luke warned.

Jess’s face softened with sincerity. “Hey. You look good.”

“Yeah?” Luke asked, surprised.

Jess clapped Luke on the shoulder and then went to sit back next to his wife. “I only do sincere once, man.”

“Right, thanks,” Luke replied.

Ella laughed, feeling nostalgic but not letting it overtake her. Since finding out about the pregnancy, Ella had been trying to focus on the future instead of the past. Even if it scared her a little. She was overjoyed at the idea she was going to get to see Luke and Lorelai marry. Before the conversation could go in any other direction, Kirk rushed into the house unannounced, taking a seat on the armchair opposite Ella and Jess. He put his head in his hands and gave a distressed groan.

“Luke! Everything is under control!” Kirk screeched.

“What happened to knocking, Kirk?” Luke asked.

“Yeah!” Jess said ardently, picking up his book again. “What if we were naked?”

Ella nudged him playfully with her elbow as a soft, sly smirk came over his face.

“Don’t say that,” Luke admonished him.

Kirk shot up and headed in the direction of the downstairs bathroom.

“Where are you going?” Luke asked.

Ella watched from her spot, her head back on Jess’s shoulder, as Kirk shouted about how he was going to throw up because he had messed up the wedding decorations at the gazebo, where the ceremony was to take place the following day. In the midst of the argument, Lorelai wandered in from the kitchen with a Pop Tart in her hands. She wordlessly handed one to Ella, who had been telling Lorelai about her recent sweet tooth during their frequent phone calls. Smiling gratefully, Ella raised her head and threw the wrapper away in the bin next to her as the scene unfolded in front of her.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Luke asked.

“I live here,” Lorelai said plainly. “You look hot.”

“Rande Gerber hot,” Jess chimed in without looking up from his reading.

Ella snorted a laugh.

“Yeah.” Lorelai continued munching on her pastry.

“You’re supposed to be at the Inn!” Luke insisted. Lorelai was meant to be spending the day at the Dragonfly, before Luke, Jess, and Ella departed to sleep in the apartment above the diner for the night.

“I was,” Lorelai said. “They don’t have Pop Tarts.”

“Get outta here!” Luke exclaimed.

“Why?” Lorelai’s brow crinkled.

“I’m not supposed to see you before the wedding,” Luke explained. “It’s bad luck.”

“Oh, are we doing that?” Lorelai asked.

The confusion went on, as Rory entered the room as well and was equally surprised Luke wanted to partake in the superstitious tradition. The two Gilmore women pretended to leave lamely before Luke gave into letting Lorelai stay. At talk of pizza for dinner, Ella’s stomach growled, despite her having just finished the Pop Tart. Jess heard it and chuckled, standing and putting his book in his back pocket before holding his hand out for her to grab.

“We should get going. Liz is making dinner and we won’t have the heart to leave if you threaten pizza,” Jess said.

“You sure? There’s still time to back out,” Lorelai said.

Ella sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear after rising. “No, I think we’re stealing enough thunder telling her the night before your wedding, let alone the day of.”

“Well, considering you didn’t tell anyone you got engaged until after you got married,” Luke said gruffly, “she probably won’t be as shocked as you think she will.”

“Agreed,” Lorelai said, nodding.

They both still threw in the occasional jab about Jess and Ella’s elopement, having missed it. Mostly, it was good-natured. Mostly.

“You guys got copies of all the pictures!” Jess said defensively.

Ella could only laugh along with Rory.

“Yeah, and you can keep Liz’s thunder,” Lorelai assured her, back on topic. “I don’t think I’m interested in it.”

Ella laughed, but followed with her hand back in Jess’s grasp as he went over to the doorway. “We should be back in a couple hours.”

“Hopefully,” Jess added, sullen.

“Hey, look alive, Mister Sunshine,” Ella teased.

He rolled his eyes playfully as he grabbed their coats and Ella’s bag. Lorelai, Luke, and Rory began bidding them goodbye (while Kirk lay on the couch, wailing and wallowing). Ella’s smile faltered a bit as she looked at Rory. They spoke semi-regularly, but it was sometimes very hard for Ella to bite her tongue. Rory was floundering in her career, burnt out from her intensity in school, and back to sleeping with unavailable men. Her affair with Logan, who was engaged, had been going on for a while, and Ella tried not to judge her. Instead, she just felt sad that her childhood friend was struggling. Rory had experienced meltdowns over bad grades even when they were in kindergarten. She had just begun working as the editor of the Stars Hollow Gazette, though, which Ella thought might actually be perfect for Rory. She hoped things would brighten up soon.

Jess held Ella’s coat up for her to put on chivalrously.

It made Ella roll her eyes at how adorable he was. If she didn’t know it was only because of what a good dad he was already becoming, it would have been irritating. But she couldn’t help the way her heart glowed at the thought. He was a natural with kids. Always had been, even when he had no experience. And after the baby came, Jess and Ella were going to split time off, since Ella didn’t want to miss the summer semester at the University. Both of them would be part-time, and Ella was glad for both herself, and also, the baby. She was lucky Truncheon had finally picked up enough speed for significant taking of prolonged leave.

“It’s only a couple blocks, Jess. I think I’ll just carry it. I’ll be fine.”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “That’s what you said last time. Then you got a fever!”

“God, you have no concept of weather! You can’t get sick from it! We’ve been over this!” she argued warily. “It was a coincidence! And it was just a cold, anyway!”

“Seems like a pretty big coincidence,” he said.

“Yeah, seems like it,” she retorted flatly.

He sighed. “C’mon, Elle. Help me out. What’s the point in risking it?”

After a calculating look, she finally relented and turned, slipping her arms into the plaid peacoat’s sleeves. “Okay. But I’m not doing this for me. I’m doing this for you, James Dean.”

She faced him again, and shot him a look, as she pulled her blonde waves from beneath her collar.

“Thank you so much,” Jess deadpanned.

“And, for Rhiannon,” she added, putting a hand to her stomach again with the extra layer on.

Jess was donning his jean jacket, and he scoffed. “C’mon, Elle.”

“Rhiannon?” Lorelai asked.

“I’m trying to convince him,” Ella said, tilting her head to her husband.

“I just think it’s a bit of a mouthful,” Jess said, shrugging.

“But we can call her ‘Annie’ for short, like I said,” Ella continued, unwilling to back down. The name had been on her mind forever. And they had already decided the baby’s middle name would be ‘Sophia.’

Jess sighed through his nose, then glanced at her earnestly. For once, Ella saw him actually consider it. Very seriously. Fleetwood Mac still wasn’t his favorite, but as he looked at her back in the Gilmore house, a reflection of who she had been over a decade earlier, he could hear her playing the song on Miss Patty’s piano the night of their first Thanksgiving together so vividly. It was like he was there again. And his eyes shone with love. It seemed he might like the name for their daughter after all.

“Maybe,” he said finally.

She smiled widely, dimples showing and hazel eyes dancing. “Progress. I’ll take what I can get, cutie.”

“See you guys later?” Jess said, eyebrows raised at the other three.

They uttered various confirmations and Jess turned to open the door as Lorelai came up behind them, blowing a kiss. Ella and Jess walked out the door, hand-in-hand, towards the dark green Volvo, which now seemed like it had been their car forever. As they descended the front porch steps, orange leaves crunching under their feet in the yard, they talked amongst themselves.

“I can’t believe I finally converted you to good taste, Mariano!” Ella teased. “Your daughter’s gonna be named after a Stevie Nicks song!”

Jess scoffed. “Yeah, right. Like you’re anywhere close to indoctrinating me, Stevens.”

“So, you’re not denying the name thing, then?” she asked.

“No, I’m not denying the name thing,” Jess answered after a moment.

Ella pressed a kiss to his cheek. He rolled his eyes, but eventually became genuine, turning her head with a gentle hand on her chin so he could kiss her on the lips just before they made it to the car. From the doorway, Rory shook her head and laughed at their familiar brand of bickering.

“Guess some things never change,” Lorelai said, chuckling with her daughter.

Luke smiled fondly from behind the two women, while Ella and Jess prepared to drive away. He watched them go. “Yeah. I guess not.”

[milkybunbuns]

bodyguard - miraculous ladybug

w/c:1.1k

warnings: none

summary: In which an unordinary school girl finds herself being assigned to watch over Adrien Agreste by none other, the famous fashion designer, Gabriel Agreste after an agreement to help the super villian to get the ladybug miraculous and cat miraculous.

a/n: When I first drew up my idea of a humming bird Kwami, I thought I was really original until I found another humming bird kwami artwork on reddit and a humming bird miraculous story on A03. Also I lost inspiration and motivation for this so I just left it at where I lost motivation :p

Y/n, head over to the car, from now on, you’ll be attending Adrien’s school to make sure he is kept safe at all times”, Gabriel Agreste directed you, without looking up from his screen. You quickly saluted and slipped out of the room, scampering over to the car where Adrien’s body guard after school was waiting to drive you over. A few days ago, you were watching the news when a new villain called Hawkmoth had appeared on the screen, clearly after the miraculouses.

Honestly, at first you couldn’t care less, but it was no time until you wanted to help the so called Hawkmoth out, just for the adventures and fun, no ulterior motive since there was nothing in your life you weren’t satisfied with. And finally, after extensive research, you had found out who was Hawkmoth and he had gladly taken you up as an apprentice after a few tests to make sure you weren’t working for ladybug or cat noir. He presented you with your very own miraculous, the hummingbird miraculous, said to have come from one of the many destroyed miraculous boxes and could only be worn by those who were young. You vividly remember, as you had lifted the white box’s lid gently, Hawk moth’s eyes staring intensely at you, a burst of rainbow colours exploding and a kwami emerging. She had introduced herself as Colibri and after a basic run over of the powers that came with this, you were ready to start your apprenticeship.

“Everyone please settle down and welcome Y/n L/n”, Ms Bustier smiled gently as you stood stiffly in the center of the room. Adrien seemed to have no idea of you being his new body guard..

You waved, “Hello, I hope we can all be friends?”

“Of course, you’ll make plenty of friends in no time! Please take a seat at the back”, Ms Bustier looked down at her clipboard, a flash of realisation passing her eyes, “Oh! And Adrien, Mr.Agreste has requested for you to sit next to Y/n in order to continue attending school.” The said boy quickly got up and grabbed his tablet of the table, of course, not without giving his friend a sorry look. You could feel the burning gaze of two students, but you paid them no mind, they were coming from a girl with blue pigtails and one with a blond ponytail. As soon as the blue haired girl realised that you had caught her, she looked away in rage, but the blonde haired girl kept staring, until she finally got caught out by the teacher. “Nathaniel, please move down to Ivan or Nino.”

Adrien sat himself down beside you and attempted to interact with you, only for you to send a harsh glare his way and point at the board where Ms Bustier was busy explaining some literature work. “Pay attention Adrien, your father didn’t allow you to attend school only to mess around and not pay attention”, you frowned at him, to which he sheepishly smiled and got back with his work. For the rest of the lesson, he didn’t try to interact with you which was a good thing for you, and you were able to concentrate on the lesson. It wasn’t long before the bell had rung, signalling lunch. Everyone hastily rushed out of the classroom, but Adrien, who was taking his sweet time packing his bag and you could see the same blue haired girl peeking through the windows. The Dj looking guy was also waiting for Adrien.

“Yooo, dude, what’s up? I’m Nino, Adrien’s best friend!”, Nino grinned, raising his red cap with his fingers.

“It’s wonderful to meet you Nino, I’m Y/n, Adrien’s body guard.” The exchange was short, but by your few words he could tell you were almost just as stoic as Gabriel Agreste, or you just took your job seriously.

Here you were, embracing your new job, standing outside the bathroom waiting for Adrien. It was only then that the same blonde haired girl came strutting up to you, a girl scrambling to keep up with her behind her, carrying stacks of books. “Who do you think you are?”, with every word she jabbed at your chest, “Getting all close with my Adrikins”, she sneered, “don’t try steal him from me, not that you’ll be of any competition anyways. I mean look at your clothing style! That’s so out of trend, probably from some department store. Disgusting.” The other girl quickly nodded in agreement, poor her..

“I do know who I am. Adrien’s bodyguard and unless you would like him to be put in danger, leave me alone, or I can’t guarantee what will happen with you next darling”, you grinned mischievously, brushing past her shoulders gently as you leant towards her ear, examining the way beads of sweat trickled down her face.

“Ugh, whatever! Sabrina! Let’s go!”

“Ah yes Chloe!”, they strutted out of the room, more like Chloe strutting and Sabrina struggling to follow.

“Dumb kids...”, you muttered under your breath, spotting your kwami give you a disapproving look. The door creaked open, Adrien popping out, “hey? Everything good? I heard Chloe.”

“It’s wonderful to know that you associate her with trouble.”

“Wait! You got it wrong, it’s not like that!”

“Hmm, you sure?”, you bent over backwards, staring at him before bending back and dusting off imaginary dust on your hands. “We should get going Adrien, class is going to start in 5 minutes.”

“Alright”, he trailed after you and to both of your surprise, the court yard was empty. A notification came up on Adrien’ phone, the two of you leaning in to watch.

“Don’t be bemused, it’s just the news! Lady bug is at the Eiffel Tower, fighting what appears to be a very similar looking person to her. We advise that everyone should stay inside as we watch this fight unfold. Where is Chat Noir? Has he been captured? Stay tuned for more!”

“We’ve gotta get you to safety Adrien”, you quickly ushered him back into the locker room, opening up a random locker and shutting it on his face despite his protests.

“What about you!?”

“I’ll be fine, it’s my number 1 priority to keep you safe, now stay in there and I’ll come back to get you when it’s all over.”

With those words, you ignored his words, running into the bathroom to transform so you could help get rid of one of the pesky heroes to make the job for Antibug easier. Your kwami,  Colibri, was completely unaware of your evil intentions, thinking that you were going to help ladybug. Your h/c hair was let out as a white body suit adorned your body, rainbow coloured ribbons wrapped loosely around your arms and legs and a purple jewel in the middle. You also got a white face mask to hide your identity. Wasting no time, you jumped out of the window, using the ribbons on your arms to bring you towards the Eiffel Tower, along with the aid of your wings which were the same kind at your kwami’s.

[aerynwrites]

Liar (Part 2) - Javier Peña x Reader

Author’s Note: Can we all please admire this wonderufl gif of one of the most beautiful men ever? thank you. okay so now that the obligatory Pedro admiration is out of the way...Here is Liar Part 2 Finally! A ton of you guys requested a second part to the first one and while i wasn’t planning on it being more than one part here we are lol. I hop you guys enjoy it!

Liar (part 1)

Word count: 2.8k

Warnings: cursing, (tiny bit of violence), angst, fluff

--------

It had been over a week since the argument between you and Javier in your apartment, and things had not gotten any better. You had remained cordial at work, doing what you needed to do in order to complete your everyday tasks and help both Steve and Javier in the journey to take down Escobar, but you had been distant. No more were the late-night bar outings with Steve, Connie, and Javier. No more were the movie nights in Javier’s apartment. You had completely shut yourself off from everyone around you in favor of the cold seclusion of your apartment, and it killed Javier.

He noticed the way you wouldn’t even look at him anymore. And when you did, it was with the same wounded and distant expression that has been burned in Javier’s mind since that fateful night many days ago. He hated himself for what he had said, and he knew you were right about his lies. He had lied straight to your face in order to, in his eyes, protect you from himself. Javier knew you deserved better than him. Better than some worn out DEA bachelor who was afraid of commitment and attachments. Since the argument, he has had many lonely hours to think. Think about why he actually said what he did, why he said all those hurtful things to you instead of taking you into his arms like his consciousness was screaming at him to do. And the only conclusion he could seem to come to was that he was in love with you.

In love?

Javier scoffed quietly at the idea as he looked down at the same page of the report, he had been staring at for the past thirty minutes. He tried to shake away the thought that had been plaguing his every waking, and sleeping, moment for the past few days. The last time he was in love with someone he had left her on the altar, convincing himself that it was the right thing to do for her; and while that may have been true, he was terrified of hurting you anymore that he already had. With his brows furrowed at his own thoughts of you, he cast a careful glance at your desk adjacent from his, sitting empty and void of any signs of life. A frown settled itself on the man’s lips as he straightened up in his seat leaning back in the old office chair. Come to think of it, Javier hadn’t seen you come into the office yesterday either. This was an odd occurrence considering you had never even taken so much as a sick day since you started at the embassy, so the thought of you not showing up two days in a row caused a seed of worry to plant itself inside Javier’s chest.

He removed his gaze from your empty desk to look at his partner sitting across from him, concentrated on the file in front of him as he scribbled down notes erratically. 

“Murphy,” he begins, catching the agent’s attention, “Do you know where (y/n) is? It’s not like her to not show up to work two days in a row,” he said worriedly.

Despite the fight you all had, Javier still cared for you. In fact, he had even been considering going to talk to you fairly soon, finally shoving down his pride so he could do what’s right and fix what he had broken. But the confused and slightly sympathetic look that crossed Steve’s face had Javier’s heart skipping a beat as the agent spoke.

“Maybe you should go check on her,” he suggests slowly, going back to writing notes.

Javier stood from his seat and looked down at his partner frustratedly, “What aren’t you telling me Murphy?” he bites.

Murphy, ever the one to stand up to Javier’s demanding aura, shifted uncharacteristically under his gaze, “She-“ he stops for a moment, and finally leans back to look into his partners eyes, “Did you seriously not know?”

Apparently, he did not.

He clutches the back of his office hair desperately, worry and frustration eating at him, “Didn’t know what? Steve, just fucking spit it out already,” he barks.

Steve lets out a sigh, “(y/n), put in for a transfer back to the states a week ago. It was approved and she’s set to fly out today,” Steve says reluctantly, “She’s probably back at her apartment packing.”

“Why didn’t you tell me!” Javier scolds, ripping his jacket from the back of the chair before storming out of the office, Steve stumbling behind him.

“I thought you knew!” he defends, following Javier out to his car and watches as he throws the door open more forcefully then necessary, “Where are you going Pen͂a?”

Javier slides into the car and turns the ignition turning to his friend, “I’m going to fix this,” he says simply, before closing his car door and speeding towards your apartment.

------

Javier knocked at your door with three firm and fast taps, urging you to open the door as quickly as possible.

He had to talk to you.

He had never felt his heart plummet faster than the moment that Steve had told him you were leaving. It felt like his entire being folded in on itself at the thought of never seeing you again, and all because he was a stupid, arrogant jackass who couldn’t admit his own faults. He felt his heart slam against his ribcage as more time passed after his initial knocking. He didn’t hear you call out from within, and you didn’t answer the door, so he knocked again, louder this time with more urgency.

“(y/n), please open the door,” he calls, voice pleading, “I know you said you never wanted to see me here again but – “ his voice falters, “please let me in – let me explain.”

The opening of a door caught Javier’s attention and he stood a bit straighter as he saw Connie exit her and Steve’s apartment next to yours, eyes wide as she noticed Javier.

“Javier? What are you doing here?” she asks, incredulously.

Javier looks from her to your apartment door, “I was uh – I was trying to see (y/n). I just found out she requested a transfer and I didn’t want to leave things the way they were,” he admitted quietly.

Connie looks at him with a look of pity in her eyes before resting a gentle hand on his arm, “Javier…” she trails off for a moment before continuing, “(y/n)’s gone. She left for the airport half an hour ago,” she says sadly.

Javier felt his stomach turn and his eyes snapped up to meet hers and he grasped her hand desperately, “What? When does her flight leave?” he asks frantically.

Connie shakes her head, clearly caught off guard by Javier’s panicked behavior, “I-I don’t know, she seemed in a hurry, so I think it leaves soon.”

As soon as the words meet his ears Javier drops Connie’s hand, turns on his heel, and rushes from the building back to his car. He jumps in and starts the ignition once more and screeches out of the parking lot in the direction of the airport.

The drive, which should only take at least ten minutes, seems to drag on forever for Javier. It seems that he catches every red light as his blood rushes in his ears and he speeds down the roadways, desperate to reach you before you’re gone for good. After what seems like hours, he finally reaches the airport and pulls up haphazardly to the valet, tossing them his keys before sprinting into the lobby of the large building. His heart feels like it might fly from his chest at how fast it’s beating as he runs through the crowded airport, eyes glancing over the flight directory frantically until he finds yours. His heart leaps into his throat as he sees that the plane hasn’t departed yet, but it falls once more when he sees that it’s supposed to leave in ten minutes. He begins to run once more.

He navigates the large hallways twisting and turning and fighting through security until he finally reaches your gate and his eyes land on your all too familiar form, handing over your boarding ticket to the flight attendant. He rushes to you, his emotions clouding his rational judgment, and his hands slips around your wrist.

You turn around, startled at the sudden contact, and your eyes widen as they meet those of a very disheveled looking Javier, and your lips settle into a thin line as you speak, “What are you doing here?” you ask sternly.

The flight attendant hands you back your ticket, allowing you to move a few steps to the side with him, out of the flow of traffic, but still very much in the public eye.

Javier’s mouth opened and closed, his mind running blank now that he is standing in front of you. The only words he can manage to push out past his still labored breathing are, “Please don’t leave.”

You scoff ripping your hand from his grasp and taking a step back, “Why? Why should I continue to stay here where I’m clearly not wanted?” you ask, anger seeping into your words, “I want to go home Javier.”

He shakes his head, his mind more clear now but still unsure of what he could possibly say to fix the situation- change your mind and get you to stay here – with him.

“You are wanted,” he defends, voice quiet, “Steve and Connie are torn up that you left, and I-“ he paused, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Confusion began to worm its way into your mind along with all the anger and other confused emotions swirling around inside of you. Javier was sitting here at the airport trying to stop you from leaving when a week before he told you that you were nothing more than a fuck-buddy.

“Why didn’t I tell you?” you grind out, voice raising an octave higher than normal, “You fucker. you – “ you jab an accusing finger into his chest, “you did this. You told me that what we had meant nothing to you,” your voice cracked as you spoke and pulled your hand down to your side clenching and unclenching as a way to keep some form of composure, “You’re a fucking asshole Javier, and I thought I told you last time I didn’t ever want to see you again.”

While you tried to keep yourself composed on the outside, you were currently a confused and emotional mess on the inside. Javier showing up at the airport was not something you saw happening. You thought he hated you after what had happened, and you told him your true feelings. That’s why you were leaving; because you couldn’t stand the thought of the man you loved hating your guts for the duration of your time in Colombia. So, him showing up here, it was ruining everything. Your plan of a quick and quiet escape and to not tell Javier about it to avoid…this – was now forfeit as the man stood in front of you know desperately pleading for you.

Javier sighed, running a hand through his hair, “I know. I know what you said – but I had to explain myself. I can’t let you leave when things are like this,” his words are urgent as the last call for the plane rings through the intercoms and you start to turn away from him.

“Well it’s too late for apologies. I have to go.”

“I was lying!” he calls out, his words stopping you in your tracks as you barely turn to look over your shoulder, “That night, when you said I was lying – you were right. I was lying, because that’s the only thing I know how to do right. If I push the people I care about away, I can’t hurt them. I’m fucked up,” his voice is a little louder now as he approaches you and grasps your arm gently but you don’t turn around, “I’m so messed up and I thought by pushing you away and saying all those stupid fucking things that I was saving you.”

He finished his explanation and a tense silence hung in the air around you as he waited for you to respond. You stood there, unsure of what to do. Your heart was telling you to turn around and go back to your apartment with the man you love, but the other, more rational part, was telling you to leave. So, you listened to the latter and pulled your arm from his grip, “You fucked up Javier. You didn’t save me –“ you finally turned to face him a bit more, your watery gaze meeting his own, “You killed me.” And with those final words you walked down the hallway to board the plane, leaving him to stare after you.[2] 

His blood felt like ice in his veins as you disappeared from sight, his heart weighing heavy in his chest as he turned around and walked slowly away from the gate. He wasn’t mad, how could he be? This situation was his own doing and as the saying goes: he made his bed, so now he has to lie in it. He has to lie in his own misery and heartbreak, in his lonely and dark apartment until they catch Escobar…and who knows how long that will take. Javier wasn’t usually an emotional man but this -this was a little too much for him to take. It felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest, and he supposed it was, since you held his heart in your hands and were currently boarding a plane to take you thousands of miles away. He was so caught up in his own inner turmoil, he didn’t hear the sound of rapid footfalls approaching him from behind.

You had come back.

You were just about to board the plane, when you felt your own heart constrict. You stood there momentarily ignoring the annoyed look of the flight attendants waiting to close the plane door, and instead grasped desperately at your purse strap, the leather digging into your hand painfully. You cast a glance over your shoulder, then back to the flight crew, “I’m sorry. I won’t be boarding,” you rushed out before turning back the way you came and running out of the boarding tunnel towards the one person you truly loved.

People stared at you quizzically as you ran by them and towards the exit of the airport. You spotted Javier almost immediately, as he hadn’t gotten far from the terminal. You ran to him before finally calling out his name a few feet away.

Javier heard his name slip from your lips in an all too familiar whisper and he spun around, catching you in his arms as he did so. The force of the impact almost knocked him over, but he managed to stay standing as you wrapped your arms around his waist and buried your face in his chest.

“I don’t want to go, I can’t.” you whimper as you look up at him through your tear soaked lashes, “But if I stay, you have to fucking promise me you won’t do this to me again.”

Javier’s eyes widen, and he shakes his head, “Never. I just –“ he stumbles over his words, “I hate who I am, and you deserve so much better than me and what I can give you,” he explains, his own emotions forming a lump in his throat, “you deserve the world and I can’t give you that.” He admits.

You shake your head and bring one of your hands to rest gently on the side of his face, thumb running over his cheek lightly, “But you can give me a home,” you say quietly, “what you did was shitty Javier, you know that and I know that but-“ you pause taking in a deep breath, “For some reason I still love you, so much, and I can’t keep ignoring it.”

Javier doesn’t speak. How can he? You pretty much just admitted that you knew what he did was terrible and awful, yet you still love him, and you were still willing to give him a second chance to do right and make up for what he had done.

Before you realize what’s happening, Javier has his hands on the sides of your face and is pulling you into a passionate kiss. Every unsaid word every sleepless night from both of you is spilt into this kiss and you bring your hands up to his shoulders to keep you grounded. He finally pulls away and rests his forehead on yours.

“I love you Javi,” you whisper.

Javier smiles at the nickname he had missed hearing so much and pulls you into a tight embrace.

“I love you too.”

.

.

.

A sharp crack fills the air as you and Javi exit the airport and he turns to face you hand cradling his reddening cheek.

“What the hell?” he exclaims, eyes wide in surprise.

You cross your arms, “That was for lying to me.”

He shrugs before rubbing his face lightly, “Okay, I deserved that.”

/////

All Pedro Stuff Tag: @fleurdemiel145​ @sargesbestgirl @lustriix​ @yeah-boiiiiiiiiiii​ @longitud-de-onda​ @jellyfishpoptart​ @ah-callie​

Permanent Tags: @lord-wolfgen @petalduck​ @sebastianstanslefteyebrow​ @stillreadingfantasy​ @jokersdoll​

(If your user is struck through and bolded it means that Tumblr wouldn’t let me tag you / you would not show up to be tagged.)

[maluminspace]

Genre: coffee shop/fluff

Pairings: Michael Clifford/Reader/Luke Hemmings

Word Count: 2k

Requested: by anon

Oof can you do a coffee shop AU for Mike month? 💗

Trigger Warnings: strong language

A/N: This is pure flirty fluff, I think we’ve all earned it! Also, I didn’t initially plan on making this poly but I couldn’t stop these three hoes from flirting with each other, enjoy!

***

“He flirts with you every time we go in there.” Luke smirks, shoving his hands into his coat pockets to protect himself from the cold. “I’m telling you, he’ll say yes if you ask him out.”

You roll your eyes. This argument comes up every now and again and you’re getting tired of repeating yourself. “It’s too early for this, Luke.” You groan. “There’s no way the cute barista has any interest in me, it’s probably you, he fancies.” 

There’s a mountain of proof to back up your argument. Michael, your regular barista at the cafe you visit on the way to work every day, often stares at your best friend when he thinks no one is watching and has even drawn the odd love-heart on his paper cup. Of course Luke had argued that he must do that to everyone, because you’ve had your fair-share of cute little doodles from him as well.

Luke nudges you playfully with his shoulder. “If it was me he was flirting with, he’d have been mine a long time ago.” He winks, although you don’t miss the way that he blushes at the thought of the beautiful blonde barista. “Just bite the damn bullet and ask him out. It’s almost Christmas! Loads of new romances happen around this time of year.”

“If he’s that interested in me, why doesn’t he make the first move?” You counter, trying to hide your own blushing cheeks in the folds of your oversized scarf. “Besides, it should be me giving you this advice! It’s you he wants, not me.”

Your best friend scoffs, ignoring your last comment in favour of continuing his original argument. “He’s been trying to make the first move, dummy!!” Luke explains in an exasperated tone. “You just don’t know how to take compliments or flirt back, so he doesn’t know if you’re interested or not.”

Luke’s theory is entirely plausible. You’ve never been the best at either of those things and it’s cost you dearly in the romance department in the past. No end of your potential dates have ended up with someone else because you've been; either oblivious to their attraction towards you, or too nervous to encourage them or ask them out yourself. The fact that you’ve always had a secret,  underlying attraction towards Luke, may have also played a part in those missed opportunities, but you refuse to dwell too much on that. “Well, I…”

“Just fucking ask him out, or I’m going to do it for you.” Luke interrupts as he stops outside the coffee shop doors. “I mean, what’s the worst than can happen?”

“Umm, I could embarrass myself spectacularly because his most likely reply will be ‘oh, this is awkward, I’m kind of more interested in your dumb, lanky friend!’” You reply quickly. “Then we’d have to find a new place to buy coffee every morning and that would suck.”

Luke chuckles, holding your shoulders and gently forcing you to look him in the eye. “The worst that can happen in this scenario, is that you’ll go on a date with a cute guy. Even if you don’t get along all that well, I’ll call you with a fake emergency, you leave and you never have to see him again.”

Despite the warmth and kindness in Luke’s voice, you’re a little annoyed that he’s entirely missing the point. “Can’t we just leave this alone and continue to admire him from a distance, it wouldn’t be fair to make him choose between us anyway.”

For a moment, you expect Luke to argue but he simply pouts. “Fine, be dateless, you can’t say I haven’t tried!”

You slap Luke playfully on the arm before you reach past him to open the door. As you step inside the cosy little cafe, familiar nervous butterflies spring to life in your tummy. They multiply when the pretty barista looks up from the counter at the sound of the tinkling bell above the door. His handsome face lights up in a beaming smile as his green eyes meet yours. “Good morning!” He chirps, far too happily for this ungodly hour, in your opinion. “What can I get for you both today?”

It’s hard not to notice that sparkle in the barista’s eyes as he speaks. Maybe your best friend is right, perhaps Michael, does have a bit of a thing for you. 

Thankfully the cafe is empty this morning, it’s still pretty early. You and Luke often try and beat the morning rush, it seems you’ve managed it today.

“We’ll have our usual please, Mike!” Luke responds, his tone unashamedly flirtatious, as always. “It’s okay if I call you that, right?”

The blonde man glances over at Luke, that sparkle of what you hoped was attraction, remaining firmly in place as his eyes land on your friend. “Sure.” He giggles. “I think it’s only fair that I finally get to put names to the faces of my two favourite customers in return, though.”

The sound of his little laugh only serves to make you fall even harder for this almost-stranger. As you watch him, his gaze drifts back to you and you subconsciously walk closer to the counter as you shyly tell him your name. “And you can just call him, idiot.” You add, jabbing your thumb in Luke’s general direction.

“Or you could call me your very favourite customer!” Your best friend interjects. “Because let’s face it, I’m a fucking delight to be around, especially this early in the morning. But if you want the boring answer, you’d probably better just stick to Luke.”

“I guess I should stick to your actual names.” Michael smirks, raising his eyebrows flirtatiously at each of you in turn. “At least for now…”

If Luke hadn’t tried so hard on numerous occasions to convince you that Michael was attracted to you, there wouldn’t be a single doubt in your mind that the barista was crushing on your best friend. As it turns out, you’re beginning to get incredibly confused as to who actually wants who at this point.

“For now?” Luke questions, leaning across the counter a little, intentionally brushing Michael’s fingertips with his own. “What would you like to call us, Mike?” He asks, his tone becoming so flirtatious and teasing that you struggle to know whether you should be more aroused or embarrassed. 

Michael’s cheeks turn a pretty pink as he unwittingly allows his gaze to drift to Luke’s lips. “That would be telling…” He replies eventually, his tone as low and seductive as Luke’s.

“Okay…” You mutter awkwardly, “I think I should leave you two love birds, to it.”

Your words startle the men back to reality as they turn to you in unison, both of them babbling embarrassed apologies.

“It’s fine!” You insist, although your tone is definitely higher than you’d have liked. “You don’t have to apologise for being attracted to each other!” The words have left your mouth before you have a chance to stop them.

Michael awkwardly scratches the back of his neck, glancing between you and Luke with an almost guilty expression on his beautiful face. “Well I… Actually…”

“It’s okay!” Luke interrupts. “You don’t have to explain yourself, I know it’s not me you’re interested in, I just…”

“Are you kidding?” You laugh, there’s no way you’re allowing Luke to chicken out on this. If you can’t have either of these cute guys, they may as well have each other. “The sexual tension between you two is enough to make anyone blush, like - You need to hook up or something.”

Surprising both of you, Michael lets out a tiny nervous laugh. “I actually thought you two were a couple.” He admits shyly. “That’s why I never said anything but…”

“It’s fine!” You interject, “You’re not the first person to think that but he’s available, and he thinks you’re super hot, so you should definitely go out.”

“No way!” Luke screeches at you. “It’s the two of you that should be going out, Michael clearly wants you more than me…”

Michael swallows hard as he looks between you and Luke again. “Since we’re sharing, I think you’re both hot. I couldn’t decide who I was more jealous of when I thought you were a couple.” He giggles anxiously. “I wouldn’t want to cause any trouble between you, though. You two obviously have some unspoken ’thing’ going on.”

You automatically glance towards Luke, he meets your gaze instantly and an awkward silence stretches between the two of you. Your hidden feelings for Luke bubble closer to the surface than they ever have before. As much as you want to admit that you’re attracted to him, your feelings for Michael don’t seem to be going anywhere either.

“This is crazy.” Luke sighs, shaking his head, but there’s a ghost of a smile playing on his lips as he drops his gaze to the ground. “I can’t believe all three of us have been crushing on each other and no one has had the guts to make the first move.” 

It takes a moment to process Luke’s words. The two beautiful men that you’ve secretly been carrying a torch for, not only like you back, but are attracted to each other as well.

“Maybe that’s how it was always meant to be.” Michael shrugs, interrupting your thoughts. “If you two had already been a couple or if I’d asked one of you out, maybe we’d have missed out on something even more special.” His tone is a little hesitant like he’s hinting towards something that he’s not sure you and Luke will approve of.

“You’re right.” Luke agrees, his tiny smile widening until it lights up his whole face. “There’s an easy solution to this, it’s just a little out of the ordinary, that’s all.” He takes a deep calming breath. “Okay, I’m just gonna do this.”

Even though you’re pretty sure you know what your best friend is going to say, there’s a part of you that’s incredibly nervous to hear it.

Luke turns to you, his blue eyes soft but sparkling with the kind of happiness you haven’t seen in them for a very long time. “Will you both go on a date with me on Friday night?” He asks, looking between the two of you hopefully.

Both you and Michael reply with an enthusiastic yes. You’re pretty sure that your smile rivals the brightness of those on the faces of your two biggest crushes. 

“I really thought you were gonna ask us out separately.” Michael giggles, sounding quite relieved that that’s not the case. “I think this is a much better solution. I’ve never been on a three-way date before. I’m excited for it.”

“Me too.” You grin, still in shock of the whole situation. “We definitely need to eat somewhere cheap if just one of us is paying.” 

Michael and Luke both laugh, regarding you fondly before sharing a soft moment of eye contact with each other. “We can figure that out.” Luke promises, “First thing’s first, though.” He pulls out his phone from his coat pocket. “We need your number, Mike.”

Michael takes Luke’s phone and types in his number before handing it back. You notice the way that their fingers brush as the phone is passed between them. Both men blush a little and you grow even more fond of them, if that’s at all possible. As much as you’d admired them both separately, together they’re on a whole other level and you can’t believe how lucky you are to be going on a date with them both.

“Okay.” Luke grins after a moment. “I’ve set up a group chat, we’ll arrange all the details later, yeah?”

You nod, taking out your own phone to add michael’s number to your contacts from the group chat. “I definitely think a coffee date is out of the question.” You giggle, hoping that your jokes aren’t coming across as too lame.

“Definitely!” Michael agrees before a slightly guilty expression takes over his face. “Shit, speaking of coffees, I really should make yours!” He turns his back to you and Luke as he busies himself making your drinks. 

“Our date is pretty cute, huh?” You stage whisper, not hiding the fact that you’re checking out Michael’s ass. You always enjoy the days that he wears skinny jeans. 

“Both of my dates are the hottest, I’ve ever had.” Luke agrees, also blatantly admiring Michael before turning his attention back to you. “I really think that Mike was right - this all happened for a reason and Friday will be more than worth the wait.”

Every fiber of your being seems to be glowing with excitement and you can’t help but agree with your dorky date. This feels incredibly ‘right’ and you can’t wait to see how it turns out.

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