#the girls get pretty dresses and the guys just have boring tuxedos :/

[britishchick09]

ladies at the oscars:

the guys:

[i-have-not-slept]

The Last Hours Fashion Pt 2

Chain of Thorns comes out TOMORROW!!!! Just in time, here’s my analysis of the official art by @nicole.deal.art in terms of historical accuracy. I’ve already reviewed the girls’ outfits, so now it’s time for the guys!

There aren’t as many primary sources available for Edwardian menswear, and men’s fashion in general tends to change less from era to era. Men’s business and formalwear has stayed basically the same shape for the past 130 years. Keeping that in mind, let’s look at some of these pictures and see how well they hold up.

James

James looks pretty good! The picture looks like it’s at night, so he’s probably wearing evening dress. The high collar and cravat is a distinctly Edwardian style, as seen in the outfit on the right here:

This guy is also wearing a wrap-around waistcoat in a similar style to James’. To make it really accurate, he’d be wearing a hat and jacket, but this picture is obviously showing a fight scene so I can imagine that he lost both at some point. If we’re being really pedantic, James’ hair should also be a bit shorter, but I appreciate that a haircut is probably not high on his list of priorities right now.

Accuracy: 8/10

Matthew

Matthew is a self-described bohemian, and is also very concerned with fashion, so we can expect his clothes to be a bit more colourful and decorated than was possibly the norm. This is also at night, so eveningwear again. It looks like he’s wearing a tailcoat— if you look closely, the cut is similar to the ones in this picture from 1904:

The slight problem with eveningwear is that every source I’ve found suggests that Edwardian evening dress for men was almost exclusively black-and-white tuxedos. In fact, menswear from this time was pretty boring in terms of colour. However, Matthew is, as mentioned, a bohemian, and textually wears very colourful clothing. Same issues as James re: hat and hair, but I can justify it the same way as with James.

And some pictures of cravats for comparison:

The gloves are also interesting. Evening gloves were almost always white, whereas these are dark grey, but I’m prepared to believe they’re either Shadowhunter fighting gloves or worn for warmth in the street after a party.

Accuracy: 7/10

Thomas and Alastair

They’re wearing Shadowhunter gear, which there are obviously no historical references for, so I can’t really analyse it. I’m interested in how their gear differs— Thomas’ seems to be mostly leather, whereas Alastair appears to be wearing a vaguely Georgian puffy white shirt with metal throat, shoulder and wrist guards. We don’t have very many canon images of Shadowhunter gear, so it’s interesting to look at.

On a side not, Cassie said on her Instagram that this picture is of them in an abandoned Paddington Station. I’ve been to Paddington, and the background looks absolutely spot on. Kudos to the artist!

Accuracy: 10/10 just for the background.

Jesse

I don’t have very much to say about this one. The shirt is pretty generic but the trousers are interesting. The distinctive front flap with the two buttons isn’t a style you see with the Edwardians, who have moved on to someone more resembling the modern fly. And yes, I googled “how did the Edwardians fasten their trousers” to find this information. Jesse’s trousers more resemble Regency breeches, as you can see in this pictures:

This is interesting, considering the links I drew between Grace’s dress and Regency fashion in my last post. Guess we’ll find out tomorrow if my time travel theory was correct!

The jacket looks like a fairly Edwardian standard coat with the sleeves rolled up. Not much to say except that the deep green colour is possibly slightly unrealistic but it’s a tiny thing.

Accuracy: 6/10

Christopher

Christopher’s hard at work in his lab, and accordingly isn’t wearing fancy clothes. Like Jesse, this is a fairly basic trousers and shirt ensemble that fits pretty well with the period.

Things get interesting when we start looking at the apron and goggles. PPE (personal protective equipment) isn’t strictly fashion, so I had to do a bit more digging into this one as it’s not an area I knew much about.

The goggles could be period inaccurate, depending on how you look at it. The first form of eye protection for welding was developed by the inventor Powell Johnson in 1880. Johnson called his invention “eye protectors” and it was simply two strips of opaque cloth that could be seen through while still offering some protection.

Safety glass— glass coated in plastic to prevent shattering— was invented by Edouard Benedictus in 1903, when TLH is set. However, it wasn’t until 1909 that the first safety glasses were invented by Julius King. So Christopher’s eyewear is about six years ahead of its time. On the other hand, it’s entirely possible that Shadowhunters— probably the Iron Sisters in particular— were using protective eyewear before mundanes and Christopher is simply adopting the technology. But if we’re going by a purely historical standpoint, the goggles are a bit off.

The apron nearly drove me insane because I could not find any sources from the Edwardian era that show a similar style. The best I could find out is that bib aprons have been worn for welding since the 1880, so it’s reasonably accurate. Christopher really needs to pull it up a bit higher, though. Your shirt’s getting scorched, mate. PPE is no joke.

Accuracy: 5/10

As a last note of interest, while I was researching I came across this image I just had to share. It’s a cartoon that appeared in the Tacoma Times in 1903 and satirically depicts “men’s clothing designed by women”. Look at these guys. The og malewives. Poor little meow meows.

Sources:

Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute

Fashion History Timeline

Vintage Dancer

OHS

Bakersgas Welding

Aaand there we go! I probably spent way too much time on this, but it was fun. I’ll see you all on the other side after I’ve finished Chain of Thorns. Remember to tag your spoilers!

[dragynkeep]

…would you like to critique the RWBY prom outfits? If you want, that is?

Hell yeah, I'm always here for outfit critiques.

The biggest issue imo with these prom outfits are that they're all practically the same. I get it, new outfits take time to design and model, but if they can make two whole outfits for Cinder for that same prom arc then I'm certain they could've put a bit more effort in designing cute outfits for the kids.

I'm not gonna talk about the guys' out of RWBYJNR since they're both literally the same tuxedo and there's nothing to say about them. They're boring.

All the girls' dresses are just really similar and unimaginative. Most are in their colours (apart from Yang), but the style is just modern prom dress you get after googling dresses for five minutes. All of them aren't stylised to the girls like the rest of their outfits, so we have Ruby wearing a similar dress to Weiss despite the two having very different tastes and themes.

Don't get me wrong, the dresses are by no means bad or ugly, they're just not that creative.

You would not believe how annoying it was to find a good screenshot of Ruby's whole outfit. Ignore her glowing skin.

So, this is a cute dress! It's obviously in Ruby's colour and really the only time she's fully in red without her big cape, and the splashes of black are nice and don't take away from the colour. I like that's it's a gradient that goes into a brighter red at the hem where the black trim is. On top of that, the black sash adds some interest around Ruby's waist.

Now, I really don't like the lace that's holding the top of her dress together? It's like the lace on her corset, but that's on a corset, not a fabric dress where it just looks strange. Not only that, but the semi-transparent mesh thing on her chest isn't really suiting with the style.

It just looks too revealing for Ruby? The length of the dress is perfectly fine, but her showing off her chest with the laced up dress and see through mesh underneath is not really a design choice I would attribute to Ruby like it works with Weiss.

I actually saw a dress on Tumblr that I think would really suit Ruby, link to the overall post here!

It's cute, and I think the covered chest and short sleeves suits Ruby more.

I mean... it's a dress.

Really, it's a nice dress. The style of it directly ties with her usual dress style compared to Ruby's sudden sexier version, the mesh underneath actually helps to introduce some contrast between her white skin and blindingly white dress, and it is her colour!

But it's just really boring. It's a simple white dress with a black lace thing underneath, there's nothing of interest on the dress, so you just kinda have nothing to look at. It would've been nice if they took more inspiration outfit wise from her V4 alternative dress, except obviously changing the colours.

I think this is a very regal and flowy type of dress that really suits Weiss!

This is a really cute dress.

Honestly, with how it's designed, this was the only time I think Blake being in purple rather than straight up black works better, otherwise we'd have the opposite but similar problem that we have with Weiss. The black of her collar, sash and shoes still keeps the colour, and the purple isn't the ugly purple they would use later on in the show.

The lil transparent shirt (What is it with these dresses and transparent tops?) adds a lil' more interest to the top area, and the streamlined design with the slit is a different look from the rest of her team, since they all went in short and puffy out skirts compared to Blake's.

Yes, it's a little plain still, and the bow randomly changing to a teal colour rather than a black like it looks here is a random colour that sticks out a bit too much with Blake's pallete. That said, it's still a nice dress.

Though Blake could've been one of the girls to go in a suit or something? She never wears dresses and prefers more pants and shorts, while still being pretty feminine. Idk, I don't understand the strict gender roles in this show where Jaune got laughed at for simply wearing a dress.

Thought that didn't exist in Remnant but okay.

Since her allusion is Belle, you could easily take inspiration for Blake's dress from Belle's in the Disney movie. Not so much as big and poofy, but the style of the top portion would look really nice.

Once again, Yang is in my least favourite outfit of the team.

It's just really boring to look at. It's a short dress with a lower neckline. I know it was because they didn't realise until it was too late, but Yang is once again not in her colour. I really wouldn't put her in bright yellow, but a nice cream or maybe pastel yellow would work a bit better with the big mass of yellow hair behind her.

A gradient similar to Ruby's would be really nice on the dress. Have the yellow be more saturated at the bottom to better distribute the colour throughout.

But really, and I've seen a lot of artists do this, put Yang in a qipao. If she's meant to be Chinese, why not take the opportunity to put her in a Chinese style dress? There's so many beautiful designs on them, Yang would look stunning in one.

Yes, I had to use this picture.

Really, I think this is up there with Blake as my favourite out of all the prom outfits. It's not a hard contest, but this dress is the only time where the overall dress style fits Nora.

The heart shaped top with the pointed bottom looks like a heart, fitting in with Nora's heart motif in her design, along with the puffed out skirt that sells the cute and girly style that Nora uses. The white skirt rather than having it all be pink makes the heart stand out more, and just keeps it from looking too plain like Weiss or Yang's.

I don't know if it's just the weird filter that plays on the Poser era episodes, but I like that the white even has a light pink tint to it.

Really, I would just add accessories and some detail to the dress, as well as change the shoes. All the girls are wearing open heeled shoes.

Pyrrha, what Carrie nonsense are you wearing-

Okay, the actual dress style is a nice one. I think it really does fit Pyrrha's more mature personality compared to the younger, more girlish style that most of the other girls wear.

The problem is that it's all red and it look ugly because of it. This is way too much of one colour with no detailing or accessories to break it up. You look at it for five seconds and get bored of it, because there's nothing there worth noting.

The only thing that catches your attention is Pyrrha's circlet, but now compared to her fighting gear, the gold is stuck on her head, partially hidden behind her red fringe. You really need to take more of the gold and add it to the actual outfit to better distribute the colour.

Go more for Greek style, like toga, with multiple layers that you can add different colours and designs to so you fit Pyrrha's allusion and make it more interesting and just nice to look at.

[rogerslovesstark]

Regret Can Only Come so Late

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader, Dolores x Bucky Barnes, Bruce Banner x Reader

Word Count: 1.4k

WARNING: angst

Author’s Note: Lol, i found out my boyfriend of two and a half years was cheating on me with his coworker, so this came pretty fucking easily. 

He stared at your wedding photos, he looked so handsome in his tuxedo, you in a white silk wedding gown, both of you grinning from ear to ear. How much can change in nine years? Over nine years, you and Bucky had two kids, a boy, and a girl. Only two months after your son, George, was born did you find out that you were also 3 weeks pregnant with your daughter, Winnifred. George was born in January and Winnie was born in November. Raising two kids at such a close age was difficult, especially with both of you working basically on the same schedule. Both of you had come to an agreement that you would leave your job to raise the kids. And it worked for so long until Bucky had gotten bored of the same routine over and over again. Waking up every morning to run with Steve, get ready for work, help fight bad guys with the Avengers, leave by 5:30pm, be home by 6pm, shower, eat dinner at the dining room table, watch TV with you and the kids, put the kids to sleep at 8:30pm, spend an hour with you, get ready for bed and be in bed by 10, all to repeat the same thing every day. There was no excitement in his life, not until he met Dolores.

He called her Dot for short, she was a young 23-year-old who knew how to party hard and fuck even harder. It started as a casual thing, nothing serious, just messing around after work, telling you that he had gone out with the team for a few drinks after a long day at work. You believed it, you would have never thought that Bucky would cheat on you, not when you had a family. There were no signs that it was coming, you and Bucky had sex almost every night. He held you while you both slept, talked to you like he still loved you. When he handed you the divorce papers, saying he couldn’t do it anymore, you basically lost your mind, thankfully the kids were at Uncle Tony’s for a day with their favorite friend, Morgan. “What the fuck is this shit Bucky, what do you mean you can't do this anymore? Was it something I did?” You begged him to tell you, Bucky just stared out the window, wondering if you would just stop talking. “Y/n, would you just shut up, you’re so overbearing and boring, I need some spice in my life, not the same thing over and over every single day.” Your heart broke even more at his response, had he really fallen out of love with you? The divorce happened quickly, Bucky said you could keep the house but you insisted that you wanted nothing from him, the only connection that you two would have was through your children. You both had agreed to joint custody, you had the kids 5 days a week and Bucky got them on weekends. George and Winnie were able to adapt to the change rather quickly, they were obviously upset that you and Bucky weren’t together anymore but after a while, they had gotten over it. They were both eight when their parents split up. After a month of being divorced, the tabloids broke the news that Bucky Barnes had a new woman on his arm, with a huge engagement ring on her finger. You cried so hard that night, George and Winnie held you while you just broke down in front of your children. She was the cause of your divorce, Dolores. Only after two weeks of being engaged had they tied the knot, Winnie as a flower girl and George as the ring bearer. You received the invite but declined, just seeing a picture of the two of them made you feel nauseous. After the last court case, you didn’t see Bucky, only some dry text messages between both parties in regards to the kids. Three years after the divorce you decided that too was time for you to start dating again, you meet a nice man named Bruce Banner, one of Bucky’s team members. You both studied in similar fields so your conversations were nowhere near boring. After a few dates, Bruce decided to ask you to be his girlfriend and you were overjoyed. Still cautious about him since the trust issues you had developed from the divorce with Bucky. After almost two years of being with Bruce, he had asked you to marry him, you said yes of course, but news rang out into the media that the Hulk had a new woman in his life. Bruce kept it a secret from the team, determined to make sure that you were the right one for him. Once he was sure, he had let the team know what was going on. Bucky was shocked, the news left him breathless, you had moved on, genuinely moved on, and with Bruce none the less. The kids loved Bruce, raved about him whenever they could while they were with their father. They only met Bruce after the two of you got engaged but they fell in love with him instantly. That didn’t sit right with Bucky, the kids didn’t get along with Dot at all, Winnie said that Dot was strange, she would only speak to them when Bucky was around. The invitation to the wedding came a few months after you had announced your engagement. Bucky sat in the bathroom in silence, his hand covering his mouth with tears running down his face. He didn’t understand why he was feeling this way. He left you because the relationship became stagnant, nobody was benefitting from it, he harbored no romantic feelings towards you because he was falling in love with Dot. If he had no feelings towards you, why was he crying in the bathroom over a wedding invitation? The wedding crept up on you so quickly you hadn’t even realized that four months had passed. You were about to walk down the aisle to your future husband, the love for your life, you could be more excited. Bucky heard the doors open and he held his breath, scared to look, the past four months had been filled with self-reflection, Bucky knew what he was feeling, he was feeling resentment towards Bruce for trying to take his spot as the dad in his family. Bucky turned to watch you walk down the aisle, his eyes flooded with tears immediately, there you were, still as beautiful as the day he met you. A heavy feeling filled his chest and he couldn’t explain what he was feeling, all he knew was that you looked so beautiful, the lace dress was completely different from the silk dress you had worn at your first wedding. You looked so stunning that Bucky forgot how to breathe. He watched as you walked and he couldn’t help but imagine himself at the end of the aisle, waiting to take your hand and make you his forever. But he had that chance and he blew it. The heavy ring and Dot’s hand in his left hand made it feel like a 100lbs weight was in his hand. Bucky excused himself to the bathroom, leaving the wedding altogether. Dot and he were having problems, neither of them could deny it. She wanted more materialistic things, and Bucky couldn’t provide that, he also couldn’t go on vacation as often as Dot would have liked. She had begun to pull away from him, obvious signs that she was cheating on him, Bucky followed her one night after work and he caught her kissing another man outside of his building. Bucky filed for divorce the next day. A couple of months after the divorce with Dot, Bucky began cleaning out the apartment in the tower, that's where he stayed now, seeing that he had sold the home the two of you owned and the apartment was already under Dot’s name. He came across a box full of photos. Almost all of them were of you, Bucky had completely forgotten that they had even existed. You were so beautiful, it hurt to look at these pictures because Bucky could see how in love with him you were, but you didn’t look at him like that anymore. You looked at Bruce like that though. Bucky understood what he was feeling, intense jealousy, of you and Bruce, of Bruce, being able to hold you the way Bucky used too, to kiss you and make love to you the way Bucky used too. Bucky came to regret ever leaving you, both his children had found out that he had cheated on their mother and wanted nothing to do with him. None of you did. Bucky lost his whole family because he had been a fool who became bored with his family. If only he wasn’t a fucking idiot.

[ravenadottir]

how do you think the islanders high school prom nights went?

oh nooooo! don’t make me suffer thinking about proms!

ok, um, let’s see.

((edit: it became a bible, as per usual...))

bobby. i can imagine cupcake being nervous to ask a girl to go with him to prom, rehearsing his “promposal” several times in the mirror, and joking about something related to proms that would light up the mood. i picture him with a really cute and shy girl that had her eye on him during chemistry class. and yes, i think he used the chemistry hook to ask her to be his date. he probably did weird worm dances, got the stage for ‘paisley cuddle’ for a three songs, was elected ‘class clown’ and got a good night kiss in front of her house when dropping her off, afterwards.

carl. i don’t want to sound too mean, but if carl went to his prom, he didn’t go with someone. he was too awkward and didn’t pick up the courage to invite the girl of his dreams. he had the corsage bought, but deep down he knew he couldn’t ask her. i must add here, he had a close friend that ended up spending the party with him because they were that connected. carl didn’t have fun, didn’t find the meaning of friendship and danced with his friend. he was too worried about uni applications and his future, and couldn’t wait to run for the hills. his entire high school experience sucked, and his prom wasn’t different. maybe one liberating song that set him free was “gives you hell”, where he didn’t feel like holding back and really let all the weird alien moves out. after that, he left. for good. this is why i think when he tells the story to mc she’ll find a way to throw a prom just for him, with his friends from the villa, where he’ll be picked up in a limo and dance awkwardly, but freely, with true friends. 

chelsea. this girl had fun on her prom, had a really cute guy taking her, the most gorgeous corsage she put together herself and gave it to her date the day before, so he could bring it when picking her up. chelsea had a close group of friends in school and danced the night away. if i know my bra well i think she was in charge of the decor, and you can bet your ass she talked her way into making everything pink-toned. all the blush and millennial pink you can imagine, down to the punch and the tablecloths. she organized everything related to the decor while bonding with a different person in charge of the rest. i can only imagine she had tons of fun at the night of the prom, being taken there in a pink limo. if her date didn’t do it, she would do it for herself, don’t at me!

gary. gary went to this prom, but i don’t reckon he took a girl. at that point of his life he was still “villain” looking, like he said, and i don’t think he had enough confidence to ask someone to go with him. what i do believe is that dicky was there with him, with a six pack and a playlist on his car that would be “infinitely better than whatever those fucking nerds are playing in there, mate!”. they would go in but not stay too long. i don’t think gary was a class clown or a sportist, despite of him playing football early on. he must’ve left that aside while focusing on robotics, so he was pretty much invisible. at least i think he defined himself in those terms. but they would drive somewhere gary adores, like the mountain, to watch the shipyard, have the beers, the music from the car radio and just talk and make fun of the popular kids that listen to ed sheeran. they would stay up all night, making plans for the future, since gary has his forklift license and is more than ready to start working. “cheers, mate.” besides the usual arctic monkeys, i think the song that best illustrates his prom is “mr. brightside” by ‘the killers’. “you know you’re gonna have to come back later for the car right, rennell?” “yeah...” “i’ll come with, you pussy. no need to be so sad.” dicky completed, pouting and draping an arm on gary’s shoulder as they walked home, ties untied, jackets and shirts open.

henrik. this kid couldn’t wait to wear those suspenders, beige pants and white shirt. he definitely had matching boutonniere with the corsage he got for his date, and his hair down. because whenever he hits the dancefloor, he lets his locks down and everyone knows that means the party is about to start. it wasn’t difficult for him to invite the girl he likes and she didn’t even blink before saying ‘yes’. i think he drove there, his friends on the back, singing along to "heroes” a cover by ‘the wallflowers’. i see henrik laughing while spinning a girl in place, catching her, goofing around with his friends while having the time of their lives. he already knew what he wanted to be, and everything was planned out. he drove everyone home and had his first night out with the girl he took to the prom.

kassam. i think kassam did his best to follow the protocol and asked a girl to go with him, got her a cute corsage and planned out the limo bit with his close friends. but i think it truly hit him that everything was going down when he put his jacket on, at the store. he saw himself on the mirror and realized what prom was, to him. it wasn’t just a party he would probably get laid after. i think he partied extremely hard that night, took some stuff, lost control, danced like an absolute asshole and probably ruined the night for a couple of people. it wasn’t smooth or tranquil like he thought it could be, and i really think he regrets lots of things he did that night. except for one. he decided to be the life of the party in different ways.

lottie. her “year 12 formal” was probably the first time lottie had real fun in her high school experience. like priya said before, i think lottie had some control issues and that stops her from seeing the full picture. ending your school experience usually opens your eyes for bigger things, and that’s where i think she really enjoyed herself for a long time. of course she wore a black dress and black and white corsage, if any. probably the first time she dyed her hair, not only a couple of streaks. high heels and black lipstick but just as gorgeous as she is today. maybe not the same level of confidence as today, but she was on the right path, i’m guessing.

lucas. i wanted to say lucas was the prom king, but that didn’t happen. he definitely didn’t know what to do while having a girl linking arms with him. he always felt like an outcast because of his previous experiences in school. always moving away, never staying too long to truly bond with his peers. so prom wasn’t exactly a fun time for him. it was though, the moment he realized he could do anything he wanted, not only conform to what his dad expected from him. the moment he realized that was possible the punch tasted different, the music became more fun, the dance moves weren’t so rehearsed and awkward, and he could truly appreciate what that night represented. i do think lucas wasn’t as smooth as he is today, so you can expect very boring tuxedo+shoes+tie combo, and not a lot of jazz going on with his ride. the whole point of getting a limo is to share it with your friends, but if you’re there for only a few months, then i don’t think there’s a bond strong enough to make you sing along to songs while picking up a girl. truth is, school wasn’t the best time for lucas, and just like carl, i don’t believe his prom was either.

marisol. she had to conform to a dress even though she wanted to rock a suit. at that point marisol already knew damn well who she was, but she couldn’t come out yet. i don’t think she had a very open relationship with her parents, and had to hide it for a while. what i do think though is that she took a girl, and changed into a suit at the dance. her closest friends knew about it and supported her, helping her hide her secret until the time was right. but that didn’t happen that night. she gave her date her corsage, and danced the night away with all of them. i even think her first sexual experience with a girl happened that night. awkwardly but very fully loving experience.

noah. i really think noah had a long term girlfriend by the time he graduated from high school, and she was the lucky girl he took to prom as his date. he asked her in the most traditional way, getting to her by the lockers, after class, possibly proceeding to take her to the library, finding the aisle with his and hers favorite books, then asking her there. the whole shebang of corsage and tuxedo, but no fancy limo bit or big gestures. just what he could afford. his dad took them to the dance and they entered the room being greeted by his closest friends. i do think noah was somewhat popular among the boys, because of his swimming, and the girls because he was so sweet and caring, besides hot! definitely popular enough to get some votes for prom king, but not quite there. i also believe the night of the prom could’ve been the first time he had sex. i could be wrong, but in my head, teen noah would’ve waited for a night as such, knowing what it means to him and to his girlfriend. not a lot of dancing but a lot of talking and watching as his crazier friends would let go and pull off moves no one should.

priya. it wasn’t the most fun she had in her life, that’s for sure. she mentioned a couple of times about her life in school and how hard it was to fit in. i don’t think big things happened for her back then. she tried her best to conform and become friends with people but it wasn’t in her, and eventually, those friendships would crumble. she probably had a date, a boy who asked her, and a couple of close friends, but didn’t feel like that was the fantasy prom she pictured for herself. i can see her wearing something discreet, because the priya we know and love blossomed later in life. besides, it was 2007/2008. emo phases were ending, but the alternative hairstyles were still here. if she had one of those or not, it’s up for debate. but her family doesn’t seem the kind to forbid her from having a haircut of her choice, so… you know what that means for her fashion choices back then! she did have a good time after a while at the dance, but it took her too long to realize it only depended on her. i think she danced, but didn’t really let the beast out. “not the greatest party i’ve been to, and definitely not my hottest look. but i guess no one’s prom is perfect.”

[just-some-random-blogger]

The Stroke Of Midnight

Seventeen + BigBang Mafia!Kwon Soonyoung (Hoshi) x Reader  Characters: Kwon Soonyoung (Hoshi), Kwon Jiyong (G-Dragon), Wen Junhui (Jun) Summary: Can you believe the only person Hoshi has the remote interest in talking to wants to leave before midnight?  Word Count: 1k+  Warnings: Cinderella AU-ish, mafia au, fluff, angst, etc.

A/N: i watched cinderella and got feels. Also i made hoshi's hyung gdragon just because they have the same last name bye hahahahah

Also for he record, soonyoung can stab me with a fork and i'd thank him

Soonyoung had much better plans than this-- in a constrained tuxedo, forcing smiles and caviar down his throat. Old people with unneccessarily wrinkly faces from the stress of not being able to sleep at night were congratulating him for his older brother's accomplishment. Sure, he helped kill the leader of their rival group, but damn this bow-tie was so tight.

To the world unknowing, this was just another rich family throwing a lavishly over-expensive party. But to those who were head of the households and old enough to understand, this was the underlings paying homage to the wealthiest and most dangerous family in the country.

Attendance was a must, unless you wanted a shell of lead through your skull.

Soonyoung sighs and adjusts his bow tie for the hundredth time. His older brother watches him from where they stood, waiting for the last of the guests to greet them. Yes, Soonyoung had much, much, much better plans.

"Just take it off if it annoys you that much," the infamous G-Dragon spoke, nose flaring im annoyance.

Soonyoung wastes no time and pulls the bow tie off him, breathing in, stuffing the silk in his pocket. His older brother clicks his tongue, "mother will be furious."

"Not unless I avoid her all night, Jiyong-ah," Soonyoung smiles.

"Ya! How dare you talk down on me!"

It was then, as Soonyoung got hit at the back of the head, he saw the glittery, baby blue dress flowing, and wandering eyes on a captivating wearer. Immediately, he appeared not so irritated, and in fact wholly captivated, even though he recieved a literally major blow.

Jiyong watches as his dongsaeng gawks, then snorts at his expression. "Typical," he mutters, fully wanting his brother to get annoyed at his remark and to recieve the relentless teasing he had in store.

But Soonyoung was too caught up, especially when you hid your laugh behind your hand over something.

Jiyoung turns from you to him and rolls his eyes chuckles, "Ya, you bastard, go talk to her." Instantly, Soonyoung gets shoved, and yet he doesn't even glare at his hyung for doing so.

Jiyong can't help but feel amusement, and jealousy at the same time, "Aish, I wish I could do that too."

"Kwon Soonyoung," he introduces the moment you two are in proximity. You turn to him from over your exposed shoulder and fully move your body to face him. You look at his hand and then connect yours with his. He leans down and kisses the skin on the back. You let out a soft, airy chuckle, expected a handshake and not a kiss. Still you play off the blush.

"I haven't seen you around here before."

"I've never been here before." After saying such, you immediately shift your focus elsewhere and note, "I like the music they're playing. It's fast enough to be lively, but slow enough to waltz to."

"Then," Soonyoung gives out his hand, "would you like to dance?"

You turn to his hand then over to the large clock on the wall. 10:16 pm. You turn to the man beside you. He was handsome and direct. Besides, it wasn't that late. You take him in and find yourself returning the soft, mischevious smirk he has on his lips.

You chuckle and take his hands, "I guess dancing won't do any harm."

And for the first time tonight, Soonyoung has a conversation. And not one out of pleasantries or force, but a lively one with purpose. He revels when he gets you to laugh and turn a shade pink. He thinks of every way to make your heart flutter and pulls on every string that works harshly.

"Jiyong-ie," his mother emerges beside him. G-Dragon turns to her with soft, respectful eyes. "Who's that lady with my Hoshi?"

Jiyong chuckles lowly as her mother raises her brows in curiousity, and apporval he guesses. For a moment, mother and son watch the dancing bodies and take in the busy hall in front of him. Jiyong smirks and shrugs, "Who knows?"

"He seems to be head over heels," the woman notes. She suddenly gasps, "he pulled off his bow tie!"

Jiyong breaks into a laugh, "Good luck, jerk."

The music changes, and the live orchestra plays something much slower than before. To the two of you, this somehow translates to needing to pull the other closer, as if you still could. Soonyoung refuses to let go of his hands placed in yours and on your waist. You smile when he finishes a story about his childhood playground injury. You don't mind his clutch, in fact welcome it.

"What about you?"

"Me?" you ask, seemingly questioning yourself, "I'm boring."

Soonyoung purses his lips and hums, "I don't care."

Your pulse rises at his deep tone, and you lick your lips unabashedly, "well, I wash the dishes."

"Mmm," Soonyoung says, leaning in, eye capturing your lips, "sexy."

Your face burns and you break into a nervous, giddy laugh. Soonyoung laughs as well, pleased with your reaction. 

And then, the large Victorian looking wall clock rings loudly. Your heart drops upon hearing it. You whip your head to see the time, only to have it confirmed it was really indeed 12 midnight. You sigh. Time, what a traitor.

Soonyoung looks at you, eyes concerned, lips pouted into a soft frown.

You want to kiss him right now. He's been nothing short of a prince charming. But you had to go.

And so you say this out loud.

"What?" Soonyoung mutters in shock so softly in disbelief.

You manage to pull awya from him because he is just so dumbfounded. "I had a wonderful time, but I really have to go."

You turn around and dart yourself through the sea of people. You try not to rub yourself against anyone if possible, but the amount of people present made it nearly impossible to avoid.

Soonyoung buffers a second more, before coming to his senses on how moronic he is for wasting so much time in doing so. "Wait," he says weakly.

You're quick on your feet, and near the exit when your heel buckle snags in your haste. You gasp and spare a moment to look at your feet and curse. You all but decide to tread on nevertheless. You come off walking as if you had a limp because of your wardrobe malfunction, and by the time you bump into someone, you decide enough is enough.

You wind up grabbing the man's bicep for the sake of your balance and turning to him with contniuous apologies. Normally, Jiyong would brush you off coldly, but due to the fesitivities, he was in a good mood, also you were really pretty, also you were the girl his younger brother was dancing with.

He chuckles and shakes his head, "It's okay."

You frown and kick your one broken shoe to the side in annoyance. Jiyong watches, brow raising in amusement and curiosity. You then push past him, rising and falling rapidly with uneven height. You get a few steps away when Jiyong has the brain to stop you and question, "You leaving like that?"

You don't really stop, even though there was a hand on your arm, "I don't really have a--" but the sound of your other flimsy buckle comong undone stops you, and you fall out of unbalance, yet again coming crashing on Jiyong.

You sigh and turn to your feet, slipping the cheap thing off you. Never again.

You lock eyes with Jiyong for a second, giving the quickest explanation, "I don't have time to explain."

With that you run off down the stairs of leading to the entrance, on in this case exit, of the place. You squeal when your bare feet come in contanct with the cool floor, small rocks, and what was hoepfully a puddle of water.

Your eyes catch Jun's agitated look. He bursts into a groan and sigh when he sees you. Annoyed, he waves his hands, urging, "Faster, faster!"

You clench your teeth and give a sour expression as you run to him and his car as fast as you can, for dear life. "I'm sorry!"

Jiyong watches as you go off with another man in a tuxedo, only this one kept his bow tie on. He furrows his brows and tilts his head, something he only does when he is intrigued.

Soonyoung errupts from behind him, hands flying onto Jiyong's shoulders, out of breath, "Did you see her?!"

Jiyong rolls his eyes and nods, "she just ran off with some other guy, dream boat."

"What?" Soonyoung snaps and the bolts to the door. Only by the time he got down the stairs, Jun's car, with him and you in it, has driven away with high speed.

Soonyoung groans and kicks the air in annoyance. His hands run and ruffle through his perfectly styled hair, loosening it where it was once neatly waxed and combed, making it look like he had just woken up; that, or he had lost a fight. And the latter had never happened in his entire life.

... perhaps until tonight.

Jiyong trots down to his brother to gloat, only to see that Soonyong looked genuinely devastated. Wih his hands in his pockets, Jiyong was supposed to comfort him, at least even a little before rubbing salt, except Soonyong beat him to the punch, "she's perfect hyung! Straight out of a damn fairytale."

Soonyoung sucks in a breath, "She has such a beautiful smile, and I don't even know her name!"

Soonyoung snorts and places his hands on his hips in frustation. Jiyong watches as he paces around in silence.

The younger of the two snaps, "she knows how to make Japanese food, hyung."

Jiyong breaks into a chuckle upon hearing that. Soonyoung only grinds his teeth. 

"Alright, alright," Jiyong nods and pulls out a key from his pocket. It's for his motor bike. Soonyoung turns to his brother, to his hand, and immediately lights up. Jiyong however pulls his grip away before his brother can take it, and says flatly, "put on a helmet."

With that, Soonyoung grabs the key and runs off.

Support me on ko-fi

[yamithediaperdork]

Trick or Stink: a pokemon story

It was a dark gloomy night.. well OK not really. the sun was setting sky and the cloud cover was next to nothing, at least in Virdian city. children were getting their costumes on and getting ready to trick or treat, while the pokemart and Pokemon center rushed to get a haunted house (with different levels for different ages) ready. Walking towards the haunted house to help, was two trainers from Pallet town. One was dressed in a tuxedo and had on some make up, to make him look palish.. and had some red on his chin and some fake fangs in. He was the champion of the region, and so far the longest reigning one.. Red. he was smiling big time and chuckling now and then as he looked at his companion The former champion, with the shortest reign in history, was huffing and waddling just behind red. Blue was dressed like a oversized toddler/baby. he was in a black diaper shirt, blue jean shortalls..with a pacifier hanging around his neck. and worse, oh so much worse.. was the three thick diapers between his legs, giving him a waddle and making it so every now and then when they hit a rough spot.. Blue had to take red's hand. "I want you to make it god damn clear to everyone this costume was your god damn idea." blue huffed for the fifth time. "yeah yeah.. No one would ever think that a crybaby like you would dress up like one." "NOTA CRYBABY!" Blue yelled and glared, bottom lip sticking out in adorable pout. "right right, I'll make sure to tell anyone who asks you lost a bet." red snickered, wishing he'd grabbed a camera. "think of the plus side of this.. this volunteer work is gonna look GREAT on your application to become gym leader." Red said. "nggggh.. only reason I'm doing it..HEY! STOP STARING!" Blue huffed then yelled. they were coming up towards town now and three boys, dressed in legendary bird themed costumes had stopped and stared, giggling. "Awww the big baby is grumpy!" 'Moltres' called out. "Maybe he needs a ba-ba!" 'Zapdos' added. "or a diapie change." 'Articuno' snickered. "That's it!" Blue huffed and went to reach for a pokeball, he was gonna unleash some gyarados fury on them..then recalled that red had taken his Pokemon from him. "look, with your temper you're gonna do something stupid..I'll hold onto your mon for you." Red had said before they left. "Like hell you will!" "Attacking trainers will not help you get that gym job." "Nggggh.." So now as he went to reach behind his back for the pokeball..it just looked like he was patting his butt. needless to say the bird boys giggled like MAD at that and ran off. "Give me a pokeball..I'm gonna-" "Do nothing and hurray up and get to the haunted house. we need to refresh our costume then find out what we're doing." Red said. "Yeah yeah.. Maybe they'll have a costume change for me..I doubt a baby will be very scary," "I dunno, if you end up needing a diapie change.." Red snickered and held his nose. "HEY! I'm NOT freaking doing THAT! bet or no god damn bet!!" "Ok ok, don't wet your huggies!" "Effing jerkass little.." blue grumbled and huffed for the rest of the walk to the house, blissfully unaware of the looks and giggles they were getting. There was two Jenny's helping set up the last few props,one was dressed like a jenny, and the other was dressed like a growlithe. a Joy was dragging out a playpen towards the front,dressed like a Jenny, when they looked and giggled. "Hey you two! about time you got here!" The first jenny said. "Oh wow..I didn't think he'd.." the second one started. "Eeeee! Blue you look ADORABLE!" Gushed the Joy, dashing over and hugging him, while blue blushed and squirmed. And then looked at the playpen. "...Red...how did they know they needed a playpen?" He asked, ice in his voice. "Well uh..we had to make sure no ones costumes clashed with each others you know." Red said, looking a little sheepish. "HOW many people knew I was gonna be.." Blue trailed off as he looked at one of the posters advertising the event.. and noticed it had his head superimposed on a toddlers..advertising the former champion as a big cry baby for the event. "...WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?" "Uh, Red, I thought you said he knew we were-" Jenny started up as Red waved his hands, trying to shush her. "You set me up from the beginning and You..I.. Gah! two fingers, to all y'all! I'm out!" Huffed blue, flipping off all of them and he turned around to leave. "Thats disappointing..and here I was going to sponsor your application." joy tsked. Blue stopped, looking over his shoulder. "What?" "Well if you were willing to humiliate yourself so much for the entertainment of the trainers around here, then you'd make a GREAT gym leader!" She said in a sing song voice. "But..I.." blue whimpered and turned around.. and the girls had to bite their touge to keep from going d'aww. "ngggh..fine.. Whatever.. what do I hafa do?" He said finally. they worked fast to get everything just right, to get the other volunteers in key settings to be nice and scary for the second floor, and kinda cute but maybe scary for the basement. Blue was posted at the entrances, and was put in the playpen (something that really irked him but he was doing it for the gym) and had loads of flashlights in the playpen with him..and some baby toys if he got bored. (And boy, when they had added those had he gotten huffy again!) Red was at the exit, to collect flashlights and wish everyone a good night. getting ready to open, red ruffled blue's hair. "OK, ready for this? remember if it gets to be too much or you need a you know what, holler for me, i brought extras." red said. "Your a right prick even when trying to be nice, you know that right?" Opened for business (the fee was a mere 10 yen) two groups came in. the first was filled with maybe first graders, some of them looked younger then others. But they ALL got a good giggle out of seeing blue. "Look look! he's totally in diapies!" "Hahaha i don't need diapies anymore right mommy?" "oh gosh he's so kewt!" all this and more and as blue handed out the flashlights to the little kids. one or two mommies giggled and tried to remind the kids it was just a costume, then the jenny in the growlithe costume lead them down stairs. the older kids came in and of course the bird boys were there..this time with cameras (though blue manged to semi hide his face) Lots of head pats and condescending talk, and Blue was bright red in the face and almost on the verge of tears. A ace trainer, there with his little sister, saw this and barked for them to ease up on the poor guy..then poped blue's pacifier in his mouth and smirked as blue nursed on it. "Remember me? I was one of the guys you thrashed on victory road..who'd the loser now?" he whispered and laughed. blue just suckled and whimpered and the other Jenny took the group away. Left alone, Blue suckled and tried to clam down.. it was over for a lil while at least, though he could see anther group gathering outside. Trying to put his mind on something else he day dreamed about being a gym leader and making sure to crush anyone who'd try and challenge him.. not noticing as he picked up a gyarados stuffie and was semi playing with it. Then the first shriek was heard and blue jumped up to his feet, pacifier popping out of his mouth and he looked around wildly. 'oh..right...haunted hou-' he started to think and then there was anther shriek, followed by a deep and evil sounding laugh Blue yelped and lost his foot, plopping down on his bed and then scuching up his face in confusion. Why was his crotch suddenly warm? Reaching down he poked his crotch, and felt the squish.. and turned crimson. HE HAD WET HIMSELF! Thankfully there wasn't a tell tale smell or any visible sign (aside from the diapers ballooning out a little and Blue squirmed. There was more screams now and more evil noises and blue whimpered a little, squirming and squishing as he grabbed the gyarados.. just for.. something to toss if he needed to.. or so he told himself as he held it close. Watching from his pokegear app, Red smirked at what a little crybaby blue was acting like and was pretty sure he was a soggy butt already. he almost went to go and check but then the two levels were done and he had to collect flashlights. "Wow that was super fun!" "Jesus I'm gonna have nightmares for a week!" "Never coming back again..except maybe to see the baby.." "Heh, doubt the baby will be here next year.." As the last of the kids walked away red gathered up the flashlights in a bin, and got ready to come around. Blush meanwhile was being gushed over what a cute baby he was, and just how into his role he had gotten. The evil noises had stopped before he'd started to cry but his eyes were still a little watery and there was a drool line down his chin from nursing on his pacifier too hard. The first group was the nice ones..the second one.. was barely any kids at all, but the more advanced trainers who he regiozed as people he'd trampled on route to the elite four. "What a little BABY!" "Ahahahah this is a good look for him!" "Look at how thick his diapers are, he must be a super soaker!" "I can't believe I lost to such a big diaper dork!" Still in a fragile state, their insults HURT and blue whimpered even as he handed out the last of his flashlights, lisping around his paci. "Dun be so mean!" Naturally, this didn't have the desired effect. the group took off and blue was left upset and huffing. 3 minutes after the groups had gone red showed up and smiled. "Hey buddy, how you holding up?" "Ah 'ate dis!" Blue yelled around the pacifier, tears threatening to spill down his cheeks. "Heyy it's ok.. it';s just for a few more hours..come on, if you wanna be a Pokemon master you need some thick skin right?" Red coo'ed. dumping the flashlights in and handing blue the gyarados stuffie.. with the big baby clutched at and held to his chest. "I..I guess." "Now come on.. would the future gym leader break down over some teasing?" red asked, helping blue stand up in the play pen and rubbing his back. "N-No.." Blue said and let the paci drop out of his mouth, and rubbed his arm over his eyes. "S-Sowwy.." "It's ok.. do you want a diaper change while there's no one here?" Red asked. "I don't need a diaper change." blue said far too fast. "Are you sure?" Red asked. "It's ok if you do.." "Nope! I told you, I'm not using the diapers." Blue huffed. "Alright alright. I need to get back to my post anyways.. if you need me.." "I know O know." Blue said and rolled his eyes, getting some of his cockiness back. With that, red smirked and left, waving bye. And about 30 seconds later the screaming started again. Only this time..it wasn't piss that came out of him. Blue was barely aware of what he was doing as he went from standing in the playpen to squatting..then the muffled fart told him everything. 'NO!' As if it had a mind of it's own his bowels decided to unload and he could feel the smelly logs slide out into the waiting diaper, pressing against the bulk and the shortall's and spreading over his cheeks. 'NO!!' Loud gross farts came out of him, almost rapid fire and it almost drowned out the horror noises.. but this was a horror all it's own for poor blue. 'Please god no no no noooo!' The mess was still going but the back of the diaper was loaded, so it went the only place it could, ozzing to the front of the diaper as tears ran down Blue's cheeks. The snaps on the shortalls couldn't hold up and burst open.. his diapers puffing out and stained brown. As if the smell alone wouldn't give away what had happened. As he finished..doing..THAT.. he looked up. the next group was ready to come in. Red had of course watched the whole thing happen, and was grinning from ear to ear. Blue's mess wasn't as fear based as he might think it was, as his pacifier had been loaded with laxative powder. Still he had to draw his attention away to take the flashlights back and wish everyone a happy Halloween..and by the time he was done it was too late to stop the next group from coming in and too late to give blue a diaper change. The smell was thick in the air and parts of each group left, unable to handle it while others were giggling that blue was SUCH a big stinky baby. The poor trainer couldn't even hand the flashlights out.. he was on his knees, sucking on his paci and hugging the stuffie close. No attempt to hide his face as the older kids took pictures and parents just reached in and grabbed flashlights for those who were too little. The jenny's saw what had happened of course but had to do their tour. one of them manged to let one of the monster volunteers know to run up and tell red what had happened...and that Blue could have his break early. Of course as the groups came out one little boy, trying to be helpful tugged on red's cape. "uh, scue me mister, but the big baby up front needs a diapie change and wots of cuddles." There was no more lil kids so blue just numbly accepted it when the growlthine dressed jenny gently helped him out of the playpen, rubbing his back and trying to cheer him up. "A-at least you didn't have a blow out right?" she asked sweatdroping. Somehow this didn't make Blue feel better. Blue stood there, waiting on Red. Once Red was there he could get changed and go home and pretend this all never happened. Red did come up and instantly put a hand to his nose. "Phew! somebody used gunk shot huh?" he teased and blue whimpered. "Hey, it's OK..come on, give me your hand and we'll get you all cleaned up OK buddy?" red said. blue huffed, and slapped away the offered hand. sure he was a big kid in a massively messy diaper but he could walk on his own god damn it! And he took three steps then slipped and landed on his butt, squishing the mess and making the smell 20 times worst. Blue blacked out after that, but apparently (according to sources) he had started to wail and then act like a lil toddler for the rest of the night. After getting his diapers changed he asked 'dada' (Red) to take him home and of course the Jenny's and Joy let them. Red had tried to take blue to his house but blue didn't wanna be left with a icky girl and sobbed that daddy didn't love him..so red had brought him home with him. His mom dug out reds old crib and the big baby had spent the night in it. When he woke up the next morning he was back to his old self and refused to wear any more diapers or baby outfits. He just wanted to go out and train and wait for his application to go though. Unfortunately his little stint as a big baby had been well documented and blue was out for maybe half a hour before returning to town, red faced from all the teasing, and claiming someone had used a starmie to spray the front of his pants. (Of course a starmie's water gun doesn't usually smell like piss, but red let it slide.) As the days past by, Blue was having more accidents (by the 10th one he gave up trying to say it was a water gun attack) and begrudgingly started to wear some pull up style protection.. that never seemed quite up to the task. By the end of the week he was back in diapers, but was managing to NOT go poopie in them. (Though this was in part due to red having him sit on a potty for 10 minutes every hour and half to try and poopie.) Finally the day came when Blue was summoned by the council for their decision, and they had asked Red to come along too for some reason. Blue figured it was they were annoyed he was neglecting his duties as champion. "Blue, we'll address you first. while you have indeed shown you'll go to great lengths to help out the town.. your antics are not becoming of a gym leader. What would the other regions think if they saw we had a diaper messing big baby as one of our leaders?" the head of the council asked, and Blue's jaw droped. "That..that was just.. you can't judge me just on one nights-" He started. "Your wearing a diaper now. " "I-I am not!" "There's a hold in the back of your shorts. That said, we DO still need a gym leader for virdian.. and Red, you're part in this fiasco with Blue is known as well." Blue whimpered and turned to Joy and the Jenny's, who looked apologetic and shrugged. All that shame..all of it..for nothing,..for.. "We'd like you to step down as champion..and assume the role of gym leader till such time as we believe we can find a suitable replacement." the head started but was interrupted but a loud sob. Red looked and Blue had plopped on his butt, and was bawling, a hand rubbing a eye. "It's not fairrrrr!" "Oh for the love of, Thats it, we'll be revoking your license blue!" The head snapped, and Blue sobbed harder, audibly soaking his diapers. "No you won't!" Red snapped, and he walked over, helping blue up and blue hugged him tight, burying his face in reds shoulder as red rubbed his back. "Excuse me?" "If you want me to step down as champion then I will, but I won't accept the gym leader position and further more I'll reveal just why the last gym leader left,.. I know he was head of team rocket and you want that kept from the press..Or..I can take the position..and blue here will be one of my gym trainers." "You want this big..BABY..to battle at your gym." "Yes. Now thats the deal, take it or leave it." four days later and the earth gym was reopened..however this time it had a odd gimmick.. it was almost like a oversized nursery. despite it's babish appearance, it still housed some strong trainers. In fact the leader himself was rarely challenged.. because the trainer in front of him while dressed in thick diapers and a t-shirt on hot days, and overalls otherwise else, was still strong as heck. There was also a small rumor going around that anyone who manged to face the leader and lost.. had a waddle to their step when they left...

[omgjasminesimone]

Kept Part 4

Bryce x MC x Ethan

Previous Part: Part 3

Word Count: 1900

Author’s Note: The conclusion! Thanks to all who read, commented, and reblogged this story!

  “Wow.”

Casey’s attention had been firmly on perfecting her winged eyeliner in the hotel mirror, but now she diverts her stare just to the left, where she can see the mirrored reflection of her handsome husband leaning in the open doorway, already dressed in his tuxedo.

Bryce walks into the bathroom, maintaining eye contact with her through the mirror. He grips her hips, pulling her back into his broad chest as he places lingering kisses down her neck. “You look incredible honey.”

Casey almost allows herself to get lost in Bryce’s touch when he slowly trails one hand down to the hem of her black silk dress, dragging it up her leg. But then she remembers that they should have left ten minutes ago and lightly slaps his hand away.

“Bryce, we have to go.” Casey reminds him.

Bryce lets out an exaggerated sigh, but steps away from her so she can focus on her makeup. “Fine. But after the award ceremony, you’re all mine, Richard Neubauer Advocate for Internal Medicine Award winner Dr. Casey Lahela.” He promises.

Casey quirks a brow, putting on her earrings. “Oh? And what are you going to do with me?” She teases.

“All the things I can’t do at home without having your loud screaming waking up the kids.” Bryce growls in her ear. Casey can’t help but gulp at that, and Bryce laughs, placing one more light kiss to her neck.

“Speaking of the kids, we should call before bedtime.” Casey calls as Bryce leaves the bathroom.

“Good thinking!” Bryce calls back, and then she hears ringing when Bryce places the facetime call.

“Hello Bryce.” Marta, their live-in nanny, answers.

“Hey Marta. Just calling to check in. Are the kids behaving?”

“For the most part. You know Kalani likes to test me, but nothing I can’t handle. And Jordan is a little angel. The best-behaved toddler on the planet. I just hope Kalani doesn’t rub off on him.”

Bryce laughs. “Come on Marta. She’s not that bad.”

Marta huffs. “You have no idea. She’s much better behaved when you guys are around. Let me go get her for you.”

Casey can hear Marta’s footsteps through the phone as the older woman climbs the stairs of their Chapel Hill, North Carolina home to their 5-year-old daughter’s room.

The Lahelas have been settled in North Carolina for the last 9 years. After moving out of Ethan’s apartment all those years ago, Casey moved in with Bryce and his roommates. When the lease was up, they moved into their own one bedroom, seamlessly falling into a domestic routine. With things going so well, they agreed to couple match for residency, both ending up at Columbia. By the time Bryce was done with his surgical residency, they were 31 and talking about marriage, and children. They decided to leave New York City for the more family friendly Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  Casey ended up well on her way to Head of Diagnostics at UNC Chapel Hill, while Bryce was a celebrated surgeon at Duke, an easy commute from their home.

They got married and spent two years getting established at their new hospitals before getting pregnant with Kalani. Their son Jordan followed 2 and a half years later. They hadn’t been back to Boston since moving almost 14 years ago, until now since Dr. Casey Lahela is being honored with a very prestigious award at a fancy downtown Boston hotel convention room.

“Kalani, it’s your Daddy.” Marta calls, and there’s a shuffle as the phone is handed over.

“Daddy!” Kalani calls out excitedly, and Casey can practically hear her daughter’s exuberant grin.

“Hey baby, you’re holding the phone upside down, there you go.” Bryce praises when she turns it right side up. “I heard you’re giving Marta trouble.”

“I’m not Daddy! She’s lying!” Kalani insists indignantly.

“Kalani, why would Marta lie?” Casey asks when she joins her husband, sitting on the edge of the hotel bed and leaning on his shoulder so she can see the phone.

“Wow Mommy, you’re sooo pretty!” Kalani chimes sweetly. Her daughter isn’t used to seeing Casey all dolled up, since most of the Lahelas evenings are spent at home with the kids. Casey almost forgets she’s supposed to be reprimanding her daughter on account of the sweet compliment. But then she pauses to wonder if Kalani is purposefully buttering her up. Their little girl is smart, and somewhat devious.  

Casey narrows her eyes, but she has a feeling it has no effect on her daughter. “Flattery will get you nowhere. But thank you. We’ll be home Sunday night, and I don’t want any more bad reports, understood?”

“Yes Mommy.” Kalani mutters, before changing the subject. “Daddy, are you bringing a present home for me?”  

“Only if Marta says you’re good. Otherwise I’ll be bringing presents for just Marta and Jordan.” Bryce threatens, but he ruins it with a good-natured wink that he can’t help but add when Kalani frowns. The little girl immediately brightens but has the good sense not to wink back and alert her mother. Bryce is definitely the softy of her parents.

“Where’s your brother?” Casey asks, and Kalani points the phone down towards the carpet of her room, where Jordan is playing with a toy truck.

“Hey buddy.” Bryce greets jovially, and Jordan turns to face the phone.

“Dada! Mama!” He calls out, rushing over to lean against Kalani’s bed.

“We miss you baby! We’ll be home soon, okay? Be good for Marta.” Casey says, blowing a kiss to her son. “Kalani?” She calls, and Kalani pulls her brother onto her lap, putting both on them in the phone camera.

“Yeah?” The little girl asks.

“We love you. Be good.” Casey reiterates.

“Ok, we’re running late and need to go, and it’s bedtime. We’ll call tomorrow during breakfast. Good night! Love you!” Bryce calls, letting the kids return ‘good nights’ and ‘love you too’ before hanging up.

Bryce stands and then offers Casey a hand to pull her to her feet as well. “Let’s go Dr. They can’t start the ceremony without you.”

…

..

.

“Congratulations Dr. Lahela!” Sienna chimes, bounding up to give Casey a big hug.

Casey laughs, just barely managing not to spill her drink as she returns Sienna’s exuberant hug. It’s been almost two years since she last saw Sienna in person, when she and Danny came down to North Carolina to meet baby Jordan. Many doctors have approached and congratulated her during the after awards reception, but this congratulations means much more to her.

Sienna moves on to hug Bryce just as exuberantly, and Danny smiles and congratulates Casey as well.

“So, how are we celebrating? We’re kids free, so we’re going clubbing, right?” Sienna suggests.

“We’re pushing 40 honey. I think our clubbing days are behind us.” Danny insists, dropping a kiss to his wife’s forehead.

Sienna frowns. “Speak for yourself. 40 is the new 25. Come on Casey, it will be just like our med school days. Some of our favorite downtown spots are still open. We can even call Jackie. She’d come up from Providence for this.”

“Sorry Sienna, but I think Bryce has a private after party planned in our hotel suite.” Casey returns, leaning into Bryce’s embrace.

“Don’t be boring Casey! You can have sex with him any time.” Sienna insists.

“Not this kind of sex.” Bryce insists suggestively.

The foursome laughs, and then chat for a few more minutes before Danny and Sienna head out, having to work in the morning.

Bryce drops a kiss to the top of Casey’s head. “How about one more drink and then we head out of here?” Bryce suggests, and Casey nods. Bryce places a lingering kiss to her lips before heading off to the bar to get their drinks.

“Casey.” A familiar voice greets, although he never used to call her ‘Casey’.

Casey’s back stiffens momentarily before she turns to face the blast from her past. “Ethan.”

His hair has greyed in the fifteen years since they last saw each other. He’s 55 now and has a silver fox thing going on. He regards her fondly, offering a small smile. He gestures to the award clasped loosely in her hand. “Congratulations Dr.”

“Thank you.” Casey returns.

“There’s no one more deserving. You’ve been making a big name for yourself. And I heard the other Dr. Lahela invented some new groundbreaking surgery technique. Supposed to be the biggest thing since the Whipple, according to the journals. They’re calling you guys ‘the power couple of modern medicine.’” Ethan adds conversationally.

Casey shrugs modestly. “We have a long way to go to overthrow you and Harper. Congratulations on your marriage, by the way.”

Ethan looks down at his wedding ring with a small smile. “5 years already. I don’t know why I wasted so much time, but at least I finally pulled my head from my ass eventually.” He raises his gaze back to her. “And I’d like to apologize to you Casey.”

Casey waves his apology off. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Yes, it does. I should have never treated you that way. Honestly, I think I was jealous. I saw all that potential in you, and I think even then I knew you would one day surpass me. And since all I had at the time was medicine, that thought made me do things I deeply regret. But now, that I see there’s so much more to life than work, I can see the error of my ways. And I sincerely want to apologize.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I was definitely in the wrong too. I see that now. I was young, but not naïve enough to not realize what you were doing. But I let you, for a long time, because I wanted to be comfortable. I wanted an excuse if I did fail. But I think ultimately, what I went through with you made me a stronger person, and a better doctor. I had to know how to advocate for myself before I could advocate for others. So, no hard feelings.” Casey replies, offering Ethan a small forgiving smile.

Ethan seems to let out a sigh of relief, as if this has been heavily weighing on him. “Well, I’m glad I could help then. And if you’re looking for any mentorship now, I could- “

Casey interrupts. “Let’s not go that far.” She says quickly, and they both laugh.

Harper approaches, slipping her hand into her husband’s. “Congratulations Dr. Lahela. Truly groundbreaking work.” She praises.

“Thank you, Dr. Emery.”

Harper turns to her husband. “Are you ready to get out of here? I just got paged back to work.” She reveals.

Ethan nods, “Goodnight Dr. Lahela.” He says before leaving with his wife.

Bryce approaches as soon as the older couple leaves. He was obviously being considerate by letting them talk that out alone. He hands Casey a glass of wine, sipping on a vodka tonic himself. “What’d he say?” Bryce asks curiously.

“He offered me a penthouse in Manhattan if I agree to be his mistress and leave you with the kids.”

“You’re not funny Casey.” Bryce insists, but he laughs anyway.  

...

..

@octobereighth​  @akrenich​  @lovehugsandcandy​ @regina-and-happiness​  @brightpinkpeppercorn​  @choicesarehard​  @lizeboredom​   @desiree-0816​  @hellooliviaolivia​ @dreaming-of-movies  @friedherringclodthing​  @weaving-in-words  @fairydustandsarcasm​  @goldenjellyfish12​   @pessimystic-fangirl​  @mimikoasahina​  @srta-give-me-my-jax-rl​   @god-save-the-keen​  @caroldxnvxrs​  @cora-nova​ @emceesynonymroll​ @ohsnapitzlovehacker​ @choicesgremlin​ @anxious-arliah​ @cordoniasmost​ @lahelable​ @annekebbphotography​ @liamzigmichael4ever​​ @crispycrunchyleaves​​ @mskaneko​ @ritachacha​ @zaffrenotes​

[imhereforbvcky]

Vivid - Part 2

Masterlist  -  Series Masterpage 

Summary: Have you ever met someone who completely embodies a color? Not an aura, not synesthesia. Just… They walk into the room and when you spot them, you think to yourself, “Wow. That is a walking hurricane.” When Clint Barton serendipitously meets a free-spirited stranger, he sees red. Chapter: Clint never expected to see you again, but today he does. Can he convince you to see him again? Maybe on purpose next time?

Warnings: Sailor Mee and the curse of the lip, back at it again. (Swearing. There’s plenty of swearing.)

Word Count: 2503

A/N: Oooh boy. I’m on the fence about this one. I like parts of it, but I’m always leery about including side relationships and fleeting characters. In this case, I think it gives character insight? So I kept it? Again, fair warning, this “you” is practically an OFC.

The next time Clint saw you was as unexpected as the first.

He hated these events. Everyone did. Of course he knew it was important, a good cause, part of his responsibilities, and on, and on, and on. Having a few Avengers listed on the invitation always brought bigger donations. Clint knew this. But it was still a headache and he wasn’t great at pretending.

He’d shaken a few hands, smiled, simpered, and promptly grew bored. By the time Natasha found him observing from the corner, the speeches had nearly concluded. He’d slouched into a deeply uncomfortable rental sofa, spinning a long slender breadstick in his fingers.

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to play with your food?” Natasha teased as she handed him a whiskey neat. He quickly dumped it into his half empty coffee and took a gulp. Almost an Irish coffee. Rougher and not quite according to direction, like him.

“Convince me these are actually edible and I’ll stop.”

She yanked the slender stick from her fingers and crunched down on it. He laughed when she yelped and handed it back rubbing her jaw.

“Think one of these penguin suits is a decent dentist?” she groaned, scanning the room of tuxedos and glittering evening gowns.

“I think if you ask you’ll never hear yourself talk again,” he grumbled, taking another gulp of his drink. “I’m bored.”

Natasha hummed her agreement and took a sip of her cocktail while she scanned the room. “Well the band’s about to start. Take bets on the playlist? I’ll take $100 we get two Journey songs.”

“You think I’ve got $100 to flush down the toilet?”

Natasha laughed and shrugged. “Works on the dentists.”

He laughed, watching her scan the room, looking for a target for the night.

“Big red over there is pretty,” she nodded toward the stage.

Clint perked up, turning to look over his shoulder at the singer in the bright red dress.

“What d’you think her drink is?” Natasha asked, eyes too busy reading a million silent clues to see her friend’s slack jaw and wide, eager eyes. “I’m guessing… Gin martini with lemon. Definitely goes for a twist.”

“Coke,” Clint answered quietly beside her, as shocked as he was mesmerized. The band had begun to play, and of course she was a front-woman. It was so obvious it hurt. Or was that the pounding in his chest.

“What did you say?”

“She likes coke,” he answered, a smile slowly curling his lips. “I’m going rum and coke.”

Thoughtlessly, effortlessly, he was on his feet, moving toward the stage. He suddenly had that feeling again. Red. You wore it and you lived it. You came alive on that stage. With smiles and winks, a little dance and a few songs, you’d drawn every guest into motion.

They tapped of fingers modestly against their glasses mid-conversation. Or they swayed shoulders, skirting the dance-floor hoping to be asked. The more exuberant guests allowed themselves to be swept into the current.

You were a red neon light, glowing, burning. Energy itself innervating the room. He felt it on his skin and in the center of his chest.

“Do you know her?” Natasha turned to him, somewhere between an amused smile and a confused frown distorting her smooth features.

“We danced once…”

“You?”

“In a bodega.” He chuckled at the memory, at the promise it held.

“That makes more sense,” she smirked and scanned the room again. “Well, I guess I’ll have to try again for a dance partner then?”

“Uh-huh.” He hadn’t really heard. He’d stopped paying attention a long time ago. He was drawn like a moth to a bright red flame.

He waited, enjoying the rest of the party, for once. For once, he had something else to think about.

“You guys have been great,” you smiled wide into the microphone. “We’re gonna take a little break. Just enough time to have another look at the silent auction items.” A wink and the spotlight cut off the stage just as you turned to leave it in a swirl of red dress, blue light, and humming voices.

Clint weaved his way through the crowd as you and your band-mates cleared the stage. He had no idea what he was doing or what he might say, but… it seemed like fate. Like the wind had blown a lucky red balloon just within reach.

“No, fuck being friends!” he heard your whisper-shout when he finally spotted you down the hall. With eyes scrunched closed, your hands pushed out in front of you, toward the man across the hall. “This has never been just friends. Not for me. And it’s not for you either; you just can’t… You want to play around but my heart isn’t a toy. I can’t do this hot and cold thing.”

“Baby, don’t be like that,” the man urged, taking your hand. He stepped close. Very close. “I came to see you.”

You shoved the man’s hand away abruptly. “To see me.” A bitter laugh cut through the air. “It’s like you have some kind of special shit-stirrer’s radar. Every time I start doing okay without you, you turn up and make damn sure I’m not.”

“So don’t be without me,” he cooed, stroking his hands down your arms. “Not tonight.”

“This is what I mean. You want me ‘til you don’t. Doesn’t seem like that’s changed, has it?”

He merely sighed and looked at his feet, shaking his head, unwilling to answer. Always unwilling to risk anything but you. He was guarded while you stood, as ever, with a heart open and alive, red and beating, straining to feel it all. As ever, you were tired of breaking yourself against someone else’s walls.

You shook your head and pushed the man away gently. “Just go,” you said softly, hardly more than a whisper.

Having realized, too late, exactly what he’d stumbled upon, Clint turned to slip away in the shadows, unnoticed. Except Clint Barton, SHIELD spy, Avengers sharpshooter was shockingly prone to accidents. The clatter of glass drew your attention down the half-lit hallway. He’d tripped over a cocktail glass some wandering guest had left behind.

“The fundraiser’s the next door on your left,” you called, assuming he was a lost patron.

“Don’t do that,” the man across from you cooed, resuming your argument and reaching for you again. This time you moved out of reach. “We’re good as friends. Come with me, just for the night, for old time’s sake. No strings. We both know what it is this time; no one gets hurt..”

Clint didn’t like pushy people. He didn’t like anyone who manipulated their way into places they weren’t invited. He’d known a few.

“Um actually… I’m uh with the event” Clint stumbled with a sheepish grin that appealed to you immediately. It beamed a signal: gentle and safe, and… familiar. “I was hoping to talk to you.” He was giving you an out and you were grateful.

“I have to go,” you told the man you’d been arguing with. “So do you.”

With that you patted his shoulder and turned down the hall towards the event. Towards Clint.

“Hey honey, what can I help you with?” you asked with a customer service smile glued to your face, eyes shimmering with struggle.

“I was…” Clint stopped and shook his head, changing course. “Are you alright?”

“Of course.” In the momentary pause Clint raised his eyebrows, ever skeptical, and you , you released a heavy sigh. A bittersweet smile tilted your lips. “Or I will be. ”

“He seems like a jerk. You should go have a drink and dance til your feet are numb and buy yourself something weird and awesome and forget all about him,” he held out his elbow for you and you took it, looping your arm around his with a watery laugh. As if you could afford a single thing on the auction block.

You turned to him as he led you back to the party, with your fingers curled around his rigid bicep. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Oh, no. Nevermind.”

“No, come on!” You bumped him with your shoulder. “What was it?”

He turned to face you but shook his head, looking at his feet and yours, swept by that red-as-red-could-be red dress.

“I recognized you, is all,” he admitted. “When you guys started playing... I think the bodega performance was maybe, a cut above, but,” he shrugged with a huge grin on his face.

You burst into laughter at the memory.

“The bodega!” you smacked your palm onto your forehead. “Oh my god, I was… not myself that night.” You tipped your head with a wink to be sure he understood.

This time it was Clint who laughed. And you enjoyed every bit of it. The shocked rise of his eyebrows, the glint in his wide eyes, and the huge grin on his lips… It brightened your heavy heart. He was good at that, apparently.

“I should have known,” he laughed, “Sober people don’t sing to coke bottles.”

“Oh no, I absolutely do that sober.”

“Oh,” he laughed. “You’re that kind of person.”

“And you’re lucky to have witnessed it.”

“I am,” he agreed, with something warm and soft in his eyes.

“That was another ex-boyfriend special. Ending a night to forget with junk food and a hangover on the horizon,” you sighed, shaking your head. “I’m a jump in with both feet sort of girl, ya know?” He did know. In his mind you were bright red, full of risks. And if you were lucky, he assumed, gleaming rewards. It made perfect sense that you felt strongly and acted rashly. Red. “When I see something I like I’m all in. And he was a… a…”

“An idiot?” Clint offered. “An asshat? Blind?”

Your laughter was infectious to him. He didn’t even care if it was at his expense. He just wanted to hear it.

“That too, I like to think,” you agreed through a giggle. “Truth is: I’m the idiot. I feel too much and I get my heart broken too often. Can’t turn it off.”

“No,” Clint argued, dropping your hand from his arm so he could turn to face you. “Definitely not an idiot.”

“No?”

“Brave.”

People like you were a complete mystery to Clint. He could barely bring himself to say things like ‘I love you’ to people he well and truly loved. They knew it. People like Nat, and the others: his family. They shared traumas and challenges that understood why. Yet here you were, brimming with it, ready to share it so easily. This was what he had been drawn to that day in the bodega, and this was what had pulled him down the hallway looking for you this night like a moth to the bright red heat of a flame.

You chuckled softly, turning embarrassed eyes to your feet. “You do know there are real live Avengers in this room, right?”

“WHAT?!” he shrieked, feigning shock and looking wide-eyed about the room.

This time your laugh was deep and full. He was so light and fun, this stranger. Time with him was weightless, light as a feather. It cheered you up moment by tiny moment.

“I don’t know if I qualify as brave in this crowd,” you explained.

“Well,” he turned back to you. “Would I qualify if I danced around like a preschooler on Kool-Aid?”

“Oh, definitely,” you grinned, nodding.

“Bravest of them all.”

“Look out, Lancelot!”

By the time you glanced up to the stage, your band was already gearing up to finish the set. One grateful squeeze to your new yet old friend’s arm and you were off. Clint tried not to read too much into it, but it felt like a whole conversation. A ‘thanks,’ a ‘see you,’ a silent ‘I like this.’ Wishful thinking, he told himself.

You didn’t want to leave Clint’s side, but the show must go on. Especially one paid for by the biggest name in New York City.

It was the worst set of your life. Your band mates were furious. You were completely blowing an important gig, but damn it all, you couldn’t stop laughing.

Clint had planted himself at the center of the dance floor and held true to what you had thought was a joke. He flailed and jerked like a madman. He slid behind unsuspecting dancers making faces and wild gestures. He dragged a confused and reluctant Tony onto the floor for a waltz during your most lively song. It made no sense and it was exactly what you needed.

He spun and lunged and dipped, taking stealthy sips through straws of drinks held behind intimately held partner’s backs. Partner pairs he was absolutely not a part of.

What finally, finally got you to step away from the mike, cover your face, and double over laughing was the chicken dance in the middle of a slow mushy ballad.

The pianist glared at you before looking to your lead guitarist for help. They turned it into a lovely instrumental on the fly and you ended the show early.

“Thank you all, you’ve been a wonderful audience,” you managed through giggles. “And a generous one by the look of it! Give yourselves a hand! A beautiful evening for a beautiful cause.”

You paused for the soft applause that filled the room as the dancing stopped. Clint grinned up at you, fanning himself in mock exhaustion. Though, you didn’t doubt he probably had worn his dress shoes to blistering.

“And a special round of applause for my personal hero down here on the dance floor! Mr. Lancelot!”

This time it was Clint who turned red. He tried to duck into the crowd, shaking his head with a sheepish laugh.

“What the hell are you up to?” Tony asked in a discrete, tight lipped murmur as he, slung an arm over Clint’s shoulder, saving him from the limelight.

“Oh damn,” he sighed, high and long. Exhausted. “I have no idea.”

“If uh,” you stammered on the stage, the first time all night Clint had seen you look unsure. “If he wanted to hang around for a bit I’m gonna go get some pizza because this fancy fundraiser food is served on a toothpick and I’m starving.”

Clint’s entire face lit up. It was the most lovely thing you’d ever seen. It started in his eyes: they looked up into the light of the stage and glittered, narrowing as the smile pushed at his cheeks, rounding them and wrinkling the soft skin near his clear blue eyes. Lopsided, his lips drew over grinning white teeth, as he glanced at his feet, blushing.

He was cute as hell.

He laughed under Tony’s arm and nodded. A matching smile erupted across your own face, for the first time in weeks, excited to be greeting the early morning hours.

“You’re kidding me,” Tony scoffed from beside Clint. “Those moves actually worked?”

Part 3 >>

[s-ultry]

please me - a tom holland fanfic

CHAPTER FIVE

A/N: so i decided that i’d move my fanfic from wattpad to tumblr! just to give me a bit of a boost to continue it, i hope you guys enjoy!

chapter one | chapter two | chapter three | chapter four | chapter six

SUMMARY: when the billionaire meets the microbiologist.

sugardaddy!tom

Previously on Please Me

"No one can glance at you, without going through me. You are mine, do you understand."

***

(warning: topics about attempt rape, mental abuse, and tease extreme! i should really stop warning yall about this smh)

Belle couldn't stop thinking about the encounter she had the day before, the way his wickedness made her fall in terror hoping to never experience or even encounter the abuse again.

The beauty was getting ready for her second day of work, yeah it was a Saturday, but being an assistant to Tom Holland is something that'll never allow vacations. Today, she was wearing a black turtleneck with a brown pencil skirt paired with the same kitten heels. Belle decided to let her hair be straight, her natural hair.

Walking down the stairs, she laid eyes on her mother who was negotiating terms with her father, knowing it was significant, she allowed her quiet self to enter the kitchen without intruding.

"Belle, sweetie, we'd like to talk to you," her father smiled at her, his expression true and raw. Whilst her mothers were in a deep bore, fake and nothing unusual to Belle.

"Yes, Father?"

"Mr. Holland called us not too long ago," Demitri spoke making Belle's throat hitch, her heartbeat growing quicker and quicker by the minute. "He asked us if you'd like to go on a little field trip with him to his other headquarters. Knowing that you're his assistant I must say you're obliged to go, but he wanted to make sure you were okay with it first," her father continued.

"Oh, well. Um, how long am I going to be gone?"

"You'll be back tomorrow night, Belle. Luna already packed for you last night whilst you were studying in the library."

Remember when I told you that Belle's family aren't stupid rich? Jokes on you! Belle's family were extremely rich but wanted to stay humble and not waste their money on childish items that had no value.

"Oh, okay. Thank you," she sincerely glanced at her mother, only to be returned with a fake one in return.

"Mr Holland will be here any minute, help yourself to some breakfast," her mother announced placing a plate in front of her youngest daughter. Belle may look tiny, but her appetite is three times larger than her.

To busy indulging her pancakes she didn't realise the familiar figure standing next to her, watching her stuff her mouth like a two-year-old. Belle choked on her pancakes, carefully swallowing it her boss had a slight grin on his face.

"Morning," she muffled as the piece of pancakes was still in her mouth.

"I didn't know you had such a huge appetite," he smirked as her parents continued discussing matters that didn't need to be interfered. He was wearing his usual tuxedo, but the coat nowhere to be found along with his tie. Two buttons undone from his white dress shirt made Belle's blush grow deep.

"Well, now you know. When are we to leave?"

"Now, actually. The jet's waiting for us to reach LA," the Britt checked his wristwatch to calculate the time, knowing their departure is soon, they head out of the house and bid their goodbyes.

The car drive was surrounded with comfortable silence, both of them sipping of their ice coffees that Belle made at home with two of her to go cups.

"Belle, I'd like to ask you something," Mr. Holland disrupted her thoughts, allowing her to look at him with full concern.

"Are you uncomfortable with me talking to Timothy Grey, and be honest, baby."

"Sir, I don't have the right to tell you who to hang out with. If you feel like he's good to you, then hang out with him. I have no word into this," she whispered as she cringed at the name, but loved the pet name.

He intertwined his fingers with hers, an action that made her heart flutter as he gently kissed her knuckles. "Of course you have word into this, doll. You're my partner, and whatever happened or even happens to you, goes through me."

Her boss was awaiting her response, her not knowing how to respond, she stayed silent like she always did when she had nothing to say.

"Your silence is telling a whole lot, darling," he lightly chuckled. Belle still didn't know what to say, or how to say it. Just the awful memories replaying in her head like a rollercoaster.

"What did I tell you, Belle. Always be honest with me, I wouldn't want my baby to be filled with negative thoughts," the car came to a stop signalling that they were at the airport.

"On the plane?" Belle whispered in which he nodded to. He let go of her hand to get out of the car, as she placed her hand on the handle, the door opened to Mr. Holland offering his hand.

"Don't worry, it's a private airport."

They made their way up the stairs and were greeted by the pilot of the plane ushering them to take a seat and to get comfortable, the assistant and the boss sat opposite of each other.

After the gruesome experience of the departure and a half an hour left of their flight, Belle thought it was finally time to speak to Mr. Holland, in details, on what Tim Grey did to her.

"He cheated on me, but I never told you why." This grabbed her boss' attention as he studied her features, how her face dropped but still glowed.

"He cheated on me because he wanted to take my virginity, I never allowed him to. Tim called me a prude, too innocent for this bad world. I was only 16, I didn't want to be taken that early, especially by him. Yes, he was my boyfriend. But, everyone wanted to know whether the famous quarterback took the popular girl's virginity at prom." Belle glanced at Mr. Holland to see him infuriated to the point that anger was jealous of him.

"H-He cheated on me with Erika, your former assistant, and her friends. I yelled at him in the middle of our senior prom but knowing that dick, he enjoyed most of it. After that, he met me outside, attempting to rape me. But, t-thankfully, Antoni came to my rescue. He took me home, washed me up, and tucked me into bed. Weeks after that, graduation came. They posted a photo of me crying and bruised up from that night on Instagram and it went viral, my own principals were laughing at me. The only person who truly cared about me was my Antoni," she continued not daring any tears to fall.

"S-So when I saw him with you, I felt aggravated. You didn't know what he did to me at the time, you were just meeting an old friend. He comes for everything and everyone I love and care about, changed my parent's perspective on me, even my older brother. I studied the hardest subject not only because I'm interested, but also because I have an excuse to get away from the world," Belle looked down in shame.

The beauty didn't notice her boss kneeling down in front of her, placing both of his hands on her knees grabbing her attention.

"Please tell me there isn't any more, sugar."

"No."

"I'm going to beat up that son of a bitch, he really has a death wish doesn't he," Mr. Holland got up, furiously making his way to his seat. Buckling the belt meant that they were landing, and knowing Mr. Holland, that belt won't stop him one bit.

"It's not your fight, Sir. You don't need to put my stress on your shoulders," she whispered looking at him, at the side she saw how the plane already was on the ground and she had no anxiety what so ever.

"But, I have to," he demanded unbuckling her seat belt and grasping her hand with love and anger.

Belle hated when people fought for her, yes she was grateful, but she was strong enough to fight on her own. She wanted him to be quiet, and listen to her. So, she grabbed both of his hands and placed them on her waist, her arms snaking around his neck.

Belle got on her tiptoes making her lips close to his ear, he zapped shut, her knowing exactly what she was doing to him. "Is this the only way I'm going to get your attention, daddy," she tried her hardest not to laugh at the nickname.

He groaned in pleasure as she made eye contact with him, both pretty brown eyes staring at each other, both drowning in the chocolate factories that are their eyes. "Listen to me, don't fight for me. I can fight on my own, I've done it for three years, what makes you think I can't do it now?" She smirked letting go, walking triumphantly away from him she felt a force of her back colliding with his strong chest.

"Do that one more time, little girl. I swear to you, your beautiful cheeks will be redder than the ones on your pretty face," he whispered seductively in her ear making her lips part, a whine escaping her delicate lips.

Another car ride in one of his many cars was surrounded by sexual tension, after what he had told her, she had a knot inside of her. Looking at the beautiful scenery of Los Angeles from the window, she saw how the palm trees stood high and superior. She saw the Hollywood Sign, Belle saw it all as though she was watching a movie.

Her eyes scan a beautiful black building with windows filling every single box, Holland Industries stood high with a beautiful garden on the side, as though it was a house rather than an office. Damn, whoever took care of this building is doing a great job, she thought positively.

They entered the private parking, the car stopping at a reserved parking and Mr. Holland opened the door for his assistant. As they made their way inside, her boss slithered his arm around her waist, pulling her close. All eyes were on them, and all Belle could think of is how embarrassing it must be to have your boss' arm around your waist, he wasn't even thinking of it!

They made their way to the top floor, it was very familiar to the one they had back home which comforted Belle. She spoke to her boss about a few meetings he had to attend to back home but soon was stopped by a squeal.

"Mr. Holland! Tommy," the light caramel-skinned beauty ran up to Mr. Holland almost tackling him with full force.

"Hello to you too, Tabitha."

"Why are you making my name sound so formal, dumb ass! Oh my god! You must be Belle, did she sign the contract," she whispered walking them into the main office. Belle was just in awe, does she have the contract too? How does she know Mr. Holland? Why is Tabitha's boss so hot?

"Hello, I'm Sebastian Stan. You must be Belle, we've heard so much about you," he introduced himself snapping her out of her thoughts and how they were panicking.

"Oh, yes I am. Good afternoon Mr. Stan," she shook his hand.

"Tom, my man! We have much to discuss!" Mr. Stan announced allowing Tabitha and Belle to be alone on the other side of the office whilst their bosses went to the meeting table to discuss further agreements.

"I know I'm getting excited, but please have a seat! Tell me all about you!" The dark-haired brunette ushered Belle to the couch.

"W-Well, my name's Belle Lorems."

"Duh, we know that! Get to the juicy part! How'd you meet Tom, or what went through your mind when you signed The Contract" the short brown haired Latina exclaimed wanting her to spill everything.

"Wait a minute, are we thinking about the same contract?" Belle questioned Tabitha leading the girl opposite of her to burst into tears of laughter.

"Of course, silly! The contract where there are rules on what to call them, no masturbation, and only they can please you? I'll tell you one thing, B. Those to guys over there are really close, so close they can be boyfriends," the Latina smiled as the Italian's jaw dropped.

"You thought you were alone, sis? Hell no! Lemme give you a background, Tom and I grew up together basically siblings because our parents were so close. Then, when I was 18, I visited Holland Industries and met the love of my life, and my new boss, Mr. Sebastian-fuck me sideways- Stan! What about you, princess," she winked as she completed her very short summary on how she met Sebastian.

"Well, my dad works with Mr. Holland. So, I study as a microbiologist at the University of New York. I am 19 years of age, and my family hate me."

"Bro, you sound like an Instagram post that people relate to, shit," Tabitha spoke making both girls roar in laughter as they drank their lemonades they got a while back.

"Looks like our girls are bonding," a voice unannounced boomed throughout the office making both assistants try their hardest not to laugh at their bosses' solemn faces.

"Look at their faces," Belle screeched and fell on Tabitha's lap. Tears forming around her eyes whilst her now best friend hushed her but couldn't contain themselves.

"Tabby you ruined her!" Mr. Holland's voice rung with a slight smile on his face.

"Whatever, she's my best friend now!"

After a beautifully crafted memory, they all went outside and the boss and assistant of Los Angeles escorted the New York team to their very fancy hotel. Bidding their goodbyes, well Belle bidding her awful long goodbye to Tabby in the lobby, they went to the highest floor.

Mr. Holland opened the door allowing Belle to walk in, staring in awe she admired the 19th century decorated suite. Gold embellishments, light beige walls, and couches with separate rooms. One to the master bedroom, whilst the other was some sort of clash between a gym and an office.

"I'm going to take a shower," she softly spoke making her way to the master bathroom. Yet again, the bathroom was beautiful yet modern, unlike the main seating area. She stripped, walking into the shower the hot water pleasured her senses. Lathering herself with shampoo and body wash, she made her way out to the bedroom praying that her boss wouldn't be there.

To her luck, he was nowhere to be found. Belle let out a sigh of relief as she unzipped her suitcase, it dawned upon her that Luna had packed her suitcase for her, meaning all of what's in there is lingerie from her last shopping trip with her boss, and no pyjamas!

"Okay, Belle. We have to be confident, go and ask him if you can borrow a shirt or something like that," she whispered to herself walking to the office. Belle faintly knocked the door twice awaiting his approval to enter, once she heard it she twisted the doorknob.

"Sir," she asked in a hushed tone, her head peeking out whilst the rest of her body was covered by the mahogany wooden door.

"You can come in, Belle."

"B-But I can't."

"And why is that?"

"I just took a shower, and my sister forgot to pack me some pyjamas. I was wondering if I could borrow a shirt for tonight?" Belle replied, knowing exactly which territory she's in.

"I didn't hear your question, love. Come in, ask me again," she saw his lips laced with a smirk, how his voice was suddenly rougher, and how his eyes were fixed on her.

Belle was dumbfounded, how she had to enter in only a towel in front of her boss. But, now there's no going back. She opened the door slightly, slipping her wet body into the office with a deep red tint along her cheeks. The boss bit his lip, raking her body from head to toe.

"What was your question, babydoll?" Mr. Holland questioned licking his lips slowly making her glance at them every millisecond.

"M-May I please borrow a shirt, my sister packed me lingerie rather than comfy PJs," the beauty stared at the floor not making contact with the eyes that are burning through her.

"Why don't you want to wear them, sugar," she heard him get up from his seat, waltzing towards her with confidence. He then looked down at her, noticing how she doesn't make contact with him. Mr. Holland delicately placed his index finger under her chin, lifting it in order to meet with his favourite pair of eyes.

"I'm not comfortable with wearing such clothes in front of you, Sir."

"Anything you want, sweetheart. Don't be ashamed, I'm ready when you are," he smiled as she exhaled a breath of relief.

"My suitcase was next to yours," the brunette announced. He then moved his mouth towards her ears making her grasp onto her towel even harder.

"Next time, you don't need to ask. Anything that's mine is yours," he whispered in her ear making her jaw drop slightly.

"I-I'm going to sleep on the couch," Belle spoke abruptly moving away from him.

"No, love. You're sleeping on the bed, end of discussion," he demanded making her gulp nervously, so this is his dominant side? Belle then blinked at him, as though a lost puppy awaiting its owner. Mr. Holland's dominant tone forced her to stop fighting, she was really selfless he thought.

"Goodnight, Sir."

"Goodnight, little girl."

-

finally updated yesss

- a

[fruitquake]

trope: fake dating. setting: high school

this is like a cringey high school version of a fic I did a while back, but I had fun writing and isn’t that what matters the most? xD

by the way, please keep in mind that i haven’t read this through since writing it so i don’t even know if it makes sense hhh sorry i’m tired

Sirius was standing by his locker when a group of girls came up to him. He didn’t think much of it, girls tended to do that.

They stood in a little cluster, whispering to each other while glancing up at Sirius every now and then. he rolled his eyes at them, putting his pile of books back into his locker before turning to the group. “Do you want anything or are you just going to stand there?” he asked.

The girls all looked intimidated, especially the one standing in the middle of the small crowd. Sirius had seen her around before. She was a year younger than him, a freshman at their school and for a while now, he’d noticed her taking a great interest in him.

The two girls standing around the girl urged her forward but she just looked down, a furious blush on her face. After a few moments, her friend sighed, looking up at Sirius. “Mary wanted to ask you something,” she said in an impatient tone.

Sirius looked at the blushing girl, Mary. He thought he might have a pretty good feeling about where this was going, and he really didn’t wanna have that conversation with a random freshman girl. “Sorry,” he said. “I gotta get to class-”

“Will you go to prom with me?” The girl, Mary, piped up as the blush on her face intensified.

Sirius sighed, glancing down the hallway, trying to find any excuse to get out of this situation. He didn’t want to go to prom with this girl, but he also didn’t wanna hurt her feelings. “I’m, uh, already going with someone,” he quickly lied.

Mary’s face dropped and her eyes got tearful. “Really?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Sirius muttered, looking anywhere but at the girl. “Sorry. Maybe another time.” Why on earth had he said that? He didn’t want there to be a next time!

“Well, who are you going with?” she asked, her voice trembling a little.

Shit. Sirius really hadn’t thought this through. Quickly, he let his eyes dart across the crowded school hallway. he had to figure something out quickly.

His eyes landed on a boy, standing a bit away. Sirius had seen him around before but didn’t know his name. He was tall, had nice, curly hair, and currently, he seemed to be very immersed in the book he was reading. “That guy,” he said, gesturing at the curly-haired boy. “He’s my prom date.”

All of the girls turned to look at the boy, who was too focused on his book to notice the many eyes staring at him. “Oh,” Mary muttered. “I didn’t realize you were…” she trailed off, looking away in embarrassment.

Sirius shrugged. “It’s cool,” he muttered, his mind working on overdrive to figure out what to do next. Would he have to ask the boy to prom now? For real? He sighed, getting his books before turning to the girls who for some reason were still standing around him. “Now if you’ll excuse me, ladies, I need to get to class.”

Remus was so engaged in the book he was reading, he didn’t notice the guy standing next to him until he felt a light poke at his arm. He looked up to see a guy dressed in a leather jacket and with his hair in a sloppy bun. Sirius Black. Remus didn’t know him personally, but everyone knew who Sirius Black was. The school’s troublemaker and heartthrob. Remus couldn’t for the life of him figure out what Black was doing by his locker. “Uhh… hi?”

Black smiled, leaning against the locker next to Remus’s. “Hey,” he said. “Uhm, I was wondering if you could do me a favour?”

Remus stuff the book into his locker and looked at Black, crossing his arms. “I’m not doing your homework,” he said. He’d had people come to him before, asking for him to do their homework for them. Generally, people only spoke to him when they needed something from him.

Black rolled his eyes. “I’m perfectly capable of doing my own homework,” he assured Remus. “No, I need you to pretend to be my date. For prom.”

Remus’s eyes widened and he could feel his cheeks go lightly pink. “You’re asking me to be your date?”

Chuckling, Black shook his head lightly. “I’m asking you to pretend to be my date,” he corrected him.

Remus scowled. “Well, either way, the answer’s no,” he said, turning back to his locker.

“Please? I’ll pay you!” Black did sound rather desperate.

Remus sighed, hating himself for wanting to say yes. He really needed the money. “Why do you want a fake date anyways?” he asked.

Black shrugged. “I needed an excuse to turn down some girls,” he answered.

Remus didn’t understand why Black would choose him as his fake date when he could have any girl from the school, but he wasn’t gonna question it. “How much will you pay me?” he asked.

“How much do you want?” Black asked in return, a very hopeful look on his face.

Wow, Remus thought. He really was desperate, huh?

“Alright, I’ll do it,” he said in a defeated voice. “We can work out payment later.”

Sirius grinned triumphantly. “Thank you!” he said, turning away. Although before he got very far, Remus noticed him stopping in his tracks and doubling back. “Uh, may I ask for your name?”

Remus rolled his eyes. “Wow, classy,” he muttered, suppressing a smile. “I’m Remus.”

Sirius hadn’t expected to be excited about prom, let alone nervous. But here he was, jittering with nerves as he texted Remus.

Sirius: I’ll pick you up at 7:30

Remus: wow can’t wait 

Sirius could almost hear the sarcasm through that text. He put away his phone and opened his closet, to pick out something to wear. After looking through everything he owned, he decided to just go with his favourite leather jacket and a pair of nice jeans. This wasn’t even a real date, so there was no reason to overdress.

He took the bus to Remus’s house (he’d texted him the address the day before). It would’ve been cooler to pick him up in a car. Or a limousine. But unfortunately, Sirius had none of those.

Remus’s house was small but looked rather nice on the outside. Sirius knocked, then stood back, waiting.

The door was opened after a short while. Sirius’s eyes widened at the sight of the boy. The sweaters and boring clothes Sirius had seen him wearing were replaced by a nice tuxedo.

When Remus saw Sirius, he frowned, looking down at himself. “Great,” he muttered. “I’m totally overdressed.”

Sirius smirked, unable to take his eyes off him. “I don’t mind,” he admitted, holding his arm out like a gentleman for Remus to hold on to. “Oh, and I don’t have a car, but may i escort you to the bus stop?”

Remus rolled his eyes. “Do we really have to do that?” he asked. “I mean, it’s not like those girls are lurking behind a bush, waiting for proof that we’re faking this.

Sirius let his arm fall to his side. He’d almost forgotten this wasn’t a real date. “Good point,” he said with an awkward laugh. “Anyways, we should probably go, we don’t wanna miss the bus.”

“The bus,” Remus noted. “Classy. you couldn’t have gotten us a limo or something?” he asked jokingly.

Sirius smiled and shrugged. “You’re right, I’ll do that next time,” he answered, just as jokingly. Of course, there wasn’t gonna be a next time. This was a one-time thing. Not even a favour, just something Remus did because Sirius had promised him payment.

They took the bus to their school, where people were already filing into the gym hall, stopping on their way to get prom photos. Remus refused to have pictures taken and went directly to the snack bar once they were inside.

Sirius decided to go mingle with the crowd but quickly regretted it, as he saw a bunch of girls, including Mary, making their way over to him. he turned around, joining Remus at the snack bar.

“I owe my life to whoever made this food,” Remus said through a mouthful of something.

Sirius threw a cracker up in the air and caught in with his mouth, earning an eye roll and a muttered “show off” from Remus.

An upbeat song started playing loudly. Sirius grinned, looking at Remus. “Wanna dance?” he asked.

Remus snorted, shaking his head. “No,” he said. “That wasn’t part of the deal.”

“I’ll pay you more,” Sirius said, grabbing Remus’s hand and dragging him onto the already crowded dance floor. At first, Remus just stood still, watching Sirius dance with an annoyed expression. “I should’ve stayed home,” he muttered to himself.

Sirius stopped dancing as a slow, more romantic song came on. He glanced at Remus, biting his lip. “Please, just one dance?” he requested, holding out his hand. “We gotta make it convincing.”

Remus sighed, before taking Sirius’s hand, allowing him to take lead in dancing. “This is so stupid,” he muttered.

Sirius smiled, a blush creeping up in his cheeks as he watched Remus. “Yeah,” he said, looking at their intertwined hands. “Really stupid.”

[nicolewoo]

Speakeasy Part 1

Pairing: Fergal Devitt X Reader. Finn Balor X Reader

Scenario: Desperate to make enough money to live on during the great depression, Reader gets a job at a Speakeasy, and finds a dangerous ally. Can she trust this man and his stories or should she listen to her friend's advice and steer clear of him?

Warnings: Part 1 has no warnings. Future parts probably will.

The minute I walked in, I could smell it.... the stale smell of cigarette smoke and alcohol were practically oozing out of the walls. This wasn't going to be good for my throat, but then again, this wasn't going to be good for anything except paying bills. It's 1930 and a girl's gotta do what she's gotta do.... especially living alone in Chicago.

I had a job at a diner, but the breakfast tips weren't enough to get by, and I'd been frantically trying to get a job in a proper theater. The problem was that everyone wanted dancers that could sing. I had the singing part down. The dancing? Well, I've got 2 left feet. No matter how many lessons I took, I just couldn't dance. So, here I am, in a speakeasy, getting ready to try out for a bunch of mafia guys, risking getting arrested just so I could pay the bills.

Count your blessings, girl. A lot of people are a lot worse off. I told myself as I remembered leaving Hutchinson Kansas due to The Great Depression. I remembered the sight of homeless families and bread lines and brawls for crumbs. Yes, I was doing something illegal, but I was going to be able to live because of it.

I was shaken out of my thoughts with the sound of a trumpet squeaking out. I knew before I even looked that it was my friend Tony getting my attention. “You made it. You look great, doll.” Tony said coming up to me. “Let me introduce you to the band.” He placed his hand on the small of my back and led me over to the stage.

“Marty,” Tony called out getting the band leader's attention. “This is Y/N, the singer I told you about.”

Marty barely looked up from the sheet music he was reviewing, “Hey. Let's hear those pipes, doll.” He sounded less than enthusiastic. “Guys.” He yelled to the band. “Give me some Mean to Me.”  He motioned me over to the mic.

Ok, well, let's do this. I sidled up to the mic, trying to insert some extra swag into my walk so I'd look more experienced than I was. The music began and I reached up to hold the mic stand as I started to sing.

“You're mean to me. Why must you be mean to me?” Marty looked up with a look of surprise.

“Gee, honey. It seems to me. You love to see me crying.” Tony gave me a big thumbs up to encourage me.

“I don't know why. I stay home. Each night when you say you'll phone.” I started to see the band members nodding and smiling to each other.

“You don't and I'm left alone. Singing the blues and crying.” I saw a couple of men come from the back room to see who was singing, but I couldn't make out their faces in the dark room.

I was ecstatic to see such a great reception, and I was pretty sure I'd gotten the job. As the song swelled to the harder part, I focused on hitting all the right notes and making the song sound as sexy as possible.

I saw one of the men who'd come in from the back signal to Marty, but I didn't know what the signal meant. I peeked at Marty, but I couldn't read his expression. He made me wait until the end of the song.

“Ok, kiddo. You got the gig. We'll see how tonight goes, and if you do well, we'll talk about something permanent.” Marty showed no emotion. I'd gotten the impression that he'd gone through a lot of singers, and didn't expect any better from me. “Guys,” He yelled over the sound of instruments playing different sections of the songs and talking among themselves. “We start a full practice in ½ an hour, so go get some food now. We're gonna be busy tonight.” He dismissed the band with the same lack of emotion as when he'd hired me.

Tony ran to me as excited as me. “You did it, doll!” He hugged me tight. Then started to lead me outside. “Lets get some chow.” He said as he pointed to a diner across the ally from the speakeasy.

As we sat down, I asked, “So, does Marty want me here or what?”

Tony chuckled under his breath, “Oh yeah yeah! He doesn't show emotion,” he explained. “But don't worry. You're in!” He assured me.

“I didn't know what the signal was from the guys in the back.... or even who they were.” I explained.

“Yeah, Hey. So....” Tony paused. “Ya know not to talk about... ya know.”

He didn't finish his thought, but I knew what he meant. Although I'd never spent any time in this seedy underworld, I was no dummy. “Say no more.” I replied.

“Ok. If you have any questions, just come to me, but not at the club.” He assured me. “Just focus on singing and let them do their stuff.” His gaze bored a hole in me, and I nodded in understanding. “Most importantly,” Tony reached over and put his hand on my arm, “DON'T get romantically involved with any one there. Do you understand?”

“You don't have to worry. I know who they are.” I assured him.

Tony was like a big brother to me. He'd been a regular at the diner where I worked; me always starting my day as he was ending his over breakfast. We became great friends, and Tony and his wife had taken me under their wing, inviting me over for dinner, watching out for me. Working at the speakeasy wasn't what Tony and his wife wanted for me, but when I couldn't get a theater job, they had finally given in and got me the audition. Tony had promised his wife that he'd protect me from the going ons of the club.

After dinner, I sat with Marty going over what songs I knew and what songs I needed to get to know in order to keep working there. He was pleasantly surprised at my song knowledge, and we both felt we had enough to put on a good show tonight. It was perfect because Marty had had to sing himself since losing their last singer. We went over the songs with the band until we were comfortable with each other's styles.

Afterward, I practiced in the back, pouring over the pages of sheet music Marty gave me while tinkering the notes out on an old, out-of-tune piano in a side room, hoping to add in some of these songs soon. The closer we got to show time, the more anxious I got. It was more than if I'd be entertaining... I was worried about getting arrested. Tony had assured me that if the cops came in, and I couldn't get away in time, he'd bail me out before morning, but still. A proper girl like me didn't get arrested. What would my parents think if they were alive? I pushed those thoughts out of my head and tried to focus on the music again.

I heard the band start, happy music flooding through the whole building. I peaked out at the crowd and was shocked to see the club almost full already. What surprised me the most was the class of the people in the club. I had expected to see hardened criminals and desolate prostitutes, but instead, the crowd was full of Chicago's best. Ladies in fine dresses with fringes everywhere. Men in tuxedo suits sporting walking sticks and monocles. I glanced at my own aged floor length dress that I'd bought from a theater who was throwing it out, and lamented at the state of it. Would these rich muckedy mucks accept me in this ragged thing? Before looking at them, I thought I'd looked good, but now. Now, I was wracked with every insecurity I'd ever felt.

I saw Tony rise from his seat at the bandstand and come backstage to me. “You ready?” He asked all excited.

“Tony!” I almost started crying. “Those people. They're all so fancy. This dress is so old and ratty.” I started to say, but he placed his hand on my shoulder.

“Doll, the minute you open your mouth, everyone is going to fall in love with you. You've got the voice of an angel. We can buy you more dresses when you get paid. In the meantime, don't worry about it. You look amazing, and the stage lights are going to hide any imperfections in the dress.” He gave me a quick hug as I heard Marty announce me.

“Ladies and gentlemen, We've got a special treat for you this evening.” How the hell did Marty have emotion now? He sounded positively jovial. I guess he was just a good actor. “Tonight, for the first time at Club Red, we are proud to present our new singer, Y/N.”

The crowd responded to Marty's happy announcement with excited applause. Tony took my arm and escorted me out to stage, depositing me in front of the mic before taking his own seat in the horn section.

We started with Ain't Misbehavin', and the crowd went silent as they focused on me. I prayed they were enjoying the performance, and I poured every ounce of energy I could muster into making the song sound sexy. I wasn't sure how I was doing until the song ended, and the crowd went nuts! They were applauding and giving me standing ovations. I even heard some lewd whistles from near the back where the mob guys had been earlier. I was a hit!

When I turned to find out what song we were singing next, Marty smiled warmly at me. “You did great.” He whispered just to me. “Am I Blue” is next.

The music sounded and the crowd quieted as the slow song changed the mood in the room.

“Am I blue? Am I blue? Ain't these tears in my eyes tellin' you.”

Marty whispered over my shoulder, “Go walk through the crowd, engage them.” he encouraged.

“Am I blue?” I slowly left the stage, pleasantly surprised when the spot light followed me with no notice. “You'd be too. If each plan with your man just fell through.” I placed my hand on a lady's shoulder emphasizing the phrase and she reached up to pat my hand in understanding. I wandered to another table. “Was a time. I was his only one.” I crooned to a table of men, and they smiled broadly at me. “Now I'm the sad and lonely one.” I continued to wander through the crowded room, placing my hand on a shoulder here, singing closely into a gentleman's ear there. The crowd was eating it up. “Now he's gone, and we're through. Am I blue?”

My eyes settled on a man at the table next to me in the back of the room. He was quite frankly the most beautiful man I'd ever seen, with a chiseled jaw, perfect black hair, sparkling blue eyes and his black tuxedo, black shirt and white bow tie matched by a white pocket square. He oozed money and sex. Logically, his table should have been the next I visited, but the way he was looking at me... lustfully... deterred me, and I skipped his table. He made no indication that my turn away from his table bothered him, but his eyes didn't leave me for the rest of the song causing butterflies in my stomach. He gazed so intently at me, I felt like he could see through my dress to my naked body.

I managed to gather my wits again as the song ended and I walked back up to the stage. This job was too important to me. It was this or I ended up being the one in the bread lines tomorrow. I couldn't let anyone, not even this wickedly beautiful man, get in the way of me making this money.

I stayed on the stage the rest of the night. I already had the crowd eating out of the palm of my hand, I didn't need to pander to them anymore. At the end of each song, the crowd cheered for me, and I noticed the lone man in the back smile as he gauged the mood of the crowd.

It was late... very late.... and I was tired when the show ended. “Heya doll. How bout I give ya a ride home?” Tony said as I started leaving the club with an extra few bucks in my pocket as the sun peeked over the horizon.

I was so tired, I could barely speak, but I nodded yes to Tony. He was full of energy, praising my performance, telling me how happy he was. Saying he was sure I'd be hired permanently tomorrow. I fell asleep in the gently rocking car, and Tony laughed when he had to wake me up. “Guess you're gonna have to get used to the schedule.” He teased. “Good thing you're not working at the diner this morning.” After I thanked him for the ride, Tony watched until I was safely in my apartment building before heading to the diner to get some breakfast before he went to bed. I didn't care that I was hungry, I took off my dress and fell asleep in my underclothes.

I dreamed of music notes flying through the air, of gathering them in a bag and presenting them on beautiful sheet music to the guests. I dreamed of the smoky bar and the man seated in the back and that he paid me for one of my music sheets, a small contained smile on his lips.

[pug-bitch]

That’s not why I’m going (27)

Let’s enjoy ourselves, dammit

Book: The Royal Romance

Pairing: Drake Walker x Amara Suarez

Rating: some foul language, some extremely suggestive. This is absolutely NOT appropriate for people under 18.

Word count: about 3,700 (let me know if the ‘keep reading’ cutoff isn’t working well!)

Notes: This picks up where we left off, as Hana, Maxwell, and Olivia arrive at the cabin, starting with Amara’s POV.

*****

Amara, Hana, and Maxwell jump up in the air, shrieking, for a good thirty seconds, until they realize that Liv is behind them, looking annoyed as hell. Without thinking, Amara wraps Olivia in a tight hug.

‘Liv! It’s so good to see you, girl!’

‘Ugh,’ Liv says, disgusted, ‘keep your hands off of me, Suarez, before some paparazzi thinks we’re having an affair.’

Amara lets her go, and looks her in the eye. ‘Are you ok? Like, for real?’

‘Yeah,’ Liv responds, rolling her eyes. ‘I was told this would be relaxing. Clearly it doesn’t mean for me.’

Drake pops his head through the door. ‘Of course you can relax, Nevrakis. Come on in guys. Amara made drinks, and there’s a shitton of food.’

Maxwell comes in first, and wraps Drake in a bear hug. Amara feels like her heart might explode. ‘Thanks for having us, Drake. We missed you guys.’

Hana hugs Drake too, and chimes in, ‘It’s true! What would we do without Dramara?’

Liv rolls her eyes and sighs. ‘Walker, where’s the drink you were talking about?’

*****

Liam glances at his phone, finally a text from Drake.

Hey, sorry I missed your calls, I’m tied up at the cabin and reception is terrible, catch up tomorrow? Hope all is good.

Dismissive, but it’s something. Liam sighs. Only five minutes until his next meeting. In the end, he’s glad Bastien talked him out of going to the cabin unannounced. Bastien was right, he wouldn’t have had enough time to make it back to his meetings, and he had one with the Ambassador of Greece.

He feels silly all of a sudden, being so needy towards his friend, after they had such a complicated few weeks. Sure, he’d been there for Drake after Jackson died, but who wouldn’t have? Plus, Drake had been there for him countless times before, and after that. So, really, he doesn’t know why he’s counting points right now. He types back.

No worries. I’ll see you in Portavira tomorrow.

Typing bubbles.

Why don’t you come by the cabin for lunch? I’m having the Beaumonts over, Hana, Liv, and Amara.

Liam catches himself sighing in relief. He wasn’t being completely iced out. Maybe Drake was really busy, maybe there was some maintenance problem at the cabin, maybe it was all in Liam’s head. He replies as fast as he can, before Drake changes his mind.

I would love to. Is noon ok? We have to be at Penelope’s estate at 3.

The bubbles come back.

Perfect. See you then. Don’t bring anything.

Heh, Drake knows him well. He was already thinking about which vintage bottle of wine to bring. Liv will be there, which he’s thrilled about. He’ll get to see how she’s doing, without having to do it one-on-one again. Less awkward.

A knock on the door. One of his butlers, George, peeks his head in.

‘Your Highness, Miss Ioanna Papadakis, Assistant to the Ambassador of Greece.’

Surprised, Liam promptly answers, ‘Let her in, thank you George.’

*****

Drake puts his phone away and joins the crowd outside on the patio. Everyone is already moderately tipsy, thanks to the strong margaritas prepared by Amara.

‘Guys,’ Drake announces, ‘Liam said yes to lunch here tomorrow.’

Maxwell nods, ‘Good, I’m glad you two touched base. He was distressed today.’

‘Thanks for telling me,’ Drake says, grabbing his glass again. ‘I can’t believe that Bertrand covered for us. I’m in shock.’

Hana swallows her sip of margarita. ‘It was glorious, Drake, you should have seen it. He lied for you, just like that! And thank goodness, because Max and I were at a loss for words, and Liam looked very suspicious.’

‘It doesn’t matter if you manage to cover it up or not,’ Liv says, breaking her silence. ‘when it comes out, and it will come out, Liam will be furious.’

Drake doesn’t know what to say to this. She’s probably right, but he doesn’t need this right now, and neither does Amara. He looks at her, she’s nodding and frowning, staring intently at her glass. Finally, she speaks.

‘You’re probably right, Liv, but what do you suggest, then? That we stop living our lives? That we break up? That we just jump out the window?’

Drake didn’t expect Amara to react so viscerally. Upon hearing her say ‘break up’, his heart shattered. No, he certainly doesn’t want that. He glances at Liv, who went even paler than usual.

‘I’m sorry, Suarez,’ Liv finally says. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you. I know, things are shit, but it doesn’t mean that we stop ourselves from living our lives in the meantime. Let’s enjoy ourselves, dammit.’ She raises her glass and says ‘It obviously pains me to say this, but cheers to all of you guys, who are...pretty decent people. I guess.’

Amara finally breaks into a smile and clinks her glass to Liv’s. ‘Very heartfelt, Nevrakis. I’m almost tearing up.’

‘Shut up,’ Olivia replies. ‘Before we all get super drunk and Beaumont inevitably forces us to play Never Have I Ever or some shit--’

‘Ohh, good idea,’ Maxwell whispers.

Liv glares at him. ‘I was saying, before we get shitfaced, there’s something I want to say. I’m ok. Don’t worry about me. I’m dealing with all of this, and I don’t need to talk about it.’

Amara smiles and nods, until she finally talks. ‘You know we’re here for you, if you need, though. But before we change the topic, can I ask you an inappropriate question?’

Liv sighs. ‘Yes.’

‘How is Ilya coping? I mean, his dick was under everyone’s plate.’

Drake almost chokes on his margarita. Olivia chuckles, and responds, ‘You know what’s funny? I hadn’t even wondered about that until Rashad asked me. To me, Ilya was never anything more than, well, his dick. Never occurred to me that there might be a man attached to the genitals.’

Amara raises her glass and her eyebrow. ‘I’ll drink to that.’

*****

‘Wait, so you mean there’s someone out there blackmailing everyone?’

He doesn’t know how they got here, drinking whiskey in the middle of the afternoon and talking about his life. He simply had offered her a drink, and next thing he knew, he was pouring more than whiskey. There was no stopping the flow of words, and Ioanna was not even attempting to make it stop.

‘Well, I wouldn’t really say blackmailing,’ Liam responds, ‘because so far, no one has asked for anything in return. Just revealing private things about two of the contestants, and hopefully it stops right here.’

Ioanna whistles, and says, ‘Forgive me, Your Highness--’

‘Liam. Please call me Liam. Our official meeting is over.’

She nods. ‘Sure. Liam. I don’t mean to be indiscreet, but do you know who that might come from? Maybe one of the contestants who is trying to keep your favors?’

‘Could be. Honestly for right now there’s not much I can do, I put my bodyguard and the security team on the case, they’re looking for clues.’

‘Wow,’ Ioanna says, shaking her head.

It felt good to talk to someone, even a complete stranger. He had met Ioanna before, he recognizes her, but they’d never talked. He’d always talked to the Ambassador, but today he had the stomach flu, so Ioanna filled in.

‘Thank you for listening,’ he says, smiling brightly. ‘I didn’t mean to bore you with my life story.’

She dismisses him with a hand gesture. ‘Please. Your life story is everything but boring.’

He chuckles. ‘Thanks. I don’t know if it makes me feel better. Oh, and thank you for filling in today. I’m not saying I don’t enjoy the Ambassador’s company, but it was lovely to get to spend some time with you.’

She laughs lightheartedly. ‘I’ll be sure not to tell him that, and just so you know, I enjoyed our meeting too. Thanks for having me.’

They say their goodbyes, and Liam lets his next meeting in.

‘Bertrand! Hello again.’

Bertrand looks stressed. He is dressed way too formally, even though Liam told him this morning that it was going to be more of a friendly chat regarding Barthélémy Beaumont’s legacy. Bertrand is wearing a black tuxedo, and underneath, instead of his usual sweater vest, he has a bright blue cumberbund, embroidered with satin in the shape of little squids. Liam wonders for a second whether he lost his top hat and his monocle.

‘Hello, Your Highness,’ Bertrand responds formally, curtsying. ‘Thank you for having me.’

‘Thanks for coming, come have a seat, and maybe let’s have a little drink, huh? We’re just gonna have a friendly chat, so you can relax.’

Bertrand nods and sits down, visibly a tad relieved. ‘Yes, well,’ he says, still nervous, ‘I would like to seek your council on the best way to announce that my father loved a man, without harming his memory. My brother and I talked about it, we researched Father’s long-time partner, and as it turns out, he passed away last year. Maybe we could do something in their name, like a donation to an LGBTQ foundation?’

Liam smiles broadly. ‘Wow, Bertrand, that is extremely thoughtful. I don’t think any of this would ever harm your father’s memory. Maybe you and Max could draft a statement, I can take a look at it when it’s convenient, and we can put all that in place together. We’ll call an official announcement.’

Bertrand’s smile relaxes slightly. ‘That would be great. After you left this morning, Maxxie and I drafted something already. Here’s a paper copy, and I will send it to you via email as well.’

‘Wow, you guys are efficient,’ Liam says as he pours the scotch.

‘Ha! Well, we want it done as soon as possible. I’m itching to fire that… that weasel Albert, who’s been blackmailing all of us for years. I want to do that once we have made the announcement, though. We don’t want Albert twisting the truth or taking over the announcement.’

Liam nods, ‘Of course. Let’s get this show on the road, then.’

*****

‘Never have I ever slept with a woman!’ Liv slurs, pleased with herself.

‘No fair!’ Maxwell squeals. ‘I never win either way in this type of thing.’

Hana reluctantly has another sip, although she definitely is tipsier than ever and does not need any more alcohol. After he finishes drinking, Drake says, ‘Don’t take the bait, Max, it was a ploy to make us all drink except Amara. These two are going for a face-off.’

Amara laughs, and takes her turn. ‘Never have I ever… owned a squid suit!’

‘Amara!’ Maxwell yelps. ‘You betrayed me, you little bastard.’ He drinks another big gulp, and pursues, ‘I never thought my beautiful squid suit would be the death of me.’

‘Alright Max, your turn,’ Amara says, laughing.

‘Hmmm,’ Max hums, in an exaggerated thinking pose. ‘Never have I ever had sex on these very lawn chairs.’

‘Come on, Max,’ Hana giggles, ‘that’s too specific, and who would do that outsi--Oh…’

She interrupts herself as she notices both Drake and Amara taking a huge gulp from their drinks, all the while trying to contain their laughter.

‘Sorry hun,’ Amara says, after finishing her sip. ‘I promise we cleaned them, though.’

Hana laughs, blushing, ‘Oh, good to know. I mean, get it girl, or, like Bertrand would say, Yass Kween.’

Liv lets out a throaty laugh. ‘What? Bertrand said what?’

Max snorts, ‘Yeah, I made him watch Queer Eye and now there’s no stopping him! He’s going full Jonathan Van Ness on us!’

‘Wow,’ Liv continues, ‘he’s gotten woke ever since he found out that your dad liked dick.’

‘Olivia!’ Amara cries out.

Max smiles sadly. ‘It’s ok, Amara, we might as well laugh about it, right? I knew when I told Liv, that there would be no stopping the jokes, so here we are.’ He takes another sip. ‘Bertrand is coping well, actually. I’m proud of him.’

Liv nods, visibly flushed. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound this crass. I know it must have been weird to deal with. And for what it’s worth, I didn’t tell anyone, and I won’t. I’m only talking about it because everyone here knows.’

Max shrugs. ‘I know, Olivia, it’s fine. I appreciate that you feel comfortable enough to laugh about it, I prefer it this way. As for Bertrand, he’s always been a bit stuck up, but he’s only been this bad since Dad died and he was left in charge. Before, he had a very sweet side, which I’m starting to see again, little by little. It’s nice to have my brother back.’

Amara’s eyes flutter down, just like every time someone says something like that. She feels Drake’s hand on her knee, discreetly comforting her.

It’s all different now. Someone is there for her.

Several someones. She looks around and feels her heart filling with love, and curses herself right away for being too sappy. Her new, close friends around some drinks, teasing each other and dropping truth bombs. That’s exactly what she needed.

Maybe that’s why she came, after all. That, and the handsome, brooding man from the bar. And to think it was the end of her shift, too. She’d have to thank Daniel for bailing on her that night. Bless his Grindr hookup, really.

Feeling a tear escape from her eye, she takes a deep breath and gets up. ‘Let me refresh your drinks, guys. I’m the bartender after all!’

She disappears into the kitchen with the tray of glasses, and preps some more margaritas. She’ll make them frozen this time. They need a serious buzz.

‘Hey, you ok?’

She turns around and sees Drake approaching her, and soon enough, his arms are around her waist. ‘I’m fine.’

‘You don’t look fine,’ he says before kissing her neck.

‘Gee, thanks!’

‘Heh, I meant you look wistful. Was it Max’s brother comment?’

She shakes her head. ‘Oddly, no. I mean, it triggered me a little. Fuck, I would give just about anything for Sergio to be here with all of us.’ Her voice breaks. ‘I miss him even more when something good happens to me, you know. But I don’t want to be the weirdo with the dead brother, I don’t want Max to have to tiptoe around his relationship with Bertrand when I’m here.’

He kisses her neck again. Damn, that’s efficient. ‘You’re not a weirdo. You’re an awesome badass bitch, and you’re hot as hell.’

She giggles. ‘And you’re a hot, drunk mess.’

‘I’m fine, just giggly because of the tequila. I’ll probably have to be supervised while grilling. You changed the subject though. What made you tear up?’ She stays silent and he continues, ‘I saw it, Amara. I know you more than you think.’

She sighs. He really does. ‘I feel stupid saying it. I’m just happy to have met all of you, and, well, remember when I made you watch Jane the Virgin?’

He rolls his eyes in an exaggerated manner to signify that he hated it, but she knows that he secretly loved it. ‘Yes Ma’am.’

‘You know when her heart glows when it’s full? Well, I felt the same out there, just now. I’m happy to be here with you, and I don’t want it to stop.’

He sniffs her hair, probably wanting to be sneaky, but she hears the sniffing loud and clear. He says, ‘I get it. I feel the same. I’m happy we’re all here, and I hate to say it, but it feels like a last hurrah. Like something bad’s gonna happen.’

‘Exactly. I don’t know if it’s gonna be in Portavira tomorrow, or this weekend at the Decision ball, but I’m not feeling good about the near future.’

He flips her around, and takes both of her hands in his. ‘Do you feel good about the future-future?’

She chuckles, ‘What?’

He shrugs, and brushes his thumb across her hand. ‘I don’t know. Maybe this week is just a bad storm that we have to get through. Maybe we could see it like that. Maybe if we hold on really really tight, during that shitstorm, maybe then, we’ll be ok?’

She throws her arms around his neck and places a long kiss on his lips. ‘I love that. Let’s hold on really tight.’

*****

Liv gets up to go to the bathroom, and realizes to her surprise that her legs can barely carry her. She didn’t have all that much to drink, did she? Well, Suarez’s cocktails are deceptive. They taste good, but they’re all kinds of strong.

Not like last night’s vodka. It tasted like pure alcohol, and it got her just as drunk as she thought it would. The only surprise in all of that, was Rashad.

Why is she even thinking about Rashad right now? She doesn’t have time for this bullshit. She has to watch her back. What if he’s in on it? What if he’s one of the people who exposed her?

Meh, she thinks. She would be really, really surprised. Not because he couldn’t, but because he really wouldn’t have a proper motive. He doesn’t give two shits about court, as long as he can conduct business.

‘Ew, gross,’ she says as she stumbles upon Suarez and Walker making out in the kitchen. ‘The cook and the bartender sucking face, that’s hygienic.’

Suarez laughs, ‘Well you’re a delight.’

Liv shrugs. ‘Do you think I hurt Beaumont’s feelings?’

Walker chimes in, ‘I don’t think so. You didn’t mean anything offensive by it, and it’s Max, not Bertrand. He wasn’t shocked.’

Olivia snorts, ‘True, he’s also very much into dick.’

‘Don’t push your luck, Nevrakis,’ Suarez replies.

‘Alright, I’ll stop. Where’s the bathroom?’

‘There’s one right there, near the stairs on the right.’

‘Thanks.’

On the short walk to the bathroom, she notices a family portrait of the Walkers as kids, and the parents as well. She almost forgot what Jackson Walker looked like. She’d always esteemed him. Honorable guy, willing to lay down his life to save the King’s. Tragic for his family. She thinks of her own, for a split second, just like she does several times a day. She realizes she can’t really remember what her own parents looked like, not without the aid of a photo. She remembers smells, voices, smiles. Not entire faces.

As she washes her hands, she looks at her face. Her makeup is a fucking mess, she’d need to fix it. Or maybe it’s not necessary, it’s just them. No one to impress here.

In one swift motion, she removes her lipstick. It stains the side of her mouth. Dammit, she thinks, in all movies, women are able to remove their makeup seamlessly, why not her? She wets her face until it disappears. She removes the tiny dagger that holds her hair up, until it curls down her shoulders. A while since she let her hair down, literally.

She stares at herself for what feels like a brief moment, but it must have been longer than that, because when she gets out of the bathroom, Suarez is outside, a worried look on her face.

‘Everything ok?’ she asks.

Olivia wants to be annoyed. She wants to tell her to mind her own fucking business. But she can’t. She’s actually touched that she cares. ‘I’m fine. You need the bathroom?’

Suarez shakes her head. ‘No. You look pretty with your hair down.’

Liv stifles a smile. ‘Thanks. And you’re glowing. You two must have fucked like rabbits.’

She laughs, ‘Well, you’re not wrong. But it was a little more elegant than that, I like to think.’

Liv smirks, and walks back to the kitchen alongside Amara. She looks at her pouring the frozen margs into the salt-rimmed glasses.

‘Suarez, you sure we can handle so much booze? I have to admit I’m a little...shitfaced.’

‘Ha! Me too. But Drake is firing up the barbecue, it won’t take long for the burgers and hot dogs to be cooked. He’s setting the table outside, there’s potato salad, coleslaw…’

‘You got yourself a nice little house boyfriend, huh?’

Suarez smiles in a sweet way, completely ignoring what was meant to be a dig. ‘You have no idea how much I’ve been enjoying this. It feels real. Shopping with him, cooking together, being outside in nature--’

‘Fucking outside in nature.’

‘Yeah, that too. But, the normalcy, you know. It did something to me. Made me realize some stuff.’ She stops herself and shrugs, chopping a lime to put some slices on the glasses.

‘Suarez?’ Liv asks hesitantly.

‘Yeah?’

She takes a deep breath. Damn you, margarita. ‘You know when you said that I might have been too focused on Liam to see anything else?’

‘Yeah, I remember saying something super insightful along those lines. Go on.’

Liv chuckles. ‘Well, I… Don’t make a big deal about it, and don’t run your big mouth. But um, last night, I think I had a moment. With someone else.’

Suarez looks up from her cutting board, her eyes widening. Liv worries that she might cut herself until she puts the knife away. ‘What? You met someone in just one night? As Bertrand would say, apparently, Yass Kween!’

‘Calm down, bitch. It’s not like that. Nothing happened, it was just a nice moment, but when you said being here made you realize some stuff, I thought of last night. It did the same for me.’

Suarez nods, and breaks into a broad smile. ‘I’m happy for you, Liv.’

She shrugs. ‘Well, it’s probably nothing, but it made me feel good.’ She pauses. ‘Valued.’

‘That’s great. You deserve this much, and more. Do we know this gentleman?’

Liv sighs. She has no idea why she’s telling her all that stuff. ‘It’s Domvallier. Rashad.’

Suarez’s jaw drops. ‘What? Liv, he’s hot!’

‘Shh, come on. I said don’t run your big mouth. Nothing happened, he showed up in my room with vodka and pastries, he wanted to cheer me up. He didn’t expect anything from me, he just...wanted to be there. It was nice.’ She steals a glass and drinks from it. ‘We watched Killing Eve.’

Suarez raises her eyebrows several times and shimmies her shoulders. ‘Oooooh, Killing Eve! Did all the murders make you horny?’

Liv rolls her eyes. ‘Shut up.’

*****

Taglist:

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Thank you for your encouragements, everyone! Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist :)

[melonkooky]

an old flame [jung hoseok]

not requested

word count: 3372

genre: angst, fluff at the end, slight soulmate!au

warnings: mentions of drinking, mentions of sexual scenes 👀👀

author’s note: so the beginning is a little boring but it gets way better near the middle, dont worry. 

please do not copy my work. but please like and reblog it. thank you!!!!

masterlist (in bio)

it was around 10:00 pm when you left your apartment with your boyfriend. he had pulled up to the street in his car, where your apartment complex was located at. he had texted you to let you know he was there, leaving a heart emoji after. once you had decided that you were ready, you left your apartment. you walked out of the building, slightly strutting - in a playful manner - onto the sidewalk,  in a tight dress that made you absolutely stunning. it was a short, black dress, ending just above your knees. your boyfriend smirked when you looked at him, smiling. your heels clicked along the sidewalk as you arrived at his car. your boyfriend, himself, looked quite snazzy and dashing, dressed in a casual black tuxedo, with a simple white t-shirt under. his hair was combed and covered his forehead.

you and him were going to a party in seoul. it was the birthday of a good friend of his. and seeing as everyone were now adults and old enough to consume alcohol, he invited everyone he knew and could think of to the hottest spot in seoul: omelas nightclub. you were very excited. you were looking forward to seeing both your and his friends, as well as spend some time with everyone and have fun.

the night was nice and warm. while your boyfriend drove, you rolled down your window and allowed the air to push back your hair (in a less elegant way of course, but you didn’t care too much). you arrived at omelas, adjusting your hair once again as your boyfriend pulled off to the side of the street, turning the engine off. you and your boyfriend walked into the club hand-in-hand, looking very expensive. hell, some people had to double-take when you stepped in. it looked like you and your boyfriend owned the nightclub.

“y/n!” you heard a shout. “jaehyun!”

you and your boyfriend looked around, finding a tall male waving his hand up in the air. he had a dorky birthday hat on top of his head while flashing a wide grin in your direction. you laughed and shook your head as jaehyun, your boyfriend, led the way to where the rest of the group was. it was a pretty large group of friends. you and jaehyun joined the group, greeting each and every one of your friends. “happy birthday, yunho.” you said loudly.

the music was loud in the club, so naturally you had to speak loudly to get your voice heard. the lights were also dimmed, with bright, neon lights flickering and flashing a variety of colors, syncing with the beat of every song that played. seeing as it was a saturday, and quite late, omelas was already packed with young adults. you could feel the rush of adrenaline from the overall atmosphere undermine your feeling of anxiety, due to some past events. you waved the thought away before it could even come. you flashed a smile at yunho.

“thank you.” the birthday boy replied, dancing happily with a glass of alcohol in his hand.

you laughed at him, before suddenly feeling jaehyun’s head next to yours. you could feel his warmth radiating against your skin. his breath tickled your ear as he asked you, “do you want me to get you something to drink?”

despite feeling a bit uncomfortable at the sudden interaction, you smirked slightly. a light laugh escaped through your lips, and looked at him. “i would love a drink.”

your boyfriend smiled before kissing your cheek and disappearing into the crowd. you watched him leave before turning back to the group, before frowning slightly. “so, y/n.” your best friend, jennie, called.

you removed your frown immediately and looked at her. you were stunned. you felt slightly envious of her plump red lips and dark eyeshadow. she looked gorgeous in that dark red dress of hers as well, a contrast to her porcelain legs. jennie had always so beautiful and mature. you smiled at her. “hey, jennie.”

she gestured you to come closer, patting a spot in the booth next to her while scooting over. you sat down in the offer spot, soothing out your dress. “having fun?” she asked while sipping her cocktail.

you laughed. “i just got here.”

she shrugged. “i know. but,” she paused, causing you to look at her. “you never come here anymore. i thought it would be fun for you, give you some closure.” you knew exactly who she was talking about. the name didn’t have to be said.

but you knew.

you gulped hard. you’d rather not talk, or even think about the past. you felt a bit uncomfortable, but you kept a strong, unbothered look. you simply shrugged, “well, i’m here now. and i’m going to enjoy it.”

you sighed after, however. you really did love going out, and having fun. but something felt off suddenly. you could only ignore the unusually feeling in your stomach and to continue on.

finally, after some light conversation, your boyfriend arrived with two different glasses in his hand. he presented a neon yellow-green colored drink to you, a happy grin on his face. “the bartender said this drink is best for people who can’t hold their liquor.”

you glared at your boyfriend before taking your drink, taking a small sip from it. it had an odd taste. but you liked it.

after an hour or so, you could feel yourself slipping away. you have had three drinks at this point. you knew you could get drunk easily, and of course jaehyun knew that too. but he insisted on getting you more drinks, as if he wanted you to get wasted. despite trying to keep yourself stable, you couldn’t say no to alcohol at this point.

you and all the girls talked. sometimes about childhood memories, embarrassing stories, a random joke. everyone was already drunk and full of giggles and laughs. the men were drunk too, and their laughs could be heard over the music.

jennie had just made a joke about her boyfriend. it didn’t make any sense, but it was hilarious. while laughing, you bent over the table, holding your stomach. you then sat up straight and peered up at your boyfriend, who flashed you a silly smile as you laughed. but subconsciously, you looked across the club at the other side where the tables were. you did not expect to see him.

your boyfriend immediately noticed something had happened when your goofy smile had so suddenly dropped, as if you hadn’t been laughing your ass off milliseconds before. you seemed shocked, perhaps even afraid. he slowly followed your gaze. jaehyun noticed an unfamiliar guy across the club. his eyes holding a dark, menacing gaze as he stared directly at you. jaehyun felt a pang in his heart. jealousy as some would call it. someone else was looking at you. he moved in front of you, blocking your gaze. he then bent down to you, “do you know who that is?” he asked, his tone dark and possessive.

you gulped as you listened to your boyfriend. you met his eyes and saw them darken but he didn’t look nearly as scary as the guy you had just spotted. you cleared your throat before turning away from him. you held your drink up to your lips. “just an old flame.” you replied before finishing your drink in one last gulp.

then you stood up, lightly pushing your boyfriend out of your way. jaehyun seemed confused and annoyed. “hey, where are you going?” he asked, grabbing your wrist.

you turned around and avoided his eyes. “just the restrooms.” you responded.

jaehyun pulled you closer to him. you had to remind yourself that he was only acting this way because he was drunk. “something is wrong.”

you looked at him, looking directly into his eyes. “nothing is wrong.” then you pulled your wrist out of his iron grasp. “i just need to use the bathroom.”

you felt jaehyun’s eyes on your back as you pushed past various bodies, making your way to the back of the building where the bathrooms were located. you felt your chest tighten, probably from all the people. thoughts were flooding through your head. a chest, in which you had packed everything you had ever wanted to forget, a chest in which you had locked and kept away, had just been unlocked and opened with just the simple sight of one familiar face. your ex. and now all those thoughts were rushing back. it was overwhelming.

finally, you were alone. the music wasn’t as loud, thank god. you didn’t need that to add to your pounding head. you felt like you could breathe again. you sighed and pressed yourself against the wall. you tried your best to calm yourself down. how could he still have this kind of affect on you, despite having left him a year ago. you closed your eyes, trying not to think about him.

“y/n.” you suddenly heard.

you jumped, not expecting anyone. and just for a second, you thought jaehyun had followed you. but you could recognize that soothing voice anywhere. you inhaled a deep breath before looking at him. “hoseok.”

fortunately, he maintained his distance. but you could see. he seemed...broken. the dark gaze you had seen just minutes ago had now been replaced with a sad, lifeless look. you felt your heart sink instantly.

you forced your voice out, “what are you doing here?”

“honestly,” he began, but paused. “never mind. it doesn’t matter.”

you looked at him, your eyes narrowing. you didn’t understand.

“you know, i was already here when you walked right through that door. fuck, you looked so beautiful. i hadn’t seen you in so long, but i hadn’t forgotten anything.” hoseok let out a dry laugh. “but then, i noticed the guy standing next to you, holding your hand.” hoseok spoke about your now boyfriend with such disgust and hatred.

you swallowed hard, averting your gaze to the floor, looking at anything else by hoseok. “what do you want, hoseok?”

he scoffed. “i want you back.”

you felt yourself begin to shake slightly, as if your bottled up emotions were about to come spilling out, spiral out of control. you tried to stay calm. “i have a boyfriend.”

“do you really love him though?!” hoseok snapped, his eyes now with yours. you forced yourself to look into his eyes.

your eyes widened as his sudden outburst.

“i...do.” you force yourself to say.

“no. no, you don’t.” hoseok shook his head.

you sighed, feeling a stray tear fall down your soft cheeks. he was right. and you hated that he was right. you had come across jaehyun a month after you left hoseok. you thought it was love. you thought that jaehyun was going to be able to mend your heart back into one piece. but you soon found that he was just a rebound for you, just some guy that could fill in gaping hole in your heart. jaehyun was just someone who could replace hoseok.. you thought you loved him, you really did. but, you were lying to yourself.

“hoseok.” you squeaked out, your voice cracking.

he asked, “why are you with him?”

you looked up, watching as hoseok cautiously approached you. his dark eyes flashed an array of emotion. you shook your head. you felt confused, even though there was nothing to be confused about. everything was clear, and exposed. perhaps you just didn’t want to admit it.

“y/n.” hoseok called again. his voice was soft and reassuring, drawing you into him.

this effect. every time hoseok said your name, you longed for him. every time you looked at him, you wished to be his again. “tell me.” hoseok said calmly.

“i met him a month after i left you.” you admitted, hurrying to explain yourself as if you were running out of time. “he was funny, and kind, and understood that i had just gone through a terrible, terrible break up. jaehyun was patient with me. he made sure to never make me uncomfortable. he never forced me into anything. and i thought...i thought that i was in love with him.”

you met hoseok’s eyes, finding that he was smirking. perhaps it was the alcohol talking. but you still knew what you were saying. “but it turned out, he was just a replacement, to fill in your spot. i just didn’t like the feeling of you not being there.”

hoseok felt a wave of relief. his heavy heart instantly felt lighter. he knew you didn’t love the jaehyun guy, not after what you and him had. hoseok walked closer to you, taking slow steps. you didn’t move away.

hoseok now stood directly in front of you. he was taller than you, just as you had remembered. how you missed his warmth, his scent, his presence. you closed your eyes, relishing the feeling of his warm hands gently cupping your cheeks. it felt all too familiar, as if you and him hadn’t been apart for a year. you hadn’t realized you were crying, until you felt hoseok gently stroke your cheeks, wiping your tears ago.

“i lied to you earlier.” he said.

you opened your eyes and looked up at hoseok. his gaze was soft and loving. you missed him.

you looked at him, slightly puzzled. you tried to recall what he could have possibly lied about. “what do you mean?”

hoseok chuckled, his eyes coming down to look at your lips. “i mean, i knew you would come here.”

you felt your face scrunch with confusion. your eyebrows knitted together. you stared at hoseok as he continued, “jennie told me you would be here tonight.”

and there it was. you felt a sense of relief wash over you. “jennie.” you mumbled. but then, your eyes widened as you suddenly felt worried. “jennie!” you repeated. “i have to get back to them. they’re probably wondering why i’m taking so long.”

but before you could even step away hoseok, he swiftly grabbed your arm and turned you around. you gasped, but then was met with the feeling of his lips on yours. an old flame, as what you had called hoseok. but now, that flame was glowing much brighter, radiating much more heat. it was no longer dull and sad.

you practically melted into hoseok. his skin against yours, his lips against your own, his hands on your cheeks. it felt surreal, like a dream. but you knew it wasn’t all a dream (you weren’t drunk enough to have passed out). you wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him closer to you. this moment proved that hoseok still had a tight grasp of your heart.

you reluctantly pulled away. your cheeks felt hot as you blushed. hoseok smiled lovingly as he looked at you. you felt the corners of your cheeks tug in response. you smiled in return, grinning widely. both you and hoseok felt whole again.

hoseok pulled you into his chest while wrapping his arms around your body. you sighed contently, wrapping your own arms around him. you then felt his warm breath against your ear. of course, you felt a whole nother feeling compared to when jaehyun did this to you earlier. “let’s get out of here.”

you immediately nodded. you wanted nothing more than to run off with hoseok once again, and leave jaehyun. you felt slightly bad, he was a nice guy after all. but you and him weren’t meant to be together. you didn’t love jaehyun.

“how are we going to get out of here?” you asked worriedly. “jaehyun would easily spot us trying to leave.”

“i might be able to help with that.”

you jumped at the sudden voice. your head whipped around, finding that it was only your best friend. “jennie.” you smiled.

she smiled, her hand waving at you and hoseok. “i’m glad everything seemed to work out.”

“you set it all up.” you replied, trying to suppress a smile.

“and it worked. my plans always work. anyways, i have managed to keep jaehyun from storming over here. he thinks you’re severely sick, since you get drunk easily.”

you sighed. “i’m not drunk now.”

“i’ll just explain everything to him. while i’m doing that, you and hoseok can sneak out of the doors and run off into the sunset.” she teased, feigning a dreamy look while holding her grasped hands under her chin.

you rolled your eyes and shook your head. “fine, let’s go. thanks, jennie”

you grabbed hoseok’s hand and immediately started walking away. jennie laughed and headed in the other direction where jaehyun and everyone else were. you dashed towards the entrance door, but right before you slipped away, you glanced at jaehyun one last time. jennie seemed unfazed by the fact that she just dropped a major bombshell onto jaehyun. she probably didn’t even sugarcoat it. jaehyun seemed confused. he was drunk anyway, so perhaps he wasn’t thinking clearly. but still, he still looked like his soul had left his body. you smiled slightly, feeling a weight lift off your shoulders. hoseok couldn’t wait for you any longer, desperate to spend time with you, and pushed you out of the door and onto the sidewalk. “don’t think about him anymore.” he demanded, a pout forming.

you grinned up at hoseok, a mischievous glint in your eyes. “you see, that might be a little hard, hobi.” you said while glancing at hoseok. it was an old nickname for him.

he blushed and grabbed your hand, lacing his fingers with yours. “why is that?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at you.

“i had been with him for a year, a little more than a year actually, if i’m remembering correctly.”

hoseok looked at you. his eyes turned dark and menacing. and the smirk on his face only added to the seductive look. perhaps, it’s safe to say you were a little turned on. “leave it to me. tonight, i’ll make sure you forget him.”

you blushed, feeling flustered as you imagined what was going to happen later. hoseok smiled happily, acting as if he hadn’t done anything. “let’s go.”

| epilogue |

waking you up from a deep slumber, you felt an arm suddenly rest on the small of your back. you were laying on your stomach, your hands and arms tucked under the pillow that your head rested on. you were bare under the bed sheets, so you could feel the warmth of the arm directly on your skin. it was soothing.

you heard the bed creak slightly as the being next to you shuffled around. you groaned tiredly. you were trying to fall back asleep but hoseok kept moving. he was turning so that he was facing you. he chuckled breathy. “baby.” he whispered with his husky, morning voice.

you felt your stomach twist at the sudden nickname. hoseok was the only one that has called you baby and successfully turned you into a flustering mess. you tried to remain still and quiet, but a smile appeared on your face.

“i know you’re awake.” hoseok claimed, slightly offended.

“i’m trying to sleep.”

“but we have an whole day ahead of us.” as hoseok spoke, he moved himself on top of you, his head tucking into your neck. his soft, messy hair tickled.

you finally opened your eyes, laughing at hoseok’s clinginess. “hobi.”

he lifted his head up, meeting your eyes. he pecked your lips, after making sure you saw his pout. “i love you.” he whispered.

you blushed and smiled. “i love you too.”

hoseok grinned, pecking your lips again. “now get dressed. we’re going out for breakfast.”

and with that, hoseok jumped out of the bed, bending down to put on a pair of pants. you laughed and got up. you turned around to face hoseok, holding the grey bed sheets up to your chin. hoseok flashed a grin at you before hurrying into the closet, probably to change his clothes. you sighed. you didn’t necessarily want to get out of bed. but you did it anyways, because you would be spending the day with your one and only love.

[darkcherrywitch]

Behavior Exercise

Hi girls, guys and non-binary pals <3 

This is the scond fanfic i write, this one is inspired in a movie called The Road Within and hopefully my first series so please let me know if you want me to keep posting it, maybe is not as good as i think it is haha i’d really appretiate some feedback, also, english is not my first lenguage so please be nice i’m trying :( 

WARNINGS: 4k+ mentions of drugs, alcohol and mental illness. This fanfic contains sensitive topics like anorexia, OCD and drug addictions if you feel triggered by any of this topics please do not read it. 

“Nineteen, twenty, twenty one, twenty two, twenty three” You could hear Robert whispering a number for each mug whilst cleaning one per one with an anti-bacterial microfiber cloth he just bought yesterday. You take another sip of your non sugared coffee already cold keeping your gaze in your roommate who was onto an old baby blue wooden chair, his favorite, because it was easier to clean than the other ones “Twenty four, twenty five…twenty fiv-five” he stutters with a low voice almost like a secret he can only hear.  You put your mug down on the table knowing what is coming next, like every other morning, he just hated odds numbers.

“Five- twenty fiv-five” He keeps repeating walking back and forth all over the kitchen with his hand scratching his head pulling his blonde curls. “Hey, good morning” A deep British accent stops you from standing up and walking towards Robert making him stop as well. He looked at both of you just to switch his gaze feeling the pressure in the air as he continues to grab an empty plastic cup from the kitchen bar assuming he could get in trouble if he gets anywhere near the mugs shelf.

“Morning, did you have a good rest?” You greet with an awkward smile on your face. Harry moved in just a week ago so it is understandable he’s not fully used to Rob’s breakdowns as you are after nine years. You know Rob since secondary school; a catholic schoolhouse in Portlaoise where special and difficult teenagers were sent by his parents to make them better, doesn’t work pretty well if they ask you.  Robert and you shared some classes and weekly group’s therapy meetings, however, you only knew him as the schizo boy just to find out, years later, he does not suffer from schizophrenia but a severe ODC and constants paranoid episodes, it all got worst four years ago when he came home to find out his mom had left a day before the graduation  night, all she left was a note saying how sorry she was, a load of cash, a blue tuxedo he was supposed to be wearing at the dance and an empty home.

Four years ago

You lost count of how many minutes, maybe hours, you have been staring at the old pink dress your dad had bought you for tonight’s dance, it would be better if he could actually share the evening with you but it was too much to ask, you thought. It had stopped raining some hours ago but a loud splash outside your window snaps you from your deep thoughts about tonight, a rowdy cry followed the splash “SHE LEFT ME, WHY DOES EVERYBODY BLODY LEFT ME?” You ran to your window to see what was happening, and then, you saw Rob on a puddle wearing anything but his underpants and his navy blue tuxedo in his hands all covered in mud, just as him. He was  crying and screaming while Miss Gillen held him helping him for hurting himself  “MY DAD IS DEAD AND MOM HATES ME, I-I ‘AVE NO ONE, NO ONE FUCKING CARES ABOUT ME” He yelled at the sky escaping from Miss Gillen’s arms slapping mercilessly his face and pulling his blonde hair roughly.

You have spent almost a decade in that hypocrite househole where religious people pretended to know what was good and bad, and even worst, pretending they care about all of you. You knew people were lonely back there, after all, most of you were abandoned by your families, they just gave up on most of you and you were aware of that. You knew everyone there was ill, was broken and alone, new people came and then they left, some people have been taken to the hospital after a breakdown and they have never returned, it was hard to live in a place like that were you could share breakfast with someone just to wake up the next day with their bed empty and another casket full, that’s why you decided to not make any friends, carrying with other person’s problems could destroyed you just as much as losing another loved one, but when you saw him all covered in mire when just yesterday he cried in the middle of the cafeteria because he spilled a drop of tea in his pants something changed in you. You almost didn’t recognize him; it was the same guy who couldn’t even walk outside his bedroom without latex gloves, however he was there outside your room, broken and scared. He had no one and you knew that feeling.

“Rumor has it you have your own place now” You said having a sit next to him in cafeteria two days after the dance. He looked strange at you “do yo-do you eat?” He answered you sharply but those comments didn’t bother you anymore. You smiled at him taking a sip of your water bottle “so, is it true?” You insisted “‘s not mine, ‘s me mums” he mumbled cleaning the spot of the table you just removed your hand from. “But she left” you say abruptly making him look at you, finally getting some strong eye contact, he kept silence trying not to cry, you leaned closer to him and whispered “when are we escaping this hole then?”.

Now

It’s been four years since you convinced Rob to leave that place, four years since you’ve been living together in that house his mom had left for him, and four years of the only caring human interaction you both have; you take care for each other and you could say it was the first time in ages that you haven’t feel lonely.

“Could been better if I’m honest” Harry replies with a cheeky smile “Of course it could have been better, it could have been better if you just would stop yourself from snoring the whole night” Robert cuts Harry off “Did you know he goes to sleep without taking a shower? and WE have to share room it’s just unacceptable, unaccepta- unacceptable” You can see Rob’s face turning red and his eyes looking at you almost popping out at the memory of last night.

“Oh I’m sorry, did my snoring muffle that boring music you sleep with?” Harry says without looking at him as he pours some orange juice to his cup “It’s not my fault you don’t appreciate quiet music you cheap ass Mick Jagger” Robert spits roughly making Harry giggle as he decides to stop the argue blowing him a kiss. He was cheeky and irreverent and you like that, Harry was like a new specimen like a new world you wish to explore, it was something you have never seen before, neither you or Rob haven’t met anyone like Harry, you feel excited about this new experience even though now and then you feel guiltiness for making Rob go through this, you know he’s not looking forward this as much as you are, in fact since Harry is living with you Rob’s stress levels has been higher than usual.

When you left the clinic you decided come up with a plan to keep both of you sane, you knew Rob’s money it wasn’t going to last more than a few months and his disability allowance was not enough for both of you, so you decided to get a job and attend to some free therapy session at a community center near Rob’s house, and that’s how Harry came into your life.

One month ago

What it seemed like a normal summer rain predicting its end becomes a dreadful storm within minutes. You make you steps larger covering your head with your old jacked which is completely useless as you try to rush Rob who is a couple steps behind you freaking out because his boots and the bottom of his pants are all covered in mud. There’s only a couple of blocks left to the community center where both of you attend to the weekly sessions that keep yourself sort of sane. You arrive to the center soaking wet and just in time to the session, however, you spend a few minutes taking care of Rob helping him to clean himself.

Both of you take a seat in the circle in the middle of the huge cold room; the therapist, Arthur welcomes you with a big smile understanding the weather was not something you could control or change. “So now that we’re complete…” he stand up and says looking at Rob and you “Are you okay, Robert?” he asks kindly to what Rob just nods “great, now I want to start this meeting introducing our new member, he comes all the way from London so I ask you to be nice and make him feel welcome”.

You were too busy taking care of your friend and cursing at the wind that you haven’t notice the new member of the group; a tall white guy with silky curls, they seem recently wet as well even tho he doesn’t look bother about it. Your gaze travels his figure from bottom to top; he’s wearing some old used boots, a pair of blue jeans and a grey hoodie. You notice his big and strong hands as he says hi to the group with one of them; both decorated with multiple rings, It’s not until your glance meets his big emerald eyes ornamented with some bags under them that you realized you are probably staring too much, as you try to look somewhere else you see he offers a smile at you; not yet a malicious one, not yet a kindly one, it was more like something in between; a cheeky lovely but arrogant smile.

“Hi, I’m Harry, Nice to meet you all” He says briefly without taking his eyes off of you he looks at the rest of the group smiling still just to sit down again. You could hear some distant and slow claps, probably your partners are just as confused as you; most of the introductions were followed by a whole crazy story of why are they there and even some tears and breakdowns but never just a cheeky smile and a breathtaking glance. “You probably want to tell us why you’re here Harry” Arthur says looking at him.

“’kay, if you want me to” He says rubbing his palms on his thighs looking at the ground until he speaks again “…I’m a sex addict” he looks up staring challenging at Arthur chuckling. Arthur looks quite annoyed he probably knows what the newbie’s here for, you’ve shared these sessions with some sex addicts they only last two or three weeks top, but you are pretty sure he’s just joking. “Probably just another junkie” Rob speaks up louder than he expected. The whole room is filled with silence for a couple seconds even you fell Harry deep gaze on Rob “Wanna bet pretty boy? can show you”

“Harry is here because he’s trying to keep himself sober and we’re to help him, okay?” Arthur interrupts quickly “He’s new in town so if you know about some apartment available for him would be a great favor”. The rest of the session keeps going pretty normal even though you can’t focus on any of your partners, you are too confused yet intrigued about the whole new guy situation; after that interaction you can tell Rob has been tense since then, on the other side Harry seems cool about it, you were expecting him being an asshole with the rest of the group as they share their week with you, but instead he listens carefully, looking attentive to each person who stands up, he even shares some advices with them, good advices. Robs is kind of right, he is a junkie, still he is not just another junkie, there was something different about him and you want it to find out.

“Hey, so the new guy is looking for somewhere to live” You say to Rob who was cleaning the snack table of the therapy room. “There are a lot of bridges he can live under” He replies without looking at you, he was too focused stacking some water bottles carefully. You take a piece of fruit and a bottle of water as you feel Arthur Gaze on you “I was thinking he can live with us, we have a spare room” Robert stops abruptly his stacking process just to give you a perplexed look “are you seriously suggesting me to offer my house to a bloody drug addict we just literally met just because he’s hot?”

“C’mon… I never said he was hot” Rob turns his face back to the table cleaning something else you don’t even see “That’s not the point, I’m not letting a stranger sleeping under my roof”  “You let me sleep under your roof, beside, we can actually use some extra money” you say looking for the new guy in the room “and he seems fun” Robert grunts rolling his eyes at the sight of you looking for him. “Robert, Y/N, we’re about to the closure would you please join us?” Arthur says from a distance. “take it as behavior exercise” You insist Rob with a begging look with both of your hands together “I’ll think about it” He cuts the conversation walking away from you.

One week ago

You make your way into de kitchen to find Rob finishing his cleaning routine; you overslept this morning understandable after keeping yourself with almost anything but water for the last three days. “Morning babe” You said weakly to your friend as he quickly reach a chair for you to sit “Hey, I made you some breakfast” He says as he opens the fridge taking out a plate with fruit and oats “There’s no need Rob, I’m going to be late to work” You say as you try to stand up  but he grabs your arm in order to stop you from getting up, you look at his hand wrapped around your arm and look back at him in shock; his germophobia doesn’t let him have any physical interaction with other people, he never touches anybody and freaks out when somebody touches him. Is the first time in years you’ve feel his touch; even though he’s wearing latex gloves as usual you can feel the warm emanating from his big and soft hand.

“You might take care of me most of the time but I’m not stupid Y/N, I know you haven’t eaten a full meal in four days, so please, sit down and eat your breakfast” He finally releases your arm as he walks to his room to probably change his gloves. The whole situation leaves so speechless that you don’t have any other choice to do what you’ve been told. You can’t remember a time when Robert has ever touched you or at least without having a crisis, definitely your relationship has grown a lot in those couple years and now it seems like he cares about you more every day and part of you couldn’t just let him down.  

As you keep eating your meal and thinking about your relationship with Rob a knock on the door snaps you out to reality and you hear Rob rushing to the door “no, no, you can’t leave the table until you finish”. He reaches to the door and takes a big breathe before open it just to find a pair of emerald eyes looking at him “Oh Hi, nice to see you again Pretty boy” Harry says after finishing his cigarette and stepping on it “Oh it’s you, what do you want?” he asks hiding half of his body behind the door. Harry smirks and shows him the black suitcase he was holding. Robert knew what he was there for he just forgot about it when he looked into his eyes. Today is the day that Harry moves into the house; after a couple endless nights convincing Rob of letting him stay today you got yourself a new roommate.

“Oh, right, come on in, I guess” Rob says opening the door wider for Harry to come in. “Take your shoes off” Robert adds without looking at him walking towards the kitchen “Normally I only accept to take my clothes off after a couple of drinks but for you pretty b..” “We don’t use shoes inside the house, that’s the first rule, it’s not a joke” Rob cuts Harry off abruptly facing him again “Okay, take it easy they’re off” Harry says without erasing his cheeky smile of his face “I think we didn’t even say hi properly ” Harry adds offering his hand to Rob, he has heard that he’s quite special to interact with but there’s no person in the world that Harry can’t just win over, he’s irrelevant and funny and just full of natural charm, everybody likes him and he’s aware of that but there is something in Rob Harry just feels attracted to, he likes to push his buttons it’s like a challenge and he has always loved a good challenge.

Robert stares at Harry’s Hand for a moment “I don’t do that” he adds looking back into Harry’s eyes “you don’t do handshakes?” Harry replies chuckling at Rob’s weird affirmation; who doesn’t do handshakes? “I don’t touch people” Robert replies almost yelling at Harry; his face started to turn red and his breathe is getting harder to catch. Harry’s afraid maybe he went too far but it was not his intention at all, he like to mess with people but not like that. “Hey, it’s fine, hi Harry”

You rushed to finish your plate as soon as you heard Harry’s deep voice coming from the door not because you feel excited but because you’re worried about Rob’s reaction, after all they didn’t have a great first meeting. You follow their voices that lead you to the living room; Harry was wearing some regular skinnies and a black t-shirt somehow on him that simple outfit looks like the most complex combination of clothing, a bunch of tattoos covered his arms making him look cooler than the junkie you see every Friday night. Robert raising his voice makes you stop staring at your new roommate and actually talk to him.

“Hey, N/Y, morning” Harry answers with a big smile on his face, you don’t remember his skins glowing as much as it does today it is hard not to stare at him. “Are you ready to move in?” You ask nicely as Robert tries to calm down adjusting his gloves and taking deep breathes “Yep, pretty much” Harry says pointing at his suitcase. You show him the place; is not too big it’s only a small one floor house with three bedrooms but it’s a way to make him feel comfortable. As you show him around Robert starts telling him the most important rules of the house and Harry only nods at both of you.

“So this would be your room” you say finishing the house tour opening the door between Rob’s bedroom and yours “As we told you before It’s not habitable right now, we need to fix the roof and most of the walls they’re almost ruined by humidity, we were thinking maybe with the deposit and probably your first payment we can like fix it meanwhile you can share room with Robert if that’s okay with you” You say showing him where the humidity has damage the roof “Sure, it’s going to be a pleasure” Harry winks at Robert who seems bothered enough already. You can see how annoyed Rob is by this new roommate situation, however, you know if he wouldn’t agree with this he would tell you, besides somehow it seems like he’s more anxious that bothered about it; he thinks you didn’t realize but you saw him cleaning his room twice last night a strange way to say he’s excited about the next day. Maybe both of you are excited about sharing your life with someone new, someone as special as Harry seems to be, maybe it’s just attraction, maybe it’s just Harry’s aura that makes everyone go a little bit crazy about him or maybe it’s only your mind playing tricks on you but at that moment you realized something in your life is about to change drastically and you quite like that.

Now

“C’mon Y/N you have to finish it” Robert says with his elbows on the table resting his head on both of his hands, you’ve been struggling to finish your meal for almost an hour now and Robert is more than exhausted now, you can see it and you feel bad of seeing those lovely green eyes so tired because of you but you just can´t finish it. “I can´t Robert I promise” You say pouting your mouth on a failed attempt of leaving the table. Harry just appears on the kitchen and watches the scene grabbing an apple “take it as a behavior exercise” Rob adds with an exhausted voice. “Behavior exercise? what’s that? Harry asks with his mouth full of the bite he just took.

“Back in the schoolhouse we had exercises to learn how to deal with our illnesses; they made us do things to get tour limits and they just acted like nothing was happening at all” you say playing with the food on your plate. “Once they made me walk with dirty trousers for a whole day!” Robert continues giving Harry an indignant look. Robs turns back at you pushing your plate closer to you.

“Interesting” Harry responds taking the seat in front of you; he search for your gaze and looks right into your eyes getting your full attention as he usually does whenever he’s near you. “C’mon Y/N you’re better than a plate of food, are you gonna let a couple of vegetables defeat you?” the room is filled with silence as he smiles at you and leaves the kitchen making his way out to the porch. If anyone else would say that to you you would throw the plate at them with no hesitation, but the way those words left his mouth like he knew everything about yourself plus the way he looked at you just made you believe every single of them. You look back at Robert who was already falling asleep on the table and continue to finish your meal.

Once your plate is empty you help Robert to go to bed and clean your dishes as you always do. You remember Harry’s outside and decide to make him company smoking your nightly cigarette as usual. He was laying half of his body on the wooden bench of the porch. He looks so lost in his thoughts you almost feel guilty about interrupting because as soon as you step outside he turns and smiles widely at you “How was your behavior exercise?” he say probably joking or probably actually concerned you never know what his intentions are, that man was a complete enigma to you. “Beat the fuck out if it” you say quietly as you stand beside him lighting the last cigarette of the pack. He chuckles loudly in responds.

After that you just stay there enjoying the silence and the smoke coming out of both of your cigarettes; the night is particularly quiet, the stars are shinier and the wind juts take the bunch of your thoughts and concerns with it. It’s nice to spend time with someone who’s not constantly asking if you have washed your hands already or telling you how disgusting is the habit of smoking. None of you feel the need to fill the lack of conversation at that moment; you are so focused on enjoying the moment that you almost don’t realize that out of nowhere Harry decides to break the silence with a question.

“Why did you let me stay in here?” He asks with a husky voice keeping his eyes on his cigarette “Robert thinks you’re hot” you respond after a couple of seconds and even though you are looking at the sky you can feel Harry smiling at your answer. “yeah, well, I don’t blame him” he says annoyingly turning his body towards you “but I’m sure that’s not the only reason why you guys let a good-looking junkie staying at your place, and if you do I’m quite concerned, I must reckon” you face him narrowing your eyes at his smart ass answer.

“Robert and I have this weird dream of make a sheltered for people in need, people who have been abandoned by their families like us, we saw a chance on you” you say letting the smoke of you cigarette fill your lungs and letting it out. “It’s like the biggest behavior exercise you ever had then?” Harry says with an adorable voice, one you’ve never heard before “You might say” You say smiling at him just to continue enjoying the clear sky above you.

[ldarchive]

oc interview meme~

The rules: Answer the following questions as your OC of choice.

I chose Ari. The thing is, Ari hates talking to reporters -- if you hit on the right topic you might get an impassioned rant out of him (see: that scene in ME2 where Shepard starts listing all the ships that went down at the battle of the Citadel), but generally he’s pretty tight-lipped and brusquely Professional. So for this meme I sorta imagined him in like a semi-formal environment where he’d be more comfortable, like maybe if one of his friends was interviewing him or something... I’ve put too much thought into this, whatever!!

1. What’s your name?

Ari Shepard.

2. Do you know why you are called that?

I never got the opportunity to ask.

3. Are you single or taken?

Pretty sure it’s common knowledge that I’m married. The krogan guests at the wedding wanted to eat the reporters, but my husband said no.

4. Have any abilities or powers?

I used to run into stuff really hard for a living. Not sure how much of a talent that counts as, but they keep putting me in the news vids anyway.

5. Stop being a Mary Sue.

Hey, Kaidan told me about that while we were watching Star Trek once! Really not sure I count, though. I’m just some guy. And not fictional.

6. What’s your eye color?

Blue.

7. How about your hair color?

Blond. Well, black. Usually somewhere in-between that.

8. Have any family members?

Sure, lots. My semi-successful diplomacy career did very little to prepare me for family reunions at the Alenko commune.

9. Oh? How about any pets?

We have a dog. Laika. Her adoption papers told me she’s the goodest girl in the whole galaxy. She’s a purebreed, I--we needed a dog with a certain temperament, you know, they’re very carefully vetted. But she’s not spoiled. OK, I can feel my husband rolling his eyes at me: she’s spoiled. But only because she’s earned it. Kaidan named her.

I have a lot of fish, too. They’re more high-maintenance than the dog, believe it or not. 

10. That’s cool, I guess. Now tell me something you don’t like.

Uh, sitcoms. People on public transit who look at me funny. Reporters, especially if they try to bug me when I’m with my kids. Seriously, cut that [redacted] out. Distance. Uh, politicians--heh. I could go on. 

11. Do you have any activities/hobbies that you like to do?

You know, I’m an alright cook. I make a mean pot of soup. Yukagejang is a big comfort food in my house--it’s an old recipe. I usually make a big pot for the kids if Kaidan has to go away on business, but then he’s sad because he doesn’t get to have any. Heh. I grow a lot of the vegetables myself, too.

I have a music collection, too. Physical media. Very old-fashioned, but I lost a lot of my files some years back, and some of that stuff I was never able to find again! That haunts me. There was this one Batarian band... anyway, I’ve been hesitant to add more to it because our home is slowly being overrun by a frankly unsustainable number of kids.

(Editor’s note: Commander Shepard and General Alenko have two children.)

12. Have you hurt anyone in any way before?

I beat Garrus at a sniping contest once. I don’t think he’s ever forgiven me for that.

13. Ever… killed anyone before?

I feel like answering this would violate some sort of military doctrine or Council non-disclosure clause. I really don’t need the Spectres after me - I’m married to one, and that’s bad enough. 

14. What kind of animal are you?

Well, my name means “lion.” I’ve never given that one much thought, but the recruitment posters got a lot of mileage out of it.

Something I heard a lot during the Reaper War, and the aftermath, was that people felt like caged rats. Or their culture’s equivalent. That the Reapers were treating us like filthy little vermin to experiment on and then exterminate. But, you know, I’m from New York, so I’ve always known that rats are mean little [redacted] and that they can absolutely bite back. 

15. Name your worst habits?

...I’ve been a smoker most of my life, so I guess my worst habit is that I’m too damn persistent to give up on anything.

16. Do you look up to anyone at all?

Well, my husband is the only human Spectre. Pretty cool gig, right? Very inspiring of him.

...I think Captain Anderson was the first person whose respect I honestly wanted to earn. That was near twenty years ago, and... that hasn’t changed.

17. Are you gay, straight or bisexual?

I’m gay. If you’re trying to ask me out, formal inquires can be sent to General Kaidan Alenko, c/o the Garneau Academy of Biotics, Vancouver-- 

Kiddos, if you’re reading this ten years from now, that was a joke. Also, don’t you have anything better to do than read old interviews about your dad? Finish your homework.

18. Do you go to school?

I’m self-taught with most things. That sounds more respectable than a straight “no,” doesn’t it? I guess this is where I would I say I went to the school of hard knocks, if I was someone who wasn’t funny. Got some pretty remedial tutoring when I joined the Alliance, but that’s about it, unless you count ICT -- which, actually, yeah, I think ICT should count. 

19. Ever want to marry and have any kids one day?

I already did. Didn’t think I would, honestly, but here I am. Life takes you weirder places than you’re even capable of imagining.

20. Do you have any fangirls/fanboys?

There’ve been a few. I appreciate the sentiment, but... heh, actually, no, I don’t.

21. What are you most afraid of?

I think the benefit of having survived a major war is that we have the option to not let fear run our lives anymore. That being said, I’m afraid of the usual mundane stuff. I don’t think it’s very interesting to hash out.

22. What do you usually wear?

I think I dress pretty practically. Durable clothing is great if you’re in the military or are just being assaulted by two toddlers daily. And if you buy everything in monochrome it always matches... Kaidan’s mom really hates that.

23. What one food tempts you?

Anything spicy. Spicy noodles. There’s this great noodle stand on the Citadel we still eat at, but they’re not paying me for an endorsement and I don’t want people crowding me out, so you can figure out the name yourself. It’s the ultimate hangover cure. Not that I would know.

24. Am I annoying you?

Yes, but luckily I’m too polite to say anything.

25. Well, it’s still not over!

I’ve got a hungry dog at home, you know. And two children.

26. What class are you (low/middle/high)?

I spent the first part of my life totally penniless, so it’s weird to say I’m towards the higher end now. It is something I try to be mindful and make good use of... it’s just nice not to have to worry about feeding or clothing my kids. Beyond that, a lot of it goes to various charitable causes. And, well, my husband’s hair gel budget.

27. How many friends do you have?

Too damn many, honestly. You ever tried hosting a party for dozens of people with dextro/levo options, biotic-proof furniture, and enough room for multiple krogan? It’s not easy!

28. What are your thoughts on pie?

You haven’t lived until you’ve tried Mom’s--Kaidan’s mom’s--apple pie. But luckily I married her son and not you.

29. Favourite drink?

Coffee and red wine. Water. Whiskey isn’t bad either.

30. What’s your favorite place?

I’m boring now, so I’ve come to appreciate quiet places and being alone. Well, alone with my family, but they don’t count.

31. Are you interested in anyone?

I would not voluntarily wear a three-piece tuxedo and invite a bunch of people to gawk at me telling a guy I love him unless I was really, really interested.

32. That was a stupid question…

Just a bit, yeah.

33. Would you rather swim in the lake or the ocean?

There’s something about lakes that still kind of skeeve me out. I’m a city boy, so I always feel like I’m going to step on a leech or something. The ocean is nice, though, I grew up on the water. You couldn’t swim in it unless you wanted radiation poisoning, of course, but it was nice to look at. The beaches here on the west coast are pretty fun and not majorly toxic as far as I’m aware.

34. What’s your type?

I guess I’ve always dug the tall dark and handsome thing. Don’t tell Kaidan that, he’s obnoxious enough already.

35. Any fetishes?

Nothing I could talk about in an article my kids might read one day while avoiding their homework.

36. Camping indoors or outdoors?

I don’t think camping “indoors” is really a thing. That’s just staying in a house. Come on, don’t say you’re going camping if you’re going to be a lazy [redacted] about it.