#the main way i get motivated to write things is excitedly talking about them with people so if you're not busy

[skywardscroll]

divine intervention | venti

✧ word count: 2.5k

✧ summary: baring witness to world can become wearisome. venti, though you don’t really know him, wants to help.

✧ warnings: really angsty with some fluff thrown in! the reader has depression / there is self-deprecation. reader is also afab!

✧ a/n: this is so sweet >-< . i’m really proud of this one! also, writing klee is literally the funnest thing ever lol. <3 hope you guys enjoy!!

Teyvat, as you’d come to learn through your years, was a dangerous, merciless world. Every day, people lost their fathers, sisters, friends, and lovers. The world was full of greedy bandits and vicious monsters, and it only seemed to be getting worse as the days went by.

This last adventure out to Liyue had really taken the optimism out of you; Growing weary from traveling, you returned to your home in Mondstadt quite exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally. Was there any other facet of you that could be exhausted? Because you were sure that it would also be stricken with strife.

You told the Adventurer’s Guild that you were temporarily retiring from your work to take a well-overdue vacation from fighting and the ever-arising political strain you witnessed every time you left the City of Freedom. You just wanted to enjoy your safe corner of the world, at least for the summer.

The (admittedly strange) way you decided to do this was by staying indoors with your books, sometimes going entire days without once stepping into the sunlight. It was a pleasant way to spend the time, but you knew it was unhealthy.

Your books, when the main characters shared similar habits to you, called this behavior ‘depression.’ Though, you willfully ignored this, pretending that this was normal of someone with a heavy heart (just a heavy heart. Not all the other symptoms that you were falsely denying you had, like an aversion to engagements with friends, or a neglect of hydration.)

It was one of the hottest days in July, you remembered, when you heard a knock on your door. You contemplated answering it, thinking that maybe the Adventurer’s Guild would want you back to work prematurely. This was quickly disproven, though, when a small voice called from outside the door:

“Miss Y/N? Oh, Miss Y/N~! Please come out!”

Klee’s sweet voice seemed to somehow wrap itself around your heart and pull you towards the door.

“Miss Y/N?”

You hesitated, knowing that once you saw that endearing child’s round eyes, you would be forced to play outside with her for as long as she wanted you to. You loved Klee dearly, and would do anything for her, even if you didn’t necessarily wish to go along with it. But you really didn’t feel like leaving your house, knowing that the Freedom Festival was currently in full swing.

“Y/N? Are you in there?” You recognize a second voice to belong to Grandmaster Jean.

Inhaling deeply, you opened the door to see Klee’s face light up as she excitedly pulled on Jean’s hand.

“She opened the door! She did! I told you Y/N would open the door!”

“Y/N!” Jean said, obviously surprised by your appearance. “It’s so good to see you’re well.”

“It’s good to see you two, as well.” You said with full honesty. You hadn’t realized it until you saw them before you, but you had certainly missed seeing your friends.

“Y/N! I wanted to ask if you wanted to go to the Freedom festival with us! There’ll be food, and music, and I overheard Rosaria saying something to Kaeya about special drinks!”

“Oh… I don’t know…”

“Come on! It’ll be fun! They have this game, and it has a prize that looks like a biiiig dodoco! I want it but if you come you can have it!” Klee’s excitement makes a smile appear on your face.

“You should come, Y/N. It would be good for you, I think.”

You sighed a little, looking back at your book which sat with the pages down against the cushion of your reading chair, waiting to be returned to. But as if by design, the wind carried the smell of food into your door and your stomach rumbled. Besides, Klee’s eyes were bearing into your heart just as you predicted, and you could see Jean’s hand clasp onto Klee’s a little tighter in hopes that she wouldn’t be disappointed.

“Alright, I’ll come.”

If you were to be frank, you had no idea what the difference between the Windblume Festival and the Freedom Festival was. To you, it just seemed like another concocted excuse to party. Which, in your youth, you never complained about, and you weren’t inclined to complain now, either, as Sara handed you a particularly delicious-looking chicken and mushroom skewer. You hadn’t eaten something like this in a month, and it was very welcome in your stomach.

“Over there! It’s Venti! Venti!” Klee went running ahead of you and Jean, who were idly speaking to one another as you finished off your food and threw the stick away.

“Klee! Don’t run off!” Jean called out, running after the young girl while you walked a bit behind, enjoying the scenery of Mondstadt decorated in flowers and it’s streets lined with vendors.

“Hi Klee!” You looked up and saw a man hug Klee tightly (a boy? He was quite short, but you were pretty sure he was an adult.) It was hard not to notice the golden lyre in his hand and how the strings seemed to be luminescent. You’d never seen anything like it before, and accidentally stared at it in clear awe.

“Do you play?” He asked, a smile that seemed to lift your heart was directed to you after the question left his lips.

“No… Not anymore. I tried to learn when I was a child but…”

“That’s alright. It takes a lot of practice, yeah?”

You let out a breathy laugh and nod, “Yeah, I guess so.”

Jean scooped up Klee into her arms before she could run off again. “You two haven’t met before?”

“Sadly no.” Venti said, placing his hand over his heart. “I would’ve remembered such a beautiful face, surely.”

Bard’s and their sweet words. You thought to yourself. Out of kindness, you only laughed in response to his compliment.

“I’m Y/N.”

“Ahh! I’ve heard of you! The exceptional adventurer!”

Why does this guy say everything so enthusiastically? Is this what you used to sound like? His way of speaking, though you felt guilty for it because you knew he couldn’t help it, grated against your nerves. You weren’t in the right mindset for his optimism. Or, perhaps, it was that you were jealous that he still had a hold on his, and so easily too, while it had been so long since you were excited about anything.

When you didn’t say anything, there was a small look in Venti’s eyes that told you he could see right through you, or that he was at least aware that something was wrong with you.

“Well, I ought to be on my way back home.” You said, causing Klee to whine out.

“Y/N~! You can’t go yet! What about the giant dodoco?”

You frowned, feeling guilty for letting Klee down, but feeling too exhausted for any more socialization.

“At least stay for a song, Y/N?” Venti offered with a quieter tone of voice, pointing to a chair that was left unoccupied by the gathering crowd around him.

“Yeah! Just one song~?” Klee pleaded.

You bit the inside of your cheek before eventually nodding and sitting in the chair. Klee let out a cheer of celebration as Jean sat down beside you, letting Klee sit in her lap. You noticed how Jean had been particularly silent throughout this. Did she feel bad for you? Or did she, too, want you to stay for some reason?

“I’ll sing a very special song for a new friend!” Venti announced to the audience, to which you blushed a little at the attention and rolled your eyes. Though, once Venti’s fingers started gracing the strings of his harp, all feelings of discomfort and irritation floated away.

“Sit here closely, let me tell,

of the young maiden’s heart who one day swelled.

The once frozen walls, the once salty tears,

Now gone with a kiss that she wished had lasted years.

In the times of old, long before the gods were bold,

there was no remedy for a heart gone cold.

The young maiden wandered, hoping for peace

from the heartache and unrest the world did unleash.

Did she find it, you ask? Did she find it? I’ll tell.

She found it in freedom, from freedom it fell.

For Barbatos did bless her, from under the Windrise tree,

She only had to meet him in the morning at three.

The warmth she had searched for, that unlike she had ever known

was hers, finally, to own.”

The crowd clapped for Venti as he finished his short song, one that was unfamiliar to you and unsettled you to no end.

What was his motive?

You weren’t stupid. You’d read enough of your books in the last month and been on enough adventures with a multitude of twists and turns to know that he had just come up with that song for you. As beautiful as it was, you felt uncomfortable with the stranger being able to see through you so well.

Yet, when he flashed you a cheeky smile while he reveled in the applause, you felt that he had good intentions. In fact, you wondered if he could do any wrong. He just didn’t seem like the type to do anything evil… Ever.

“Did you like it, Klee?” Venti asked, bending down to talk to the girl who wriggled excitedly in Jean’s lap.

“Yes! It was sooooo pretty! I’ve never heard it before!” She gushed.

“A very lovely song, indeed, Venti.”

“Thanks Jean!” Venti flashed her a confident grin.

“Well, Y/N! Thanks for staying for the show!” He said, standing back up and turning to you. “I hope I can see you again soon!”

“Yeah. See you soon.” You replied with a half-hearted tone.

You were entirely conflicted. Your mind was telling you no; You shouldn’t go out there tonight. It was dangerous and you were significantly out of shape to be dealing with slimes and hilichurls. Besides, it was just a song… What if you were reading too much into it? And what if… You just wanted him to be singing about you and him?

Your heart wanted that to be true. It’d be like the books you’ve been reading, where the prince comes up with some elaborate way of asking the maiden to meet him in secret. You were, no matter how hardened you became, a hopeless romantic at heart. Something about Venti made your heart soar from the pits of depression you had fallen into. You… Trusted him.

You could do with a late-night walk, you supposed.

It took longer than usual because of the festivities, but the city eventually fell silent as everyone either rested in their beds or in a tavern. You found walking in the empty city strangely comforting. Rather than being shut away from the world out of fear of pestering others, you could now walk freely without a single care, if you so pleased.

You took your time walking out of the city, smiling at every stray cat and even stopping for a moment at the bridge to admire the water. You missed how, when you were a young girl, you used to look at the lake and dream about visiting all the other lakes in the world. You’d seen a lot of them, now, but this one still held a special place in your heart.

Windrise, though it had been years since you visited the Archon Statue, was as beautiful as ever. The tree looked even more alive in the moonlight, if it were possible.

You were raised to believe that you were under the protection of Barbatos, though you never would call yourself devout. That title belonged to the sisters of the church, who were truly faithful to Barbatos. But you would feel comfortable saying you were a believer. You liked that Barbatos was so just, and his famous story of his liberation of old Mondstadt was a tale you frankly would never tire of.

Regardless, as you sat in front of the statue, you saw no signs of the charming bard from before. You wondered if he memorized that tale of Barbatos; A part of you wanted to hear him tell it.

“I’m a fool, aren’t I?” You said, talking to the statue (not talking to yourself.) “A silly, odd, hermit of a fool. One who shuts themselves away and avoids all their problems. How cowardly can I be?”

A peculiar phenomenon began: The words started pouring out like an uncontrollable waterfall. Once the self-deprecation started, it didn’t seem to want to end.

“My family was so proud to hear I was a part of the guild. They said that you – that Barbatos – had blessed me with the life of an adventurer – a life of freedom. Am I selfish to despise it? I don’t feel free. I feel heavy with all the troubles of the world. Outside Mondstadt it’s… Well, you’re a god, you know how it is.”

You hadn’t spoken much to anyone in over a month. You didn’t even know if anyone was listening. Was he listening? Did he see the tears starting to run down your face and did he hear the cracking in your voice?

“I feel like a joke. A witness to trouble without the power to make things right. It’s so… Frustrating. I hate myself because I hate the world. I’m so useless… So useless.”

And you cried, your head leant against the statue of Barbatos. The months of pain finally bubbled over and bared itself for the world and the gods to see. You were ashamed, and angry at yourself, but you let yourself cry. You cried up to the heavens, to Celestia. Was he watching? Listening?

“Y/N?” A voice softly spoke your name, but your sobs turned into wails immediately following and you couldn’t make yourself stop even if you wanted to.  You felt a pair of arms wrap around you and you hugged Venti back, breathing in his scent of Cecilia. He was so warm compared to the cool summer breeze that blew through the leaves above.

“I’m sorry.” You cried against his shirt; the words muffled but still understandable. There were so many apologies you were making with the single phrase: Sorry for crying, sorry for being rude. Sorry for shutting everyone who cares about me out. I’m sorry for being ungrateful. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.

“You don’t have to hide your tears from me, okay?” His voice was so soft and gentle as he pulled your head away from his chest and wiped away your ever-flowing tears from your cheeks.

This went on for a while, him running his thumbs over your cheeks every few minutes and catching the tears. You felt so awful that he was witnessing you like this, he barely knew you. But something in you was saying that this was right. Trust him, this is where you’re meant to be.

You calmed down enough about an hour later that he felt he could speak.

“Everything will be alright, Y/N.”

You let out a jagged exhale. At this point, your jaw was numb, and you were developing a headache. Still, being in Venti’s arms brought you comfort unlike anything you’d ever experienced. It was… Divine.

“Do you think he heard me? That he’s watching over me?”

Venti gave you the most assured, comforting smile you think is humanly possible. Brushing your hair from your face, he replied.

“I’ve never been so certain of anything.”

[justcallmenikki7]

BTS Reaction To: Your Son Telling Them That A Newbie Is Flirting with You

Mafia!Au Hyung Line

Summary: having a child is a blessing, especially when it comes to someone flirting with you and them telling your husband, something that your husband loves.

Warnings: mafia au, mentions of assault, sadistic hoseok, fluff, protective bts, yoongi being insecure, angst.

Request: Hi ! Is your request open ? If it is open can I ask a bts mafia reaction of the boys children telling them that a newbie in their gang is flirting w their s/o and they confront the newbie ..? Angst w fluff !! By the way I really loooooooove your writings !! I look forward to your updates everytime !!

W.C.: 1.9k

Notes: I had to make this into two separate posts since it was becoming too long! Hopefully sometime this week I can get the maknae lines up! Plus, I got carried away with Hoseok’s because daaaamn, he is such a sin.

Maknae Line’s Part

Jin:

Breathing heavily, Jin pushed the metal bar up, trying to control the shakiness in his arms.

“Come on, Hyung!” Jungkook, Seokjin’s motivator when working out, “You got this!”

Feeling his arms about to give out, he quickly sat the weight down on the holder, releasing a quick breath. “I think we went too fast on upping the weight.” Seokjin spoke honestly, the new weight being a big challenge for him. Even though he did not need to add muscle, Seokjin wanted to gain some more since he saw that he was losing some from not working out and being out in the field as much ever since he had Braxton with you.

“Probably, but we need to get you back in shape since there has been threats coming from our oh dearest, rival once again. We can’t have an old man running our gang,” Jungkook teased, but also being serious at the same time.

Being out of shape during a time of possible war is a no-go.

“Papa!” Braxton yelled, gaining the two’s attention.

Smiling brightly, Seokjin hopped off of the bench to catch his son in his arms. “Hey buddy, what are you doing out of bed. Aren’t you supposed to be napping?” Seokjin questioned, holding his five-year-old son in his arms.

“Yes! But! Remember Jay-Jay?” Braxton asked, referring to the newbie.

Furrowing his eyebrows together, “yes, why? Is he doing something wrong?”

“No! I mean, yes. He’s getting close to mommy…” He trailed off, remembering how close the newbie was getting to his mom.

It was like he became a whole new person. Standing up straight, shoulders pushed back, Seokjin handed Braxton to a shocked Jungkook before walking away. It did not take Seokjin long to locate you, knowing that in the afternoon you liked baking. Seeing that Jackson, the newbie keeping you company by being just a little too close – Seokjin could sense that you were not comfortable with the closeness, he cleared his throat. Jackson jumped from the new visitor, and you dropped your tense shoulders, the knowledge of your husband here to rescue you.

“I am going to give you three seconds to explain why you are bothering my wife, or else I’ll shoot you right on the spot.”

Jackson did not waste a single second to start explaining himself, causing Seokjin to smirk. The one thing he could think about awesome it is to have a son that will be a little spy for him.

Yoongi:

“Papa?” A tiny voice called out, scaring Yoongi from his work.

Looking up, he was met with his daughter who was dressed in her night gown, hair tangled up from sleep and eyes barely opened. In her arms, she was holding her teddy bear close to her chest.

“Baby, what are you doing up?” Yoongi cooed, pushing his chair back so he could get up and pick his daughter up.

“I had nightmare,” Chloe spoke, voice still croaky with sleep. “Tyler took mommy away from you.”

The information shocked Yoongi, both primal and worry taking over his body. Primal since you are his and he is yours, the ring on your finger making it a clear picture. But also, the love you two have for one another. Worry being that his insecurities are taking over, insecurities that he has had since you two got together at seventeen years old. The thought of someone taking you and being better for you always has haunted him, even with your constant kisses, reassurances, and reminders on how much you love him, he still feels insecure.

Clearing his throat, trying to stay composed in front his daughter being hard. “Why would you say that sweetie? Mommy will never leave us.”

“Well, Tyler is always talking and being kind to mommy, and he sometimes touches her like you do…” Hearing that someone is trying to woo you in has Yoongi’s blood boiling. Taking a deep breath, “but Mommy always says ‘Stob it!’ and he does, but he doesn’t for long cause he’ll continue doing it again. And I can tell mommy doesn’t wike it.”

Knowing that you are standing your ground has Yoongi feeling relief flowing through his body. It is not that he does not trust you, he trusts you with his life, it is just the insecurities talking and he is trying to push those away. “Well, baby, how about I go talk to mommy. You need to get back to bed, okay?”

“Mommy isn’t leaving us, right? Cause I don’t like Tyler.”

“Mommy isn’t going anywhere okay? I promise.”

After Yoongi put Chloe back to bed, he made his way to your guys shared bedroom. Cuddling up to you, Yoongi kissed the top of you head, his heart fluttering when he felt you cuddle back into him, sleepily placing a kiss on Yoongi’s chest.

“I love you,” you promised, sleep evident in your voice.

Smiling to himself, Yoongi knew that he has nothing to worry about. “I love you too.”

But the one who should be worrying is Tyler, when he wakes up chained to the chair that was placed in the middle of the dungeon that Yoongi has built underneath the headquarters.

Hoseok:

The scary thing about Hosoek, besides him being the most feared mafia bosses in the world, is when he relaxed. Not the relaxed that most people think – the relax where they are sizzling on the inside but is calm on the outside.

You have never witnessed this because Hoseok does not want you apart of the gang life, but the ones who dared to go against him see it. Some may call him sadistic, but Hoseok sees it as making a point. That point being to not go against him.

So, when Max, yours and Hoseok’s son came crying to Hoseok, Hoseok was automatically thinking of ways to eliminate the cause of his sons crying. Once Max had calmed down, he spoke about how he did not like the newbie, Mason, because he was making you upset and uncomfortable to the point where you threatened to call Hoseok.

Besides the ways Hoseok was wanting to murder Mason, the one thought bugged him – why did you not call him or tell him? Deciding to do that later, Hoseok comforted Max, taking him to his playroom, encouraging him to get Monopoly set up so he and Max could play in a little bit. Shutting the door, Hoseok began to make his way to the living room. The sight in front of him had his blood boiling.

There you were, pressed against the wall, voice pleading for Mason to stop bothering you, only for Mason to ignore your pleas. Walking up behind him, Hoseok grabbed Mason’s hair, pulling him off of you aggressively, earning a scream from said man. Pulling out his gun, he shoved it into Mason’s mouth, a sadistic grin on his face.

“My, my, you really asked for a death wish, didn’t you?” Hoseok tsked, enjoying the fear that was evident in the newbie’s eyes. Turning around, he saw your tear stained face, a sight that pushed Hoseok over the edge. Turning back to Mason, Hoseok spoke deadly. “You made her cry and assaulted her. I promise you; you will never see daylight ever again.” Wanting to comfort you before he goes and gets rid of the scum, Hoseok pulled you into his arms, consoling you. “I promise you, he will never mess with you again, my love.”

Feeling comforted by that knowledge, you pressed a kiss to your husbands’ chest, your silent way of thanking him. “Where’s Max?” You asked, knowing that Hoseok will be busy for a while.

“In his playroom, tell him that Daddy will be just a little bit before we play Monopoly, okay? I’ll be done soon.”

Nodding your head, you gave Hoseok a kiss before taking your bag and making your way to Max. Once you were gone, Hoseok turned towards Mason, a deadly grin on his face. “So, where were we?”

 Namjoon:

There are rules in the gang that Namjoon has placed:

One of them being to not go against him.

The second one being to respect you, his wife. With that rule comes with some extra bullet points: the main being to not flirt with you.

Obviously, everyone knows that, and the extra bullet points when it comes to you. Truthfully everyone likes you because you are kind, considerate, a good leader, and all together, very likeable. Everyone views you as a second leader, something that makes Namjoon proud because he sees you as a leader, his Queen. You word is law. Namjoon will bow to only you and no one else. He loves how everyone adores you, but the newbie adores you just a bit too much.

And that does not slide with Namjoon.

“A-And then he called Mommy bootiful!!” Chase, yours and Namjoon’s son explained, hands flying in the air as he does so. Taehyung tried to hide his laughter by coughing, finding the situation both innocent and amusing. “Only daddy can call mommy that! Not him!”

“Yeah!” Jungkook agreed, earning a smack on the head from Yoongi and a approved nod from Chase.

Ignoring Jungkook, Namjoon looked down at Chase with a serious look. “What else did Michael do?”

Face morphed into a thinking one, Chase tried to remember if there was anything else that he was leaving out. Coming to the conclusion that nothing else happened, besides his mommy getting a compliment from someone that he does not know, he shook his head. “No, only him calling mommy bootiful.”

“Okay buddy, thank you for telling me. How about Taehyung and Jungkook take you to get ice cream while I go talk to Michael, okay buddy?”

“Okay daddy!” Chase yelled excitedly, bouncing over to the two maknaes.

Namjoon gave Yoongi a serious nod, silently speaking about finding Michael. Namjoon did not plan on hurting Michael, hurting someone because they called you beautiful was ridiculous. But, he wanted to intimidate the newbie just for fun. When both Namjoon and Yoongi found the newbie training with Seokjin in the computer lab, Namjoon made eye contact with Seokjin, giving him a knowing look. Stepping aside, Seokjin made room so Namjoon could sit beside the newbie, while Yoongi stood behind him and Seokjin next to him. The newbie jumped when he found Namjoon sitting beside him.

“Oh, hello sir.” Michael stuttered out, bowing to his boss politely, doing the same with Yoongi.

“So,” Namjoon started off calmly, “I heard from a few people that you were flirting with my wife earlier. Care to explain?” Namjoon tried to keep himself from laughing at the pale look the newbie gave him.

“U-Uh, I only called her beautiful because she looked, she always looks beautiful! B-But, I promise that I won’t ever speak to her again if that’ll make you happy!” Michael was tripping over his words, trying to reply each second in his mind from when he interacted with you ever.

Breaking the seriousness in the room, Seokjin began to laugh from how scared Michael was. Rolling his eyes, a smirk appeared on Namjoon’s lips. “I’m just playing with you. Y/N is indeed very beautiful.” Namjoon hummed truthfully, a small smile taking over the smirk on his face, the thought of you having butterflies erupt in his stomach. Clearing his throat, he looked Michael dead in the eyes, “But, if I ever find out that your thoughts become actions, I will not hesitate to put a bullet through your head, got it?”

[readyplayerhobi]

Flower | 31

; Hoseok x Reader

; Genre: Fluff

; Word Count: 4.6k

; Synopsis: You finally decide to take a dip into the world of online dating and find the Flower dating app. One of the top matches for you proves to be a guy who looks to be your complete opposite; tattooed, pierced, a metalhead and oh…incredibly handsome. What happens when you throw caution to the wind and reach out to him?

; A/N: Taken a while to get here, huh? Officially less than 10 parts now though! If you enjoyed it, please reblog this and leaves me some comments or send me an ask. It helps to encourage me to get the motivation to write again :)

; Flower Masterpost

-

“Ow,” You whimper, wincing as the stiff fingers of the masseuse dug into a knot in your muscles. “I thought massages were supposed to be relaxing?”

The snort to your left comes from Chungha. You’d look over, but you’d learnt that the person working on you didn’t like that. Instead, you were stuck staring down at the floor through a cutout in the table. It wasn’t even hugely comfortable in this position, lying on your front and feeling like you had more in common with a corpse than a person.

“Sure they’re relaxing; if they’re coming from your boyfriend. But a real massage is only relaxing after the fact. Getting knots out of your muscles isn’t the most pleasant experience, as you’ve discovered.” She points out, causing you to pout at the floor. The masseuse doesn’t have any input to give, and you presume he’s used to hearing things like this.

“They make it look nice on tv and film.” The whine in your voice is apparent even to you, causing you to feel a little hot with embarrassment. You’d been flustered enough to find out that you would have to be almost naked for this massage, the very idea of having your body seen by a man other than Hoseok unnerving you. Until you’d seen how completely uncaring he was.

Soyeon had pointed out to you quietly that he’d probably seen more women’s bodies than a hundred men combined by now. Which was probably right, given he looked around 40. It made you feel a little better, but you still felt a little uncomfortable. This massage had better make you feel unbelievably relaxed to make up for all this pain.

Of course, your comment simply couldn’t be left alone, and Soyeon lets out a laugh from your right. “Yeah, and they also make it seem like a woman orgasms from three pumps every time. Curse the people who think it’s okay to put that in films and shows. The number of men who don’t even try anymore.”

You feel a little embarrassed at the subject, even if you know that Soyeon has never been one to censor herself. You and Chungha were now proudly in the knowledge that not only was Jungkook also bisexual like Soyeon but that they’d had a rather delightful threesome with a guy who had been in one of Jungkook’s classes last year.

She’d relished talking about it, and you couldn’t even ask her to stop out of worry for Jungkook; you’d experienced the fact that they seemed to be made for each other when Jungkook happily discussed his sex life with Hoseok when he came over. If it weren’t for the fact that you’d quietly texted Soyeon to ask if she was okay with him doing that and received an enthusiastic ‘hell yes and please give him tips’, you’d have been mortified to hear it. 

Even Hoseok had been bemused that day, giving you looks as Jungkook had described in detail how he’d gotten Soyeon to fuck him with a strap on. An image you most definitely did not need in your head of your best friend and someone who was becoming a close friend.

But again, it didn’t surprise you. Soyeon was always the most open sexually and believed that something so natural to humans should be celebrated and enjoyed. You just told yourself repeatedly that you were just happy she’d found love with someone who had the same interests and desires as her.

Plus, Jungkook was a complete sweetheart outside of his sexual interests.

Still, there was something mildly mortifying about her saying something so casually in such a public place. Sure, there was only the three of you in here alongside the masseuses, but the point still stands.

“Anyway,” Chungha says loudly, distracting the conversation away from whatever Soyeon might have been about to follow up with. “Have I told you that Dahyun and I are going to be moving in together? She asked me last night, and I said yes. And before either of you ask, we’re moving into her place. Being a trust fund baby must be awesome as that house is huge.”

You want to desperately sit up and look at her, shock on your face as your eyes widen in surprise. Things between Chungha and Dahyun had been going well obviously, but you hadn’t expected them to be going this well. Okay, that sounds bad, but you didn’t mean it like that. Just that they’d made this decision much faster than you’d decided with Hoseok.

But again, you had to remind yourself that there was no such thing as ‘normal’ when it came to relationships. Everyone worked at their own pace. Above all that, you were just happy for Chungha. You were satisfied that she’d found someone to love and was making steps towards a possible future with them.

“Oh my god! Congratulations, I’m so happy!” You say excitedly, your words overlapping with Soyeon’s equally enthusiastic comments. It’s only the pressure on your back from the masseuse that means you stay in position, recognising the subtle ‘stop moving bitch’. Pulling a face that no one can see, you force yourself to remain calm and relaxed.

“When are you going to move? You should get the guys to help; I’m sure they’d be happy to.” Snorting, you smile to yourself as you hear the certainty in Soyeon’s voice. She’d become a lot closer to Hoseok’s friends than you had, given her effervescent personality and you had no doubt that even if they complained, they’d be doing what she wanted. 

Jungkook was the baby of their friend group, and none of them seemed to want, or like, Jungkook being sad. Denying his girlfriend help when she asked would be a surefire way to make the adorable pout come out, so you did not doubt that they would be making their way to Chungha’s to move stuff.

That included Hoseok. It was incredibly amusing to you how a group of fully grown men were all so whipped for another grown man. Just because he had sweet eyes and the cutest whine. On second thoughts, you too would do anything Jungkook wanted to make sure he didn’t get upset.

How on earth Soyeon managed, you didn’t know. 

“I can’t offer up help because Yeonnie has just done that, but I can like...help decorate or something. Even if Dahyun has been living there for a while, so I don’t know. Or maybe I can just be like moral support?” You were probably better for moral support. From what Chungha had told you before, you knew that Dahyun had been living in her ridiculously beautiful house since she finished college.

It had been a present from her parents for graduating, which completely blew your mind. Hoseok’s parents were very wealthy, but Dahyun’s were the kind that made your eyes widen when you saw what they considered a reasonable purchase.

Thankfully though, Dahyun was a sweet and kind girl who hadn’t turned out nearly as spoilt as she could have been. Instead, she’d started work at a low position at the broadcasting agency she worked at and was working her way up slowly. You liked her. And you would like her for however long she remained a good, loyal girlfriend to Chungha. That was your main concern as one of her best friends.

There was no doubt in your mind that both your best friends held the same opinion when it came to Hoseok. If he made one wrong move, then their ruthless side would come out. It’s what friends are for, after all.

“That’s fine. Dahyun has said that we can decorate the whole place, so it suits both of us instead of looking like her bachelorette place. Which I’m glad about because I fucking hate the kitchen. Why she let them paint it mint green, I don’t know. But I can’t stand it.” Chuckling, you try not to move too much so that you won’t annoy the man kneading your back.

“Does she...know your opinion on the kitchen? I mean...it’s her kitchen.” 

“Yeah, but it was fucking ugly. She knows and doesn’t mind. Her mom was the one who had the place decorated at first, which explains why it looks like an interior designer's wet dream and has all the soul of my grandmother. That’s none, by the way. She’s a soulless husk of a woman sent by Satan, I’m sure. Dahyun is excited to get a choice in the decorating so...couple bonding, right?” You can hear the gentle note of confusion along with quieter uncertainty.

“I wouldn’t know, never lived with someone before. Y/N? As the only person here who has lived with a partner, is it normal to redecorate when moving in together?” Soyeon’s voice sounds curious, and you have a moment to wonder at it yourself.

The fact that you, out of all three of you, were the one who was now officially the most experienced in a relationship was bizarre. Not something you’d ever thought would happen. But then again, Chungha and Soyeon had been in longer relationships but hadn’t ever taken that next step; usually, because those relationships had petered out very quickly.

Still, you make noise without realising as you think. Scrunching your brow, you twist your lips and shrug, even though neither of them can see you.

“I mean...I don’t know? We redecorated everything, but that’s because we moved into a new place together. It’s not like he moved in with me or anything so like we had to. It doesn’t matter anyway, why are we talking about this? It’s not important! What’s important is that you’re happy. Happy enough to move in together!” 

You’re pleased that the attention leaves you quickly when Soyeon agrees cheerfully, giving a few thoughts as to what colour scheme they could go for instead of whatever Dahyun has now. It makes you think about your kitchen. You and Hoseok had decorated it before actually moving in so that everything was ready, deciding on a more neutral scheme.

As a result, the cabinets on the walls and the countertops were a dark walnut while the units on the floor were an off white, all with rustic style handles. It was easy to understand Chungha’s excitement about being able to go wild with her new home; you’d enjoyed being able to turn the house into something that would become your home with Hoseok.

To say that you’d felt closer with him after that was an understatement. You felt like you’d been able to understand Hoseok a little better, getting to see into his mind and how he thought. Even though he’d mainly just let you decide on everything, he had given plenty of options, and you’d made sure to keep his opinions in mind when picking.

There was no chance for you to give this advice though as the massage finally ended and the three of you were left alone in the room. Wrapping the towel around yourself tightly, you stretched carefully and let out a small sound of wonder as you felt almost no tension in your muscles.

“You were right; I do feel good. Oh my god. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this relaxed before.” You almost purr, smiling at the other two. Soyeon accidentally flashes the two of you when she opens her towel to readjust it, revealing a slim and toned body that causes a small flash of envy within. But you push that thought away. The last thing you wanted was to get insecure over your own best friend.

Besides, she worked hard for her body. You were proud of her for it.

“Told you so. You should get one regularly; I promise that you won’t regret it,” Stretching her arms into the air, Soyeon grins at you before bringing one arm to her face, smelling the slightly shiny skin of her bicep. “And it leaves you smelling all nice too. If a tiny bit oily.”

“Yeah, I’m not really into the oily feeling.” You murmur, wrinkling your nose as you run your finger along your arm. The pad your fingertip slides easily, the massage oils that had been applied and carefully rubbed into your skin still a little slick. Though she was right, it did smell nice.

“Anyway, come on, you two. Let’s get our robes on and get these nails sorted! I’ve been dying for a pedicure for ages but held off when you invited me to this.” Chungha laments, lifting one delicate foot and wiggling her toes while she scowls at them. Chuckling, you follow along to the next item on your spa day itinerary, enjoying the fact you were spending time with your best friends while also pampering yourself.

-

“There’s not even four trillion bears on Earth, so how the hell would they manage to get to the sun?” The lakeside view is particularly beautiful right now, with the vibrant colours of sunset kissing the tops of the lush green trees that surround the crystal clear lake. Oranges clashed with reds before sinking into sultry pinks, mixing in a beautiful image that mirrors on the lake top.

It was almost pretty enough that you wouldn’t even realise the comment that had just been made by Jungkook. The only ones who’d come for this weekend break outside of you, Hoseok and the girls were Jungkook, Jimin, Yoongi and Taehyung. Eden, Jimin’s fiancée, had to work a weekend shift and Namjoon was too busy with his kid and wife. You weren’t quite sure what Seokjin’s excuse was, to be honest.

All of the guys were currently sitting on the sandy beach that made up this end of the lake. It was entirely human-made and now and then there were fire pits and sectioned logs in circles for people to use. Unsurprisingly though, no one was sitting on one of those uncomfortable logs.

Instead, they were all sitting around on the sand with various brands of beer bottles stuck upright around them. They’d piled their empty bottles together into one of the beer boxes in an attempt to keep everything clean, and you nodded to yourself absentmindedly in approval at them keeping the space tidy.

“Fucking hell,” You hear Hoseok mutter, his colourfully tattooed arm on show as he rubs at his forehead. “It’s like I’m at home. This is something I end up talking about with Y/N.”

“Well, she’d be right. It’s an important question. The sun wouldn’t be able to fight off that many bears.” Jimin slurs slightly, his eyes squinting at the others and you realise he’s probably sauntering his way past tipsy and into a straight-out drunk. It explains why his question is said entirely seriously, and you can’t help the chuff of laughter that leaves you as you flop down into the sand beside your boyfriend.

He blinks at you for a moment as you run your fingers through his hair, the strands still a little wet from where he’d been in the lake earlier before he smiles at you sweetly. There’s a slight glaze to his eyes, and you recognise that he’s not drunk yet but instead just having a good time.

“He’s right; it’s an important question. However, the main problem here is that even with four trillion bears, the sun is still a giant ball of gas that’s on fire and is superheated to temperatures we can’t even comprehend. So, unfortunately, the bears would all die. Now, what we need to be doing is questioning how we can destroy the sun by cooling it?” You state, leaning against Hoseok’s body and enjoying the warmth from both him and the fire in the chill evening.

“Meeps, no...please no.” Hoseok whines softly, his chest vibrating against you and you laugh as you kiss his chin. He’s not being mean or anything; it’s just that he hears these kinds of conversations all the time with you. And he knows full well that once you start, you will happily keep talking until the topic ends up so bizarre that you’ll give even yourself a headache.

“Look,” Taking pity on him, you instead lean your head against his shoulder and flare out your fingers so he can see how pretty your nails look after your manicure. “They’re so nice until I bite them again and smell me! I smell so good, and I’m sooo relaxed.”

Chuckling, he takes care to make the right noises to you as he takes in the sight of your perfectly designed fingernails before having an obligatory sniff of your skin. A nod of approval is given to you before he wraps his arm around you, pulling you in even closer to his warmth. It’s beautiful and peaceful, with the soft sound of the waves lapping at the shore making an excellent background beneath the talk of everyone else.

Jungkook is currently in the process of pouting as Soyeon shows him her nails, her smile so pretty and her eyes so bright with happiness as he whines that he wants a manicure too. It makes you feel happy in turn to know that she’s content with herself and her relationship right now. She’d always been the wilder one out of you all.

“What have you guys been doing anyway?” You ask, the question louder than you intended and catching the attention of the others. Jimin goes to gesture towards you, only he’s not quite got the aim right, and he also doesn’t seem to realise he has a bottle in his hand.

As a result, half of the beer tips out and sloshes into the fire pit, the alcohol burning fiercely for a moment as his eyes widen and his lips form an ‘o’ shape of surprise. Yoongi snorts in amusement before carefully taking the bottle and placing it down next to him, looking over at you with long-suffering expression.

“We went quad biking earlier, and then we’ve just spent the afternoon in the lake. Swimming, fucking around. Even gotta go jet skiing. Your man made a rather spectacular re-entry into the lake. He can’t jet ski.” There’s a twinkle to Yoongi’s eyes as he glances over at Hoseok and you look up, your boyfriend's cheeks darkening slightly.

“'Apparently he can't jet ski'. Oh, I'm sorry. I must've missed that lesson in high school. What are you? A fucking Kardashian?” He mutters, lips puckering into a sweet pout and you giggle. Reaching forward, you accept the bottle of water that Chungha passes you from the blue cooler that had one of them had brought from one of the cabins you were all staying.

“With your parents and that education you had, I’m surprised you didn’t.” The snapback from Yoongi is quick, but you can tell he isn’t harsh. His small smile gives that away, and you can tell that Hoseok isn’t offended or anything. He’s way too relaxed against you.

“Sorry, between my fencing lessons and the lacrosse there just wasn’t enough time to fit the jet skis. Busy schedule, you know?” Snorting, you push at his side lightly while rolling your eyes. Everyone else seems to find his witty quip just as amusing, and there’s a wave of laughter that spreads around the others as they enjoy his easy-going comments.

Taking a sip of water, you relish the coolness of it and let out a small hum of appreciation. Hoseok hears you and looks over with a raised brow, lips quirking on one side before gesturing for him to have a drink. Without a word, you lift it to his mouth and carefully let him take a drink.

At least he was having something other than alcohol. Maybe you could even get him sober before bed if you tried hard enough.

“Ewww, you’re spreading germs.” Taehyung says quietly, his face wrinkled in disgust as he watches the two of you. Lifting a brow of your own at him, you can’t help but laugh at his reaction, mainly when Hoseok gives him a disbelieving stare of his own.

“You’re...that’s what you’re worried about? I don’t think a bit of shared germs between a couple is that big of a deal.” He mutters, rolling his eyes ever so slightly before accepting another drink when you lift the bottle back up to his mouth once more.

“It’s just...a bit gross.” The currently blonde-haired man pouts, crossing his arms over his chest and making his remarkably broad shoulders look incredibly small suddenly. You could tell he was a little embarrassed given the soft blush over his beautiful, golden cheeks.

Still, it makes Hoseok look at him with more than a little disbelief. Enough that it’s got everyone else giggling quietly as they have the same thought process that Hoseok is having.

“Tae...we’ve shared germs many times when kissing. If this shocks you,” He pauses dramatically. “Wait until you hear what we’ve done in the bedroom. You’ll be scandalised.” His words are so serious that you have to bite your lip to stop yourself from snickering, instead of cuddling closer into Hoseok’s firm warmth.

“Stop teasing him.” You mumble, pressing a small but loving kiss to his impressive jawline. Before you get any further, Jimin starts to make some loud comments. What they are, you’re not quite sure because he’s slurring even worse. Yoongi sighs deeply and stands, lifting the drunk man and holding him steady as he sways.

“I think that’s our cue to end the night here everyone. I’ll take Jimin back if you guys clean up here?” Everyone nods in acknowledgement, watching for a moment as Jimin staggers ahead of Yoongi up the small sandy beach. Chewing on the skin inside your mouth, you frown in concern at the slight figure.

“Does he always get this drunk?” It’s asked quietly, but everyone hears over the crackling fire as they shake their head negatively.

“Not always, it’s just because we’re away and he has no responsibilities. He likes a good drink now and then. Or a good night of drinking I guess it would be. Don’t worry; he also doesn’t suffer hangovers.” Taehyung states, leaning back against one of the legs and stretching with a groan.

“Asshole.” Hoseok mumbles quietly, causing you to grin. You knew very well that Hoseok got hangovers, the poor man. Shaking your head in amusement at the memory, you stand up and carefully brush off any annoying sand before looking around at everyone.

“Come on then, let’s clean up. I want to see how good of a sleep I can get now I’m all relaxed.” Exaggeratedly rolling your shoulders, you smile as you manage to make them all laugh before they finally bring themselves to stand up as well.

It takes no time at all to clean up the small area that the guys have been occupying for a few hours now. The recyclable bottles are split into plastic and glass and disposed of in the appropriate bins nearby. At the same time, Jungkook puts the fire out carefully, making sure that there are no lingering embers that might cause it to spark.

Hoseok is carrying the cooler, now obviously lighter given the way he playfully lifts it like he’s at the gym. Though it could be heavy, he has been working out a lot lately. He likes the relief it gives him and helps him to destress.

Perhaps most surprisingly, you’ve been going with him. You still hate the knowledge that he’s seeing you all super sweaty, stinky and gasping for breath. Surprisingly though, you often feel quite invigorated with him there. Like he’s some barrier to any of the negativity that might be thrown your way by others.

It was probably silly. But you’d told him plenty of times that he made you feel safe, and that included being in an environment that had historically made you unhappy and self-conscious. There was something different about being there with someone who found you attractive anyway.

“Getting my gains for the day,” Hoseok smirks, letting out an exaggerated ‘oof’ of effort as he lifts and lowers the cooler. “Can’t forget arm day, even on vacation.”

Watching him for a moment, you shake your head before letting your smile take over. You’d discovered over the past year and a half that it was impossible not to be endeared by him. Somehow, he always found the right thing to say to make you smile.

It made being annoyed over something he’d done very frustrating because you’d regularly find yourself laughing at him. But at the same time, you loved that about him. He knew that you were easily lured into a negative headspace and that you didn’t like confrontation, so he always tried to keep things positive for you.

“Come on, Popeye, I’m hungry. They only had rabbit food at the spa. Which is great because it’s healthy and everything, which I’m all for. But I’m on a mini-vacation. I don’t wanna eat lettuce and cucumber. I wanna eat greasy crap that I will regret for a solid week after.” Whining, you slip around to his other side and link your fingers together with his free hand.

“You’re gonna complain to me in five days that you’ve put on some invisible weight.” His voice takes on a sing-song note as he teases you, causing you to poke at his side while glaring at him.

“That’s a problem for us in five-days, it’s not a problem for us now. Right now, I want some damn pizza or something. Do we have pizza in the cabins? Or can we order some?” Peppering the questions at him, he shakes with laughter slightly before tugging at your hand until you’re facing him.

Playfully, you avoid his affection as he tries to kiss you, causing him to whine quietly every time you shift back. Grinning at him, you take him in for a moment and simply pause, your heart warming with love as you see the sad pout on your tall, tattooed and pierced 29-year-old boyfriend. He’s got a slight tan from the day’s activities, the sun still strong enough as the year eases to autumn.

Giving in, you simply hold still when he leans slightly towards you. Upon seeing you’re not pulling away this time, he’s a little more forceful and presses a short but sweet kiss to your lips. It’s probably not what anyone would have expected given how much he’d been trying just now, but it was enough for you.

“Hey! Stop sucking face and come here already! Jungkook ordered enough pizza to empty Naples for us from some local pizza place so hurry up.” Soyeon’s shout interrupts you both, causing you to look over to where she’s standing on the porch of the cabin you’re sharing with her and Jungkook.

Grinning brightly, you nod and give her a thumbs-up as she stands with her hands on her hips, no doubt glaring at you both for being so far behind everyone else and wasting time. However, she should be okay with it all really, given what you knew about Jungkook and her.

“Sometimes, I think you and Kook are the same person. You’re far too similar.” Hoseok whispers, kissing your forehead affectionately before beginning to walk towards the cabin once more. Looking at him, you raise a brow and tilt your head in silent questioning.

“Food on the mind.”

[demivampirew]

A new chapter begins

One-shot Henry x Reader

Triggers: mild smut, crying, blood loose, breakup.

A/N: I’ve decided to continue to tag the stories under the Henry tag. (like my dear @littlefreya​ says, we are no breaking the rules) I will also tag it under smut, even if there’s barely no sex on this story, but just in case. If you don’t like to see smut and you’re a lazy person who did not filtered the smut tag, don’t come at me, is no my fault; you’re the one to blame for that. Is a free world. I’m free to write whatever I want.

Tag list: @lunedelorient​​ @henrythickcavill​ @wolvesandhoundshowltogether​ @mary-ann84​ @desperate-and-broken​ @peakygroupie​ @summersong69​ @ivvitm1109​ @madbaddic7ed​ @iloveyouyen​ @the-soot-sprite

Henry was in the middle of an important mission on Word of Warcraft. All his attention was put on it when the non-stop barking interrupted his attention. Kal was trying hard to announce to him that someone was knocking at the door. When he finally took-off his headset to ask the Akita what was going on, he heard the knocking. He ran into the door before the person left. With the virus going on, he received no visits unless it was an emergency. Since he hadn't ordered anything online, he wasn't expecting any packages either, so whoever was on the other side of the door, came without any previous notice. He asked who it was before opening and he felt goosebumps when your voice met his ears and your name was pronounced. His legs were shaking and his heart was beating fast. He hadn't seen you in a few months after you two broke up and things did no exactly ended up in the best way - Henry promised that he loved you and would fight for you two to be together, but decided to terminate the relationship because due to work you couldn't travel with him and he was not the type who could be in relationships that would require time apart from each other. And, for the first time in his life, he regretted that decision. You were right, the love you felt for each other was worth fighting for. Seeing you confused him because you were mad at him and said that never wanted to see him again after he broke his promise and your heart. He allowed you to enter the place and you sit on the couch of the living room. - How are you? - Henry asked, sitting in a chair in front of you. - Fine, I guess- you replied with a dry tone and shrugged. You were still angry and it was obvious. - Can I get you something to drink? I have cold Guinness in the fridge.- he offered. - No, thank you.- you rejected the beer and a long silence follow after that. - Why are you here? - your ex-boyfriend questioned confused. - Because I have something to tell you.- you answered and paused revelling the motive of your visit. You looked into his eyes and grabbed the bottom of your loose shirt and raise it, revealing a baby bump. It was big enough to be obvious what it was, but no so big that was visible with clothes on - unless you were wearing tight clothing. Henry was speechless. He felt as if all the oxygen was escaping from his body and he couldn't concentrate or breath correctly. - How... Since when have you... - he could complete any sentence of how shocked he was. - I found out a week after we broke up when the symptoms started.- you explained- I didn't tell you back then because the firsts months can be risky and I had no desire to bother you if I lost it. My intention is not to bother you at all, I just wanted to let you know in case you wanted to be a part of the baby's life. In case you don't want to do anything with her/him, that's fine with me. - Are you serious right now? Of course, I want to be part of my kid's life. That's like, everything I've ever wanted. A family... a true family. Children to love and a woman that I love.- he said while kneeling in front of you with a huge smile on his face, extending his arms to grab your face. You pulled them off and he felt his heart crush as a reaction to your rejection. - I think you are confused.- you informed him- I'm not here to get back together with you. I'm here to let you know that you'll be a father if you choose to be it. But, just like you decided months ago, our relationship is over. I want a partner that wants to be with me for me and not because he feels obligated for we have a child together. I deserve love, true love. - But I love you.- Henry assured you- I had and I'll always love you. - Yeah, sure. That's why you broke up with me or why you didn't go looking for me after that to say you were wrong, because you love me.- you replied, rolling your eyes and pouting. - I wanted to do it, but I was afraid you were going to reject me like you're doing now and I couldn't take that.- he explained. - Then you're a coward and selfish.-you defied him- We could have been together if you care about my feelings as much as you care about yours.- you pointed out and stood up. You walked towards the door and stopped yourself abruptly. You turned around and after a deep sigh, you took a picture from your bag. It was an ultrasound photo of the baby. You left it in a piece of furniture and then left the place. Henry took the picture and stared at it. His head was spinning and he felt a rollercoaster of emotions. His biggest dream and nightmare came true at the same time: he'd have a child with the love of his life, but he wouldn't be able to spend time with them together, because he hurt you and he made you feel like you weren't worthy of his love and attention.

In the following months, you allowed him to come with you to doctor's appointments and ultrasounds. You approve for him to text you two times a day - on the morning and at nighttime- and the only subject you'd talk was the pregnancy and its symptoms.

At 2 am, Henry was woken up by a phone call. You informed him that you were at the clinic due to blood loss but the doctor had already checked on you and told you that everything was fine but that you had to stay for a few hours on observation just to be sure. Your intention was only to keep him updated in everything baby related as he asked, but soon enough he was there keep you company. Wearing a green lose the shirt, some grey sweatpants and a beanie; clearly, he hasn't changed from his sleep-clothing before rushing into the medical centre. By midday, after a few other routine tests, the doctor confirmed that there was no risk at all and let you go. Henry took you to your place, but refuse to leave until you accepted to move with him. He assured you that he was no going to try to get back together with you, since clearly you had no desire, but was only for him to be there if you needed anything. You had always been a bit stubborn, but you knew that was the best thing to do, so you accepted.

Taken aside the hurtful part of seeing each other every day, living with Henry was amazing. He cooked all meals. Would gladly satisfy your cravings. He even moved into a little guest room, leaving you the biggest bed in the house; you told him that you were ok in the smaller one, but he insists you on staying in the main room to be more comfortable.

Week 24 of your pregnancy. Your belly was growing bigger by the day. After a conversation with Henry both agreed to wait until the baby was born to know the sex. As for the cohabitation, you two finally reached a good place. He was always friendly, but you were cold and distant, but after almost two months of living together, you finally started to be nice to him. Now you would even spend time watching movies together and laugh like you used to do in the past. Henry was on his free day from shooting the series. Production returned a few weeks before, and most days he'd woke up at 3 am, but he'd sleep until 10 am on his work-free days. However, that night you woke him up at 5 am. He was peacefully sleeping when you entered the room and started to call his name. You had to move his arm to get him to wake up, for naming him wasn't enough to wake him up. - What's going on? - he asked worriedly as he tried to wake up. - Is moving! - you exclaimed excitedly- The baby is moving for the first time! - you repeated- Do you want to feel it? - Hell yeah! - he replied smiling and put his hands on your belly. He waited for a few minutes until he finally felt the unborn child move inside you. He held the tears covering his eyes. It was such an unreal moment. Henry pressed his forehead on you and kiss the exterior of his baby's home. The touch of his lips against your skin sending shivers down your body and you smiled. Seeing him be this happy filled your heart. You knew that whatever happens in life, he would always be there for the two of you. You made him move and you laid on the bed next to him, allowing him to keep a hand on your belly. He deserved to enjoy that moment as much as you did. - I've been thinking in baby names.- you said smirking - Really? Ok...let's hear them.- he encouraged you - If it's a girl, Katerina Simone. -you proposed - Ok, but... it doesn't rhyme with my last name.- he pointed out. - Oh, because Henry Willian Dalgliesh Cavill rhymes a lot.- you joked, laughing. Henry raised an eyebrow and gave you a judgy look- My doesn't rhyme either.- you informed him. - So it doesn't matter. Those are pretty names.- You affirmed him. - Alright, and what if it's a boy? Do you have a name in mind? - he wanted to know. -Oh, yeah.- you look at him, giving him a devilishly smile- Bruce.- you replied and laugh. - Are you serious?- he asked, laughing but a bit hurt. You chose the name of his character's rival for your baby. That was mean. - No, I'm just messing with you.- you admitted.- If it's a boy I thought about naming him - you paused and he was getting anxious- Geralt Clark. - you finally said and he looked at you with surprise. - Is this another joke? - he questioned suspiciously - Nope, I'm serious this time. I like Geralt, is a cute name and I've got the feeling that might be a popular name among kids his age. And Clark, well, I first I thought about Kal, but you already have a son named Kal and I didn't want to create any confusion, so I went for that one instead. - You didn't have to name them as my character, you're free to choose others.- he assured you. - I know, but I'm happy with those names and I know they meant a lot to you and I'm sure our son if it's a boy, will appreciate them. Henry looked at you with the biggest smile. After a long silence, just staring at each other, with one of his hands in your belly with yours, feeling the baby move, you finally spoke again. - Can I ask you a question? - you requested - Absolutely. - Do you... this is going to sound silly - you excused yourself- do you think that I'm attractive? I mean, with this huge belly. Do you think I'm sexy? - you questioned shyly. - Pfff.- he replied, making a gesture with his face as if he was surprised that you had to ask that- Let's say that if we would be together still, I'd have spent every free minute making love to you, instead of watching movies. You were lying on your back. You looked at the sealing while smiling. Henry moved the hand to your face, stroking it with the back of it. You turned your head to face him and give him an unspoken signal that he could kiss you and he did exactly that. His lips tasted so sweet. Gosh, you missed his touch so much. You giggled a lot while trying to have sex with your belly - on the side, you on top and he going down on you were the main poses you went for. After finishing, still naked, you fell asleep with him spooning you, keeping an arm around your belly, kissing your shoulders and the back of your head.

[wanderinginksplot]

Prompt: Tup + Teaching Reader to Fix a Mechanical Object

Another fluffy fic because I am WEAK. Also, quick reminder that I got the character and prompt pairings by rolling a pair of d20s, so please don’t roast me about Tup not having any interest in mechanics or electronics. I just write what I can think of. (Evidence can be found on my masterlist.)

Anyway, enjoy!

---

“And that is how you fix a LAATi’s main motivator drive,” Tup finished, tapping at the freshly-repaired mechanism. The ring of his gauntlet striking against the hollow metal made you wince. You didn’t know much about mechanical things and, from everything he had just shown you, neither did Tup.

“Very impressive. Do you want to get something to eat” you asked, steering him gently toward the mess hall at GAR’s headquarters. While you walked, you made a mental note to send one of the engineers to check out the motivator drive before the ship was cleared for use. “Where did you learn to do that?”

As you both stepped into the mess, Tup scrubbed a hand over his head, the movement dislodging his hair from where it had been confined in a neatly-tied bun. “Err… I mostly taught myself. You don’t get many chances to cross-train out here and I never got the chance to be in the mechanic corps. I was marked for infantry since I was decanted.”

Well, there was certainly a lot to unpack in that, but now you didn’t feel like you could order him not to fix anything in the future. “Do you want to learn about mechanical processes? It may not be how you want to spend your leave, but I could get you a shadow day or two with some of the mechanics.”

“Really?” Tup asked excitedly, piling his tray with more food than you had ever seen anyone eat in one sitting. These troopers and their enhanced metabolisms.

You shrugged a bit at his question. You oversaw most of the GAR’s administrative tasks on Coruscant, but you were still low-level enough that you knew a few of the mechanics. They liked to chat for a bit when you gave them the lists of work orders for ships that needed repairs. “Probably?”

“I would love to do that!” Tup grinned, and the conversation paused as you both took your trays to a table and sat down facing each other. 

You ate in silence for a few minutes before Tup gave a small, almost self-deprecating smile. “You might want to warn the mechanics that I mostly work on electronics. I really don’t know much about mechanical stuff, but I want to learn.”

“Electronics?” you asked, perking up a bit as you stirred at the soup you had chosen for some reason. It was always awful, but you got it every now and then to see if it had magically improved. “Do you think you could fix my comlink?” 

He seemed bewildered by your question, the blinking he did accentuating both his long lashes and the teardrop tattooed under one eye.

Your face heated a bit. “Sorry, that was a weird thing to ask. It’s just been shorting out lately and repair shops charge so much-”

“No, no, it’s fine!” Tup hurried to say. “I know a bit about comlinks from when I’ve had to fix them in the field. I’d be happy to take a look. Do you have it here?”

“It’s up in my office, actually,” you explained. "Maybe I could run up and get it?"

"I'll come with you," Tup offered, standing from the table only a moment after you did. 

"No, you should stay here and eat," you told him. “I’ll be right back.”

"I'm already done," he said, taking a bit of a piece of fruit. Startled, you glanced down at his plate. Though it had been absolutely piled with food only minutes before, it was now empty. The fruit Tup was holding was indeed the last thing left of his meal.

While you were staring at the lack of food on his tray, Tup had been eyeing your barely touched soup. “Do you want to bring that with you? I’m sure they’d have a container for it if you want…”

“Nah, it’s terrible,” you said with a laugh.

“It always is,” he agreed, smiling so widely that his eyes crinkled at the corners. It warmed your heart to see Tup happy and you were a little sad when he turned toward the administrative offices. 

You followed Tup, amused to see where you would end up, but he led the way unerringly to your office.

“How did you know where this was?” you asked. “You’ve never been here.”

“Oh, uh… Well, you know troopers,” he hedged. “We all talk, share information. Some of the guys have been here, so I know where it is.”

You frowned, trying to think of a single time when a trooper had visited the admin offices, but nothing came to mind. Too bad, because it certainly would have made your day more interesting. “When did-?”

“Now, where is that comlink?” Tup asked loudly. 

“Uh, right over here…” you said slowly, pulling open a drawer and bringing out the malfunctioning piece of equipment. “It’s just having trouble making outgoing calls.”

He hummed a bit, turning the comlink over to study it, then shrugged. “Easy enough to test. Let me put in my frequency and try to make a call…”

Tup typed in a code and his wrist comlink chimed right away. One of his eyebrows shot up and your face heated again. It wasn't as if you had made up a broken comlink in order to get Tup's frequency, but it probably looked that way to him. 

"Let's try one more time," he suggested. You nodded, grateful that he wasn't going to start teasing you - at least, not immediately.

You didn't think you had ever hoped for a comlink malfunction before, but stars, it would really be great if Tup could see the problem with his own eyes.

He typed in the number for his frequency again, hit the button to connect, and nothing happened. At least, nothing happened for a split second before his comlink beeped at him. 

Tup grinned and you braced for a teasing comment, but he had stifled the expression only a half-second later. “Well, that’s strange. Maybe it’s fixed?”

You frowned at the odd behavior. Most of the troopers never hesitated to mercilessly tease someone, and Tup was no exception. You had seen him absolutely roast Hardcase about his new relationship with an administrator aboard the Resolute only last week, so the fact that he wasn’t teasing you was a cause for concern. 

“It really is broken, though,” you insisted.

“I believe you,” Tup said quietly, without a trace of the grin he had worn only a moment before. “You have no reason to lie. But I’ll tell you what: you have my frequency now. If it keeps giving you problems, use a working comlink to call me. If I’m planetside, I’ll come take another look at it, okay?”

“That sounds wonderful, thank you,” you agreed, still on-edge. You never thought you would have wanted to be teased, but this was strange behavior.

“And…” he cleared his throat. “And if you ever want to call for another reason, even if you just want to talk, you can. I’ll pick up. I’d be glad to listen to you.”

You stared at him, knowing your eyes were bulging like those of a particularly deranged mynock. “You would?”

“Of course I would,” Tup’s blush at the admission showed even through the smooth brown of his skin. “I always like talking to you."

"I like talking to you, too," you replied, feeling a bit dizzy at the conversational turn. "You're probably my favorite person to spend time with."

"Really?" Tup asked, perking up a bit. "Then… do you want to come to 79s with me? Maybe tomorrow night?"

"79s is a dance club..?" you guessed slowly, trying to remember what little you knew about the place. You weren't really the clubbing type, but for Tup? You would gladly try to be.

"Yeah! A lot of us clones go there. Some guys won't go anywhere else," Tup explained. "Do you want to come? No pressure…"

"Of course I will!" you insisted. "Are you sure none of your friends will mind me tagging along?" 

Tup blushed a bit, rubbing at the back of his neck. "There, uh, won't be any other guys there. It'll just be you and me. Like a… a date. It is a date. I mean, will you go on a date with me?"

You had been putting so much effort into following Tup's train of thought that you stared at him for a long moment after he had finished speaking. He stared back, dark eyes intense, and you snapped back to the moment. 

"Yes!" you agreed loudly, winced, and corrected yourself to a more natural volume. "Yes. Tup, I would absolutely love to go on a date with you."

Tup looked so thrilled that you forgot to apologize for shouting in his face a moment before. "That's great! I'll come get you here- oh, I don't have a speeder. I can meet you here and we'll go together? Or I could just meet you there, or-"

"Let's meet here," you offered. 

"That seems easiest," Tup agreed gratefully. With a shy smile, he said, “Thank you for agreeing to go. I’ve wanted to ask you for a long time.”

“I would have said yes months ago,” you admitted before you could censor yourself, and felt your face grow hot.

Tup’s eyebrows shot up his forehead at that, then a wicked smile spread across his face as his eyes heated. In a voice that was a full octave lower than you were used to hearing from him, he murmured, “Sounds like we need to make up for some lost time, then.”

You nodded breathlessly. You didn’t know where that sudden wave of confidence had come from, but it was a good look on him. 

“Meet you at seven?” he asked.

“How about six,” you suggested.

He grinned and pressed a kiss to your cheek. “It’s a date.”

You watched him leave your office, an unfamiliar swagger in his step. You shook your head and smiled, cheek still warm from his lips. Six couldn’t come fast enough.

---

A/N - cocky Tup is the best Tup. 

[fieryanmitsu]

Intertwined Roots | ch. 8 - “laughter” | A3! AU

Ahhhhh!! It’s been almost a month since I last updated “Intertwined Roots” and I’m so glad to be back!! I still have to finish up my Rare Pair Week entries, but I really wanted to come back to my babies, so decided to squeeze in an update here first!

We’ve finally reached the chapter where all four kiddos meet!! This was a moment I was greatly anticipating, so I hope you’ll enjoy this chapter!

Tag list: @azamitmg​

“Intertwined Roots” is an A3! alternate universe series where Izumi, Itaru, Tsumugi and Tasuku grow up as childhood friends.

For the summary, background and notes about the “Intertwined Roots” universe, along with more chapters, please refer to the “Intertwined Roots” Masterpost.

Masterpost for my other fanfiction: here

AO3: Link in my Blog Menu!

INTERTWINED ROOTS – ch. 8

“laughter” | spring | Tsumugi (age 5), Tasuku (age 5), Itaru (age 5) & Izumi (age 4)

Itaru’s stomach was in knots. He had never been more nervous in his life.

“I-Izumi… Wh-What if they don’t like me?” Itaru asked quietly, his hands wringing the edge of his shirt.

“Course they’ll like you!” Izumi declared. “They’re my bestest friends, and you’re my bestest friend now, too! So, we’re all friends!”

“Umm, I… I don’t think… that’s how it works,” the brown-haired boy murmured, confused by her logic.

It had only been a few days since he’d met Izumi, but it had been a life-changing experience for the bespectacled boy. No matter how awkward or quiet he was, the energetic girl never seemed to mind – rather, she somehow continued the conversation even without his responses. She also didn’t laugh at how bad he was at climbing the jungle gym – always cheering him on instead of leaving him behind. Even when he won all of their games, rather than getting upset at his constant victories, she’d challenge him to another round with even more determination than before.

And, now that he had a taste of what it was like to have a friend, he feared losing her.

Izumi often talked about her two other friends, Tsumu and Tachan. She said that they were her best friends and that they were lots of fun – even though Tachan was a baldie butthead sometimes. The girl had been ecstatic to introduce him to them once they returned from their Golden Week visit to some out-of-town family members.

However, rather than feeling anticipation at meeting them, Itaru only felt dread. If Tsumu and Tachan didn’t like him, just like most of the other kids he’d met, would that mean he couldn’t play with Izumi anymore? The thought made his throat tighten.

“Oh, look! They’re here!” Izumi exclaimed, waving both of her arms above her head at three oncoming figures.

“Izuuuumiiii!!” a blue-haired boy yelled back. Beside him, a taller boy with hair shaved short to his head waved an arm back. Trailing behind them was an older boy with dark hair.

Itaru wished he could prepare himself better, but, before he knew it, the two younger boys were running towards them.

Izumi immediately threw herself at the blue-haired boy, hugging him tight.

“I missed you, Tsumu!”

“Me, too!” Tsumugi replied with a giggle.

“Hey, how come I don’t get anything!” Tasuku demanded.

Izumi turned her head towards Tasuku and stuck her tongue out at him. Itaru could see the taller boy’s eyebrows raise and, a second later, Tasuku smirked and jabbed Izumi in the ribs with his fingers. Izumi squealed and lunged at him, trying to jab him back, but the boy just danced away. With a yell of protest, Izumi chased after his retreating figure.

Itaru’s head was spinning and he dropped his gaze to look at his feet. He thought he might be feeling sick.

Then, suddenly, his vision was filled with yellow.

“This is for you!” a soft voice chirped.

Itaru looked up from the small bouquet of big, yellow daisies and came face-to-face with Tsumugi.

“F-For me?” Itaru asked uncertainly.

“Yeah! My grandma grew them! She said that the yellow ones are for friends!” the boy chattered excitedly. “So, umm, my name’s Tsumugi! Will you please be my friend?”

Itaru was thunderstruck. His gaze flickered down from Tsumugi’s shy smile to the flowers clutched in his hand, not quite believing that a second person – in the span of less than a week – was asking to be his friend.

After a long second, Itaru finally reached out and slowly took the bright yellow flowers from Tsumugi’s unwavering hand. He gentle fingered one of the petals – they were velvety and soft.

“Yay! Let’s play together lots, okay, Itaru?” Tsumugi said with a bright smile.

“H-How did you know my name?” Itaru asked, surprised.

“Izumi talked lots about you when we played yesterday,” Tsumugi responded.

Then, a whirlwind of brown hair flew past them and Izumi was suddenly behind Itaru, clutching onto his shoulders.

“You’re so mean, Tachan – my hair’s all messy now!” Izumi exclaimed with a pout. “You better not be mean to Itaru or I’ll beat you up!”

Itaru’s eyes flickered up to stare at Tasuku, who had come to stand beside Tsumugi.

“So, you’re Itaru, right?” the taller boy asked. “I’m Tasuku.”

Maybe it was because Itaru was taken aback by Tasuku’s size – being much bigger than Tsumugi and himself – but, instead of saying ‘nice to meet you’, like he had been taught by his parents, Itaru blurted something out instead.

“There’s no way you can beat him up, Izumi. He’s huge.”

“Wh-What?! I-I so can!” Izumi protested, stomping her feet. “Just watch!”

The girl then launched herself at Tasuku and headbutted him in the stomach. The movement took the taller boy by surprise and he yelped as he was knocked onto his behind. Izumi, unable to stop her momentum, promptly toppled over him.

A part of Itaru was alarmed at what had just happened, but another part of him found the entire situation – a tiny girl barrelling into someone a full head taller than her – so absurd that it was hilarious. So hilarious, in fact, that a laugh ripped itself out of Itaru’s throat and he was practically doubled over as giggles wracked his body.

“H-Hey! You’re laughing!” Izumi gasped.

Realizing that he was being called out, Itaru calmed himself immediately, nudging his glasses up to wipe his eyes with one hand.

“S-Sorry,” he apologized, suddenly nervous that maybe he shouldn’t have laughed. Was she mad?

“B-But…” Izumi’s eyebrows furrowed, and her cheeks puffed out. “You didn’t even laugh at my funny faces yesterday!!”

Itaru distinctly remembered the ‘funny faces’ she was talking about. He wasn’t sure how to tell her that they hadn’t been funny.

“Here, try again!! I’ll definitely make you laugh this time!”

Izumi then squished her face between her hands and puckered out her lips while rolling her eyes.

From beside him, Tsumugi burst into giggles. Itaru, on the other hand, could only tilt his head. It looked weird, but not quite funny.

“You look like a demon,” Tasuku remarked dryly.

Itaru clapped his hand over his mouth as he let out a snort.

“HEY!”

And there we have it!! Our babies are all together now!! I didn’t originally imagine that I would keep things chronological for so long, but I ended up really wanting to set up the foundation of how they all met before I jumped around! I’ve got one more chronological chapter left after this one to “wrap up” what I’d consider their first meetings, so to say.

After that, I plan to post non-chronological snippets from various times of their lives in no particular order. I’ll note that, timeline-wise, this fic series will only cover their “childhood” (i.e. up until Izumi and Itaru’s high school graduation).

I already have a pool of ideas, but I don’t actually have a preference for the order in which to write them. SO… I’d like to ask all of you awesome readers for opinions! Hearing everyone’s feedback on the chapters so far has been so motivating for me and I’m so happy that there’s people out there who love this series that I’ve put together! As my way of giving back, I’d like to open “requests” for the upcoming chapters!

How it’ll work is that you can request any “set” of characters (any combination of two, three or all four of our main characters) and then just let me know which age range you’d like to see (preschool/elementary age, middle school age or high school age). So, if there’s any particular interaction/combination of characters you’d like to see, please drop a comment/ask (anon asks are enabled!) with something like “Itaru and Tasuku, high school age” and I’ll write the next chapters in order of requests that I receive!

When I run out of requests to line up, I may open them up again, or do something different to decide what comes out next!!

Thanks so much for your support so far and I look forward to hearing from all of you!! As usual, if you enjoyed reading, please consider reblogging to help me out!!

-Anmitsu

[thefinalcinderella]

Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru Chapter 2 - The Mountains of Hakone are the Steepest in the World (Part 4)

Full list of translations here

Translation Notes

1. An aemono is a salad of “chopped fish, shellfish or vegetables, dressed with (miso or other) sauce”

2. The word here is “やりおさめ”. I literally have no idea what this means and I can’t seem to find a definition anywhere. If you know what this means please let me know

3. Shochu is a distilled beverage distilled from rice, barley, sweet potatoes, etc.

Previous | Next

Several days later, after having finished his lectures, Kakeru ran through campus towards the main gate. Because the new semester had just started, there were many students there. He zigzagged around and slipped between people, some gathering in groups while others talked and slowly walked side by side.

Suddenly, somebody called out “Kakeru, Kakeru,” and he stopped. When he looked around, he saw Prince in a corner along the Himalayan cedar-lined path that led to the main entrance. He was sitting on a small chair behind a long desk that looked like it was taken from a classroom, beckoning to Kakeru to join him.

“Are you recruiting for a club?”

When Kakeru approached him, Prince happily presented a university notebook to him.

“Write your name and contact info here.”

“Contact info…? We both live in Aotake, though?”

Kakeru peered at the notebook. It didn’t seem like the recruitment was going well; in the notebook, there were only Jouji and Jouta’s names along with the address of Chikusei-sou, as if written down out of pity.

“…What kind of club is it?” He asked cautiously. 

The answer was, as expected, “A manga research society!”

“This year, I was thinking of joining together panels from different works by the same artist and combining them to make a completely new piece.”

Prince happily talked about his activities schedule. Kakeru sat down in the chair next to him.

“Prince-san, have you decided what you’re going to do?”

“You mean about that?” Prince said in a way that was laden with hidden meaning, but Kakeru nodded easily.

“Yes. If you’re going to aim for the Hakone Ekiden or not.”

Unable to play spy, Prince seemed displeased.

“I am. Pretty sure I have no choice but to aim for it,” he said, closing his notebook. “With all that manga, there’s no way I’m moving now. And I don’t have that much money.”

“Isn’t Haiji-san just trying to scare you by saying ‘I’ll throw away your manga if you don’t join’?”

“You think so?”

No, I’m not sure. Kakeru was inwardly uncertain. He felt like Kiyose really would throw Prince’s treasured manga hoard in the trash.

Kiyose’s “call for surrender” had continued in silence towards Kakeru. Lately, there were vinegared dishes for dinner every day. Furthermore, only Kakeru had a lot of them in his small bowl. Last night, he had reluctantly swallowed the sour aemono of wakame and cucumber. (1) The vinegar attacks would probably continue unless he announced his participation in Kiyose’s plan.

“I can’t accept being forced to run,” Kakeru said.

“Well, yeah,” Prince said, shrugging. “But we live at Aotake together. There’s no choice but to make some compromises.”

It’s not an issue of ‘making some compromises’, Kakeru thought. Prince, who had no connection to physical training, didn’t understand; he didn’t understand how hard they would have to train if they were aiming for the Hakone Ekiden. Kiyose was trying to invite the residents of Chikusei-sou down a steep road – down a narrow and dangerous road on the edge of a cliff, without even the guarantee of actually reaching their destination.

Not noticing that Kakeru was lost in thought, Prince continued to talk.

“Apparently, Haiji-san was in a meet in his first year. He said he was pretty serious about his practice.”

“I wonder why he stopped.”

Kakeru pretended to not know about Kiyose’s knee injury.

“I’ve heard that some high schools push their athletes pretty hard. Nico-chan-senpai said a lot of people break down because of that.”

Those who did sports should not smoke like Nico-chan.

“Did Nico-chan-senpai really do track?”

“Yeah, I heard he was on the track team until high school.”

Prince took his notebook in his hands. He flipped through the book that was full of blank pages, creating a small amount of wind.

“You know, Kakeru. I don’t hate living at Aotake. I think I can somewhat understand the feelings of someone who wants to run but can’t. Imagine if I couldn’t read manga anymore. That’s why, I started to wonder if I could cooperate with Haiji-san.”

---

That night, the residents of Chikusei-sou once again gathered in the twins’ room. When Kakeru and Prince declared that they would participate in the Hakone Ekiden, the twins cheered.

“Hooray! Now we have ten people,” said Jouji.

“Practice starts tomorrow,” said Jouta.

Musa and Shindou excitedly carried in the food Kiyose made from the kitchen. There was a heap of deep-fried chicken on a large platter.

“If that’s the case, then you will need to build up stamina.”

“The two of you made a good decision.”

There didn’t seem to be any vinegared dishes on the menu. Kakeru glanced at Kiyose. He had a nonchalant look on his face, but he had probably expected that Kakeru and Prince would come to their conclusions around tonight. Kakeru did not really like the fact that he could see through every one of his movements.

“Okay, okay, take this.” Jouji went around the room and handed out cans of beer to everyone. “Let’s toast!”

Nico-chan and Yuki couldn’t hide their disappointment that the last stronghold had fallen. Half-heartedly receiving the beer from Jouji, they scolded Kakeru in a low voice.

“Why didn’t you refuse to join?”

“I thought you had more backbone, but you’re surprisingly weak.”

They raised their cans simultaneously and toasted. Half filled with excitement for a new goal, half giving into despair, they shouted, “The mountains of Hakone are the steepest in the world!”

The twins’ room soon became a lawless area. Prince sat on the wooden floor quietly reading a manga by himself, as though to say, “I’ve already done my duty just by announcing my participation.” The mahjong table was brought out with a “Let’s end it all with this” (2) and Nico-chan, Yuki, King, and Jouta sat on all four sides. Jouji went around the table.

“Yuki, don’t you have any compassion in you?”

“You’re the one who’s too weak, Nico-chan-senpai.”

“Hey, Jouta, I told you: you can’t make meld calls and win the hand.”

“Yeah, I don’t really get it.”

“Jouji, no telling Jouta about the tiles you peeked at!”

At the same time, while waiting for their turn to play mahjong, Shindou and Musa were watching TV together.

“It says ‘Broadcast midnight on Monday! Look forward to it!’, but the date says it is airing on Tuesday at 1 p.m. Shindou-san, is that not strange?”

“I think the interpretation is that even if it’s past midnight, it would continue to be ‘Monday’ until we fall asleep, but it certainly is confusing.”

The beers were quickly depleted and they switched to sweet potato shochu. (3) The room was filled with motivation and hope towards the resolution to start anew. Nobody said it aloud, but everyone could sense it: they were all exhilarated, but because they were embarrassed, they desperately suppressed that part of themselves and tried to behave as usual.

Kakeru didn’t approach the mahjong table and sat near the window.

It’s only for now, Kakeru thought. Even those who had got excited at Kiyose’s words would soon get tired of practice and say “I’m done.” Running and continuing to run were not easy. The Hakone Ekiden was not a race where you could participate with just momentum and energy.

Haiji-san’s plan will fail in any case because the residents will rebel and drop out. That was what Kakeru thought. All I have to do is go along with it until then. I’ll do my own thing and keep on training as I have until now.

Kiyose was next to Kakeru and shelling peanuts. He seemed satisfied when all the kernels were on the plate. Taking a breather, he picked up his cup of shochu and slid the plate towards Kakeru. “You can eat them,” he said.

Kakeru quietly asked him, “Are you serious?”

“Yeah. Don’t be shy.”

“No, I’m not talking about the peanuts. You of all people should understand, Haiji-san. This is a ridiculous gamble.”

Kiyose was quiet for a while, but eventually, he raised his cup to the light as though the questions were written there, and matter-of-factly asked a question in return.

“Kakeru, do you like running?”

He had also asked that on the night they first met. Kakeru was at a loss for words.

“I want to know. What it means to run.”

Kiyose said that as he stared fixedly at his cup. It wasn’t an answer to Kakeru’s question at all.

However, Kakeru remembered that earnest look in his eyes for a long time afterwards.

Previous | Next

[chilling-seavey]

Nothing Revealed/Everything Denied (c.s.) - Chapter Eight

A/N Surprise? This story is still on hold technically but I got a burst of sudden motivation so here’s a surprise eighth chapter lol

With another week off from work as the new hires were fitted for costumes and meetings with set designers and agents were being finalized, Christian had more time to lazy about, putting out a few more livestreams for his followers and a hitting the gym again a bit more. He forgot how much he liked to stream, connecting with his followers and even making a bit of extra cash from it as well. Michelle had even popped into the chat once or twice and he quietly made her a VIP on his account to see her comments easier. He could only hope his beaming smile when he read her comments wasn’t too annoyingly obvious.

Oscar’s birthday came around in early June and he was way too pushy with Christian to invite Michelle to the party. Last time Michelle attended one of their parties it didn’t end well but she was still willing to go with him for Oscar’s birthday.

So Christian and Michelle showed up at their house together and were welcomed in excitedly by the friend group, music already blaring and way more people than last time mingling between inside and outside the house. Christian led Michelle through the living room to the kitchen and he set the case of drinks he brought on the counter before taking one for himself and passed one to her.

Michelle thanked him softly as she opened it and took a look around the house quietly.

“Wanna sit outside?” Christian asked her.

“Okay.” Michelle smiled at him and they headed out the backdoor with their drinks.

Oscar and most of the main friend group was sitting out there and laughing loudly, Oscar’s roaring laughter standing out amongst everyone’s and his head was thrown back with glee. At the sight of Christian and Michelle approaching, he stopped laughing a jumped up to greet them.

“I’m so glad you guys came!” Oscar grinned, offering Christian a handshake and then pulled Michelle into a quick hug, taking her by surprise.

“Of course.” Michelle chuckled nervously at his obviously slightly intoxicated gesture.

“Go sit down, bro. Stop being so weird.” Christian gave him a bit of a shove, setting a hand protectively on Michelle’s back to lead her to an empty chair.

He looked around to find a place for himself but Michelle grabbed his wrist, “Sit with me.”

They squished into the oversized chair together and Christian couldn’t help but eye her silently a moment as she watched the group continue to talk, watching how she bit lightly on her bottom lip with her drink clutched tightly in her hands. They were sitting so close that he could smell her perfume and Christian looked away quickly, distracting himself with a long drink from the bottle in his hand.

As the sun set, the party roared on and Christian and Michelle found themselves playing a good game of beer pong against Crawford and Nezza. They lost horribly and ended up three drinks deeper each. This allowed Michelle to be out of her mind enough to hit a few messy dance moves in the living room to the blaring music and the crowd cheered her on. She grabbed Christian’s hand from the sidelines and pulled him into the circle, forcing him to dance with her. Neither were the most coordinated people and honestly their dancing was quite cringey but they danced and sang off-key until they nearly collapsed.

The crowd around them dispersed again when their dancing was done, going back to whatever they had been doing before Michelle became the centre of attention, and the two of them fell backwards onto one of the large beanbags in the living room.

“If I knew I was that good at dancing I never would have become a writer.” Michelle breathed breathlessly.

Christian laughed from beside her, running a hand through his hair and looked over at her, “I don’t think your dancing career would have gotten you as far as your writing.”

“So rude.” Michelle gaped.

“I didn’t mean it to be.” Christian giggled, draping his arms above his head tiredly, staring up at the tall ceiling above them.

“Good thing there’s not dancing in the war.” Michelle mumbled teasingly. “I’d probably have to drop you from the film.”

“Ouch!” Christian sat up a little to look down at her. “Now that’s rude!”

“I’m kidding.” Michelle set her hand on his arm, staring up at him with pink cheeks. “Next time we’ll have a dance battle between you and Tom Holland. Superior dancer gets his name first in the credits.”

“Oh my Lord in Heaven. Kill me now.” Christian laughed, falling back beside her on his side, propped up on one arm. “Tom’s got nothing on my moves.”

“Okay.” Michelle scoffed through a breathless chuckle, pushing her hand up his sleeve to drape her arm around his shoulders. “You keep telling yourself that.”

“This is our movie anyway.” Christian whispered, keeping his eyes focussed on her face.

“Our movie?” Michelle raised an eyebrow, “My script and you’re the star?”

“Yep.” Christian chuckled lightly.

He only then noticed how close they really were, sinking close together on the large grey beanbag, pressed up side by side with her arm around his shoulders to keep him close enough that their noses were nearly touching. Christian could feel the soft material of her thin floral dress against his free hand and he couldn’t help but reach over to run his fingers over the pattern across her hip, his eyes following the movement of his hand.

“Our movie.” Christian breathed.

Their sense was hazed by the plentiful alcohol they had since they arrived to the party and Michelle didn’t push his hand away, instead, she moved her hand to his chin to tilt his head back up to look at her. One look into her eyes and Christian could have sworn his heart started beating twice as hard, his hazy mind focussed only on her like they weren’t in the middle of a crowded party. He licked his lips instinctively and they both seemed to lean in at the same time.

When their lips met, they both stayed absolutely still as if moving would ruin the moment, trying to familiarize themselves with the feeling until Christian pulled back long enough to gasp a little before raising his hand to her cheek as he leaned back in to kiss her stronger. Michelle’s fingers tightened around the material of his shirt, melting into the kiss and into the feel of his body against hers.

It was nothing but chasté; closed mouthed, lingering kisses shared quietly in the corner of the living room at the noisy and crowded party, gentle hands resting politely on shoulders or waists. Christian pulled back slowly, breaking their kiss carefully and he licked his lips against as if to try and remember the taste of her on his mouth. His lights eyes stayed locked on hers, neither quite knowing what to say after that, still wrapped up ungracefully in each other’s arms and breathing shallowly together.

To any other party goer, what just happened was common – finding someone random to make out with in a fit of drunkenness – but that was no clumsy drunk-at-a-party kiss and both of them knew it. Michelle didn’t let go of his shirt as they stayed there for who knows how long, staring silently at each other trying to wrap their slightly intoxicated brains around what just happened. Christian was just thankful none of his friends were around to see that and offer their teasing remarks.

Michelle took a small breath, dropping her hand from his shoulder, “I should get home.”

“I can’t drive you like this.” Christian whispered.

“I can bus. Walk me to the stop?”

Christian cleared his throat nervously and ungracefully stood up from the beanbag chair, offering out his hand to help her up. They left the house and walked silently down the street together in perfect silence, not quite knowing what to say. Christian had his hands in his pockets and kept stealing glances at her as she kept looking straight ahead. They reached the bus stop and slowed to a stop to face each other.

“So.” Christian mumbled.

“So.” Michelle cracked a small smile.

“I’ll see you Monday then?”

“Yep. 10am.” Michelle nodded.

The bus turned onto the street and she fished around in her purse for her transit pass.

“Um…” Michelle glanced behind her at the incoming bus and then turned quickly back to Christian, grabbing him back the back of his neck to pull him in for another kiss.

He nearly gasped into it with surprise, barely getting his hands up to her waist before she was pulling back and rushing quickly onto the bus. Christian watched it leave with wide eyes and pink cheeks and once the bus was out of sight, he pumped his fists in the air in a bit of a happy dance before rushing back to the party.

[senaar-ika]

The Pixie & The Bard: Ch. 1

Hi there. It’s been a while. I honestly just haven’t had the creative energy or motivation to write recently. I moved house and started working more and I’m about to start a new semester of university. What with the world being a flaming trash bin my brain hasn’t quite been up for much. 

Welcome to all the new followers and thank you to everyone who’s stuck around. I’ve had this first chapter of a multi-chaptered fic sitting in my drafts for a while so I thought why not share. I hope you enjoy!

Summary: You’re working as a fairy at a Renaissance Festival in the New York countryside when you meet Charlie and Henry. A father and son who are quite the pair. You flirt with guests at the festival for fun all the time, but something feels different about this one . . . 

CW/Tags: nothing major, just heavy flirting, awkward dad Charlie, literally too much Henry but I promise his relationship to reader is important, also E making up shit about renaissance faires, this is mostly just me longing to dress up like a fairy and go to a festival and watch people joust ok 

Word Count: 2.6k

Chapter 1 - An Chance Encounter

The festival grounds are surrounded on all sides by forest. Trodden down dirt walking paths snake past vendors and performers, ultimately leading visitors to the main events in the center clearing. The Fairy Tree -as it is affectionately known by performers and guests alike- is your territory. The ancient sycamore tree looks like something right from the pages of a storybook with its sprawling roots, knotted trunk, and layers of thick branches. 

Your inner child sprang out on your first day when your manager led you to the tree, explaining that your character should mostly keep in a close radius to it. She didn’t have to tell you twice. You were up the tree and swinging casually from the branches in minutes. Some of the other fairy cast members wander the festival, making mischief and spreading glitter. But you’re perfectly content to hang around your tree. 

Of course you’re safe, never climbing too high or swinging too recklessly. You keep a little wooden flute at one hip and your bag of “fairy dust” at the other. Piping out mysterious tunes from up in the tree only to surprise guests who happened along past. If they have children you often toss a handful of sparkling fairy dust down, relishing their squeals of delight. 

Today is Saturday. First Saturday to be exact. First Saturday is always the busiest, or at least that’s what the returning cast members have been telling you. First Saturday always falls on the first weekend when schools are closed for the summer, so the families turn out in droves. You likely won’t get a real break today; it’s all hands on deck. 

You lean against the trunk of the old fairy tree, one arm hugged as far around it as you can. You’re only about ten feet up, but it feels like you’re part of the forest. A breeze rustles the leaves, bright and green for the start of summer. You close your eyes gently. In the distance you hear a horn sound and a wave of cheers rise up, carried by the breeze. 

Afternoon tournament already? The day has flown by. Cast members don’t get to have any modern technology on hand while performing, so you tend to gauge the time by the schedule of festivities. Afternoon tournament started at two. You’d been up in the tree since lunchtime. The tournaments, which include jousting, sword fighting, and axe throwing, pull the biggest crowds. Meaning smaller attractions got a bit of a break. 

Carefully you slide down to sit, resting your back against the trunk and balancing your legs horizontally along the length of the branch. You breathe in deeply, just listening for the familiar sounds of the tournament. 

“Dad, look!” The whisper-shout of a young boy pulls you away from the quiet, but your first glance at the boy’s father nearly fells you from your perch. Tall, dark, and built like one of the festival’s knights. He’s focused on his phone, typing furiously. The boy tugs at his father’s sleeve, trying very hard not to look away from you, as if he’s afraid you might disappear.

“What is it, Henry?” It isn’t sharp, just distracted, offhanded, but the bassy richness of the man’s voice sends a flutter to your chest. 

“There’s a lady up in the tree! Look!” You smile down at the boy, Henry, leaning forward a bit so that the iridescence of your wings catches the light, and you wave. The dad glances up briefly from his phone only to do a double take.  

“Hail and well met, gentlemen!” You called, pitching your voice up and putting on your character’s fairy accent. “Ye wouldn’t happen to be lost would ye?” 

Henry is quick to speak up, “My dad is trying to get a good phone signal!” The dad’s face turns a ridiculous shade of pink, his expression sheepish and embarrassed. You giggle, swinging your legs over the side of the branch so they dangle. 

“I dunno what that is, young lad, but perhaps he’d have better luck with a carrier pigeon?” One of the top rules was to always stay in character. No talking about modern life. Immersion is key and after all you’re here to make magic. But Henry seems confused.

“You don’t know what a phone signal is? Don’t you have a phone?” Ah so he’s one of those smart kids. Before you can say anything, Henry’s father cuts in.

“She’s a fairy, Henry, look. Fairies don’t have phones.” The dad explains, gently. His voice is practiced, as though he has to explain a lot to his son. You nod along with him, crossing your ankles and propping your chin on your hand. 

“Aye, he’s right!” You chime in, “And you two look like . . . hmmm.” You scrunch your face in consternation for a moment. “Ah! I know! A knight and his squire?” You point from father to son.

Henry starts to laugh and his father smiles, looking from you to his son and back. 

“Yes! Young squire Henry and the brave knight Sir . . .” You trail off, gesturing towards the boy’s father. 

“Charlie,” He finishes, holding your gaze steadily. You feel your grin widen and you tilt your head, reminding yourself to stay in character. 

It’s not like flirting with guests is discouraged; actually, it’s almost expected of most fairy cast members. You’ve just never been caught off guard like this before. Something about this man, Charlie, sends your heart racing. Perhaps because he seems far too dashing for a dad, or maybe it’s how quickly he is willing to play into the immersion of your job. 

“So the brave knight, Sir Charlie, and young squire Henry find themselves at the Fairy Tree.” You slide yourself over to the trunk and begin climbing down, using the little foot and hand holds nailed into the tree. “Trying to relay a message with no luck?” 

When you reach the ground, Henry bolts over to you. “Why didn’t you just fly down?” 

You crouch down to his height. “Flying for me is like running for you. It’s so exhausting!” 

Henry nods, understanding, and looks back over his shoulder at his dad, still standing a ways back. Charlie smiles at the two of you before glancing back at his phone. 

“My dad is trying to send a picture of me to my mom.” There it is. You feel something in your chest sink a little. You should’ve expected it really. Hot dad and cute kid? There has to be a mom somewhere in the picture. Henry, unaware that his simple statement shook you, continues on. “She lives in LA, but I get to come see my dad every month. He likes to take me to do things like this.” Oh, hot divorcee dad. 

“And what have ye done around the festival today, young lad?” You actually smile as Henry carries on in that childlike way, just talking. Simple statements. Pouring out their day for you. 

The two of you plop down to the forest floor. Henry absentmindedly plays with the grass and pebbles. You pluck a couple of clovers from the grass and begin stringing them together. Usually the fairies are encouraged to tell stories to the children, but this particular child seems happy to tell you the story of his day. Henry is just finishing up recounting how they had eaten turkey legs and french fries for lunch when his dad approaches. 

“I’m surprised to see such an adventurous pair missing the tournament,” You remark, handing Henry the bracelet of clovers you had woven while he was talking. “But I’m glad to hear your stories, young Henry.” 

“There’s a tournament?” Henry’s eyes light up as you slip into your role, telling him all about the lore of the festival.

“Why of course, young Henry! Every sixth day the King holds tournaments where our bravest and strongest knights may show their skill! There’s sword fighting and jousting and horses, and of course all the fair maidens of the kingdom come as well!” You try to avoid looking up at Charlie, squatting down beside his son, for fear of stumbling over your words. “The fairy folk like me perform great songs and dances for the royal court, and all the guests like you cheer and awe at all the talent!”

Henry is hanging on your every word, completely frozen and enraptured in your performance. 

“Unfortunately for you, the tournament for today is probably just finishing up.” Seeing the boy’s face start to sink with disappointment you add, “But! After the tournament the fairy folk will lead a parade back to this very tree and we’ll tell stories! There’s always a bit o’ music with our stories. I play this!” You pull your flute from its slot on your belt and hold it up for Henry, whispering your next sentence. “If you and Sir Charlie aren’t in a rush, I suggest you stick around, the parade should be arriving any minute now.” 

“Can we stay, dad?” Henry turns excitedly towards his father, eyes still wide. Charlie’s face breaks into a full grin that goes all the way to his eyes which crinkle at the corners. A noticeable dimple also appears on his cheek. Stay in character, you have to remind yourself. 

“Of course, honey, if you want to.” Charlie places a hand gently on his son’s back. 

It seems as though Charlie’s about to say something to you, but before he can you’re overtaken by the sound of jingling bells, flutes, and footsteps crunching along the dirt path. 

“The parade!” Henry scrambles to his feet, turning in the direction of the noise. 

You catch Charlie’s gaze as you both move to stand up as well. He mouths a silent “Thank you.” You smile and give him a wink, lifting your flute to your lips. Moving quickly, you dance back to the tree and climb up to hang by one hand from one of the handholds nailed into the trunk. The tune of your flute matches up with the commotion coming up the path. 

At least once a day, a large group arrives at the Fairy Tree led by cast members like yourself. It’s part of the job, performing like that. So why are you so nervous? 

The parade rounds the forest bend, finally coming into sight. Two fairy cast members lead the group, one with a tambourine, the other a pan flute. A dozen or so children are close behind with a couple more fairies mixed in. Bemused parents and adult stragglers make up the rear. 

“Aha!” The performer with the tambourine, halts the parade and points to you. “Kind guests and members of the parade, this is our sister Dewdrop!”

You hop back down to the ground, lowering your flute, and slip into the loose script that formed around storytime each day. “Are we to tell these fine folks a story today, Evergreen?”

And with your line, you settle. This is just your job. You do this every day. Every day there’s a new story. Every day there’s a new crowd. 

You and the other fairies sit the little ones down on “toadstool” seats while the adults gather around. Henry choses the seat closest to where you stand, you notice, so you make sure to give him a smile when you can. Like a good actor, you dance your eyes across the crowd, trying to bounce rather than stick to anyone in particular. But.

But you can’t help but get stuck on Charlie. He’s watching you so intently, occasionally glancing down at Henry as he laughs at all the silly jokes and goofs. Today’s story is one about how the king of the festival was trapped and magicked to dance for eternity by the trickster pixies until a kind hearted fairy saved him. The stories are always a bit silly like that. 

When you and the other fairies take your final bow, all conducting the children in a chorus of “The end!” and tossing handfuls of fairy dust, you make eye contact with Charlie again. Everyone is clapping politely. He’s smiling at you. You hold his gaze for just one second longer. He’s the first to look away, clearing his throat and raising his gaze to the treetops. You barely have time to process what just happened before Henry is tugging at your skirt. 

“You didn’t tell me your name is Dewdrop!” He exclaims, somehow still thriving off of the high energy of the show. 

You giggle, dropping down to his level. “You never asked, young Henry!” 

“That’s a funny name.” He scrunches his nose in such an innocent way you can’t help but smile. 

“Well all the fairies are named a bit differently than you humans.” You explain, “We’re given names that connect us to nature and-” 

“Wait a second!” Henry interrupts and suddenly runs over to his dad. 

They converse softly for a moment, Charlie leaning down so Henry can whisper in his ear. Charlie seems to be thinking hard about whatever his son is saying. He flicks his eyes over to you for what seems like a millisecond, you can’t even be sure he did look at you. Then he nods and Henry scampers back over to you. 

“My dad says we can come back tomorrow! I want to see the fighting and the contests like you said!” Your heart seems to stop for a second before you become very aware of it beating in your ears. 

“That - That’s wonderful, young lad!” You shake yourself back to this fantasy that is reality. “You must stop by the tree and say hello then.” You chance a look over at Charlie to find his eyes locked on you. He smiles and gives a slight nod of his head. 

He steps forward reaching for his son’s hand. “Alright, Henry, let’s get going now and let our friend get back to doing … fairy stuff.” Henry’s face scrunches in a way that your years of working around children tell you he’s not thrilled at the idea of leaving. So you swoop in with a little assist. 

“Sir Charlie’s right, young lad.” You take a pinch of fairy dust from the pouch on your belt, “I’ve got official fairy business to attend to around the festival. But here, I’ll give you a bit of parting sparkle so that you’ll shine until we meet again!” With a flourish, you dust Henry’s flower bracelet with the glittery powder. 

That seems to satisfy the young boy as he gives you a toothy grin and turns to leave with a quick “Bye! See you tomorrow!” 

“Well hang on just a second!” You decide to milk this moment a tiny bit more, just for fun. “That’s no way to leave a proper lady! Give us a bow and a fare thee well!” 

Henry looks confused for a second but Charlie elbow’s him lightly. “Like this,” he whispers. He executes a wonderfully low bow, crying out “Fare thee well, Dewdrop! We shall return on the morrow!” in an over the top sort of faux English accent. 

You laugh, fully, almost definitely out of character. That’s when Charlie looks up from his bow, holding your eyes as he rises back up to his full height. After a second, he clears his throat and elbows at Henry again, muttering “Your turn.”

Henry does his best to imitate his father, but his bow is a bit shaky. “Fare thee well, Dewdrop! We shall . . . Dad what is it?” 

“We shall return on the morrow,” Charlie mumbles, failing to conceal a smile. 

“We shall return tomorrow!” Henry finishes and stands back upright. 

As the two of them finally start down the dirt trail you call after them. “Safe travels, Sir Charlie and Squire Henry! T’was a true pleasure that our paths should cross!” 

“Bye!” Henry yells back. 

Charlie looks over his shoulder at you one more time. You wave. He smiles. And then they turn the corner. And they’re gone. 

[edensbuttercups]

Golden lights - Part ten

Pairing: Jaskier x reader Summary: After a marriage proposal, Jaskier and the reader take it upon themselves to see Geralt and Myris as a couple, seeing the love they share for each other, and decide to bet on the way they’ll announce their love: with a subtle kiss or with an announcement?  Word count: 2.3k A/N: Hello hello hello! I’ve finally finished this chapter! I’ve been living my days trying to be motivated enough to do my homework and projects while also really craving to write, draw, sing, cook, try to learn how to play the piano and play my uke. Anyway, here’s the next chapter, enjoy! Sending you warm hugs and as always, stay safe ♡ Part one Part two Part three Part four Part five Part six Part seven Part eight Part nine Part Eleven

You walked back hand in hand, a smile plastered to your faces as you sang cheesy love songs to each other. Before you could finish singing the last word you felt Jaskier pulling you to the side, crouching behind a rock. “Look!” he said, pointing excitedly towards your cottage, where Geralt and Myristica were playing with your daughter. Geralt was holding her in his arms, making her fly around as Myris pretended to be some sort of dragon, tickling her little feet as soon as she could. “They’re cute.” You smiled, grabbing Jaskier’s hand and holding it close. “How long do you think it’ll be until they tell us that they’re a couple?” You laughed. “You think they’ll tell us? I think we’ll eventually catch them mid-kiss, and they won’t be able to deny that, will they? And that’s how we’ll find out.” “Want to bet? If they tell us, I win, if we catch them, you win.”

“And what do we win?” “Hmm. If I win, I get to perform that song about you. If you win, you get a kiss.” “What? How is that fair?” you laughed again, sitting up on the rock you were crouching behind. “I’d say that if you win then yes, I guess you’ll get to sing that song… but if I win” you stopped to add a touch of drama “you have to pose for me, so that I can finally paint you, as I’ve been asking you to for months!” “It’s so boring! I’ll do anything, trust me, but sitting in the same spot, not moving, not talking, not singing, for hours? That’s just not possible for me. You know that.” “Well then you choose what I win. Surprise me.” “If you win, sure. I’ll surprise you.” He reached you, placing a hand behind your head and pulling you into a kiss. He offered you a hand and pulled you up, both of you laughing and smiling, as in love as you could be, walking towards Geralt and Myris, you rushing up to Aurora and tickling her feet as Geralt laughed, lifting her up and making her laugh in turn, a big smile on her face as she was held up high, the golden rays kissing her light hair. You spun and ran and chased each other, you whispering “he asked me to be his wife!” to Myristica as you ran passed her, making her stop before cheering, and Geralt joining Jaskier in his chase silently asking “so did you ask her?” before patting the bard on the shoulder and breaking out in a loud laugh. For the next couple of days, you and Jaskier tried your best to win your bet. You spotted Jaskier chatting with either Geralt or Myris, asking them about their love live in a not-very-subtle way, mentioning old tales of lovers and singing them love songs whenever they were together. Myris mostly laughed at his gestures, enjoying the sweet music, while Geralt usually cursed at him, giving him the side eye and trying to get him to leave. You were more subtle, trying to ask them to help you out in the usual daily activities, always “somehow” assigning them to the same one. Yesterday, they helped you harvest what was growing in the garden, you on one side of the garden and them on the other, laughing and joking under your careful eyes. But still no kisses. Today you asked for help in the kitchen, cooking delicious meals while Jaskier played outside with Aurora. You started cooking some lunch while Myristica prepared a sweet pie for that evening, Geralt helping both of you, bouncing from one side of the kitchen to the other. Soon lunch was ready, and the pie was cooking, not much more left to do. You called Jaskier from the window, asking him to come in to eat. As you turned you noticed how Myris had grabbed a small raspberry. You listened as the two got closer, ready to announce your victory over the bard. “Geralt, could you taste this? I was thinking of preparing a drink, but I don’t know if they taste just right yet.” She smiled and leaned closer, feeding him the small raspberry as he smiled and nodded. “Tastes good to me.” Myris smiled at the asker, placing a small kiss on his mouth, so quick that it would’ve passed unnoticed had you not been paying close attention. You felt someone slip behind you, and you smiled. “That was way too small to be considered a kiss!” he whispered, not accepting defeat. “Aww, don’t like losing?” you turned and placed a kiss on his cheek as you picked Aurora from his arms “can’t wait to see my surprise” you uttered as you walked towards the table. “Still. Not fair.” “Ah, suck it up, buttercup. If you’re sad I’ll kiss you better.” “Oh, then yes, I’m incredibly sad.” He snuck up behind you, wrapping his arms around you, pulling you into him as he kissed you, his hands roaming from your hair, to your shoulders, to your back as he hummed, making your bodies sway back and forth to the sound of an invented song. “Oh, get a room.” Geralt said as he walked into the room, placing some plates on the table. Jaskier looked up at him, laughing briefly before adding “maybe you should get a room, Geralt.” “I’m sorry?” “We saw you with Myris before. You make a cute couple.” “That was… ah fuck.” You laughed, untangling yourself from Jaskier and walking closer to Geralt, placing a hand on his arm. “We’re happy for you. Truly. And we’re sorry. If you wanted to keep it to yourselves, we should’ve accepted it.” Geralt smiled, shaking his head. “It’s just that I’ve never had this. I don’t know how to act, especially in front of other people. I’m sure it’s nothing serious so I’m just enjoying it while it lasts.” “Do you love her?” Jaskier asked, his face serious as he took a step forward. Geralt looked at him with a warning glance before turning towards the kitchen to check if she had heard anything. “Yes” he finally whispered. “I think. I’ve never felt anything like-“ “Then yes. And if I can tell you one thing, Witcher, is that you should tell her. Life is short -well for us humans at least – and living with regrets is the worst thing. It is for us humans, and we live less than you, so just go for it.” A moment of silence filled the room. Geralt nodded once more and walked to the kitchen, coming back a few moments later with a big grin on his face. “So?” you asked nervously. “She loves me too. And she said I’m an idiot for making a big thing of it.” “Exactly! I always say that you’re an idiot and you never smile like that! Should I take it personally?” Jaskier said, placing his arm around Geralt, ignoring the death glare he was receiving. You smiled at your idiot and your big friend, walking into the kitchen to meet Myris. “I heard he confessed?” “He did. As if I needed words. Big idiot.” She laughed, handing you a bowl of vegetables as she held the main dish. “Yeah, but he’s your big idiot.” “He is.”

Time passed, and even if you had all fallen in a routine, living all together, eating together, spending so much time together, you were relieved when Myris suggested that her and Geralt moved back into her place. “We were thinking of making tonight our last night.” “That sound nice. I’m going to miss you.” “I know. I’ll miss you too. I’m right around the corner though! We’ll see each other often, I promise. Oh, and you can visit my home!” “I can’t wait.” You held her hands, leaning into a big hug. She hugged you tight before pulling back. “I just remembered something! I wanted to show you a great place to harvest berries, it’s close. Let’s tell Geralt and Jaskier and head there. We can stay there a couple of hours and then head back, what do you say?” “Let’s do it.” You spent the day near a small river, picking berries and eating most of them as you talked about your lives. You sat next to each other, your feet in the fresh water as the stack of berries grew smaller and smaller. “How did you start your relationship with Geralt?” “One night, about two weeks after we started sharing the room, a single candle lit the room. He was sitting with his back turned to me, making sure to give me the space I needed. As I was taking my boots of, I knocked something over, and he turned to check if everything was fine. He saw the scar on my leg” she pulled her dress up, showing you the pale scar that ran from her ankle to the bottom of her knee “and he didn’t mention it. I wasn’t ready to share the origin of that scar with him, and I knew he respected that. That was the first thing I fell in love with. Then I noticed the way he looked at me, the way he always shared the best of the things he owned with me, the way he was with Aurora… so one night, before going to bed, I stood in front of him and leaned down, placing a soft kiss on his lips. The rest is history.” You both smiled as she leaned on your shoulder. “What about you and Jaskier? What’s the greatest moment you two have shared, before actually meeting again?” You thought about it, relieving all of the moments you had shared. “We both met when he was young. He rebelled against everything, choosing his passion for music over anything else. Some people spoke badly about him, some insulted him, but he didn’t care. We had started growing close to each other, and I had started falling in love with him, when one night, as he was singing, someone insulted him, spitting horrible words at him. He usually played along, but that night he stopped playing. I was enraged, so I walked up to the man and punched him.” Myris burst out laughing, and you joined in too. “Jaskier jumped from the stage and stopped the man from hitting me back with his lute before dragging me out. We ran into the forest and sat next to each other in silence. He then started playing his lute for me, the darkness of the night humming around us. He leaned in and kissed my cheek, promising me that he’d always be there for me. Two days later he left.” “He always was there though, right?” “I never stopped thinking about him.” “And him of you.” She hugged you tight, standing up and pulling you up with her. “I can see the way he looks at you, the way he talks about you, and I can assure you that he never stopped carrying you along with him on his journeys. Anyway, let’s go, they must be ready by now.” “Ready? For what?” “You’ll see” she winked at me, pulling me towards the path and walking us back to our home. 

You walked up to the cottage and stopped, noticing the golden lights coming from the garden. You turned to Myristica, whom just smiled and placed a hand on your back, gently pushing you in. You walked through the door and into the garden, where Geralt, Jaskier and Aurora waited. “Aurora! Aurora stay still! Geralt, what do I do? She keeps crawling away!” “Look.” Geralt looked up and met your eyes, a warm smile appearing on his face. “How’s looking going to help? I can barely keep her still with my hands, I doubt my eyes are going to do the trick!” he yelled, exasperated. You took a step forward, looking around at the beautiful structure they had built. Three big branches stood tall, uniting in the middle, with a white cloth draped over them, making a small tent. Flowers where placed around it, as well as on the floor. Some candles lit the way up to the family that was waiting for you. Jaskier looked up triumphantly as he caught Aurora and pulled her in his arms, turning towards Geralt before following his gaze to meet you. He walked over to you and placed a kiss on your lips before resting Aurora in Myris’s arms. He took you under his arm and walked towards Geralt. “You two have decided to become husband and wife. I’m here today, along with Myris and your daughter, Aurora, to celebrate your love. Jaskier, I know you wanted to share some words.” “Yes, thank you Geralt.” He bowed his head slightly, before fully facing you. “I met you so long ago, yet every moment spent with you is a gift that can’t last long enough. You’re my stars, my sunshine, my light, you give me the strength to be the best man I can be. The day I left all color left my world along with you, and even if I was stupid enough to leave destiny has somehow made me find my way back to you. Since the day you chose to be my friend you have never left my side, and I promise you that I’ll never leave yours. I’m the luckiest man to be able to share my passions, my love, my songs and my life with you, and now a family. You make me the happiest I could be.” He took your face in his hands, wiping away some stray tears “I promise to always be there for you, no matter how far I am. I promise to always do my best to cheer you up. I promise to shut up when you need me to shut up and I promise to never steal the covers away – unless you’re hogging them and leaving me in the cold – and I promise you to be the best companion you could have in life. I love you, and if I must I’ll dedicate every breathing second to prove it to you.” You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him into you as you breathed out “I love you” in between kisses. “You… you may now kiss the bride?” Geralt added, looking at you and then at Myris, smiling before slipping away to grab some good ale and some food. You spent the rest of the night drinking and dancing and singing and kissing, you with Jaskier, Geralt with Myris and occasionally Aurora and random-food-item that she found in between naps. You ended up sleeping all together under the stars, tangled up in a big group hug, few hours before sunrise, with some early birds lulling you to sleep with their song and the sound of the waves rocking you to far away dreamlands.

[trashyswitch]

The Tickle Community’s Secret Members

Chapter 1: 2 Ticklish Members, One House

Patton discovers that Roman reads fanfiction on tickling! absolutely loves tickling people! Patton, who discovers he loves the feeling of being tickled, lets Roman be his ler.

Later on, Virgil discovers both of their secret!

Fun Fact of the day: Roman is a tickle addict. He has been for at least 4 years. It all started one day when he discovered he liked tickling people. He loved being able to turn someone into a puddle of giggles with his fingers alone. He also loved teasing people and making them super flustered. It's usually a treat to see someone so bashful and embarrassed. But to Roman, this treat needed to be presented as often as possible! His ache to see someone laugh so much, started to get greater as he got older.

One day, while tickling Logan, he discovered that certain people can endure more tickling better than others. Logan endured it for a while, but no one handles it better than Patton could. The person that couldn't handle it very well at all, was Remus. He hated being tickled. He thought it was too childish. He thought there were much better ways to annoy people, than making them laugh uncontrollably. So, despite being Remus's brother, Roman rarely tickled him. It was one of the only things that Roman respected. Besides, he wouldn't wanna piss off a RIDICULOUSLY ruthless ler. If provoked, Remus would become one of the most ruthless, teasy, and intimidating lers anyone has ever seen! And Roman has been a victim of his brutal attacks. So, he knows not to cross paths with an evil little bastard like him.

Later on, Roman discovered he liked watching tickle scenes in movies! Not only that, but through a quick google search, he also discovered there were tons of people like him! They liked writing fanfictions of movies and TV shows, which they called 'tickle fanfictions' or 'tickle fics' for short, they read other people's tickle fanfictions, and they separated themselves into 2 groups that came together: Lees and Lers. A Ler was the person that loved tickling people (which Roman sorted himself into), and a Lee was a victim of the tickle attacks. It turns out, there are people on the internet, that absolutely beg to be tickled! And Roman, being the ambitious ler he was, wished he could reach his hand into the screen and tickle the people on the other side of the screen. Not only that, but the lee accounts opened up a new can of information for Roman! Suddenly, there are multiple tickle tools that make the tickling more effective. There's cute scenarios people can set up and evil little teases people use on their lees to make them cower in bashful embarrassment. It was a very interesting community, and he soon joined the main social media sites he's been reading from! Now, he could secretly say he was part of the tickle community. However, he didn't dare tell any of the sides, not even Thomas! Yes, he loved them, and felt like he could trust them. But it was embarrassing to talk about out loud. So, he refused to talk to anyone about his strange hobby.

Little did he know, that Roman is actually living with a fellow member of the tickle community...

Patton was typing up a Disney tickle fan fiction between Jane and Tarzan. He had gotten pretty far on it, and was trying to come up with his own idea of where Jane's tickle spots would be. Her feet was already canon, so that was on the list. He considered other spots, but decided to narrow it down to her feet, armpits, and back of her neck. Patton had been a part of the tickle community for a while. He had learned what tickle tools work the best on him, he had learned about which types of finger tickling feels worse, and he's learned about which teases make his face turn red the best! How did he find this all out?

Well...he may have told someone...In the middle of an unbelievably large lee mood, he may have told Virgil so his fantasies could come alive. And what do you know: they did! It turns out, Virgil is a really good ler, if given a reason to be! He has wrecked Patton for the pure enjoyment of not only making Patton happy, but making himself feel happy along the way. Through his experiences with Patton, Virgil has become an ally for the tickle community. Though he hasn't opened the can of information himself yet, he recognizes how happy it makes Patton and is glad to support it and give him a good wrecking when he needs it most.

One day, 3 of the sides were hanging out in the living room. Roman was coloring a Princess coloring book, while Patton and Virgil were sitting beside each other, watching Gravity Falls on Virgil's phone. Recently, Thomas had gotten Disney+ to watch the very company he loves: Disney! And so, all of the sides have been enjoying having all these shows, movies, documentaries, and franchises all on one place. While watching Gravity falls, the episode came up where Dipper, taken over by Bill Cipher, was trying to take down Mabel and get the book. He had just tackled her down, and was ready to take the book back for good. However Mabel, being Dipper's twin sister, gladly says "But you're in Dipper's body, and I know all his weaknesses!". Before Bipper could question her motives, Mabel had placed her wiggling fingers under Bipper's armpit, and said "Tickle, tickle." while doing so. This caused Bipper to burst out in laughter and scream. He had never felt tickling before, so he jumped back out of pure fright.

"Hey Virgil?" Patton interrupted. Virgil paused the show and looked at Patton with a smile.

"Ya?" Virgil replied.

"What would it be like learning about tickling for the first time?" Patton asked. Virgil narrowed his eyes and looked away, trying to think.

"I have no clue..." Virgil thought, before letting a smirk grow onto his lips. "Probably...like this?" Virgil guessed, before squeezing Patton's knee. Patton let out a squeal before pulling the leg in and kicking it out. Next, Virgil tweaked Patton's side, and wiggle his fingers on his stomach.

"Wahahahait! Buhuhut, I knohohohow whahahat it ihihis!" Patton argued through his helpless giggles.

"That's true, but it still doesn't change the feeling." Virgil replied, switching from wiggling to squeezing the sides of his stomach.

"Ehehehehehehe! Vihihihirgihihihil!" Patton said happily.

"What? Does it tickle?" Virgil asked, acting oblivious to the fact that his fingers were causing Patton's laughter.

"Yehehehehehes! Patton replied as he flailed his arms around.

Next, Virgil wiggles his fingers onto Patton's exposed neck. Patton threw his head back and let all the laughter explode out of him.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! NOT THERE! NOHOHOT THEHEHEHERE!" Patton screeched with wide eyes.

"What?! But I thought you loved this spot?" Virgil teased with a smile.

"IHIHIHI DOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHO!" Patton replied, covering his face with his fists.

"Then why are you complaining?!" Virgil asked, attacking the back and right side of Patton's neck.

"IHIIHIHIHIT'S TOOHOHOHOHO MUHUHUHUHUCH!" Patton replied through his hysterical laughter.

"Picky, picky, picky..." Virgil muttered with a shit-eating grin. He removed his hands from Patton's neck, and went back to Patton's stomach. Patton's laughter died down to happy little giggles. "Is that a little better?" Virgil asked. Patton nodded as his giggles continued to leave his body.

Meanwhile, Roman had been watching the entire moment, wishing he would've had his phone on him at that moment. This would've been such a perfect thing to record! But at the same time, Roman felt...jealousy. He was jealous of Virgil, and how he was able to tickle the adorable father figure. But at the same time, he wanted to enjoy the scene in front of him for as long as he could. Maybe...he could make it longer by participating...

Roman placed his marker down, stood up and walked over to the scene. "Having fun there?" Roman asked.

"YEHEHEHEHEHEHESSS!" Patton replied. Roman's eyes widened. Wait...did he just say 'yes'? He's having fun! Does that mean he likes it? While trying to question the potential theory, Roman noticed something else very interesting about the scene: Patton wasn't pushing away! He was giggling his heart out as Virgil tickled him to bits. Perhaps he was right? Perhaps Patton likes being tickled?

"You look like you wanna join. Wanna help me out?" Virgil asked. Roman snapped right out of his thoughts at the amazing opportunity.

"Would I?!" Roman replied excitedly, before kneeling down to Virgil's level. Looking around, he decided to try out the spot Virgil tried first: Patton's knees. Grabbing the lower leg with his other hand, he used his dominant hand to tweak and squeeze at the tops of the knees first.

"EEEEEKK! HEHEHEHEHAHAHAHA!" Patton bursted out, squirming back and forth as both people tickled him to oblivion.

Patton, being the lee he was, was absolutely overjoyed! 2 people tickling beyond relief? This was a dream come true!

"Hey Virgil? How are his feet?" Roman asked. Patton's lost his train of thought then and there. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and his face became pale like a ghost!

"Oooh! That's a REALLY good spot for him! Especially, the toes." Virgil replied.

Roman gasped from excitement as he let go of Patton's leg. He scooted himself down to Patton's feet, removed Patton's adorable cat socks, and scratched at the inner arch of his foot.

"OH MY GAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAD!" Patton shouted. His hysterical laughter turned to cackles as Roman scratched the soles of his feet. Roman removed his fingers, to let the man breath.

"Holy crap...Looks like I have to pull out the big guns..." Roman declared, pulling up his sleeves to show off his 'big guns'.

Patton's eyebrows raised as his hand covered his mouth in anticipation. Instead of showing off his muscles, like Patton thought, Roman used his magic to create sparkly, red feathers. Using his hands, he lead the feathers towards the inner arch and the sole of Patton's left foot.

Patton let out a squeal and fell into a fit of joyful giggles. Roman fluttered the feathers back and forth with the magic in his hands, and smiled as he moved the feathers to the outer arch. Patton's head flew back and his giggles turned to blissful laughter.

"Your laughter is so adorable, Patton! Say, what would happen if the feathers got under your toes?" Roman asked, smirking. He pulled the feathers away, grabbed onto the feathers with his fingers, and got rid of the floating magic within them. Patton lifted up his upper body and balanced it with his hands, so he could watch.

Unfortunately for him, Patton wouldn't be able to watch very much because as soon as the feathers wriggled themselves in between the toes, Patton's body was back on the ground, laughing hysterically while squirming and pounding his fists into the ground. Roman was absolutely enjoying this. The fantasy of tickling someone to make them laugh endlessly, was exhilarating to him. Roman has always been fascinated about how something as simple as a small feather, can cause so much laughter to escape. It blew his mind the more he thought about it, and it was blowing his mind further as he demonstrated it. Maybe Logan would allow him to borrow one of his anatomy books to find out more on the subject...

"CROHOHOHOFTERS! CROFTEHEHEHERS!" Patton shouted. His face was getting more red by the second, and his limbs were getting tired of flailing and pounding the ground.

"Roman, I think that's enough now." Virgil warned. Roman nodded and removed the feathers from Patton's feet. As soon as the feathers were gone, Patton's body became limp. He was exhausted from the long tickle session, but was also overwhelmingly happy.

"I sense Crofters is a safe word?" Roman asked, completely unaware of what he just said. Virgil nodded.

"W-Wait...How do you...know about...safe words?" Patton asked through deep breaths.

Roman's eyes went wide, as his hand shot up to cover his mouth. How could he have said that?! No one knew about his secret...And, Roman didn't fully know if Patton was part of the tickle community. What if he was wrong, and he's humiliated himself in front of them?

"Telling by your eagerness to join in, and the fact that you literally created feathers out of magic for the pure reason to tickle him...Something tells me Roman is a Ler." Virgil theorized, looking at Patton near the end.

Roman's face turned a light red, as he bit his lip in nervousness. "Well...maaayybe I am...But how do YOU know about the term 'Ler'? Only people who are part of the community are aware of that term." Roman accused, in order to cover up his own embarrassment.

Virgil's eyebrows raised. He didn't expect for the accusations to turn onto him. "Well, I'm not. I'm aware of it, and a supporter of the community. Patton, on the other hand..." Virgil trailed off, looking at him. Patton let a smile grow onto his lips, and nodded. "...Is a part of the community. He's a Lee, and a proud one at that." Virgil said, as a smile grew onto his own lips as well.

Roman just about fainted at the unbelievable news. A member of the tickle community? Living in the mind palace WITH HIM?! How could he have missed this?! In the past, he's heard Patton's laughter coming from his room. But, he had assumed Patton was watching something funny with Virgil! Could it be that Virgil and Patton were having tickle sessions often without him realizing? This entire idea was overwhelming for him. And yet at the same time, questions had started flooding his brain. How could this have flown over his head? How long was Patton part of the tickle community? How long had Virgil known about it? Did Patton read fan fiction? Did Patton write fan fiction? If so, what fandom was he reading/writing about? HE NEED TO KNOW!

"Okay...I am. I'm a part of the tickle community. And, I'm a Ler." Roman confessed.

"I knew it!" Virgil exclaimed under his breath.

"Wait, REALLY?! You're part of the tickle community?!" Patton reacted, wide eyed with his jaw dropped.

"Yup. The Royal Ler, at your service." Roman declared, holding his hand out for a shake.

Patton smiled. "I'm Disney Lee. Nice to meet you." Patton replied, shaking his hand.

"Wait, Disney Lee? I recognize that name! You wrote those movie fanfics on Big Hero 6, Zootopia, and a few others! I LOVE your Tarzan fics! They're SO GOOD!" Roman exclaimed.

"You read them?! Oh my gosh! Do you write any fanfictions? If so, I should try reading them!" Patton reacted.

"Well...I haven't posted any yet. But I want to. I have a Star Wars fan fiction I'm working on! Wanna read it?" Roman asked.

"You bet I do! Virgil, you wanna join us?" Patton asked.

Virgil waved them away. "Nah, I'm gonna watch another episode of The Mandalorian, I think. You two have fun!" Virgil said, before crashing onto the couch.

While Virgil watched The Mandalorian, Patton and Roman got to talk about their shared hobby! They talked about their fandoms, the community members they follow, the social media sites they have accounts on, and even some of the deep secrets that live within the tickle community. Their favorite tickle tools, what teases get them the worst, their absolute worst spots, and how ticklish they really are.

Roman, being the Ler he was, pulled out a big box from under his bed.

"What is it?" Patton asked.

Roman put a finger over his own mouth, before taking the lid off to reveal the inside. Patton just about died from what was inside...

[mysweetestcreature]

Tomorrow Never Knows (President!Harry) Chapter 7: Two Princes

(Banner by the wonderful noblewomankat!)

***

Masterlist

***

Monday, November 10, 2008

Y/n doesn’t know what it is, but the dreams about the bench atop the flowery hill continue to evade her dreams night after night. Every morning she wakes up, a new detail having just been discovered and needing to be added to the initial sketch that she had started two months ago. Although, there was a period of about two or three weeks where she hadn’t dreamt of the scene at all. She might have even forgotten about it all together had it not been one of the first pages in her book. 

She stands at her locker, grazing her fingers over the indents of the heavier lines as though they were the actual real-life thing. 

“That’s a nice drawing.” 

A smile arises at the scratchy notes of his vocal cords. 

“Why, thank you,” she chirps before closing the sketchbook and placing with precision on the second shelf. (She’ll be sure to work on it again later.) “Good morning!” 

Harry raises his hand over his mouth to stifle a yawn. “Morning,” he barely rasps out. Slowly, he works his combination into the lock. As soon as it opens up, he tosses a bike helmet onto the locker floor. 

“Did you bike all the way here?” Y/n gapes in surprise.

“It’s not that far. Mum’s away on business and Gem’s staying over at her boyfriend’s until she gets back.” After Gemma had dropped Anne off at John F. Kennedy Airport last night, she had texted Harry saying that she would be staying at Michal’s house for the rest of the week (they’re very serious, as his sister puts it). It’s not like he minds it all that much though, he quite likes having the house to himself as long as it doesn’t last more than a week. 

***

Maybe he’d been a complete and utter arse in his past life, it’s the only explanation as to why he hasn’t been able to maintain appropriate stress levels for more than a few days. He really can’t help but wonder what he did to piss off the people upstairs because as soon as he had finally cleared the air between him and Y/n, this just had to happen. 

Harry doesn’t like –– no, no, more like he hates –– Jasper Daniels with every ounce of his being, in fact.

And Harry doesn’t hate anyone! He’s always been pretty accepting of others, even when they’ve been jerks to him at times, but there’s just something about him that makes him want to take a football and aim it directly at the guy’s gut. What really gets his blood pressure going is how everyone, and really, he just means Y/n, thinks he’s the coolest person in the entire world. Sure, Jasper writes poetry and reads it to the elderly down at the senior center twice a week, and maybe he does play the violin like a professional out of the philharmonic orchestra. Other than that, there’s really nothing that special about him.

“He’s super hot, if you ask me,” Cici says, eyes as hazy as a dream while she admires the back of his head. “Like he’s totally got that Abercrombie model vibe going on.”

“I don’t know, that beanie makes him look dumb. Don’t you think it’s weird how he never takes it off?” Harry presses, glaring down as he shreds the remains of his chicken fingers, collecting them in a large pile on a nearby napkin. Even at lunch, where all he wants is to sit down and enjoy a meal, he can’t escape.

Cici looks at him knowingly, an almost evil smirk forming across her lips as she turns to her best friend. Maxxie kicks her under the table, desperately shaking his head as to tell her to stop, but she pushes forward anyway. “What do you think, Y/n? You know him better than I do.” 

“Hm?” she hums, brows rising high before she can tear herself away from her sketchbook. “Jasper?” she asks when she looks up, Cici nods. “He’s really nice! When I went with him to his mom’s birthday, he–”

“Wait, what?” Harry drops the last bit of chicken. “Like-like as his date?” Who brings someone they’ve just met to a parent’s birthday party!? He’s known her for about three months now, and he has yet to introduce her to Anne and Gemma! 

“I wouldn’t go that far,” she giggles, stealing a fry from Harry’s tray. “His mom knew I was making her cake, so she told Jasper to bring me along.” She takes a bite out of the fry, face contorting in displeasure as she clicks her tongue against the roof of her mouth. 

Harry slides her a packet of ketchup. “Here,” he mutters under his breath. 

“Thank you!” she cheers happily, squeezing the entire thing onto the rest of his fries. “His parents are really nice! His mom is Filipino, so the food was so good! Have you guys ever had pancit? There’s a Fil-Am restaurant just off Main Street, we should totally check it out!” 

“We should!” Cici agrees. “And maybe we should invite Jasper, just so we know what to get.” 

Maxxie bites harshly on his bottom lip, daring to look at Harry, who he’s afraid might explode with any further provocation. “You know,” he starts, “I was actually hoping we could get ice cream!”

“It’s like forty degrees outside,” Cici deadpans.

“And is ice cream in forty-degree weather a crime or something?” Maxxie chuckles nervously. “Or what about sushi! If we leave right after bell, we can order in time to get the lunch special prices! Seven dollars for two different rolls? I mean, how do you beat that?” 

***

“What are you doing?” Maxxie asks her as soon as he arrives at her table in the library. After being dismissed from Drawing, he had shouted a rushed goodbye to Y/n before running through Abbott Hall (even getting a demerit from Mrs. Murphy because he had slammed into her cart, causing all of her hydrogen chloride to spill onto the floor).

Cici doesn’t even look up from her homework. “Geometry,” she answers evenly.  

He sighs, dropping his messenger bag by the foot of the table. He falls into the chair across from her, crossing his arms and pouting at her like an upset child who has just been refused dessert. “I meant, what the hell was that at lunch? I thought you liked Harry?”

“I do,” Cici says, but sighs immediately afterwards. She places her pencil gently down into the crease of her notebook. It’s not like she called him after midnight just to chat. Of course, she had every intent of helping the guy out. Their talk was so inspiring (she should really get an award for world’s best motivational speaker) that he went all the way to Y/n’s house not even twelve hours later. “But you didn’t see her after he kissed Zoey.”

“And you didn’t see him when she wouldn’t talk to him. I’ve never seen someone so miserable in his life,” he counters. 

“Look...” She leans back in her seat and pulls on her ponytail and runs her fingers through all the knots. “I want them together as much as you do, but until then, let him suffer just a little bit. No one makes my best friend cry and not have to pay some consequence for it. 

Maxxie blows raspberries into the air. “Hasn’t he agonized enough, though? He texted me like an hour ago and I could practically feel the tears in his text.”

“That’s–”

“Heartbreaking?”

“I was going to say ‘dramatic,” Cici snorts, returning her attention back to her assignment. 

Rolling his eyes, Maxxie gets up. “Well you’re–”

“A stellar friend?”

“I was going to say, ‘slightly sadistic.’”

***

“I definitely would recommend the chicken adobo and lumpiang shanghai for first-timers,” Jasper says over Y/n’s shoulder as they all look at the food selections. Instead of choosing what he wants, however, Harry can’t help the scowl on his face as he looks at the two of them. Although, he’ll admit that everything behind the glass screen looks absolutely mouthwatering, or maybe it’s just that he hadn’t eaten much of his lunch earlier. 

“Oh! Do they have pancit?” Y/n asks excitedly. 

Jasper signals towards the woman behind the counter. “Ate, may pancit pa ba kayo?” (“Do you guys have any pancit left?”)

“Wait lang! Tingnan ko sa kusina.” (“Just wait! I’ll check in the kitchen.”)

Harry squeezes between Y/n and Cici, earning him a whack in the arm from the latter when she stumbles into Maxxie’s side. “So, you’re bilingual?” he muses. 

“Tri, actually,” Jasper shrugs as though he isn’t impressing everyone around him. “My grandma was a high school German teacher, so I’m pretty good at conversational talk.” 

The smile that lands itself on Harry’s mouth couldn’t be any more strained, the muscles in his cheeks slowly starting to ache. “That’s...that’s great!” he exclaims through gritted teeth. Of course, how could he expect anything less? Turning to Maxxie, his expression falters. “Isn’t that just great?”

The blonde boy nods all too cautiously. “Yeah,” he draws out, switching places with Cici. He leans in just enough to whisper in his ear. “Are you sure you don’t want to leave? My mom’s just at the Shop Rite right around the corner.” 

Harry can sense the panic in his tone, just as Maxxie can feel how the air that surrounds him might just be a little too stuffy for the five of them. However, he chooses to brush off the suggestion. There’s no way he’s leaving, only to give rise to an opportunity for Jasper to make a move in his absence. “Is that chocolate?” he asks, pointing to a dark, almost black dish with lumps of unknown floating at the top. 

The woman behind the counter laughs loudly, bending over backwards and clapping her hands repeatedly. “Tsokolate daw!” (“Chocolate!”) she blurts out with a giggle, wiping a tear from along her lash line. “This is dinuguan. It’s like a pork blood stew. Very delicious!”

“Oh, that’s um...” Harry turns his head to the side, both Y/n and Jasper’s eyes trained on him. It’s like the next words to come out of his mouth are being anticipated by the masses, and one wrong move may lead to the ultimate humiliation in front of her.

“Hey, man,” Jasper starts, “it’s okay if you’re not up for it. Some Filipino food can be a little daunting for first-timers.”  His hand lands itself around Y/n’s shoulders when he squeezes in the already tight space that lingers between them. “This one saw the lechon at my mom’s party and almost fainted. She wouldn’t even go near it!”

“Excuse me!” she gasps. “But that was a whole pig on the dining table!” She cups her face, shaking her head as she relives the vivid memory over again. 

None of this amuses Harry. Not one bit. The more he thinks about how close these two have become in just a short amount of time –– probably even less than when he and Y/n had first met –– feels like his insides are being wrung like a wet towel. “You know what, give me the blood stew.”

***

Thursday, November 13, 2008

During Algebra, Harry can’t stop himself from glancing her way every couple of minutes. There’s nothing in particular that he wants –– besides for Jasper Daniels to disappear off the face of the earth –– that is going to have to wait, unfortunately. She just has this thing about her, like the way she crinkles her nose when she’s in full-mode concentration, to the way she bites on her tongue when Mr. Daughtry calls on another student when she’s had the answer solved in a fraction of the time, that constantly reels him in. He doesn’t think he’s ever met someone both adorable and attractive bundled into one body. 

“Do I have something on my face?” she cocks a brow up. She’s tried to ignore the feeling of his eyes boring into her skull, but she lost the battle with herself that had restrained the desire to gaze back into the emeralds he has for eyes. 

“No,” he’s quick to answer back, quietly though (he doesn’t want Mr. Daughtry to have him go up to the board). “It’s just...” 

Y/n quirks her head. “Just?”

“It’s nothing,” he gulps, tugging lightly on the knot of his tie. He faces the front of the room and jots down the newest equation on the board, his jaw muscles tense under his skin. 

The silence that suddenly arises on his end makes her weary of his thoughts. She gives him one last narrowed look before deciding it would be wiser to let it go. Sometimes letting it go can save an overly curious mind, even one as active as hers. Just this morning, Jeremy had berated her for being too nosey when he had dragged a large box in from the garage. “Don’t you have to be in school or something? Sheesh! Can’t a guy live peacefully without his daughter hounding him? What is this? ‘Ask Dad a million questions’ day?” And all she had asked was if he wanted some help (her dad isn’t much of a lifter).

Pretending to be completely taken with solving for ‘x,’ Harry finally breathes out a softly spoken answer, one barely above a faint murmur. “You’re just really pretty, is all.” 

Y/n’s pencil scrapes across the entire page just as she’s about to put a dash across the stem of her seven. 

“What did you just say?” Had her ears heard that right? There’s no way she could have mistaken it! Does he really think that? She can practically feel a fire spread across her cheeks and internalize all the way to her erratic heartbeat. 

“Fifty! I said the answer might really be fifty.”  

Disappointment settles on her features. “Oh.” 

***

Things might have taken a turn for the worse for her today. First and foremost, she thinks she might have to get her hearing checked. Second, she received a text from her dad during cheer practice saying that he wouldn’t be able to pick her up on time because Mason’s parent-teacher conference is running behind schedule, and that she should get a ride home with Cici. Well, she wishes she could’ve read his message before Cici had driven off with her brother. She could always wait for her mom to come fetch her, but Olivia’s office doesn’t close until seven today since so many of her patients are coming in with broken brackets (the few weeks after Halloween are always the busiest, apparently).

Y/n sighs, looking down at the time on her phone screen, 5:09 PM, great. 

She stands just outside the main entrance, carefully thinking through what she should do now. The school grounds are completely abandoned. With the cold weather comes darker skies earlier in the day, and there’s no way she’ll be able to walk home by herself now that the sun is barely visible above the horizon. 

Maybe she will just wait for her mom. The library is open until eight, after all.  

“What are you still doing here?” 

She nearly jumps out of her skin. “Where the heck did you come from?” she screeches, hand flying over her heart. 

“Sorry,” Harry apologizes. “I just got out of the locker room. Coach kept me and a few others to talk strats for the championships next week.” 

“My mom can’t pick me up till after seven, so I was just going to head to the library,” she replies sadly. 

Harry looks back towards the building, a crease forming above the bridge of his nose. “It’s a bit late for you to be here by yourself,” he notices. 

“There are probably still people insi–”

“I can bring you home.” 

Her lips purse together at his suggestion. A strong gust of wind hits her behind her, her hair blowing around the perimeters of her face. “Is your sister back home?” she wonders while she attempts tame the loose strands. 

“Well, no,” he says, a slight hint of embarrassment dripping off the last syllable. “But my bike can hold us both. C’mere.” Taking her hand in his, he leads her towards the bike rack, where his bike stands alone. “See, you can sit right here!” He points to the long top tube just in front of the seat. 

“Is it safe?” she can’t hide the apprehension of her tone. Her other hand slides over the cool metal, and her fingers curl around the tube as though to test its durability. 

“Completely. And besides...” He takes the helmet tucked under his arm, then places it gently on top of her head. “I would never let anything happen to you.” He sheepishly grins when he realizes how cute she looks. 

She touches the top of her head, unable to keep her lips from turning upwards. A soft giggle escapes her as she buckles the chin strap tightly. Harry’s smile only grows wider, and he eagerly swings a leg over the other side and kicks the stand up. 

“Take a seat then, milady,” he says with a wink. 

Thank god she hadn’t needed to bring so many things in her bag home. She fixes the skirt of her cheer uniform before sliding her bottom over the side of the tube. When she’s finally able to settle on a comfortable position (her choices are limited) she looks to her side. What she hadn’t expected was for his face to be so close hers, the tips of their noses brushing against each other. His eyes stare into her briefly, before shifting a few inches lower, lips parting on their own accord. 

Y/n quickly turns her head the other way and swallows. “So, are we leaving now or what?” 

His arms envelop either side of her as they grasp tightly on the handlebars. If her cheeks hadn’t already been slightly flushed from the cold air, she’s sure they would be a forbidden shade of pink from the way the inside of her chest refuses to calm itself. 

***

As they stroll along Main Street, she soon realizes that maybe –– and just maybe –– she really likes being this close to him, especially when she can feel the puffs of each of his warm breaths on her cheek and on the back of her neck. The tingles reach all the way down to her toes, and she has to remind herself that she can’t fidget too much, or else they might topple over. 

“Do you want to stop by Hidden Grounds?” he asks her, slowing down at the store’s front. “I could go for a rose chai.”

“I love Hidden Grounds!” she exclaims, ardently nodding. “But it’s my turn to pay, okay?” 

Harry chuckles, shrugging his shoulders as he cuts across the sidewalk and parks next to the building. She hops off and waits patiently as he fishes his chain from inside his backpack. “Just a sec,” he mumbles, eyes brightening when the back of his hand grazes over it. 

“No problem,” she muses. After he secures his bike to the railings, he turns to her, dimples set in as he signals to the front. 

They’re shocked to see the coffee house being as packed as it is. Almost all of the tables are occupied, and by students from Ashwood, nonetheless! Y/n tenses when she sees Zoey sitting in the far corner with her minions. The redhead spots them, her face contorting as she whispers to the girl on her left. “Hey, Harry!” she yells over the combination of loud voices and music. “Want to join us?” But Harry rolls his eyes, choosing to ignore her. And he thought he had managed to shake her off him. He and Y/n try their best to swerve around the crowds of people to get to the register. Hopefully, they’ll be able to be in and out for a to-go order in less than ten minutes. 

As a chair loudly screeches across the floor, Harry swiftly pulls Y/n against him before a particularly rambunctious individual (Mark Jeffries from the wrestling team) can back into them. “Watch it, man,” Harry chides, still holding her close. Both her hands fall just below his bent elbows, her cheek pressed up against his chest. Her eyes are wide when Mark stands up, towering over both of them like a skyscraper. Yet, Harry is completely unfazed. “You nearly knocked her over.”

Mark glowers at him, but leaves it be when he sees the manager come up behind them. “Sorry,” he mutters to her, then signs to his friends to follow him out the door. 

Y/n touches Harry’s shoulder. “Let’s go order?” She looks up at him with a soft expression. The harshness in his eyes immediately dissolves and he nods. She turns in his hold, her hands landing atop of his that are on her hips, so not to lose him in the tight spaces. Harry doesn’t bother to hide his elation as they move in sync to the front counter.  

***

It’s a quarter before six when they finally make it to her house. Y/n invites him inside to drink their beverages before the tea fully cools down, and he’s more than happy to accept her offer. The ride from the coffee house to her home had been uneventful, but it still managed to make Harry’s heart skip a beat whenever she’d turn to look at him when she had something to say. He thinks he’ll offer to take her home more often. 

They find Mason in the living room, Mulan playing on the TV. He’s just at the part where all of China bows down to the heroine. “Mason...” Y/n sings, putting her finger up to her lips when she briefly glances at Harry from over her shoulder. “I have a surprise for you!” 

When the little boy cranes his head back to his sister, he’s instantly filled with glee when he sees his new best friend right beside her. “Harry!” He jumps up and runs to him with lightning speed into Harry’s ready arms. “You’re here again?” he gasps when Harry picks him up.

“Of course!” Harry says firmly. “I told your sister that you and I still had to watch Lilo & Stitch together.” He reaches into the takeaway bag in Y/n’s hand and pulls out a smaller bag. “And I even got you a movie snack.” Mason bounces excitedly when he peeks inside. “Brownies!” he cheers. “Thanks, Harry!”

Just as they take a seat on the island stools, Jeremy frantically rushes in. His face full of surprise when he sees his daughter home so soon (he had been upstairs and thought someone might have broken into the house).

“How’d you get here so fast?” he questions.

“Harry gave me a ride,” she answers, taking a sip from her cup. “Yes! It’s still hot!” 

Jeremy looks to the boy next to her. “You drive?” 

“No, sir,” Harry shakes his head. He seats Mason in the chair on the other side of him “I do have a bike, though.” 

“A bike...” the older man repeats. He walks around the island to stand closer to Harry. “What kind of bike?”

Harry licks along his top lip as he places his cup down. “Um...” he thinks. “Just a regular bike, I guess.”

“Describe it.” 

“It’s silver!” Y/n offers after she swallows another mouthful of chai.

“Yeah,” Harry agrees. “I’ve had it for like a year now. I think it’s a cyclocross, maybe a hybrid.”

“What else?”

“Well, I put this Packers sticker on the–”

Jeremy slams his hand down on the table, causing both teens to jump in their seats (Mason is too taken with his brownie to notice). “Did you just say Packers?” He closes his eyes, and a curled fist rises solemnly to his lips. When what sounds like a sniffle erupts from him, Harry and Y/n look at each. 

“Dad?” Y/n asks, almost pleading. “Are you okay?” 

Her father nods his head, suddenly turning to face away from them. “Harry,” he croaks. “Would you...” 

Another sniffle sounds from him. Mason looks at his sister, confusion written all over his face. “What’s wrong with Daddy?” But she honestly can’t say she knows what’s going on. Meanwhile, Harry isn’t sure if he should leave. Was it something he said?

“Would you...” he starts up again. “Would you like to stay for dinner?” 

Harry’s jaw drops. 

“Uh...” But he’s completely out of words at the moment, mostly because he truly thought he was about to get thrown out. It’s no question, he’s getting a little fed up with the prepped meals that Anne had left him, and the look on both Y/n’s and Mason’s faces only encourages him further. 

With his pause, it’s quiet enough to hear the television in the next room. “Would you like to stay forever?”

“Yeah,” he smiles, “I’d love to.” 

***

[alltheangstmygifttoyou]

A Real Hero

A/N: Augh I love this part so much. Welcome to part nine of the Learn To Be Prequel and today we are from Jester’s perspective looking at the start of a very important event in her life. Some day I’m going to write this part from June’s perspective so everyone else in the world can have the same context I do but for now everyone is left in the dark and I’m left to cry about a minor character in my own story.

Summery: Jester is given a letter from Father that leaves her upset so she goes to her room to calm down. But while she’s in her room she notices some drama going down with June in the open dormitory. Shit hits the fan.

Word Count: 2647

TW: violence, mentioned child abuse, death

The dinner hall was alight with hundreds of voices excitedly telling each other about their days. On the left side of the hall Jesse sat with a group of friends, on the right Jester sat alone. She could join her twin brother’s table, but it was clear that Jesse didn’t like her there. The only one who did like her at that table was Jackson. To compromise, Jester only sat at that table during breakfast, no one told her to avoid the table afterwards, but they didn’t need to. Jester didn’t want to upset Jesse, but she was tired of being alone. The fact that Jesse didn’t want her around wasn’t surprising but it still left her aching.

 A balding staff member covered in sagging wrinkles tossed a white envelope in front of Jester. Despite the closeness between the tables and bodies the staff member took special care to not touch Jester. Rolling her eyes Jester took the envelope and saw her family seal. The green wax formed in the shape of a shield with four different sections, each with symbols Jester had seen a thousand times before. A fist in the top right for strength, a heart in the top left for love, a thorned rose in the bottom right for defense, and a bloody dagger in the bottom left for a sharp mind. Jester took what satisfaction she could out of breaking the seal but it was gone when she pulled the letter out. As always the envelope carried two letters, one for Jester and one for Jesse. If Jester liked what Mother had to tell Jesse she’d give him his letter tomorrow morning, if not, he didn’t need to see. Jester had already kept two letters this year. Mother could be very harsh in her letters about his grades and choices in friends. Jesse didn’t need that. The most important letter was Father’s anyway, and Jesse never saw those.

Father’s instructions were clear, list out the rest of section fifteen powers from years four and below. The younger the easier to manipulate. Although the last line in the letter made Jester struggle to not crumple the letter into a little ball. ‘Get closer to Jackson, he’ll need emotional support soon, and it needs to be clear the Quinn family will be there for him.’ Jester didn’t know what Father was planning, but he had to be planning something. He was going to hurt Jackson’s mom’s business was Jester’s best guess. She knew he would make her take advantage of the one friend she had. Jester could warn him, but her ribs ached, an echo of Father’s last lesson. Frustration welled up and Jester slammed her fist on the table before grabbing her bag and storming off to her room. The long walk managed to only irritate her further as the halls were filled with people hanging out together, smiling, laughing, things Jester had to spend her day faking or holding in.

The section fifteen girls dormitory main room was empty. It’s dirty dull beige walls less comforting than the pristine white of home. Nowhere should have felt worse than home but this place managed it. The urge to break the two broken chairs completely was causing her fists to shake but she went to her room. June wasn’t in there for once which Jester couldn’t be more thankful for. She tossed the letters into her duffel bag and kicked her mattress as hard as she could. It jumped a little but it didn’t go far. The only result was Jester’s foot hurt. Taking a deep breath Jester tried to think of a productive way to unleash the energy. She had posters she wanted to put up, some nails, and a hammer in the bag she had remembered when packing up. Learn To Be didn’t search bags for weapons and section fifteen didn’t seem to get room checks often. In a dormitory full of dangerous powerful people having a weapon couldn’t hurt her odds of survival. Plus she couldn’t find the tape at home.

With more force than necessary Jester put up five posters, each with four nails. She would have continued but she hadn’t brought anything else to put up. Her photo wall at home was too private to have in a room she shared. The only reason she had the posters in the first place was because they were sponsored by Father’s company. She didn’t put them up in her room at home because they were just random motivational quotes splashed in color, but they were better than plain and stained walls. Jester was sweating but she felt like her chest wasn’t as heavy. She put the hammer and extra nails away and grabbed her make-up wipes and took all of the work she had put on her face off. Tomorrow she would wear something extra nice, have her face done with as much precision as she could, and she would be the manipulative devil her Father wanted, but tonight she wanted to be Jester, whoever she was. A twin with her first friend that she didn’t want to lose.

Jester laid on her dirty mattress trying to figure out a way to show Jackson that she did truly appreciate him. Not because Father liked him but because he was nice to her. He reached out when no one else did. She thought back to Basics and what they would do for each other during the holidays. A handmade card would be nice. All she had to work with was notebook paper, a pencil, and a pen with black ink, which shook her determination a bit but she tried to keep in mind it was the thought that counted. Jackson wouldn’t be judging it for imperfections like Mother and Father.

Jester folded the notebook paper hamburger style and began sketching fancy lettering for the front ‘Thank you’. With the little room left at the bottom Jester tried to draw a bust of a cartoon Jackson. It was lopsided no matter how many times she erased and tried again so she put a heart at the bottom. But that could be confused as romantic and Jester was sure Father wouldn’t like it if she entered a relationship without permission. On the other hand she had told herself she wouldn’t worry about Father tonight. In the end she erased the heart and put an arch of stars differing in size. On the inside of the card she wrote a smaller message ‘for being my friend’ in her regular script. On the right page of the inside she drew two hands holding on to each other, something Jackson and her had never done but she was pretty sure that friends did. Jesse used to hold her hand, but they were twins so their relationship wasn’t a good baseline.

As Jester went through the steps of making the card look nice, lining with the pen, adding contrast through cross hatching, and signing her name on the back, two things occurred to her. One, the broken light in her room had been on longer than ever before, and two, June still hadn’t come in. Perhaps it wasn’t any of her business, June certainly didn’t care about her, but Jester was still worried. She carefully tucked Jackson’s card into her notebook and ventured out of her little room.

The dormitory was brighter than usual, the cracks underneath all the closed doors revealed their lights were working, at least temporarily. Walking into the main form entrance Jester realized that leaving her room was a mistake. There were at least fifteen people in the big room, not close to full, but many more than usual. Three girls blocked the exit and two stood at the edges to the hall. Jester walked toward them. In the middle of the room June faced off against a group of older girls wearing nice clean clothes. Jester recognized a couple from people in upper sections she had talked business and powers with once for Father’s list. There were two guys in the center as well. Something was about to go down. Jester wanted no part in it, but her thoughts needled her about leaving June. This looked like it wouldn’t end pretty for the red head.

“What do you want?” One of the girls by the entrance snapped. She had short curly brown hair and at least five inches on Jester.

“What’s going on? All the lights are on…” Jester was happy to not have makeup on for once. She looked her age a bit more without it. The taller girl’s frown deepened and her hip jutted out further.

“That’s nothing for you to worry about kid, just go back to your room.” The tall girl spat with the haughtiness of a spoiled princess. Jester looked past the tall girl as she spoke to see electricity crackling around a blonde moving towards June. June didn’t back up, she just glared forward. Given June’s power to kill, Jester doubted June had much to fear.

“Go kid,” the tall girl snapped and Jester turned around to head back. Part of her wanted to summon that girl's greatest fear, but that would just cause problems. As Father had told her, patience brings rewards.

Her freshly decorated room was still too boring to bring any comfort. Instead, the posters just reminded her of Father. She was tempted to sit with her ear to the door, but she couldn’t hear anything when the tall girl was in front of her so she definitely would hear anything now with a closed door and thirty feet of hall between them. All that was left to do was wait-- something Jester had practice at. She worked on homework for math but it didn’t take long. The numbers added up tight.

After a quarter of an hour just sitting in thought Jester’s light bulb seemed to shine brighter, but a high pitch whine stung her ears, Covering her ears with her hands and squeezing her eyes shut, she missed seeing the light bulb burst. Glass flew around the room, one piece lightly grazing her right arm. Despite her eyes being shut, she could sense the room darken. While the whine was gone, a muffled yelling could be heard. Slowly Jester opened her eyes and blinked a few times to let her eyes get adjusted. There was no light under the door crack anymore, meaning the other lights had either gone out or shattered too. Despite this as her eyes adjusted Jester could see blobs of motion. Doors were slamming into walls and female voices overlapped all trying to figure out what happened. It would be stupid to go out in that mess, a bunch of dangerous kids stuck in the dark, but Jester wanted to know what was happening first hand. She swept the glass out of her way with the slow movement of her feet before she pulled open her door.

The hallway was full of girls, young and older teens alike trying to push their way to the opening room of the dormitory, their pathetic excuse of a living room, and the only place to exit in the whole dorm. It was easy to follow the flow but once they were closer to the living room itself no one was moving. People were yelling, telling the ones at the front to go but they weren’t moving. Some people started pushing their way through and Jester joined them, although many of those who had been pushing stopped when they got to the front too, Jester just pushed them out of the way as well. Once in the main dorm room she moved out and to the side, out of the way of them all. Everything was difficult to make out but there were definitely people huddled on the floor and two figures yelling at another shorter figure. Unable to understand over the cacophony of noise, Jester edged her way around the room, staying close to the wall, until she was facing the back of the figure on the receiving end of the yelling. Now that she was closer it seemed like the one being yelled at was June, and the guys from earlier were yelling.

“You fucking killed her you psycho bitch!” A deep voice shouted and Jester couldn’t help but look back at the huddle of people. It’s possible they were surrounding a body. The thought made her stomach drop. Jester looked toward the exit to see people running towards it. Opening the doors allowed light from the schools hallways to seep in. June stood in front of Jester holding her left shoulder, the huddle of bodies were mainly the girls from the upper sections. A few of them moved towards the light showing that a body did indeed lay on the floor. From the hallway people in the front began to scream shrill sounds that echoed throughout the room. Many of them pushed their way backwards through the crowd only for the next line of people to see and panic as well.

Jester was acutely aware of the power of fear, after all it is what her power caused, and what fueled her Father’s power. While rage was a good way to get people to lash out with their power, fear had the tendency to make people lose control. The students that had broken in seemed to realize that causing a panic in the dormitory for people with dangerous powers was a terrible idea and began to back away from the screaming mass.

The first sign of trouble came when the darkness itself seemed to begin to move on its own, pushing people back. People were slammed against the walls by the living shadow. Then as the shadows attacked people became defensive, someone began spitting at the shadows, and where the globs landed the floor caught fire. The older students began running out of the dorm, trained to keep their powers in control in a stressful situation, while the younger students had barely begun to learn. The boys in front of June made a break for it, one running incredibly fast leaving the other behind. June watched on, her shoulders slumped. The exit was propped open at this point from the constant stream of people escaping so it was easy to see inside, the fires popping up helped the light situation as well. There were people lying on the floor next to the walls, Jester hoped they were just unconscious. Most of the screams left were guttural and seemed to be from pain more than panic. Shadows waved randomly from the hall, whoever summoning them obviously not in any sort of control. June turned to leave only to spot Jester.

“You said you’d stop following me,” her words were grumbled but lacked conviction.

“This seemed the safest place to stand,” Jester responded shrugging. The fact that this was happening felt absurd. “Are you okay?” That question felt more appropriate to the situation.

“You should see the other guy,” June rubbed her shoulder as she spoke. Jester looked at where there had been the group of people only to see a lone body with blonde hair laying on the floor. Blood seeped out of the nose and mouth, and the eyes appeared to be open. “You should get out kid. This isn’t going to go well.” June always looked tired, but Jester remembered the conviction the redhead had always had. It was gone now.

“Am I going to see you again?” Jester asked, they weren’t friends, but they could have been. Jester could see herself becoming June in the future, if she played her cards wrong.

“You’re going to be the only one in the room, enjoy.” June’s bitter tone made Jester’s lips pucker. “Seriously, go away Jester,” and Jester listened, only because she hadn’t known June cared enough to learn her name.

[pixelatedrose]

A Rose For A Valentine

Part 1/Part 2/Part 3/???

Word Count: 1504

Cast:

Lochesis Lodgick (logic). Lo, Lochy, Sisi for nicknames

Pandora Morralitie (morality) Panda, Pan, Dora, Pancake for nicknames

Rose Kreativve (creativity) Ro, Princess for nicknames

Valentine Anxxiatie (anxiety) Val, Valen for nicknames

Dahlia Desceat (deceit) Dahl, Di, Dahli for nicknames

Ruby Kreativve (Remus/intrusive thoughts) Ru, Ruru for nicknames

Riley Sleapp (Sleep) Riy, Lili for nicknames

Emily Picani (Emile) Em, Emmy for nicknames

Trigger warnings: Verbally fighting, Breakdowns, mentions of sex, uncensored swearing, fake friends

Chapter 3

  Rose walked out of the classroom, knowing Pandora would be calling her later to ask why she'd lied.

  Rose didn't ride the bus home.

  She never had.

  She just didn't want that stupid emo nightmare trying to talk to her, no matter what the reason.

  "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid…!" Rose muttered to herself as she stormed out of the building. So much for a good first day of school…

  What had happened at lunch was a nightmare that wouldn't be easily forgiven, regardless of the fact that Valentine wouldn't have had any way of knowing.

~~•~~

  "It's none of your business who Pandora is friends with!" Valentine shouted. "And who's to say that maybe she'd rather be friends with someone who's deeper than a puddle on the sidewalk!"

  Rose's mind jumped into action. This emo was starting to cross over the line of things Rose was willing to put up with.

  "Are you calling me shallow?!" Rose yelled, holding a hand up to her chest dramatically on instinct, having her friend's joke and tease with her about the subject in the past. This was different.

  "If by shallow you mean that I wouldn't get my feet wet if I stepped in you with no shoes on then yes."

  Rose was furious now. "Bitch!! Who the hell are you to tell me who I am?!"

  "I don't have to; it's written all over your everything!"

  "At least I try and be friendly instead of hiding in the back of the classroom and sulking like someone just killed my dog!!"

  "Well at least I know my friends want to be my friends!!!"

  Rose stopped and fell back on her fears.

  They're just sticking around out of pity.

  They're not real friends.

  They'll all leave eventually.

  They don't really want to be around you.

  Rose didn't hear the emo try and keep the fight going, she just turned and walked off, unable to get a grip on her emotions. She clenched her fists and held her breath, fighting down her bitter thoughts.

  Lochesis finally caught Rose's shoulder, snapping the redhead back to reality.

  "Rose, hold on-" Lochesis started but was cut off when she saw Rose fighting back her tears.

  "What if she's right though…!" Rose finally choked out, her voice just barely a squeak.

  Lochesis didn't hesitate in embracing the golden eyed girl, letting her friend take a few shaky and choked sobs into her shirt. The tall girl lead Rose over to the stairwell a few steps away and say her friend down on the bottom steps, soothing her long-time childhood friend with coos and quiet shushs.

  Pandora jogged up to the pair and struck Rose with a soft and tight hug, comforting the girl back into reality.

  "I'm okay now…" Rose said, swallowing down her tears.

  As her distress fell away, anger quickly rose to replace it.

  Rose clenched her fists again. "That stupid bitch is gonna get what's coming to her, just you wait. I'll-"

  Pandora quickly jumped up. "NO!!" She shouted. Seeing Rose and Lochesis startle, she calmed her voice. "No. Listen I know Val hurt your feelings, but she didn't know that, A, you have self esteem issues, and, B, that it would hurt you that much." Pandora's big blue eyes pleaded from behind her glasses. "Please give her at least a chance? She's been my best friend since I was like two years old and she's got no other friends. And if you two ended up fighting, well…" Pandora paused, thinking about the situation and shook her head as if clearing it of unkind thoughts. "It'd be sad!!" She stated plainly.

  Rose slouched her shoulders. "Did you even hear what she said?" Her eyes glared down at the tiled floor. "And I don't think she'd be one to actually even want to make up with me." Rose gestured down the hallway back to the cafeteria. "I mean look at her!! She looks like Tim Burton hand crafted her and through some satanic experiment brought her to life!!"

  Lochesis looked at Rose curiously. "Didn't you mention this morning how much you love Nightmare Before Christmas?"

  Rose waved a hand at her friend. "Shut up, just...shuuu."

  Pandora pouted. "You're not even gonna try?" She asked dejectedly.

  Rose looked down and picked at the holes in her jeans. She finally stood up, throwing her hands over her head. "Fine!" She huffed. Pandora started clapping her hands before Rose pointed at her. "But I'm still not talking to her today! It'll have to wait till tomorrow or something."

  Pandora still bounced a little. "Yay~!! I'm glad you're not giving up on my strange dark daughter!!"

  "What even-" Lochesis started to question before Rose's huffing interrupted her.

  "God what a shitty day this is turning out to be…" Rose groaned.

  Pandora gasped and stood on her tiptoes to cover her girlfriend's ears. "GASP!! Watch your language, Rose! We don't want the human computer learning it, you don't know WHO she'll start repeating it to!"

  Lochesis pulled the honey haired girl's hands off the side of her head, settling for them draping over her shoulders. "I'm not a child, Pandora, I know swear words," she leaned her head back to smile at the short girl. "But thank you for worrying, darling." She winked and Pandora nearly fell over herself.

  Rose rolled her eyes, smiling widely. "You two are sickeningly adorable." They laughed together as the bell rung and they parted ways.

  As soon as her friend's were out of sight, the bright smile faded from Rose's face entirely.

  "Well at least I know my friends want to be my friends!!!"

  Was Valentine right?

  Rose couldn't help but feel that maybe she was.

~~•~~

  Rose waited outside the school thinking about the day. Rose had only grown more upset when she'd found out that the emo was in her chemistry class as well.

  Rose shook herself and stood straighter. C'mon, I bet she's not that bad. She's just a little prickly, that’s all. We can make up tomorrow and then everything will be fine! She told herself.

  "Ro-ro!!" A girl that looked strikingly similar to Rose ran up to her. "Guess What?!"

  Rose have an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes. "Please don't tell me you damaged my reputation again, Ruby…"

  Ruby giggled and shook her head. "Oh no, I do that on the daily, I don't have to try to do that!" Rose made an offended noise before Ruby had to dodge a playful battering from her sister. "I got a GIRLFRIEND!!" She shouted gleefully.

  Rose stood shocked in the middle of the walkway as she watched her sister. "You What?!" She nearly shrieked.

  Ruby nodded up and down. "Yep!! You heard me right! Duchess Trash-Bitch landed herself a date with only the most suave girl in school!!"

  Rose snorted. "Pah-lease, Ruby, I don't think that's possible seeing as we're sisters, so go check your facts."

  Ruby pushed Rose so hard she fell into a bush. "You think you're so high and mighty but whatever. Besides, Dahlia is way cuter than you'd ever hope to be, loser."

  Rose stopped. "Dahlia? As in stage director Dahlia?" Rose thought to their student director for last year's winter play. She had known that Ruby and her had become good friends after that year, but she didn't know they'd become that close.

  Ruby nodded happily. "Yep!! That's my girl!!" Ruby sighed happily. "Heheh...Imma fuck her so-"

  "GROSS, RUBY!!!" Rose shouted, shoving her sister. "I don't wanna hear about your gross fantasies!! Keep them to yourself, will ya?!"

  Ruby cackled maniacally. "I was kidding!! Mostly…" She added the last part a bit quieter.

  "In any case I still don't want to hear about your gross sex fantasies! Keep those and whatever other disgusting thoughts you have to your self!" Rose said.

  Rose and Ruby were twin sisters, the only thing telling them apart being a small mole under Ruby's left eye and Ruby's slight height difference, Rose being just a tad shorter. They were best friends- partners in crime! Ruby was always the one to mature up and console Rose after failed auditions and fights, and Rose would always sit there listening to Ruby’s bad days and grievances. They were as close as two sisters could be. A team.

  As Ruby went on and on about how wonderful Dahlia was, Rose was finding it harder and harder to keep up her smile.

  First Lochy and Panda, now Ruby and Dahlia… Rose thought. Everyone seems to have someone in their lives but me...I wonder who else will beat me to the stage of romance…

  The two girls finally got home where Ruby very excitedly and loudly announced her new girlfriend to their parents, who delightfully listened to her rant about her day till dinner was done.

  Rose picked at her food and got up before it was finished. "I'm gonna go take a shower."

  "Don't drown!!" Ruby called after her sister.

  Rose turned on the water and stepped inside before curling up and hugging her knees to her chest.

  She thought of the entire day and what Valentine had said.

  And Rose began to cry, letting the sound of the water mask her sobs as she let the day wash over her and down the drain.

  Hey y’all, sorry this is so late! It’s a short chapter I know, but I hope you liked it! I don’t really have much of an excuse for having this out so late, I just kinda had life catch up to me and lost a ton of motivation. despite that, I had fun writing this in the last hour-ish or so! Hope you liked it!!

  Okay so I just edited this and wow there were a lot of things I messed up. In my defense, I wrote and posted this at like midnight. In any case I fixed it, so I hope you find this version a bit better!

  And one last thing before I go; I drew all of the main cast for A Rose For A Valentine (Valentine, Rose, Pandora, Lochesis) Would all of you like to see them all?

  Okay that’s it, love you all byyee~!!

[the-zodiacs-written-in-the-stars]

Chapter 23: Team Angel Fish

“Doctor Korrapati, it is a pleasure to put a face to the name.”

“Likewise, Mister Hancock.”

Savitri and Sander were smiling at each other as they shook hands and all Joss could do was stand next to them, watching them miserably. This was like out of a nightmare. His longtime crush and his girlfriend were shaking hands, all pleasant and nice. Naturally did Joss know they would meet at one point, considering both were prominent figures in Joss' life (at the very latest, Joss' birthday party, he supposed), yet he wished he could have delayed it all. And the circumstances of the meeting were quite less than stellar too. Aliens, superheroes, villains trying to take over the world (or at least Los Angeles). Before Joss could say anything, he was handed a glass of wine by Sonia, who rested a hand on his shoulder and steered him away from Sander and Savitri.

“Let them talk”, requested Sonia firmly.

“But why?”, asked Joss lost. “I already told Savitri most-”

“Yes, quite. Most”, agreed Sonia bemused. “Sander and I have a better understanding of the overall picture, all this... passing on of information like that... Sander is a good teacher, he will explain everything to her. I'd like to have a word with you though.”

“What about?”, inquired Joss curiously.

“You got your girlfriend involved, dear.”

“I'm... aware, Sonia?” Joss nodded, a little confused.

“I'm just... curious, my friend”, whispered Sonia gently, sitting down on the couch on the terrace, motioning for Joss to join her. “I've been well-aware of your... interest in Sander. I didn't quite expect you to turn up with a girlfriend, to be honest. And now you have gotten her involved in something bigger than you, me or anything here.”

“I... My crush on Sander is... just that”, grunted Joss stubbornly, glaring out into the garden. “My feelings for Savitri are genuine. And I didn't get her involved in this out of selfish reasons or anything. She is... one of the most honest and genuine people I have ever met, she is more than qualified for this responsibility because she won't use it for her own gain and she brings the care and attention that Libra needs after what he's been through with Carroll Lewis.”

“Mh”, grunted Sonia thoughtfully. “I just want to make sure that I'm not stuck in the middle of some classic, overused love-triangle, Joss. If you bring romance to the work-place, it tends to add unnecessary drama and I do think that what with the aliens trying to take over the world, we have enough drama going on.”

Furrowing her brows, Joss turned to look back inside. Savitri and Sander were sitting at the table, talking, Sander writing something down to explain it. Both were bent over, seemingly in deep, excited conversation. Joss couldn't deny the way his heart hammered in his chest at it and he couldn't quite pinpoint for whom that hammering was. They were both so... lovely? The way Savitri's thick curls fell over her shoulder, her fingers running through it absentmindedly in a cute habit Joss had been observing for a while now, whenever Savitri was deep in thought. The way Sander's glasses framed his sharp face, the smile pulling on his lips as it always did when he got to explain something – his passion for knowledge. As Joss watched them, he couldn't help but marvel at how they complimented each other. Sander, who loved to share knowledge, and Savitri, who was always so eager to soak up new knowledge.

 ~*~

 Savitri adored Angel. The tiny blonde was an excitable ball of energy and joy; exactly Savitri's people, really. Pure sunshine and optimism. Also really very tiny. Then again, Savitri was a rather tall woman so it seemed even more prominent. Unlike most other short people Savitri had met, Angel didn't seem to quite mind comments about her height – the green-haired one however, she had bared her fangs and jumped up and down at Savitri's comment. Babs. Babara. That was the green-haired one – the cousin of Angel's boyfriend.

“Here's to teamwork!”, declared Angel, lifting her glass up high.

The four of them were at Angel and Sebastian's flat. Angelique Lamour, Sebastian Weinberg, Joss and Savitri. They were to be a team. It was odd, because Savitri felt like an afterthought. Sebastian and Angel were in a relationship, Angel was Joss' best friend and Joss was also close friends with Sebastian. Savitri was just the new girlfriend of Joss'.

“We will be one of the three teams then?”, asked Savitri softly before sipping her wine.

“Yeah. We got Team Lionheart – what an adorable name and quite fitting, considering that Scorpio and Leo started it out – as well as the... Unicorn Princess Squad, and I admit to enjoying the irritated looks on their faces at their own team name thanks to the press”, giggled Angel.

“What's our name?”, inquired Savitri curiously.

“That... is an excellent question”, hummed Sebastian thoughtfully.

“Lionheart's named for the two companions that shared a form and started out their team. We don't really have that, with an owl, a fish, an ibex and a jackal”, noted Joss with furrowed brows.

“Well, the... unfortunately named Unicorn Princess Squad is named for their leader's companion”, offered Sebastian after a moment. “Matteo's Sagittarius.”

“So... you proposing that we're... the Mermaid Goat Squad?”, asked Savitri with a grin.

“Mer--” Sebastian sputtered, nearly spilling his wine. “You, how dare you. A capricorn is not-”

“Mon amour, it is”, interrupted Angel, giggling and leaning into her boyfriend. “Capricorn is literally a goat with a mermaid tail. It's a mergoat.”

“First of all, he's an ibex, not just a regular goat”, grumbled Sebastian with a pout. “And second of all, I am not the leader of this team. I am the most involuntary participant of this team.”

“Aw, Bastien”, huffed Angel with a puppy-dog look.

“No, no. I do not want to fight, I do not want this mess, but most of all, I do not want to be responsible for it all”, argued Sebastian fiercely, shaking his head.

“Well then, any volunteers?”, asked Savitri looking around.

“I volunteer Angel”, offered Joss after a moment.

“...What?”, asked Angel, her eyebrows up in her hairline.

“You're the most enthusiastic, you're a very social creature, you are excellent at staying level-headed”, explained Joss. “You're good choice as leader, Angelique.”

Quietly, Angel stared at them, before she nodded slowly. “Okay. Sure. Yes. Why not.”

“And do you have a name-proposal?”, asked Savitri curiously.

“Mh... how about... Team Angel Fish?”, asked Angel with a mischievous smile.

“Wait that's a great pun!”, exclaimed Savitri excitedly.

“I kno—ow, right?!”, yelped Angel, high-fiving Savitri.

 ~*~

 “Okay, let me recap this”, started Savitri slowly. “Sonia and Sander are in an on-again-off-again relationship, current status... off. He is the one you had... have... a crush on.”

Joss bit his lips and nodded sharply, cheeks feeling hot.

“The one in the tight leather-dress is Tanya, who used to date both James and Babara – not at the same time though. James also used to date Angel, who is now with Sebastian, who is Babara's cousin. Barbara is the green-haired one. Then there is James' sister Jessie, who is no one's ex. They're the ones with the freckles? You actually have not one but two billionaires though because Matteo di Girasole is part of this team. And his fiance Michael. And Michael's sister Melanie. Not only are both your bosses and a model from your agency part of this team, but also your friend the graphic designer, Elizabeth. How...?”

“How?”, echoed Joss confused, blinking a couple of times.

“I mean that I understand, Sander explained that every marble landed in the same spot – or roughly the same spot, some seemed to have gotten a little lost. But this... very interwoven group of people? Not the random drunkard in the corner, or the couple who happened to be on a date? I see that not everyone is connected with each other, but... there is so many connections?”

“You mean that we, or someone in the group at least, were specifically targeted?”, asked Joss. “We... have been considering the possibility, but honestly what... motive would there be? We're just normal people. Matteo maybe, but...”

“I don't know”, shrugged Savitri thoughtfully. “I mean, you can cross me, Angel and Sebastian off the list, considering that we were chosen differently.”

“Me too, because I was outside. The main group landed inside the pub”, noted Joss.

“And the pub, it... it belongs to the siblings, right?”, asked Savitri.

“James and Jessica”, nodded Joss. “So... those two...?”

Savitri shrugged. “Your guess is as good, if not better, than mine.”

 ~*~

 “So what, you guys think that we're the targets?”, huffed Jessie amused.

She sat backward on her chair, arms crossed on the backrest. James was leaning against the bar, right next to her. The pub was still closed, though renovations were going rather well with the help of everyone. And what better time to bring up their theory than when everyone was together.

“Savitri suggested it the other day”, shrugged Joss, brushing her hair behind her ear. “It's as good a theory as any, since the gems came here, to the pub. And the pub is yours.”

“Do you... Do you think anyone could have it out for you?”, asked Mike.

He looked like a big, kicked puppy-dog as he stared at Jamie. It made Joss roll her eyes. Mike and Matt were so very obviously pining for Jamie that it was pathetic. However, Joss was not one with a right to judge, considering her own sad track-record. Still, looking at them made Joss understand why Sonia had taken her aside the other week and asked her if she was bringing any love-drama into this situation. It only complicated things unnecessarily.

“Why would we have enemies?”, asked Jessie incredulously.

Joss furrowed her brows as she watched the way James avoided eye-contact and didn't seem to have any input. This seemed like he was trying to hide something. She wondered what... and she wondered why Jessie didn't seem aware of this. Because Jessica seemed genuinely disturbed by the mere notion of it. Was Savitri's hunch right? Was there something in the Saint Johns' past that had led all of them to this situation...?

“Attacks have increased lately”, noted Lizzy after a moment of working in silence. “I think they're either not happy we took Libra from them, or they see us all gathering as the go-ahead for... whatever they are up to. That ominous 'they' is pissing me off.”

“We've been trailing Carroll Lewis to see if she can lead us to whoever is in charge of her, but so far, no luck”, shrugged Mike annoyed. “...Rick's getting super suspicious.”

Lizzy turned a little, looking guilty. Joss understood why; she was glad that she could share this with her girlfriend. Having to lie and hide such a huge thing from someone you loved? (Or liked a whole lot, because Joss wasn't ready to put the big l-one there just yet.)

“Just means we gotta take care of this fast”, declared Lizzy seriously.

Read here on AO3!

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[residentanchor]

A Stone’s Throw Away

Act 2, Chapter 2

<<Chapter 1

Note: This chapter is paired with a piece of art! 

Not much had changed for Patton in his new life in the noble’s home. Roman had stopped by later when Patton had begun to grow stir crazy and showed him around. A lot of rooms were simply storage or unused so Roman skipped most of them, including the basement. He stuck with the main areas Patton would need to know, including the garden. It wasn’t a complete mess in all honesty. It was a bit overgrown with weeds and most of the plants were still alive, but it didn’t look like it had the proper upkeep it deserved. Patton had been told that the old gardener, Emile, had taken very good care of it. That is, until Remy, the cook, had swept them off their feet and eloped one day. They apologized and said their goodbyes before moving on to settle down together, alone.

Learning about that whole love story was rather… interesting. Patton watched as Roman and Virgil bickered back and forth. Logan and Roman thought the two were quite obvious about their feelings, but Virgil was convinced that there was no warning before the two ran off together. Roman insisted that they were not-so-subtly pining for each other and that Virgil was completely blind to it all. And while Patton hadn’t been there for very long, he was starting to agree with the messenger. Even he had noticed the way Logan would watch Virgil on his patrols of the grounds. He held the same look that Patton had seen in himself as he quickly fell for Roman. He eventually wrote all his musings and thoughts down in letters to his family, but he did not plan on delivering any of them. He wanted to write back something of note to them, something exciting and adventurous like he had dreamed. Moving a few days away to settle down doing the exact same thing he was doing back home wasn’t what he wanted to tell his family. He wanted to spin an adventurous tale for them to justify why he simply left without warning.

As for Patton, life was a lot of the same as it was before. He managed to distract himself by weeding out the garden and keeping himself busy, but he quickly found he missed a lot of things he once had. He missed waking up and checking on the chickens. He missed giving his mother a quick kiss before heading out to the market. He missed Mrs. Morris and her gossip. He missed his sisters and telling them stories. He missed his father and making sure he wasn’t overworking himself. The ambient noises to all of that as well were gone now that he was out in the middle of nowhere. Most days, Roman did come to visit while he worked. That was a huge motivator for Patton. He wanted to try harder knowing that the other was there watching him and rooting for him to succeed. Patton managed to bring some plants back to life, but not all. He even was able to ask for a few things to maybe improve the garden. Emile had left behind some books that Patton had been reading before bed at night and learned a lot! He missed the fairy tales he used to read, but Roman would still come by and share stories with him from time to time. The quieter days were when Roman would leave for a while to the nearest town to restock on supplies for them all. Besides that, nothing changed much in their home.

As for Patton’s relationship with Virgil, it was just as he had said. Patton managed to get him to smile or laugh after a joke, but he kept his distance and remained skeptical for a few weeks. Patton tried not to take it personally. It was his job, after all. Patton showed up one day and just inserted himself in their lives; there was room to be suspicious, he supposed. His relationship with Logan as a little bit better, at least. The nobleman had opened up to Patton pretty quickly, asking him questions about things he wished to see and adventures he wanted to go on. Logan was very formal and a bit stiff, but he would listen to Patton ramble on and on without objecting or simply tuning him out. It was nice to have someone to talk to, even if Logan would lock himself away to work on papers.

While it wasn’t exactly the life Patton was dreaming of, it wasn’t terrible. There were days like today where he had spent all morning in the garden. The feeling of urgency that he had to be somewhere else was gone and Patton found he could relax a lot more and really focus on his current task. His days started to slip by as he became focused on his work until someone interrupted him to make sure he was taking care of himself. “Patton!” Looking up from the current patch of dirt he was weeding through, Patton perked up as he saw Roman excitedly run up to him. “Good morning!”

“Good morning, Roman! Sleep well?” “As well as I could have, I suppose.” Roman smiled softly and Patton’s heart began to flutter as he turned away. “And you?” “Like a dream.” Roman would offer to help or ask questions before Patton had to shoo him away begrudgingly. He loved his time with Roman, but he proved to be very, very distracting.

“I was wondering, Patton, if you could do me a favor?” Patton perked up immediately. “Of course!” Roman laughed and shook his head. “Shouldn’t you ask what it is first before agreeing?” “Oh, right, sorry.” Patton blushed in embarrassment. “What is it, Roman?”

“I was wondering if you could go talk to Logan? He’s a bit lonely without Virgil and won’t admit he’s moping.”

“Sir Virgil is not around?” Patton removed his gloves carefully and stood from the ground. “Has he gone somewhere?”

“A small trip, nothing to worry about.” Roman turned back toward the towering home and threw out his arms dramatically. “However, Logan is acting as if he is never coming back! I understand they’re best friends, but my goodness!”

“Best friends?” Patton let out a soft sigh. “So you don’t see it either.”

“What? See what?” Patton smirked and dusted off his hands on his pants before heading inside. “Patton, see what? What am I missing?!”

“A lot of things, apparently,” he mumbled softly to himself. “Nothing, Roman. Don’t worry about it.”

Patton made his way to Logan’s office. The noble spent a lot of time inside of it lately. Roman had made a comment about how unusual that was, but Patton had the feeling he might have been the cause of that. Patton knocked on the door and turned, wondering exactly when Roman had stopped following him before he turned back to the door. The floorboards creaked and the knob jingled before Patton smiled down at the face of the lord. Logan blinked in a bit of surprise before holding the door open just a bit more. “Patton, I was not expecting you.”

“Hey, I um… was wondering if we could just… talk? Maybe get to know each other a bit better?”

Logan stared at Patton a bit before taking a step back and motioning to the room. “Of course. Please, do come in.”

Patton hadn’t been in the office since his arrival and took the opportunity to inspect it a bit closer. The desk was lined with papers and seemed a bit messy, but everything else was rather organized. Patton wondered if Logan was just the type to know where everything was as long as it was within his reach. “You’ve been rather busy lately.”

Patton heard Logan let out a sigh as the door clicked shut. “Not as busy as I would have hoped.” The nobleman turned and gave a sad smile. “I would normally be out and visiting the lands, but I have a responsibility here for a while.”

“Is that were Virgil has gone?” Patton watched Logan tense up a bit. “Sorry, Roman mentioned he wasn’t here currently.”

“No, Virgil is out checking on something for me.” Logan walked over to his desk and began to organize it a bit. Patton stared at him as he fluttered by. “I am probably being a bit overcautious but a big responsibility was bestowed upon me and I want to do my best.” It was then that Logan looked over at Patton and noticed is silence. “Are you alright?”

“You’re wearing a dress.”

Logan looked a bit confused as he looked down at his own attire. He donned his usual style of vest as normal on top. “It’s just the skirt, actually.” Logan reached down and tugged at the long, flowy fabric with a smile on his face. “It’s quite stuffy in here so a skirt is usually beneficial when I’m working. Is this a problem?” “No! No, I just…” Patton cleared his throat and smiled. “My sisters have made me play dress up before so I’ve worn them myself but they usually treat it like a joke. I guess I just didn’t expect it to… I dunno, be an option?”

Logan nodded in understanding and continued to shuffle around his paperwork. “It simply is comfortable for me to wear so I don’t see the point in arguing about it.” “They are a bit comfortable but I dunno if I’d ever go out of my way to wear one again.” “That is completely understandable. I am not asking you to, however. Just as you are not asking me to change. I don’t wear them often, especially around Virgil, so I seized the opportunity.” “Why don’t you wear them around Sir Virgil?” Logan grew still at his desk and Patton began to panic. “I mean, you don’t have to tell me! I was just curious, I’m sorry.”

“It, ah… it is because he tends to avoid me when I do, it seems. I do not know why it makes him as uncomfortable as it does. He has mentioned it does not bother him and has even complimented me, but I notice he acts a bit different when I do.” Patton shook his head and smirked as Logan explained the ‘strange’ behavior. “It is a better reaction than I have had in the past and for that I am grateful.”

“I guess it’s strange because people make you think it is.” Logan looked over at Patton who smiled and shrugged. “I mean, I never thought about why I couldn’t wear one but there’s no harm in it, right?”

Logan smiled as he watched the man in front of him. “Would you like to join me for a walk around the grounds? I’d love a bit of fresh air and you can show me your plans for the garden if you wish.”

When Sir Virgil returned home about a week later, he found Logan out back in the shade under a tree while enjoying a cup of tea. There was not a book in his hands, however, as he was talking to both Roman and Patton. The garden was in a better state when he had left and Patton seemed to be taking a bit of a break on the side, laying on his stomach and enjoying the shade as well. He noticed Virgil standing at the exit of the back door and waved. “Virgil, you’ve returned!” Roman threw his arms out and smiled. “In one piece, I see!” “Glad to have you back, Sir Virgil,” Logan smiled from his seat at the base of the tree. “By your behavior, I assume it all went well?” Virgil smiled and nodded, shifting the wrapped package in his hands to the side. “I have and you were correct. I found nothing of concern.”

“Excellent, as I knew you would.”

Virgil rolled his eyes and turned toward Patton before holding up the package. “I have a present for you.”

“Me?” Patton stood up and eyed the paper wrapping carefully. Twine wrapped around it, tying some parchment to it as well. Virgil held it out and Patton took it carefully in his hands, eyeing his name swirled on the paper. “I did promise that I was going to dig into your past to make sure you were trustworthy. It’s from your family.” Patton looked up in shock, gripping the parcel closer to his chest. “They were happy to hear their eldest son was working for a nobleman and wanted to send something back.”

“You visited my family?” Virgil nodded and smiled before motioning to the package. “Thank you. Are they alright?” “Your father is stubborn and a bit sore from overworking himself a bit. Your mother wanted me to reassure you that she had him on bedrest for at least a week after.” Patton laughed and shook his head at the news. “Your sisters told me a bunch of stuff but I’m just going to summarize it to ‘we miss you come tell us bedtime stories or I’ll be mad for forever’ or something like that.”

Patton threw back his head as he laughed, a huge smirk on his face. “Ahh, that’s my family alright!” Patton wiped a tear from his eye, the smile on his face not budging at all. “Was there anything else?” “Just the package.” Patton turned his attention back to the present he was cradling in his hands. “Said it was very important that you got it in one piece.”

Patton untied the knot with a little bit of difficulty before looking at the letter. He glanced at it, reading a few lines before he folded it in half. He took a moment to collect himself and placed it down in his lap. “I’ll, uh… have to read that later. It’s a bit too much for me right now.” He could already feel the tears stinging his eyes from what he was able to read. “Okay, now for you!” Patton tugged at the paper that tied the package and found it was covering some thin cloth. He pulled it back and gasped, staring at the old book that was falling apart at the seams, literally. The tile stared back at him in the faded, curvy lettering he remembered as clear as the day he got it. The Tale of the Nefarious Sorcerer and the Witch. A classic, his favorite book to read to his sisters and the first one he managed to read all on his own. “M-my book?” “They said it wasn’t the same if you couldn’t read it to them.” Patton looked up and saw Virgil smiling back at him. “You have a wonderful family, Patton.”

This time, Patton couldn’t stop the waterworks as he held the book to his chest as close as he could, tears streaming down his face. “I do, thank you. For bringing this to me, thank you so much.”

“I promised you that I’d make sure you weren’t a threat and you’re not. Figured I should make it up to you for my harsh behavior somehow.” Patton nodded and smiled up at him before carefully wiping the tears from his face. He sniffled as well and smiled back down at the book. “Welcome to the Thatch residence, Patton.”

---

Chapter 3>>