#the next morning when she came downstairs to talk to me she kept being dismissive

[ineed-to-sleep]

It honestly baffles me that some people are so casually dismissive of animals' feelings. Istg some ppl only see pets like toys and are barely able to hide it

[mostlycompetentwriter]

Wow, he’s hot

“Pairing: Fem!Reader x Seo Changbin (SKZ)

Word Count: 8K

Genre: Neighbors to Lovers? Lol

Warnings: Aged up characters (Changbin is ten years older than the reader), explicit sexual content, language, drinking

Summary: You were a fresh college graduate, returning home for the summer before starting a bright, shiny new position in the city, but you certainly weren’t expecting to fall hard for your neighbor. 

A/N: I hope at least one person gets my reference/pun at the end....But seriously? Oh, what have I done...

Your roommate was hungover again, dressed to the nines in a purple bathrobe and pink fluffy slippers as she attempted to move huge boxes of random shit between her bedroom and the foyer of your shared apartment. 

It was priceless entertainment, at least in your opinion, especially after witnessing your roommate in rare form the previous night dancing from one frat boy to the next, draining entire bottles of alcohol like she needed the liquid encouragement. 

From what you had observed, she was determined to embarrass you at all costs, and under normal circumstances, you could’ve avoided her rather inappropriate behavior in exchange for your regular hook-up, Joshua. But he decided to remain mysteriously absent for the entire evening, which meant that you had been stuck watching over your roommate, hoping that she wouldn’t get you kicked out again....

“I know what you’re thinking, Y/N,” Laura huffed, pausing next to the counter-top where you sat. “What did you expect? It was my last night of freedom before going back home.”

“Yeah,” you snorted. “It was mine too, but I wasn’t plastered face-down in the shower last night.”

“Whatever,” Laura grimaced. “Did you sign off on the lease yet?”

“I did it earlier,” you replied. 

“Our bitchy landlord’s been complaining all week,” Laura said. “I’m tired of her late-night phone calls, plus my mom’s been really annoying about the move.”

“Oh?” you questioned. “When is she coming?”

“In like an hour,” Laura huffed. “Why do you think I’m busting my ass to pack everything?”

“I don’t know,” you said. “Maybe you needed a distraction from thinking about puking in the bushes behind the frat house last night.”

“Oh, shut up about that!” Laura hissed, slapping your arm as you kept laughing. “Isn’t you brother coming tomorrow?”

“Ugh, yeah,” you groaned. “He said he has to come super early because of work, but my ass doesn’t start functioning until at least 8:00.”

“Well, at least tell Chan ‘hi’ for me,” Laura said, giggling like a love-struck teenager because she had been infatuated with your older brother for years.

“If I remember to tell him,” you grumbled, stretching out your arms and deciding that it might be useful for you to start packing as well, especially since the most you would be able to accomplish tomorrow morning at the ass crack of dawn is following Chan around the apartment in a zombie-like state as the two of you loaded your belongings into his car.

“Don’t forget that I’m coming to visit next week,” Laura said, and you perked up a little at the idea of having your friend come around, especially since the two of you had just graduated together and those long days and nights of being glued together at the hip were coming to a bittersweet end.

“Sounds good,” you agreed, checking your phone one last time to see a weird gif from Chan (as you had come to expect from him) before joining your roommate in packing up the remainder of your former college life.

Chan had always been prompt when it came to his familial obligations, and the two of you spent two hours loading all of your stuff into his car before starting the long drive to your old childhood home. A place that you hadn’t ventured to since leaving four years ago to start undergraduate school.

“Looks the same,” you remarked, sunglasses perched low on your nose as you allowed the window to roll down to take in some fresh air.

“What did you expect?” Chan asked, humming away to whatever shitty metal song he had playing over the radio.

In a totally random and last-minute decision, you had decided that for the next three summer months while you were stuck in an in-between phase, you were returning home for a while before you were set to move into a new apartment in the city close to where you would be working full-time. It seemed logical to save money, and there was a small part of you that did miss your family and old friends. 

Of course, despite Chan’s dismissal of your earlier nonchalant comment about the unchanging surroundings of your hometown, you were startled when you realized that the old house next door, which used to be occupied by an elderly couple until they moved away during your senior year of high school, was missing it’s familiar ‘for sale’ sign in the front yard, and there was a black Mustang in the driveway.

“Home sweet home,” Chan sighed when he stopped in the carport attached to your former two-story staccato, opening the door with a grumble. 

You frowned, following him around to the back of his car. “Someone bought the house next door?” you asked, dragging your eyes away from the sleek, shiny sports car to look at your brother.

Chan grunted as he heaved your suitcase from the trunk. “Yeah, they moved in last month. I think the owner is a lawyer and he lives there with his daughter.”

“Huh,” you remarked. “That house has been vacant for years.”

Chan shrugged. “Yeah, well, the guy who lives there now is really nice. Mom and dad babysit for him a lot when he’s working.”

“Great,” I muttered. “They’ll rope me into helping.”

“S’ not so bad,” Chan said, growling in frustration when your suitcase fell over to the side with an unpleasant crash. “Can you help or what?”

You laughed at your brother’s outrage, reaching back to pull your hair into a messy bun. 

Meanwhile, you noticed the front door of your house opening from the corner of your eye, smiling when your mother shrieked and rushed down the sidewalk to meet you halfway in a long-winded embrace. “Y/N!! I’m so glad to see you.”

“You’re crushing me,” you heaved through constricted lungs, accepting your mother’s open arms even if it was a little over-eager.

“Oh! I’m sorry, dear,” she said, pulling back just enough to allow oxygen to circulate once again, but not enough to pull you away from her mushy kisses. “You look so healthy and beautiful!”

“Yeah, thanks mom,” you said, slowly beginning the untangling process of removing her arms from around you while Chan struggled in the background to carry your suitcase up the front steps. “I should help.”

“Of course!” your mom agreed, but a distant tug of curiosity had you turning back to look at the house next door once again.

“Hey? Do you know anything about the new neighbor?”

“You mean Changbin? He’s wonderful, darling. So polite, and his daughter is so funny.”

You wrinkled your nose, never having been a huge fan of kids. “Chan said you babysit for him sometimes.”

“It’s always nice to help someone out,” your mother tsked, and you could recognize her patronizing tone from anywhere. “Such a shame that he divorced his wife. Heard it was kinda nasty.”

“It’s not any of our business,” you reminded her.

“Oh, I didn’t say it was!” your mother sighed. “He doesn’t talk about it much.”

“Jeez, how much do you guys talk?”

Because from the sound of it, Changbin had to be as old as your mom to make this much of an impression. You grinned as you briefly imagined the two of them on the front porch drinking tea together and gossiping about the rest of the neighborhood.

“He’s far more friendly than Mrs. Jones was,” your mother remarked. “I think you’d like him, Y/N.”

“I don’t know about that...”

“Well, you’ll get the chance to meet him tonight,” your mother said, smile full and wide. “I’ve invited him over for dinner!”

Oh, great.

“Can’t wait,” you forced out between clenched teeth, rolling your eyes when your mom clapped her hands together before grabbing your hand to drag you inside, feeling only a distant shiver roll across your spine as you walked onto the porch as if someone was looking at you from afar....

Your mother was hardly the type to run out of conversation, and you eventually were forced to leave her downstairs to argue with Chan over some menial thing that he forgot to do for tonight’s big dinner while you trudged upstairs to find some peace.

Unsurprisingly, your childhood bedroom remained untouched, and you circled around the perimeter, studying old pictures of yourself playing sports and hanging out with friends. Fingers dusting over your collection of old trophies and high-school yearbooks that recalled long-ago days of feeling carefree - with the future wide-open in front of you for the taking.

But you were well off in the present, allowing yourself to indulge in the nostalgia of looking through old diaries and journals before your mother’s voice called you downstairs for dinner later that evening. “Coming!” you called back, pausing next to your mirror to check your reflection.

The smell of your mother’s cooking had your stomach rumbling from the hunger of only stopping once on the way home to eat cheap fast-food with Chan, and you forced yourself to walk like a normal person even though every instinct was screaming at you to find the source of that delicious odor.

You were nearly salivating at the idea of your mother’s homemade cooking, and your hand caught the rail of the bannister to turn the final corner, but the sounds of voices from below forced you to pause at the top of the stairs, eyes growing wide as you took in the sight of the unfamiliar man standing in your foyer, talking to your mother like they had known each other for years. “Oh, Y/N,” your mother said, and you shivered when the man turned to look at you. “Come meet our neighbor, Changbin. I think you’ll really like him.”

You held back a snort at the ironic comment because it only took you a few seconds to come to the conclusion that Changbin epitomized the phrase “just my type.”

He was on the shorter side, built like he had literally spent his entire life working out, arms bulging beneath his t-shirt and chest straining the material tight to his front. So much so that you could practically see his nipples through the fabric. 

His hair was jet-black, ruffled from the wind outside, and his eyes were equally as dark, lips contorted into a self-satisfied smirk that you found exceedingly hot.

“Hi,” you mustered without much thought, nearly tripping over your own two feet on the way down the stairs.

“This is my daughter, Y/N,” your mother said, inviting you closer so that you were standing directly in front of Changbin.

“Nice to meet you,” he said in a deep voice that was slightly rough around the edges.

“Y/N just graduate from college,” your mother gushed. “We’re so excited to have her back.”

“I’m home for the summer,” you explained, shivering at the dark look in Changbin’s gaze. “I’m starting an internship in the Fall.”

“Y/N will be working in publishing,” your mother explained, jumping in while you and Changbin continued to stare each other down - something intense and provocative.

“Really?” Changbin asked, eyes making a leisurely stroll of looking you up and in down in a way that had you feeling extremely self-conscious. 

“Oh! Give me one second to check something in the kitchen,” your mother said, excusing herself with a smile before leaving the two of you alone in the foyer.

You inwardly cursed your mother for leaving you both in an awkward silence. Say something!! You screamed to yourself.

“So,” you started, clearing your throat and forcing yourself to stop swaying back and forth. “Chan told me you practice law.”

“Yeah,” Changbin agreed, and you swooned at his crooked smile. “It doesn’t sound as interesting as your work.”

“I don’t know about that,” you countered politely, but Changbin was unrelenting.

“You looked surprised to see me earlier,” he remarked.

You swallowed hard. “Oh, well when Chan mentioned a neighbor with a kid, I just wasn’t expecting someone so....”

“Yes?” Changbin prodded, encouraging you to continue.

Someone so fucking hot, you thought to yourself, someone who was literally made inside my best fantasies, but those explicit thoughts belonged exclusively inside your head. “Young,” you eventually finished, and Changbin seemed disappointed for some reason.

“I’m 32,” he said, and your eyes widened perceptibly, realizing that he was ten years older than you.

“I would’ve never guessed,” you said. “I mean, not that it’s a bad thing-”

“It’s alright,” Changbin interrupted, and you were relieved to hear him chuckle. “I know what you mean.”

“I’m sorry,” you said. “I can be a little awkward.”

“No,” he shook his head, coming to stand a little closer. “I think it’s nice.”

Oh? What was that supposed to mean?

“I used to have a boyfriend who looked a lot like you,” you went on, freezing when you comprehended what you had just blathered without thinking.

But Changbin didn’t seem bothered at all. “I bet he wasn’t as old as me.”

“He was my age,” you said. “But I kinda like older men...”

Fuck. Did those words really just come out of your mouth?!

“Y/N,” Changbin said, and you trembled at the huskiness of his tone. “You should be more careful.” He leaned in then as if trying to keep whatever he was about to say a secret for just the two of you. “I can be a very dangerous man.”

“O-oh,” you stuttered, finding yourself two seconds away from literally melting at his feet when your mother suddenly re-entered the foyer with a dusting of flour across her chin. 

“Dinner’s ready!” she announced, and you were fleeing behind her without a second thought, escaping the intoxicating hold of Changbin’s presence before you did something you might regret.

For whatever reason, you found yourself sitting next to Changbin in the dining room for dinner that night. 

“I made chicken,” your mother said, gesturing to each dish sitting in a line down the center of the table as she explained tonight’s menu. But you were barely cognizant of what your mother was saying because the close proximity to Changbin was doing very strange things to your head.

“So, Y/N,” your father started when everyone had been served. “I hope your brother was helpful with the move.”

Chan rolled his eyes, but you grinned at your father’s words. “Yeah, I was a little out of it though because of the time.”

“Like I said,” Chan huffed. “I couldn’t get there any later.”

“Let the bickering commence,” your mother said. “Changbin, you wouldn’t believe the fights these two had when they were young.”

“I can only imagine,” Changbin said, and you were wondering how someone could be even more attractive by the sound of their voice alone.

“Do you still need us to babysit for you tomorrow night?” your mother asked. “We would be more than accommodating.”

“That would be great,” Changbin said. “I’ve got a late conference call.”

“It’s no problem,” your mother continued. “Your daughter is just the loveliest.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” Changbin replied.

“Y/N,” your mother said, catching you with a mouthful of chicken. “Changbin’s daughter is such a peach.”

You quickly forced down the food in your mouth when you felt Changbin’s gaze rest on you. “Oh? How hold is she, Mr. Seo?”

“She’s six,” Changbin said, and he shifted in his chair, causing your knees to brush together in a move that you knew wasn’t intentional, even if it didn’t stop your legs from wrapping together. “And you don’t have to be so formal with me, Y/N. Only my clients call me Mr. Seo.”

“O-oh,” you exhaled, reacting to the brief contact under the table, hoping that nobody else was noticing your strange behavior.

“Maybe Y/N could help watch Lucy when you’re gone,” your mother suggested, always the first to rope you into these things.

“Sure,” you agreed, even though the idea of pulling babysitting duty was less than appealing, and you could hear Chan snickering from across the table. He knew perfectly well your attitude when it came to kids. 

“I think Lucy would like that,” Changbin agreed, and you started to nod along until you felt Changbin’s hand move to your thigh.

Just that single move had your entire form frozen in place. 

While your mother continued talking about whatever subject caught her attention, you were left wondering how you should react to the very obvious posturing of Changbin’s hand moving decidedly against your bare skin.

“I’ll probably head back into town tomorrow morning,” Chan said. “I wasn’t able to get much work done.”

You knew it was a playful jab at you, but at that moment you were incapable of coherent speech.

“How is work, Channie?” your mother asked, just as ignorant as the rest of them to the situation unfolding beneath her table. “Anything interesting?”

“Not really,” Chan replied, and you nearly choked on the food you were swallowing when you felt Changbin squeezing your thigh. 

“Try to chew it first, Y/N,” your father chuckled, and you forced a smile which you hoped wasn’t as strained as it felt.

“What about you, Changbin?” your mother politely queried. “Anything interesting happening lately?”

“Maybe,” he said with a tone that was far too knowing.

“Hmmm?” your mother smiled. “You aren’t seeing anyone, are you?”

You knew the question was invasive, but Changbin handled it in stride. “I think it depends.”

“Sounds scandalous,” your mother joked, and you couldn’t have possibly been imagining it, feeling his fingers reach so high under the opening of your shorts that his fingertips touched the outline of your panties. 

You reached down to cover his hand with your own, bringing awareness to the fact that you weren’t ignoring what was happening, and he had every opportunity to pull back.

But he didn’t. In fact, Changbin’s light, playful touches only continued, and you were left reeling for what the intention could possibly mean.

Early the next morning, you were supposed to be cleaning the pool as a favor to your mother, but how could you be blamed for sneaking peaks at your neighbor working out in his backyard? 

“Holy shit,” you cursed under your breath, failing to do a very good job of pretending to be occupied with your current task while ogling the man across the lawn who was in the middle of another round of push-ups, biceps flexing while the rest of his body practically glowed under the sun. 

You knew it wasn’t a crime to permit the occasional glance, but your hardcore staring could certainly be qualified as spying at this point (especially in the direction of a lawyer) - making it blatantly obvious that you were very appreciative of the male form at the peak of performance.

Was Changbin seriously 32? And a father?

The questions boggled your mind, and in your distracted state, you clearly forgot to keep a firm hold on the handle of the pool’s leaf skimmer, huffing in annoyance when it splashed beneath the water.

It was enough to attract Changbin’s attention, and you were sure that your face was just as red as the towel draped over the back of your mother’s patio furniture when he stood to his full height before walking in your direction.

“Were you watching me?” Changbin asked, sauntering over to you with black mesh shorts hanging tantalizingly low on his hips, shirt foregone in exchange for a delightful sheen of sweat coating the skin of his thick upper torso in dripping rivulets. 

“Uh...” you trailed off anxiously, realizing that Changbin wouldn’t be stupid enough to fall for your half-assed excuses, especially after what had happened between the two of you last night. 

“You’re not planning on lying to me, Y/N?” he asked, raising one eyebrow in question.

“N-no, Mr. Seo,” you said, shaking your head quickly, barely keeping a firm grasp of your bearings as he abruptly leaned in closer, musk hanging heavy in the air between the two of you. 

“I told you not to call me that,” he said, lips lingering far too close to your ear for a simple neighborly exchange, and you could feel the body heat emanating from him in waves, holding you completely hostage as you briefly entertained the idea of falling to your knees right then and there. 

“What should I call you?” you asked instead, fisting your shirt between your hands because you were desperate for something to ground you in that moment. 

You could practically feel his smirk, holding in a gasp when his hand settled at the low dip in your spine, fitting into the space there as he pulled you tight against his front. “You can always call me daddy instead.”

Your heart skipped several beats at the scandalous words. Either that or you had just entered cardiac arrest.

But before you could muster a response, you found yourself leaping out of Changbin’s hold when the backdoor opened, and your mother was screaming out your name while waving like a maniac. “Oh!” she said when she realized that you weren’t alone. “I didn’t mean to interrupt!”

“We were just talking,” you quickly inserted, glancing at Changbin from the corner of your eye to see him smirking. 

For a while, the very strange flirtation between you and Changbin simmered down, and you tried your best to avoid him when you could, even if he made that very hard to do since he insisted on doing his morning workouts outside in direct line of your bedroom.

It was during the following week that you brought the divine glory of Changbin to your friend, Laura’s, attention, ushering her into your house when she parked on the side of street. “What the hell, Y/N?” she complained when you started practically dragging her up the stairs. “I’ve been driving for hours.”

“Oh, hush,” you said. “You’ll thank me later.”

“Thank you for what, exactly?” Laura questioned, but your response was to simply push her toward the window, standing side by side as you looked through the blinds.

“My new neighbor.”

“Holy fuck!” Laura gasped when she finally joined you, and you could only nod your agreement as the two of you continued to watch Changbin through two narrow breaks in your blinds, wondering how the image of your sexy neighbor simply mowing his grass could make you so wet. “That man is huge!”

“I think he does it on purpose,” you remarked, feeling your heart palpitate inside your chest when Changbin took a moment to pause his chore, reaching down to remove his shirt and tuck it into the waistband of his shorts.

Laura’s gasp was almost outlandishly laughable. “He’s ripped! Like, Sports Illustrated model worthy.”

“I would buy every last copy of that edition.”

“I’d even go a step further and tape the pictures to my wall.”

You both stopped to look at one another, nodding in your collective agreement. “Not here, though, my mom would freak.”

“Yeah, but how can your mom expect you to just ignore...that!” Laura exclaimed, gesturing wildly to Changbin. 

“She thinks he’s a fucking Saint, but I swear to god, Laura, he’s provoking me on purpose! The other night at dinner? He came over and put. his. hand. on. my. leg,” you said, emphasizing the last line with what probably looked like a comical widening of your eyes. “And he works out every morning in front of my bedroom? What the hell am I supposed to think?”

“No think,” Laura sighed dreamily. “Just enjoy the view.”

“Do you think I’m not?” you snorted. “I’m serious about him doing those things!”

“So what?” Laura grumbled. “Why are you actually worried that your fucking super model neighbor wants to make a few moves on you? I would be honored.”

“I’m not worried,” you huffed. “It just feels like he wants something from me.”

“Well, if it’s a good fuck, then send him all the signals you can, girl.”

“Really?” you muttered. “You know I suck with flirting. That’s why I only hooked up with Joshua at those stupid frat parties. He didn’t care that I was an awkward mess.”

“Well, neither will your neighbor,” Laura said. “Especially if he’s as interested as you say.”

You pursed your lips, considering her comment, but the sudden and unexpected sound of your door opening sent both you and Laura jumping nearly ten feet into the air as you hurried away from the blinds as fast as humanely possible to take up some form of normalcy.

No, mom, of course we weren’t staring at Mr. Seo.

“Girls,” your mother inquired as she walked inside, and you prayed that your mother hadn’t caught the two of you taking sly peaks at Changbin outside, but she seemed completely ignorant. “I have a question for you.”

“Hmmm?” you inquired, innocently enough, trying to act like the position that you had forced yourself into on the bed was totally not uncomfortable.

“Changbin needs someone to watch Lucy tomorrow night, but your father and I already made plans,” she said. “But I told him you would be more than happy to come over and help him out.”

You winced when Laura elbowed you in the side, giving you one of those looks that you knew quite well from countless nights of barhopping as sophomores. “Yeah, I don’t mind.”

“I’m sure you don’t,” Laura snickered, but you payed her no attention as you hurried to close the door behind your mother’s retreating form, breathing a sigh of relief to hear her walk back down the stairs.

In all of your years of existence, never had you questioned the appropriateness of an outfit to wear to someone’s place to babysit.

“Fuck it,” you eventually decided, settling on regular, well-worn jeans and a college t-shirt.

After all, it wasn’t like Changbin was staying for very long. He claimed he had something to do at the office, and you would be all alone inside his house with only his kid for companionship.

Still, after your conversation with Laura from the previous afternoon, you couldn’t help but feel more mindful about how he might look at you, and you forced yourself to wear your most professional smile when you rang the doorbell to his house, counting slowly from one until he opened the door.

“Hi, Y/N,” Changbin said, and you tried not to blatantly check him out; although, you couldn’t help but linger on the tight fit of his shirt across his pecs.

“Hello,” you nearly whispered, cursing your hormones as you followed Changbin inside.

“I actually have something to tell you,” Changbin said, leading you into the living room so that you could sit down while entered the adjoining kitchen.

“Oh?” you queried, as politely as you could, waiting for him to return.

It didn’t take him long, and you found yourself sitting up a little straighter from where you had made yourself comfortable on the couch. “So, I actually found someone else to watch Lucy,” Changbin explained, coming around to land next to you on the couch with two glasses of wine. 

“You did?” you asked, surprised and taken-aback. 

Why were you here then?

As if he could read your thoughts, Changbin smirked. “Thirsty?”

“Sure,” you agreed, taking one of the glasses and bringing the rim up to your lips. “I’m sorry, I just thought you wanted me to watch her.”

“I did,” Changbin said, and he seemed contemplative as he sipped his own drink. “But then I kinda wanted you for something else.”

“Something else?” you repeated because your mind was spinning those simple words in a thousand different directions, and you were only able to settle on one likely outcome when Changbin’s hand dropped to your thigh, reminiscent of your first dinner together from several evenings ago. 

He suddenly moved in closer to you, allowing you to smell the subtle cologne that he was wearing. “You’ve been watching me,” he said, and you shivered, feeling both hot and cold at the same time as you looked at him.

“S-sir?”

“Don’t play coy,” Changbin continued, and you found yourself observing the way his throat bobbed as he drank. “I don’t mind the attention.”

“You don’t?” you replied, a rather useless question considering the circumstances, and Changbin took your glass and sat both alcoholic selections onto the side table.

“Why wouldn’t I like it?” he asked, tracing little nonsensical patterns on the covered part of your thigh. “You’re a very beautiful girl.”

What. The. Hell?!!

“Mr. Seo, I don’t think-”

“Y/N,” Changbin interrupted, and you were so frazzled and disjointed by the sharp grip he took on your chin, forcing eye-contact that was so intimate, you could feel yourself grow a little bit wetter. “I told you not to call me that.”

It was the only precursor you got before Changbin was delving in, gripping your chin firmly as he connected your lips in a deep, sensuous exchange that had you reeling from the sudden 180 degree turn that the night had taken. 

In one word: everything was rough. Teeth meeting teeth, and tongues rolling in a messy glide against one another. Wet and warm. Silky and smooth. It was everything you needed in a kiss to get your gears turning, feeling your pussy positively throbbing in response.

“That’s right,” Changbin eventually said when he pulled the two of you apart - very much still in control. “We shouldn’t ignore this tension between us.”

“No,” you eagerly agreed, diving in once more for another earth-shattering kiss that rocked you to your very bones, taking the initiative to crawl into his lap, grinding yourself shamelessly against the tight bulge in his jeans while your fingers dug their way into his thick, dark hair. 

“Eager,” Changbin whispered between feverish kisses, keeping your mouths locked together at all costs, even if that meant growing a little bit light-headed from losing too much oxygen.

But you couldn’t get enough of him, not after all this teasing and tension. 

You didn’t care anymore, consequences be damned, and there wasn’t a single part of you opposing his intentional touches, giving him enough space to unbutton your jeans before sliding one hand beneath the waistband of your panties. In response, you moaned into his mouth, bracing your hands against his shoulders as he found the delicate folds of your pussy.

“Do you want me to touch you here?” Changbin asked, and you were feverishly nodding, sweat forming at the top of your forehead, trying your best to hold back your loudest moans when he slid right in with little resistance, moving his fingers around the inside of your cunt, stretching and filling you in a way that you imagined was nothing compared to what the thick cock beneath you could do.

But you would take anything from him, savoring the glide of his fingers since you were practically drenching him in sticky arousal, jerking forward every so often when his thumb pressed down a little too hard against your clit.

All the while, you could feel yourself start to break apart from the heated contact between the two of you, aching and wanting for the release that the look in his eyes told you he had every intention of providing.

And you were enjoying every bit of the journey to get there, bathing in his attention, groaning when his fingers curled up just right to tease your g-spot, and grinding down against the erection confined tightly in his jeans. 

Everything was suddenly so much louder, the sounds of his palm smacking against your cunt, fingers gliding through wetness, and the joined harmony of your combined moans and grunts. 

It was a rapid uphill ascent into the clouds, and you could feel him start to move even faster, pulling against the fabric of your jeans, and there was hardly any time for your mind to truly comprehend what was happening. Lost in a sinful haze of lust and divine rapture, wanting nothing more than to just lose yourself in Changbin.

Except he wasn’t letting you simply drown in the pleasure he was giving you, tugging at your hair to bring you back to the present, to the final string keeping your orgasm just out of reach. “You don’t think I haven’t noticed,” Changbin growled into your ear, keeping one hand tight around your waist to stop your squirming as he continued plunging his thick fingers between the tight walls of your pussy. “I see you looking at me because I want you to look.”

You moaned at the explicit expression of his desires, closing your eyes and returning your head against his shoulder, hips titillating according to the way he moved his fingers inside of you. 

“Cum for me,” he said, and you were more than willing to let go of everything, including the moans you had been trying to hold back, filling the house with the loud raucous of your screams as your orgasm snapped and unleashed a molten hot thrill along your spine.

You were gasping for breath, returning from the highest peak of satisfaction, but Changbin hardly gave you anytime to recover before he was removing his hand from your jeans and forcing you into the floor.

“My turn,” he grunted, and the sound of his belt unbuckling triggered some semblance of rationale, and you were practically salivating over Changbin’s cock, eyeing the red bulbous mushroom head and wondering how deep you could take him. “Well?” Changbin prodded, grabbing the base of his thick erection to brush it across the pout of your lips. “Open wide.”

You whimpered, but obeyed, allowing your tongue to stick out just enough to taste the drop of precum leaking from the tip. It was bitter and unappealing, but since it was from Changbin, you couldn’t resist trying more of him, going further and further down until you felt him at the back of your throat.

Your jaw was already aching from the extension, and a distant thought had you thinking, damn, you were gonna be sore in the morning. But it was completely worth it to hear him moan from above you, fingers tightening in your hair as you allowed him to set the pace, rolling you up and down his cock, tongue sweeping the sides and tip and digging into the little slit where you discovered he was the most sensitive. 

At the same time, you were all but humping his leg, desperate to get off again as he used your mouth for his own personal cocksleeve, hitting the back of your throat repeatedly, sending you gagging around his impossible length.

“You take cock like you were made for it,” he remarked, eyes glossing over in a way that had you feeling rather proud of your skills. 

It only lasted for a moment, and he abruptly held himself all the way down for one, two, three seconds until you were whining for him to let you free just long enough to take in another deep breath. 

“Finish me off,” he groaned, and you were working overtime to bring him to the edge, bobbing your head up and down the full expanse of his length, all gorgeous and velvety smooth skin. And you braced your hands against his knees, an anchor to reality, when he finally released down your throat, heavy and warm, causing you to nearly choke as you struggled to swallow every last drop.

“Good girl,” he whispered, petting your head softly as you whined and continued to rub yourself against him, jumping off the brink of orgasmic bliss right after him, allowing your head to fall down between his spread legs.

It was a quiet for a while as you both fought to catch your breath, but then he was moving again, rising from his position on the couch. 

You sat back on your heels at the jostling, whimpering when he stood over you with a menacing sneer, grabbing your face between his hands, forcing your gazes to meet somewhere in the middle even though you still couldn’t completely concentrate. But you were cognizant to at least understand his next words: “Lucy won’t be here tomorrow night, either.”

“Changbin,” you gasped, understanding the implications of his request and shivering at the effect they could still have on your worn-out body. 

“I’ll leave the door unlocked,” he whispered into your ear, keeping eye-contact as he brought his fingers still coated with your arousal into his mouth, sucking while you grew faint at the sight. Then, he pulled them free and knelt down to sear your lips together so that you could taste the riveting combination of your releases on his wicked tongue. 

You returned home that night in a daze, immediately heading for your room after assuring your mother that everything was totally fine with the babysitting, even if you probably appeared a little out of sorts. 

In the meantime, you landed on top of your bed with a sigh, opening your phone contacts to pull up Laura’s name, placing the call without any mind to the late hour.

She answered on the third ring with a curt grunt. “This better be good, Y/N.”

“Oh?” you replied with a nonchalant tone. “I thought you might be interested in hearing about my latest dick appointment.”

There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end. “You didn’t.”

“I did!”

“With your neighbor?”

You laughed at Laura’s shrill tone, rolling over onto your stomach with your feet dancing in the air behind you. “I totally sucked him off.” 

“Shit! How big is his cock?” Laura whispered over the phone as if anybody could possibly overhear your conversation. 

“Let’s just say he’s well-endowed.”

“You absolute slut!” Laura exclaimed. “Did he at least return the favor?”

“Oh, he’s a gentleman,” you explained. “He took care of me first.”

“Details!”

“He just fingered me,” you said, even as your mind sprinted with images and sensations; Changbin’s sultry gaze, defined muscles, and the burning desire he had planted deep in your core. 

“That’s hot though,” Laura said. “I can’t believe you actually did anything with him.”

“What? I told you he was sending me signals!”

“Yeah, but I was only halfway assuming that those signals might lead to his fingers in you!”

You couldn’t help yourself, laughing at Laura’s incredulous tone, and spending the next several minutes doing your absolute best to provide a heavily detailed play-by-play of your evening tryst with Changbin. 

“Lucky bitch,” Laura scoffed at the end of your long-winded tale. “I’d kill for someone to fuck me.”

“Well, we haven’t gotten there yet...”

“Yet? Are you planning to go back to him?”

“Obviously,” you said. “There’s unfinished business that I need to take care of.”

“You think he wants to fuck you?”

“I think he wants to do a lot to me,” you purred, smirking at the sounds of Laura’s outlandish squeals from the other end.

Still, you didn’t think those explicit fantasies would come to fruition so soon. But the next night when you returned to Changbin’s house under the guise of babysitting his kid, there were no formalities between the two of you because you both wanted each other in a way that should be considered improper. 

Fortunately, you were tired of caring about other people’s opinions, and it only took Changbin a moment to pull you into his house before his lips were crushing against yours, holding you around the waist as he started working at your clothes.

If whiplash was a thing in moments like these, then you had it bad, trying to follow the taste of him as he backed you both into the bedroom, closing the door and enveloping you both in the gentle glow from the lamp.

“Get on the bed,” Changbin growled when he finally pulled away, reaching down for the hem of his t-shirt. You swallowed hard at the sight of his broad, toned upper form, stumbling backward along the floor, hopping on one leg to finish removing your jeans for him, leaving you completely naked as you lowered yourself onto the mattress. “Good girl,” Changbin cooed, and you shivered at the huskiness of his voice, rubbing your thighs together in anticipation as he blatantly traced the outline of his cock through his jeans.

“Changbin, please,” you panted, already so worked up from just kissing and feeling his hands all over your body that you were desperate for something more.

“What do you want, gorgeous?” he asked, walking slowly around to the front of the bed as you watched him with eager eyes.

“Want you to fuck me,” you said, heart thundering against your chest when he started working apart his belt, pulling down his jeans and boxers and allowing his thick cock to slap up against his abdomen, already so hard for you even though you had just started.

“Hands and knees,” Changbin ordered, and you were surprised by your quick compliance, supporting yourself on shaky limbs as you felt him climb on the bed behind you, tensing when the head of his cock grazed your wet opening. “Look at you,” Changbin rumbled, teasing you even more by running his fingers down your spine, allowing his other hand to reach around to grope your breast.

“Hurry,” you practically begged him, and it was like the metaphorical band had finally snapped, and you moaned when Changbin took a firm hold of your hips, manhandling you back into position. 

“Good girls say please,” he snarled, and your entire form light up at the abrupt command.

“P-please,” you stuttered, and there was an unholy line of curses that left your lips when he directed his cock inside, penetrating you so slowly that you could feel every inch of him until he was snug against your ass.

“Since you asked nicely,” Changbin chuckled, and you had never been so turned on before in your entire life, heart racing and blood pumping, bracing yourself against the mattress when he started thrusting, gentle at first, but then faster and faster as you egged him on, wanting him to go so hard that he split you in half around his cock. 

“Oh, fuck,” you gasped, struggling to maintain any sort of grip on the headboard. 

“You’ve been holding out on me,” Changbin purred into your ear, sounding perfectly put-together despite the fact that he was literally drilling his cock into you. “All those guys you’ve fucked before, I would think your pussy wouldn’t be this tight.”

“You’re just too big,” you managed, crying out when he grazed a sensitive spot. 

“Oh? Is that why this little pussy is leaking so much?” Changbin asked, and you had no response for him, clearly fucked out of all rational thought as his hips slapped against yours in a bruising meeting of skin-on-skin. 

It was undeniable: you had never felt this full before...like Changbin’s cock was somehow reaching all the way to your guts, and you reached down to place a hand over your stomach, imagining feeling the bulge of his cock against the distended skin.

“How does daddy feel?” Changbin whispered into your ear, and if it was possible for him to literally destroy you, then it would be from that heavily suggestive question.

“So good,” you sniffled, tears falling inhibited, leaving your face just as wet as the place where he was crushing himself into you, repeating the same motion of leaving just the tip before re-entering you with added urgency, cock forcing its way between the slick walls of your cunt. 

It was a beautiful melodic song after that (or, perhaps, hard metal would be a much better genre), the rhythm of his hips rolling against your own, hard and then softer, bruising and fleeting, stuffing your pussy on every upstroke, holding you in place by his pure strength. 

You could feel that strength everywhere, the force of his cock squelching between your pulsating walls, the way you moved up and down the bed by his control, and, when you reached back with one hand to feel his arm, the flex of his biceps as his arms worked to move you however he pleased.

“What will your mother say, Y/N?” Changbin asked. “When she finds out that her daughter fucked the man next door?”

Your mother would absolutely lose her shit if she found out that you were willingly spreading your legs for a divorced 32-year old man who had a daughter you were meant to be babysitting. She would be even more taken aback to discover that you loved and craved every second of Changbin’s cock tearing you to pieces, stretching you so good that you imagined that you would still be gaping in the morning, desperate to have him fill you again. 

“Her little girl screaming like a slut for me,” Changbin hissed. “Say my name, Y/N.”

“C-Changbin,” you whimpered, feeling him roll to a slower pace, merely grinding his hips in circles as if teasing you for the answer.

You flinched and nearly cried when he smacked the fleshy part of your ass, trying to look back over your shoulder to see what you had done wrong. “Try again,” he said, giving you a meaningful look that your poor, fucked-out brain still managed to decipher; although, you were burning in your own skin at the thought of saying it out loud....

“Daddy!” you moaned, and Changbin suddenly reached down to catch a fistful of your hair, pulling your head back and forcing your back into an even deeper arch. 

“That’s right,” he sneered. “And Daddy’s about to ruin this pussy, fuck it so full of my cum that you’ll still be feeling it when you go back home tonight to your parents and lie about what you’ve done.”

Your next moan was the loudest of the night, overwhelmed by the nasty things he was saying to you, feeling your orgasm gaining speed and traction the longer he kept fucking you, cock moving at a neck-break pace, and fingers wet and hurried over your clit.

The combined friction of his cock and fingers had you reeling, struggling to keep yourself up as he pummeled you into the mattress. Taking great liberties in the screams he was forcing out of you, realizing that if he angled his hips with one of your legs stretched higher around his hip, then he could somehow reach even deeper, kissing your cervix and threatening to steal the breath from your lungs. 

More and More. Faster and Faster. Until the breaking point was right under your nose...

The next thing you remember is a release that was so intense, you managed to black-out when it was all over, pussy fluttering around the distinct waves of pleasure, barely coherent as Changbin continued chasing his own release until he fulfilled his obscene promise to you. 

Three Weeks Later

You had gotten awfully good at keeping Changbin a secret - a dirty and scandalous whisper at that. 

For a while, your mother questioned your insistence on going over to your neighbor’s house to babysit, especially considering your history of being less than willing to interact with children.

“She’s not like most kids,” you lied, waiting for your mother to relent before grabbing whatever bag you needed consisting of your overnight clothes, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible when you walked over to Changbin’s house.

Your mother watched you, at first, standing on the porch as if ensuring that you made it the dozen or so feet separating your yard from that of your neighbor’s. Eventually, she gave up on trying to catch you doing something you weren’t supposed to, but you still kept up appearances, ringing the doorbell and taking a few steps to the side to leave enough room for the screen to rotate on its hinges, offering you the irresistible view of Changbin standing there in all his glory. 

“You’re early,” he remarked; although he seemed to take great pleasure in seeing you as early as possible.

“Is that okay?” you asked with a knowing look, and Changbin chuckled while giving you his most arrogant smirk. 

In return, you smiled back at Changbin, watching him open the door just a little bit wider in invitation.

It was all you needed before surrendering yourself to whatever delicious and mind-blowing ecstasy awaited on you the other side.  

Summer of 69 indeed.

[cheeseburgersstuff]

Our New Life- 20

Steve rogers x reader

Damon Salvatore x Reader (platonic)

Warnings: Language, mistakes, shitty plot :')

Master-list

It's been a day since fury came with his offer. And all y/n did was think about all the outcomes of choosing this offer.

But every time her mind told her the same thing, choose it. It was the same as choosing to become a vampire or not.

She listened to her mind then, she would listen to her mind now.

She went downstairs and saw Damon in deep thoughts, sitting on the couch. She chuckled and sat down with him, “what are you thinking?” she asked him.

He turned towards her with angry expressions on his face. She frowned seeing him like that.

“Now, you want to talk huh? You didn’t talk to me since that stupid man went offering you to join his shitty club.”

y/n snickered causing him to glare at her. She sighed and took his hands, “look I’m sorry. But I needed time to think. Just like I did when I chose this life. It’s like, I’m in that situation again, a lot of things inside my head.” she told him. His expressions got soft seeing her like that.

"Now, what did you decide? Accepting his offer?" He asked, knowing her answer.

She nodded and he could see the light in her eyes, the light of hope.

"This was all I needed for a year. A push, this is the push, Damon." "Everything would be fine, I would be able to fix everything. My life, your life, Elena's. Our life wouldn't be a mess anymore." She told him. She looked at him, asking him if she was doing right, choosing the right thing.

"Do what you want to do. Do what your mind, as well as your heart, agrees to do. If you feel satisfied with this, then do this. And if it doesn't work well, then it's okay. Because I'll always be there for you, no matter what happens, just like I promised." He said, wiping the tear that fell on her face.

She hugged him "thank you, Damon."

~

The next morning she was getting ready to meet Fury. Damon was being stubborn as usual and didn't go back to mystic falls, claiming he needed to be there, to keep her on the right track.

"I would not go back until I see you with that sexy Captain, with my eyes." This is what he answered when she was telling him to go back.

"Ready?" His voice brought her out of her thoughts. She turned from the mirror which she was looking at and saw him ready to go with her.

She rolled her eyes, "I already told you, you can't come Damon. I'm not going to a club, it's an agency I'm going to. Not everyone could go there." She told him one more time.

But of course, Damon has the answer to everything. "I know, but you need me there. I'll make sure everything goes fine with rogers and if we need to compel him, I'll do it." He said nonchalantly. Y/n watched him in horror,

"compelling him? What the fuck Damon??" She asked him.

He sighed, "I'm just joking sweetheart. I just need to be there and besides, I'll be bored in this house"

She just made an annoyed face and went outside to sit in the car. Damon also came with a big smile on his face.

The whole ride there went in anxiety. She was just worried about Steve. Damon kept talking to her, knowing how she was feeling. But that didn't make her feel any better.

They finally reached the HQ, she was feeling anxious. Entering inside the building she was having thoughts. But now there was no turning back, she had to do this.

They both went to the recipient, y/n was about to say something when Damon cut her off.

"Hello, beautiful," he said with a smirk, y/n gave her a threatening look which made him shut up.

That girl gave him a tight smile and looked at her, "how can I help you?" She asked politely.

"I want to meet Director Nick Fury," she said.

The receptionist gave her a weird look, "I'm afraid you can't…" she was saying but y/n interrupted her.

"Look I know I can't meet him, but at least inform him that y/f/n is here. I'm sure he'll be desperate to meet me."

That girl sighed and dialed the phone. She signed them to take a seat.

"They are informing him, you'll have to wait."

They waited for five minutes when a man came towards them, saying he would lead her to the office.

Of course, Damon had to wait there. She looked at Damon, silently telling him not to mess around which he simply replied with an assuring smile.

The man left her in front of the door, she thanked him and went inside.

"I was planning to visit you today." Fury said, smiling. "Please have a seat."

She sat and looked at him. He raised his eyebrow asking for her decision.

"I thought about what you said," she told him. "And?"

"And I decided to join the team, but I don't want people to know like all the rest of the Avengers, I don't wanna be recognized, I can't afford that." She told him.

"Don't worry about that, and I know what your next question would be. We'll tell them you have fast reflexes and by getting some training you'll be useful for us. You are an orphan girl, was living with your uncle in Georgia until he died giving you some of his inheritance and then you moved to NYC last year."

He told her. She made a weird face at his story, "seriously? This is what you came up with." He smiled bitterly at her before speaking.

"Well, I think you have a better story to tell Captain Rogers because the rest of them would not ask you anything after my story. But I'm sure Rogers would have a lot of questions for you, hope you are prepared." Fury said with a smug smile. Making her confused and angry at the same time.

"How the fuck do you know about that? I…" she yapped.

"Look I had to find everything about you so I did. I'm the director here, you think I wouldn't know? And again, no one knows. Now go home and think about how you would face your hero tomorrow." He said dismissing her by his hand.

She didn't say anything and went out of the door angrily.

She went to the ground floor and stepped out of the building, Damon running behind her, " Hey, what happened?" He asked.

"I will tell you, first sit-in the car." She said opening the door of the car.

She started the car and drove to her house while explaining, Damon, everything happened with Fury and that, tomorrow he was gonna introduce her to the team and the Captain….

.

.

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[hawks-supremacy]

Shibuya Honey Toast

a/n: finally updating, i ended up writing more then i thought i was going to. i just kept typing, it's not much longer than usual but i try to keep the written chapters a little short.

warnings: none

words: 1.9k

Masterlist

You turned off your phone and quickly got dressed, it was fifteen minutes before you had to meet the guys and it was a ten minute drive and even longer walk so you were hoping you could convince Shinsuke to give you a ride there so you wouldn’t be late. You made your way downstairs to where your grandma was in the kitchen cooking something. “Hey grandma, is it okay if I go out with some friends today?”

She stopped her actions of kneading dough to turn around, “Sure Boo, where are you going?” she asked as you walked around her to pick some of the fruit next to her off of the counter. “We were going to go to that new ramen place that opened up, I also need a ride. Do you know where Shin is?” She pushed the fruit and the cutting board towards you and motioned for you to start cutting the fruit, “Gran I told you I have to meet with my friends I don’t have time to help you today.”

She waved her hand dismissing your statement and motioned to the fruit, “Shinsuke is in the shower sweetheart. He just got back from being in the field he wanted to get the dirt off. You have time to kill, help a poor old lady out.” You rolled your eyes sending a text to the group chat that you were going to be late and had to help your grandma before you could leave. “You aren’t some helpless old lady, I’m pretty sure I saw you doing chin-ups in the garden the other day. What are we making anyway?”

She turned around and continued to knead the dough on the counter, “I decided to make Shibuya Honey Toast. That used to be our guys’ favorite so I thought I’d make you guys some.” You nodded and continued to chop up the strawberries in front of you. “You know it’s been a while maybe five years since I last helped you make this, but from what I remember of other people making this, they don’t usually make their own bread for this.”

She tutted at you as she shook her head, “You know my policy Boo, if it’s not made by hand it’s not made from the heart.” You both laughed and fell into silence while you finished doing your current tasks. About five minutes later Shin came downstairs asking how everything was going. “Well I just put the bread in the oven to bake and Boo here just got done cutting up all the ingredients we need after the bread is done baking. They need a ride into town to meet with some of their friends, do you think you could do that please?” He nodded and walked over to the fridge grabbing a bottle of water when someone knocked on the front door, “I’ll get it.” Shin said, running to the door. A few minutes later he came back into the room with three six foot rowdy teenage boys, two of which were too busy arguing.

“Osamu, Asumu, Suna? What are you guys doing here? You’re supposed to be eating ramen by now, not at my grandma’s house.” You laughed as you walked over to greet them, hugging Atsumu and Osamu, and giving Suna a crisp high-five. You ushered them over to the kitchen table asking if they wanted anything to drink. Atsumu was the one to answer your question as you got their drinks from the fridge, “We were on our way to the place when you texted so we turned around and came here instead.”

You nodded and turned your head to glance at your grandma who was leaning against the counter with a smirk and her arms crossed, “So which one of the twins is it Boo?” You groaned, covering your face with your hands. “Neither of them Gran.” You said at the same time as Kita said “Give her a break Gran.”

Atsumu raised his hand signaling that he had a question, “Y/n, why did she call ya Boo?” You groaned again, was it embarrassing Y/n day? “When they were a kid they were obsessed with trying to scare people so they would hide around corners all the time and yell “Boo!” all day. It was just the cutest thing. Not to mention that their first word was Boo.” After explaining the reasoning behind the nickname all three boys turned to look at you, “You guys want food? I think I’ll make us lunch since we ended up not going out to lunch. Why don’t you guys go watch Tv in the living room or something, what do you want?” You got up walking to the counter to start taking out ingredients. “Why don’t ya make Onigiri? And ya know what? ‘Samu can help ya with it, it is his specialty after all.”

You agreed and began to cook the rice, everyone except for Osamu went to the kitchen. On her way out your Grandma stopped by you and whispered, “So it’s the grey haired twin huh?” and went to the living room after winking at you. You turned to Osamu who was rolling up his sleeves to help you cook and walked over to the fridge, “Do you want to fill them with anything? We could do tuna mayo, umeboshi, I think we might have chicken. We could also do multiple so we have a variety and they could choose.” You looked up from glancing in the fridge and saw Osamu giving you the tiniest of smirks. “I’m rambling aren’t I?” You asked and he nodded, “Oops. So what do you want to do?”

He shrugged, “Let’s just do all three, ‘Tsumu is a pig and will eat anything we put in front of him.” You raised your eyebrow in an accusing manor, “Are you sure it’s Atsumu that’s the pig? I haven’t known you for long, but I’ve seen you eat.” He rolled his eyes and began to mince the chicken you handed to him while you got out the umeboshi and the ingredients needed for the tuna mayo. “Can you hand me the soy sauce, mirin, sugar and sake?” Osamu asked after he was done cooking the chicken. You brought over the needed ingredients and peered over his shoulder as he added all of them into a pan.

“What are you doing?” He asked looking over at you and nudging you with the arm he was using to stir the chicken with. “You look ridiculous standing on your toes like that.” You shrugged falling back onto the flat of your feet, “Sorry not everyone can be over six feet tall. I’m done making the tuna mayo so right now I’m just waiting on you. So I was watching you cook.” He gave a soft chuckle before telling you that that was a weird thing to do. “I don’t think it’s weird. I like watching people do what they’re passionate about. You see them get in this sort of zone where they don’t think about anything but that thing. I loved watching Toru play volleyball because it was his whole life, I can tell it’s the same thing with Atsumu and with you it’s cooking.” During your little speech you sat yourself on top of the counter.

Taking the chicken off the stove and setting it on the counter Osamu leaned into you, “So when do I get to watch you do something you’re passionate about?” You were about to respond when you heard a cough from the kitchen entrance and he quickly moved away from you and you slid off the counter. “Now Y/n what have I said about sitting on the counter?” Your grandma said walking in to take the fully cooked bread out of the oven to finish making her shibuya honey toast. “You told me not to.” You mumbled as she said “I told you not to. So what was that I walked in on.” You stopped forming the onigiri that was currently in your hands, “Gran can we not talk about it, please?” She waved you off with a “Yeah sure, just saying you guys would make a cute couple.” You pinched the bridge of your nose and sighed.

Osamu looked between you and your smirking grandma and cleared his throat, “I agree with your grandma, I think we’d be a cute couple.” You whipped your head towards Osamu, he shrugged and mouthed ‘what?’. You gave a silent laugh and shook your head finishing the onigiri at the same time Gran finished the shibuya. Setting everything on the table you called to the boys in the living room to come eat lunch.

A few minutes after sitting down to eat Atsumu broke the silence, “What happened, why are we all quiet?” You and Osamu mde eye contact at the question and had a silent conversation before Osamu spoke, “We’re eating ‘Tsumu, some of us don’t like to talk with our mouths full, pig.” Atsumu scoffed in offense, “Excuse me, I’m not the one who eats constantly.” It wasn’t long before they started a full blown argument. Everyone watched for a few minutes before Gran broke it up and told them to sit down and eat or get out. After the argument was done Atsumu and Osamu sat back down, previously ready to jump across the table to attack each other. Everyone sat down and finished eating, making small talk here and there. You went to go do the dishes when your Grandma shooed you away insisting she had it. “Grandma Kita let us help, we made the mess.” Osamu tried to convince her to let you guys do it but if you know anything about your Gran it’s that she’s stubborn. “Hon go have fun, pick fruit in our field or something, and please call me Grandma Yumie, you’ll be family soon enough.” She replied, turning around and starting to clean.

You turned around, hand on your forehead walking out of the kitchen with Osamu following you, “I swear to god I’m actually going to put her in a home. I apologize for her behavior, Hajime has to go through this every time he visits or sees her.” He nodded as you guys exited the house to the back where Shin, Suna, and Atsumu were.

Shin was in the middle of trying to convince Atsumu to do something productive while he was here. While Shin did work in the field earlier this morning there were still a few things that could still be harvested. It didn't take long for him to convince Atsumu seeing as how he practically worshipped the ground Shin walked on, Suna however wasn't really jumping for joy at the idea of doing field work. After a bit of convincing and a lot of bribing and promises of chuupets he finally agreed to help for a few minutes.

The rest of the day was spent picking various fruits and vegetables while laughing and making fun of each other over old stories you told each other. After a few hours everyone had to go back to their respective homes and call it a night.

Tag List:

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[unholyobsessions]

Welcome to my dorm Pt. 2

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!Reader

Description: Spencer surprises you one weekend and you finally have your first date.

Warnings: Heated makeout/Implied sex, Mentions of kidnapping

Word Count: 3.5

Part 1 -- Part 3 -- Part 4

Ever since the BAU closed Hayley’s case both you and Spencer had been calling and texting non-stop. You, however, weren’t sure how to label your relationship with the genius. You couldn’t deny your feelings for him. The butterflies in your stomach whenever phone dings with a text from him. The smile ever so present on your face whenever you talked to him. The longing you felt whenever you hung up the phone and the worry that takes over your whole body when he is on a case. You hadn’t even had your first official date since he kept getting called away and you weren’t even completely sure that dating you was his intention.

It was one hundred percent his intention to date you. You hadn’t voiced your doubts to him but he senses your hesitance whenever you brought up the topic of him visiting. When the team arrived at Quantico after a hard case one late Friday evening, Hotch announced that they should all take the weekend off, and just make sure to have their consults done by Tuesday. Spencer was quick to pick up the files from his desk and shove them inside his worn out messenger bag. He muttered goodbye to his co-workers before speed walking to the elevator. He fumbled for his car keys and hurried out of the building toward his car. Once inside he didn’t even think about texting you before making the drive to your university because it had already been a month since you first met and he wanted to see you and make your relationship official. An hour and a half later he parked his car by your dorm, checking the time on his watch. 9:30 . . .

You were on your shift at the bar. It was packed as it always was on Friday night. You glanced around at the drunk college students and let out a small laugh. You stood in front of Haley who was at the bar for the first time since her kidnapping. You were strongly against her being here but according to her therapist she had to go back eventually to fully deal with what happened to her. You didn’t allow her to drink any alcohol though, and shooed anyone who tried to sit next to her. You were preparing the drinks for a group of law students who just failed an exam when you saw someone approach Haley. You quickly set their drinks on the counter with tight lipped smile and walked over to your friend, fully prepared to shoo the man away, however you weren’t expecting to see a certain curly haired FBI agent sit next to her. You hesitated before the biggest smile took over your face, you tried to ignore the butterflies going crazy in your stomach. You wanted to kiss him hug him but the counter between the both of you made that difficult. Haley tensed after sensing the presence next to her but after turning her head and seeing the face of the man who uncuffed her from the ceiling she instantly relaxed. “Spencer.” You said at the same time Haley exclaimed, “Agent Reid.” Both greetings were equally surprised. Spencer smiled at you and you thought you would melt that very second. Your brain caught up to the situation and you instantly turned your attention to Haley. “You okay?” She knew what the question meant. Do you feel comfortable with him sitting there? You knew Spencer would understand and would gladly move to another seat but it wasn’t necessary as Haley gave a firm nod and then a verbal confirmation. Spencer eyed the interaction between the two before you noticed his confusion. “It’s her first time back here since...” you trailed of. “Oh.” Spencer looked back to Haley who was in an intense staring contest with the counter top. “I’m sorry. I know I should have called but Hotch gave us the weekend off last minute and I knew if I didn’t take it, it would just be another month before I got to see you.” You shook your head dismissing his apology. “It’s okay. My shift finishes at midnight though so you can wait it out and then I normally get some food and eat it back in my dorm so we can totally catch up there.” “Perfect.”  “In the mean time can I offer you anything to drink?” You reached under the counter, grabbing a glass and waited for his order. “Well I’m not on the clock anymore so just give me whatever you do best I guess.” You grinned and started to work on your specialty drink. After you were done you placed the drink in front of him and he took it with a smile. The rest of the evening consisted of you serving drinks and talking to both him and Haley whenever you weren’t being called or flirted with by drunk frat boys. When you were busy, you were quite surprised to find Haley and Spencer making easy conversation, at some point her asking him if he could walk her to the bathroom and wait outside the door for her. At the end of the night the two of you walked Haley home before making your way to a pizza parlor that is open 24 hours, ordering a large pepperoni pizza and drinks before walking back to your dorm. Spencer held the food as you turned the key and pushed the door open. He kicked the door closed and set everything down on your desk. “Do you mind if I change? I mean it really is nothing you haven’t seen before.” He snorted as he remembered meeting you for the first time. He nodded and you turned around quickly slipping your black t-shirt off and trading it for an oversized sweatshirt promoting your old high school. You slipped out of your dark jeans and pulled up a pair of loose sleep shorts. You turned back around to find Spencer looking anywhere but at you. “I’m decent Spencer you can look at me now.” He blushed a deep shade of pink and you let out a low laugh. You took of your contacts and slipped on your glasses. You sat on your bed and patted the space next to you. Spencer made his way over handing you a plate with a slice of pizza before sitting down. You ate and talked until about three in the morning when you asked Spencer if he wanted to change. “I mean I have my go-bag in the car but I was just planning on staying at a motel.” You rolled your eyes. “Nonsense. It’s three a.m. Spencer you’re staying here, so go grab your bag so you can change.” After a few minutes of arguing back and forth, Spencer eventually agreed and went downstairs to his car. You started picking up the trash throwing the empty box of pizza on a trash bin at the end of the hall because you did not want your room to smell like pizza all night. By the time Spencer came back you were already sitting down on your bed with your laptop in front of you as you scrolled through your downloaded movies, ignoring the fact that you should probably go to sleep. “Do I just change here?” Spencer questioned and avoided eye contact. “Oh come on we’re both adults. Stop being so weird about it.” He laughed at your teasing and started unbuttoning his shirt. Instead of averting your gaze like he did when you changed, you couldn’t help but stare as his fingers worked down the buttons. He quickly put on an old Cal-Tech t-shirt over his chest, not giving you much time to appreciate him. You looked away when he started un doing his belt because you don’t think you could survive seeing him sliding his pants down his legs. He sat next to you after he was done and when you looked up to meet his eyes you were surprised to see thick frames placed lightly on his face. My god how is it possible for him to look even more attractive, you thought.  “You use contacts?” It was a statement more than a question. “Yeah.” Your eyes stared into his and he let his gaze fall to your lips before he caught himself and cleared his throat. “So what are we watching?” His stare made you nervous so you fixed your eyes to your computer screen and started talking. “I’m not sure. I mean I’ve watched all of these but quite frankly I’m not feeling any of them tonight. The reason I have them all downloaded is because they’re my favorites so it’s weird that I don’t want to watch them. I watch them all the time. Too much I think. They just put me in a better mood. But what do you want to watch because your opinion is just as important as mine and I don’t want you to think that we have to watch what I want. I can even download your favorite right now if you wa-“ your rambling was cut off by Spencer turning your head and pressing his lips against yours. You froze before you realized what was happening. You closed your eyes and returned the kiss, your hand going to his hair and his tightening his hold on your jaw. He pulled away and opened his mouth, no doubt wanting to say something,  but you were quick to pull him back kissing him hungrily. One of his hands went to your waist pulling you into his lap so you were straddling him. When he pulled away a few seconds later you let him in order to catch your breath. “Or we could just forget about the movie,” he breathed out. “We can definitely do that.” You pulled him back into the kiss, reaching behind you to slap the laptop closed. Your hands returned to his hair and you gave it a light pull as you rolled your hips down against his. He let out a groan and responded by biting down on your lip. He flipped you over and hovered over you as he trailed wet kisses down your neck. “So does this mean we’re officially dating?” You questioned as he sucked lightly on your collarbone. “I sure hope so,” he answered with a smile. . . . The next morning found the both of you in your dorm room, the glow of the late morning sun lighting up the space. Spencer was sitting on your bed, going over the file that he had taken from the office to finish over the weekend with a cup of coffee in his hand. You were sitting at your desk, your own cup of coffee placed on the desktop with a pen in your hand and your text book in front of you. You scribbled notes on your notebook before turning the page. You were both working in silence, content in each other’s company, when you were interrupted buy a knock on the door. You stood up, quite obviously annoyed,  and pushed your glasses up your nose. It was times like this when you hated being an RA because the kids on your floor expected you to solve every problem they had. The person who knocked  was a doe eyed freshman named Callie. The moment you opened the door Callie started talking about whatever she was complaning about on that particular morning. “Y/n I think someone brought someone back to the dorms last night . Because I could hear moaning and i know it’s allowed but at the beginning of the year they said if we bring someone to be considerate of others and in my opinion it was definitely Crystal becau-“ she stopped talking when she noticed your wide eyes and red face and that is when she took the time to look you over. You were wearing Spencer’s Cal-Tech t-shirt and your shorts and there was a very obvious hickey on your neck. She looked over your shoulder and saw Spencer sitting on the bed, working shirtless with a pair of sweats hanging dangerously low on his hips. “Oh my god.” Callie looked like a deer caught in the headlights, you were pretty sure you looked the same. “I am so sorry. I’m just-- going to uh- go.” With that she took off toward her room, no doubt to tell her roommates what she had just witnessed. You closed the door and turned to look at Spencer, still processing what had just happened. “They heard us.” Spencer couldn’t take it anymore and burst out laughing, as you looked and sounded absolutely mortified. “Stop! It’s not funny!” He reached out and took hold of your arm, pulling you to him. “Come on it’s a little funny.” “Maybe for you but I take care of these kids and they just heard their RA having sex.” Your back was against his bare chest and he traced patterns on your leg. “Like you said last night. We’re both adults so we deal with this accordingly.” You could practically hear the smirk in his voice.  “Oh and what is that?” You turned your head to look at him. He gave you a cheeky smile. “I sneak out and you pretend you don’t know what they’re talking about.” You started laughing and he placed a light kiss on your neck. “Okay the situation is kinda funny.” He grinned against your neck and you turned in his lap,catching his lips with yours. You tasted the overly sweet coffee you both drank this morning and you couldn’t help but smile. Yeah, you thought, I can definitely get used to this. You pulled away from him and got up from the bed, his hands chasing after you, trying to pull you back. “I’m going to go shower and get ready. You finish your consult.” “Yes ma’am.” You laughed at the small pout that adorned his beautiful face. You gathered your things but before you walked out of the room, you gave him a peck on the lips. The lovestruck smile on his face made your knees weak. 

When you walked back inside after your shower, you found him sitting on your desk chair, already dressed and with the bed made. He stood up, took your hand and led you back out the door. 

. . . The two of you spent the day walking around town. You gave him a tour which basically consisted of you taking him to all of your favorite places. At some point you ended up at the local bowling alley. You pulled him in even though he protested the whole time that he wasn’t any good. When you made your way up to the counter, he scrunched his face up in disgust at the shoes placed in front of him. Since you were basically forcing him to play he made it clear that he was not going to wear the shoes they provided and he suggested that you do the same. He went off about all the germs accumulated and spraying them with disinfectant after every use wasn’t enough. He absolutely refused to even touch them. You reluctantly agreed with a roll of your eyes and both of you ended up playing in your socks which caused you to slip and fall more than once. You quickly realized that Spencer was not joking when he said he was horrible at bowling. You were beating him by a fair amount of points since you spent most of your free time here with your friends, there weren’t really many places for young adults to hang out in. You suggested that he get the kids bumpers so his ball wouldn’t keep rolling off the side and he just mocked you before rolling his ball. It slipped off to the side and you just gave him a knowing look. “Shut up.” He mumbled before sitting down. “Isn’t there some sort of physics equation with momentum or something to get you the perfect shot?” You questioned. You slipped your fingers in the bowling ball, taking a deep breath before jogging up to the lane. Your right foot crossed behind your left ankle as you let go. The ball rolled in a perfectly straight line and knocked all the pins down. You turned around and raised your eyebrows at him. He rolled his eyes at your obvious taunt. “Well there probably is.” He trailed off, his eyes glazing over. He started mumbling incoherently under his breath. He picked up the ball and took very measured steps before letting go. Unlike all the other times, his ball didn’t roll off to the side, instead it rolled in a perfectly straight line and knocked all the pins. Your eyes widened in shock, not having expected it to actually work, before you started cheering, jumping up and down. You rushed over to him and jumped into his open arms. He was smiling widely and a loud laugh left his lips. The other people in the bowling alley looked over to you, some jealous at the obvious chemistry between the two and others smiling fondly, memories of their own love stories coming to mind. You both knew you were making an unnecessary scene but you couldn’t care less. Spencer spun you around as you chanted “You did it!” over and over again. Spencer was shocked at how happy he felt. He hadn’t felt this happy in a long time and he wasn’t expecting to feel this way with someone he only met a month ago. He was falling for you and he was falling fast. He can’t recall ever feeling this strongly for someone before. He never wanted to see you sad and every time you smiled he felt as if his heart was bursting open. In his line of work he is surrounded by the darkest aspects of humanity but when he is with you, all of that just seems to fade away and the only thing that mattered was the beautiful young woman standing in front of him, lighting up his world.

After a few more rounds you ended up winning, obviously, but you still felt like Spencer was the real winner. You suggested he invite his co-workers and beat them with his new fancy equation to hit the pins every time. He only laughed at that but you could tell that he was seriously considering it. You went to have lunch at a local diner before you took him to your favorite coffee shop. You remember him telling you in one of your phone calls how he never really liked iced coffee and you were determined to change that, since it was your favorite type of coffee. You ordered your usual and handed him his cup after they finished preparing it. He took one sip and his eyes widened. “Wow!” “I know!” He chucked at your excitement before taking your hand in his and walking out of the shop. You walked around for the rest of your day making casual conversation and sipping on your coffee. At some point his phone rang and he cursed. You frowned because he once told you that when his phone rang it normally always meant that he was getting called into work. You didn’t want him to get called in, as selfish as it sounded, you wanted him all to yourself. He reluctantly let go of your hand before answering the phone. “Hey JJ are we getting called in?” Since you were standing so close to him you could faintly hear the woman’s voice on the other end. “No, actually I was wondering if you could come and babysit Henry tonight. Will and I wanted to go out and I cannot find a babysitter on such short notice.” You could hear the desperation in “JJ’s” voice and you felt bad for her. She probably never got free time with who you assumed was her husband between work and her child. “Actually I can’t tonight. I’m out of town.” He placed the arm holding the iced coffee around your shoulders and pulled you even closer. “Oh.” JJ was surprised. You knew Spencer didn’t get out much, but you couldn’t help but find her unmasked shock amusing. “Did you go visit your mom?” “No. Umm I came to visit a friend.” He squeezed your shoulder with his wrist. Probably to make sure you knew he didn’t consider you just a friend. “I’m sorry I can’t be of any more help. You know I love watching over Henry but maybe you could drop him off with Garcia.” You heard the woman hum in agreement at his suggestion before thanking Spencer and hanging up. “Sorry that was my friend JJ. Henry’s my godson and I’m normally their go-to whenever they can’t find a babysitter.” You shook your head, assuring him that he didn’t need to apologize. “It’s fine. I’m just glad you weren’t being called away.” “Me too.” He turned your head and brought you into a deep kiss.

[noctuaas]

AS YOU WISH; t. kuroo

synopsis; in this tale of romance, revenge, and treason, you, a beautiful commoner, are set to become the princess of aobajousai. will your one true love be able to save you in time?

pairing; kuroo tetsurou x reader

content; princess bride au (heavily based on both the movie and novel), medieval au, torture, mild violence, drama, fantasy/adventure, murder, fem!reader

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01 ; THE BRIDE

TO BE THE MOST beautiful girl in the world was a concept far past your concern. Those around you certainly saw the potential, but at 16 years old, you simply could not care less to capitalize on your natural beauty. (Beauty routines were exhausting in your eyes. You only washed your face so as not to feel filthy, taking a razor to your leg hair was far more trouble than it seemed worth, and you were quite sick of brushing your hair, so you did so as little as possible.) All you really wanted to do was ride your horse and pester the farm boy that worked for your parents.

Prince, as you had taken to calling the horse when he was just a yearling, was a loyal companion. Other girls your age grew attached to one of their herding dogs’ pups, or the kitten of a barn cat, but you had Prince. He always came when you called, steered where you told him even on a loose rein, nuzzled your face on bad days. 

For all the time you spent taunting and bossing the farm boy around—“Farm Boy, fetch me this,” and “Farm Boy, take care of that,”—he always had one thing in common with the horse: he always did as he was told.

(Perhaps you knew that he was really a young man now—he was a year or two older than you—but he had been just an orphaned boy when he first came to work for your father, so that was what you referred to him as: Farm Boy.)

“As you wish,” he always replied, without fail.

Your father was fond of the farm boy, often remarking how he should leave him an acre of land in his will for all his hard work. These conversations never lasted long though, not before your parents would turn to you and chide you for needing to go bathe again and clean yourself up after spending the day in the barn.

Despite your disdain for taking care of yourself like a “proper lady,” as your mother liked to say, your natural beauty was still enough to cause the village boys to flock to you. Those dimwits always liked to badger you with stupid questions whenever you rode into town, offering silly favors and making awkward small talk, much to dismay of the rest of the girls in the village. The boys were always so annoying, and you often noted how much more tolerable Farm Boy was as you dismissed their advances. Eventually they took to making fun of you, laughing over snide remarks about you because they must have been embarrassed about being shot down. Sometimes the insults were too much to ignore, and when that was the case, Farm Boy took matters into his own hands. You always thanked him after he sent a village boy home bloodied and crying, and he always answered, “As you wish.”

You came to realize that Farm Boy was the only boy your age whose presence you seemed to enjoy. One night, you lied awake with the dim light from a full moon crawling through your window, thinking about how he was always kind and respectful to you, how he protected you and your honor, how he seemed to smile at you differently than he ever smiled at the other girls in town. (You also let yourself admit that he was quite handsome, with his amber eyes and ebony hair that was always in a perfect bedhead state, which was something you had never bothered caring about before.)

After that, your time was no longer divided between riding your horse and pestering the farm boy; now, ‘pestering’ was to be replaced with ‘falling for’. You let him join you on rides through the woods on Prince; you began doing your morning reading in the barn to keep him company while he fed the animals; you took it upon yourself to take out any extra supper your mother cooked to him. You even decided to stop calling him ‘Farm Boy’.

“What’s your actual name, Farm Boy?” you asked out of the blue.

“Why do you ask?” he had replied, and you snorted in mild amusement.

“Well, after having known you all these years, it must be quite rude of me to still call you ‘Farm Boy’.”

He paused and grinned that endearing grin of his, “Just call me Kuroo, then.”

Everything was so blissful for the year following. You loved Kuroo, and he loved you. Even on the day the royal Count and Countess of Aobajousai had strangely paid your family a visit, you both were sure of this; because while the Countess took Kuroo’s arm gently for him to show her the dairy cows and the Count watched you intently as you followed the small procession on your horse, you and Kuroo both stared at each other.

At the end of one year though, Kuroo unexpectedly showed up at your window in the middle of the night.

“I’ve come to say goodbye.”

You shot up straight in your bed, cocking your head incredulously, “What do you mean, ‘goodbye’?”

“I mean I’m leaving.”

“Leaving? Have I done—”

“I’m taking to the sea to seek my fortune,” he cut you off. “There’s a ship that sails out of Karasuno, to the new country of Inarizaki. There’s great opportunity there, so I’m going.”

You were shell-shocked for a moment. Leaving? Sailing to Inarizaki? Where was this all coming from?

“But why? What about the farm? What about us?” You finally said. Your voice was already beginning to quiver pathetically as tears brimmed in your eyes.

“I’ve been training at night, so I hardly need sleep or food, and I’ll get two 10-hour-a-day jobs. I’m gonna save every penny, and in just a couple years I’ll have enough to buy a big farm and build a brand new house just for the two of us.”

“For the two of us?” Your brows furrowed and your voice was meek.

“Yes, (y/n). I love you. All these years I’ve stayed here because of you. I’ve taught myself foreign languages, made my body strong, everything, for you. I’ve been head over heels for you since I was a kid. Do you understand what I’m saying, or should I keep going?”

(By now, Kuroo had squeezed his broad frame through your window, somehow landing gracefully on the floor and sliding next to you on your bed so he could wipe away your tears with his thumb. It was a good thing he was athletic enough to do so quietly, because if your parents caught him in your room, all hell might break loose.)

“Never stop,” you mumbled dreamily.

“There hasn’t been a day—”

“You better not be teasing me, Kuroo, or I’ll have your hide,” you broke in this time. Kuroo loved to tease you, and it was normally all in good fun, but if that was the case now, then he was taking it way too far.

“I’d never joke about loving you,” he replied. “Remember all those years when you would tell me, ‘Farm Boy, do this, Farm Boy, do that’? What did I always say?”

“‘As you wish’.”

“Well, that’s just what you thought I was saying. I was actually saying ‘I love you’,” Kuroo smiled gently and ran his fingers through your hair.

All that time? You couldn’t even recall the first time Kuroo started saying ‘As you wish’ to all your commands, but apparently he had been in love with you. Before you had ever even noticed him, he was devoted to you. It sounded like a fairy tale.

“I love you too, Kuroo. I’ll never stop loving you, I swear,” you finally said.

“I’ll hold you to it, princess. I have to go now if I want to make it to Karasuno in time, but I’ll send for you soon. Promise.”

You nodded in understanding, but you couldn’t let him leave without one last kiss.

There had been five great kisses since the beginning of time. Though the precise rating of kisses is a bit convoluted and controversial (everyone knows that the formula for a great kiss is comprised of timing, affection, intensity, and duration, but there has never been a universal agreement on each element’s weight), there was no doubt that this kiss left every other in the dust.

The following morning, all you wanted to do was lay around and mope. It was perfectly justifiable, considering the love of your life had just left the country, and you wouldn’t see him for God knows how long. You wallowed in self pity for about an hour before realizing that Kuroo was out in the great big world now, and with as handsome as he was, he would surely have women throwing themselves at him.

What if all this moping destroys my beauty, and when he sends for me, I’ll arrive in Inarizaki, and he’ll take one look at me and send me back?

“Mother,” you ran downstairs, interrupting whatever petty argument your parents were having. “I need your advice. How can I better take care of my appearance?”

“You’ve never cared about your appearance, honey. Why are you asking this all of a sudden?”

“Well, I’m nearly 18 now. I figure it’s about time I start behaving a little more like a lady,” you lied. It was enough to appease your mother, and she grabbed your arm and began dragging you to the washroom in delight.

You quickly learned that taking such care of yourself was hard work; the saying, ‘beauty is pain,’ made an awful lot of sense now. But for Kuroo, nothing was too much. Every morning, you awoke at dawn to start the farm chores. You had to pick up all the slack left by Kuroo, so there wasn’t really any time for self-improvement until the afternoon, but once you started, you took it very seriously. Daily baths, simple exercises, and all the time it took to brush your hair out perfectly before bed.

If the whole town thought you were beautiful before, now they all knew you must be a contender for the most beautiful girl in the world. You, however, still had no care for how beautiful the rest of the world found you; as long as Kuroo found you beautiful. (In the coming years, you would learn that you were beautiful no matter what, and simplify your beauty routine to what you liked. As long as you felt clean and tidy, that was sufficient.)

Kuroo wrote you letters every few months, and you kept every one of them. Sometimes people would ask you how he was doing, which was a mistake unless they had a lot of spare time, because you could talk about him for hours. It was obvious that you were completely and utterly in love, and so the village boys eventually stopped trying, and the village girls warmed back up to you.

It made sense the way Kuroo’s death hit you the way it did.

The news reached your parents first. The Count (a new fellow named Iwaizumi, appointed by Prince Oikawa shortly after the last one’s death) was sent to your farm to deliver the news since it was Kuroo’s last known place of residence. You were returning from town on your horse when Count Iwaizumi was leaving your property.

“Miss,” he nodded politely as you crossed paths. You rode on in confusion, and the new Count watched you intently, much like the last one.

When you made it into the house, both your parents hushed up and looked at you with pity.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s The Crow’s Wing, darling. It was attacked,” your mother told you.

Kuroo’s ship was attacked? You furrowed your brows, “What?”

“Pirates. In the night,” your father explained.

You knew the trip across the sea would be dangerous, but you never thought it would happen to him. Sliding into a chair, you decided it might be best to sit down.

The room was quiet until you managed to squeak out, “So Kuroo’s been taken prisoner, then?”

A long sigh from your parents, and then, a, “No.”

“It was the Dread Pirate Nekomata.”

You blinked, willing back tears. The Dread Pirate Nekomata was the most famous pirate in all the world, and he never took prisoners. In all these years in his reign of terror, no one survived an attack from the Dread Pirate Nekomata.

You went to your room, and this time around, you allowed yourself to mope. For six days, you sulked, and cried, and mourned. Not once did you come out of your room, so your parents took to leaving food outside your door, which you only ever picked at meekly. During those six days in your room, you decided you would never love again.

[kyndaris]

Shadows of the Mind

Red-rimmed eyes stared back at me. Disgusted to see how low I had fallen, I splashed cold water onto my face – hoping against hope that it would also wash away my addiction. No such luck.

Studying my reflection, I ran a tired hand over the stubble that I should have shaved off yesterday morning…or had it been the day before last? Time blurred when sleep was taken out of the equation. And it had been a long while since I had rested my head on a pillow.

Yet though I craved the comforts of a warm bed, the only beating thought in my head was the same refrain I had heard a million times before: just one more. After all, what could it hurt? I was already late. Even if they didn’t fire me today, I would not be long for the chopping block when the next review came up.

A better man would have done more when his wife and their two children had threatened to leave because of the nights spent in the casino. A better man would probably have talked it out and made steps for self-improvement. When the accident happened, a better man might have used the opportunity to finally turn over a new leaf. Or, perhaps, a better man would have poured all their energy into digging into the truth of the situation.

But I was not a better man.

When I could not afford to continue gambling away my money at the slot machines, I turned to drink to drown out the pain. Kicked out of the house that had cost me two decades of labour and bleeding money from the debts that had gone unpaid, I was at the end of my rope.

The yellow eye in the centre of my left palm looked up at me. Judgement writ clear.

I blinked and the image disappeared. My hand was pink flesh once again. No sign of an eye anywhere. Had I just dreamed it? Or was there something more sinister? Linked, perhaps, to the work I was doing? How else could I explain the cadavers that were brought in with ridges of scales and webbed toes.

It should not have come as a surprise. There had always been rumours of a curse being laid on the small seaside town since time immemorial. Folk tales, mostly, to scare kids into behaving.

But what if it was all true? It would explain the accident. There was no way that Morgan would have missed the turn. She had always been a careful driver, particularly when there was heavy fog. And the kids were in the back…

The police had stopped by the house and had asked plenty of questions. Did I have any suspicions that she might have had suicidal thoughts or that she was not coping in any way? The idea was ludicrous. I told the officers as such. ‘Morgan would never have done it on purpose. Our kids meant the world to her. Hell, she had been heading to her parents – nowhere near the promontory…’

A sharp slap to the face brought me out of my spiralling thoughts. God. I was losing my mind and there was nothing I could do about it. One of the side effects, probably, from the antidepressants and anxiety tablets I had been prescribed.

I reached for the bottle. Twisted the lid. Two small capsules popped out into my cupped hand. Within seconds, I had swallowed them dry.

As I felt them slide down my throat, I risked one more glance at the mirror. My clothes were crinkled, dark bags rested under my eyes and the tuft of hair I still had would do little to cover my encroaching baldness. In one word I looked like shit.

Still, I had seen worse. And I found that I didn’t much care whether I lost my job today or in the near future.

I was tired of fighting. Easier to submit to the inevitable once it came. Whether that was the drugs I had taken, I couldn’t say. The fog that descended over my mind made it hard to think about it too much. Maybe that was good. At the very least I would not have to combat the crippling anxiety that would have come with it.

Gambling had taken away my family. It had taken away the roof over my head and the food to line my stomach. Soon, it would take my life. One way or another.

Within minutes I left the small cramped flat and took the rickety lift down to the rundown carpark. A tan overcoat was tastefully slung over my right arm in the hope that it would give me a modicum of respectability. I only prayed that no-one looked too closely at the frayed sleeves and the weathered scuff marks. In my other hand, I carried a battered leather briefcase that I had dug out of the closet. As I reached in for the keys to the bucket of bolts that I called a car, I realised that I had forgotten my security pass.

Cursing under my breath, I dumped most of my belongings into the passenger side seat and raced up the stairs rather than wait for the lift. Legs burning and puffing hard, I stopped at the second floor to catch my breath. Just as an errant chastisement was once again about to regale me with all my failures up to that absolute second, I mustered up what remained of my strength and staggered up the remaining flight of stairs to my two-bedroom unit.

It was then a simple matter of busting open the door and nabbing the pass sat on what could not reasonably be considered a proper dining table – an elevated plastic chair with three stools around it. Oh, how far the mighty had fallen. If only my old friends could see me now…

But I had lost most anyone that would have cared to offer any sort of aid for my self-inflicted plight.

By the time I pulled up at the security gate, I was ten minutes late. The guard took his time checking my pass and confirming my name in the system. He reminded me of a raven with his sharp beak-like nose and the shifty glint in his small beady black eyes as he looked at my face and then the computer screen with needless scrutiny.

‘Everything appears to be in order, Mister Hinds,’ he said. His voice was unusually nasally, almost high-pitched, for a man of his size and girth. ‘Be sure to clock in on time tomorrow. I’ve had journalists sniffing up here the last few days, trying to sneak in. You know how it is when it comes to the work that goes on. Probably know it better than I do.’

I nodded and made to retrieve my security pass. ‘No need to tell me twice. I’ll be doubly sure to set the alarm to a quarter to seven,’ I replied with a polite smile. ‘Thank you for your exemplary work, Horace. Doing us all proud.’

Once the gate was up, I pushed my car into gear. It trundled through, picking up speed as soon as I reached the main building and the carpark resting underneath. Built forty years ago, it was an impressive creation of concrete. Passing under the awning as I entered the carpark, I could barely make out any windows on the exterior. Appropriate, considering the secrets that we kept hidden away from prying eyes.

When I finally arrived at the laboratory, after changing into my white lab coat in one of the only sterile areas of the facility, it was ten minutes to eleven. Already a migraine had formed behind my eyes, throbbing with each beat of my heart. All I wanted to do was to take a sip of smooth whiskey to ease away the pain. Except, of course, I didn’t even have enough money to buy a pint at the local pub, let alone anything stronger.

Before I could entertain my fantasy further, Gladstone strode in from the far door. “Good to see you actually make it out of bed, Hinds,’ he said, barely looking up from his notes on the clipboard. ‘We need you downstairs. One of the,’ he hesitated slightly as he looked for a word to describe the subjects that were kept in less than humane holding cells, ‘creatures had a little incident last night. Look into it.’

Just like that, I was dismissed.

Orders given, Gladstone sat at a free desk, his eyes never leaving whatever was on his clipboard as he tapped his pen arrhythmically against it. Maybe it was my overactive imagination or perhaps it was my sleep deprived brain, but I could not help but compare Gladstone to a big cat, just waiting to pounce upon the unwary. Surely, the elongated teeth and sharp curling fingernails were due to the fact that I had been awake for the last thirty-six hours.

With a great shake of my head, I picked up my belongings and made for the far door from whence Gladstone had come through.

As I made my way down, my footsteps on the metal steps echoed through the concrete well. There was naught in this passageway to dampen sound. Austere and spartan had been the design choices when it came to top-secret laboratories nestled a few miles away from town.

Deeper and deeper and deeper I went. It was as if I was descending into the bowels of the Earth.

My only companion was a small wispish ball of bluish light, shaped into an amalgamation of an eyeball and wings. I knew I should have been disturbed by the sudden evolution in my hallucinations. Yet, I could not find the strength inside me to care. After all, what were a few demons and devils from myths and legends, when I had seen men who had sprouted bat wings and women with large bulbous eyes with gills beginning to form on their necks?

Besides, it seemed harmless anyways. Staying always three feet behind me. For a brief moment, I came to a stop at a landing and eyed it for a few seconds, daring it to attack, before shrugging my shoulders when it remained docile, impossibly hovering in place.

How exceedingly odd.

Knowing that it was not real, I did not reach for it. Even as I tried to rationally explain the phenomena floating beside me with science. In the end, I simply chalked it up to the drugs and thought no more on the matter.

Something strange was happening and it was my job to find the answers. It mattered not that I was wracked with guilt and grief. Gladstone, for one, couldn’t care less. All that mattered was that I did what I was paid for. Nothing more. Nothing less.

As I stepped through the pressurised doors and into the decontamination unit, I turned my addled mind to the task at hand. With great effort, I managed to rouse it from its stupor. By the time I emerged into the top-secret containment area, I was as focused and sharp as I was ever going to be with soporific drugs pumping through my veins. Which, to be fair, wasn’t much. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open as I stumbled forward, one hand blindly reaching for a wall to steady myself as I adjusted to the change in temperature and lighting.

‘Hinds! Thank God you’re here. I’ve tried my best to stabilise it but this is beyond my skills.’ Pritchard rushed towards me, her hands covered in a deep shade of blue and a frantic look in her eyes. ‘You know what’ll happen if we were to lose it. And I’d rather not have my head on a pike.’

‘Show me.’

We headed deeper, passing by huge containment units filled with all manner of strange creatures and monsters. Many had been found washed up on the beaches dotted along the western coast. Some had been hostile, attacking anyone or anything nearby. Others had been positively docile, more curious than dangerous.

Even their appearances varied. I had seen several that looked like they had stepped out from my worst nightmare. There was no word to describe the monstrosities. Videos I had glimpsed showed unspeakable terrors – a mix of tentacles and shapeless horrors. Bringing them back to the facility was never an option. The casualty numbers had been astronomical. We were fortunate when the retrieval team returned with footage.

Should the retrieval team manage to subdue one of these creatures, which they did on a rare occasion, they were almost always dead upon delivery. And utterly useless for our research.

Imagine what we could learn if we actually had a living breathing monster before us! The knowledge that we would have at our fingertips!

Most of what my team and I had been able to study were specimens that were mostly humanoid in appearance. One had stood out in my memory had looked like a man that I had seen on a Missing Persons poster that had been hanging outside one of the telegraph poles near my flat. The only difference had been the ridges of scales that had lined his jaw and knuckles as well as the yellowish tint to his eyes.

It had been clear that he had been in the midst of metamorphosis. How or why had remained a mystery. We had kept him in isolation, unsure how best to classify him.

Unfortunately, he had not survived long in captivity. I had been the one to discover his body one rare morning when I was actually sober a few days before Morgan’s ill-fated attempt to leave me. Suffice it to say, there was naught we could do to revive the man. The autopsy, too, had failed to pinpoint the exact cause of death. Those thoughts had consumed me prior to my gambling binge. And all I had wanted was a distraction to escape the realities of my job.

Pritchard led me to a small enclosed room. It was filled with a variety of medical equipment. At the centre of the room was a cot. Two nurses were crowded around it, their eyes fixed on the heart monitor as it beeped erratically. They looked up as we entered.

‘How’s it looking?’ said Pritchard.

‘Not good, Laura,’ answered Lopez as he rose to his feet and made some space. He was a tall burly fellow and sported long hair that was tied into a neat ponytail. If I did not know him, I would have said he looked out of place, dressed in green scrubs and a white lab coat. Despite his appearance (which would better fit a wrestling ring), he was one of the best nurses I had worked with. Professional and exacting, I could always count on Lopez on following my instructions to the letter.

‘Do you know what happened?’

Lopez shook his head. ‘Escape gone wrong? The security team found it in the early hours of the morning. It was already bleeding. Then it tried to attack one of the men. In a panic, one of the junior officers shot it. The rest is what you can see.’

Head pounding with the onset of a hangover, I pressed my thumbs into my temples. Things were rapidly going wrong and I needed to make a decision. Time was of the essence. I could not afford to second guess myself or watch as a life slipped from my fingers just because the only thing I could think about, given the emergency, was how good whisky on the rocks would taste on my parched tongue.

~

Time passed. I could not say how long we worked until we managed to stabilise the creature until I glanced at my wristwatch and saw the time. Over the course of minutes that had seemed like hours, and hours that had seemed like days, we struggled to keep it alive. It fought us tooth and nail. I suffered two scratches on my right arm and Pritchard was sporting a cut lip. It was as if it would rather death than another moment in captivity in a holding cell. A part of my sympathised with it. What was a life confined to four walls and where strange men dressed all in white came to poke and prod you?

Sweat dotting my brow, I managed to inject tranquiliser into the creature, as the rest of the team – Pritchard and the two nurses held it down. Once it took effect, we all exchanged exhausted smiles. Standing back up, I glanced at the machines recording its vitals.

‘Keep it sedated. The sutures should hold but better not risk it,’ I said to Pritchard as I dabbed at my forehead with the back of my sleeve.

‘Hinds, you’re a lifesaver.’

I shook my head. ‘We aren’t out of the woods yet. Keep an eye on the equipment. Message me if anything changes.’ Pulling off my gloves, I added, ‘I’m going to grab something to eat. Oh, and Pritchard, tell Gladstone that I can’t keep doing this. I’m a scientist. Not a bloody surgeon.’

With that, I stepped out of the cramped tiny room that we had been in for the four hours. As I did so, my stomach grumbled. A reminder that I had not eaten anything substantial for a good long while. It was a torturous trek back up the stairs. By the time I reached the top, my knees were aching and it hurt to breathe.

Why didn’t anyone think to build a bloody lift? What if an incident happened down in containment and we needed to flee for our lives? The monsters would get us all before we even made it up one flight. Except, maybe, Lopez. He looked like someone that ran marathons on the weekends. Working as a nurse in a top-secret facility was wasted on him.

Once I was able to inhale without an accompanying twinge of pain, I gingerly passed into the main laboratory. Gladstone was still seated at his desk. His eyes barely flickered as I walked by. ‘Would it be a safe assumption that the situation has been rectified, Hinds?’

I stopped at the exit, my stomach twisting itself into a knot as it sought any type of sustenance. ‘For the time being. Sir, if I may, how long must we continue to prolong their torment? These experiments are not humane. And who’s to say when the next incident may occur. Lives will be lost.’

‘You grow bold, Hinds. However, it is not your place to question the orders you are given. You need money, yes? What would your wife and children think if you came back home with no job to support their ever-growing needs? The solution here is simple. You do as you’re told.’

‘Sir, they’re—’ I closed my mouth, thinking better of it. Of course, Gladstone had forgotten the funeral. He was a man focused on results, never mind the means. The people he worked with were not colleagues or humans with lives that varied from the complex to the very simple. They were tools. Nothing more. Even now he was still intently reading through the data that had been collated over several months. On occasion, he would stop and make a brief annotation.

Were it not for the drugs, I might have strangled the indifferent bastard. As it was, I could barely summon the energy to remain on my feet. My entire body seemed to shake terribly and I desperately hoped Gladstone would not notice. God forbid what would happen if he, for once in his life, was actually aware of those around him.

‘Is there a reason that you are still here, Hinds?’ The dismissal was clear in his voice. And I gladly welcomed it with both arms.

‘No, sir. Apologies, sir.’ I left quickly, hardly daring to look over my shoulder as I made my exit.

The corridors of the facility were a dull grey. Given the nature of the research conducted within its walls, there had been no need for bombastic decorations. No potted plants lined the atrium. No colour broke up the endless shades of concrete. If there was one word I would use to describe my place of employment it would be utilitarian.

Though it was past the normal lunch hour, the cafeteria was still bustling with staff. Grabbing up a tray, I joined the queue, grabbed the first thing that would fill my stomach and headed to a table near the back of the hall where I could remain, hopefully unobserved, for as long as I desired. After all, I had told Pritchard to message me if anything changed. Beyond that, I needed time for myself.

~

Perhaps it was the fact that this was the first time that I had a full stomach in days, or that I was thoroughly exhausted after a sleepless night, or that the afternoon sun shining through the frosted glass made the spot I had claimed my own so warm and cosy. My eyes closed. Before I knew it, I was adrift on the seas of sleep and darkness consumed me.

At first, I did not realise that I was dreaming. Once more, I was back in the house that we had first bought when we moved to the town. It was not a mansion I had promised the kids, but it did have an excellent view of the sea. One that I usually tended to enjoy on the rare Sunday afternoons that I was actually at home. Unfortunately, the sky was overcast and from my vantage point, I could see the waves crashing onto the beach with a vicious ferocity.

‘Tom, you’re going to catch a cold standing out there in this weather. Why don’t you come in?’

I turned around. Standing near the glass sliding door was Morgan, a concerned look on her face. She was all rugged up, a shawl draped over her shoulders. In her hands, she cradled a mug of hot steaming coffee. I joined her. With a smile on my lips as I leaned down to kiss her on the cheek as I took the offered mug.

‘Thank you for always looking out for me, darling,’ I whispered into her ear before cheekily nibbling on her lower lobe and trailed a finger down her neck.

‘Stop that, Tom,’ said Morgan, though her body language belied her words as she pressed up against my chest. ‘Not in front of the June and Jasper.’

‘And why ever not? They’re old enough to know about these things.’

She twirled around in my arms and lightly pressed her lips against mine. Before I could deepen it, Morgan pulled away, and flashed me an enigmatic smile. ‘That may be true, but there are some things, Tom, that are better left in the bedroom.’

I chased after her. Morgan had always been such a tease, even back when we had first dated in university. She squealed when I picked her up by her legs just before she managed to slip inside. The impulse to ravish her there and then thrummed through me. Grinning from ear to ear, I marched across the threshold. My destination: the bedroom.

As I stepped through, the scene before me changed. Morgan vanished from my arms. Blinking, it took me several moments to realise that I was now in the kitchen. The lights were off. Tableware had been smashed to a thousand tiny pieces and crockery was strewn across the floor.

Somewhere in the distance, I could hear crying. Immediately, I recognised the memory for what it was. And though I wanted to find Morgan and comfort her for all the pain I had caused her, I found myself rooted to the spot, breathing heavily as if I had just run a marathon. My hands were clenched tight into fists and I resisted the urge to punch the marble countertop.

It was then that I realised that I was still holding onto a bottle of whiskey. Carefully, I placed it back on the kitchen countertop. There was no point in wasting good alcohol. Even in anger.

What I really needed was space and time to clear my head.

Glancing down at the mess that Morgan and I had made, I made a mental note to clean it all up when I came back. Then, once tempers had cooled, we would sit down and hash things out. I dared not think about the inevitable fight we would have once she learned that I had left to gamble away more money on the slot machines in the local pub. What she did not know would not hurt her.

Besides, I deserved it. What did it matter if I spent a few hundred dollars? This was the money I earned from my labours up at the lab. How it was used was up to me.

I grabbed the keys from where they hung on hooks next to the door. It would only be a short drive down into the town centre. Then, it would be only a few hours of watching the slots spin. In my bones, I knew that luck would be on my side. Today would be when I won the jackpot. Lucky 7s all the way through. And then I could leave my job and everything that it entailed.

With a resounding slam, the front door shut behind me.

As it did, the world once more swirled around me. It took several moments to realise that I was facing the front door rather than the street. A sudden feeling of dread filled my stomach. At that moment, I knew what memory had been pulled to the fore.

Despite my attempts to fight the course of destiny, my body was not my own. My hands fumbled for the house keys. In the pre-dawn light, I struggled to identify the right key. Each one I used never quite seemed to fit. Why was it so hard to open my own goddamn front door? There were only two locks for fuck’s sake.

Had I really drunk that much? Frustrated, I gave the door a kick, expecting that I’d break a toe for my efforts.

The door crashed open. It had been unlocked. Surprised, I chanced a glance inside. Everything was a mess. Clothes and books and papers lay on the ground. I knew what had happened and I wanted desperately to leave. To turn tail and get back into my car that was parked on the street rather than the garage. Or to chase after them, praying that, somehow, I’d be able to save them before they met their inevitable demise at the bottom of a cliff.

But the inexorable march of fate would not allow me to make the smart choice. It was like I was in a horror film and trapped in the body of the characters. How many times had I screamed at the screen, telling the blonde cheerleader to run instead of investigating further?

Just like those that came before, I cautiously entered the house. ‘Hello?’

My first stop was the living room. Turning the corner, I spotted upended furniture and streaks of red along the walls. There was not a soul to be seen. No sign that anyone was in the house that we had lived in for the last three years. What terrified me the most was the fact that neither the kids nor Morgan answered my entreaties.

A chill went down my spine as the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

Behind me, the creaking of floorboards warned me of someone’s approach. Immediately, I whirled around, arms up. I didn’t know if I could fight off my assailant. After all, I was a researcher. Ever since I was young, the best words to describe me were tall and gangly. I had never been much for sport, preferring to stay indoors than being out in the sun where I would be more likely to suffer injury.

The thing before me could hardly be described as human. As my gaze alighted on its hideous form, I recoiled – both mentally and physically. I knew then that my trip down memory lane was ended and the nightmare begun.

It looked like it had three misshapen heads. Three pairs of discoloured eyes blinked up at me. Instead of hands, it sported crooked claws, the nails of which were chipped and terrifyingly long.  

‘Tom,’ it croaked in a broken chorus of voices. ‘Tom. Tom. Tom. Tom!’ Morgan. June. Jasper. Three melded into one.

I backed away. Until my back hit wall. It came closer, claws outstretched. No. No. No. No. This could not be happening. This wasn’t real. It was a dream. A nightmare. I closed my eyes and willed myself to just wake up. All I needed to do was just wake up. WAKE THE BLOODY FUCK UP!

‘Help me,’ moaned the abomination. After all, that was what it was. Something so twisted that it ought not to exist in the waking world. ‘Heeeeeelp us!’

Cracking open one eyelid, I discovered that nothing had changed. Only that the creature now had me pinned to the wall of the living room. It was so close, the smell of it so exceedingly rank that the urge to gag was overwhelming. I was trapped with nowhere to run.

It slunk ever closer on unsteady legs. One foot scraped along the floor. Or was it a tail? Scaly, twisted, I dared not risk another glance. Instead, I screwed my eyes up tight again, wishing and praying in equal measure that I would wake up.

Something slimy alighted on my cheek. I batted it away, choking back the scream that threatened to escape. None of it was real, I reminded myself. I only needed to wake up. Slowly, but surely, it became a mantra. My one lifeline in a world gone mad.

As something gripped my shoulder, I flinched from the touch.

Breathe, Tom, breathe. It’s just a dream. Just a dream. Just a dream…

‘Hinds! Hinds! Wake up!’

It was the sting from the slap that finally tore apart the complex tapestry that my subconscious mind had woven. I blearily blinked up at Pritchard, confused and scared in equal measure. The last tendrils of the nightmare still clung to my thoughts.  I couldn’t tell what was real and what was not.

A moment passed. Then two. As I took in the empty cafeteria and the late afternoon sun fading into the horizon, I realised that I had been asleep for far too long. Unsteadily, I rose to my feet and mumbled an apology.

‘Has something happened?’ I asked, running a weary hand over my face. My eyes felt like they had been gummed together and my head was pounding. What was worse was the sudden dryness and stickiness that pervaded my mouth. It was as if I had eaten taffy. My tongue darted out to moisten my chapped lips but it little to soothe my discomfort.

What I wouldn’t give for eight hours of undisturbed slumber.

Pritchard opened her mouth, then closed it. A few moments passed in silence. Unable to stifle it, I let out a particularly leonine yawn. When next she spoke, her gaze fixed a few inches above my shoulder, I knew it wasn’t what she had initially intended to say. ‘You don’t look well, Hinds. P-perhaps I can go tell Gladstone? I’m sure he’ll understand.’

‘What do you mean?’

She wrung her hands and forced a smile to her face. ‘It’s really not much, Hinds. Gladstone was just looking for any and all volunteers for something. We are at the stage where we’re on the cusp of discovering something new. And honestly, while your expertise would be welcome should things go awry, it’s fine if you wish to decline. That’s not to say, of course, that your presence wouldn’t be appreciated. I know that this is something that you’ve been wanting to be witness to for a long time coming. I just thought that you looked tired and a little pale in the face, is all.’

Her remarks had hit far closer to the truth than I would have liked. It was as if Pritchard saw through the thin façade I had erected at work. I didn’t like it. Nobody had cared before. Why now?

I realised too late that the quiet had stretched too long between us. ‘I’m fine. Really,’ I said, hoping to fill the void with idle chatter. ‘You saw me. A little nap was all I needed. Now, where are we expected?’

The look Pritchard threw my way said that I had done little to persuade her. And though I could her innate curiosity wishing to dig further into my personal affairs, she had the wisdom to hold back. For that, I was thankful.

~

In silence, we headed back to the laboratory and the containment area. When we arrived, the presentation had already begun. Sneaking in, I felt the weight of Gladstone’s gaze on the back of my head as it bored a hole right into my skull. Gladstone never much liked interruptions. Nor did he suffer individuals that were late to one of his meetings. It meant unnecessary repetition.

I kept my head low as I took my seat near the back and glanced at the whiteboard. On it was a picture that had been blown up almost a thousand times. It did not look like much – a mess of pixelated flesh. A new acquisition, perhaps?

‘As I was saying, the next few days will be crucial. We will need to act fast if we wish to secure the specimen and bring it back here for observation and research. This may be our one chance to show the world that our work has not been in vain,’ said Gladstone. He looked down at his palm cards and pushed his glasses further up his nose. ‘Remember: this mission is top-secret. If we manage to pull this off, we will be making history. Now, are there any questions?’

My hand shot straight up. There were a thousand things I wanted to ask. Why weren’t the retrieval team being sent out? What had I missed that the strict procedures that we were meant to follow were being tossed out the window?

A flash of frustration flitted across Gladstone’s face as he spotted my waving hand before he managed to school his expression into one of disdain and disinterest. ‘Yes, Hinds? What is it?’

‘Why are you sending us? We’re scientists. Don’t we have trained men to handle situations like this?’

He pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘If you had been here for the briefing earlier instead of who knows where, you would know that the situation is delicate. Timing is of the essence. Our current teams are unavailable. As such, the powers that be made the decision to have any willing staff join in this mission. Now, if there is nothing else, I must leave. There are preparations that I need to see to before departure.’

Gladstone straightened his lab coat and then stalked out of the room. I chased after him, a thousand different enquiries in mind. Before I had even rose halfway off my chair, I felt someone tug at my sleeves. I turned around, ready to snap the head off anyone stupid enough to stop me.

Couldn’t they see that I was trying my very best to make sure that we weren’t all walking into a death trap? That I was looking out for everyone involved? A sudden spear of pain shot through my head and my hands were clammy. In my chest, my heart felt like it was going to burst from my chest.

Shit. How long had it been since I last took my pills? Was it already time for another dose?

Pritchard had a look in her eyes as she mutely shook her head. Was it a sign not to aggravate Gladstone any further? I couldn’t tell. Why couldn’t humans just explicitly say what they wanted instead of dancing around the subject? If Morgan had—

No. Best not go there.

I lowered back on the chair. ‘What?’ My tone came out a little brisker than I had anticipated.

‘There’s no need to be like that, Hinds,’ hissed Pritchard. ‘I warned you, didn’t I? Told you explicitly that you didn’t need to come. But you, of course, being all macho, said that “you were fine.”’

My cheeks flushed red and I looked away. Words sprang to the tip of my tongue but I choked them down. I knew when I had been properly chastised. Pritchard was right. It had been my own stubbornness not to ask further. And when Gladstone had sprung, I had been caught off-guard. Stupid, really. I should have known something was wrong from the start.

This had been no normal meeting amongst scientists. It had been a war council.

As I brooded over everything that I knew, silence filled the gap. ‘You can’t really be serious about participating in this madness, Pritchard,’ I said finally. With some effort, I forced my gaze to meet hers.

She shrugged. ‘I don’t see any way out of this, Hinds. A lot of the others are in the same boat. If Gladstone says “jump” we respond with “how high?”’

I swore under my breath. ‘We know nothing about this…thing. How can he be so sure that it’ll be docile?” I asked, motioning to the picture that sat centre stage on the whiteboard. Looking at it, I could not repress the shudder that went through my entire body at the sight of the horror. This was no creature of the Earth. Neither human or part of the animal kingdom. It was an abomination, plain and simple – something wholly alien and terrible and unspeakable.

Years of research, completing my doctorate thesis on bioengineering and eugenics, and here I was chasing monsters. I was meant to find a way to elongate the human lifespan. This was not it.

True, the possibilities of the research had been enticing at first. I had been ecstatic when I first joined, believing that the sea creatures could be the key to unlocking the final mysteries of what I had sought for so long. But the more I saw and learned, the less it seemed my dream would come to fruition. Gladstone’s goal had diverged. We were no longer pursuing science for the betterment of society. Instead, we were trying to unearth something that should have remained closed.

‘We don’t,’ said Pritchard as she flashed me an ironic and sad smile before she rose to her feet.

As she made her way across the room with her fellow scientists, her hand lingered a while on my shoulder. I watched her round the corner and disappear from view. Another person I had failed to save. Glancing back at the whiteboard and the aberrant creature displayed on it, I made the only decision I could given the circumstances.

~

For hours I had tossed and turned, but sleep continued to elude me. The cot beneath me creaking with every movement. Frustrated, I finally settled on my back and stared up at the dimly lit steel roof of the truck I now found myself in. Around me, I heard the other volunteers shift in their sleep. Some were snoring, somehow falling asleep though the truck shook and rattled. But I knew a good number were probably lying awake just as I was.

Perhaps they were pondering their life choices, wondering where they had gone wrong and regretting their decision to volunteer. Or maybe they were fretting on what the future might bring.

Had I not volunteered, I would have been in my small cramped apartment and downing can after can of beer. Elsewise, I might have spent an evening at the pub, nursing one good drink until the early hours of the morning as I ruminated on why I had not gone with the others in my team. And if the bartender pitied me enough, they might have slipped me another.

It would have been another round of bad choices, culminating in me stumbling to my bed and falling into it head-first and still fully-clothed – unable to shake off the ghosts that haunted me still.

At least, by choosing this, I was doing something and making a difference. Whether it helped or not, I couldn’t say.

The only kick I had got was seeing the shock on Pritchard’s face when she saw me board with one of the tan duffel bags, that had been stuffed with amenities that had been handed out, slung over one shoulder for the overnight trip. I had flashed her a weary grin before I made my way over to the cot that I’d been assigned.

Tomorrow was an early start. If I wanted to be any help to the team, I needed rest.

But as soon as I closed my eyes, Morgan and June and Jasper appeared before me. Their faces as pale as the moon, their mouths open wide in a soundless scream as they beat against the windows of the car.

I jolted straight up, my breathing harsh and loud in my ears. One hand flew to my chest, hoping to calm my heart that was thundering a wild tattoo. Shit. Fucking goddammit. Where was a bottle of vodka when you needed it? Why hadn’t he thought to return to his apartment to pick up his pills before coming here? Two angry fists thumped against the too-soft cot.

‘Hinds?’ The whispery voice was filled with concern. Had I woken her up? A mixture of guilt and frustration bubbled through me. I didn’t dare turn towards her, knowing that my face was an open book.

‘It’s nothing,’ I said tersely. ‘Go back to sleep, Pritchard.’

‘You can talk to me, you know,’ she persisted. ‘Like we used to. Back when Morgan was ali—'

‘I said I’m fine.’ In the silence that fell across the entirety of the truck, I hated how loud I sounded. God, why couldn’t people just leave me alone?

Behind me, I heard Pritchard settle back into her cot. Minutes passed. Slowly, but surely, the snores resumed. I lay back down, the cot creaking as I adjusted my weight, and stared up at the roof. Finally, when exhaustion tugged at my bones, I closed my eyes and let the movement of the truck lull me into a fitful slumber, haunted by images of the restless dead.

~

As the six of us disembarked, we were greeted by a grey overcast sky on a grey pebble beach. Two tents had been set up on the sand. Not too far away were stacks of metal crates. Our supplies had been offloaded first – water, food and weapons. The thought of wielding a gun had my stomach doing somersaults and I hoped there would be something more substantial than cheese and crackers, though I didn’t feel particularly hungry.

What I really wanted, more than anything else, was a can of something cool on my tongue. Preferably a pint of lager, but anything would do.

Something brusquely brushed against my arm. I whirled around, a harsh condescending reprimand on the tip of my tongue, when I caught sight of Pritchard. It was obvious from one glance that she had not slept well. Like mine, her eyes had dark bags underneath. And there was something jittery in the way she moved. She did not smile at me. Instead, she gave me an incidental nod of acknowledgement as a greeting.

A few moments passed before I had the foresight to close my mouth, lest anything fly in. Pritchard said nothing before she joined the rest of the team near the tents. It was like a huge pit yawned between us. One that was both shared history and the pain that we had endured. But I knew that the distance between us was mostly my own creation. Over the past year, it had seemed like she had been above it all. Unshakeable. Ever-loyal to Gladstone. Whereas I had been bitter about my loss and thrown myself into whatever self-destructive behaviours that I could.

But what if she had been just as hurt and in pain as I had been?

Pritchard and Morgan had been quite close, though they came from two different worlds. There had been family picnics and barbeques and a host of various activities that had slowly petered out when my addictions had taken hold. And though Pritchard did not know the exact nature of the rift between my family and I, she had been intuitive enough to know that something was wrong.

Maybe if she had intervened earlier, things would have been different. A part of me resented that she had never reached out. How much would have changed by just one act of kindness?

Stop it, Tom. There’s no point in going over old ground. You’ve a job to do, I chided myself. Find the specimen. Take it in. Go home. Easy as pie.

Gladstone had only just begun his well-rehearsed spiel when I joined them. His eyes narrowed when they alighted on me. I flashed him a grin and gave him a jaunty wave, knowing that it would irk him. He pushed up his glasses and turned away, refusing to rise to the bait. It was a rare moment of wisdom from the man. Or perhaps Gladstone was more concerned about the success of the mission than exchanging petty barbs.

It certainly seemed that way as he droned on in his officious voice, once again going over the extraction procedures and the likely dangers that might be encountered. Perhaps there was more going on behind closed doors if the sweat on his brow and the frantic patter to his words were anything to go by.

As I lowered my hand, I startled at the lidless reptilian eye that stared up at me. A spear of cold fear shot through my heart. Gingerly, I reached out and poked it with the index finger. It didn’t even flinch at the touch. Yet, the moment I made contact, it seemed as if my finger went straight through. I poked it again, feeling only warm flesh as well as a light pain as I scraped skin. Another hallucination. And yet it looked so real.

The world seemed to spin around me.

I staggered over to one side, leaning against the metal crates for support. A moment to breathe. That was all that I needed.

Breathe in…two…three…four…

Out…two…three…four…

Okay. I could do this. Just because I hadn’t taken anything in the last twelve hours didn’t feel I wouldn’t feel any lingering side effects. Maybe it was a sign of withdrawal. What had the doctor said? I wracked my brain, trying to recall the conversation that we had shared nearly a month or two ago.

The memory was piecemeal. Nothing seemed connected.

Frustrated, I shook my head to clear my thoughts and cracked open an eye. This was going nowhere. And if Gladstone knew what was happening, he would see me as a liability. Not that I cared, of course, what the man thought. It was merely my pride on the line.

As I steadied myself for the day ahead, I saw movement at the periphery of my vision. I turned towards the tents and the supply crates. At first, I couldn’t make out anything beyond the norm. And then, I saw them. On the boxes were translucent worm-like creatures. Hundreds. Everywhere. They stretched out towards me, as if sensing my warmth and the life pumping through my veins.

Something slimy and disgusting touched my leg. Then, before I could do anything, it seemed to slither up it.

I jumped, yelping at the top of my voice. It felt like they were all over me and I needed to get them off. I brushed at my arms and slapped at my trouser pants, panic overriding nearly everything.

Shit. Shit. Shit! Had I got them all? Were any still crawling on me?

Eyes turned towards me, taking in the spectacle that I represented. I barely noticed. Consumed by the immediate threat to my person. What would they do? Burrow into my skin? Destroy me from the inside out? I did not want to go out like that. No. My death should be my own choosing.

I did not hear the screams until it was too late.

By the time that I heard the warning, I had almost no time to react. Before I knew it, I found myself face-down in the dirt and there was a piercing pain in my head. For several heartbeats, I lay on the ground stunned as I tried to make sense of what was happening. Were we under attack? Who would fire upon us? And why?

That was when the sound of gunfire filled the air. A shrill screech answered in kind, filled with pain and fear. Head throbbing, I clasped my hands over my ears, unable to bear it. It seemed to go on for hours. Until finally, it stopped.

Blessed relief swept through my body. Slowly, I rose to my feet, dizzy and disorientated. I scanned the beach, my gaze alighting on the tents, somehow untouched, and the body that lay across the pebbles. Heart in my throat, I raced towards it. The short brown locks a familiar sight.

No. No. No. No.

Pritchard was still breathing, albeit shallowly when I reached her. Eyes closed, she looked like she was asleep. I shook her as gently as I could, hoping to awaken her. She did not stir. ‘Come on, Pritchard. Wake up!’

No response. I brushed away her hair and caught a sight of iridescent scales along her brow. They had formed a ridge and were cold to the touch. I recoiled even as I tried to squash the disgust that welled up. The implications supported one of the many theories that had been floated around the laboratory. Had she always been one from the start or had this been a recent transformation?

Could it be contagious?

I dared not think too long on it. Pritchard was hurt. There weren’t any obvious wounds but for what reason would she be lying here insensate when moments before she had been alert, fit and healthy. Unlike me, she had readily volunteered to be a part of Gladstone’s mission.

It was then that I thought to stop and ponder. Where were the others? Glancing around the ruins of the makeshift camp, I could see no sign of the other scientists. Thankfully, I could not make out any immediate dangers either. Pritchard would be safe. For now.

With some effort, I scooped her into my arms. It would not do to have her out in the open and on the hard stones. I nearly tripped on one of the tent pegs when I finally put her down. She did not stir.

Nearby, one of the metal crates sat open, the lid askew. Inside were three or four rifles. I would have liked to have believed that Gladstone would not have provided live rounds. We were a motley crew of scientists and nurses – prone to sitting at desks and conducting experiments, not battlefields. If the ‘specimen’ we sought was not as docile as initially reported, it was entirely possible they would have provided tranquilisers.

But that was not what I had heard earlier. Nor did it seem that the creature that we were after would go quietly.

Behind me, I heard another round of gunfire. Without thinking, I grabbed the first gun I could reach. It almost slipped from my hands. Nothing felt right in my grip. The butt bit into my shoulder. The trigger seemed too far away for my finger. How did someone use these things? It felt unwieldy and far too heavy.

Still, if it meant that I could put a stop to whatever was happening, I would take the opportunity offered to me.

From the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of colour and movement to my left. I hurried towards it, weapon up. Though I did not know squat about sight-lines, the basic concept of using a gun was simple. Point and shoot. It would have to do. After all, someone needed to bring this whole thing to a close. Once and for all. Whether that was putting down the specimen or cutting down Gladstone – I couldn’t say. But the insanity that had gripped the laboratory – that had infiltrated my family and the town – needed to reach its final conclusion.

Up ahead, I caught a glimpse of one of the scientists. His name eluded me. It didn’t matter. At the sound of my approach from behind, he whirled around, gun at the ready. There was a crazed look in his eyes, one that implied alarm or panic or both. His face was deathly pale. From just a casual glance, I could see that some injury had caused his nose to bleed.

‘Name!’ he demanded. ‘Don’t lie. I’ll know. All the others…they lied because they weren’t real. Please. I need someone to be real!’ The desperation in his voice sent a chill down my spine. It niggled a part of my brain that said something wasn’t quite right.  

‘Hinds! Tom Hinds. I’m one of you. Us. And I’m real. As real as can be,’ I said, taking a cautious step forward and trying to appear as friendly as was possible. ‘Can you tell me what’s going on?’

It was as if he did not hear me. As if he were lost in his own world. That was when realisation struck me.

As soon as his finger twitched, I immediately fell prone on the ground. Bullets whizzed over my head. Fuck! I grappled to swing my gun around. Time seemed to slow. Every wasted movement seemed to bring my impending doom ever closer. The man stomped forward. He snarled at the air above me, his lips stretched over his teeth. It was animalistic and territorial.

‘You can’t run from me now. You’re one of them, aren’t you? Well, say something!’

I kept silent – unsure if any answer I provided would placate the man. It was as if he had taken some form of hallucinogenic. The symptoms were all there. He was talking and interacting with something that wasn’t real. That he was carrying a weapon made it all the more complicated.

Desperately, I tried to crawl away. Something had happened to him. I couldn’t say what. Minutes ago, he had been listening patiently to Gladstone, the next…

There was a pregnant pause and then the man cried out in alarm and something dropped to the ground. I risked a glance over my shoulder. He was cradling his arm.  Blood dripped from a new gash. And then, before he could reach for his weapon, he was thrown thirty feet away. He landed with a crunch and remained still.

I scanned the deserted beach, trying to make sense of what I had witnessed. There was no sign of his assailant. A terrible idea gripped me. What if the—No. I quickly shoved the thought to the back of my mind as I scrambled up to my feet, a sudden pounding behind my eyes.

There was no sense in trying to make sense of the impossible. It would only serve to pull me down an endless spiral – straight into the abyss. I needed to find the ‘specimen’ and put a stop to all this madness.

As I scoured the beach for Gladstone, I stumbled upon two harrowing encounters. One was Lopez. Just like the nameless scientist before him, he seemed unaware of my presence. Lost in his own world, gun cast aside, it almost looked like he was trying to settle into a domesticated life atop the rocks even as the waves threatened to knock him down. When I tried to talk to him, he knocked me aside as if I as just the buzzing of a fly in his ear.

Stunned and confused, I watched as he continued to speak in Tagalog to people that were not there. From the distress on his face, it appeared as if he was embroiled in a domestic argument. It was uncanny and disturbing.

Yet, no matter how many times I tried, I could not wake him from the delusions that gripped him. It was on my last attempt that I was pushed aside that I saw the rogue wave building up. Too late, I shouted my warning. But it was as if he did not hear a word. I watched, in mute horror, as the wave crashed into him and dragged him out to sea.

Another soul I had failed to save.

The second person I met on that lonely beach was Patricia Hastings. Though we had not worked together in the past, I knew Patricia from the work she had done on genetic modification. Her reputation proceeded her in academic circles, mired though it was in controversy. In the last few years, the media had portrayed her as an overly ambitious woman driven only by the thirst of knowledge and what could be done, ethics be damned.

With her back facing me, I had, at first, thought that she had escaped whatever ailment that had afflicted the others. But as I cautiously approached, I realised that something was wrong. Patricia stood as still as a statue. Her eyes moved from left to right and back again as if she was tracking something. In fact, she barely seemed to blink. When I waved my arm in front of her face, she did not respond.

Just as I turned to leave, Patricia uttered a low guttural moan. She took one step forward before collapsing to the ground. When I reached her, her eyes were still open – endlessly tracking whatever it was she was seeing. A cursory examination revealed that her heartbeat was slower than average and she felt a tad bit colder.

For several terrifying minutes, I debated my next actions. I could not, in good conscience, leave her unattended. What if she was suffering from a stroke or a seizure? How could I leave her here?

The other part of my brain, however, whispered that the only way to solve the problem was to track down the ‘specimen’ and kill it. There had been numerous reports from the retrieval team that many of the men had experienced both auditory and visual hallucinations. Some had even killed themselves.

While the creatures that we had experimented on in the lab had demonstrated any such abilities, it was clear that we were facing a much greater threat than Gladstone had advised us in the briefings.

In the end, cold ruthless logic won through. There was naught I could do for Patricia. For all I knew, killing the monstrosity would free the others from whatever power had ensnared their senses.

What I dared not consider was why I had not been affected.

For twenty odd minutes, I searched high and low for where Gladstone might have disappeared to. But the beach was empty of all save a few of the volunteer task force.

As I rounded the headland, the sea roaring beside me, I spotted spatters of blue on the rocks. Some of it was still wet. Bending down, I touched it with a finger. Many of the creatures that we had experimented upon had blood rich in iron. Perhaps, because, many were still humanoid in appearance. The one Gladstone had sent us to chase, however, was different. It was possible that it might share more similarities with cephalopods or certain species of fish.

For the first time in a long while, excitement thrummed through me. If this was true, then we might have stumbled upon something ground-breaking. This discovery was sure to push our understanding of the human genome. Diseases might be cured. Cancer would just be a footnote in medical history! We would finally show the naysayers the power of science. Finally, we could refine what God had created and fix the flaws in our own design!

The possibilities were endless! Gladstone was too small in his focus. If we could only uncover the secrets behind these creatures, the secrets we could uncover…

At what cost, though? If these creatures were sentient, what right did I have to take experiment on them? At what point would it be okay to cross that line? The thought gave me pause and sobered me from the grandiose ideals that gripped me. Was it worth the lives of everyone dear to me? What about my ever-slipping sanity? I could not keep doing these things. Cutting into their bodies, trying to figure out their physiology…what had any of that accomplished over the last four years?

Murderer. Butcher.

I took a deep breath and rose to my feet. Find Gladstone. Find the specimen.

~

The sun had begun to set, the chill wind biting into my bones, when I spotted the cave cut into the side of the cliff. Just outside the entrance, on the huge plateau, was a huge spray of blue. Mixed in was one set of boot prints. If I was right, that meant Gladstone had followed after the specimen. I hurried into the cave, gun at the ready. There was no telling what I would encounter inside. For all I knew, Gladstone might have killed the abomination. Or, perhaps, the reverse was true.

I told myself it didn’t matter.

One way or another, this would end.

Gravel crunched beneath my feet as I stalked into the gloom. Far ahead, I heard the drip drop of water hitting rock. As for Gladstone or the monster, there was no sign.

I continued forward, my eyes adjusting to the dim light that filtered through. A part of me worried what would happen if I did not find Gladstone or the specimen before nightfall. Foremost in my thoughts were Patria Hasting and Laura Pritchard. With a concerted effort, I shook my head to clear it of my fears. I would cross that bridge when I got there.

Distracted, I did not see that the passageway sloped downwards. I stepped into air and felt my heart lurch as I tipped forward. A frightened cry left my lips, arms pinwheeling.

As the ground rushed up towards me, I managed to catch myself on the slippery rocks. The heels of my palm barked with pain, along with my knees. I took a shuddering breath in to steady myself. Felt it leave. And then took another breath even as I began to play a familiar refrain within the confines of my brain. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. God. I had been so stupid!

If that hadn’t tipped Gladstone or the creature off…

I scrambled back to my feet and dusted myself off before taking a look at my new surroundings. The cavern was huge. Ahead, I saw the path branch into three separate openings. Centred above the crossroads a narrow shaft allowed the fading light of the afternoon in. It did little against the darkness.

Which way to go?

There was no sign or clue as to which way they had gone. But instead of trusting to luck, I waited. Closing my eyes, I strained my ears for the slightest sound. I’d look like a fool but it was my one recourse. If they had thought I had fallen, perhaps they would drop their guard and make a mistake that I could capitalise on.

Seconds bled into minutes. It was as if the entire world was holdings its breath.

Somewhere in the darkness, I heard a strange scuffling sound. A feral grin stretched across my face as I dashed towards the opening on my right. Within moments, whoever was in front realised their mistake. They broke into a run, the pitter-patter of their footsteps echoing through the cavern.

I raced after them, lungs burning and legs threatening to buckle out from beneath me. Still, I pressed on. I could not afford to lose the opportunity before me.

Movement ahead lent a burst of speed and suddenly, we emerged into another open area. The last vestiges of sunlight filtered through, casting the large lake in a rainbow of colour. At the centre of the subterranean waterway was a small platform, on which sat a forgotten shrine made of driftwood and refuse.

Ensnared by the beauty of the scene before me, I forgot, for the briefest of moments, what had led me there. Until, an elbow flew straight for my nose. There was a loud crunch and a sudden intense pain. Blood spurted. The world seemed to shift in and out of focus as I tried to stem the flow.

And then Gladstone was running down towards the lake and the shrine at the centre. He looked over his shoulder, the expression on his face was a mixture of fear and spite. The thin strands of hair on his head were dull and greasy, plastered to his scalp. His clothes were tattered. In his hands, he held a strange box-like object.

Fuelled by rage, I grabbed hold of my rifle. I aimed down the sights. I pulled the trigger and a burst of gunfire exploded from the other end. The shots went wild, missing by a wide margin. Gladstone risked another glance over his shoulder, a smirk on his smarmy face. God. How I wanted to wipe it off. Pritchard did not deserve the hell he had put her through. Nor had any of the others.

Cursing under my breath, I gave chase.

I cornered him in front of the shrine, weapon at the ready. At this range, there was no way I would miss. A stitch was forming in my side but I refused to acknowledge it as I wheezed – desperately trying to get air in my lungs.

‘It’s over, Gladstone!’ I panted, dying for a drink or a smoke or something that would take the edge off the pain. ‘I don’t know what you intended to do, but it ends now.’

Gladstone turned around. ‘Hinds,’ he sneered, slicking back his hair with one hand. ‘Why am I not surprised? You’ve been a thorn in my side since the moment you joined the team.’

‘This isn’t a negotiation. I have the gun.’ I made a show of tightening my finger on the trigger. ‘Put down the box, Gladstone. Surrender. Once we put down the creature, everything can go back to normal and—’

It began as a chuckle. Before I knew it, Gladstone was doubled over with laughter. His free hand, slapping his knee.

‘What’s so funny?’ I demanded. ‘Stop fucking laughing!’ God, I wanted to hurt him so bad. If only I could march up to him, hit him in the stomach with the butt of the rifle…

Gladstone straightened and wiped the tears from the corner of his eye. ‘Ah, Hinds. Always dreaming too small.’

‘Cut the cryptic shit, Gladstone. You were never a proper scientist. Instead, you were a small insignificant man with delusions of grandeur. A middle-management pencil pusher. That’s what you’ve always been. And what you’ll always be. The life of an academic too hard and difficult for you, eh?’

I watched as his face went red and his posture go rigid. ‘You know nothing about me,’ he snarled. ‘All the years that I poured into my research and the price I’ve paid to keep my project…this project afloat. So, don’t try and get up on that high horse of yours and preach to me.’

‘Yeah, well, this project is being shut down.’

‘You’re too late. You can’t stop what’s already in motion. The Elder Gods are coming. When they step through the veil and into our world, I’ll be waiting. Ever loyal. Along with the Herald. To be rewarded for my service and dedication to the cause.’ Madness gleamed from his eyes as he let out a low chuckle. ‘Even though you tried to pull me down, I rose. Triumphant.’

Before I could stop him, he turned and slammed the box-like object down onto a small pedestal in front of the shrine. A dark glow began to emanate from the shrine, pulsing with power and evil intent.

The air grew heavy. Oppressive. There was a sudden ringing in my ears. It was sharp and insistent, bringing me to my knees.

My finger tugged at the trigger. Before I could cut Gladstone down, the world around me warped and fell away. Suddenly, I was surrounded by four white padded walls. Orderlies banged against the sealed metal door. They wanted to get in. To stop me from what I had to do. My heart thudded in my chest. I couldn’t let them stop me. To sedate me. To drug me.

I screwed my eyes up tight, grit my teeth and forced myself to calm. It was the same old nightmare that I had experienced again and again after Morgan, June and Jasper had taken that ill-fated drive up towards the cliff. I focused on the dirt beneath my boots, the weight of the rifle in my hands, the ebb and flow of the water…

Hesitantly, I cracked open one eye. I was back in the cavern. Good. Still standing a few metres away was Gladstone. He was crouched over the box, mumbling under his breath. The glow had faded and his body language screamed thwarted ambition. I caught only a few words. Something about ancient texts and a prophecy. I gave it no heed as I squeezed the trigger and felt the impact of the stock thumping into my shoulder.

Gladstone fell.

For a single moment, it felt as if a weight was lifted from my shoulders and everything was right again with the world. But then the box began to throb once more. I watched in horror as it slowly began to float in the air and spin and spin and spin. A rip formed in the air just above the shrine. It was dark and cold and menacing. Something reached through and the mere sight of it sent a shiver down my spine.

I turned. And ran.

To stay would have only sealed my doom.

Breathless, I emerged from the cave and into a tempest. The winds raged and the sea roiled as if in answer to what Gladstone had unleashed.

There was nowhere to hide. No place that was safe from their wrath. I could not say how I knew that fact. Only that I did. Still, there was Hastings to think of. And Pritchard too. None of them had asked for this. If I could save them then perhaps there was still hope for me still.

Something struck me from behind and I was flung to the ground, the rifle flying into the water. Pain thrummed through every part of my body except for my right arm, which seemed to be non-responsive. I staggered to my feet and kept going. Death waited but I would not go into that sweet oblivion without a fight.

Each step sapped what little of my strength remained. The distance from where I was and the tents seemed to grow. I fell to my knees, exhaustion weighing down my limbs. Though I shouted at myself to move, my body refused to acknowledge my commands. I lay on the pebbles and stared up at the storm as lightning flashed and rain peppered my face.

I could not say how long I stayed there as oblivion tempted me with sweet release. It would be so easy to simply let go. After all, I had tried to do good in the world. My intentions had been for the noblest of reasons. Surely, whoever manned the pearly gates would see that and consider me worthy of entering Elysium.  

A siren song pulled me from my thoughts. I craned my neck towards the rising waves and saw what must have been a final gift. Morgan, June and Jasper – whole and without blemish. With the last remaining ounce of strength that I had, I crawled towards them. It couldn’t be. And yet, it was. Right before my very eyes.

The unshed tears that I had refused to let fall burned as I made my way into the surf.

Finally, I could be reunited with them. With that thought in mind, I allowed myself to sink into the soft embrace of the water and let it carry me away.

[mwolf0epsilon]

Spooky prompt with Norman x Sammy

Summary: After getting accidentally locked in the studio after-hours, Norman and Sammy feel less alone than they should of...

Closing prompt requests for now! Got something else I want to focus on for a while that I'm hoping you lot may enjoy.

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[[MORE]]

It was a bit of an inevitability that one day this scenario came to play, being locked in for the night after Wally mistakingly assumed all personal had vacated the premises. What was unexpected was that it happened to two people on the very same night...

The people in question however? What with Sammy's new habit of isolating himself in a secret and tightly locked corner he'd claimed for himself, and Norman's proficiency in getting inside nooks and crannies no one else thought a nearly 7 foot tall man could fit? Definitely the sort to escape the janitor's notice and end up in this conundrum... Especially considering they'd clocked out many hours prior to Wally cleaning up and setting off for the night. If anything, they deserved it for being exceptionally sneaky.

"Fantastic..." The blond composer groaned as he watched the much taller projectionist give up on trying to fiddle with the lock. Cheapskate as Joey was, Mr. Drew seemed to at least invest in some very tight security. Likely a courtesy of GENT when the studio's partnership with the company arose. "Just what I needed, to be kept from my bed another night because Franks decided to go home early."

"N'aw. I reckon it ain't that early... When I was comin' upstairs the clock read 'bout 2:50..." He tapped his chin in thought and snapped the pin of his cravat back into place, no longer needing it to act as a makeshift lockpick. "Must be witchin' hour just 'bout now. Takes these old bones o' mine a while to get up here all quick-like..."

"3AM? Already?!" Sammy worried his lower lip as he realized how sidetracked he'd become. He should get a clock into his sanctuary at some point to avoid something like this in the near future. "Abigail is going to kill me... She must have waited all night..."

"Yous could always just call the landline an' say yous as busy as a one-legged cat in a sandbox." Norman offered with a smile that was bordering on the mischievous "In kinder words no doubt."

"She'd spit fire over the phone if I woke her up at 3 in the morning." He grimaced as he rejected such an idea. "The one thing she inherited from her mother is the capacity to transform into a fire-spitting drake if you wake her up at an ungodly hour..."

At such a notion Norman couldn't help grin and guffaw at the sight of Samuel Lawrence in all his peacock-like might, cowering away from a positively irate 18 year old girl with his tail between his shaking legs.

"Well, slap my head and call me silly! Yous still got your funny bone somewhere in that pile of highfalutin' grouchiness." The Louisianan's smile only grew as Sammy glares up at him. "Hey now, don't yous go lookin' so sour. It's good that yous is still yourself... Even after..."

"I'd rather not talk about that, thank you very much!" The musician knew exactly what Norman was referring to and he cut the topic short immediately. "Lets focus on the fact we're both trapped for the night. I don't know about you but I, for one, am starving and exhausted."

The projectionist nodded, conceding to the fact they should head to the breakroom and see if anyone had forgotten their packed lunch, or if maybe Lottie had left some non-perishables in the cabinets next to the stove. Like canned beans or maybe even canned fruit.

"I'm so hungry my belly thinks my throat's been cut... Tell yous what, if we gots the ingredients I could make us my Nanna's go to dish for when we was lil' tots growin' up." An easy enough meal that was effortless to make, and gave him enough time to see if Grant still had those blankets in his office while his companion ate

"And what's that?" Sammy asked, eyebrow raising.

"A peanut butter and jelly sandwich." Norman winked, which earned him a groan. "N'aw don't you go dissin' my poor Nanna's cookin' she was a skilled lady, but we was several youngins! And we was growin' bigger every day."

"I'll say... You're as large as a breeding bull." With better taste in clothes, albeit often overdressed for the occasion.

"You askin' for a ride, cowboy?" The mischief returned to Norman's grin as he noted Sammy's unusual fondness for boots rather than dress shoes. A more practical choice in his humble opinion.

"Buy me dinner, you pig." The blond dismissed, albeit unable to keep a smile off his face. "A man of my caliber deserves proper servicing, wouldn't you agree?"

Before the conversation could get any bit lewder, a noise downstairs halted their banter altogether. The two instinctively turned their heads towards the stairs, twin expressions of concern as they assessed what they had both just heard. It had sounded like clattering, down in Dr. Hackenbush's tiny little infermary.

"You hear that?" An unnecessary question, as Sammy knew for a fact Norman had. Still it felt better to acknowledge it aloud.

"Somethin' yes... Probably them lousy paper-thin pipes again... I don't know where Mr. Connor is gettin' the metal for 'em but I have half a mind t' tell him off for gettin' such shoddy materials." He looked unnerved more so than curious. Maybe a little irritable as the noisy pipework distracted him just as much as it did Sammy.

"You'd think they were made of flimsy tin...Either way let's uh, let's go eat down in the breakroom." The blond shook his head and began making his way to the stairs. If there was anything in Hackenbush's workspace it's not like it could get to them. The damn thing had been locked for a while, until the Doctor's services were needed. Something about preventing people from stealing his sedatives or whatever.

He was probably worked up over a raccoon either way. The dang things kept getting in through the ventilation. Just the other day Wally had fought one over a donut of all things...And lost.

"Yeah..." The towering projectionist followed, quieter now. Pensive. "Might as well fill our bellies an' get some shut-eye... Tomorrow if we is lucky, Drew might let us go home an' shower."

"Maybe..." Sammy nodded. As reasonable as it was that a raccoon was the likely cause of the strange noise, he couldn't help feel like it might be something more sinister. He was sure Norman felt the same too, as neither were strangers to Joey's... Less than savoury dealings with criminals and charlatans. But the thoughts of a bit of sleep and a shower in the morning were much more interesting and inviting thoughts than to worry about his paranoia. "Maybe not."

"We'll see, now won't we?"

"Guess we will."

That night the pipes sounded louder somehow. It felt like they were calling to them even... Whether or not Norman heard the calls was debatable, as the man was harder to read than a Russian dictionary, but Sammy swore up and down that he could hear his name in the flow... It spooked him terribly.

Never again, he thought, would he let himself sleep over-night in this damnable studio. He already wasted enough time in there after all. Living in it was nowhere in his future. Even if it meant he could spend an entire night or two shooting the breeze with a man that both infuriated him and made his heart go soft.

[somethinginthewayiam]

The universe can be a bitch (Part 2/2)

(this is a continuation of Nightcap)

Pairing: Sebstian Stand x OFC

Warnings: alcohol, smut 

Words: 5448

Summary: The rest of the day goes by rather smoothly, but when Anna finally arrives at her hotel, she found Anthony, Chris and Sebastian in the hotel bar as they are staying at the same hotel she is. Anthony can convice her to join them for drinks. She tries to ignore him to her best ability but Sebastian has his own ideas...

Previous chapters: Part 1

tag list:

@himynamebel00  @obliviatevamps​​

Anna arrived back at her guests’ dressing room just in time. The good thing about being late, it gave you no time to think too much about the things you were doing or had just happened in an office across the venue.

“Alright, gentlemen. Good to see you all found your way back after lunch. It’s now time for your signing booths and as a great finish to this day, we have your panel”, she told them and waited in the open door for the three men to walk out and get going.

“Nice choice with the top there”, Sebastian said as he walked past her. “Shut up”, she rolled her eyes and looked at her printouts once again. “Trouble in paradise?”, Anthony asked with a pulled up eyebrow and seemed to enjoy this little back and forth. “It would feel like a paradise to me if you all would get going to your signings already”, she said with a fake smile and led the way through the hall towards the big door out to the general area.

Right at the door, Melvin was waiting for them to accompany the Civil War group through the fans. “Better?”, she asked him with a little side look. “Way better”, Melvin said with an approving nod and held his left fist up for a fist bump. She smashed her knuckles against his and couldn’t hold back a laugh.

Melvin really was one of the funnier security guards she had worked with in the last few years. He did a great job in guiding them through the crowds that gathered as soon as the men came closer without being too rough or pushing people aside. But to be fair, the fans were behaving really well.

Anna allocated her protégées to their signing booths and when she saw that everything was going smoothly, she walked over to the hall where they would have the panel to see if they were ready for them. People already started to gather at the entrances and were soon to be let in. She already saw that this was going to be a big crowd.

Anna couldn’t imagine speaking in front of such a crowd, let alone being funny and witty like Anthony was when she watched him speak about 90 minutes later from the side of the stage. He was sitting on a couch next to Sebastian and Chris was sitting in a big chair to Sebastian’s left. The interviewer was great as well, especially when he pulled out a bag of plums as a joke Anna didn’t get because she hadn’t seen the movie, but everybody cheered and laughed. Sebastian was taking a big bite of a plum and the juice was dripping over his lip onto his chin. Anna caught herself staring and wanting to lick the juice right off his skin.

Anna coughed and quickly looked away to calm herself down again. She felt her cheeks blushing. It had never happened to her that a man could do this to her without even touching or at least talking to her. He was just sitting up there, talking to the crowd or his fellow actors and friends and the way he did it, with such confidence, excitement and pure joy made her want to…ride him until he screamed her name.

Jesus Christ, what was she thinking? She really needed some fresh air. And a drink. She really needed a drink!

Outside the hall, Anna ran into Susan and they had a quick chat about the day so far and the work at such an event to get her mind off things until they heard the final applause from inside. Anna went back in just as the three actors finished the last photographs on stage and greeted them behind the curtains when they came off stage.

“Great panel, you guys. The crowd loved you”, she smiled into the little circle they had formed. “This actually marks the end of today. You’re free to go and I will see you tomorrow at 10 am”, she said and felt like a teacher dismissing her class. “It was nice to meet you, Anna”, Anthony said and hugged her goodbye. Anna was a bit surprised by that but hugged him back. Anthony was a really loveable guy and you immediately liked him when you met him. Chris hugged her as well and thanked her for her work today.

If he actually knew how hard she had worked all day long to contain herself around Sebastian and to do her job…

Then it was down to Sebastian. “Good job today”, she said to him which was the truth. “No hug?”, he playfully pouted and opened his arms. She wanted to say no but she knew it would look weird and more suspicious than if she just did it. “Of course”, she said and tried to put on a professional smile. She kept it short and almost jumped away from him when it was over.

“Okay, see you tomorrow”, she waved at the three of them and walked over to the employees area since Amber was here to escort them out, which Anna was very happy about.

While all the guests and the first fans started to leave, the staff, including Anna, had a meeting to talk about today and the next and final convention day. New schedules and printouts were handed out and after long 80 minutes everybody was dismissed.

“Now let’s get you to your hotel, you poor thing look like you could use some sleep”, Susan said to Anna and patted her shoulder. Just when Susan said that to her, Anna felt how tired she actually was and she couldn’t wait to get to the hotel and sleep until the next morning.

They got Annas suitcase and hopped into the next free cab they could find. Susan told the driver where to go and Anna almost fell asleep in the soft cushions of the backseat.

She must have actually drifted off because she felt like the cab had just took a left turn and then Susan told her that they have arrived. “I’m meeting with some friends from the convention for drinks later, if you want to join, you’re more than welcome”, Susan said as they walked through the doors of the hotel.

Before Anna could answer, she had to cover her mouth with her hand because of a big yawn that came just at the right moment. “Oh, poor thing, where is my head? You clearly just want to go to bed”, Susan shook her head over her own stupid question. “You just quickly check in and then straight to bed, okay?”, she said and held Anna an arm length away, with her hand on her shoulders. “That’s the plan”, Anna smiled and then hugged Susan goodbye. While Anna walked towards the reception, Susan quickly went to the elevators to change and then go back out again.

Anna received her key card, grabbed the handle of her suitcase and walked over to the elevators. She pushed the button and waited for one of the doors to open. “Hey Anna”, she heard behind her and turned around. She didn’t even notice the entrance to the bar of the hotel before, but now Anthony was coming towards her right out of that very door.

“Hey, Anthony”, she greeted him, kind of relieved that it was just him. “I didn’t know you were staying here as well”, he said and hugged her. “I didn’t know it myself until now. My colleague just brought me here, didn’t have time to check in this morning”, she explained. “Me and the guys are having drinks, come join us”, Anthony offered. The guys? Sebastian was here as well? Of course he was staying at the same hotel. She had to concentrate really hard not to roll her eyes.

“That’s really nice, but I’m very tired. I’m glad I’m not falling asleep standing here”, she said and hoped he would not try any longer to invite her for a drink. Well, he didn’t get the memo…

“Come on, just one drink. I think we all could use one after today. See it as a nightcap”, he suggested and stood in front of her with an inviting gesture towards the bar. Nightcap…if this one turned out like the last one she had, she wouldn’t get much sleep this night either. She wanted to say no again but somehow she knew he wouldn’t give up and she didn’t have the power to hold against him. Also Anna really craved a drink.

“Alright, just give me 5 minutes to get my suitcase up to my room and freshen up”, she sighed and just at that moment, the elevator arrived to take her up to her room. “And don’t you dare cop out, I’ll find you and drag you down myself”, he joked but Anna wasn’t too sure about it. She was 90 percent sure that he would actually do it.

“Yeah, yeah, just order me a drink…anything with alcohol will be fine”, she said and had to smile when she saw Anthonys satisfied face that he was able to convince her to join their little after work drinking. What was the worst that could happen? Both of them had to behave in front of Chris and Anthony and she really needed him to.

Anna got up to her room and tried not to pay too much attention to the comfortable looking bed in front of her and walked right into the bathroom to remove her make-up and wash her face with cold water to wake her up a bit. She brushed her hair and put on just a little mascara to look alive. She then changed her clothes to a blue top and a white knee long skirt. Anna was glad she had a second pair of high heels with her. She would have loved to wear her sneakers but that would look just stupid with the skirt. And to know that Sebastian was down there, she at least wanted to look decent.

She grabbed her keycard and when she was about to leave the room, caught her reflection in the mirror by the door. A little lipstick couldn’t hurt. Anna rushed back to the bathroom, applied a berry colored lipstick and then finally left her room.

Downstairs at the bar, she looked over the room with a searching view and discovered Anthonys face at a table in the back corner. She walked over and he saw her first. “Anna, I’m glad you actually came”, he said and got up to greet her with hug and let her slide onto the bench of the booth. “I didn’t dare to stay away”, she laughed and sat down. She ended up sitting in the middle of Anthony and Chris, which she greeted with a little sitting hug, and Sebastian was sitting across the table from her. She just gave him a nod and a little mouthed Hey.

“We ordered you a drink. Sebastian recommended a Jack Daniels”, Anthony said and placed a glass with brown liquor in front of her. “I thought you might like it”, Sebastian said with a flirty voice before he took a sip from his own drink. “I came to like it recently”, she said and looked straight at Sebastian when she took her first sip, remembering how she tasted it on his lips the last time. He looked right back, with a smug grin on his face, basically eyefucking her. Chris and Anthony exchanged some looks that Anna and Sebastian didn’t even notice.

“So, Anna, tell us a bit about yourself”, Anthony said and turned himself a bit to face her. “Is this a job interview?”, Anna laughed, happy that she could distract herself by looking at Anthony. “No, no, but we don’t know anything about you and you probably know anything about us”, he explained. “I wouldn’t go that far, but I know a few things; just the basics really”, she waved off. “Where do you come from?”, he kept asking. “Originally, I’m from Chicago, but I moved to New York for work with my sister when I was twenty, that was…ah, 7 years ago”, she told him. “Sebastian lives in New York too. It’s a miracle you two didn’t run into each other at some point”, he said and threw a little side look to his friend.

Anna turned her head as well for a second and caught Sebastian rolling his eyes. “It’s still New York, I don’t think that’s a miracle at all”, Chris joined the conversation. “Yes, I think so too”, Anna laughed and looked at Chris. “You’re from Boston, right? My brother in law is from there”, she said. “Oh really?”, he asked with honest interest, at least it seemed to her. “Yes, he’s a great guy, but that seems to be Boston number one’s export”, she joked and Chris actually blushed a bit.

She took a quick look at Sebastian to see his reaction about her flirting with his friend. He just looked at her with a light grin on his face like he was saying, “Nice try”.

“They got married 4 years ago and moved to New Jersey. A year later their daughter Rebecca arrived and last month we celebrated little Nicky’s first birthday”, she told them and didn’t know why she gave them the life story of her sister Marissa. Probably to avoid talking about herself because there was really nothing to tell.

Apart from last night, there wasn’t happening anything exciting or remotely interesting in her life. And that’s although she was meeting a lot of rich and sometimes actually famous people at the events she worked at.

“Is she your older sister?”, Anthony asked. “She’s actually two years younger and I hear that every time I go back home. For my mother, having your life together, means having a husband and kids”, she said and looked down at her drink which she took a big sip of. She started to like that drink and not just because of what or whom she associated it with.

“Oh I get that. Both my sisters are married and the oldest has 3 kids and my mom keeps reminding me that I’m not getting any younger”, Chris said and took a sip from his beer. “Oh no”, Anna laughed and felt weirdly connected to Chris because of their moms.

They kept on talking a bit more about their mothers and siblings and then moved on to Annas job in New York and she told them a bit about some weird guest requests or ones that were hard to handle.

The waiter had just brought her second drink, a Cosmopolitan, her absolute favorite, with a little piece of lime on the edge of the glass.

Anna felt more comfortable around Sebastian, probably due to the alcohol she had consumed without having something to eat, but she felt good. Actually she felt a little flirty and this time she directed it towards Sebastian to see what he would do with it.

While Anthony and Chris told a story from shooting the last Captain America movie, Anna looked at Sebastian when she took a sip of her drink. When she put her glass down again, she took the lime and put it up to her mouth. Just like after a shot of tequila, she put her lips around the fruit and sucked the juice out of its flesh. Little splashes of it dropped down her chin and she licked her lips to catch it. Sebastian, who had been leaning back in his chair, sat up straight and rested his elbows on the table, leaning closer to her. With her thumb, she caught the drops off her chin and sucked them off. Sebastian licked his lips as a reply to it.

“Alright, it’s getting pretty late, I think I’m gonna go to bed”, Chris said and ripped Anna out of her stare. She didn’t even notice that the two had stopped talking. She was weirdly embarrassed and looked down to hide her blushing face. “You’re right, it’s late. I should go to bed too”, she hastily said and didn’t dare to look at Sebastian again to not make him take it as an invitation. “No, stay, your drink is still half full”, Chris waved it off and almost pushed her back down onto her seat.

“Anthony, you’re tired too, right? Accompany me to the elevators”, Chris said and looked at him very intensively. “Nah, I’m good”, he shrugged his shoulders and looked at Anna and then Sebastian with a big grin. “That wasn’t a suggestion”, Chris said through clenched teeth, still trying to hold up his smile. Sebastian dropped his head, clearly getting what his friends or more like just Chris, was trying to do.

Anthony got up very unwillingly and Chris and he hugged her goodbye. Anna lightly shook her head as she watched them walk away. “Did you tell them about us?”, she asked with an angry look on her face. Tomorrow would be one hell of a day!

“I didn’t need to. You were basically sucking that piece of lime dry while eye-fucking me, right here. And I happen to know you're not too bad at this sort of thing”, he smirked and took a sip from his drink. Anna rolled her eyes. “Oh, shut up”, she sighed.

“I don’t get why you’re still trying to convince yourself that you don’t like me”, he said and leaned back in his seat again. “It’s because I don’t like you, we just shared a…night together”, she responded and had to hold back a descriptive word like awesome, mind-blowing or orgasmic.

“If that doesn’t make you like me, what will?”, he joked and ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m working at the Wizard World which makes you a client. My contract actually forbids me to like you”, she said and took another sip from her drink. “You’re off work right now”, he held against it and thought that this was reason enough.

It started to make her mad that he was taking everything so lightly. It annoyed her so much because she would love to be able to forget about her work ethics and just give in to him but she just didn’t do stuff like this. She has always been the good girl. If she had known that Sebastian was a client, she would never have let him into her room last night, let alone her pussy.

But god, those blue eyes and the way he was looking at her…she would really love to give in…just one last time…

She grabbed her glass and emptied it with one sip. “You’re right, that’s why I go to bed”, she said determined, grabbed her keycard and scooted out of the booth. Sebastian dropped his head with a huff.

When Anna was like two steps away, she turned around and said, “Are you coming or what?” and then started walking towards the elevators. Sebastians head shot up and he looked at her with surprise that quickly turned into a dirty smile, but Anna just kept on walking and didn’t even see his reaction. She pressed the button for the elevators and tried to calm the butterflies in her stomach. This would only count as cool if he would follow her.

Just as the doors slid open and Anna stared into an empty elevator, he suddenly spun her around and pushed her in until her back hit the mirrored wall. With a little side-bend, he pushed the button for his floor and even before the doors closed, he pressed his mouth onto hers and let his tongue slide into her mouth. Her fingers ran through his hair, pulling on them to get him even closer to her. She bit and sucked his lower lip and felt the rush of having him that close and she wanted to feel his hands all over.

Anna didn’t know what had gotten into her but she sure hoped that it would be Sebastian in a few minutes!

The elevator stopped and it took them a second to realize that the doors had opened. Sebastian let go of her mouth and took her hand. He guided her to his room. A little green light lit up when he put his key card into the lock and then the door swung open. “Just so you know, I paid for our drinks”, he said with a smirk. “Was about time”, she said as she walked into his room, turned around and kissed him again before he got the chance to close the door.

He put his hands on her ass and lifted her up. As a reaction, she wrapped her legs around his waist and he had to push the door close with his foot. Her skirt was rid up at her waist and his hands were touching her bare skin. For a second she wished she wouldn’t even wear panties right now just to see what his reaction to this discovery would have looked like.

“Remember…what you…said…to me…earlier today?”, Anna asked between kisses. Sebastian just nodded as he walked into his bedroom, carrying her on his waist. “I wanna hold you to your word”, she mumbled at his lips. Anna could feel very clearly how much he remembered their little talk at the coffee bar.

Instead of carrying her to the bed as she had assumed, he walked over to the big window that went almost from top to bottom. He put her down and spun her around. Anna supported herself on her hands pressed against the cold glass. It looked like they were pretty high up, but she was still afraid that someone could see her. But no light was switched on in his room and standing here in the dark room made it feel even more like a secret and it sure turned her on.

“Don’t turn around”, he whispered at her ear and then sucked at the soft skin behind it which caused her head to drop back onto his shoulder. His hands wandered from her sides to her front and up to the straps of her top. He pulled it straight down together with her bra, resting it on her rib cage, just enough so he had access to her breasts. He pinched her nipples hard with his fingers which caused her to gasp and stick her ass out, meeting with his crotch and his hard cock. She could feel it pulsating through his jeans.

Sebastian put one hand on her back and slowly pushed her upper body down so her ass was high up. The next second she felt his hands pull up her skirt that had went down a bit when he had put her down, all the way up until it was rolled up at her waist. With one flowing motion he pulled down her panties all the way to her ankles. She inhaled loudly as the cool air was touching her wet center, but she wasn’t able to catch a clear thought because the next moment she felt Sebastians tongue gliding through her wet folds, all the way from bottom to top. “Oh fuck”, she pressed out, arching her back and stuck her ass out even more.

Just when she thought it couldn’t get any better, she felt two fingers glide into her throbbing pussy. “Sebastian”, she hissed and leaned her forehead against the cold glass. “God, you look so hot, Anna”, he said and she could hear how hard he tried to control himself. Oh, how she wished he wouldn’t! Just when she thought he would let her come, he pulled his fingers back out and she felt cold where his mouth had been. She wanted to see his face, to touch him, but he had told her to not turn around and she really wanted to know what he was up to.

Anna heard the rustling of clothes being taken off and dropped to the floor and she bit her lower lip in anticipation. Then she heard the sound of a package ripped open. “Do you have any idea how hot you look with your ass stuck out and your panties dangling at your ankles?”, he asked and she had to close her eyes to keep her from coming right there from hearing his words.

He slightly pulled up her right foot a bit to remove her panties from one leg to spread her legs a bit further. He rubbed his rock hard cock along her drenched pussy. Without further warning he pushed all the way in, causing Anna to scream out loud. “Fuck”, he said through clenched teeth. After two, three slow strokes, he started to pick up the pace, holding her steady at her hips.

Standing in front of him, with her ass out, still in her heels, he was able to push in deep with every thrust. The room was filled with the sound of heavy breathing and their bodies smashing together. “Oh god, Sebastian, fuck me hard”, she pressed out with a moan, pushing herself further against him with her hands on the window. She didn’t even care if somebody would see them right now. She wasn’t able to form any clear thoughts in her head besides the wish for Sebastian going even deeper than he already was.

Her head was pulled back by her hair and her next moan got stuck in her throat. “Tell me what you want, babe”, he grunted close to her ear. “I want you to make me cum”, she moaned and the thing she felt wasn’t just warm, it was hot, burning hot, rapidly building up from her center, rushing over her whole body. She started to clench her walls around his hard, throbbing cock and couldn’t wait for the moment her orgasm would wash over her. Literally a second before it happened, he pulled out. “Hey!”, she spat out in confusion. He spun her around again, picked her up and let her slide right back onto his cock.

He moved forward until she had the cold glass of the window in her back which caused her to inhale loudly and she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I want to see your face when you come”, he mumbled and pressed his lips against hers. She immediately opened her mouth and let in his tongue, eagerly sucking and playing with it.

“I’m going to come”, she mumbled into his mouth. Sebastian pulled his head back. He pressed her against the window while he fucked her hard and fast and Anna started to see stars. She wanted to close her eyes because she didn’t know if she had the strength to keep them open, but she knew how much it turned him on to watch her come. So she concentrated on his face, locked eyes with him, sinking into his stare, much like she was in trance. She entangled her fingers in his hair.

Anna felt her orgasm come in such big waves that her breath got caught in her throat and a deep guttural sound came out of her mouth as she came around his big, hard cock. Her nails dug deep into the skin of his shoulder. She inhaled loudly as she was able to breathe again and actually saw little stars in front of her eyes. “Oh god!”, she groaned loudly.

Sebastian carried her over to the bed and put her down without pulling out. He placed her right at the edge so he could keep standing up straight as he continued to fuck her. Anna wasn’t sure but it looked like he didn’t come yet. He held her legs up by her ankles as he pounded into her dripping pussy that was still throbbing from the orgasm. Anna pulled her shirt and bra off. Her panties must have fallen off her ankle as he had picked her up.

“You…look…so…fucking…hot”, he grunted with every thrust, his disheveled hair made him look even sexier than he already did. His face was flushed and little drops of sweat glistened on his forehead. To know that she was responsible for the way he looked right now turned her on so much and she felt that warm feeling again. She didn’t even know that it was possible, although she had heard from multiple orgasms, but she always thought that this was an invention from Sex and the City.

“Sebastian”, she just said and it sounded like she was begging. He moved slower now, almost pulling out, just to thrust back in as deep as he could. “Oh god”, she moaned. Sebastian wasn’t able to form any words. He just grunted and concentrated on not coming too early. He could feel that she was on her way to come again and definitely wanted to see that happen. He pushed her up on the bed and followed right away. He wanted to be close to her when she came again, just like before. He wanted to stare right into her eyes, feeling her melt in his arms, moaning his name.

“Come for me, Anna. Come for me”, he mumbled at her ear, his hips starting to move uncontrollably. He knew he couldn’t hold it much longer without exploding. Sebastian lowered his head and sucked her hard nipple, biting it. Annas breathing became heavier and louder and he could feel her walls tightening around him. Oh fuck!

He couldn’t hold it back any longer and pounded hard into her as he came with a loud and deep grunt. The feeling of her walls clenching around him made him come so hard like he didn’t have sex in months. It was unbelievable what this woman could do to him.

Even minutes later, both were breathing heavily, lying next to each other. Anna was still wearing her heels and her skirt was rolled up at her waist. “That was unbelievable”, she said. Out of the corner of her eye she saw how he just nodded, not ready to form any words yet.

Anna wanted to remove her shoes and skirt but she didn’t know if she was even supposed to. Last time, Sebastian left her room almost right after they were finished. Now she wondered if it was her turn to get dressed and leave.

She probably should, right now, and not drag it out until it would be embarrassing. Because tomorrow would be embarrassing enough when she was back at work.

“Don’t you want to take off your shoes? Or do you want to sleep in them?”, he suddenly asked and she looked over to him. “Do you want me to stay?”, she asked and hoped it didn’t sound too hopeful. “If you want to…I hate sleeping alone”, he said with a smirk and moved his face closer so he could kiss her gently on her lips. “I guess, I could help you with that”, she smiled and kissed him back.

Then she rolled over and got off the bed. She stepped out of her high heels and pulled down her skirt, well aware that she was full on showing her naked ass, but it was dark, just a few street lights providing the room with a soft light.

Sebastian pulled up the blanket from beneath him and held it open for Anna when she crawled back in. She cuddled up to Sebastian, resting her head on his shoulder. The little light in the room allowed her to see the bite mark she had left on him last night. She followed the little half circle with her finger. Sebastian put his hand up to touch the part of her skin where he had bitten her today. “A bite for a bite”, he said and Anna chuckled.

All of a sudden she felt very tired and worn out. Staying up that late and two orgasms really took their toll. “Goodnight, Sebastian”, she mumbled at his shoulder and wrapped her arm around his waist. “Goodnight, Anna”, he whispered and wrapped his arm, the one she was lying on, around her back.

She took a deep breath of his scent. She would enjoy every second of having him that close to her. It would end soon enough when they would part ways tomorrow after the Con. She also didn’t want to think about the consequences she would have to face if anyone found out about them, she would have time to deal with it tomorrow.

This moment right now belonged to her and Sebastian. She snug up to him even closer and a few moments later drifted off into a deep, well earned sleep.

[ilovecookies576]

I Met You In A Forest Chapter 3

Here is chapter three and I hope you guys enjoy.

Summary: after two months Luna and kumi finally gets to meet shino’s friends but first they have to get along with them.

Disclaimer: I don’t not own naruto I only own Luna and kumi

It was the afternoon and naruto and the others were following shino into the forest “Shino where are you taking us?” Asked ino but shino didn’t respond instead just kept walking. “Come on shino! Just tell us we’ve been walking for 20 minutes already!” Whined tenten but then shino stopped walking and so did everyone else “are you ok shino?” Asked hinata as shino took two steps forward and got tackled. “Shino!” Yelled kiba but froze when the person that tackled shino started to laugh. Everyone was frozen and silent until someone else had jumped down from a tree and picked up shino “hey shorty!” Said the mysterious person “h-hey! Come on put me down! Not in front of my friends!” Shino said as he whined a bit. “Your friends are with you?” They said while putting him down as shino nodded his head and pointed to his friends. As the mysterious person turned around to see all of shino’s friends giving them the death stare “wait! You are the person that kidnapped shino!” Said naruto with a angry look. Everyone was ready to attack them when the mysterious person spoke “oh I’m sorry let me introduce myself!” They said as they took of the hood of their cloak “I’m Luna Kisangani and this is my little brother Kumi Kisangani” she said as she walked closer to them but akamaru stopped her in her tracks and started to growl at her before she stuck out her hand for him to smell her. As he sniffed her he stood there in shock and then jumped into kiba’s jacket “hey what’s wrong akamaru?” Said kiba as akamaru poked his head out of his jacket.

“Oh! I’m sorry! Please don’t be frightened! I mean no harm!” Said Luna as she took off her cloak. Her hair went all they way down to her waist and it was red and a light blue. She had on some blue jeans and then her sandals as she sat down on her knees and held out her hand again and so akamaru came out of kiba’s jacket and sniff her hand again but this time akamaru rested his head on her hand as she used her other hand to softly rub his back. Akamaru barked four times and then went onto Luna’s lap and laid down “akamaru huh? That’s a sweet name for a little pup like you” she said as she rubbed his back. Everyone was in shock until kiba said something “Akamaru! Get away from her!” Said kiba until Luna said something again. “Your name was kiba right?” Said Luna looking up at him “yeah and what’s it to ya?” He said with a angry look “that’s a sweet name for a little pup” she said while giggling a little and if you listen closely you can hear a few more people giggling as well “why you little!” He said while blushing a little bit “what? Is the little puppy upset?” She said with a smug look “who are you calling little!?” He said angrily but when he said that Luna had stood up and little did kiba know he was shorter then her. Kiba was five feet and some inches while Luna was six feet and some inches. Kiba was speechless for a minute then Luna spoke “what’s wrong shorty?” She said while looking down at him as she used her hand to pet his head and used the other to hold akamaru “stop calling me that!” He said while blushing as Luna stopped petting his head and walked over to naruto “i’m going to guess that you’re name is naruto right?” she said while naruto nodded his head.

After a while of getting to know everyone they started chatting about things but kiba was still angry about being called short. “What’s wrong kiba?” Said Luna as she sat next to him “it’s nothing” said kiba with his arms crossed “come on kiba lighten up” Said Luna as she put her arm around his neck “I said it’s nothing” said kiba closing his eyes but soon he felt his hood being pulled of. “H-hey! What was that for!?” He said while unfolding his arms “just stay still shorty” she said as she started to scratch the back of his head. Kiba started to calm down and closed his eyes and smiled a bit “are you calm now shorty?” Said Luna with a smile “mhm” he said as he started purring. Everyone stopped talking for a second and looked at kiba and Luna “kiba?” Said hinata in a soft voice “hmm?” He said in response and opening one eye to look at her “kiba are you purring?” Said naruto as he started to laugh a bit. A few seconds pasted before he realized what naruto had said as he jumped up and his face turned the same color of the marks on his face as he covered his face in embarrassment. Everyone but shino was laughing “how would you like it if you were to look like a softy!” Said kiba still embarrassed “yeah right! I would never look like that!” Said naruto teasing kiba “then let’s test that statement” said Luna as walked over to naruto and sat beside him. As she started to scratch the back of his head he started to feel relaxed and close his eyes like kiba did.

A few minutes later it was neji’s turn and as Luna started he was already relaxed “this is enjoyable” Said neji with a small smile. “Hey do you guys play a game?” “Sure why not?” As everyone stood up “well then… tag! Your it!” Said kumi as he tapped choji and ran “oh! So we’re playing this game? Well then you guys better start running!” Said choji as everyone but neji started to run away as choji started to run after them. As they were playing lee noticed neji was not playing so Lee called out to him “come on neji! Play with us!” Said lee with a smile “I’m not going to play a children’s game” he said as he crossed his arms “what? Are you to slow to catch us?” “Slow poke!” Teased naruto and lee. Neji turned to see shikamaru standing next to him “hey neji guess what” “what?” As shikamaru tapped him on his arm and said “your it” and walked away from him. Neji closed his eyes and looked down and said “you guys better start running!” As he started running after them as everyone screamed and ran off.

They played for hours and now they were all laing underneath the stars and talking about different stars. “I’ve hadn’t had that much fun in a while!” Said shikamaru “Well guys we should head home” “hey why not spend a night under the stars?” Said naruto “I don’t see why not” “sure!” “Alright” as everyone agreed and continued to look at the stars. One by one everyone fell asleep underneath the dark sky.

The next day everyone was still asleep while Luna went to a nearby pond to wash her hair a little bit. After a while the others woke up “good morning everyone!” Said Luna as she tidied her hair into a ponytail “good morning Luna” said kiba as he rubbed his eyes “well we should get back to the village” said sakura as she stood up. “But I’m still tried” “me to” whined kiba and naruto “well then I don’t mind carrying you two! Hop on my back naruto!” Said Luna as she picked up kiba while naruto got onto her back. As they walked into the village they were told the hokage wanted to see them right away so as they walked into the hokage’s office lady tsunade was waiting for them “you kids have some explaining to do” she said while crossing her arms and walked around her desk and opened her eyes to look at the kids but soon noticed two of them was unfamiliar “and who are you two?” She said as she walked up to Luna and kumi “I’m Luna Kisangani and this is my little brother Kumi Kisangani it’s nice to meet you ms. hokage-sama!” Said Luna with a smile “well nice to meet you to and where is naruto?” Said lady tsunade as she looked around the room for naruto “oh he’s right here” Said Luna as she turned to the side to show naruto sleeping peacefully on her back. As lady tsunade looked at naruto she smiled and patted his head and walked back to her desk and sat down in her chair “well I just wanted to know if you kids were ok you are now dismissed” she said as the kids started to walk out of her office.

As the kids walked through the village they decided to go to kiba’s house because they did have to take the sleepyhead home and they should ask to stay the night because they didn’t want to take naruto back to his apartment so he can wake up all alone. So as they knocked on the door kiba’s mom opened it “oh hey kids! What do you need?” She said with a smile “well can we stay for the night? Please?” Said Luna as she walked to the front to show kiba in her arms. “Oh you found kiba! Of course you can stay the night!” She said as she lead them into the house. “Thank you for finding him and his room is right upstairs to the left” she said with a smile “ok thank you mrs. inuzaka!” Said Luna as they opened the door to kiba’s room. When they entered his room Luna took off kiba and naruto’s shoes and put them at the door next she unzipped kiba’s jacket and hung it inside his closet last she took off their headbands and put them on the dresser. As she slowly put kiba on his bed she pulled up the covers up to his shoulders then leaned down to kiss him on his forehead and whisper “sleep tight little puppy” as she sat down on the bed and rapped her cloak around naruto and kissed him on his forehead and held him as he slept in her lap peacefully.

Later on everyone had went downstairs but Luna had stayed upstairs with naruto, kiba, and akamaru. As they all lay asleep kiba started whimpering as Luna turned to look at him his face showed fear so she reached her hand out to rub his head a little. As he started to calm down Luna rapped her arm around naruto again and started to hum a melody.

That’s the end to chapter three I hope you guys enjoyed and have a great day!!

[lgbtyrus]

Definitely

A Tarty fanfic? In October of 2020? You bet!!! This is a gift for @delicatesleeper who deserves the world’s most patient person award <3  Enjoy!

Words: 3068

High school was fun because you saw a lot of different things. Kids chanting Lick it! Lick it! to another kid going to lick a weird stain in the science building. An artsy kid having a break down in the middle of math. TJ Kippen fighting another boy in the locker room.

“TJ is fighting Carson!” Marty’s best friend, Tony, announced to him in one corner of the locker room. There was dozens of voices echoing throughout the stuffy place, and Marty could feel his heart slam against his chest every step he took towards the scene. But by the time he got there, their PE teacher had already separated the two. TJ seemed to get in a good hit as Carson hid his blood nose under his arm, not realizing blood was already dripping down at his chin.

“What in the fucking hell were you two thinking?!” their PE teacher’s voice boomed over them. “You’re both going to get kicked off the basketball team.”

“He started it!” TJ yelled, looking furious. His face was read. Marty didn’t know TJ that well, but he knew he wasn’t violent. Sure, he had a temper. But dating Cyrus Goodman for a while had to have done something good to him. Then again, break ups completely reprogram a person. Marty would know. He’s been through five.

Marty was sitting in detention, leaning back on his chair, balancing a pencil on his nose. It was him and the other kids who were regularly in there. Marty tried not to get detention so much he got kicked off the track team, but he also didn’t like doing his homework.

The teacher who looked over detention wasn’t in the classroom yet, so everyone in there was just talking and scrolling through their phones. They only looked up when someone came in, but it was usually someone they all recognized or knew pretty well.

Then TJ Kippen walked in and the pencil fell into his hand. Marty watched him walk inside the badly lit classroom, look around, and sit in the desk next to him before realizing he hadn’t stopped staring. TJ raised an eyebrow at him, making Marty panic and look away, pretending his pencil was the most interesting thing. He felt like if slightly turning his head would kill him.

Mr. Rosas walked in, whistling with a book and paper under his arm like usual. “Alright, people. Phones away. You can take them out after thirty minutes of homework.” He went to the front and put his book at the empty desk for whoever was overlooking detention. The room was in a trailer lot in the corner of their school, and it was hard to find if you never got in trouble. Mr. Rosas started reading the names of the roster, some kids saying here, some kids being recognized by him.

“TJ Kippen?” Mr. Rosas looked up. Marty turned his head and saw that TJ raised his hand. He had a heavy frown on his lips. “Aren’t you in basketball?”

“Not anymore.” TJ sighed, leaning back into his chair.

“Oh. You’re one of those two basketball players from today, no?” Mr. Rosas asked him. TJ nodded, looking embarrassed that everyone knew. Marty had been hearing everyone talking about TJ and Carson all day long, and it was making him really curious to know what happened. Nobody knows what happened. The two went inside the locker rooms laughing and then TJ threw the first hit.

Mr. Rosas finished taking attendance, and Marty realized that Carson wasn’t there. That usually meant an extra two days of detention. Marty forced himself to stop thinking about TJ and Carson and pulled out his algebra homework. Some kids were chatting with their work out on their desks, and Mr. Rosas didn’t seem to mind. He was in a good mood that day which basically meant they could do whatever they wanted. He said he always had a soft spot for misfits because he basically lived in detention in high school but had a good director that helped him get into college.

“Hey, Marty,” someone called out. Marty turned around the room, looking for the voice. “Right here, dude.” Marty made eye contact with TJ who was holding up a piece of paper. It was their homework. “Can you show me how to do four?” Marty looked at him, in shock for a bit. “Your name is Marty, right?”

“Um, yeah,” Marty said. He cleared his throat and looked down at his homework, trying to remember his steps while a storm brewed in his brain. “I dated Buffy freshman year.” Really? That’s what you say? Dumbass.

“I know who you are.” TJ told him. Marty didn’t know how to reprogram himself to work, but he cleared his throat again and held up his math sheet to him.

“Let me walk you through it.”

TJ only needed help on two other problems after that, and Marty gladly helped him even when he was done with his homework. His moms had gotten mad at him for not taking AP classes, but he didn’t like to be challenged in academics. They weren’t interesting enough.

Mr. Rosas stood up and shut his book. “All right everyone, you’re dismissed for the day. Don’t come back.” Without hesitation, everyone scrambled out of their seats and made their way out of the classroom in a line. Marty’s track practice started at 4:30 because his coach knew a lot of the kids on the team had a knack for getting kept for detention or they had other clubs besides sports. Marty just had detention.

He made his way towards the locker rooms by the gym and track field, and after walking for a moment, he noticed TJ was right behind him. Marty decided against walking faster and instead met up with TJ who gave him a head nod in acknowledgment. “Where are you of to?” Marty asked him.

“I’m not sure. I’ve never left school this early.”

“You should go to Rita Donuts. She has student discounts on Wednesdays.”

“Good to know.”

“So,” Marty said. He cleared his throat. He didn’t know how else to keep the conversation going. “What happened in the locker room.”

“What have you heard?” TJ asked him.

“Honestly, everything.” Marty crossed his arms, walking a little closer to TJ who was now heading towards the school gates, opposite of the locker rooms. Instead of saying anything, Marty continued to walk besides him.

“He said something homophobic. I punched him. That’s that.” Marty couldn’t figure TJ out. He was stoic and saying everything like he hadn’t just gotten kicked off the basketball team- the one he was captain of as a junior.

“What?” Marty asked. He had heard many things except that. Something like that wasn’t even a possibility at their high school. “And you’re both off the team?”

“He’s suspended and maybe expelled. I just got off the team because of the no tolerance policy. They said they’ll make sure I can play next year, though.”

“Well, I guess that’s kind of good?” Marty said, still not understanding how the school worked.

“Yeah. Honestly, it’s fine,” TJ admitted to him. “I can focus on actually getting good grades for now. I’m scared I’m not going to pass algebra.”

“I can tutor you,” Marty said without second thought.

“Really?” TJ smiled at him. Marty blushed crimson and nodded dumbfoundedly. “Thanks. I have you on Snapchat, no?”

“Yeah,” Marty nodded again. He couldn’t say much of anything else. He wasn’t even that good at math.

“Cool. I’ll hit you up,” TJ told him.

“Yeah,” Marty said. He looked at the time on his phone. “I’m gonna head to practice now. See you.”

“Later.” Marty smiled at him once more and ran towards the gym with his heart slamming against him like he wasn’t a trained runner. Math just got interesting.

-

Marty didn’t know what he was doing, why he was nervous, or why he even had a brain if it wasn’t going to work and save him from humiliating situations. TJ was going over to his house on Saturday to get help for their test on Monday, and Marty wasn’t exactly a wizard. He got in his shower after his six mile run from that morning and dressed in eight different things until deciding to wear a track shirt and jeans.

He didn’t have time to do his hair when his mom called from downstairs that TJ was there. He slid across the second floor in his socks and ran downstairs, TJ waiting for him at the door. He was smiling and talking to his mom, wearing a plain white shirt, basketball shorts, and slides. Marty definitely felt overdressed.

“Hey,” Marty waved at him.

“Hey,” TJ said, bringing his backpack higher on his shoulder.

“You can wait in the dining room,” Marty said, pointing at the entryway. “I need to get my backpack.” TJ gave him a thumbs up and walked over as Marty ran back upstairs, his heartrate a complete mess even when he ran back down.

“Do you run everywhere?” TJ asked him when he sat down in the chair next to him. Marty nodded, taking in counted breaths.

“It’s faster. You should try it.”

“Maybe when I’m back in shape.”

Marty stifled a full laugh. “You’ve only been out of basketball for like four days.”

“I breathe hard when I go up the stairs now. Four days was all I needed.”

“I run at least six miles every.”

“You’re addicted to track.”

“Sounds about right,” Marty smiled. He took out his binder and homework.

He didn’t know how he did it, but he got TJ through the course work and got him ready for the test. Marty had never studied that much on his own before since math was just a regular subject to him. Studying with TJ was fun, though. Whenever he tried to study with Tony, they ended up messing around and playing video games because they got bored.

But everything about TJ kept him grounded, like he was scared he would miss years of his life if he looked away for even just a second. It was too much for Marty to try to process sometimes, and he often tried to rub the heat away from his cheeks.

-

Marty and TJ hung out more outside of tutoring. TJ had a lot of time on his hands, and his friends were still going to basketball games so Marty would invite him to hang out with Tony and a few other boys. Tony raised his eyebrow one time when Marty was sad TJ wouldn’t make it to bowling, but when Marty asked him what, Tony just laughed and shook his head. That’s how Marty knew he was fucked.

TJ was in that stage months post breakup where he wasn’t gloomy about it anymore and he was back to functioning like normal again, but you could tell he had put a barrier up. There were times when TJ would almost talk about his home life or his family or even how he felt about certain things, but there always something blocking him. Like if he remembered he would only talk about those certain things to a certain someone who broke his heart.

Marty approached TJ with as much caution as much as he threw himself at him. He felt delusional and crazy, but there were times he felt like TJ was starting to like him, too. The proximity in which they would walk side by side seemed to close in even closer every week, and Marty wasn’t the one inching next to him. But even though they were becoming good friends, Marty knew there was going to be a lot more walls to break down.

One day at the park, Marty broke down the first obstacle and asked TJ why him and Cyrus had broken up. “We just didn’t click anymore,” TJ said. “He broke up with me, and I just said ok.” Marty watched TJ fiddle with the basketball in his hand for a moment, about to speak up before TJ started talking again. “I wish I would’ve asked him to stay, though. But… I could tell that he just didn’t want me anymore.” Marty didn’t know what to do with that, so he just patted TJ on the back.

“Sorry, bud.”

“That’s just the way it is.” TJ threw the ball at Marty, and they got up for another game. The entire time Marty wondered if TJ would go back to Cyrus if he could.

Marty figured he had nothing to lose and asked, “Are you over him?” In that moment, TJ stood still with the basketball in his hands. He stared at Marty, making his breath hitch for a second as those green eyes looked for something. “Yeah. I basically am.”

Basically. Basically am. What does that mean? Marty asked himself that over and over that night, and it was starting to drive him insane. So much, he just gave in and called Tony at one in the morning.

Tony was half-asleep when he answered. “Hello?”

“Okay,” Marty jumped right into it, “you know how I like TJ right?” There was a few seconds of silence.

“Yes.”

“So, I asked him if he was over Cyrus, and he said he basically was. What does basically mean? Like he doesn’t want to say he is because he’s lying or he is in the process of fully forgetting him?”

“Um.” Tony yawned into the mic, hurting Marty’s ear with the buzz. “Both?”

“Tony that’s not helping.”

“Dude just tell him you like him.”

“I can’t do that.” Marty’s head was filling with air at just the thought of doing that. “It’d just ruin our friendship.”

“Hmm, I don’t know, man.” Marty knew that tone.

“What do you know?”

“What do you mean?” Tony repeated back. He was cornered.

“What are you keeping from me?”

“Nothing,” Tony’s voice got louder which meant he was lying.

“Just tell me and you can go to sleep.” Marty heard Tony sigh. It didn’t take that long to get him to crack. “He told one of the guys who told me that he thinks you’re… cute.”

“Cute?” Marty didn’t know what to do with the information.

“Yeah. Goodnight.” Marty didn’t even get to say it back as Tony hung up, leaving Marty with the most explosive words he could’ve left him with.

-

TJ always asked Marty to hang out before he had gotten the cute bomb dropped on him, so Marty told himself not to act any different or to pick apart every little thing TJ did like a fetal pig. Doing so was starting to give him a heartache. But when him and TJ were doing homework in Marty’s kitchen, there was just too much gut to not pick at.

TJ had lightly bumped his foot into Marty’s and then just kept it there. He told Marty he had nice handwriting (a lot of people told him that, though). He told Marty his hair looked nice, and Marty didn’t know how to react so he just ran his fingers through his hair and accidentally ruined it so TJ could jokingly say never mind. And at one point, TJ took the ring he had on his hand and slipped it on Marty’s finger, his race redder than it had ever been. TJ noticed it.

“Why is your face so red?” TJ asked, still holding Marty’s hand on the table. Marty looked between TJ’s face that held a sneaky smile and their fingers that were grazing on each other.

Marty hid his face with his free hand and said, “I think it’s just allergies.” Dumbass! Dumb! Dumb! Dumb boy. Allergies?!

TJ chuckled and pulled his hand back slightly. “I didn’t know allergies did that.”

“Yeah,” Marty tapped his ringed hand on the table. “My moms say the doctors don’t know what to do with me.”

TJ looked Marty in the eye as he whispered, “I don’t know what to do, either.” Marty looked at TJ with his eyebrow raised. It was his turn to make him spazz out.

“Are you trying to kill me?”

TJ raised an eyebrow, a smile twitching on his face. “What kind of doctors are you doing to?”

“I think they’re vampires. It works out so I don’t have to miss track practice during the day.” TJ rolled his eyes but not in a rude way. In a you’re not that funny way. But he was still smiling warmly. Marty looked at TJ, realizing how close he had him and how his green eyes were just diamonds on his face. His face was full of sharp features, and he wanted to run his finger on all of them. He reached out and touched TJ’s hand again, making him look at him with wide eyes. Marty was about to retreat his hand, when TJ grasped it, fully holding it and tapping on of his fingers on his ring.

“Do you like me?” TJ asked him. Okay so this is happening now!

“What do you think?” Marty said, showing him their hands. TJ laughed a little.

“I think you do,” TJ said quietly, looking at him with a small smile.

“I know you think I’m cute,” Marty couldn’t help but say. “A little birdy told me.”

TJ had a victorious look on his face. “I knew those two would snitch. I planned it out like that.”

“What?” Marty asked. “You told someone you thought I was cute so that they would tell Tony to tell me?” They both laughed after Marty tried to piece it together in the air.

“I don’t know how Tony got involved, but yeah. Something like that.”

“Why not just tell me?”

“Just in case you didn’t like me.” TJ shrugged. “Can’t really know if someone really wants you despite their words and actions that say they do.” Marty’s heart seemed to sigh as he realized what TJ was talking about. Marty stood up and go closer to TJ, leaning down to kiss him. TJ kissed him back, his hand squeezing his harder.

Marty pulled away and pressed his forehead against TJ’s, their eyes in each other’s worlds. “Well I definitely like you. A lot. And if you’re willing to, I’d like to take you out sometime.” TJ gave him a small kiss.

“I’d like that.”

[whitewolfandthefox]

Hey! Would you mind doing Jaskier x reader kinda based off scenario 4? Like, the reader and Jaskier are in an adventure when they're suddenly ambushed, so the reader, no weapon on hand, throws herself between Jaskier and the killing blow? And then sheepishly admits shes loved him enough to die for him for a while now (Up to you if you want fluffy or angsty haha)

Scenario 4: Confessional kiss before battle (didn’t quite follow this!)

Summary: You had been travelling with Jaskier and Geralt for some time now. At some point, you weren’t sure when, you had fallen hopelessly in love with the bard, but he didn’t return your feelings. You had to make a decision, you just weren’t sure what it was yet. 

Words: 4.4k

Warnings: major character injury, angst, whole lotta angst, but I swear it turns fluffy!

A/N. So apparently the people have spoken and y’all have chosen fluff (not that I expected anything different after that last chapter). But knowing me, I couldn’t get away with no angst, so we’ve got a little bit that turns into fluff. Enjoy!

Masterlist

Add yourself to my taglist

It’s Only Ever Been You (Jaskier x Reader)

It was supposed to be the day you were finally free of him. You had talked to Geralt, he had known about your feelings for a while after you had gotten drunk one night and poured your heart out to him. Ever since, he had been trying to leave you and Jaskier alone as much as possible, but the oblivious idiot that he was, the bard hadn’t picked up on what you were trying to do. It broke your heart every time he went to bed with another woman, you would mope around until Geralt finally took it upon himself to distract you.

You began learning swordwork, impromptu lessons that had started as an attempt to distract you on Geralt’s part had quickly turned into daily sessions, working on your strength and your technique. Although you weren’t nearly as good as Geralt, you had gotten to the point where you could hold your own and Geralt started trusting you to help him on easier hunts. Geralt had even bought you your own sword so you would have one that was made to your specifications. You were thrilled at this, of course, but crestfallen that Jaskier seemed to lose even more interest in talking to you once you started. You tried telling him about how the lessons went at the end of the day, but he would just brush you off and go find someone else to talk to after his set.

Geralt would try to comfort you but it was no use. Jaskier wouldn’t even talk to you at this point, he would just send you glares from across the room. You were distraught, you had no idea what you had done to deserve this treatment. That night saw you and Geralt sat at a table in the back of the inn while Jaskier performed for the crowd. You were crushed, the bard hadn’t said a word to you all day. Geralt had supplied you with a steady stream of ale that evening, getting you progressively more drunk as the evening progressed.

“I think I need to leave, Geralt.” The man you were addressing looked at you with sad eyes. “I can’t stay here, it hurts too much.” You wouldn’t look up at him, tears dripping down your face as you stared into your mug. It was true, you couldn’t stay. Being ignored by the man you loved and watching him fall into a different bed every night was too much. You didn’t know how much longer you could survive this.

A hand rested on top of yours, causing you to glance up. “Are you sure? I can always knock some sense into the idiot,” Geralt rumbled, sending a sharp glance Jaskier’s way. The bard was oblivious, playing to the inn, enjoying himself the whole while, completely ignorant to the raging torrent of emotion that was you.

Geralt’s remark drew a short laugh from you, which quickly turned into a sob. Your chest squeezed as the bard grinned brightly at his captive audience. You shook your head. “I fear there is nothing to be done. I will travel with you to the next town, finish the contract we took, but after that I will depart. Maybe I can sell my services as a guard.” You squeezed Geralt’s hand. “Thank you, my darling Witcher, for everything you have done for me.”

Geralt grunted, again making you laugh tearfully. You knew he wouldn’t reply, he was still uncomfortable with showing what he was feeling, although he had become more open with you. Standing, you sent one more gland in Jaskier’s direction before gathering your gear off of the bench from where you had set it. “I am going to bed, Geralt, I hope you have a peaceful rest of your night.”

You smiled softly as his brusque nod, accompanied by a quiet “good night,” turning towards the stairs and making your way to your room. You missed Jaskier’s eyes following you across the room as you disappeared down the hallway. Reaching your room, you quickly stripped, washing yourself before you retired to your bed, falling asleep with tears drying on your cheeks.

Your dreams were disturbed that night, tossing and turning, seeing Jaskier and Geralt struck down as you slept. You remember crying out at one point before feeling a soft hand brushing your cheek as lips pressed against your forehead, the presence soothing you. You quieted after that, content in the feeling of security that wrapped around you, brought by the presence in the room. 

You woke early the next morning to see Jaskier still asleep in the other bed and Geralt missing from the room. You dressed quietly before venturing downstairs, seeking out the other man in your party. You found him at a table, a plate of food in front of him. As you sat next to him, the innkeep appeared with another plate, which he set down in front of you. Startled, you thanked him before turning to Geralt who’s lips had quirked upwards. You scoffed and nudged him gently. “I can pay for my own food, thank you very much.”

Geralt didn’t acknowledge you, continuing to eat in silence. You shook your head at him, before focusing on your own food. Geralt had started on his second plate by the time you finished your first, just in time to see Jaskier stumble down the stairs. Mask falling into place, you stood as you gathered your plate. “If you will excuse me, I’m going to go pack my gear.”

You headed for the bar with your dishes, avoiding the bard’s path as he approached Geralt’s table before making your way back to your room. You could hear Jaskier’s voice behind you, “What’s her problem this morning?”

You stopped, hand against your chest as his question pierced your chest, heart clenching at the dismissive tone Jaskier had used. A tear leaked out of your eye as you forced yourself to your room, falling to your knees as you suppressed a sob. You crumpled in on yourself, a flood of emotion finally releasing after you had held it back for such a long time. You quieted after a while, wiping your tears as you heard footsteps coming down the hall.

You kept your back to the door, sorting the things in your room into two piles: a pile for you and a second pile for Geralt and Jaskier. The door opened behind you, the footsteps coming into the room before stopping. It was Jaskier, you wouldn’t have heard Geralt, he made sure to tread lightly, a fact you still couldn’t reconcile with the hulk of a man.

“What are you doing?” The question was shrill, as if Jaskier couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Keeping your back to him, you responded. “I’m sorting our things, you and Geralt will go into one bag and my stuff into another.”

Jaskier approached you. “But why? We’ve never sorted our clothes before, everything’s just always gone in together. If you separate them we will have to bring two bags up, Y/N, not just one. You really should just put everything into the same bag.”

His footsteps came closer, hand appearing in your vision as he reached for one of your shirts to put in with his and Geralt’s things. You snatched the shirt back, stuffing it into your own bag. “I’m leaving Jask, that’s why I’m sorting my clothes! After Geralt and I finish this contract, I’m going off on my own!” You turned to look at the bard, frozen with a look of disbelief on his face.

“You’re - you’re leaving? Just like that?” Jaskier seemed stunned.

“Yes, I’m leaving. I talked to Geralt, and I’m leaving to find my own job. This just isn’t going to work.”

At your words, his face shuttered. “Okay.”

You stood, facing him. “Okay? Just okay? That’s all you have to say?”

“What do you want me to say, Y/N? You’ve obviously made up your mind. Besides, it’ll be one less person to feed. Good luck finding a new job.” With that, Jaskier turned and walked to the door, shutting it hard behind him.

As the door shut, your heart shattered, knees collapsing beneath you as you fell, sobs ripping their way out of you, tears cascading down your face. You curled into a ball on the floor as you gasped for breath, desperate for anything to stop the pain that you were feeling in that moment. That’s where Geralt found you, lying on the floor, curled up with a blanket that Jaskier often slept with when you camped outside. He came to sit by your head, stroking your hair as you sobbed, pulling you into his lap as he leaned you against his chest. 

“Shh,” he murmured, “Just let it out.” He rocked you gently, shushing you as you cried yourself out again. Silently, you pushed against him in a silent ask to be released, going back to sorting your things when he did. Geralt helped you, the two of you content in the silence. Once finished, you gave him a soft, sad smile in thanks. Geralt nodded, understanding your wordless gratitude before leading you to saddle the horses.

Your bay mare knickered when she saw you, bringing a gentle smile to your face. You saddled the horses and secured your belongings in silence, sneaking an extra apple to Roach when Geralt wasn’t looking. You mounted as Jaskier appeared, leading your horse out of the stables as Geralt and Jaskier held a quiet conversation. You refused to look at the smaller man, staying on your horse when you normally would walk alongside her in order to attempt to converse with the bard. 

The three of you travelled in an uncomfortable silence, not even Jaskier daring to break the quiet with a song or a poem. It was agonizing. You longed to hear the bard’s sweet voice raised in song, breaking the heavy silence that had settled over you. Even the horses were somber, picking up on their masters’ moods.

You left Jaskier with the horses as you and Geralt went to deal with the monster. You pretended it didn’t hurt when Jaskier wished Geralt luck, but didn’t say anything to you. You ignored the look you received from the Witcher at that, leading the way into the forest as you buried your feelings deep within you.

The hunt was a disaster. The two of you had missed the creature’s partner as you had approached its lair, resulting in you being grabbed and flug against the side of the brick house. You had watched, stunned, as the second creature had leapt onto Geralt’s back, opening a gash in his armour before you had forced yourself up, slashing to force the creature off. The pair of you killed the monsters but didn’t come out unscathed. Geralt’s shoulder was bruised but healing quickly and you had received a laceration down your dominant arm, forcing you to use your weaker sword hand to finish the fight. 

Back at the horses Geralt had quickly bound your arm, settling it in a sling until the skin set. Jaskier had stayed slumped against a tree, studiously ignoring the both of you as he glared at the ground. Making your way back to the main path, your group of three turned towards the next town to collect your payment, the head of one of the creatures in a sack attached to your horse. Jaskier hadn’t looked you in the eyes yet. 

As you rode, you could feel your arm itching, but you brushed it off. The sooner you could collect the coin for the monster, the sooner you could leave all of this behind. You rode behind Geralt, pausing when you saw him stiffen in his saddle. 

“Geralt?” you called, loosening your sword in its sheath as you saw the man in front of you do the same. Jaskier doddled up behind the two of you, oblivious to the tension in the air. Geralt nudged Roach to back up until he was side by side with you. In a low voice, he told you, “I can hear and smell men in the bushes just ahead of us. If my guess is right, they are waiting to claim the monster head so they can collect the coin.”

You shifted, tightening your armour and checking the bandage on your arm once more. “What do you want to do? Make a run for it? I don’t know that the horses will be fast enough if I have to carry Jask.”

“You’re not carrying me, I can walk.” Jaskier protested from behind the two of you.

“Shut up, Jaskier,” Geralt interrupted without looking back. You tuned out Jaskier’s words as he spluttered behind you, focusing instead on trying to catch a glimpse of the men waiting for you. As he spoke, the trees rustled and a band of men stepped forward, clothed in shabby armour with old weapons. “Not a very intimidating group, are they?” Geralt rumbled.

Your lips quirked at that, but you were more focused on studying the group, trying to decide the best plan of attack. Your thoughts were interrupted as one of the men stepped forward, brandishing his sword at you. You hid a smile as he almost dropped his weapon, grip slipping as he tried to intimidate your small group. Jaskier squeaked and stepped behind your horses while you nudged yours forward a step in response. “Witcher,” the man called. “Just give us yer prize and we’ll let yer group on their way, no trouble.”

Geralt didn’t respond, face remaining blank,, the men shifting on their feet at the drawn out silence. As the man who had spoken originally opened his mouth to say something else, Geralt finally spoke.

“And if I don’t want to?”

“Don’t want ta what?” The man appeared confused. You could hear Jaskier sigh behind it as he muttered under his breath. Geralt nudged Roach forward a few steps, your own horse following instinctively, Jaskier scrambling to keep up.

“What if I don’t want to give you my prize?” As he said this, Geralt’s hand drifted up to the hilt of his sword as you placed your own hand on the hilt at your hip. The men behind him shifted, muttering amongst themselves as the Witcher slowly drew his sword.

The man in front blanched, clearly having not considered the possibility that the Witcher wouldn’t just hand over his prize. They must have assumed that their larger numbers would have kept the man from fighting back. You watched as the surprise, disbelief, and many other emotions that flew across the man’s face slowly turned to anger and determination.

“Well, if ya won’t jus’ giv’ it to us, I guesses we has ta just take it then!” With that, he thrust his sword into the air with a cry before charging at your group with his sword held in two hands above his head, the rest of the men following behind. You swung down from your horse, turning her and sending her away with a sharp hand gesture, Roach following quickly behind her. You drew your sword, turning to face the approaching men as Geralt shoved Jaskier behind him, shouting at the bard to get to safety.

You swung your sword to meet the first blow, the man’s face turning to shock as the woman he thought would be an easy target met him with strength behind her sword. You quickly shoved him back, pulling your sword across your body to thrust towards his chest, catching him in the middle before leaning and kicking him away, turning to catch the next weapon swinging down at you. A shock went through your arm, travelling all the way up to your shoulder. The itching feeling had started burning, a low, dull throb that grated at your concentration. You switched your sword to your non-dominant hand as you engaged the man who had just attacked you.

A feral grin appeared on your face as the man yelled and rushed you, hoping to overcome you with brute strength. You sidestepped his headlong rush, slashing across his back as he passed you, the man falling to the ground with a cry. You quickly engaged and incapacitated a third man, pausing to survey the scene. Geralt was holding his own, toying with the two men attacking him surrounded by the bodies of the other two men he had taken down.

You spun as you heard Jaskier scream, the smile dropping from your face as you took in the sight of the bard backing towards you as another man stalked towards him, sword held loose in his grip. You didn’t even think, your body moving before your mind finished processing what was happening. You shoved Jaskier out of the way, desperately bringing your sword up to knock the blow away.

You made contact with the man’s weapon, but not fast enough, the point plunging into your shoulder, a cry forced from your lips at the wave of pain. You stepped back, head thrown back in a silent cry as the blade slid out of your skin before your own blade came back up, catching the man unawares as you opened a long laceration on his upper arm. He frantically backpedaled, wildly swinging at you as he went. You knocked his sword away, distantly hearing Jaskier cry your name as you advanced on the bandit. As he thrust at you, you knocked his sword down, stepping on the blade as it went past you, forcing the man to bend as you brought your sword up before bringing the hilt down as hard as you could on his head. The man instantly collapsed the ground, leaving you to stagger away.

You dropped your sword as your hand went numb, the burning travelling up your shoulder into your chest. You grasped at your chest, gasping for breath as you felt your legs give out beneath you. As you fell, you felt your body caught, arms pulling you into a lap, Jaskier’s face appearing above you. As the world started to spin, you smiled up at him, trying to reach up to touch his face before frowning at the tears on his face. He was talking, you could hear his mouth moving but no words coming out. You blinked as he shook you, sound suddenly reaching you.

“-idiotic, stupid thing to do, why would you get in the way? Why would you do that, you reckless girl. I won’t be able to live with myself if you die, you can’t die, I can’t lose you.” He looked so sad, you wanted to say something to cheer him up, to make him know that this was okay. 

Again, you tried to brush the tears from his face, your hand falling back to your body as you tried to lift it. Jaskier grasped your wrist, lifting your fingers to his mouth as he pressed a kiss against them. You smiled softly, head lolling to rest against his chest, Geralt appearing on your other side.

“What happened?” he demanded, falling to his knees next to you. 

“I don’t know,” Jaskier cried. “She pushed me out of the way and got stabbed in the shoulder but kept going. She wasn’t doing anything when she collapsed, and she hasn’t said anything! Geralt, I don’t know what to do!”

The Witcher acknowledged this with a terse nod, reaching for the wrist Jaskier wasn’t holding to check your pulse. You cried out as he pulled your arm towards him, the burning increasing at the action. Geralt and Jaskier shared a glance over your head before he was reaching for his dagger to slice your bandages and shirt away. You heard an intake of breath as the fabric fell away, struggling to turn your head to look. You caught a glimpse of it before Jaskier caught your head and pressed it back against his chest as a sob tore its way out of your lips. 

Your arm was red, the wound swollen with black lines running up to your shoulder and under your shirt. Jaskier held you as your body shook, Geralt inspecting your arm. He looked at the bard, somber expression on his face. “The monster must have been venomous, we need to get her to a healer.”

You sighed as you closed your eyes, mumbling against Jaskier’s shirt. “I’m sorry.”

He looked down at you, brow furrowed with worry. “For what, you have nothing to be sorry for. You just need to stay awake, can you do that for me Y/N?”

You nodded tiredly as he tapped your face, opening your eyes at his silent request. “I got blood on your shirt.”

Jaskier barked out a hysterical laugh, “That’s the least of my worries right now.” His face fell as your head lolled over to look at Geralt. The larger man looked up from where he was rebandaging your arm after applying a healing salve, nodding at your unspoken request. “You need to stay awake, please.” Jaskier’s voice was pleading with you as you almost lost yourself to the haze.

Turning your head back, you lifted your eyes to his face, taking in the features that you loved, trying to memorize them once more before you gave in to the darkness. A small smile graced your face, eyes drifting shut as you breathed out the three words you had longed to tell him. 

“I love you.”

The last thing you saw before the world went black was Jaskier’s frantic face, his lips moving in a desperate plea for you to stay awake as your eyes closed and your head fell to the side as you fell into the darkness.

**~*~*~*~**

You groaned as you came to awareness, whole body sore when you tried to move. You rolled your head to the side, opening your eyes before immediately closing them against the bright light. You heard movement next to you.

“Y/N? Oh thank god, Y/N! You’re awake!” It was Jaskier’s voice, the bed dipping as he sat down next to you, taking your uninjured hand. “C’mon darling, open your eyes for me.”

You cracked your eyes, seeing the bard next to you, face drawn and dark circles under his eyes. You tried to speak, coughing at the dryness in your throat, Jaskier frantically reaching for the cup next to your bed. He helped you sit up, propping some pillows behind you as he helped you take a sip. Once your thirst was quenched, you tried again. “What happened?”

Jaskier’s face grew grave. “You don’t remember?” As you shook your head, he drew a hand down his face. “You were injured, the monster you fought was toxic, and when the bandits tried to ambush us, your accelerated heart rate forced the venom through your system faster and you collapsed.”

You winced as the memories came back, jogged by Jaskier’s words. You remembered the burning pain, as well as what you said to the bard before you passed out. The man in question was watching your face closely, looking for something in particular. He seemed to find it, grinning as he sat back on the bed.

“You do remember, then.” You flushed at his words, fingers pulling at the blanket, refusing to meet his eyes. You felt a gentle hand under your chin, guiding your face to look at his. A soft expression was on his face, a smile tugging at his lips. “I do as well, if that’s any consolation.”

You gaped at him. “You do as in you remember or you do as in you-” you cut yourself off, to afraid to finish your sentence as you once again glanced away. His fingers once again found your chin, gently tugging you back to face him as he leaned in. You breath hitched at the proximity between you two, your eyes frantically searching his face as he searched yours.

Seeming to find what he was looking for, he closed the distance, gently pressing his lips against yours. You startled, eyes widening before they shut as you kissed him back, reaching with your uninjured arm to hold his bicep. The kiss was sweet and gentle, just long enough to leave you breathless, tired as you still were. Jaskier smirked at you, clearly pleased with your reaction. You swatted at him.

“But, I don’t understand, all of those women? They meant, nothing?” you hesitated, flicking short glances at his face. His expression went tight before he sighed, face falling. 

“It was only ever you. I was trying to distract myself,” he glanced up at you, eyes sad. “I saw you spending all of your time with Geralt, and I thought that maybe, you two had…” he trailed off as he saw the smile appearing on your face. “What? This isn’t funny!”

You giggled at his offended expression before rushing to explain as he pretended to withdraw his hand. “Geralt started teaching me as a way to cheer me up, he knew that I… loved… you, and wanted to distract me when you would leave. Eventually it turned into real lessons once I discovered I was fairly good at it.”

You waited as a small smile grew on his face before he started chuckling, you following along as it turned into a full blown laugh, Jaskier hunching over on the bed as his laughter shook his body. He finally recovered, wiping his tears away as you watched him with a soft smile. “All this time and we couldn’t see it. I was trying to flirt with you since we met, but you always seemed to show no interest.”

You gaped at him as he grinned, “I thought you just did that with everyone! I didn’t know it wasn’t in jest!”

Chuckling again, he stood and nudged you, helping you shuffle over to the other side of the bed you were laying in, climbing in after you. You snuggled under his arm as he pulled you in close, tucking your head under his chin, careful not to jostle your injured arm and shoulder. He pressed a kiss against your head, nosing your hair as he murmured. “I love you too.”

You stilled at that, looking up at him with shining eyes. He leaned down, gently pressing a kiss against your lips before pulling you back to him. “Sleep, my love. We have all the time in the world.”

You nestled in further, content in his warm embrace and the knowledge that he loved you. Your eyes slowly closed as Jaskier started humming a sweet tune above you, lulling you into a comfortable sleep, safe in his arms.

**~*~*~*~**

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[maerrybom]

Your OC’s Crushes walk in on them having a nightmare? Little reverse XD

oh gOSH I’m not ready for this jsadjsjks ;w; thank you for this ask !! this is a lil long to make up for my absence + not edited yet oops sorry for mistakes

also forgive me for my inactivity;; I returned to learning in school grounds a while ago but then decided to back online for a week since someone tested positive :/ stay safe lovelies !!

found in masterlist

Maye’s Route:

‘...Did I push her too hard with training?’

Johann aimlessly paced around the dorm in silence, trying to draw up conclusions to how Maye had suddenly fallen ill. The pinkette was perfectly fine yesterday, performing at her usual best during training with no complications until she had fallen over at one point and never got back up again. As her senior, of course it was my responsibility to look after her right now.

But where did it go wrong? Was the training programme too much for her body to handle? Has she been eating properly in the past few days? Have I been ignorant to her well-being? Why hasn’t she told me she wasn’t feeling well? I thought she could handle herself well, so I allowed her to do as she wishes for as long as she keeps up the routine with no trouble. 

“...I thought I told you to reside in me.” Johann muttered under his breath as his gaze lingered onto Maye’s unconscious form with dejection evident in his aureate eyes.

Clouded with his broody concern, Johann carefully sat on her bedside as his eyes remained fixed onto the girl’s flushed visage, making sure not to disturb her much needed slumber from his movement. Maye’s usual ivory skin had lost its warmth as all of its been transferred and set ablaze to her reddened cheeks. She was sweating and shaking profusely, quiet yet heavy breaths leaving through her parted mouth. Johann never thought he’d see this girl look so vulnerable and weak when she was always so tough and faced through obstacles with a head strong mindset.

He gently reached over to take the damp washcloth already placed on her forehead before leaning over to the side to wet it once again with cool water. Johann then wiped her sweat away using the cloth with a feathery touch, but also took the time to observe her features. Her warm breath ran through the side of his hand whenever it was near her mouth. One of her eyes would twitch in response when the cold cloth came in close contact with her temple. The way her luscious lashes would kiss the top of her cheeks with every breath she took, suddenly realising that she had a small beauty mark found under her left eye.

Johann couldn’t look away ━ he couldn’t look away from how tired Maye looked. He shouldn’t have pushed her into this state.

“Guh...” Maye’s calm expression morphed into one in pain, biting down on her lip.

“...Maye?” Johann whispered and quickly pulled his hand away, afraid that he might have woken her up by accident. He was sure she didn’t want him to see her in this state, preparing himself to bolt out of the room once her eyes began to open.

But her eyes never opened, yet her face remained in disdain. Maye’s shaking got worse and began to whimper under her breath, shuffling her head from side to side as if she was trying to escape from something. Something Johann couldn’t identify at first before realisation struck.

‘A nightmare? Of course, it must be.’

“Mmph...” Maye whimpered, tears began rolling down her cheeks. “Please don’t... You’re all... I have left...”

Johann’s eyes widened at her whimpers, feeling tremendous sadness weighing down at his shoulders. This feeling was familiar. He understood well.

He then grabbed one of her gloved hands and held it close to his chest, using his other hand to caress her loose fringes away from her tear-stricken face. This was something he faintly remembered his mother did for him as a child whenever he had nightmares that left him thrashed in fear.

“Maye,” He spoke in a hushed voice. “Don’t be afraid anymore. I am here to stay by your side.”

Johann rested his palm onto her cheek, feeling its warmth melt the iciness of his chilly touch. He raised her gloved hand to his lips and laid a gentle peck onto her nimble fingers. He wasn’t sure why he was doing this in the first place. At first, it was simple concern for his junior but after today, he wanted to protect her youth and her life. Johann knows she doesn’t need nor asked for it, but he felt like he needed to stay by her side. And with that, Maye’s painful whimpers reduced to quiet breaths and was sent back into a peaceful slumber once again.

“...I’m sorry I was neglectful. I’ll take this responsibility even more seriously from now on.”

Take as long as you need. I’ll be waiting for you.

Sol’s Route:

“Luminous? Where are you taking that blanket?”

“Oh hey, boss!” Luminous greeted the blonde, “Sol was working her shift as a bartender all night and immediately crashed onto the couch. I was about to cover her up━”

“Give it to me.” Caesar cut him off and motioned to the blanket with his hand.

“Huh━Oh okay?” With no second questions asked, Luminous quickly handed it over with confusion clear in his eyes.

“I’ll do it. Johann is calling for you anyways.” Caesar huffed before walking away from the younger male.

“...Al...right?” The brunette scratched his head as he stared at the Caesar’s back before dismissing his odd behaviour, leaving the bar after the strange exchange.

It was already the early hours of morning, so no one else was downstairs at the bar. Caesar found Sol laid dead sleep on her back with her hands intertwined on her stomach as gentle puffs of air left through her partially parted lips. She must’ve been so exhausted to have decided to sleep on the couch with her uniform still on.

“...You shouldn’t sleep here, flower. You’ll crumple up your petals.” Caesar spoke to her as if she was awake. “You’ll feel terrible once you’ve awaken.”

Caesar then decided to carry her upstairs, so she can rest comfortably in her room. It wouldn’t sit right with him if he left her out here in the open when she’s vulnerable. Who knows what kind of wolf would attack her in her sleep? No way was he leaving her in this state. And so, the blonde quickly and cautiously wrapped her up into a ‘burrito’ with the blanket he took before carrying her like a princess. He could already hear and imagine Sol’s embarrassment if she’d been awake and it’d be wrong of him to simply touch her without her permission, so this is the best he could do for now.

“Mm...” Sol mumbled something under her breath but remained in her deep slumber, causing him to sigh in relief.

Once they’ve reached their destination, Caesar managed to open the door to her room despite having his hands full and fumbled to open the lights to avoid tripping over with Sol still in his arms. That wouldn’t be very ideal.

“...And down we go.” He made sure to take her shoes off in an attentive manner before partially undoing the blanket he wrapped her with initially and then covered her with another blanket found on her bed. She should be warm at least. He didn’t want her to catch a cold, especially knowing how Sol doesn’t look after herself often since she’s busy taking care of everyone else around her.

Caesar scanned over her sleeping form to make sure she’s well tucked in. He then reached over to unclip her hair and made sure to move her hair away from her face. As he did so, his cerulean eyes gazed at Sol with warmth and silently wished for her to have a sweet, peaceful dream.

“Ah...!”

But once he decided to turn around to leave the room, something had suddenly grasped onto his hand that caused Caesar to gasp in surprise. Sh!t, did he wake her up? After being so careful not to━

“...I didn’t kill.” Sol whispered in fear, her hand gripped Caesar’s in a tight hold. “...I’m sorry... I’m sorry.”

“Another nightmare...?” Caesar muttered under his breath, worry and uncertain coated his thoughts.

He knew about her nightmares, but that was only because Sol would often have dark eyebags under her eyes every time he asked if she had been sleeping properly. Sol would only dismiss it and describe it as her feeling ‘restless’ or was ‘too excited for the next day’ to sleep, so he didn’t think much of it.

Seeing her in this state made him feel a variety of emotions he couldn’t describe with one word. Caesar didn’t get a clear grasp of Sol’s mysterious past and asking Anjou wasn’t much of help. All he knew from her was that it was something she didn’t want to be reminded of. Although he wanted Sol to trust him and be open with her feelings, he wanted to make sure Sol was ready and that she would be comfortable talking about it first before anything.

That’s how much he respected this girl.

“...Just this once.”

Caesar then kicked his shoes off to the side with Sol keeping her hold onto his hand for dear life. He managed to find a way to lay down next to her side on top of the blankets and kept some space between them while holding onto each other’s hands. As the blonde got comfortable, he attentively observed her expression as he caressed her hands to soothe her in a calming manner. All he could thought of how horrible it must have been for her to be dealing with this in silence and how much smaller and colder her hands were in comparison to his. Caesar kept does this until Sol was at peace and loosened her grip onto his hands. 

But, he made no move to let go nor leave the room. Caesar didn’t want Sol to be alone right now.

“...When the world turns its back on you,” Caesar whispered as he laid her hands against his beating chest. “I’ll be there for you no matter what, Sol.”

You deserve more than a peaceful slumber.

Thalia’s Route:

“...Where is that girl?”

Classes have ended at this time. The setting sun brought life upon the campus as students move around like sweeping shoals of fish. Indistinct chatter from the busy crowd enveloped Luminous’ bewildered form as he tried to search through the blur for a certain red-head but to no avail.

“Um... excuse me? Have you seen a short girl with long red hair? Kind of mean-looking?” Luminous attempted to ask one of the students that passed him.

“Oh? The witch?”

“Ah, no.” The brunette smiled awkwardly. “She usually wears a sport black headband and has bandages covering her arms━”

Once he gave that description, the student looked at him alarmingly. “The witch’s apprentice?!” He yelped, scurrying away from Luminous in panic. “I-I don’t know!”

“W-Wait..!”

Luminous sullenly stared at the students’ retreating form from a distance until they disappeared out of his sight. He turned around, shaking his head and let out the deepest sigh. Thalia, what exactly have you done to the point where everyone fears the mention of your presence? 

“Luminous? What are you doing standing there?” A familiar voice called out to him.

With that, Luminous turned around to face none other than the sun herself, Sol. The tall greenette looked at his wide-eyed expression with a warm smile upon her gentle features. The sun’s rays enveloped her presence, creating a halo around her form and making her look like she had dropped from the heavens to aid him. At least that’s how she looked like in his eyes.

‘My saviour!’ He wept internally. “Oh Sol!” Luminous snapped himself back to reality. “I was looking for... a friend?”

“Pfft.” Sol giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. “What’s with the questionable tone? Are they really your friend?”

“Ahh, it’s complicated.” He sighed, “I’ve been trying to look for her, but I can’t find her anywhere. I thought she was training, but Nono told me she didn’t even show up.”

“Oh?” The girl wondered for a while before realising who he was talking about. “Are you talking about my roommate, Thalia?”

Luminous almost screeched out of surprise. Roommate? With Thalia? How is this girl alive? “O-Oh, she’s your roommate?”

Sol only laughed at his dumbfounded face, “hahaha, yes! That sweet girl is my roommate.”

Sweet? Was she talking about the same Thalia? Or was she brainwashed?

“I was actually about to head back to the dorm to drop her off some food.” She continued, lifting her arm to show the brown bag she was carrying. “She messaged me earlier that she’ll be resting in and I happened to be cooking at that time, so I thought I’d make her food.”

Luminous simply gaped at the girl and Sol simply continued to smile at him.

“...But, I actually need to do something beforehand with Caesar about the festival we’re preparing.” Sol said while giving him the brown bag. “Do you mind dropping this off to her? There’s extras too so you can eat together! Also, here’s the key to the dorm in case she doesn’t let you in.”

“Wait━!”

“Thanks in advance!” Sol chirped before frolicking away from his flabbergasted form. “The food is still warm, so make sure that you both eat it soon! Bye~!”

Luminous had no choice but to comply. 

By the time he stood at Thalia’s dorm room, he sighed for the umpteenth time before knocking the door. However, there was no response. Was she not in yet? Did she leave before he got the chance? Why was he even here in the first place? 

After a moment of convincing himself to stay, he pulled out the key given and unlocked the door before entering in a hushed manner. Thalia’s dorm was exquisitely neat and proper, everything had been placed away in an orderly fashion. The lights were open when he entered and placed the bag down on her tiny kitchen table, but there was no signs of Thalia to be found.

“..Sniff... Sniffle.”

Luminous turned towards the direction of her room as soon as he heard muffled grunts and whimpers. He already felt uncertain about invading her dorm and was already getting ready to leave once he dropped off the food, but it sounded like Thalia was in pain.

“M-Mother...” Thalia’s cries were getting louder with every step he took towards her room. “...die.”

As soon as her stepped into her dimly lit room, Luminous found Thalia weeping in her sleep with her head sticking out from the duvet she had wrapped herself in. He wasn’t sure what he was doing but the next thing he knew he was already sitting by her bedside, reaching over to wipe her tears away.

“Mother..!” Thalia cried desperately, “don’t leave me..! I’m scared...”

“Shh...” Luminous hushed the sleeping girl, caressing her hair in a comforting way. “It’s only a nightmare...”

His heart somehow ached for the red-head and found himself relating to her in a way. He never really knew who his parents were, but at one point in his life he had questioned them for abandoning him. This world was swollen with humanity and barbaric beings that aim to create chaos upon society. How was he━no, how were they expected to survive this tyrannical world on their own?

Luminous always had a difficult time trying to cooperate let alone speak to her without instigating a fight. But at this moment, he shoved all his bitter feelings for the girl and replaced them with determination to try to get her to trust him at least. Seeing Thalia cry like a child left an aching feeling in his heart and it’d leave him miserable if he had chosen to leave her alone. As Luminous continued to comfort the motionless girl, she seemed to have calm down and had rested her cheek against the palm of his warm hand, snoozing off to la la land. Now, he really had no choice but to stay.

“...The troublesome things you make me do.”

I’ll be here with you, no matter what.

Elena’s Route:

“Mmf...”

“Master, I can━”

“It’s fine, Sakura.”

Chisei shifted Elena on his back who was currently dosing away with her face buried on his shoulder. He was trying his best to hide away his embarrassment, but the way she breathed gently at his ear and smelt the sweet essence of cinammon coat his nostrils almost sent him into cardiac arrest. Elena was forced to accompany him by Caesar to a small mission during their stay at Japan, so she wasn’t very thrilled and complained the whole way. To make amends, Chisei asked her what she’d like and she quickly demanded with no hesitation to give her a piggy back ride while she took a nap during their way back to the palace.

And so, here they were with Sakura tailing behind him as they made their way to drop the unconscious girl at her assigned room.

“Sakura, go ahead and prepare her room to sleep comfortably in.”

“Understood.” And she was gone.

As he was now left alone with the girl, he let out an audible huff and readjusted Elena again once he felt her slowly slipping off his hold. Chisei didn’t even know how or why he agreed to this, or why he even asked what she wanted in the first place.

Chisei further plunged deeper into his thoughts about the girl on his back. If anyone had to describe Elena in a way, it would be that she’s free-spirited. She was possibly the only person who had openly mocked & flirted with him right at his face with no ounce of shame. She was a strange bundle of eagerness and determination, especially in times where he would’ve had no other option but to choose the latter. 

In his eyes, Elena felt like a daydream: typically childish, careless at times but powerfully vivid and joyful. A daydream he could never imagine himself.

“...ken.”

His ears perked at the sound of her mumbling, “Elena, are you up?”

“...Chicken tenders!”

Nevermind. She’s fast asleep.

Elena inaudibly continued to mutter and grumble about some ridiculous dream she’s currently having, causing Chisei to sigh once again. Even in her sleep, she still manages to talk his ear off until she suddenly goes silent. The hands that held the side of his shoulders tightened their hold and felt her breathing go heavier with every breath.

“Papa..?” She shakingly whispered, “w-where did you go..? C...ome back home.”

Chisei paused his footsteps, processing the words she just said. Was she dreaming about her father?

“...Sniffle. Why...” Elena started to sob in her sleep, “...leave me... alone?”

Her silly childish dream turned into a dark & dreary nightmare. Chisei wasn’t sure what to do, but ‘purposely’ nudge her awake. That should be enough.

“...Mm?” He felt Elena shift her head against his shoulder. “...Are we back yet?”

Chisei was silent at first before responding with a nod of his head, “yes, did you have a good dream?” 

He couldn’t tell what expression Elena was making right now and didn’t want to turn to see if she was fine. The way she was starting to cry in his arms left an odd feeling in his heart, twisting his stomach in an unfamiliar way. 

“...” It was Elena’s turn to go silent before letting out a forced chuckle. “Sleeping on the shoulders of the High Patriarch is the best, huh?”

She dodged the question and joked around, returning to silence and laid her head on his shoulder once again. Chisei knew she might’ve also been forcing a smile at him when she replied. He felt conflicted: on one side he felt relieved that she didn’t tell him the truth and played it off like nothing. He was never the type to be sympathetic towards others, especially with one that was fated to be his enemy one day.

But on the other hand, Chisei wished she told him the truth. He wanted her openly trust him like she’s always been open with her thoughts and emotions. He wanted to get to know her better. However, but it was too much to ask for the both of them.

“I’ll drop you off to your room so you can continue to rest.” Chisei mentioned after a while, “Good job today.”

She returned to him with a muffled reply, “...thank you, Chisei.”

Once Chisei dropped her off and exchanged their farewells for the night, he walked off with his head up in the clouds and had a serious expression evident on his features. Even though not asking about it was for the best, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed in himself. He should’ve at least━

“...No, it’s a waste of my time. I should be content with where we are for now.”

I hope our worlds never collide. It’s for the best.

[lilwenney]

looking for affection in all the wrong places (iii)

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

December 2019 London, England

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Should definitely happen again next Friday.” 

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

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

“She did try it.” 

Will cocked his head. “What?” 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Going to study?” 

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

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

“It’s not nonsense Will, but yeah,” 

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

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

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

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

“So necking it this Friday?” 

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

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

***

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[doc-pickles]

Omg could you please write a one shot about Jo being involved in a school shooting? Set in the same universe as it’s nothing fun just to talk. You are officially my new favorite jolex author!!! Your stories are amazing!!!

AHHHHHHHHH!! I read this and screamed out loud and then wrote this in an embarrassingly short amount of time while ignoring all of my other responsibilities….. i’m really enjoying using prompts that y’all send in to further my INFJTT canon world because my brain is FRIED

i’m also trying to make AU! jolex’s life as dramatic as canon! jolex’s life clearly

Anyways, enjoy!! (also thank u for the compliment, it warmed my heart)

ALSO I HATE TO SAY IT BUT I GUESS I LOVE SEEING JO IN PAIN?? I PROMISE MY NEXT ONE WILL BE FLUFFY AND NICE TO THESE TWO

Aaaaaand if it wasn’t clear: TW// violence, injuries to minors, & blood 

"Did you say it? 'I love you. I don't ever want to live without you. You changed my life.' Did you say it? Make a plan, set a goal, work toward it. But every now and then, drink it in. Cause this is it."

Tuesday 10:56 AM

I love you, Alex. So much. 

“Doctor Karev, you’re being paged to the ER,” Alex looked from his phone to the nurse in front of him. He pocketed the phone quickly, not bothering to respond to the text from over an hour ago. “Doctor Hunt said he needs as much of the peds staff as possible.”

“Did he say why? I can’t really send my whole department down there.”

“No, sorry. It sounded urgent though.”

Alex groaned, picking up his chart and heading downstairs to talk with Hunt before he went and grabbed his whole team. It wasn’t even noon and Alex was done with the day. The last thing he wanted to deal with today was Owen.

“Hunt!”

Owen turned around at the sound of his name, a solemn look on his face. Alex could tell that whatever he was needed for was not a happy occasion. He sidled up next to the trauma surgeon, making sure he had his game face on for when Owen tried to get his whole damn team down here.

“What could you possibly need the whole peds team for?”

“For that,” Owen pointed at the television set behind Alex, prompting the younger man to turn and watch the news report playing on screen. 

“Reports are coming in that there’s an active shooter situation at Golden Hill Elementary. The school year started three weeks ago for Seattle Unified, a horrifying way to start off the year. We have at least three confirmed deaths and ten confirmed injuries, but no word on whether these are students or teachers. We’ll keep you updated as we hear more news.”

The chart in Alex’s hand clattered to the floor, his eyes glued to the television screen in front of him. His heart was beating erratically, eyes watching in horror as the news report continued on. 

Golden Hill Elementary. 

His mind flicked to this morning as Jo got dressed, brushed her hair, and walked out the door to work like it was any other day. Had he kissed her goodbye? Told her he loved her?

When was the last time he had kissed his wife? 

“Page Avery,” Owen didn't move at the request, prompting Alex to turn and repeat his words. “Page Avery! I will get your damn peds team if you page Avery down here right now.” 

Owen ran off, leaving Alex alone standing in the middle of the ER. He pulled his phone out, looking over his texts from Jo and almost losing it. 

Tuesday 8:15 AM

I want tacos for dinner

from the place downtown

with the really good green salsa???

You got it babe. I’ll grab it on my way home. 

you’re the best

love you

Love you too. 

Tuesday 9:42 AM

mmm pretty sure they’re putting us on a lockdown drill 

great I love wrangling third graders 

Tuesday 10:56 AM

I love you, Alex. So much. 

“Alex,” Jackson was running down the hallway, eyes wide with fear as he approached Alex. It was evident he had heard about what was happening and was probably just as scared as Alex. “Have you heard from Jo?”

Alex shook his head, Jackson confirming that he hadn’t heard from April either. Alex asked the nurse’s station to page the entire peds department down to the ER, doctors from other specialties filtering into the trauma bay with a sense of urgency that made Alex feel sick.

“First rig is three minutes out,” Owen yelled as he walked through the crowded trauma bay. “Bailey and Grey, I need you to triage. Avery, get any parents or spouses that show up out of the way. O’Malley, Karev, and all available interns, you’re unloading rigs with me. And someone call the blood bank!”

The team donned trauma gowns, each running off to where Owen had directed them. Jackson and Alex shared one last look with each other, unspoken promises floating between the two of them before Alex followed Owen out to the ambulance bay. George stood at his left and Owen at his right, both silent as the sound of sirens grew louder.

“Worrying won’t do you any good,” George mused as he settled one hand on Alex’s shoulder. His friend's presence was mildly comforting, knowing that if Jo was standing next to him he would be saying the same thing. “She’ll be here sooner or later, then you can worry. For now, just breathe and let’s do our job.” The first rig pulled in the bay, a little boy being unloaded and rushed into the ER. Alex watched as four more rigs came through, each carrying a child who seemed too small to have such big wounds. He helped direct the interns on where each patient should go, his mind working on auto pilot as he unloaded child after child.

Finally, an ambulance came in with one of the teachers, someone Alex had met before. He swallowed the sick feeling in his chest, his hand moving to grab Maggie’s as she looked up at him with a half smile.

“Hey,” Maggie’s voice was quiet as she struggled to breathe, an obvious gunshot wound in her right shoulder bleeding onto the gurney. “Tell Jackson April is fine, she’s triaging at the school. I haven’t seen Jo yet, I’m sorry.” Alex nodded, sending one intern to find Jackson and another in with Maggie as he let her hand go. The news that April was okay made Alex feel better, hoping that if she made it out then maybe so did Jo. Their classrooms were right next to each other, that was a good thing right? “Karev!” 

Alex watches the scene before him in slow motion. An EMT is running to the back of the rig, filling Owen in on details that Alex can’t quite hear. Owen pulls a gurney from the ambulance. The first thing he sees are the bloodied sneakers, now red but normally a bright white. He should know, he had bought the shoes last Christmas. The dark jeans and floral top come into view before he can see her face, eyes frantically searching for him.

“Alex!”

The world speeds up and goes back to a normal pace as Alex races forward, grabbing Jo’s hand and following her into the ER. He notes that the silky top she had complained about barely fitting this morning is now covered with blood and stuck to her protruding stomach. The sight makes Alex’s heart come up to sit in his throat, uncomfortable and jarring as he stares down at his wife. He barely registers Owen nodding to him, releasing Alex to be with Jo as they head into the ER.

“I’m fine, I promise,” Jo assures Alex as she’s rolled towards an empty triage bed. “April loaded me into the damn ambulance. This isn’t my blood… I’m fine, I’m not injured, I promise.”

Alex dismisses the intern with them, promising that if they have issues he’ll go to Meredith. He draws the curtain around the area they’re in and turns back to Jo, whose fingers are fiddling with her wedding rings. The silver bands are bloodied now, prompting Alex to grab Jo’s hand with his own and tilt her head up to look at him. 

“Are you really okay?”

There was silence for a moment before Jo shook her head and began to cry into Alex’s embrace. 

“My classroom was safe but there was a little boy in the hallway and he just… I went out after the drill lifted and he was barely breathing. I picked him up and I held him and...,” Jo sobbed, one hand coming to rest on her bulging stomach. “I watched a child die and I was grateful it wasn’t me or our daughter. What’s wrong with me?”

“You’re a human being, you’re allowed to have feelings,” Alex brushed his hand against Jo’s hair, his fingers running through the locks. “I’m relieved too, that you’re here in my arms and that our baby is okay. And it’s hard to think about what happened to everyone else, but you have to look at the bright side sometimes. You’re here and you’re okay and that’s enough for today.”

Jo curled into Alex’s side, arms wrapping around him tightly as he rubbed circles into her back. Nothing was okay, it probably wouldn’t be for awhile, but Jo had Alex and a healthy baby to go home to. She had survived a shooting, kept her class safe, and walked 24 third graders outside their parents. So some things were enough for Jo, just for today at least.

[czuritaa]

First day of school

Here's the second part of the AU! Hope you enjoy it

First day of school. Terrifying day for any mom or dad. You drop your kid on school, new year, and you know anything about them for too long. At least that was what terrified Aragon, especially this year that Jane starts kindergarten and Anna in a new school. The plan was dropping Anna first, then Cathy and last but not least, Jane. She knew Anna will be okay with the new school, she loved meeting new people, and Cathy had her friends but she was scared of Jane. Jane is pretty shy with new people, she hardly plays with any kid at the park besides her sisters and she is such a mommy girl. What if she gets hurt and panics at the sight of having none of them there? She had to talk with her teacher and, she knew this was going to help Jane to be a bit more social, but still, she was scared.

Aragon tried to calm down before her daughters walk downstairs. She was already hearing them walking upstairs. It happened that when Anna and Cathy started kindergarten, she had to pick them up for any little accident they got into but Jane was more fragile. It was obvious. She had to give her a bit of growth hormones to help her grow up. She was too tiny. To her eyes, Jane looked like made of glass. A little porcelain doll.

Hearing footsteps walking down the stairs, she turned around to greet her daughters and smiled softly at the sight ahead of her. Anna was carrying a, obvious, half asleep Jane and Cathy was right behind her rubbing her eye. "Morning loves."

"Morning mama." Three different voices talked at the same time. A soft and little voice belonging to Jane, a soft but more awake belonging to Cathy and a full awake one belonging to Anna.

In a blink she had the three of them finishing breakfast, fully dressed, teeth and hair brushed and at the door with their backpacks ready for school. It was going too fast. Jane held Mr. Seal against her when she approached her mama. "Mommy, Mr. Seal come too?" She asked, tilting her head slightly.

Aragon was about to answer when Anna stepped in. "You can Janey but you have to be careful because kids can take him away or you can lose him." Even if Anna's intentions were good, Jane was at the verge of tears at the words. Kids stealing him from her? Losing him? She was very careful with him! And he will never go away from her side! Aragon picked up Jane, sending a glare at Anna of we'll talk later. Anna felt a bit bad, she didn't want to make Jane sad. Cathy hugged her to comfort her.

Aragon hugged Jane to her, rubbing her back. "He won't go anywhere, I promise. If you just keep him by your side, he will stay there. Okay?" Lina talked softly, trying to comfort her girl. It was true what Anna said but mostly because it happened to her and because, when it happened, she always left her toys somewhere and forgot where.

First stop was Anna. She walked down the car with her and put a hand on her back. "Anna, I know you think I'm upset with you but I'm not. I know you tried to advise Jane but, you know how your sister is. Thank you for trying, I'm really really proud of you." Anna hugged her instantly, apologizing. Lina kissed her forehead and her, and Cathy and Jane from the car, wished her a good day at school.

Next stop, Cathy. Lina just walked down and kissed her head, Cathy soon running toward her friends once she saw them. She waved bye at her mom and sister and walked inside the building. That was easy.

When Lina walked inside the car and put on her seat belt, she turned around to look at Jane, who was looking down at her stuffed seal and petting him. "You ready big girl?" Jane didn't answer.

Car settled in front of school, Lina walked outside and opened Jane's door. She got her out of her seat and picked her up. Jane instantly hugged her tightly. She didn't want to go and leave mama. She didn't want to. Lina closed the door and kissed her daughter's head while she rubbed her back. "It'll be fine, sweetheart. Trust me, you're gonna have lots of fun." Jane just shook her head. She didn't want to at all.

Lina sighed, rocking from side to side to sooth Jane's cry down. She gently started walking towards the door but didn't dare to put her daughter down. It was heartbreaking. It didn't happen with Anna or Cathy. Yeah, both of them were extremely nervous but none cried as Jane did.

Once her cry was just little whimpers, Lina knelt down, carefully putting Jane on her feet. She passed her thumbs over her cheeks gently. "My love, it'll be fine. You're gonna make lots of friends, have fun and learn a lot of things." Lina spoke softly for the four year old to comprehend. Jane shook her head again, still whimpering.

"But don't wanna leave mama." Lina's heart broke at that and hugged her again.

"You're not gonna leave me, sugar. I'll be back pretty soon for you and then we'll have fun until we have to pick your sisters up. Sounds good?" Jane shook her head again, clinging onto her and starting to cry again. Lina rubbed her back gently and hummed a lullaby to calm her down. It always worked until now. Jane's cry grew bigger when she started humming.

Lina didn't know what to do anymore. She just kept rocking back and forth until she felt Jane calming down a bit. "I'm gonna walk in with you, okay?" Jane nodded even if she didn't want to. Her mama asked for it and she was just gonna accept it.

Once they walked in the teacher greeted them. "Hi, this might be little Jane Aragon, right?"

Lina nodded. "Yes, this is my daughter Jane. I'm Catalina." Jane looked over at the teacher but not getting any inch away from her mama. The teacher, Ms. Richardson, waved at her. Jane waved back shyly before hiding her face again. "She's a bit shy and she really doesn't want to go inside."

Ms. Richardson nodded. That wasn't that uncommon. She put a hand on Jane's back softly. "Hey, Jane. Why don't you come with me and we go to meet the other kids? And your friend can come too." She pointed at the seal once Jane turned to look at her. "Let's try it, okay? Then, your mama will be back before you realize about it. Sounds good?"

Jane thought about it before nodding. She could try and maybe mama would be proud of her. But still, she was scared. Lina kissed her head and wiped away the reminiscent tears on her cheeks. Gosh, this will be hard for her.

Jane watched her mama leave sadly. Her teacher held a hand in front of her and she took it shyly, getting inside the class. There were too many kids, too many. She hugged Mr. Seal to her tightly, none of them will take him if she was there to protect him.

Lina sighed while doing some paperwork. She looked back and forth from her phone to the papers, waiting if Jane's teacher called her. She got up to the bathroom right when her phone went off. When she came back, she saw that she had been called, quickly calling back to the three different numbers.

In resume. Anna got into a fight when she defend two shy classmates from some bullies but she got the call to the principal's office and was sent home earlier. Cathy got into trouble when she tripped over something and made her whole class evacuate the room, sent home earlier too. Jane kicked some kid that tried to take her seal to take a look of it, besides being the whole time asking when her mama was going to pick her up. Lina sighed, when did the three of them agree to get in trouble at the same time?

Lina picked Jane up first, the girl literally running to her arms. Lina apologized for what she had done, being dismissed as something normal as the other kid had been teasing her too. Lina rubbed Jane's back and kissed her head. "Horrible." Was the only thing Jane mumbled when Lina put her in her seat. She tried not to giggle at it.

"I still have to talk with you about what you have done, sugar." Jane looked down at her seal at those words.

Next up was Cathy who ran to her mom's arms, crying and apologizing for the mess. Lina comforted her as what happened has been an accident. Jane grabbed Cathy's hand and squished it to give her comfort once she was seating in the car next to her.

Last but not least, Anna. Anna was already outside school and didn't even greet anyone, entering the car feeling really angry. Jane and Cathy jumped scared when she closed the door harshly. "Anna." Lina said in advanced. Anna apologized for it but her frown didn't go away.

Oh, boy. She had work to do to calm the three of them down.

Once at home, Lina sent Anna to her room to calm down before she went up to talk with her and Cathy to take a shower to take the bad smell out. When she got alone with Jane, she picked her up before she could ran away. Jane giggled at it but soon her smile went off at the serious face of her mama. Lina sat her down at the counter, getting in front of her and making the young girl to look up.

"Sugar, what you've done wasn't right, you know that?" Jane didn't answer, she just kept looking at Lina, tears building up in her eyes. "I know that you missed me but you have to take opportunities like this to make friends or have fun. I'm not going to be around that much, my love." Lina wiped off the tears that were already rolling down Jane's face and kissed her forehead. "And the kicking thing. You can't resolve things with violence, sweetheart. If someone is bothering you, tell the teacher. She's there to help you. And if things go further, she will call me and the kid's mom to get you. But kicking him wasn't the right choice."

Jane, between hiccups of the crying, answered to that. "He called me ugly and that I smelled bad. And he said that I was boring for not wanting to play and then he tried to take Mr. Seal." Jane was looking down at her seal while she talked but looked up at Lina at the last sentence. "I'm sorry, mommy."

Lina hugged her tightly, rubbing her back and calming her. Jane didn't know what to do at that moment and that was her fault for not explaining this things before. She hoped that now, she will go to someone instead.

"Will you try again tomorrow?" Jane nodded slightly. She wanted to make her mama proud and she was going to try again. "That's my girl." Lina said and kissed her head.

With Jane calmed down, Lina put her on the couch to watch a movie. Jane was playing with her hair when she put her down so she was expecting to find her sleeping when she walks down the stairs. Walking up, she heard the shower going off. Knocking first and waiting for an invitation to walk in, she saw Cathy wrapped up in towels. She picked her up and walked with her to her room. Lina helped her drying herself and getting dressed, the girl too upset to do it by herself or asking her mama to not do it because she was a big girl.

Lina sighed, grabbing Cathy's hands and doing soothing circles with her thumbs on them. "Sweetheart, why are you so upset? What happened was an accident."

"I know, mama." Cathy looked down at their hands. "But I ruined the day for my friends and classmates because I tripped and then I bothered you to come and pick me up."

Lina smiled softly, one of her hands going up to Cathy's cheek and made her look at her. "Sweetheart, it wasn't a bother to go and pick you up and you didn't ruin their day. When you ran to me some of your friends were thanking you from far away. You got them out. Besides, it was an accident and clumsiness in this family it's a common trait." Cathy giggled at that.

"Jane got the most part."

"Oh, definitely." Mother and daughter giggled and Cathy hugged her tightly.

"Thanks mama. I love you." Lina rubbed her back and kissed her forehead.

"I love you a lot more." Lina started kissing her whole face while Cathy just laughed because it was tickling. "Now, why don't you go downstairs and watch a movie with Jane? I'm sure she's already asleep but make her company." Cathy nodded and quickly made her way downstairs. Lina sighed, time to calm Anna.

Lina knocked gently on her door. "Anna? It's me, mom."

"Leave me alone." The voice came out muffled, meaning to Lina that she was lying on her stomach, face against her pillow.

Lina opened the door anyways and sat down on the bed. "Honey, we need to talk."

"About what? There's nothing to talk about." Anna turned her back to Lina. It was completely obvious that she was still mad. Really mad.

"Look at me, Anna Banana." Lina teased her a bit with the nickname which it worked because Anna turned around quickly.

"Mom! Not that nickname!" Lina completely ignored her, giggling a bit.

"Now that I have your attention." Anna huffed at that. "We have to talk about what happened."

Anna crossed her arms. "Yeah, the unfair situation. Are you gonna punish me?" Even if she was mad, a bit of fear passed through her eyes.

"No, I'm actually really proud of you for defending those kids but I've told you already that violence it's not the answer." Anna nodded.

"I know, mom, but those kids were bullying my new friends. I wanted to help them."

"And I'm really proud of it but you should have reported to a teacher to get help, not start a fight. You know that your baby sisters admire you a lot." Anna nodded again, her frown already gone.

"I know but I've told a teacher and she did nothing so I decided to do it by myself." Lina sighed and stoke her hair gently.

"Then the counselor or the principal or someone but not fighting right away. I know you wanted to help and that shows how precious you are but next time, ask for help. Okay?"

"Okay." Anna hugged onto her, calming down instantly. Lina, for the third time, rubbed her back and kissed her head.

"Let's go downstairs and see what your sisters are up to." Anna nodded but didn't get away. Anna was harder to held in her arms but Lina still could do it.

When they walked downstairs, they were greeted by the youngest ones cuddling up and sleeping. It was notorious Jane had been sleeping more than Cathy because of her red face but still, it was the cutest thing ever.

Lina took a pic of the scene before setting Anna down and putting the youngest ones on top of her. Then she motioned Anna to cuddle next to her, soon having three sleeping cubs. Even if being a mother is hard sometimes, it was worthy for moments like those.

Tagging: @woulddieforkhoward @pen-and-a-microphone @badass-monarchs