#the word is separated like hell because the last time I made /one/ little joke post about Mhoirbheinn and Bal

[arcxnumvitae]

M.on,.s.ter//f..u///c/ker muses apparently, a very informal list that is subject to change

Etienne

Mhoirbheinn, but about Bal specifically

Daileas

Iomhar but is it really m///onsterf///ucking if he'd sleep with anything?

Probably Eilidh

I'm sure Ruaidhri wouldn't say no

Zhaohui

I'm squinting at Huaxiu

I'm squinting at Aur too

Definitely Kareena

Zhifeng? Maybe? Who knows

[7ulpix]

Bodyguard AU (COD x F!Reader) P1: Ghost + Price

☕️ word count: 558

☕️ paring: Ghost/Simon Riley • Reader • John Price

☕️ warnings: age gap (reader is somewhere in college 23-27), swearing

☕️ author's note: thank y'all for helping me choose!!! separating them into parts.......reader is kinda moody ngl ☹️💔

☕️ request? kinda?? It won the poll lol

- ☕️ -

After being hired by your father to protect you, John Price and Simon Riley do everything in their power to keep you safe. The only problem being, trouble follows you everywhere.

Ghost/Simon Riley + John Price

Ghost and Price were used to protecting civilians, and then there was........you. The so-called "angel" by your father. They had been hired to protect from harm's way, but it seemed harm was always nearby with you around. This "angel" definitely had the face of one, but by God's was she snarky and confident.

You constantly got into agruements with Ghost after being caught trying to sneak out of your apartment to parties. These agruements didn't last long, Ghost not willing to hear you out, or whatever lame excuses you came up with. It always resulted in him throwing you over his shoulder and ending up back in your apartment. You would usually get the same scoldings from Price and the threat of telling your father about these incidents. That instantly shut you up, knowing what could possibly happen if your father knew you disobeyed him.

Once, he had even taken away your poor puppy, Honey. He obviously made sure the puppy was taken well care of, but told you he was most likely going to sell it if you didn't stop (trying) sneaking out to parties and events. You hadn't talked to Ghost or Price for 2 weeks straight until you got your puppy back.

Most weekends were spent at the mall or running small errands, either 1 or both of your bodyguards tailing you. You almost never held your own bags, Ghost automatically taking them out of your hands. The first time he tried doing that without telling you, you proceeded to beat the hell out of him with your purse, thinking he was a thief trying to steal it.

Most times, with Price were mindless small talk over quiet morning walks to Campus. Price was usually with you in the early mornings and would switch with Ghost later in the day.

You would come home and play with your puppy before getting to studying. Your puppy seemed to adore Price and Ghost more than you at times (abid to your jealousy lol). Even though Ghost wouldn't admit it in his lifetime, he took very good care of the small thing when you weren't there. The puppy bowls were filled to the brim with water and food, and new toys you hadn't brought being obvious.

Price would play with the little guy, teaching it little tricks here and there, to see your surprise when your puppy actually obeyed you. When you were allowed to go to parties, it would be mostly parties your father forced you to attend. Boring fancy rich people parties where you either stood or sat around, making little to no actual good conversations. Price cracking a joke here and then to see your pretty smile, and Ghost holding your coat/jacket. At the end of the night, when Price carried you to the black SUV because your legs were too tired, Ghost would carry your high heels.

It wasn't often when someone actually came after you, trying to cause harm. Your two bodyguards did their job swiftly, showing a lack of restrain.

"Yer' wanna explain just what the bloody hell yer' doing?" Simon hissed.

".......I was just making sure the lady up there was alright."

The "lady" was you who was currently walking your puppy though the park. The sun was going down by now, and the park had cleared out by now.

[fic-heaven]

Ghost x witty! Reader x Price

Jealous much?

.

You spent too much time with Price.

Of course it was on purpose, if anyone asked you'd agree, after all, you are no liar. But who could blame you? It was so much fun to piss Ghost off this way.

Since the day you first paired up together in your first solo mission you were like finger and nail, deadly separate but even deadlier together. Your partnership bloomed into a friendship so rare even the captain couldn't believe it at first... The big bad Ghost willingly attached to a sassy clown like you? Wasn't Johnny the closest thing to a friend Ghost had? Obviously no, because the way he'd joke, train, protect and tell you everything that reached his ears spoke volumes of his deep attachment to you.

You knew this, of course. And although you felt just as close to him that didn't stop you from forming other friendships of your own and Simon was indifferent of this until he wasn't.

He'd wait wait for you on your room's door, respectful of your space and privacy but you never open, so him being worried decided to let himself in only to see you were already gone, to later be informed by Soap that you are having breakfast with John Price.

That happend THREE times in a week.

Ghost would wait for you on the stairs closest to the gym eager to spar with you and enjoy the funny remarks you did about anyone who crossed you or just pretty much hear whatever the hell you wanted to say without him having to saying much in return. Because that's your routine, so where the fuck are you? He sees you carrying a stack of papers laughing with the captain only giving Ghost an apologetic face before returning to your riddles. That happend TWICE.

See, Ghost is a patient man specially with you being a walking headache, but this? You knew he wouldn't hold it any longer. And you were eager to see how he'd explode.

His last straw was during a mission where you had to rescue a number of hostages. You two behaved with the same professionalism as always with a non so professional comment here and there, all normal, until you met with the captain and Ghost felt you instantly untangle yourself from his presence. Like Price's dry comments and even dryer humour was more interesting than Ghost's.

You were well aware the lieutenant wouldn't say a word about his obvious discomfort because what reason would he have? You were just attentive to your captain instead of your lieutenant, woops. Also considering the way Ghost is, he would never admit he has a crush on you unless he's provoked too far. So you'll use Price to give him a little push on the right direction.

Out of pure entertainment obviously, not because you loved that bastard too much to confess yourself. Yeah...

Simon didn't have a good enough reason to be pissed so that any person would understand without thinking he's jealous until you gave him one: At your captain's command, you two launched an ambush to the enemies corralling them dangerously close to the hostages, once they were eliminated, you three made a quick work of gathering the hostages out of the boat they were previously captured to wait for the rescuing helos to land while keeping them as far as possible from the bomb the enemies had planted. The moment you rushed inside the boat, Price had to tackle Ghost to the ground so he wouldn't run after you, it didn't take long when you trotted back to them with a few files in hand and a couple of minutes later, the boat exploded. Price smiled proudly, praising you with enthusiasm. "I knew you could do it, hon. Well-fucking-done! This calls for a celebratory drink, don't ya think?"

Ghost didn't speak to you for the whole flight to the base, his eyes were glaring daggers at your form while you discussed the content of the files with Price, seemingly careless about Ghost's state. Of course you were worried about him when Price said the tall brit tried to go after you, you asked if he was alright but the brief "m'fine." he gave you seemed to be enough answer for you to turn around and chat with the captain.

.

During morning drills, Ghost sat on a chunk of grass near the fences. His imposing presence did wonders making the soldiers around focus on their training, chores and other tasks, Price deeply thanked him for it because apparently he was busy with other matters of his own, surely with you. He sniffed trying to focus on finishing painting the mask he was holding and totally not thinking about you and Price alone somewhere far from him.

How dare the captain confide in you to gather important Intel he could had easily ordered Ghost to pick quicker than your short legs could carry you?

How dare Price spend more time with a stupidly annoying Sargeant instead of his loyal lieutenant?

How dare you enjoy Prices' presence more than Simon's? Was it because he was more handsome? Because he spoke much more than him? He surely didn't tease you the same way Simon did... Right?

He saw a flash of light from the corner of his eye, raising his gaze up without moving his head an inch he saw your dog tags dangling on your chest reflecting the light of the torching sun almost blinding his him.

The moment you spot your lieutenant you giggled and it irked something ugly in him. Were you mocking him?

You shot Ghost a challenging look he was soon returning with a tilt of his head as to say "oh really? I'll show you." He dropped the mask he was holding to the grass, abruptly standing so fast some passerby yelped in horror, Simon rapidly approaches you from the other side of the training field aggressively bumping into other operators who didn't see him but turned white at the sight of the angry lieutenant glaring ahead, a few rookies looked at the scene about to unfold in fright, some ran to find the captain thinking this would end up bloody.

-"What's got your face like a teapot funeral, lieutenant?"

-"Who do you think you are hiding crucial information of the mission from your superior!?"

-"We were reading the files on the ride here. You chose not to read them, Sim-"

-"Don't fucking call me that! I'm your lieutenant! Got it!? If someone farts I hear it first, if Price has something on his mind I'll be the first he informs, if Intel must be gathered I'd have to know."

You listened with humour all over the face, he was getting so frustrated he looked like an angry two-meter tall pitbull. "My my, if I didn't know any better I'd say you're jealous."

-"I will rip you apart. Hang your corpse on a pole for everyone to see..."

-"That a promise? I'd make a beautiful flag~"

Ghost was on your face huffing like an angry bull, his shoulders heaving with the force of his huffs. He was frustrated as hell with your enchanting wit that did nothing but enamour him further and the fact that he could literally intimidate anyone but you. It was driving him crazy.

You sighed "Are you really THAT mad, dear? I mean come on. You know you are the Captain's favorite but I deserve some of his time too."

He opened his mouth, his skull mask looming over you so close he did you the favor of shielding your face from the sun until "HEY!"

Price stepped between you, but you rose your hand to stop him with a serene look. "No need to baby us, cap. We were just having a peep talk."

Ghost took your arm dragging you away to a quieter place after you calmed your captain but John wasn't so convinced sprinting to you and stopping Simon by gripping your other arm. In that moment they looked like two kids fighting for a toy. You couldn't help but laugh out loud your head falling back not breaking the increasing tension among them.

-"Lieutenant Riley, you are out of line-"

-"I'm out of line? YOU are out of line! Fraternizing with this sargeant, giving her additional support and exposing sensitive information to her like she's ranks above her current one!"

-"Watch your accusations, you won't like the repercussions, besides you are no saint either threatening the life of this Sargeant in front of the others. This is unacceptable behavior from a lieutenant!"

-"OH wanna talk about unacceptable behaviour!? I've kept quiet for far too long. You wanna fuck this woman so bad you risk your position as our captain, it's pathetic... I never expected something like this from you Johnathan."

Your half lidded eyes shot to Price waiting for an answer, the wide smile you held slightly turned downwards at your captains silence. He looked stoic but there was a slight hint of nervousness that manifested in the way he pursed his lips and glared at his lieutenant.

"For real?" You asked. Ghost tsked, Price's hand never wavered from his position gripping your left arm, Ghost didn't either.

"Wanna know something funnier?" You asked, and finally they both broke the eye contact to look at you. "You two wanna fuck me so bad it's getting too obvious. So I suggest something: Do whatever you planned for today, come to my room at night TOGETHER and make up by doing whatever you planned to do to me."

Ghost's eyes widened and Price looked down trying to come up with a replay clearly as stunned as Simon.

"Think of it as a... Hmmm... A bonding exercise! Also a way to make peace. We will all benefit from it, and afterwards we won't have to talk about it if you don't want to." The way you spoke, so sure of yourself made the two men rethink whatever the hell they wanted to spit.

Ghost finally spoke lowly "And if we want to talk about it...?"

Your smile widen, your hands softly took the arms that gripped them making them both shiver as if they had been electrocuted for a moment.

"Then I'm sure we can come up with a deal." You looked back at Price who still had his blue eyes firmly planted on the ground. "Captain?"

"I have a meeting with Laswell at nine o'clock." Price finally rose his gaze to your face, his cheeks were dusted pink in embarrassment accentuating the beautiful constellation of freckles on his face "I'll cancel and skip dinner."

Ghost nods at his captain's decision, you look at the masked brit waiting for his own response "I had to be with Johnny and Kyle somewhere t'night. They'll be well off without me."

"Fantastic! My room at nine, then." You chirped until Price stopped you.

"No-" He abruptly interrupted. Ghost and you looked at him in surprise, nervousness lazed on Price's voice after he shook his head and recomposed himself "My office. We'll go there, that way people will think we'll be addressing the matter of Ghost's public outburst."

Ghost growled out "Public outburst?" But you nodded enthusiastic "Perfect plan! Also it wouldn't be far from the truth at all, am I right fellas?"

By that point the two men had let go of your arms but kept a closer distance to you, their previous angry expressions had softened seeking your eyes with desire, the voids of their pupils were so dilated you could see your smirk reflected on them.

"This will be quite the experience."

.

Who should I write next ;) ? Requests open!

[shares-a-vest]

@steddielovemonth Day 14: Love is... Being late to work because you can't ever say goodbye in a reasonable amount of time (Prompt by @sharpbutsoft)

wc: 1,278 | Rated: M (just to be safe, this one is a little spicer and more explicit than usual) | cw: None

Tags: Steve Harrington Loves Eddie Munson, Getting Together, Robin Buckley, Platonic Stobin, Running Late, Family Video

Note: Gosh I hope this one is Steddie enough seeing as Eddie is only here in Steve's spicy morning after thoughts...

'The Mysterious Case of the Broken Doorknob'

Steve groans when he reaches the front glass doors of Family Video and realises his best friend has already opened up. His face burns, not just from the morning sun reflecting off the store’s front windows – his shades really do nothing – as he thinks about the reason he is late.

Eddie. Eddie. Eddie.

His friend-turned-date-turned-overnight-boyfriend’s teasing words and wicked grin play over in his head like a fucking slot machine. Meanwhile, inside, Robin’s head shoots up from where she was glued to the computer, likely startled by the sound of him practically slamming into the front doors in haste.

“Where have you been!” she yells, her voice only slightly muffled by the glass between them.

Eddie, he thinks.

Eddie and the way he says (or doesn’t) say, ‘goodbye’ the morning after.

Eddie with that wild morning bed hair flicking every which way as he moved to blanket himself over Steve. His naked warmth enveloping Steve in a comfort that lulled him back into a half-sleep, his eyes only fluttering back open again as Eddie began to move, his hands roaming and carding through his chest hair.

Scratching his skin... Sinfully pitching his nipple, giggling when Steve squirmed under his touch...

Eddie's mouth joining the teasing... That mouth moving down... All the way down until a tongue playfully licked the tip of his –

“S-Sorry!” he splutters, ripping off his sunglasses when he finally gets the stupidly sticky door open.

He waves (or more, flails) a hand in Robin’s direction, avoiding his best friend’s burning gaze as he makes a beeline for the back office.

If he can just get to his shitty broken locker without any prying, he might manage to conjure up a decent enough excuse with regards to his tardiness.

Only this isn’t the first time Steve hasn’t quite made it in a reasonable amount of time because of escapades from the night before trickling into the morning after. Hell, most of the time he runs late for work the next day.

Plus, Robin knows Steve went on his first date with Eddie last night.

She knew they were going to Benny’s and that Steve had lined up precisely six separate make-out spots they could head off to afterwards.

Only, they didn’t even get that far.

They were about halfway through dinner when he and Eddie both agreed that after all this time, a full eight months after Spring Break, they should just throw away the playbook entirely.

“Wine and dine me later, sweetheart,” Eddie had joked, hopping out of the diner’s back corner booth and offering his hand.

The thing is, it didn’t exactly feel like a first date anyway.

Not after all that time. After hospital stays and visits. Not after healing and the awkwardness of Steve setting things right with Nancy. Not after he and Eddie at least began acknowledging that nagging something between them... Not after all the pining and flirting thereafter...

Not to mention all the meddling from everyone around them...

But this was different, he quickly decided as he discarded his burger – something he’d never willingly given up before.

With Eddie it is different…

So they went back to Steve’s house – something he promised himself he’d stop doing with ‘first dates’. He hastily parked the car on the drive, flicked on the inside entryway light and all but bolted up the stairs, hands interlocked with Eddie’s.

By the time they got to the upstairs hall, Eddie was ripping off his leather jacket and Steve was unbuckling his belt, all before they made it to his bedroom.

It was hot and rushed to begin with, as they both stripped down to nothing, pressing kisses to any piece of bare flesh they could get to before they lowered onto Steve’s bed.

And for once, Eddie didn’t make a quip about the checked bedspread and matching curtains. It might have been something like that, Eddie’s self-preserving snark falling away along with Steve’s uncharacteristic nervousness that turned it all soft, gentle and tender.

As they touched, skin to skin... Taking and giving as their bodies moved together... Kissing and licking as a sweaty heat grew between them... Moaning with no inhibitions and gasping into each other’s starved mouths...

Holding onto each other for dear life until they collapsed in a sweet haze, barely cleaned up but entirely sated.

Steve startles, brought back to reality by Robin’s big and quizzical knowing eyes looking back at him as she now blocks the office door.

“Spill!” she demands, poking him hard in the chest.

“Ouch – Rob... Scram!” he retorts, elbowing her in hopes she’ll move.

But she doesn’t. Instead, Robin clamps her hand down hard on the office doorknob at the exact time he does and they scuffle, grumbling and pushing and bickering unintelligible nonsense at each other –

Until the doorknob breaks clean off, the other half of it dropping to the floor on the other side of the door.

“Shit,” Steve curses, scrubbing a hand over his face while Robin is left gawking at one-half of the broken doorknob still firmly in her grasp.

“Okay… Well, know you have to tell me what happened,” Robin quips, “Or at least enough to spare some time while I think of what to do about this.”

Steve shrugs and settles for dumping his backpack by the door.

“I’ll just go to the hardware store in my lunch break.”

“A lunchbreak you think you are still entitled to seeing as you are…” Robin sucks in a breath and looks at her watch, “Almost an hour late!”

“Fine!” he relents, turning on the spot so he can all but collapse against the broken door with a hard thud.

“S-P-I-double-hockey-sticks, Dingus!” Robin repeats, her voice a whole octave higher as she plants herself square in front of him.

She begins tossing the broken doorknob expertly from hand to hand, the motion doing nothing to stop Steve’s head from spinning about everything last night – and this morning...

“Eddie and I barely made it through our date before went back to my house and boned, okay!” he admits, a hot rush creeping up his neck again.

He screws his eyes shut, trying desperately not to think about the sensation of Eddie’s pale skin against his.

His warm and soft flesh... His calloused fingers switching between deftly working and greedily exploring... The ridges and puckering of the scars that now litter Eddie’s body... The ones on his sides that match Steve’s own...

Eddie’s flushed and very nice – smooth…

“Whoa,” Robin says.

He feels the warning creak of the door as she joins him shoulder-to-shoulder.

“Yeah…” he sighs, “And then this morning Eddie gave me the best blowjob I have ever had and I didn’t want to leave – Rob, my brain feels like jello.”

“Huh...” Robin hums, pausing for a long moment, “Never took Munson for a Casanova in the bedroom – wait, no... I don’t want to think about his – ” she shudders, “No offence! Anyway, I would have covered for you.”

She knocks into his shoulder.

“Could’a told me that a few hours ago, Robs,” he quips, storing away the offer for the (hopefully, inevitable) next time.

Now at an angle – because the slightest bump is sending him off his axis in his current horny jello-brained state – Steve reaches into his back jeans pocket only to find it empty.

Fuck.

“What is it?” his best friend asks and Steve can just sense that Robin is frowning too.

“I forgot my wallet,” he dry-sobs.

“Steve!” Robin yells into his already-sensitive ear, “How in the hell are we going to pay to fix this door!”

[alliskit]

The Grand Design.

Song of the chapter:

On AO3.

CH. 14: In The Fast Lane.

- Brian - See You Never - Forgiveness At It's Finest

I wrapped my arms over my face as I laid in my tent. I had no clock, so I had no idea how long I had been lying there staring up at the creases of my tent. My eyes saw blue, but my mind saw over played conversations and a collection of new ones. 

I had yet to ask Halsin about a portal, but I had a sinking feeling he wouldn't be able to help me. What Raphael said about the worlds being split and now the only connection point was the Hells themselves repeated in my head. I really hoped all the metaphorical expressions about devils and liars were true. To think I needed to most literally trust the devil was almost humorous, but mostly anxiety inducing. 

My soul tie wasn't helping. As I walked off tonight or rather last night because it was definitely early morning at this point - I could feel it start to pull taut. Ties had a habit of doing that at different intervals as the separate individuals at either end focused on the other. A longing to snap back together causing it to strum. The cord was singing loudly. My heart and mind knew better, but my body wanted to crawl to the next tent and curl up close to Astarion. 

I hated feeling like he was mine in some way, since it was the furthest thing from real. I wished I could conjure up a pair of shears and snap the invisible cord between us. It would be for the best. The final day when we shipped off to different places, to different lives, was coming close - that's if either of us lived past trying to get rid of the three leaders here.

He would go on to live thousands of different lives.

Speaking of elves, Halsin would likely have another four hundred years or so. I would get a paltry forty or fifty more. 

Elves with their long and immortal lives. Love that would never die. At least I wouldn't see them die if nothing killed us first. 

The words echoed in my mind: I wouldn't have to see them die. 

It had been one of our weekly date nights. We had spent the last year learning to forgive the past and make a future. We had given up trying to have children and decided to focus on the one we did have. Brian had, finally, started going to therapy to get help. I had already been through therapy a few times. It was nice to see him understanding his anger for what it was. He apologized for his part in my hurt over our marriage and I apologized for holding divorce over his head like a guillotine. Even if I had meant it, it never dropped, because I still loved him. I wanted to hold onto hope for a few more days each time he tried, even temporarily. 

It took long enough, but we were healing. It was one of the good days too.

We were on the way home. I made a foot fetish joke. He laughed and said only my feet. We were pulling up over a large hill. We saw the car in our lane as we both crested. This road was a two-way with no extra space to pull over or at the very least, swerve around the on coming vehicle. Brian had enough time to keep us from getting hit head on. Instead, they hit us on the driver side: Brian's. We slammed into a ditch and a tree, the front of the other car now puncturing the whole left side of the car. 

There were no weepy final goodbyes. There was only Brian's face staring at me with vacant eyes. His blood, from being crushed, was splattered across our dash and myself, just like the little goblin boy behind the gate. When Halsin had pulled the door from the wall, the boy crumbled in pieces, just like Brian when they pulled his body from the car. My door was pinned in the ditch, so I got to watch the fire fighters remove my husband.

I watched him die. It was a blink. One moment here, the next, his eyes were empty pits. His soul and mind elsewhere, hopefully.

When I told Sylas the next morning, it was so unbelievable to him, he completely forgot until our extended family members began showing up. 

Sylas. I had been running for months, telling myself I was only crying for his sake. Telling myself I was only sad because dying was sad, but I didn't actually miss Brian. It's what I told myself in the cave as I looked back at Astarion, my waist in the air, waiting on him, hearing him speak in some foreign tongue. But, my mind wanted to hear someone else tell me it was going to be alright. I wanted someone else to kiss up my spine. 

I didn't want to curl up next to Astarion anymore. I wanted to curl up next to a different cold body, one that had been cremated and spread in a river months ago. 

A body I would never hold again. 

I fell asleep to tear soaked dreams of Brian. 

I had been quiet most of the morning. My companions all had another dream visit and were arguing over whether to trust, who they termed the Guardian's advice to use the tadpole's powers. Apparently, there were more than simply reading each others' minds or controlling someone else's. The problem was, in order to access these powers, they had to ingest more tadpoles. Lae was vehemently against any of this, reminding everyone that the only reason they were still in this gods forsaken temple was to kill the leaders so they could leave. The Zaithisk, whatever that was, held the key to their cure. Gale, Durge, Astarion, and Wyll, of all people, all seemed intrigued by the idea of using the powers for good - or their own personal reasons. (Rion, I know you're reading this. I can feel your smug little look that says 'I told you so'.)

Karlach and Shadowheart were willing to 'watch and see'. Let the guys learn the hard way, if it turned out badly. 

Astarion adjusted the strap on my drow armor. It was surprisingly supple and comfortable. We matched in hoods, body armor, and boots. There were small rings to tie sheath straps or bags at the waist, but nothing to clip my holster to. My necklace pouch was tied to one side. 

"That should probably be fastened somewhere safer on your person," he said, finishing and moving to the other strap. 

"I don't have any other way to wear it without pockets."

I felt a final tug and he walked past me into his tent. When he came back out, he held up a necklace with a single pendant on it. "It's enchanted for... My own personal reasons. But, you can have the chain. Pass me the pouch." He held out his hand.

I untied it and tossed it over. He slid the chain through the pouch's small straps. He signaled for me to turn. He lifted it over my head, then locked it at the back. "There, much safer," he said softly from behind me. 

I tucked the pouch under my chest plate. I turned back around to face him. His eyes softly searched mine. What he was looking for, I didn't know, but it was comforting. "Are you sure we can do this? If I can do this?"

A brow perked on his perfect face, "Of course, darling. It's your plan, remember?"

"That might make it worse," I cringed.

He put his hands on the sides of my shoulders, "If you die, we can get Withers to bring you back. Feel better?" He smiled broadly.

I glared up at him, "Wow, so much better, thanks."

He squeezed my arms, "There, now don't doubt yourself so much. It's not a good look on you, darling."

I rolled my eyes, "You have such a gift of encouragement. All doubt has vanished."

A smug smirk pulled at his lips, "What would you do without me?"

"Probably die."

"To be expected," he winked. 

I rolled my eyes and we walked out to the group hanging around the campfire. All morning, I had done my best to keep from looking at Halsin, not in a mean way, I just needed to focus today. But, anytime I snuck a peek, he was already looking at me or happened to look over at me. It was some kind of weird serendipity. Once again, I snuck a look and he was scanning my new outfit. His nostrils flared a bit and I made a point to look away before his eyes made their way back to mine. 

I couldn't stop my body from physically reacting to the attraction, but I could remind myself of the reality of my situation:

First, I was a temporary fixture in the lives of these people. I would grab Sylas and book it back to Earth as soon as a portal, Nautiloid, or even a realm hopping hot air balloon crossed my path. 

Second, I was human. A puny Terran, as Raphael put it. I would live well into my eighties, if my bloodline proved true, which was a dot in the lives of these two elves. Halsin would live long enough to know my great great great great grand kids and Astarion would stay picturesque until every sun burned out or he decided he was done. By the time either of them keeled over, I doubted they would even remember my face. (Yes, I know, Rion, you want to live longer than the last cockroach out of pure spite.)

Third, I wasn't here to indulge in casual flings, which was all I could have with those two, per my first two reasons.

Shadowheart leaned back, examining us, a faint smirk on her lips. "You both look..."

"Hot," Karlach stated, full smile. 

I saw Gale roll his eyes. 

"I was going to say excessive, but fine, the armor suits you both," Shadowheart conceded. 

"It has a purpose, cleric," Astarion sniped, then the room dimmed. Everyone erupted in angry shouts and confusion. I watched as Astarion snapped from a spot next to me to behind Shadowheart.

Her head swiveled around, searching, then she lit a small flame in her hand. "Why in the hells would you cast darkness right now?!" she complained.

"To make a point," he said from behind her.

She spun around, gasping as he placed a knife point lightly under her chin, the flame in her hand snuffing out.

"This is a bit dramatic, don't you think?" she cried.

"Any can cast darkness while wearing drow armor."

"I know," she whined. She spun around, chanting a few words, then a large floating orb lit up the darkness. We all covered our eyes until it dimmed out, the darkness dispelling with it.

Astarion crossed his arms. "When facing deadly enemies, being able to move about in stealth is important, don't you think, cleric?" he asked, like a teacher trying to make a point to a stubborn student.

She huffed, "Entirely. Thank you for the demonstration."

"You're welcome," he smiled as he stepped around her, walking back to me. "Your inability to see the bigger picture is why you're not joining us on our little adventure. For a servant of Shar, you aren't very covert." He glanced down at his nails, "You really should consider a new name, darling. Shadows don't seem to be your thing."

She ground her jaw, but kept it shut. The rest of us cleared our throats and looked at something else. 

"Alright, let's go over the plans for today," I said, breaking up the awkwardness. "As you know, we need to find out the whole True Soul story. What are they beyond simply a god's chosen? What does this have to do with Moonrise, etcetra. You guys can split up how you see fit. We will check in at different intervals with information about the leaders' movements and habits."

Karlach raised her hand, "What happens if we get into a fight with one of the leaders today?" 

"I would hope that won't be the case, but if you do, please tell us. We are going to do our best to try to do this without having to burn this whole place to the ground."

She nodded.

"Once again, the goal is to take care of each of these guys when they are alone."

Everyone nodded this time. 

"Halsin, when you can, get into some kind of wildshape and see if you can't find an alternate route out of here if we need to make an escape." I paused holding up a hand, "If you find a way, and if he's still alive, try to free the last of your adventuring party. He's in the first room off the sanctum on a rack. If you can't, don't sweat it. We need you alive to get back to the grove."

"If it isn't closed up by now," Wyll added.

"What?" Halsin asked.

"Oh, Kagha was trying to get all the tieflings to leave so they could lock up the grove from the inside."

Halsin eyes went wide, then narrowed as his face turned to a snarl, "She's enacting the Rite of Thorns." His anger turned to fear and he held up his hands, "I need to go. I need to get to the grove as soon as possible."

"Whoa, Halsin, what's going on?" Wyll asked.

We all turned to the druid. He looked on the verge of panic, which was unsettling to see on a man his size, "The Rite of Thorns will lock everyone in for good. It's a curse. Every grove that has used it ends up in violence, many in death. If Kagha intends to finish it, they are in grave danger. It will take me a day to even reach the grove and given that it's midmorning, I will likely not even reach it until tomorrow afternoon. I need to go. Now."

Gale stepped from behind me, "If you can sneak to the front of the temple, there is a waypoint in the courtyard. You will have to act fast, but it will make your journey exceedingly short."

Halsin nodded absently, considering the information. "Alright, I'll see if it's too exposed, then decide. If I remember correctly, there was another in the deserted village at the halfway point."

"If you're referring to Moonhaven, it's overrun with goblins," Shadowheart added.

His jaw ticked. "Either way, I need to get moving."

We all looked around at each other. I walked up to the druid, "Go, and when you get there, find a little human boy among the tieflings. It's my son, Sylas. Tell him I'm alive. Tell him I'll be back soon."

His eyes softened as they locked with mine, "Sylas. I can do that."

I put my hand on his arm, his face contorting in confusion as he looked down at my hand. 

"Thank you," I answered, then let him go.

His eyes flashed between both of mine. "When you get back to the grove, we need to talk about what just happened," he whispered. Then, blue and green light twisted around him as he became a rat again, scurrying off into a small hole in the wall. 

"What a fantastic help he was," Astarion whined.

"He is going to lead us to Moonrise, so I would agree, he has been nothing but a fantastic help," Gale chided.

Astarion rolled his eyes.

"Well, this fast tracks our plans," I murmured.

We made a new plan: Astarion and I would go in and cause a little chaos, distracting the leaders. The 'True Souls' would, then, come in and pull the leaders out of said chaos to be eliminated. Said chaos would be us thinning the horde, so if any saw the attacks against their leadership, we would have less goblins and others to come to their aid. Also, we needed to find ways to keep the fights centralized to the leaders, not alerting the entire temple. 

It was sound, but it terrified me. I wouldn't be a part of the full fighting, but I had never done anything like this. Besides the grove and the skeletons, which were nothing like this, the closest was an organized war game with fake guns that shot paint darts with some friends in the woods. And I was terrible at it.

What was going to be some lessons in stealth would become a crash course in close combat. I wasn't originally planning to bring along my gun, but with the new plans, I needed something to defend myself that wasn't a dagger. Though, Astarion insisted I still bring one and tied a sheath to one of the waist rings as I strapped a cut belt from Wyll around my upper thigh for my gun holster. It was a little constraining, but it was stable. 

Before we left, I snuck the artifact into the pouch for safe keeping. There was no telling what we would be up against today.

Then, we were off, hoods in place. I followed Astarion in silence as he led us quietly through the empty barracks. He made a short stop at every war drum to slash a line through the canvas tops. The goblins we passed seemed completely uninterested in us, which was unusual for such a chatty group who seemed to love True Souls. He stopped short at a ladder and swiftly climbed. I followed as quickly as I could, which wasn't nearly as graceful as him. He pulled me up the last three rungs. 

We could see over the full sanctum and partially into the next portion that had several wooden boardwalks around some kind of open pit. I was trying not to breathe too heavily to give away how out of shape I really was.

I failed.

I saw him give me an odd look, "Just breathe, will you? I'm a vampire who doesn't have to breathe unless I need to talk. And, by gods, you sound like you're suffering." Though, he made it seem like hearing me was making him suffer. He looked back down at the room below us his voice softening, "Also, your heart sounds terrible. You need to breathe."

I sucked in a huge breath, letting myself pant a little, hands on my hips. "You're so fast. I'm trying to keep up."

He didn't look back at me, but replied, "I'll try to slow down. I'm used to doing this with my siblings." He must have anticipated my question when he glanced back at me, pulling back his hood, "I have seven 'siblings' - other spawn of Cazador."

I nodded. "Were some of them in your memories I saw?" I ventured carefully.

He nodded back. "That was Dalyria and Leon, if I remember correctly."

"White hair and long hair?" I asked.

"Yes," his eyes went distant for a moment, probably remembering the terrible visuals of the three of them and Cazador together, or maybe something else. 

I swallowed, watching him. The torch lights and some bits of sunlight from the larger wall cracks lit his face. "You know, you have a lot more color when you have some blood. Some light freckles, even. Did you end up meeting Durge?" He perked up, my question breaking his dark reverie like I hoped.

A sly smile crept up, "I did. He was delectable. His magic is..." His eyebrows rose, "Potent." He was smiling wistfully now, probably thinking back on it. 

I don't know what possessed me, but we had become much more comfortable of late. I reached up and brushed a pointed pink tip of one of his ears. 

He reeled. "Don't touch me," he snapped.

I pulled back quickly, shocked. "I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?"

His face contorted like he was confused and frustrated, but not sure if he should be. He shook his head, then touched the spot on his ear I had a moment ago. He seemed less bothered and more sad when he said, "I shouldn't have yelled. Ears for elves are..." He paused. "Sensitive." 

"So I hurt you?" 

He smiled pitifully. "No, it... It's a nice kind of sensitivity. Too nice."

I felt my cheeks heat a little. I felt bad either way. I wondered at how many had messed with his ears over the years without his permission.

"Our ears are sensitive to help with advanced hearing, but it does mean touch can be... A lot." He brushed hand through his curls before donning the hood again. His physical and metaphorical guards going up.

"I won't touch them again."

He looked over at me with a small look of disappointment, but it cleared as quickly as it came. He looked past me, pointing, "We need to get up onto the rafters and take a look around." He slipped around me and stepped out lithely onto a wooden beam. 

Though the beam was more than wide enough to walk safely, the steep drops to either side were fatal. I did my best to focus on taking one step at a time. I didn't mind heights, but traipsing across these ancient rafters made me nervous.

No one seemed to notice us up here as we took a seat above the sanctum's shrine. 

"Why does it seem like they don't notice us? They all walked past without a single glance. Are we invisible somehow?" I asked.

A dark smirk met me, "You remember that pendant I said was for personal use?"

"Yes..."

"It contains a Pass Without Trance enchantment. It doesn't make us invisible, but it does keep us from being directly noticed. When you're not looking for something, you don't often see it." He tapped my chest plate, "I added it to your pouch. Any nearby allies are enveloped in the aura."

My hand went to the spot where the pouch sat. I eyed him, "Were you going to tell me or just let me believe I was super sneaky?"

His smirk turned soft, "I was going to use it myself, but you seemed nervous, so I thought it might boost your confidence. I didn't believe you'd notice, to be honest."

"You're still underestimating me, huh?" A corner of my mouth tipped. 

"Clearly a lesson I'm still learning."

A comfortable silence settled between us as we watched each other. 

"Thank you," I whispered.

"Don't thank me, yet. We still need to live through today." He turned back to the scene of the Priestess speaking to some of the goblin acolytes, then he popped back up to standing. He held a hand out to me. I took it and stood next to him. 

The shadow of his hood darkened his eyes. I needed no distractions today and he was the definition of one. I blinked and forced my eyes away. "Alright, let's do this." I held out my hand.

Astarion pulled two Invisibility, Detect Thoughts, and See Invisibility potions from his borrowed pouch of holding. He pulled a ring from it as well, slipping the slender silver thing onto his pointer finger. 

"What's that?" I asked. 

"It's enchanted for Greater Invisibility. Though, once the Greater Invisibility is broken, it can't be cast until after I've rested. I'm not sure we will need it, but just in case. If I cast it and it breaks, I'll place it in your pouch and you should be able to cast it."

I perked a brow. "How? I don't have magic."

"Any enchanted item can be cast by anyone. It should work, just like the other two items on you. The only thing that I assume won't work is your armor. You won't be able to cast darkness as I did earlier."

He showed me how to cast the invisibility spell and what to say, invisibilis. It seemed easy enough. 

We tossed back the potions, leaving the empty containers on the beam. I watched him shimmer away, then I felt the world around me dampen as I heard him think, Can you see me yet. Then, as if triggered by his thoughts, he appeared again surrounded by an aura of deep red, littered with silver stars. 

After university, I had a bit of a personal spiritual journey. I was officially on my own, I hadn't met Brian, and I left to spend a year in another country for a 'gap year' to take temporary fun job before returning to become a cog within my country's capitalist regime. Something I learned, that intrigued me, was about personal auras. If you could see one or even sense your own, the different colors from the light spectrum represented something innate about you or the other person. 

It was a bit ironic that his was red. From what I could remember, it symbolized survival and security, whether it was something you innately desired or embodied. Red meant you were adventurous, passionate, affectionate, stubborn, and restless. You were a symbol of the fire within.

I noticed he was considering my aura as well. Yes, yours is different. Reminds me of the descriptions of the Astral Planes. 

An image popped into my head of a galaxy in space.

Astarion's eyes flew wide. You've seen the Astral Planes?

No, that's outer space. It's what we call a galaxy. It's a large grouping of stars. Well, now that I think of it, maybe that's exactly what the Astral Plane is.

I've never seen it, but if I could picture it, it would be what you saw. 

The image isn't from personal experience, but taken from machines that can take images of the outer reaches.

Your world seems so interesting. I would love to see it. If you can portal back, maybe I can join you and stay away from Cazador forever.

Two bright red eyes on a pale face with dark hair bore into my mind. He seems like a real dick.

That is an odd way to put it, but he is... Well, let's hope he doesn't show up to camp one night. Vampire lords are vicious monsters. 

I saw a flash of images: Cazador turning to mist, then petting some wolves before they tore apart someone, then slashing through another with his claws and ripping into their throat, blood splattering everywhere. 

A shiver rolled through me. Yeah, hell no to that. You can come with me. Though, I'm not sure how we will be able to feed you or hide your huge ears.

He glared at me, but a small smirk fought at the corners of his mouth. Let's get going. He turned.

Wait. I reached out to grab him. I pushed into his mind. I'm not entirely sure how, but I focused on what I wanted to see. I felt a push from the center of my forehead as my mind saw what he did: me, surrounded by an aura of different shades of purple and a collection of gold and silver stars. I looked like the night sky. I could see both myself through his eyes and him through mine, like gazing at us as a ghost from above. 

A deep thought within him surfaced, one I knew he had no intention of letting me hear, whispered so lightly in my head I nearly missed it: She's a vision.

I let him go. He was watching me with an odd look on his face. I wanted to see what my aura looked like.

I could tell you were searching my mind for something, but I couldn't tell what.

You don't seem upset. Does that mean you were searching mine as well?

He smirked, the odd look clearing. 

I rolled my eyes and followed after him. You going to tell me what you were looking for? Before I could get an answer, I could feel his mind focus on something below us: the pit in the middle of the boardwalk. 

Inside the pit was two very large spiders.

A wicked grin met my crazed eyes. Afraid of spiders?

Ones the size of a small car? Absolutely. I think I officially hate Faerun. Spiders aren't supposed to be that big.

I could feel him laughing in his head. Are there no giant spiders on Earth?

I sent him a picture of a huntsman spider. 

Oh, that's tame. People keep those as pets.

I felt like my eyes were going to pop out of my head. 

He tapped his lips, There has to be a way to let them out. 

Excuse me? I slapped him on the arm. I sent him a visual of the two spiders making a massive nest in the sanctum, all of us wrapped up as food.

They won't live that long. But, they might kill some of the goblins which should give our friends time to take the Priestess somewhere private.

Friends, huh? I grinned at him.

He rolled his eyes. It was a generalizing term.

Right... I bumped his elbow with mine. He bumped me back, but a bit too hard. I wobbled, losing traction on the beam. I felt my stomach drop, but the feeling of falling was short lived as a larger body wrapped itself around me. Then, I felt like air itself, becoming corporeal moments later. I was no longer on the beam, but on a makeshift ledge made of planks. 

"Did you just..." I said aloud.

His eyes were wild as he stared down at my face. "I didn't know if that would work. I shadow stepped with you. I've been able to do that since I started feeding from Durge and accessing more of my vampiric gifts."

I couldn't help it. I just started laughing. I nearly fell to my death and was misted to safety by a vampire, over a pit of giant ass spiders. He swiftly covered my mouth. Tears pushed their way up as I tried to stay quiet. My whole body shook with laughter. He started laughing silently too, leaning his forehead against mine. We stayed there for several minutes sucking in breath, trying to stay as quiet as we could. What a weird reality we were living.

I sighed through my nose as I finally calmed. He was still wrapped around me, our faces touching. I didn't want the embrace to end. It was comfortable, secure. After spending the night weeping over missing Brian, it felt nice to be held close. 

"Are we still invisible?" I whispered against his face. 

"I'm not sure, I may have ruined it with the shadow step," he whispered back.

We were so close, I could have leaned in to kiss him. My body begged me to. I could feel his breath on my face. The breath he supposedly didn't need to take. I wondered if he breathed just so he wouldn't forget what it was to feel alive. I remembered waking to him asleep in the cave. His chest rose and fell in rhythm. I wondered if, sometimes, he couldn't help it. 

My hands were gripping his upper arms, holding him close. I let them go and he stepped away from me in succession. We just watched each other in silence. I wondered if his body was begging him to go back like mine was. 

I saw the image of us kissing before seeing his face flush. It was odd seeing him blush. It probably wouldn't be something I could, if he weren't drinking blood regularly. I felt myself blush too and looked away. I wondered if I sent something akin to that image back. If I did, I really couldn't help it. It was right there. 

I turned back to see him open his mouth, but then we heard familiar voices. We stepped to the edge of the landing and saw our friends talking to Priestess Gut. Clearly, we had been taking too long. 

We need to get to the spiders. He thought.

Damn you and your terrible but good ideas.

Oh, darling, please do keep telling me when I'm right. 

I flashed behind me to give him a snarky look. He was closer than I expected, just over my shoulder. Our noses brushed. The movement surprised him too. We both pulled back. Then, movement caught our eyes. The Priestess was leading our group up some stairs. We watched them enter behind a doorway, then it shut behind them. Now was our opening.

I didn't even think, I just followed. We found another ladder and snuck our way down. We casually passed several goblins as we walked over the boardwalk.

There are levers on the inside and outside the gate, he noted.You go speak to the gate guards, I'll use the Greater Invisibility. 

I nodded and we split up. 

I saw him cast and shimmer, but not disappear since I still had See Invisibility in my system. Then, he hopped down. If he was terrified as I was of the humongous spiders, I couldn't tell. The red aura truly did suit him. I wondered if Brian's aura would have been the same. 

I quickly made my way down to the guards. I didn't even need to ask for their attention, they stepped up to me, ready to serve their True Soul. 

"How can we's assist you True Soul?" One asked bowing slightly.

I crossed my arms, exuding all the fake authority I could. "I'm looking for the Priestess. Did you see where she went?" I asked, trying not to peek down at the spiders. 

The second perked up, "Oh, she's took the otha True Souls to her chambers. She wanted to speak to thems in private."

I nodded, "Can you show me where her quarters are?"

They glanced at each other, unsure if they should abandon their posts. One glanced behind to see the spiders moving about a little. They must sense Astarion. But, the goblin guard seemed unbothered when they looked back up at me. "Of course, True Soul."

They both accompanied me instead of choosing for one to stay behind. As we began to ascend the stairs, I heard the gate latch and screech, then high pitched squeals sang out as the two spiders charged into the room. 

"Shit!" One of my guides yelled as he charged back down the stairs. The other followed suit, axe in the air. I was no longer the priority. I didn't see Astarion, but I felt his grip as I was pulled up the staircase. 

We need to get behind the door. 

I looked over and I saw him, his red aura flowering around him. I watched a halfling and two others race down the other staircase to help the goblins against the spiders. We made it to the door our friends were behind unnoticed. I saw him bend down, then heard the lock click. I noted to ask him about that particular skill later. We slipped through the doorway. I heard him shut the door behind us as I took in my companions scattered around on the floor.

I ran over to Shadowheart, my hand to her neck to check her pulse. It beat steady. I shook her and she moaned a little, but sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"What in the..." She said looking around her at the others. "Gut," she snapped, hopping onto her feet.

"Shadowheart," I called. She turned, finally noticing me. "Oh, it's you. We were wondering what happened to you both. Where have you been? Where's Astarion?"

I smirked at her last question. He put a finger to his lips. 

"He's around. Causing chaos."

She turned her ear to the sounds of yelling and fighting outside the door. "Is that from him?" 

I nodded. "We let the spiders to the hard work."

She perked a brow, "Spiders?"

"Huge ones."

She sighed, "Let's hope they're dead by the time we get out of here. The next worst thing to wolves are giant spiders."

I saw Astarion roll his eyes. Evidently, he didn't agree. 

"What happened?" I asked.

"Gut tricked us. She figured out we were tadpoled and put us to sleep. She..." Shadowheart glanced around again, "Damn it all, she took Gale. The idiot who told her about our tadpoles in the first place. I told him not to tell her anything. We were supposed to just kill her once we got in here. But, he told us to wait and see. Little good it did. His desire for knowledge is the archmage's curse."

Astarion held a fist to his mouth, laughing in silence. I licked my lips and tried to keep it together too. How on brand for Gale to end up taken after making decisions for the rest of the group just so he could get more information.

"Should we wake everyone?" 

Shadowheart nodded and we went around tapping and shaking. 

"I can smell him. Where is he?" Durge asked. 

I pointed to the bench where Astarion was now lounging. 

"He's been in here the whole time?" Shadowheart whined. 

"He told me not to say anything. To see how long it took you to notice." 

Shadowheart glared at me and opened her mouth to reply.

"What in the hells?" A voice called from behind the group. The Priestess stepped through the other door, surprised to find everyone awake.

Durge and Shadowheart shot spells at her. Durge's ripped a hole in her shoulder while she seemed to absorb Shadowheart's. She threw out a wave of force and everyone but Durge and I were tossed back. Though, it was the motivation Karlach needed because she yelled, then ran full speed as she thrust down her new Warhammer onto the head of the priestess.

It took one good blow and the goblin woman's head was crushed like a melon. 

"Well, I am glad I didn't have to save you all," Gale chimed from the doorway. 

Everyone's eyes shot to him.

"Please tell us you didn't get caught on purpose?" Karlach panted.

"Not entirely, no. But, I did learn a bit about our predicament thanks to my temporary captivity."

Loud cheering sounded outside the door. The spiders were probably dead. Hopefully, having taken several goblins with them. 

"These absolute cultists don't know they have a mind flayer parasites. They believe they are hearing from a new god. They know of mind flayer parasites, at least Gut did, but they are at the beck and call of the voice we heard on the bridge yesterday. They are centralized at Moonrise Towers, like Halsin mentioned, and are meeting up in caravans to somehow get through the cursed lands." He paused glancing around, "Wait, where's Astarion?"

We all pointed at the bench. 

"Ah, he's used the ring, of course. As I was saying, Minthara, Gut, and Dror were all tasked by the absolute to retrieve the artifact we have and take it to the leaders at Moonrise."

Shadowheart and Lae'zel perked up, but Shadowheart spoke first, "Why do they want the artifact?"

"Not sure, the Priestess was done with my questioning by that point. If it weren't for having a Healing potion in my pouch, I would be sporting a rather nasty bruise on my face." 

"Whoa," Durge murmured. 

We all turned to see the parasite from the Priestess rise into the air, landing gracefully into Durge's palm. No one was focused on Gale anymore.

Wyll stepped up next to Durge, "So, do we just... Eat it?"

"I guess?" Durge answered.

I watched Astarion stand to look over Durge's shoulder, taking a good look at the worm in his hand. He made a small grimace.

Rethinking your original plans? I thought.

He looked over at me. I'll endure whatever is necessary. His words were arrogant, but his face echoed the need for survival. 

I hoped that these tadpole really did have upsides. As I watched him, a few dots started connecting in my head. Is the tadpole why you can walk in sun?

His eyes softened. Yes. 

One word was all it took to convince me. I would never consume one myself, but if it meant he got more abilities to experience life again, I wouldn't stop him. 

Durge didn't wait to offer it up. He tossed it back in one go. He looked around at all of us and shrugged. It was short lived. He collapsed to his knees, gripping the horns on his head. His teeth gritted and eyes shut in silent pain. Then, he went still. His eyes shot open.

White orbs looked back. We all stepped away as a nasty toothy grin filled his face. His neck cracked as he tipped his head at an odd angle, "All is ash and meat."

Then, he came at us. 

My companions seemed to throw everything at him. He tossed off their blows and spells like they were flies. They were doing a good job holding their own against him. Shadowheart had some kind of healing aura cast, constantly working as Durge took swipes at them with his short sword and spells. He was vicious and fast, laughing maniacally as he went. 

Astarion's invisibility held as he got in the first strikes against Durge. Two undercuts to the backs of the knees. Blood burst out and he teetered, but kept standing. It was terrifying and impressive.

So far, he hadn't noticed me by the main door, waiting out the fight. I wanted to get a shot in, but I was also scared of killing him. Withers had mentioned not bringing us back if we managed to do that. I wondered if my companions were trying to hurt him without killing him while he was lost to his madness. 

He stepped forward, pushing a charging Lae'zel to the ground. His eyes finally snapped to mine like I had manifested it. 

Shit. I fumbled for my gun on my leg as he took large steps toward me. 

"Father, are you watching? I paint your altar in blood and build your temple in bones."

My gun was still in my holster when he reached me, arms up like he intended to claw me. I jumped, my arms wrapping around his neck, my bare hands gripping two of his horns behind his head. I plastered my face against the side of his, the only other skin I had to offer, and I prayed. I prayed my unmagic did it's magic and calmed the beast.

 Everything went quiet. All I could hear was the panting of my companions around us. I felt his arms wrap tightly around my waist as he fell to his bloody knees.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," he cried over and over.

I don't know how I knew it, but he wasn't speaking Common, but English. He was apologizing just to me. I moved my arms to fully wrap around his neck and shoulders, pulling him in closer. I didn't dare take my face from his. 

Whatever haunted him was a terrible curse. A possession of his own body. If he was apologizing, he knew what was happening and had next to no power to stop it. I felt wet tears on the side of face, dripping down my neck. Tears from Durge. Tears of a dragonborn. 

"It's okay, I forgive you," I whispered back. Something inside of me broke open with the words. 

I had been hurt by another, attacked and beaten, emotionally and verbally by someone who didn't understand what they were doing or why. I had loved him deeply despite it all. But, I don't think I ever truly forgave Brian. Even when he died, I had been waiting for the other 'shoe to drop'. 

But saying these words to the one who had been lost to his own impulses, I felt like I released not only forgiveness to Durge, but some to Brian. Who, much like Durge, would get anger in his eyes at the most random times. No trigger warning in sight. Just chaos and violence, incapable of being able to stop it until it had run its course. Only if my touch had the same effect on Brian as it had on Durge.

A hand tapped my shoulder and I looked up at Lae'zel, who helped me back to standing. 

"Time to talk," Gale said to Durge. 

"I already told you. I have violent urges and when they aren't satisfied, well, they get satisfied."

"And Abbi just... Turned it off?" Karlach asked.

Durge nodded. "Her touch turns it off."

"Which means the urges are likely magical in nature. We need to see if Halsin can help you find a resource to help salve whatever magic is possessing you, so we don't end up killing you instead," Gale added. 

"Or I kill one of you. Withers said he won't resurrect us," Durge replied.

Gale helped the dragonborn to his feet. Shadowheart paused and said a few word I couldn't understand, then blue burst out from all of my companions. 

"There a Healing short rest should do the trick. I only have the ability to cast one more, so don't waste this."

I, of course, was not a recipient of said healing spell. But, I turned to see her hand me a Healing potion. "I didn't forget you," she grinned softly as I took it from her, tossing it back.

I didn't really need it, but it felt nice when it took effect. I looked around at the haphazard group. Astarion was still invisibly wrapped in his red aura. That was good news.

"Okay, team, we need to reconvene and make a plan for the next two because that was... A lot," I said. 

Everyone gathered in closer and we made some new plans for Minthara and Dror. First being, we were splitting up. The next two needed a more... Personal touch. 

[To be continued...]

DOUBLE HEADER WHAT?!?! You're welcome.

[missnellcollins]

Hey! I'm not sure of ur request policies (my bad), so if you're not comfortable, I understand fully. Could u do a Indiana Jones x reader where they are in the middle of an adventure in the peak of danger and they are being separated somehow and she tells him she's pregnant and it's just very angst but then a happy ending? Love your work, thank you!

ofc! i lowkey struggled with this, i couldn’t figure out how i wanted to write it, but i hope you like it! if not, i will totally rewrite!

pregnant

indiana jones x reader

“behind you!” 

“what?”

“watch your back!” you exclaimed, lifting your gun, pulling the trigger as indiana ducked down. the man after him collapsed immediately, his body falling off of the top of the train. 

panic set in as you caught sight of more people running across the train top towards you and indiana.

you glanced at your husband, noticing just how worried he was too. “what’re we gonna do?” you asked, raising your voice in order to be heard over the loud wind.

he remained silent, as though deep in thought.  

then a smile spread across his lips.

“what?” you asked, your concern growing quickly as they began to close in. indiana then took your hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “we’re gonna jump.”

you stared at him as though he was insane, and you made sure to voice your thoughts, “are you fucking insane?” you exclaimed. “maybe a little bit, but it’s the only plan i’ve got.” 

it was the only option of escape. but you could not jump off of this train. 

“i-i can’t.” you whispered. now it was his turn to stare at you as though you were insane, “what? you’ve done much more complicated jumps then this!”

“well i can’t now!” 

“i don’t see much of a choice, doll!” his voice was rough, urgent. “indiana, i can’t!” 

“and why the hell not?!”

“i’m pregnant!” 

somehow time seemed to slow. you watched as the man registered your words, his expression morphing rapidly. first confusion, then a different version of confusion, before his eyes widened, “you’re what!” 

“you heard me!” you exclaimed. the people were now gaining on you. it was now or never. “go!” 

he shook his head rapidly, “and leave you and our unborn child-hell no.” 

— — — —

“so. pregnant, huh?” 

you refrained from rolling your eyes. this was the absolute last thing you wished to discuss while tied up back to back in a dark room. 

“indy-“

“why didn’t you say anything?” because you were afraid, no, terrified of how he’d react. children were never in the cards considering his profession. 

this was completely unexpected. 

“i couldn’t figure out how.” you replied softly. 

“how far are you?” 

“eight weeks.” 

indiana remained silent, which somewhat concerned you. 

“it all makes so much sense now.” he said. you furrowed your brows, “what?” you felt him shift slightly, “a little over eight weeks ago, i got back from asia.. and we-“

“yeah, hate to break it to you, indiana but your pull out game sucks.” 

the man couldn’t help but laugh. funny how such a joke could make a strange situation into one somewhat enjoyable.

you felt indiana’s fingertips brush against your hand. it was difficult to have any contact when tied back to back. you found comfort in his touch, despite how mild it was.

“let me tell you something right now.” 

“okay.”

“i promise, we’re gonna get out of here. and once we do, i’m taking a break. you and this baby are all i care about now.”

you smiled, although he was unable to see it, “and what of your endeavors?” 

“i’ll put ‘em on hold.” 

“you’d do that for me? for us?”

what he said next melted you, “sweetheart, i’d do anything for you.” 

[treacheryinblue]

Chapter 1/?

Word Count: 8.5k

Masterlist

A Noah Sebastian x OC x Nicholas Ruffilo Series

× Summary: In the not so distant future, there's only Above and Below ― a "castle" that reaches the sky and the gritty underbelly that's looked down upon ( both literally and metaphorically ). The guys are recruited to carry out the task of taking down this power with the assistance of Scarlett: a confident and seductive, yet mysterious, force that may be closer to the enemy than what she lets on. Themes: dystopian, cyberpunk, post-apocalyptic, etc.

× Warnings!: Things get smutty. Language. Death - both spoken of and written. Violence. Anti-government. Broody Noah. Precious baby angel Nicholas. A girl who can't choose. Drinking, drugs, etc. Unreliable narrator? Each chapter will have its own set of separate warnings if there's anything additional.

× Author Notes: ( 1 ) Just going to be honest straight up ― if you don't like world building, then you may not like this. ⍨ ( 2 ) This chapter is more Nick centered because he deserves some recognition on my page. ( 3 ) Feedback of any kind is welcomed. Happy reading! ❤

Known affectionately as Lost Angeles, the last true and vast surviving city. 

Made up of Heaven and Hell, most commonly referred to as Above and Below. 

Why? Because, well, the latter was quite a ways down from the glimmering mega tower that you either hated with a passion, or desperately wanted to become a part of. 

Although, anyone with at least two working brain cells could see that Heaven was a cruel and sadistic facade ran by a dictator by the name of Silver. Its main purpose being to inflict fear upon those belonging to Below; a way to control them, a warning they were always forced to see no matter where they stood within the decaying city. 

This is why Noah chose to conduct the majority of his doings even further down, right in the underground of Below. 

“You want us to what?” 

A fit of laughter erupted from him, the three men standing a bit further back following suit with amusement of their own. 

“You've got to be fucking joking.” 

The older man’s face reddened with anger, his pudgy fingers rapping against the table top that separated him from them. This man in reference was Ulrik, a well known con man and loan shark that had a way of getting things done. Did you have a messy job you needed performed to completion? Ulrik was your guy, but always for a hefty price. 

This is how Noah knew he had to be truly desperate if he was outsourcing his jobs now. Or maybe he just needed to find someone stupid enough to agree to the suicide mission. 

“I was being nice by asking. Did you forget that you owe me a favor?” 

A heavy sigh was then expelled, his gloved hand lifting to rub his chin from over the black ski mask that covered the entirety of his head. It's the same mask the other guys wore as well, the one thing keeping their identities secret. 

It wasn't an odd thing to see. People of Below were known to wear masks - some more simple, others terribly intricate - solely because it kept them safe from the debris and dust that was constantly floating through the air. Wearing them inside was a little less popular. 

“I'll even make it easier for you,” Ulrik continued with a toothy grin that was riddled with bits of gold. “There's a girl-”

“A girl?” Noah repeated, brows raised beneath the mask. 

“Yes, a girl. She can help you get in and out of the Tower. She's smart. Does work for me sometimes.” 

Another laugh was pulled from him, followed by a roll of his eyes. Noah leaned back casually in his chair, though his hands remained clasped atop the table. He was staring the man down, silently daring him to feed him bullshit one more time. 

“Cut the shit, ‘Rik. Everyone knows you don't just enter the Tower and then live to tell the tale when you don't belong there. People go up, but they never come down.” 

Ulrik’s grin lingered, becoming more and more smug by the second. 

“Ah, you see, that's where you're wrong. She has gone both up and down.” 

× × ×

Seven wasn’t exactly where he was expecting to end up that night. He stared up at the neon-lit business front, flashing signs indicating the purchase of companionship, while others promised music and dancing. He had passed by the building many times, but never stepped foot inside. Tales of the happenings inside ran rampant, though. From what he gathered, it wasn't a place for the faint of heart.

“I can't believe you agreed to this shit.” 

Noah glanced over to Nicholas as he took a deep drag of his cigarette before tossing it to the ground. The motion was followed with a shrug, his expression remaining blank. 

“I agreed to us talking to the girl. I never agreed to us taking the job.” 

“When it comes to Ulrik, you may as well have signed our lives away.” 

That could've possibly been true, but Noah was going to give the man the benefit of the doubt. Maybe nothing would come of this visit. Maybe he would let them turn the job down. Maybe they'd laugh it off together. Or maybe all of them would end up with their tongues cut out. 

Noah didn't say anything else before taking long strides up to the building, Nick trailing begrudgingly behind him. Despite the masks still covering their faces, the rather large and buff man at the door nodded them in. If they looked like buyers, then there was no issue. 

…now he wasn't so sure what that said about them. 

Inside of Seven was dark, the only source of light coming from the red and blue LEDs sporadically placed around. It was cleaner than he was expecting, but there was still a sharp scent in the air that led him to believe strong cleaning products were used on the regular. Noah didn't want to think about what they could possibly be cleaning in depth so often. 

“Hey there, handsome.” A woman cooed almost as soon as they walked into the main area, her hand grazing along his chest as she sauntered by. She didn't pause to entice them in, though. Probably because she could sense their lack of engagement due to his skill of avoiding eye contact, and basically acting like she wasn't there to begin with. 

Stepping deeper in, Noah was on high alert. He looked to every corner, studied every face, and noted every exit that could be seen. Never know when you'd have to make a quick getaway. 

The music playing throughout had a deep bass to it; one of those dark wave tracks that was supposed to sound sexy, but it only bored him. Dolled up women were seen with every sweep of his gaze, as well as desperate men looking for someone to force their fantasies on. A few of the women were encased in large metal cages, their bodies moving rhythmically to the songs playing. 

Yeah, this place definitely screamed ‘Below’. It was gritty and filthy - in the kinky sort of way. Depraved was possibly a better word for it. 

“Hey,” Noah called out to a man who stood to the side with his hands clasped in front of him. He was obviously security, so hopefully that meant he could point them in the right direction. 

“We’re looking for a girl that goes by Scarlett. You know where we can find her?” 

Macho security man took one look at them and shook his head. 

“Ah, come on!” Noah grinned beneath the mask with his attempt at being inviting. “A friend of mine said she was the best. I just want to try her out for myself.” 

Fuck - how badly he wanted to gag and cringe at his own words. 

“If you don't know which girl she is, then she isn't the girl for you. Now fuck off.” 

Noah figured it was best to not argue with security, so he took a few steps back and then turned to Nick. “The hospitality here is something to be desired.” 

“Why don't we just take a look around? Maybe one of the other girls will point her out.” 

Just as Noah was about to agree, a sweet voice cut through the atrocious music that was still thumping ridiculously loud through the club. 

“Did you say Scarlett?” 

Both him and Nick simultaneously turned towards the voice, only to see that it belonged to a girl in one of the cages. Her manicured fingers gripped the bars as she kneeled down to their level, eyes bouncing back and forth between them both. 

“You know her?” 

The girl's fair shoulders gave a shrug, though she smiled when she briefly locked her gaze with his. 

“Everyone knows Scarlett.” 

The girl was running a hand up and down along one of the bars that separated them. Noah assumed this was a way to entice the desperate men in, leading them to think of her hand wrapped around their unsavory dicks and not the metal. 

“Hi, pretty eyes.” Her focus was now on Nick, which didn't surprise him. Even with the masks, he was sure Nick appeared nicer than he did. Someone that would be easier to talk to. Easier to butter up. 

Leaning in closer to the bars, her hands spread across to widen her grip, showcasing her cleavage that was popping out from the skimpy top she wore. Noah knew the games, and he knew Nick did too, but that wasn't going to stop his friend from falling for it. Hard. 

“What will it take for you to introduce us to her?” 

The girl smirked, her teeth sinking into her lower lip as she thought. 

“Buy a private room for an hour. Ask specifically for number thirteen.” She tore her gaze from Nick to look over to him, obviously showing no shame in the way her eyes raked up and down his tall stature. “I'll make sure she's there.” 

With that, she stood up to her full height and made a motion to the side which prompted someone to unlock the cage. 

“Go on,” she smiled at them before she could exit, shooing them away to a cashier. 

“Ulrik better fucking reimburse us for this.” Noah grumbled while already beginning to pull the cash from his pockets. 

× × ×

Room thirteen was on the second floor and sat at the very end of the hall. He assumed this was the most private of all the rooms, merely from the location alone. While making their way to it with the key clutched in his grasp, he could hear all the unpleasant things happening beyond the other doors they passed. Most sounded like noises of enjoyment but there were some that reminded him of pure torture. Those were the ones he didn't want to think too hard about. They had a task at hand, and worrying about what 'paying customers’ did was not it. 

As they entered the room, all outside noises suddenly stopped upon closing the door. That sure was interesting. He shook his head, cautious steps then being taken further into the room. It was reminiscent of a hotel room, but not as luxurious. There was a bed, a dresser, and a darkened doorway which he assumed led to a bathroom. 

“This is fucked,” he murmured with a glance to Nick who had just plopped down into a chair that sat in the corner. 

“Do we know anyone that comes to these sorts of places?” 

Noah chuckled, his head ducking a bit in an attempt to see if he could inspect behind the mirror attached to the dresser. It was easy to assume that they were being watched and listened to. 

“I doubt it, unless you mean know like how we know Ulrik. My guess is he's a big spender here.” 

A gloved hand ran along the seam of the mirror pressed to the wall, looking it up and down suspiciously. Did each room have a camera? Or just some perverted guy sitting behind a two way mirror monitoring their doings? Either way, he fucking hated the feeling of being watched. 

“What are you doing?” 

Well, that voice surely didn't belong to Nick. 

His eyes flickered up to the door of the room that was being closed, the same girl from the cage standing in the entryway. 

“There's a reason why I told you guys to request this room. No cameras. No mics.” 

There was something different about the girl now - other than the fact that she had covered herself in a black silk robe that hit the top of her thighs. Was it that her voice wasn't as sweet? Her eyes a little more piercing? Or had she just completely dropped the act now that they were behind closed doors? 

“Where's Scarlett?” Noah ignored her initial question, instead choosing to respond with one of his own. He didn't have the time or patience to play this game. 

The girl arched a brow, her eyes brightening with a hint of amusement. She walked by where he stood, then bent at the waist when she was at the end of the dresser. From the bottom drawer she produced an unlabeled bottle, as well as three glasses which she placed atop the dresser. 

“I think she is Scarlett…” Nick spoke up, still seated. 

With a widening grin, the girl put her fingertip to her nose and looked back to Nick from over her shoulder, the same finger shifting to point his way. “Good job, pretty eyes. I'm glad at least one of you can put a two-piece puzzle together.” 

A glass of amber liquid was extended to him, which he had no choice but to take upon her forcing it to his chest. He noted that she was much more gentle when offering an identical drink to Nick, the other being kept for herself.

“Before anything else is said, I'm going to need you guys to take the masks off.” 

Noah immediately shook his head. “That's not happening.”

An intense look was sent his way from Scarlett. Her hand was on her hip, heel-clad feet carrying her closer to him. 

“Either you take off the masks or we're done here.”

SCARLETT

“Well?” Her brows quirked as she stepped around the tall one, slow motions being taken closer to the one with the clear blue-grey eyes. She was already more fond of him. 

“Just do it,” he exhaled, quickly pulling his mask off as if he was ripping a band-aid free in one swift motion. 

Mumbles of aggravation came from the tall one, but she knew he had done the same based on the sounds of shuffling around and the way his mask was then tossed to the edge of the bed. When she glanced back to him, he was working his fingers through his hair, but that wasn't what caught her attention 

“Hold on…you guys are Entertainers?” Scarlett’s eyes went wide with excitement, her sights going back and forth between the two of them again. The guys said nothing, though they shared a silent look with each other that had her interest piqued. 

“Ulrik failed to mention that when he told me I'd have visitors.” 

“That's because Ulrik doesn't know. That's also how it's going to stay, got it?” 

Entertainers were some of the most important people, both Above and Below. They had a way of controlling the masses and getting messages out, especially these specific Entertainers she was currently in the company of. If anyone was to know they were in cahoots with someone of the likes of Ulrik, they would probably disappear in a snap. 

“Are you always so feisty?” Scarlett shook her head as she brought her drink to her lips. 

“Since you recognize us, does that mean you've seen our shows?” 

Nodding, she reached over to lightly drag her fingertip along the seated one’s jaw. His bright eyes lifted to meet with hers and she instantly graced him with a sweet smile. 

“A few times, actually. Let's just say…I'm all about your scene.” 

The scene she spoke of being one that was kept hush hush, all because of their leadership in the powers that wanted to overthrow Above. Not everyone was privy to this information, though. To be a part of it meant sure death. 

“Listen, Scarlett, that's not why we're here. Ulrik told us to come talk to you, see what you could do to help us with this job he has, so we can decide if we're going to take it or not.”

“Oh, honey, if you're here talking to me then you've already taken the job.” 

Although she was addressing the tall one on the opposite side of the room, her sights remained set on this sweeter one she had taken much more of a liking to. 

“Do you think you just happened to run into me by chance downstairs? No. I knew you were coming, that's why I was on the floor to begin with. Just waiting for the guys with an ‘air of arrogance' to arrive.” 

Scarlett looked back to the tall guy, her eyes drinking him in again. She was well aware of the perplexed expression he wore as he studied her, obviously trying to figure her out. Jokes on him, because he would never be able to. 

“You two have names?” 

“Nicholas,” her favorite almost immediately revealed. “Nick.”

“Fucking seriously?” The unknown guy hissed, now looking at him in disbelief. “You're just going to drop your name like that all because you're hypnotized by her tits?” 

Scarlett rolled her eyes in annoyance. 

“My eyes are pretty nice too, but don't get your panties in a twist. You need something from me, correct? So, how can you trust me with that if you don't even trust me with your name?” 

This got him to shut up for a second because he knew she was right. Something told her that he didn't like being the one who wasn't. His arrogant demeanor wasn't exactly her favorite quality about him, but she was going to let it slide this time. All because of her own curiosities. 

“Noah,” he finally answered after a long pause of silence had settled between them. 

“Can we just cut to the chase? No more of your seductive cage dancer bullshit. We bought the room - you - to talk, not to play little games.” 

Scarlett retracted her touch from Nick, her body language immediately shifting to defensive mode. She was finding it harder and harder to play nice when it came to this Noah jackass. 

“Not that it's any of your business but I'm not a cage dancer and I'm not for sale.” Her eyes narrowed at him in a silent warning, though she still found her way in front of him despite how badly she wanted to drop him on his ass. 

“That know-it-all attitude of yours is going to leave you dead one day. So if I were you, I'd compose myself a little more, especially when you're asking someone for help.” 

She could tell that he wanted to say something else, but she continued before he could. 

“Sit down and shut up. I don't want to hear another peep from you until I say. I'll be directing my attention and questions to Nick.” 

Scarlett motioned to him, her smile returning as she did. She was going to show Noah that you could catch more flies with honey than vinegar, so maybe he could learn a lesson or two to take home with him to resonate on. 

“Now, Nicky, why don't you tell me about this job Ulrik has so kindly signed you up for?” She sat on the edge of the bed closest to the chair he remained perched in. Her back was straight, one leg crossed over the other, and her focus was now solely on him. 

Nick took in a deep breath before tilting his head back to down what remained of the liquor in his glass. He grimaced slightly, just enough to bring a genuine smile to her lips at the sight. 

“He wants us to break into the Tower.”

Scarlett slowly nodded since she had already gathered as much. “Is…that it?”

“No…” Nick shook his head. “Once in the Tower, he wants us to cut the power to it permanently and then kill Silver.”

It felt as if someone had punched her right in the gut, that's how strong the shock was when she heard his words. Had Ulrik lost his goddamn mind? 

“He wants you to kill Silver? President Silver? The man who runs Silver Life Industries, also known as the company that provides every-fucking-thing we lay our eyes on?” 

The destruction included. 

Nick could only nod and when she glanced back at Noah, he had his elbows propped up on his knees with the heels of his hands digging into his eyes. It was obvious that they knew how ridiculous it sounded. Not to mention how dangerous it was. Hell, this was the only room in Seven not bugged and even she started feeling nervous that someone could hear them. 

“Well…shit.” 

“Can you help us or not?” 

Scarlett wanted to scold Noah for speaking before she allowed him to, but with the situation that was just dropped into her lap, she no longer cared about his manners. 

“I mean…yeah, I can get you guys into the Tower, but you have to survive to actually make it out too.” 

“Perfect. All we needed to know.” Noah dropped his hands to his knees in a slap then stood from the opposite corner of the bed he had claimed. The mask was tugged back over his face and adjusted properly, thus signaling to Nick that it was time for them to go. 

“How do we get in touch with you?” Nick questioned after mimicking Noah's motions, both of their identities now concealed. 

Scarlett smiled before opening the door, a rush of mixed noises immediately assaulting their ears.  

“I'll find you.” 

× × ×

And find them she did, although nearly a week later. 

It definitely wasn't her fastest work, but a lot had been on her mind since their little meeting at Seven. Not to mention the guys had done a pretty good job at not leaving much of a trace of themselves in the outside world. Unless you knew the right people to talk to, which she did. 

Scarlett had been a little nervous when taking the rickety elevator down to the lower level of the apartment building they resided in. It's where she had been told they spent most of their time because it was secluded and away from the prying eyes and ears of those watching from Above. 

Thinking back on it now, maybe she should've announced herself before waltzing into their glorified man cave. This thought came to her as she stepped off the death trap of an elevator, only to immediately feel the cool barrel of a gun pressed to the back of her head. 

“Who the fuck are you?” 

When she didn't answer right away, the gun was cocked as a final warning. The sound alone sent a chill down her spine, but she still released a huff as if annoyed by the hold up. 

“Are all of you this paranoid?” 

The gun was nudged against her head, his prior question silently being asked again. 

“Scarlett,” she then answered, though the gun remained firm in place. 

“Don't know a Scarlett.”

“And I don't know why I'm being held at gunpoint, yet here we are. Both of us confused.” 

“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Jolly! Gun down!” 

There was a rush from behind her and then the loaded weapon was no longer pressed to her head, but instead decocked and set aside based on what sounds she could pick up. 

Bickering began to unfold, something about them explaining to him who she was a few days ago, him claiming he didn't remember, then a few soothing phrases and words were exchanged to calm the trigger happy man down. 

Scarlett glanced back during the altercation, seeing that it was Nick lightly touching the guy's shoulder as another unknown male stood a bit off to the side. Noah was nowhere to be seen but that was okay. She was only popping by to show her face and obviously let it be known that they weren't super hard to track down. 

“I'll send a carrier pigeon next time telling you guys I'm stopping by,” she joked once Nick was making his way over to her. “Maybe avoid a bloodbath.” 

“I would say ‘sorry’ for him…but you are the one intruding. How the hell did you get past the locks, by the way?” 

For a moment she was confused by his question, but then remembered the coded pin pads she had easily bypassed to even open the elevator doors. “Oh,” she waved the confusion off, laughing. “It wasn't exactly the hardest of programs to crack. You guys should probably get someone better to handle that for you.” 

Nick squinted at her, his smile wavering. “I set those locks…”

Damn. She couldn't remember the last time she had truly been embarrassed, but this was definitely going to remain fresh in her mind for a while. 

“Right…well…I'll have to give you some pointers.” 

“What are you doing here?” 

Scarlett smiled at his sudden change of topic. She found herself taking a slight step closer to him, pleased to be able to clearly see his eyes without dim or harsh lights drowning out the color. 

“Not happy to see me, Nicky?” 

Nick took in a deep breath, those eyes of his trailing her up and down unabashedly. “No…no…seeing you has definitely been a highlight…” 

Grinning, she reached out to lightly touch his cheek, just before her eyes shifted to the guys lingering not far back. 

“Are you going to introduce me?” 

“Shit, right.” Nick cleared his throat, his body turning so he could carry himself closer to his friends. While Scarlett did recognize them from the shows she had attended, it was still best that he initiated the exchange of their names. 

Did she already know them? Maybe. 

“Scarlett, this is Jolly, and I promise he isn't as quick to pull the trigger as you may think.”

“Clearly, since I'm still alive,” she taunted. 

“And this strapping young man is also Nick, but we call him Folio. So, yeah…this is Scarlett, the girl Ulrik told us about.” 

Jolly scoffed as he examined her with what appeared to be great frustration. 

“This little sparkle fairy is supposed to be the one helping us? My foot is bigger than her!” 

“Sparkle fairy?” She repeated with a look of distaste for the term. 

“I'm sure my foot can cause more damage too!” 

Now this caused her eyes to narrow, jaw setting into a firm clench. What is it with men and their need to always underestimate her? Most of the time it didn't bother her too much because it typically worked out in her favor when they did, but sometimes - like now - it truly pissed her off. Here she was, offering her services and also her time, and it was unappreciated. 

“Do you want to test that theory out? I have no issues with shattering every bone in your foot with my own goddamn heels.” 

Jolly appeared taken back for a moment, but a smile then pulled at his lips and he was wagging his finger in her direction. “Never mind. I like her.” 

“Same…but she's a little scary…” Folio murmured under his breath as he and Jolly led the group to a sitting area. 

“Just some knowledge to place upon you,” Nick called out to Folio while dropping his hand to his shoulder. “All women are scary.”

This made her smile, another slight laugh leaving her. “I always knew you were the smart one.” 

A few more steps and they were within an area that held mismatched chairs, rugs, and other random decor pieces. It was obvious that the guys grabbed whatever they could that was still in decent condition, and she didn't blame them. Sometimes it was the simple things that were hard to come by nowadays. 

“No Noah?” She questioned as she dropped her bag onto one of the random chairs, this one being a deep green color. 

“He said he was going down to the corner store but that was…” Nick glanced at the others, “maybe about an hour ago.” 

“Well, I guess it's a good thing this was more a social call than actual planning. Pretty much just needed to see what - and who - I'd be working with.” Her eyes drifted between all three of them, lips pursed as she sized them up. Scarlett had a knack for reading people. Very rarely was she incorrect in her assumptions. 

The point of her nail angled towards Jolly, slowly nodding. “I'm guessing you're the muscle, yeah? Good with weapons, intimidating, a pretty decent shot.” 

Scarlett didn't give them a chance to respond before she was moving on to the next. Her focus fell to Nick, immediately giving him a sweet smile as she had done consistently now. 

“The kind of guy that knows his way around tech…probably the smartest one in the room but doesn't like to show it…voice of reason.” 

Their eyes remained locked for a long moment, though she looked away first before anyone could question it. The reddening of his cheeks didn't go unnoticed by her, though. 

“And Folio…the wild card. Every good group has one. Never know what you're gonna do next, but it somehow always works out to be helpful.” 

“Damn…are you psychic?” Folio asked, his eyes wide with awe for her little party trick. 

Before she could reply, a different voice cut through. 

“Guess that makes me the asshole leader.” Noah strolled in and paused a few feet from her. He crossed his arms over his chest, letting her know that he was trying his best to make himself look bigger. An intimidation technique, obviously. 

“Arrogant, bossy, doesn't know when to quit…”

“The one who ends up getting someone killed.” Scarlett quickly snapped, her head whipping around to show him just how serious her expression was. “Not yourself, though. No, you're the one who gets to live with the guilt of his pretentious, pompous attitude being the reason a friend doesn't make it out alive.” 

NICHOLAS

The room grew so quiet that he was convinced you could hear a pin drop. He was looking at Noah, at Scarlett, and then back to Noah, studying the way they now glared at one another. His best friend appeared as if he wanted to explode (verbally? physically? both?), but he was doing the best he could at holding onto his composure. 

Flexing his shoulders backwards, Noah gave a single nod. Seconds later, he was disappearing to the other side of the room where he could slip through a typically concealed doorway that led to their makeshift studio area. 

“I'll draw up a plan and see you guys in a couple of days, yeah?” 

Scarlett was smiling again as if nothing had happened but he could pick up on the slight waver in her voice. That had him curious. 

Unfortunately, she was gathering her belongings and strutting away before he could even stand from his seat. 

“Hey, Sca-” Nick rushed to his feet to try to stop her, but she was gone. The sound of the elevator doors closing rang in his ears - a reminder that they really needed to fix that. 

“Shit, she's brutal.” Jolly shook his head. “I still like her, though.” 

Nick heavily exhaled while turning on his heel, now heading back the other way to where Noah had slid away. He found him sitting at the old, out of tune piano, lightly pressing random keys as if just testing the sound. 

“Maybe I should just do this alone.”

That was the last thing Nick had been expecting to hear. 

“Absolutely not.” 

“No, Nick, she's right. I should've told Ulrik to 'fuck off’. It's my fault we’re in this, and I'm not going to let anyone else die because of me.” 

Nick could sense how heavy those words were for him to say. He could hear it. He could feel it. They were all still mourning in their own way, though Noah’s preferences were a little more on the self destructive side. 

“You've completely lost it if you think any of us are going to let you do this alone.” 

Despite his statement being true, he couldn't bring himself to tell Noah that he was wrong for experiencing guilt and blame that he placed on himself. Things had happened in the past because of him. Nick figured it was best to not outright say this, though. 

“Fuck!” Noah abruptly growled, his hands slamming down on the piano keys with such force that a couple remained permanently sunken in. 

“Why do you always have to be so fucking understanding and loyal? Why can't you for once just tell me I'm a piece of shit? Huh, Nick?”

How the hell had this suddenly become an attack on him? 

“I know you're thinking it. Jolly and Folio obviously are too. Shit, even your girlfriend read me like a fucking children's picture book.” 

“What? Scarlett isn't my-”

“Obviously, Nick. A girl like her?” Noah snorted a laugh. “She would rip you to pieces.” 

Nick stared at the back of his best friend’s head, since he had refused to turn around since their conversation began. There was a lot he wanted to say, but he swallowed every harsh word because he knew Noah would regret this by the next day. That's just how things went with them nowadays. 

“Y’know, maybe Scarlett was right about some things. Your attitude will be your downfall.” 

× × ×

The last thing he wanted right then was for Noah to be right. He refused to let that fucker wear a smug smile while muttering 'I told ya so’ to him. Why was he so quick to assume Scarlett would get the better of him? All because he was nice? Because he knew how to smile? Because he didn't need to be a broody asshole day after day? 

Nick wouldn't let himself believe that. 

Taking in a deep breath, he shook his hands out to rid the nerves, then he pressed the faintly glowing blue button on the outside of the door. There was nothing for a long moment, so long that he almost walked away, but as he was considering it, the door creaked open slowly. 

“Nick? What…how did you find me?”

Not even seeing Scarlett’s face right then could calm him. Although, the fact that she recognized him within less than a second while he was wearing his mask did make his heart swell a bit. 

“It took you how long to find where we were?” He cracked a slight smile. “Just had to show you how it's done.” 

Even through her confused expression, he could see a smile threatening to appear and overtake her stoic demeanor. Nick was praying that meant she was at least a little happy to see him - invited or not. 

He watched as she contemplated silently to herself before finally taking steps back and widening the entryway for him. 

“Wait…don't go any further.” After closing and securing the door with multiple locks, Scarlett’s form rushed by him so she could begin pulling the curtains closed around the living room. The area darkened significantly, though he understood why she was being cautious. 

“I'd rather not become Above’s nightly entertainment,” she explained once she was turning to face him, her arms loosely crossed over her chest in what he could assume was another one of her infamous defensive stances. 

SCARLETT

Why was her heart racing right then? 

Why was Nick in her home? 

Why was he looking at her like that?

Before she could verbalize any of these questions, he was tugging the black mask off his head and shaking his fingers through his hair. 

“You shouldn't be here…” she softly murmured, the nerves setting in. “It's not safe for either of us.” 

Scarlett desperately wanted to tell herself to ‘shut the hell up’ because having him there actually felt nice. Her apartment wasn't so lonely for once. It was going to be a fleeting feeling and she knew this, but what was so wrong with enjoying it while she could? 

Oh, right, the high risk of death. 

Nick nodded in agreement, but instead of turning and leaving like she was expecting him to, he actually took fast steps over to her. His rough hands grabbed her face within them and he leaned down as far as he needed to, to force his lips hard against hers. 

The shock of the kiss nearly knocked the breath out of her, but she was able to recover almost instantly before he got the wrong idea from her reaction. It took about the same amount of time for Nick to soften the claim his lips had made on hers. Scarlett wasn't going to let that slide. 

As they engaged in their yet-to-be-broken kiss, her hands ran up along the length of his waist and over his arms where she could briefly grip his wrists. Since he had just come in from outside, he was wearing far too many layers that were used to shield him from the elements. So, she quickly went to work at ridding him of them. 

First, his jacket was pushed from his shoulders, followed by the secondary lighter one he wore beneath it. Nick graciously helped her, eagerly tugging at the sleeves and tossing each article of clothing aside. She couldn't help but to smile against his lips since she found his excitement to be cute. 

Scarlett released a slight sound of surprise as he gripped beneath her thighs and lifted her up into his arms, forcing her back into the wall. Her legs secured around his waist, pressing herself right against where she could feel the growing bulge in his dark jeans. 

“Someone's excited…” she taunted, her breathing heavy after parting from the kiss. Nick’s lips were flushed red, pupils dilated as he stared directly at her. Her thumb swiped along his lower lip, gently soothing the tier from where her teeth had sunken in at some point. She swore she saw his eyes darken just before his lips were crashing to hers again. 

Scarlett moaned, her fingers working back into his hair, nails scratching at his scalp. He must've liked this, because next thing she knew he was pressing himself firm between her thighs, grinding against her aching core. The sensation caused her to shiver, legs then tightening around him in an attempt to bring him in closer. Nick’s grip on her thighs embedded deeper and now it was his turn to break from her lips, just so he could begin trailing hot kisses along her neck and the front of her chest. 

“Nicky…” she breathed out to gain his attention. That's all it took for him to detach himself from her skin, his bright eyes lifting to meet with her own. “I should probably tell you that I'm not looking for anything serious.” 

The man she was currently wrapped around was sweet and she knew he had a good head on his shoulders, anyone would be lucky to have him, but these days…it wasn't that simple anymore. 

His eye searched hers as he carefully lowered her back down to her feet, though he didn't move away from her. Actually, he pressed his body flush against hers, trapping her between himself and the wall. Scarlett smirked, her hands slipping beneath the shirt he wore so she could feel the heat of his bare skin. 

“I know,” he nodded while his hand smoothed along her jaw and to the back of her neck. “That's fine.” 

To her, that was a green light to continue. 

Scarlett pressed up onto her tip toes so she could kiss him again, just before she placed her hands flat against his chest and pushed him back. Grabbing his shoulders, she guided him to the couch and forced him down into a seated position. Nick’s hands instantly attached to her hips as he gazed up at her with a smile, though his obvious desire for her was still present in his eyes. 

Grasping his shirt, she pulled it off in a swift motion and tossed it back to be tended to later. Despite his hands eagerly beginning to lift the dress she wore, Scarlett sent a look his way that caused him to immediately stop, though his touch didn't leave her body. 

“You listen well,” she taunted. “I like that.” With a lingering smirk, she gently nudged his hands away so she could slip her own beneath her dress, her panties being pulled down for her to step out of. 

Nick watched her for a moment, but then began fumbling with the belt he wore, followed by the button and zipper of his jeans. He really was just so fucking cute. Most people she had been with in the past always tried to play it way too cool, making it appear as if they really didn't give a shit about what was happening. But Nick? Well, he clearly had no issue with showing his excitement. 

Stepping back to him, her hands slowly ran up the expanse of his thighs. Nick took in a sharp inhale as she grazed the obvious bulge that was straining in his jeans, the reaction causing her to arch a brow. 

“Sensitive?” Her smirk widened when he cursed under his breath but ultimately nodded in response. 

Scarlett gently pressed the heel of her hand into him before her fingers began to massage his lengthening hard on over the fabric. Her eyes fixated on his face, joyfully watching the change in his expression as his hips bucked up into her palm and his brows knitted together. 

“If I wasn't so eager to have you, I'd make you cum just like this…” she softly threatened. 

Nick heavily breathed out at this, his frustrations quite apparent. She understood how maddening it could be because she was feeling it as well. The only difference was that she had a bit more composure than he did, though only because she had claimed the dominance between them. At least this time. 

Hiking her dress up, she situated herself on his lap in a straddling position. She was lifted up onto her knees so she could further undress him, now moving faster than she previously had been. Scarlett dragged his jeans and boxers down as far as necessary, allowing his cock to spring free at full attention. 

Then, she was positioning herself over him with the guidance of his hands, but she didn't yet drop herself down. 

“You've been thinking about this since the moment you saw me at Seven, haven't you?” Scarlett hovered right over the swollen head of his cock, only allowing him to feel the heat her cunt radiated. His grip on her hips tightened in anticipation, jaw clenching from how she was dragging this out. 

“I bet you've imagined how wet I'd be for you…how tight…what sort of noises you'd get me to make…”

Closing the space between them by only a few centimeters, she briefly shut her eyes when she felt the tip nudging against her soaked entrance. It took all of her self control to not just fully give in because Nick felt better already than even she had imagined. 

So what if she had spent a night or two cumming around her fingers to the thought of him? 

“Are you going to let me find out?” Nick retorted with a smirk of his own, his hips shifting slightly as he attempted to press up into her. He probably thought he was successful in this, but Scarlett had let it happen, both of them gasping in unison when the head of his cock buried further. 

Leaning in, she began to kiss along his jaw as her hands shifted back to grip the top edge of the couch. She was slowly taking him in now, stroking herself up and down while engulfing his cock inch by inch. 

“Fuck…you feel amazing.” Nick groaned, a twitch of his cock reiterating his words. 

His fingers then flexed along her hips and she was suddenly being forced all the way down, his hips lifting simultaneously. A loud moan echoed through the room, easily drowning out the sound of his own groans. Scarlett bowed her head into the crook of his neck, heavily breathing from the rush of ecstasy that radiated through her. Her cunt tightly clenched around his throbbing shaft as she tried to quickly adjust. 

Nick pushed the thin fabric of her dress up while they remained flush together so he could fully expose her body to him. One hand slid up her abdomen and between her breasts as the other returned to her hip, eagerly trying to guide her hips along. 

It took a moment, but she was finally able to get her bearings and find a proper rhythm. Breathy moans escaped between them once she was sliding up and down his cock with a newly established ease. Each drop of her hips had the tip stroking along just the right spot, causing her to arch her lower back in a desperate need to feel more. 

“Nicky…oh!” She gasped, her mouth falling opening and her hips briefly stuttering atop his. “Yeah, just like that…”

Scarlett nodded when his tattooed hands assisted in lifting her up and down, forcing her harder into his lap with every downward motion. 

Tossing her hair aside, a hand released the back of the couch so she could grab his jaw. Nick’s eyes were forced up to hers where she held his gaze, just so he could see how fucking good he was making her feel. Something about the eye contact must've really done it for him, because his grip shifted back to her ass to keep her up so he could drive himself up into her aching pussy at a rapid pace. The action caused the entirety of her body to tense and her breath to stall, the pleasure nearly too much. 

“I'm going to cum…” Scarlett again nodded. She dropped a hand between her thighs to begin rubbing her clit in fast circles, the act immediately drawing Nick's eye down. Watching him watch her, as well as the sight of his cock disappearing up into her petite body again and again, had her right there. 

Only a couple of more thrusts from him beneath her and her cunt was erupting around him, briefly causing her composure to break. Scarlett had to latch onto his shoulder with her teeth to keep herself from crying out his name too loud - they couldn't draw too much attention. His arms circled around her waist to hold her in close as her entire being trembled and quaked with her orgasm. 

Nails raked down his arms, involuntarily marking him before she even realized she had. Oh well. Maybe Nick liked the slight pain that came from it, though, because his own hips jerked after he demanded her pussy remain with his cock buried as deep as possible. 

“Shhh,” she soothingly hushed him, a hand immediately flying up to cover his mouth to muffle all the moans and profanities he was now expelling. Despite the need to keep quiet, Scarlett whimpered at the sensation of his cum overflowing and spilling out between them, mixing with her own small mess she had made. 

Once his body stilled, she slowly lowered her hand and instead covered his mouth with her own. They shared a desperate kiss, all eager tongues moving in sync with teeth clashing as they both tried to overtake the other. 

“You good?” Nick mumbled the best he could, receiving a nod from her in response. 

“Good.” 

In a swift motion, Nick had her on her back across the couch and he was driving himself between her thighs again. She stared up at him with wide eyes for only a second, utterly shocked by his ability to go again almost immediately, until the over-stimulation of him thrusting into her spent cunt clouded her mind. 

Scarlett suddenly didn't care anymore if her apartment neighbors heard them. Hell, she would rip her curtains down and let Above watch if that's what it took to make sure he didn't stop. 

Propped up on one elbow, his opposite hand began exploring her body. He grasped her neck for a moment, then dropped down to knead and massage her breast that was bouncing with each forceful snap of his hips. Scarlett’s noises spoke to her approval because words were impossible for her to come by right then. The smirk he wore showed his enjoyment in the sounds she made for him. 

Nick concluded his exploration when the pads of his fingers made contact with her swollen and overly sensitive clit. A simple touch made her hips twitch and attempt to retract, despite how good it felt at the same time. This didn't stop Nick, though. He sat up on his knees and pulled her in closer, driving in harder and faster while his thumb stroked her clit in time. 

Scarlett writhed in ecstasy beneath him, hips rolling up to meet with his, before she was suddenly cumming again. Her pussy gushed and quivered through her climax, to the point that she thought maybe she would pass out from the intensity. 

“That's it…you did so good.” Nick cooed, this being a side of him that was taking her completely by surprise. Had he not just been the more submissive between the two? Wasn't she supposed to be the one in control? 

Too bad she couldn't focus on that right now because she was too busy watching his face contort as he released inside of her once more. Nick’s head hung at a downwards angle once his hips stopped spasming, the only movement from him now coming from the rapid rise and fall of his chest. He groaned and his jaw clenched as he slowly pulled out, bringing forth a pout from her due to the lack of being filled. 

Sex had always been something Scarlett could go without for long periods, simply because there were always more pressing matters that needed tending to. Trying to survive was a daily task that took up most of her time, if she was being honest. But now? Well, now she figured she would have to drown herself in this job of theirs so as to not become carried away each and everyday she was around him. 

“We can't tell anyone about this,” she spoke up first after catching her own breath. 

Nick had shifted to the opposite end of the couch to regain normal brain function, his eyes settled on her. She wasn't sure how to read his expression, but he eventually nodded in agreement. 

“I'm serious, Nick. It could jeopardize everything.” 

Taking in a deep breath, Scarlett carefully sat up, her knees being pulled closer to her chest. He was then softly chuckling, head shaking at her comments. 

“You should work on your pillow talk,” he teased. “I mean…my cum is still in you as you're telling me this has to stay a secret.” 

Scarlett rolled her eyes, a decorative pillow soon being tossed his way once she had dislodged it from behind her back. “Shut up,” she demanded with a huff. 

Nick smiled despite being well aware of how serious she was about everything. It wasn't like he was going to go back and gloat to the guys about what they had just done because Scarlett knew he wasn't the type. He may have surprised her a bit towards the end there, but that didn't change what she already knew about him. 

“What about…?” He motioned between the two of them and their still fully exposed bodies. “Was this a one time thing?” 

Now that was a question she didn't have an answer for. She knew what she should say but it definitely wasn't what she wanted to say. 

“Let's just focus on keeping you and the others alive first.” 

[agaypanic]

Okokok bbf!(brothers best friend)Benny Weir x Morgan!male reader where reader is Ethan’s brother/twin (you pick). Reader having a crush on Benny and Ethan trying to prevent them from dating but failing miserably. <3

His Best Friend's Brother (Benny Weir X Male!Morgan!Reader)

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Summary: After finding out his brother has a crush on his best friend, Ethan does whatever he can to keep them separated. But he soon finds out all his efforts are futile.

A/N: I would’ve made that title “Brother’s Best Friend” but apparently I’ve already written a benny fic with that title lmao

***

You don’t know why Ethan’s so surprised right now. You had been playing a little game of truth or dare with Sarah and Rory to pass the time while you all waited for Benny and Erica to come over. Sarah asked if you had a crush on anyone, and you shrugged and said Benny. Sarah and Rory just nodded, commenting about how it made sense, and you continued with the game.

Ethan looked like a fish out of water.

You couldn’t tell if it was because Benny was a boy or Ethan’s best friend. But either way, he shouldn’t have been surprised. You thought he noticed how you always looked at Benny or how you went to him first after taking down a bad guy to make sure he was okay. Or the way you did anything you could to be near Benny without being too weird about it.

“You guys are just gonna brush past that?” Ethan asked your friends in surprise. Sarah and Rory looked at each other, then you, and then Ethan.

“Yeah. Why?” Sarah asked. 

“Why? Why?” Ethan looked like he was about to pull all his hair out. “He likes Benny, my best friend. We’re all in the same friend group; it’s weird.”

“Being in the same friend group hasn’t stopped you from having a crush, E.” You reminded your brother, rolling your eyes. He turned red, looking anywhere in the room but at Sarah. “Are you acting insane because Benny and I are both guys?”

“Of course not!” Ethan looked offended that you would even suggest that. “Y/n, I could care less about that. But he’s my best friend, and you’re my brother. It just feels… Icky.” You couldn’t help but laugh at his choice of wording. Sarah and Rory joined in, and soon all three of you were cackling at your brother’s ridiculousness.

“What are you guys laughing at?” You all jumped at Erica’s sudden presence. Sometimes you hated how sneaky she was.

“Ethan’s throwing a fit because Y/n likes Benny,” Rory answered, earning a slap in the arm from Sarah for exposing your secret the second someone new came into the conversation. But you didn’t really mind. You knew Rory would tell someone eventually, and you probably would’ve told Erica anyway.

“You’d throw a fit, too, if your brother had a crush on your best friend!” Ethan whined.

“Ethan’s right.” Erica nodded, turning to look at you. You all knew there was some kind of joke leading up to this, because there’s no way in hell Erica would actually agree with Ethan. “Y/n, you could totally do better.”

You all laughed at the serious tone in her comment. Even Ethan cracked a smile.

“Okay, ha ha. But I still don’t like it.”

“No one said you had to, Ethan.”

“No one said he had to what?” Your friends had to stop coming into your house unannounced. Benny stood in the living room looking at everyone, holding a few boxes of pizza and a bag that was probably filled with drinks and candy.

“Y/n said that no one said Ethan had to like that- Ow!” Rory was interrupted from spilling truths again by Sarah, who hit him harder than last time. Benny gave the two a strange look but brushed their behavior off.

“Whatever. I got pizza, pop, and sweets to make our teeth rot. What are we watching?” Benny asked as he set everything on the kitchen island. Erica smirked, reaching into her purse to pull out multiple DVDs. Catching sight of the titles, Benny whined, and Sarah squealed. “No, please.”

“Oh, yeah. All three Dusk movies.”

“I’m surprised you don’t have the fourth.” You muttered, standing from your spot on the couch and going to the kitchen to grab plates and food.

“Only because it’s not on DVD yet.” 

You grabbed two slices of pizza from one of the boxes when Benny slid to stand next to you.

“I grabbed you your favorites.” You looked at the stuff he pushed toward you, and indeed, he had gotten you your favorite drink and a couple of your favorite candies.

“Thanks, Bens.” You gathered it all around you before looking up at him. It was crazy to you that he was leaning on the countertop and was still taller than you. “You didn’t have to get me all of this.”

“It’s no problem, really.” He smiled at you, and you wished you could look at him forever. The little twinkle in his eye he had when he looked at you made you giddy.

“Oh, nice, pizza.” You were pushed away from each other by an annoying force, more commonly known as your brother. He stood between the two of you, piling his plate with food. After one last look at Benny, you gathered everything in your arms and went to sit on the couch.

When everyone had gotten their food (you, Ethan, and Benny had food. Sarah, Rory, and Erica had some blood bags, and you didn’t want to know where they got them.), you all settled in the living room, either anticipation or dreading the movie marathon that was about to be put on.

Benny sat next to you on the couch, and you were about to offer him one of your sweets when Ethan stood in front of you two.

“Benny, move over a bit, will you?” Ethan made a waving motion to get him to move away from you. You and Benny looked confused. “You’re in my spot.”

“Since when has this been your spot?” You asked. Ethan started to look flustered, trying to come up with an answer.

“Shut up and sit down!” Erica demanded. “The movie’s starting.”

Knowing it’d be better to listen to Erica than continue fighting with Ethan, Benny scooted over, albeit reluctantly. Ethan sat between the two of you, subtly spreading himself out on the couch so you were further away from Benny. You leaned over to Ethan.

“I know what you’re doing.” You whispered to your brother. “Stop it, baby.”

“I’m not doing anything,” Ethan muttered back, ignoring your glare to focus on the movie.

You suffered through the first movie in silence. Your brother was acting like a child. Anytime Benny tried to make a joke about the movie to you, Ethan got in the way by constantly “assuming” he was talking to him. You understood that he was uncomfortable with the fact that you liked his best friend, but that didn’t mean he got to separate you and get in your way.

Getting up and stretching, you told the others you were going to go change into something more comfortable and went up to your room. Although that was true, you also needed a minute away from your brother to avoid losing your mind on him. You changed into sweatpants and were about to change your shirt when there was a knock on the door.

“Oh please, don’t stop on my account,” Benny smirked when you opened the door and saw you drop and smooth out your shirt. You rolled your eyes and let him in, closing the door behind him.

“I’m surprised Ethan let you up here.” You said, taking your shirt off to pull on a loose hoodie. Benny sat on your bed, staring at you.

“I told him I was going to the bathroom, so I bought myself a few minutes.” He hooked his finger in the waistband of your sweats and pulled you close so you were standing between his legs. You smiled down at him, hands resting on his shoulders.

“Let’s make them worth it then.” You murmured before leaning down to kiss Benny. He held you closer to him, arms wrapping around you.

What your friends didn’t know about you and Benny was that you had been secretly dating for a few weeks. It wasn’t that you were scared to tell your friends; you just didn’t feel the need to. Plus, you had a bit of a feeling Ethan would react weirdly. You two had confessed to each other at a party, and the rest was history.

“We should probably go back down.” You said as you pulled away. Benny groaned in disappointment.

“Just a couple more minutes.”

“I mean it, Benny. Ethan will get suspicious.”

“Fine.” He stood up, still holding you. “One more kiss before we go?” You leaned in, unable to say no to his puppy dog eyes.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Ethan shouted, and the two of you jumped apart, startled. He stared at you in horror.

“What?”

“You were kissing him, Y/n!” Deciding to play dumb, you looked around your room like Benny wasn’t there.

“Kissing who?”

“Don’t play dumb. How long has this been going on?”

You and Benny looked at each other, knowing there was no way to escape Ethan and his questions. 

“Since your Halloween party….” Benny said, looking anywhere but at Ethan.

“What?!”

“What’s going on up here?” Erica appeared behind Ethan, scaring the crap out of all three of you. Sarah and Rory stood behind her, watching the scene.

“I just caught Y/n and Benny making out,” Ethan said. The three vampires stared at you and Benny in silence, trying to formulate a response.

“Y/n, I told you that you could do better!” Erica whined, pushing everyone away to go back downstairs.

“Hey!” Benny shouted in offense.

“How are you guys not freaking out?” Ethan asked, looking at Rory and Sarah. They shrugged.

“Who cares? It’s their lives.” Sarah answered, grabbing the back of Ethan’s collar to drag him down the stairs. Rory, you, and Benny trailed behind them. “Come on, let’s watch Dusk.”

“Can Y/n and I stay in his room?” Benny asked, wanting to get out of watching the franchise more than anything.

“No!” Sarah shouted at him. “We’re watching Dusk, and you’re gonna like it!”

[luvly-writer]

“But Oh…Cara Mia”

Ch. 18: Deception is a tasty treat

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Warnings: none

Author’s note: Hi loves! It’s been a while! I finally got through at least a little bit of my writers block and finally figured out how to carry one with the story little by little. Hope you all enjoy this chapter. Love you all and Missed you all deeply! Please do enjoy this chapter. As always, feedback is always deeply appreciated.

Taglist: @lorosette @nanas-teatime @prettyacademia00 @mxtokko @sarahkaliii @w31rdg1rl @Eurydicegrimes @writing-for-the-hell-of-it @alecmores @dakotali @sadraven1992 @camilalexa93 @bee814 @inejghafawifesblog

Series Masterlist:

————-•———-

How do you fool a family of detectives to believe that you are not in a secret relationship with someone who you’ve been in love with for years and they know?

Easy.

You continue to act as if nothing is going on and gaslight them to believe you are still irrevocably in love with the person but the other half doesn’t know it.

The last few weeks have been eventful at best. Dick and Y/n have been doing almost everything in order to enjoy as much as they can together without the rest knowing and surprisingly it was going well.

“Here’s the plan,” Y/n said, one night as Dick had just gotten out of the shower after patrol and was getting ready to go to sleep. He can’t remember the last time he slept in his apartment ever since the night they finally talked things through. He was currently brushing his teeth, with a white towel thrown carelessly on top of his head, without a shirt and black sweatpants. With a hand on his hip, he raised an eyebrow at her, asking her to continue. “We create a fake boyfriend.”

Dick finished brushing his teeth and laid next to her in bed, pulling her towards him and cuddling her. “I’d that so?” he said full of amusement. She nodded giggling and he couldn’t help but stop to admire her. “I can already think of 20 reasons why this could fail, why are we in Wonder Woman’s good graces fake you having a boyfriend that is not me?” he said making her laugh.

“Because if we can fool the world’s greatest detective, I can keep you for a little while for myself and yes, even though we know that it won’t be problem, they have made it abundantly clear that they want us together; but, I want you for myself for some time. No expectations, no pressure.” Y/n pulled him closer and kissed him. They both understood that it wasn’t that their families would be unsupportive. It was that they would be SO supportive that they would not be allowed privacy. Dick laughed because even though the plan was childish, it would be fun playing around with their family. Plus, having the privilege of saying that you fooled the world’s greatest detectives was something that appealed to both of them. Their own little prank. So, he agreed.

Step 1: Stage a fight.

If both of them began soft launching a relationship it would be too easy for the rest to figure it out seeing as he quite literally acted as a love struck puppy around her.

That part came easy to them, seeing as that’s where they most had expertise. They knew which words to say and how to create an argument convincing enough to fool their family and friends.

“-YOU JUST DONT KNOW WHEN TO QUIT, GRAYSON!” Y/n screamed at him. They were “arguing” in her lab just as everyone was outside in the cave. To them, what looked like a peaceful discussions between Dick and Y/n became an argument where Y/n was ready to burst into tears at any given moment. They looked at each other and sighed. It really was an endless circle. They joke, flirt, fight, separate, and reconcile; then it was all over again. “All for nothing” said Steph quietly as the rest agreed. So much excitement in the last few weeks and they went back to square one. Another sigh was let out the group as the continued their work, though this time a little bit discouraged. Damian stared at the two of them not believing how everything turned out. Kory was out of the picture, Yn was home, so was Dick, he gave her flowers for heaven’s sake! Why were they so disfuncional? if only- “JUST LEAVE!”

“FINE I WILL!”

“FINE”

“FINE!” Dick stormed off out of Y/n’s lab. Sun sat down in her chair placed her hands on her face and let out a frustrated scream. She tied her hair into a pony tail and got to work. “I don’t have time for him. Not anymore!” She said as she tapped on her laptop. Damian looked at her intently, trying to decipher what the argument was about. Dick was bothering Yn about something if she told him to quit and leave, but what could he have done so bad that she would want him to leave?

That night, when sun arrived to her apartment, a vase with fresh flowers was on her counter. Dick sneaked behind her and hugged her. “You make a very convincing actress, darling” he said as he kissed her cheek, making her laugh.

“As do you, my love, as do you” she answered.

Step 2: introduce the “new man”

“hmmmm”

“whats wrong, bubba?” asked Dick as he noticed his lover’s silence.

“I don’t know how we will do this without the public snitching on us. We are well known and you know Gotham Gazette is ALWAYS looking for an excuse to have us as their cover story. What if it gets ruined? What i-“

“What if we make a reservation? We do have enough money to clear the entire space? Maybe wear caps and sunglasses when we are out? Pay off anyone who wants to say anything? This all sound like good choices, don’t ya think?” Dick said making her laugh

“You know what? Those aren’t that bad?”

-•-

-•-

Now you definitely had their attention and maybe you were starting to reconsider if your plan was a good one.

“Is he blonde”

“no”

“maybe a brunette, you’ve always liked those”

“no”

“is he from your gym?”

“no”

Barbara and Stephanie had decided to question you on who was your mystery guy and frankly it’s was tiring tu the fuck out. First, they had threatened to search him out but you counter attacked that you would stop fixing their suits if they breeched your privacy like that. That seemed to get them to stop. Then they had settled for good old questioning. Every time they were near you, they would start to ask questions trying to find a way to find out who HE was. If only they knew that the majority of the time, HE was sitting near them trying to hide a big ass grin seeing as he thoroughly enjoyed how much they were annoying Yn.

This time, they found themselves in the middle of the living room, waiting for Duke, Tim, Damian, and Jason to choose a movie seeing as it was Wayne Kids movie night. The sofa was occupied by Yn, with Barbara to her left and Stephanie and Cassie to her right. Dick sat at the love seat watching the conversation with huge amounts of amusement. To the rest it just looked like he was happy she was getting annoyed which was true but he mostly was just enjoying the view (her).

“Was it the guy from the park?”

Noticing how much he was enjoying her suffering from the questions she had an idea.

Step 3: Throw off suspicions between them

“Mayyyybe”

Hearing this, all of them perked up.

“YOU ARE KIDDING!”

“OH HE WAS CUTE!”

Barbara and Steph screamed at the same time. Tim and Jason swapped knowing glances and nodded, they were definitely going to look into him later. Duke exchanged excited looks with Cass and laughed. Finally, Damian took notice of Dick’s behavior. His jovial state was clearly replaced by annoyance as he lightly glared at Yn, who in return softly laughed. Hmm interesting. Dick managed to cover it up with an eye roll and told the guys to hurry up. Finally, after a few more minutes, they had How to Train Your Dragon playing.

Throughout the movie, Damian kept on staring at Yn and Dick, wondering what that small exchange was about. At once, Dick pulled out his phone and texted someone. What a coincidence that aun received a text not short after, looks up at him, winks and texts back. He then notices Dick rolling his eyes at his phone and pouting at the tv to which Yn lightly chuckles. That was weird.

-•-

-•-

After the movie, Damian waits for everyone to leave and shoots a text through the chat they had made without Yn and Dick.

-•-

[butmakeitgayblog]

What happens the next time clexa sees each other after Lexa tells Clarke she's sick in AWTR?

She takes a few days away from Lexa to sort through her feelings.

Rages at her mother who apparently knew the entire time and hadn't said a word. Bullshit excuses of "HIPAA, Clarke. I've been her primary physician since the day she was born. Of course I couldn't tell you" mean nothing because Clarke is her child and she watched this trainwreck going on, and still said nothing to warn her.

Not that it would've made a lot of difference, she eventually realizes. Because she'd been falling for Lexa since that first day when Lexa had (rightfully) made her feel stupid right in the middle of Gus's morning rush. And if she's truly honest with herself, she doesn't think anything could've stopped it.

Lexa's just... Lexa. She's a person that once you know her, you really have no choice but to love her.

She was screwed from the start.

So she tries to call Lexa to no success. Leaves messages that go unanswered, endures one harrowing run in with Gus and a rather large bouquet of flowers that earns her little more than a grunt and a door closed right in her face. Basically she tries to extend a peace offering without pushing too hard into Lexa's space if she truly doesn't want her.

But also.... this is Clarke we're talking about here. And her best intentions always seem to go straight to hell whenever it comes to her not getting things the way she wanted.

Which is how she finds herself slinking into Gus's the following Wednesday afternoon, when she knows the big man in back will busy with the cleanup from the lunch rush.

It's the first time she's seen Lexa days and, god, she looks so beautiful. So pretty in her little button down shirt and matching sweater, hair pulled back into a loose braid that hangs over her shoulder.

Clarke has no idea how it took her so long to really see her.

They're both silent as they just stand there, feeling like there's an ocean that separates them rather than the worn formica counter. Lexa's eyes seeming so big. But so obviously heavy and tired. Duller than Clarke remembers since the last time she saw her smile. She feels sick with how resigned Lexa looks, as if she already knows what Clarke's there to say. How she swallows and opens then closes her mouth without saying anything, undoubtedly fighting with the urge to make some quip or joke to ease Clarke's guilt. Or worse, to tell her that not wanting her anymore is somehow ok.

But Clarke ignores all that words that never make their way out as she slowly eases her way around the counter. Retraces her steps back to Lexa exactly where she'd found her. And then stupidly left her.

And she knows no words can make up for what she did. She knows there's nothing she can say to fix anything for this girl. But still, she slips her arms around Lexa's waist, wrapping her up into a hug.

She buries her face in Lexa neck and breathes in her skin mixed with sweet shampooed scent of her hair because she's just missed her so much. And it's very hard not to break down when she feels Lexa's arms wrap around her shoulders and hug her just as tightly.

The way Lexa kisses her when Clarke vows that she's not going anywhere is sweeter than any they've shared before.

It's truly a moment of tenderness, and solace, and healing between them. One that Clarke carries with her for the rest of her life.

[starishome]

History I made for @enchantedchocolatebars about Amelie. I’m sorry if is not good I still learning, but here is!!! ✨✨✨

~Thoughts~

"However, there are very few lakes where it is found and even so, the probability of titan blood leaking into the waters is minimal... I will have to find another way"

Philip silently read the information provided in the book and wrote down the important parts in his diary. He hated the fact that Caleb was stubborn enough to hide his titan blood from him. In his words, Philip had to… get used to it because Caleb was not going to allow them to be separated anymore. Hypocrite…

“Ugh…” the human groaned. The worst part was that this was the only book that contained information, great.

The brown one went to the last page of the book or rather diary, it belonged to Amelie's father.

“Amelie…” Philip whispered. Until now he hadn't realized that she had given him her father's diary. Wouldn't he scold her for that? If that was the case, he had to hand it over to her as quickly as possible, he didn't want her to be scolded because of him.

Although…why did she give him something so valuable in the first place? Yes, she said that she wanted to help him get off the islands because she couldn't stand him, but she was playing that part... At least that's what the human hoped.

It was a curious thing, even though she almost always made comments about how he was unbearable or something like that, it seemed to be an innocent joke, one that without realizing it he became accustomed to.

Another thing that seemed curious to Philip was the fact that she was spoiled, a spoiled witch who did not consider anyone inferior, she smiled at everyone, even him. He would never say it out loud, but her smile was kitten-like, because when she smiled her fangs peeked out from between her mouth. Yup, like a kitten.

The brunette smiled at the mental image of the witch with cat ears and tail, simply adorable.

Something tender about her was her voice. Soft and calm, somewhat monotonous at times, but it was almost… angelic, at least for the human. Even when she joked she maintained that serenity, she was still sophisticated. And don't get him started on her accent, something strange, but hypnotizing, if he... he could listen to her talk for hours.

He could also stare into her eyes for hours. Red like blood but maintaining a kind of glow on them, they were also mesmerizing.

She was mesmerizing, adorable, calm, kind, happy and pretty... too pretty for his own good... sometimes her... her made him feel very strange in his stomach…

Philip observe what he had just scribbled on the paper.

Without realizing it, he had drawn Amelie. Looking at him in that simple way and smiling at him with her little fangs.

His embarrassment only grew and he soon found himself thinking of things he shouldn’t have. He cover himself with his hands like a child would hide under a blanket.

Philip began to feel a overwhelming heat all over his body, especially his face. His stomach also felt funny and for some reason his heart beat faster than it was used to, he could hear it beating.

He was sorely tempted to rip the drawing into pieces and rid himself of the shame, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't...

“Ugh, what are you thinking!?” Philip hit his head and pulled his hair. His hands then covered his face and he looked away from his own diary.

He looked at the diary again.

Embarrassed, he grabbed the pen and added some details to her hair.

“Ouh” The brunette stroked the drawing page with his thumb. “What the hell am I thinking? I’m not… I’m not going to stay here… I… umh”

Philip let his head fall heavily onto the desk and groaned in frustration.

Why was she so attractive? Wait, no, she wasn't… Well, she was…

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!”

[liroutrozenberg]

Tremors and injuries

Trial part. I have an idea for a story, but I'm not sure whether to write it completely or not. All photos are taken from Pinterest, I am not their author and do not claim them as my own! Sketch 1

Ilona wasn't sure that flying to this godforsaken planet was a good idea. Karma, the universe, fate and all the higher powers in general clearly didn't like her. Learning a new culture and language was difficult, but she managed it, somehow overcoming herself, in order to finally end up on the "Second Earth" as some scientists called Pandora and they could actually be understood, albeit partially.

Despite this, the opportunity to learn something new attracted her strongly enough that she could close her eyes to many things, which she did, initially adapting to a new life on a separate research base somewhere deep in the jungle. It was calmer there than in Hell's Gate and it was possible to work without being distracted by the constant military, who wandered everywhere and sometimes stuck their noses into other people's business.

During their loading onto the helicopter that was supposed to ferry them from Hell's Gate to a safe research base, she crossed paths with Corporal for the first time. It turned out to be Lee, a fellow participant in the Pandora program, albeit with a different assignment and job profile than Ilona herself. In the end, during the first part of the flight they were able to find common ground, no matter how you look at it, and they still have a long time to work together and it would be worthwhile to establish a relationship right away.

"So, what brings you here? Wouldn't it be easier to stay with the rest of the military and earn promotions?" Ilona raises an eyebrow questioningly, watching as her interlocutor's ears perk up after the question was voiced.

"It's either here or be shot. Of two evils, I chose the lesser." Lee answers, her lips spreading into an extremely satisfied smile before she begins to laugh at Ilona's puzzled expression. "Just kidding. Don't take my words too literally. I'm just not a fan of the standing that happens there and I prefer silence."

"You scared me for a second." Ilona admitted honestly, feeling her heart pounding in her chest and it was unclear from what exactly. Either from the joke that was voiced, or from the pure laughter that sounded like a rumble in the helicopter. But she quickly threw this thought into the background.

"Okay, I didn't mean to." Lee raises her hands in a conciliatory manner, continuing to giggle quietly, before another member of our small group distracts her, drawing attention to herself and she talks to him, giving Ilona a short break.

The second part of the flight went smoothly, which made Ilona intuitively think that something bad was waiting for them in the end, but most were in a good mood, which was hard not to give in to, and soon Ilona calms down a little, feeling that everything is not so bad and she just needs to get used to the changed environment, which she had never thought about before.

At the center, two employees who had arrived a few days earlier were already waiting for them. Lee immediately went to reconnoiter the area and warned them not to wait for her until late in the evening, as this was her duty. In general, no one objected much, except that they made sure that she had enough combat ammunition just in case, even though Lee did not look like someone who was capable of starting shooting just because of some rustle of unknown origin.

Ilona occupied a small room near the laboratory, so that she could have quick access to it. The living spaces were small, designed mainly so that they did not spend too much time in them, but overall the place was quite pleasant, which was strange to think about the national center, but this was the last thought that could come to mind.

Having laid out a few things, Ilona headed to a small conference room to listen to the briefing and plans for the first time, which the first arrivals had already made. A little later, a few more goals were added to the list, as someone wanted to study the water bodies, and a few more needed to improve their level of speech in the Na'vi language.

Ilona's first day at the research center was slowly coming to an end, when the Sun began to give way to the Moon, symbolizing the end of a hard day. The white light of the lamps in the lab seemed completely familiar and calmed her down a little, although she still felt some nervousness from the new team and place, but now it was not felt so acutely and she thought that she was coping with her emotional state quite well.

"Hey, good evening. Are you planning on sitting here all night?" Melissa - one of the scientific leaders, passing by the lab, noticed her new partner and smiled good-naturedly, entering the room. "Everyone is planning to gather upstairs, you know… to chat and get to know each other better. Are you coming?"

Ilona thinks for a moment before setting down the tablet she had initially been giving her full attention to. Chatting with everyone sounded like a good idea and she certainly wasn't against the idea.

"Yeah, sure. That would be great." She smiles and gets up from her seat, immediately following Melissa as she strides up to the top floor, into the apartment complex where the others have already gathered.

+ + +

The conversations lasted so long that the stars were already shining in the sky, and through the darkness one could see the nearest planets, leisurely continuing their peaceful life, because for them absolutely nothing had changed, allowing their cycle to continue further, as if nothing had happened.

"Does anyone hope that we will have to work closely with the Navi representatives?" Grakber, sitting on the table and bending his legs under himself, goes over all the possible developments of events while they are here. Although, he was one of those who should raise his level of the native language, so his question made sense.

"Well, that would be great. Although, our job is not about that." Melisa retorts as if nothing happened. "Perhaps Li will encounter a few of them? Speaking of which…" She looked away and glanced at the time before furrowing her brows. "She still hasn't returned, and it's been almost seven hours since she went into the forest."

This thought was unexpected, because the Corporal had indeed not returned back yet, continuing to wander somewhere in the dense jungle. Was this something that should alert them, or could they continue to just sit here in safety? No one had an answer to that question, on the other hand… if something had happened, Lee would have let them know, right?

[tangiblejournal56]

10/27/11

Talking to Luke the other night, he was drinking with his weight-lifting partner.  I told him I’d dreamt of him, or more specifically, of kissing him, & how I missed kissing him.  He said he was jealous of my dream, & that he thought I was the better kisser.  I told him kissing him had always had the effect of making my knees weak & head dizzy, & he told me I’ve been gone way too long.  I smiled, his rare but encouraging words like a comfort, that I may have something lovely awaiting me to come home.  I asked him if this meant he missed me.  “Why do you have to try & make me all sentimental?” he replied, & I could not determine his tone, joking or serious.  I told him I couldn’t see why he’d like such a nerdy girl like me & he argued, “Why would you say that?  I love hanging out with you.”  I was relieved to know he was looking forward to seeing me.  Being a boy of so few words I am sometimes discouraged & wonder if I am simply bothersome to him, if this half-decade of back-&-forth is really mostly my own creation.

I told Max I missed him a lot yesterday.  “What a waste of energy,” he responded.

Today was Boss’s last day at the deli, he is moving back to Houston, & with him goes my only enjoyment in this hell.  No more flirting, no more movie games.  Tomorrow I work with the Italian for the first time since his asshole-ish callousness reached a peak, resulting in my deleting him & his pictures from my phone.  I have no desire to see him, & do not feel that it will go well at all.  I don’t know exactly what it is about him that caused such behavior in me that is so atypical from how I normally react to boys, to men.  So rarely have I ever put myself out there, & never have I done so to someone I know nothing about.  It’s as though I couldn’t control myself around him, I had no restraint & that has never happened before.  I don’t blame him for being short with me, & I don’t believe he is a bad person.  But I do regret the whole experience, despite the unbelievably good sex that came of it.  I don’t like knowing that I am capable of such behavior, & I don’t like knowing what a fool I made of myself.

I want to go home.  To be among Racha & my family.  Too many men in my life, too many boys complicating everything in my mind.  Inexplicably I feel like crying, that dark hole in me expanding & receding like an accordion.  But I am at work, where I feel most miserable, & cannot allow my emotions to flood over like I want to do.  I am so tired.  Tired of people staring, I can feel their eyes boring into me, invading & intrusive as burglars, men’s hostile & rapey leering leaving a dirty scum-like caul over me, women’s condescending glances, knowing instinctively I am less-than.  Because I don’t fit, not really, not into anyone’s sect, women feel I am too asexual, not feminine enough.  But I do not either fit entirely among the males as I do behave too feminine among them to really be one of the boys.  I am genderless, androgynous, I float directionless between the behaviors of the two separate sexes, & this estranges me from inclusion.  I find almost all women too silly & neurotic, & almost all men vapid & oblivious.  Max is the closest I’ve found to a match for myself, & Racha.  Together they create both sides of me, the maternal & impulsive feminine, the logical & straightforward masculine.  Was Racha a man or Max romantically interested, I would not feel so very acutely alone.  I have my two halves & yet I am incomplete, disjointed.  I have always felt this dissociated but for when I was with Ryan.  So I am at least aware of what it is I am lacking.  But it bothers me to a large degree that what I lack to be complete is a mate.  I’ve never wanted to be a girl who needs a man.  I’d always considered myself independently-minded, & I am embarrassed that all I really, truly want is to be needed & loved by someone that I could love in return.  Some days it doesn’t matter - Max, Luke, the Italian, whomever - who fills that need, how much or how little we have in common, only that he should love me greatly.  I am so desperately exhausted of loving.  For once I want to be loved, to receive those grand declarations, to be pursued rather than do the pursuing.  I used to love the chase, but now I am ready to be ensnared.

Yes I do feel worthless when there is no attractive man interested in me.  That is shallow & stupid, & a stereotype of so many women.  But it is there, it is palpable.  I hate it but that doesn’t make it go away.  I want to be someone’s ideal.  Maybe that’s the draw of Luke, knowing how I appear in his eyes, he has always had this image of me as more than I really am.  But it’s not entirely one-sided, I do have him up on his very unique pedestal.  How masculine he is, how strong & loyal & dependable, so unpretentious, unselfish, his good heart, his warmth.  Handsome in a way unlike anyone else I’ve ever met.  Those lips.  How he kisses.

I suppose we will see what happens when we are together & the mythical figures are broken down.

[f4rgd]

There are still questions hovering over his head regarding what he does next with his oath, he's long since grown out of the one he holds now, if it were ever truly his in the first place, but his mind is already half made up - they're just steps he has to put in place now. But he's in no hurry to change anything when they're finally taking the time they're owed - the time that, if life had allowed it, would have been a little more peaceful but parts of it hadn't been so terrible.

He's not grateful it happened, they had still lost people and many had suffered, but it had forced him to break free from the cage that had been tormenting him. It had helped him grow into himself, so much so he didn't recognise himself when he looked back on the past - and he knows he couldn't have done all of that without Paerin seeing him then and seeing him now. They've both grown, they've gone through hell and back and survived it.

" Well that is unfortunate because you are turning into one slowly. " He can't help the quick little jab at him, teeth biting his bottom lip to stop him grinning from ear to ear. Aksel's quick to steal another kiss and then his nose wrinkles and eyes narrow at his words, but his heart skips a beat in his chest and their surroundings, the water and the atmosphere add that euphoric sensation building in his chest. " Oh I am going first. "

Then he turns enough to reach for his own bag and pulls the ring from one of the many secret compartments that's he sewn into the fabric. He'd decided even before he'd made the ring that it'd be the last time he touched a forge as a smith, before he hung it up for good - before he closed that chapter and opened another. It'd taken some bribing to convince the smith in the last town they'd past to let him use his tools but he'd managed in the end, the harder part was separating himself from Paerin long enough to make it but he'd managed it in the end. The band was a little rustic looking which in his opinion suited Paerin, it was a dark silver with gold running through the middle the surface not entirely smooth to give it more personality.

" I do not have anything against yeti's by the way, just in case you do start to turn. But - " Aksel hadn't rehearsed this in his head and he was realising now he probably should have, but he'd been far too focused on getting the ring right and time had passed quickly. " - that being said, I wanted to ask you if... and you already said yes so no take backs now - " There's a small smile on his lips and a small tug of the edge of his mouth before he starts again. " I want to spend the rest of my life doing this with you, or whatever it is we decide to do, but I want this and I want us. I have been unsure of a lot of things in my life, most things actually, but never you - and I owe you many things but helping me figure out my shit is definitely up there. "

If they hadn't had that conversation on the rocks when he'd asked him how he'd answer he likely wouldn't have made the joke but it was worth the risk. " So I would like it if you would agree to spending the rest of our lives together? and if you do not say yes I may cry because I nearly broke my finger making this ring. " He lets a grin emerge from his lips as he holds the band between his thumb and index finger. " Will you marry me? "

They had that conversation what seems like an eternity ago, now. It never left his mind — though as with many things, it got placed somewhere to be prioritized for when he could give it proper attention. And it's always lingered, even through time and conflict — through Aksel's contract burning, through Paerin finding resolution with the wizard that caused him so much grief. Through the end of the Absolute, through pulling what they could out of the ashes of the city and setting their sights further north and putting the city behind them.

But he's never forgotten, not once. And it was somewhere soon after that he began planning what he wanted to do, and not so long after that that he began putting it into motion. It's been a process, especially considering he's lousy at keeping secrets and yet he's kept this an unbreakable one. He finished it a few months ago, and maybe he's just been looking for the right time.

For now, though, he just smiles, and leans into the kiss and takes the bottle and just — exists. He exists for those few minutes because even now, even after they've been free of everything for months, it still feels like a novelty to have so much silence in his thoughts.

" Where I grew up, we'd have t'have half an eye out for yetis, " he murmurs with a laugh. " If y'want somethin' that sounds even, er, madder. " He hums lightly into the tease and the kiss, and the warmth of the water and the closeness is lulling him into a satisfied heavy laziness, and it feels better than anything he could have imagined, really.

There are fashioned stone seats of a sort, and a heavy steam mists off the top of the water. He lets his weight slip against Aksel's, and takes a swallow of a drink before tipping his nose up and kissing him in return. " Funny story, " he admits, that look up dancing, " b'cause I do too. But you can go first. "

[dodgeballstuckonthegymceiling]

Hello! Can I plz ask for the ROTTMNT brothers (separately) react to their s/o being cute and innocent? Like they love watching animated movies, become a blushing mess if there's a kissing scene in a movie or in real life, love to draw, cook/bake, and dance, also are curious about everything. Oh, and they don't understand dirty jokes and if someone curses they put a hand over their mouth and look flabbergasted. They also are shorter than them and have small hands.

Raph, Leo, Donnie and Mikey x innocent Reader

Raph

★ He's a little embarrassed to tell you how much he likes kids shows/movies. He acts like he watches them for your sake but we all know the truth. He really likes sitcoms and slice of life films.

★ Raph can fit both of your hands in his and it makes you a blushing mess. It doesn't help that he likes to hold your hand.

★ Anyone who makes a dirty joke or swears around you is getting the look. You know what I'm talking about, the look that just says "you messed up" without actually saying anything.

★ He always tells you how much he cares about you. If anything happened to you he wouldn't know what to do with himself. Leo calls you an "old married couple" because the two of you act like one.

Leo

★ Oh you're shorter than him? Ho, ho, ho.. Be ready to get teased. But he's the only one who's allowed to do that. If anybody else tried to, he's quick to defend your honor by getting himself into a fairly petty fight.

★ He acts like the typical "knight in shining armor" when you have a problem and tries to fix it for you. His end goal is to get you to praise him.

★ This guy starts whining when you start to bake or cook because he knows he's not aloud to help. Last time he tried to help you the kitchen caught on fire.

Donnie

★ To preserve your innocence he has added a content filter on all your devices, nothing is getting past it. All swear words now get censored and look like white squares, like this: ◻️◻️◻️

★ Baking is kinda like chemistry, right? If you invite him over to bake with you he takes it upon himself to measure everything out for you and re-reads the instructions at least 5 times.

★ He's seen a lot of kids shows because of you and his favorites are Adventure time and Courage the cowardly dog. You have weekly movie nights and take turns picking what to watch.

Mikey

★ Like raph, he loves kids shows and movies. But unlike him he prefers animation. Something tells me he's watched all of the studio ghibli films. (His favorite is ponyo)

★ You better let him pick you up. Now that he has a S/o that is shorter than him he wants to try carrying you. Your relationship is very wholesome.

★ Date night's with him include laying on a blanket on top of a building, drawing stuff in each other's sketchbook together and eating snacks he made for the two of you.

★ His brothers love you because each time you come over they get amazing baked goods, needless to say Splinter likes to invite you over. Hell, his entire family wants Mikey to hurry up and put a ring on you.

[bi-bard]

I Don’t Wanna Take My Mind Off You - Aaron Hotchner Imagine (Criminal Minds)

Title: I Don’t Wanna Take My Mind Off You

Pairing: Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner X Reader

Based On: what a shame

Word Count: 1,055 words

Warning(s): cussing, mentions of potential affair, mentions of marital problems

Summary: (Early Season 3-ish) Things with Hotch and Haley had been rocky. The strain on the relationship helps to encourage Hotch to overstep some boundaries in his work life.

Author's Note: Y'all remember when they hinted that Haley had an affair and then just... never talked about it again?

Lizzy McAlpine - “five seconds flat” Writing Challenge Masterlist

-------------------------------------

I knew it was weird.

I had always known that.

As soon as I met Hotch, it just felt like we had clicked. We got along really well. We matched wits on cases, often becoming more of a duo than two separate agents. I seemed to be the only one on the team who commonly got to see him grin.

I felt like an idiot, but I liked him. A lot.

And I knew that was wrong. He was married.

I thought Haley was sweet whenever I met her. She had been nothing but kind and generous to me. I felt like an asshole for developing feelings for her husband.

Still, there were days when I would let my mind wander.

Whenever I ended up on autopilot on slow days at work, my thoughts would get away from me.

Nothing too inappropriate... most days.

I had just imagined being able to be with him. Just the normal relationship things. Dates and cuddling together and kissing each other.

I had been alone for a while if it wasn't obvious.

I also knew that there were times when I walked a very thin line between being friendly with a co-worker and just blatantly flirting with him.

We were often the last two awake on the plane. We'd talk about anything other than work. I knew there were times when I'd lean too close, or my joke would go a little too close to flirting. I knew better. Hotch never seemed to notice any of it, so I'd just lean back or ignore that the joke ever happened.

Because of his lack of notice, I didn't think anything of it when I was just getting my bag packed to go home for the night and Hotch asked if he could speak with me. I just nodded and walked up to his office.

I closed the door behind me. He was leaning on his desk with his arms crossed.

"What's going on," I asked. He seemed tense. Tenser than usual.

"I needed to talk to you about something," he replied.

I forced a chuckle, "I assumed that much."

He let a grin form as he also chuckled. Tension decreased.

He stood up straight, letting his arms fall to his sides.

"I have been thinking about a few things," he explained. "Considering risks and my thoughts."

I nodded. He was going to tell me about a case, right? That made sense.

"And how I feel about things in my life."

Was this not about a case?

I furrowed my eyebrows, "What have you been considering?"

"You," he replied simply, taking a few steps toward me. "Us. To be more accurate."

"Oh," I said like it was a question.

"I... I just," he sighed. He had never been great with this kind of thing, I knew that. He was often closed off to everyone about that.

I was about to ask what was going on again when he grabbed my waist and pulled me to him.

His lips were planted firmly on mine before I even had a chance to think about it.

My eyes went wide and I completely froze for a moment. I didn't know what to do. I had imagined this moment but under a thousand other circumstances. This wasn't right. This was almost the exact opposite of right.

I came to my senses when Hotch moved to cup my face in his hands.

I finally managed to shove him backward. I took a few steps back as he steadied himself on his desk. I ended up on the opposite side of the room. Enough space between us.

"What the hell was that," I asked.

"I thought you felt the same," he replied. "I thought we were on the same page."

"Whether or not I feel the same doesn't matter," I snapped. "You're married. And you're my boss. There are so many factors that make this wrong."

"You're telling me that you've never thought about this," he motioned between us. "Because I have."

"Again, doesn't fucking matter," I pinched the bridge of my nose. I would never have cursed at my boss if this wasn't happening. "Yes, I have feelings for you. I have for years. But that doesn't mean that I am going to overstep that boundary. I will not be a homewrecker, Hotch. I won't. And the fact that you're trying to use my feelings that you somehow found out about against me speaks volumes about how you actually see me."

"As someone I have feelings-"

"As someone that you want to be available for you," I corrected. "You are trying to use me to escape whatever is happening with Haley. That's not part of my job."

Hotch just looked at me for a moment.

"If you try something like that again," I took a moment to contemplate my next sentence, "I will go to Strauss and I will leave this team."

He opened his mouth to speak, but I didn't give a chance.

"Go see your wife and son, Hotch. Good night."

With that, I walked out of his office and quickly snagged my stuff from my desk.

"Are you okay," I looked up to see Spencer watching me from the desk across from mine.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," I nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow, Spence."

He waved at me awkwardly as I stormed out of the bullpen and went to the elevator.

I blinked back the tears as the elevator doors shut. I felt like I needed to shower.

It all felt so... wrong.

I had always felt guilty about harboring feelings for Hotch. He had been married to Haley for longer than I knew him. I held Jack, for God's sake. It just always left me with a gross feeling in my stomach.

But to know that Hotch knew. He found out. And thought that he could just jump at me like that. That made me furious.

Because that just proved that my guilt was valid. I had caused something to get in the way of his marriage. The one thing I feared most.

I let out a shaky breath as I made it to my floor.

I had faced monsters on a day-to-day basis, but I don't think I feared anything more than having to face Hotch after what he had done.

-------------------------------------

Masterlist

What I Write For

Some Original Characters

folklore/evermore Writing Challenge (and Masterlist)

Maisie Peters - “You Signed Up for This” Writing Challenge Masterlist