#then wandered around the parking lot for 10 minutes trying to find our car in the dark

[armenelols]

.

[pbandjesse]

Today was such a great day. For real I just had such a good time. I wish I walked a little more. But I got a lot of steps in and I will try more every time.

I slept okay last night. Waking up was hard but James was there. They made the bed while I got dressed. And honestly my outfit wasn't my best choice. I would end up a little to cold. But that was okay.

I was still sure I needed to wash my hair tonight but a hat would make me feel better today. James left and I would follow soon after. They had put some dumplings in a container for me and made me a bagel. They take care of me so much.

I had a nice drive out. When I forst got outside I was shocked to see that the little maroon car that has been parked in the same spot since March 2020 is gone????? Where did it go??? A dirt patch was left in it's place.

I drove out to came and got there around 8. I was proud of myself for driving to the right buildings in the right order be susd I saved myself so much time.

I would walk around and make sure everything was where it was supposed to be. And then to the lodge to read over my papers to make sure I had some stuff to fill in the time of my intro. Which is getting better but could still improve.

Soon I would go and find some of my parents volunteers at the office. I was over there getting my knitting. But it was good timing. I brought those three over to the lodge. Gave them the map and walkie and sent them off. Because they would need to find their spaces and get set up and got real the parents today were so on top of it. They were some of the best chaperones I have had.

They brought so much stuff! 8 logs! 10 bags of popcorn! Wipes! String! Jerky! So excellent. And slowly all the other parents came and I would send them off.

And they would do so good. A little before 10 the buses came. And both drivers knew Walter and were happy to hear her retired and was enjoying his time. The teachers had all been here before too. And it was nice to not feel like everyone was confused.

And they were such good kids too. They came in and we got started so fast. So I did my whole intro and was basically done at 1005. When I should be done at 1020. Oops.

So I explained the schedule. And the map. I should have done rules right away but forgot. I would do it before they left but oops. We broke into our animal groups. And then a bathroom break. And then they were off!!

I had a great day. It was snowing just a little. It would eventually become rain. And my coat did pretty well. I am going to do another layer of waterproofing but I am very pleased so far.

I would spend some time wandering. Checking in on everyone. And just. Exploring a bit. I would read. And catch up on my knitting. And have a snack. I would give 5 minute warnings and make sure everyone has everything they needed. And it was just such a lovely day.

I would also go and talk to Elizabeth about being full time. She told me that they are offering this role and one more full time position because of a grant. So that's awesome. And she thinks what I'm going to ask for it reasonable. She put a meeting for me with Alexi to talk about it on the 21st. So fingers crossed that goes well??

I would also talk to Heather later. About how I would need a new laptop to do the job well. And she gave me the contact of someone who used to be at camp who runs a space and is looking for more artists to do workshops! So that's awesome.

And then!! I finally got an email back from the craft castle about workshops and he wants to meet up to chat this week! Ah! Things are going so well. I really feel like financially I am starting to get a handle on things.

My foot would hurt a bit. I split it open a bit and so I stopped walking as much. But I would still check on everyone.

At lunch I went to heat my dumplings up. I read for a little. And then went to tell them to all ehsd to their programs. But then a dad started a screaming competition??? I was baffled. Like we were going to be out of there a minute or so early. But because oft this weird game we were almost late. Thankfully we would remain on time for the last two and I didn't have to stress.

I would make sure everyone knew the best and most helpful way to clean up at the end of the day. And then everyone would head back to the lodge.

We did a debrief. And I asked them lots of questions. Tried to help them make connections. But they were already so smart they were just so lovely.

Once it was time to go I handed the "mic" over to the head teacher and she would get them all on the bus. And then we said goodbye. What a nice day.

It would take me a while to make my way around collecting all the objects. I tried to put everything outside so getting it on the gater would be quick. But it still took me a while. I would head to the office and get the keys and even though it was raining and cold I was having fun driving around. And continued to be very proud of myself for doing tight k turns .

Once everything was loaded up I went to talk to Heather for a while. Love her. She's always the best.

And then texted James to ask about doing chipotle for dinner. It would start to rain again and I made the call to go straight to the museum. We would go and get chipotle together.

The drive to the museum was good though. Some traffic. Saw an accident. But I just enjoyed the drive and would get to the museum by 4.

And James would come out to meet me and we drove over to get dinner.

We ate and talked and the food was good and I was happy. But I was getting really tired.

My evening plans were light. Take off my nail polish. Wash my hair. Draw some sticker ideas (we are thinking about making themed packs. Baltimore being the first theme obviously).

And when we got home I would plan on jumping right into washing up but James beat me to the bathroom. So I went to cast some bears in resin. But I accidently splashed all my resin everywhere and it was a huge mess and I was super upset. James helped me clean it and then I went and took my nail polish off and washed my hair.

And I felt a little better after that. My hair looks and feels a lot better. I would fix my resin bears. And then in bed to work on my stickers. I made a Poe and a John Waters. I am afraid the Poe looks like Vincent Price but I love how they both look. And then it would just be cuddling with Sweetp and watching videos.

Now it is late. James was doing their podcast and had now joined me in bed. I ams really tired. Mostly my body. I am looking forward to two days off.

Tomorrow I want to do some clothes sorting. And then some cleaning. And maybe some art but I don't have any for sure plans around that. I just want to have a chill and good day.

I also hope I can sleep great. I hope you all sleep great too!!! Good night!! Love you!!

[lindsaystravelblogs3]

Days 10-12 – Sunday-Tuesday, 4-6 June

Sunday

Happy birthday to my little sister!

Today was really quite weird.  Most people understood the deadlines for putting our luggage out, having breakfast and joining the coach, but a few were late for some reason.  We still got away with only a short delay and we were heading to the ferry to take us to Corsica.  It had rained overnight - we were assured (again) that rain was quite rare in Sardinia, but it rained almost all day, sometimes quite heavily.

We drove for two and a half hours to Castelsardo where we were supposed to get on a little train to take us through the town and up to the castle that commanded views across the town, the nearby countryside and a huge area of the Mediterranean.  No train, but a bus arrived instead so we took that - 25 seats for 30 people, but it was only a couple of kilometres and nobody complained.

We were then told that we had more than two-and-a-half hours to enjoy the castle and the views and to be ready to catch the bus back to our coach at 2pm.  Everyone wandered away and explored the half a square kilometre accessible from there, including the castle.  A few people paid to explore the castle and said it was okay, but with not a lot of enthusiasm.  We walked around the very quaint shops and restaurants, all surrounded by attached houses and got as far as the gates to the castle but decided not to go in.  Besides, it was raining a bit more by then.

Entrance to the Castle - we did not use it!

The little narrow, twisting alleyways were certainly quaint, but I was surprised how much traffic there was for a Sunday morning.  There were a few ‘jewellery’ shops open, mainly specialising in local coral, very pretty and colourful and we even purchased a few trinkets.  I saw some small ear studs that I thought would look nice on Heather so we bought them too.

Only two more hours before we had to be back for the bus so we returned to the drop-off point and settled down to enjoy a coffee - as did almost all of the others in our group.  We also bought some sandwiches because lunch was not part of the tour today.  By now, it was raining quite heavily so we moved all the outside tables and chairs under the relative safety of the canvas awning, but quite a few of us wanted to be back in our coach and moving on, instead of sitting in the cold windy outdoors with the rain splashing around us.

In due course, the bus arrived and delivered us to our coach where we removed some of our wet things and warmed up again. 

We didn’t get far before the windscreen wipers stopped working.  Our driver, Paolo, got out in the downpour and got them working, but within a kilometre, they stopped again and he couldn’t get them going again, so he had to drive almost a hundred more kilometres in a downpour with no wipers.  

We eventually got to the edge of the town we were heading for - only to find that all the roads were closed because there was a big car rally/race in progress and the police wouldn’t let us through to the port a kilometre or so away.  Instead, we had to drive another fifty-odd kilometres to find another way into town and down to the port.  By this time, we were in dire fear of missing the ferry altogether so Paolo was speeding (I thought a little too risky), trying to arrive in time.

The coach company had arranged for another coach (with serviceable wipers) to be near the ship for us, so there was a frantic few minutes, transferring all our bags and carry-on from one coach to the other and a furious drive to the ferry.  Alas, the police and security staff would not let us on.  After a lot of pleading, shouting and phone calls to higher authorities, they agreed to let the passengers board, but not the coach.  Once we were boarding, it was clear that our coach would not have fitted in the parking hold anyway.  The hold was full of cars, all half a metre or more apart instead of a centimetre or so (as on the Spirit of Tasmania).  If they had been loaded a bit better, the coach would have had loads of room.

There was another ferry crossing a few hours later and it eventually brought our coach (with wipers now operational) with all our gear, arriving about 9pm.  In the meantime, most of us had nothing but the clothes we had on.

Arriving in Bonafacio, Corsica, after an hour or so on the ferry, we then had a longish trek along the harbour to our hotel - a different one from that specified in our itinerary - all in the rain.   There was chaos in the hotel, but we eventually all got keys to our rooms and we just used our phones and iPads to fill the two hours to dinner.

Dinner was quite good, but there is a narrow lane between two sections of the restaurant, and halfway through the meal, about fifty cars drove through, filled with screaming soccer fans, letting off flares, honking horns, blasting through loudspeakers, unbearably loud.  The local football team had won the final today and they needed to inflict their exhilaration on everyone else in town.  The prolonged noise was just too horrific for me so I skipped the rest of my meal and took myself off to our room where the noise was much less offensive.

Our luggage arrived just after 10pm and we made it to bed soon after eleven after a really fraught day.  I’m sure I am not cut out for bus tours.  It was a lovely day with great scenery, but the hiccups detracted a bit from it.

Monday

It’s a week since I was able to write anything and I have probably forgotten lots of important things.  Another thing that make writing harder is that I have mislaid my wireless USB stick that allows me to use the mouse – hence everything has to be done using the keypad that is much slower and more difficult to use.

Today we had breakfast in a section of the hotel immediately across the laneway that was open on all sides giving it a very al fresco feeling.  The only dark point was the officious maitre d’ who instructed us quite bluntly as to which tables we could sit at and with whom.  Some of the preferred tables were not available for we plebs in the tour group and we could not sit alone at any table until all the other tables were full – he almost shouted at us – ‘complet la table, complet la table!’  He was obviously exerting what little power he had to bully us poor tourists around.  Breakfast was adequate – one could not say more than that.

Heather decided not to join the group this morning as it promised a lot of strenuous climbing – and so it was.  Most of us caught another of the little trains to take us through the streets of Bonafacio and up to the museum and Citadel in the sky.  Most towns we have visited have a small fleet of these trains to take people (pretty much exclusively tourists I think) up and down the steep hills on which most towns seem to be built - probably for ancient strategic reasons.

The fortress was quite spectacular and almost completely impregnable.  It currently houses the administrative centre of the French Foreign Legion and we saw a few legionnaires – no photos – our guide said it is illegal to try to photograph a legionnaire.  There were some great views from the walls of the citadel looking down on the town and the harbour, along the coast and out to sea.  Our guide took us through the centre of the fortress, including to Napoleon’s Godfather’s house where the great man himself spent three days en route from somewhere to somewhere else (I think) but a lot of what we saw looked like housing, rather than a military establishment.  The Legionnaires’ barracks are there, but apparently only twenty other people live in the area now, compared with hundreds, or probably thousands, of people a couple of centuries ago.

We walked along many streets, up and down even more steps, and finally arrived at the cathedral dominating the top of the citadel.  Alas, we could not even look in the door.  There was to be a concert to be performed there that night and the preparations for that meant the entire cathedral was locked up tight in the meantime.

We wandered all over the area but it was a hot day (30 degrees) so we sat in the shade for a while before it was time to join the rest of our group and stroll through the narrow winding streets, back to the central square where we caught another little train back to the harbour and dinner.

Day 12 – Tuesday, 6 June

After complying with the demands of our breakfast generalissimo, we boarded our coach for a trip to Ajaccio where we stayed for two nights.  En route, we stopped in Sartene and we had a guide to take us through the old city and its fortifications.  He was great with a good sense of humour – quite laconic, but he was keen to explain in several ways how Corsica was not French or English or Italian (not even Australian), but Genoise.  Technically, I think his arguments convinced me, although I can’t recall them now.  But several of his incidental humorous comments reminded us that Corsica is still firmly Genoise, even if it is administered from Paris.  There is an independence movement here, not as strong as a few years ago, but there is apparently still a lot of ill-feeling toward the ‘French oppressors’.

After the tour, we strolled the quaint laneways for an hour or so, enjoying a drink and a pastry, before rejoining the coach to drop down to the coastal town of Propriano for lunch.  We spent an hour or more over lunch and the troops were getting restless because the planned stop was two and a half hours and that was much longer than necessary – as are many of our stops.  Arranging the day a little better would give us less wasted time (just waiting, with little to explore) and more opportunities to do more or longer things, or just relax in the hotel and do our blogs or whatever.  Most of the stops are too short to do something extra, but too long to be 'filled in' with nothing worth doing.  There is a presumption that we are all hanging out to shop or linger over our fifth or sixth coffee for the morning, but nobody is!

We arrived in Ajaccio in mid-afternoon and most of us just relaxed until dinnertime.  Dinner was included in the tour price, but dinner was again pretty ordinary.  It was a buffet and they had a variety of cold meats and two types of pasta and a wild boar stew.  I tasted some of the cold cuts but had the stew as my main course.  It was OK, but pretty dry, and maybe a little too wild for my palate. The food has usually been perfectly fine, but with very little to recommend it as anything special.

Dropping in to Ajaccio.

[angelmavmurdock]

Our Little Secret: Part Eight - A.R.

LAST OF THE SERIES

Word count: Summary: 5 years later...

-

WARNINGS: MENTIONS OF MURDER AND SEXUAL ASSAULT (basically everything Arvin and the preacher did in the movie is touched on).

-

5 years later

"Well, y/n, your application is outstanding. We'd love for you to work here." The headteacher spoke to me from across his desk.

"Really? Wow! Thank you so much!" I beamed.

"The new school term starts in August and the kids really need a well-taught, professional, young teacher who can help them grow as children. I think you're perfect for the job."

"Thank you so much, that means a lot. I can't wait to start."

Teaching. Teaching year 1. It was my dream to work with kids and now finally after 4 years of college I could do it.

I've been living in Cincinnati since I left high school 5 years ago. I needed to get out of that town as soon as I could. Everywhere I went it would remind me of Lenora...and Arvin.

I kept in touch with Emma, though. We still chatted at least a few times a month on the phone and she told me every time how much she missed Lenora and how much she missed Arvin. Though it was easier with Lenora because she knew what had happened to her - well, not fully - but she knew that she was gone. With Arvin, she didn't know why he was gone, what he was doing or had done and if he was still even alive. I didn't tell her about what Arvin told me on our last night. I promised him I wouldn't.

But every time I called her it was like I was being set back on my journey of grief and getting over him. I was with a lovely guy called William and we've been together since my last year of college. He didn't know about Lenora or Arvin or the Russell's.

But he did come with me to my father's funeral a few months ago.

Daddy had gotten worse and worse since being in New Coal Creek. We thought he was going to get better once we got him into hospital but it didn't make a difference. And when I moved to Cincinnati, I hardly ever saw him and Ma and I's row got in between Daddy and I's relationship.

So I went to his funeral feeling like the worst daughter on the planet. And I felt as if I was losing everyone I had ever truly loved.

Will was lovely and he worked in the same position Daddy used to work at. We had a house together and we lived there comfortably. It's much like how I grew up living. A big house with no one to fill it with. We didn't even have a dog or a cat because of his allergies. We were engaged to be married and he had bought me a very expensive and big diamond ring which was nice but I had no interest in.

Of course, I accepted. But as soon as he asked me the million dollar question, the first person that popped into my head was Arvin. And then Lenora. And then Daddy.

Wedding planning was very stressful when you don't have many friends or family around to help.

And after my meeting with the headteacher I was heading into town to find my wedding dress.

I was dreading it.

Ma was coming down to help and we'd meet at the place.

I thanked the headteacher and walked out excitedly, ready to start my teaching career. I got in my car and I drove into town. The closer I got, the worse I felt. I didn't want to get a wedding dress and I didn't want to get it with Ma either.

I parked outside of the dress shop and reluctantly got out. The shop was extravagant and elegant. I dreaded going inside. But my feet took me in as my brain lusted for home.

"y/n!" Ma exclaimed, shuffling up to me, already carrying dresses in her arms.

"Ma, hi." She nearly winded me as she embraced me.

I lightly put my hands around her but she tore away quickly.

"This place is just wonderful! I've already found a few you'd look great in!"

"Ma, I'd love if I was the one who would get to pick out my own weddin' dress." I raised a brow.

She sighed, "Fine. Yes, of course. Go into the changin' rooms and I'll follow."

I rolled my eyes and walked to one of the rooms where a consultant with a pearly white smile greeted me.

"Miss y/l/n, lovely to meet you. I'm Angela and I'll be helpin' you today! Are these the dresses you'd like to try?" She chirped, referring to the dresses in my mothers arms.

I sighed, "Yes."

"Great! Come on in."

-

I stood on the podium in front of the wall-length mirror with the fourth wedding dress on. It was a column dress that fell straight down with only a slight cinch at the waist. It had long sleeves and a high neck and lace covered the bodice. It was not my style.

"You look beautiful!" Ma complimented.

"I don't like it, Ma." I shook my head, twisting and turning to look at it.

"It's your fourth dress and you haven't liked any of them."

"They're just...not my style." I sighed.

Ma rolled her eyes and stood next to me, "It's not about your style. It's about looking gorgeous on your wedding day."

I furrowed my brows, "It's my wedding dress and it's my wedding. I want to love my dress."

"Well you are not the one paying for it." She brushed over my hips.

I felt rage bubble inside of me.

"Fine. We'll take this one then." I stated with a scoff and returned to the changing room in a huff.

-

"Okay, your fitting will be next month and that's when you'll get your dress home, alright?"

"Thank you." I smiled weakly at the consultant.

"You're welcome. Have a nice day!"

We waved goodbye and began walking out the shop. I placed my white gloves on and adjusted the white hat ornamented with a flower on my curled hair. I smoothed out my white and pale blue polka-dotted dress and adjusted the sky blue belt around my waist. Ma opened the door for me and I thanked her before leaving and hearing the click of my heels on the ground.

"y/n, I won't keep you long, but...you're a woman now. You're 23, you're getting married, you live away from home, you're getting a job. You're a woman. But just because you are older, does not mean I stop being your mother. I will always be your mother whether you like it or not and you have to treat me as such." Ma said, folding her arms over her red, floral tea dress.

I took a deep breath and looked at her.

"You took away my freedom when I was a teenager and because of that, I lost time with - not only Lenora - but Arvin, too. I don't know where he is now. No one does."

Just as I was about to talk about our last night I remembered she still didn't know I snuck out.

"I lost my best friend and the love of my life in the space of weeks and you kept me locked away until there was no one left. I'll never forgive you for that." I said, my head held high.

Ma took a few seconds to process the information and then nodded.

"I'm sorry you feel that way. I had no idea. I love you, y/n. I will always love you, alright?" She held my shoulders.

I swallowed and nodded, not looking at her.

"Congratulations on your new job, honey. I'll see you soon." She leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek then turned and walked away.

I took a few deep breaths as I watched her, guilt and anger washing away gradually. Part of me didn't want to go home. I wanted to escape for a while. I didn't want to have to go back and sit alone in a huge house I didn't like and I didn't want to wait up for a phone call from Will. I wanted to be by myself. I needed to. I looked around and at my car before deciding I'd go into town for a while.

I left the car and stuffed the keys further into my handbag. I clicked down the pavement until I reached the main road of shops, leading to a lake and a park where families would walk and eat ice-cream.

It was summer, so the sun was out in full, the trees swaying in the warm breeze and the sound of a few buskers playing accompanied by the noise of town people roaming around filled the warm air.

I smiled and said good mornin' to people as I walked by, waving at a few kids and cooing at some babies. I'd never really spent much time in town. I was always working or at the house with Will. It felt good to be out and alone. I wandered around, looking in some shop windows and wishing for the dresses but deciding against it.

It wasn't until I passed a shop and briefly glanced in it that I actually stopped to look closely. I took a double take and stood in front of the window, looking up at the displayed mannequin. It was a white blouse paired with a white tennis skirt and blue ribbon tied around the neck. A fond grin grew on my face. It reminded me of high school. Though I never wore mine on my neck, I still wanted it. I never wore ribbons in my hair anymore.

I couldn't help myself but go in. I entered the seemingly quiet shop and found the nearest shop consultant.

"Hi! I love that ribbon you have on show, is it for sale?" I asked with a smile.

The woman looked almost confused, "It's a ribbon...it's for decoration?"

"Oh...well, I'd still love to buy it. Name a price." I smiled again.

She looked at me dumbfounded for a moment but then shook it off and walked to the mannequin. She untied the silk and walked back over with it, placing it into my hands.

"It's free." She smiled.

"Thank you so much. I love it." I grinned.

"Have a nice day, now."

"I will." I beamed, walking out the store.

I felt giddy with nostalgia and excitement as I pulled my hair back under my hat and tied it with the ribbon, giving it a delicate bow. I checked it in my compact mirror and smiled with joy. I felt closer to myself.

I continued walking down the road and then to the lake. I stood and leaned against the railing, watching the elegant swans float by, their white feathers contrasting beautifully against the dark blue of the water. I watched them for a while, probably for about 10 minutes before I felt a light tug on my dress.

I got a fright and looked down where a young girl was standing next to me. I immediately smiled with relief and stood back.

"Hello," I waved.

"You're very beautiful, ma'am." She complimented in a strong southern accent.

"Why thank you, Mrs." I grinned.

"Would you like some bread to feed the swans?" She offered, holding up a chunk of bread.

"I would love some. Thank you." I graciously accepted the bread, holding it in my gloved hands.

The girls' mother called her back. She looked up at me and waved.

"Bye!" She said, before running off to her mum.

I smiled and laughed a little before turning back to the swans. I broke a piece of bread off and threw it in the water. I threw some more pieces in and watched as they all swam to the food, fighting over who got what.

Once I was out of bread, I sighed, leaning against the railing by my forearms. I took in my surroundings. I looked to my left where children were playing with each other as parents stood or sat on benches, resting. A few elderly couples walked by, hand in hand, arm in arm, chatting about everything and nothing.

A girl on a pink bike caught my eye. She was gorgeous and sat atop the seat with joy and pride as she rode by. My eyes followed her as she rode behind me and kept going.

But my eyes shifted focus when she rode by someone.

Someone who looked eerily familiar.

He had brown, woven, checkered trousers on and a white dress shirt with sleeves that were rolled up to his elbows. Brown suspenders hung over his shoulders and a white vest peeked out from the unbuttoned shirt.

But the dark eyes with the brown, slicked back hair and the cigarette in his mouth gave him away.

He was already looking at me, however. Like he had been for hours. I turned slightly, feeling my heart beat rise as he threw his cigarette on the ground.

It can't be him. It's just a lookalike. It's because I've been thinking about him today. It's not him. He's not here.

He walked closer to me but stopped about 2 metres away, hands in pockets with his chest rising and falling as rapidly as mine.

I could feel my chest heave against my dress as I stared at him, trying to decipher if that was truly him or if I was just dreaming.

"y/n?" He finally said, unsure of whether I was who he thought I was.

"A-Arvin?" I whispered.

A smile began to grow on his face and I knew it was him. It was him. Arvin.

I dropped my handbag and ran towards him, throwing my arms around his neck a our bodies collided, nearly setting us back.

His arms wrapped around my waist and lifted me up, making my legs pop up. He still smelled the same and he still felt the same. He felt like home.

"I can't believe you're here." I whispered, feeling a tear fall down my face.

He placed me back on my feet and I looked at him, cupping his face with my hands. He held them, stroking my thumbs with a smile.

"Why are you here?" He asked softly.

"I-I live here. I have since...since high school." I gulped.

He raised his brows, "I've been here for four years, y/n."

My mouth dropped open, "What?!"

He grinned, his hands squeezing mine, "We've both been livin' here for four years but not ran into each other."

I stuttered, "Wh-what? How is that- oh my gosh." I laughed, bringing my hands away from his face.

"I can't believe you're here, Arvin." I gulped, my chin quivering slightly.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again." I bit my lip, trying to stop myself from crying in public.

"Hey, shh." He brought me into him, cradling my head against his chest.

"We're here. I'm here." He said softly.

-

We decided to walk around the park to catch up which seemed both amazing but alien at the same time. We were still us but we had changed so much.

"Still wearin' ribbons I see." He grinned.

I laughed, "Don't make fun of me."

"I'm not. I always loved them." He smiled.

I blushed and looked to the ground.

"So, why Cincinnati?" Arvin asked.

I sighed, "I couldn't live there anymore after school." I gulped.

"It was just too hard. And I got accepted into college here so I decided to move."

"You'll be finished school now, right?" Arvin queried.

"Yeah. I just finished and I actually just got a job today, so." I smiled.

"That's amazin'. I'm happy for you." He grinned.

"Thank you..."

We walked in silence for a little longer than I would have hoped. But he broke it again.

"Why're you in town today, then? Considering I spend every day here and I've never seen you leads me to believe you don't come here often." He chuckled.

I nodded, "Yeah, I never get the chance too. But I was uh...I was actually in town for a dress fitting." I coughed, looking down at the floor.

"Goin' somewhere nice?" He asked.

I scoffed a laugh and looked up at him, "My wedding."

He stared at me in surprise, eyes wide and mouth open, soaking in the information.

"Y-you're engaged?" He croaked.

I nodded, removing my left glove to show the sturdy ring that sat on my finger.

"W-wow. I mean...he must be rich if you got a ring like that." He swallowed, looking down at his shoes.

"I mean...yeah, I guess." I shrugged awkwardly, putting the glove back on.

"How long have you been-"

"Uh, since last year. We met in college. He was doin' finance and Daddy actually put in a good word for him and he got his old job."

"He got your daddy's old job?" Arvin repeated.

"Yeah...yeah once uh...once he passed, they needed someone to fill his shoes so." I gulped.

Arvin stopped, "Your Dad passed? When?"

I chewed the inside of my lip, "Earlier this year."

"y/n, I am so, so sorry." He placed a hand on my arm.

"No, don't be silly. It's fine. He just never got well after he took a turn in Coal Creek." I said, beginning to walk again.

"I remember how sick he was..."

My chest fluttered. It was as if our past was an alternate universe. Like we never really lived it. It was just a different version of ourselves that did. Because now, we were here and it didn't feel the same. Not completely.

"So...should I ask how you ended up here?" I asked cautiously.

He tilted his head from side to side as if trying to figure an answer out himself.

"I don't think you'd like the details." He stated, reaching into his pocket for another cigarette.

"Did you..." I stopped, looking around us before lowering my voice.

"Did you do what you implied you would?" I asked, looking into his seemingly innocent eyes.

He inhaled some smoke and then exhaled, turning away for my sake.

"I did what I implied." He stated simply.

My stomach turned. I kept chewing my lip with nervousness, looking into his eyes. He didn't seem like a killer. He wasn't a bad person. I knew him. I knew who he was. And a murderer was not in his description.

I wanted to know about it. About him. I needed to know. So, impulsively - a word I hadn't used since our last night in Coal Creek - I invited him back with me.

"Would you come home with me? I live 15 minutes out of town and I'd really like to talk but I don't think a public park is appropriate." I said in a hushed tone.

He thought about it before nodding, "Sure."

-

The drive to my house was a little awkward. The radio played at a low hum while we sat in near silence, only the sound of the wind and other cars passing by filling the air.

"Used to be me drivin' you everywhere." Arvin commented with a chuckle.

I smiled, "Oh, how the tables have turned."

He laughed and so did I, then we resumed our mutual silence.

When we got to Will and I's estate, I drove through the gates of the house to the driveway where at the top, a large house sat - much like the one in Coal Creek.

"Our drivin' might've changed but this certainly hasn't." Arvin sighed, almost as if he was disappointed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked with a raised brow.

He shrugged, "Feels all too familiar, that's all." He said before getting out the car.

I screwed my face up at his comment but decided to let it slide. I got out of the car and locked it before following Arvin who seemed as if he knew the place, up the steps of the porch.

"Is your fiancé home?" He asked the ground, hands in pockets.

I shook my head, "He's out of town for a weekend with work."

I stuck the key into the lock of the wide, white front door and opened it. I walked inside then held it open for Arvin.

He walked in and looked around, taking in his new surroundings.

The hallway was wide and white, only paintings filling the wall space and a large staircase to the left winded up to the next floor.

"Wow...I mean, you've done well for yourself." Arvin scoffed a laugh.

"Thank you." I smiled weakly, taking my hat from my head.

He looked up at the high ceilings, appreciating the chandelier that hung above the doorway.

"Come on through. Do you want tea? Coffee?" I offered, walking down the hallway and into the open kitchen/living room area while taking my gloves off.

He walked in behind me, looking around the new room he was in before following me into the kitchen.

"How about a scotch?" He asked with a smirk.

I smiled, "That'd be appropriate, I think."

I got the crystal decanter and two glasses from the tray that sat atop the kitchen table. I poured us two glasses and then handed Arvin one. I brought the decanter with us as we migrated to the couch.

I slipped my heels off before sitting down, my dress puffing and fanning out over my lap. Arvin sat opposite me, his ankle resting on his knee comfortably.

"So..." I started.

"So." He repeated.

"I think I might have more questions about you than you do about me." I smiled weakly.

He nodded, "Probably right."

I took a deep breath before asking any questions.

"Who got Lenora pregnant?" I asked.

I thought that would be a good starting point. It was what started everything.

"Reverend Teagardin. The new preacher that came to town." Arvin answered.

My eyes widened, "What?!"

"He took Lenora - and other girls - into the woods," Arvin began to explain.

He stared at the crystal in his hands and the liquid floating inside of it. He didn't once look up at me.

"He'd make them pray before they got started and he'd take advantage of them."

"Didn't he have-"

"A wife? Yeah. But he was abusin' her at home, too." He gulped.

"Oh my god. That's horrible." I sighed, my stomach feeling uneasy.

He finally looked up at me and I could feel his curiosity burn into me.

"Do you...do you still talk to Grandma?" He asked, his voice slightly shaky.

I smiled and nodded, "Yeah. I talked to her last week."

A slight smile grew on his face with relief, "How is she?"

"She's okay. She always talks about you and Lenora. Mostly you now, though. I mean, I never told her a thing about our last night and she still doesn't know about Lenora's pregnancy. She knows just as much as when you left."

He licked his teeth and nodded, "Thanks for keepin' in touch."

"Of course. I said I would, didn't I?" I grinned.

He nodded with a smile.

"So how about you? Livin' here in this big house with a big-shot fiance. Must be nice." He quirked his brow, taking a sip of his drink.

He was trying to pry something out of me, I could feel it.

"It's good. He takes care of me and we're happy." I stated.

"It's not boring?"

"No." I lied.

He tilted his head, "I can tell when you're lyin', y/n."

I scoffed, "You haven't seen me in five years and you think you can just come back here and tell me you know me so well? Don't start with that bullshit, Arvin."

He furrowed his brows, "Are you mad at me? What did I do?"

I rolled my eyes, "You don't know me, Arvin. So don't act like you do."

I sat my glass down and swiftly stood up from the couch. He did the same.

"I might not have seen you in years but I think I know you better than anyone on this planet. Am I right?" He asked, watching as I paced up and down in front of him.

I scoffed and shook my head.

"You're tellin' me that this guy- this guy - knows you better than I do?" Arvin lifted a picture of Will and I up to demonstrate.

"Yes. He does."

"Bullshit." He spat.

"You don't get to say shit like that Arvin. You know why?" I challenged, standing close to him with my hands on my hips.

"Why?" He retorted.

"Because you left! You left to murder someone! You'd have rather been a killer livin' with guilt for the rest of your life than to be with me." I shouted.

I didn't notice how close we were until he laughed and I could feel his familiar breath on my face.

"I had to do it. That preacher was no good. And neither was that cops sister and her dirt-bag husband." He snapped.

I blinked at him in confusion.

"Wh-what do you mean the cops sister and her husband?" I asked in a soft tone.

He looked away from me and gulped.

I gasped and held my hands over my mouth, "Did- did you-"

He grabbed and held my hands, "They were gonna kill me, y/n. They would take hitchhikers and murder them to take pictures with their dead bodies. I wasn't about to be the next one."

I widened my eyes, "They did what?!"

"And then I got caught out by the cop...his sister was the wife. He followed me to Knockemstiff and tried to shoot me with a shot gun. I had to, y/n. He was gonna kill me I-"

I could see the tears and the panic in his eyes. I just reached my hands up and wrapped them around his shoulders, bringing him into my arms. His face went into my neck and I could feel tears drip onto my skin. I threaded my fingers through his hair.

"I'm a bad person, y/n. I killed four people..." He sniffed.

"Arvin, look at me." I tugged him from my neck and cupped his cheeks.

"You are not a bad person. You were just caught up in some twisted shit and you had no other way. You are a good person, Arvin." I said sincerely, feeling tears spring into my own eyes.

"I lost you because of it, though I just- I can't-" He cried.

"I know." I sniffled, feeling a tear drip down my face.

I looked at him; teary, eyes swollen and red, complexion pale. I didn't know what else to do.

"You're a good person, Arvin." I said again, leaning up on my tip-toes to kiss his cheek.

He hummed at my touch and I kissed his other cheek, "You did nothin' wrong."

I went back to his right cheek and kissed it again like I needed to feel his skin on my lips once more.

Just as I went to kiss his other cheek, he leaned forward and caught my lips with his instead.

I gasped, pulling away from his body and looking at him, touching my fingers over my lips.

"I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. You're an engaged woman and I-"

I launched forward, wrapping my arms around his neck and crashing my lips to his. It took a second to make sure it was real. But as his hands slid effortlessly onto my waist, I knew.

"You're the love of my life, Arvin. You always have been and always will be." I whispered, pulling away briefly.

He stared into my eyes but didn't say a word. But I knew what he was thinking. He kissed me again, our lips moved over each other's with fervour and passion, the excitement and thrill of tasting each other again for the first time in years. In too long. He felt and tasted the same but more mature and wiser.

He pushed me back by my waist until my back hit the wall. I let out a moan of surprise and pleasure. He smirked against my lips before devouring me again. His tongue slipped easily into my mouth and I hummed, fully tasting him. My fingers ran through and tugged at his hair, and his hands ran up and down my sides and my back.

His touch felt nostalgic but euphoric and in the heat of the moment, everything was perfect.

"Your lips taste amazing," He said breathlessly between sloppy kisses.

"So do yours." I replied.

He wrapped his hands around my back and skilfully unzipped my dress. It fell to the floor in a pool around my ankles. I brought my hands to his shoulders as our kiss got heavier, teasing his suspenders before sliding them off his arms. I began unbuttoning his shirt in a hurried fashion as his lips started trailing down my jaw to my neck. I was finally able to push the fabric from his shoulders and then pulling his vest over his head.

And as his hands came down to my thighs to lift me up and around his torso, and as he carried me up and into my bedroom; I knew that he was it. He was the person I was destined to be with. He was the love of my life.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

5 years later

(Play ‘That Old Feeling’ by Doris Day now)

I placed the needle carefully onto the record and turned it up.

I walked through the house and got to the porch where I looked out and saw Arvin and Jack playing catch. I stood with a grin as my husband and 4 year old played enthusiastically - the old baseball still intact and very much in use.

I crouched down and placed the 2 year old who rested on my hip, onto the ground. She wobbled slightly but quickly got up and running. She made her way to the stairs which I quickly intervened and grabbed her hand to help her down onto the soil.

"Go get Daddy, Charlotte. Go!" I laughed, pointing to Arvin.

She squealed happily and ran towards her Dad, arms flailing clumsily as she sprinted. Arvin stopped the game of catch briefly as he saw his daughter coming towards him.

"Hey princess!" He grinned, crouching to his knees and grabbing his daughter.

He lifted her up and sat her on his knee, handing her the ball.

"Throw the ball to Jack, Charlotte!" Arvin prompted, pointing to the blonde haired boy who stood confidently.

She babbled a few words and then threw the ball onto the ground. At least she attempted. I whooped and clapped as I walked over.

"Good job, baby!" I praised in a baby voice.

Arvin stood up, letting Charlotte run around with her brother for a while, the dog joining them, enthusiastically bounding around them.

"Hey, handsome." I grinned as I reached Arvin.

"Hey, beautiful." He smiled.

He wrapped an arm around my waist and kissed me, tongue briefly slipping into my mouth. I hummed in surprise and pulled away.

"Careful, Arvin or you'll be makin' another one of those tonight." I giggled.

We stood side by side, an arm wrapped around each other's back as we watched Jack attempt to play catch with his sister.

"Why don't we make another one, then?" Arvin suggested.

I looked at him with raised brows, "If you want to push one out of your ass, then by all means let's do it."

He chuckled, "I'm serious, y/n."

I turned to face him and he wrapped his arms around my waist while I played with the bottom of his hair.

"Another baby girl or boy? With a dog?" I laughed.

"Yeah...I mean it's crazy but it's our crazy." He smirked.

"Hmm, depends how nice you treat me tonight." I bit my lip.

He held back a shit-eating grin, "Oh...you're so gettin' knocked up tonight."

I gasped, smacking his chest with a laugh.

"I love you." He smiled.

"I love you, too."

"Forever?" He quipped.

"And ever." I smiled.

And we meant it.

-

A/N: oh my god. that's the mini-series done! i loved writing for Arvin it was fun with the southern dialogue and the 60s time period! i hope you all enjoyed reading as much as i enjoyed writing. If you'd like to request any one shots, head over to my instagram @tomholland1510 to request!

ALSO!! bonus points to anyone who understands the easter eggs in the kids' names! do they seem familiar? ;)

-

{Tags: @notandordinaryprincess96 @imagine-yourself-happy​}

[chiwhorei]

habit

pairing: s. tendou x catholic fem!reader

genre: smut, 18+ minors dni

word count: 1.2k

warnings: drug use (pot), dubcon, sacrilege- this is a total fuck you to my catholic upbringing and i’m so sorry (no i’m not)

a/n: there’s no beta on this, also absolutely no explanation other than i’ve been stuck in a rut of writers block and am tying desperately to crawl back out. This is part of HQHQ’s monthly server collab, you can check out all of the other amazing pieces here! this is dedicated to the love of my life and fellow deeply repressed catholic @undermattsun

hymn: dirty little secret by: all american rejects

The weeks bleed by with practiced pattern, school work, bible study. Rinse and repeat. Sundays are for 10 AM mass at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, the church you have knelt in for two decades. You take communion and sing hymns squished in between your parents.

If it’s the first Sunday of the month, you have stale donuts after and make small talk with fellow congregants. Every other week you are shuffled to a stiff brunch where your parents fuss over Father’s homily. You always remember to listen just enough during mass to posit something vague so they know you had been paying attention.

Wednesday evenings are ear-marked for youth group with the other young, spritely Catholics of your university. Two hours of acoustic guitars and promises to your Lord and Savior ring in your battered ears as you bid goodbyes to your friends. While the rest of your youth group heads to the cafe a few blocks away, you head for the opposite direction. The designated laundromat parking lot comes in to view only a five minute walk from the church, and a beat up mustang is outlined in the retreating sunset.

As you climb into the passenger seat a long, bandaged set of fingers turn your face, Tendou does a once over, patting your cheek and pulling a cigarette from behind his ear, the mess of red hair gleaming in the low light still hanging on the horizon. He revs the car to life, rattling abjectly as he pulls out onto the street and towards his apartment.

“So, does your immortal soul feel all nice and clean again, princess?”

Sundays are for mass, Wednesday evenings are for youth group. Wednesday nights are for the heady fog of pot and choking back sobs whilst brutally pounded by Tendou Satori.

“Satori, s-slow down. If you give me a hickey my parents are going to kill me.” You huff from your position on his lap, both knees digging into the decades old shag on either side of his thighs, you feel a damp spot on your shin. Probably bong water.

His mouth was on you the second he unlocked his front door, pushing you inside unceremoniously and laughing as you stumbled. Always the gentleman.

You had made it to the living room floor in a trail of your own clothing, leaving you in only a pair of cotton panties, the apartment was dimly lit and dense with smoke. You always wonder how he can get away with his whole apartment covered inch deep in the skunky smell, but his complex doesn't really seem one to check up on the occupants anyway.

Tendou licks a long stripe over your collarbone, blowing back along the same path to watch you shiver, “C’mon princess, doesn’t having a stick up your ass all the time get exhausting?”

You roll your eyes at the comment, knowing he likes it when he can rile you up. Instead of gracing him with a retort, your fingers move to the blunt carded in between two fingers. Tendou lets out a disapproving tsk, bringing it to his own lips instead. His other hand comes to rest under your jaw as he pulls from the blunt. Tendou brings a calloused finger up to pop open your lips. You lean in dutifully, letting the smoke pass from his mouth to yours in an almost kiss. You cough slightly when you inhale, still not totally used to the burning feeling.

“Such a precious little thing you are, y/n. Your father must be so proud,” Tendou takes another drag, inhaling fulling and blowing the smoke into your scrunched up face, “I wonder what he’d do if he knew you were with me right now.”

You’re hot in the cheeks now, feeling every bit feather-light and obnoxiously weighed down.

“What he doesn’t know can’t hurt him.” Your response is weak, blood turning to syrup in your veins as the minutes pass by. Sixty seconds come in the slowest intervals known to man but rush forward just the same.

Your back is flush against the nasty carpet in the next instant, dragging uncomfortably against the stains of God-knows-what. Tendou’s supply is always too strong for someone so inexperienced, it makes you much more compliant when he gets you under him. You try to push yourself up to regain any control you can, but your wrists are trapped in one large hand. He looks over your form, flushed and panting. The lines are blurring in your head, as they always seem to do when trapped within Tendou’s orbit.

“What he doesn’t know is sending you straight to hell.”

You’re both deftly aware of what this arrangement is. There’s no love in the closing space between your two bodies. This isn’t the beginning of a sacrament with a pretty white veil and the pointed roof of a cathedral. This is nothing more than a baptism of writhing, sweaty bodies coming together in only the way a husband and wife should. Tendou is your most perverse habit.

“Oh, this is new.” Your captor notices the shiny silver around your ring finger, the band still fresh against your skin. Your father had slid the velvet box across the dinner table on your birthday last week. His words fall heavy on your shoulder still.

A reminder to maintain virtuous. A promise to your future husband.

Any attempt to speak is quelled by the feeling of Tendou’s lips wrapped around your finger. You feel his teeth scraping against your skin, pulling off the gifted silver with a pop from his sinful lips. His eyes hold you down captive, scanning your reaction from where you lie dizzy below him.

The ring peeks out from its home in between Tendou’s teeth, a devious smile pulls on the corners of his lips. He hums softly, head dipping back down to the hot skin of your neck to trace patterns against the collecting sweat. You feel it against you, the cold metal a constant reminder of just how wrong this is. However wrong though, in your lust and drug clouded haze, it’s ten times hotter.

Tendou hears your soft mewls below him, begging for his next move. Hands find your hips, pushing into the skin with wandering hands. His mouth is trailing lower, tracing around the curve of your breast and flicking your nipple with a growl. The teasing is enough to make you crazy, you just want him to do something.

Tendou chuckles darkly above you, and you realize you had voiced your desires in a whine instead of where you thought they had died in your throat. His lips hover over your own, pressing the ring past your lips to sit in between your teeth. He draws back with a sickening smile.

“Good girl, now keep that there while I fuck your little pussy. You can save your prayers for church on Sunday.”

Tendou is a hard habit to kick, especially with the unceremonious removal of your slick-covered panties and the way he prods at your aching hole with little regard to wether you’re ready for him or not. You always squeeze down on him so well when you’re high, begging for him in strings of tears and muffled pleas around the sickening symbol of chastity. You squeal when he presses into you, cock hard and heavy. He’s never gentle. This isn’t the marital bed you’d always been taught to wait for, it’s the grimy, stained carpet of the worst man you’ve ever met.

If your parents ever found out about your little habit, you’d be dragged to the nearest convent and given a new one.

all writing is dymphnasprose’s original content, please do not repost or modify. do no read my content as asmr.©️

[chemist-ana]

Chapter 10- The Company Picnic— Sams POV

Book: The Nanny Affair

Characters: Sam, Ana Schuyler (MC), Robin, Mickey and Mason, Sofia, Mason Sr., Vivian,

Pairing: Sam Dalton (male) x Ana Schuyler (MC)

Rating: 18+

Content Warning: NSFW, Sexual Language, Adult Language, Sexual Situations

A/N This is a brand new series that I was inspired to write. I am going to go chapter by chapter in Sam Daltons POV. This story is completely inspired by Choices The Nanny Affair. I have used most of the dialogue from the actual story, anything written in BOLD was taken directly from the book and therefore is not my writing- credit to our good friends over at Pixelberry! All characters are credit to Pixelberry except for my OCs

Summary: When you let your guard down at the company picnic, will you be ambushed by friendly fire?

Word Count: 4740

Tag List: @txemrn @secretaryunpaid @lifeaskim @aussieez @pixie88 @thefrenchiemama @sfb123 @mainstreetreader @shewillreadyou @khoicesbyk @lady-calypso @choicesficwriterscreations @somersetmummy @melalicious8383

Robin stood there, his eyes flicking between Ana and I with a knowing look.

Fuck.

I run my hands through my hair, trying to gather my bearings.

“Robin, what are you doing here? And why is Sofia calling you?” Wait, why is Sofia calling him… I have my cell on me…

“She was looking for you. Do I even want to know what you two were up to?” His eyes narrow at me.

“We were just working!” Ana says breathlessly. Not exactly the perfect cover, Ana.

“You know you don’t actually work here, right Ana?” Robin crosses his arms and widens his stance, his frown deepening.

“Sam was showing me the prototypes. That count as work…” Her voice has grown quiet.

“We don’t need to explain ourselves to you, Robin. Did you finish the press release for the Milan breach?” My anger evident in my tone.

“I’ve been a little busy, but apparently I’m not the only one.”

Fucking drop it Rob.

“Enough. If you have something to say, say it. If not, then get back to work.” My eyes narrow at him in challenge. I watch as he turns on his heel to leave the lab, pausing briefly at the door and looking over his shoulder.

“I almost forgot. Sofia had a message for you, Ana. She said since you were doing this office tour today, you should come to the company picnic this weekend.”

“Really? I thought she wanted me fired.” Her eyes grow wide as she looks between Robin and I.

“It’s probably a ‘keep your enemies closer’ type of thing. She already told Mom and Dad about the invite, so they’re expecting you to be there.”

I clench my jaw, fighting back my ever increasing desire to punch that look off of his face. God I have been wanting to do that to him a lot recently... I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose when I hear the door close to the lab, leaving Ana and I alone again.

The silence is palpable as I look at her, she is looking down as her fingers twist together.

“Ana, are you okay?”

“Sam, we have to be more careful. We’re lucky Robin was the one who walked in on us. It could’ve been much worse.” Her voice quiet as she continues to watch her hands.

“You’re right. It won’t happen again.” I don’t know how lucky we are that it was Robin… “You don’t have to come to the picnic, you know.”

Her emerald eyes lift to mine as she studies my face for a moment.

“If you… think it’s best I don’t-“ She takes a step away from me, looking back down at her hands. I reach out and gently place my hand on her arm.

“That’s not what I meant. I want you there. Against my better instincts… I always want you wherever I am.” Close to me.

Those words get her attention as she slowly rises her eyes to mine. I hear her breath catch and it sends a reminder of the passion that we just shared only moments before.

“Okay then, I’ll be there.” She gives me a small smile.

I return her smile as our eyes linger for a moment before my mind wanders to a less important question... Why was Sofia on the phone with Robin? I reach into my pocket and check my phone, no missed calls or texts. Weird…

I spend the rest of the day thinking of Ana, spread out before me on the lab table, the sound of pleasure that escaped her lips, and the sweet taste of her arousal on mine.

***

I wake up early the next morning, as I walk quietly into the kitchen, I pause outside of the door to Ana’s room. God how I want to just bring you into my bed and get lost in you… I shake my head, fuck these thoughts need to disappear… I need to escape while everyone is still asleep. I write a quick note and leave it on the counter- Went into the office early- will be home early to take the boys out for a treat. -Sam. Good enough.

I run my hands through my hair as I ride the elevator down to the lobby, Carter is waiting at the curb, always ready.

When I enter into my office the sun is just breaking above the skyline. The building is eerily quiet as I sit down in my chair, turning my attention to the waking of the city as the sunlight casts its morning shadows.

Suddenly I hear the door to my office open.

“How did I know you would be here already?” I close my eyes. Robin.

I hear him sit down in the leather chair on the other side of my desk and I turn my chair to face him, a smug look on his face.

“Sammy, what in the actual fuck is going on with you and Ana?”

I take a sharp inhale, “First of all, there is nothing going on between us. Second of all, even if there was, it would be none of your fucking business.”

“You are really going to lie to me? What I walked in on yesterday didn’t look like ‘nothing’.”

“Yeah, well, you know what happens when people make assumptions.”

“Sam, I thought by now you would understand that there are consequences to your actions.”

“Robin, save the kingly speech for someone who gives a damn. There is nothing going on between us.”

“You’re going to hurt her, and when all the chips fall, she is going to have nothing, and you are still going to have everything.”

I stare at him for a moment, biting the inside of my cheek.

“Why were you on the phone with Sofia?”

“I told you Sam, she was trying to find you.” He points a finger at me, before he shakes his head and stands up. “You better figure your shit out.”

Without another word he turns around and strides out of my office.

It’s going to be a long day.

***

I bring a glass of water to my lips for a sip as I type out a few quick texts, and alert Carter to be ready with the car in five minutes. Now where are the boys?

I make my way down the hall, and knock softly on Ana’s partially open door.

“Ana, have you seen the boys-“

“Dad, look! Ana’s wearing the outfit we picked out!” Mason pushes the glasses up his nose with a smile.

“Oh, wow. You look… nice.” My eyes flash as they run down the exposed skin of her delicate neck and her long legs. I swallow down a surge of desire.

“Just nice?” She asks with a coy smile.

I glance over at the twins who are now lost in a conversation between themselves before I lean in and the smell of jasmine fills my senses.

“Definitely not ‘just nice’, but I’m trying to be good.” My eyes flick to the twins.

“I think I like you better when you let yourself be bad.” Her emerald eyes darken and a memory flashes in my mind of the soft whimpers that escape her lips when I touch her.

I clear my throat, breaking myself of my trance as I stand up and look to the twins.

“Right. Is everyone ready to go in here?”

“I am!” Mason cheers running out of the door.

“Wait, I forgot my socks!” Mickey calls as he follows close behind.

My eyes linger on Ana before I reluctantly turn away.

***

Ana and I walk side by side down the large path in Central Park, the boys follow close behind.

“What’s the problem, you two? You don’t like picnics?” We stop and turn towards the boys who are kicking at the rocks on the pavement.

“Normal picnics, yeah. But who knows what Aunt Sofia has done to this one?” Mickey whines as he drags his feet.

“Boys, I promise you, Aunt Sofia didn’t have any part in planning this picnic.” I fight back the urge to laugh.

“But, we still have to follow her rules, don’t we?” Mason looks at Ana with a pleading look.

“You can still have fun too.” She gives him an encouraging smile. “Besides, there’ll be so much going on, I bet she won’t even notice if you sneak an ice cream cone. Assuming your dad says it’s okay, of course.”

“Really?” Mickey breaks out into a big grin.

“Sure. But just the one treat. We don’t want you to get a sugar overload.”

That seems to get them moving, because they run ahead. Ana and I share a look before we continue walking.

“It’s beautiful… I can see our building from here!” Mason shouts as we round the corner and the field comes into view.

My eyes meet Sofia’s as she starts walking towards us.

“Sam, you’ve got to see this. It’s accounting versus legal on the badminton court!” Her eyes are bright, you are unusually cheery today. Than her gaze falls on Ana, and I see a flash of something in her eyes, but it’s gone before I can tell what it is.

“Well, don’t you look adorable. You always know how to turn it on when it matters most, don’t you?” I resist the urge to close my eyes and sigh. Adorable, really Sofia?

“I try.” Ana gives her a confident smile.

“Can you also try to keep the boys from getting too dirty or being too loud or eating any sugar or running near the adults? Sam and I will be right back.” Sofia grabs my arm and leads me towards the badminton courts. I glance back at Ana who is herding the boys in the opposite direction.

“I am glad she decided to come today.” Sofia squeezes my arm. “Robin mentioned she had some hesitation.” My stomach sinks as I think about Robin… did he say anything to her?

“Yeah, so legal vs accounting huh?” I say effectively changing the topic.

***

After laughing a little too hard watching the accounting team get slaughtered by legal, I hear my dad’s voice calling over a megaphone.

“Welcome to the Annual Dalton Enterprises Company Picnic! I hope you’re ready for some good old-fashioned fun! We’ve got everything from giant Jenga to croquet to kickball.. But the highlight of the afternoon will be starting in five minutes… tug-of-war!” I hear a few good natured cheers and my eyes scan the field for Ana.

I see her talking to Robin, her brow furrowed.

“It’s Complex A versus Complex B! If you’re not an employee, pick a side.” My dad drops the megaphone and my eyes are still locked on Ana and Robin as I make my way across the field.

I don’t realize Sofia is behind me until I walk up on Ana and Robin and she is the first one to speak.

“Are you sitting out too, Ana? This game is so filthy and juvenile, I always sunbathe through it.” Sofia looks down at her manicured fingers and walks to the sidelines.

“Ana! You have to be on our team!” Mason shouts as him and Mason jog up to us.

“Yeah! Together we’ll be unstoppable!” Mickey chimes in as he gives Ana a smile. Ana’s eyes look between the boys then rise up to mine.

“We could use the extra hands…” I tell her.

“If Ana doesn’t want to play, she doesn’t have to play.” Robin’s eyes narrow at me.

I bite the urge to call Robin a petulant child.

“I can’t resist a good competition. I’m in!” She flashes a cocky smile at Robin.

“Yeah! Suck it, Uncle Robin!” Mickey jumps in the air and sticks his tongue out at Robin.

“Mickey…”

“I mean… you’re going down?” His eyes widen.

“We’ll see, kiddo.” Robins eyes soften as he looks down at Mickey, but harden immediately when he looks back at me. “At least we don’t have any distractions on our team.”

“Bring it on.” Ana turns on her heel and we walk towards our side of the rope.

We huddle together with the rest of the people on our team.

“First thing’s first, we need a team name!” Mason takes charge. That’s my boy.

“What about winners?” Ana says.

“Yeah, go winners!” Mason and the rest of the team cheers.

“Enough conferring! It’s time to play!” My dad’s voice booms over the megaphone.

We all line up as my mother explains the rules.

“Boys up front. Ana, you can stand by me.” I give Ana a smile as she stands directly in front of me.

I see Robin glaring daggers at Ana from the opposite side of the rope. My eyes dart back to Ana as I catch her sticking her tongue out at him. What were those two talking about earlier?

“Is that your method of long-distance trash talk?”

“It’s working, isn’t it? Robin’s head isn’t in the game, which means we’ve got this in the bag.” She gives me a confident smile.

“Let’s put that theory to theory to the test.” I give her a smile before she turns around, wrapping her hands around the rope.

My dad starts the pulling match and I lean back, digging in with my heels as the rope goes taught.

“You’’ll have to do better than that!” Ana shouts. You’re a competitive little thing aren’t you.

The boys are urging everyone to pull. I wrap my fingers tighter around the rope and heave and it seems to work, because the other side starts to give.

“That’s it, winners! We’ve got ‘em on the ropes!” I shout.

My eyes are locked on the muscles that are tense on Ana’s back.

“Almost… there!” Her voice rings out.

“We can’t… let them win… look at them!” Robin’s face is angry as he pulls. “Though I guess Ana does have some experience playing dirty.”

My eyes fly to Robin, but his gaze is focused on Ana. She ignores him and continues to pull, until we pull the marker onto our side. The momentum of her pulling causes her to stagger back… and right into my arms.

The smell of jasmine and Ana rush my senses as I squeeze my arms tightly around her, to steady her or hold her close I don’t know anymore. She looks over her shoulder and her emerald eyes meet mine, and for a moment the world fades away.

“…Hi.” A blush creeps up her neck as our eyes linger.

“Hi.” I smile.

Her eyes dart down to my lips as she takes her bottom lip between her teeth, her eyes growing dark. I slide my tongue across my lip and I feel her body tense.

“Sam…” She whispers and the sound sends a shockwave through my body.

“Ana, I-“ Fuck, you are in public, and Sofia is here.

“And the winner is- Team Winners!” My dad’s voice booming over the megaphone breaks me from my trance.

“We did it!” Mason and Mickey jump around excitedly. I drop my arms from Ana just in time for Mason and Mickey to tackle me in a hug. My eyes never leave Ana as they wrap their arms around me.

“You did it, boys!” I finally break my gaze to ruffle the twins hair as they cheer.

“We did it, Dad!” Mason looks up at me with a grin.

“Yeah, we couldn’t have beat Uncle Robin without you and Ana!” Mickey looks over to Ana.

“And we couldn’t have done it without you two.” She reaches out and ruffles Mickey’s hair.

God, this just feels so right.

“That’s one way to put it.” Robin. Moment fucking broken.

My eyes fly up to Robin’s who has his eyes narrowed at Ana. I am about to snap when my mother walks up besides us.

“Nobody like a sore loser, Robin. Be a good example for your nephews.”

“Samuel, my big, strong man! I’ve got a wet wipe and a fresh shirt with your name on it.” Sofia walks up and wraps an arm through mine, and pulls me away from the group. I look down at her as she leads towards a tent, her eyes focused.

***

I stand silently next to my father as we watch everyone start to leave.

“I would call that a success.” He glances over at me.

“I would say so. You and mom should go, let me handle the clean up.” I clap him on the back as my mother walks up to us.

“Are you ready to go Mason, dear?”

“Yes, Viv.” He extends his arm for her to take before turning to me one last time. “Well done today, Sam.”

“Bye, Samuel.” My mother brushes a kiss to my cheek before I watch her and my father walk towards the edge of the park.

With a sigh I grab a few trash bags and begin walking around, picking up loose plates. My eyes fall on Ana and the boys and I make my way over to them.

“I’ll take those.” I hold open the trash bag for Ana and the boys to drop their used plates and napkins in. Ana and I fall into step next to each other as we follow the boys to the edge of the park.

“So, did you have a good time today?” I glance down at her and the sun has left a beautiful glow on her olive skin.

“Well, I missed you.” She says softly, turning her beautiful face towards mine. “I feel like I barely got to see you all day after tug-of-war. But this moment right here, with you? It’s been the best part of my day.”

“The party planning committee will be disappointed to hear it… but it’s my favorite too.” I chuckle, my eyes lingering on hers as I watch the sun reflect off of the little specs of gold amongst the emerald green.

As we round the corner I see Carter waiting at the curb, Robin and Sofia already there besides the car. Why are they always together…?

“Looks like the ride home will be a little crowded tonight.” Ana murmurs.

“Good thing I can get out of it for once, I always stay behind and help the cleaning crew after the picnic. It’s the least I can do to show my appreciation for everything.” I look down at her as our arms brush.

“No ones too good to clean up their own mess, right Dad?” Mason asks as he kicks a rock on the pavement.

“That’s exactly right, little man.” Damn proud.

“But we don’t have to stay… right?” Mickey’s eyes grow wide.

“Not until you’re a little older.” I smile at the look of relief on his face.

The boys climb into the car and I catch Sofia’s eye.

“Yes, honey, very inspiring. See you at home.” She leans in and brushes a kiss against my cheek then follows the boys into the car.

“Ana, are you coming?” Robin asks as his eyes scan Ana’s body.

Ana looks up at me with a question in her eyes.

“You’re welcome to stay and help, if you want. It won’t take long between us and the crew. We usually divide and conquer to cover more ground.” Please stay…

“Sounds like a great way to help out this afternoon.” She meets my eyes with a warm smile, her eyes not hiding her true intentions.

“Sure. Just… remember what I said.” Robin regards Ana with a firm look, before shifting his focus to me, and finally climbing into the backseat of the car.

Ana and I turn around and head back to the picnic area, our arms brushing lightly as we walk in a companionable silence.

“Have you ever been to a big picnic like this before?” The breeze blows through her hair as she looks up at me.

“I have never been to one before. Neither of my parents ever had a company picnic, so this was a first.”

“And? What’s the verdict?”

“I’ll let you know when I have one.” She gives me a coy smile before turning her attention back to the park.

I hand her a trash bag and she begins picking up stacks of paper plates.

“I bet you’ve been to a million of these over the years.”

“You could say that. I was still a kid when we held the first one, but it looked nothing like this. We could practically all fit on one blanket back then.” I smile at the fond memories… we have come a long way since then.

“It’s hard to imagine the company being that small.”

“Yeah, we’ve definitely grown a lot since then. But as much as I sometimes miss how… simple things were back then, we also couldn’t make as big of a difference. We can help so many more people now that we’re bigger.”

“I bet that feels good.”

“It does. And it definitely makes the hard days a little easier.”

“Speaking of, I can’t believe you’re not soaking in a bubble bath right now. You were at the center of all of the activity today.” She glances at me. I want to be in a bubble bath with you.

We bend down to pick up a red solo cup at the same time, our fingers brushing, and a blush spreading across her cheeks as her eyes snap away from mine.

“Sorry.” She says quickly.

“No worries.” I smile at her, but I can sense a change in her mood. “I am pretty tired, but it’s a Dalton family tradition to stay behind with the workers and, well, work. My father always stayed behind, but now that he’s older, the mantle falls on me.”

“You know, Robin mentioned one time that he’s also being considered for CEO… but I can’t really picture him staying behind, even if it’s part of the job description.” What else has Robin told you about my family? Yeah, well, if there is anything I know about Robin is that he does the bare minimum.

“Yeah, well, he probably wouldn’t have to, even if he were CEO. My dad has always held Robin to different standards than me. But at this point, that would only happen if I really, really, messed up.”

She glances around and when I follow her eyes, I realize we are all alone on this side of the park.

“Taking responsibility has never been Robin’s strong suit. Great at making messes though.” I flash her a smile but she seems to be avoiding my gaze. “You’re being awfully quiet over there.”

“Hmm? Oh, I just… have a lot on my mind.” She replies without looking at me. There is definitely something wrong… and fuck I hope it doesn’t have to do with Robin. “Actually, Sam… there’s something I wanted to talk to you about…” Her lips turn down in a frown. Definitely Robin.

“What did Robin do now?”

“Earlier today, he pulled me aside and demanded that I leave you alone…” I stare into her eyes, trying to read the expression on her face.

“What did you say?” Please tell me you didn’t tell him anything…

“I told him I didn’t know what he was talking about… but I don’t think he believed me.”

I let out a deep breath and reach up to rub the knots in my neck. Fuck…

“I’m so sorry I’ve put you in this position, Ana. You shouldn’t have to deal with my brother confronting you like this.” What are you doing to her?

I reach out and cup her cheek and I can see the pain in her eyes.

“Robin seemed pretty sure that at the en dog all of this… I would be the one who ends up hurt.” Fuck Robin, stay out of my business.

“As much as I hate to say it- and as much as I will do everything in my power to prevent it- he’s probably right.” I cringe as the words come out of my mouth. “But Ana, my parents’ expectations, the company politics, Sofia… it all just fades away when I look at you.”

“Sam…” My name rolls off her lips in a whisper.

In that instant, the sprinklers turn on, sending a jetting stream of water onto both of us.

She cries out and leans into me as I wrap my arms around her, trying my best to shield her from the water.

“Okay, seriously, who sets their sprinklers to go off in the middle of the afternoon.” I laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation, even though I can’t complain having Ana in my arms.

“Someone who got AM and PM mixed up?” She laughs and the sound brings an even bigger smile to my face.

I lean away from her slightly, my eyes roaming her face as I smooth the hair from her face. She is so beautiful…

“You look beautiful like this… I’ve never seen you wet before.”

“You don’t know that.”

Her words send a shockwave to my cock. I definitely didn’t mean it like that, but fuck am I glad you did.

“That’s not fair. Now that’s all I can think about…” You, wet, in my arms, in our home, in the car… fuck…

“Sam, now you know how I feel.”

“Does this mean you think about me all the time? At night, in bed, alone…?” My voice has dropped to a husky whisper as images of her on her back, naked, and moaning fill my head.

“Yes… touching myself, thinking of you, wondering if you’re turned on because of me.” The huskiness of her voice matches mine as her eyes wander my face and linger on my lips.

Holy fuck, you naughty little thing.

“Always…” I tighten my grip on her waste as her breath catches in her throat.

“Sam… kiss me.”

I was hoping you would say that.

I lean down and capture her perfect pink lips in mine, my hands roam her every curve, trying my hardest to memorize the twists and turns. Our kiss grows in passion as she lets out a moan into my mouth.

I grab her hips, pulling her against my growing desire.

“Ana… what are you doing to me?” I whisper against her mouth… I have never been so out of control in my life as I am when I am around you…

I drop my lips to her jaw, trailing light kisses up to her ear, the smell of Ana, sunshine and jasmine, fills my senses as I taste her sweet skin.

“I can’t seem to control myself around you…” I whisper into her ear.

“Maybe I want you to lose control…” She whispers, her lips lightly grazing mine.

She tangles her fingers into my hair and drags my lips back to hers. I want to lose control with you… My fingers continue their exploration as I graze my fingers over her erect nipples through her shirt, god this wet shirt is doing wonders for you…

“I want nothing more than to lay you down and take you right here, but…” I whisper in her ear as I blaze a trail of kisses down her neck, her body responding to my every touch with soft whimpers and gasps.

“We are still in public… and broad daylight.” Her breathing is erratic as I press my forehead to hers. I close my eyes, and listen to her erratic breathing and feel the rise and fall of her chest.

“Dammit.” I whisper. I lean in and press a soft, slow kiss to her lips before I pull away. My body instantly missing the contact. I grab one of her hands in mine and give it a light squeeze. “You’re going to be the death of me, Ana. Or at least, the death of my reputation.” I take a moment to check my surroundings, fortunately we are still alone.

“…You’re welcome?” Her soft laugh ringing through my ears.

“We should probably get back to cleaning, or we’ll never finish.”

“Oh, I’m desperate to finish, alright.” Her coy smile spreading across her lips.

I smile at her with a shake of my head, her lips red from our kisses and her skin flushed… so damn beautiful…

We make our way out of the line of fire of the sprinklers and continue working, well into the evening. My fingers moving in time with the rise and fall of her curves, remembering the sparks of electricity and the sound of her moans.

[softinkshadows]

Shingeki no Kyojin Demon AU (Part 1) (x female reader)

You’re a young graduate working long hours at a bistro and doing food deliveries. Little did you expect your life to get entangled with the leading figures of the largest conglomerates in the world. Or a thousand-year-old demon clan war.

Part 1 / ?

---

“Tch,” Levi tuts in distaste as his gaze wanders across the empty pantry shelves. “There’s no tea, Erwin. You have a 50 million-dollar home, but no damn tea.” He shuts the sleek cabinet doors brusquely, giving a side-eye at the blond reclining on a lush sofa in the living room. Behind him, large down-to-floor Fleetwood doors open into an expansive backyard, where the soft lights of the infinity pool and the pool house stand out against the night sky and the rolling hills of Paradis beyond. 

“There’s no coffee either,” a loud voice calls from the corridor, “Just rows and rows of expensive alcohol. Talk about an upgrade... Ahhhh and I’m getting hungry too...” Levi turns to see Hange return from the wine cellar, looking equal parts fascinated and frustrated with the home. 

“Sorry about that. I only just moved in proper, so I only have the essentials - Miche, glad you could make it,” Erwin breaks of mid-sentence and nods to greet the brown-haired man entering the living room. 

“I saw off Nanaba with the rest outside. For a meeting this late at night... this must be something big, Erwin,” Miche glances around the room, his body tense with concern.

“I’m afraid it is. We need to get used to more meetings like this. It seems they are moving again,” Erwin leans forward, tenting his fingers. Levi moves to sit on a nearby couch, his brows furrowed and arms crossed, clearly annoyed. “If we’re going to be up all night, we’re going to need tea.”

Hange sighs in acknowledgement, before running out onto the patio, yelling. “Moblit!! We need tea, coffee and decent hot food. Anything that can deliver at this hour, and fast!” As she rounds back into the house, the scurrying of footsteps and the softer response of “Ryoukai! (trans: Roger!)” is heard immediately.

---

“Change the channel will ya!” your uncle shouts from the kitchen as the blare of heavy metal rock screams from the old, wall-mounted television.

“Just a minute!” you yell back over the din, serving a customer’s plate of fish and chips before walking back to the bistro counter, scrambling for the remote. The screeching music stops as the screen switches to the standard Paradis News Channel, and you heave a sigh of relief. It is already close to midnight, and the bistro is occupied with only a handful of regulars who work the night shift nearby. But as the niece of Bruno’s Bistro, a cosy establishment and hidden gem of the Trost district, you had a reputation to uphold; there is no way you’d put your customers through that noise at this hour. 

A hand pushes a small plate of tacos towards you on the counter. “Supper,” says your uncle cheerily, wiping the sweat from his face with a towel round his neck, his eyes shining with quiet affection. He brings a second plate round for himself, tucking in straightaway, and you do the same. You know that even after all these years, he feels sorry. That he blames himself when you threw away the prospect of working a cushy, corporate job after graduation to help him run his bistro, toiling long hours till three in the morning every day. But you are happy to. It was your uncle Bruno who took you in as a child and looked after you since your parents’ untimely death many years ago. His wife had passed on earlier from an illness, and he was alone. So were you. And for the longest time, all you had was each other.  The main phone rings loudly from the kitchen, and Bruno walks over to answer it. You can’t make out the conversation, but you suppose it’s one of the bistro’s food suppliers.

“This is Ilse Langnar, and this is Paradis Nightly News. Today, Mitras Holdings announced a joint venture with SNK Group to develop the world’s largest shopping district in downtown of Paradis city. This marks Mitras’ third large scale project in Paradis, after the restoration of the Reiss chapel and the commissioning of a cutting-edge renewable energy plant in the eastern district. We hear more from its chairman on their string of successes -” You look up from your food at the flickering image on the television, as a stoic, charismatic man with blue eyes addresses a crowd of reporters on a podium. “What a different life,” you mutter to yourself, before turning your attention back to the tacos. The newscaster drones on. “In other news, Liberio Corp’s shares increased another 10% this week, cementing its standing as the most influential conglomerat-”

“Y/n!” Bruno’s voice interrupts suddenly, slamming the phone receiver down. “We got orders! Lots of them!”

“What? At this time?” You hurry and shove the last of the tacos into your mouth, wiping your hands of crumbs, before gathering your senses.

“We got half a dozen chicken and beef pastries each, 1 strong black, 1 mocha, 1 latte, 4 flat whites and 2 cups of our best tea. And it’s delivery,” recites Bruno. Your quick mind and experience from working through the busiest shifts already has you committing all the orders to memory and preparing the drinks on cue. Minutes later, you’re packing the orders neatly into the back of your motorbike, and strapping on your helmet.

You peer at the slip of paper with the delivery address scribbled over with Bruno’s messy handwriting.40 Ehrmich Drive... Damn. Isn’t that the wealthiest district in all of Paradis, just north of downtown? you wonder to yourself. Didn’t know rich people pulled all-nighters. Whoever was on the phone did promise to tip lavishly if you could deliver within the hour. Without hesitating, you step on the gas pedal.

You find yourself winding through the lanes of Ehrmich Drive, only passing by an intimidating front gate every two hundred meters or so. The houses here are huge. And so far apart that it is rather dark, save for the sporadic streetlights here and there. You come to a stop at a long steel gate, on the side of which the number 40 is engraved into the limestone wall. “Where’s the damn doorbell,” you mutter, looking around wildly but to no avail. You catch sight of some security cameras and wave to get its attention, but nothing happens. You groan. The person who called didn’t leave a contact number.  Here goes nothing, you think, resigning yourself to fate. You try the steel gate, and realize it slides open easily. So much for security. 

It’s a walk before you even reach the main house, a chic two-storeyed mansion sprawling across this vast acre of land. You are aware of your place when you catch sight of several luxury cars parked along the driveway, each looking more expensive than the last. You look back at your faded, worn sneakers on the gravel, feeling extremely out of place. Strangely, what appears to be a mammoth-sized glass front door doesn’t budge. Please just make my job easier, you grumble to yourself in frustration. Contemplating leaving the food on the hood of one of the cars, your turn back when you are drawn to sounds of distant conversation from around the patio. 

“In any case, the purebloods are moving in on Paradis,” you hear a familiar low, smooth voice. “They are certain that they’ll find what they’ve been looking for.”

Your mind whirls a little. Pureblood? What is that? Some kind of dog? 

Another deep voice chimes in. “Is this the reason for the venture with SNK? I thought we were supposed to be killing off -” Then silence. Killing?

Just as you are about to reach the corner, someone steps in front of you so fast you barely have any time to register. A man with cropped dark hair and even darker eyes blocks your way, dressed in a fitted black suit and a slightly unbuttoned white dress shirt. He’s a little shorter than you, but something about the intensity of his eyes, his stance with one hand resting on the wall and the other casually tucked into his pocket makes you feel incredibly uneasy. You feel your chest tighten, you mind blanking out as an indescribable fear washes over you -suddenly you’re thirteen again, running through the dark streets, breathless, desperate, running away from something - what? - and then cold, cold all over, feeling the shadows encroaching, creeping across your skin and reaching deep to clutch at your heart, squeezing the light out of you- You snap back to the present and feel yourself trembling, shrinking under his gaze. Your mouth runs dry and you struggle to form words, your feet frozen to the spot. Suddenly, the man takes a sharp intake of breath, his hand against the wall now balled into a fist, as if trying to maintain some semblance of control. His eyes narrow, scrutinising you.

“Who the fucking hell are-” he stops himself, glancing at the bag of drinks and food you’re holding. Then he yells, furious.  “Moblit!” 

Within seconds, a panicky-looking brunette appears from the side. “Take her through the front,” the black-haired man ordered.  You’re mindlessly ushered through the main door, which you realize is in fact unlocked. It seemed impossibly heavy earlier, yet the brunette in front of you swings it wide open with apparent ease. He leads you through the entry way into a informal dining area, passing by the living room along the way. You can feel a frightening atmosphere emanating from that direction, heightened by a pervasive and uncomfortable silence hanging throughout the house. Were you intruding upon something just now? You lift your gaze briefly, and what you see causes your back to stiffen, the hairs on your neck standing on end.  The shorter, dark-eyed man from moments ago leans against the open doorway leading out to the patio. On a couch nearby, a woman with dark brown ponytail and glasses looks over her shoulder, while next to her sits a man with light brown hair and emerald eyes. In the centre of the room, in a crisp blue dress shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows, sits a man whose presence seems to be the electrifying point around which everything else seems rotate. Blond hair and icy blue eyes. It takes a second for you to realize who he is. And another to realize they are all looking dead straight at you. The next few minutes are a haze. The suffocating, overwhelming sensation returns, and you avert your eyes and set the delivery down on the table before your legs give out. The man called Moblit quickly hands you a fifty, apologizing and thanking you at the same time, before he sees you off. You heart thuds wildly in your chest. You can’t think, and you only vaguely feel your limbs clumsily half-running, making their way back down the driveway, across the wide lawn, past the gate and back onto your bike. It’s only then that you finally catch a breath. You hastily step on the gas pedal and take off into the early hours of the morning, still feeling the sharp and penetrating gazes burning into your back all the way home.  ---- Notes: This is my first attempt at a long running narrative, after falling so deep with snk recently. The canon status of many characters break my heart, and I wanted to write them into a world where they aren’t dying or dead. Not sure where this chapter will lead, but I have some mechanics of the world thought out, with hopefully more demon/power smut things coming in the later chapters. Please bear with my trashy trashy writing

[hockeylvr59]

Secret Love Part 9 || Cale Makar

Requested: [ ] yes [x] no

Authors Note: I really really struggled with this chapter. I have a love/hate relationship with writing vacations and for some reason even the bedroom content was a battle. So I really hope you enjoy it because this one took some work to get everything to come together. As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Next up: days 2-? of vacation. 

Warnings: oral sex

Word Count: 3,301

~~~~~~~

Dating Cale honestly felt like the most natural thing in the world. Some days, he’d meet you for lunch between clients after finishing a workout, others he’d come over for dinner or to watch a movie. Everything just fit and immediately felt like this was how things had always been. You sometimes forgot that you’d been together less than a month.

Two weeks after Cale had surprised you with dinner, your phone buzzed with a text containing the dates for your trip to Iceland. From that moment forward, you felt like you had stepped into a whirlwind. Suddenly your life was full of things like requesting time off work, googling what an appropriate wardrobe would be, shopping for the things you needed but didn’t have. Then there was the packing, trying to fit a week and a half worth of clothes into a single suitcase and your usual carry on, making sure you didn’t forget the plug adapter for your phone or worse your passport. 

They weren’t bad things, but they were out of the ordinary and you were looking forward to just being on vacation with Cale, the stress that came with vacationing put behind you. 

As Cale loaded your bags into his parent’s car on a Tuesday in mid-June, you finally felt your excitement kick in. Laura and Gary were dropping the two of you at the airport so that you didn’t have to worry about parking, and as Gary drove Laura rambled on about how pleased she was that the two of you were taking this trip together and how she was certain it was exactly what the two of you needed. When Cale mouthed that she ‘didn’t know the half of it’, it took everything in you not to bust out laughing. 

Assuring Laura that you would take plenty of pictures, you hugged both her and Gary before heading with Cale through the airport. After going through security, checking your luggage, and finding the proper gate, you settled into Cale’s side to wait for your flight to board. Cale had gotten an evening flight, allowing you to sleep the eight hours it took to fly across the continent. You were grateful for it now but you were certain you would be even more grateful when you landed, knowing that with the time difference you would spend 8 hours on a plane but arrive 14 hours after you had left. 

Sleeping on the flight, your head resting on Cale’s shoulder, made time move quickly and before you knew it you were fastening your seatbelt for the landing at Keflavik Airport. 

“We’re here.” You whispered excitedly, curious as to what was awaiting you when you stepped outside of the airport. 

“Someone’s excited,” Cale said, a soft grin on his face as he grabbed your carryon for you as the two of you navigated through the airport. Collecting your luggage, you followed Cale over to a rental car desk and watched as he chatted with an agent. He signed a few papers and handed over his credit card, and soon he was handed keys, the two of you making your way out to a lot to pick up your vehicle for the trip. 

“Ten days vacation with my boyfriend...you could say I’m a little excited.” You mused, stretching to kiss him after loading your bags into the trunk of the SUV. It was just after 10 am and the weather outside was brisk but comfortable. Cale kissed you back before pulling a map from his carryon bag. 

“Ready to be my navigator?” He questioned, closing the trunk before moving to the passenger side, opening your door. “We’ve got an hour drive into Reykjavik and then I was thinking food…?” Cale suggested. A late breakfast/early lunch sounded wonderful and you quickly agreed, sliding into the vehicle. It took Cale a few minutes to get comfortable behind the wheel in a new country, but once he did, he dropped his hand to the center console, allowing you to lace your fingers in his as you watched the countryside pass by. It was a quiet drive, comfortable, the two of you just enjoying each other’s presence. 

When you finally reached the capital city Cale found a public parking lot and the two of you ventured out on foot in search of food. Cale had clearly done his research because he led you toward the waterfront, straight to a tiny little food stand. Ordering you each a hot dog, Cale explained that it was Iceland’s national food and therefore seemed the natural choice for your first meal in the country. 

“You sure just one is gonna be enough for you?” You joked, knowing that his athlete’s stomach burned through calories faster than you could ever dream. 

“If I’m still hungry I’ll go back for another.” Cale simply shrugged and as the two of you settled into a picnic table with your food, you just shook your head, smiling over at him. Cale did indeed go back for another and you failed to bite back the laughter when he glared at you just a little. 

“I’d rather not see what you’re like when hangry so please, eat as much as you need to.” You giggled, looking around as you waited for him to finish. This was the biggest city in the entire country but yet it didn’t feel stressful or crowded like you’d experienced in other cities. Instead, it was a place you very much wanted to spend time exploring, enjoying the chance to witness just a taste of daily life here. 

When Cale finished, you disposed of your trash before heading back out onto the street. Leaning against his side, you looked up at him for direction, not sure what the plan was for the day. 

“Want to just walk around the city?” Cale inquired. Looking at him it was clear that he didn’t really have a plan and you twisted, planting your hands on his chest as you peered up at him. 

“And here I thought you planned this trip.” You teased. It wasn’t that you opposed his idea, you just had to give him a little bit of a hard time just because you could. 

“I did plan this trip.” Cale murmured. “I planned this trip to have the flexibility for us to go where we wanted to go and see what we wanted to see without having to worry about following a strict schedule. I’ve got a rough outline...or did you not look at the map?” He teased right back. As his hand drifted down to your lower back he dropped his head to kiss you. You were still getting used to this whole being able to kiss him in public thing, but you liked it. “I wasn’t sure how tired we’d be...so I figured we’d just start local, check into the hotel, and play it by ear from there. Okay?” 

“Okay.” You smiled, pecking his lips once more before settling back onto your feet. “So which way Mr. Makar?” 

With your hands entwined, you walked through the city of Reykjavik, taking in all of the sights it had to offer. At the Hallgrímskirkja church, you marveled at the height of the ceiling while Cale joked that it was like staring at a graph in math class all over again. Smacking him gently, you insisted on taking your first selfie, laughing at each other as you did. Already, your brain was cataloging that there would be two distinct folders of photos on your phone, one you could show the parents and one you could not. 

As you passed the statue of Leif Eríkson, you rambled on to Cale about how historians had new leads on where Vinland actually was located and how the Vikings had clearly discovered North America long before many of the other European explorers had. 

“Someone has been watching documentaries lately.” Cale smiled, his grin fond. “History was always one of your favorite classes wasn’t it?” You nodded in agreement and noted that Cale seemed unbothered by you playing mini historian. The fact that he remembered what your favorite classes were in school kind of surprised you. But this was one of the many reasons why this trip was such a good thing, you were getting to reacquaint yourselves with each other and learn things you didn’t know before. 

Soon, you walked through what seemed to be a shopping district. It was quaint and quiet and reminded you more of a small suburb than a big city. The buildings were all small and cute and there was graffiti art all over the place. When you reached Tjörnin Pond, you pulled Cale to sit on a bench for a few minutes, more wanting to just sit and take things in than actually needing to rest. 

“This place is gorgeous.” You breathed, your linked hands resting on Cale’s thigh. “Thank you for bringing me.” 

“Thank you for coming,” Cale replied, his lips pressing against the top of your head. Sitting for a few more minutes, you headed off again, continuing along until you reached the harbor. There you saw the Harpa concert hall, a modern glass building whose panes of multicolored glass shone brightly under the midday sun, and the Sun Voyager sculpture which resembled a Viking ship floating on water.  

Having essentially circled back to where you had started, the two of you made the decision to head back to the car. You’d killed enough time wandering around that you could check into the hotel and so you headed that way. 

You hated to admit it but Cale might have been right. The moment you settled into the car, you felt yourself immediately start to doze off. You knew logically that you shouldn’t be tired, but yet that was exactly what you felt. You didn’t even realize you’d fallen asleep in the short drive over to the hotel until Cale was unbuckling you. 

“Hey sleepy.” He whispered. “I already checked in and took our bags up. You wanna go up and take a nap?” Cale’s question was answered only by a look of exhaustion on your face. It didn’t take long to reach your room and once you had, you flopped down on the bed, sighing softly at its comfort. Cale’s hands slipped your shoes off your feet and he chuckled, the weight of his gaze causing you to shift. 

“Don’t even say it.” You mumbled. 

“I didn’t say anything.” Cale defended. “Are we calling it a day though and just getting an early start tomorrow?” He asked. Though you wanted to keep going, you didn’t think your body agreed and so you sighed shrugging. 

“Yeah...I think so.” You pouted. The pout was pulled from your lips though when Cale stretched, the bottom of his shirt riding up to reveal the fine happy trail that started just below his belly button and disappeared under the waistband of his grey sweats. It was amazing how easily even a peek at your boyfriend’s body made everything better. 

“What do you want for dinner? I’ll run out and bring food back.” Cale insisted, his fingers running through his somewhat sweaty hair. 

“I’d say surprise me but I’m not sure that’s such a great idea in a foreign country.” You joked. “I don’t know. I’m not that hungry.” You whined. Or if you were hungry you just didn’t know what sounded good. 

“Women…” Cale mumbled teasingly under his breath. “I’m going to see if I can track down a couple salads. Will that work?” Your stomach growled at his suggestion and you both took that as your body’s agreement. “Okay. I’ll be back soon.” Cale stated, leaning down to kiss you before slipping from the hotel room. 

As your head fell back against the pillows, you knew you could easily just go right back to sleep. At the same time though, you couldn’t help but feel gross from the travel and from spending the afternoon walking around. So you forced yourself up and into the small bathroom to wash off. 

By the time you finished and had slipped into pajamas, Cale had returned with food. Though you weren’t super hungry, you forced yourself to eat before finally crawling into bed. 

You weren’t sure what time you fell asleep, though you knew it had to be ungodly early. When you awoke, it was to the feeling of Cale’s arms tightening around your body, his voice low and smooth in your ear. 

“Will you stop the tossing and turning...it’s too freaking early.” Letting out a hum of confusion, you twisted in his arms, your head landing against his shoulder. “It’s 3 am...and I’m awake because you can’t stay still…” Cale grumbled. “I know I said we’d get an early start but I didn’t mean this early.” He added. “So can you please tell your body to knock it off.” 

“Sorry.” You whispered, forcing yourself to go rigid against him. Apparently, your body had had enough sleep already and decided that any extra sleep would not be the peaceful kind. Cale’s fingers slid up your back and he let out a grunt of frustration when his touch only caused you to stiffen further. 

“Sweetheart...would you relax?” He murmured. 

“I’m trying.” You mumbled back, turning back over to face away from Cale with a sigh. You wanted to sleep, you did, but now that you were half awake, your brain was filled with anxious thoughts and silly worries. It had been less than five minutes since he woke you when you felt Cale’s lips on your shoulder and once again his arms tightened around you. 

“Let me help…” He murmured, his fingers shifting to brush against your stomach. 

“Cale I…” Whatever complaint was on the tip of your tongue was silenced when Cale rolled you underneath his body, his mouth seeking yours. His kiss was lazy and soft and he didn’t fully pull away until your body had turned to jello. 

“Do you trust me?” Cale questioned softly. You could only nod because of course you trusted him. You trusted him more than anyone else you’d ever been with. “Then let me help you relax so we can both sleep.” He pressed, one hand sliding down to rest against your hip. 

It was his blue eyes that revealed what he was planning on doing and you caught his cheek in your palm before he could start sliding down the bed. 

“Cale...you don’t…” 

“Sweetheart...if you think I haven’t thought about what it would be like to bury my face in your sweet pussy a million times in the last few months you’re insane. I want to...will you let me?” 

Nerves ran through your body at the thought of trying this for the first time with Cale. What if you didn’t like it? You’d failed to remind him that he wasn’t the only one inexperienced in this area, so it would be a blow to his ego for sure if this went badly. Suddenly, the image of Cale licking your fluids from his fingers popped into your head chased by the fantasy of his head between your thighs. All you had to do was agree for that fantasy to become a reality. Before you could even verbalize your assent, Cale had started sliding down the bed, dragging the blankets with him. 

“If I do something you don’t like just tell me.” He breathed, his fingers tugging your shorts and panties off of your body quickly. 

Nude from the waist down, Cale trailed his mouth across your stomach as he settled himself between your parted thighs. Then he jumped down to your left knee, nipping his way up your inner thigh before repeating the process with the other. 

He was both teasing you and giving you the chance to stop him if you needed to but now that he was there, you wanted nothing more than to see just what kind of damage he could do. 

“Cale, please…” You gasped, needing so much more than what he was giving you. 

“That’s my girl,” Cale mumbled, his eyes twinkling as he looked up at you. “I want to hear you, sweetheart.” The feeling of his breath blowing hot over your core made you shiver and your back bowed off of the bed toward him. Pinning your hips down under the weight of his forearm, Cale kissed your stomach one more time before sliding down, his tongue licking broadly through your folds. 

Squirming under him, your brain attempted to process whether that was a good or a bad sensation. It settled for the word different as you felt waves of heat roll through you when Cale’s mouth latched onto your clit, sucking gently. 

“That…more of that.” You pleaded. Following your direction, Cale focused in on your clit, sucking it between his lips again. Slowly things started to go hazy as he pressed soft kisses and little licks to your heated flesh before returning to the suction. There was no rush to his actions, and you reached down, your fingers tugging at his hair as he lapped lazily at your core. 

A grunt spilled from Cale’s mouth in response to your tug and the vibration rippled through your body, sending sparks across your skin. Sliding his other arm around your hip, Cale drew your leg over his shoulder. The change in angle must have allowed Cale better access because you felt his tongue press inside of you, your hips attempting to jolt out of his grasp at the feeling. 

The feeling of his tongue fucking inside of you made you whimper and when Cale pulled back to breathe, you could feel the growing confidence rolling off of him. 

“You doing okay?” He questioned softly, waiting for your answer as he pressed gentle kisses to your thigh again. 

“More Cale please…” You whined. Smirking Cale sucked at your clit harder than he had before. 

“More of this…” He questioned quickly before sliding his tongue back inside of you, flicking at your slick internal walls. “Or more of that.” He asked, pulling back once more to breathe. Your chest was heaving, your breath hitching with the feelings Cale’s mouth on you created. 

“Both...god both Cale…” You pleaded. 

“Okay...just relax and let go for me okay sweet girl…” Cale resumed his easy pace, switching between sucking your clit and pressing his tongue inside you. As your body responded to his actions, he adjusted speeding up and slowing down until you were crying out his name, your body shaking with the strength of your orgasm. 

Coming down, you shoved at Cale’s head as he licked over you slowly and carefully, cleaning you up. When he finally crawled up the bed, the grin on his face was a mile wide and his thumb brushed against your cheek. 

“Was that okay?” He asked, nerves showing only in his gaze. 

“If I didn’t know that was your first time...I wouldn’t believe it.” You said, voice slightly hoarse. Cale’s cheeks flushed even deeper and you leaned up to kiss him, tasting yourself on his tongue. 

“It’ll be better next time,” Cale promised, laying flat on his back again, pulling you into his side. Snuggling against him, you certainly felt calmer than before, a yawn spilling from your throat. As you drifted back to sleep you heard Cale whisper ‘thank you’ in your ear and the butterflies in your stomach fluttered at being able to give Cale an experience he’d never had before. 

Everything with him was new and different and you couldn’t ask for anything more. Just like this was only the start of your relationship, it was only the start of your vacation and you could only see both getting better with each and every day. 

[theaufanartist]

“𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.”

Kang Yeo Sang💝

Part 3-Part 4

The following days, Yeo Sang and you talked a lot, each with the motive to try and understand the other, but surprisingly growing closer to each other. You slowly got to know that he loved eating chicken, he loved books since it was already evident from the fact that he was the president of the book club, and he loved RnB.

For Yeo Sang, it wasn’t really much of a surprise how much you loved fantasy novels, since there was always a new dystopian book in your hand every week. He came to know that you loved fettuccine pasta more than spaghetti, how you scrunch up your nose when you’re cringed about something, and there are two scrunch lines on either side of your nose, between your eyebrows. He loved every detail about you, but what was it that was drawing you both closer to each other? It seemed like you both already knew so much about each other.

“Hey,”you sit next to Yeo Sang in the library, a brown book in your hand. He smiles at you, but raises an eyebrow once he sees what’s in your hand.

“Rebirth?”

“Yeah, I found this book. It’s about a King of Yeonsu-dong, who falls in love with his Commander in Chief, but they sadly pass away while saving the king,”you say, flipping through the pages, pouting. He smiles at you, because he knew how much you hated it when one of the lovers passed away.

“You can take a break from the science fiction you read,”you say, giggling at him. He smirks at you. You slide the book towards him, making him stare at it.

“Read it,”you say, before pinching his cheek, making him glare at you playfully, “I gotta go to class. See you later, sweet cheeks,”you say, winking at him. He smirks at you and waves you off.

“Rebirth huh,”he mumbles, fingers grazing over the title of the book etched on the cover. He shrugs his shoulders. Taking the book, he leaves the library.

After walking you to your house, he stops by the butterfly park, as you named it, and stays there. He watches the sun set slowly, the sky turning from yellow to orange to red to purple. He smiles thinking about you, and gets up to go home.

Once he opens the door to his bedroom, he reaches for the book you gave him.

“Let’s see what it got.”

After a while of reading, he feels those battle scenes all too familiar.

The mentions of blue monarch butterflies throws him off guard, too. He remembers you spacing out and later tell him how you felt that every moment with him felt familiar. As he skims through the words on the page, he comes across a certain paragraph, where it all becomes crystal clear.

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵���𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶-𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩.”

“Huh, this is interesting,”he mumbles, “very interesting.”

His mind wanders back to the park. When he told his mother about it, she never believed it, thinking he read about it somewhere, neither did your parents, as you narrated their reactions to him. He pondered a lot, till he searched up everything online. Shock was an understatement, when his name popped up in the last ruler of Yeonsu-dong, an illustration that resembled him so much along with another woman, he presumed was the king’s wife, along with a girl on his lap. What shocked him was there was an illustration of you dressed in a war armour, standing next to the King and an old man, which he assumed was the father of the King. The illustration was so eerily alike to yours. That night, he stayed up late, till he didn’t finish searching up everything.

The book helped him link dots to his true self. He kept searching till he found the thesis papers online, who searched up on the said King. Some of them couldn’t yet find the remains of the King and the Commander, but he knew where they were. He picked up his phone, and dialled the number of that one person he knew would definitely help him.

“Yeo, it’s 3 am for fuck sake, I swear to God if you-“

“I’ve got something to tell you. Bring a helping hand and shovels,”he says, before he cuts the call.

After few minutes, he finds a car in the drive way of his house, a hand waving at him.

“Thanks Woo,”Yeo Sang says, opening the door of his car.

“What the hell did you want a shovel for? Did you kill someone?”

“What, no! Okay, this might seem really weird, but I think I’ve got answers to those weird dreams I’ve been getting,”he mumbles, making Woo sigh.

“Were you the King or something?”San jokes from the backseat, making Woo giggle. When Yeo Sang doesn’t respond, both of their laughters die out.

“Don’t tell me,”San mumbles, making Yeo sigh.

“Yes,”he whispers loud enough for them to hear.

“Wow,”Woo Young sighs, “where do we need to go with San and these shovels?”he asks, pointing at San with his thumb and the weapons near him.

“I’ll drive,”Yeo Sang suggests, making Woo Young nod at his suggestion.

After a drive of 10 minutes, they reach their destination. Yeo Sang opens the rusty gates, a creaking sound resonating, making Woo Young and San cover their ears.

When they enter the garden, their eyes widen in disbelief. San pushes Woo Young aside, gawking at the butterflies which were flying around.

“This place,”he says, walking on the soft grass, “this is the garden of King-“

He looks at Yeo Sang, who was just staring at him.

“How did you find it?”

“I used to come here as a kid,”he begins, reminiscing his childhood discovery place, which turned it into his comfort place.

“Do they-“

“Yep.”

The three of them stand still, the birds chirping in the background.

“Why did you ask for shovels?”Woo Young questions him.

“Do you think the King is buried here?”San asks, making Yeo Sang nod at him.

“This is the place that was mentioned in the thesis papers, online,”he states, walking over to Woo, “I think their bodies should be buried somewhere here.”

“We thought that this place was a myth,”San mumbles, hand brushing over the grass, “I think you finding this place out confirms it all.”

“That he is the King we talked about?”Woo Young asks, making San nod.

“You’re King Yeo Sang, the last King of the Kang Dynasty, buried next to the Commander in Chief, as per his request,”San whispers.

“So, the dreams you were seeing were everything that happened to you in the past?”Woo Young asks, making Yeo Sang nod.

“And the surprising thing is, they saw some of those dreams too, that kind of acted as a link to mine,”he says, making their eyes widen in surprise.

“You should tell this to them,”San suggests, placing a hand on Yeo Sang’s shoulder, “they deserve to know this, too.”

“He’s right Yeo,”Woo chimes in, hugging Yeo Sang, “we’re there for you. It’s good that you’ve at least got it all out.”

“Yeah, I just need to tell this to them,”he says, the three of them now sitting with their legs spread, seeing the sun rise, dawning upon them the revelation of the past.

While walking back to the car, San stops midway, making the other two turn back.

“No wonder my cat seems to like you,”he says, making Yeo Sang raise his eyebrow.

“What do you mean?”

“Her name is Byeol,”he says, “she was named after one of our ancestors, the King’s sister, Kang Byeol.”

“You seriously want to believe the fact that just because she’s named Byeol, she would be the King’s sister?”Woo Young asks, a comical look on his face.

“Can be true tho,”San mutters, making both of them chuckle at him.

______________________________________________________________________

“Hey,”you greet the trio, who were smiling at you.

“Hey you,”Yeo Sang greets, hugging you. This was surprising, because you’re always the first one to initiate contact.

“You seem to be in a good mood,”you say, making the other two grin at you. Yeo Sang breaks the hug, smiling.

“The three of you’re scaring me with your grins,”you laugh nervously.

“Meet me at our spot after school,”Yeo Sang whispers, “I’ve got answers.”

Your eyes widen in surprise, nodding at him. He smiles and pecks your forehead.

“See you, sweet cheeks,”he says, smiling at your shocked face. Woo Young and San giggle at the scene, leaving you a blushing mess.

“What the hell just happened?”you whisper to yourself.

______________________________________________________________________

You reach your spot before he does. The butterflies were flying as usual. You smile at them, making way to sit on the ground. There were so many flowers around you, it made you feel that you belonged there. But your thoughts slowly drift back to what Yeo Sang said.

“𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴.”

What did he mean by that?

While you were lost in your own thoughts, you failed to hear the soft footsteps on the grass of a certain someone who had your heart racing ever since you saw him.

“Hey,”he says, deep voice rumbling in his chest, making you putty in your place.

“Hey,”you say, smiling at him, “you wanted to talk?”

“Yeah,”he replies. Taking the book you gave him out of his backpack along with a few more papers and what looked like a notebook filled with notes, he places it in your lap. You look at it quizzically.

“I did some research last night,”he mumbles. You look through the papers in your lap, squinting at the one particular illustration that caught your sight.

“Is that-”

“Yeah,”he says, now turning his body to look at you.

“Does that mean-”

“Yes.”

You turn to look at him. You take out the sketch of the person from your dreams, and try syncing it with one of the illustrations on the papers Yeo Sang gave. You gasp aloud, eyes widening in disbelief when the facial structure matches to the King’s. Your eyes start watering unintentionally. You trace the features of the King, and look at Yeo Sang, whose eyes were mirroring your action.

“Are we really?”your voice breaks, making Yeo Sang nod at you. You cry silently. Yeo Sang pulls you towards him such that you’re straddling him. You cry in his chest, hugging him tightly. He cries silently, hands brushing through your hair, calming you.

You move away from his chest, his face saddening due to sudden loss of touch. You wipe your eyes with your sweater paws, sniffling. He tips your chin to look into your eyes. Saying nothing you both lean in, lips touching, fitting the last piece of the puzzle of your lives. You cry into the kiss, hands behind his head, as he mirrors your actions. The kiss was nothing compared to any you ever had. This one had an intense feeling of longing, happiness and 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦.

You both break the kiss, panting to catch your breath. He leans in to touch your forehead, thumb swiping your bottom lip, then caressing your cheeks.

“Yeo,”you mumble.

“Shh,”he whispers, “I know.”

“What now?” You ask, as you raise your head to look at him, who’s already looking at you.

“I don’t know,”he says, “all I know is 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.”

“So,”you begin, “let’s be that way.”

He smiles at you, catching your lips with his, kissing you like his life depended on it. You broke the kiss and smiled, placing a small kiss on his cheek, and threw your arms around his neck, making him snake his arms round your waist, hugging you like you would disappear any moment.

“I’m never letting you go,”he mumbles in your hair, taking in the sweet scent of vanilla musk and coconut. You nuzzle your head in his neck and shoulder juncture, placing a kiss there.

“I’m never leaving you again,”you say, both lost in the presence after nearly 40 decades of their lost love.

[pinkhairedlily]

[Open Your Mouth] Chapter 4 - R

See previous chapters here: AO3 | Tumblr

Summary: Or maybe it was just the first time she was treated like she had an agency. The gestures for permission, the unspoken questions of consent, the way he wouldn’t touch her first or grab her or mar her skin even when they were having sex. Most men would have their true natures revealed once shown the great pussy. But there he was, always cradling her like she was porcelain china. Not that she minded. It was a breath of fresh air to be held like that, in gentle caresses and soft whispers that beg to betray his true feelings at any given second. It was madness not to be consumed by it, but it was tragedy that she only knew of this reality just now.

-xxxxxxx-

April 20, 2021, 11:16 PM

“Still in questioning for two weeks,” Sasuke grits through his phone. “And they didn’t allow him to post bail?”

“Akugawa’s attorneys tried to appeal this week but it’s a no go. Doesn’t help that he’s brought to a different district so it’s completely out of our jurisdiction,” Neji replies. “Have you heard from Jugo?”

“Just a text message saying they lied to him and told him the directive was from Asuma.” Sasuke lets his fingers run through his hair, too frustrated to think straight this evening. “All they have against Akugawa are purely circumstantial. This is ridiculous.”

“Yeah, but the media ruckus is hungry for the gay serial killer angle. Well, I gotta go Uchiha.”

“Have fun. It’s your wedding anniversary tonight, isn’t it?”

“Shut up. Aren’t you with a woman yourself?” The call ends.

Rid of distractions, he is now at liberty to gaze freely at the rosette reading a book beside him. She gives him a smile and ditches the book to trace lazy circles on his chest. The lunch break meetings have become too short for the both of them thus the need for dinners and coffee. He didn’t plan on making a move, not when there is still an active case, but she’s enthralling in a sense. It’s her presence that pulls him into her orbit – or maybe it’s the pink hair and the emerald eyes that make it difficult to look away.

When he almost hailed her a cab for their fifth dinner, she grabbed his arm and slowly pulled it down to her side, intertwining her fingers with his. It was the first time he held her hand.

With a flushed face under the dim city lights, she asked him, “I would like it if you take me home with you.”

And even after arriving in his flat, he hesitated to kiss her. Only when she brought his fingers to her lips did he move, suddenly gripped with a drive to gently coax her into pleasure. She undressed for him in the dark, already wet and pulsating for his touch, his kisses, and he let the jasmine perfume perforate his senses. He was careful not to leave marks of his trail – after all, it might just be the last as it could be the first – and regrets were felt stronger when there were remainders.

The first time was followed by a second, and she posed a question. “Why are you so gentle with me?”

He looked at her face and tucked a stray strand behind her ear, the color of his dreams. “I’m afraid you’ll break.”

She took his hand and slapped it on her perky breasts. “Try and break me then.”

Where he wavered, she asserted – her nails leaving scratches on his back, bruising his lips, marking his neck, and pulling his hair – but she did it so beautifully that he basked in pain as she yelled his name in ecstatic throes.

He pulls away from reminiscing when the lazy circles start to draw lower. He softly takes her dainty wrist and places an open-mouthed kiss where her pulse is.

“I take it your team is still prohibited from pursuing other leads?” Sakura gasps.

Sasuke shakes his head. “Both chiefs had to save face, particularly when the district attorney got the call first, then the media, and we were the last to know. But it’s more of a pro-forma. My guts don’t tell me they’re still out there.”

“You don’t believe it’s him?”

“He perfectly fits Yamato’s profile. Had several sexual relations with married CEOs, naively accepted promises of secured futures, let down just as quickly as he has been picked up.”

Sakura climbs on top of him and starts to grind on his hardened member. “Too bad. Akugawa is a nice colleague. I was the one who encouraged him to enroll in those meditation classes.”

One arm wraps around her waist to keep her steady while the other tugs away the sheet that comes in between their moist flesh. He brings her breasts closer to his tongue, his words lapping against her skin. “Oh you must be good in yoga too.”

“I’m flexible like that, Detective.” She slips his cock insider her ready core, and the fitting sensation makes the both of them shiver.

“What other things are you good at, Dr, Haruno?”

She locks eyes with him and words are lost as they start to find rhythm in their thrusts.

-xxxxxxx-

April 25, 2021, 6:27 AM

“I take it they’re gonna name you as the director for the overseas expansion.” He asks as soon as they step out of her penthouse.

He didn’t expect to step foot in her domain; he knew it was how the elites operate, but maybe she waited for the sixth date to test him. He couldn’t deny how he was intimidated by her biometrics door, the large cctv panels on her foyer, and her voice-automated house system, but it fascinated him to see the bleak contrast of her plant-filled space against the extravagant automations and sharp marble floor.

“I’m not quite sure.” She angles her eyes on the retina scanner, and the security system beeps to life. The whole floor will be inaccessible even to the administration until she comes home. “Either way, it’s gonna be a success for the Senju-Haruno corporation and its shareholders.”

“Shouldn’t they give you bodyguards then?”

Her fingers ease in into his waiting hand. “I have a detective for a lover. I’ll be fine.”

He leaves soft kisses on her knuckles. “Can’t your lover be worried?”

“I don’t think they’ll come after me. I’m a woman, remember?”

6:41 AM

“Sorry to delay your trip to the office. I’ll just check the ravine again.” They hazard park on the side of the forest. “Stay put. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

Sakura nods with a tight-lipped smile. “I’ll stretch my legs out for a bit, but I really wouldn’t want to wander. I don’t know the area quite well.”

He hops off the car, unaware that a nondescript black sedan stopped a few meters away from their spot. Sasuke traverses the wide trunks and mossy forest floor until he finds the exact dumping spot – a clump of thorny bristles and rue hedges. His eyes survey the surroundings and notices a disturbed, rather steep area above the ravine, a tricky slope which cannot be possible for someone like Akugawa. With his built, he would have skidded down when he dumped the body. It had to be someone petite.

Light footfalls behind him. Sasuke glances at the sound, his hand ready to pull out his gun.

“Sorry I followed you. I’m kinda jumpy.” Sakura waves at him from above the slope, her silhouette prominent against the morning backlight.

Then his eyes register another bigger, taller, heavier silhouette behind her.

“Sakura!”

Gunshots miss Sasuke by a breadth, but he doesn’t miss how the hooded figure clamps a hand over Sakura’s mouth and drag her away into the forest. He scrambles up and follows their trail, cursing his ineptness.

His breaths are louder than the wakening birds and traffic on the roadside, and his feet feel more like lead for every tree that leads him deeper into the forest. Then he hears two consecutive shots, and he feels all of his sensory motors go into overload.

Sasuke’s feet direct him to the sound. When the vines give way to a clearing, the first thing he sees is her disheveled rose hair, pulled apart from her high bun, tousled like an unkempt mane on her back.

And a dead man on the forest floor, a gunshot to the head, and another on his side.

She was trembling, eyes wide, clenched teeth, and closed fists. Giving her time to adjust to the events, he goes first to the perpetrator and lowers the hoodie. It’s one of the Mingwa private cronies, probably following him to make sure he isn’t doing independent investigations. But since they touched a Haruno-Senju heir, the corporate publicity will angle this as harassment and attempted assault while the private faction will absolve their hands of any involvement. He calls Kakashi and Asuma for help.

After which, he glances at her, and she finally blinks out of daze. She slumps against him as soon as he’s near, and the reverberations of her body immediately hit him.

“I’m sorry,” he says even though he has a lot of questions.

“He slipped and I went for the gun,” she whispers shakily against his shirt.

Yet he still wonders why there were two shots when one to the head could have sufficed, especially with unfamiliar hands. Or how she’s able to take down a man that size with her dainty wrists.

“I’ll call in sick today. Bring me home?”

He tightens his hug before he lets her go then he realizes he’s not familiar with the terrain.

She tugs on his coat and starts to walk. “If we cut across here, we’ll see the road in five minutes.”

-xxxxxxx-

May 5, 2021, 10:22 AM

“Did Dr. Haruno come back okay?” Kakashi sits down across Sasuke’s desk and fidgets with his unused pens. Even though the investigation was halted, his room remains littered with manila papers, bulletins, and notes on the white board. The necessity to preserve becomes apparent when they receive news of Akugawa posting bail this morning.

Sasuke nods in response. “She still went through with her trip to Belgium last April 28. I don’t know when she’ll be back, but I’m not privy to her internal emotions so it’s not my place to say she’s okay.”

“About time they gave her bodyguards.” The chief detective taps an unlit cigarette stick on his desk. “It’s great seeing you like this.”

“This what?”

“Happy?”

Sasuke clucks his tongue. “It’s not official. She just might be in it for the thrills.”

Kakashi smirks and lights up his stick. “Sex must be great then.”

“Get out, Hatake.”

A rap on the door catches both of their attention. Yamato comes in followed by Asuma, Tenten, Jugo, and Neji.

“There’s a fourth body in the same ravine. Body is now with the ME. Estimated time of death is enough for Akugawa to file for several cases. It’s gonna be a media bloodbath,” Asuma says.

As the lot file out of the office, Kakashi pulls Sasuke to fall behind a bit. “Trust no one, Uchiha.”

11:45 AM

There’s something off-putting about the smell.

This body does not follow the two-week gap; the ME estimated the date of his death on April 27. This slight change in MO presents the possibility of a copycat, but other than that, all injuries are the same – a stab in the carotid, teeth pulled out, arms and feet cut, genital missing – which means another thing, the killer slipped somehow and they’re on a rush. For what, they don’t know.

“Ando Suzuki, CEO of Suzuki Airlines for Japan,” Asuma states his name for confirmation. “Let’s do our usual. It’s time we ramp up our progress, Uchiha.”

Sasuke ignores the pointed insinuation and steps closer to the corpse. It didn’t rain last week despite the forecasts so the state of the body is more or less preserved. He brings his nose closer to the neck, right where the murder tool punctured the artery.

“Sasuke, what are you doing?” Tenten asks. “Forensics have close up shots for that.”

“It’s the smell.”

“Like decomposers and rotting flesh?” Jugo scoffs.

“Is it possible that they might have tried to remove him?” Sasuke asks the ME who quickly goes to him and helps him turn the corpse on its side.

They see fresh scar on the pricked wounds, like someone tried to drag them out of the ravine. As if they knew the position would give them away this time. The smell hits him strongly when the ME returns the corpse to a prone position, and Sasuke almost vomits when he recognizes it.

It can’t be. In controlled breaths, he steps away from the examining table and slumps against the wall. Kakashi notices but pretends not to. It’s Tenten who slithers beside him inconspicuously and taps on his arm. She raises a brow which he responds to with a cluck of his tongue.

���I’ve always wondered,” she starts. “Why can’t it be a woman?”

“If you can recreate a position of a woman stabbing the artery without defense wounds, let me know,” Yamato says with a cold smile. It’s meant to shut Tenten up; he doesn’t like his profiles being challenged. “And the smell you’re talking about Sasuke? It’s jasmine. The area probably has blooms.”

2:30 PM

“Something’s weird with Uchiha,” Neji pulls out his badge, ready to present it to the landfill. They’re revisiting dumping sites again for a second go-through. The killer is starting to leave breadcrumbs all over the place. “Did you see how pale his face went earlier?”

“Jasmine and rotting flesh don’t make good perfume,” Tenten figures. The guard sees their badges and gestures for them to come inside.

There’s a peculiar batch of scavengers in the area, people who aren’t part of junkshops or associations, just individual peddlers. A bald man in his 70s glances their way and starts to move towards their directions with only one foot and crutches for the other.

“Police?” He has a putrid gummy smile. “That lad didn’t come here again.”

Neji tugs Tenten away, but his wife stays rooted to the spot. “A lad?”

The old man opens his palm.

“He just wants money, dear,” Neji grumbles. “Let’s go now and talk to the real rational people.”

Tenten pulls out her wallet and sticks a wad of one dollar bills on the man’s hand. “A lad?” She repeats.

“Thought it was our fellow. We have young ones with us, you know, like your age but definitely shorter in height. He comes in dressed in a black raincoat and plastic boots, dragging bulky garbage bags like they’re not heavy at all.” His smile gets bigger by the count of the bills.

“Did you get a good look at this man?” Tenten asks, still unwilling to let go.

“Tenten,” Neji warns.

“This might be our lead. A concrete lead for once.”

“Wind knocked his garbage of a hood one time. Shiny bald head says hi.”

Neji is at the end of his wits. “Dear, you’re not even sure if he’s talking about our guy.”

Tenten sticks a 10-dollar bill on the old man’s almost torn shirt pocket. He proceeds with a guttural laugh, the phlegm oozing through each gasping breath. “He always dumps those bags on a full moon.”

4:30 PM

Sasuke sneaked in earlier to the administration office just before the receptionist’s desk came into view. With slight intimidation into play, he managed to get duplicate recordings of the cctv of the whole floor.

He taps Kakashi for help and another IT staff.

“Looks normal to me,” the silver-haired man remarks. “Why are you snooping on your girlfriend?”

“All of them were her patients at one point,” Sasuke replies. “And we don’t do labels.”

“But their visits were nowhere near their kill dates.”

“Their visits were logged as emergency procedures because Akugawa or their company doctor wasn’t available. So why?”

Kakashi smirks. “Are you insinuating they were there to get a glimpse of her? The recluse medical corporation heir. Nothings amiss in the recordings, right? No sexual body language?”

Sasuke hopes the same, but the lurch in his guts tells him otherwise. He swallows whatever saliva that hasn’t dried yet in his mouth in anticipation of the inevitable.

“The recordings are fine. She’s always accompanied by her assistant when she has clients,” the IT replies. “It’s the code that bothers me. You see, a malware is playing with it, looping the same frames while continuing the time ticks. Either someone knows their technology or this is a complete human error.”

-xxxxxxx-

May 7, 2021, 12:01 PM

“Oh, it’s you,” Laura says nonchalantly, never glancing up from her keyboard, and click-clacking away even though it’s already lunch break. “She’ll be out in a minute.”

“Do you know how to code?” He doesn’t spare her a glance either, his eyes trained on the door.

“Is this a side job? I can get Shin if you’d like. He fixes the systems here when he has time. He’s a computer geek before he settled for dentistry.” She stops typing and eyes her wristwatch. “She’s here.”

True enough, the door opens just as Laura tells him. She wears her rose hair loose today, falling like waves against her tucked in white long sleeve polo and denim jeans. She spots him after she gives her white coat to her waiting assistant.

Smile, wave, and unhurried walk to reach him. “A lunch break?”

“Wondering if you were still alive after your trip.” The jasmine in the air transports him to two different scenes, his memory being stretched out in two drastic dimensions, one where she’s writhing beneath him and one where he sees the corpse falling on top of him. The scents mix, and he fails to cover up his gag. Both women look at him with brows raised but he waves them off with his handkerchief.

“Days of absence and your heart grows fonder. That saying is true after all.” She places a hand on his cheek and softly taps it. “A sandwich?”

“I’m starving.”

“Two sandwiches then.”

8:19 PM

She invited him for dinner while they were munching on half-dozen random sandwiches from Subway. He didn’t talk about the case nor did he question her radio silence since her Belgium business trip. This was why she genuinely liked Detective Uchiha Sasuke.

Or maybe it was just the first time she was treated like she had an agency. The gestures for permission, the unspoken questions of consent, the way he wouldn’t touch her first or grab her or mar her skin even when they were having sex. Most men would have their true natures revealed once shown the great pussy. But there he was, always cradling her like she was porcelain china. Not that she minded. It was a breath of fresh air to be held like that, in gentle caresses and soft whispers that beg to betray his true feelings at any given second. It was madness not to be consumed by it, but it was tragedy that she only knew of this reality just now.

She knew he had an inkling. She messed up in the forest. If she had the luxury of time, she would have dismembered the man who grabbed her. A stab from a scalpel was a merciful way to go, and that man didn’t deserve it. Filthy hands.

The anger rushes to the surface, and she stabs the roasted meat rather too loudly.

“Is your meat still alive?” He emerges in her dining room and continues to look around. “Your wooden mansion is a far cry from your depersonalized penthouse.”

She laughs as she strains the cooked pasta. “I like having two personalities.” He must have triangulated by now that the location of this mansion is smacked in the center of the dump sites, a safe, close distance to the landfills, the forest, and even the meditation place. He must have seen the black pick-up truck on her garage, the one she uses for farming. She can see all the pieces fitting into a completed puzzle in his head, and she’s sad to let him go.

He opens the wine she placed on the counter, and he fills himself a glass. “You also have a crystal collection like Akugawa.”

“I gave him his first obsidian. Their healing properties are supposedly at maximum during full moon.” She places two plated bolognese pasta on the table and a wide platter of medium rare meat. “Dinner’s ready.”

“This looks good.” His tone is genuinely fascinated. “Didn’t know you could cook. We always dined in or ordered take out.”

“A change of pace, wouldn’t you think?” She also fills herself a glass of wine and watches in amusement as he takes a first bite of the meatballs she especially prepared for him.

“You should tell me where you source your meat. I’ll one up you in our next dinner.”

I’m too sad there won’t be a next one.

10:17 PM

Sakura changes position, and she’s on top of him, gyrating her hips in familiar pleasure. Sasuke wants to take it slow, to re-encounter her folds and curves after several days of not seeing her, despite his senses overriding in danger. He took her an hour ago, on her immaculate grainy wood counter, wine spilling on the sink as he thrusted into her unclothed core. She had gone commando, and this drove him insane. Maybe his lust is taking over him, clouding his judgment, muddling his perfect frame by frame memories, but he has to play this game. It’s only a matter of time.

He feels her insides throb in urgency, and he knows she’s near her orgasm. Her juices leak out, and he bucks against her wetness, releasing his load into her with eyes closed.

He waits for the scalpel to puncture his carotid, but nothing comes. “Sakura.”

She continues riding his limp member and rubbing her clit against his balls. A strategic distraction as they are coming down from a high. He expects her to trace lazy circles on his abdomen, a mannerism he picked up from their nights, but the dainty hands go to his neck instead.

He opens his eyes, and he sees a different Sakura. Her microexpressions are different, her eyes throwing daggers, soft pliant lips in hardened scowl, and hollowed cheeks.

“I don’t know what’s your issue with a scalpel, Sakura.” Her voice is different, the accent changed. “You must have fallen in love with him already. Such a frail human.”

“I wanted to prepare myself before I see him go. That is all.” Her face shifts and the emotions return to the Sakura he knows. He also notes the loosening grip on his neck, unaware that he is holding his breath.

Another shift and it’s back to the other Sakura. “She has such a saccharine charm effective in luring me to do things.” She smiles at him, but it’s not the smile he’s familiar with. “Don’t worry, you’re not gonna die yet.”

She chokes him with surprising strength. He places pressure on her wrists and elbows, but she doesn’t budge. His legs start to thrash out beneath him, and his sight starts to dim.

“Great work as always, sister. We’ve always wanted the truth about Madara, don’t we?”

[kaiparker-avengerssmut]

CURSED: CHAPTER ONE

"He was a boy, She was a girl"

Kai Parker x OC!Mack Grace

Series synopsis: "We're both cursed, in a way."

We all know the story of Kai Parker, but he once lived in a very different life. Do you ever wonder what that life looked like?

Chapter summary: Mack meets a new guy at school, Kai Parker

Warnings: swearing?

Masterlist | Series Masterlist

Mackenzie pulled open the car door and climbed into the passenger seat, leaning over the middle console and planting a sweet kiss on Ben's lips. He smiled into the kiss and pulled away.

"Morning babe." He said happily.

"Morning." She smiled back.

Mack dropped her bag by her feet and sat back, pulling her seatbelt across her body and plugging it in. Ben revved the engine and began driving off in the direction of the school, arguably way to fast.

The whole way to school Ben hammered on about how annoying the freshmans would be and how he was so ready to be the quarterback this year. Mack nodded along and made sounds of agreement every now and then, but she really didn't care much for Ben's popular boy life. Mack was the quiet girl who got good grades and sat on her own at lunch. She only went to parties and attended football games so she would appear the 'perfect girlfriend' as Ben said.

As they pulled into the school parking lot, Ben turned to her and cupped her face, pulling her in for a long kiss that was only really to give everyone else a show. And that made her stomach drop. They got out the car and instantly she felt Ben's arm wrap around her waist, pulling her into his side tightly.

As they wandered through the halls everyone waved and said hi to Ben, completely ignoring Mack. Ben received the wanting stares of girls and some claps on the back from some of the guys on the football team. As they reached her locker Mack stopped and unlocked it, shoving her books inside and grabbing her sketch book.

"I still don't know why you even bother with those, you're not good enough to get a scholarship." Ben said bitterly, motioning to her sketch book. Mack furrowed her brows and slammed her locker shut, charging off to her first period class. She heard Ben call after her but ignored him, knowing it'd come back to bite her later.

The head splitting noise of the clock ticking filled her ears, the screeching of chair legs against the scratchy floor and the constant first-day-back chatter of her classmates slowly driving Mack insane. She'd been in the room for less than five minutes and she was already ready to self combust just to get out of this hell-hole. The graphite gilded across the page as she drew, sketching god knows what and doodling all over her sketch book pages. Someone coughed obnoxiously above her and Mack instantly looked up, coming face to face with a super hot boy she'd never seen before.

"Is this seat taken?" He spoke with a hint of cockiness, gesturing to the empty seat beside Mack. She shook her head and watched as he made his way round and pulled out the chair, dumping his bag next to the table leg and plopping down into his seat, leaning back and crossing his ankles. He looked over to Mack and her head snapped back down, her attention back on her sketches.

The teacher walked in and Mack quickly placed her textbook over her sketches, hiding them and pretending to pay attention. In actual fact, she already knew what the teacher was talking about, the droning sound of his voice like a white noise.

About half way through the lesson Mack felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked to where it came from only to see the boy from before studying her intently.

"So what's the deal with you? I don't think I've heard you mutter a single word since I've seen you." He asked, slightly confused. Mack shook her head and looked down at the desk before looking back up again, her sight instantly catching the boy's captivating blue-grey eyes.

"Who are you? I've never seen you before." She asked shyly, speaking more than she'd like to. The boy grinned widely before offering his hand for her to shake.

"Kai, Kai Parker. And I just moved here last weekend. My twin sister is also in our grade." Mack nodded and kept sketching, hoping he'd leave her alone now. But he didn't. "So how long have you lived here? What's your name?" He continued. Mack sighed.

"All my life, and I'm Mack Grace." She said almost too quietly. The sound of his voice made Mack rest her head in her hands and try to tune him out, but nothing worked.

"Mack? As in Mackenzie? That's an awful long name. Do you go by a nickname? Mack - no, too many people call you that, I bet it's what you tell everyone to call you. Oh, oh what about Kenzie? Actually, no. Too long. Ohhhh I know! I'll call you Kenz. There we go, short, sweet and catchy. Nice to meet you Kenz." Kai babbled on, not realising Mack had completely ignored him.

She'd just met the guy and she already hated him. Mack felt awful but he was just so annoying. Hot, but annoying. The rest of the lesson continued like that, Kai chatting incessantly in Mack's ear as she tried to get the work done so she could go back to her sketching and ignoring him.

"Those are soooo good." Kai basically whispered as he leant over Mack's shoulder with wide eyes, entranced as her pencil moved over the page. She snapped the book shut to stop him from looking and he turned away, muttering an offended, "O-kay." And whistling while rolling his eyes. He was staring at just the page she'd done that lesson, which was now almost completely covered in sketches of people in their class, from all the angles Mack could see them from her seat. She rolled her eyes and kept drawing, letting her long hair fall as a curtain to hide herself from him.

The sound of the bell was like music to her ears and Mack instantly stood, scooping her books into her arms and charging out the class and down the hall. With her eyes kept trained down, Mack didn't realise someone was in front of her until she collided with them. They both fell to the ground and Mack's sketches were littered all over the floor, pieces of loose paper floating down around them. She scrabbled to her knees and crawled around aimlessly, picking up the pages and stuffing them back into her book. She went to grab the last page but the other girl got there first, Mack's eyes drifting up to meet hers.

"S-Sorry." Mack said shyly, taking the page from the mystery girl and slowly standing up. The other girl joined her, giving Mack a warm smile.

"Don't worry about it, it was my fault. I'm Jo." She said reassuringly, offering her hand to Mack, who hesitantly took it before shaking.

"I'm Mack." Jo smiled at her and let Mack's hand go, stepping back slightly and speaking up again.

"Do you know where Mrs Price's class room is? I'm totally lost and totally new here." Jo admitted bashfully, looking at Mack with pleading eyes. Mack nodded and motioned for Jo to follow her before they both walked down the hall, side-by-side.

"You don't talk much." Jo observed - not in a rude way though - as they approached the door to the classroom. Mack nodded and opened the door, letting Jo walk in first. She thanked Mack before heading inside and picking two seats at the back for her and Mack.

"I was never really listened to, so I stopped talking." Mack said simply, sitting down and folding her arms over the desk. Jo nodded slowly and turned her attention to the front of the class, where Mrs Price was introducing herself to the class.

As the lesson went on Mack felt as if she could sleep, she hated American History. It was so dull and useless, not to mention Mack could probably correct Mrs Price in every 'fact' she told. Finally they were set some work and a sheet landed on her desk. Mack picked it up and examined it, just a boring old worksheet. Mack turned to Jo, hoping to find out more about her.

"So you said you were new?" Mack began. Jo made a noise of confirmation before elaborating.

"We only moved here last weekend, family of 10. I have a twin brother and a bunch of younger siblings." Mack nodded and furrowed her brows in thought.

"A twin?" She pushed.

"Yeah, he's a good brother but is extremely annoying." Jo chuckled. That's when it clicked.

"By any chance is your twin Kai?" Mack asked, suddenly realising the resemblance between the two. Jo nodded and wrote something down.

"You've met him?" Jo said while writing.

"Yeah, I sat next to him in first period. Does he ever shut up?" Mack said with a laugh at the memory of Kai chatting in her ear for the whole hour. Jo laughed too.

"Sometimes. If he's eating or-" Jo cut herself off quickly before she said too much. Mack tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"Or what?" She asked.

"Oh, um, or if he's listening to m-music." Jo answered quickly. Mack nodded uncertainly and begun her worksheet too.

Mack slowly wandered out to the car park from her last period lesson, really not wanting to spend the whole ride with Ben, but knowing she had no other way home. She walked up to Ben's car and saw him leaning against the car door, arms folded over his chest.

"Hey babe." He smirked, pulling her into a kiss. Ugh, Mack hated the name 'babe' but decided to say nothing. She smiled and said hi back quietly before opening her car door and plopping down on the seat, leaving her bag on the floor at her feet. She began humming a tune, tapping her nails lightly against the armrest as she did so. Mack looked over at Ben as she felt him sit down, shutting his door with a thud and putting the keys in the ignition. She turned her attention to her window, watching as couples walked by holding hands and friends gossiped about their first day back after winter break.

"Please stop humming, it's almost as bad as listening to you talk about fucking art scholarships." Ben snapped, huffing frustratedly and pulling out the parking space. Mack stopped and frowned, looking out the window again and ignoring whatever shitty music he put on.

Her mind drifted as they drove home, thinking about her day. Meeting Jo might've been the best thing to happen to her, seeing as she was a potential best friend. Mack and Jo really clicked, they just kind of understood each other. After their second period had ended, Mack had asked Jo to sit with her at lunch and she agreed.

The other person she thought about was Kai. God, Kai. She new he was annoying, a typical grade-A asshole and extremely attractive. She knew she should stay away, and that she shouldn't think about a guy as attractive as him when she had a boyfriend, but she didn't care. He was probably the most talkative person she'd ever met and also the most annoying, but Mack felt drawn to him, strangely.

"Mack, Mack!" Ben repeated, waving his hand in front of her face. Mack snapped out her thoughts and looked over at Ben, who didn't look too happy. "We're here." Is all he said, gesturing to Mack's small house behind him. She fake smiled and thanked him for the ride, giving him a chaste kiss on the lips before grabbing her bag and getting out the car.

"Hey Dad." Mack Shouted as she walked through the door, dropping her bag on a chair and walking into the small kitchen and reaching for a glass from the cupboard. She filled it with water and gulped it all down, setting the glass down on the counter before sitting at the small dining table and opening her bag.

"Hey Wolfy." Mack's Dad smiled, ruffling her hair as he walked past. "How was school?" He asked.

"Good I guess, I think I made a new friend." Mack said happily, pulling out her textbooks and starting her math homework.

"Good good." Her dad said, sitting down on the plush old armchair that was fading from age. He picked up his book and put on his glasses, opening it up and peering over the top at Mack. "Your sister has the night shift tonight and I'm meeting Tony for a meeting about the company at eight, so you have the house to yourself tonight." He said before redirecting his eyes to his book.

Mack's dad helped run a company with his best friend Tony, but it wasn't very big. They struggled with money so her sister wasn't in college, so she already worked at a local business and often took on an extra night shifts to help with money. Mack worked a weekend job, but spent lots of her time on her school work and drawing. She was insanely smart, getting straight A's in every subject with almost no effort, but she'd never get a scholarship off of that alone. The only thing she had a shot at was an art scholarship, otherwise she wouldn't get to go to college at all.

Mack looked up at the sound of the phone and so did her dad, but before she could answer it he got there first. He listened for a moment before holding out the phone for Mack to take.

"It's Ben." He said before walking off.

"Hey are you doing anything tonight?" Ben asked. Mack chewed her lip, contemplating her answer before deciding he'd be able to tell if she lied.

"No, Kim is taking the night shift and my dad is going out at eight." She said, still not sure if she should've just said she was busy.

"Perfect. I'll come over for eight thirty?" Ben said.

Mack gulped. This would be the first time she was home alone with Ben and for some reason the thought scared her rather than excited her.

"See you at eight thirty."

[lockefanfic]

Business Trip - Part 10: Shock

“Maybe there’s something we can do that will… ease my nerves about this presentation I’m about to give.”

You turn slightly until your face is facing hers. Your noses brush up against one another, the first feeling of skin on skin contact sending electricity pulsing throughout both your bodies.

“What do you have in mind?”

Tzuyu lets her smile widen before bringing her mouth once more to your ear.

“I want you to fuck me. Right here, right now.”

“Do you need a ride to the convention?”

 You look up from your smartphone, where you are frantically searching for a Mandarin Chinese translation app, and find yourself more than a little struck by what you see.

 The voice is coming from within a fancy, expensive looking limousine. Framed in the limo’s back window is the face of a young woman, and while you had seen and spent your time with more than your fair share of beautiful women, this one still took your breath away for a moment.

 She is young; no more than twenty years old, at most. Her face is gorgeous, round and soft, the cuteness of girlhood giving way slowly to the beauty of womanhood. Her eyes, large and expressive, are staring at you with a friendly look. Her smile is just as attractive as the rest of her, which is to say it was extremely so.

 “Um, yes,” you say, still a little dumbstruck by her. The girl in the limo window bends slightly, presumably to open the door, and despite all the childhood advice you received about not getting into cars with strangers, you nonetheless find yourself happily hopping into this particular car with someone you had only known for all of five seconds.

 All that childhood advice never told you what to do when the person trying to get you into their car was a gorgeous young woman, after all.

 It’s been less than a week since your meeting with the CEO that sent you, Momo, Choa, and Mina to Taiwan. The three girls had gone ahead to the convention to set up that afternoon’s presentation, where they were joined by Seolhyun, who was due to make a presentation showcasing FNC’s new tech and announce their acquisition by JYP Inc. There was a lot riding on the presentation, and so the five of you had spent long hours working on every part of it to ensure it was as effective as it could be. You had planned to join them at the convention space this morning, but had to stay back at the hotel to take a conference call from the head office. This meant you had to catch your own ride to the convention.

 “Sorry,” the young woman says as you slide carefully into the backseat, “I saw the convention ID lanyard around your neck and since I’m heading that way too, I figured you’d need a ride. As you can see, I have a lot of space.” She gestures to the large and mostly empty cabin of the limo, which could have easily fit another four people.

 “Oh, no, I’m thankful. Sorry, your name was?”

 “Sorry! I should’ve introduced myself before asking you to get into my car,” she says with a soft giggle, “My name is Tzuyu. Chou Tzuyu.”

 She extends a small, thin hand towards you, and you shake her hand before introducing yourself in turn. At the mention of your name a look of recognition washes over her delicate features.

 “I’ve heard of you,” she starts, “you’re with JYP Inc., right?”

 “Right. And you’re from…” you start, eager to know who this young woman was. Whoever she was, she must’ve had some clout in the industry, given she was riding to the convention in an expensive looking limo. Her name didn’t ring any bells, however.

 “Oh, we’re from a pretty unknown company… in this industry, at least. We have ventures in other places, but we’re actually only going to be making our debut in this industry today, at the convention.”

 You nod, though you make note of the fact that she managed to avoid telling you what company she was from.

 “Anyway,” she continues, “we have some new tech lined up that we want to introduce, which is why we’ve decided to enter this market. I’m giving a presentation this morning, you should come watch!”

 She smiles softly at you, her face soft and warm, and once again you find yourself awestruck by her beauty. She was at that age of transition between girl and woman, and had all the advantages of both. She brushes her dark hair back from her eyes with one hand, tucking it softly behind her ear - a simple gesture, but one you find entrancing. She is wearing a simple black sleeveless dress; the simplicity of her clothing only served to highlight the natural beauty of her features.

 “Sure. But only if you come watch our presentation in the afternoon,” you reply.

 “Right… rumor has it you guys acquired FNC Corp. Apparently they have some new tech that’s pretty groundbreaking, and that’s why you bought them?”

 You smile slyly before responding, “I’m not at liberty to discuss that.”

 Tzuyu returns the smile. It is dazzling.

 “Rumor also says their Director of Marketing is super gorgeous - like, supermodel gorgeous.”

 You smile at the apt description of Seolhyun, and are about to agree verbally with Tzuyu, but you decide that perhaps it was best to keep quiet. While the acquisition process was well underway, the final deals and paperwork were yet to be signed, and you weren’t about to take any chances with divulging any sensitive information to anyone before it was time. Your company’s acquisition of FNC was supposed to be the big surprise you revealed at the presentation, after all.

 “I can neither confirm nor deny that,” you say, but despite your need to keep things confidential, you find a suggestive smirk creeping across your lips. Tzuyu’s beauty was beguiling, and you found yourself helplessly returning her smiles.

 “I bet she’ll be the one giving the presentation. Women like that are awesome in front of crowds.”

 “I’m sure you’ll be awesome too, then,” you say, almost automatically. You weren’t one to automatically throw compliments at women you barely knew, but there was something about Tzuyu that made it dangerously easy to do so.

 “Oh, I don’t know. I’m kind of nervous, to tell you the truth. I’ve given big presentations before to big crowds, but it’ll be my first time speaking to this particular market. A lot’s riding on this. I’m super nervous.”

 “You’ll be fine. Just imagine everyone in the crowd in their underwear.”

 Tzuyu lets a smile appear on her slim lips, before biting her lip, almost imperceptibly. It was a subtle gesture, difficult to even notice, but you sure did.

 “Is that what you’re doing now?” she asks, her tone suddenly serious, with more than a hint of flirtatiousness.

 Her question shocks you a little, if anything because it came out of nowhere, and from a young woman you’d met not even a half hour ago. You knew next to nothing about Chou Tzuyu, and yet here you were, riding in her limousine, trying to discern whether or not you should reciprocate her flirting.

 “I can neither confirm nor deny that,” you say with a smile. Tzuyu giggles, the sound soft and musical. She returns your smile and her eyes narrow as she stares at you, as though she were trying to figure you out in her head.

 “Maybe a drink will help soothe your nerves,” you say, gesturing to what looked like a sufficiently stocked minibar in the midsection of the limo, “Assuming you can drink, that is.”

 Tzuyu smiles slyly at you. “Was that your way of figuring out whether I’m of legal age?”

 It was your turn to smile and let out a small laugh. Whoever this girl was, she wasn’t stupid. She knew what game you were both playing.

 “I’m not at liberty to discuss that, Miss Chou,” you answer.

 She pink tongue darts out and swipes across her lips as she turns her head to stare out the window at the quickly passing buildings of Taipei’s downtown commercial district. “I’m eighteen, if that helps soothe your nerves. And I’ll make you talk one way or another,” she says, still keeping her gaze locked outside the window, a slim smile playing on her lips.

 The girl knew the game, and she knew how to play it.

 You take a moment to gaze at her side profile, and you are once again taken aback by the beauty in her young face - soft, delicate features, a cute button nose and large eyes. Your gaze wanders a little lower, and you find the rest of her is equally well sculpted, with long limbs and a not insignificant amount of cute baby fat still lingering around her full thighs, giving her a feminine, womanly figure despite her youth.

 You are content to ride in silence for a block or two. Your silence is interrupted after a minute when Tzuyu presses a small button built into the side console of the limousine. She speaks softly in Mandarin, and you assume she is speaking directly to the driver. Through the semi-tinted glass that divides the driver from the rest of the cabin, you notice the driver nod in understanding at whatever it was Tzuyu had asked him to do.

 A few seconds later the limo takes an abrupt turn, away from the flow of traffic and into an alleyway. A large, modern-looking parking building looms to your right, and the limo enters it, rising to the mostly empty third floor before parking in a corner that is surrounded on two sides by solid walls. Without further word, the driver shuts off the engine and steps out of the car before walking towards the exit and leaving the building altogether.

 You tense a little, especially when the driver leaves the limo. You didn’t know who this woman was, and had to be prepared for anything. It wasn’t unheard of for executives to be coerced, physically or otherwise, into doing things they didn’t want to do for the sake of divulging business secrets.

 You look at Tzuyu, hoping to find some indication of just what the hell was going on in her youthful features, but she is only wearing a blank look on her face. She takes one last glance outside her window to ensure the driver is fully out of sight, and one more look out the back window of the limo, as if she were searching for anyone else that might be in the area.

 Seemingly satisfied that you two were the only people on the floor, if not the entire parkade, she returns her gaze to you, her lower lip curling slightly under her front teeth. She bites her lower lip lightly before suddenly shifting closer to you.

 You are fully aware of her proximity, and her closeness brings her gorgeous face so close to yours that it is almost too much to handle.

 Tzuyu’s left hand rests on your left thigh, and she leans her upper body closer to yours before bringing her mouth to within an inch of your left ear.

 “Maybe there’s something we can do that will… ease my nerves about this presentation I’m about to give.”

 You turn slightly until your face is facing hers. Your noses brush up against one another, the first feeling of skin on skin contact sending electricity pulsing throughout both your bodies.

 “What do you have in mind?”

 Tzuyu lets her smile widen before bringing her mouth once more to your ear.

 “I want you to fuck me. Right here, right now.”

 “That’s very forward of you, Miss Chou,” you say, trying your best to put up a front, although every nerve and fibre of your being was screaming at you to jump at this young woman. You don’t see it, but you just know your words have elicited a smile from her.

 Tzuyu’s hand moves a little further up your leg until it turns and starts to caress your inner thigh, her delicate, thin fingers just inches away from the growing bulge in your pants.

 “What’s the matter? Am I too young for you?”

 Tzuyu’s hand moves further up your thigh. The very tip of her fingers brush up against your steadily hardening shaft. It takes every ounce of willpower in your being to not twitch at the sensation.

 “...Wife? Girlfriend?”

 “Girlfriend,” you say softly, “not that she would mind that I fucked another girl. Trust me.”

 “Good,” Tzuyu says, the tone of her voice becoming more and more lusty, her words taking more of a pleading tone, “then there’s no reason why your cock shouldn’t be in my pussy in a few minutes...”

 “I barely know you, Tzuyu. And besides, you could be from a competitor company.”

 Tzuyu smiles, happy that you have played hard to get. With the way she was coming at you, however, you weren’t sure how much longer you could resist.

 The young girl bites her lip again, lifting her body slightly and tugging at the hem of her short skirt until it is bunched up around her waist; as she does so she reveals the small baby pink thong she is wearing beneath it. Then Tzuyu swings her left leg around so that she is quite literally sitting in your lap, each of her legs straddling your waist. She wastes no time and presses her hips forward, letting your now fully erect shaft brush against her pussy.

 Tzuyu lets out a soft moan as she traces a path from your nose to your left ear once more.

 “What about now? Please fuck me, daddy.”

 You weren’t really much of a daddy kink kind of guy, but the combination of Tzuyu’s relative youth and the ridiculously hot body she was pressing up against you broke down any last vestiges of resistance you may have had against fucking the wanton young woman grinding herself against your shaft.

 Tzuyu presses her hips against yours, dragging her pussy against your crotch. The softest of moans escapes her lips.

 “Fuck me, daddy. Fuck my tight little pussy with this big cock of yours.”

 There is a pleading, almost begging tone to her words that is simply irresistible. Tzuyu drags her nose from your ear back to the front of your face, and your eyes look into hers, finding only lust - wanton, unbridled lust. At that moment your composure breaks, and you crush her lips against yours in a fierce kiss.

 The young woman’s tongue enters your mouth almost forcefully, easily finding and pressing itself against its counterpart. Almost immediately you feel Tzuyu’s hands reach between your bodies, working the belt and button of your pants with her long fingers, and you both breathe a sigh of relief as her fumbling finally undoes your pants.

 She wastes no time, her hand immediately grabbing your erect penis over your boxers, and you let out a low gasp as Tzuyu gives you a firm squeeze, delighting in the feeling of the firm flesh in her hand. Your eyes have closed involuntarily, but when they open again you find Tzuyu’s face in front of yours, her gaze drunk with lust and need, the innocence that pervaded her character quickly fleeing away from her baser desires.

 She is biting her lip again.

 Tzuyu gives you one more firm stroke with her palm before grasping the hem of your boxers. She pulls down the garment easily to finally free your shaft from its cotton confines. She breaks your eye contact to gaze down at your stiff, long penis, and a look of satisfaction washes over her young, innocent features. She grasps your shaft gently with her right hand, and taking a moment to ensure you are watching her, she licks her lips, her pink tongue gliding over the shiny red lipstick she was wearing.

 The young woman climbs off your crotch, and while you are slightly disappointed at the new distance she is putting between your bodies, you quickly find yourself unable to complain as Tzuyu repositions herself on her knees between your spread legs.

 She looks up at you with that youthful, fresh face of hers, her large, round eyes so full of innocence, so at odds with the fact that she was on her knees, about to perform such a lewd act. Perhaps that is what is so intoxicating about her - the fact that she was so innocent, so young, and yet so willing to indulge her basest desires. Perhaps that is why you have put up so little resistance to having sex with a girl that was so much younger.

 A moment later, any hesitation you might have had flees from your mind as Tzuyu runs the very tip of her tongue from the base of your cock all the way to your very tip, her tongue gliding slowly and softly over your already weeping slit. A moan of sheer pleasure escapes your mouth as your spine tingles with excitement - it turns out to be a mere appetizer of what follows, as Tzuyu wastes no more time and takes you into her mouth, her soft lips and wet tongue pressing onto every inch of your rock hard shaft.

 Before you know it Tzuyu is giving you one of the best blowjobs you’ve ever had, although a part of you wonders whether it was the novelty of it all - Tzuyu’s youth, the fact that you’d only known her for an hour at most, the fact that you were in a parking lot in a foreign country - or her actual skill at oral sex that contributed to the pleasure coursing throughout your body.

 Regardless, as you reach down to brush a stray lock of dark hair away from her eyes, you find yourself relishing in the sight of your cock as it plunges in and out of the young girl’s mouth, your shaft coated with her saliva. She knows you are watching, and she lifts her eyes to lock her gaze on you, allowing you the beautiful sight of her beautiful face juxtaposed with your shaft pulling in and out of her mouth.

 Minutes pass as Tzuyu continues her blowjob diligently, at one point bringing a slender hand up to pump the base of your cock as she swirls her tongue over and around the head of your shaft. She opens her mouth and presses the head of your cock on her tongue, ensuring she is keeping eye contact as she does so.

 Her other hand has disappeared between her legs - so enraptured by her blowjob were you that you didn’t even notice she had begun to finger herself.

 “I’m ready for you, daddy,” she says, as though reading your mind, “how do you want to fuck me?”

 Her tone is so innocent, so soft and full of nonchalance, as though she were asking about the weather instead of asking you how you wanted to fuck her.

 “Why don’t you take a ride on daddy’s lap, Tzuyu?”

 A devilish smile appears on her face. You are impressed once more with how quickly her innocence fled in the face of lust.

 Tzuyu rises from her knees and straddles you once more - long, legs and full, soft thighs straddling your waist. She takes both hands and raises the hem of her dress up, ensuring you have a fine view of her small pink thong and the damp wetness that has accumulated there. She presses it against your hard shaft, grinding slowly for a few seconds.

 A soft moan of pure pleasure escapes from the young girl’s lips.

 “Do you want me, daddy? Do you want to fuck me? Do you want to tear me open, fuck my pussy, hear me beg for it?”

 “Fuck yes, Tzuyu.”

 You’ve had enough - you needed to be inside her. You grasp her full hips, pressing your shaft more strongly against her pussy. Tzuyu shares your impatience - she needed you inside her just as badly as you wanted it. She reaches down with her right hand and with slim fingers, pushes the wet cotton of her pink thong aside. The pink lips of her pussy glisten invitingly - she was drenched.

 Chou Tzuyu raises her hips slightly, and, once the head of your stiff shaft is in line with her pussy, she shifts downward, finally allowing you into her body.

 Both of you let out a rather loud sigh of pleasure at this first penetration. To say she was tight was an understatement, with her wet, warm, soft walls surrounding you deliciously. You bring both your hands to her full, round hips, relishing the feel of her warm thighs pressing against yours.

 “You’re so big, daddy,” she says softly, her eyes only half open, her eyelashes fluttering as her body adjusts to the hard meat invading her pussy. You rub her hips and thighs with your hands, unable to say anything in return, cursing for a moment that the style of her dress meant there was no easy way to free her breasts. The young woman’s hands are running through your hair, seeking some sort of release for the intense lust that has built up in her body.

 Tzuyu decides to let her body speak for the both of you, raising her hips slowly and drawing your shaft out of her body. You glance down to watch as inch after inch of your cock slips out of her - every inch already lathered with her slick juices.

 Once only the head of your cock remains inside her, she slams her body back down, sending shocks of pleasure throughout both your bodies as your shaft once again penetrates her young pussy. Once you are hilt deep Tzuyu grinds her hips around as if wanting to take you as deep as she could inside her. The sensations are delicious, intoxicating, and you are happy to let her grind herself against you, but she is not as patient as you are. Before you know it she is lifting her hips again, and a split second later she slams them back down again.

 Soon she is riding you with a solid rhythm, taking your stiff cock in and out of her tightly grasping pussy, a constant stream of moans erupting from her lips as you continue to fuck. You bring one hand to the back of her neck and she eagerly accepts your invitation, crushing her lips against yours and opening her mouth to accept your tongue.

 As you continue to make out,  your hand traces down her long, graceful neck to the front of her chest, before finally cupping and squeezing a firm breast in your palm, cursing the layers of cloth that kept you from feeling the young woman’s breasts in your hands.

 The pleasure is almost overwhelming. You’ve had your fair share of sex with beautiful women, but there was something about fucking Tzuyu that put the experience on a completely new level. You tried to convince herself that perhaps it was the circumstances, the fact that you were fucking in a limo, the fact that you had known each other for all of a few hours - but try as you might to deny it, you knew it was her youth, her innocence, and the base desire to fuck a younger girl that made the situation so damn hot.

 “Yes! Yes…. yes! This… this is so good! Fuck me, daddy!”

 You again find yourself unable to answer - so you answer with actions, bringing your hands to her waist and slamming her hips down hard while thrusting up with your hips, penetrating her young pussy with hard, fast strokes.

 The increase in volume of the young woman’s moans is indication enough that you are doing it right, but you want more - you want to show her you’re in control, and truth be told, a dark part of you wants to use her, wants to dominate her.

 You push her, carefully, off your shaft, and though she a complaint begins to form her lips, it is silenced when you take her by the hips and turn her around and push softly on the small of her back. She takes the hint and bends down on the floor of the limo, one arm draped on the side seats as she presents her upraised ass and looks back at you.

 “Mmmm, yes! Fuck me from behind, daddy! Use my body to make you cum… use me however you want, daddy!”

 It scared you, almost, how quickly you took up position behind her, drawing the short black skirt of her dress up and over her hips and pulling her drenched thong down to fully reveal the wet, splayed pink lips of her young pussy. You take only a split second to line up the head of your cock with her opening before you thrust forward, a little harder than you were expecting - not that Tzuyu minded, the loud, shrill shriek that leaves her mouth indication that she was okay with the newfound roughness of your fucking.

 Seconds later you are fucking her - not the soft lovemaking with Momo, not the firm yet considerate fucking with Choa, not even the hard, rough sex you had with Seolhyun - no, this is something different, something almost animalistic, as though you weren’t in control of yourself. The only thing that mattered to you was driving yourself in and out of this young woman’s body and making her yours.

 For her part Tzuyu appears to fully accept, even relish the roughness of your fucking, and the shuddering, quivering mess she becomes soon after you establish your rhythm is proof of the orgasm that rocks her body, the sensations coming so quickly she didn’t even have the time to announce it like the other women you fucked often did.

 The squeezing of her pussy around your shaft is enough proof of her orgasm, as if the sudden, wordless moan that escapes her lips was not enough. The wet slap of skin on skin resonates throughout the limo as you continue to fuck the young girl against the limo’s seat.

 Tzuyu drops her head against the side seat, suddenly unable to keep it up after she cums, her black hair covering her flushed features. The hair does little to stifle her moans, which continue throughout her orgasm and after it. Eventually, she is able to form words.

 “Fuck… fuck that was so good… your turn, daddy. Fuck me! Fuck me until you fill my little pussy with your cum!”

 Her words drive you to fuck her even harder and faster than you already were, ever fibre of your being devoted to drilling this young woman’s pussy with your rock hard shaft.

 “I’m gonna fucking cum, Tzuyu,” you manage to say, the girl’s tight pussy driving you closer and closer to the point of no return with its tight, wet embrace.

 “Do it… do it, daddy! Cum inside me! Cum inside me… cum inside me, daddy!”

 You’ve orgasmed inside plenty of women, but there is something fundamentally different about this - about cumming inside Tzuyu. And you knew it was because she was so young - there was something naughty, something almost wrong, something impure about spilling your thick, hot semen inside such a young girl.

 But a small part of you enjoys every moment of it.

 You push aside any thought of impropriety, any part of your conscience that told you you shouldn’t be doing something so naughty with someone so young and seemingly innocent - even if she was of age and clearly wanted it. Nothing else existed, aside from the urge to drive yourself as deep as you possibly could inside Chou Tzuyu’s wanton, lust-drunk body and let yourself loose, shooting stream after thick stream of hot semen inside her wet, tight pussy.

 For a few seconds you are paralyzed, unable to move as the waves of pleasure resonate from your crotch and suffuse every fibre of your being. Eventually you gather your wits enough to fall back down to Earth as your orgasm subsides; it was, in many ways, just a quickie - it couldn’t have been more than ten minutes since your first kiss to your orgasm. But it felt much longer, and it felt like forever before you were able to finally move again.

 Slowly, you remove your spent shaft from Tzuyu’s pussy, watching intently as a trickle, and then a steady stream of your white, pearly semen appears from between her drenched pussy  lips.

 Tzuyu looks back at you, her youthful features flushed with lust.

 “That was fucking hot, daddy.”

 ---

 The rest of your ride to the convention centre passed relatively uneventfully, Tzuyu acting as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened, which felt more than a little awkward. It turns out you were only five to ten minutes away from the convention centre, and as you open the door and exit the limo, the back window lowers and Tzuyu’s voice stops you from leaving.

 “Wait,” she says quietly.

 The young woman raises her hips and reaches beneath the black hem of her skirt, and you realize that she is removing her thong. She slides the tiny, slim strip of cloth down her full, shapely thighs and her long legs before slipping the still-drenched underwear into the inside pocket of your blazer, still moist with your cum and her juices.

 “Something to remember me by until the next time I give you a ride, daddy.”

 Tzuyu winks, bites her lip, and raises the window. You watch, dumbfounded, as the limo drives away.

 ---

 Three hours have passed since Tzuyu dropped you off, and the events of that morning still haven’t really sunk in. The pink thong in your front jacket pocket, however, is a constant reminder that it all really did happen.

 “What company is this again?” Hirai Momo asks, shaking you from your dazed reverie. She is seated beside you in the convention centre’s main auditorium, where you and the rest of your team have gathered to watch Tzuyu’s presentation. She is seated to your left, with Choa, Seolhyun, and Mina seated in that order to your right.

 “Some up and coming company I’ve never heard of,” you say, hoping Momo didn’t detect the lies in your words, “I don’t think they’re anything to be concerned about. But… the boss did say we should check out the competition.”

 Momo nods to you as she peruses the program idly, flipping its pages, evidently bored out of her mind.

 The lights on the stage have begun to dim, and a spotlight shines on stage; the presentation is about to begin.

 A slim figure in a black dress appears from behind a curtain - it is Chou Tzuyu.

 Almost immediately she engages the crowd, her voice firm and confident, without any of the nervousness that she spoke of earlier that morning. She introduces herself, her company, and quickly and smoothly transitions into some background information on her company’s pursuits in other industries - behind her, projected onto the wall, a well designed presentation highlights her talking points with infographics and statistics.

 This was not the nervous young girl you shared a ride to the convention centre with. This was a professional, a confident public speaker in her element.

 “We may be new in this industry, but we’re ready to make an impact,” Tzuyu says, her voice loud, clear, and confident. Her eyes are shining, her hands gesturing comfortably to emphasize her points. A smile is ever-present on her lips; the same lips that were twisted in lewd pleasure earlier that morning.

 “...And we want to make that impact using technology that is completely new to this industry,” she continues, “something that will be totally groundbreaking. We’re talking a complete paradigm shift in the industry that will change the way you do things. We’re taking a complete game changer.”

 Was the entire ‘innocent, nervous girl’ persona Tzuyu had that morning merely a mask? Was she playing games with you? You shift uneasily in your seat at the thought of being used, being toyed with. Beside you, Momo and the others sit impassively - they had no reason to feel uncomfortable, after all. You envy them their ignorance.

 “....and to introduce our tech, we have one of our head developers here to walk you through it. Please welcome...”

 A spotlight appears at the other end of the stage. A young woman in a white dress steps out onto the stage.

 “...Minatozaki Sana!”

 There have been a few moments in your life when time freezes; important moments, when time stands still, when your heart ceases to beat. Your first kiss. A couple of moments playing sports. Happy moments, sad moments - but also moments of sheer shock.

 This was one of those moments.

 It is a moment that seems to last forever. It lasts so long that as you turn to Momo, you swear not a second has passed; your eyes register the look of pure shock, overlaid with betrayal, written all over your girlfriend’s features.

 You look to your right, and see that Choa has covered her mouth with a hand, her eyes filled with hurt and pain; Seolhyun is gripping the armrests of her chair with a deathgrip, her knuckles white and sheer anger all over her features; and while she is too far for you to see her face, the clenched fists gathered in Mina’s lap tell you that she too is wrestling with hurt and pain and anger.

 Sana begins to speak on stage, and although you hear the words, you have trouble making sense of them.

 After a few minutes it becomes abundantly clear - the “groundbreaking” tech Tzuyu’s company is introducing is in fact the tech from Seolhyun’s company. Someone had to have stolen it from FNC; someone who had full access to FNC’s offices and staff. Someone who had the the opportunity, the industry knowledge, and the skills to accomplish such a feat.

 A final, sad thought comes up in your head, one that is almost too painful bear; Minatozaki Sana was that someone.

 Every word she speaks is a dagger into your back.

[javajunkieao3]

Beth/Benny Fic:  Being Alive - Part 4

Beth didn’t think often of her birth-father.  From all of her memories, his role in her life seemed limited to her conception, and nothing else.  The few times he appeared, the situation had always been fraught and imbued with complications that her young brain couldn’t yet comprehend.  She could still remember watching him from the window of the trailer when she was just a girl and when their eyes met she felt nothing.    

           When the woman knocks on her door, Beth hadn’t thought of her father in well over a year.  Which is why she finds herself confused when the woman, whose name is Ann, tells her, “Your father is dead.”

           She almost needs to remind herself that she wasn’t just sprung from Metheun’s sterile halls and that she did, in fact, have a family before.  An absent father.  A suicidal mother.  She can picture it.  All she has to do is close her eyes, just like her mother said before the car rammed into the side-railing, metal crumpling like tin foil.

           “Dear, are you okay?”  Ann asks, and Beth realizes that she hadn’t said anything in response.

           “How did it happen?” she asks.  It’s difficult to form words, like trying to push a quarter through a gummy slot.  

           “A heart attack, I’m afraid.”  She can see Ann’s eyes tear up.  “It’s so sad.  None of us saw it coming.”

           Beth wonders who exactly she is speaking to, and she slowly asks, “Were you his…”

           “Wife?  No. I’m his sister.  I suppose that makes me your aunt.”  Beth just stares at her.  “Anyway, I figured you may want to come to the wake.  I know it would mean a lot to Robert.  He always did regret how things happened with you and your mother.”

           Beth wonders what exact things her apparent aunt is referring to, as there seemed to be a rather large selection, but she only nods, watching the woman rifle through her purse before she pulls out a small folded piece of paper.

           “The address of the funeral home is on here. The wake is on Saturday.”

           Beth takes the piece of paper and opens it up. The handwriting is clear and neat. Beth doesn’t know what to say, so she says that, and Ann blinks rapidly before she says, “Thank you, dear. Anyway…” she hesitates before reaching forward and hugging Beth, who remains stiff in her arms.  Ann pulls away after only a moment and says, “It’s a shame to meet under such circumstances, but I am so very happy that we did.”

           Beth nods blankly.  “Sure.”

           “I hope to see you Saturday.”

           That evening, Beth tells Benny about what happened over dinner.   He looks up from his plate with surprise and asks, “Are you okay?”

           “I’m fine,” she says flatly.  “It’s not like he was actually a father to me.”

           “Well, yeah, but he still was your dad,” Benny returns slowly.  “That has to mean something, right?”

           “Not really.  He didn’t do any of the things a dad does.  All he did was leave.”  She pushes her peas around her plate.  “Do you know my mom actually tried to give me to him?  It was just before…” she trails off, dropping her fork loudly onto the table. “Anyway, he’s dead.  Life goes on.”

           Benny watches her warily.  Even with her history, this isn’t exactly a normal reaction to finding out one of your parents died, and he chooses his words carefully before he asks, “So, I take it that means you’re not going to his wake?”

           “What would be the point?”

           “I think some closure could be good,” Benny offers.  “Besides, your aunt sounded nice.”

           “She wore too much perfume.”

           “Beth, I think you’ll regret not going.”

           “I’ll get over it.”

           “Beth-“

           “I’m not going,” she says firmly.  “He had over 10 years to reach out.  It’s not like he couldn’t find me.  I was on the fucking cover of Life Magazine.  He chose to keep me out of his life.  And now, I’m choosing to do the same.”

           She stands abruptly and grabs her plate, dropping it loudly into the sink along with the scraps of pork and leftover peas. She stays there, hands planted on the edge of the sink and shoulders hunched.  He knows she’s hurting, even if she won’t say so, but that’s okay.  He doesn’t need verbal confirmation to walk over to her and slide his arms around her waist.  She leans back into him instinctively and then covers his arms with hers.  They stay that way for a while, neither talking.  He can feel her relax in his arms, the tension leaving her shoulders and neck.  She turns her face toward him and presses a kiss to the underside of his chin.

           “I’m okay,” she murmurs.  “I promise.”

           Except that night, after Benny is already asleep, she walks over to her bathroom and opens the medicine cabinet, her fingers pushing away various bottles until she finds what she’s looking for.  The bottle is addressed to Alma Wheatley.

---

            The next morning, Beth wakes up with a dull and familiar headache, and she stretches, noticing that her hand finds air where she expected to find Benny.  She faintly smells bacon, and when she goes downstairs he is making them breakfast.   He doesn’t mention her father and they enjoy a lazy day, going over chess openings well into dinnertime.  She cooks beef stroganoff, which had become a weekly staple after she mastered the recipe.  She doesn’t even use the cookbook anymore, cooking from memory.  When she goes to sleep, she thinks about how it had been a nice day, but then she is back in the window of the trailer, watching her father pause at the door of his car.  She takes another green pill.

----

           By the time Saturday comes around, she has convinced herself to go to the wake.  It would be an exorcism of sort.  With this final gesture, she will be good and rid of Robert Harmon.  She asks Benny to go with her and he immediately agrees.  He doesn’t ask her what changed her mind, and while she hasn’t told him that she loves him yet, when she does, she’ll think of this moment.  How he knows when to push and when to just follow.

           He drives her out to the funeral home.  It’s a good forty-minute drive and halfway there, it starts raining.  Beth thinks it is only fitting for there to be rain at a wake.  The parking lot is full when they get there, except for some spots in the back, and Benny offers to drop her off at the front but she shakes her head.  She can’t imagine being in there alone.  They park the car and after a thorough search of the backseat confirms that no, they do not have an umbrella, they dart toward the funeral home with Benny’s jacket pulled up over his head and Beth holding her purse over hers.  The rain comes down in thick sheets and they both are soaked by the time they get inside.  Beth’s black dress clings to her and her wet hair hangs in clumped ringlets at the front of her face.  She suddenly has a vision of standing in a bathtub in Paris in a similar state.  

           Beth can feel people watching her, and she hears someone say with dawning realization, “It’s that chess prodigy.  I think that’s his daughter with her.”

           Beth is frozen in place until Benny leans in and says, “I’m a little offended they only recognize you.  Technically, I was a chess prodigy first.”

           Her shoulders immediately slacken and she looks over at him, pushing a wet chunk of hair away from his forehead.  

           “Beth, darling!”

           A woman is suddenly hugging her, the sweetness of her perfume making Beth cough.

           “Hi Ann.”

           “I am so glad to see you here,” she says. Beth doesn’t respond, and Ann looks over at Benny.  After a pause, Beth’s manners kick in and she says, “Ann, this is Benny Watts.”  A beat later she adds, “My boyfriend.”

           Benny looks over at her with a slight grin. She hadn’t called him that before, but by this point it almost feels like a given.  Benny shakes Ann’s hand and says, “It’s great to meet you.  Sorry about our appearances.  We got caught in some rain.”

           “It’s horrible out there, isn’t it?”

           Benny and Ann continue to good-naturedly discuss the weather, or rather Anncontinues to do this and Benny nods along, but Beth’s attention is elsewhere. She can see the coffin set in the back of the room.  It’s open and she can just catch the folded stillness of his hands.  She wanders off without saying goodbye, and she can feel Benny’s gaze on her as she slowly weaves through the crowd, her steps invariably taking her to her father.  There is a knee-rest in front of the coffin and after nearly six years at Meuthen, her body instinctually knows what to do.  She kneels, gazing inquisitively down at her father’s face.  

           He looks older, but in most ways, is indistinguishable from the man she remembers. She hears whispers behind her and when she glances over her shoulder a group of women quickly look away.  Beth looks back at her father.  His skin is waxy, his cheeks an unnatural shade of pink.

           “You should have known me,” she whispers.  “I was worth knowing.”

           She silently says the Lord’s Prayer – whether it was for her father or her, she wasn’t sure – and then she stands up and walks to the side.  Benny is already waiting for her, and she takes a hold of his hand and says, “We can go.”

           He studies her face before he says, “Okay.”

----

           That night in bed, Benny casually says, “You called me your boyfriend before.”

           They’re wrapped up in her sheets and nothing else, and she’s in the part of the post-coital glow where her senses are just a bit dulled, and she murmurs, “Yes, I did.”  After a pause she asks, “That’s okay, right?”

           He grins and kisses her.  “Yeah, it’s okay.  It’s more than okay.  Beth…” he gets this sort of warm look on his face that makes Beth nervous, and he says, “Beth, I love you.”

           She doesn’t know what to say.  Her only experience with love was a man who shared a room with someone named Roger, and she’s hesitant to say it before she’s certain. She doesn’t know how long she was quiet, and she expects him to be mad, but instead he tells her, “You don’t have to say it back.”

           “I don’t?” she asks with surprise.

           “I mean, I’d like that.  But, that’s not why I said it.”

           “Why did you say it?” she asks curiously.

           He pauses before he says, “Because true things should be said.”

           She considers that, Benny lazily running a finger along her side, and then sits up, swinging her legs over the bed and grabbing her robe.  Benny watches her walk over to the bathroom and then back.  She puts the pill bottle between them.

            “I’ve been taking one of these every night since I found out about my dad.”

           Benny knew about the alcohol – hell, most of the chess community knew about the alcohol – but she hadn’t told many people about the pills.  Benny turns the pill bottle over in his hand and says, “These aren’t yours.”

           “They were my mother’s.  I used to skim some off the top.  She always used to ask me why they only filled the bottles halfway.”

           For some reason, this is an amusing memory for Beth, but she sobers at the look on his face.  “I first took them at Metheun.  They called them vitamins there.”

           “Fuck,” Benny breathes out.

           “The government made it against the law about a year after I got there.  But it didn’t stop me from trying to get them.  I broke into the pharmacy and swallowed an entire fistful of pills.  I had to get my stomach pumped.”

           “Why are you telling me this?”

           She tries to hold his gaze, but fails. “Because true things should be said. And you should know the person you love.”

           “Do you think this will change my mind?”

           She doesn’t know.  In a way, it’s hard for her to imagine any man loving her, because so many in her life hadn’t.  But she doesn’t want to fight with him.  She reaches for the bottle, but he covers her hand with his.

           “Beth-“

           “Let’s just forget about it,” she says.  She wants to go back to how they were before she went and threw in a pill bottle.  “Please.”

           “Beth, listen to me,” he says.  “I know you’re not perfect.  I knew that a long time ago, but I don’t care.  I love you, anyway.”

           “I can’t sleep without the pills.”

           “Then I’ll help you,” he says.  “I’ll recite Elfin Gemmer games to you until you sleep. I know how boring you find them.”

           Beth’s heart swells, and while she doesn’t know if she loves him yet, she does know that there is no one else she’d rather be with. Taking a deep breath, she says, “Flush them down the toilet.”

           “Are you sure?”

           She nods.

           He gets out of bed, taking the pill bottle with him, and she hears the toilet flush before he returns to bed.  She curls against him, resting her head on his chest, and she murmurs, “Benny, can you say it again?”

           “Say what again?”

           “You know what.”

           He clears his throat and begins with, “The year is 1963.  Elfin Gemmer-“  She hits his chest and he laughs, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.  “I love you, Beth.”  

[yikesharringrove]

how do u feel abt doing smth like a modern au where billy is like , all this punk rock and teen angst and leather nd jean jackets kinda of thing and steve is the exact opposite of him with fluffy skirts and soft polos nd just really soft and they two have seen eachother but dont actually talk to one another until they have a school project and they just. fall in love overtime? basically , femme steve + punk rock billy falling in love.

(pt. 2) also!! happy 21st birthday 💓💕💗💖💕

The university had a strict core curriculum, meaning that Steve was ten minutes late for his Philosophy of the Modern Era class.

He couldn’t find the room, was wandering around in this basement with his schedule written on the back of his hand. He was peering at room numbers and muttering to himself 067 067 067.

“You looking for that philosophy class?” Steve turned around at the voice.

The guy was stomping down the hallway in big leather boots. His jeans were ripped and shredded, and he was wearing a black t-shirt with pink font reading Dog Park Dissidents. His denim jacket was covered in pins and patches and sharpie drawings. He had Silence = Death written on one of the pockets, Being nice IS punk rock was scrawled down one arm.

“Yeah, that modern era one?” The guy smiled and nodded, reaching forward to shake Steve’s hand. His eyes were a startling blue, lined with a thin smudge on black. His hair was wild and curly, shaved on each side into this beachy looking mohawk. He had his nose and his eyebrow pierced, along with several in his ears.

“Billy Hargrove.”

“Steve Harrington.” Steve could feel the tips of his ears go red as Billy looked him up and down. He was wearing something cute for the first day of class, a chunky white cardigan over a soft pink peasant dress. He had gotten up early to do his makeup well, and was late to class anyway because this stupid building was a fucking maze.

They set off down the hall together, looking at each door they passed by.

“Oh shit. Pretty Boy, I think I got it.” Steve flushed slightly at being called pretty, still not used to being able to dress like this in public. Billy wrenched open the door, and stomped in, not a care in the world for being twenty minutes late.

The professor raised his eyebrow.

“And what were you two doing out in the hall?”

“I’m sorry, we couldn’t find the room.” Steve’s cheeks were hot as he was standing at the front of the class.

“That’s okay. you have missed class introductions, to please say your names, pronouns and majors.”

“Billy Hargrove, he/him, double majoring in literature and social work.”

“Steve Harrington, he/they. I’m also a double major in education and early childhood development.” The professor made a note on his role sheet.

“Thank you, you may sit down.” Steve went for the back of the room, flopping into the first empty seat he could find, ducking his head as he quietly got his laptop out. Billy had stomped into the seat next to him, had gotten out a notebook and proceeded to doodle in it for the rest of class.

He sat next to Billy every Monday Wednesday and Friday from 9:20-10:35 and and outside of their ten minute search for the classroom, they had yet to say anything to one another.

It certainly didn’t help that Steve was harboring a little crush on the guy. He would watch him in class, the way he would doodle little sunflowers in the margins of his notes, smiling softly at them.

“So, for the rest of the semester you will be working in pairs. I want you to go through the readings we have completely and work together with the philosophers we have discussed to create your own system for the modern era. How do you believe society exists now?” Billy turned to Steve, grinning at him.

“You wanna be my partner?” Steve gave a sheepish smile, his heart racing.

“I, um. Yes. Yeah, I’ll be your partner.” Steve dug his phone out of the tight pocket of his skirt, trading with Billy. He put his number under Steve Harrington - Modern Era Philosphy.

“You wanna get coffee after class, start working through our beliefs?”

“Um, sure. I don’t have class until, like, 3:30 today.” Billy grinned again and fucking winked at Steve. He needed to calm the fuck down.

“So basically, a lot of my beliefs are based on the punk message.” Billy was sipping at his black coffee, had laughed and said should’ve fucking known when Steve ordered a large mocha with extra chocolate syrup, and whipped cream. “I’m a very live and let live person, but I believe everyone should live and let live. If someone is trying to dictate how others should exist, they’re fucking garbage.”

“Okay, I actually really agree with that.”

“That’s because you’re punk rock.” Steve laughed, but Billy’s eyes were serious. “No seriously, there’s nothing more punk rock than being unapologetically yourself.”

“When did you get into punk philosophy?”

“When I was in high school. My dad was a real prick, and I was angry, and a lot of punk is loud and pissed off and it helped, but then I started going to shows, and talking to people, and it’s not what you’d expect. Everyone at a show is like a weird family for a night. If someone comes in and tries to fuck with someone, the family deals. I can’t tell you how many fights I saw that broke out because someone was perving on a girl, and these other guys started protecting her. And that only grew as I started getting into queercore.”

Steve was listening to Billy, eyes wide as he described stories from shows, how he had jumped in on fights to defend the family, how he would walk girls home or to their cars parked a ways down the street, how he knew everyone would do the same for him.

“God, I wish I had a community like that. I didn’t really have anyone growing up. You know, token queer in a small town kinda vibe.” Billy smiled at him sympathetically.

“That why you came out to San Fransisco?”

“Oh yeah. Wanted to come somewhere where, this, didn’t matter.” He gestured to himself. “I just don’t get why it bothers people. I just do it because it makes me happy. I don’t know why it concerns anyone else.” Billy was nodding vigorously.

“Exactly. That’s the whole truth about being queer. People hate you for something that has nothing to do with them. It’s completely wack. Like if I’m with someone in whatever capacity, we’re both consenting adults. It literally doesn’t matter.”

“Do you think we could expand upon this enough for our project? Talk about how we feel the world should just stop caring about what other people do if it has nothing to do with them.” Billy grinned.

“I think we could make something happen.”

They began getting coffee after each class, taking through their project, finding resources to back up the ideas they had discussed. The more time they spent together, the more Steve liked Billy, liked how sweet he was, how positive. They talked about having terrible parents, how Billy’s dad had kicked him out at sixteen for being gay, how he had lived with friends, saving up to get himself through college. They talked about how Steve’s dad had found his stash of makeup and threw it all away, making sure it was ruined and broken. How disappointed his father was that he was studying to become a teacher.

There was one Friday they had met up and stayed all day in the coffee shop stayed until the 5 pm closing.

“You wanna come over? I have a single room. We can keep working.” Billy grinned at Steve like he always did, showing off all his white teeth. So they walked side by side to Steve’s room.

Steve kept his room neat, a habit left over from overbearing parents who would shame him into cleaning his room.

Steve’s room was exactly how Billy imagined.

He had soft white lights, a full length mirror on one wall. His bed was covered in pillows, duvets, and even a few stuffed animals. The wall above the bed was covered in pictures of Steve back home, several with a group of younger kids, and a lot with a blonde girl.

“This your girlfriend?” Steve snorted.

“No, that’s Robin. She and I are just really close friends.”

“What’s with the kids?” Steve blushed.

“I babysat all through high school, and those kids kinda adopted me as their pseudo parent. It was a lot of driving them all over town.”

“That’s cute. That why you wanna teach?”

“Yeah, I’m good with kids.” Steve had plopped himself on the made bed. He watched as Billy took off his heavy boots, placing them neatly by the door before stepping onto Steve’s plush grey rug. His socks were thick wool and had little cartoon dogs on them. Steve was in love.

Billy sat with Steve on the bed. He was taking a closer look at the photos.

“I could see that for you. You’re a caring type.” Steve looked down as his feet, could feel his face getting hot.

“Why did you pick social work?”

“When I was a kid, CPS would be called to our place like, once every few months. My dad was a real good schmoozer, so I would always just be left with him. I wanna be able to help kids get out of bad situations.”

“God, and you call me a caring type. You’re gonna save the world.” Billy laughed.

“The children are the future. I’ll save ‘em, you teach ‘em.” When Steve looked up, Billy was leaning closer into Steve’s space. He had a soft smile on his face. His eyes were bright and beautiful and so fucking blue. “Can I kiss you?”

“Can you, what?”

“Can I kiss you?”

“Why?” Billy still hadn’t leaned back.

“‘Cause I have a big dumb crush on you, and I think you have one on me.” Steve’s face was pink.

“I, uh, yeah. Go, go for it.” Billy laughed, taking Steve’s face in both hands. He leaned in, just gently pressing their lips together.

“So, was I right?”

“Yes. Very much so.” Billy laughed again, loud and sweet, pressing another kiss to Steve’s lips.

“You wanna go on a date? A real one? Not just us getting coffee and pretending we both weren’t totally into each other.” Steve snorted again.

“Yeah, I would really like that.”

[girlcalledtasha]

Something weird happened today.

I'm worried about Gomez. For anyone who doesn't know, Gomez is the name of the sprout I rescued from the side of a bottomless pit that was summoned in the park opposite my house by a group of Occultists masquerading as a book club.

The Occultists are settled now. There are five large tents surrounding the hole, which has finally been fenced off. It has a bit of a carnival atmosphere, which is probably due in part to the actual carnival which has set up next to them. It's fun. There are open air food stalls and many of the usual fairground attractions like a small roller-coaster, Ferris wheel etc.

I'd watch your step in the hall of mirrors though. Very easy to get lost. Not saying I did, but I certainly took a wrong turn somewhere.

If you haven't been in one before, it's like a maze made entirely out of mirrors. Some of the mirrors are warped, creating amusing reflections. For Gen Z, this is what we had before Snapchat filters. Simpler days.

At the end of a long mirrored corridor I found a dead end with a door. On the door was a sign saying "DEVIL'S TOYBOX" and "DO NOT CLOSE". It was closed. So I opened it.

Inside was a small room. The exact size of the room wasn't obvious because of the mirrors. It wasn't until I stepped in that I saw it was about 5 foot square and mirrored on all sides, even the floor and ceiling! In all directions I was staring into infinity, with my reflection endlessly repeating into the distance.

Then I heard a soft clunk and the room went dark. The door had closed behind me!

I turned around and tried to feel for the door, but couldn't find it. I kept walking towards where it should have been but there was only empty space.

After a few minutes of wandering, my eyes began adjusting to the dark and I noticed that I could no longer see my reflection in the walls. But there was… something… in there with me. I couldn’t make it out clearly in the low light. Just a dark blur, as big as a car, slowly circling me. To my left I thought I could make out a faint light way off in the distance, so I quickly made my way to it with my arms stretched out in front of me. It was the door! Phew!

As I left, I propped the door open with a bit of cardboard. Silly thing could be dangerous. No harm done I guess, except I'm left-handed now.

3/10. Would not recommend. The falafal stall is good though.

While I was there I went to check on the hole. It had stopped growing, which is nice. Rosalind was there by the fence throwing in handfuls of sunflower seeds. She was easy to spot with her barn owl masquerade mask and she recognised me too.

"Abandon all hope, neighbour!" she greeted me cheerily.

"Way ahead of you, friend. How's the hole?"

Rosalind stopped throwing in seeds and sighed. "I mean, it's fine I guess. But we were expecting something more which hasn't manifested yet. Hoping these seeds might speed things along. Hey, have you parted your hair differently?"

Bloody Hall of Mirrors. "Long story," I told her. "What were you expecting?"

"Well we're all eager to get down this here hole, right? But none of us wanna risk it until our guide shows up. Virgil was supposed to arrive as a dryad and lead us down. No sign of him yet."

"Well, don't give up hope."

"I won't. I... Ohhhh you got me. Haha. Abandon all hope, neighbour."

"And you."

Where was I going with this? Oh yeah, I was telling you about Gomez.

Well, he hasn't really been growing. I've been really worried about him. Plants usually have leaves, right? Well, from what I've read plants normally like lots of light too, but Gomez is just a stalk and cries if I even have t'big light on in my room. Wasn't sure whether he was going to survive, until this morning when he began to grow a bulb on the tip of his stalk.

It looks kind of like a tulip, but more, I dunno, eye-ish. And now he won't stop staring at me. I'll try watering him a bit more. Maybe he needs more fertiliser?

#SomethingWeirdHappenedToday

[snowdice]

Gaps in His Files (Part 4) [Relabeled; Refiled Series]

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Relationships: Logan/Patton

Characters:

Main: Logan, Patton

Appear: Remy, Virgil (but only in the epilogue)

Summary:

Logan Berry has learned many things the last 10 years: a lot of math and physics, a bit of humility, and how to be a hero being just a few. Through his education, his experience teaching, and his exploits as the superhero Bluebird, he’s changed in a lot of small and large ways. He has recorded these changes in well-organized documents and files. He’s even had to create two new file designations: a red one for files about his moonlighting at Bluebird, and a light blue one dedicated to his boyfriend, Patton.

When Bluebird is targeted by a memory device and all of those 10 years of progress suddenly disappear, Patton Sanders and Logan’s extensive files are left as his only resource to get those memories back. But what is Patton supposed to do when there are clear gaps in his files? And what does he do when he is one of them?

This is set 25 years before Sometimes Labels Fail though it’s story is completely independent of it and it is not necessary to read that one first.

Notes: Superhero AU, memory loss, past child abuse, past child neglect, unhealthy ideas about ones place in relationships, emotional suppression, self-deprecating thoughts, medical procedures mentioned, very brief unhealthy views of sex

Does anyone see the Easter Egg in here? Probably not. It’s pretty vague...

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Patton did not like driving Logan’s “special car.” It didn’t matter what position he put the seat in, he still either couldn’t reach the pedals or he felt like he was too scrunched up; the radio was (somehow) only set up to receive the local news station as well as some weird station that only ran a program detailing crop growing strategies which Patton thought must be some sort of cover for a channel sending messages in code (at least he really hoped it was because otherwise its existence was an affront to humanity); and he’d accidentally zapped himself with electricity while trying to adjust the temperature twice in the past and he still didn’t know if that was a feature or faulty wiring and Logan had refused to give an argument that convinced him either way. Not to mention, the car didn’t legally exist. If Patton got pulled over in this thing, what was he supposed to tell the police? Sorry, my boyfriend doesn’t have insurance, I’m pretty sure he built this death trap himself out of scrap metal because I can’t even discern the make and model.

“The corn! THE CORN,” the radio spewed.

“Yes, the corn,” Patton spat back. “I know. I heard you the first time.” Unfortunately, today, listening to the corn channel was better than listening to the news. The local news station continued to discuss and theorize what had happened earlier that afternoon over and over until Patton couldn’t take it anymore.

A memory gun had hit Logan. It had been a theory at first considering the things Lightwave and Logan had said along with the fact that Logan hadn’t seemed to remember how to fly, and had been all but confirmed a couple of hours ago when news that the police had investigated the dropped weapon leaked. Which all meant Logan was out there floundering with no idea what was going on or who he was. Patton wondered how much was gone. Had it erased all of his memories? Did he even know his name? He’d known enough to be able to use his powers, but was that instinct and muscle memory?

The theorizing on the local news station just made Patton’s blood pressure spike more with every passing second. Not that turning off the radio and being left alone with his own thoughts was much better. So…

“Crop rotation!”

Patton was the only person who knew Bluebird’s secret identity (at least, as far as Logan had told him.) Well… Remy might have guessed, but he hadn’t been officially told, and Patton doubted he’d be any help anyway. So, Patton was the only person who could really look for him. Sure, he was certain the police were searching (as well as some doubtlessly more dangerous people), but Patton was the only one who knew Logan.

You don’t know this Logan.

His Logan would have gone back to his apartment or maybe Patton’s if he were injured.

Patton gripped the steering wheel tighter. Okay. Maybe this Logan didn’t know where his apartment was. Maybe he didn’t know who Patton was. But he was still Logan, and Logan was rational and, more importantly, predictable. Patton would bet that in a circumstance where he knew nothing about what was going on, he would default to general survival tactics and what had he ranted and ranted to Patton about when they’d watched that one survival movie? Follow the water. Water is where you find food and shelter and almost certainly civilization if you follow it downstream. Sure, that was for when someone was lost in a forest or something, not already in a city, but Patton hoped he’d fallen into that strategy despite that, at least until he thought up something else better.

That’s why Patton had been driving up and down the river for the past few hours looking for anything suspicious and listening to someone blather on about corn. He pulled up underneath a bridge. It was a little bit away from the hustle and bustle of the city, but near enough to get to a more populated area quicklym and it had some good shelter around because there were trees. Patton bit his lip. If he thought like Logan, this would be a good place to stop. He decided to get out of the car and go out on foot for a bit.

Before exiting the car, he checked to make sure the mask was still in place. It felt strange on his face; he never really wore one. He clicked the locking mechanism which made the lights flash once but didn’t beep. He turned and froze when he met eyes under the bridge. The stranger didn’t speak but watched Patton intently from what looked like a makeshift house under the corner of the bridge. Patton edged out from beneath the bridge and headed toward the riverbanks. His shoes sunk into the mud a bit. It was starting to get dark which made it hard for him to search for things that looked out of place, especially when he was unfamiliar with the area. He was just running on blind Logan behavior instinct at this point. It was also starting to get cold. Patton hoped Logan had chosen to wear the winter super suit or he’d found a coat or something.

He wandered, looking into dark places and listening for any sounds beyond the river crashing into the banks. Around 15 minutes into his walk, his eyes caught on a large rock in front of a drainage pipe. Perfect, Logan’s voice said in his head. Patton crept over to check it out. No one was there, but it looked like someone had been recently by a smear of mud near the base of the rock that looked like someone’s foot had slipped there. Okay. He peered around him carefully, walking back toward the river. He had the sudden feeling of being watched. Up. He looked up at a small ledge along the bank and sighed in relief. “Thank god.”

Logan stumbled back a step when he realized Patton had seen him and turned tail to run again.

“Wait, L-” he cut himself off. He couldn’t risk it just in case someone was listening. There was a reason he had the mask and the car after all. Patton was the only one who knew his identity and Logan wanted to keep it that way. He thought quickly, head latching onto a story he’d been told one night curled up against a half-asleep Logan. “I’m Devora the Mood Goddess?” he tried.

Logan paused and turned to face him. “You know me,” he said peering at him from behind the mask still on his face.

Patton nodded, shoulders dropping in relief. “I do.” He offered a hand. “Come with me?”

He looked at the offered hand and then at Patton’s face. There was a moment of silence and then he nodded slowly and took a few steps down toward Patton. Patton grabbed hold of his arm when he got close enough, loosely so as not to startle him even though he wanted to latch on and never let go. Something loosed in Patton’s chest at the contact.

“Who are you?” Logan asked, accepting the touch, though he looked at Patton’s hand on his arm in confusion.

“In the car okay,” Patton requested. He nodded after a moment. “Are you okay?”

“I have body aches and from context clues, I assume memory loss,” he said, “but otherwise I feel well enough.”

“Good. Let’s get back to the car.”

They picked their way back toward the bridge through the muddy riverside. Patton groaned softly when there was an unmarked police car parked next to Logan’s car.

“What?” Logan asked at normal volume.

“Shh,” Patton scolded, but it was too late. A flashlight flared to light and turned to them the next second. “Hello Detective,” Patton said wryly. Patton had met Detective Silvia a couple of times, but of course she didn’t know that since Patton was wearing a mask. Logan knew her a bit more as Bluebird. She gave him a very suspicious look that grew almost hostile when she saw Logan was with him.

“Bluebird,” she said.

“So, I’ve come to understand,” Logan replied.

“I’m his friend. I’m here to help,” Patton said.

“Every villain in the city is looking for him, excuse me for not believing your word.” Patton sighed.

“He knows the code word,” Logan said.

She considered him and then shook her head. “I’d still be more comfortable if you came down to the station.”

Logan tilted his head at her. “No,” he said firmly. Then the detective yelped as her feet left the ground.

“Bluebird no!” Patton hissed. “The detective is our friend.”

“She is not my friend,” Logan replied with a frown. “I don’t know her.”

Patton rubbed his temples. “Just get in the car and put her down gently when you do.”

He went without compliant and Patton rounded the car. His eyes fell on the man he’d seen earlier, backed up against the wall with wide eyes. “Thanks for being concerned for him buddy,” Patton said.

They both got in the car and Patton drove away. He saw the detective being placed back on her feet in the rearview mirror. “Well, I’m going to have to send her a fruit basket,” he mumbled under his breath.

Want to read more? Click below!

AO3 Part 5