#there is just no time these days. i haven’t even asked for anything i don’t even want anything. goddamn

[hederasgarden]

In My Veins

Summary: You broke up with Sergei over a year ago, but it seems neither of you can let the other go. Pairing: Sergei Kravinoff x F!Reader Word Count: 1.6K Rating: Mature, 18+ only. Explicit sexual content, angst, some light B&E, and reference to stalking.  A/N: I tried to write a 500 word drabble and failed miserably. Based on this ask. Thank you @otaku-girl-ao3 and @crazyimaginations for looking this over. Please comment or reblog if you enjoyed this and want to see more. Or scream at me in my inbox. That always makes my day.

Aaron Taylor Johnson Character Masterlist ♡ Masterlist

The moment you open the door to your apartment and see the soft yellow glow from the lamp on the entryway table, one you definitely didn’t leave on, you know you’re not alone. Sergei’s back. You hesitate, keys still in your hand. Part of you wants to turn around and leave, anything to avoid the situation you're walking into. But you know he's already heard you, probably been aware you were coming since you stepped off the elevator. Even if you leave now, you’re just delaying the inevitable. He’ll come back another time. 

With a quiet exhale, you step inside, lock the door behind you, and let your purse and keys fall onto the table. Sergei is exactly where you expect him to be—splayed out on your couch like a big, lazy jungle cat. He lifts the bottle of beer in his hand and takes a long pull, his gaze meeting yours. His booted feet rest casually on the IKEA coffee table, the very one he helped you put together before you broke up. He’s dressed simply in jeans and a white t-shirt that clings just enough to show the muscles in his arms. 

“Greg seems nice,” Sergei says casually. 

You don’t bother asking how he knows the name of your date. The one you just came back from. 

“He’s a pediatrician,” you say. “It’s a nice, normal job.”

There’s nothing serious between you and Greg yet, you’ve only been on a few casual dates and decided to keep things light, no strings attached or expectations. But Sergei doesn’t need to know that.

He leans back, and takes another swig from the bottle, his thick neck working as he swallows. You can’t seem to tear your eyes away from the movement of his throat until he’s finished. He rests the bottle on his thigh and smirks when he sees you watching him. Irritation flares hotly inside and you cut across the living room, plucking the beer from his hand. You give his feet a quick nudge, sending them off your coffee table as you walk past him and into the kitchen. He doesn’t even flinch at your gesture, his eyes staying locked on you.

“He sounds boring,” he comments, following you into the kitchen.

You dump the beer in the sink, watching the bubbles disappear down the drain, your back to him.

“Maybe I want boring. Safe,” you murmur. “I bet no one wants to kidnap a pediatrician’s girlfriend.”

You know bringing that up is a low blow, even if it’s true. The resulting silence from Sergei is heavy, and you close your eyes, feeling a wave of guilt. Things between the two of you were never the problem – it was everything else in his life. 

After a beat, you glance over your shoulder. Sergei stares back at you, his eyes dropping briefly to take in the dress you wore for your date. Even though it’s just an old, comfortable sundress, the way he looks at you makes it feel like the most beautiful thing you’ve ever worn. You look away with a soft sigh, your head lowering, fingers curling over the edge of the sink.

“Why are you here?” you ask sharply.

Sergei ignores your question. “Why haven’t you invited Greg up to your apartment yet?”

A short, incredulous laugh escapes you, and you shake your head. “Are you stalking me?”

“I’m keeping an eye on you,” he replies coolly. “You’ve made a few ill-advised dating choices this past year.”

If your earlier comment was a low blow this is something even crueler. It was hardly your fault the first guy you dated after Sergei turned out to be a drug dealer who wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“And I really appreciated your help with that,” you tell him earnestly. “Truly, I do.”

“I know,” he says quietly, coming to stand behind you. He’s close enough that you feel the warmth of his words against the back of your head. “I’ll always come when you need me.”

A shaky breath escapes you, and you squeeze your eyes shut. “And that’s the problem, isn’t it? We broke up a year ago, but you still show up at my apartment whenever you want. And I... I let you.”

As you straighten up from leaning over the sink, your back presses against his firm chest. His big hands settle on your hips. The feel of them is warm and comforting. You almost catch yourself sinking into his touch before you force yourself to pull away. You know if you told him to let you go, he would, but you don’t.

Instead, you just say, “I like Greg. I can see a future with him.”

Sergei exhales softly, his fingers tightening around your waist.

“Does he know how to make you come like I do?” he asks, his voice sinking into your skin. “How you like to be fucked?” 

His lips brush over the shell of your ear as he speaks. You swallow, the sound loud in the quiet of your kitchen. 

“Sergei, I–” your words fizzle out as his hand trails down your thigh, bunching the fabric of your dress until his calloused fingers find your inner thigh. 

He taps one of your feet with his boots and your body responds without your permission, widening your stance to accommodate him. Every part of you trembles and you hate the needy sound that builds in your chest when his thick fingers brush your clothed core.

“I know what you need,” he promises, his voice dropping into that low, soothing rumble that makes your stomach flutter. “Will you let me give it to you?”

You should tell him to stop. This isn’t what you want. You want to move on, to find happiness, but when you open your mouth, all you can manage is a thin, breathy gasp as his hand slips into your underwear. His thick fingers slowly drag between your folds, gathering the wetness he finds there. He circles your clit with a steady, unhurried rhythm. 

The counter groans when you lean your weight against it. You roll your hips, and Sergei chuckles, his wide palm settling on your soft belly. He presses down gently but firmly until your body is flush with his. He holds you there while he plays with you, his touch alternating between light, teasing strokes, and firmer, more deliberate pressure.

“Should I stop?” he questions, sounding wholly unaffected.

You can feel his smirk against your neck and you hate that he knows exactly how to make you feel this way with hardly any effort at all. If you weren’t so twisted up by him, you might actually tell him to stop, but God you want this. Want him. 

You shake your head, before you remember that’s not how you’re supposed to answer him. He wants to hear you say it. 

“No,” you moan. “Please.” 

“Good girl,” he praises, sinking one thick finger into your cunt. 

You rise onto your tiptoes when he curls a second one beside the first, hardly giving you time to adjust. It’s hard to remember exactly why you broke up with Sergei when he’s knuckle-deep in you, the rough pad of his thumb caressing your clit. Blindly, you reach back for him, curling your hand around his neck to steady yourself. The only noise in the kitchen beside the quiet hum of your refrigerator is your desperate little pants and the quiet, wet sound his fingers make while they move in and out of you.

Eyes closed, you surrender yourself to the sensations of just how good this all feels, being held in his arms and made to take what he gives you. He groans, sucking a bruise onto the side of your throat and your stomach flips. When you feel him begin to push a third finger inside, your hips stutter. The intrusion burns and you whine. 

“You can take it for me, I know you can,” he urges, nuzzling the side of your face.

You toss your head and gasp, digging your nails into his skin. He grunts in response, his voice dropping an octave as a string of Russian words fall from his lips. The sound makes you clench around him and he chuckles, whispering another phrase in Russian. You ride his hand shamelessly, chasing the beginning of your orgasm that sparks to life in your lower belly. It starts small, a growing pressure that makes you wild and desperate. 

“Please,” you babble, gripping his forearm hard enough your fingers ache. 

You need more and he's quick to give it to you, sinking his teeth into the meat of your neck while the steady pressure of his thumb on your sensitive bud pushes you over the edge. A delirious kind of pleasure descends over your body. Your legs shake and your mouth falls open, ecstasy rolling along every nerve. 

You swirl your hips, grinding on his fingers to prolong your pleasure until it becomes too much and Sergei gently withdraws his fingers, leaving behind an aching emptiness. You sag into his body and he absorbs your weight like it’s nothing. With your cheek resting against his chest, you watch through half-lidded eyes as he brings his fingers to his nose, his eyes flashing golden, before sucking them clean, savoring your taste.

“This doesn’t mean we’re back together,” you tell him, breathless.

He smirks down at you. “Of course not. But what I’m about to do to you in the bedroom later certainly will.”

[kooggukk]

𖦹 ׂ 𓈒 BEYOND THE JOB // JJK ; 2

daddy jungkook (literally)

; babysitting the cutest angel on earth is the perfect job. (except when her father is fucking hot and wants all of you)

+ comment to be added to the taglist

— 2/??

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“i told you i could just look after her for you.” the raven haired man said while doing nabi’s pigtails that she loves so much.

“you have your own job too, taehyung.” jungkook simply replied, “plus, you’re always near killing her when you’re left alone.”

taehyung scoffed, taking it by heart as he tied the final loop of nabi’s pigtails. “killing her? don’t be dramatic. she’s perfectly fine with me, right nabi?”

she giggled and taehyung picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder. the boring, quiet house was now filled with her sweet laughs. “hey! see now? put her— tae!” jungkook went to reach for his daughter, but the man ran away, nabi’s pigtails swinging and bouncing.

“you’re gonna drop her!”

“you know i won’t!”

“but anything could happen any second-“

taehyung stopped, playfully throwing nabi down on the soft mattress of the couch. “you ever have some fun, man? jesus..”

jungkook rolled his eyes at his words, “i can have fun too!”

“be for real, the last time you had fun was probably when you made nabi— ow!” taehyung laughed but instantly stopped when he felt a slap on his neck.

“watch your mouth?” he whispered, pointing to nabi. taehyung turned around and noticed how she was unbothered, being in her own little world playing with her princess dolls.

“calm down, the fuck. she ain’t even paying attention to us— i mean, you. right nabi?” taehyung asked the last part loudly with a huge grin, glancing at her.

he turned back with a smile to jungkook when she nodded, “see? i’m always in the center of her attention. she loves me, dude. you know that too!”

“of course i know she loves you, you’re like the second dad.”

“whoa, we ain’t gay—“ taehyung put his hands up in surrender.

“not like that!” jungkook smacked his neck again, “you’re her uncle, besides you and me, she got nobody else.”

“you ever thought of dating again?”

jungkook let out a sigh of frustration. “you at this again? i told you— at least a million times already that i don’t want to.”

taehyung shrugged and fixed the blanket next to nabi. “dunno, you could’ve changed your mind since then.”

“well, i haven’t.”

“okay, great to know. so, i guess i should cancel the blind date i planned?” taehyung asked with a raised brow.

“the hell, tae?!”

“jokin’..” he laughed but he quickly took his phone out, typing a message to someone. jungkook watched in disbelief, shaking his head as he checked the time.

“you should go, she could be here any moment now.”

“what? you won’t even let me meet the person who’s gonna spend all day with my precious angel?” he feigned hurt, pouting.

“you can, just another time.”

jungkook crossed his arms while taehyung kept his pout on with his puppy eyes, “no. that looks weird on you, grow up. stop it.”

he cursed at jungkook in a whisper, reaching his hand out to nabi. “nabi, come on. say goodbye to tata.”

she got up and walked to him, holding his hand. he bent down to plant a kiss on her hair, “am i the best?” he whispered to her. she smiled and nodded, “the best!”

“just go already,” jungkook scoffed and pushed taehyung. he opened the door but stopped, “what?” jungkook asked and looked to the door.

you stood there, about to press the bell. “oh,” jungkook rushed to the door and pushed taehyung aside.

he looked at jungkook and then back at you. “is this her?” he asked, unbothered if he sounded rude. jungkook gave him a look but nodded, already knowing what’s gonna happen next.

taehyung turned to you, looking you up and down. he hummed and that made something weird in your stomach, as if you were being looked down on.

“hey, i’m taehyung, single—“ he couldn’t finished as he got pushed out of the door. “bye tae!” jungkook said and stepped aside to let you in.

you glanced at taehyung and you saw him make a ‘call me’ sign with a smile before he turned his back to you, walking away.

“sorry about that,” jungkook embarrassedly apologized as you both got inside. “it’s alright. is he your friend?” you asked, taking off your coat.

he nodded and took the outerwear from you, neatly hanging it. you mumbled a thanks and you took off your shoes too, placing them nicely next to the wall. “yeah, he can be kind of annoying.”

you both settled down on the couch, and after jungkook got a glass of orange juice for you, it was now discussion time.

“so, i have a set of keys hanged next to the coats, those are yours. i wrote the names of the doors on the keys to not switch them up. gate, front door, basement. i also got a key for nabi’s room if it would be an emergency.”

he explained everything and you nodded, taking a sip. “she usually eats lunch around 2PM, the latest is 3. if you’re out and get back late, just wait till’ dinner.”

he leaned a little closer to make sure nabi doesn’t hear him, but it was useless because she wasn’t paying attention anyways. “i have chocolate ice cream in the bottom drawer of the freezer, if she’s having a huge— and i mean huge tantrum, give her a small cup and she’ll be nice again.”

you laughed and nodded, “does she have allergies?” you asked. he hummed and shook his head, leaning back to his original seat.

“no, nothing that i know of. she got it checked a few months ago and she can eat anything.”

“oh god— food. she’s hella picky.” jungkook sighed and glanced at her, then back at you.

“first of all, peppers. she doesn’t like the seeds inside, so i always cut them in thin lines to make sure none gets in there. same with grapes, oranges and tangerines. literally anything that has seeds, needs to be picked out. except tomatoes, thank god.”

“whoa, i never met someone who doesn’t eat the seeds.” you said, looking at her.

“she says because it’s soft food, and the seeds are hard. i dunno, i guess it’s.. nabi logic or something.” he waved his hand, leaving the topic.

“next, bread. always cut the bread crust off. it once poked her gums and she wouldn’t eat it since then.”

“i don’t like the crust either, so that’s not an issue.”

he looked at you weirdly, “the crust is the best part of a freshly baked bread.”

you shrugged, “i don’t like it.”

after a good 5 minutes long discussion about bread crust, jungkook lead you to a door. “and lastly, this is your room.”

you step inside, taking in the decor. it wasn’t much different from the other furnitures in the house, “it’s the guest room,” jungkook broke the silence.

you turned to him with a nod, “it’s really nice. thank you.”

“it used to be my office so there might be a few papers or folders in one of the drawers, just let me know if you find anything.”

“yeah, of course.”

“you can bring as many decorations as you want in here, i want you to feel the most comfortable. you can move in whenever, i won’t rush you.”

he saw the hesitation written on your face, and he panicked that he must have misunderstood the situation.

“or— you don’t have to move in obviously! i just thought you’d be with nabi from early hours to late afternoons, sometimes even nights therefor-“

he ranted, his eyes going everywhere in the room but your eyes, his hands in a fist next to his body. he was nervous, afraid he made a woman, — he made you uncomfortable.

“i understand, don’t worry. and i think i’ll just spend a few days a week. if that’s alright?”

“yeah!” his tone was more excited than he intended to be, he cleared his throat. “yeah that’s fine.”

you smiled at his clumsy behavior, your eyes looking around the room once again. “oh, i wanted to ask you something.” you turned to him.

“yeah?”

“the man, who was here before, does he come over a lot? i don’t want unexpected people to show up when i’m alone with nabi.”

“oh, taehyung. well yeah, a few days a week but he also has his own job, so don’t worry. and he knows i wouldn’t be here, so i doubt he’d come over.”

you nodded as he explained, walking out the room and heading to the living room, where nabi was still occupied.

“i could—“ jungkook started and he hurried in front of you, stopping you with his arms reached out. “i could write a list of names and their phone numbers about whom to trust and reach out to if i’m not available.”

“oh, that’d he helpful. thank you,” you smiled and jungkook got lost for a second, your lips looking wetter than they did a minute ago, shining beautifully.

“i have a very close friend of mine, her name is sasha.” you said and he got his attention back, looking at you dumbfounded as what you wanted to say.

“uh, like— if i ever go out with nabi, would it be a problem if sasha comes along with us?” your voice was uncertain, if he said no it would be damn embarrassing and awkward.

he hummed as he hesitated, scratching his head. “i mean i guess? you said she’s your friend, so i believe she’s not a serial killer..” he joked, or half joked, maybe didn’t even joke about it but you laughed and his shoulders relaxed.

“no, she’s not. she was my co-worker, i can give you her number if an emergency were to happen.”

“sure, that’d be nice.”

┈ ⪩⪨   ┈

the first week of taking care of nabi wasn’t so horrible, better than you expected. she was really calm, sometimes too calm and quiet. you didn’t think much about it, telling yourself she gotta get used to you.

one day she was sweet like an angel, asking to play dolls with her, “__! play barbie with me!” she didn’t ask, she commanded you to play it with her.

so you did, you sat down on the floor across her, holding another blonde barbie doll. it was going fine, until she— or more like her ‘barbie’ talked bad about your doll.

“ew! your dress is so not cool!” her tone was high pitched, you gasped. “oh my! that’s not so nice of you, nabi.”

“i didn’t say that, it was her!” she held up her doll.

you got lost in your thoughts that day, afraid she might grow up thinking it was fine to judge others’ appearance. you know that she’s aware it’s just games, but what if she thinks it’s just as fine to do that in real life as with dolls?

then some other days, she just wouldn’t say one single word to you. she would mumble a few ‘thank you’s when you give her juice or make food, but she wouldn’t ask you to play with her, go out for a walk, watch a show. nothing.

when you would be the one suggesting to go outside, she’d shake her head. “everything okay, sweetheart?” you asked when you walked from the kitchen to her, holding a plate of cookies.

she didn’t look up at you but she gave you nod, “i brought cookies. chocolate, the one you like.” you put it down but she completely ignored it, continuing to draw.

you watched her in silence, maybe you were the one doing something wrong? maybe your cookies aren’t tasty? maybe you said something that she misunderstood?

all the bad possibilities flew to your mind, stressing you out. you sat down on the couch, zoning out but not completely. you saw nabi move from the corner of your eye, she walked up to you with two dolls.

“you wanna play?”

…

she just shrugged, giving you the same doll she did the other day, which made you remember what she had said.

it started fine, she said some stuff about horses and playgrounds, but then it happened again. she randomly changed the topic, saying your doll’s hair was ugly and it’d be better to buzz it off.

you put the doll down, “nabi, don’t be so mean. you know you can’t say stuff like that, right?”

“you can’t say someone’s dress is not cool or their hair isn’t as pretty as yours. you might think it’s okay because these are just dolls, but no. treat them like you would treat a friend.”

“i have no friends.”

your heart sank. you never asked about friends, assuming she had them. what a disgusting thing you did. assume.

you felt horrible, ashamed. “i’m sorry angel.” you placed your hand on her small back, and that’s when the door opened.

jungkook walked in, looking a bit like a mess but the tiredness left him as soon as nabi ran to him. he smiled but then frowned, hearing her sobs.

you widened your eyes, confused why she was crying now. you stood up and jungkook stared at you, picking up his daughter. “what’s wrong?”

he asked her, but she gave him no reply. he looked at you again for answers but you shook your head, no idea what was going on with her. “ya, it’s fine, stop crying.” he kicked off his shoes and carried her to her bedroom.

you waited, patiently sitting on the couch.

“she’s okay?” you asked when he got back, plopping down next to you.

“yeah, but she wouldn’t tell me what happened.”

you stayed silent, staring at the turned off tv in front of you.

“did you.. say something to her?” he asked, trying to sound as polite as possible.

you snapped your head towards him, “no, nothing bad that i know of.”

“what did you talk about?”

“we were playing with her dolls and she started talking bad about my doll, for the second time this week. so, i told her it’s not nice and she shouldn’t do that. she needs to be nice, not judge the dolls.”

he listened carefully, resting his head on his arm.

“i told her to treat them like she would treat a friend. i didn’t know she doesn’t have friends..”

jungkook sighed, “she must say those things because some girls used to be rude to her at daycare. that’s why i got you instead, i don’t want her to be raised in a place like that.”

“i’m so sorry i brought that topic up in front of her, i should’ve acted like a mature person and think before saying anything— god, i feel awful.”

“you don’t have to, you didn’t know.”

“but i assumed..”

“so? that’s just how the brain works, social life and friends are normal and common, we assume everyone has them.”

he saw how much this affected you too, he scooted a little closer and placed his big hand on your shoulder. “don’t feel bad. she’s fine, she will be fine.”

you groaned, throwing your head back. “i know..”

he chuckled, noticing how exhausted you looked by the end of the week. “was she fine tho? how was your week with her? i hope she’s not too.. horrible to you.”

you shook your head, giving him a look then closing your eyes. “she’s fine. a little quiet but that shouldn’t be a bad thing, right?”

“right. better than a child who runs around yelling all day.”

“oh i hope that day never comes. i wouldn’t survive that.” silence fell in the room after a round of small laughing.

“you had lunch?” he asked you out of the sudden, looking at the clock. almost 5PM.

“yeah, i cooked her some of those dino nugg—“

“no, i meant, you. did you have lunch?”

oh. how embarrassing..!

“no, i didn’t.” you sighed, sitting up straight.

“come on, then.” he stood up, walking to the kitchen. you frowned, “what?”

“let’s eat.”

“it’s late, almost dinner time.”

“then, let’s eat dinner. call it whatever you want.” he shrugged, taking off his hoodie which he threw on the armchair when he walked past it.

“i can eat at home, it’s fine.”

“__.”

wow, there was something in his tone, commanding, strict. he stood in the doorway of the kitchen, arms crossed, staring at you. he jerked his head towards the kitchen, signaling you to follow.

“please, eat with me. it’d be late when you get home, i don’t want you to cook at that hour. come on,”

his voice wasn’t aggressive nor loud, but yet it had a firmness, leaving no room for argument.

“also, it’s already getting dark. stay for tonight.”

taglist: @ahgasegotarmy116 @joonlover1207 @starlight-1010 @kingtinaa

[thewulf]

Adding One || Paul Lahote

Summary: Request - Hi I love your Paul lahote stories!! I was wondering if you could do one super fluffy where the reader finds out she’s pregnant but is worried how Paul will feel because they’re still young and all the werewolf and vampire stuff is going on at the time!!🩵

A/N: I just love Paul. Thank you for the requests as always! @lunajay33

Pairing: Paul Lahote x Reader

Word Count: 5.4k +

TW: Pregnancy

The warm scent of blueberry muffins filled Emily’s kitchen mingling with the faint tang of sea air drifting in through the open window. You were slouched in one of the chairs at her table with your cheek resting in your palm as you watched her move about the kitchen. The quiet hum of her voice as she talked about Sam and the pack was comforting, but it was hard to focus. Your stomach rolled again. That new unease building in the back of your mind.

“You’re quieter than usual,” Emily commented. Her voice cutting through the fog of your thoughts. She glanced at you over her shoulder, her sharp eyes softening when they landed on your face. “Are you feeling okay?”

You forced a smile, shrugging like it was nothing. “Just tired, I guess. It’s been a stressful few weeks, you know? All the patrols, Jacob imprinting on… that situation. It’s a lot.” You tried brushing her off.

Emily turned back to her muffins, humming as she pulled them from the oven and set them on the counter. “That’s true. It’s been hard on everyone.” She didn’t say anything else for a moment, but you could feel her watching you out of the corner of her eye. “Are you sure that’s all it is?” she asked gently not wanting to push too hard.

Your smile faltered. “Of course. What else would it be?”

Emily walked over and sat across from you. Her expression calm but concerned. “Well, you’ve been tired a lot lately. And you’ve barely eaten today. You won’t even touch my muffins like you always do. I also saw you push your plate away last week at dinner too.” She tilted her head, her tone as light as she could make it. “And I saw you make a face when I started the coffee earlier. You used to love coffee… I haven’t seen you drink a cup in weeks now.”

You stiffened slightly, trying to brush her off with a laugh. “I’m just… off, that’s all. It’s probably just stress or maybe a stomach bug. Nothing to worry about.” That unease grew in the pit of your stomach though.

She didn’t drop it. “Maybe,” she said slowly. Her dark eyes studying you. “But… have you thought it might be something else?”

You blinked at her, frowning. “Something else? Like what?”

She hesitated before she reached across the table to rest her hand on yours. “I don’t want to assume anything, but… you and Paul are together all the time. Could there be… another reason why you’re feeling this way?”

Her words hit you like a freight train and you immediately shook your head. Your voice pitching higher than you intended. “No. Absolutely not. There’s no way, Emily. We’re careful! I mean, mostly. But… no. That’s impossible.”

Emily gave you a patient look but didn’t pull her hand away. “I know you’re careful,” she said gently. “But accidents happen. When was the last time you had your period?” She asked the dreaded question… when was it?

The question made your heart lurch, and you froze. “I…” shit, you didn’t know, “I don’t know,” you stammered. “It’s been… I mean, I’m not great at keeping track, but…” Your voice trailed off as your mind began counting backward. The realization hitting you like a bucket of ice water on a freezing winter day. Your chest tightened. Your mouth suddenly ran dry.

Emily leaned forward slightly. Her voice soft but steady. “How long has it been?”

You swallowed hard while staring at her as the truth sank in. “I.... A month? Maybe more?” You guessed as you kept counting further back. No, it was more than a month now. It’d been nearly six weeks.

Emily’s expression didn’t change though there was a hint of sympathy in her eyes. “It might not be what you think,” she said carefully. “But maybe… maybe you should take a test. Just to be sure.”

Your stomach flipped at the thought, and you instinctively shook your head again. “I can’t. What if it’s positive? What am I supposed to do? What’s Paul going to say? What about the pack or my parents? Shit! My parents Em!” Your voice cracked, panic bubbling up as the possibility became more real. Pregnant. You couldn’t possibly be pregnant. No, it was just stress. You’d been so stressed lately. Periods were often late when stress was abundant. Yeah, just stress.

Emily squeezed your hand. Her calm presence grounding you. “If it’s positive, you’ll figure it out like you always do. You’re not alone in this, okay? You have me. You have Paul. And you have the while pack. Whatever happens, we’ll all be here for you.” Her voice was low and soothing as it always was. Her reassurance should have been comforting, but your thoughts were spiraling. The only thing you could focus on was the quiet truth settling into the back of your mind. You might really be pregnant. She stood with you still trying to process what was likely true.

Emily slipped out the door after giving you a reassuring smile. Her keys jingling as she walked to the front door. “I’ll be back in twenty minutes,” she’d said. “And don’t even think about panicking while I’m gone. Just breathe. I’m going to go buy one from the pharmacy. It won’t be a big deal if someone sees me buying one.” Easier said than done.

You sat stiffly on the edge of the couch with your knee bouncing restlessly as the minutes ticked by. Emily was right. If anyone saw her buying a pregnancy test, they wouldn’t think twice about it. She and Sam were married, in their twenties, and settled. But you? At nineteen, unmarried, and still figuring out your life, the very idea of people finding out sent a wave of nausea through you.

When Emily returned, she came through the door with the same calm efficiency as before. She held a small paper bag like it contained something perfectly ordinary. She set it down on the table while brushing the rain from her hair as she gave you a steady look. “Alright,” she said. Her tone light but firm. “No one saw me. Not that it would’ve mattered. But I figured you’d want to hear that.”

You groaned, burying your face in your hands. “Thank God. I’d die right here if word got back to my mom. Or the whole reservation.” You peeked through your fingers, your voice dropping to a mutter. “This place is like a fishbowl.”

Emily laughed softly and slid the bag toward you. “Relax. It’s done. Now, the next part is up to you.”

You stared at the bag. Your palms suddenly very disgustingly sweaty. Your heart hammered as you reached out and pulled the slim box from inside, the pink lettering glaring up at you like a warning. “I feel like I’m in one of those cheesy after-school specials,” you mumbled, your voice shaky as you tried to make light of the situation.

Emily gave your shoulder a comforting squeeze. “You’re not. You’re just figuring out what’s next. Go on. I’ll wait here.” With a long breath you stood and made your way to the bathroom, the box clutched tightly in your hands. The next few minutes felt like an eternity. You sat on the edge of the bathtub staring at the little plastic stick on the counter, its blank screen taunting you.

When your phone buzzed with the timer you’d set, your stomach flipped. You stood slowly, your hands trembling as you picked up the test. Two pink lines.

Positive.

Your knees felt weak as you gripped the counter for support as a tidal wave of emotions crashed over you. A strange mix of fear, joy, and uncertainty swirled in your chest, leaving you utterly breathless. You stared at the test for a long moment trying to process what it meant. Your hand drifted to your abdomen as you gulped.

When you finally emerged from the bathroom, Emily was waiting on the couch. Her face was soft as ever with understanding. She looked up as you stepped into the room, the test still clutched in your hand. “Well?” she asked gently. Her brown eyes searching your face for any sign of what it said.

You held up the test. Your mouth dry. “I guess I’m pregnant,” you said with your voice unsteady. Then in a weak attempt to lighten the mood you added with a shaky laugh, “Stealing Bella’s thunder, huh?” Bella’s pregnancy had been the talk of the pack ever since the group found out what she was carrying. Then the vampire human baby decided to make its appearance after only 28 days. The thought sent a shiver down your spine as you thought of what carrying a werewolf baby would entail.

Emily blinked, then burst into laughter. Her head tilting back as she shook her head. “Oh, you’ve got to stop hanging out with Paul so much. You’re picking up his sense of humor.” She grinned as she gave your arm a reassuring squeeze.

Despite your spinning thoughts her laughter pulled a smile from you. She wrapped you in a warm, steady hug. “It’s going to be okay,” she murmured, her voice firm. “Paul loves you so much. More than I ever thought he’d be capable of. You’re not doing this alone.” You clung to her words like a lifeline as tears brimmed in your eyes. You weren’t sad… no, not at all. You were simply overwhelmed as this had not been in your plans. You were going to get married to Paul in a few years and maybe have some kid’s years after that. Not now. But life had a funny way of throwing you completely off. First, being imprinted to a damned werewolf. Now this.

You sat at the kitchen table with the pregnancy test still in your hand. Emily had made you a cup of tea. The warm mug sitting untouched in front of you as your thoughts spiraled. You’d stared at the little pink lines so long now that they were practically burned into your vision. A constant reminder of the new, terrifying reality that had just taken shape.

Emily leaned against the counter, watching you with a mixture of patience and quiet concern. “What’s going on in that head of yours?” she asked gently.

You let out a shaky breath, placing the test down on the table so gently as if it might explode. “Everything,” you said. Your voice barely above a whisper. “I mean… Paul and I are nineteen. This wasn’t exactly in the plan. What if he’s not ready for this? What if he feels… trapped?” The thought made your stomach churn. You couldn’t shake the image of his face falling when you told him.

Emily frowned, stepping closer and taking the chair across from you. “Yes, you both are young, but you know he’s devoted to you. He’d run through fire for you without thinking twice. That’s the bond. It’s unshakable.”

You nodded slowly, but her reassurance only soothed one layer of your anxiety. “But what about my parents?” you asked. Your voice cracking yet again. “If they find out, they’ll never let me hear the end of it. They’ll say I’m ruining my life. That we’re not ready. And Paul’s parents… What if they think I’m irresponsible or… God forbid, trying to trap him or something?”

Emily shook her head firmly. “No one who knows you would think that. You and Paul have been through so much already and you’ve come out stronger every time. His parents will see that. His parents love you. And as for your parents…” She gave you a small, wry smile. “They’ll probably be shocked at first. Maybe even upset. But they’ll come around. They always do.”

You laughed bitterly, rubbing your temples. “It’s not just them. It’s the pack, too. What are they going to think? There’s so much going on right now. Jacob imprinting on a half-vampire baby, the Cullen drama, all of it. This is the worst time for this to happen. What if they see it as a distraction? What if they resent me for pulling Paul’s attention away?”

Emily reached out grabbing for your hand. “First of all, no one in that pack would resent you. You know how they are. They’re family, even if they don’t always show it the right way. And second, you’re not pulling Paul’s attention away. If anything, this will give him more to fight for. Plus, I think they all like you more than Paul anyway.” She added with a mischievous grin.

Your chest tightened at her words. A mix of hope and fear swirling inside you. “But what if I’m not enough?” you whispered. “What if I can’t handle this? What if I ruin everything?”

Emily’s grip on your hand tightened. Her scarred fingers warm and steady. “You’re more than enough,” she said firmly. “You’re strong and you have so many people who love and adore you. You’re not doing this alone. Paul’s going to be over the moon, you’ll see. And the pack? They’ll probably throw a barbecue to celebrate.”

Despite the storm of emotions swirling in your chest that last comment drew a weak laugh from you. “Yeah, and Embry will probably make a joke about Paul being the first one to ‘start a litter,’” you muttered.

Emily grinned. “Probably. But you’ve got to admit, they’d all step up to make sure you and that baby are safe. It’s what they do.”

You took a shaky sip of tea. The warmth grounding you for a moment. Deep down you knew Emily was right. But the thought of telling Paul, and everyone else, still felt like standing on the edge of a cliff. “Guess I’ll find out soon enough,” you murmured while staring down at your tea. “I just hope you’re right.”

Emily smiled softly, giving your hand one last squeeze. “I’m always right,” she teased. Her voice light. “Now, let’s figure out how you’re going to tell Paul. You’ve got this.”

Just as you were going to ask her how in the hell you’d drop this bomb on him the front door opened loudly, followed by the familiar sound of Paul’s laugh, low and warm, rolling through the house. “We’re back!” Quil called out, clearly in a good mood. Jared muttered something about food and within seconds all three of them were in the kitchen rummaging around for snacks.

You sat frozen at the kitchen table gripping your mug of now-cold tea. Your eyes were glued to the wall like it might have answers to the mess of thoughts tangling in your head. Emily shot you a look that practically screamed, you better handle this soon, before helping the hungry wolves to whatever snack she deemed acceptable.

“Hey,” Paul’s voice broke through the fog. You looked up just as he walked over to you. His usual easy grin faltering slightly as he studied your face. He crouched in front of you, his warm hands resting on your knees. “You okay? You’ve got that look.”

“What look?” you asked. Your voice faltering slightly as you tried to sound normal.

“The one that says you’re either about to cry or punch someone.” He tilted his head. His grin returning. “Hopefully not me.”

You forced a laugh but it came out weak and shaky. “I’m fine. Just tired. You know, the usual.”

Paul narrowed his eyes, clearly unconvinced. His sharp instincts both as a wolf and your imprint meant there was no hiding anything from him for long. “Uh-huh. Sure babe. You’re totally not being weird. Not at all.” He teased lightly.

“I am not!” you shot back too quickly. His brows shot up.

“Okay…” He dragged the word out, standing and looking toward the kitchen where Quil and Jared were now arguing over a loaf of bread. Paul glanced back at you. His concern deepening. “Wanna take a walk? Fresh air might feel good.”

You hesitated. Your pulse roaring in your ears. You couldn’t do this here. Not with Jared and Quil’s supernatural hearing and Emily’s knowing looks. “Yeah,” you muttered finally, standing abruptly. “Let’s go.”

Paul smiled softly and walked behind you as you made your way out of the house. He grabbed his jacket and followed you out the door. The crisp air hit your skin, grounding you slightly as you led him down the gravel path toward the edge of the forest. Paul stayed quiet. His hands stuffed in his pockets as he matched your pace. He didn’t push but you could feel his eyes on you. His quiet presence making your nerves churn even more.

When you finally stopped, he turned to face you. His expression soft but cautious. “Alright then,” he said, leaning back against a tree. His arms crossing over his chest. “What’s going on? You’ve been acting… off since we got back. And don’t tell me it’s nothing because I know you better than that love.”

You fidgeted. Your fingers twisting the hem of your sweater as you avoided his gaze. Your stomach was in knots and the words felt stuck in your throat. “Paul, I… I need to tell you something,” you started. Your voice barely above a whisper.

“Okay,” he said, his tone steady but laced with worry. “Whatever it is, just say it.”

You opened your mouth, but nothing came out. Instead, you made a strange almost choking sound which made his eyes widen. “Are you okay? It’s okay. Whatever it is, it’s okay.” he said while stepping closer.

“I’m fine!” you said too quickly yet again. Your voice pitching higher than you wanted. “It’s just… this is… ugh!” You threw your hands up while pacing a few steps before spinning back to face him. “You’re going to freak out.”

Paul blinked slowly. His brows knitting together as a hint of a smile tugged at his lips. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this worked up before babe. What’s going on?” You just had to tell him. Just do it.

You stopped pacing. Your chest tightening as you blurted out, “I’m pregnant.”

The silence that followed was deafening. Paul’s face went blank, his arms dropping to his sides as he stared at you. You felt the blood drain from your face. The panic rising as his lack of reaction stretched on. “Paul?” you whispered. Your voice trembling. “Say something. Please, say something.”

He blinked, his lips parting slightly. “You’re serious?” he asked in a silky soft voice like he was trying to make sure he’d heard you right.

You nodded. Your throat tight. “Yeah. I just found out today. I’m sorry. I didn’t want it to be like this. I wasn’t even sure how I should tell you, because I know we’re young, and everything’s crazy right now, and…”

“Shh,” he said cutting you off gently. He stepped forward completely closing the distance between you. His hands finding your arms as he looked down at you. Those chocolate brown eyes searching yours. “You’re pregnant? We’re… having a baby? Our baby?”

Your heart pounded as you nodded again with tears welling up in your eyes. “Yeah.”

A slow grin spread across his face. It started small but grew until it lit up his whole expression. He laughed softly almost in disbelief and suddenly pulled you into his arms. He held you so tightly you could barely breathe. “You’re serious?” he asked again. His voice muffled against your hair. “We’re having a baby?”

You let out a watery laugh. Your hands clutching at his jacket. “Yeah. We’re having a baby.” You said softly.

Paul pulled back just enough to look at you. His eyes shining with something you couldn’t quite name. “You’re amazing,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “I mean it. I can’t even…” He broke off, shaking his head like he couldn’t find the words. “This is crazy, but it’s… it’s amazing. I’m so happy right now,” He grinned before pulling you in for a kiss, “We’re having a baby!”

Tears spilled down your cheeks as a laugh bubbled out of you. “You’re not scared? Or mad?”

“Of course, I’m scared,” he admitted. His hands moving to cradle your face. “But I’m not mad. Never. You’re my world, and now… now we’re building something together. How could I be anything but happy about that?”

You sniffled, leaning into his touch. “Well, I’m glad one of us is confident. Because I was ready to fake my death and disappear into the woods.”

Paul laughed before kissing your forehead softly. “Not a chance. You’re stuck with me, babe. And this kid? They’re going to have the best damn parents in the world.” His hand ran over your abdomen gently.

A small, tentative smile tugged at your lips as you rested your forehead against his neck. “I hope you’re ready to break the news to the pack, though. I can already hear Embry’s jokes.”

Paul’s grin only widened. A glimmer of excitement sparking in his eyes. “We’ve got to tell them.”

Your stomach dropped, and you blinked at him. “Right now?”

“Yes, right now,” he said. His voice filled with conviction. “Why wouldn’t we? This is huge! It’s amazing! They’re going to be so happy for us.”

“Paul,” you said slowly while trying to reel him back in. “We just found out. Don’t you think we should… I don’t know, let it sink in first? Maybe figure out how we’re going to explain this before we say anything?”

But Paul shook his head. His hands framing your face with a tenderness that made your chest ache. “There’s nothing to explain, babe. This is good news. They’re family. They’ll support us no matter what. And if anyone has anything negative to say…” His voice dropped slightly. A spark of protectiveness flaring in his tone. “They’ll have to deal with me. But they’re going to be so excited love. So damn excited.”

You hesitated. Your doubts lingering. “It’s not that simple, Paul. What if they think it’s irresponsible? Or too soon?”

He took your hands, his gaze steady and unwavering. “Look, I know things are messy right now. The timing might not be perfect. But then again, when is it ever? What matters is that this is ours. You, me, and this baby. We’re going to be okay because we have each other.” His voice softened and the corners of his lips tugged into a smile. “I want to celebrate that with the people who care the most about us.”

His sincerity broke through your defenses, and you sighed, nodding reluctantly. “You’re sure?”

“I’ve never been so sure of anything,” he said. His smile warm and full of pride. “You’re carrying our baby. How could I not want to shout it from the rooftops?”

A small laugh slipped out despite yourself. You shook your head at his antics. “Fine. But if this goes sideways, you’re the one dealing with the fallout.”

Paul chuckled, pulling you close and pressing a kiss to your forehead. “Deal. Now, let’s go tell them.”

As he led you back toward the house, his excitement practically radiating off him, you still felt a twinge of nerves. But the way he held your hand, so steady and unshakable, made you believe that somehow everything would work out.

The moment you and Paul stepped back into the house. Emily’s eyes flicked to the two of you. Her lips curled into the smallest, most knowing smile. Her gaze lingered on Paul who was still vibrating with energy like he could barely contain himself. She exhaled softly, relief washing over her face.

“He knows, doesn’t he?” she asked you, her voice low enough that only you and Paul could hear.

“Of course, I know,” Paul cut in with his grin so wide it was practically smug. “You really think she could keep something like this from me?” His arm wrapped protectively around your waist. His hand warm against your side as he glanced down at you. “She tried, though. Gotta give her credit.”

Emily’s smile grew. She stepped closer to squeeze your hand. “I’m glad you told him,” she said simply. Her calm steadiness grounded you in a way nothing else could.

Jared and Quil, however, were still oblivious. Quil frowned at Paul. His sandwich frozen halfway to his mouth. “What’s up with you? You look like you just hit the jackpot.”

“Yeah,” Jared added, leaning back against the counter. “You’ve got that weird, smug thing going on. Like you know something we don’t.”

Paul smirked, his fingers flexing slightly on your waist. “Maybe I do.”

Quil rolled his eyes. “You gonna share with the class, or…?”

Paul leaned against the back of the couch looking entirely too pleased with himself. “Let’s wait until everyone’s here,” he said, glancing toward the door. “Don’t wanna repeat myself.”

Jared groaned. “Dude, seriously? You’re such a…”

“Later,” Paul interrupted. His grin growing wider. Jared muttered something under his breath, but Paul didn’t seem to care. His attention stayed on you. His thumb brushing absently along your hip.

By the time Sam and the rest of the pack arrived the room was buzzing with conversation. The pack had settled in, tired but loud as usual, filling the space with their usual chaos. You could feel your nerves creeping back but Paul’s steady presence beside you kept them at bay.

Once the noise quieted enough for him to speak, Paul cleared his throat. All eyes turned toward him. The sudden intensity of his expression silencing even Quil’s usual chatter.

Emily, sipping her tea, shot Paul a look. Silently daring him to be subtle. But Paul being Paul had no plans for subtlety. He straightened while crossing his arms over his chest as he cleared his throat. “Me and Y/N… we’re not just us anymore. We’re adding one.”

The room went silent. All eyes turning toward him. Jared frowned. “What does that even mean?”

Quil looked at you both, confused. “Wait. Did you get a dog? Please tell me it’s a dog.”

Paul smirked, clearly reveling in the suspense. “Nope. Not a dog.”

Embry tilted his head, his brows furrowed. “A cat? Fish? What?”

Paul chuckled, dragging it out just a little longer. “Think bigger.”

Quil’s eyes narrowed and then he gasped. His mouth dropping open. “Oh my God! You’re moving?! Are you leaving the rez?”

Paul groaned before dragging a hand down his face. “No! Not moving, not a pet, not a damn secret stash of food.” He glanced at you. His grin softening slightly and nodded like it was your moment to take over.

And you couldn’t help it. With all their clueless guesses and Paul’s smug antics a laugh bubbled out of you, warm and uncontrollable. Everyone froze, watching you with the most curious eyes and through your laughter, you managed to blurt, “We’re having a baby!”

The room went completely still for a beat, Jared’s apple frozen mid-air as his jaw dropped. Quil looked between you and Paul. His face blank before he finally sputtered, “Wait… like an actual baby?” Even Sam looked a little shell shocked at that news.

“Yes, Quil,” Paul said dryly though his grin betrayed his pride. “An actual baby. Our baby.”

Jared blinked rapidly then burst out laughing, slapping the counter. “Holy shit. You’re serious? Paul Lahote’s gonna be a dad?”

Quil let out a strangled laugh while running a hand through his hair. “Wow. This poor kid’s gonna have your temper, huh? Better hope they get your patience.” He looked at you with a knowing grin.

Sam, who had entered the room halfway through the chaos, finally stepped forward. His expression calm but full of warmth. “That’s great news,” he said simply while clapping Paul on the shoulder before looking at you. “You’re both going to be amazing parents.”

The pack didn’t hold back after that. Quil and Jared immediately started throwing out ridiculous suggestions for baby names while Embry vowed to make the baby a tiny wolf plushie as a first gift. The teasing was relentless, but it was full of love. It was clear that they were genuinely happy for you both. Your earlier nerves vanishing in an instant at their exuberance.

Hours later when the house had quieted and everyone had left, you and Paul found yourselves alone in the dimly lit living room. You curled up against his side. Your head resting on his chest as his arm draped securely around you.

“You know,” you murmured, smiling faintly, “your announcement was terrible.”

Paul laughed. The sound rumbling through his chest. “Terrible? That was brilliant.”

“You had everyone thinking we got a dog,” you teased, tilting your head to look up at him. “I think Quil’s still processing.”

Paul smirked, brushing a strand of hair from your face. “Hey, I had to keep them guessing. Besides, you’re the one who cracked under pressure.”

You rolled your eyes but the warmth in his gaze softened your retort. His hand moved to your stomach, resting there gently as he whispered, “We’re really doing this, huh?”

“Yeah,” you said softly. Your voice steady. “We are.”

He pressed a kiss to your temple. His voice low and full of quiet conviction. “It’s gonna be perfect. You, me, and our little one. We’ve got this.”

Paul’s lips brushed against yours, slow and deliberate, grounding you for a fleeting moment. His hand, warm and steady on your stomach, reminded you of the little life you’d just announced to the pack. But the moment his forehead rested against yours the weight of what was coming next crept back in.

Your parents. His parents.

You pulled back slightly, your fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt as your heart pounded. “Paul,” you murmured, your voice trembling. “How are we going to tell them? My mom is going to flip, and not in a good way. And your mom…”

“Hey,” Paul interrupted softly, his thumb brushing along your jaw. “Look at me.”

You hesitated but the steady warmth in his eyes drew you in. His grin was softer now, tempered with something deeper. “We’ll tell them the same way we told the pack, together. And if your mom flips, I’ll handle it. I’ll handle all of it. You don’t have to worry about a thing.”

“I don’t know if you’ve met my mom,” you whispered. Your voice wavering as you tried to find humor in the situation. “She’s going to think this is reckless. She’ll probably yell. A lot.”

Paul’s grin widened, and he tipped your chin up with his knuckle before pressing a kiss to your forehead. “Then let her yell. I’ll stand there and take it because, at the end of the day, none of that matters. What matters is us and this baby.”

You swallowed hard trying to keep your emotions from bubbling over. “But what if it’s too much? What if they think we’re too young, or not ready, or…”

Paul’s grip on you tightened slightly. His voice cutting through your spiral. “Then I’ll marry you tomorrow,” he said. His tone firm but laced with tenderness. “If that’s what it takes to make them see how serious I am, I’ll do it. Hell, I’ll do it tonight if you want.”

Your breath caught as you stared at him, wide-eyed. “You’re not serious.”

“I’m completely serious,” he said, his gaze unwavering. “I love you. I love this baby. And I don’t care what anyone else thinks. You’re my family now. You’ve always been my family and nothing, not your mom, not mine, not anyone, is going to change that.”

The conviction in his voice broke something loose in your chest. The fear and doubt unraveling as his words sank in. You let out a shaky laugh with tears pricking at your eyes. “You can’t just solve everything by offering to marry me, you know.”

Paul smirked, brushing a tear from your cheek with his thumb. “Maybe not, but it’s a pretty damn good start, isn’t it?”

You laughed again, softer this time, and leaned into him, letting his steady warmth anchor you. “We’ll figure it out,” you murmured more to yourself than him.

“We already are,” he said, his voice low and sure. “One step at a time. And I’m not going anywhere, no matter what. You know that love.”

As his arms tightened around you, you felt it, the certainty he carried, the unwavering belief that you could face anything together. It didn’t erase all your fears, but it made them feel a little smaller, a little more manageable.

And for now, and forever that would be enough.

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[muscle-growth-only]

My husband started working out a couple years ago. I didn’t even think that he had any potential for growing much: he had a very small build. Anyway, I have a very busy job, so I haven’t really noticed him much at all. He wears loose clothing and since I work late every night and he goes es to bed early so that he can go to the gym early, we sleep in separate beds. He did ask me if he could go on, “gear” or “juice” or something like that. I told him that we are financially comfortable and he should buy whatever makes him happy. Then I never gave it a second thought. Tonight I got home and he wasn’t dressed for dinner, or at all really. I had never noticed, but he was gigantic with muscles, just looking a bit down. Suddenly, he looked over at me. “Oh my gosh! You are home early! I’m not even dressed!” He said. I told him that it was a good thing: I hadn’t noticed how hot and huge he’d become. I looked at him and then added, “I wonder if you might not get dressed for dinner, or maybe wear something that isn’t so big and blousy as you usually do. I quite enjoy this side of you! You know, all the muscles that suddenly appeared in addition to your handsome face! My eyes don’t know where to rest, usually it’s on your gorgeous face, but now I see this breathtaking, beautiful, Herculean body of yours! So much beauty! When did this all happen? Where have I been?” He smiled and flexed, then said, “You have been working 13 hour days, you have been providing me anything that I could desire. I’ve been nervous that you would think that I was crass, or lower class if you saw how big I was getting. So I hid. You should have suspected something though: I was spending money like a drag-queen with someone else’s credit card in Paris! I mean, I have twoIFBB Pro personal trainers, a massage therapist, I buy tons of gear and hormones. I replace my clothes every few weeks, I buy organic food and just spend, spend, spend!” I told him that I never looked at his spending because he was worth so much more! I then got a little quiet, he asked what was up, I told him that my company had been sold and the new firm did not want to keep senior management, so I was being retired early, but fortunately I am receiving a golden parachute many times as much as we needed for me to retire. He flexed those gargantuan muscles of his again, I looked at him and added, “I guess I still have one job: to do everything possible and to hire a staff to make this colossus before me, much bigger than he could ever imagine! I love feeling tiny next to you! I just want one small favor: dominate me sometimes!” He told me that he loved the idea of getting much, much bigger, but he couldn’t because it was difficult for him to get around the house even at his current size. I responded, “then I have two jobs: building my husband way beyond huge AND contracting a new house to be built, bigger than you could ever want to grow!”

@muscle-growth-only

[uhhlifeig]

First Miscommunication - Jan. 27th - word count: 510 - @wolfstarmicrofic

Sirius had been avoiding Remus all week. 

Whenever he walked into a room, Sirius would immediately stop talking, make an excuse, and leave. Whenever Remus tried to talk to him, he just tried to brush it off. 

And worst of all, Remus could feel his heartbeat quickening whenever he was nearby. A closer look also revealed wider-than-normal pupils. 

There was only one logical conclusion. 

Sirius was scared of Remus.

Honestly, it made him sick to his stomach to think that one of his best friends could be scared of him. How was Sirius Black, the bravest of the brave, the person who had become an Animagus for him, scared of him?

Remus would’ve been slightly more okay with it if he didn’t have a huge crush on Sirius, but he did, and now he was trying to find where he might’ve gone wrong.

Remus managed to pull Sirius aside the next day when Peter had a club meeting to attend and James had detention with Slughorn.

“Sirius,” Remus started, subtly moving to block the door so Sirius wouldn’t leave. “We need to talk.”

“Okay,” Sirius replied hesitantly. Remus could feel his heart speeding up again. Shit.

“Well, you’ve been avoiding me.”

“No, I haven’t,” Sirius protested immediately. “I’ve just, uh, been busy.”

“Yeah, right. Busy avoiding me. Don’t think that I can’t tell, Padfoot.”

“Tell what?” Sirius sounded nervous for what was probably the first time in his Hogwarts career. 

Remus decided to just rip the bandaid off. “You’re scared of me,” he stated flatly. “I know. You don’t want to talk to me anymore.”

Sirius’s mouth fell open. “That’s not- I’m not scared of you, Moony.”

“It’s okay, I’d be scared of me too.” Remus snorted bitterly, looking away from his friend. “I’m a monster. It’s okay. Just-” his voice cracked as his nonchalant mask slipped away. “-just tell me what I did wrong. I can’t lose you, Pads.”

“You never did anything wrong, Moons,” Sirius said softly. He was a lot closer than he was before, now. “I’m not scared of you.”

Remus opened his mouth to object, but Sirius beat him to it. “No, I’m not scared of you. Close your mouth and let me talk.”

Remus huffed but acquiesced.

“I like you. Like, more than friends should like each other. Well, unless friends want to kiss each other all the time,” Sirius said. “And you’re amazing and beautiful and I want the rest of eternity with you.”

“I- erm,” Remus stuttered. He was pretty sure he had died and gone to heaven. There was no way that Sirius Black had just confessed to liking him.

“Sorry, sorry,” Sirius said after a moment of absolute silence, turning tomato-red down to his neck. “I’ll just… leave now.”

As he moved towards the door, Remus regained his cognitive abilities. “You’ve been avoiding me because you like me?” he asked.

Sirius nodded.

Acting on pure instinct, Remus strode over to him, pressed their bodies together, and kissed him on the mouth.

His dreams didn’t even compare to the real thing.

[maysileeewrites]

SOMETHING THERE

movie! Fiyero Tigelaar x gn! reader

Synopsis: When Fiyero convinces you to try and set up Galinda and Elphaba, you agree, not knowing that maybe playing match-maker wasn't the only thing on his mind ... and maybe Elphaba and Galinda are working towards a common goal as well ...

c.w.: friends to lovers (reader/Fiyero) & enemies to lovers (Gelphie); lots of fluff & bantering, some angst; a lot of chaos to get through first; unresolved romantic and emotional tension

w.c. 6.4k (sorry!!) || masterlist

„I give up.“

Sighing in defeat, you slumped down in your favorite arm chair in the Shiz common room and crossed your arms in front of your chest. „I give up … I - I can’t do this anymore, I feel as if can recite all of Elphaba’s tirades about Galinda by heart, it’s insane!“

„Well, hello to you, too, and thank you for asking, my day’s been as good as I could have hoped for, without you keeping me company“, Fiyero - who had been waiting in the common room for you, saving you one of the arm chairs in front of the fireplace - said rather pointedly, though his unusually dry tone was softened by his smile.

You found yourself returning his smile, even though your thoughts were still on the tiresome predicament you’d found yourself in these last few weeks.

„I’m sorry, it’s just-“

„Exhausting?“, Fiyero suggested, interrupting you.

You nodded, sighing. „Exactly.“

Fiyero chuckled defeatedly. „Just earlier, Galinda was going on and on about how Elphaba’s books take up so much space in their room, and how she can’t stand it that Elphaba’s constantly rearranging all these books.“

„Yeah, I’ve heard that exact sentiment from Elphaba about Galinda’s shoes ...“

Fiyero shook his head, laughing. „I mean, she does have rather a lot of them …“

„I don’t really care, I just - I can’t hear about them anymore, Fiyero, I really, really can’t.“

You took it as a sign of how well Fiyero understood you, how well he knew you to understand that you were truly frustrated and not just letting off a bit of steam, that he stopped laughing. And instead of the dry, flippant remark - something along the lines of You don’t care to hear about Galinda’s shoes anymore? Sweet Oz, how could you? - you expected, he just sighed, shaking his head. Then, he scooted his arm chair around, so that it was closer to yours.

Angling his body towards yours, he reached for one of your hands, and squeezed it softly. Even though you were still incredibly tired and frustrated with the whole Galinda and Elphaba situation, you couldn’t help but blush at his action. You’d always known Fiyero to be quite affectionate and charming, and he’d tried to work his easy charm on you countless of times already. But something about this situation felt different - maybe it was sincerity in his touch and the way his brown eyes seemed to have softened when you looked up at him.

„I get it“, he simply said.

You nodded, sighing. „It’s just - it’s not that I don’t care about Elphaba, because I do, really - she’s a really great friend, but I’m just so tired of having to constantly listen to her vent about Galinda ... and it’s not like I haven’t tried to talk to her about it numerous times, trying to get her to see some perspective, but it’s like she just momentarily tunes everything I have to say out whenever I try to bring it up …“

„Well, that sounds familiar“, Fiyero said dryly.

You laughed sadly. „I just - I just wish that there was something, anything we could do that might change their perspective …“

Fiyero didn’t immediately respond to your comment, instead gazing down at your hands - with a jolt, you realized that he was still holding your hand in his, and that realization caused your cheeks to flush again, but somehow, you couldn’t bring yourself to take your hand out of his grasp just yet - with a pensive expression. The silence between you stretched on, but it didn’t feel uncomfortable, didn’t pressure you to break it by saying something. Instead, you welcomed it - you’d had a long day full of lectures and rants about Galinda and her various irritating habits, and the ease and familiarity between you and Fiyero really calmed you.

You chanced another glance at Fiyero who still appeared to be deep in thought, his brows drawn together in concentration. Your eyes greedily wandered over his features, taking everything in - his soft, brown eyes, the short, light brown hair, his sharp jawline.

He really was incredibly handsome - way too much for his own good, you thought, recalling with a sudden hot, uncomfortable feeling, the numerous flirtations he’d had since you’d known him.

You had met the Prince of Winkieland almost three years ago, when you’d been visiting your older sister at University. Fiyero had been attending the same university back then, and you’d met when your sister had been showing you around the campus. You’d been so taken aback, so awed by what you saw, you hadn’t really payed attention to where you were going anymore - until you’d collided with Fiyero.

Fiyero, of course, had reacted with his usual flirtatious charm, until your sister had butted in with a few very pointed comments about how you wouldn’t be attending University until next year and wasn’t Fiyero supposed to be on his way to a date with one of his classmates?

You’d rolled your eyes at her - really, you were only two years younger than him, what was the big deal? - and Fiyero had laughed at your reaction, shooting you a smile that somehow had your heart pounding faster and blood rushing to your cheeks. Your sister, who’d sensed that you were succumbing to his charm, had grabbed your arm and dragged you away.

When Fiyero had called your name, your sister only rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath. „See you around, then!“, Fiyero called after you, and though your sister was in quite a grumpy mood, you weren't able to fight back the smile that tugged at your lips.

You did see him around, later - during your visit you somehow kept running into him, which greatly annoyed your sister, but secretly pleased you quite a bit. Though you supposed that your sister was right when saying that he could be quite arrogant and air-headed, he was also extremely charming and a surprisingly good listener.

At the end of your visit, you ended up exchanging addresses and just a few days after you’d arrived back home, you’d received your first letter from Fiyero.

Since then, you’d kept in touch via various letters - there were times, when you were sending each other up to three or four letters a week -, and of course you reunited whenever you visited your sister again.

Over time, she grew less hostile towards Fiyero - which, you suspected, had a lot to do with him reducing his flirtatious, suggestive comments to a minimum whenever she was around -, though she continued to warn you not to fall under his spell, seeing how she didn’t want to see her little sister get her heart broken by the rather infamous Winkie prince.

Whenever she brought this particular subject up, you just rolled your eyes, assuring her that there was no danger of this happening. You liked Fiyero, but just as a friend. Of course, he was incredibly good-looking and charming, and sometimes his affectionate ways caused you to flush, becoming flustered, when he suddenly grabbed your hand or tucked a stray strand of hair behind your ear, but he was your best friend and you didn’t see him as anything more than that.

And if there were instances in which you wondered, questioning whether you truly saw him as just a friend - well, you weren’t about to tell your sister that, were you?

„ … well, maybe there is something we could do …“

You didn’t immediately register his words and it took until Fiyero had squeezed your hand again for you to snap out of your thoughts.

„Still with me, darling?“, Fiyero asked you with a concerned expression.

You nodded, feeling your cheeks flush. „Y-yes, sorry, I … you were saying that there was maybe something we could do? About Elphaba and Galinda?“

For a moment, Fiyero seemed as confused as you felt, and when you tried to look at him, he averted his gaze, looking down at your hands - somehow, him holding your hand felt dangerously familiar yet weirdly new and unusual at once - instead.

„Yes, I - it’s just an idea …“, he trailed off, clearing his throat, his eyes flitting over to you - and was it just your imagination or were his cheeks turning rather pink? -, before he continued. „I feel like we should get them to spend more time together-„

You raised your brow in confusion. „I don’t see how that would help the situation, given that they hate each other’s guts-“

„Well, yes - but what if they don’t, not really?“, Fiyero interrupted you, sounding confident once more.

You frowned. „I’m not sure I’m still following you …“

Fiyero laughed quietly, the sound so warm and familiar, you couldn’t help but smile yourself, even though you were still confused.

„Now, this is just a hunch, but I don’t think they actually hate each other … sure, they don’t particularly like each other, but I think that’s more to do with them maybe seeing something in the other they recognize in themselves, something they don’t particularly want to see - or maybe, they’re seeing each other much more clearly than they each would like, and instead of actually dealing with that, they’re just, you know …“

„Antagonizing each other …“, you finished his sentence, nodding. Now that you thought about it, what Fiyero had just said did make sense.

„Exactly, trying to shatter the mirror that way …“, Fiyero said, his eyes finding yours.

„And so your plan is to what - force them together, until they’ve worked through all that?“, you asked, disbelief and doubt creeping into your voice.

Fiyero shrugged. „Well, if you put it like that …“

„Sorry, but I don’t think that’s going to work … Elphaba would probably much rather than die than willingly spend more time with Galinda than is absolutely necessary …“

Fiyero just grinned. Somehow, your doubts didn’t seem to face him at all. „Which is exactly why we’re not going to tell them that they’re going to spend time with each other.“ Seeing your confused expression, he quickly hurried on explaining. „We make it look like a group activity, tell them that there's this ocktail bar in town we want to try out, our something like that ... trust me, we'll figure something out!"

„Brillant“, you said dryly. Fiyero didn’t immediately catch on to your sarcasm. Once you continued, however, his grin froze. „And which one of us is going to organize our double funeral?“

„Funeral, what-“

„Fiyero, once they realize that we tricked them like that, they’re going to want to kill us! At least Elphaba will, and I’m pretty sure Galinda will feel the same way.“

„Well, at least then they’ll have something to bond over“, Fiyero said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

You looked over at him. You saw the grin tugging at the corners of his lips, and somehow, you couldn’t keep it in anymore - you started laughing, shaking your head. Soon, you were both laughing hard, completely lost in your own world.

„This is madness“, you said, voice still breathless, once you’d calmed down again. „Even if they do fall for it - which I doubt they will - they’ll be furious once they realize what’s going on.“

„So we’ll just fake a family emergency or something, I’m sure we’ll be able to come up with something“, Fiyero replied, shrugging.

You shook your head. „So you really want to go through with that?“

„Well, got any better ideas?“

„No“, you admitted, sighing.

„Hey“, Fiyero said, squeezing your hand, „it’s going to work. And if it doesn’t - well, I’m sure you’ll come up with a fitting, tragic engraving for our double tombstone.“

You scoffed, rolling your eyes. „How reassuring.“

The next two days passed you by in a blur.

Elphaba continued to rant about Galinda - as did Galinda about Elphaba as Fiyero assured you with a tired, pained smile, when you two met up once again in the common room the following evening - and Fiyero and you continued to work out the details of your plan to get Elphaba and Galinda to spend more time together. Well, it was mostly Fiyero who did the planning, seeing as you were still quite convinced that this whole scheme was going to fall apart the minute Elphaba and Galinda realized they’d been tricked.

Your doubts didn’t seem to faze Fiyero in the slightest. Actually, it seemed that the more vocal you became in voicing your concerns, the more determined to see this through to the end - and see it through successfully - Fiyero became.

Not even Elphaba’s irritated expression, when he cornered you and her after dinner the following evening, seemed to intimidate him, which, you had to admit grudgingly, was a feat in and of itself. Because while you liked Elphaba very much - when she wasn’t using her breath on venting about Galinda that was - and valued her friendship, she could be quite intimidating.

If she’d looked at you the way she was currently looking at Fiyero, you were sure that you’d have already crumbled.

As it was, Fiyero merely shrugged, smirking, when she said, her voice dripping with irritation: „And why in Oz’s name would you do that?“ (Fiyero had just announced that he wanted to invite you two for dinner in a fancy restaurant in town the next evening.)

„Because I want to spend some time with my best friend’s other friends - get to know them myself, you know“, he said, an easy smile on his face, as he walked closer to you and slid an arm around your waist, the gesture so casual, so natural, almost as if it was something he did all the time.

It wasn’t. Because while Fiyero had always been extremely affectionate and not even your sister’s irritated glare when he’d casually grab your hand and lace your fingers together or gently touch your arm to get your attention could discern him, he usually didn’t do something like this.

This felt new and dangerous and - you liked it.

You liked being this close to Fiyero, feeling his body right next to yours, heat radiating off him, even though it caused your heart to start beating frantically in your chest, your palms to sweat and your cheeks to flush.

Sweet Oz, what was happening to you?

Because this really wasn’t the moment for you to be this flustered and confused by Fiyero’s shenanigans, not when Elphaba’s irritated, hostile glare was still fixed on him.

„I see“, Elphaba said dryly, her tone clearly indicating that she didn’t understand at all and that she wasn’t very interested in hearing more.

„I mean - I already know you’re great, I’ve heard so much about you, but I thought that we two should get to know each other as well, get to spend some time together, if you know what I mean.

At this, he actually winked at Elphaba.

Elphaba was having none of it though, raising her eyebrows pointedly. „And what if I happen to not share that sentiment?“

„Well, then I’d be very disappointed“, Fiyero said, shaking his head. „I mean, I was quite looking forward to discussing Dr. Clover’s lecture over dinner with you - I happen to admire his work as well -, but no can do, I guess …“

„You want to go to Dr. Clover’s lecture with us?“, Elphaba said, the surprise in her voice mirroring your own. You hadn’t heard of this particular aspect of Fiyero’s plan yet, and his satisfied smirk told you that he knew - or at least thought so - he’d won Elphaba over.

Fiyero shrugged. „I planned to go alone, at first, but then I thought of you two, thinking that maybe we could go to his lecture first and then maybe go for a drink somewhere in town …“

„You actually got more than one ticket for his lecture?“, Elphaba asked and you could hear the begrudging admiration in her voice.

You were impressed yourself - Dr. Clover, an owl professor, was a highly renowned academic, her books on astrophysics held in high regard, and her rare public lectures were almost always sold out immediately.

Fiyero smirked. „I have my ways …“

Elphaba just rolled her eyes, shaking her head. „Fine, I’ll think about it …“

And with that, she walked off - not before giving you a look that told you that you had a lot of explaining to do.

You sighed, turning around to face Fiyero, your breath hitching when you realized how close you two were, seeing as he still had his arm around your waist.

„Well, I think that went rather well, didn’t it?“, he asked you, grinning.

You rolled your eyes. „You can be so full of yourself, you know that, right?“

Fiyero just shrugged, smirking, ignoring your comment. Nothing new there. „The Dr. Clover card was a stroke of genius though, wasn’t it?“

You sighed, nodding. „Yes …“

„You sound so uncertain …“, he said, grinning, his grip on your waist tightening.

You gulped, feeling your cheeks heat up once again. By now, you probably looked like an overly ripe tomato. Not exactly a very pleasant sight, though either Fiyero didn’t notice or his flirtatious charm was entirely immune to people blushing furiously like overripe tomatoes.

„No, I just - how’d you come up with that?“

Fiyero smiled, apparently very pleased that you’d brought up this particular question. „Funny you should ask, like you’re not always raving about her books and newspaper columns and all that …“

„I’m not raving - wait, you actually remember that?“, you asked, your heart pounding fast in your chest when Fiyero’s chocolate brown eyes found yours.

He held your gaze, smiling. And either you were so overcome by his sudden closeness that you were starting to imagine things or it was a trick of the light, because surely Fiyero Tigelaar of all people didn’t blush? But no matter the cause, his cheeks were turning rather pink.

„I … yeah … I mean, you really like her and so I - I thought I’d, you know, check out her writing as well, and turns out she’s holding a lecture in town tomorrow evening …“

Fiyero ran his free hand through his hair, his gaze for a moment seemingly fixed on something far away, before his eyes found yours again, and his easy, charming smile was back in place. „I mean - it fits in perfectly with our plan, doesn’t it?“

You nodded. „Y-yes, it does …“

Sweet Oz, you were having severe trouble stringing together coherent thoughts with him still being so close to you, his hand still settled on your waist, his chocolate brown eyes twinkling with amusement.

„I’d say that so far it’s all working out rather well, isn’t it?“

„Huh?“, was the only thing you were able so say, seeing as you were still entirely too distracted.

Fiyero laughed, the sound warm and bright and achingly familiar. „The plan, love.“

„Right, right, the plan …“ You stuttered, trying to swallow down the sudden, bitter pang of disappointment and forcing a smile onto your face again, not giving Fiyero the chance to say anything in reply. „Though it’s not like we already got them to spend time together, so you really shouldn’t feel so gleeful just yet, you haven’t even asked Galinda about tomorrow evening yet!“

Fiyero just chuckled, waving aside your concern. „Leave the worrying to me, darling, I know exactly how to go about asking her.“

You nodded faintly, your thoughts only partly fixated on his schemes - or at least on the parts of the schemes actually involving Galinda and Elphaba …

„Right …“

Though Fiyero had told you to leave the worrying to him, you found yourself worrying a lot about all the things that could go wrong - which there were a surprising amount you could think of - over the next day.

Elphaba’s increasingly irritated questions didn’t help to soothe your already incredibly frayed nerves in the slightest.

„It’s not that I’m not thrilled that I get a chance to go to Dr. Clover’s lecture, because I am, but why is Tigelaar springing this whole ‚I want to get to know my best friend’s friends'- stuff on me now?“, she grilled you on the way between classes.

You sighed, your grip on the textbooks your were carrying tightening until your knuckles whitened. Somehow, Elphaba’s insistence on calling Fiyero by his last name irked you almost as much as her constant venting about Galinda.

You opened your mouth to say something in Fiyero’s defense - though, truthfully Elphaba did have a point there -, but Elphaba didn’t even give you the chance to say anything, already ploughing on.

„It’s just rather sudden, isn’t it? And I know that you like him - though I can’t say that I can truly comprehend that fact -, but then he also spends an awful amount of time with Galinda and her posse …“

You sighed. There it was - Galinda’s name.

It seemed that lately, Elphaba always found a way to somehow throw the topic of Galinda and the awfulness of her character into every single conversation you two had, and at this point, you were frankly just exhausted. However far-fetched Fiyero’s theory about Elphaba and Galinda not truly hating one another might seem to you, and no matter how many doubts you had about this plan of his actually succeeding, at this point you were just glad that he even had a plan that might somehow dissolve the animosity between them at all.

„ - so I’m not too sure that Tigelaar is really the best judge of character there - hey, you’re daydreaming about Tigelaar again instead of listening to me, aren’t you?“

Elphaba’s words drew you out of your thoughts and immediately, you felt the blood rush to your cheeks. Which was of course completely ridiculous, because there was simply no reason for you to blush. No, none at all.

„No, I’m not daydreaming about-“, you tried to defend yourself - your cheeks were burning and your palms were starting to sweat -, but Elphaba was going on.

„Really? I saw the way you looked at him yesterday - I mean, I see the way you look at him all the time“, she said dryly, laughing, when you frantically shook your head. Somehow, this course the conversation was taking was worse than before, even though just a few moments ago you’d have given anything to get off the topic of Galinda.

„Wha- no, I’m not - I“, you stammered, scoffing entirely unconvincingly, which only led to Elphaba quirking her brow at you, „what- I mean- how am I looking at him?“

Elphaba laughed dryly. „Like he hung the stars in the sky.“

„What, no- I- I … that’s not how I look at Fiyero!“, you stammered, even though your flushed face and the crack in your voice probably didn’t exactly help in trying to get your point across.

Elphaba chuckled. „No, it’s not that bad - yet - but you can’t deny that you clearly like Tigelaar.“

„I - would you please stop calling him Tigelaar?“, you said, stalling.

Elphaba ignored your reply, crossing her arms in front of her chest and looking at you pointedly. „So you do like him, then.“

„I-“, you started to say, but you were distracted when, suddenly, Elphaba’s whole expression changed - her dry, knowing smile turned into a bitter scowl and the open, friendly expression in her eyes was replaced by a furious glare. You didn’t even need to turn around to know who had just walked into the hallway. After all, there was only one person that could elicit this kind of reaction from Elphaba.

And sure enough, only seconds later, you could hear Galinda chattering away in her high, affected voice.

"- it's just so rather thrillingly wonderful, isn't it? Fiyero's agreed to show me a few places in town, I'm just absolutely thrillified!"

You froze, your eyes widening. Fiyero had told you to leave the worrying to him, but what if Galinda, of all people, was going to blow your cover now? Oh, you were going to kill Fiyero.

„- but he said he didn’t have time for going down to the Ozdust tonight, which is all rather unfortunate, I was so looking forward going out with him …“

Galinda trailed off and a member of her posse - Elphaba’s resentment towards Galinda was really starting to get to you, too, if you were starting to think of Galinda’s friends as her posse as well, but still, for the life of you you couldn’t recall the girl’s name in that moment. Which probably had a lot to do with a sudden, bitter feeling coursing through your veins, which felt an awful lot like jealousy.

You shook your head, trying to clear your thoughts.

There was no reason for you to be jealous - you already knew that Fiyero planned on going to the Ozdust with Galinda and some other people next Friday. He’d asked you to come as well, and it wasn’t like you hadn’t known about his friendship with Galinda.

So really, there was no reason for you to suddenly feel so jealous - you and Fiyero were just friends, after all.

He was your best friend.

Friendship.

That’s all there was, all you felt for him.

So why was it suddenly so hard for you to swallow down this bitter, irrational flare of jealousy?

„ - but anyways, I’ll have the Ozdust to look forward to, I’m sure that it’s going to be absolutely scandalacious!“ Galinda continued, giggling and when you looked at Elphaba, rolling her eyes and shaking her head in resentment, you felt that you’d never been more able to relate to her dislike for Galinda - just for a short, fleeting moment, but the thought was there nonetheless, and you bit down hard on your lip, immediately feeling bad.

„Come on“, Elphaba muttered, grabbing your hand, „let’s just get to class.“

You nodded, following her.

Once you’d rounded the next corner, Elphaba let out frustrated sigh, shaking her head. „By Oz … does she have to make everything about herself? It’s like she thinks the world’s going to stop turning if the conversation doesn’t revolve about the thrillifying Galinda Upland …“

You just nodded, still lost in thought.

For once you were glad that Elphaba could seemingly vent about Galinda whenever, wherever. It wasn’t exactly a good foreboding for tonight, sure.

But at least it kept her from asking you more questions about Fiyero and your feelings for him - not that there were any feelings worth talking about, you tried to convince yourself for what seemed like the umpteenth time these last few days -, which was all the better for it.

You were already confused enough as it was.

„How do I look?“, Fiyero asked you, not even turning around, grinning at himself in the mirror instead.

You rolled your eyes, while trying to fight off the blush threatening to color your cheeks. Not that Fiyero was likely to notice, if he continued to stare at himself - though admire was probably a better word for it - in the mirror.

„Good, and you know it“, you said dryly, shaking your head. „Now can you please get a move on? We’re already running the risk of being late-“

„And Elphaba is very punctual, she doesn’t like to be kept waiting - I know“, Fiyero finished your sentence for you, finally turning around, his chocolate brown eyes finding yours.

You crossed your arms in front of your chest, trying to cover up your surprise. And the dopey, love-sick smile you apparently couldn’t shake off whenever you were so much as just glancing in Fiyero’s direction - according to Elphaba, at least. Which you’d vehemently tried to deny, when she had pointed it out to you earlier that afternoon, but once Elphaba had made up her mind about something, she wasn’t likely to change her opinion about it, as you’d witnessed first-hand these last few days.

You grimaced, remembering the conversation she’d roped you into after class. You’d been taken by surprise, thinking that after that whole hallway incident with Galinda, she might have forgotten, or at least dropped the subject, which was very much not the case as it become apparent over lunchtime during which Elphaba wouldn’t stop grilling you about Fiyero, your friendship with him and other feelings you were supposedly feeling towards him.

She reminded you a lot of your sister, in that regard. Once your sister had finally come around and begrudgingly accepted your friendship with Fiyero, she’d also started insinuating that there might be more than just friendship between Fiyero and you, completely disregarding your many vehement protests.

You rolled your eyes. Her and Elphaba would probably get along splendidly, you just knew it.

„What’s with the eye roll, darling?“, Fiyero asked you.

Your breath hitched. You’d been so lost in your thoughts that you hadn’t even noticed him finally disregard the mirror and walk over towards you. And now he was suddenly so close to you that you could feel his warm breath on your skin.

Your heart started beating faster, and you had to clamp your hands into fists behind your back to keep from reaching up and brushing that stray strand of brown hair out of his face.

„You seem nervous, darling“, Fiyero said, his voice soft and low.

You nearly jumped. „W-what?“

Fiyero chuckled, but his eyes narrowed with concern. „You’re nervous .. you probably don’t think that the plan is going to work out, do you?“

„I …“

„Well, there’s no need to be worried, because I’ve got it all figured out“, he said, rather self-importantly. When you rolled your eyes at his words, it was almost as if it was a reflex, because while Fiyero’s proximity and the intensity in his brown eyes were still making your heart race in your chest and your throat suddenly felt incredibly dry, rolling your eyes at something he said still came to you like second nature.

„Great.“

You winced - you’d been aiming for dry and sarcastic, instead your voice just sounded strained.

His eyes softened. „Trust me, there’s no need to worry, things will work out … well, and if they don’t, I’ve finally decided on the engraving for our double tobstone.“

You laughed dryly, shaking your head. „Well, that’s reassuring.“

He smirked. „Told you - thought of everything.“

„You’re unbelievable sometimes, you know that, right?“

Fiyero just grinned, before reaching for your hand - suddenly you felt as if there was a whole horde of butterflies flying around wildly in your stomach. „I know I’m incredible, but now we should really get going - I mean, I’m always one for being fashionably late, but as Elphaba values punctuality so much …“

„Right, that …“, you nodded, trying to focus your thoughts on the task at hand and not on the fact that he was still holding your hand, tugging you along until you’d reached the door of his dorm room. „So, we’ll go to the lecture with Elphaba-“

„- then I’ll convince her to go for a drink to the Ozcloud with us, where we’ll meet Galinda, whom I’ve invited for drinks at the Ozcloud just an hour ago. Elphaba will have been in the library the whole afternoon, because she can’t stand spending much more time in her room than is absolutely necessary, so the chances of her having heard of Galinda’s plans for later tonight are very slim, but if by the off-chance that she has heard of it, it won’t be hard for us to find that particular fact out. Should that be the case I just won’t tell her where we’re going for drinks … am I forgetting anything …“

Fiyero trailed off, grinning when he saw your wide eyes. He really had thought this whole thing through - well, at least the set-up of it. As for the actual moment both Elphaba and Galinda realized that they’d been played you still weren’t convinced that they wouldn’t just try to kill each other right then and there, but that was a problem for later, you decided.

„ - yes … Elphaba will likely take some convincing, regardless of whether she knows about Galinda going to the Ozcloud or not … but luckily for us, I can be very convincing …“

„Sure, if by convincing you mean talking so long and fast that people eventually will stop listening …“, you said, laughing, when you saw him scowling.

„Well, it still works, doesn’t it?“, he replied in a mock-offended tone.

„Sure.“

„Darlin’, you don’t need to sound that sarcastic to get your point across.“

You just laughed, even though the way he’d called you darlin - his voice all soft, his brown eyes finding yours even as you were racing through the corridors - still lingered in your mind, making your heart beat faster.

„Well, with you it’s better to be certain isn’t it?“, you played along, even though his grip on your hand tightening suddenly made it very hard for you to focus on anything but the soft look in his eyes.

„Now, what’s that supposed to mean?“

You just shrugged, intending to play it cool, but when you saw the way Fiyero was trying to fight off a smile, you couldn’t help but laugh. For a moment, Fiyero just looked at you, shaking his head, but then he joined in your laughter, the sound soft, warming your heart.

The whole rest of the way through corridors and down several staircases, until you finally arrived at the entrance hall of the library, where you’d promised to pick Elphaba up, neither of you two was able to contain your laughter. With Fiyero, it always was like this. Not simply because his laugh - the real, genuine one, not the overly confident chuckle he so often displayed and you’d come to silently despise a bit - was downright infectious.

No, there was something else, something about the shimmer of amusement in his eyes, the soft smile on his lips that made you want to keep making him laughing.

Just then, you rounded the corner to the library’s entrance hall, nearly running into a statue. Fiyero’s arms were around you in an instant, though, drawing you back just in time.

„Careful there, darlin’“, he murmured. He was so close to you, his chest pressed against your back, his lips just above your ear. You couldn’t suppress a shiver, closing your eyes for a moment and trying to regain your composure.

„I, uh - thanks for catching me“, you whispered, turning around to face Fiyero.

His eyes immediately found yours. Suddenly you were glad that he was still holding you in his arms, because the look in his eyes instantly turned your knees into jelly.

Your breath hitched, and you noticed the way Fiyero’s eyes flickered towards your lips, before meeting yours again.

You found yourself leaning towards him, even closer until you were so close that you felt his warm breath on your skin - was it just your imagination or did his breathing suddenly sound incredibly heavy and strained as well? - he was so close to you, it was making your head spin-

Just then, someone cleared their throat loudly.

Your eyes widened and you jumped away from Fiyero.

Your cheeks burned. You didn’t even have to look up to know Elphaba was standing there.

And sure enough, after you’d scrounged up the courage to look back up, your eyes landed on Elphaba, who was looking at you with an incredibly smug, self-satisfied expression on her face. She only needed to quirk her eyebrows in a ‚See? I told you‘-fashion for you to flush.

You bit down hard on your lip, trying your hardest not to look over at Fiyero, even though you could feel his gaze hard and heavy on you.

You knew, then, that no matter what would happen tonight, no matter what went down between Elphaba and Galinda once the second part of Fiyero’s plan was finally set in motion, Elphaba would never let you hear the end of your supposed feelings for Fiyero.

Though - what if, maybe, just maybe, there was a kernel of truth to her teasing remarks that afternoon?

Maybe there was something there between you and Fiyero, something … more.

Something that you hadn’t seen, hadn’t realized, before.

Something more than just friendship, something more akin to the way you felt drawn to him, almost magnetic, like he was your anchor, always keeping you afloat.

„Ah, Elphaba!“

Fiyero’s voice - that sounded far too bright and cheerful, causing you to wince and Elphaba to cross her arms in front of her chest, raising her eyebrows at him - drew you out of your thoughts. His arms were still on your hips, and when you finally scrounged up the courage to look up at Elphaba again, your cheeks were burning. Elphaba’s knowing smirk confirmed your suspicions that, at this point, you were looking like an overly ripe tomato.

„Punctual as always, shall we get going then?“, Fiyero said, his hands finally leaving your waist.

Though Fiyero tried to catch your gaze, you determinedly averted your eyes, pressing your lips together and walking over towards where Elphaba was standing.

„Let’s go then, we don’t want to be late“, was all you said, as you followed Elphaba out of the library entrance hall, your cheeks burning and your mind spinning the whole way to the small lecture hall.

It didn’t help that Fiyero’s eyes kept finding yours, his gaze burning on your skin. When your shoulders brushed, you nearly jumped.

You did to your best to ignore the pointed look Elphaba gave you then, offering Fiyero a shaky, uncertain smile, before turning away from him again, pressing your lips together.

Sweet Oz, you couldn’t wait for this evening to finally be over.

And yet, you knew that that was a lie - even though the way your heart seemed to beat faster when you sat down next to Fiyero in the lecture hall absolutely terrified you, the soft, reassuring smile on his lips seemed to calm your nerves in an instant.

„You alright there, darling? You seem a bit peaky“, he whispered, leaning closer towards you.

You nodded. „Y-yes, just - nervous, I guess …“

„Hey“, Fiyero whispered, grabbing your hand and squeezing it, „it’s all going to work out just fine, trust me.“

You just nodded, hoping that he was right.

Everything would work out just fine, you tried to tell yourself.

But as the lecture began, and you felt Fiyero trying to catch your gaze again after a particular remark that Dr. Clover made, you couldn’t help but notice Elphaba’s satisfied smile as well.

Everything would work out just fine, you repeated to yourself, your heart starting to beat faster when Fiyero flashed you a soft smile.

Everything would work out just fine.

And, hopefully, not just between Galinda and Elphaba.

it's finally here!! I'm so sorry for the long wait, hopefully some of you will still care to read this even after it's been nearly a month since i first announced this fic! hopefully it won't take me as long to get around to writing and finishing part II!

tagging: @angel-starbeam @matt-patt-engarde @hazbingirliexoxo @tn22220-blog @crisis-unaverted @a-quick-request @tattooed-galaxies @idkman5335

[accio-victuuri]

LRLG 1/28/25 candies

source

first of all, it’s posted 23:28! yaaaassss!!!!! happy new year! i’m so happy they shared today. 💕

it starts with yibo talking to his staff and the subject is strawberry.

Staff: “Strawberries are more expensive than cherries this year”

🟢: Come on, I can’t even eat strawberries.”

and he said that he will be giving out strawberries by the end of the year. but his staff is saying something about it being cheaper as the months go by so it seems like an unnecessary expense.

some random convo and then a part where one staff said that she has 3 day approved vacation leave and yibo said that’s too short. he is such a good boss!!!!!

next is WYB talking to someone over the phone possibly.

🟢 “Is it enough?”

🟢 “Don’t gift boxes make people look good?”

🟢 “XX bought it and I haven’t paid for it yet.”

🟢 "It's cheap there. Do you know which one is delicious?"

🟢 "Thank me"

🟢 "Just give it up. I'm angry."

🟢 "goodbye"

i wanna know what gift boxes this couple is giving out!!!!!

🔴"What class should I take?"

🔴 “Let’s go tie-dye.”

🟢 "How do you have time?"

🔴 “I’ll go there if I have time.”

🟢 "You want to make your debut"

🔴 "No matter how weird you are"

🔴 "I came to see you. I came wearing slippers."

🔴 "It won't be too embarrassing for you."

🟢 “can’t wear it normally”

🔴 "No, I don't have the freedom to dress.

🟢 "I'm talking about shoes"

…

🟢 "Wow, come and train me."

🔴 "Who started it first?"

🟢 "Wow"

🔴 "Wah wow wow again"

🟢 "I don't have the freedom to speak?"

🔴 “Still 40 minutes left”

Staff: "Ah? Won't we have dinner together at noon?"

🔴 "The plan has changed. I can't eat anymore. I'll come back next week to eat."

..

🟢 "So you didn't sleep"

🔴 "Why do you want to see if you can't do it?"

🔴 "I bought a tree and you can find someone to pick it up at home."

🟢 "When"

🔴 "Wouldn't it be better to sleep a little longer?"

🟢 “Bring something with you”

🟢 "Maybe tomorrow afternoon he said to tell me an hour in advance."

🔴 "You drove me away as soon as I arrived, look at it"

🟢 👊🏻

Staff "If you don't want to eat, just eat fruit. That's enough."

🔴 "good"

🔴 "I brought everything. I even brought you something."

🟢 "You won't talk about yourself anymore, will you?"

🔴 "Okay, I'll leave now"

🟢 “Just kidding”

🔴 "There's no need to set off firecrackers during the Chinese New Year. I see you've eaten explosives."

🟢 "No"

🔴 I'll get in the car and sleep in a while

🟢 Don’t endure it

🟢 "Let brother x drive out to buy what you want to eat

🔴 “I don’t want to eat anything”

🔴 “Are you there yet?”

🟢 "You haven't been lying down for ten minutes."

🔴 “wyb I was always sleepy in the car when I came here but I didn’t fall asleep.”

🔴 "My eyelids are clenching now"

🟢 "Come and hug me ge"

🔴 "gun"

🟢 "Ge, please close your eyes for a while."

🔴 "Come and sit"

🟢 “You gotta ask for three wybs.

🟢 "One for the head, one for the feet, and one for the waist."

🔴 "One is here and the other is going to work with me."

🟢 "Just work two jobs."

🔴 "gege will give you a salary"

🟢 "good"

🔴 "Tell me, did brother x add fermented bean curd to the sauce he prepared last time for barbecue?"

🟢 "No, go to sleep quickly"

🔴 “I feel better”

🟢 "I'll follow you in a while and let Brother X drive to follow me. We'll come back later.

🔴 "Then I'll sleep"

🟢 "Go to sleep"

Another year has come! Have a happy New Year!”

I hope you can do what you like and love who you want to love! Be happy!!!

Good luck, peace and boundless joy

-END

[gabbytvclarke]

pls could you do one where r doesn’t drink- maybe because of childhood or something else, and is worried what the boys (like the Arthurs, Chris, batch) will think, but George just supports and loves her? comfort and fluff omg 💔

I love this idea, sorry it took so long to come out! ____________________

Party Pooper // George Clarke

• Summary: George and Chris throw a surprise homecoming party for Arthur Hill, but y/n is nervous about being pressured to drink. • Pairing: Boyfriend!George Clarke x female!reader • Angst and fluff • Warnings: crying, trauma, alcohol • Word count: 2,167 words

♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥

She flicks through Netflix on her boyfriend’s TV, her free hand grips her thigh to stop it from bouncing. Struggling to concentrate on picking a film, her mind races with the thoughts of tomorrow’s party. George and Chris are planning a homecoming party for Arthur Hill, following his recent tour. Naturally, the party is at their shared flat and of course, y/n is invited.

Chris is visiting his family at the moment, planning to return in the evening, so y/n and George have had the place to themselves the past couple of days. Not enough noise to block our her worries. George returns from the bathroom, having seemingly found a couple of packets of balloons on the route back to the sofas. His eyes are furrowed as he counts how many are in each bag, ensuring the amounts match the numbers listed on the front.

“Still not decided on a movie yet?” He asks casually as he briefly glances to the TV.

“Hm? Oh, no not yet.” Y/n replies quietly, gazing towards the floor.

“I know I’ve asked this already this morning, but are you sure you’re OK? You don’t seem your usual self.” He asks, dropping the packets on the table and taking a seat next to his girlfriend. They haven’t been together long, 3 months officially since meeting on Hinge a month prior. Already he knows her too well.

“I’m OK, just a little nervous about tomorrow…” She mumbles.

“Nervous? You’ll be fantastic, the guys adore you. And don’t worry about helping me decorate, Chris will be here.” He rubs her leg gently with his hand, his eyes glued to her face as she continues glancing ahead. “I can send an Uber closer to the time if you’d rather spend more time relaxing and getting ready.”

But y/n knows she won’t be relaxing, she’d rather be there to help get the place ready to distract her if anything. Actually, she'd not go if she could, despite wanting to. “You won’t be driving so you don’t need worry about drinking either.” He adds.

Just the word sends shivers down her spine. She feels awful, she loves his friends too, but she ran out of excuses to not drink ages ago.

“Y/n?” George asks, his voice laced with concern. She doesn’t want to talk about it, but she doesn’t want to worry him by avoiding the topic either. She puts her hand on his, giving it a gentle squeeze and paints a smile on her lips.

“Sounds good, now what shall we watch?” She asks as nonchalantly as she can, picking the remote back up and pointing it towards the TV.

“Oh no you don’t,” George states with a small smile, reaching over and taking it off her. He switches the TV off and turns more to face her, taking her hand in his. “Something’s been bothering you recently, what’s wrong darling?” He asks, tilting his head down but looking up at her through his eyebrows. She’s struggling to find her words as she gets lost in his beautiful but worried eyes.

“It’s nothing, I’m all good.” She dismisses. She wants to tell him, but he’s so excited for tomorrow and she doesn’t want to bum him out.

“Look at me baby.” He reaches over and takes her other hand, his thumbs gently brush over her knuckles. “Please, just tell me.”

She feels her chest begin to tighten, her eyes sting. “I… I need the toilet.” She stands to her feet suddenly and awkwardly heads toward the bathroom.

“Do you not like my friends?” George calls out abruptly, a hint of sadness in his tone. She stops in her tracks. “Because if you don't, you really should tell me.” His voice softens. She turns to him and her heart sinks at his anxious expression. “They’re good people.” He adds.

“It’s not that at all.” She states.

“You’ve been avoiding hanging out with them for a while now, I can't help but worry.” He says, watching her face. Her eyes begin to water, the dam breaking.

George’s eyes go wide, he rushes to his feet and approaches her softly. “Oh no, I’m sorry y/n. I didn’t mean to-“

“You didn’t… you didn’t do anything. It’s me.” She speaks slowly, wiping her tears. George’s breathing shallows, thinking the worst. Thinking this is their relationship over, or something to that effect.

“Did something happen?” He asks, trying to keep his voice calm, but his eyes scream his real thoughts. He reaches his arms out and she accepts, stepping into his warm embrace. She sighs as she lets the tension in her body fade.

“It’s the drinking.” She states, the most coherent and yet painful sentence she’s been able to utter all morning.

His shoulders relax a little, but he’s still confused. “The drinking?” He leans back and looks at her again, his hands resting on her shoulders.

“Yeah.” She murmurs. His hand slides down and takes hers as he leads her back to the sofa. They sit down together as her sobs die down a little. “I’m not comfortable with drinking alcohol. It sounds ridiculous, but I went through a lot as a kid.”

Still holding George’s hand, y/n retells the traumas of her childhood, all of her bad memories linked directly to alcoholism. George listens and nods along. It all makes sense now; their dates never involved alcohol and if they did, y/n was the designated driver. Or she had an 'early start' the next day, or simply nominated herself to be the sober friend of the night.

What he hears hurts him but right now, he knows that she needs him to be strong. She cries harder once she's done explaining, as George pulls her into a hug, rubbing his hands up and down her back. “There, there.” He whispers as his eyes well up. They remain hugging for a couple more minutes as they both calm themselves.

When y/n pulls away, she sees George’s red eyes, making the blue stand out more. “Oh George, this is why I didn’t want to say anything.” She coos, brushing her hand over his cheek.

He leans his head into her palm and presses a small kiss into it. He lets out a defeated sigh, a faint smile on his lips. “Don’t be daft, thank you for trusting me enough to tell me.” He whispers. They both head to the bathroom to wipe their faces down.

His bloodshot eyes gaze at her through the mirror. “If you don’t want to come over tomorrow, I’d understand. I can make up an excuse for you.”

“I want to be there, that’s why I’m so frustrated with myself.” She replies calmly. “And I don’t even mind if everyone else drinks, I just don’t want to be a party pooper by being the only one not drinking ”

George chuckles as he hugs her from behind, still looking at her in the reflection. “The only way you can poop on this party, is by not being there, and by not being your amazing self.” He kisses her cheek.

“Noted.” She giggles as she takes his hand and they head back out to the lounge area.

She’s back scrolling through Netflix again, the fog in her mind clearer and a weight off her shoulders. “Are you OK now darling?” George asks, carrying a blanket and snacks over.

“I really am, thank you, and of course I’ll help you decorate by the way. You boys will do a terrible job without me!” George chuckles and tickles her side.

———

The next day, she hears George’s cheerful rhythmic knock on her door. His jaw drops when she opens it. She looks gorgeous. “Wowee!” He shouts as he twirls her and gives her a tight hug, making her giggle. “Ready?”

They get in the Uber together. “How are you feeling?” He asks her quietly. She gives him a playful smile. “I promise I won’t keep asking.” He adds.

“I’m excited, but a little nervous still. Nothing compared to how I felt before though.” She smiles at him genuinely this time as she answers. George nods, relieved.

The decorating takes no time at all. It would’ve been even faster if y/n didn’t have to keep rehanging things that Chris shoddily puts up. More people begin to show up, bringing drinks and snacks, and helping the three lay them out for the party.

As people mingle and wait for Arthur’s return, George shows y/n that the top shelf in the fridge is full of her favourite still drink. She gives him a peck on the lips to thank him. “I still don’t know what to tell them though.” She whispers in his ear.

“If they offer you a beverage, a ‘no thank you’ should suffice.” He smiles back, stroking her cheek. “And if anyone persists, come get me.”

———

“SURPRISE!” They all yell as Arthur drags his suitcase through the door. He is a little taken aback, his grin wide.

“Ah! Thank you!” He yells awkwardly, his reaction a little underwhelmed.

“Did you know we were here?” Isaac asks, a party blower hanging out his mouth.

“A bit,” Hill sheepishly replies, “Arthur said something about it yesterday.” He gestures to Arthur TV, who’s donning a guilty smile. Chris starts telling him off as he puts his hands up to surrender.

“I’m sorry, it just slipped out!” Arthur TV pleads.

The party is a hit. With George being the social butterfly and fluttering between the guests, y/n sits more comfortably with the girls. Liv makes herself a cocktail. “Do you want one y/n?” She offers kindly.

“Oh, no thanks, I’ve still got mine!” Y/n replies, holding up her non-alcoholic drink. Sabine take a sip of her freshly made 'Liv special' cocktail.

“You’ve been drinking those all night, you sure you don’t want to mix it up?” She asks, holding her glass out closer for y/n to smell the drink.

“No really, I’m fine. These are my favourites.” Y/n replies sweetly.

George, Isaac, and Chip join them, having missed their girls already.

“Having fun?” George whispers in her ear, his voice a little off from his drinking.

“I really am, thank you baby.” She giggles back, keeping him steady.

“Sorry, you probably don’t want my beer breath in your face.” He mutters with a guilty grin. Y/n waves his worries away.

“You smell great George.” She replies with a smile, before pecking his lips. He’s then called over by Danny to take shots.

“Duty calls!” George smirks, he rushes off to their table. Y/n decides to make herself useful, acting as a photographer and taking pics and videos on her phone.

Arthur Hill slides in next to her while she scrolls through her photos. “Thanks for this y/n.” He says with a smile, resting his elbow on her shoulder.

“It was George who arranged it, Chris and I just helped decorate the place.” Arthur looks around at the stringers, banners, and balloons while she replies sweetly.

“Yeah but, this is all you.” He protests, gesturing at the decorations. He gives her a hug. “Thank you. Feels like it’s been ages since we’ve hung out.” He murmurs against her cheek.

“Oi! Hands off!” George shouts with a smirk, pointing his finger at the pair and making them cackle.

———

Y/n fetches another one of her still drinks from the fridge. She’s hoping that keeping one on her at all times will stop her from being offered anything else. The plan was working, until she sees the table.

“Beer pong!” Chip roars with his fist in the air. Some of the boys gather around him, while George is across the room chatting to Harry. Picking up a ping pong ball, Chip peers over at y/n. “Ladies first.” He says with a sneer, handing the ball out towards her.

“Oh, no thank you!” She replies, raising her own drink and taking a sip.

“Aw come on y/n! A beer won’t hurt!” Chip whines. Y/n declines further, her cheeks heating up, but the other boys join in with begging her too.

George, having heard his girlfriend’s name from across the room, casually joins the table.

“Clarkey, tell y/n to man up and join in!” Chip whinges, the Arthurs and Isaac nodding in agreement. George puts his arm around y/n’s shoulder.

“Oh, she won’t be playing,” George states nonchalantly, “y/n doesn’t drink, but I'll take her place.” Her breathing hitches for a moment, she looks at the boys’ expressions and awaits further complaints. She waits for them to say the party’s ruined, that she's spoiling it for everyone else. But they don’t.

“Fair enough, sorry about that y/n.” Chip replies with friendly grin, shrugging and passing the ball to George instead. The boys begin their game as if nothing happened. He turns to y/n and winks at her.

“What just happened?” She asks him with a confused smile.

“I told you, they’re good people. Love you.” He beams, kissing her cheek before bouncing the ball across the table.

♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥

A/n: Thank you anon for the request, this was my first angst piece. I hope I did your prompt justice ♥ - Gabby xo

[pendingnomdeplume]

the undone and the divine (bedroom hymns) pairing: hozier x fem!reader rating: explicit (18+) tags: Praise Kink, Dirty Talk (sort of), PIV Sex words: 5.2k

[Read it on AO3]

title from Bedroom Hymns by Florence + the Machine divider by: sylusz

Things are not going well. 

Truthfully, things haven’t been going well for a while, but you’ve tried to ignore it, tried to manifest your way into reducing stress with vitamins, mindfulness, and a fair bit of recreational drug use. The ashwagandha helps (taken at the behest of Andrew who raves about the benefits of mushroom-based drinks and supplements), but it’s a bandage slapped over the real problem: Work is destroying you, mind, body, and soul.

And, sure, okay, maybe you don’t need to be pulling 60-hour work weeks for an incompetent boss who dumps a majority of his tasks onto you. Maybe you don’t need to bring your computer home every weekend “just in case.” But, if you don’t get the work done, who will?

“Your boss?” Andrew answers when you verbalize the question, one eyebrow raised as though it’s the most ridiculous thing he’s ever heard.

You roll your eyes and reply with a snort, “Yeah, that’ll definitely happen.” 

A songbird's melody echoes down the chimney as you sit nestled into his side, his arm thrown around you lazily as you cradle a cup of coffee in your hands. Your laptop bag sits on a chair in the corner of the room, and you stare at it while anxiety brews in your gut. The compulsion to check your email has your fingers itching, but Andrew will protest if you try to peel away from him during this quiet morning together. 

“You work too hard, my love,” he murmurs before pressing a kiss to your temple. 

With another roll of your eyes, you reply, “That’s rich coming from you of all people.”

He scoffs but says nothing. 

Andrew knows you’re right, knows that he can’t argue against you when he’s spent the majority of the last two years touring non-stop. It’s been a point of contention before, mostly during his breaks that leave you a mere 2 weeks together before he’s off again. 

Now, he’s home for the foreseeable future (or, until the summer festivals start), and he’s starting to suffer the same frustrations of not having you around, nor having your attention on days where you shouldn’t be thinking about work at all. Bad habits die hard, and you’ve gotten so used to his absence that work eventually became the solution to the void of loneliness within you. 

After all, it’s hard to feel sad when you don’t have the time or energy to feel anything but anxiety.

A vibrating sound emanates from your laptop bag. It’s your work phone that Andrew made you shove away before sitting with you this morning. The sound of it makes you tense, your body ready to spring forward and retrieve it, but Andrew keeps a tight grip on you.

“No,” he scolds like one might chastise a puppy. “Let it go.”

Anxiety prickles along your skin. “Baby, I have to check,” you say as you pull away from him and set your mug down on the table. He doesn’t try to stop you this time, his arm thumping on the couch cushion as you move towards your bag. 

There’s a missed call from your boss, followed by an email chain forwarded to you with a message from him: 

What happened here? How did the system fail in the first place? Why are we not catching these kinds of errors sooner? 

It’s a thread that you were looped into a few days ago—something about a payroll error that left you testing and re-testing the system until well into the evening, hours after your scheduled end time. Your boss was copied on every email explaining the situation, and you made sure to copy him on your replies indicating that the issue was handled so he didn’t have to worry. 

You sigh loudly as you stare up at the ceiling. “God, I’m so fucking over this.” 

“What happened?” Andrew asks tentatively as you turn back around to look at him. 

You shrug, face screwed up in a sardonic smile as you shrug. “The amount of work that I do for this motherfucker, and he can’t even read a fucking email thread. The answers are right there, Gabriel. Everything you just fucking asked me is right there.” 

With another sigh, you collapse back onto the couch with your arms folded over your chest. 

“But he’s fucking right! I should’ve caught this shit earlier! If I had then—”

Andrew interrupts, “Lives were lost, yeah?” It’s snarky and fractious, and you feel irritation build like a heat in your chest. “I’m so sorry, I completely forgot that your company delivers fucking organs for immediate, dire transplants. I mean, do you hear yourself right now?”

You glare at him. “Andrew, do not.”

He rolls his eyes. “Right, yeah, of course. I forgot how much Gabriel’s opinion matters more than your partner’s concerns.” 

You close your eyes and inhale deeply through your nose, trying to remember the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 sequence for mindfulness. Was it five things you can touch or that you can see? 

“Baby, I love you so much, and I appreciate your concern. But I’m the fucking idiot who didn’t catch a simple error, and now my boss thinks I’m a dipshit who can’t do their job right. God, it always feels like I’m fucking something up. Why can’t I just get this shit right for once in my life?”

“Oh, Jesus Christ.” Andrew throws his hands up in the air with a scoff. “I am so tired of this.” 

With a frown, you snap back, “What? What are you so tired of, Andrew?”

“I’m tired of your insistence that you’re stupid, or that you can’t do your job, or that you’re always fucking things up despite the fact that you seem to be the sole reason your office functions at all. And you’re not just doing your job, you’re doing the job of about three people without the acknowledgement or pay to back it up.

“It’s not your fault that your boss can’t read a fucking email thread. And, how would you know to look for a problem when it hadn’t even occurred yet? Are you supposed to be fucking psychic?

“I mean, fuck’s sake, it’s obvious how absolutely miserable you are doing this. It’s obvious how little these people care about you, not because you’re ‘bad at your job,’ but because they see the work you do and expect more. Your only reward for being good at what you do seems to be receiving even more work.”

You scoff a hollow laugh. “Throwing stones in glass houses, aren’t ya, Andrew?”

“At least I enjoy what I do. The miserable part is having to be away from you.”

Oh. 

It’s like a shot straight to your heart. Guilt churns in your stomach as you look away from him. 

“I…”

A part of you wants to argue that he chooses to do those long tours, but you know that’s not entirely true. It’s more at the behest of the label, trying to parade him out as much as possible despite his resistance to such things. Their reluctant show pony. It’s why he has any social media at all, though he has nothing to do with it any longer. 

Tears prick the corners of your eyes, your throat tightening as you try to swallow down your emotions. But one sniffle has him quickly wrapping his arms around you in a tight hug. You turn your face into his chest as a few hot tears roll down your cheeks. You wrap your arms around his lithe frame as he presses a kiss to your head.

“Baby,” he murmurs against your hair. “I hate seeing you so miserable. I know we’ve talked about it before, but please consider my offer.”

“Andrew—”

“Please, just think about it.”

The offer has been on the table since last year when he came home for a break and found you sobbing in a darkened room with only the glow of your laptop illuminating your curled up form. Andrew had laid it out for you plainly: Quit your job and let him support you. He’d said it so easily, and you knew that he meant it, that he was more than capable of supporting the both of you given his income.

The thought has always made you uncomfortable. It seems unfair not to pull any kind of income, not to pay your own way in life with your own means. On top of that, what are you to do with your time if you’re not working? The concept of “free time” makes you anxious. Your mind and your hands need to stay busy; an unstructured day with hours of daylight and no plan sounds like a genuine nightmare.

But, could boredom and lack of direction be any worse than this? God knows the amount of cortisol coursing through your system has shaved a few years off of your lifespan, and that’s not including the cigarettes you sneak every now and again, nor the alcohol consumed when you finally have a chance to breathe and let loose. 

You should be ecstatic that Andrew is home, that you finally get to spend more time together now that his obligations are far fewer and farther in between. Except, you haven’t spent much time together at all with your overtime hours. 

It’s obvious that this situation is affecting him as well. You hate seeing him hurt, and it makes sense that he’d feel the same about you. If your stress is causing him stress, then you’ve effectively created an ouroboros of misery based entirely around your work. 

Your phone buzzes again with Gabriel’s name at the top, and a wave of nausea overcomes you as your throat tightens in the threat of another sob. A soothing hand immediately rubs at your back, and you’re hit with the realization that you’ve been in this position before. 

It’s less deja vu and more a bleak understanding that this isn’t the first, second, or third time you’ve sat on this specific couch with Andrew holding you and talking you through another job-related meltdown. 

The thought of this cycle repeating ad nauseam for the rest of your life makes you want to cry.

How long can he stand you complaining about unnecessary suffering before he decides he’s had enough? Andrew’s offer sits on the table collecting cobwebs, and you continuously deny it, for what? For another quarter of feeling insignificant and unappreciated despite carrying the weight of the workplace squarely on your shoulders? For another day of your boss taking the credit for your hard work? How many more thankless years are you willing to put up with before you finally snap? 

And, why should you wait until you’re ready to snap at all? Why must you reach the extremes of suffering before you’re willing to do anything about it? Why do you continue to bear the cross for a company that can and will discard you the moment you are no longer useful for their bottom line?

“Baby,” you say quietly as you pull back to look up at him. “D’you think we can go to the post office today?” 

Andrew frowns, confused. “I mean, sure. But…why?”

“I’ve got some things to send back to London.”

You shut down your work phone completely and move to shove it into your laptop bag. Anger begins to roil as you stomp around now in search of the stupid laptop charger, the stupid mouse, the stupid, cheap headset they provided to you despite making money hand over fist every quarter. 

Still in your pajamas with a hoodie thrown over, you grab your car keys and beckon Andrew to follow. On the way, you ask him to find your personal phone in your bag and pull up Gabriel’s contact information. There are missed calls there, too, including a voicemail that you instruct Andrew to delete immediately. 

As you putter along a backroad heading towards the town proper, you ask, “Can you hit ‘call’ and put it on speaker, please?”

Andrew does so with a look of pure glee as he holds the phone closer to you. 

“Jesus Christ, finally. Where the fuck have you been? I’ve been calling you all morning about this payroll bullshit, and you haven’t—”

With a smile, you cut him off. “Hey, Gabriel, so sorry about that. The payroll thing is all squared and resolved. In fact, you would know that if you read a single fucking email in your entire life.” 

Andrew grins as your boss splutters on the other end. 

“Anyway, I’m calling to let you know that I quit. Effective immediately.”

Gabriel chokes out, “What? But you can’t just—” 

“I sure can! Don’t worry, HR will be getting an official notice shortly.”

He bites back, “This is a breach of your contract, you know. We explicitly outlined a month’s time frame if you’re to leave. You won’t get paid through the rest of your contracted time if you leave.” 

You roll your eyes. “Right. I’m well aware. Really, I just wanted to make sure to let you know that all of my tech and equipment will be going back to the main London office. Thought I’d give you a heads up first, though. Y’know, as a courtesy.” 

“As a courtesy? I—you—?! Just fucking bring it here!”

You pretend to think. “See, here’s the thing: I think IT should have this handed to them directly. All that PII, customer data, and all of those reports I built out over the last few years? And all of those analytics that are saved locally to my computer’s hard drive? Figured it’s best to let them deal with wiping it.”

“That’s—it’s—-now, let’s not do anything too hasty here. We can talk this out, right—? If you just send me copies of—”

Eyes still on the road, you reach over and hit the ‘end call’ button with a smug smile.

Andrew scoffs and shakes his head, laughing to himself as he says, “God, I’m so in love with you.”

Business at the post office takes very little time. You know the HQ address off-hand given how many times you’ve typed it in your life, and the bored clerk prints out a shipping label before taking the box and carrying it out of sight. 

“No going back now,” you mutter on your way out as Andrew holds the door.

Once in the car, he waits until you’re back on the road to ask, “So…does this mean you’re taking me up on my offer?” His tone is so earnestly hopeful that it makes you want to cry all over again. 

“Yes. For now.” A sideways glance at him reveals his befuddled expression. “Baby, I don’t want to stop working forever. I need to make my own money. I need to do things for myself. But, maybe I can find something less…demanding. And your offer gives me the opportunity to find something I want to do instead of praying that something comes up so I could jump ship.”

There’s silence as he mulls over your answer. Then, he nods and replies, “Yeah, I get that. I just…I mean, I want you to be happy. If that means never working another day in your life, you know I’ll support you. And, who knows? Maybe you’ll find something remote. Then you can come travel with me.” 

Home has never felt so freeing now that work is no longer a leaden weight holding you down. You can feel the automatic processes happening in your brain, trying to figure out what the next meeting is, the next deadline, the next one-one-one that would inevitably be cancelled at the last minute. It will take a while to unlearn the anxious vigilance instilled in you over the last few years, but there’s a joy in knowing that none of those things matter now.

The biggest question on your mind now is what to do first. There are so many little projects you’ve had in mind, things you and Andrew have discussed about the bedroom and the garden. It’s almost overwhelming to think of where you can possibly even start now that you have the time, energy, and brain capacity to manage it. 

Andrew seems to have different ideas as you cross the threshold into the bedroom with him close behind. He catches you around your waist and pulls you back against him as you squeak indignantly.

“Nope,” he muses as you fake a struggle against him. “There’s something else we need to discuss first.”

That tone. It’s the same low, honey-soaked voice he always uses to tease you. For a man who presents so meek and mild, he sure knows how to put on the charm when the mood strikes. 

“What’s that?” you ask carefully, already pressing your thighs together in anticipation.

“You have this nasty little habit of making terribly self-deprecating comments. It’s very unbecoming, darling.”

Huh. That’s not where you expected him to go.

“I…I mean, I know it’s not good…” Your feeble argument dies on your tongue as his hands slip beneath your shirt, cold fingers pressing into your skin. 

Andrew hums. “For someone so smart and capable, you’re quite unkind to yourself.” 

The words make you blush as you attempt to squirm away from him again. No dice. He doesn’t let up, instead tightens his hold on you as he drops kisses along your neck. 

“Ah, nonono, sweet thing. You’re not getting away that easily.” 

You know that he would release you and drop the whole thing should you demand it. You have no issue putting the kibosh on anything you’re not interested in continuing, and he is well aware. Whatever it is that’s on his mind right now is…intriguing. Your body seems to agree as that pulse between your thighs grows stronger. 

“Need I remind you how lovely you really are?” 

The heat of your blush reaches the tips of your ears, spreads along your chest. 

“I’m really not,” you mutter as his hands move up to cup your breasts. Deft fingers gently pinch and rub at your hardened nipples, pulling a soft gasp from you.

There’s a pause as he chuckles warmly, the sound reverberating through your chest like a cat’s purr. He leans in close to your ear and murmurs, “Darling, no arguments. Unless you want me to stuff something into that pretty little mouth of yours, of course.”

Oh.

It’s said so sweetly, so innocuously that the words throw you for a loop. Meek and mild, your fucking arse. This man is a menace, so easily dropping the filthiest things as though they’re merely flippant remarks. 

Apparently, your stunned silence pleases him as he whispers, “Good girl.” 

It’s such a simple phrase, but your knees wobble as you try to keep yourself steady, the wind nearly knocked out of you.

“Andrew, what—” 

One large hand over your mouth quiets you as he coos, “Baby, shush. What’d I just say, hm?”

Warmth spirals in your stomach as he helps you peel your shirt away, and then his hands are on you again, kneading at the fullness of your chest. 

“You are far too harsh on yourself, my love. I think you need to be reminded of how incredible you really are.” 

Embarrassment and arousal make you dizzy as he guides you towards the bed and encourages you to lie down on your back. You scooch back far enough on the mattress that he’s able to slot between your legs easily, resting on his knees as he hooks fingers into the waistband of your shorts and tugs them off along with your panties. 

You’re surprised by the lack of panache, the lack of foreplay before getting you naked. It’s not his usual style, but none of this has been particularly routine so far. The urge to cover yourself is strong as he admires you, but you stay still, fingers curling into the duvet. 

“God, you’re so beautiful. I don’t think I say that enough.” 

You roll your eyes, unable to tamp down your bashful smile. “You say it plenty.”

Andrew raises one eyebrow in a warning look as he holds an index finger to his lips. You roll your eyes again but say nothing. 

“Absolutely beautiful and so fuckin’ mouthy. Christ.” He shakes his head as he laughs to himself. “It’s part of what I love about you, though. One of the many things I love about you.”

Your pulse quickens as he looms over you, and you’re reminded of just how large and imposing he can actually be. The thought shouldn’t arouse you as much as it does, but nothing about this situation is conventional, and you suppose it’s never a bad day to learn something new about yourself. 

He smiles so sweetly as he says, “Do you want to know what else I love about you?” The question is obviously rhetorical, so he continues. “Your stunning eyes…your pretty lips…your cute little expressions when you’re embarrassed.” 

You squirm as he runs his fingers along your chest. “I don’t think I need to tell you how much I love your body. It drives me mad when you send those cheeky little photos while I’m away. Especially the boudoir photos in all that black lace.” 

The admission makes you smirk. 

You’re far more forward with your sexual advances as you’ve gotten more comfortable with him, yourself, and your relationship. There’s a specific glee to receiving incoherent responses via text when you send him something suggestive. Oftentimes, it’s followed up with messages in all caps indicating that he is in public, and this is not the time to be turning him on. 

(Your favorite replies are the ones received right before he’s meant to go out on stage, the ones where he clarifies that he had to hide an erection behind his guitar for the first half of his set because of you.) 

“Sometimes, I can’t believe that you’re mine.” 

Another wave of heat washes over you. Andrew’s possessiveness is no secret, but you still thrill at his words when he vocalizes it, calls you his. 

“And yet…” He lets out an exaggerated sigh. “You don’t see yourself the way I see you. It’s such a shame, really.” 

Without warning, his thumb drags against your clit, making you gasp sharply and buck up into the sensation. He hums a little laugh as two fingers drag along your folds, already slick despite him doing nothing more than speaking and lightly touching you. One finger slips into you, then a second as you whimper and throw your arm over your eyes.

Softly, he says, “You’re so pretty like this, darling. All spread out and wet for me even though I’ve barely touched you. Such a good girl.”

A giddy, nervous laugh bubbles up in your chest, and he smiles.

“Ah, so you like that…that’s good to know.” Then, with a tilt of his head, he asks, “Tell me what you want, sweet thing. Do you want me to go down on you? Or, do you want me to fuck you?”

Both options are tantalizing, but his fingers aren’t enough to quell that hollow ache, and you desperately want to come with him inside of you. 

Finally, you manage to whisper, “Fuck me. Please.”

There’s something about the way Andrew looks at you, grinning almost wolfishly as though he were hoping for that response. 

Your eyes are drawn to his hands as he slowly unbuckles his belt and pulls it through the loops before tossing it aside. The tent in his jeans is obvious now as he unbuttons them, unzips them before pushing them down his thighs along with his black boxers. The display makes you throb with need.

His cock is so pretty, long and curved and already dripping from the tip. The sight makes your mouth water, and you swallow audibly as he strokes himself. 

Andrew tugs you roughly by your hips before grasping himself again and teasing your slit with the head of his length. You whine as he presses into you at an agonizingly slow pace, rolling your hips in a fruitless attempt at forcing him deeper inside of you. He tuts at you, shakes his head, and pulls back until you’re empty again. 

“Ah-ah, no. I need you to do something for me first, okay? See, something my therapist told me once is that positive affirmations do help rework some of those negative internal judgments of yourself despite how silly it feels.” 

Well. That’s…not exactly the pillowtalk you expected to hear. 

He rubs the head of his cock against your clit as he continues, and you can’t bite back your wanton groan. 

Breathlessly, he asks, “I think we should try a little exercise, hm? And if you’re good, I’ll give you what you want. Now, I’m going to say something, and I want you to repeat back to me, okay?”

You blink as he stares at you expectantly. It seems you have no choice in the matter. Not if you want to be fucked six ways from Sunday.

“Baby, please…”

His smile and voice are so soft, so gentle that it makes your chest ache. “I know, darling, I know. You want to feel good, though, right? And I want to make you feel good, but the only way that happens is if you follow instructions. Now, repeat after me: I am not defined by my accomplishments.”

Embarrassment twists in your stomach as you avoid his tender gaze, mouth pressed firmly in a line. 

You swallow audibly and meet his eyes again with a petulant scoff. “Fine…I am not defined by my accomplishments.” 

“Good girl,” he coos. “See? That wasn’t so hard, was it? Now, let’s try it again. This time, without the attitude, yeah? Repeat after me: I am worthy of love and respect.”

He’s stroking himself again as he says it, his breath hitching and his eyes fluttering as he tries to stay focused on the task at hand. The teasing is driving you mad, arousal leaving a slick sheen on your inner thighs. 

You whine quietly as pleasure shoots up your spine, then murmur, “I am worthy of love and respect.”

“Very good, baby…thank you for following directions.” 

You mildly resent the way his earnest praise makes you want to beam like a child being congratulated on their school marks. 

“Now,” he continues, laughing when you groan impatiently. “Last one, darling, I promise. Repeat after me: The weight of the world does not rest on me.”

With another swallow and a deep breath, you repeat back to him, “The weight of the world does not rest on me.” 

Andrew leans over you to catch you in a kiss that you can’t help but smile into. When he pulls away, he sits back on his knees and runs his fingers along your hips.

“You’ve been so good for me, sweet thing,” he murmurs as he drags the head of his cock through your folds. “I think you deserve some indulgence.” 

Before you can respond, he presses into you with a satisfied groan. “God, you feel...” 

“Oh, god,” you whine as the discomfort of sudden, stretching fullness gives way to tingling pleasure. 

Patience may be a virtue, but the impatience of your desire is a vice that has you wrapping your legs around his waist to keep him in place. He merely chuckles and squeezes one thigh while slowly, steadily pulling out before pushing back into you roughly. 

He looms over you again, pressing your knees back as he leans in to kiss you. You whimper as he kisses along your jaw, every movement making you squirm and quietly beg for more. 

“That’s it. That’s my girl.”

It’s so simple, so innocuous, but the words have you whining and arching your back as you meet back against his quickened thrusts. 

“I know, baby, I know. That feels good, doesn’t it?”

It feels fucking incredible, but your mouth won’t form the words. So, you pull him in for a kiss instead, hot and messy and frantic, tasting of coffee with the barest hint of cinnamon from this morning’s porridge. 

He presses his forehead to yours, and with one moment of adjustment, he’s suddenly hitting a spot that makes you cry out and dig your fingers into his shoulders.

Warmth begins to build in your stomach, that telltale ascent that slowly pulls you taut. Each irregular press against that same pleasurable spot only pushes you further. The shock of his thumb rubbing messy circles into your clit makes you gasp, tears welling up until one slips free and rolls down your cheek.

His movements become more frantic as he moves to lean in close to your ear. “You’re taking me so well, darling.”

“Baby, I can’t—” Your voice cracks as another swipe of his thumb makes your legs shake. “I’m s-so close, please.”

It’s his responding laugh—more a warm, amused hum in your ear—and his low voice murmuring, “It’s okay, you’re okay, I’ve got you, just take what you need,” that nudges you over the edge. Your head drops back against the pillows as you let out a hiccuped sob and squeeze your eyes shut, hips rolling as you chase each wave of pleasure that washes over you. 

Andrew doesn’t stop, instead speeds up to an almost brutal pace as you clench around him. He buries his face into your neck as he comes with a soft moan. You thread your fingers into his hair as he rides it out, reveling in each twitch of his cock as he fills you and whimpers your name.

You stay like that for a moment, both panting as you try to regain your breath. A fine sheen of sweat cools rapidly against your skin as he peels away from you, and you whine at the sudden hollow feeling of him pulling out of you. 

“Stay,” he whispers as though your bones aren’t currently made of jelly, and moving from this bed is the furthest thing from your mind right now. 

Your eyes are closed as he shuffles back into the room. You’re startled by the warmth of a damp washcloth against your thighs as he cleans you up. When you peek at him, Andrew smiles and pulls a blanket over you before wiggling beneath it and settling on his back beside you. 

He immediately opens his arms, an invitation that you easily accept as you roll into him with a content sigh. 

“Are you okay, darling?” he asks as he scratches lightly at your scalp. 

“Mmhm,” you hum.

He huffs a quiet laugh. “I take it you had fun?”

You crack an eye open to peer up and smile at him. “So much fun.”

“Good, good. I’m glad.” A pause. “You know how much I adore you, right?”

Despite the numerous times he’s said so, it still fills you with a giddy, sunny warmth. As you hide your blushing face against his shoulder, he continues, “I love you with every ounce of my heart, and I want to give you the world.”

“Andrew…” You can’t help but giggle, eyelids growing heavy as his warmth seeps into you, as his touch soothes and relaxes you further. “I love you too, you absolute fucking muppet.” 

As you yawn, he tightens his hold on you and whispers into your hair, “Shh, sleep now, darling…you deserve to rest.” Another pause, and then he laughs, “Also, you’re a fucking muppet.”

[didyoulookforme]

the one to wait

your best friend tries to cheer you up after a bad school day. takes place about a year since walkabout.

warning: kissing. making out. cheesy fluff. teenagers being dramatic. grammatical errors, typos.

part of the bf matty au. masterlist here.

walking into matty’s room feels like stepping straight into his brain. or at least how you imagine it must look in there. books and papers are piled everywhere. perhaps he started a system but gave up halfway through. guitar picks in every color are scattered across the floor like confetti, and there are way too many empty coke cans lying around to not feel a little concerned. the first time he invited you over, you were truly shocked that anyone could survive under these conditions. but now, after a year of knowing him, it just fits. every single thought in his head is clearly taken up by music, and the rest? it’s all background noise. honestly, it’s strangely charming.

of course, he’s sprawled out on his bed at this second, looking ridiculously comfortable while half-heartedly messing with his guitar. it takes him about three notes for you to catch on—yeah, it’s that song. the one from last week’s practice that’s been stuck in your head ever since he asked what you thought of it. as if your zero knowledge about music writing could actually contribute anything meaningful to the track. but it’s one of matty’s sneaky little ways of showing he actually cares about you.

you’re on the floor, cross-legged, back against the bed frame, fidgeting every two seconds because sitting still is impossible during this moment in time. your homework’s out in front of you, basically untouched except for your half-written name scribbled at the top. you can’t focus. your mind’s stuck on the same stupid thing from lunch, and it’s driving you mad. it’s impossible to shake off that you let out a long, heavy sigh before you even realize it’s happening, and immediately the guitar strings stop mid-chord, leaving the room way too quiet.

“alright, what’s going on with you?”

“nothing.” you glance over your shoulder, trying to play it off, but he’s already watching you. his fingers are still wrapped around the neck of the instrument, not moving, eyes squinting enough to make it clear he’s calling your bluff.

“doesn’t seem like nothing.” he tilts his head, hair falling into his face in that pretty way you enjoy so much. “you’ve been off since you got here. you’re not even studying, which is, like, your thing. so just tell me already. what’s going on?”

there’s this tight knot in your gut that won’t give. you glare down at your notebook—maybe if you focus hard enough, it’ll magically sort all this crap out for you. “it’s nothing, matty,” you mumble, trying not to sound as annoyed as you feel. “just... drop it, alright?”

there’s this awkward silence, and then the bed creaks as he scoots closer. you feel his hair brush against your shoulder, and it makes your chest tighten a bit, but you play it cool. he leans in to look at you, his face way too calm for what you’re feeling.

“not happening,” he cuts straight to the point. “spill. what’s up?”

“it’s dumb.”

“don’t care.”

you groan. “fine. it’s… something from lunch, okay?”

his eyebrows lift a little, and his expression goes softer, which only makes it harder to keep your thoughts straight. “what kind of thing?”

a loud exhale leaves your lips once again. “just… some girls were talking about making out. who they’ve kissed. all the stuff they’ve done.” you pause, your throat tight, already regretting saying anything. “then they asked me.” another pause. “and i had nothing to say. because, you know, i haven’t done much. properly.”

your voice gives up at the end. cheeks burning. brain short-circuiting. full-body humiliation mode activated. all you want is for the ground to do you a favour and eat you alive, but nope. you’re still here. still breathing. still sitting in front of your best friend, fully exposed, no take-backs.

matty blinks at you, and for a second, you’re fully convinced he’s about to burst out laughing, so you’re bracing yourself for it. but he doesn’t. he stares, brow creasing a little, as if you’ve dealt him some impossible equation from your old tutoring sessions instead of whatever disaster is currently spilling out of your mouth.

“okay…” he finally says, real slow.

“and then,” you blurt out as there’s no way you can stop now, “they started going on about how everyone’s kissed someone, right? and yeah, obviously i have. but not—not in the way they meant. nothing that made me, i don’t know, lose my mind or whatever. so now i’m overthinking it, because what if i’m just bad at it? what if it’s me?” your face is on fire, and honestly, it feels like the only way out of this is to ascend to another plane of existence.

he keeps looking at you, with his lips doing this twitchy thing, which only makes matters worse here. and after what feels like forever, he only shrugs. “who cares what they’ve done? they’re probably making half that shit up anyway.”

“that’s not the point, matty!” your voice comes out way higher than you meant it to. “it’s not even about them, okay? it’s just... i don’t know. i feel like i’m behind or something. that i missed the memo on how to be a normal teenager.”

“normal’s boring,” he says, completely unfazed. “you’re way better off.”

“oh, sure. easy for you to say.” you jab a finger at him. “you’ve done it. loads. apparently.”

his eyebrows shoot up so fast you can’t tell if he’s confused, offended, or pretending he didn’t hear you. “what are you on about?”

“louise and jessica. they both said you made out with them.” you reveal, “and that you were really into it.”

matty’s mouth opens, shuts, opens again, but no words come out. instead, his face goes bright red—actual, proper scarlett red—as he sits up on the edge of the bed, suddenly finding every other spot in the room way more interesting than you.

“that—” he stammers, raking a hand through his hair, which only makes a bigger mess out of it. “that’s… they said that?”

you nod, biting back a smirk because watching him squirm is pretty much the only highlight of your day. “so?” you tilt your head back against the bed, trying to seem casual even though your heart’s racing to find out more. “what was it like?”

his voice cracks. cracks. “wh—what was what?” and it’s so funny you almost lose it.

“making out with them, matty. c’mon.”

“oh my god.” he groans as if it’s apparently the most painful thing anyone’s ever asked him, dramatically throwing his hands over his face. “you’re not serious right now.”

“i so am.” you nudge his knee, curiosity totally winning out over any shred of shame. “please tell me. was it good? did you love it? what’s it even like?”

he groans louder this time, like you’re torturing him. but when he peeks at you through his fingers, there’s this tiny, almost-smile threatening to break through. “it’s… i don’t know. it’s fine, okay? depends.”

“depends?” your eyebrows raise up, and you’re full-on grinning. this is way too much fun to let up.

he gives you a look that’s so over it, but you can see the laugh he’s barely holding back. “on the person.”

you narrow your eyes at him. “well, that’s vague.”

“oh, my bad,” he shoots back, tone dripping with sarcasm. “didn’t realize i was supposed to be taking notes.”

the way he says it makes you roll your eyes, but you’re not letting this go. “but you’ve done it. many times.” you inch in closer, now watching his fingers drum against his legs, a nervous tick of his.

“yeah, i guess.”

“with who?”

he mutters something under his breath about you being insufferable, but he still answers, rattling off a couple of names.

you nod along, but let’s be real, you’re not even processing a word. your brain’s already gone rogue. it’s running this whole montage in your head. him leaning in, his hand brushing someone’s cheek, the way his mouth moves when he’s kissing them, how close they’d be. it’s stupid. straight-up torture. but it’s all you can see, and now there’s this awful, heavy feeling spreading through your chest.

“did you enjoy it?” your voice drops, barely above a whisper. 

he shrugs and keeps his eyes on the guitar next to him. “sometimes.” his answer comes out flat. “but not always.”

“how come?”

he eventually looks over, and there’s something in his face you can’t read. “just… it doesn’t always feel right. sometimes you’re doing it because you think you’re supposed to, not because you actually want to.”

and yeah. that hits. hard. because you get it. exactly. only checking off boxes, doing the thing, waiting to feel something that never comes.

you slump back against the bed, pressing your palms into the carpet to steady yourself. “i don’t know,” you mumble, “it’s just… everyone else has done it. and i’m sitting here,” you cut yourself off as you feel the heat’s crawling up your neck again, making it difficult to even finish the sentence. “it’s sad.” all you can do is stare at the ceiling.

matty doesn’t answer right away, but then you feel him shift even closer, his knee bumping your shoulder. it’s small, barely a thing, but it’s enough for now. “it’s not stupid,” he says. “and it’s not a big deal. you’ll get there when you get there.” he pauses, probably trying to figure out how to not make this weird. “and when it happens, it’ll be amazing. with the right person.”

you glance up at him, your palms and fingers starting to tingle. his face is serious, eyes locked on you, and it’s impossible to look away. he’s sitting there, saying stuff that shouldn’t matter too much but somehow does, and it’s messing with your head.

“what if it never feels right?” the words tumble out before you even realize you’re saying them, so quiet you’re half hoping he didn’t catch it.

but he does. “it will,” he assures as you drop your gaze and notice when he finally stops fidgeting with his fingers.

the room goes dead quiet again, and it’s the worst kind of silence. no guitar, no tapping of his foot, just this heavy nothingness hanging between you. you try to not let it get to you, picking at some random thread on your sleeve, pretending you didn’t make everything awkward between you two. matty shifts on the bed, and you can feel it—that little pause before he speaks. but you don’t dare look. no way. because you’re afraid of only making things worse.

“i could… you know, if you wanted to…”

you blink a couple of times. “what?”

matty immediately looks like he wants to crawl under the bed. “nothing,” he mutters, shaking his head way too fast. "forget it."

“no, seriously, what?” you sit up, narrowing your eyes at him. “say it.”

he hesitates, his face practically glowing crimson now, taking a deep breath before he stutters, “i just meant… if you wanted to practice. or, like, learn. i could… maybe help.”

your lip twitches. did he actually say that? you blink at him once more. “wait. with you?”

“yeah. i mean, only if you want to.” he shrugs one shoulder, trying and failing to look nonchalant.

your stomach flips, your mind racing, but all you can think is: this is matty. your best friend matty. the same boy who can’t match his socks but somehow always knows exactly how to make you laugh when you feel like crying. and now he’s sitting here, offering to make out with to make you feel better, because that’s a totally normal thing to do.

the silence drags on, and it takes you a minute to realize he’s holding his breath, waiting for you to say something.

"okay," you whisper, the word feather-light as it escapes your lips. 

matty exhales, and for a second, he gazes at you, his eyes dark yet kind, trying to figure out if you really just said that. "now?" he asks, his voice gentle and a little shaky, too. but you agree, even if your heart is beating so rapidly you might pass out.

you intently watch as he pushes himself off the bed. then he’s kneeling right in front of you, close enough that his knees knock into yours, and yeah, okay, what the hell is going on? he drags his hands through his hair once, twice, then lets them fall into his lap, rubbing his palms against his jeans over and over. and for some reason, that makes your pulse race even faster.

“you really sure about this?”

“yeah...”

"alright," he murmurs, closing in just enough that you catch the faintest scent of him, and your whole body is suddenly on high alert as he tucks a strand of hair behind your ear. “gonna start slow, alright?”

you nod, probably too eager, and he inches forward, pressing a quick kiss to your cheek first. barely there. over before you can process it. and you can’t help but giggle nervously as he pulls back, his cheeks now a little pink.

“that doesn’t count,” you tease, trying to mask the way your chest feels like it’s about to explode.

matty grins, then squares his shoulders. “alright. proper one, then.”

before you can overthink it, his hands are cupping your face, warm and still a little unsteady, and then he’s leaning back in. your breath catches as his lips brush against yours, calm, careful, and oh so gentle. it only lasts a fraction of a second but you already know you need more.

“you okay?” his voice is ever so quiet with a hint of nervousness behind it.

you only nod again because your throat won’t cooperate, and if you try to speak, you’re not entirely sure what will happen.

he edges in closer, lips pressing slow against yours, lingering just a little longer this time. warm and firm yet still ridiculously soft. your eyelids flutter shut, everything else fading until the only thing that exists is the way his mouth feels against yours.

when he finally pulls back, you blink to find him watching you intently.

“well?” he asks.

“i liked that.” you admit as you bite your bottom lip, and his gaze flicks down for a second before he snaps it back up.

“wanna keep going, then?” he asks after a beat, his voice careful, quiet.

“please.”

his lips curve into the smallest smile before mindlessly licking them. “alright. close your eyes again.”

you do as he says, and he tilts in closer once more, hands still delicately cradling your jaw. his mouth presses against yours, firmer, warmer, and then—oh. his lips part just enough, and before you can even think about it, his tongue barely skims your lips. your breath stumbles. you freeze for a second, unsure of what to do next. but he doesn’t rush, just pulls back the tiniest bit, his thumbs tracing little circles against your skin. “you’re okay,” he murmurs. “it’s normal to be nervous. let’s just go slow. and tell me if you want to stop, yeah?”

“yes, okay.”

then he kisses you for the fourth time, and when his tongue flicks against your lips, you don’t freak out. you just let it happen, letting him in as your head goes a little fuzzy. his tongue brushes against yours. the sensation is totally new but definitely not bad. the total opposite actually. you melt into it, letting the warmth of his mouth take over, and yeah, alright, now it makes sense why those girls lose their minds over this. maybe even over him.

the kiss deepens and you’re holding your breath like that’ll somehow make it last forever. stopping feels like the worst idea in the world because what if all the butterflies swarming inside you just disappear? it’s more wet and messier than you expected, but it’s still really, really good. maybe even perfect.

at least until your teeth knock together and you freeze, absolutely mortified.

matty pulls back just enough, as the softest laugh slips out, and he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, eyes shining. “happens all the time,” he whispers, voice sweeter than honey. “you’re fine.”

you barely comprehend the words he’s saying, your ears ringing so loudly that it all feels like a dream.

“let’s try again.”

yeah, no, you’re definitely dreaming. no way this is happening.

and now it’s you who eagerly leans forward, making matty lose his balance before his hands find your waist, steadying himself before crashing back into you. it’s faster this time. it’s also then that you realize how good he tastes. definitely something you could get addicted to. your hands slide up to his neck and you swear you hear the faintest little whimper slip out of him. he probably doesn’t even realize he did it. which just makes it even better, making you grin against his lips.

“what’s that all about?” he mumbles between kisses, but you just keep smiling, shaking your head, not about to waste a single second not kissing him.

you don’t know how long it’s been. definitely not long enough. not even close. and honestly, you’d be happy staying right here forever, but then his hand accidentally drifts under your jumper, fingertips barely grazing the skin there, and you jolt, causing a tiny, embarrassing sound to slip out of you.

both of you go completely still. eyes wide, pulling back, and for one second, there’s a thin string of saliva still connecting you. then it’s gone, and so is whatever perfect little world you’d just slipped out of.

"i thi—we should probably stop.” he’s breathless, voice uneven, and yeah, there’s disappointment in it. barely there, but you catch it.

you let out a long sigh and nod, even though it’s the absolute last thing you want to do. “yeah, probably.”

the silence creeps back in, but it’s the good kind. warm, easy. you’re just sitting there, staring at each other for way too long, his eyes crinkling at the corners, your tight-lipped smile quivering because you’re not exactly sure how to feel.

then his hand suddenly moves, and before you can react, he’s swiping at your chin. “drooled a little,” he teases, already holding back a laugh.

“oh, shut up.”

you slap his hand away so fast he barely dodges it, his mouth dropping open in fake betrayal. “unbelievable and after what i just did for you.” he shakes his head like you’ve just shattered his trust. 

you can’t help but roll your eyes, way too dramatic about it, leaning back against the edge of the bed. matty drops down next to you, knees bumping yours as you pull your legs in and hug them. you turn to him, already grinning. “so… how did i do?”

he shakes his head, but that stupid smile is ruining any attempt at pretending he didn’t enjoy it. he tilts his head back against the mattress, pretending to think real hard about it, then finally turns to you, lifting a hand, palm flat, wiggling it in a so-so motion.

your jaw drops, full offense taken, and shove him hard enough that he almost tips over. serves him right. but he just laughs, way too pleased with himself, while you groan and cover your face with both hands. absolutely embarrassing.

but before you can wallow for too long, his arms wrap around you, pulling you close. “stop, i’m just kidding,” and then you feel his chin rest on top of your head. he’s never done that before, causing those thousands of tiny butterflies to come back to life again.

“you were absolutely perfect.”

[jjsloverre]

bsf!jj x sweetheart!reader going on their first date

bsf!jj x sweetheart!reader

in which… bsf!jj finally gets the courage to ask out sweetheart!reader and make all her dreams come true

includes… cursing, basically pure fluff

__________________________________________________________

you were sitting alone saturday night, just randomly putting your lashes and lip gloss on.

you and jj haven’t hung out in days, which wasn’t normal. he was always with you, vice versa. you were starting to get worried that you and jj were drifting apart after all these years, and you didn’t know if you’d be able to recover from that pain.

until, he texted you.

__________________________________________________________

you quickly hopped up and got ready. this was your first date. once you got ready, you waited outside for jj to show up. once he did, he quickly got out the car to pick you up and kiss you. “fuck.. you look amazing. i could fuckin devour you.”

“what do you have planned for our date?”

“it’s not much, i don’t get paid for another week, so i decided on something way more special than a fancy kook restaurant.” he explained.

“and that is?”

“picnic date on the beach.”

“don’t need to tell me twice! let’s go!”

as you drove to the beach, you couldn’t help but let your mind drift to all your happy moments and memories with jj. the one day he taught you how to drive, your parents didn’t want to teach you since they got so frustrated; but with jj, he was extremely patient.

or the time he taught you how to surf, after you begged him for weeks. he also taught you how to roll, even if you barley smoked. half of your life, you were with jj, and now… you were on a date with him.

“as crazy as it sounds, i got your mom to teach me how to make that gumbo you like.” your eyes widened. your mom hating jj was an understatement. it shocked you that your mom even gave him the time of day. “wait seriously?! how did you manage to talk her into it?”

“i have that charm, sweetheart.” he laughed as he sat you down, and handed you a bowl of gumbo. “holy shit jj this is amazing!” you exclaimed. “thanks mama.”

while you sat in jj’s lap and ate, you both were staring into the sunset until he randomly spoke. “remember when i used to sneak to your place and we sat on your roof to watch movies?” of course you remembered, it was one of your favorite things to do with him. “duh i remember, we should do that again.”

“anything you want.”

“why’d you wait so late to ask me?”

“i was procrastinating.” he said.

“you didn’t procrastinate when you were fucking me a week ago.”

“i was scared you’d say no.”

“when have i ever said no to you jj?”

he paused. “never.. but i dunno i always thought you had feelings for someone else.” you smile and hold him. “jj i’ve always had feelings for you!” you exclaimed. “and i’m so happy to be on this date right now, i wouldn’t want anything else.”

“i love you.”

“i love you more mama.”

“jj?”

“yes ma’am?”

you put your food down, and turn to straddle him. “i just love you a lot.” jj cuddles you in his arms and mumbles in your hair. “i love you more princess, our second date will be even better, promise.”

“i already love this date.”

“come home with me? my dad isn’t home and i deep cleaned my room for us to binge watch.”

“i’m so down!”

jj picked you up and drove you to his house. as you went inside, he guided you to his newly clean bedroom. he plated some food, snacks, beers if you wanted, drinks and some joints. he cuddled you while you both watched the new sza and keke palmer movie.

“i’m staying the night right?” you asked curiously.

“of course.”

“one day, will you let me paint your nails?” he laughed at your at your question. “yes, i will let you paint my nails any color you would like.” you smile up and him and shower his face with kisses. “good answer baby.”

“and now, i can properly make love to you on my new bed, but not yet, i gotta make you my girlfriend before i fuck you again.”

“jj you can’t last a day without sex.”

“i’ve been waiting until i asked you out actually.”

“really?”

“yeah. i have, just wanted you to feel special, not like a one night stand like we were talking about that one day.”

“you remembered that talk?” silly question, he thought. jj remembers almost everything you say, or do. “of course i do. it was important to you so i listened.”

“you are the sweetest. i love you jj.”

“i love you more mama, forever and always.”

with that, you drifted to sleep in jj’s arms. he gently moved all the snacks and stuff off of the bed for you to get more comfortable. while you were sleep, he sat on the thought of you. he finally got the girl, he finally asked you out. and soon enough, he’d finally ask you to be his girlfriend.

“love you bunches sweet girl.” he said one last time as he placed a kiss on your forehead, then went to sleep.

__________________________________________________________

taglist: @sturniologirlzz @sturns-mermaid @sophand4n4 @aaliyahsturniolo @ethanthequeefqueen @masongetinmybed @superlegend216

more bsf!jj x sweetheart!reader here!

a/n- just a little bit of foreshadowing ☺️

[vivalas-vega]

until next time / part three / jake 'hangman' seresin x reader

part three !!! I feel like I'm still kind of setting everything up before we can really get into it so this doesn't feel very substantial to me but when we go back to Raven in the next part we'll be able to really get into things lol. as always, please let me know what you think! comments are so so appreciated and they always make my day

until next time / part three / jake 'hangman' seresin x reader

part one / part two

word count: 2k

I do not have a taglist - if you'd like to be notified of future works please follow @vegaslibrary and turn on post notifications

warnings: I don't think any for this part?? maybe language but idk

Jake exhaled a sigh as he tossed the tennis ball in his palm against the bunk above him, mind swirling and trying to find something worth focusing on as he tried to pass the time. This was what he hated most about deployments - there was nothing to do. He’d already worked out, his drills were done, he’d been released for the day but he wished he hadn’t. Your letter back was sitting beside him, he was feeling a little too nervous to even open it… what if it was the biggest fuck you he ever read? You were a writer after all, he imagined you’d probably be able to tell him off in the most elegant, crippling way if you wanted.

Bradley had not even noticed the identical envelopes when mail came around, instead taking his as he disappeared, he assumed to the cafeteria, which is exactly where he was. Bradley’s brow was furrowed as he took in your words, shaking his head softly at the way you were seeming to deflect. He knew you wouldn’t want to worry him while he was on deployment, but he knew you too well. You couldn’t get anything past him even on paper… but there wasn’t exactly anything he could do about it from where he was. 

(text only version of letter)

He sat still for a moment as he contemplated what to do, but soon his feet were moving before his mind could catch up down the narrow hallways towards his bunk, unable to resist questioning just what the hell Jake was thinking… and right about now, Jake was thinking you probably told your best friend what a colossal jerk he was, and when the door to their room opened he sat up with a sigh, bracing for the worst.

“You wrote Raven a letter?” Bradley asked, eyes narrowed with a piece of paper clutched in his hand and while Jake’s first instinct based on the look in his eyes was to lie, he knew that would never work.

“I did,” he decided to answer truthfully, leaving it short and simple.

“Why did you write Raven a letter?”

Jake sighed again, “I accidentally opened hers and felt bad. I just wanted to apologize.”

“So, you accidentally opened my smoking hot best friend's letter and happened to read the entire thing instead of putting it down as soon as you realized, and what? You expect me to think this isn’t you doing your typical Hangman bullshit?”

“I didn’t know she was smoking hot,” he replied and this was clearly the wrong thing to say based on the way Bradley’s eyes widened. “If I were trying to get in her pants I wouldn’t do it through a letter. I just wanted to say sorry and offer my condolences for what happened.”

“It’s not your job to comfort her-” Bradley started but cut himself off, realizing if you were here to witness this one-sided pissing contest you’d be incredibly annoyed. You could stand up for yourself and you never needed him to step in for you, despite how often he tried. If you were mad, you would have handed it by yourself. “Just… she said something about adopting another pilot so clearly she doesn’t mind. She’s my best friend, dude. If you pull anything I’m not the only one you’ll have to answer to, Phoenix will have your ass too.” 

“Not gonna pull anything,” Jake replied. “She really wasn’t mad?”

“You haven’t opened yours?” Jake shook his head. “This isn’t my problem,” he said as he let out a humorless laugh. “Find out for yourself, and if you write her back I don’t want to hear about it.”

“Message received,” Jake said as he held his hands up in surrender, picking up his letter and ripping it open. His eyes quickly scanned the page, unable to keep from smiling as he read. You were surprisingly cool about everything, and even answered all of his questions which he was honestly not expecting. He laughed at some parts, just as he had with the first one, and he quickly grabbed pen and paper to write his reply which Bradley rolled his eyes at from the top bunk.

(text only version of letter)

As he put the pen down he found himself feeling disappointed by the fact that it would probably be a week or so until he got your reply. He hadn’t ever experienced this - he would just go through his deployments and disappear into his own head as much as he could to try and keep himself sharp and entertained but he was finding that with the new promise of communication from you he didn’t need to… he could think about you, figure out new questions to ask or new things to tell you and he decided if you were serious about continuing to write he would share more in his next letter, and ask you more questions, and for the first time since he boarded this ship he didn’t dread rolling over and trying to sleep.

[harleykeeners]

romantic homicide

Chigiri misses who Kunigami used to be, however he won’t dismiss who he is now. The muscle freak that returned from the Wild Card that left him speechless, rendered Chigiri frozen and forced him to re-evaluate why the sight wounded him so much. He just wants his hero back.

-

They had fallen into an awkward silence. It was late, and Chigiri was getting ready to work on his leg that was cramping up after the match against Bastard München, when he noticed Kunigami was getting a few extra sets in. Chigiri has requested to visit the German stadium to spend more time with Isagi and learn what he could, he hadn’t expected to run into Kunigami off the field. They haven’t spoken one-on-one since the second selection, but something about the hero has changed. Everyone sensed it the moment he walked through. The Wild Card, Ego called him. There was nothing Wild about him in Chigiri’s eyes, just a hollow shell of someone he knew. If anything, he was more like the Joker in Chigiri’s eyes, because that's what he saw. A joke Renuske Kunigami would have put in his place on the first day. 

More under cut

“Kunigami, what happened in the Wild Card round?’ Chigiri whispers softly, looking through his locks at Kunigami. He’s settled on the gym floor, some feets away from Kunigami who is cleaning up. Bachira and Isagi had just gone back to the dining room in their respective stadiums, but Chigiri stayed behind.

“Why do you want to know? To get ahead? I don’t need to tell you shit,” Kunigami barks back, rolling his shoulders as he dabs off the sweat with a towel. The gym is dark, given that it’s late and everyone was told to get some rest before their next match in the Neo Egoist League. 

The statement is cold and not something the hero would have ever said before. It wounds Chigiri, to think that Kunigami perceives him as some selfish bastard. He can understand it for Barou, Rin, and maybe even Isagi. But himself? Chigiri doesn’t think he's that selfish. As the thought crosses his mind, he pauses. 

No, he is. It’s Blue Lock, they are all selfish bastards. But Chigiri isn’t cruel.

“To get ahead? That’s not who I am, I don’t care about that when I ask-”

“You should,” it's sharp and cutting. By this point, Kunigami has finished getting cleaned in the gym. Whipping down the equipment and completing his stretching, he looks down at Chigiri on the floor with his mat. Before the second selection, Kunigami would offer to help Chigiri, at the minimum sit next to him. They would talk, complain, or just sit in silence. They would exist together. 

He remains standing above him. Looking down at him, like he was beneath him. 

“Isagi told me about the Bastard München placement training, how they determined the starters and collected data,” he says, rolling out his calf first. Chigiri is staring at the ground, focusing on making sure the mat does not slip from beneath him. He knows Kunigami is still there. Whatever Ego put him through, surely didn’t change that much at least. He hopes.

“Told me you placed 3rd, outperformed one of the starters,” he continued. “I’m asking you again, what happened during the Wild Card round?” Pulling his hair back, he looks up at Kunigami. 

His face is hardened, his eyes are darkened, and his eye bags have never looked worse. He looks like a corpse of his former self, only evolved in every physical aspect. A fallen angel, Chigiri thinks best describes him. Fallen from grace and had his own nature weaponized against him. He can’t really blame him, Blue Lock is a dog-eat-dog world. Kunigami did what he had to do in order to keep his dream in tack. 

Chigiri just wished his dream didn't have to die in the process. His dream of Kunigami, of the man he was. He looked up to him, truly. Even when he would stay quiet and in his own world, he would always tune in whenever Isagi and Kunigami spoke. The way he maintained himself, conducted his behavior, and believed in fairness. It was admirable, especially in Blue Lock.   

With a click of his tongue, Kunigami concludes this entire conversation is beneath him. He gathers his water bottle and begins to head out when he stops in his tracks. 

“You completely ghosted me after the second selection. What happened to you?” It's a desperate plea, one he's never heard from Chigiri. The speedster was never the type to beg, so the sorrow in his voice struck something in Kunigami. Turning on his heel, he meets Chigiri’s eyes, and sees the aching in them. 

Renuske Kunigami has changed. He is not the same man he was when he arrived at Blue Lock. “I did what I had to do in order to survive. Now piss off,” he bites as he turns to leave. 

“Oh fuck off,” Chigiri finally snaps, sick of it. “I’m so tired of your attitude of being above everyone else. Tough shit, you're still here, huh? You don’t just get to sit there and ignore me like we weren’t…” The words die on his tongue because what were they? It was something Chigiri never quite figured out. Yes, he knew what he wanted them to be, but your dreams are vastly different from reality. Blue Lock taught him that. 

“Weren’t what?” Kunigami asks, still by the door, gripping onto the frame, but not looking back at Chigiri. That seemed to strike a chord in him, and Chigiri had a shimmer of hope left. 

“You know what…” he sighs, continuing to roll out his leg. This was not the way he wanted the conversation to go, especially not with the cameras he knew were recording. Realistically, this wouldn't be shown, but Chigiri has stopped trying to understand Ego’s methods. 

“Don’t know the fuck you’re talking about,” its quiet and a growl as Kunigami pulls the door open to leave.

“Rensuke,” by this point, Chigiri is standing. Giving up on his leg, he looks at Kunigami’s back, willing him to look back at him. “I told you I’d be waiting for you, and you still haven’t come back.”

“I’m fucking here, ain’t I?” Maybe it was the usage of his name, but Kunigami turns around and properly faces Chigiri now. “No, you’re not. I don’t recognize who is in front of me.” 

“Are you fucking blind? I don’t have time for this shit,” No, no. Chigiri refuses to let this conversation end. He’s spent so long in despair after seeing Shindou arrive and not Kunigami, he spent so long regretting his actions in the second selection that lead to him getting picked over Kunigami. He’s been tearing himself apart inside, battling from joy that he’s still standing in Blue Lock, and anguished Kunigami isn’t next to him. 

“In the back of my mind, I felt like I killed you… getting chosen.”

“Piss off, you weren’t responsible for my fate. I was weak, pathetic, and naive. I wasn’t going to make it in that state. I needed to change.”  That’s the most Kunigami has said to him since his return. It’s heartbreaking hearing him speak about himself, and Chigiri won’t stand for it. 

“I hate who I see in front of me,” he starts. “Yes, you’ve improved so much physically. You’re fucking ambidexterious now, wonderful! But Kunigami, you haven’t spoken to me since you came back. I’m so fucking sit of waiting patiently for someone that won’t even arrive at this point! What happened to the hero that was so righteous and fair? You evolved? Killed him?” 

He doesn’t realize when he walked over to Kunigami nor when he grabbed onto his shirt. He feels his hands shaking as they cling to the fabric, his voice following suit. 

“Fuck, I miss you,” it pains him to admit it, but it hurts so much more to not have Kunigami in his life. “I miss us, Rensuke,” Chigiri begs and maybe it's because it’s late or just the fact that it's Chigiri, does Kunigami turn to face him. 

There’s something shifting in the hero’s eyes, a glint of a light, and then in a moment, Kunigami collapses.

“I can’t keep doing this anymore…” with a sigh, he’s turning to leave. Something Chigiri said must have gotten to him, something must have broken through, and Chigiri has to follow. 

However, the sudden movement shocks and locks up his leg, dragging him back to the ground. 

“Chigiri! Are you okay?” On instinct, Kunigmai turns back to hold Chigiri. He’s crouched down next to him and is eyeing his leg with concern. 

“There you are,” it’s a breath Chigiri lets out, upon reflex once Rensuke touches his leg. His hands are calloused, more than he recalls. However, they’re gentle on his leg, tender. Kunigami holds his leg like he’s afraid he’ll break it. It should piss off Chigiri, he’s not some damsel in distress, but right now, he lets that feeling disappear. 

“Hi,” it's a soft breath that comes from Chigiri’s breath, and the tenderness of his tone brings a smile to Kunigami’s face. He releases his legs, and brushes Chigiri’s hair behind his ears. The action was so tender, something he used to do the first few days at Blue Lock. Something that makes Chigiri’s heart swell.

“What happened to you?” Chigiri turns his head so it’s in Kunigami’s hand, holding his face. The facade Kunigami has put up is starting to crack, and the question makes him turn away, but still holds Chigiri. “Look at me, please.” 

“You don’t wanna know,” Kunigmai says, but this time any edge to his voice is lost. It’s a genuine plea, and Chigiri isn’t cruel, he knows when to stop pushing. “Here, let me help with your leg. You haven’t gone through your stretching, right?” Of course Kunigami would have noticed. The minute Chigiri walked into the gym, Kunigami made a silent note of watching him. 

Because Resnuke Kunigami hasn’t changed. He’s the same man, but his bark is reactive to the Wild Card. He learned quickly that if he’s cruel and dismissive, similar to Rin, then others will leave him alone. Being an asshole and pushing others away gave him room to breathe after the round. If no one tried to speak to him, no one would try to ask. He didn’t want to remember, he didn’t want to talk about it, he didn’t want to be asked about it.

But that was the thing that initially peaked his interest about Hyoma Chigiri, he was always surprised. From his speed on the field, his regard in his appearance, and his ability to catch Kunigmai off guard, he liked it. 

He liked Chigiri. Kunigami was man enough to admit that. He’s missed him, he’s missed talking to him after practice, sharing laughs with him, rolling out his leg, and brushing his hair. Fuck, he’s missed him so much. 

“What…were we?” Chigiri asks, always the bold one. Kunigmai runs his thumbs along his cheek bone, memorizing his face again. He’s missed holding his face, being close enough to share breaths. 

“I… I’m not sure. I know what I wanted us to be.,” Kunigami boldly says, hushed as he uses one of his hands to massage Chigiri’s knee. “I know I’ve been a raging dick, but my…” 

He takes a ragged breath in, and finally meets Chigiri’s eyes. Finally, does Chigiri recognize him. “My feelings for you haven’t changed…” 

There’s a bridge between them, one that used to be a mere step in distance and then turned into a mile. However right now, in the dimming lights of the gym, seated on the floor, in the middle of the night, does Chigiri feel that distance closing in. He’s aching for Kunigami, every minute he spent thinking he got eliminated was suffocating. He thought that he had lost him before they had gotten time to explore whatever this was. So, once he saw Kunigami walk back through those doors, he vowed he wouldn’t let him slip through his fingers again. However, the Kunigami that came back wasn’t the same, at least not on the outside. But right now, the Kunigami holding his face like he’s precious, is his Kunigami. 

“Hyoma,” Kunigami just whispers his name, and suddenly both of their lips close the distance between them. Cradling his face, Kunigami runs a finger along Chigiri’s lips, brushing his hair behind his ears. Reflectively, Hyoma clings to Rensuke. He brings his hands up to rest on his shoulders, much wider than he remembered, but firm nonetheless. Rensuke’s hand on Hyoma’s knees makes comforting circles around it, massaging it gently to relieve some of the tension. The action is so kind, that Hyoma cries into the kiss, quickly consumed by Rensuke’s tongue. The hand on his knee travels up to his thigh, providing a grounding squeeze and tracing imaginary shapes. 

The bridge between them is closed, evident in how they are one on the gym floor. They couldn't care less about the cameras in the facilities, it was the last thing on their mind. Right now, they were killing the space between them. Hyoma was killing the facade Kunigami brought back, and was pulling Rensuke back to the forefront. As the facade crumbled, the kiss became evidence of the man Hyoma knew Rensuke to be: delicate, gentle, and tender. There is no battle for dominance, no roughness or bitting, just a desperate need to connect. 

At some point, the hand on Hyoma’s thigh makes it up to his waist, and soon he feels his back hit the floor. It’s not rough, the hand on his face cradles the impact and he allows himself to hold the back of Rensuke’s neck. The hand on his waist continues to trace shapes on it, slipping underneath his shirt. It’s still so gentle, it makes Hyoma whine. This is the Rensuke he remembers, this is the one he wants. Not the beast that came back, ripped and lacking empathy. No, but the one that is gentle, loving, and holding him on the ground and kissing him with a reverence Hyoma has never experienced. 

He’s a gentleman, Hyoma notices. And he tastes like tangerines. 

“I’m happy you’re back,” he pulls apart to tell Rensuke. 

“I never left you,” Rensuke tells him, capturing his lips once more.

[hsangel64]

bandmates pt. 11

synopsis: time to start over

warnings: nothing really! a little saucy and some angst!

a/n: this will probably be the last chapter but i might do a sequel smau for this if anyone wants it! thanks to everyone that read this i’ve got more to come!

“hey bee.” you heard ellie say from behind you. you were sitting at a small booth in the cafe waiting anxiously for her appearance, you even thought maybe she got too scared to meet up and she was going to bail. you inhaled and let out a heavy breath, you haven’t seen her for almost a month, probably the longest you’ve gone without each other. your heart is raising as you both stand there and stare at each other, she’s messing with her fingers and tapping her foot. you finally speak up.

“here come sit…” you told ellie and she slowly walked to you and sat.

“so talk ellie.” you both sat in front of each other, you ran your eyes up and down ellie. she was twiddling her thumbs, you could tell she was trying to figure out where to start.

“okay, i know you hate me right now and i get it i really do, i am a complete asshole. i want to first genuinely say sorry, for everything, for cat, for not taking you out, for just being a genuine dick to you. you don’t deserve what i’ve done. i wish there was a way i could make it up to you but i know there isn’t and there probably never will be.” she sighed and you stayed completely focused not wanting to interrupt.

“do you remember that time when you had your birthday party and no one came but me?”

���well dina and jesse came too….”

“well still- do you remember the pact we made?” you looked at her confused and nodded.

“that we would stick together no matter what happens.”

“ellie what does this have to do with anything-“ you hated that day, despised it even.

———————————————————————————

flashback to the birthday

you were so excited for the day, everything was decorated and you had your prettiest dress on. you were turning 16 it was a big birthday for you. you had made custom invitations and everyone had RSVP’d for the day. you weren’t the most popular but you invited everyone you knew and they told you they were coming. your mom got the coolest cake you had ever seen, the decorations was everything you had wanted and more. streamers hanging from the ceiling, the tables laid out with table cloths and set with center pieces. your mom already bought the catering and you were just sitting waiting for guests to come, you kept checking the time as it was close to 2pm, the time of your party. you heard the door bell ring and ran to open it excited to see who was on the other side. you opened the door to find ellie jumbling three big gifts in her hands.

“hey bee!”

“um do you need help…”

“no no….well maybe.” you laughed at her and grabbed the two gifts on the top of the pile.

“why so many gifts els?”

“because you’re 16!! its a big birthday you deserve it!” you laughed at her response and led her to the gift table. once you dropped the gifts on the table she came and gave you a huge hug picking you up off the ground. you giggled at the feeling of her holding you.

“is anyone else here yet?” she asked as she was putting you down.

“no no yet but it is also barely 2pm.” she nodded and then you guys heard the door bell ring again. you both ran to see who it was.

“heyyy happy birthday!!!” dina and jesse were behind the door. you smiled at them and then giggled at jesse carrying all the gifts you assumed dina brought. she pushed jesse slightly and gave you a huge hug.

“ugh i’m so excited for this! i got you so many things i know i went a little crazy…”

“you didn’t have to really.”

“but its your big day!! i had to go all out!”

“damn it d, you got more than i got…” ellie lightly punched dina and you laughed at them fighting over the gifts. jesse walks over to you and hugs you.

“happy birthday dude! you look great!” he pulled away and you smiled up at him thanking him. you had been suck into a convo with jesse you didn’t even realize your mom coming into the living room.

“hey guys what’s up!” ellie immediately running over to your mom hugging her, you almost had thought your mom liked ellie more than you.

“is it just you guys right now?” they all nodded and you all went out to the backyard to grab some snacks while you waited for everyone else to come. as the hour went it was 3 and then 4 and then 5 and still no show of anyone else. you were inside talking to your mom while the three were in the backyard.

“are you sure you gave everyone the invites?”

“yes mom i did i swear!”

“maybe they got the wrong date?” you shook your head, you knew everyone knew the date because everyone had asked you yesterday that it was today, you knew they knew.

“no no i-i know they kn-know.” you felt that awful feeling in your throat, it was burning. you felt the tears built up and then heard your mom say a light, oh honey, as she pulled you in for a hug. once you felt your head on her chest the tears falling and the sobs taking over your body. you must’ve been so loud that everyone came in and was silent. you looked over at them and they all had sad looks on their faces, you continued to sob as they all walked over to you and hugged you.

“they’re not coming.” you let out a hiccup as your tears started to subside. everyone pulled away and waited for you to say something.

“i feel so stupid.” you started to walk to your room, you threw your little crown off and took your sash off, you stumbled into your room and fell onto your bed face first. you groaned into your pillow and heard someone walk in.

“hey bee.” she walked over to you and sat on your bed next to you, taking her hand and rubbing your back.

“hi els.” you mumbled and turned over slightly to look at her. she had a sad smile on her face and moved the hair from your face.

“i look stupid don’t i.”

“no you look beautiful.” your face turned red and you smiled slightly at her comment.

“hey there you are.” she pulled your limp body up to sit against her, she ran her hand through your hair.

“you know what fuck those guys you know? we have always had so much fun together, we don’t need anyone else.” you looked at her and smiled. you both sat in silence for a second until ellie spoke up again.

“lets make a pact.”

“okay like what?” you looked at her with curiosity.

“we will stick together no matter what, nothing and i mean nothing will get in between us and if it tries to we stick together no matter what.” you thought about her words for a second and not a second more you respond.

“okay deal.” you both shook on it and nodded at each other.

“good, now we have a shit ton of food, games and you have gifts to open, a fuck ton! so lets get in some comfy clothes and go have fun with our friends!” you shook your head and that day flipped around and ended up being the best night ever.

———————————————————————————

you shifted in your seat wondering where she’s going with this.

“that we would stick together not matter if one of us is a complete asshole and doesn’t deserve the other. i know you don’t even want to see me right now and i know what i did was so fucking shitty. i feel like an asshole, i know that won’t change what i did and i don’t know what will but i want to at least start over.” ellie stopped and grabbed your hands to hold.

“we can be slow, stay friends for now and whenever you are ready we can be more, o-or we don’t even have to at all and just stay friends, whatever is best for you. i will really do anything for you.” you stayed silent and it felt like your body was stiff, not wanting to move in inch letting her continue.

“i love you bee to the moon and back, even farther than that. i care about you a lot and i was so stupid to do what i did, i will be apologizing for the rest of my life. please just give me one more chance.”

“who says you’ll stick to your word, i’ve giving you so many chances ellie.”

“look i know i know and i really am sorry that you even had to give me one chance to begin with but i promise you this time is different. i blocked cat on everything and told her to leave us alone, yo-you can even talk to dina if you have to i promise this is the last time we will ever have to do this. you deserve the world and more and i want to be the one to give it to you.”

“let me see that you blocked her.” ellie pulls away and immediately pulls out her phone, she hands it to you unlocked. you go to every social media app and she was right, she blocked her on everything. you even went and checked her apps and saw no evidence and there really was nothing. you nodded and handed her the phone back, she took it and grabbed your hands again. you have since made up your mind and took a deep breath and finally spoke.

“fine, but we can be friends for now and we will see how i feel later.” she smiled and kissed your hands.

“i really am serious bee i will give you the whole world and more.” you sent her a soft smile, you felt like you could trust her. something felt different this time, you didn’t know if it was the way she apologized and even came with evidence that she was ready to start again or the fact that it just seemed genuine.

“i believe you.” she did, she has been everything you could’ve ever dreamed of. everything went back to normal, but it was different this time. ellie took you places, bought you things, took care of you when you didn’t feel good. it was the bare minimum but the way she did it seemed to mean more. after the talk you guys had it seemed like you two were back to normal, you went out for dinner that night and went to watch a movie. not once did her attention leave you that night, her eyes had been on you even during the movie. she was so happy to see you happy again, and it was happy with her. you couldn’t stop smiling that night.

———————————————————————————

fast forward (a year)

you woke up to the sun shining on you from your big window in you and ellie’s shared room. you looked over at her side and felt the cold bedsheets on your fingertips, you frowned at the emptiness of the bed but the smell of pancakes woke you up. you stretched and got out of your bed, putting on a robe feeling the cold of winter and throwing some slippers on. you made your way to the kitchen and saw ellie dancing to dolly parton, you giggled and ellie turned to see you peaking at her. you made your way over to her, she pulled you into her and swayed you back and forth to the music.

“good morning beautiful.” the pet names never got old. after your talk it only took about two months till you were together. once the school year ended you all got a gorgeous apartment close to campus but in the city. you all lived together still of course, you couldn’t think to leave each other. you all were still doing gigs and getting your names out there. you guys were getting big doing gigs at bigger places and actually having a fan base. all your lives changed for the better and it felt amazing. ellie had been amazing, taking you out, posting you everywhere, bragging about you at any chance she could. she spoils you like crazy, and you mean crazy. she really proved herself right and kept her promise.

“good morning.” you giggled at the swaying and she started to kiss down your neck.

“you came out too early actually i was going to bring you breakfast in bed.”

“awe how sweet of you honey.” you gave her a peck on the lips and she pulled you back again for a longer kiss. you both smiled into the kiss and she immediately turned away.

“oh shit my pancakes!!” she flipped the pancake on the pan and it was burnt. you laughed at her cussing at herself.

“you gotta go lay back down baby you’re distracting me.”

“oh im distracting you?” you giggled at her and started to walk back to the room, you were fully turned away and you had a devious thought. you slowly removed the top half of your robe to show you didn’t have anything underneath and turned to make sure she was looking.

“oh baby you can’t do that!” she started to walk towards you and you ran back into the room yelling out.

“your pancakes though!” you heard her groan as you sat back into the bed. you laughed out loud and laid back down. as you waited for ellie to finish you went on your phone and looked through your photos. you were reminiscing on the tons of pictures and videos of you and ellie. it felt super cheesy but you were so glad about the position you all were in. you didn’t realize how long you had been looking until you heard footsteps entering the room. you turned over to see ellie holding a tray of delicious looking food a small card and a huge bouquet of flowers.

“what’s all this!” you sat up and helped her as her hands were full.

“i wanted to celebrate.” you looked at her confused.

“what’s there to celebrate?”

“i haven’t told anyone else but i got an email this morning about a company that wants to sign us on.” you gasped loudly and hugged her.

“oh my god are you serious?!”

“yes they want us to come in on monday and sign the contract. bee were getting signed.”

“holy shit this is huge are you kidding me?!” she nodded yes and kissed you. you fell back into the bed as she kissed all over your face.

“okay lets eat and get ready i have the day planned for us all.” you smiled at her and gave her another kiss.

“why did you get me flowers though and a card-“

“because i like spoiling you.” you giggled at her response and started eating.

———————————————————————————

you guys finished and ellie proposed the idea to announce the news together. so that’s where you both were now, standing in front of dina and jesse in the kitchen.

“so we have major news.”

“oh my god are you guys engaged?!” dina excitedly screeched.

“no no, not yet at least.” ellie said and you shoved her arm.

“well what is more major than that-“ dina elbowed jesse and told him to shut up.

“i got an email this morning from a major company…” ellie started and gestured you to finish.

“were getting signed on monday!!!” we all cheered together and it all felt surreal. we were getting signed, our dream for years and its finally happening. you felt so many emotions at once, you really just felt the love of your best friends, the excitement of what’s to come and the feeling of relief that everything worked out for you all. you hugged ellie and kissed her.

“i love you bee.”

“i love you more els, so so much.”

“together not matter what?”

“no matter what.” you kissed again and celebrated with your best friends, your people.

———————————————————————————

tag list:

@gold-dustwomxn @lil-elliesgf @hithrresblog @ariianelle @mysticfqall @hopelesssheaven @elliestears @cjrights @depressedbratsworld @amberputh @bready101

a/n: last chapter ahhhh!!! i kind of built it up to have a second story so if anyone at all wants a second one please let me know and ill start working on it! i had a couple ideas for it anyways! i hope you enjoyed this series this was my first one and it was very fun to write it. i have tons of ideas for other things for the future that i am very excited about as well!

[lemurballing]

oops i have more aus. and theyre all around a very similar prompt

‘tangle back in time’ - for which i have two variants

one where it’s current!tangle (around the issue 70s mark) tossed back in time to during the Forces war - stumbling across Whisper and the Diamond Cutters in the past. it’s exciting to finally get to meet them - and even more exciting when Whisper offers to let Tangle travel with them and help out, heck yeah! But then, of course, Mimic is there - and he’s part of the team, having earned the trust of the Diamond Cutters. so now, traveling with them, Tangle figures out a way to expose Mimic for the traitor she knows he at least /can be/, whether he’s already planning it or not - and Mimic is unnerved that Tangle already seems to know something about him. He’d thought nobody saw the other teams he betrayed, but if this Tangle was following him, she could jeopardize this… he needs to discredit her. Get her out of their way. (They’re both on the same page of different books…)

second take: instead of an actual future tangle back in time so 2 are running around and one with concrete future information, pre-canon Tangle has a weird dream. a bunch of things happen - Jewel is there, and she meets Sonic and Amy and people, and this new person called Whisper, and huh… she’s never had a dream that vivid and realistic before! She knows it was all just a dream, up until a traveling mercenary group temporarily takes a stop in Spiral Hill, and one of their members is super familiar… and, just like the dream, her name is Whisper. Tangle and Whisper strike up a friendship between battles as waves of eggpawns try to make it up the hill into the city proper over the next few days, and Tangle keeps having strange dreams. Then one night, it’s a nightmare - Whisper’s teammate Mimic tried to kill her and Tangle, twice over… is that real? Could that be real? Tangle doesn’t know for sure. It feels like it’s real - the most vivid dream yet, the most important-feeling, even if Mimic seems like a nice guy. When Whisper says they’re packing up to leave now that Eggman has let up here for a bit, Tangle asks to come with. Whisper and the other DCs are happy for the help, but Tangle’s hidden goal is keeping an eye on Mimic, in case no one else knows to.

and: roleswap!au. backstory swap? Whisper grows up in Spiral Hill and forms a friendship with Jewel, and Tangle becomes a member of the Diamond Cutters team - and later, the sole survivor of Mimic’s betrayal. Tangle keeps her tail powers, and instead of a Rocket wisp, makes buddies with a Jade wisp - her Wispon is a techno-slingshot that can temporarily make intangible anything a projectile hits, primarily used for support and protecting her teammates since she uses her tail for combat, and uses Jade’s power to avoid any heavy hits she’s at risk of, or to untangle from a situation. Whisper still has Orange, but never having met Smithy, she uses a normal wispon like the Resistance supplies and works with them. She doesn’t have as fine accuracy or long range as a proper sniper wispon, but she’s still an excellent shot. I haven’t got full plot details worked out yet - overall things will change slightly, because Tangle is not as quiet and withdrawn as Whisper is. Instead of being the silent ‘Guardian Angel of the battlefield’ hovering over as support, she gets in the thick of it - the ‘Hurricane of the battlefield’ tossing badniks around like dodgeballs and clearing them out before they’re an issue, extremely present and then disappearing as fast as she arrived to the next besieged town. After this AU version of Tangle & Whisper, which goes pretty differently, Tangle gives Whisper access to either the sniper wispon she uses before the variable wispon in canon, or the variable wispon itself, as a show of trust, giving this sentimental item to Whisper to protect her… The Wisps are still Tangle’s teammates and buddies, but while they’re working together, they don’t mind working with Whisper.

Full Tangle AU List (aka the Tangleverse)

Finally it’s compiled!!! I have here for you a list of 22 different Tangles for you to browse and rotate in your brain :3 A bunch of these come with content for other characters, though, so if you’re not as Tangle-focused as I am you could probably find something neat to look at.

Each listing is entered under its designated AU name, if there is a relevant link to the AU’s original source it’ll be linked within the title, and I’ll add a short summary or blurb about the Tangle or AU as a whole. I’ll also make distinctions for if an AU has art.

None of these AUs are my own creations, unless they’ve got a ~Leori signature after them - follow the link to their individual creators! In the case of my own AUs, I usually don’t have much content for them because I don’t know what to say, so feel free to send in asks. Or for the ones with very little content, do whatever you’d like with them, they’re basically open prompts.

The numbers don’t matter, they’re just for tallying up how many there are. I’m not ranking these.

This is long, so I’m putting everything after the table of contents under a ‘read more’. ○ Swap AUs ○ Future AUs ○ General AUs ○ Crossover AUs ○ Jokesy AUs

Keep reading

[hanzajesthanza]

god we need to bring crackfic back. or just short and idiotic ideas that wouldn’t happen but would be funny to read