#there was this wonderful male dancer at this drag show I went to | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

cinanamon · 5 years ago

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your hands only — ldh (m)

pairing | donghyuck x reader

genre | smut, stripper!au

word count | 4.7K

synopsis | You had been going to a corner strip club for the past few months. Sure, maybe you only went because you had the hots for one of the performers, but you were originally satisfied from simply watching him from afar.

warning | smut: oral, fingering, degrading, overstimulation, penetration, lap dance, grinding, hair pulling, cockwarming.

You knew it for yourself that you came here too often. Every Thursday night after work, it was routine to say goodbye to your coworkers with a bright and innocent smile to, only an hour or so later, be on the other side of town in a sultry outfit and in a male strip club. You could only imagine what they’d say when you gave a casual nod of acknowledgement to the bodyguard outside before entering the shady corner building.

But you couldn’t really bring yourself to care. Because the minute you stepped inside the club, it felt like the world had flipped over, and you were someone you were not, and the people around you were new and enticing and no one judged you for enjoying seemingly taboo practices.

The black lit room made all neons burn your eyes—shining a woman’s breasts a bright blue, highlighting another man’s lipgloss a deep purple, and the men on their pedestals knew how to catch the light in such an exciting fashion, attracting all eyes to the men with no shame.

The men were truly a sight to behold. They wore all types of sexual looks; some more innocent, some kinky and leather, others practically bare, blacklight body paint covering their skin. It’s what drew you to the club in the first place; boys who were comfortable in their masculinity to accent their features in an almost feminine way, happy to show themselves off in a vulnerable state, to be objects of desire in a confident demeanor.

But one man always stood out to you, and you wouldn’t be ashamed to say he’s the reason you made a habit of coming back, like an addiction. His stage name was Haechan; barely an adult, or so he advertised to draw in the crowds, who some expected to be shy and innocent but probably had the lewdest show of the night.

Back then you were shy. Nervous when you entered, afraid someone might try to drug you, yet curiosity had won you over to check out the club. To see scantily-clad men dancing left you blushing, yet when he came on—his first show—you couldn’t bear to tear your eyes away. His eyes had landed on you, but they barely left yours for the rest of his dance. And maybe it was a one time thing that didn’t mean anything, since you’ve regularly shown each night to watch him, and yet he never lingers.

But you’ve grown from your initial innocence, and you know better than to hope. And so you watch and admire and desire from a safe distance at the base of his platform or the edge of the crowd. And tonight was no different as you maneuvered through the bodies around you, moving up with a confident tilt of your head, waiting for his act to come on.

You stalk up to the bar with a curt greeting to the bartender before asking for a martini. You don’t mind listening to the various conversations drifting around you, the different tones in peoples’ voices as you wait. It’s fun to see the bartender work, and you give a polite smile and tip once your drink is done. You lift the glass to your lips and peek your eyes over the rim as you wander closer to the stage, satisfied as you lower your drink and place a hand in your pocket.

It was another few minutes before a spotlight shone on the curtain and the sexy jazz they had playing was replaced with a sultry song with a definite beat. Instantly, an excited buzz surged through your chest, moving through all your nerves and resting in the pit of your stomach. You wondered what he had tonight; Haechan was never one to disappoint.

He stepped out onto the stage with a suave air about him, his chin above the crowd as a natural smirk settled on his lips, a few stalking steps and he’s gripping the pole, lowering his hips in a bouncing crouch before swinging his body up and around, going upside down from the beginning, leaving you in a trance already.

He wore a black lingerie set, a color he sported often, and you admired the feminine touches on his masculine features. The high-waisted panties he wore criss-crossed from his hip to his waist a couple times, and the matching top went back and forth over his upper chest till the neck-line choked him snugly. Black bracers circled his wrists and you were always fascinated that he would wear heels as he danced.

Your favorite part was his neck up though. Because Haechan never failed to doll up his face, and you knew he did it himself; black smudged eyeliner, highlighted cheekbones, and—your favorite—a red lip. And by the end of the show, his hair was always messy, his skin sweaty, his cheeks flushed, and his lips would be bitten-raw and swollen, and you could never deny your fixation on his lips as he panted to catch his breath.

You were only snapped back to reality and aware of your surroundings when you heard a sharp squeal from your left. You raised a brow in slight irritation as you glanced over, but instantly recognized the woman wearing all white and hiding her eyes, her friends around her trying to pry at her hands with loud giggles. You noticed that Haechan kept glancing at her too, sending her practiced looks of seduction and you guessed she was a bride-to-be; this had to be her bachelorette party. You tried to ignore them in favor of watching Haechan work his way around the pole, grinding against the cold metal, his mouth falling open from the sensation. Somewhere along the line, you had started to gravitate towards the edge of the stage in your trance, and you were startled when he met your eye harshly.

Your grip on the crumpled twenty dollar bill in your pocket tightened as you swallowed, and his focused gaze turned a little more devious. He lowered himself on the pole into a crouch again, but this time, he placed his one knee down into a kneel so he could drag himself closer to you. He smirked as he was now looking directly down at you, but it felt strangely intimate since his bangs shielded his gaze from the other viewers.

You hesitantly withdrew the money from your pocket and his brow quirked. He rolled his hips cheekily as a temptation for you to be generous, but before you could place it on the stage by his hand, he gave a curt shake of his head. Your brows furrowed, and you curled your hand into a fist over the cash again. He let out an inaudible, breathy chuckle as he vaguely brought his hands up from his ankles to his thighs, glossing them over the skin before he playfully snapped his waistband.

Oh.

You had never done this before, since you had started coming here. You met his gaze again and steeled your nerves: this was the luckiest thing that had happened to you. You managed a smirk back as you impishly snaked the cash into the waistband, and his hand skimmed over yours to press the cash lower till it wasn’t visible. He winked at you before rightening himself back up and continuing the performance.

You felt winded as you watched him in awe; time felt slowed for those few moments there, so how did he get back to his routine so smoothly? No one seemed to take much notice to you—he was just getting some cash in a flashy way—so you hurried back to the edge of the crowd before someone might recognize you. You felt exhilarated, like your nerves were on fire, but, God, did you need a drink now. You were way too thirsty for this.

You lingered around the edge of the crowd till he finished, biting your lip as he spun a couple more times, performing his signature sexual moves before he ended with one knee hooked around the pole. Everyone around you echoed screams and cheers, but Haechan just gasped for air, sending out a charming smile as he leaned down to collect the money thrown at him.

And as he stood again, you were consciously aware that he was sporting a bulge this time; usually he was able to control it or at least conceal it, but maybe the set he wore wasn’t as protective. You slowly dragged your gaze up his torso and felt a shiver down your spine to see his eyes set on you again. He raised a brow in amusement as he spun around and made his way behind the curtain, little more to help you understand the behavior.

You tried to shake it off and looked around; his act was over, so maybe you could go get another drink then head home.

You had barely placed in your next order, a Manhattan this time, before you heard hushed bickering and then a call in your direction. Naturally, you glanced over but only drew in your brows out of confusion to see the bridal party inch your way. You uneasily glanced around to see if you should avoid them, but you really wanted the drink you just paid for.

“Yes?” You questioned hesitantly, your hands kept in your coat pockets out of discomfort. The woman who ushered you over sighed dramatically and glanced back at the bride who was blushing but scowling.

“Do you want a private show?” You had just received your drink and taken a sip, but you almost choked on it as she continued, “I scheduled one for her for her last night of freedom, but she’s convinced it’s cheating so she refuses, but I already paid and I’m not wasting my money.”

“Ladies—” You felt tongue-tied. “Why don’t you just have a private show?”

She chuckled. “He’s not really my type, though I do think he knows his way around the pole.”

You eyed her warily but had an inkling who she meant, and you tried to ignore the energy in your gut. “Which dancer?”

“Haechan,” she tilted her head and smirked lightly, “I thought I’d offer it to you because you seemed pretty into the show.”

“I—“ you swallowed with a frown as an unwarranted flush of red came upon your cheeks at the reminder of placing cash in the man’s panties. You glanced behind her at the private room, a room you thought you’d never be able to afford going in, before returning your gaze to her. “You’re sure?”

“Yeah,” she smiled. “Is that a yes?”

“Y-yeah. Thank you so much.” You placed down your half-finished glass before you staggered past her in a slight daze, and she held a hand on your shoulder as she walked you over, almost overly enthusiastic about offering you a lap dance from a man you’ve lusted after for months.

With a quick “have fun!” She opened and shut the door on you, causing you to stumble into the dark room. You blinked a couple times to adjust, and then you saw the vanity in the corner, and the boy in front of it with a figure you instantly wanted to touch and mark.

Haechan stood there, lipstick in hand and hair askew on his sweaty forehead, looking at you with a dulled sense of shock that turned into one of amusement with a dangerous edge. “I was expecting the bride.”

You cleared your throat and prayed your voice wouldn’t waver. “Her friends said she didn’t want it; she sent me in instead.” He only raised his brow, turning back to the mirror and finished painting his lips a deep and sensual red.

“Last time I checked you weren’t married.”

“I’m not,” you shrugged, not being able to look away from his enchanting side profile. “Do I need to be to receive the dance?”

He glanced over briefly with a short snort. “Well it’d be a bit out of the norm to give a single woman the special.”

“There’s a bridal special?” You furrowed your brows. “This isn’t a regular lap dance?”

“No,” he capped the lipstick and placed it down gently, swiping a hand through his hair and patting his forehead with a towel. “I’m wondering if you really deserve it.”

You bit your lip at that. That vague response sent crazy thoughts through your head that shot straight to your core, but then again you weren’t sure if his words were personally hostile. “You don’t have to give it to me if you don’t want to.” You tried to seem nonchalant.

He paused in reapplying his eyeliner to click his tongue. “Do you not want it?”

“I do, but—”

“Then act like it, princess,” he shook his head so his curls bounced out in an intimation of an aftersex halo, and his piercing, accented eyes settled on you, his form stalking over and you felt yourself go stiff. “I’m here to do my job, and I’d rather not have to strain myself to please you.”

“Isn’t that the point of a lap dance?” You tried to quip back as his face neared, his hand ghosting over your cheek before lowering to your hand, pulling you over to a chair you hadn’t seen earlier.

“No, it’s not. I’m here to tease.” And with that he sat you down, picking his phone out of his waistband—where you had placed money earlier, but you rid yourself of the thought quickly—and flicking through a playlist. You watched in anticipation as he clicked on one, and a more sensual song than his performance began to play.

You thought all oxygen would leave your head when he placed down his phone and smoothly straddled your hips. You knew he heard your sharp inhale from the split second smirk that crossed his lips. “You wondered about the bridal special, right?” You could only manage a nod before he draped his arms over the back of your chair and began to roll his hips. “Well you can touch.”

He emphasized his words by pressing his hips into yours and his hands moved from behind you to land on your shoulders, smoothing down your arms and taking your jacket off in the process. You choked back a whine as you slowly brought your hands up to touch his waist where the fabric crossed, and he made a noise low in his throat. Your eyes snapped up to meet his and the corner of his lips quirked up in challenge, the sound of your jacket hitting the floor like the bell for a match to start.

You tightened your grip on his waist, stroking down his hips and he hummed appreciatively, his hands moving behind him to land on your knees, and now his hips circled on your lap. You felt your mouth grow dry as you stared at his crotch; he took notice of your gaze and jerked his hips, snapping them towards your face. Your hands smoothed down to his thighs and you gripped them, your nails digging into the skin. He made a whimpering noise barely blocked by his bitten lip, his head falling back away from you, and yet his pace never faltered. With his head away from you, your desire won over to try something.

Hesitantly, you drew your hand from his outer thigh to inner, circling your thumb into the skin right on the edge of his most sensitive part. You felt him shudder but he didn’t push you away, so with baited breath, you palmed him semi-roughly. He let out a loud gasp, his head rolling around to stare down his torso into your eyes and at your hand over his panties. You took that as encouragement to press a little harder and soon you felt all sense fly out the window because once the music ended, your other hand crawled over his torso and he leaned up and over to connect your lips, his hands moving from your knees to tangle in your locks.

By now you knew this was farther than he meant, farther than the bridal special includes, but maybe this was personal. You weren’t given much time to dwell on it because Haechan pulled you back harshly by the hair, separating from the bruising kiss with a gasp as he made quick work of biting flowers into your neck and leaving butterfly kisses. Your hands couldn’t find a steady place over his torso, feeling dazed as he tilted your head back down to meet your lips.

This time when you parted, you couldn’t help the moan that escaped your mouth at seeing his smudged red lip. You chased his lips again, causing his eyes to flutter and hands to softly press on your shoulders to have enough time to breath. “I hope you know I’d never let this slide with anyone else.”

“I’m sorry?” You panted, looking at his disheveled hair as he worked at stripping you of your pants.

“This bridal special? Usually I would never make an exception; if you’re not the person who was intended for the dance, I wouldn’t do it. But when it comes to you…”

“Do you actually know who I am?” You put a briefly-halting hand on his forearm to stop him in his ministrations. “Like you know—?”

“Your name and that you come every time I perform, yeah,” you could tell he was struggling to ignore his bulge in favor of responding to you but he was finding it increasingly hard. “I’m Donghyuck, by the way. I’d rather you call me that during sex.”

You let him continue as you dwelled on his words in a haze, surprised pleasantly at the news. You’re only torn out of it when your pants are off and you feel his kiss at the inside of your knee. Your eyes softened when he looked up at you with hooded eyes. He quickly kissed up to your inner thigh, pushing up your shirt and tugging so you take it off in a rush, his mouth pulling away so his hand could take its place over your panties. He hummed as he circled where a wet spot had formed, but you couldn’t bring yourself to feel any shame as he tugged down the sides to reveal yourself to him.

His delicately moved forward to kitten-lick at your core, a long stripe at your folds before mouthing at your nub. You tightened your grip on the armrest but couldn’t resist throwing your head back when he looked up at you innocently, his eyeliner messy around his big eyes and his gorgeous red lips pleasing you.

Donghyuck ate you out like his life depended on it, like he couldn’t have enough of your flavor and you’re not sure if he ever left you long enough to breathe. He sucked on your clit, dragged his teeth along your folds and dove his tongue past them to lap at your leaking flow. You had been making mindless sounds throughout his actions and once you felt an orgasm building, you tried to push him away as you twitched. His eyebrows furrowed and he grabbed your hand, placing it back down on the armrest as he went back to work at you with a new vigor, and suddenly you felt one of his fingers enter you without resistance, your hips jerking as you keen. Your orgasm built twice as quickly as he fingered at you relentlessly, almost excited to taste your juices on his tongue and the thought alone sent you over. You felt yourself go with a loud whine and trembling of your muscles, and when you managed to open your eyes, you were greeted by the sight of Donghyuck leaning back on his haunches, drawing his cum-coated finger into his mouth and sucking with a moan, his eyes lidding as he pulled it back out.

His eyes settled on your core once more and he thumbed at your clit, causing you to whine and squirm. He placed a hand on your hip and looked up, licking his lips. “You can handle another, right? You taste so sweet.” You made a low begging sound but he already dipped two fingers into your heat and began to drill them back and forth so quickly that a loud squelch was heard each time. You gasped and tried to kick away but he held against your weak attempts at stopping your overstimulation, and soon another orgasm ripped through you with a broken whimper. He brought his lips to your core and lapped at your slick with such satisfied fervor you weren’t sure you could handle actually having sex with him if you were already close to being winded from two orgasms from oral alone.

“D-Donghyuck—”

“Ready, princess?” And he stood and slowly pulled you up from sitting, holding you tightly by the waist to keep your shaky legs upright. He briefly met your gaze and you saw his smirk; he knew you were exhausted, that brat. You weakly dropped your hands to his waist, pulling at the waistband of the panties slightly teasingly, and he hummed as your hand slowly moved down to grab at his member through the fabric, and suddenly, you didn’t feel so tired.

“Your turn?” You asked, almost hopefully. The thought of deepthroating him, giving him as intense of pleasure and hearing him moan, sent a surprisingly strong rush of arousal through you again. He almost seemed to grimace as your other hand slipped under his top to trace his nipple, hardening it.

“No, not this time. I just want to be inside you.” You tightened your grip on his member with a pout but smiled a little teasingly and relented when he choked as you felt it twitch in your hand.

“Fine, but I want to repay you sometime.”

“Oh, trust me,” he hummed, turning you around and urging you forward to grab onto the back of the chair. “You will definitely have chances to.”

You bit your lip and looked over your shoulder to see him push down the panties he wore to pull out his member and you made an appreciative sound. He glanced up and smiled knowingly as he stroked himself a few times and quickly put on a condom that he must have grabbed from the dresser earlier.

You shook your ass back and forth and he chuckled as he stepped forward, smoothing a hand down your spine and hooking it around your hip, kneading the skin with his fingers. “You ready?”

“Does it seem like I’m not?” You smirked over your shoulder at him and he scoffed, smacking your ass lightly.

“I’m just checking, God, you brat. Let me know if it hurts.” And then he pushed his tip into your core. You made a groan in your throat at the feeling of the stretch, dropping your head to look down in between your arms. You felt him circle his fingers over your hips, but you weren’t sure if it was to help you relax or to distract him from drilling into you while you adjusted.

His lips fell on your shoulder and bit a few more possessive hickeys into the skin, and a hand snaked under your torso to close in on your throat lightly. “Head up.” His voice was teasing but warning, and the squeeze he gave before letting go as he started to move his hips sent a shock through you, and you bowed your back as to give him good access and to remind yourself not to drop your head.

Almost instantly, it was like he switched; he brought one foot up on the seat and began to rock his hips at a brutal pace, rolling his into yours at an expert angle. You let out a cry and your hands tightened on the seat, your head starting to fall as the feeling overtook you for a moment.

But only a moment was necessary for him to wrap your hair around his hand and yank it back up. You yelped at the sharp sensation then keened as his front went flush against your back for him to tut disappointingly, with an edge, “What did I tell you? Can you do nothing right, princess?”

“I-I’m trying not to.” You stuttered between your pants, sure your juices had to be leaking down your legs from his movements and words.

“Trying isn’t good enough,” he sighed, but it came out more like a hiss. “Maybe I shouldn’t let you cum if you can’t follow simple directions.”

“N-no, I can, I can,” you pressed your ass against him almost unconsciously in hopes it’d entice him to not deny you pleasure.

He only squeezed your ass for it, causing you to let out a raw gasp. “Don’t test your luck, brat. We’ll see how generous I feel.” He chuckled breathily—sadistically—and let go of your hair just enough for him to adjust his position to fuck you easier and hopefully reach your orgasm faster. It only seemed to be seconds before you felt the familiar feeling in your lower stomach.

“D-Donghyuck, please.”

“Are you about to cum? Already?” You could hear the smirk in his voice and it made your face flush in excited shame.

“Yes, I am,” you were finding it hard to think and keep your eyes open, and you knew you’d start to cry if he denied you.

His hand massaged at your waist and lower back before he kissed your shoulder, “I’ll let it slide this time. You can let go, princess.” And with a few more strokes, you came undone on his member, meeting his movements with your own hips with a whimper. Thankfully, he didn’t get onto you for dropping your head and quivering all over, and he held you up by the waist as he continued pouring into you to reach his own high, grunting as he managed to reach the edge. You almost came again by just how high-pitched and beautiful his moan was, and when you glanced over your shoulder, his closed eyes and open mouth were just as arousing of a sight.

But you were both spent, you knew, and he turned you around so he could collapse into the seat and pull you into his lap. You hummed in part surprise and comfort as you realized you were cockwarming him, his head on your shoulder as he tried to catch his breath. You reached a hand back to card through his hair and he chuckled lightly, kissing at the nape of your neck.

“Sorry if I left marks,” he sighed, sounding unbelievably tired. Any sadistic or teasing qualities seemed to be out of his system.

“It’s okay,” you promise, “I love marks.”

“Good, I’ll leave more from now on.”

“From now on?” You looked at him best you could, seeing as he was still inside you.

“Did you not want to do this again?” He finally raised his head, his eyes opening and refocusing.

You felt yourself turn pink at how soft yet hot he looked in all his aftersex glory. “N-no, I want to but is this feeling driven or just sex?”

He hummed and kissed your jaw. “You think too much,” he sighed with a chuckle. “If I’m still here letting you sit on my dick, what do you think?”

You whacked his arm but turned in his lap to straddle him and rest your own head on his shoulder. “Shut up, but...good.”

He smiled sleepily and rubbed at your lower back, closing his eyes again and ignoring the fact that he was still at work.

Because right now, he was content. And he was sure one of his coworkers could buy him some time.

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xxxxhannyxxxx · 3 years ago

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Dancing Dreams

Chapter 1

(I would love some feedback especially since i decided to start writing again, I will also be working on re-writing My Han Fanfiction and making it better, Thank you)

Synopsis ..... As a 20yr old born and raised in Busan South korea, you finally moved forward in your life and managed to Join The Best Dance company out there. You make Friends you could never forget and so many memories you will cherish in your life. Your love Life will blossom and the sturggles of life will finally reach its peak. Will you manage to get through it or get overwhelmed by evrything and everyone ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was an early Monday morning, the sun rays were shinning through the cracks in your curtains perfectly lighting your face. "its too early for any of this" you groan and turn over to the other side where the sun dont shine. "Y/N get up youre going to be late!" your mom yelled at you from the kitchen. You turn back around and sluggishly sit up right, criss-cross apple sauce still half asleep and slouching forward. "Thats right" you thought to yourself, "Todays the first day of my dance class" you check your phone and time reads 7:34am. You get up and start making your way to the bathroom still dragging your feet, but you couldnt help but feel butterflies in your stomach. you make your way to the bathroom and brush your teeth, then your face and you apply lotion " you cant forget to take care of your face" you say as you laugh. You walk towards your closet wondering what to wear. your closet was full of black and white, not really any other color because brights just wasnt your thing. you decide to go with some black sweats, a white crop top and some white Filas. you decide to keep your hair down, kinda wavy and grab a hair tie for later. you head down stair and you can hear the sizzling of possibly bacon or sausage and the smell of toast. Your mom had breakfast ready for you, two eggs over easy just the way yiu love em, two strips bacon and some white toast. " Thank you, if you wouldnt have made me breakfast i would have gone on coffee for the whole day" you say wiith a moutful of toast. You tend to live off of coffee, not a day goes by without it. once you finished eating, you grab your keys and head out "Bye mom, ill see you later" you say as you turn around and wave good-bye.

You hop in your car, plug in your phone and start listening to some of your favorite tunes. The first song that plays is Enhypens Given-taken "Wake up in day one, cheonnare achim jomyeongin bichweo taeyange nunbit" you sing, using your vocal chords to their full extent. Next played Aespas- Next level which lead to ITZYs Mafia. You pull up to a starbucks and lower your music, "Hello welcome to starbucks, what can i get started for you today?" The employee asks cheerfully this morning. "Hello can i get a Venti Iced caramel macchiato with 2 extra shots of espresso and extra caramel" It was your go to drink, just the perfect amount of espresso and caramel mixed together. "Of course, is that going to be all for today?" she asked, "Yes ma'am, thank you" she tells you the price and you pull up the window, you grab your drink and head off straight for the dance studio. A couple more songs played through, you jammed out to Nct, Exo, A.C.E, Oneus and so many other groups and then you finally arrived. Your heartbeat accelarated slightly just at the thought that you finally get to start your dance classes.

When you were just ten years old you found k-pop, it was music you had never listened to but your curiosity got the best of you. From finding TVXQ you were slowly dragged down the K-pop hole but it was possibly the best thing that had ever happened to you. From then on 3yrs went by, you were finally 13 and you thought to yourself that you wanted to be a dancer and that someday you would be a back up dancer or a choreographer for the idols you look up to. You asked your mom to sign you up for dance classes , she agreed and signed you up for modern dancing, from then on you moved on to hip-hop, contemporate and breakdancing which was honestly possibly the hardest to learn, who knew breakdancing could make you feel like you could break yourself in a heart beat. And thats how you got here, you auditioned to join Dream Team dance studio, one of the hardest to pass and yet you managed to make it through, but the price for this dance class was pretty high so you also planned on getting a part time job.

You finally turned off your car and started heading towards the building, since you were still new here you had to follow sign procedures and which classes you would be available for and suited for. You headed towards what seemed to be the front desk but didnt see anyone there. "Hello?" you called out, and then a girl peeked her head out the corner of her office "Hello sorry i didnt hear you walk in" she said very sweetly " what can i do for you today?". You open your bag and pull out the paperwork you had to fill out Prior to your first day "Oh, i am new here and today is going to be my first day starting my dance classes" you hand her the papers and she goes through, she tells you to give her a quick minute and she walks back to the office, she comes back with a lanyard and keycard attached " Welcome to DT, Heres your badge" she hands the item over to you and you seemed kinda confused " oh, sorry let me explain. So we do get certain people who come thorugh to practice at times and we use this badge so that any unwanted personal dont just barge through wihtout permission. we really do want our dancers to feel safe and comfortable in this enviroment" its like she read your expression. So many questions came to mind of who could possibly come to this studio, Idols seems to cross your mind but you just push it away because it only happens ever so rarely. "Thank you so much, ill make sure not to lose this", you start to head towards the doors and turn around because it totally slipped your mind to ask what room your class was in. “im sorry, but what room will i be heading to?” you ask. “ oh, right i guess we forgot, you will be headed to floor 7 room c” - she chuckles. You start to make your way back to the double doors then you hear her say " if you lose the badge, its a $100 fee to replace it", You grab the badge tighter knowing that thats alot of money just to replace it. You excitedly scan your badge and make your way through the double doors, as soon as you walk through you see a cafeteria to your right and a mini market to your left. You walk towards the cafeteria and see that they also have a cafe in the corner. “oh hell yeah, i can grab myself some coffee anytime i want now’” you think to yourself as you sip on your starbucks. You turn around and starts making your way to the elevators, as you walk back you overhear a group of girls chatting about floor 7, you stop in your tracts to listen in a little more, you werent trying to eavesdrop but you were still new here and wanted to know what they had to say about the floor your class is in. They started talking about how the rumor about idols showing up at the dance studio was true but the only floor they ever go to was floor 7, since floor 7 was were the best choreographers were located. You start to walk away slowly picking up your pace because in your head that was impossible, you werent notified exactly of who the special personal was. You thought maybe you should have asked more in depth questions, but you didnt because you were so excited. You finally make a stop at the elevator doors almost running straight into them,you push the up arrow button and the doors open. When you head inside you push level 7 but on the mini screen it says Please scan badge. You grab your badge slightly shaking and scan, you get approved and the doors close. The elevator starts to go up and you are so deep in your thoughts you start thinking out loud. You start pacing back in forth asking yourself if what the girls were saying was true. The last thing you needed was for an artist to show up and make a fool out of yourself, at this point you have your arms up in the air and you dont notice that the elevator stopped on floor 3. As you turn around you see three different males standing infront of the levator staring at you, all three were in black masks and some sort of hat making it hard to notice their faces. You make eye contact with one and the realise your arms are still up in the air. “oh my god, i am so sorry” you say as you are still panicking. The one on the left giggles to himself, the one on the right is unphased but the one in the center kept eye contact with you. You could barely utter another word, but you manged to scoot over and make room for the three of them. You are so embarassed you face away and place your head against one of the elevator walls. You see that one of them goes to push floor 7 as well but they realise that floor number 7 is already chosen. They look over and notice that you also have a badge that lets you in the top floor but they leave it at that. The ride from floor 3 to floor 7 seemed like it was taking forever, and you couldnt believe that on your first day you managed to make a fool out of yourself. You finally reach floor 7 and the elevator doors open. You make your way out first and walk as fast you can to room C, the boys follow behind. With your mind still racing you walk straight passed room C unknowingly that you almost run into a window at the end of the hall. As soon as you come to a stop you hear, “ You do know thats a window, and not a door right?” he says with a mocking tone. “ oh yeah, i knew that, i just wanted to take in some sun” you say as you turn back around and go straight for room C. “Hyunjin, youre going to be late for our dance class” han says after opening the door to room A, “Sorry, i just wanted to take in some sun” he giggles to himself.

You have eyes looking at you from running in and closing the door shut, your face lights up red "I'm sorry". You continue to walk in and the dance room catches your eye, its so spacious, the walls painted an oxford blue, and a set of two clear window that reach from top to bottom on the left. "First time here i see" one of the girls calls out to you, "oh yeah, this dance room is nice" you are in complete awe. "i was the same way the first time i walked in this room, by the way if you dont mind me asking, what was that all about earlier?" she cocked her head to the left. "oh that~, so i made a complete fool of myself infront of these guys who were on the elevator with me, i guess i was so nervous that i also almost walked into the window at the end of the hall until one of them called out to them" you say with a slight laugh as you look down on the floor. "Oh geex, i would have probably done the same. So whats your name?", "my name is Y/N, whats yours? you ask, "Oh my name is Elizabeth but you can call me Eli, i hope we can be good friends from now on". As soon as she finished the doord behind us opened, "Hello, it seems like everyone here seems aquianted, well lets get started from where we left off. Hello you must be y/n, i have heard alot about you from our scouts who were at the auditions." She says with a very curious tone, you can feel all eyes on you. "He-hello" you tense up slightly just at the thought the teacher knows who you are. The class officially starts and everyone seems to have gone to their places, you make your way towards the back of the class to watch the dance everyone one learned last semester. You watched them practice a couple times before you joined in. After going through the dance a couple more times Eli looks at you in awe "I can see why you were accepted into classes in the 7th floor, youre really good"

Classes proceeded for the rest of the day that time went by so fast, it was already 7pm and it was time to go home. "So i believe i will be seeing you tomrrow?" Eli asked, "Definitely, i had so much fun today and im so excited for the rest to come. I might stick around to practice just a little more" You say with enthusiasm in your voice. Eli leaves while waving back and youre the only one left in the room. You walk up to the radio and plug in your phone through the aux chord, you scroll through your playlist you are debating between Enhypen- given taken, TXT- Puma and Starykids latest release Thunderous. You decide to go with thunderous since you just had decided to change the end because you crouched down and walked foward by yourself it would look funny. You finally finished making the end and finally remmebering it so you decide to finally run through the whole dance. After dancing Thunderous a couple times you finaly drop down tired, you hear the door open behind you and turn around to see who could possibly still be here and to your suprise its the 3 mysterious men from earlier. "You're really good, did you make the ending for Thunderous?" asks the one with the medium length black hair, his voice sounds so familiar but you cant seem to remember who it could be. "Oh uhm, yes i did. i kinda figured if i danced it alone i would look stupid" You giggled to yourself "Like imagine crouching down and doing this?" you start to do the ending of the dance, "Youre right, haha it would look kinda funny" Says the one on the left, and again his voice also sounds very familiar but you really cant remember. " I guess we should introduce our selves, My name is Changbin, Seo Changbin" Your eyes widen, "Hi My name is Jisung, Han Jisung. But don't tell anyone you saw us" He shoots a wink. "Well i guess it my turn, My name is Hwan hyunjin, and if you ever feel like Getting some sunshine again Make sure not to try to run out the window" He laughs to himself. Youre face flushes red, You barely manage to even Speak. Did i really just make a full of myself infront of STRAYKIDS?!?! Is the only thought running through your head.

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thatesqcrush · 4 years ago

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The Wedding

Rafael Barba x Reader. For kink bingo: voyeurism. CW: male masturbation. NSFW, obvs. WC: 2145.

“Are you sure you know where you are going?” Rafael replied, staring at the road ahead of you.

“Yes, Rafael – I know where I am going. And besides, Alexa…” You replied, with an annoyed huff. Alexa chimed in to make a turn and you shifted the turn signal on.

“We’re going to be late.” Rafael muttered. You glanced at Rafael quickly, before looking back at the road.

“We’re going to be fine.” You replied in a sing song voice, trying to not get any more irritated. “Right on time.”

“I’m the best man – I am Carisi’s best man. I am going to be late.”

“I know you’re Carisi’s best man. We are 5 miles away. Fifteen minutes tops. They’re not going to start without us.”

“That’s if you’re the bride! Or the groom!” Rafael replied exasperated. He stared out the passenger side, a mixture of yellow, gold, copper, red, burgundy, and orange leaves whirring past him. “I still need to drop off my things at the farmhouse.”

You ignored him. “It’s leaf peeping season here in New York. Did you know that? I never understood that but now, coming up here – I get it. It’s so beautiful. I would totally do this with someone…” you trailed off.

You focused on the road ahead. Internally you were swearing up and down. You didn’t mean to be running behind to Amanda and Sonny’s wedding. Originally you were planning on taking the train but then planned track work derailed – literally and figuratively – that plan. So you decided to drive – and because driving to new places gave you anxiety, you decided to give yourself an extra hour of wiggle room. That hour was shot to shit when Rafael called about his rental not showing up. And then you had made a wrong turn and traffic had built up earlier on which further set you back

Now Rafael was blathering in your ear about how you were making him late. Had this been any other person, you would have torn them a new one – you hated being barked at while driving – it made you more anxious and tense. Which was surprising considering the line of work you were in. You were a detective, second grade with Special Victims. This was your pet peeve. And because you had a crush on Rafael from the moment you started, you let this – him griping at you, slide. When you first began to work at SVU, you were instantly taken by the handsome prosecutor. He was intelligent, fashionably sensitive, and his sassy one-liners always made you chuckle. He also cared for the victims and it was his passion for both the victim and the law – taking on cases no one else dared to, made you fall for him that much more. ‘Does Rafael knew how handsome he is?’ you wondered as you waited for the traffic light to change. You snapped out of your reverie and gave Rafael a pleading look.

“Rafael – ten minutes. Just give me ten. We will be there.” You let out a deep exhale and pressed your foot on the gas pedal a little heavier.

The wedding venue – a repurposed barn in upstate New York - was unique and versatile, rustic yet chic. The ceremony took place on the manicured paddock, cocktail hour took place on the lawn and then dinner and dancing took place in the barn itself. For those guests not into dancing, they relaxed with their drinks and desserts by the fire pit.

You watched Amanda and Sonny dance with Jessie and Billie. The little family was all smiles. Earlier in the day, it had been unseasonably warm but by nightfall there was a small chill. You wrapped your shawl around your shoulders and rubbed the tops of your arms. Rafael was sitting by the fire pit, finishing off his drink. He sat forward, his shoulders slumped. You made way to the bar and nabbed two beers before making way outside.

“Hey there counselor. Enjoying yourself?”

Rafael smiled when he saw you and moved over on the bench he was sitting, to make space for you. You murmured a thanks and then handed him a beer.

“Thanks, Y/N.” Rafael replied. “Salud.”

You clinked your bottle with his. “Cheers.” You took a long drag of your beer, watching as the flames danced in front of you.

Despite the roar of the ongoing party, you could hear the sound of crickets chirping and it was soothing. The string quartet began to play “Can’t Help Falling In Love” and you looked wistfully at the dancefloor laid out on the grass.

“Do you dance Rafael?” You asked.

Rafael perked up. He stood up and put his drink down and then reached for your hand. You took another swig of your beer, neatly folded your shawl and then put your beer down before taking his hand. Rafael led you to the dance floor. You wrapped your arms around his neck while his hands gripped your hips.

“You’re quite the dancer Mr. Barba.” You complimented. The combination of his solid body against yours mixed with his cologne made you feel intoxicated and warm. Rafael hummed his appreciation and in response drew you closer to him.

“I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier. I was just anxious about getting here.” Rafael apologized. You pulled back and saw the sincerity in his eyes.

You shook your head and waved him off. “It’s fine – we were running late – shit happens. I was anxious too. I mean we made it, didn’t we? Yes by the skin of our teeth, but we made it.”

“No, I was out of line.” Rafael replied. “I should have just said thank you for the ride. The last thing I would want is to have you be upset with me.”

“Really? And why’s that?” You asked, curious and ever hopeful, searching his eyes.

Rafael cleared his thought, his throat suddenly dry as he racked his brain as to what to say. “Because it would make the ride back to the city super awkward.” He lied. Rafael turned his head, unable to meet your eyes. And in turn, missed the disappointed look on your face. In reality, he was completely fascinated with you. And he had been since he first met you a year and a half ago when you joined SVU. You had made your own lateral move to SVU, transferring over from white collar crimes. Rafael would watch you out of the corner of his eye, admiring your intelligence and quick wit. You showed empathy for the victims. You had a keen sense of skirting the law but were always able to maintain its integrity. A lot of the time, you drove him – and sometimes your commander – ostensibly crazy. To top it off, you were beautiful. Whenever he was in close quarters with you, he felt enchanted, like a moth to a flame. But you were also fourteen years his junior and he was certain the feeling was not mutual. ‘Why be with me, basically a viejo with commitment issues when you could be with someone younger who was more handsome and could offer you the world.’ He would bitterly think on more than one occassion.

You both continued dancing and you closed your eyes, lost in the play pretend that there was more between you and Rafael. ‘The detective and the lawyer.’ You snorted to yourself – ‘sounds like a cheesy Harlequin romance novel. You then imagined Rafael bare chested with his leg propped on a rock and you snorted again. Rafael looked over at you, his brow cocked and you felt your cheeks burn. “You look very handsome today.” You replied in an attempt to change the subject.

“Thank you. So do you.” Rafael replied. And to him, you did in your mint floral maxi dress with a lace-up crisscross bodice. He wasn’t used to seeing you so dressed up and when you came to pick him up with a full face of makeup on, he damn near came in his pants right there on the corner of 85th and Lexington Avenue. The song overlapped into the next and soon two songs became three, then four. Some picked up in beat and by the end, you were both hot, sweaty and out of breath. Your hair, which had been pinned up, had fallen. His eyes tracked a single bead of sweat as it dripped down your collarbone and down your chest, finally landing in between the swell of your breasts. He swallowed hard trying hard to ignore how his cock twitched against his pants.

“I think I am going to get another drink.” Rafael replied. “Do you want one?” You nodded in response and watched him take off. You bit your lip - ‘damn that ass looks good in a tux.’

“Are you going to make your move tonight? You should.” A voice interrupted your thoughts.

You looked over at the bride who joined you. “Do you want to die on your wedding day? I mean that’s awfully macabre.”

“I swear on my babies, that man is in love with you. And I know you have some feelings for… what did you say? Oh, that’s right! The one with the gleaming crystal eyes and the mouth that looks like it just finished eating a peach.” Amanda winked.

“I said no such – oh who I am kidding. I said that.” You sighed. “I don’t know. What if he rejects me? That ride home will be so awful.”

“If he does that, then it’s a good thing you’re at a wedding full of cops. We know how to bury bodies and get rid of the evidence.” Amanda replied. “But seriously – make the move.”

You hiked up your dress and looked all over for Rafael. He went to the bar – he should have been back by now. The venue was large and people were still milling about. You spotted Sonny, who was carrying a sleeping Billie in his arms.

“Sonny! Have you seen Rafael?” You asked.

“He went to the farmhouse to check his phone or something. Something about checking on a filing. You know how he is – work, work, work. Did you see Amanda?”

“Over that way – thanks.” You pointed behind you. You leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Congratulations again.”

“Thanks – and thanks for coming. So glad you were able to make it.” Sonny replied.

You nodded and continued walking towards the farmhouse which wasn’t that far off from the events venue. The farmhouse was quiet and almost eerie. Your heels made an obscene sound against the hardwood floor and you paused to remove them. “Rafael?” You called out. No answer.

A light from down the hall caught your eye and you made your way down. The door was open a crack and what you saw, made you pause.

Rafael was sitting on a bed, his cock jutting out of his tuxedo and he was masturbating furiously.

Rafael pumped and stroked himself rhythmically. He squeezed at the base with every downstroke of him fucking his fist. Rafael let his thumb glide across the head of straining cock, smearing pre-cum. Rafael released himself and spit into his hand before resuming his movements, now stroking faster. He let out a moan and you were stunned to hear your name escape his lips. Desire pooled in your belly and you felt a delicious ache develop in between your legs. You wanted to so badly to hike up your dress and touch yourself to relieve that sweet ache but you couldn’t. Instead you watched, utterly transfixed at Rafael masturbating. About you. You were his fantasy plaything. Your nipples strained at the confines of your dress and you reached up to cup one. You could feel your arousal grow in intensity – if you weren’t wet before, you were now – you were positively soaked.

Rafael moaned your name as his hips bucked; his balls began to feel heavy and that familiar coil in his gut began to emerge, signaling his need for release. Rafael began to stroke himself feverishly, working faster and faster. “Oh fuck Y/N, take that cock – let me fill you up with my come.” Rafael made noises of a man who had been denied for far too long. You bit down on your bottom lip to avoid gasping and you winced as the taste of blood filled your mouth. Rafael continued to stroke himself, cupping a hand in front of him, and you realized that he was about to come.

You take a step back and the floor creaked and you silently curse. You peeked through again and you met Rafael’s eyes from where he is sitting. He looked completely aghast at having been caught.

You smirked, and opened the door wider, taking a step in. You turned to shut the door behind you and you made certain to lock it. Turning towards Rafael, you begin to slip off your dress.

“How about you give me a ride as a thanks for earlier?”

FIN.

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#thatesqcrush kink bingo #rafael barba smut #rafael barba x reader #rafael barba and reader

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mrs-takami-keigo · 4 years ago

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Summer Nights

For my second piece of work for the BNHArem collaboration I give you Summer Nights. Honestly this was so much fun to write. The theme was Summer, and summer to me means vacation and romance! You can find all the summer goodness with BNHA by other amazing and talented Authors here!

Pairing: Shouto x Fem!Reader

Description: You’ve always watched summer romances in movies and read them in books, but you never thought it in a million years it could happen to you.

Rating:SFW

Word count:6.0K

“Look! It’s the beach!” Ochaco beamed as she pulled on Tsui’s arm dragging her across the white sand. Soon Mina, Hagakure and Jiro followed behind them, giggling once the cool clear waters of the sea touched their feet.

‘Even at twenty-one they can’t control themselves.’

Shouto stepped out of the van putting on his black Ray Bans sunglasses, the summer sun beat down on the exposed skin his white v-neck didn't cover. Even with his dark sunglasses on, he could tell the hawaiian sky was a picturesque light blue. Vast beaches full of travelers and locals alike. The air was fresh and crisp with the smell of local restaurants mixing it to it. Tall palm trees rustling in the breeze, Shouto was sure he had never felt so calm in his life.

“Hey we should stay as a group to check in!!” Iida started after the group when Momo stepped in, placing her small hand on his shoulder.

“Oh let them have their fun. We’ve all been so busy these past three years with hero work, we deserve this vacation.” With a defeated sigh and mumbles of how irresponsible people could be, their old class rep turned around making his way to the entrance of the hotel.

“Okay boys! Me and Iida are going to go check in. Can you help unload the van and meet us inside!” Momo waved her hand as she passed the group of hotel staff, their mouth’s were slightly hung open admiring her stunning beauty.

“Man, why do the girls get to have fun and we gotta do the work? I thought this was a vacation?” shaking his head at his lightning powered friend's whine, Shouto reached into the back of the van to pick up his hard black suitcase.

“Shut up and just grab a damn bag, dumbass!” Bakugou snatched up his own suitcases before shoving past everyone stomping his way into the hotel. Shouto and the rest of the group followed behind the hot tempered blonde. The sliding glass doors opened for the group where they were greeted by hotel staff members who had genuine smiles gracing their features.

A woman walked up to Shouto,”Aloha, welcome to honolulu.” She reached up and placed a lei with beautiful purple and white orchids around his neck. Giving her a soft smile in return Shouto continued his journey into the massive hotel lobby.

Shouto had stopped in the middle of the semi-busy area, lifting his sunglasses to sit on top of his head pushing his hair back, so he could admire every detail of the building. The only word he could come up with was glamorous. The lobby had white and grey marble flooring, tall white pillars with intricate flower designs lined in gold wrapped around the cylinders holding up the extravagant ceiling. Gold moldings lined the high ceiling and a giant crystal chandelier hung in the middle of the room. Seeing as how it was summer people were all over, be it at the check-in/out desks, the concierge or even sitting on the wine colored couches and chairs that were placed strategically in the lobby.

“Wait, watch where you’re go-” Before he could react, Shouto felt someone bump into his back, forcing him to rock forward, sunglasses clattering to the floor. Looking over his right shoulder he caught a glimpse of your soft hair on top of your head before he felt like he had the wind knocked out of him. Feeling like everything turned into slow motion, you lifted your head, Shouto’s eyes widened.

‘Beautiful.’

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” Your voice sounded like a sweet medley that calmed Shouto’s heart. “I didn’t hurt you did I?”

“No I’m fine, a-are you okay?” He turned his body so he could face you, now he was able to take in all of your beauty. What you wore was so simple but you made it look stunning. A white tank top with the word bridesmaid in black lettering, a pair of blue denim bermuda shorts and black platform sandals, that's all you had on but still managed to take his breath away. You went to pick up the sunglasses that fell when you bumped into him, that’s when he noticed one multi-colored and one pink and purple crystal bracelet on your wrist.

You reached out your hand offering his glasses back. “Yeah I’m fine!” Shouto slowly took his glasses back from you. “But um next time maybe don’t stop in the middle of the entrance, it’s a little dangerous.” Shouto swore he felt his heart stop when you smiled at him.

“Hey! Come on, everyone is waiting for you!” Both you and Shouto looked over at your group of friends, all of them wearing the same top as you except one, calling over to you.

“Looks like I gotta run, don't wanna upset the bride. Oh and sorry again.” You sent him one last smile before running towards your friends. Shouto watched as your friends kept making glances at him before you turned to look back at him. A smile graced your lips as you sent him a small wave of your hand. One of your friend’s, the bride he assumed because of her shirt, leaned over and whispered something in your ear. Her action caused you to have a shocked expression before turning away from him quickly. Shouto let out a small chuckle, wondering what your friends could have possibly said to have made you so flustered.

“Hey, did you forget something Todoroki?” Deku’s voice brought him back to reality. “Why are you just standing here?”

“It was nothing Midoriya, just looking at the interior.” Looking at his close friend he let a small smile pass his lips. “Let’s go join the others shall we?”

Making his way back to his group, Shouto passed one more look over his shoulder only to see you were already gone.

‘Who is she?’

It wasn’t till that next night at the luau did Shouto see you again. You and your group walked past his table, his observant eyes catching every smile you passed to your friends as you found your seats. The way your royal blue floral sundress that came down right below your knees blew in the night breeze. You had your hair tied up in a ponytail, a beautiful Hawaiian hibiscus was placed on the base of the ponytail. Shouto tried to make it not apparent that he was watching you but couldn’t help himself, the more he looked at you the more he noticed.

The tables for the luau were long wooden picnic tables enough for your group and his to fit together. Finally picking a spot on the bench, he had a perfect view of you, on the other side of the table slightly to the left closer to the stage.

“Those girls down there are beauties aren’t they?” Denki slung his arm over Shouto’s shoulders, taking a sip of his soda, Denki saw that Shouto had never stopped looking at you. Clearing his throat Denki decided to speak louder.

“Isn't that the girl you were talking about last night? The one that bumped into you and you said smelled like a beautiful garden of roses, daffodil’s, peony and a hint of dahlia?” Shouto tore his eyes away from you to glare at his so called friend, ready to freeze or burn that big mouth of his off, just wasn’t sure which.

You heard the blonde as he spoke to the man you ran into the day before. Watching as the embarrassed male slammed a hand over his blonde friend's mouth and saying something through his teeth, making the others eyes widen. You couldn't help but chuckle at the dynamic of the two, the blonde looked like he was a puppy that had just gotten scolded.

The sound of your chuckle caught Shouto’s attention, he looked at you with a horrified expression. He realized that you heard what Denki said, meaning you know what he said about you. A light blush formed on his cheeks before he turned his gaze down to his drink, playing with the little umbrella it had in it.

“I think he likes you.” Your friend nudged you in the ribs with her elbow a smirk formed on her lips.

“I don’t know. I only bumped into him and said less than ten words to him.” You kept your gaze on him. He kept fidgeting with that paper umbrella trying to look at anything but you. “Maybe he’s just embarrassed cause I told him it wasn't smart to just stop like that.” Those pesky butterflies were still in your stomach from when you first made eye contact with him. His face looked like it was sculpted by angel’s themselves. Then his eyes, god those eyes, you felt like if you had looked at them any longer you’d turn into a blubbering mess.

“Well I found out from some of the staff here that he and his whole group are actually pro-Heroes from japan. It’s kind of like a summer vacation/reunion for them.”

“Even on vacation your journalistic self can’t help but find out the latest scoop huh?” You stuffed a freshly baked roll in her mouth, earning a light slap on your shoulder.

You heard the start of drums starting to pound in a rhythmic beat signaling that the show was starting. You paid attention to the performance of the hula dancers as they told stories with their fluid movements, it was beautiful. The night carried on with more performances, food and fun moments between the performers and the audience. The show soon came to a close, leaving you wanting more. But ever so often you felt the gaze of a certain hero, your heart racing every time you felt it.

“Wasn’t that awesome?” Your friend had her arm intertwined with yours as you walked the torch lit pathway back to the small villas. You could only hum in agreement, not really paying attention to what she had been talking about. For some reason your mind was still jumping back to the red and white haired man. There was about him, something that made you want to know more about him.

Not watching where you were going you bumped shoulders with a woman who was passing you causing the room key that was tucked into your pocket to fall out. With a quick apology to the women you resumed your walk down the path never realizing the key fell out of your pocket.

“Excuse me!” You heard a man shout from behind you, making you and your friend stop. “I think you dropped this.” Turning around you saw the man that haunted your thoughts jog up to you holding the room key that had fallen. Stuffing your hand in your pockets where that key should be you had finally realized it had fallen. He was soon in front of you the key was being held in between his thumb and pointer finger, holding it out for you.

“I’ll meet you back at the villa.” Your friend sent you a sly smile wiggling her eyebrows as she pushed you a little forward towards the awaiting man.

“Oh um thank you. I can be such a clutz sometimes.” Reaching out a hand, your fingertips brushed against his, gently taking the plastic object back. It may sound cliche but you were sure there was a small rush of electricity that ran through you with just that slight contact.

“It was no problem.” He rubbed the back of his neck once the key was back in your hand. Now it was your turn to look at him like he did you. He was a decently taller than you by a few inches, his red and white hair framed showing off the impeccable structure of his face. The scar on his left side didn’t hinder his beauty in any way. His sharp eyes were just as mesmerizing as they were the other day. The white and turquoise striped short sleeved button down outlined his broad shoulders, the first few buttons open showing off the silver necklaces he wore. Black khaki shorts that seemed to go perfectly on his long legs, and black leather boat shoes. All in all he looked like the perfect man to you.

“What’s your name?” You're not sure what came over you ask that. You could have just walked away after saying thank you but for some reason you couldn’t.

“Shouto Todoroki. And yours?” You told him, only to have him repeat it back. The sound of your name rolling off his lips set your heart racing. “It’s a beautiful name.” Silence fell between you two. “This may sound a little forward but would you like to take a walk on the beach with me?” You can tell he was hesitant to ask you, but that only made you smile.

“I would like that Shouto.” He smiled back at you as he moved to the side so you could start walking back towards the beach. The walk for the most part was in silence, just the gentle sound of the summer’s night breeze dancing through the palm trees.

“So, I hear you’re a pro-hero in japan.” You decided to break the ice, hoping to get to know him better. “What’s that like?” By the time you decide to speak you two had made it to the end of the concrete pathway where the sand from the beach started. Stopping you bent down to take off your wedges, not wanting to walk in the sand with them. Looking next to you, you noticed Shouto doing the same. Once he got his own shoes off you both picked up the shoes and made your way down the beach.

“How did you find that out?”

“I have my sources.” You shrugged flashing a playful grin at the man accompanying you.

Shouto chuckled at your response. You could feel those butterflies fluttering again. “It’s hard work, but worth it. To be able to protect people is the main reason why I wanted to become a hero.” His voice was a little gruff at times but calming at the same time. “What do you do, are you a Pro as well?”

You had reached the shore, the sounds of crashing waves roared across the empty beach. The full moon high in the sky reflecting beautifully off the dark sea as if it were the moon's personal mirror. “No, unfortunately.” A wave crashed, making its way up the sand, the water tickling the tips of your toes. “I was born without a quirk.”

You turned your head to Shouto, his face showing expressions of being apologetic and of sheer panic, you were used to it by now. “But it doesn’t bother me. I may not have a quirk but I still have powers.” You wiggled your fingers like a witch would do in the cartoons you would watch on TV when you were younger.

Shouto tilted his head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“I have the power to let couples have their dream weddings.” You let out a laugh as the confusion became more apparent. “I’m a wedding planner. I may not be a well known one but one day I will be. That way I can do my part for people, it may not be as impactful as what you do but it’s still something.”

“I think that’s an amazing power you have. To be able to help people with their dreams isn’t a small feat. It's something very admirable actually.” The smile that graced his face was nothing short of breath taking. It was almost contagious how his smile made your own wider.

There was a silence that fell between you two again, but you were comfortable around him. Just what was it about him that made you feel like this around a stranger? Was it because he was a hero or was there something else to him? Something deeper? You wanted to find out.

“Can I ask you a question? And I’m sorry if it’s out of line but how did you get that scar?” You had turned to face him, stepping closer you got a better look at the imperfection on his skin.

“Oh this,” he raised his palm to it gently grazing the scar with his finger tips. “My mother poured boiling water on my left side because it reminded her of my father.”

An audible gasp left your lips as you stepped closer to him. Not sure what came over you but you raised your hand to cover his. “I’m so sorry, Shouto. I shouldn’t have asked.”

His body froze. You were so close to him, your scent encased him, pulling him further into your mysterious spell. What have you done to him, he felt like his heart was about to explode whenever you simply looked at him. But to have you this close and touching his hand he was sure he had seen the heavens open, and you were the angel greeting him.

He leaned slightly into your hand. “It’s fine, it happened so long ago. It’s a part of how I became the man I am today.” Taking your hand in his, he walked you both over to a set of lounge chairs.

He then explained his childhood to you. What his power is, who his father was, how Deku helped him make his fire his own, everything. As he told his story you felt water gather in your eyes. He had been through so much, and yet he was this kind, confident and all around beautiful man.

Shouto honestly couldn't explain why he opened up to you the way he did. It took his classmates, his closest friends, much longer to get this deep with him. You made him feel like he could open himself up, that he didn’t need to be ashamed of his past.

You two went well into the night, sharing stories of your past and dreams about your futures. It wasn’t until you saw the sky start to turn lighter did you realize that it was almost six in the morning. You’ve spent more than seven hours with a man you had just met. Shouto offered to walk you to your villa that you shared with your friends, in which you gladly accepted.

Shouto walked down the same path from before, glancing to his right to look at you. The blush of dawn illuminated your skin, shining brightly through your tresses. That serene smile on your lips made his heart do backflips. He was so caught up in watching you he didn’t realize that you were both standing in front of the villa.

“This is me.” You moved to stand on the stoop in front of the door, making you eye level with Shouto. “I really enjoyed tonight Shouto.”

“So did I.” His voice was soft like he didn't want to speak too loud in case it broke the spell you had on him.

“Well, I guess I’ll just see you around the hotel.” You gave him a short wave as you turned to open the door.

“Wait.” You were stopped by Shouto’s hand as he got a hold of yours. Looking down at your connected hands you felt like your body was on fire. “May I see you again?”

Raising your eyes from your hands, you met his gaze. He had a slight blush forming on his cheeks, his eyes searching yours for an answer. You couldn’t help it, no matter what he did you always felt a sense of happiness around him.

“I would really like that.” You watched as relief washed over him, his shoulders visibly relaxing, his brilliant smile came back.

“Tonight at nine, can you meet me at the beach again. If you’re not busy that is.”

“I think I can fit you in my schedule.” with hands still connected, Shouto raised your hand to his lips. Placing a gentle kiss in the back of it.

“Then I’ll see you tonight.” He released your hand, taking a few steps backwards, his eyes never leaving yours.

Turning around you unlocked the door, opening it. Stepping through the door you closed it and pressed your back against the wood. Taking the hand he held on to, you placed it above your racing heart.

“Shouto Todoroki , what have you done to me?” Still feeling like you were on cloud nine you made your way to your room, hoping to get some sleep before your friends decided to go sightseeing.

Over the next five days of your vacation, you met up with Shouto every night at nine on the beach. Tonight was no different. This was what you looked forward to each and every day, to see Shouto, to hear the stories of his days in highschool with his friends, to spend all hours of the night with him just talking.

Walking to the beach you noticed Shouto was already there. His dark jeans rolled up his calves as he stood in the water, face turned up to the sky. You could feel the air in your lungs be sucked out. The way the moonlight was reflecting off his porcelain skin, made him look like an unearthly being, highlighting the sharp features of his face. Silky strands of his two-toned hair flies in the wind, a smile plays on his lips. He was perfect.

Rolling up your jeans, you walked into the water to stand next to him. “It’s a beautiful night isn't it?” The cold water rolled over your feet coming up over your ankles. It was one of the chilliest nights you’ve had all summer. Thinking maybe you should have brought a light jacket with you, you rubbed your exposed arms trying to generate heat.

“It is, now that you’re here.” You could feel the heat in your cheeks start to rise. One thing you learned about Shouto over these nights was that he wasn’t one to beat around the bush. “Are you cold?” Shouto started to come closer to you, wrapping his left arm around your shoulders, his body touching yours. It was then you realized he was using his fire side to keep you warm.

“Thank you, Shouto.” His quirk had amazed you when he told you what it was. On the third night he had done a small demonstration, showing you how it works. You could still remember the excitement in his eyes when he made you a small ice figurine of the flower you had in your hair that first night.

Suddenly you thought back to what your friend asked ‘So what are you gonna do once we have to go back to reality?’. You only had two more nights to spend with Shouto, two more nights to live in this fantasy. What were you going to do, you didn’t live in japan and he did. You were just a wedding planner and he was a hero, you lived in two entirely different worlds.

“Hey Shouto, I wanted to give you something.” You broke apart from him, already missing the warmth he gave you, you faced him. “Remember when you asked me about my bracelets?” he nodded his head, watching as you reached in your back pocket. You pulled out a crystal bracelet much like your own, only this one had black and a light brown small round stones on it.

“I got you one, this is a protection bracelet.” You took hold of his wrist, sliding the elastic object over his large slightly calloused hand. “It’s made from black obsidian which is known as a grounding and protective stone and tiger eye; it's going to help bring you balance and help you release fear and anxiety, aiding you in making unclouded judgments and understanding. I thought that you could use this seeing as how you have a tough and dangerous job.” You played with the little polished stones now on his wrists. You wanted to give him something to remember these summer nights with you, because you knew this is all it would ever be, summer nights and a summer romance.

“I feel bad, I didn’t get you anything.” He tucked a piece of your hair behind your ear, letting his hand slide down to the ends playing with it between his fingers.

“You don’t have to, the memories of these past few nights are all I need.” his eyes stared into your own, like they were trying to say something to you but you couldn't figure it out.

You gasped as Shouto pulled you into a tight hug. His hand stroking the back of your head, long fingers running through your hair. “Sometimes memories aren't enough. Tomorrow night I promise, I’ll give you something you can always remember me by.”

That night you spent it like all the other nights, only difference was Shouto had held you for the better part of the whole night. Soon it was time to say goodnight, like every night. Once you closed your door Shouto headed back to the villa he shared with his friends, he looked at his wrist staring at the bracelet. He had to get you something just as meaningful in the morning. Letting out a sigh he looked back up at the star lit sky, tomorrow night he was going to ask you if you wanted to continue this romance once the vacation ended.

You had butterflies in your stomach all day long. Something about what Shouto said last night had you on your toes. Deciding you were going to dress up tonight you put on a black and daisy printed spaghetti strapped dress that came up to right above your knees. You made sure to spray your signature perfume, knowing that Shouto liked the smell of it just as much as you did. After talking with your friends about it, maybe it wasn't so bad to carry on with this romance after leaving Hawaii. So many people you know and even couples you planned weddings for had done the whole long distance thing. ‘This could work!’ You smiled as you picked up pace making your way to the beach.

Once you reached the beach you noticed Shouto wasn't there yet. It wasn’t like him to not be here before you. Shrugging it off you made your way to the lounge chairs you and Shouto declared as your spot. Pulling out your phone you decided to play a game or check your social media sites while you waited for him.

Five minutes turned into thirty, thirty turned into an hour and before you knew it you wanted on that beach for almost an hour and a half. You felt silly for never getting Shouto’s number, what if something happened to him and his friends. You were about to get up and make your way to the front desk to ask them to call his villa for you when you saw a hotel staff member run towards you.

“Excuse me are you,” He said your name, before handing you a beautifully wrapped box and a letter. “Mr.Todoroki asked me to give that to you.” without another word the man turned around and left.

Sitting back down you placed the box on your lap as you opened the letter.

‘To my Flower,

I’m so sorry to have left without a word but something came up back in japan and they needed all of us to come back immediately. These past few days seemed like a fantasy for me, YOU were like a fantasy for me. I was afraid that one day I would open my eyes and you would be gone, that you were only someone I imagined. You are a woman who must be too wonderful, too beautiful, too great to be true, it's odd to think that a man like me could catch your eye and possibly your heart.

I was going to use tonight to ask you if this could turn into something more than just a past memory, if this can become our reality. If you want to become MY reality. Inside the box is something you could cherish forever and my contact information. Hope to hear from you soon, my flower.

-Shouto

Folding the letter back up and placing it against your stomach, you switched your attention to the small box. The wrapping paper was a beautiful lilac and gold metallic marble pattern, with a mesh white ribbon wrapped around it, a perfect bow on top. You almost didn't want to open it, it was so beautiful.

Pulling the ribbon you gently untied it from around the box before pulling at the paper. The gift had a little weight to it, your mind wandered trying to come up with what could possibly be in there. Once you got rid of the paper, you were left with a small dark blue velvet box. Slowly you opened the lid. You nearly dropped it as a gasp passed your lips, hands shaking, water gathering in the corner of your eyes.

Inside was a Hawaiian Hibiscus hair pin made out of red sapphires, he remembered your favorite flower. You had mentioned it to him the first night and it was never brought up again. You ran your fingertips over the stunning stones, taking it out of its case you clipped it to the side of your hair. With it securely in place you looked back at the box hopping to find a small card with his phone number.

Confusion struck as you noticed there wasn't a card in the box, tilting your head you turned the object over shaking it hoping something was going to magically fall out. But nothing, going back to the letter you re-read the last line over again just to make sure you did read it right. Grabbing the envelope you ripped it open but once again, nothing.

Shouto forgot to leave his number for you, you had no way of contacting him. Was this fate's way of telling you this wouldn't have worked? Did fate save you from an impending heartbreak? You looked up to the stars as tears started to flow from your eyes. You and Shouto were never meant to walk down this path together, at least not in reality. Now you only had these summer nights to remember the man that set your heart on fire. With tears streaming down your face you held the letter to your heart.

“I’ll cherish these memories forever, Shouto.”

It’s been five years to the day and you haunted Shouto’s memories. Those nights were still fresh in his head, if he closed his eyes he could still feel that soft breeze on the beach, your scent wafting around him. The way your smile was somehow brighter than the sun, your laugh was like a lullaby in his head, he could remember it all. When he landed back home he had expected you to have sent him a text message but nothing, even days, weeks, months later there was nothing. He was devastated, he truly wanted to believe that you had felt for him the way he felt for you but he was mistaken.

“You're still thinking about that girl icy hot?” The sound of Bakugou’s rough voice brought him out of his reverie. He had been put on patrol with his old classmate, there was a big convention going on in town so they were put on duty to make sure nothing happens in the surrounding area.

“No I’m not.” Shouto continued to walk alongside his friend, as his hand played with the bracelet on his wrist.

“Tch don’t lie, every time the summer comes your head gets further in the clouds. It’s been five years man, let it go.”

He’s tried so many times but couldn’t, you were all he could think of. He tried looking for you but didn’t know where, he racked his brain thinking back to the conversations but you never said where you lived now. He was hoping that one day your paths would cross like they did in Hawaii on that beautiful summer day, and just hope he wasn't too late.

“Come in Ground Zero and Shouto!” The heroes could hear the dispatcher call for them in the hidden earpiece they had.

“Shouto and Ground Zero here, what’s going on?”

“Looks like some criminals decided to show up at the convention center. Other heroes are on their way but you two are the closest!” Looking at Bakugou, Shouto watched as he blasted himself in the air going towards the center.

“Time to get your head out of the past icy hot and focus on the present!!” Shouto was never one to take advice from the hot tempered hero, but maybe this time he would.

They arrived at the scene to see people running and screaming out of the convention center. police officers and EMT’s trying to get people to safety and taking those who were injured “Bakugou, you get the attention of the criminals, keep them busy until backup arrives, I’ll go in and try to evacuate as many people as I can.”

“Don’t tell me what to do!” He took off into the building, one thing over the years hasn't changed and that was Bakugou’s anger.

Running to the back of the building Shouto found an entrance that seemed to have not been noticed by the criminals, Shouto figured he'd start the evacuation from the back working his way to the front making sure everyone was safe. Running into rooms, and halls he got out as many as he could making sure the coast was clear for the civilians to run to the exit.

He had gotten everyone out and was about to go aid Bakugou when he heard a woman screaming as she was being held back by the police. “My friend is in there! She’s still in there!” There was sheer panic and desperation in her voice .

“Do you know where she is?” Shouto was slightly out of breath having ran through the entire building.

“She was in the dressing room of the main hall!” Shouto nodded his head at her before running off back into the building. ‘How could I have missed her!’ Gritting his teeth Shouto pushed himself faster, he had to get to her and then go help Bakugou.

“Oi Todoroki where are you?” He could hear Bakugou over the earpiece.

“There is one more civilian in the dressing room, once I get her to safety I’ll head over to help you.”

“Help me?” Shouto heard a loud explosion followed by Bakugou laughing. “Who said I needed your help, just figured you'd want in on the action!”

Shouto was about to respond back when he heard the sound of someone screaming. Using his ice as a booster he slid down the escalators leading him to the main hall where the woman’s friend said she was. Slowing down and stopping right outside the door, Shouto heard the criminal speaking to the woman.

“Just come out and nobody gets hurt!” Shouto used that as his moment to freeze the criminal, surrounding him in ice. “What the-” The criminal tried to break free but couldn’t.

“It’s useless, you can't break my ice.” His voice was low and deadly sending shivers down the criminal’s spine. Shouto walked into the room, tables were flipped glass was broken but the woman’s friend was nowhere to be seen. “Miss, you can come out, it's safe now.” He walked closer to the stand up closet, figuring that’s the first place a person would hide. Shouto put his hand on the small door knob ready to open it when he got a whiff of it.

‘Roses, daffodil’s, peony and a hint of dahlia? It couldn’t be, there's no way’.

Nearly ripping the door off it hinges, Shouto’s eyes widened as he saw you. A mix of black mascara and tears streaming down your face. Your body shaking from fear hands clenched into fists on your side. You opened your eyes, meeting Shouto’s shocked ones. That’s when he saw it, that hair pin he gave you all those years ago, placed on the side of your head.

“Shouto?” Was the last thing you heard yourself say before everything went black.

#Shouto #shouto todoroki #shouto x reader #bnhabookclub #bnharem server collab #bnha x reader #bnha fluff #sfw #mha x reader #mha fluff #summer romance #shoto x reader #bnha #mha

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sullustangin · 3 years ago

Note

Eva and Corso for the headcanon meme??

I covered Eva over yonder.

Sexuality Headcanon: I've recently been thinking this over. Corso was raised in a pretty traditional-minded environment. He went off to be a mercenary for awhile, then came back. I get the vibe he expects a woman to be less experienced than he is -- the man leads, in his mind. So he's probably plowed his share of farmer's daughters.

At the same time, I wonder if he has not been allowed to be -- or has not even considered being -- anything else other than straight. He claims to be more worldly than Eva thinks he is, but some of that seems like youthful bravado. I do think Corso gets more secure in himself and more tolerant of others as he's dragged around the galaxy by Eva.

After he comes back after KotET, I've been batting around the idea that he's more bicurious than he was when Eva first met him; he might experiment with a guy or two. At the same time, I do think he still sincerely wants to buy a farm, get married, settle down, and have kids.

Gender Headcanon: As I've indicated above, Corso had set ideas of who and what he was, and what he thought a real man was and what he thought a real woman was. I think he becomes less rigid about all of that as he meets Eva and all of her diverse friends. He is a cisgender man, but as he gets older, he doesn't need to aggressively assert it as he did when he was younger. He still likes his guns, but he hides his skills as a dancer less and less over time. I mention his dancing skills several times in my fics, which take place after the main class storyline.

A ship I have with said character: Corso totally had a thing for Eva for a long, long time. It only finally died after she put him off the Korriban op for how he behaved; he realized he'd be off the crew if he couldn't let it go. So he did. He rather have Eva as a friend than not have her at all.

Impulsively, when I first saw Corso and Risha return, I was like "omg, did they?!" since I didn't romance either of them. Over time, I've evolved into the idea that they've seen so much together that they are more like siblings than would-be lovers. I have some abstract idea of Corso marrying some normal civilian lady and moving to Dantooine, and Eva and Theron visiting with their two kids at some point.

A BROTP I have with said character: Ultimate platonic love? I'd like to say Eva, but that's not honest -- I'm not sure, deep deep deep down, that Corso's love for her is platonic. I have to say Risha, then. He does go into hiding with her for at least 3-4 years.

A NOTP I have with said character: Eva. She never thought Corso would be happy with her; she is not what he wants long-term, and she doesn't want to waste his time.

A random headcanon: My Corso is a composite of the two versions here, visually speaking. He’s the one companion in game whose appearance I alter on different playthroughs. As a bonus hc (since I feel like this one is a little lackluster), Corso will end up managing most of the speeder and small arms maintenance on Odessen when he arrives.

And still names his guns, nearly 15 years later. And now he has a bunch of the grunts on Odessen doing it.

General Opinion over said character: I feel like the writers could have done more with Corso’s dialogue as the game progressed to show some sort of character growth rather than having that constant undertone that he’s sort of just lingering around the f!smuggler, waiting for her ‘come to her senses’. Romance aside, there is a way for Corso to still maintain his values without being as stagnant as he sometimes sounds in Chapter 3, male or female smuggler. I also hate having the only way his romance starts if he’s drunk. I know, I’m harping on that, but it bugs me in a big way. I think out of all the companions on the smuggler crew, he has the widest range of trajectory in terms of how many directions a writer can take him. He is only 22 when the game starts, and he seems more... malleable I guess than the older members of the crew (Guss, Bowdaar, Akaavi) and Risha (who has known what kind of life she wants since she was 6 and has lived it, minus that period of exile).

#swtor #corso riggs #askbox #thanks for asking!

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danddymaro · 4 years ago

Text

Addiction | Old Snake x Reader

An Ending to MGS4 that ends in happiness for our good boi Snake

Fixed/Edited

BTW: Let’s shift the events around and pretend he went to go talk to Big Boss Before Meryl's wedding.

Thoughts are italics in quotations = 'Example'

Flashbacks are in italics = Example

Word Count: 2225

Addiction

From betwixt the snug place of his lips, the smoke in which he took pleasure from was snatched, aggressively pulled out in a single motion,

"Snake," A familiar male's voice said in a harsh whisper, sounding frustrated and disappointed all together, "Just what in the world do you think you're doing!?" Otocon added with the same tone of exasperation.

Silently, Snake's blue eyes drifted right to see the bespeckled brunette male giving him a half-hearted glare, his entire expression full of annoyance as he glared onto the man that seemed many years older than what he truly was.

"You know you shouldn't be smoking," Hal said while shaking his head in the same disapproval, making sure to exaggerate a low dragged out sigh, "Honestly...Snake, you'd think that at least today you'd make an exception." He added.

'Today...' David started, 'Today is a special day... for not just me, but for her too,' He thought while grunting, knowing just what the other man meant, feeling guilt weigh down over his shoulders as he recognized his selfishness.

With a dull gaze as a response, Snake returned the look back to his long-time friend, 'I know this already...don't think I don't,' He silently told the man while pressing his lips together tightly.

Tearing his eyes from the hardened dark chocolate orbs, David then trailed his oculars down to the discarded nicotine as it now lay on the floor, a small, thin line of smoke still rising from its end, a gentle flicker of a red spark still visible as well.

He could pick it back up. After all, it was salvageable, but even so, his reaction remained prolonged.

He stared at it for a few moments before he closed his eyes to rid himself of the tempting image.

"You will end up smelling like burnt ash and tobacco. I don't think she'd like that," Otacon continued to speak, convincing him to make the right choice.

Dropping his shoulders, Snake nodded in defeated agreeance, knowing it to be true.

After a few silent minutes passed, he then gave a frustrated sigh and stepped on it, crushing it under his shoe and making sure it was put out by the stomp.

"yeah yeah," David grumbled, because he was well aware of the fact and had already mentally kicked himself for it.

"I know you're nervous," Hal then said with a soft, understanding smile rising, "it's understandable," he said while placing his hand on his friend's shoulder, "But you should do it for her. " He added, truthfully, also being concerned for Snake's health.

"Now come on, " Emmerich said with brightened brown orbs, "It's about to begin," he reminded the other male, his index finger tapping the little face on his watch as an exited grin overtook him.

Having spent almost his entire life in battle, it wasn't like he could fit into the normal world with ease. He couldn't just chuck himself into an easy everyday life as simple as that, no matter what anyone tried to tell him.

He'd been told to live his life, to enjoy what bits he had left and to salvage it the best he could, but he hadn't the least bit of an idea as to how to do so,

'how? ' He wondered helplessly, uncertain as to just how he could go on so simply.

What could a man that's known nothing but battle do in the normal world?

He couldn't go back to his family as other soldiers would often do, because he had none. He had no mother, father, brothers, or sisters, to fall back to.

Heck, he didn't even have a damn dog to go back to and run toward at the end of the day.

All in all, he had nothing. So, he couldn't just join into the masses of civilians and blend in, because it just hadn't been in his plans.

He'd never thought that far along, and for a long time, he'd thought there was nothing there for him.

But of course, life had its crazy, little surprises, especially one he'd never anticipated...

"Marry me!" She said out loud, her voice rising with plea, the sudden proposal stopping his movements entirely.

His steps came to a complete halt, and the foot that had almost touched the ground stayed suspended for a moment, hovering over the placement by just a centimeter.

He then took two slow breaths before he placed it down to the Earth, turning to the woman with confusion, his brows knotted together to show a visibly painted look of dumbfoundedness,

"wh..what?" He breathed, almost inaudibly as he tried to comprehend what he'd heard.

He was certain that it was just his old age playing with him.

He just knew it was the only explanation as to why he heard her say the words because it was just unfathomable to him,

'I must be hearing things,' He thought to himself, deflated at the sudden realization that dawned upon him.

Dementia; he probably had dementia.

He'd thought he had just a bit more time before then, but it seemed that he wasn't lucky enough, and surely the old age he presented himself with had finally fully beaten him,

"What...what did you say?" He asked slowly, staring at her with furrowed brows.

She took a step forward, inching herself closer to him with anxiousness, seeming uncertain on coming near,

"Did...did you not hear me?" She squeaked, face turning beet red, seeming mortified at the fact that she had to once again repeat herself.

" Perhaps... but I could have been mistaken." He grumbled, watching her continue to move closer to him.

Slowly, and tentatively she stepped forward, soon standing three feet from him, staring up at him with a harsh swallow, a small lump gliding down her throat before she spoke yet again,

"I...I...I said ...I ... I said ... will you marry me..." she repeated with strain, sounding much smaller the second time around, losing all the sense of confidence she'd previously fueled herself with.

"Marry you..?" He repeated, still at a loss.

At her side, he noticed she held the white bouquet full of flowers tightly bound within her hold, and it was the same bunch that Meryl had thrown up in the air not a few moments ago.

When she realized just what he had been staring at, she held it up with a rather quirky smile, " I think this kind of means I'm next, and I don't see anyone better around," she said while raising both her brows to dance up and down until he turned away from her, not in the mood for the show of playfulness,

"Huh?!

- What! Please don't go!" she cried out, rushing after him, soon managing to stand before him, her arms widespread to stop him from moving past her,

"I'm being serious!" She declared, looking up at him with frantic (e/c) colored eyes, "You have to believe me!" she added, continuing on with her story.

She reminded him of the fact that they'd met before. It had been a while back, an event that had embedded itself deep within her heart, even if he'd forgotten,

"Because..." She started, " Because I've thought of you every day after that," she confessed. "And then I spoke to Hal, and he brought me here, he told me that now...Now was my chance to tell you. " She confessed to him.

She'd waited years, pinning for the man through each and every one of them, waiting for the day she'd one day stand before him again.

And it all began to make sense by then, why Otocon seemed so insistent on him joining the ceremony, despite his own refusal to show because he'd had other plans in mind, all of which didn't include infecting everyone with his miserable air.

"I'm not exactly meant for romanticism, " he told her. " And even if I were..." He trailed off, keeping his eyes drawn away from her, his words dying out as he let her fill in the blanks.

Even if he had been willing to take the risk, to suddenly go off and get hitched to some strange woman he just vaguely remembered,

his life was draining, and all in all, he had nothing to offer her.

"You're better off with someone else... " he said lowly, " someone who has the time," he added with the same dejection, moving to leave her behind before she stopped him again,

"Wait," She said with a stilled breath.

Her two hands both grasped his, stopping him and effectively holding him back. The soft, warm palms of her two hands enveloped his own hand which was much rougher and less dainty, " Let's at least try?" she said with hope,

"I already know," She told him, " I've already known about your condition...but still..." She went on, daring to step closer, " Still... Even then, it doesn't change the way I feel, and, in fact, It just fuels me to want to be with you even more, " She admitted.

"It's sudden, I understand, but at the very least, give me the opportunity to come closer to you." She tried to compromise,

"If you begin to feel the same way I do...then... then we can make something of it. " She told him, slowly convincing him with the lovely stare of her pleading, (e/c) colored eyes.

He reflects back to her proposal far more than he cares to mention because it had been the moment his life took a complete turn, going from muted grey and black to cheerful, colorful vibrancy in every step that she accompanied him in.

And it all lead him to where he was now, standing before her, dressed properly and prim, left awestruck at her beauty, moreso than he typically was, reminding him that perhaps his luck wasn't so bad if it had somehow aligned their lives together.

she held his hand in hers as she slid the silver band onto his finger, the smile she wore on her red painted lips never faltering, not once losing its lovely show of fulfilled happiness, because she couldn't be any more joy-filled, something everyone commented on.

- There wasn't a happier bride in the planet.

Her cheek was then pressed to his chest, her nose scrunching up as she let out a soft sigh, not sounding angry, but he knew she wasn't all too pleased either,

"You were smoking..." she said softly, closing her eyes slowly as she let her body be led by his slow movements.

He wasn't a dancer, and she wasn't either, but nonetheless, they rocked together, bodies pressed close as their friends watched the couple's first dance together.

"I can smell it on you," she added with a small sound of exhaled air produced from her nostrils.

She hated loving the scent, the smell of smoke making her think just of him and nothing more.

"I was nervous," he said in defense, his response making her giggle softly,

"Don't tell me you want out already?" she asked him, drawing back slightly to look up at him, saying it in a joking manner, but even then he could hear the uncertainty in her voice.

"Because I think it's a little too late for that," She reminded him.

"...Do you?" he asked her back, and he watched her shake her head in denial,

"Of course not silly," She said earnestly.

And he loved what followed, what always came after she looked up at him,

"I never would," She breathed, her gleaming eyes soon straying down to her wedding band, lovingly eyeing the silver piece, " David, I loved you then..." she started sweetly, her gloved hands sliding up from his chest to his cheeks, " and I love you now..." she reminded him, rising up on her already heeled feet.

His paled blue eyes closed, his mouth melted onto hers before she brought him the tender heat of their plumped goodness.

His two hands then fell over her hips but didn't stop to land on them, instead, they slid around her, his arms taking complete hold of her during their loving connection in an embrace that spoke more than words ever could.

"I'll love you always," she managed to murmur between their mashed mouths.

A squeal of enjoyment left her as he squeezed her tightly within his arms, loving all the attention he fed her.

She lived for it; Blossoming beneath his rays of affection.

"David..." she said again, drawing back, her eyes brightened with a type of light he knew existed only when he stared at her, because the woman adored him, something he'd always found to be unbelievable, yet a bliss.

He'd gone days without the death stick, days which later turned into months, and finally years.

He'd gone the rest of his breathing days without so much a thinking of them, but not a single one of those passing dates did he resist her, always caving in to her, even in their darkest days.

By then he'd found out that there was something far more addicting than nicotine, and it was the sweet flavor of her lovely lips, the warmth of their tender press, and much more the dedication behind each one that she let graze him.

All in all, she became his one fixation, the one thing he couldn't ever dream of living without.

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stardancerluv · 4 years ago

Text

At War

Part 3

Summary: Roman reminds you.

Arthur’s Warning: Angst, Dommy!/Daddy!Kink Roman, slightly possesive Roman, Oral male recieving, mentions of killing, fluffy

This is line His fingertips danced on the back of your hands. is from Creative Fervor Part 1a...wanted to show how far they came. He might not have cared as much. If this happened then.

You inhaled and exhaled slowly as your turned in his arms. A smile spread across Roman’s tired face.

“Roman, I saw the lipstick.” You could not keep your voice steady.

“So I did feel your touch.” He absently.

Your brow knit in confusion. “I deserve an answer.” You watched as the smile fell.

“When I was asleep, I awoke up convinced I had felt your touch.” His voice was as soft as he looked.

It made your heart hurt, why couldn’t he just answer you. “Yes, I held one of your hands to my cheek.” A painful lump formed in your throat, you tried to swallow it down. “You told me you would never cheat on me.” The words finally burst from you.

“I didn’t cheat on you.” His voice sharp was as a razor blade and his eyebrows rose. “So you think I’m cheating on you huh?”

You nodded.

“You want to know what’s really going on?” His hands moved to your hips and he pushed you. It wasn’t far, only a mere step but you still gasped when you hit the sink counter.

Perhaps, you had gone too far. You nodded again. You could see his anger rising in him.

Moving, he made his body flush with yours. Picking you up, he placed you on the counter. The marble was cold under you.

You watched as he began undoing the buttons on his shirt. He pulled the rest of shirt from his slacks, what was still button he tore open, a few buttons flew and could be heard bouncing on the tiles. “Look at me.” He growled.

You gasped, you reached out but the more you looked at the vivid blue and purple bruises on his torso, you looked up at him. “Oh Roman!” There was a vivid purple and blue bruise on his torso. Tears prickled your eyes. “What happened?” Anger began to grow in you that someone would do this to him.

He rested hands on your thighs. He gently opened them up and came to stand between them. His hands, slid from your thighs and rested on either side of you.

There were times when Roman’s mere presence was very intense. This was one of those times, you shifted backward as he stood close.

“As of a month or so a new syndicate of sorts came to Gotham. They decided that they wanted my territory. I’ve been fighting with them ever since.”

All of your worries, your concerns fell like a house of cards. You had not heard anything but that explained so much. You knew that you probably shouldn’t push him right now, but you were never one to hold your tongue. “Why did you push me away?”

He pressed his lips together as he looked at you. “Because you silly little girl, I was trying to protect you.”

You opened and closed your mouth. You struggled to find a response to not only what he said but how he said it. He brought a finger to your lips.

He dragged his finger away, you grew breathless. “Listen, these women don’t have a code. They’d grab you and use you as leverage, in a heartbeat.” His fingertips danced on the back of your hands. “They have no regard for life.” His hands drifted up your arms. Hooking his fingers around the thin straps of your shirt; he pulled them down just enough. “In the end, I’d be planning a funeral and then kill every last one of them.”

His hands traveled down your and his fingers wrapped around your wrists. You tried wiggling them free, it was no use. He firmly held them down.

You met his eyes, “You’d hold a funeral for me?”

He nodded. In some twisted sense, knowing that began a stirring in your stomach.

“You would kill them all?”

“Yes with no hesitation.” His voice was grave.

Your heart was racing, as you tried wiggling and twisting as you attempted to kiss him. He did not budge. You tried again. When your lips brushed his and they didn’t respond.

A moan came from the pit of your stomach. Frustrated you moved your legs, his fingers tightened around your wrists. An ache blossomed within you. As you arched against him, you could feel that he was feeling the same thing. Why not just act on it, you thought. Fueled by feeling his arousal, you tried to kiss him again.

“Roman.” Your lips may have formed a pout but his name became a whimper.

“Yes?”

“Kiss me.”

“No. If anything you deserve to be reminded who you belong to.”

You pulled back, the word was as sharp as a slap. “Why?”

His mouth became a thin line as he leaned in. “You doubted me.” His breath was warm on your face.

As you remained looking at each other you felt terrible. “I’m sorry.” You whispered and hung your head.

The scruffiness of his cheek slid against yours as he spoke close into your ear. “Have I ever given you a reason to be I was lying to you?”

“No.” You trembled. “I’m sorry, Roman. I...I “ You struggled trying to find the right words. “you said it yourself.” Swallowing again. “I’m just a silly little girl who needs you.”

A smirk curled the one side of his mouth. He drew in close. “Tell me little girl who do you belong to?”

“I belong to you.” With your head still lowered looked up at him.

“It can be hard to keep my territory secured. It’s even harder when the people I am dealing with are unpredictable.” As his face remained impassive, tears slid down your cheeks. One of his hands grabbed you chin and tilted your face up, a sound came from you from the suddenness of it. “Who takes care of you?”

“You do.”

“That’s right.” He nodded. “If I didn’t care about you, things would have been considerably easier this last month.”

“I’m sorry.” You whispered lowering your eyes.

“Don’t look away from me.”

Your eyes met his once again as a smirk played on his lips. Reaching up, he cupped your cheeks, his thumbs brushed aside your tears. “I realize seeing the lipstick is not pleasant but it is a more common occurrence that we both would like.”

You nodded, over the time the two of you were a couple, Harley had a habit of kissing him and the dancers would plant one on him.

You really should have given him the benefit of an explanation. Looking at him, you saw the anger but you also saw the hurt.

“You’re coming with me.” He pulled you off the counter.

*****

Roman, grabbed an accent pillow and then went and sat in the large overstuffed chair in the corner of your bedroom.

He looked at you as he sat there. “We should probably be in my office, I might get an important call. But you know what? I’ve been putting Gotham first this entire month. I neglected my girl.” He tossed the pillow at his feet. “Come now, don’t make me wait. Kneel on the pillow.”

You did as you were told.

“I want you to know, I am hurt that you doubted my loyalty.” Sitting up, he ran his fingers through your hair which was still wild from sleep. “Very few have my loyalty.” His fingers which had entwined in your strands, tightened. “Don’t question it again.”

“I won’t.” You whispered.

“That’s my good girl.” He praised you warmly. His fingers loosened and he sat back into the chair. “If I was truly angry I would not let you have the pillow. Though, we can’t let those pretty knees bruise. We can let the reporters or if anyone else catching sight of you and spreading disgusting stories.” He caressed one of your cheeks. “Also, there’s a very cute dress I’d like you to wear tonight. Understand, baby?”

“Yes Roman.” You whispered, nodding.

“Yes who?”

You’re heart skipped a beat. “Yes daddy.” Kneeling there the ache that was deep within you throbbed gently.

“There we go.” He praised softly again smiling brightly. He sat back into the cushions, he rested his arms on the arm rests. “Make me feel good baby.”

You tingled all over as you took in the full sight of him sitting there. Inhaling then exhaling to calm your excited jitters.

You met his eyes, you gently held his hands as you stood. He tilted his head to one side but then as you grabbed the hem of your tank top and pulled it off. A silent smile spread across his face. Your shorts were next.

“I want daddy to see all of me.” You both knew how that excited you further. Anytime, he could be clothed and without a shred of clothe on you made you shake with pleasure. There was something deliciously erotic for you.

You knelt down again in front of him. Moving, closer you let your hands drift up the soft material of his slacks. Once you reached his belt, you did that followed by the button and and lowered the zipper.

When you eased him from his slacks, you grew unbelievably wet. This time between the two of you had been too long. You could tell he felt the same way since he was already so hard.

You met his eyes as you easily licked up the length of him. Trying to not shake too much in your own desire for him, you twirled your tongue around his tip. Inhaling, you took him deeply within your mouth, you trembled.

Keeping him there, you got used to once again how large he was. Swallowing, you took him deeper till he tickled mouth. When you had first done this you barely took him as deep as you could now. You were proud of being able to do more. You loved having him like this.

Easily and incredibly, excited you began using your tongue and lips as you set your own pace. Above you some deep sounds came from him. He let himself, truly feel with you had told you once. With you, he let sounds come from you that had always suppressed.

You made a soft sound as you felt his fingers.

“You’re lips and tongue are making me feel so good.” You looked up at him through your lashes.

Continuing to move up and down his length your own excitement was filling you. You ached painfully for some relief but right now was about him. He would decide if you did. A tremor went through him. “Baby, I need more of you.” You could hear the strain in his voice.

So you dragged your lips up his hardened length, relishing in how he was out of breath.

******

He easily stood and shed what was left of his clothing. Your mouth had been a wonderful delight. But now he needed the rest of you.

“Go and lay on the bed baby.”

He shed the last of his clothes. He groaned as you dod as you ask but then also opened for him. As he settled between your legs, despite the bruises it didn’t hurt as much as he had thought it would.

He looked at you splayed out and ready for him. “Are you ready to get filled again, sweet girl?”

“Please, you begged.” It look all of his will power to not just cum. You were a sight to be hold, and was even in you.

******

You were sweating and panting, how had he stayed away from you as he felt himself get closer to cumming. He held you to him.

You had been trembling and clinging onto him. He rather loved how your fingers normally delicate dug into his back.

“Did you want daddy to let you cum baby?” He asked you after you shook and called out, breaking a sloppy, needy kiss.

******

The water was warm, the bathroom smelled a mixture of his fresh crisp scents and your sweeter warm ones as you held onto each other and washed each other. Stopping, your arms wrapped gently around him.

“I so sorry.” You finally say again, your eyes glimmered on the muted light. “Just sometimes, I can’t get over that we’re together when women just thrown themselves at you.”

He pulled ran his fingers up your smooth back. “They don’t have substance. You made something of yourself without your family, like me.” He admitted. “I like that you are strong.”

“But, but..”

“Stop. This is behind us now.” He gently caressed your cheek as you leaned against him. “I may keep things from you to keep you safe but I’ll never lie.”

He looked down into yours loving the pools of color there. The warmth and the look of love that deep down, he really didn’t think he deserved but was grateful you chose him.

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anotherescsite · 4 years ago

Text

The Eurovision Song Contest we had to have

The journey from Tel Aviv to Rotterdam was an unexpectedly long one. Who knew that when Duncan Lawrence raised the trophy in May 2019 that another Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final would not take place for another 736 days? Having to wait such a long time between two Eurovision (excluding 2 x Junior contests) was excruciating, soul destroying and plainly depressing. And just like that, Eurovision 2021 has come and has now gone.

As the title says, it is The Eurovision Song Contest we had to have. It is a bold statement and I considered it for a day before putting it there. In reflection the song contest in Rotterdam was a wonderful event for many reasons which I’d like to discuss a bit. So this may take a while, but bear with me and hopefully, I’ll make it worth your while.

THE HOSTS

Four hosts was two too many, but let’s talk about them. Chantal is beautiful and the most professional of the foursome. Jan was the token male and while his performance was contained to a very small potion, it was nevertheless, fine. Edsilia was much more chilled than I expected and provided a warm presence amongst these people. Nikkie was probably the most down to earth of them all, possibly the most personable, but also somehow cold.

In actually effect, while there were four of them, they worked. No one took a lite load but they each had an equal presence in the show. As many other people have mentioned, everyone would have preferred more Edsilia and Nikkie to Jan and Chantal, but I’m not terribly fussed. They were all well practiced and very on point for the event and as a viewer I was pleased by this.

THE STAGE

Like most Eurovision stages, they do not look like anything unless you turn on the lights. That was definitely the case for this one. The lights were on, the stage sparkled, and the stage was alive in every way that it was asked. The screens provided everything that were needed for each of the songs and other performances. The transparent screen in the middle of the venue added so much to some of the performances and was the masterstroke that made some of them visually exciting.

There was one thing about the stage that felt like they were reminiscing stages of the Dutch past. I felt a hint of the Amsterdam 1970 stage on the sides. I don’t think it was a co-incidence, but I liked the fact that the paid homage like that. Everything else was state of the art.

POSTCARDS

The postcard films were well put together to present a place in the Netherlands, a tiny house structure with items that belong or relate to the act coming up and then a green screen appearance of the act in the tiny house.

While the postcard as a whole were well put together and cleverly created, I felt I missed out on seeing more of the Netherlands because they were focused more on what was coming and less with the airport, the canal, the lighthouse, the field, the tulips and whatever else was presented. So it’s only a small thing in a small film, but I wanted more of a Netherlands tourism experience in the films.

THE INTERVAL ACTS

It’s a funny thing about this year’s interval acts, and to be completely honest, I happy about it. If you asked a fan about Eurovision 2014, people will say that they remember ‘Love love peace peace’ and Justin Timberlake. In 1994, people remember ‘Riverdance’. In Tel Aviv, there was Madonna. I like that the intervals this year did not overshadow the entrants to the song contest. They were a time filler, a light refreshment and then it was over. For the most part well performed, entertaining and gone before you know it

I recall there was something about water in the first semi final, there was a dancer and a bike in the second, the former winners sang on Rotterdam buildings and some unifying song and dance. Nikkie did some little films about losing, and behaviour in the green room during voting. All were quality performances that were well constructed, organised and presented. They held the viewers attention while we waited for the votes to commence/announcement of the qualifiers and because they were each engaging, they seemed to go quickly.

THE OUTCOME

In most cases, things went as expected in the semi finals. Fans were disappointed with Croatia not qualifying, but I don’t think the betting had them qualifying. Romania was expected to qualify, but Roxen could not sing the song and move at the same time. Ireland suffered the same fate with an impressive staging. Semi final 2 went as expected as well; maybe Austria was expected to get through in place of Albania; i disagree.

The results/placings in the final were a bit of a surprise to me, but there was one certainty for me and that was that Italy deserved their win. There is a very simple reason for it’s success too. It’s not that it was a loud song or that the song was outlandish, or the way they were dressed. The reason that Italy won was that the performance of the song was a natural performance. I’m sure there was choreography of movement, but they were not outside of what they usually do. There was no gimmick, no dance routine, no green screen to worry about, no spinning diamond or large gimmick hanging from the roof of the stadium. It is also why the French entry was such a success and for a lesser part Iceland and Ukraine. Finland and Portugal also presented an entry that was in essence what was expected for that type of song.

Switzerland was a vast success in my eyes. They rolled the dice and they came up on top with the juries. Switzerland have rolled out a prop in the past to highlight a song, but this year they added lighting and camera work to add to the tension of the entry and it worked. Gjon looked a bit clumsy at times, but it was excellent captivating three minutes.

There were some countries that were dependent on a large prop. Some were there to attract votes as they went with the song while others to distract from it. Russia and Cyprus had several well placed props that worked well and were relevant to the song. Greece had a large invisible prop that made what was a good song appear like a joke entry. Malta had a prop that didn’t make sense to the entry being performed. Bulgaria’s rock was both inspirational and strange to me. Moldova’s revolving diamond worked for her also, but it was just a surface to perform choreography on.

I want to spend a moment of praise on Serbia and Belgium that had very different performances, but appropriately performed. Serbia took their sexy manic, hair choreographed selves all over the stage gyrating and moving like they had drunk 15 cups of coffee. Belgium, on the other hand, was very intense and sedate in their presentation mainly because most of them were playing instruments that were unmovable.

Of the countries that retained their choreography from a national final, other than Iceland, was Lithuania. They had varied it only very little from the national final and in their case, the performance was crazy perfection to match the theme of the song. I was disappointed with Norway, Azerbaijan and Sweden for retaining almost identical choreography to their songs from the film clip/national final, but I wasn’t a big fan of either song in the final. They seemed tired in appearance and in formatting. Azerbaijan needs a further slap for submitting their 2020 song with a new name.

I feel some disappointment for a few of the entrants. I’m going to start with the United Kingdom. Poor James Newman. He had a thumping good song that fans liked. There was enthusiasm from the fans that the UK would do better this year and they did worse. What I find astounding is he does not appear to be a shy person, yet he allowed someone in the United Kingdom delegation to produce that choreography, that outfit and those props for that song. To my ear, James sounded sad and dejected in the final and I was unbelievably disappointed that they didn’t score something from somewhere.

I’m disappointed for San Marino too. Senhit has showed she is a class act and has spent the last year enthusiastically covering Eurovision songs. But at the song contest, she appeared to be a forgotten entrant. Even with the addition of Flo Rida did not give the song some cred. I have a recurring image of Senhit’s shoulders slump and physically shrink on hearing that her efforts accounted for 50 points.

I’m also disappointed for the Netherlands. They most likely did not want to host again and it is a sad curse that countries that host usually end near the bottom of the scoreboard (excluding Super Sweden). But to score so terribly for what was a gloriously performed entry was unconscionable. I praise the Netherlands for choosing such a wonderful cultural performance for the stage.

At the bottom end, Spain and Germany had very different entries, performed with contrasting enthusiasm and it got them both a very low level of support. Spain had the most tired song that was boring as all hell and the presentation of the entry gave the audience nothing in return but a large grey beach ball in the sky. Back to the drawing board? Germany was destined to fail in March. The charisma and fun of their film was completely missing from the staging and it was never going to go well.

Albania had the misfortune of being ignored, given a terribly bad draw for the second year straight and not given anywhere near the appropriate amount of votes required. Anxhela gave a good stylish and appropriate performance. She was on-point vocally and in her performance on stage.

Israel, on the other hand, was a spectacle. The song was kind of meh, performed with a lot of choreography to distract from it. She did a whistle note; so? I’m sure she had to get noticed somehow with her t-shirt dress, her nude illusion reveal and the headdress she stole from reigning RuPaul Drag race winner, Symone. (Did she not no know where she was coming and who would be watching? Picked that up immediately)

IN CONCLUSION

There is one other things that I have not mentioned so far and it only occurred to me after re-reading some of the above comments. The Dutch were very time conscious. They said they were keeping the final under four hours and they pulled it in and got it done. In my opinion, it was a Eurovision that was very breezy, and very light experience because while the experience of Eurovision was 8 hours of your week watching the shows, this year did not seem like an ordeal. I felt that the shows progressed quickly without fuss or propaganda. As a package it came together well across the board.

It was a good Eurovision year and had something to cater for the taste of everyone. Some songs were not suited to everyone, but that happens. Below is how I saw this years song’s after the three shows and believe me I have changed it a few times before settling on this list. Looking at it, I want to move them around again.

So that’s it. Next year it will be somewhere in Italy; maybe Turin, maybe Rome, Milan or Bologna. It won’t matter. Feel free to comment, complain, debate. I’m happy to back myself and for you to convince me otherwise. I haven’t got anything else to do. : )

#esc #eurovision #2021 #Rotterdam #The Netherlands #The Eurovision Song Contest we had to have

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shining-red-diamond · 4 years ago

Text

Shallow Waters (Part II)

Words: 1.6k

Pairing: Hendery x Brittany (OC)

Rating: PG-15

Genre: fluff, some angst

Warnings: mentions of abandonment and homelessness, brief partial nudity (nothing graphic)

Brittany listened to everything Hendery told her from the small seahorses serving the merfolk to the giant humpback whales he used to swim and splash with. The dolphins were the best at making friends, and the starfish were the best dancers. He didn’t discuss the merfolk themselves due to his lack of knowledge about them, yet he gave only what he knew about himself being one. But Hendery talked very highly of the sirens.

“Didn’t they sing to lure pirates and sailors to their deaths?” Brittany’s eyebrow raised in confusion.

“Only the females,” Hendery confirmed. “Males sing, too, but for the opposite reasons. They sing to guide sailors and comfort the wandering travelers when on land.”

“Interesting. No one told me there were male sirens.”

“Not many humans do. Males don’t make contact with humans unless necessary. They stay in the fog or shadows.”

“That makes sense.”

Hendery rested his chin on her head for a moment before an idea popped into his head. “Would Brittany like to meet Hendery’s friends?”

“Your siren friends?” Her head popped up.

Hendery nodded.

“When?”

“Soon,” he promised. “They are helping another race of aquatic creatures right now, but I’ll call for them in a few days.”

Brittany’s eyes widened as they stood. “Who are they helping?”

Hendery thought for a moment. “Something about shark creatures or just a type of shark. Hendery doesn’t remember.”

Sharks were a creature most people are scared of, but Brittany guessed it was mainly because of the movie Jaws. She did agree that they were intimidating due to their rows of sharp teeth, but at the same time she didn’t mind them.

“Since you’re strong and grown up now,” Brittany wondered as they submerged back into the water, “do you live with the merfolk now?”

“Hendery is different,” he shook his head. “He is the only one of his kind who has shark’s teeth and consumes only fish. He can transform willingly without water, but only he can go humanoid for up to two weeks without getting back into the water.”

“You mean, you haven’t been around mermaids or other mermen since you were small?”

“Hendery is a nomad.”

Brittany didn’t know what to say. He was such a bright, curious, and happy soul that it was impossible to believe he had such a sad childhood. She understood why the merfolk would not allow him into their cities, but it still wasn’t fair to him if he just wanted a proper home. Her conscience knew it was all of a sudden, but she refused to let him sleep on a rock or beach anymore.

As they swam back to her house, avoiding the fishermen as they passed the pier, Brittany’s head was filled with the pros and cons of allowing him to live there. There was plenty of water for him to drink and keep hydrated, the ocean was literally in her backyard, and she would keep a stock of fish in the fridge. However, the fish might stink up her kitchen, and she didn’t know if he would be comfortable on a bed mattress. Part of her was saying it was a bad idea, but Brittany was taught to always help others in need.

The two made it back to her house and dried off with the towels hanging off the porch railing.

“Hendery likes it here,” the merman said as they sat under a large palm tree.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Brittany smiled. “May I ask you something?”

The offer for him to move in with her was right at the tippity top of her tongue, but she hesitated. It felt too soon. Instead, she remembered the carnival at the other end of the beach.

“Have you ever been to a carnival before?” was what came out of her mouth.

Hendery motioned towards the other end of the beach. “Is that what those bright lights are?”

“Yeah. We can go tonight, if you’d like.”

A smile grew on his face upon hearing this. “Hendery doesn’t not know what that is, but it sounds fun.”

“We’ll have to get cleaned up first.”

“Why?” he asked.

“So we don’t drag sand around,” she replied as they stood up.

Taking him by the hand, Brittany guided him into the house, while dragging a little bit of sand, and into a room he had never seen before. The walls were a shade of white with a blue tint, and in one corner was a large, glass door with glass walls and odd looking bottles inside. In the other corner was a round, boat-looking piece of porcelain that was big enough for two people to sit in. Between the two strange corners was a wooden cabinet that went from the floor up to the ceiling. Brittany opened one and pulled out pink colored towels and handed a few to Hendery.

“What is this place?” he asked as his eyes wandered around more.

“This is the bathroom,” Brittany replied when she realized she hadn’t given her friend a proper tour of the house. “It’s a room where humans clean themselves.”-She opened the glass door-”This is called a ‘shower.’ It’s more for when you wash your hair or just prefer a shower.”-she walked over to the porcelain boat. “And this is a bathtub. It’s more for a relaxing bath, but you still get clean, either way.”

“What are in those?” Hendery pointed to the bottles in the shower.

“Shampoo and conditioner are for your hair, and the body soap is self explanatory.”

Hendery nodded. For about half a minute, he glanced back and forth between the bathtub and the shower trying to figure out which he would like best. He wanted to see what bathing standing up was like, but he also desired to see what his tail would look sparkling clean. The ocean did so much by removing any mud or dirt, but he did notice tiny particles when he would be on dry land.

“Can Brittany bathe Hendery?” he requested. “In the bathtub?”

Brittany softly smiled and nodded. “I’ll turn around so you can undress.”

Once she turned on the water and made sure the temperature was okay, she then stood by the sink and faced the corner. The water rose to only about four inches before Hendery removed the borrowed clothing and discarded them on the floor. His toes carefully dipped into the warm, bubbly bath, taking in the relaxing sensation it created.

Hendery made his tail appear, replacing his human legs.

“Ready,” he said.

Brittany turned back around to see the merman in her bathtub trying his best not to splash the water too much, and she let out a giggle. He looked so cute just enjoying the water in that particular setting.

From the shower, she took out the hair products and body soap and set them on the floor next to her. Pulling up a stool, she sat down on it and had Hendery wet his hair. Brittany then squeezed some of the shampoo into her palm and began massaging it gently into Hendery’s scalp.

At first, her touch was strange, but as he gave in to her gentle massage and the feeling of her nails softly scratching his head, he relaxed. Hendery could get used to this, and he hoped that he could do the same for her one day.

Chunks of ocean mud were falling out of his hair, and the soap was starting to turn a little brown; but it told Brittany that his hair was clean. With help from the detachable faucet, she rinsed his jet black locks, and left the water back on to prevent dirt build up.

With a pink loofah, Brittany squeezed out some of the body soap and used it to scrub Hendery’s tail. She let him clean himself around his waist area to prevent any awkwardness, and then she scrubbed the rest of him. If his tail wasn’t sparkly before, it was sparkling now. Hendery’s eyes widened at how clean his tail was as he wiggled his tail to reflect the sunlight.

“Beautiful,” Brittany clapped.

Hendery smiled at the gorgeous job she did. He felt fresh and light. He loved the ocean, but something about a nice bath was relaxing.

“Thank you,” he whispered before kissing her hand.

Brittany felt her cheeks turn red. “Um...you’re welcome,” she managed to say. Maybe it was just his way of showing gratitude, she thought.

Hendery giggled when he noticed how much that little kiss affected her.

“Um...I’m...gonna...shower,” she stammered. “Can you...uh…?”

“Would Brittany like for Hendery to leave?” he realized what she was trying to convey.

“Just to the living room,” she regained her words back. “I’d like to shower in private.”

Crestfallen, Hendery nodded. Brittany gave him his towels and some fresh clothes before he transformed and left the bathroom.

Brittany felt bad for kicking him out, especially after seeing the sad expression on his face. She didn’t mean to come off so strongly, she was just in shock by his kiss that she couldn’t convey her thoughts well.

“Hendery,” she called after him, and he turned back around, “I’ll let you wash my hair one of these days.”

The smile returned to his face before he nodded in joy.

After she showered and dressed herself in some denim shorts, white converse, and a pink crop top Brittany met Hendery back in the kitchen. His hair was mostly dry now, but he was checking himself out in the living room mirror.

“Someone’s excited,” Brittany chuckled as she grabbed her purse. “Are you ready?”

Hendery nodded before following her out the door.

The carnival pier was only about a five minute walk from her house, and the lights could be seen in the distance as the late afternoon sun began to set. Neither of them realized they were holding hands until halfway into their walk. Brittany almost let go, but with growing feelings for her new friend she didn’t. They strolled on as if they had been together for a long time.

Tags: @fantasywayv @ezralia-writes @dearyongs @daybreakx @neocitybyday @mafia-nct @bumblebeenct @queen-of-himbos @the32ndbeat @philosopher-of-fandoms @dreamystuffers @jaekissd

#kwritersworldnet #kpopscape #nct-writers #kdiarynet #kpopficsnetwork #wayvhoursnet #nctcreations #neothestars #nct #wayv #wayv hendery #wong hendery #wong kunhang #wayv fluff #wayv angst #wayv hendery fluff #wayv x oc #merman au

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ridiasfangirlings · 4 years ago

Note

Do you know the part from Star Wars 6 where Jabba keeps Leia on a leash? A scene where Saru goes on an undercover mission being the one on a leash and the rest of the clan and Homes being on the side trying to rescue Yata who wakes up to see Saru in a sexy outfit 😎👌 but angry seeing bruises on his neck.

Fushimi in a sexy bikini on a leash, you're speaking my language anon *^* Maybe Fushimi needs to go undercover at like a strip club that's being used as a cover for some illegal Strain activities. Like imagine there's this dangerous Strain that Scepter 4 has been trying to capture, the guy has like this whole illegal gang thing going on involving drug running and even some yakuza ties. The Strain is a rich businessman and it's difficult for even the Rabbits to do anything about him due to his general power and influence, they need to find a way to actually catch him at doing something illegal and then Scepter 4 will be able to use their authority to make an arrest. The Strain has fairly benign powers that can still cause chaos, like say he can make a perfect copy of something after seeing it and has been using that to put into circulation counterfeit currency. He's also been using the power to sell drugs that were copied from the original supply in order to make the operation self-sustaining, however the copied drugs are actually stronger and more lethal than the normal ones.

Scepter 4 has been gathering intel on this guy for a while, even working in tandem with Homra since the Strain's lately been encroaching on their territory. They manage to discover that the guy runs like this exotic dance club and that he has a preference for gorgeous male dancers. Naturally the easiest way to infiltrate would be for someone to apply to work at the club but it's a dangerous job because being caught could mean death. The Strain is also known for even drugging his dancers and not letting them leave the club so this needs to be done by someone who can handle themselves without backup. The club itself has extremely high level security, and naturally there's only one member of the Blues who can both handle himself and be trusted to take down even the most complicated computerized security system. Fushimi is very not pleased about having to go undercover as an exotic dancer but he's the best person for the job, he clicks his tongue and mutters that he expects a raise for this.

Meanwhile Homra's planning their own infiltration, say a few of the Homra guys have managed to get exclusive invites to the club and the plan is to pretend to be customers and stake the place out, then plan their next move from there. Yata is part of the team sent in, Kusanagi's concerned about Yata's ability to handle an undercover mission but he needs someone strong there in case things go south and both Kusanagi himself and Kamamoto, the next most obvious choice, are too noticeable to blend in easily. Yata takes off his beanie and dresses up a bit and he's a lot harder to notice, he just has to rein in his temper and try not freak out being surrounded by sexy dancers – so of course when the Homra guys get to the club Yata is immediately freaked out by the sexy dancers and almost blows the whole thing, Chitose and Dewa are with him and tell him to chill. Yata does his best but maybe he's accidentally caught by one of the gang members, like say while they're trying to be all nonchalant in the club Yata thinks he sees someone who looks kinda familiar going into the back room. Yata excuses himself to go look but when he sneaks through the door he doesn't see anyone, suddenly he's hit in the back of the head by something heavy and goes down immediately.

When Yata wakes up he's tied up and the Strain gang leader is waiting for him, as it turns out they originally thought he was just trespassing but then when they went to move Yata's unconscious body someone noticed his Homra tattoo. The Strain wonders how many other Homra members are in his club tonight, indicating that he's going to find them and have them captured as well. Yata would be angry about this but he's barely even been paying attention to this whole evil villain speech because sitting there on a plush pillow right next to the Strain is Fushimi, wearing nothing but a metal bikini and with a collar and chain around his neck. Yata can feel the color rising in his face and he starts to say Fushimi's name when Fushimi shoots him this poisonous glare, Yata sputters and the Strain glances over at Fushimi. He tugs Fushimi a bit closer by the neck and asks if Yata's attracted to his newest favorite, calling Fushimi 'Subaru' and saying that his new pet is indeed a lovely specimen. The Strain pulls Fushimi into a kiss and Yata's basically ready to knock the guy's head off except he's still tied up and Fushimi is glaring at him over the Strain's head.

There's a knock on the door and the Strain says that must be his men with Yata's companions, the door opens and a few guys walk in dragging Chitose and Dewa. The Strain grins and starts gloating, saying that he's even defeated Homra now and talking about how successful his drug ring is and how much money he's made. He considers using some of his drugs on the Homra guys, pulling out a suitcase and showing all the illegal drugs stowed inside. That's when all of a sudden the guys who dragged Chitose and Dewa in throw off their disguises and it's Akiyama and Benzai, Chitose and Dewa suddenly get up too showing that they aren't actually tied up at all. As it turns out when Yata spotted Fushimi he had just turned off the security system and now that the Strain has admitted to his illegal deeds it's time to take him down. The Strain calls for his guards and a whole big fight scene ensues, a bunch of the 'customers' turn out to be Scepter 4 members and they start fighting the Strain's men.

The Strain tries to get up and make a run for it, dragging Fushimi by the neck and Yata's desperately trying to get free to help him. Yata manages to wriggle into the Strain's way, knocking him down momentarily and the Strain curses, pulling out a gun and aiming it at Yata. Suddenly Fushimi's there, holding the chain between his own hands and he wraps it around the Strain's neck, saying he's been wanting to do this for days as he starts to choke the Strain with his own chain. The Strain struggles and eventually sags, unconscious, and Fushimi makes sure to give the body a good kick as he lets the guy fall to the ground. Yata's immediately there asking if Fushimi's okay and Fushimi snorts as he says it takes more than scum like this to do anything to him, digging through the Strain's pockets for the keys to his collar. He gets the collar off and then moves to untie Yata, which is when they both suddenly realize once again that Fushimi is mostly naked. Yata starts stuttering and looking away again all 't-that outfit is--' and Fushimi clicks his tongue and is like stop being a virgin, Yata's all what the hell I was trying to say that you look good in it and now suddenly Fushimi's face is red too (while the two of them are busy being disaster gays Akiyama slyly picks up the collar and leash for...evidence reasons, yeah and anyway no sense in letting a perfectly good leash go to waste).

#sarumi #Talking K #this got more complicated than expected XD #but the important part is Fushimi wears a skimpy bikini and chokes someone with a chain :D #Yata doesn't know where to put his eyes there's so much bare skin #He probably keeps looking around for like a shirt to give Saruhiko or something #Fushimi was picked out immediately as a favorite when he infiltrated and got to be the Strain's personal cabana boy #and has been seething with thinly veiled killing intent for like the past three days

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sandsofoneiros · 4 years ago

Text

To Capture a Heart.

Chapter Two: Cianna Calling

Disclaimer: Had this ready Friday evening but since I was going to be gone all weekend, I decided to queue it up for you all! I hope you enjoy this chapter and I’m sorry if the first month seems a little boring. I wrote it last and it was a bit rushed. I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend and I can’t wait to be back on Monday! Also! Kylo’s betrothed is actually @thembohux oc!

Warning: Mentions of death, some anxious moments, slight cursing and two brats not knowing how to talk. Sparring match (i can’t write fight scenes. my bad)

Word count: 11139

Tagging: @thembohux and @booksmusicteaandanimals.

The First Month. Age: 15

Cianna was genuinely a beautiful kingdom. Hidden away by thick forest and magnificent trees. There were two ways to enter the kingdom, take a small boat down the river, or hike through the woodland. Normally, Poe would have preferred the trek through the forest, but this time the boats looked to be more relaxing. Another summer was upon him, and he desperately wished to turn the little boat around to go home. Things had changed this year, and he wasn’t handling them so well. The biggest change was Ben or Kylo. It was just a name change to help him come more into his role as future King of Naboo. He preferred a stronger name. Kylo had grown more, and it wasn’t only physically. He was constantly telling Poe about what he would change about Naboo to make it better. How he and Lita were going to improve so many things. Poe tried to follow along when his friend talked, but he grew bored after a few minutes. He was fifteen and his head wasn’t in the mindset to run a kingdom. It was always elsewhere. Daydreaming about daring sword fights, on a ship that was sailing through perilous waters, and so many other things.

The tips of his fingers skimmed across the top of the water as they made their way through the river. It was cool to the touch, and he followed the ripples travel through the water. He speculated about how this summer was going to go and how Ro would be. He wondered if she had received another braid. That had been one of things that he had found himself curious about each year. Her hair. It was something that he looked at each time they got to see each other. Poe recalled her having seven braids last summer. She had shared the tales about each of the new ones that she had gotten. However, this summer and from this point on, was going to be different. They had chaperones this time. Their parents had insisted on it because of their age. It was a dumb rule in Poe’s opinion, and he had argued that they didn’t do that in Naboo. That had been the moment that Kylo wanted to punch his friend.

“Not too much longer, Poe.” Kes called back to him. Kes had given Poe his own boat. They hadn’t been on the best of terms throughout the year. Much more arguing and Kes trying his hardest to push Poe on the right path. The young prince had taken to going down into the city and meeting with not so wholesome people. He would hang onto every word of their tales and would often try to sneak away with them. One guard who was patrolling the city would grab Poe before he got too far. Kes and Poe had fallen into a routine from all of it. They would fight, Poe would sneak out, and Kes would punish him. It was always the same story. Allowing Poe to go to Naboo for a few weeks had helped some, but when Poe returned, they instantly put him in a sour mood. He would avoid his father and would go spar. Trying to get some of his anger out. There had been nights where Kes had found Poe curled up under the portrait of Shara. Those had been the nights that Kes prayed for answers and got met with none.

Silence remained between them before they reached the dock. It was at the base of the mountain that was surrounded by a few waterfalls. Mist blanketing the kingdom of Cianna. They had built the castle into the mountain while the town was below it. The walk was going to be the longest part, but the view was always remarkable. He enjoyed hearing the rushing water as they crossed over the bridge. It was unusual to only see Thalia and Queen Eirlys. Usually, the entire family was there to meet them.

“Poe!”

“Thalia!”

Thalia was already rushing to embrace him, and he hugged her tightly. Their friendship had surprised everyone and occasionally they pulled little pranks with the help of Ro being their look out. He saw her as a little sister, and he knew it made Ro happy to include her in their games. They hugged for a little longer before he pulled back from the hug. Eirlys and Kes were catching up with each other.

“Where’s Ro? She’s usually here to greet us.” Poe looked around for the older Citlali daughter and frowned when he couldn’t find her. King Jaqen was also absent as well.

“Her and dad are having a sparring lesson. Would you like to watch?”

He had only seen Ro spar a few times over the last years, and her form was always different. She had told him that both of her parents had taught the girls their styles of fighting. Jaqen and Eirlys seemed like opposites, and it made sense for their styles to be the same as well. Eagerly Poe nodded and grabbed Kylo’s arm to drag him along to the castle. He was a little excited to see Ro again but he wasn’t going to let anyone know that.

“Again, Aurora.”

Jaqen’s tone was calm as he circled the room, examining his daughter and sparring partner. Both of them were slightly panting as they got back into the fighting stances. The taller male had more braids than the princess, but she didn’t let that stop her. It didn’t trouble her. Without breaking eye contact, Ro dropped to the floor and swept her leg out to hook around her partner’s. It seemed to work better this time, and her opponent fell onto his back before he could recover. She had him pinned. A practice dagger held to his throat. Her chest heaving as she grinned down at the boy. A cheer erupted in the quiet room, followed by multiple hand claps from her little sister and her company. The company that Ro had actually forgotten about.

“Poe!”

She whispered excitedly before tossing the dagger to the side and moving off her opponent, turning her back to him. That had been a mistake, given that Ignis had returned the favor to trip her. It wasn’t long before Ro fell on to her hands to break her fall and scowled back at him and then to her father.

“Never turn your back on your opponent, Ro. Too easy. Lesson is over for the day. Prince Poe, Prince Kylo. It’s good to see you.” Jaqen bowed his head to the young princes as he helped Ro to her feet. Checking her over for any injuries before fixing a piece of her hair that had loosened during the match. However, Poe was curious about sparring next. He hadn’t gotten the chance before.

Ro batted at her father’s hands before looking for Poe. The prince was looking at the practice weapons. His fingers curling around the spear before he took it off the rack and spun around. Ignis rolled his eyes at the prince while he dusted himself off. He wasn’t overly excited about Poe and Kylo being here. Recently Ro hadn’t stopped talking about the Yavin prince. It drove him mad, given that the other didn’t even give her the time of day.

“Could I spar next, your highness?”

“I don’t see why not? Choose an opponent. Not Thalia considering she hasn’t been at her lessons.” Jaqen responded without even looking back at his younger daughter, who had been avoiding her sparring lessons for the week. Thalia merely stuck her tongue out.

“Could I pick Ro?”

The question caught them all off guard, but Jaqen nodded his head. Kylo and Thalia were quietly taking bets on who would win. Poe was one of Yavin’s finest fighters and he took pride knowing that. Plus, not everybody has the chance to have a sparring match with their future spouse.

“Of course. Ignis, please move to the side.” Jaqen spoke as Ignis went to stand beside the king. Ro reached for the other spear and smirked at her opponent. She had only gotten to watch Poe fight against others and this was her chance to show off. The spear wasn’t her favorite to use, but she was competent with it. Poe was much like a serpent when he fought. His strike never missed its target, usually. They circled around each other. Each step planned.

“I won’t go easy on you, little princess.” Poe teased before performing spin that forced him a step closer.

“I wouldn’t assume so, prince perfect.” Ro attempted a strike to his middle, that he stopped quickly before sliding back a little. That little spark seemed to set everything in motion. They flowed like dancers even though their dances were different. Strike for strike. Determination shining brilliantly in their eyes. The others observed them in fascination. Both of them were well matched. Poe’s skills impressed Ignis. He kept Ro on her toes. It wasn’t often that she got challenged. The sound of the wood hitting together was filling the chamber, along with their grunts. Their knuckles paling as they tightened their clutches on the weapons. It wasn’t until Poe lost his footing that Ro seized her opportunity and swept his leg out from under him. Kicking his spear out of reach, she put the point of hers at his collar.

“Wow.” He peered up at her, not daring to move. His eyes roaming up her form and feeling his face burned. That had to be from the sparring match. However, he couldn’t stop noticing how strong she looked. How fierce. That fire that flickered in her eyes that made him gulp. He hadn’t seen her like this before, and it required him to do a double take when she reached her hand out to him.

“That was a brilliant match.” She grinned before helping him up. Their hands stayed conjoined for a moment before he gently drew his back. Jaqen clasped his daughter on the shoulder. While Thalia handed over a few coins to a smirking Kylo. It slightly hurt Poe that his best friend had wager against him but he figured they would share those coins later. Ignis had wrapped his arm around Ro’s shoulder, not caring about Poe’s existence at all.

“We’ve taught her well, your grace.” Ignis spoke as he ruffled Ro’s hair. Poe’s eyes narrowed at the gesture. Why was he touching her in such a friendly manner? Why did Poe care? Either way, he often wondered where he stood with Ignis recently. He never wanted to hang out with Kylo and Poe anymore. He preferred to be with Ro. It had been strange, and Kylo had implied that maybe he liked Ro, but Poe didn’t think that. Last summer they had butted heads more than he and Ro ever had. It was odd.

“I think the king trained her better than you, Iggy. She had you on the ground in less than a minute.” Poe teased before setting the practice spears back on the rack. Ignis growled at the nickname that the prince had given him upon their initial meeting. It had certainly lost its charm over the years, and Poe used it to annoy the guard in training. He had been training to be a part of the Royal Guard since Poe could remember. Ignis was taller than him, with long blond hair that followed the Cianna tradition of braids. He received his guard training. Despite Ignis receiving more braids than Ro, Poe thought hers were beautiful. She and Jaqen shared the same burgundy locks, and it was no mystery that Jaqen did all of his family’s hair. None of their braids were ever the same. Ro kept hers half up and down. He enjoyed the styles she wore her hair.

“Gentlemen, let’s not start that. However, I am having a scouting trip later this month. I was thinking Kylo, your father, and yourself might like to accompany us. It’s just to check the perimeter of our borders. What do you say? Of course, Ignis and a few other guards will join us.” Jaqen spoke. The scouting trip was mostly the men going out into the woodlands for a few nights just to camp and drink around the campfire. The older men would exchange stories, while some of the young lads would get their first sip of alcohol.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

“Gonna miss me while I’m away, Sweet Aurora?” Poe teased as he peered over the book that Ro was attempting to read. Her emerald hues peering up at him for a minute while her brow lifted. The princess was looking forward to getting some peace and quiet around the castle. Ever since Poe had arrived, Ro had been wrestling with new feelings that had arrived when he had. She wasn’t sure what was happening with her, and she wished it would stop. However, she couldn’t stop the blush when he called her some nickname, even if it was ridiculous. Ro had planned to speak with Thalia about this, once the men were all gone for the scouting trip.

“I fear I have missed the silence more than I could ever miss you, Dameron.” She turned a page in her book before leaning back in her seat as Poe crossed his arms over his chest. They were waiting for her father to give the word that it was time to go. The horses were all ready, and everyone packed. Ro figured her parents were sharing a private goodbye. Not that she didn’t enjoy the extra time with Poe.

Sitting in the seat in front of hers, Poe lay one leg over the arm of the seat while the other stretched out a little in front of him. A hand running through his curls as he yawned. Poe had been wearing his robes differently. Some men in Yavin had gone without their undershirt. The robe revealing their chest to all. Poe had taken up that look for the summer. Ro thanked the maker that he couldn’t see her cheeks at the moment. Her eyes trailing up and down his body before she heard Ignis clear his throat and take her book from her. Fingers struggling to grasp it and pull it back to shield the rosy shade of red her face has turned into.

“Not going to say goodbye?”

“Don’t waste your breath, Iggy. She wants her peace.”

Ignis rolled his eyes before the sight of her dad coming down the stairs made her sit up and go to him. It was finally time for all the men to leave and enjoy their trip. The goodbyes didn’t take too long and they watched the men leave on horseback shortly after.

Later that night, Thalia sat on Aurora’s bed, running a comb through her sister’s hair. Ro had been struggling to find a way to bring up her feelings for Poe. It was certainly harder than she imagined. She chewed on the inside of her cheek and picked at a loose string on her nightgown. It was now or never.

“Thalia, I need to tell you something. Something that I’m a little surprised that I’m admitting.”

Thalia hummed as she placed the comb on the nightstand and waited for her sister to speak. Watching as Ro turned around to face her, the younger Citlali reached for her sister’s trembling hands to steady her. Taking a deep breath, she rounded up all of her courage and spoke so rapidly that Thalia didn’t understand a word that she spoke.

“Ro, slow down. I didn’t hear any of that.”

“I realize I have feelings for Poe. I see him so differently now. He’s still a conceited prince but I’m seeing so much more?”

Thalia smirked at her sister’s confession before squeezing her hands. Thalia was the first to discover how her sister looked at Poe differently. It had been small at first, but as the month passed, Thalia finally had caught on, and now it seemed her sister had as well. Now, the youngest, Citlali wondered about the prince’s feelings.

That was going to be Thalia’s mission for the rest of the summer. Figure out if Poe felt the same for her sister. Poe was harder to read than her sister, and that gave her a fun challenge.

They spent the rest of the night with Ro, telling Thalia all the little details about Poe that she had recently noticed and what she liked about him. Both of the girls were unaware of their mother listening outside the door. A smile on her face about her oldest daughter’s discovery. She would have much to tell their father when he returned from his trip, and she hoped he had news for her.

The second month.

“I wish she wouldn’t spend so much time with him. He’s constantly flirting with her.” Poe spoke before placing a card on the table. His gaze never leaving the sight of Ro and Ignis. Ignis had been a constant since he had come to Cianna and they had gotten along when they were younger, but now that they were older, it was very different. Ignis was training to be one of the royal family’s personal guards. He had already claimed that he was Ro’s personal guard. Something that caused Poe to clench his jaw. He could protect her. Poe was one of the most skilled soldiers in all of Yavin. It was going to be his duty to protect her one day. She wouldn’t require Ignis. Kylo raised an eyebrow as he watched Poe’s gaze and shook his head. Poe was jealous.

“I think you really sort of like her, fess up.” Kylo snorted before lying down his hand of cards, indicating to Poe that he had won once again. Tossing his cards to the middle to be shuffled again, he saw Ro turned to leave with Ignis. Not again. Ignis had been dragging her away from them all morning.

“I like her better if she would stop wasting time with him. Hey, Ro! Kylo and I are having a rousing card game, want us to deal you in?” Poe called out to her with a grin. He missed the way her eyes lit up at the question. Instead, he was scowling at Ignis, who was frowning right back.

“The princess and I are going down to the lake.” Ignis smirked. He was a year older than them. He even had more braids than Ro. Although, Ro always wore her braids in such beautiful ways. No one else could rival that. However, he had one singular braid that was resting over his shoulder. His arms crossed as he just stared at the prince. The friendship that Poe once thought he had with Ignis was gone. He should have acknowledged the decline over the years, but this summer had been the worst. The Yavin prince didn’t like that he had answered for her. Ro wasn’t one to let someone speak for her. He had picked up on that over the years, and it turned into a trait that he liked about her.

“Poe, you and Kylo could accompany us, if you wish. It’s a nice day to get out of the castle.” Ro gnawed at her cheek as she worked to include them all. She preferred to spend more time with Poe and was stunned when he offered for her to play cards with them. Normally, they spend some together before going their own ways. However, this summer and the previous summer, Ro and Poe had chaperones. They hadn't been allowed to be truly alone, and anyone could guess why. Kylo was often Poe’s chaperone, while Ignis or Thalia were Ro’s. It had become annoying rather quickly.

“What do you say, Kylo? Wanna enjoy some sunshine?” Poe gave Kylo a look. A look that told him he had no say in the matter. Groaning, he ran a hand down his face before putting on a smile. A smile that Poe knew meant that he wasn’t delighted about this.

“Sure, why not?” Kylo shrugged before pushing away from the table and stretching his arms above his head. Kylo didn’t care for Ignis, but he was taking notice of the teenager’s shifty way. He had caught him lurking around Ro’s room and her parents’ room once, insisting it was on his rounds as a guard in training. That never rested well with Kylo, and he hadn’t mentioned it to Poe yet. He didn’t see any reason to yet, but it wasn’t something that he was just going to forget.

“Wonderful.” Ignis rolled his eyes before he went to offer his arm to Aurora, but paused when Poe had already seized the chance. Poe murmured something in her ear that made her to laugh and lightly pinched his arm. It was no mystery Poe Dameron did not impress Ignis. He had attempted to be friends with the prince when he first showed up all those years ago, but he never thoroughly wanted a friendship. It wasn’t any secret how Ignis felt for the princess. Anyone with eyes could see that he cared deeply for her, and within the last two years it had turned to more. Poe didn’t deserve Ro. He had observed the prince teasing her and watched as he tried to avoid the poor girl for so many years. It was until the last two summers that something had changed. Poe was actually trying more. That wasn’t what bother Ignis. No, what irritated him was noticing how Ro was acting around the prince. She would smile more, her cheeks would turn pink at something he might say to her, and she wanted to invite him to everything.

“Couldn’t let the princess go somewhere without her charming prince.” Poe grinned before tucking a strand of Ro’s hair behind her ear. This was entirely to annoy Ignis. However, he wouldn’t lie if asked him about how much he liked Ro’s hair. He always took whatever chance he could to touch it. Ever since he was younger, it had fascinated him. How she styled it each morning, how many braids she earned, the care she put into it. Today’s style was much simpler than what he was used to seeing. Four strands of her hair had been braided back to join together and went into a single braid down her back. It was strange to think that one day he would see her without her braids in the privacy of their own chambers. That there would come a time when he would undo each braid and have his fingers run through her hair. Heat spread to his cheeks and up his neck at the mere thought of it. He hadn’t expected such a reaction at the thought of her hair down. That was unusual.

“Poe? Are you alright?” Ro squeezed his arm to get his attention. Her face revealed concern, and when he glanced around, he noted the others were waiting on him. He had practically forgotten about going to the lake with them. Nodding, he placed his hand over hers and led them out of the castle.

The path to the lake wasn’t very long, and the shade from the trees protected them from the sun’s rays. There was a silence between them that no one will break. Poe wasn’t certain he needed to hear Ignis say anything. He often preferred the other to be silent as long as possible. The clearing for the lake was approaching, and Poe realized that this might not have been the best idea. He didn’t think swimming would be fun after they walked back to the palace in soggy garments. There was another option, but Aurora was here, and he knew that went against their rules. Suddenly a thought struck him, and he practically growled. Had Ignis wished to bring her for some other purpose? It wasn’t sitting well with him. It didn’t matter that Ro was his betrothed.

“Are we going swimming?” Poe asked, watching as Ro sat down and untied her boots. Praying to the maker that she wouldn’t go any further than that. He would have to leave, and he wasn’t certain if he could leave her with Ignis.

“No, I don’t want to ruin my boots. We’re searching for stones, mostly.” She grinned before rolling up her trousers. Kylo looked over at Poe after hearing why Ignis and Ro were coming to the lake. “You’re welcome to go back. I don’t want to trouble you.”

“No. I want to spend time with you.”

All went silent when the words escaped Poe’s lips. His own remarks took him by surprise. There wasn’t anything wrong with spending time with her. However, he had always put up a fight any other time. He told himself that this was to keep Ignis from doing anything bad.

“How many years have you had to spend time with her, Dameron?” Ignis snorted while he followed Ro into the water that stopped at their ankles. He settled his hand on her lower back to steady her as they wandered through the water. “Careful Poe, there are tales of a water dragon that devours bratty children. I’m positive it would devastate your father if something happened.”

Poe’s fingers were in a tight fist as he stared at the two. No one had ever called him spoiled, at least not to his face. He had been the sole child of the King and Queen of Yavin. His mother had passed before they could continue their family. He had missed her more and more in recent months, but hadn’t shared that with anybody. His father and he had argued more. Kes had grown distant, like before, when Poe asked about the adventures that his parents went on together. Poe was also desperate to leave Yavin. To see more than their kingdom and the ones that he visited.

Kylo had taken notice of Poe’s expression before he stepped in. Poe was doing his best not to lose his temper, but he was cracking. “Ignis, watch yourself. The dragon might confuse you for a prince because of how mighty you speak.”

Poe chuckled before stretching out his fingers from the tight fists that they had been in. His arms crossed over his chest as he puffed it out. Two could play it this way, and he just so had the Prince of Naboo on his side.

“All three of you should be quieter, otherwise the dragon is going to devour all three of you.” All eyes glanced at the princess who was carrying a few rocks in her tunic. She had created a pouch to carry the stones as she continued on gathering them. “After the dragon has had its lunches, I would recognize it as a hero for saving me from three boys who are constantly squabbling.”

The smirk she wore made Poe smile. He was used to her remarks, and after sliding his own boots off, he moved to accompany her. His own hands scouting through the murky water to find some stones. They scoured the water together and would periodically steal glances at each other before their hands bumped together in the water. They had both reached for the same stone, and it caused them to giggle softly at each other. Gently, Poe threaded their fingers and settled the stone in the middle of their hands.

“We can share this one.”

“I love that idea.”

They hadn’t looked at the stone, but they happily nestled it in their palms. Ro’s didn’t care about the rest of the rocks that were in her makeshift pouch. They hadn’t usually held hands like this, and it caused her to blush slightly. Poe could be affectionate, but she feared it was just for show. There was any reason to believe it was more than that. Appearance kept their parents and everybody around them pleased. That’s what they had accomplished over the years. Make everybody else happy.

Ro wasn’t certain when her feelings changed for the prince. She had noticed how individuals were just drawn to him; he was pleasant to talk with. His laugh was contagious. It caused her heart to flutter when he would wink at her or hold her hand first. The small actions had led to her falling more each time. However, she realized Poe didn’t return those feelings. They would be married in law, but never by love. The love would be one sided, and Ro dreaded it. She was falling for him, but he was falling for adventure and freedom. He yearned for it. It had never been a secret, and it grew each year. It never passed, and she couldn’t drown the flames. She would never wish to. Ro simply longed to be a part of his world.

“Aurora, you’re certainly quiet over there. Something wrong?” The squeeze to her hand drew her from her worries. It caught her off guard when he spoke her full name. It always grounded her. Brought her back from whatever had tried to take her away.

“Mhm. I’m just curious about the stone we found.”

It was a lie, but what else could she say? Was she supposed to confess her feelings for him while they scouted for stones? He wouldn’t believe her, even if she did. The result didn’t seem to be worth it. The lie was easier.

“I wager it’s the loveliest stone.”

There was his radiant smile again. It could practically rival the sun with its warmth and brilliance. A good deal of people called her lucky and undeserving of such an arrangement, but they didn’t see the truth.

“Lovely like you, curls.”

“One of us has to be the lovely one.”

“Hey, it’s time to leave lovebirds! Supper is going to be served shortly.”

Both of their heads popped up before they glanced down at their hands. Ro being the first to pull her away and pushing the stone into his palm as she started towards the shore. She would not bother about wearing her boot back through the woods. She didn’t mind her feet becoming dirty. Poe followed as she stepped through the water and exhaled. Finally, he looked down at the smooth stone in his hand. It was strange that there was a hole in the rock and he had never seen something like that before. The design gave him an idea.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Later that night, Kylo had roamed the halls once more. Sleep had fled him, and he didn’t need to disturb Poe either, given how the prince and Ignis had seized every chance to provoke the other. He needed some peace for the rest of the night. Although Kylo had another reason for choosing to be out later than usual. He could stumble upon something like before, and he might not. He would be prepared this time. As time passed, Kylo heard faint murmurs coming from the end of the hall. One sounded as if it was pleading, and the other seemed more peeved than anything else. Quietly he approached the owners of the muffled murmurs, hiding behind one of the pillars, Kylo peeked around. It was Ignis and King Jaqen.

“Your highness, please. I am urging you. Let me be Aurora’s betrothed! The Prince of Yavin doesn’t want her! It is an awful match!” Ignis pleaded, and his tone was growing with each word.

“Keep your voice down. I understand you have concerns for my daughter, but Poe is her intended. He is a young man who yearns for more like some men do. I thought the same before I wed the Queen. Time will help.” Jaqen kept his voice steady, despite how frustrated he really was.

“Time? He is fifteen and acts like a spoiled prince! He can never make her happy! She will be alone if she marries him!”

“Ignis Malka! You dare raise your voice to your king? You dare tell me about my daughter’s happiness? I am her father. Do not tell me what makes her happy. I have watched her grow and learn. Taught her all that I know.”

The discussion was getting heating, and Kylo was becoming more anxious by the second. Ignis wanted to marry Ro, and he was struggling to get Jaqen on his side. He wanted Jaqen to call off their arrangement. He had to tell Poe. He kept himself pressed to the pillar to listen more.

“Your highness, he will only hurt her. He does each day and you are confining your daughter to a wretched life where she is alone and will die young. Let me take care of her and give her the life she deserves. I ask you.”

“Enough! I will not hear such comments about my daughter’s betrothed and her future. Back to your post Ignis. Do not let me hear you speaking like this again. We will change your guard assignment in the morning.”

Ignis said nothing else as Jaqen spun around to leave. Kylo didn’t dare move from his spot until he heard Ignis depart. The only thought that he had was to go to Poe’s room. This couldn’t wait until the morning. This knowledge could lead to trouble, and Poe had a right to know. The sound of diminishing footsteps gave Kylo the chance to start towards his destination. The halls seemed longer and never ending, despite the brisk pace that Kylo had. He skidded to a stop upon seeing Poe’s door and didn’t bother to knock as he burst into the room. The yell that Poe let out made Kylo slam the door close before he spoke.

“Stars, Kylo! Knock first!” He had shoved something under the blankets, hoping that Kylo wouldn’t notice. He had already noted it.

“As if you’re busy! We need to talk. This is serious.” Kylo crossed the room and closed the window, just in case. He wasn’t depending on anything at this point. Poe had shuffled up to brace up against the engraved headboard and waited for Kylo to speak.

“I heard Ignis talking to Jaqen. This is truly wrong, Poe,” Kylo was reluctant to tell him. The taller prince was concerned that Poe would use this to get out of the merger. Kylo felt that deep down Poe cared for Ro. “Ignis wants Jaqen to end the arrangement between you and Ro. He demands to wed her instead. Poe, he thinks you’re going to make her miserable and she’ll die of heartache. Jaqen wasn’t happy by any of it but this bothers me.”

Poe observed his friend while he told him what he found out in the halls just minutes earlier. Something deep inside him was boiling and traveling through him. He might not be ready to wed Ro, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t his friend. He would not say that he might never fall in love with her. It could happen. The idea of Ignis thinking all these cruel ideas about him made his belly twist into tense knots. The lies he whispered about Poe. He was doing his best! He was still young and trying to understand himself. This wasn’t helping.

“What if he tries something, Poe? You didn’t hear the bitterness in his voice. The king kept having to tell him to calm down.”

“He wouldn’t hurt Ro. He’s not that stupid, Kylo. He’ll just make some sarcastic remark about me at every chance that he gets.” Poe sat with his legs crossed under him and ran a hand through his curls. This wasn’t something that he had thought would happen. Ignis had normally been silent with his dislike of the arrangement. However, part of him feared Ignis had shared those words with Ro. What if Ro thought the same as Ignis but was too scared to say anything? “I need to tell Ro. I can’t keep this from her.”

“Will she believe you? Ignis is her best friend, and this isn’t easy to hear.”

“It’s not, but she needs to know. What if he’s already told her and convinced her it’s true?”

That worry was picking away at him. He didn’t want Ro to think he would ever do that to her. It hurt to think that maybe she believed it. So many concerns were flowing through his mind, and all of them involved her. This was a chance for him to look at out of this, to explain to their parents that Ro deserved to be with Ignis. A joyful union and he would be free. He could leave Yavin and experience the world. This was the perfect chance. Yet the image of Ro being with Ignis upset him slightly. Ignis being the one to see her with her hair down and undone, his fingers working through, and so much more. That thought made his blood boil. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t like that thought.

“Kylo, I need to ask you a favor. This is important.”

“Well, you get one favor a year so make it good.”

“I need to speak with Ro alone about this. Is there any way you can keep him distracted?”

“It’s never easy with you, Poe. I’ll see what I can do but you need to make sure that if something goes wrong that she’s not in sight.”

“Of course. Thank you for all of this, my friend.”

Kylo rolled his eyes before grinning just a little. He would do his best to support Poe. He didn’t wish to waste the day with Ignis while Poe met with Ro, but Ignis had overstepped a boundary. Kylo wasn’t certain what would take place when the two discussed the events, but it was better than Ignis planning something much worse. His gut told him that this was simply the beginning, but he wished he was mistaken. Even if Poe was struggling with accepting the merger, he had been doing better with it all. He treated Ro like a friend now and hardly got upset with her. They had both come a long way since all those years ago.

“Kylo? Do you think she might be happier with Ignis? What if this is a chance for her and I to live the lives we want?”

Kylo glared at his friend’s comments. He knew Poe would consider it a chance to escape, and he just shook his head.

“Either way, you need to talk to her. Choose together, not just deciding for her. She deserves to speak as well. She has a voice, and it’s pretty annoying that you and Ignis want to keep speaking for her.”

“I just -”

“You’re looking for your way out. You’re being selfish.”

“You don’t understand!”

“I understand that you’re more concerned about your own feelings than hers. I’ll make sure Ignis is busy tomorrow but I swear Poe if you waste this chance then don’t count on me for anything else.”

With that, Kylo left the room. Poe’s head slumped back against the headboard as he exhaled. His hands reached out to grasp what he had been covering from Kylo. His thumb stroked the flat stone, and he thought of how he had planned on giving it to Ro. A gift for her. He had used cords of leather to make it into a necklace. The stone had a perfect hole for him to knot the cord, and he made sure it wouldn’t come loose when Ro wore it. That was if she even liked it or wanted it after they talked. Poe wasn’t sure what he wanted anymore. He felt torn between continuing in this routine with Ro or having his own life. It was all so confusing. His fingers continued to stroke the stone, wishing that it would give him an answer. Nothing ever came.

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The next morning came and a half asleep Ro sat at her mirror as her father arranged her hair for the day. Her eyes opened when he tightened a section of the braid. She was used to her father braiding her hair for the day, but she detested the early morning. A yawn left her lips as she heard her father chuckle quietly.

“You have never been one for mornings, sunbeam.”

“Shouldn’t we decide what time we wake up? We are the noble family.”

“You had an extra five minutes this morning. Was that not enough?”

She shook her head as she rubbed the remains of sleep out of her eyes. Her hair fell in burgundy waves as her father pulled the rest up. Those braids starting at the sides of her head and moving back to coil around in a bun at the crown of her head. Some strands were left down to frame her face. Her fingers fumbled with ends of her hair. A habit she had gotten when she got nervous. The king lifted a brow as he watched her before adding the finishing touches to her hair.

“Something on your mind? Quit fumbling with your hair. . .”

“I just want to make sure it looks good.”

Jaqen lifted an eyebrow. He never doubted his techniques or skill with fixing their hair. It wasn’t like Ro to care how her hair was prepared for the day. She normally was happy with whatever her father did. He had even set out her clothes for the day as well, despite her preferring to do it herself. It made him wonder if she was doing all this to catch the prince’s eye. The exchange with Ignis from the previous night hovering in the back of his mind.

“Little star, if you’re worried about not catching the young prince’s eye, I assure you his eyes follow you.”

Ro couldn’t help but grin before she shifted around to hug her father tight. Her father wasn’t always one to talk about the arrangement, provided he was protective of his girls. It always troubled him they could do something that would fail later in life. His marriage was arranged, but Eirlys had been ready to put him in his place. They had learned and grew together. He cherishes his wife and their daughters. He simply wished the same would happen for Ro, but he was having doubts. Poe was still clinging to the dream of adventure, and he recalled that feeling. He still observed how the prince watched over Ro. The boy was conflicted more each day.

The sudden knock on Ro’s door caused both of them to jump. Jaqen had crossed the room in long strides and opened the door to speak with the visitor. It was the guards, and neither of them looked pleased. They were a little out of breath from their trip to the princess’s room, but this couldn’t wait.

“Your highness! We require you immediately! The Prince of Naboo and Ignis are fighting in the courtyard.”

“Fighting? Pull them apart. Have you gotten King Kes to collect young Kylo?”

They shook their heads before he sighed. How difficult could it be to divide the two? He figured they didn’t wish to upset Kes when it came to Kylo.

“Go get Kes, and meet me at the courtyard. Aurora, stay here until this is all fixed.”

“But!”

“Aurora, no. Let me deal with this.”

Ro watched as her father left her room before she finished getting ready. Slipping a silk dress over her trousers before she sat down on her bed. This wasn’t fair! She wasn’t even near the courtyard, and she doubted that Ignis and Kylo would even care if she were there. She still couldn’t fathom why the two would fight? Where was Poe? If Ignis was going to hit anyone, then she figured it would be Poe. The summer breeze filled the room before she heard what sounded like an injured creature. Heading to her balcony, she placed her hands on the rail and studied the ground below. A pair of hands reached out to shake her shoulders as she looked for the creature. The sudden touch caused her to scream before they swung her around. Glaring at the laughing face of none other than Poe Dameron.

“Poe! What the hell? You’re not supposed to be here!” She hissed softly before she shoved him into her room. Looking over their shoulders to make sure that no one had seen or heard them. This was extremely risky.

“I know, I know! I needed to talk to you. This is important.”

They sat on the end of the bed as Poe explained what Kylo had told him. Ro couldn’t believe what she was hearing, and part of her realized it was all true. Everyone had told her how Ignis looked at her and how he never cared for the advances of the other girls. Her fingers fidgeted, and she chewed the inside of her cheek. How long had her father been hearing Ignis say such things? Did her mother know about this? Why had no one came to her and told her? Ignis was constantly around her until now, when her father had finally changed his post. She hadn’t even known that until Poe told her.

“This could be our chance, Ro.”

Their chance? What did Poe mean? What did Ignis admit his feelings have to do with them?

“Our chance? Poe, I don’t see Ignis like that. I don’t want to marry him.” Frowning, she crossed her arms, waiting for the Yavin prince to explain himself.

“I just thought this could be a chance for us to get out of the marriage. We could lead our own lives!”

The smile he wore made her heart break. Poe didn’t want to marry her. He wanted to get out of it after all their years together. She struggled to hold back tears. Ro had always hoped that someday he would like her. That they would become more than friends. Yet any time growth created, something happened to where it was all crushed.

“Leave.”

“What? Ro? We need to talk about this.”

Poe went to grab her hands, and she drew them back before wiping at her eyes.

“I said leave! I will call for the guards.”

Her voice was small and Poe could only frown before he bit back his own feelings. They hadn’t even discussed everything, but he had made it clear what he wanted. Had that made her upset? He didn’t want to fight with her, and quietly made his way to the balcony. However, the sight of her sitting on the edge of her bed wiping at her eyes made him feel guilty. Everything told him that needed to fix this, but she was telling him to go.

“Your braids look beautiful today.”

The minute his back turned and made his escape, Ro let out a sob. Another drawback, and she felt more hopeless than ever. What would it take for this to work?

The third month.

The kingdom of Cianna was bustling as they arranged for the approaching Moonlight Festival. It was one of the grandest parties that the Citlali household had. The castle was open for all to come and celebrate with them, and it took place outdoors. The night sky would dance across the waterfalls and the tops of the mountains on this night. The stars didn’t look so far away, and they went across the sky towards the end of the celebration. It was a brilliant night for all. Ro had ventured to the village below the castle and was helping set up. Making sure that all the lanterns and lamps were ready. Blue and silver decorated the entire kingdom and allowed her a sense of tranquility.

The argument between her and Poe still brewed at the back of her mind at odd times. She had wanted this summer to be the one where something would blossom, but it hadn’t. Part of her knew that she should have known better, but the other held onto some hope. Against her better judgement, she hadn’t spoken to Ignis about any of it or her parents. She had gone two weeks before she had even said something to Poe. She had apologized to him at breakfast one morning and that was it. No one around them knew what she was apologizing for. She would have given them some story instead of the truth if they had asked. She just preferred to forget all of it and move on. They had spent little time together after that, either. They would go on walks with their chaperones or play a game of cards, but once again that was simply for show. Poe and Kylo had taken to training with the Citlali Royal Guards, while Ro worked with her mother on some sparring lessons. It had shifted into something more awkward.

“Beautiful Aurora, you almost dropped the lantern.” Thalia snickered at her sister before she took it out of Ro’s hands. Her thoughts had taken over again, and she practically broke something. Not that it would have been the first time.

“Apologies, I was elsewhere.” She laughed before choosing to hang up another banner. That seemed to be safer than trying to work with the delicate lamps and lanterns. This festival that she had been looking forward to all summer, but now it seemed bittersweet. Poe and she would share their traditional dance, but she realized that his heart wouldn’t be in it. She would feel guilty with each step that they took. Ignis would try to steal a dance from her, she would deny as much as she could. It would not be the night that she had dreamt of.

“Poe said he would be down to help soon. I told him I would stay to be the chaperone if he showed up. I’m certain Kylo and Ignis don’t want to be social.” She smirked. Thalia would occasionally let the two of them have moments alone, and it was something that both of them enjoyed. Thalia hated to babysit, especially when she was younger than her sister. She trusted both of them not to do anything wrong. This had been a little secret between them, and not even their parents had picked up about it. Yet. Ro couldn’t help the slight flutter of excitement that she felt at the thought of Poe coming. She still got nervous around him, despite all of it. He still made her smile when she didn’t want to.

“That’s perfect. I know he really enjoys this and you’ll actually have a helper.”

Both the girls giggled before a pair of arms draped around their shoulders, revealing the prince. His laughter chiming in as they jumped from him and wiggled out of his reach. All laughing together as the bystanders gave them all knowing smiles.

“You can’t keep startling us like that, Poe! The next time, I might have a weapon on me!” Ro whispered as she held her palm to her heart, simply for Poe to take the other hand and pressed a small kiss to her knuckles.

“I am your weapon, my princess.”

She blushed as she glanced around to see the people of Cianna observing them. Her fingers threaded through his as she sighed. It was merely for show. She should have recognized. He wouldn’t ordinarily do such things unless there was someone watching. Her heart sank as she fell back into giving the people a show. Appearances were everything, and right now this was just another performance. These moments always lasted longer than she wanted and left her exhausted. Ro fell for Poe’s performance more and preferred to keep it going despite it all. She wished she could combine both sides of Poe and have one. That was nothing but a childish dream. A dream that she couldn’t have. It tormented her.

“I love this festival, Ro. The lights, dancing, and getting to watch the stars pass across the night sky. It’s just so fascinating.”

Poe grinned as he helped the girls with the last minute decorations. Ro nodded her head as she worked in silence. She didn’t trust herself to speak, but smiled instead. Thalia and Poe chatted away cheerfully with each other. If Thalia wasn’t the mirror image of their mother, many would assume that Poe and Thalia were siblings. They simply clicked when Poe came to visit Cianna.

“Thalia, do you mind if I stroll around with Ro for a moment? Not too long.”

“You have ten minutes before I notice that you’re both gone.”

They shared a sly grin before the prince took her hand and turned down the alley. Ro eagerly followed behind him and felt a small rush at the thought of them being alone. Her hand squeezed his before they came to a stop, both of them smiling. It was just a slight moment that they were going to have to themselves, and she wondered what it was going to be about. She pressed her back against the stone wall and waited for him to speak.

“Everything alright?” She asked, before messing with the ends of her hair.

“I wanted to give you something? A gift for the festival. Something to wear to it?” He sounded uncertain of himself and he continued glancing down the alley to make sure that no one came searching for them. Poe retrieved something out of the pocket of his trousers. He held out something wrapped in a dark piece of cloth and he placed it in her hand so quickly that she almost dropped it. Carefully, Ro removed the cloth and smiled seeing the necklace. It was certainly beautiful and unlike any necklace that she had ever seen. The stone was smooth and grey.

“Is this the stone from the lake?”

“Mhm! I used some cords of leather to make it into a necklace for you. Do - Do you like it?” He asked as he shifted on his feet. He waited as she ran her fingers over the stone. What if she didn’t like it?

“Will you put it on me?”

Poe nodded enthusiastically as he reached for the necklace and stood as she turned around. She lifted her hair up and waited patiently as he knotted the necklace for her. He secured it before she turned back around. Her hands immediately touched the stone again before wrapping her arms around him tightly. She couldn’t believe the gift that he had given her and it was the most beautiful stone that she had ever seen. It was the stone that they found together. Drawing back from their embrace, Ro pressed a tender kiss to his cheek before Thalia cleared her throat to draw their attention. Time was cut short, and they had to get back to getting everything ready for the festival.

However, Poe couldn’t stop grinning from the kiss that he got. It wasn’t like Ro at all to do that. They held hands and hugged, but kissing never happened. It wasn’t a proper kiss, but it was more than he had gotten before. His heart pounding in his chest, and couldn’t believe how soft her lips were on his cheek. Nothing could make his mood drop after that. She had accepted his gift, too! Poe was soaring, and he didn’t want to come down. This left him wondering how the festival might go. What if they actually kissed that night? It would be the perfect chance for them. The internal conflict seemed to be subdued for once, and Poe felt more excited to be with Ro.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Music wandered throughout the kingdom of Cianna as people eagerly flowed under the moonlight. Everyone wore garments of blue, silver, and white. They had fixed their hair with gleaming stones, pieces of jewelry that created the illusion of sparkling starlight. Their outfits and jewelry made him believe they had found some way to use stones from the moon and light from the stars. It was breath-taking. Poe was impatiently waiting for the Ro to appear with her family. They had a tradition of devoting a part of the festival to visiting the catacombs of their family. They would light candles for them and leave little gifts in their memory. This was only for the Citlali family. The music had quieted down as some ate and drank. Poe’s eyes continued to search around the garden, but she wasn’t there yet. His leg bounced impatiently as he waited. Plenty of other girls continued asking him to dance, and he declined.

“Impatient?” Kes asked before taking a seat beside the young prince. Kes had been noting how impatient Poe was growing with each fleeting second, but it also warmed his heart to see Poe excited to just see Ro. He had noted that Poe was becoming a little closer to the princess and was finally warming up to the girl. Ro was a wonderful young lady, and it honored Kes that she would be a part of his family one day.

“That obvious?” Poe laughed before bumping his shoulder with his father’s while rubbing his hands together. It hadn’t gone unseen by Poe that Ignis was looking for the princess just as much as him. Suddenly, everyone had paused and shifted their attention to the stairs that ran from the balcony. Thalia was the first one down the stairs in her silver dress that was made of silk. The King and Queen followed behind, both wearing white outfits that matched perfectly. Then came Ro, and the sight of her made Poe gasp. The top of her dress was a dark blue and as it went down, shifted into a lighter blue. Parts of it glittered like starlight. But when he saw the bottom of the dress, he couldn’t help but chuckle at discovering her bare feet. However, it looked as if she had little gems on the tops of her feet.

Oh. Wow.

That was all Poe could think as she descended the stairs. They had woven silver through her burgundy braids, and Poe was speechless. He stayed frozen in place as she reached him, and Kylo nudged him forward after a moment. His hand out, waiting for her. The world around Poe no longer existed as he brought her to the center to dance. They hadn’t stopped looking at each other as they waltzed to the music.

“You look beautiful. . .”

“You don’t look so bad yourself.”

The music had shifted into a more upbeat piece, and they hadn’t even considered taking a break. Poe continued to lead her around the floor while their laughs carried through the air. Twirling around, bumping into so many that merely laughed before waving them off. The sight wasn’t going unnoticed at all. Their parents observed from the top table.

“Look at them. I’ve never seen them this happy.” Eirlys smiled as Jaqen gave a brief smile.

“Her and Poe are quite the couple. He’s becoming a good man, Kes.” Jaqen admitted before taking a sip of his wine.

“Your daughter seems to bring out the best in him.” Kes watched as the teenagers continued to dance. It had been too long since he had seen that smile, and he wanted to thank Ro for that. To all around them, they were perfect for one another. That even in this garden full of people, they only saw each other. However, there was one pair of eyes that never left them. Those eyes darkened with envy.

Those eyes had watched the prince and princess disappear without a word. However, it wasn’t Poe that led them away. But Ro. The King and Queen were leading a dance and King Kes had even asked the Queen’s sister for a dance. Everyone seemed to be distracted. However, his biggest challenge was getting past the Prince of Naboo. Kylo. Ignis knew Kylo would make this impossible.

Ro led the way up the dirt path to the top of the waterfalls. This was her favorite spot in all of Cianna and she’s wanted to share it with Poe. As Poe followed her up the path, he did his best not to step on her dress and would occasionally make sure that it didn’t get caught on something. Both of their hearts were pounding in their chests at the little adventure. No one had stopped them, and this would be the perfect spot to see the stars move across the sky. It was perfect. They gripped each other’s hands before Ro brought them to a flat stone to sit upon. Her feet dipping into the cool water made her shiver slightly, but Poe took that as a chance to wrap an arm around her shoulders and bring her closer. He waited for her to push him away. Instead, she shuffled closer.

“I don’t want you to marry Ignis. . .”

“I don’t want to marry him either.”

Poe sighed as he struggled to gather his words. He didn’t know how to express his feelings without getting everything mixed up. There was so much that he wished to say, but he wasn’t sure if he could say it all. How could he tell her that the sheer thought of someone else seeing her with her hair down made his blood boil? How could he say that he wasn’t ready to settle down but wanted to settle down with her in due time? Why was all of this so hard on him? Her head had shifted to rest on his shoulder, and he held her closer. His heart raced once more. She wasn't a horrible pick for a betrothed. She could be fun, bold, and witty. Little by little, he had warmed up to her. Aurora had turned into a cherished friend, but he wasn’t sure if they could live their lives as mere friends. She didn’t deserve that. She deserved to be loved, cherished. He just didn’t want to make her wait for him.

“I really am trying, and I know it doesn’t look like it. I just -”

“You wish to go on daring adventures, experience the world, follow in your mother’s footsteps. I hear you when you think I’m not listening. I’ve known this since we were eight. I try not to push you. I try to let you come around.”

Her words took Poe back. He wasn’t expecting Ro to know the extent of his passions, but once more she had surprised him. Thankfully, the night was hiding his blushing cheeks from her gaze. Maybe he had been more than vocal about everything, and more than once. He closed his eyes for a moment and tried to think of what to say next, but Ro had moved to turn towards him. Taking his arm from her shoulder and lacing both of their hands together. Her thumbs sliding over the tops of his hands.

“I would wait years for you. I would wait until my hair was streaked with gray if it meant that you would be my husband. We don’t have to be married right away and we have time. Poe, I would never refuse you anything. If you honestly wish to be out of this, then I will tell my parents. If you want your freedom, just say the word.”

Her emerald hues held more emotion than he could ever imagine and searched them for some type of deception, but found nothing. She will give this all up, if it meant that he was happy. She had once more put him before herself. Anyone would be lucky to have her as a partner. She was going to make her name known no matter what path she walked, and Poe wanted to be near her for whichever she picked. His eyes flicker from hers to her lips, his tongue swiping over his bottom lip. Everything for a split moment seemed so clear to him. Everything was right in front of him. They had missed the start of the stars shooting across the sky. Poe had gathered every ounce of courage in his body to move his face closer to hers. Their lips were mere inches apart, and he slowly leaned in.

“Aurora Citlali!”

“Poe Dameron!”

The angry tones of their parents caused them to jump back. Their eyes were enormous, and they struggled to get off the rock and not look so suspicious in front of them. Kylo and Thalia pointed to Ignis, who was standing behind the King. Jaqen didn’t look too pleased by the sight that he had stumbled upon. This was more than embarrassing. Poe was bracing to take the blame, and waited.

“I am absolutely disappointed to see such behavior from you both. You both know the rules.” Eirlys spoke as Jaqen frowned. More upset that Ignis had been right.

“Poe, did you drag Ro into this?” Kes asked as he studied the teenagers. His arms crossed over his chest.

“I did. Poe can’t navigate the forest as well as I can. I led him up here. I wanted to show him the stars from here.” She admitted before Poe even said anything. All three of the adults looked startled at the confession. Ro was the good one between them. It was the truth that Ro could maneuver through the woods better than him and half of Cianna.

“Oh.”

“Aurora, you aren’t supposed to be alone. I guess we can enjoy the rest of the view from here as well.”

Jaqen would not be too hard on his daughter, despite the glare he received from his wife. Poe wasn’t surprised that she had gotten off with only a few words from her father. Ignis scoffed at the lack of punishment and he wished that Poe had gotten blame. The guard had turned to leave and join his own family down at the gardens. The Citlali and Dameron family stood together, observing the stars. Poe had taken Ro’s hand once more and squeezed it as they looked at each other. Something had evolved between them tonight. Something that neither of them could place or name just yet, but it was there. It was warm. They knew come later or tomorrow, both Thalia and Kylo would question them continually about what had taken place before they were interrupted, but that would be their secret. They might not have experienced a proper kiss, but they had experienced something much more.

#To Capture a Heart #Poe Dameron x OC #My writing #TW: Cursing #TW: small anxious moments.#TW: Mentions of death #Aurora Citlali #scheduled post

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