#there will be a five minute break. Stand still and await my return.

[multiversal-pig-outing]

[violetmuses]

Mayhem - R. Reigns 🖤

Title: Mayhem - R. Reigns 🖤

Fandom: WWE

Character: Roman Reigns (ft. Austin Theory)

Pairing: Roman Reigns + Female Reader

Main Storyline: Nothing will keep Roman away from you.

@expert-texpert @persethegawd @episodes-ff @adriennegabriella @fearlesschimera @secretlifeoofmarpessa @mytribalnightmare @adoresmiles @blackgurlnhermoods @babybratzmaraj @trippinsorrows @potatosackk 🏷

=====

2024

“Excuse me?” Austin Theory joined a ring with his microphone and played up the sight of you, this fan. “I'm so sorry, but who is that?”

“Woo!” The audience barely signaled what happened until cameras noticed you. Joyful cheering heightened just to ignore Austin.

“What's your name?” Austin winked from his spot tonight.

Before your voice could even respond, spotlights darkened this arena while the color blue flickered everywhere.

Three roaring drum slams pulled this building into outright chaos and heroically ominous music would soon carry that upcoming introduction.

Standing near other fans, you obediently raised one finger by the massive ceiling. Austin glanced in each direction just to figure out his next move.

“Oh, no. Run, Austin! Get out of here. You just pulled chaos.” Even commentators dramatized this moment while fear nearly took over Austin's expression right now.

Flagged by legendary cousins Jimmy and Jey Uso, Roman Reigns emerged as the Tribal Chief and Wiseman Paul Heyman held up this champion belt. This crowd lost their minds.

“What's going on out here?” When Roman entered the ring, this smirk reached his chiseled face.

“Look. Isn't she beautiful?” Finally grounded once more, Austin pointed to you in the audience.

“Yeah!” Even Jimmy and Jey realized your presence, prompting everyone to cheer.

Once Roman locked eye contact with you, the building silenced as if pulling commands.

“Hey.” Roman's bright smile offered kindness despite power.

“Hello.” Subtitles caught the movement of your lips.

“Is Austin bothering you?” Roman squinted by Austin's and laughter picked up.

“No, but he's failing.” You nearly giggled with more subtitles helping out.

Turning around, Roman smoothed the black-grey patterns of one beard.

“She doesn't like you.” Roman updated everyone here while amused. “Stop embarrassing yourself.”

“Baby Girl? I'm sorr…” Austin's response immediately trailed when the crowd realized what nickname he prompted.

“Hell no! Uh-uh. Don't call her that.” Jimmy and Jey scrambled crosstalk to “help” Theory survive Roman. You almost cackled out loud.

“Is she your girlfriend?” Austin wondered.

“No.” Reigns corrected him. “You've never paid attention to my character.”

“Oh…” Laughing, Austin would play games right back. “Don't worry. Everyone remembers the Big Dog, but times have changed.”

“Still doesn't change the fact that I'll always have more game than you.” Roman pulled his strong voice again and fans kept grilling Austin's burn.

“Leave, Austin! You'll keep digging the grave now.” Commentators picked up tension once more.

“Welcome to my world, Princess.” Given the last opportunity before this commercial break would start, Roman gestured toward you.

Nearly haunting music cued the departure when Roman left with this iconic Bloodline squad.

You would always remember that night.

*****

Sooner than later, life would pull countless strings to hustle this time around and you started working behind the scenes, slated with this known empire.

You've joined the cosmetic department and learned chances to brighten superstars before television angles would roll every single week.

“What? Hey, Sis!” Beaming through his perfect smile, Jimmy Uso turned the corner and opened both arms to welcome your unexpected return as this vacant chair awaited someone else.

Roman hadn't arrived yet.

“Where's your cousin?” You gestured by the clock on purpose.

“Oh, damn. No clue.” Jimmy glanced and shrugged around while this dark cap veiled his brown eyes.

“If Roman's not here in five minutes, call Jey.” You know the drill and even referenced Jimmy's twin brother.

“Got you.” Jimmy took out his phone without thinking twice.

Coworkers gently moved in all directions to find the Tribal Chief regardless, but Jimmy's device buzzed first.

Roman: Tell her that I'm sorry. Traffic kicked ass! 🥺 🚦

Jimmy: Where are you?! She's already frowning at me! 👀

Roman: Just hit the tunnel! 🕳

Jimmy: Run backstage. Hurry up! 😳

Roman: I'll be right there! 💨

“Jimmy?” You crossed both arms and knew that he reached the goal.

Before Jimmy could speak up, heaven's gates eased the moment.

“Apologies.” Taking narrow space by the open door, Roman stepped to reveal his muscular frame and sat down, barely adjusting this chair.

Practically studying this world yourself, you learned so much.

Several of Roman's family members lined up the roster for years and timing created an outright dynasty that would change this game forever.

“Just look in the mirror and style that bun first. I'll straighten it up myself.” You don't even smile when this hair tie clasped around your wrist.

“Yes, Ma'am.” He clipped through his Southern accent.

Concentrating, Roman wouldn't disappoint you again because he already pulled up late before the show.

There's no question in your mind that this man looks absolutely gorgeous, no matter what.

Any other time, you would've swooned over his long, dark hair or complimented him for many different reasons, yet frustration still lingered.

Cuing grounded the big-time shows on a regular basis and if Roman couldn't keep those puzzle pieces together, everything would fall apart.

Moving upfront to aid his dark tresses, you settled down near Roman and zoned out conversations, tracking time once more. Even Jimmy silenced.

This time, his heart nearly jumped as Roman noticed the scent of an incredible fragrance. Light yet professional makeup struck your own beauty.

Good God. This man warmed up. Seeing your presence again almost drives him insane.

Because you no longer joined this place like one of his fans, dynamics changed. Your joyful grin from the Austin Theory promo vanished for work.

Even while drifting shadows of your fingertips moved along his temples, Roman closed his eyes and accepted whatever touch you could give.

“All done.” You nearly whispered back. Time still counted down.

“Thank you. I'm so sorry for being late.” His apology repeated.

“Warn us next time.” You offered this truth and cleaned up your station, watching Roman leave with Jimmy.

______

By the end of another match, Roman marched backstage as sweat trickled down his muscular frame, walking shirtless while black tattoos inked.

Dark hair curved both shoulders when Roman locked eye contact with you again.

“Hey. It was good out there.” This time around, this fighting rasp darkened the Southern accent here, even after Roman would clear his throat.

“Yeah.” You finally smiled again.

This red glove sleeved one dominant hand while tresses fell around his chiseled face.

He's not real. You thought, almost breaking the professional stance.

“Don't worry about my hair. I'll need to freshen up before the press conference.” Roman gestured elsewhere and you noticed this hall of private doors.

“Okay.” You nodded and planned to head in the opposite direction, but Roman paused your footsteps.

“There's a Tech decal on my door just in case you're looking for me.” His bright smile returned.

“Tech?” You squinted.

“Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. I played college football.” Roman pointed again.

“Nice.” You offered.

Joining Wrestlemania 40 against Cody Rhodes, Roman even filmed this “home” scene and asserted power, returning to the field in Atlanta.

“Well, I gotta go.” His voice lowered as Roman sadly turned away from you, even just a little while.

“Goodnight.” You understood the limits of privacy and walked down another hall, planning to end this long day.

******

Peeking beyond his opened door to face the hall, Roman stepped wearing fresh clothes after taking this shower, yet several bruises remained.

Fatigued beyond words this evening, his prideful march slowed down and each step continued grounding one private but scary condition.

Despite still facing remission by an absolute miracle, cancer would lurk between personal shadows until this man took his final breath.

Spinning thoughts back from reality, Roman pulled himself together and noticed other people waiting for him. Paul Heyman left for the evening.

“You good?” Jimmy Uso realized the pained expression that wouldn't leave his cousin's frown.

“Tired, but let's get this over with.” Roman attempted strength to cover late-night probes.

“Aight. Let's do it.” Not even dapping Ro up, Jimmy honored limits and still dodged physical chances, especially considering the last few hours.

“Thanks, Jim.” Roman nodded, grateful.

________

While fluorescent lights burned without even using the gym, Roman Reigns handled each question as if his joints hadn't ached upon entry.

Planning to exit the building at last, Reigns would shadow the back of this truck and return to dreams, but Jimmy's phone chimed once more.

“Wait a minute. What's wrong?” Jimmy's voice offered concern.

The call wakes Roman and he barely fixes his hair before sitting up.

“...Are you serious?” Jimmy became frustrated through each passing moment.

“What's goin’ on?” Roman tried to question Jim right away.

“Yo! Turn around.” Ignoring Roman, Jimmy ended that call and yelled to reach the driver's attention.

This commuting truck moved straight back to the large-scale venue and Roman finally noticed why Jimmy even began to panic in the first place.

Your car wouldn't start.

Sitting in that driver's seat alone, dim lights of the vehicular ceiling move as your only brightness inside. Streetlights kept illuminating outdoors.

When the SUV pulled up nearby, you gathered belongings and nearly hopped out of your car, thankful to witness Jimmy's great smile again.

“Take our passenger side.” Jimmy whispered for a moment. “Roman's sleeping.”

“No I'm not.” Roman's gruff accent echoed from the back.

“We'll definitely handle that car situation before you leave.” Jim helped out.

“Thanks.” You accepted this offer, driving to the hotel.

_______

The next day, Jim traded phone various calls despite everything and you rolled out with your car in good standing, still reaching the airport.

“How's Chief holding up?” You spoke to your “brother” once more and checked on Roman.

“Good. Not as exhausted.” Jimmy looked out for Reigns no matter what.

“Well, see you next time. My flight’s boarding, so thanks for helping out.” You bid farewell to Jimmy and expressed gratitude for what happened last night.

“Take care.” Jimmy hung up, giving you space to move forward and travel for this quick beak.

******

“Big Head!” Finally working again, you crossed paths with Jey Uso and almost knocked off his vibrant sunglasses while laughing in the tunnel.

Gone through personal reasons, Jey would come back to the ring and shine once more.

“You're so silly! What's up?” Another truthful grin reached Jey while the chat moved on.

“Nothing.” You've shrugged for a moment.

“Ro's looking for you.” Jey whispered the “secret” and of course mentioned Roman.

“Thanks.” You planned to walk elsewhere and find Roman, saying goodbye near Jey before the cameras would start filming.

______

Another Georgia Tech decal centered this private door and you knocked just in case, absolutely respecting his plan for solitude on the road.

When this door finally opened, you can't believe Roman took up space by its threshold.

Sporting his messy bun and choosing an athletic wardrobe, he smiled toward you.

“Good morning.” Looking up, you realized just how tall Roman stood again.

“Hey. How was your break from us?” His accent pulled forward as usual.

“Quiet. I could sleep without anyone yelling for something.” You welcomed home and enjoyed time out of work.

“Good.” Roman knew, keeping private moments at bay.

Time to go. He thought.

*****

Sweating right down his body once more, Roman caught you hustling behind the scenes again and didn't feel completely exhausted this time around.

“I'm jealous.” Skipping another match press conference, Roman talked with you.

“Why?” You questioned, trying to dodge the sight of his chest.

“Jimmy got your phone number before I did.” Ro brightened his smile.

“He's my brother now and you haven't asked to call.” You turned away, almost swinging your hips to leave Roman behind.

[lazyveran]

Kazula cuddles tysm

wrote this out in under, like, 20 minutes and havent reread it but HERE! thank u for getting my brain going anon.

(set in the arranged marriage verse, a good few years along)

“Darling—”

“Five more minutes.”

Katara huffs. Loud enough, she hopes, to rouse her wife from the document that was clearly more important to her than her own wife.

Azula huffs back. Louder, more punctuated (because of course, the blasted woman practiced her sighs, categorised them by inflection and level to convey adequate messages) and taps her caligraphy brush against the table.

“You’ve been working all day.” Katara says, internally denies the whine that carries her words, “And besides, didn’t we both agree to no work in the bedroom?”

Azula flips the parchment, places it neatly in the pile next to her. It was one that had grown in recent days, now obnoxiously tall where it was stacked on the desk.

Her wife murmurs something under her breath. Then, “Would you really have the entire east coast collapse for—” A pause. From the bed, Katara watches her tilt her head (this one was at a forty-five-degree angle – her mocking confusion angle), “cuddles?”

“Yes.”  

“Of course.” Azula sighs. “Water Tribe predilection. It’s a shame I never—”

“Do not finish that sentence.”

Azula sighs again. At once, the second document is placed on the pile, and she turns. Golden sharp eyes, hair straying into her face as undone from its top knot. It was domestic, as far as a woman like Azula could ever be.

It’s that sharp, golden softness that trails down Katara’s bare body, lingering, before neatly returning to her eyes.

“Really?” She deadpans.

Katara smirks. “Water Tribe predilection.”

She rolls her eyes. “And subtlety. Fine—” Azula rises to stand. Clad in her dressing gown, wrists and hands bared to show marred, delicate flesh, she crosses the room. “Though you’ll find I lack the energy for any extracurricular activities.”

A laugh escapes her. “Only you would call sex ‘extracurricular activities.’” Katara watches her wife roll her eyes and grins. “My love.”

She grumbles. “To think I put up with you.”

The red silk robe is laid neatly over the chaise lounge. Bared to Katara’s indulgent eye, Azula finally approaches the bed. One sharp eyebrow raises – expectant, awaiting. Requests or demands, she stills in the face of both.

Katara softens. It was a wonder, sometimes, how easily Azula trusted her, how much she’d give to her if only she asked. She often finds a fear buried deep within her throat, to ask too much of Azula and see the woman break herself apart without a thought for it.

Tempering the woman’s love was something she had never thought to do, in the years past. Since then;

“We won’t do anything, love. You’re tired, I know.” Katara cocks her head. “Only curricular activities tonight.”

Azula loosens. Though her tone is still sharp, “Must you?”

“Yes.”

“I should ask for a divorce,” She climbs into the bed.

“You won’t.”

Azula opens her arms, shifting the silken sheets to accommodate her space, “No, I won’t.”

The heat of the woman is like a blanket in of itself. Katara is greedy, she finds, in these moments where Azula surrenders. Still sharp, but oh so soft.

She wriggles into her warm embrace. Often, she wonders if Azula specifically regulated her body heat in these moments. It was never too hot, never too cold, and wrapped into the soft, steelcord of her arms, Katara thinks this is what Heaven would feel like.

Azula rests her chin on the crown of her head, tangling their legs. Pressed to her chest, she feels a delicate breath leave Azula.

“Thank you,” She murmurs. Those were rare, only whispered in the dark – the only time Azula ever relaxed.

Katara noses along her collarbone. Takes a moment to press a kiss to the halberd wound carved there. When she reaches the base of Azula’s throat, she smiles into it. She gets a shiver in response.

“Someone has to look after you.”

“Mmh,” Hands reflexively tighten around Katara. Often, Azula clings so hard it hurts. “What rotten work.”

A kiss to the hollow of her throat. “Never.”

[ltsokaylove]

Star Shaped Scars

A Regulus Black x reader

Comfort, fluff, a good bit of angst.

TW! Mention of abuse and description of scars. Let me know if I missed anything! Stay safe loves~

:))

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All dinner she had been awaiting her hangout with Regulus. The two usually met after dinner and talked out of sight at the astronomy tower, and she had been dying to see him since they hadn't met in private in about a week, and it had been a stressful week at that. It was the day after spring break ended, and her sixth year was only months from being over.

It always put her more on edge whenever Regulus had to go home to his parents. She hated the way he returned, colder and more distant each time. It broke her heart to see the toll his parents mistreatment took on him.

She practically inhaled her dinner before speedwalking up the numerous staircases to the astronomy tower. By the time she reaches the top she's like five minutes earlier than their usual meeting time. She stands leaning on the railing, the anticipation eating her up.

He arrives five minutes later than their usual time, appearing silently behind her. He hesitates, but she senses his presence and immediately launches herself into his arms, "Reg!".

He exhales wrapping his arms around her and making sure to not let her hit the ground. She runs her fingers through his hair clinging to him for dear life, "Are you okay?".

He just hums contentedly into her shoulder in response, as she loosens her grip so he can put her down. Her eyes look him over and scan his face of emotion, all she finds is slight happiness but hes otherwise closed off. "Come sit?"

He nods and they sit together behind the safety railings, shoulders touching. "How was your break?" he asks turning his gaze on her, his eyes travel over her face almost memorizing it.

She shrugs not looking at him, but at the sky, "It was alright, was yours...alright?"

He freezes, "A lot better than usual". His tone is final and dry.

"Oh Reg, baby," she sighs leaning into his side and taking his hand into hers. Her fingers graze over the skin of his wrist and hand and he visibly winces. She notices it out of her peripheral vision and looks down to his hand. Its covered in messy scars, most fresh. She gently raises his sleeve and he doesn't stop her he just sighs, defeated. She finds the word 'worthless' carved into his forearm just below his wrist. The only way she knows its not by his doing is the fact that its on his left forearm and that's his dominant hand, and the handwriting is too neat to have been done with his right hand.

She feels hot anger start to surge throughout her body, "Who-." her voice cracks, "Who did this to you?"

"My mother," he says bitterly but still crazily calm.

She digs through the satchel on the floor beside her, she didn't bother to take to her dorm before rushing here like her life depended on it. She almost giggles at the sight of her only band aids being my little pony but thinks better of it and continues looking for the scar ointment in her bag. She pulls it out and looks at him, "Can I patch you up?" she asks gently.

"You don't have to worry about it darling, I-"

"Please?" she says in that soft voice he can't resist. He turns his head away, she broke him.

"Alright, I'm just sorry you have to see this," his voice wavers.

"Stop apologizing for things that aren't your fault". She gently rubs the scar ointment over the word on his forearm before kissing down his arm lightly. She smiles covering the word with the my little pony band aids from her bag.

The corners of his mouth quirks up, "What are those?"

She smiles innocently at him. "Band aids".

He rolls his eyes playfully, "Well I know that, I mean-"

"Shh baby, let me love you." she kisses the palm of his hand, up to his fingertips. "I hope you know your not worthless-"

"I do-" he cuts her off, looking at her lovingly, "I promise, you make me feel so loved darling". He kisses the side of her head.

"Does it hurt at all?"

He shakes his head, "Just burns a little, but that medicine definitely made a difference, thanks my love".

She smiles leaning onto his chest as she holds his hand at her side, "Anytime, I'm just glad we're back at school".

He studies the worried look on her face, "Stop worrying," he shifts so she can lean back onto him, and pulls her in between his legs so they can stargaze comfortably.

"Look there's you're constellation-"

[kingarthurtournament]

Round 3 Side A Poll 1

Sonic

"Sonic gets sucked into Camelot and wields the talking sword Caliburn. He kills King Arthur, who is revealed to be a fake created by Merlin. In the final battle, Caliburn transforms into Excalibur; afterward, Caliburn explains that the fact that Sonic is his wielder means Sonic is the true King Arthur."

"As a known supporter of trans rights, openly ACAB and constantly making people aware of bisexuality, I think Sonic would be exactly the king that England needs right now"

Excalibur

"he looks like a weird sweet potato and nobody in the cast can stand him. every time he appears he has to sing his (bad and corny) song. he's insufferable"

"Fool. My legend dates back to the twelfth century you see. It began on a midsummers day with the sun blazing overhead. No, wait. It was a blustery Autumn day. I was the unsavory fellow back when it all started. Which was in the winter as I recall. I remember the tough crowd, all the hot babes fought over me that summer. Yes. Yes that’s right, it was summer. A scorching midsummer day. I was a dangerous man at the time. And yet, refined somehow. Everyone thought so. They still think so to this day. Although, maybe they didn’t think so as much back then. But they definitely said I was dangerous, I’m sure of it…And I know I’ve always been refined so they must have been thinking it. Yes. Yes indeed. Everyone thought and said and talked about how amazing I was. I’m still amazing of course, but no longer the bad boy I was back then. On that chilled, frozen winter day. I will continue the re-telling of my legend; But first, there will be a five minute break. Stand still and await my return."

[manic-in-the-moshpit]

Fool! My legend dates back to the twelfth century you see. It began on a midsummers day with the sun blazing overhead. No, wait. It was a blustery Autumn day. I was the unsavory fellow back when it all started. Which was in the winter as I recall. I remember the tough crowd, all the hot babes fought over me that summer. Yes. Yes that’s right, it was summer. A scorching midsummer day. I was a dangerous man at the time. And yet, refined somehow. Everyone thought so. They still think so to this day. Although, maybe they didn’t think so as much back then. But they definitely said I was dangerous, I’m sure of it…And I know I’ve always been refined so they must have been thinking it. Yes. Yes indeed. Everyone thought and said and talked about how amazing I was. I’m still amazing of course, but no longer the bad boy I was back then. On that chilled, frozen winter day. I will continue the re-telling of my legend; But first, there will be a five minute break. Stand still and await my return.

[missizzy]

Narrative Interlude: Breaking(Wyll/Karlach)

(Takes place in the universe of my first playthrough, where I failed to save Wyll's father twice, and after the second attempt ultimately chose to let that failure stand .)

Much of the evening was a blur. His friends all told Wyll how sorry they were. Even Astarion made comments about what a pity it was, referring to how useful his father would've been to them alive, of course, but Wyll didn't really mind that from him. Karlach stayed close by his side for most of it.

Mizora was still there. She didn't try to talk to anyone. Maybe even she knew when not to push her luck. Karlach threw multiple glares that she might have been trying to incinerate her with as it was. Sara threw a couple as well.

Wyll didn't look at her at all. If he so much as saw her smirking, he would finally, truly hate her. He had never hated anyone in his life and he didn't want to give her that triumph now.

They were breaking into the Foundry the next day, of course. Sara ran through her vague plan with him, Karlach, and Gale, though really, they didn't know what was going to await them inside that place, only that it was probably going to be ugly. All four of them turned in early.

Karlach slept so easily when she had sufficient comfort to, and it didn't even take much of that. She was asleep within five minutes of her and Wyll laying down together atop their couch. Wyll closed his eyes and struggled to concentrate on the sound and the feel of her breathing against him.

He thought he drifted off, maybe for an hour or so. But then it was the middle of the night, and he was awake again, and he didn't know how to he could get back to sleep, with the sharp, hollow ache that was currently filling his chest.

He pressed his face into Karlach's neck. Even when she was asleep, her pulse pounded strong enough he could feel it against him even from the side. Her skin was so, so hot.

I can't lose her, too. The thought lanced through him. For a moment, he thought he might have to get up and flee the bed, to avoid waking her up and begging her to choose differently, to return to Avernus simply so he wouldn't have to watch her die. It would be the most selfish thing he'd ever done, to do that. He couldn't.

He must have shifted a little away from her in that moment, because she stirred in his arms. "Wyll?" she whispered. He could just make out her face from the glow emanating from her, see the worry on it, but also, she looked a little lost, and so sad. "Wyll, can I..." she drifted off. He saw her shake her head.

Something in him snapped. His hands gripped her and practically flipped her around, and he was kissing her hard, tongue lashing into her mouth until hers responded. She pulled him flush against her as she kissed back, then fell on her back as he pinned her down, grinding his body against hers. He pressed kisses to her neck, found places that made her breath hitch, let his hands wander under her shirt to her breasts, too hot in his hands, but still soft.

He didn't care that this was exactly how he hadn't wanted to do this. He didn't even care about all the other people in the room, at least one of whom wasn't asleep, and the others whom they might wake up. He didn't even care that Mizora was probably still there. He wanted her more than he had ever wanted anything.

But then Karlach shoved him up. "Wyll, Wyll, no," she said. "Not like this."

He stopped and pulled away, of course, but made no attempt to hide his confusion. "Do you not want this anymore?" She'd made clear how much she had their first night together, and if she hadn't brought it up since, it was probably out of a desire not to pressure him further.

"Oh, I absolutely do, I won't deny that," she said. "But if we do this tonight, will you ever in your life stop regretting it? I can't let that happen."

"But I don't know when we're going to do it," he said, and he was whining now, keeping his voice as quiet as he could, but the pain was threatening to overload it completely. "What night can we even hope to look forward to for it? It's been days of pain and brutality, and it's just going to be more days of the same to come."

"Well, personally," she said, "I wouldn't mind doing it on the day we kill Gortash, though I suppose you probably wouldn't want to celebrate killing someone like that, even him. If you're suddenly in a hurry, tomorrow night after we get rid of that Steel Watch that's oppressing the people of this city might be appropriate enough. Or we could go down and get that wyrm that woman told you about. That would definitely be useful against Gortash. Plus it would kind of be your stepping into your new role."

Maybe she wasn't entirely wrong, and obviously she meant well. But Wyll didn't want to think about how he was arguably now the new Duke, didn't want to face what that meant. Too much of him wanted to walk away from that, wanted to stay disowned. But then again, when this was all over, the vacancy in leadership at the city's top could lead to either very good or very bad consequences, and he couldn't morally walk away when he was one of the people with the most power to affect that.

It was as Karlach looked him over, eyes thoughtful as if she somehow read everything off him, that Wyll realized his shoulders were shaking. He wasn't sure whether his head or his heart felt heavier. He wanted to lay down and curl up and maybe not move for a while.

"Wyll," she asked, "I don't think you even need to fuck tonight. I think you need to cry."

"There'd be no use in that." Wyll repeated the words his father had said to him more than once when he'd been young. He hadn't always listened to his father's words, but surely he ought to respect them tonight, of all times.

But he'd been feeling the urge to cry, on and off, since the moment the spiders' explosions had ended and he'd seen his father's charred remains. He'd nearly given in right in the middle of fighting the Waveservants, which had been insult upon injury-he understood why Sara had refused to give Redhammer up to them, but that hadn't made having to kill such people less wrong. He'd trudged alongside the others for the rest of the day with tears still gathered behind his eyes.

And when Karlach just looked at him with that sadness in her eyes, alongside something dangerous close to pity, and sighed, "Oh, Wyll," he felt himself nearly lost.

He thought it was the look on her face, on that night when Mizora had offered him this choice, that might've been the true reason he'd broken the pact. Sara had been urging him to, sure, but he could have ignored her words, her unrelenting anger at his father. He couldn't ever ignore Karlach's pain.

And maybe she knew it, as she said, "Please, whatever you do, don't be sorry you broke the pact. Please, Wyll."

If he'd had anything to say to that, maybe he could have kept the tears back just a little longer. He couldn't even truthfully say he was sorry. But he certainly couldn't truthfully say he wasn't either. Either way, his father was still dead.

The tears were accompanied by loud, painful, ugly sobs. He wasn't even going to get to do this without everyone likely waking up and hearing them. He'd just have to hope they wouldn't say anything in the morning.

Karlach gathered him to her breast as he cried, even though his tears were too hot, possibly enough so to outright evaporate off her skin. Still he let his head lay there, let his tears soak her, desperately, hopelessly wishing they could be enough to cool her heart back down.

[soursvgar]

Luci loves his little brothers (and you) to death, and he tries his best to give you the freedom of choice. but once he actually witness you having any physical connection with another he can't keep playing fair 🤭 (a/n: i'm sorry if luci is a bit mean 😭 he's just a gemini and we can be like that when we're jealous sometimes lolol)

gn! reader, lowkey poly reader, not exactly nsfw since nothing sexual happens but maybe mentions of? and kisses? also i didn't mean to make it slightly angsty but it just happened ^^" oops

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"I think that's enough workout for me." You pant out with your last breath, laying on the floor in the twins' room with the remaining reserve of your energy.

"I agree- although, I had these thoughts for about an hour now." Belphegor states before claiming the spot on the ground next to you.

"Belphie, you only worked out for five minutes... y/n and I were the ones grinding on our own for the past hour while you were on your rest break." Beel shakes his head and sits down besides the two of you, taking a sip of his protein drink. "Well in that case, I'll go eat my lunch now."

"I thought you had your lunch before our workout session?" You question, however, by now you weren't actually surprised with the occurrence of Beel becoming hungry again already.

"This will be my second lunch then." He exclaims cheerfully before standing up and walking out of the room, leaving the two of you to it.

"I'm tired, y/n... let's take a nap together?" Belphegor turns his head slightly toward you, batting his eyelashes as his bottom lip jut out in a pout, as if you needed any more persuasion. You return a nod and gesture to his bed, only to face resistance in the form of a stubborn head shake. "Come on, your bed is right there. You can get up..." You voice the last part with hesitation laced in your tone- truth is, you were unsure if he can, even five minutes of physical activity could lull him to sleep right then and there on the cold parquet.

"Fine, I'll just have to make it harder for you to stay on the floor." You tease, making your way to sit on top of him with your hands pressed against his chest. Nonetheless, Belphegor stands his ground, unnerved by your actions.

"You're going to have to do better than that to make me move, if anything it gives me more of a reason to stay where I am." He smiles mischievously, arms snaking around your legs and up to your hips where they settle. "Besides, I didn't mean that we should nap in my bed here. I was actually thinking about the attic, where we can..." He takes a short pause, eyes not leaving yours as the playful smile still tug onto his lips. "Sleep- uninterrupted."

You chuckle, trying to mask the fact that your cheeks are easily tinted at his words alone, yet you were aware that nothing gets past Belphegor, and that he will use it against you. You extend your arms towards him and pull him to sit upright once he grabs onto your hold, but you immediately doubt your decision when his gaze fixates on you, trailing over your features.

"You know that I love it when you blush, right? Don't look away." He entraps your chin between his index finger and his thumb, guiding your face to close the distance between your pair and his own before he capture your lips in a gentle kiss. "Now... what can you promise me in order for me to follow you to an actual bed? I know you fragile humans don't like sleeping on the ground as much these days." He inquires as he pull away, awaiting your pitch.

"Hm, well... I can promise a steamy makeout session?" You try out your luck, watching for his response while his fingers run under the hem of your shirt, lightly imprinting circles onto the bare skin of your back.

"Pass. You would give it to me anyway. I can easily get it out of you." Belphegor smirks. "All I have to do to make you blush is say your name." He grants you with a smug smile, loving the way your face twist in annoyance- making it obvious to him that he indeed hit the exact spot. "Tell you what, I'll make it easy for you. If you promise me back rubs and cuddles every night for the rest of the month, just me alone, without any of my brothers. Then we have a deal."

"All that for you to get up from the floor and take a nap with me in a real bed?" You cock an eyebrow, earning a bewildered look from the youngest.

"Are you calling me demanding, y/n?" Belphegor grins and softly assist you off of his lap, then proceeds to stand up and help you on your feet as well. "Alright then, let's settle on two weeks."

Instead of feeding his ego further you suffice with shaking your head at him and follow him outside the room. The two of you make your way to the grand staircase leading to the attic before the youngest abruptly stop in his tracks, sighing.

"It's so far up, y/n, are you sure you want to go all the way there? I'm going to need some kind of motivation if you want me to continue."

You have to give it to the youngest siblings for always knowing how to manipulate their way into getting what they want- but you also had to admit it totally worked on you. You pull him closer to you, placing a soft kiss to his lips as you extend your arm to blindly search for the rail behind you. Taking a step backwards, you urge him to follow while you climb one stair at a time. Belphegor quietly allow you to lead the way, arms secured around your waist, squeezing tight for extra protection- since you are in fact, blindly climbing a spiral staircase.

"How's that for motivation?" You pause amidst the course for reassurance that your plan is indeed working, however, the only reply you receive was a hushed grunt and a nudge to your frame as to encourage you to keep climbing. Success.

Suddenly, an unexpected tap on your shoulder interrupts your exchange of laughter; both Belphegor and you freeze as if you were caught committing an atrocious crime. You bite your lip, slowly detaching yourself from the youngest as you turn to face the owner of the hand resting on your shoulder.

"I'm afraid y/n won't be joining your catnap, Belphegor, as we have urgent matters to discuss." Lucifer clears his throat before he scans the other with disdain. "Shall I escort you to my office, or do you have to kiss your pet goodbye first, y/n?"

A pang of guilt settles inside you as you feel Belphegor's grip loosen around your waist, his face hidden from your vicinity when he lets go of you, advancing up the stairs on his own. Lucifer on the other hand is indifferent, only offering his arm to you once his younger brother is out of sight. He leads you back down and away to his study and closes the door behind you.

"So, what's the important matter we have to discuss?" You watch Lucifer strut towards his desk, humming while he leans back, arched against the hardwood table. He observes you quietly, as if he's expecting you to be the one to tell him what brought you around. At this point, your thoughts are a mess. Both Belphegor and yourself apprehend that denying any of Lucifer's wishes never ends well for anyone, and if he calls for you, it means you must immediately adhere. Regardless, it pained you to see Belphegor's reaction, being obviously nicked by his brother's sneer. "You didn't have to be mean to him, you know?" you assert, having had enough of his power play.

"These documents need your attention." Lucifer dismisses your remark and use his head to point towards a pile of papers to his side, laying neatly on his desk. He raises one hand, signalling for you to step closer towards him. You do as he instructs and reach for the documents to his side, but Lucifer plays his move first, straddling you and draping his arms over your sides.

"You're right, I was rude to Belphie." His eyes meet yours with an apologetic gaze. "I didn't intend to. I really do try, y/n... I want to allow you the license to do as you please. I whole heartedly do." He sighs, taking your hand in his. "And I didn't mean to pry, I truthfully was in the attic for different reasons. But when I saw you with my brother... I couldn't turn a blind eye anymore. It's one thing when I'm aware of it in theory, but actually witnessing it- well... my point is, you're mine, y/n. Or at least, you should be. I want you to be."

Your eyes trail to the stack of documents, realizing they were outdated budgeting files that most likely had nothing to do with you.

"There was no urgent matter, was there, Lucifer?" You stand still within his grip, unsure whether you're disappointed with his behaviour, or your lack of. You could have declined his request if you really wanted to, but, did you really want to? It seems as if you will have to start being more decisive in the coming days, or situations like these will keep arising.

"I'm afraid the only urgency was to separate you from my brother. I apologize, y/n."

[buckysimp101]

And They Were Roommates- Epilogue

Bucky Barnes x Original Female Character

Series Masterlist

Five Years Later

Olivia's POV

"Congratulations, Mrs. Wilson," I whispered with a cheeky wink as I leaned in to give Natasha a hug.

"Thank you, Mrs. Barnes," she responded in kind, returning the wink. Natasha and Sam had finally gotten married, the last of our friend group couples to do so. Tony had been joking that all we needed was to find Steve someone and we'd be all set, this was after he joked about having to buy wedding gifts for Wanda's wedding, that took place just a few weeks before mine and Bucky's. The emerald green of my bridesmaid dressed flowed as I turned to give Sam a hug, congratulating him and making sure he understood what I'd do to him if he ever hurt Natasha, winning me an eye roll.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah you're real intimidating Mill- Barnes. Damn it. Two years later and it's still real weird calling you that," Sam joked, "speaking of, where is the bigshot Best Man Number 1? He's gonna miss his speech, and I know he'll be crying to you if Steve upstages him."

"Relax, Sam. He's just talking to Tony. I'll go break them up, those two never know how to leave work at work," I spoke softly, giving Sam's forearm a pat before heading towards the Stark family. Pepper was holding their six month old daughter Morgan as she tried to avoid listening to Bucky and Tony talking about work. I sidled up to Bucky, looping my arm through his, and interrupted, "Sorry to interrupt boys, well not exactly, but Mr. Barnes here has a Best Man speech to make in approximately five minutes before either Mr. Wilson drags him to the dance floor by his ear, or Mr. Rogers roasts him to infinity and beyond for his slacking Best Manliness."

"Oh well thank you, Mrs. Barnes for reminding me," Bucky responded lightly, a grin playing on his lips as he leant down to press a kiss on mine.

"Yuck, you kids and your sappiness. Just get you one of these, you'll be so sleep deprived you'll forget what sappy looks like," Tony joked as he pointed to Morgan, Pepper cutting eyes at him playfully. Ever since Pepper had announced her pregnancy Tony had been over the moon. As a dad? He knew he'd catch a star for Morgan if she so much as asked. Tony Stark was wrapped around that little finger.

"Hey my love, what was that?" Bucky asked looking to his left, trying to attract my attention so he could give Tony the finger, I rolled my eyes at their playfulness.

"That doesn't work on me, babe. Now shoo," I said, giving Bucky's butt a swat as he chuckled, walking towards the dance floor just in time for the DJ to call his name for his speech. I settled in next to Pepper as she said something to Morgan, something about Tony being an idiot, and leaned in to coo over the infant. She had Tony's eyes, Tony's hair, hell she was a mini Tony through and through, with Pep's attitude of course.

"You wanna actually get something to eat, Pep? I can hold the lil monster," I asked, noticing that Pepper hadn't touched any of the food in front of here, despite it being served only a few minutes prior. I knew that she wouldn't turn down the chance to eat a hot meal as she handed Morgan over to my awaiting arms.

"Hi Morguna, Auntie Livvie loves you so much yes she does," I whispered, stroking the infant's brown hair and rocking her slowly. I heard clapping, most likely signaling the end of Bucky's speech but my attention was 100% locked on the little girl in my arms.

A low whistle sounded from behind me, "Watch out there, Buck. She'll be begging you for one if you're not careful," Tony joked from behind me, making me finally look up to see Bucky standing in front of me. His eyes were soft, fuck his whole expression was soft. He had this dopey look in his eyes and his lips had a small grin playing on them. When our eyes locked, there were no words that needed to be said.

The rest of the night passed uneventfully.  Sam tried to get Natasha to agree to let him host a karaoke competition as the night dwindled and that was my cue to leave. As Bucky and I got back in the car to head to our apartment, I tilted my head and asked, "Bucky...let's have a baby, yeah?"

His head whipped towards me, the grin on his face turning into a full smile as he responded, "I thought you'd never ask, sweetheart."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

8 months later

Turns out, I didn't even need to ask. A week after Natasha and Sam's wedding, I woke up with what I thought was a horrible stomach bug, as cliche as it sounds. That stomach bug turned out to be our son. The second I told Bucky I was pregnant his eyes got so wide, I swear I thought he was going to pass out. We set up my doctor's appointment as soon as I could get one and well, 8 months later here we are.

"JAMES FUCKING BARNES I SWEAR TO WHATEVER GOD OR DEVIL IS LISTENING IF YOU SO MUCH AS LOOK IN MY DIRECTION ROMANTICALLY OR SEXUALLY EVER AGAIN I WILL CASTRATE YOU," I yelled as I tried to focus on push, Bucky's face paling in the process, whether it was because of what I was saying or how tight I was gripping his hand I have no clue.

He moved his other hand up to brush the hair off my face as I finished the push, breathing heavily and unconsciously leaning  into his hand. "That's it, baby. You're doing great, mama, but doc is saying you gotta do one more push and then you can take a break. Come on, Livvie baby, one more push," he whispered softly.

"DAMN IT BUCKY WHY CAN"T YOU DO THIS," I whined into the push making Bucky laugh in response.

"Believe me baby, if I could sw-," he started, only to be interrupted by me saying,, "So help me Buck if you're about to say you'd switch places with me, just stop because I know it's a lie. Nobody willingly wants to go through this."

"Alright, Olivia. He's close. I think if you give me one more big push, we'll have his head!" the doctor stated, my nerves returning as I realized just how close we were to having a baby. "Alright, Mrs. Barnes, push now!" I took a deep breath and pushed as hard as I could.

"FUCK FUCK FUCK WHY DID I SAY NO TO AN EPIDURAL!"

The doctor and nurses said a few more things as I finished pushing and next thing I know it's like all the pressure had disappeared. Within seconds I heard a sputtering cry and my head whipped to look at Bucky, tears forming in both our eyes as the doctor placed our baby on my chest and announced, "Congratulations, Olivia and Bucky, meet your son."

Bucky and I both started crying as I held our baby close to me. Bucky leaned in for a deep kiss and through the kiss he whispered on my lips, "I love you so much. You are so fucking strong, so goddamn beautiful. I'm so lucky you're my wife and the mother of my child. Thank you, Liv. Man I fucking love you." His declarations only making me cry more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bucky's POV

As they took our son to get cleaned up and measured, I followed them to watch in awe of the miracle that Olivia had delivered us. Tears seemed to be never ending, it's like I couldn't stop crying as I watched the nurses and doctor fuss over him.

There on the bassinet, all seven pounds and nineteen inches, laid our son. Our Grant Thomas Barnes. Named for the two men who brought Olivia Sage Miller Barnes into my life. The two pains in my ass who made sure that I married that woman who just happened to be in Sam's World Archaeology class. The two smuggest bastards in the universe now have a kid named after them, how we were going to ever deal with them now was beyond me.

A nurse came up to me, Grant wrapped up in a blanket in their arms, and held him out to me, "Wanna hold him, dad?" I nodded my head as fast as I could and held my arms out, making sure to support his head, and began walking over to Olivia. Her eyes brightened as she saw the two of us approach, a weak smile growing on her face.

"Hey, daddy," she whispered with a wink, causing a blush to rise to my cheeks and her to roll her eyes at my reaction. "Hey, mama," I responded in kind, causing a shy smile to appear on her face.

"Hi Grant, my sweet boy. I'm your mama, and this handsome man holding you is your daddy. We're so happy you're here now, little man," Olivia cooed as she reached out to touch him. All I could do was watch her. Here. With our son. Our little family grew almost instantaneously. We've come a long way from the dumb, pining idiots we once were.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

THE END

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That is it for And They Were Roommates, folks! I hope you enjoyed this fic because I had a great time writing it! Thanks to my bestie again for helping me with ideas for this epilogue, this one is dedicated to you boo, @youlightmeupfinn​!

[randomshyperson]

The Scarlet Witch Prophecy - Chapter 18 - Part XVII - Agatha's Memories (Part One)

Gif is not mine, but Pinterest would let me give credits to the gif maker, so bless you wherever you are friend.

Summary: As the youngest daughter of Howard Stark, you have ordinary expectations for your years at Hogwarts. Little do you know what adventures await you when your destiny is intertwined with the legendary Scarlet Witch.

Warnings: +16. Adaptation of the Harry Potter Saga, Magical Thematic, Prophecies, Mentions of Violence, Torture and dark magic, Language (swearing and minor/major offenses), manipulation of will, Underage kissing, insinuation of smut with minors, Smut (overage), descriptions of death, aggression, obscurity, angst, fluffy, soulmates analogies. || Chapter Warnings: mentions of violence, manipulation of will and consent.

Series Masterlist ||  Read on AO3 || All Works Masterlist

Chapter 18 - Part XVII - Agatha's Memories (Part One)

You thought you were going to fall asleep for a long time.

But as soon as your eyes closed, you felt the urge to open them again, as if being pulled out of your rest. The same feeling of being woken up in the middle of a dream.

“Wanda?” You called as soon as you saw around, and she was already next to you, her hand on your face, smiling gently as she helped you stand still. “Where are we?”

“Agatha’s memories I think.” She said and you followed her eyes, only now realizing it was Hogwarts where you two were. You recognize the corridor from the seventh floor, because of the positions of the towers outside. “We should go this way, follow the fire.”

You notice that only the candles in that direction were on, so you nod, Wanda kept her hand on yours all the way to the small door ajar at the end of the wall.

Inside, it was not empty. Wanda got in first, as if checking if anything would happen if she interrupted it, but it was just a memory, and it continued to happen as if you two were not there.

“Dad.” You whisper in shock as you step in. Your father was sitting in one of the chairs, a ravenclaw tie loosened in his neck, a curious look on his face. He was about your age.

But the grip on your hand tightens, and you then realize the other wizards inside as well.

Erik, covered in soot just like your dad, had his wand in hands, and Agatha in the front of the room.

The witch stood with her arms crossed, a disapproving look on her face. And you noticed that the boys were crestfallen, and understood that they had just been caught.

"Sorry for the delay, Agatha, I came as soon as I got your note." Said a male voice behind you, and you held your breath as you looked.

It was Mephisto, but he looked nothing like the scary man in the long cape and red eyes you are familiar with. He was just an adult with dark brown eyes, a stern look, and a tired face. He wore the clothes of his time, but on his necktie he had a hydra's brooch.

"No problem, Faustus." Agatha assured with a smile as the man walked in and closed the door. "Mr. Stark and Mr. Lehnsherr didn't mind waiting."

"What happened to your robes, boys?" Mephisto asked them curiously, and Erik, who was cleaning his wand on his cloak, replied first.

"A little accident, sir." He answered almost shyly. It was strange to see him like that, so young. "Howie and I are very sorry for the mess."

"Apologies are not enough, Mr. Lehnsherr." Agatha warns seriously. "If I hadn't interrupted the experiment, you guys would have blown up the whole floor."

"But we are sorry, Mrs. Harkness." Repeated your father, but he didn't seem to be really upset.

"When I gave you permission to continue with your research after what happened in the fourth year, I trusted that you would never again risk the safety of your colleagues, gentlemen." Agatha continued firmly. "I am beginning to rethink my decision."

"No!" Erik and Howard exclaimed together, which caused Agatha to raise her eyebrow. Your father cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Please, Headmistress. It was just this once, and it was for a good reason!" He declares looking suddenly excited. "We found something!"

Your father hurried to reach the back of the room, and only now did you notice the molten metal studded in the wall, as if something had exploded there a few minutes ago.

"The map, Miss Harkness, did not show this part of the castle." He told with a smile, touching the wall. "Erik and I wanted to find out why. But we couldn't break the wall with spells, so we tried using a machine."

Agatha sighed, massaging her temple as Mephisto smiled at the whole scene. "You two and your antics with metal." He commented casually, and you were almost startled by the whole thing. The greatest dark wizard of all time, smiling tenderly at two students.

"What did you find, boys?" He asked curiously, and your father hurried to pull the metal out of the wall, and with some effort, a large hole was exposed in the concrete.

"I don't know what's in there, but it's not an empty room." Howard says. "And every time we peek in it seems to turn into something else."

"What are you waiting for?" Mephisto asks excitedly. "Let's go in."

Whatever your father had built was destroyed by a powerful spell, and melted against the wall. So Agatha and Mephisto recited some incantations together against the wall, and the hole opened up into a door.

And you widened your eyes.

"Wanda, is that the...?"

"Room of Requirement" She concluded as shocked as you were, walking to keep up with the wizards who were hurrying into the place.

And unlike the living room you knew, or the dueling room Wanda was familiar with from the order, the room of requirement was completely different. It was dark, and crowded. Piles and piles of the most diverse objects scattered around, like a magical garbage dump. But it wasn't junk at all.

It was books, shiny objects, all sorts of things. You think you even saw a chest of gold before you turned your attention to the group in front of you, stunned by such a discovery.

" Impressive, boys." Agatha commented almost proudly, and then assumed a serious expression. "Go back to your dormitories now".

"But, Professor-" They started together but Agatha looked at them with repression, gesturing.

"We don't know the origin of the items in that place, gentlemen." She clarified. "The teachers will ascertain that there is nothing here that could injure them. If there is no danger, you, as well as the rest of the school, will be allowed to be here. But for now, back to your dorms, or you will receive a month's detention."

The boys were upset, and you swallowed dryly at the image of your father sulking like a kid. Or better yet, he really was. Just a kid.

Your gaze followed him as he walked out beside Erik, the two of them whispering softly, and you sighed, feeling your eyes fill with tears watching him go. Wanda wiped away the tear that ran down, looking at you tenderly.

"Hey, are you alright?" She asked but you just nodded, grateful for her touch. Your father is dead, and this is no time to try to cling to another witch's memories of him.

"Yes, let's keep going." You said kissing her palm on your cheek before intertwining your hands, turning your attention back to the memory.

Without the boys, you noticed that Mephisto's posture changed.

He looked nervous, or perhaps almost fascinated by everything around him, as if he didn't know what to touch first.

"Faustus, where do we start?" Agatha asked next, as impressed as he was, looking around at the piles.

Mephisto seemed almost surprised at her speech. "I thought you were going to call the rest of the faculty, Agatha."

The witch laughed lightly. "And risk them agreeing to censor this place? No way. You and I will take a peek first. Collect anything that has the appearance of something the ministry of magic could ban."

You jumped in fright when someone tapped your shoulder, instinctively covering Wanda, but it was only Agatha. The real one, with a friendly posture.

"That was my mistake, children." She says nostalgically, watching the memory as well. "I should have called the teachers."

"What did you find here, Agatha?" Wanda asked a moment later, when you stood back upright as you recovered from your fright.

"Everything."

The memory around you trembled, as if Agatha decided to change it to hurry things. Soon, you find yourself staring at the image of her and Mephisto sitting in front of a table, in what you reckon was his office.

“It’s strange, Agatha.” The man said. “All pages are blank, but I can sense the magic.”

“Tried any remove concealment spells?” Agatha asked as Mephisto agreed, looking frustrated as both of them gazed at the open book at the table.

Agatha leaned over to reach an inkwell, knocking over the paper. She smiled as the ink vanished.

“See, it’s absorbing it.” She says. “So you just gonna give something in return for him to provide your answers.”

Mephisto laughs lightly, commenting that Agatha always found a way to surprise him. You wanted to throw up.

He took his wand from his jacket, and held it out to his own hand, cutting it as he leaned toward the book.

As his blood dripped onto the pages, the paper filled with ink, and the sorcerers let out contented exclamations.

"The book of the damned." Mephisto read it carefully, and then smiled at Agatha. "Sounds promising."

"I'll bet you three galleons it's ritualistic magic." The witch retorted, making the other laugh.

"Five galleons that it's alchemy." He replied smiling before turning his attention back to the book.

Before you could comment on your indignation at seeing them bet on something so absurd, the memory changed again.

You and Wanda had watched the flashes of the two sorcerers studying in that room, reading the darkhold, and other books as well. Sometimes they would leave, probably to teach their classes, but would return to their reading. You saw the moon appear several times in the window, and counted at least fourteen nights before the memory stabilized in front of you again.

Agatha looked nervous, crossing her arms as she stared at Mephisto.

"I just think there's something strange going on, Faustus!" She spoke up, but only received a bored expression. "The dead unicorns in the forest, the blood moon! I'm worried about the students."

"You are just scared, Agatha!" He sneered cruelly. "We finally found something worthwhile in this castle! We can't stop now."

But Agatha frowned, "Hogwarts has always been worthwhile to me, Faustus. I made it clear to you when we started this, that I wasn't going to do anything that would put the school at risk."

"It's only a castle, Agatha!" He retorts impatiently. "Old stones piled up. Stop acting like it's the holiest place in the world. What we find here, what's in that book, in those chests, is more than any other sorcerer has ever found. It is something from the ancients, things that Merlin would doubt."

"Merlin is dead, Faustus." Agatha retorted, looking at her friend with a neutral expression. "And I don't intend to have the same fate. I want to live. Like Morgana did."

Mephisto rolled his eyes. "Death doesn't have to be the end, old friend."

Agatha frowned in confusion, and Mephisto moved to reach the darkhold on the highest shelf. "We both won the bet after all. But I found more. Here look, Agatha. It's necromancy."

The witch stared wide-eyed, taking a step back as soon as Mephisto held out the item to her.

"I don't study this kind of thing, Faustus." She said in shock, which made Mephisto laugh incredulously.

"Don't give me puritism, now, Agatha." He retorted still with the book open in his arm. "How many rituals have you performed? Necromancy is the exact same with a little more power."

Agatha shook her head. "Crossing the line of death condemns the witch to-"

"To eternal suffering?" He interrupted in mockery. "What is that, Agatha? Pagan Christianity? You're hanging out too much with those mudbloods."

The principal clenched her jaw. "Don't forget I'm a half-blood, Faustus."

But the wizard only rolled his eyes. "Muggles talk about hell, and heaven like they know any shit about magic. Fools. They and all witches who bow to myths like those. I do not need to fear any punishment if I never die."

"Everything that lives must die, Faustus." Agatha retorted seriously. "You can't change that, no matter how hard you try. And you are not the first to do so."

Mephisto rolled his eyes, and assumed a defensive posture. "I'll be the first to succeed then, Agatha."

"Fau-"

But they are interrupted by a knock on the door, and Mephisto quickly hides the book behind his body.

You are surprised to see Thor's father, and your former Astronomy teacher, Odin, enter. And he looked disturbed.

"Headmistress, professor, sorry for the intrusion." He speaks hurriedly. "We need help downstairs, it's the Lehnsherr girl."

Your frown, and the memory changed just as the teachers rushed to leave the room.

When the image stabilized again, you felt Wanda squeeze your hand to get your attention.

"Y/N, it's my Aunt Raven." She spoke over the girl lying on the ward bed in front of you two.

"What happened to her?" Agatha asks the group around you. You are startled when you notice your father standing right next to you.

"I don't know, professor." It is Erik who answers with desperation. "We were playing Quiddicht, and Ray dived in to get the snitch. But her eyes started glowing and she fell."

An orange-eyed black woman you didn't know approached, and you imagined she was the healer of that time. Agatha turned to her immediately.

“Katherine, do you know what’s wrong?” Agatha asked worried but the woman shook her head, moving quickly to put the basin of hot water on the headboard beside Raven's bed, and wet a towel she placed on the girl's forehead, making you understand that she must have had a fever.

"It's dark magic, principal, that I'm sure of." The nurse replied. "The girl has marks on her back, but the boys couldn't tell if she messed with something she shouldn't have."

You noticed the look Erik exchanged with Agatha, but neither he nor the principal said anything.

"What kind of enchantment is it?" Mephisto asked, but unlike Agatha's worried tone, he seemed almost in a hurry to get out of there right away.

"I don't know, professor-"

"What kind of healer are you, Fury?" he interjected angrily, shocking those present for a brief second, before Agatha pulled him by the forearm away, almost at the door in the infirmary.

"Don't you dare talk to my employees like that, Faustus." She warns between teeth, but the man looks impatient.

"She needs to find out what's wrong here, Agatha." He retorts without caring about her previous words. "If the girl goes to St.Mungus, it will raise questions. And I know you don't want the ministry going through your drawers."

Agatha squinted her eyes at him, being quiet for a moment.

"Miss Lehnsherr is part of your potions club, Faustus." She begins. " Do you have any idea if she has tried some potion she shouldn't have?"

The man clenches his jaw, but his pallor betrays him, and both you and Wanda and Agatha realize this.

"Don't be ridiculous." He says offended, but keeps his tone low so as not to be heard by the others. "I have nothing to do with it."

"I think that better be true, Faustus." It is Agatha's last warning before she turns back to Raven, and the memory changes again.

You almost lost your balance this time, as you appeared on a staircase, but Wanda held you by the waist, and you shyly turned to her.

Pushing away any thoughts inappropriate for the moment, you turned your attention to the boy a few feet away, who was climbing the steps, but stopped when Agatha called out to him.

"Yes, Professor?" Erik asked, sounding troubled.

"It's about your sister, Mr. Lehnsherr." Agatha says, and lowers her tone as she leans in. "I need to ask you something, and you need to be honest."

Erik nods frantically, a mixture of curiosity and concern in his gaze.

"Kat-Mrs. Fury." Agatha corrected herself before continuing. "She investigated the marks on Raven's back. They are claw marks, Erik. Werewolf claws."

Erik clenched his jaw, and looked down at the floor.

"Professor I-"

"Don't lie, Erik." She asks seriously. "I'll know if you do. What I need to find out is how there is a werewolf inside the castle."

"It wasn't a werewolf, Professor." He says and then takes a deep breath, looking up at the top of the school, as if checking to see if they really were alone. "It was a big wolf, but not a werewolf. It was an animagus."

Agatha frowns, and Erik continues. "Please, professor, apologize to me in advance, I shouldn't have agreed to this whole story." He starts nervously. "B-but Howey thought we wouldn't have any problems if we did everything right, but then Professor Faustus found out and told us our secret was safe and-"

"What are you talking about, Erik?"

Wanda's father swallowed dryly, but looked at Agatha. "Howey and I thought it was unfair for you to forbid us to continue studying wizard mechanics in the castle after we found the treasure room for you. So we decided to continue studying elsewhere."

Agatha clenched her jaw, but Erik kept talking.

"We tried the forbidden forest, but Howey pissed off the acromantulas." He counters with a guilty look. "Professor Faustus was in the forest, and he saved our asses. He said he would keep our secret if we kept his."

"What is Faustus' secret?" Agatha asked immediately, and Erik looked away to the ground.

"I don't judge, and I didn't understand why, but the professor was drinking unicorn blood." He counters. "I found him on top of the poor animal, it looked like a vampire. He told us he was sick."

Agatha sighs, closing her eyes for a moment.

“What else, Erik?”

“He said that you knew the castle too much, you knew every creature.” The boy continues. “Professor Faustus suggested we learn how to hide inside the forest. But we didn’t know any spells like this, so he taught us about animagi.”

Agatha bited her lip thoughtfully, waiting for Erik to continue.

“He helped us with everything, the spells, the potions.” He added. “And my sister joined us as well, and honestly, Ray is way better at this than us. When we finally did it, professor Faustus was impressed but he kind of kept us apart, and only seemed interested in talking to Ray about it, probably because she can turn into any animal she wants now.”

The professor widened her eyes to this. “Really?” She asks impressed, but quickly converts to a more impassive expression. “What about you and Mister Stark?”

“Just one.” He says and you realize that he doesn’t want to actually share what animal he and your dad can turn into so Agatha won’t know. And the headmistress doesn't ask further either.

She just takes a deep breath, and straightens her posture. “I decided to ban the experiments because the safety of your colleagues has been compromised, Erik. And clearly I was right.”

Erik seemed really embarrassed as he had thick tears in his eyes. “We didn’t mean any harm, professor.”

“Intentions don’t really matter now, do they, mister Lehnsherr?” She accuse with sarcasm, but she sighs, returning to a more friendly posture. “How did Raven get the marks?”

“We were playing quidditch in the florest, professor.” The boy tells with hesitation. “But Howey and I were trying different things, new enchantments to make the game more fun. A faster golden snitch and a bludger that can part into three when hitted correctly. Stuff we could sell once we leave Hogwarts.” He clarifies.

“As if Quidditch is not dangerous enough.” Wanda mutters to you, making you smile.

“But we lost the snitch in the woods.” Erik continues. “And of course we couldn't leave it there, it was our first prototype. So we turned into animals, but something got wrong. With me.”

“What Erik?”

“He lost his consciousness.” It was not Erik who answered but your dad, coming from the stair behind you. He looked upset, his eyes matched yours and you felt your heart race, even though you knew he was just seing Erik. “Good afternoon, professor.”

“Howey-”

“It’s okay, Erik.” Your dad says with a smile. “It is also your secret to share, and maybe we took this too far.”

“I expected you two to clarify this soon before I expelled you both.” Agatha cuts the conversation quickly, looking impatily. Your dad takes another step.

“It was the blood moon, professor.” He said. “It messed with our heads. I got nauseous, almost passed out when I transfigured myself. But Erik lost his mind entirely. Ray was better at this than us, but she also got a bit slow, I think. That’s how Erik got to her.”

“We fought, professor.” Erik clarified, almost disgusted with himself. “I attacked her like an animal.”

“And then?”

“We didn’t know what to do! It was a secret, so I ran straight to professor Faustus' office.” Erik says. “He came back to the forest, and when he saw Ray he said he would help. I don’t know how he did it, but she was fine for weeks. Until today, we’re playing and this happened.” He explains. “I was going to tell you everything back there. B-but professor Fastus whispered in my head to be quiet about the animagi.”

Agatha sighs, massaging her temples. “Great, fucking great.” She whispered to herself, then turned back to the boys. "That 's all?”

As they both nod, Agatha climbs the steps. "Go back to your dorms, I appreciate your honesty."

While the memory faded, you turned as you heard someone move next to you. It was Agatha, the real one.

“Please tell me you fired him after that.” You say to her but she just smirks, gesturing with her head for you and Wanda to look forward.

This time, it’s not Hogwarts. But a bar you have only been to once, the Hog’s Head Inn.

“Our interests are at odds, my friend." Agatha says in a warning tone to the wizard sitting across from her. "Faustus, don't make things harder for us, think of our friendship."

You notice that Mephisto now looks more like the wizard you know. His longer hair and scruffy beard give him a more grim-faced appearance, the dark marks under his eye and the bumps of his bones in his cheeks give him an anemic and sickly look. You deduce that it is the excess consumption of the darkhold.

He gives the teacher a humorless laugh, coughing lightly, and Agatha raises her eyebrow. "We were never friends, Harkness." He retorts. "We had an academic arrangement. And I'm just a professor in your fairy-tale castle."

"That's not true, Faustus." Agatha tries, but Mephisto just runs his hand across his face, throwing his hair back, and you notice the dark marks on his neck, his veins.

"He was dying." Wanda whispers beside you, noticing as well. "The book was killing him, Y/N."

"Exactly, Miss Maximoff." The real Agatha speaks next to you, the memory muffled as if you were underwater, the conversation no longer audible. "And so close to death, people begin to despair."

“I told you I was sorry about hiding the animagi issue, Agatha. Please do not bring up this subject again.” He says. Agatha reaches for his head over the table.

“Do not hurt my students again, Faustus.” She seriously tells him, and Mephisto looks even more tense. "Because if you do, we won't have any conversation at all."

Agatha looked ahead, and the memory changed again.

"I finally figured it out, Agatha!" You were startled when the image of Mephisto appeared so close, taking a step away.

It was a living room where you were now, and the witch had just opened the front door for the man, soaked from head to toe due to the storm outside.

You had never seen Agatha's house before, and were surprised to find that she had one, and did not live in the castle as you had assumed all these years. But these were not important questions, so you turned your attention to the memories going on around you.

"It's late, Faustus." Agatha complained, but made room for him to come in, using her wand to dry the water he brought on the floor and his clothes as well. "And it's summer. Can't this wait until we get back to Hogwarts?"

Mephisto shook his head in despair, and moved to the table in the center of the room. There, he deposited a necklace.

"It was there the whole time, Agatha." He recounted with fascination, laughing at such happiness. "I was reading, I felt feverish, but I knew I just needed some water. I tripped over the bookcase on the way, and that old hat fell off. And then the locket was at my feet." He narrates, taking the object between his fingers and placing it in the woman's field of vision. "It's his, Agatha. It belonged to Salazar Slytherin! Look at the serpent. I finally found it."

"That's..." Agatha began, touching the medallion with her fingers. "Impressive, I admit. But still, it's just a necklace, Faustus. You didn't have to come in this storm-"

"You don't understand!" He cuts in despair. "It's a worthy object, Agatha! Strong enough to guard my soul."

At that, Agatha's eyes widened in shock. " I beg your pardon?"

But Mephisto merely picked up the locket, smiling to himself, his eyes shining. "I learned how to avoid death, my friend. To conceal my soul into eternal parts, trapped in objects on this earth. I have been in search of the objects that might be strong enough to carry."

"Merlin...." Agatha whispered in horror, but Mephisto didn't even seem to be listening.

"The necklace will guard the first part." He continued. "I need to do it once to know exactly what price to pay. There are so few records about it. If the magic is not strong enough, I will repeat the spell as many times as ne-

The speech was interrupted by a loud sound. Agatha slapped him hard across the face, and the man blinked in shock for long seconds.

"You often forget who you are talking to, Faustus." Agatha says with a fury in her eyes that you have never seen before. And Mephisto clenches his jaw, but seems so in shock at the aggression that he says nothing. "You forget who I am, where I learned my magic from. I only realize now that you really don't have any respect for it."

The man assumes an almost apologetic expression, but Agatha speaks again before he can say anything.

"You think I don't know the art of necromancy?" She questions angrily. "That I have never seen a witch come back from the world of the dead? I dueled with the Inferi of Kang in the Independence of the Romanis Witches, while you were just an infant!" She squirms and Mephisto swallows dryly, looking almost ashamed. "Do you think I don't know the soul splitting spell? The atrocity that must be done? I know the price, you fool."

And then Mephisto's posture changes. He looks curious, and looks at Agatha as if he is begging.

"Tell me the price, old friend." He asks. "The book didn't tell me. I don't know how to complete the spell. Please, I need-"

The next slap seems harder than the first. But Mephisto just laughs, brushing his hair out of his face as Agatha looks at him angrily.

"I would never teach another sorcerer that magic." She declares. "Least of all to one I have once called friend."

Agatha takes a step to the side, signaling for Mephisto to leave, the door magically opens.

The wizard gives a humorless laugh, the medallion dangling from his fingers.

"You are just like everyone else, Agatha." He says as he looks at her again, but then shakes his head slightly. "Actually, I think it's even worse. Because the fools in the ministry are really stupid, but you know the magic spells. And you choose to keep them to yourself."

"If you follow through with that, I will make your words my own." Agatha says. "We won't be friends anymore, Faustus. Truly, you will be alone. And a necromancer is not welcome at Hogwarts."

"I have nothing to go on with if you won't help me." He sneers, taking a step to leave. In the rain, he turns to the witch again, with a sly smile. "But alone I always have been. That never stopped me before."

You watch him appear, and Agatha closes the door. Everything is muffled again, and you turn to the real witch who sat in one of the chairs, the sounds muted around you.

"What happened after that?" Wanda asks Agatha, who seems shaken by the memories, thoughtful. She doesn't look at the two of you, just moves her fingers.

And the sound of someone screaming makes your whole body shiver.

It is a child. She looks directly at you with a horrified look, and it takes a second for you to remember that she must be looking at something behind you.

Wanda turns around first, and the way she shakes your hand almost makes you give up looking as well.

There is the man on the ground, and you stumble away as you see the blood running near your feet, forgetting that it wasn't really going to touch you, that it was just a memory.

"This is T'Chaka, father of your herbology teacher." Agatha counters, sitting on a rock wall. You look around, but don't recognize the place.

"Where are we Agatha?" You ask, and then it occurs to you that you haven't seen the teacher anywhere.

"He used to be one of the most powerful wizards in Merlin's order." She continues, ignoring your question. "But he was gone in the snap of a finger."

You swallow dryly as you notice a man approach the body, wand in hand.

"Where are you at?" Wanda asks Agatha in confusion, and the teacher gives a sad smile.

"That memory is not mine, Miss Maximoff." She clarifies, finally standing up, and pointing in the opposite direction of the wizards, toward the village, but between the walls of the houses. "It's from the girl hiding among the bushes."

You and Wanda exchange shocked glances.

And the memory blurs around you. Agatha has her hand raised in the air. "I don't want you to put out what is in your stomachs with what he did here. Creating a horcrux is the greatest magical atrocity a wizard can commit." She says, and the memory begins to shift again. "Just know that he did it. Faustus made his first horcrux with the death of that man, almost twenty years ago in Godric's Hollow."

When everything stabilized around you again, you gasped as you recognized your garden.

“What the hell were you doing in my house Agatha?” You asked but the real one was no longer there. You were facing your front door with the memory one.

It was your grandfather who opened the door, and you felt your heart race a bit. You haven’t seen him since you’re six, maybe younger.

“Agatha!” He greeted excitedly, moving to hug the witch. “Finally, we were starting to worry you got lost, my friend!”

Your grandfather pulled her in, and you and Wanda followed the clue. The Stark mansion was all decorated with a Christmas theme, and there were at least twenty other people inside.

“I’m sorry for being late, I had a few things with the minister.” Agatha clarifies. “All those weird things going on in Scotland, he wanted a second opinion before involving the aurors. You know how mystery department employees are weird, Jöhann wanted to make sure it was the last option. Muggles get suspicious with the way they work."

The memory blurs a bit as your grandfather agrees, as if Agatha was speeding things up, and you and Wanda are able to watch the people move around, talking and partying for a minute before everything is estable again.

You both watch Agatha at the corner of the room, surrounded by three wizards you don’t know and your grandfather as well, talking so low that you suppose you’re only able to listen because Agatha was.

“They say it is a group of wizards, six of them, maybe seven.” You blink, only now realizing you do know this man. It’s Fury, but he’s different. Young, long hair. Both eyes. You think it is the cape that was covering him that made it difficult to see his face correctly. “I told the minister we should do things quietly, to avoid drawing attention, but now he’s involving the aurors, soon the rest of our community will hear about it.”

“He wanted my opinion on this, Fury.” Agatha said. “I agreed with his actions. We don’t know who is causing the murderings, and it could be a magical anomaly. The mystery departament will know what to do.”

But Fury shocked his head, leaning even more into the circle, as if about to tell a secret very important.

“It was no beast, or anomaly, my friends.” He whispers. “I had a field job with the red skulls. Despicable people if you ask me. But what matters is that they have privileges, free pass to the minister's files. They know it's a man who leads this group, there's no trace of the Imperius curse. They're there willingly, and if they're killing it's to prove something.”

“This is absurd, Fury.” It was your grandfather who said it, his tone was almost angry but the laugh on his face made Nick take a step back, as if being called a liar. “No one would dare to challenge the red skulls. I know we have our disagreements regarding our government, but what we all can agree that since the skull were formed, criminality has decreased to almost nothing. No one challenges Schmidt's aurors, either out of fear or respect. Let's not believe fairy tales about groups of evil villains killing for fun, this is not the middle ages."

But Nick Fury crossed his arms, looking at your grandfather seriously.

"It might be surprising to a man who stays locked up in his mansion to hear that crime has not decreased at all, Stark." He retorted, a tension growing in the group. "Life may have gotten better for the millionaire purebloods, but it has only gotten worse for the vast majority of wizard society, which in case you forget, is largely composed of half-bloods and muggle-born of limited money."

Your grandfather looked slightly embarrassed, but he didn't shy away, laughing ungraciously as he patted Fury on the shoulder.

"Come on, buddy, let's not spoil the party with such an unpleasant subject!" He says. "Here's what we'll do. Monday morning, I'll talk to some colleagues at the ministry. Maybe the Parkers know something. A private investigation, to avoid rumors like this. We can't let people think that both the minister and Merlin's order is losing influence, can we?"

Your grandfather, and the other witches you didn't know, left first, returning to the party, but Agatha stood next to Fury, and leaned toward him.

"Nick, ignore them." She asked in a low tone. " Is there something else you've found out?"

Fury sighed lightly. "Not yet, Agatha. But whatever is going on, it's important. I've never seen Schmidt so nervous. He can't track these wizards, and so he can't figure out what they're trying to do. And if that thing escalates, it could cause a panic."

Agatha stands thoughtfully for a moment, until she turns completely to Nick, her gaze wary. "Do you think it could be someone we know?"

Nick looks surprised, frowns a little. "Why Agatha, do you have any suspicions?"

"No, none." She says, and you know she is lying. But Nick doesn't seem to notice. "I just wanted to ask, because I think we should keep our eyes open now."

The man nodded, and you think he was going to say something else, but he turned his face to something behind you, and then you were looking.

The party became a complete awkward silence when a young man staggered in, completely drunk. It was your father, and he was not alone.

"That was so embarrassing." The real Agatha sneers beside you as you and Wanda watch your dads, stumble drunkenly to the center, your grandfather catching up with them with a murderous expression on his face.

"What is the meaning of this absurd, Howard?" He asked angrily, but keeping his tone low as if to avoid a bigger scene.

"Man of the year, London!" His father exclaimed ironically.

"Not so good father, but I think a great businessman should do it!"

Your father's speech caused some buzz to circulate around, but your grandfather just got his ears red with anger, and stepped forward.

"Leave immediately, take this filthy mudblood you call a friend with you." Says the man, and you feel your stomach turn. But your father steps forward, pushing your grandfather by the shoulders away, who is astonished.

"Don't call Erik that!" He shouts, and his speech turns into a groan of pain as your grandfather slaps him across the face, a look of disapproval as the whole room watches.

"Now, Howard." He warns. "And don't you ever dare raise your hand to your father again."

But Howard laughed humorlessly, raising his head again, his eyes full of tears.

"I'm leaving this place for good, dad." He warns, causing your grandfather to raise his eyebrow. "I'm going to live in New York."

"And with what money do you intend to do that, boy?" the man ironizes, "With mine that won't be."

"I'm going to work." Your father says and your grandfather's laugh makes you and everyone in the room shiver.

"You've never worked a day in your life, you intend to do what? Wash dishes? Have you forgotten that we have elves for that?"

"I'm going to live with the muggles." And that does cause a reaction. Your grandfather gives an incredulous laugh.

"Over my dead body you will."

But your father doesn't hesitate, and slips his arm around Erik's shoulders, who seemed suddenly sobered and embarrassed by the whole thing. "I'm going to New York with my best friend, and we're going to marry the first muggle girls we meet, and have as many more half-bloods as they want to give us. And you're going to die alone in this old mansion."

When your grandfather advanced to attack him, he took a step back, and apparated with his friend. The room went completely silent, and it took a couple of seconds for your grandfather to put a smile on his face and open his arms.

"Children." He commented loudly with irony. "You know how they are, folks! Howey loves a good firewhiskey, I'm sure he was just causing a Christmas prank. Come on, you can get on with it. The elves will serve you well!"

Everyone seemed too uncomfortable to disagree, and the room gradually returned to noises.

You felt embarrassed, because of your grandfather's attitude. But Wanda just stroked your hand with her thumb, whispering in your ear if you were all right, and you just nodded. The real Agatha turned to you.

"I think I'm rambling." She declares. "Your parents graduated from Hogwarts that year, and went to New York. And things here got worse. Let's see one last thing before we go back, you guys shouldn't stay in this spell that long, and we need to move."

While the memory was fading, you spoke.

“What happened to my grandfather while my dad was in New York?”

Agatha sighs thoughtfully. "Well, you know how sorcerers love a little gossip. The Daily Prophet ignored a potential war to talk about the prodigal son who ran away from home, front page story for a couple of weeks. And in the meantime muggle borns were disappearing all around the country, and even beyond."

You felt bad, wanting to apologize for your grandfather's actions, even though you were not at all to blame. Agatha gave a little smile.

"In a way, your grandfather's ruination delayed Faustus." She says. "Without the Starks' financial support, the minister became even more tense. He gave the red skulls a free pass to kill. And anyone who looked suspicious of plotting against the government was in the crosshairs."

"That doesn't sound like help, Agatha." You mutter but the witch isn't even paying attention anymore, the memory coming back into focus around you.

It was Hogwarts again, the courtyard. The students were all scattered among the pylons, looking curiously at the center.

Mephisto stood with his bags on his feet, a worn jacket, and his hair disheveled. Skinny, and very pale, he seemed to have difficulty standing.

"Is this your thanks for my work, old friend?" He sneered armagically, the crowd witnessing the scene with a mixture of fear and shock. "All I've done for this country and this school!"

"Putting my students in danger is not exactly exemplary service, Faustus." Agatha retorts standing in front of him.

It was the day of his resignation, you understand.

"Go away at once. There is no more place for you at Hogwarts."

But Mephisto became enraged, kicked his own bag, raised his wand, and Agatha did the same, but neither of them attacked. The students held their breath.

"Give it back and I will leave." He warns the woman.

"It is the property of Hogwarts castle, under my protection." Agatha retorts. "You are no longer part of the faculty, and you have no right to the study materials under surveillance of that school."

Mephisto clenched his jaw, his wand trembling in his hands. "It's mine! It's my book, give it back, damn you!"

"Leave now, Faustus."

"I cursed you, Agatha Harkness." Retorts the man with hatred. "You will pay for putting yourself between me and my destiny!"

The memory jolted as Mephisto put away his wand, and you felt like you were waking up.

"No, wait!" You turned indignantly. “How did you manage to fire him? How did it come to that? What happened to Professor Fury? "

But Agatha just shook her head, squinting slightly.

"We need to leave, you've been here too long." She says. "Let's continue at the next stop."

Everything turned blurry around you before you could protest.

//-//-//-//-//

Tag list> @imapotatao / @aimezvousbrahms/ @ensorcellme/ @helloalycia || @mionemymind / @abimess / @stephanieromanoff / @yourtaletotell / @tomy5girls / @justagaypanicking / @thegayw1tch / @idek-5 // @myperfectlovepoem // @helloalycia // @ENSORCELLME // @AIMEZVOUSBRAHMS // @drpepperobsessed // @sighsam // @olsensnpm // @sxfwap // @table57 // @madamevirgo // @causeitswhatjesuswouldfreakingdo // @emptysince18x // @xastrydx || @yuhloversxx || @ymzki-haruki || @wouldirunofftheworldsomeday || @lostandsearching || @lezzzbehonesthere || @musicinourlips || @chaekhan || @diaryoflife || @nervoustrack || @aquamarinescarlet || @cristin-rjd || @idamaemann || @fortunatelynerdylight || @iliketozoneout || @blackwow34 // @tiny–freak || @spongebobtentacles || @cyberbonesworld ||

[glowingbadger]

Hi…I came running as soon as the request opened. I just had my bday and would love a…Sylvain modern day nsfw / SFW fic about celebrating his s/o bday pls? Thanks a bunch.

Yes indeed! Sorry my requests are so backed up that it took me a while to get to this lol but I hope you had a lovely birthday!

Sylvain (FE3H) x AFAB Reader (no pronouns)

Birthday fluff & smut - Modern AU

NSFW 18+

"Hand over your controller, you're banned from the next round," Felix scowls with an intensity hardly suited to a game of Smash Bros, but Sylvain merely grins as he rolls his eyes.

"It's not my fault you can't time your shield properly," Sylvain says as he tosses his controller towards Mercedes, who fumbles it a bit on contact, "But fine, if you guys can't handle my masterful strategies, then go play in the kiddie pool with each other for a bit."

You give your boyfriend a skeptical grin as he wraps an arm around your waist beside you, seemingly oblivious to the stream of critical comments regarding his "masterful strategies." The general consensus is that they were cheap and repetitive at best, but Ingrid does remind everyone that they should have expected Sylvain to go to such lengths to win in front of you.

Annette leans back over the arm of the couch to look up at the two of you,

"Hey Sylvain, since you've been dishonorably discharged, mind grabbing us some refills?"

"'Dishonorably discharged,' c'mon-" he scoffs, looking to you for backup, but before you can chime in, Ingrid adds,

"Formally exiled?"

Followed by,

"Kindly instructed to piss off," from a still very irritated Felix. Sylvain throws his hands up and sighs,

"Fine, fine, another round of drinks from your humble servant," he nudges you on his way to the stairs, "Mind giving me a hand? We're looking at eight or nine drinks."

"And be an accomplice to a known criminal?" You reply with a smirk, though you do follow to help nonetheless.

You can't remember the last time you felt so naturally warm and giddy. Sylvain can be a terrible tease, and sometimes more flippant than you'd like- but there's no doubt in your mind that he cherishes you, especially given all he'd arranged for your birthday. By some miracle, he'd managed to get all of your mutual friends to schedule time that weekend to spend at a rented cabin ("cabin" only in the loosest sense of the word- it's more of a rustic mansion), sharing drinks and food, games and movies, and enough dumb jokes that your face is already sore from laughter. You hadn't expected him to go to such lengths for your birthday, and if you did dare to imagine how he would choose to celebrate, you'd assumed it would be something more traditionally romantic. But frankly, that he'd instead chosen to surround you with your friends showed that he understood you better than perhaps you'd even considered.

Not to say you haven't been quite pleased with the moments of alone time that the two of you have stolen among the celebrations. And judging by the sideways glance he sends your direction as you follow him up the stairs from the basement, he has something similar in mind for you right now.

As you reach the kitchenette area, you mumble to yourself,

"Okay, it was Pilsner for Ingrid and Dimitri, gin and tonic for Dedue-"

"C'mere, you," Sylvain says in a low and devious tone as he tugs you to him by the waist. He cuts off your coy laughter with his lips on yours. Strong hands run up your sides as he pushes you against the nearest wall, and the sound of your friends downstairs immediately fades from your mind. With a soft moan, you part your lips for his tongue, as skillful as ever as it runs against yours, sensually exploring your mouth. Then, you feel his hand grab at your ass, shamelessly enjoying the feeling of your flesh filling out his palm and then some. He gives a low groan, and his kisses begin to trail away from your lips and along your jawline. Already panting despite yourself, you cling to the front of his t-shirt and manage to say,

"Sylvain-! The... the others will notice- we don't have time..."

"No time to spoil the guest of honor on their own birthday?" he whispers against your ear, "Just try me. You won't last more than five minutes."

His fingers play coyly at the hem of your shorts, but his lips part from you as he awaits your go-ahead. You give a slanted smile and say,

"You win one round of Smash and get all cocky. Fine, just try it- but if it takes too long, we have to go b-"

Before you can finish, he's lifted you into his arms, only to set you down, sitting on the nearest countertop. Sylvain catches you in one more deep, impassioned kiss, pulling yet another gasping moan from you. Your thighs grip around his hips, but he suddenly breaks from you, leaving your very-kissed lips slightly parted. Then, he tugs your shorts and panties down your legs at once, and lowers onto his knees.

"Sylvain!" you gasp out, though you do lean back and angle yourself for him as his head dips between your parted thighs. Your boyfriend wastes no time- in an instant, the heat of his mouth is on your clit and the surrounding sensitive flesh. Throwing your head back, you moan aloud, glad that the TV downstairs is so loud and your friends are shouting and jeering their way through their next match. Without a thought, your fingers tangle through his fiery hair, urging him on as his tongue pulses eagerly against your stiffened clit. Sylvain's hands grip your thighs as he presses himself against you, servicing you near obsessively. It seems he meant to make good on that "no more than five minutes" threat.

The heat of his breath and the vibration of his voice send a shiver up your spin as he groans against you. For a moment, his tongue travels lower, teasing at your soaking wet entrance. You whimper, your hips pitching towards him subconsciously as he laps at your juices. He thrusts into you, and you gasp out his name, your fingers tightening in his hair. Still- he doesn't linger there for long. He can tell you're close. Returning to your aching clit, he buries himself between the soaked lips of your pussy, sucking at the tender flesh while the tip of his tongue flicks across the sensitive little nub.

Your eyes roll back, your legs tremble around him, and you swear that for a moment, you see white. With a final cry of his name, you grind your hips against him, urging him harder against your throbbing clit until you cum with a powerful shudder through your entire body. Panting heavily, face flushed, you watch him pull away from you with a smirk and a pleased hum. Once more, he drags his tongue along your slit, licking up your cum and savoring your taste and your little squeak of surprise.

"No... no fair..." you whimper out. Sylvain only chuckles as he rises to his feet with your previously discarded shorts and panties in hand.

"So? How long did you last, babe?" he prods with an absolutely insufferable smirk. You make an attempt at a disapproving glare as you snatch your clothing from him. At first, you ignore the question, sliding back onto your feet to dress yourself. "C'mon," Sylvain graciously allows you to make yourself presentable before urging you to look at him with a hand at your chin, "tell me how quickly I made you cum."

Your eyes dart to the nearby microwave clock, and you grumble,

"Just under four minutes..."

Sylvain's grin widens, and he places a sweet and soft kiss to your lips,

"Happy birthday, babe."

"That was... a hell of a present," you admit with a shy smile.

"Please, that was only a warmup," he says, amber eyes indulgently wandering your body, "Your birthday's not over yet, you know. You'll get the real present later tonight."

The mere thought causes that familiar warmth to bloom at your core, and you have half a mind to drag him away to the nearest bed here and now. But then, you both turn your heads at the sound of roaring cheers and boos, and the telltale banter of the end of another round. You and Sylvain exhale in unison, and he turns to the refrigerator while you take a moment to finish composing yourself.

"Right, so we're looking at two Pilsners, a gin and tonic, two rum and cokes, a cider, and... y'know what, let's just bring the wine down there with us for ease of access."

Sylvain rattles off everyone's drink orders as though he hadn't just interrupted his errand to drive you to a mind-numbing orgasm. You give an awkward half-smile and shrug, then come to receive as many drinks as you can carry. As he lists them off to ensure he hasn't forgotten anyone's order, you interrupt him by standing on your toes and planting a brief but tender kiss to his lips.

"Thank you, Sylvain," you see his eyebrow quirk upward and go on, "For- for planning all of this just for my birthday. And for the incredible orgasm," you add, since you can see him about to mention it, "but mostly for how fun this whole weekend has been."

Seeing Sylvain blush is a rare treat, but you're certain you can see that faint flush across his fair complexion at your praise. His gaze softens and he says simply,

"You know I'd do anything for you."

Soon enough, you're both headed back to the basement with arms full of drinks, moving slowly to avoid tripping or spilling. As you start distributing your cargo, Felix mutters something about the wait, to which Sylvain flippantly replies,

"Sorry man, beer can exploded, total mess."

"Dumbass," Felix mutters, though he receives his hard cider graciously. Sylvain glances over at you, and the knowing smirk he wears, tinged with genuine warmth and fondness, makes you all the more eager for the coming night.

[dreamingofaizawa]

Powerful Ch. 1

Yakuza! Shouta Aizawa x Fem! Reader

*Mafia AU* Quirkless as well

Warnings: Arranged (sort of) marriage, brief mention of champagne, mentions of violence (nothing too specific). In later chapters: Probably smut

Word Count: 3.4 k

Author’s Note: ALRIGHTY here we go. I just had a fixation on Mafia AUs and, of course, it’s Shouta. What else did you expect? I’m a sucker for arranged relationships. Also he’s a little ooc in here, more confident, more ‘I want it I got it’. Hey, he’s the most powerful man in Japan, might as well have him act like it right? Anywho, I have no clue how many chapters this’ll end up being. Let’s just say this is ongoing for now.

Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4

Enjoy~

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25 years old and you haven’t been married off yet. This was strategic on your father’s part. As a rather low-ranking clan he’d purposely saved you, his eldest daughter, for marrying into a higher ranked clan. You’d bring immense honor to the family name. If only you’d known what you were getting into, maybe you could have been better prepared for your world to flip on its head.

The black velvet gown you wear is tailored perfectly to your form, accentuating every curve and dip on your body. The skirt fanned out around you gracefully and a short train trailed behind you as you stepped through the grand doors of the massive mansion. Tonight is the annual celebratory ball, held to celebrate successful unions and achievements. This one was particularly special, you just didn’t quite know it yet.

Since the event wasn’t mandatory, you were told to go in alone as a representative of your clan, while Mother and Father attended to more important matters. Before you even stepped in you fixed your posture and schooled your expression, keeping your form humbled. Heavens know what could happen should you irk the wrong clan.

Inside you were met with an onslaught of mixed everything, mixed drinks and colors and styles. Some wore traditional Japanese kimono, others more modern versions of the garment and others, like you, wearing more extravagant european or western style clothing. Though a rather interesting mix, nothing quite clashed which you were slightly grateful for, since there was no possible way you could make it through the night without a headache if there was an unpleasant mix of visuals.

You strode through and instantly met several lower clan heads that you respectfully bowed to and engaged in pleasant small talk with, moving from person to person, couple to couple and paying respects to all of them. You kept a small smile, a pleasant facade as you waltzed over the hardwood flooring. It took almost two hours of endless conversation before you managed to catch a break in the madness, snatching a small flute of champagne from a waiter and leaning up against a wall for a breath. 

You still hadn’t noticed the pair of dark eyes that studied you from the moment you arrived.

____

You struck him as intriguing at first. From the moment you walked over the threshold his eyes drank you in, studying you, observing and judging just as he had with many other women before you. No one here knows it, but the man is looking for a bride. Someone who could stand by his side,improve and uphold his image, help him wield the power that is the Yakuza. Yes, rank is important, but Shouta is too picky to care about rank. He is looking for a specific type of woman, one that can hold untold depths of power without crumbling under the pressure or getting swept up in the rush of it all.

A woman, he decides, like you.

You held yourself with grace, pride and humility. You seemed to understand your position, your probable low rank, while also not undermining your importance nor worth. A woman like you is hard to come by in this world, most just as power hungry and ruthless and greedy as their husbands, all while putting up a cotton candy sweet mask and using it to disguise their conniving ways. 

But in truth, that’s what it took to live this kind of life, isn’t it?

It was clear you knew that, while still managing to feel genuine in everything you did, even with an action as simple as sipping champagne. At the same time he can’t deny you are quite beautiful, soft lips and softer eyes, fingers gently grasping your glass with unmatched elegance and an unwavering strength in your posture. You’d bowed before many this evening, and yet you stood taller than even the highest ranking clan heads without challenging a single one of them. Bamboo in this forest of tall, unyielding trees. Capable of wielding so much power.

For a split second his mind wandered to other things, filthy moments shared in the privacy of his chambers, shared breaths and shimmering sweaty skin. He wondered what you would be like underneath him, if you would be a brat or willingly submit yourself to him. He hopes it to be the latter, but wouldn’t completely deny the chance to tame someone difficult. How would you look pinned under his weight, completely helpless to his hands that have killed and tortured? Would you claw at his shoulders or grip the sheets instead? What would you sound like? Your image plagued his mind even if only for a moment.

He’d studied many women over the few hours since the event started, none of them giving him a good enough first impression for him to continue watching further than a minute. There was no question in his mind now. You’d be returning home with him tonight.

____

You had just finished your drink and set the empty glass on a passing waiter’s tray when suddenly the ballroom fell extremely silent. All heads turned, eyes focused on the man that began his descent from the balcony overlooking the floor. He’s gorgeous, long black hair pulled into a low bun and exposing the light scruff on his chin and impossibly sharp jaw, a deep scar curved under his right eye. The full black satin suit is fitted to his form, strong shoulders and rolling muscle evident even under the thick materials. Ink peeked over the collar, a hint at what was definitely intricate sleeves and detailed artwork. His steps were measured, calculated and purposeful as he made his way down and across the floor, the entire room bowing down at his presence. 

You know who he is, as does every person here. Top rung of the ladder, Oyabun of the most powerful clan in Japan, his name widely known through the entire organization and yet almost never spoken. Shouta Aizawa, a name both respected and feared, holding unknown power and strength. His reputation is enough to make anyone feel small in his presence, known for his cold demeanor and the violence he’d committed, many losing their fingers, loved ones, and their own lives for misdeeds against him. He’d done most of that himself, marking him as a very dangerous man to be involved with, and an ally everyone wanted backing them.

You bowed down respectfully just as everyone else did, waiting patiently for a release, whether it was from the man himself or a collective understanding that it was alright to rise once again. The former was the first to come to fruition, though you didn’t expect him to be so close to you as he said it. Your eyes met with sharp onyx as you fixed yourself upright. It made you freeze in place, not quite tense, not quite relaxed, your expression hopefully not showing the utter shock you were feeling.

“What is your name?” You blinked only once before your mind caught up, and you willed your voice steady as you responded. What had you done to piss him off? What punishment awaited you for what you didn’t know you’d done? Despite fearing what may come, you don’t dare speak out of turn, even to beg for your life. His next words were addressed to the entire ballroom, you included, his smooth, deep voice booming out and yet somehow not loud at all.

“Any transgression against this woman is a transgression against me. As my future wife she is untouchable, and will remain that way until I explicitly state otherwise.” A collective hushed gasp sounded through the massive hall, your own eyes growing wide and your heart damn near stopping as your brain dissected the information. He just made you his fiance, with no warning, no hesitation, and full confidence. You are now engaged to the most powerful man in Japan, and you have exactly zero say in the matter. Really though, you never expected to be able to voice any opinions considering the patriarchy of the organization, so that bit of shock was quickly overlooked.

“It’s time to retire, little one.” His hand was held out to you, waiting for your own. You blinked, deciding it was best that you saved your shock for later you focused on the here and now and what to do in this moment. Taking a breath, you schooled your face into a pleasant smile and placed your hand in his waiting palm, allowing him to tuck you into his side as you both walked out the front doors and climbed into a black limouzine.

You didn’t allow yourself to relax, sitting silently next to the man as trees and telephone poles whizzed by the vehicle. It was tense, to say the least, his hand possessively sat on your knee as his eyes remained fixed in front of him and yours did the same. Neither of you talked, you slightly out of fear, of respect, and slightly out of sheer shock, your mind just barely able to keep itself together. He remained silent for a purpose. He would talk when you were alone, or when he felt like talking. Which isn’t right now.

You let your mind whirl a bit, worrying about what this meant for you. Worrying about how this powerful man would treat you, how he acted behind closed doors and if he even cared about you or what you might have to say. It’s nerve-wracking, suddenly bound to a power such as him, not knowing what could happen next, not knowing what to do next. There was nothing that could have prepared you for this.

The car slowed as it pulled up to the gate of the enormous estate, shaking you out of your thoughts, and once it opened the drive to the main house took nearly five minutes on its own. It’s a modern home, several stories tall with the top clearly penthouse-style with a full glass wall that overlooks the landscape, the rest of the huge inner home hidden behind crisp walls.

At a full stop, a man opens the door for you, the Oyabun having already exited and held a hand out for you to grab once again, strong muscles pulling you up with ease and leading you through the building and into an elevator. The silence is stifling as you wait for the machine to come to a stop, the soft chime indicating you’ve landed. 

Now you’re completely alone with him.

He leads you in and stops in the center of the large main room, stepping away and turning his scrutinizing gaze onto you. You do your best not to tense in front of him, not to show fear, partially for his comfort though you’re sure he’s used to it. His shoes clack softly, rhythmically on the polished wood floor as he begins to circle you, like a predator eyeing its prey, eyes burning paths up and down your form. You barely keep from squirming under his intense gaze, managing to keep still from sheer willpower. He stops suddenly behind you and you feel his warmth as he leans in close before a hand presses into your mid back and another gently grasps your shoulder, gently making you straighten even more, stand even taller.

Once he’s satisfied with your posture he rounds you and tilts your chin just a tad higher with a hooked finger. He’s silent as he shapes you, adjusting your body to his liking. You let him tenderly push and tug, grab and knead and trail those deadly fingers over you until he stops before you, studying you once again. 

“You’re my fiance now. You will hold yourself as such, radiate power as I do and command the attention of a room with only a glance.” The reminder of just what was happening made your breath stutter a little, and his hand came up to grasp your chin, making you look up into his dark eyes.

“You will learn, little one, to be the powerful woman I see.” He was so close, the heat from his body rolling over your skin and his breaths fanning over your face. Then he was walking away, motioning for you to follow as he led you to his chambers and bathroom to get cleaned up. You’d be sleeping with him from now on, he said, handing you a robe to change into after you’ve bathed and guiding you into the bathroom before closing the door and leaving you alone with your thoughts as you set to cleaning yourself.

Given you don’t screw things up, you are going to be the most powerful woman in Japan, solely because of a sudden arranged marriage dropped seemingly from out of nowhere. But the longer you think about it, it isn’t really out of nowhere is it? The Oyabun is 30 now, and until tonight hadn’t named a wife, nor any love interests, and therefore no possible heirs. If the man were to die for any reason, those chances only increasing the older he gets, the power vacuum his absence would create would be absolute madness. You’re part of a strategy, just as before. Just as always.

Yet there was no denying he’d struck something inside you. Of all the women in that hall he approached you, a woman he didn’t know from a low ranked clan, for reasons you could only barely begin to guess. He’d called you powerful earlier, the sincerity in his voice making your mind spin. Did he really see you as powerful? And the name he’d used for you felt far too tender on the tongue of such a dangerous man, though you understood the nod toward your previous rank. 

Father and Mother must be either confused, shocked, or overflowing with joy right about now. Confused as to why you haven’t returned, shocked, happy, or both at the news had they learned it. With your mind processing everything, your body finally begins to feel fatigued. 

You shut off the water before drying yourself, patting your hair in the towel before pulling on the fluffy robe. It was clearly meant for him, the fuzzy black garment large around the shoulders and sleeves engulfing your hands, the garment nearly touching the floor where it’s meant to hang several inches from it on his frame. Despite swimming in the robe, you couldn’t help but feel a bit vulnerable. You’re bare beneath it, not having planned to not return home. Still, it’s late, and the Oyabun needs to shower as well. With a steadying breath, you step out into the room.

He’s standing near the bed, the top half of his clothing discarded and bare skin exposed, along with the heavy tattooing and scars along his body. Dragon scales decorated his skin, along with delicate swirls heavily resembling smoke and clouds that followed the curves of his corded muscles. He is undoubtedly a beautiful man. You don’t realize you’re staring until a miniscule smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth.

“Enjoying the view, little one?” You blink away your daze and shift your eyes to the side, feeling the slight burn in your face at being caught. Instead of answering the cheeky question you choose to change the subject.

“I’m finished with my shower, Oyabun.” He hums, a low sound you can feel in your chest.

“I can see that, little one. And you call me Shouta.” You take a quiet, sharp inhale and nod.

“Yes, of course...Shouta.” His name feels heavy on your tongue, a name that people didn’t normally dare speak. He’s silent as he gathers his things and moves toward the bathroom, stopping momentarily by your side. You’re confused a moment before his calloused fingers gently grip your jaw and turn your head, his lips pressing softly against your temple for a split second before he’s disappearing into the bathroom. 

You stand in shock, the tender touch unexpected. Shaking your head, you decide it’s best to lay down. Hopefully you’d fall asleep by the time he finishes bathing, but you doubted it. You’re proven right when, in the midst of mulling over your own thoughts, he emerges in nothing but sweatpants, dark hair still damp as it fell around his shoulders. You managed to avert your eyes before he could catch you staring for a second time tonight, and it wasn’t long before he slipped under the blankets next to you.

There wasn’t a single word shared between you as he flicked off the lights with a remote and settled into the plush mattress. There was no movement from the man as you lay with your back to him. You aren’t entirely sure if the lack of movement unsettles you more than if he were to be shuffling around. It felt like hours had passed in the darkness, your eyes had adjusted and you couldn’t sleep despite how exhausted you felt. 

Your mind raced with questions. What happens now? What happens with your clan and parents? Would you have clothes soon? How would he treat you? How were you supposed to act around him? When is the wedding? Is the engagement already official? What if you disappoint him and fuck everything over? The entire situation makes you anxious, for more than something as trivial as your own safety. You shift onto your back and listen to Shouta’s soft snores, signaling his sleep. As silently and gently as you can, you slip out of bed.

You have no clue what you were going to do or where you were going to do it, but you had to get away from him if only for a moment, to let yourself breathe and think. Almost mindlessly, you find yourself staring out of the glass wall and out into the night. This far out, you can see the stars in the night sky clear and bright, and it was a sight you missed having lived in the city most of your life. Right here you have room to think, space to spread your thoughts and calm your mind to keep from jumbling everything in your brain and stressing over it more. 

From what you can tell there is a very small chance Shouta would treat you maliciously, so for now you don’t have to worry about that. Considering his power and status, you won’t be without clothing for long. The thought was silly in the first place, but stress tended to make you question even the most ridiculous. As for how you’re meant to act, well that would have to be tested. He’d already told you how to appear to the public, so that shouldn’t be too hard, but being alone with the man was driving you insane.

Soft footsteps broke you from your thoughts. You spin around, suddenly very much on guard, before Shouta’s voice broke through the darkness, his figure slowly approaching. 

“What are you doing up, little one?” You bite your lip and turn to gaze outside again, hugging your arms tight.

“Just thinking. I apologize for waking you, Oya-… Shouta.” His warmth hit you before his skin did, chest pressed into your back and large rough hands gripping your shoulders firm but gentle. His breath is hot on your ear and neck, sending a shiver down your spine. Such an intimate action from him only hours after he’d made you his fiance was quite the shock in and of itself, only enhanced by the fact that this man is known for his cold nature.

“Thinking about what?” His hands smoothed down your arms, following them around your waist and encompassing your hands in his, tugging you into him further. Unnatural as it may seem, it feels good, his warmth. In the arms of such a dangerous and powerful man you should feel small and scared, but you don’t. You aren’t entirely sure what it is you feel. Truthfully, you don’t have the energy to answer his question properly.

“About a lot of things. Too many things.” Right now, the only thing you want to do is melt into the man’s arms. His presence is suddenly comforting, instead of worrying, and you feel safe in his embrace. You sigh and lean into him, fatigue finally beginning to tug at your body and mind. Strong arms scoop you up like nothing, and suddenly you’re being placed down on the bed before he climbs in and pulls you onto him. An arm circles your waist while the other cradles your head, a tender kiss placed at your hairline.

“Sleep, little one.” His fingers thread through your hair, massaging your scalp lightly. It’s a soothing action, especially after nearly giving yourself a headache from stress. It isn’t long before you’re nodding off, relaxing into his body and letting his steady heartbeat lull you to sleep.

[apixrl]

DROWSY.

levi ackerman x fem!reader

WARNING(S): none

word count: 3.4k

song: before i close my eyes // xxxtentacion

note(s): soft levi lives in my head rent free and that's perfectly okay he can stay for as long as he wants to

Your hand pressed against your back as you stretched, stifling a yawn that echoed through the hallway. You swore you could hear your joints wailing out in distress, every step feeling as though you were dragging a weight behind you that was five times your size. Your bed was calling out to you in more ways than you could count, the idea of snuggling under the covers absolutely heavenly.

It had been a long and tiresome day, to say the least. After waking up early and in bright spirits, you made the decision to go on a long morning jog. To ready yourself for a presumably easy day. But those words came back to bite you when Captain Levi dropped you and your comrades into an intense training segment that lasted all morning. Then proceeded a heavy clean of headquarters in the afternoon. Ordered to rid the underside of the tables of dust and to clear those sneaky corners of muck that had festered far too long. To put a long story short; you were about ready to drop dead on the floor by the time evening rolled on by.

You loved Levi with all your heart, but unfortunately, your relationship with him didn't come with any bonuses. Yes, you saw a softer side on occasion, but the man never allowed bias to take over during work hours. You were treated the same as the others; a soldier in the ranks. A member of Levi's squad. When you did right you were praised and when you did wrong you served the consequences. Levi would set you on a thirty lap run around the camp perimeter if he saw fit, and there was no getting out of it. As much as you could complain, you knew it was for the best. When it came down to it, Levi was your superior as well as his partner and there had to be some line between the two.

Plodding along the hallway, your bedroom door up ahead was your saviour. You could practically taste the sweet rest waiting for you on the other side. Though just before you could reach your salvation, a voice from the neighbouring room stopped you in your step and tore you away from it.

"Y/N,"

Levi.

It would be lying to say you didn't whimper, so close to a good night's sleep yet so far all in one go. But you weren't so selfish that you'd ignore your lover's call because you were simply exhausted. Yes, you considered it... but resisting the urge gave you credibility, right?

Regardless, you exhaled a sigh knowing it would be wrong not to respond. That man you called your partner had ears like a cat anyway. He probably heard you make your way down the hall or noticed your shadow under the door and had sensed your halt upon his call. So dragging your eyes away from the vision of your wonderfully made bed (Levi having been the one to tuck the sheets in that morning since he was the last one up. So no wonder you were fantasizing at the idea of collapsing on there) behind the door of your room, you set your gaze on the door to Levi's office instead.

You realised it was open just a tad, explaining Levi sensing your approach so easily. Pressing your hands against the wooden frame, you pushed it open and popped your head around the door, forcing your eyes open no matter how much they pleaded to close against the candlelight.

As expected, Levi was seated at the chair of his desk. Neck-deep in papers that he'd been working on most of the night. One shorter pile to the left and a taller one to the right - one pile waiting to be looked at whilst the other sat completed. You wondered which one that was... and prayed for Levi's sake it was the tallest pile to allow him a good night's sleep.

His greyed eyes didn't look up upon your entry, something you just managed to notice through the strands of wispy black locks atop Levi's head. That seemed to indicate he was focused on the task at hand, especially from the way his hand efficiently worked at the pieces of paper like it was on autopilot.

"Yes, love?" You asked, resting against the door for a brief moment as your tiredness caught up with you. If you had reacted to it a second later you believed you would have tipped over from loss of balance, and you were relieved when Levi spoke up once more - his voice jolting you upright.

"I need you to take some papers down to the Commander for me," Levi stated, a certain tone in his voice indicating his own form of tiredness. But you knew that rarely stopped him and his work, the man willing to stay up until the early hours of the morning just to get it finished.

His words made your body panic, unsure if it could muster a journey all the way to Erwin's whereabouts. You had barely walked up the stairs of headquarters well, let alone travelling back down them and then all the way back up again.

"It can't wait until tomorrow?" You tried, chewing the inside of your cheek gingerly. From the way Levi glanced over his wad of papers, grey eyes filled with doubt, you knew it was a longshot. "It's just late, that's all. You need to rest,"

"No," Levi ceased all action, slouching down in his seat briefly as his fingertips held the bridge of his nose. His version of a short break and a way to bury his annoyance down. It appeared to be one of those nights, where he was swamped with work and didn't have the opportunity to simply 'head to bed'. "I'm still nowhere near done, and I don't have the time to take the ones I've already looked at to Erwin because of that," It was there his hand propped up, elbow resting on his other which has splayed over his chest. He motioned you over, eyes skipping between you and the seat opposite him until you got the message.

You were delayed in realising, feeling guilty at your inability to proceed Levi's words. You heard them, but fatigue seemed to seize hold and throw them out the window before your brain could comprehend the meaning. You hoisted yourself off of the doorframe, letting the hinges squeak the door shut behind you as you made your way to Levi's desk. You then sat yourself down, hands pressed to the chair arms as your attention steered to your partner.

"Okay... so which pile am I taking?" Was your question, forcing a small smile to at least seem interested. The black-haired man straightened up, eyes skimming over the papers on his desk and seemingly on the floor too. That made your brow raise, head tilting to the side ever so slightly in wonder. What was behind the desk?

Levi proceeded to push his chair back with his feet, his head quickly disappearing under the table as if to grab something. You rested your cheek in your palm as you waited, a hint of a frown as you waited. Your assumptions were correct as, after a few seconds of scuffling around, Levi reappeared from under the desk - standing up to place yet another pile of paper wherever his desk had the space to hold it.

"This one," He addressed, exhaling heavily once he was comfortable in his seat again. Just when you thought that was it, Levi pushed the taller pile of papers forward as well, and it would be wrong to say you were joyful of the sight. In fact, you were very much dismayed, the sight of the multiple piles of papers meaning more than one trip.

Suddenly you wished the shorter pile was the finished one.

"And this one," Levi spoke with little character as per usual, gazing upon the piles of papers like they were nothing more than a pile of dirt. Clearly, he had experienced little joy going through them, but work never got done whilst complaining. The only words ringing in his mind to convince Levi to get his head down and focus. "You'll probably need to take two trips,"

"You don't say," You commented and sighed to yourself. For hours you had awaited your mattress and now look at you, even further away from reaching it as before. It was a big shame you woke up in such an energetic mood and was ending the day feeling like you couldn't lift a finger. "And if I cant find Commander Erwin?"

"He should be in his office," Levi returned. "But if not, place the right pile on his desk," He then gestured to the left, hand pressing on top for emphasis. "This one will need sorting, however. Just separate the tags in the stack and the drawer they belong in is on there. It shouldn't take you too long, just make sure the files are in the right place or Erwin won't be pleased. Oh, and try not to drop them, please? I'd rather not lose four hours worth of work because of your two left feet -," Levi was cut short by a sound he was not at all expecting. A snorting noise caught him off guard, but when he looked up at you in question the answers quickly came pouring in.

It appeared in Levi's ramble you had grown bored. As there you were, head lolling forwards as your arm tried to prop it up, eyes closed and snoring away to your heart's content. Levi quirked a brow at your behaviour, then scoffed lightly. The man couldn't say he was surprised, of course you would nod off to sleep exactly when he needed your help. At a time where he was swamped with things to do and an extra pair of hands wouldn't hurt.

"Y/N," He tried after a minute or so passed, Levi frowning at the lack of response. If anything, the snoring grew louder. It was there he tried again, a little more firmly and loudly but still, nothing.

Typical.

Levi sat there in silence and disbelief, watching your frame rise and fall with each intake of breath. Meanwhile, you simply slept on without a care in the world, but it's not like he could leave you there. Leaving you sleeping in such a way was bound to cause a nasty neck and backache the following morning. So with a sigh, Levi hoisted himself out of his chair and walked around his desk to your side. Then he knelt down to your level, hand landing on your shoulder to give you a gentle but firm shake.

"Y/N," Levi spoke, a little softer this time, all whilst trying to nudge you awake. It appeared you had only lightly nodded off, as, after three or four shakes, you stirred out of your little nap. Your eyes shot open to meet Levi's observing you closely, a hint of a frown to his face as he did. In your state you barely noticed though, too busy trying to shake off your drowsiness but failing miserably as your eyes merely drooped more.

"Levi?" You mumbled tiredly, lifting your gaze towards your lover, puzzled over why he was so close to you. "What is it?"

"You fell asleep," Levi said with hesitancy, glancing away from you for a second before he continued. "Is everything alright?"

"Hm? Yes... everything's fine," You reassured, sending him a reassuring smile. Levi narrowed his gaze, prompting you to keep going. "It's just been a long day, that's all,"

"I see," Levi nodded, noticing your lack of attentiveness and sleepy demeanour. All of which you tried to force back through your smile. But Levi knew you better than that. He could see straight through the façade just how you could see straight through his, acting as though you were fine when it was truly quite the opposite. That was enough for Levi to suspect something was up, and that little switch in his head that differed between his role as Captain and partner flipped in an instant.

"Sorry... y-you were saying something before I dropped off weren't you?" You asked and pointed to the papers on the table. "Something about them?"

Levi turned to look at where you gestured, seeing the papers that still needed taking to Erwin. He contemplated still asking for your help, but it was obvious from just the way you looked alone that you were long desperate for rest. So exhaling a small sigh, Levi reluctantly cast his gaze back onto you and shook his head.

"No, don't worry about it," He allowed his hand to leave your shoulder and moved it to your face. Where he tucked a few loose strands of your H/C hair behind your ear, continuing. "It can wait until tomorrow,"

"Are you sure?" You asked through a yawn, leaning into the hand that Levi proceeded to support your cheek with. The subtle graze of his thumb over your cheekbone relaxing you to the point sleep nearly stole you from him once more.

As much as he disliked tampering with his organised routine, Levi knew sending you on errands whilst so tired would do you no good the next day. Perhaps he had pushed you a little far without realising, the thought running through his mind later on in the morning. You'd been lagging behind your comrades more than usual. Much opposing to you typically being at the front of the group and urging them on over the other way around. Whilst it wasn't as obvious in the afternoon, the strain in your expression as you scrubbed the floors and countertops had peeked its way through to him. Levi knew you in and out, and the frustration displayed ran much deeper than that of germs and bacteria. That was blatant now more than ever, so the least you deserved was a good night's rest. Just because he could run on little hours of sleep didn't mean you could.

"Yeah," Levi admired you under the dim light of his office after he spoke. Your inattentive gaze somehow continued to hold such focus as you looked back at him. The way you smiled with such love and yearn. How your cheek felt warm in his palm like he was holding the entire world. Which he was really. He was holding his entire world.

"Oh... okay," You said and your eyes drooped shut, not reopening. That brought Levi to act, blinking out of his daze and pulling himself to his feet with a sharp inhale.

"Come on, let's get you to bed," He said and slipped his arms around you, lifting you into their secure hold. You didn't protest, too tired to make a sound as you adjusted to the new position. A comfier position that ensured security and safety. One hand supported your back as Levi's bicep acted as your pillow and his spare arm hooked under your legs. You could feel the ever so gentle thump of Levi's heartbeat close to your ear, much opposing to his regular temperament - curt and firm and even quite harsh at the most.

Levi carried you out of his office, using his foot to open the door as he proceeded to venture down the hall to your shared bedroom. The place you had been going to before you were called to his aid. You kept your eyes closed the entire time but didn't nod off just yet, the bobbing motion of Levi's walk both drifting and stirring you from sleep. It wasn't long before Levi was pulling back the sheets whilst he only just managed to hold you with one arm. You made it easier by wrapping your legs around his waist and your arms around his neck, giggling lightly to yourself when you almost slipped. Somewhere in Levi's silence, he found it amusing. Perhaps not verbally placed, but you sensed it nonetheless. Still, he downplayed it with concern, his hand pressing against your back to hold you closely against his frame.

He placed you down with care, hand only leaving your back once it rested on the mattress. Sliding it out, it returned to the sheets as he placed them back over you. Meanwhile, you watched through half-lidded eyes, following where Levi's gaze trailed. Mainly sticking to the sheets he tucked in for you out of the goodness of his heart, though flickered back to you on occasion. His eyes contained a warmth that opposed their normal grey colour. A warmth that he usually failed to place into the spoken word and resorted to showing it rather than saying it.

Eventually, Levi finished, his hands stopping their skilful movement and pressing into the pillow on either side of your head. He was silent for a moment, observing your tiresome state and realising just how fatigued he was too. He battled the urge to collapse on the bed beside you, pull you into his arms and fall fast asleep. To ignore his duties for just one night. Give himself a treat and spend the night snoozing away like the everyday citizen. But Levi knew that was irresponsible. He had been irresponsible enough leaving the paperwork so late. It also wasn't the life he had been fated to lead, regardless of how pleasant the idea may be in the subconscious of his mind.

"I still have a lot of work to do," He uttered no louder than a whisper, exhaling deeply in an apologetic sigh and hating the idea of traipsing back to his office to work. "I'll have to join you later but I'm guessing you'll be asleep,"

"It's okay," You hummed, head tilting to the side as an innocent smile formed on your face. "Do I get a kiss good night, at least?"

Levi couldn't fight the small chuckle that escaped him, head proceeding to hang forwards and shake too and fro at your words. He truly felt he didn't deserve you and the love you gave him. Always so understanding, never complaining about his packed work schedule. How you made him feel steady and kept him sane. Perhaps it was because you were a soldier too and knew how time-consuming the job was, but Levi was grateful for all of it. The man met your eyes, a certain radiance in them that he'd refrain from showing to anyone else other than you.

"You're twenty-nine years old and you act like a child," He remarked with no ill intent, the laugh that elicited from you music to his ears.

"Yeah, and you chose to -," You were cut off, Levi leaning forwards to press his lips to yours in a tender kiss. You hummed in approval, forgetting the words you planned to say and instead enjoyed the display of affection. Levi lingered longer than usual, an indirect apology for the fact he had to leave you with the bed half cold. You didn't question it, knowing Levi's work never truly stopped and granted him a break. The fact he'd even paused just to tuck you in comfortably was enough to satisfy your needs, whether Levi would believe that or not was up to him. But your eyes fell closed, both from bliss and sleep catching up to claim control.

Gradually your lips loosened on Levi's, indicating you had nodded off. He opened his eyes and pulled back in question, watching your head tilt faintly to the side as your pillow held its weight. Levi exhaled deeply, leaning down to plant one final kiss on your forehead. Then he hoisted himself off of the bed and walked to the door.

"Good night, Y/N," He said once there, glancing back at you one final time. From where he stood, you appeared merrily at peace. Finally grateful for the embrace of your bedsheets after a dragging day of nonstop training. Levi did feel somewhat bad for being a cause for your tiredness, knowing that he could sometimes be cruel when playing his 'Captain' role. But he couldn't favour you just because of his feelings, and the fact you rarely made that an issue provided him relief like no other. Still, Levi's guilt asserted as he closed the bedroom door quietly behind him.

Why... it wouldn't be terrible if he let you sleep in a little bit past the wake-up call, would it?

[kpop-zone]

Dating High School Blackpink

Jisoo

The valedictorian

She’s by far the most ambitious girl in school

All the high school drama couldn’t be more unimportant to her

She’s only focused on her studies

And on making her report card look better by joining strategically clever extracurriculars

She only keeps a small number of friends really close

Although she still treats the other students politely and helps them out wherever she can (resulting in her being the class president every year)

But she never really lets any of them close

That’s why you were really surprised when you learned that you had caught her attention

You had been in love with her ever since you started high school

But you had never dared to talk to her because she’s not so lowkey scary

There had been countless others who had tried to woo her

Because despite being a huge nerd, her beauty and unapproachability intrigued everyone

No one ever had a chance with her though

She simply ignored their advances or politely turned them down

So you didn’t even bother to talk with her

But one day in class, she came to talk with you

Your teacher had told you to find a partner for your final project

And suddenly Jisoo popped up in front of you

“Do you want to be my partner?”

Her question had totally caught you off guard and you stared at her with an open mouth

After embarrassing yourself for another painful minute, you eventually managed to shake off your trance and accepted her offer by simply nodding your head

“Ok, great. Meet me in the library after your classes end.”

Without awaiting your answer, she walked away but you wouldn’t have dared to disagree with her anyways

Therefore, you nervously made your way to the library after your classes had ended

Jisoo was already sitting at one of the tables, waiting for you with her school supplies neatly placed in front of her

She didn’t waste any time before starting with your project

Although she seemed to be trailing off several times while you were working

“He was involved with the Medici. They are from Italy. Do you like Italian food?”

You hadn’t expected her to ask you such personal questions, but you didn’t question her method and answered everything without hesitation

It wasn’t until two weeks later that you just weren’t able to ignore Jisoo’s weird behavior any longer

You had wondered right from the start why she had asked you for daily meetings although she seemed to know everything about the project already

Your confusion reached its peak on your last meeting one day before the deadline

Jisoo was completely out of it, fidgeting about on her chair and rambling about random things

“Are you ok? Are you nervous because of the project?”

You asked concerned but Jisoo immediately shook her head

“No, we’ll get an A. Do you want to go on a date with me?”

She blurted out, managing to catch you completely off guard

But you couldn’t say that you didn’t find her straightforwardness extremely attractive

Therefore, you -of course- said yes

The two of you agreed that she would pick you up at seven the same day

She ended up arriving five minutes early at your house and introduced herself to your parents (because she’s a classy girl), managing to woo them in a matter of seconds

After you had left your house, she managed to surprise you another time

You had thought that she would go with a safe choice -having dinner or watching a movie- but instead, she took you stargazing and prepared a fancy picknick with homemade food

And you fell for her even harder, so you didn’t hesitate when she asked you for a second date...and then a third and then a fourth...

On your fourth date she finally confessed to you that she had been in love with you forever

But just like you, she had been too shy to tell you

When the teacher had asked you to pick a partner though, she had decided to grab the chance

So she had used the two weeks that you had to work together to find out more about you and to plan the perfect dates (which she had clearly nailed)

You were completely enraptured by her confession

Therefore, you didn’t even need to think when she asked you to make your relationship official

And ever since, you are a dream team

You are a well-balanced couple

Although Jisoo is still very focused on her studies, she never neglects you

She always makes sure to have enough time for you and never stops being the most charming person on earth

Even though you are already hers, she still takes you on fancy dates and flirts with you as if she still needed to woo you

“Excuse me? Have we met before? I feel like I’ve seen your face before... Oh yeah, I remember now. It was in the dictionary next to the word ‘gorgeous’!”

She will hit you with pick up lines like that out of the blue

You always roll your eyes because of her cheesiness but secretly, you enjoy it

Jisoo also helps you to study

You had never been a terrible student, but sometimes you lack motivation

Your girlfriend has plenty of ways to motivate you though

“I will give you a kiss for every exercise that you solve correctly.”

So, since you started dating Jisoo, your grades had gotten exponentially better

In return for your girlfriend’s assistance, you help her to ease up a bit

You force her to accompany you to parties and to go out with her friends more often

She always whines, but in the end, she’s grateful that you managed to lure her out of her room

Everyone else is jealous of your perfect relationship

Never had the two of you ever been caught fighting

You even got voted first in the category ‘Couple who’s most likely to get married first’ in the yearbook

Because you just look right together

Although Jisoo isn’t a big fan of PDA and at most, allows you to hold her hand in public, the two of you still manage to cause some agitated whispers every time you walk through the hallways together

Everyone simply wants to know how you managed to woo her

But just like Jisoo doesn’t care about the rumors about others, she doesn’t care about the rumors about herself either

She’s perfectly content with everything that she has

And you are perfectly content with everything that you have too

Jennie

The rich girl

She’s by far the most popular girl in school

Everyone who’s befriended with her is considered a cool kid

Her clique frequently makes the hallways its catwalk

Because all her friends manage to significantly upgrade their school uniforms with expensive accessories

Especially Jennie looks like she stepped right out of Gossip Girl

Her look is usually completed by a headband, a shiny brooch, and the newest Chanel bag

The moment she steps out of her family’s Porsche in the morning, the head of every single person in the school turns around

There are only two kinds of people on the planet: people who want to be like her and people who want to be with her

You belong to the second kind

Ever since you had first spotted her, you were head over heels in love with her

But of course, you had never dared to talk with her, because you weren’t considered a cool kid

You just stole secret glances at her like all the other lovesick fools at school

Until the goddess of destiny decided to let you find a grain of corn one day

You had agreed with your friends that you would meet in the stadium to watch the soccer match of your school team together

As usual, however, they texted you shortly beforehand that they would be late

So you ended up sitting all by yourself in the stands, grumpily waiting for your friends to keep you company

Just when you thought that you had to be the unluckiest person on earth though, everything turned to the better

“Are you all by yourself?”

You instantly recognized her voice and whipped your head to the side in lightning speed

Jennie was standing next to you with her friends lining up behind her

You were so shocked that she had noticed you that you weren’t able to utter a single word

But Jennie didn’t seem to mind

“I wanna sit here, guys.”

She said to her friends over her shoulder who sat down obediently

“Hi, I’m Jennie. What’s your name?”

She flashed you the most beautiful smile that you had ever seen, making you blush profusely, but this time you were quick to respond to her question to stop making a fool of yourself

“Y/N!”

You blurted out breathlessly and Jennie’s smile grew even bigger

“Nice to meet you, Y/N! Here, cheer with us!”

She pressed a banner and some pom poms that her friends had brought into your hands before starting to cheer for your school team

You were still completely dumbfounded by the fact that the Jennie Kim was sitting next to you right now, but didn’t dare to disobey her wish

So you started cheering for your team too, causing her to grin at you happily

Till your friends finally decided to appear, you were almost feeling like a part of Jennie’s friend group

She had made sure to introduce you to the others and to incorporate you into their conversations

And to your surprise they were actually a lot more approachable than you had thought

If you were honest, they seemed to be fairly normal teenagers

(except when they asked you if you would also attend fashion week next month)

The evening flew by and when it was time to go home, sadness overcame you because you were sure that you would never talk to them again

But everything came differently the next day at school

“Y/N! Come here! Sit with us!”

As soon as Jennie had seen you entering the cafeteria, she waved you and your friends over

Perplexed, you stared at her, but your friends pushed you into her direction

Everyone in the cafeteria stared at you as you made your way over to the cool kids and started to whisper behind your back

But Jennie didn’t pay attention to anyone but you

She patted the seat right beside her and continued to eat as if it were just a normal lunch break

From that day on, your friends and you had fixed seats at the table of the cool kids

They always waved you over during lunch break

And also started chatting with you when you ran into each other in the hallways like you had always belonged to them

Especially Jennie always seemed to make an effort to see you as often as possible

You didn’t really think much of it at first

Until your friends couldn’t take your obliviousness anymore and told you that Jennie was having a crush on you

You laughed at their ridiculousness, but in the following weeks you noticed that Jennie truly always acted a bit shy around you

You began to doubt your certainty that the Jennie Kim could never be in love with you, and you became a nervous mess around her too

(It was pure torture to watch the two of you for everyone else)

So your friends hyped you up until you finally had enough courage and asked her out for homecoming

You had never seen a happier person in your life before

Jennie smiled with her whole face and instantly agreed

The two of you became the talk of the night

But once again, Jennie only had eyes for you

She even fled the coronation of the homecoming queen

Because she didn’t want to dance with anyone else

So the two of you stole away and talked on the stairs in front of the school instead

You talked all night until more and more students left the dance and you figured that it was time to bring Jennie home

But before you could stand up, she stopped you

“Wait, there’s actually something I wanted to do before we leave.”

Expectantly, you looked at her and to your surprise Jennie suddenly leaned in

Your lips met and you completely froze until she pulled away when someone bolted out of the door behind you

You stared at her in complete shock, but Jennie just smiled at you

“Ok, we can go now.”

She held out her hand to you and you took it speechlessly

Together you made your way back home with your fingers intertwined

When you looked to the side, you could see that Jennie was still grinning from ear to ear and you started to ease up

Like two Cheshire cats you walked through the city, giggling sheepishly every now and then when your eyes met

And you were sure that you had to be the happiest person on the planet

Ever since that night Jennie and you are a couple

And you are allowed to see more and more of her world, realizing that people just had way too much fantasy

Not even half of the rumors that circulate about her and her friends are true

Jennie is not at all that scary, arrogant rich girl that everyone always makes her out to be

She’s just a normal teenager who tries to survive high school

Everyone had just put her in a box, because of her family’s money

She doesn’t think that she’s superior to others because of her family’s money at all though

Although you do have to stop her sometimes from spoiling you too much

Because whenever she sees something that she thinks you could like, she simply buys it

And when you’re getting food together, she always wants to pay

But you convinced her at one point to alternate because you want to spoil her too from time to time

Although she doesn’t really want you to spend a lot of money on her

“If you want to spoil me, then give me endless cuddles.”

She usually says and who were you to disagree?

Generally, Jennie is someone who isn’t too shy to show her love for you publicly

She always makes sure to keep you close by her side

As soon as you are together, your bodies are attached to each other in some way

Either your girlfriend will hold your hand, interlink your arms, place her hand on your leg or sit in your lap

Your friends always tease you about it when you go out together

But Jennie couldn’t care less

She loves you with all her heart and she wants everyone to know that you’re hers

Chaeyoung

The choir girl

She’s a sweetheart

Everyone knows her

And everyone loves her

Because she’s in a billion different clubs at school (she can’t say no...)

Cheerleading, prom committee, glee club, choir, creative writing club...

But her only real passion is music

In 99% of the cases when she’s not in class, she can be found in the choir room

Usually, she just strums away on a guitar or plays piano

Often she leaves the window open and her beautiful voice mesmerizes everyone on the schoolyard

The 1% of the time that she isn’t in the choir room, she can be found in the cafeteria

All the cafeteria ladies know her by name

And they are all whipped for her

She always gets an extra scoop or sometimes she even gets some special menu

And as her best friend, you enjoy the same benefits as well

You can’t remember a time that you weren’t with her

She’s your best friend ever since you can think

The two of you live in the same street

And grew up playing together

Ever since elementary school you also attend the same schools

So at one point in your live it literally seemed like you were seeing each other 24/7

That’s why you don’t really know when your relationship had changed

It was more of a creeping process

Even as children you liked to pretend that you were a married couple when you were playing

It was also normal for the two of you to hold hands wherever you were going

Therefore, you can’t really tell when you turned from friends to lovers

Neither of you were simply ever interested in anyone else

And when you moved on to middle school together, everyone assumed that you were a couple

And you didn’t bother to correct them

It wasn’t until the end of middle school though that you actually kissed for the first time

You were having one of your many sleepovers

And all the pent-up uncertainty and emotions that both of you had been feeling finally reached their limit

So when you were facing each other on your bed and Chaeyoung’s gaze flickered to your lips, you just leaned in

It was just a short and sweet peck on the lips

But when Chaeyoung giggled happily afterwards, it didn’t fail to make a million butterflies erupt in your stomach

And you knew that this definitely would not be the last time

Since then you are officially a couple

Although you actually spend less time together ever since you transferred to high school

Because both of you have quite busy schedules

That did not change the importance that you have in each other’s lives though

Chaeyoung is still the first person that you tell every important and not so important thing in your life and vice versa

And both of you are still completely uninterested in anyone else

Although there are of course a lot of jocks who want to woo Chaeyoung because she’s the captain of the cheerleading squad

But she is always quick to turn everyone down

Managing to break a lot of hearts in the process

Because she’s very bad at hiding the disgust in her face whenever someone flirts with her

So you usually laugh away all the advances of her admirers

Plus, most students know that the two of you are dating anyways

After all, you are one of those annoyingly cute couples

You have lunch together every day and wait for each other after school to walk home together

Chaeyoung also holds your hand at all times or interlinks your arms

So sometimes it seems like the two of you are magnets

And someone who doesn’t know you would probably think that you had just fallen in love

Because everyone can see that you’re completely crazy about each other

Especially when your girlfriend surprises you with small, sweet gestures

When you have a test, for example, she always makes sure to slip your favorite snack into your backpack

Or she leaves random cute notes in your locker when you have different classes all day long

In return, you always visit her at the choir room to bring her snacks when she forgets time once again

Often, you also study there instead of in the library, because you can never get enough of your girlfriend’s voice

That’s also why you would never miss one of her performances

No matter whether it’s a singing, dancing or reciting performance

You are her biggest fan

Although Chaeyoung always gets really shy when you praise her afterwards

But of course, you end up praising her even more, just to see her blush

When the two of you are not at school, you usually like to hang out at one of your houses

Often you have “study dates” which are not really used for studying though

You always plan to study, but end up doing other things instead

The longest time you had ever managed to stay focused was 15 minutes

It’s just too distractive for the two of you to be in one room

Usually you end up talking or making out all day long

So sometimes you don’t even bother to bring your books when you go to Chaeyoung’s house

Why should you study if you could have a picnic with your girlfriend and her cute puppy instead or watch some stupid variety show together?

Most of the time your procrastination isn’t too harmful for your report cards either

So neither of you feels too bad for not doing what you were supposed to

After all, time that you spent together is never wasted

Because even after all these years, you could never get bored of each other

Every moment that you spend together is special

Lalisa

The troublemaker

The moment that you had met Lisa for the first time, you knew that she would turn your life upside down

She is not your average high school student

She is just there to have a good time

Theoretically, she is smart and talented enough to join countless clubs (like the Foreign Language Club)

But practically, that’s too much work for her

The same applies to sports clubs

It takes no genius to see that she’s athletic as hell

But she doesn’t like the pack behavior that comes with those clubs

The only activity that she had ever tried was cheerleading because dancing is her passion

But it was way too restrictive for her

She hated following the lame choreographies of her coach

Plus, there had been too much drama for her with the other girls

Many of them had been jealous because they couldn’t keep up with her

So, Lisa simply left the squad again

She just wants to get through school without any stress or drama

Although she unfortunately has the talent to frequently get herself in quite a lot of trouble

Her favorite offense is to fall asleep during her classes

And one of her gravest ones is accidentally blowing up the chemistry lab

She never means to cause trouble

But the frequency of her accidents has earned her a reputation as troublemaker

Therefore, it is no surprise that the two of you had met in detention for the first time

Your teacher had guided you to the gym where Lisa was already waiting

She had instantly caught your eye although she seemed to be a be a bit shy

“Lisa! Nice to see you here...again. You know the drill. Everything needs to be squeaky clean.”

Those were the words that the teacher had said before leaving Lisa and you alone

For a few awkward seconds, the two of you just stole sheepish glances at each other

But then Lisa eventually piped up

“What are you here for?”

She asked while grabbing a mop and starting to clean the old, smelly gym

“I punched a guy for stealing a kid’s lunch money.”

You replied casually, causing her to stare at you in surprise for a second

Eventually she managed to recover herself though and nodded impressed

“Dope.”

From that moment, the ice between the two of you was broken

And you started to chat while mopping the floors

The time flew by as you learned more and more about each other

You found that you had more in common than just your inclination to get yourself in trouble

Your taste in music was pretty similar and you could also not argue with Lisa’s choice of absolute must-watch movies

After a while, your punishment didn’t even seem so bad anymore

If you were honest, you were glad to be stuck in your school’s smelly gym right now

Subconsciously, you had even started to clean slower just so that you could spend more time with Lisa

But eventually, your teacher came back to set you free and it was time to part ways

Both of you hesitated to leave though so you figured that you should not forgo this chance

“Maybe we could meet up some day and watch some movies together?”

You asked Lisa as you stepped out of the gym and she looked at you with a wide smile playing on her lips

“I would love that!”

She responded happily and you could feel your heart fluttering in your chest

Quickly, you exchanged phone numbers before saying goodbye

The following days, you didn’t see Lisa at school though to your dismay

She also never texted

And suddenly you started wondering whether she had just given you her number because she didn’t want to be rude

You were already pretty sure of your theory when Lisa finally sent you a message after four days

That’s Lego

Attached to her short message was a picture of a kitten and you laughed because of Lisa’s randomness

But you couldn’t say that her strategy hadn’t worked

The ice was broken again and the two of you texted every day

You also met up at school and hung out between your classes

It seemed like Lisa had just been a bit shy in the beginning

Because now that you knew each other better, you could barely stop her from talking (not that you would have wanted her to anyways)

You also followed through with your plan to have a movie night

Although you didn’t really watch a lot of movies

At first, you got distracted by Lisa’s cats

Then you stumbled upon her impressive collection of photos that she had taken over the years

And finally, she tried to make fresh popcorn, but forgot to put a lid on

So, when you started with the first movie, it was already past 10 pm

Nevertheless, you considered the night a success

Rarely anybody on this planet had ever managed to make you laugh as much as Lisa did

And you loved that she had allowed you to see a part of her world that not everyone could see

Therefore, your first movie night was followed by countless others

You grew closer every time, but you still didn’t really know what the two of you were

So you gathered all your courage and asked Lisa one night

“What...are we?”

You were a little nervous because you didn’t know whether you would like her answer

But Lisa just kept slurping the ramen that she was eating as if you had asked a totally mundane question

“I’m your girlfriend, right?”

She replied nonchalantly while glancing over the pot at you, causing you to chuckle

“Yes. Yes, you are.”

Everything about your relationship simply exudes strong ‘chaotic neutral’ energy

When the two of you are together no one knows what to expect

Maybe you use your time efficiently and build a darkroom for Lisa or have a study marathon

But maybe you also drink 20 shots of espresso each to watch all Harry Potter movies in one sitting

Everyone who knows you thinks that you are a safety hazard together

But for some reason you still work perfectly fine

You’re both chaotic, but in different ways

So you balance each other out

And both of you also have the same goals

You don’t take school too seriously

But you still have big plans for your future, so you always make sure to have a decent report card

And help each other out when you are struggling

Because you believe in each other

You know that Lisa will be the most famous dancer one day

And she would drop everything at any time to help you achieve your dreams as well

Together, you are an unstoppable force

And you know it

[kingarthurtournament]

Round 2 Side A Poll 2

Richard Campbell Gansey III

"Very noble, very quaint; utterly obsessed with legendary Welsh kings; constantly called "a king" by various narrators; dies tragically young in accordance with prophecy, but comes back to life..."

Excalibur

"he looks like a weird sweet potato and nobody in the cast can stand him. every time he appears he has to sing his (bad and corny) song. he's insufferable"

"Fool. My legend dates back to the twelfth century you see. It began on a midsummers day with the sun blazing overhead. No, wait. It was a blustery Autumn day. I was the unsavory fellow back when it all started. Which was in the winter as I recall. I remember the tough crowd, all the hot babes fought over me that summer. Yes. Yes that’s right, it was summer. A scorching midsummer day. I was a dangerous man at the time. And yet, refined somehow. Everyone thought so. They still think so to this day. Although, maybe they didn’t think so as much back then. But they definitely said I was dangerous, I’m sure of it…And I know I’ve always been refined so they must have been thinking it. Yes. Yes indeed. Everyone thought and said and talked about how amazing I was. I’m still amazing of course, but no longer the bad boy I was back then. On that chilled, frozen winter day. I will continue the re-telling of my legend; But first, there will be a five minute break. Stand still and await my return."

[reidingmelodies]

The Date Jar: February

Pairing: Spencer Reid x gn!Reader Category: Hurt/Comfort, Fluff Word Count: 3.5k Includes: Mentions and consumption of food, brief discussions of a case (no specifics are given) A/N:  Part of The Date Jar series, but can be read as a stand-alone piece as well :)

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‘Time to let that inner creativity shine!  Plan a date for $20 or less (and tell me all about it xoxo)’ Your brows wrinkled at the phrase, fingers twirling the yellow popsicle in your hand as you looked out the window.  

It was February 3rd, you were missing Spencer, and your mind was a blank slate when it came to date ideas.

Spencer had been called away on a case eight days prior, his and your moods worsening with every second spent away from the other.  It was a bad one, there was no doubt about it.  It was obvious in the way his voice was tinged with exhaustion each time he managed to call you, in the way he made it a point to text you that he missed you every day regardless of the time, in the way he never answered questions about his day, all too eager to hide the disparity of the case from you to keep you from worrying.

But he was the love of your life- worrying came with the job description.

So, when you got a text from Penelope in the late evening hours warning you that the team was on their way back and Spencer would probably need a little extra loving that night, you didn’t hesitate to drop everything in favor of prepping for your reunion with Spencer.

Cups of tea were made (because even though you knew he’d prefer coffee what he’d really need was chamomile), your softest blankets and comfiest pillows were brought into the living room, and Dr. Who was playing softly on the television in front of you. The lights were dimmed, a pair of pajamas resting on the cushion awaiting his return, two containers of Jell-O situated on the coffee table.

Now, all you needed was his safe return.

Somehow, in your waiting, you had ended up in front of the window, popsicle stick in hand while you thought of ideas for your monthly date.  The task was simple, but the opportunities were endless, and you were stumped.

Spencer had insisted that you pick the date jar stick for February without him present, an idea you were vehemently against until he proposed video chatting once he was back in his hotel room so you could do it together (you really had to thank Penelope for her tech influence on him).  

Sure enough on the night of February 1st, you got a video call at 11:57 PM, your eyes bleary with sleep as you hit accept.  

And all too soon, your eyes were bleary with tears as you caught sight of Spencer’s face.

You missed him, plain and simple.  You were used to spending time apart but being accustomed to something certainly didn’t make it any easier to accept.

The ten-minute chat was the epitome of bliss, both of you purposely avoiding talk of work in favor of brainstorming twenty-dollar dates.

A bookstore?  There’s no way you’d only spend twenty dollars.  The park?  We wouldn’t spend a dime.  A diner? Too typical.  

You knew an idea would come to you sooner than later, especially when Spencer was home and safe in your arms and your brain could rest.  

For now, there was an overworked, exhausted man in dire need of a hug making his way into the apartment, and all thoughts of the date were abandoned in favor of him.

The door opened, Spencer’s slouched figure making his way into the entryway.  The bags under his eyes were prevalent from across the room, his rigid expression making way for a slight grin when he locked eyes with you.

Your legs swiftly carried you home, your arms making their way around his neck as he dropped his satchel in favor of holding your waist.

You stayed like that for what could’ve been five minutes or two hours, all too content swaying to the beat of Spencer’s heartbeat, his lips pressed against your hair.

“Missed you so much,” he murmured, breaking the silence and squeezing you impossibly closer in the process.

“Missed you too, Spence. More than you’ll ever know”.

A lingering kiss was placed on your head in response, Spencer’s arms slightly pulling back as he moved to examine you.  You did the same, taking note of the permanent frown etched on his features.  

“What do you need, baby?” you whispered, hand gently moving to trace his cheek.

“Just you,” he responded, sleep evident in his voice.

You nodded, grabbing his hand and directing him towards the couch.  Wordlessly, you handed him his pajamas and he changed into them right then and there, determinedly unwilling to be without you for the foreseeable future.

He collapsed onto the couch when he was done, forgoing the heap of blankets at the end of the sofa and opening his arms for you instead.  You quickly obliged, your head settling against his chest as his fingers mindlessly traced along your spine.

“It was a rough one,” his voice was low, your ears straining to hear him, “we weren’t able to save the last victim”.

You nodded solemnly, heart instantaneously breaking for the victim, for their family, for the team, for Spencer.  He was telling you as a means of an explanation rather than a means of a conversation, a fact you were well aware of after spending one too many nights like this, your arms wrapped around each other as though you were lifelines unwaveringly keeping the other afloat.

And so, you settled closer to him, head resting against his chest, legs heavily intertwined until his deep breaths filled the entirety of the room.  And when you were convinced he was asleep, at peace, and most importantly safe, you allowed your own eyes to close, your body finally resting serenely for the first time in eight days.

***

You awoke the next morning to a pillow underneath your head where Spencer had previously rested, your body jolting up in fear that he was prematurely called on another case.  But your worries were quickly put to rest at the sound of humming coming from the kitchen, your body filled with a mixture of relief and excitement at the sound.

You rose from your spot on the couch, body stretching in a useless attempt to make away with the aches that accumulated during the night.

It was worth it though. You’d sleep on a pile of rocks for Spencer if the situation called for it.

After your failed attempt, you made your way to the kitchen, eager to see your lover in daylight hours.

His back was to you, his blue flannel pajama pants and oversized white t-shirt looking oh so inviting as you burrowed yourself into his back, his posture instantly relaxed at the feel of your warmth against his.

“Morning, Y/N”.

You smiled into his shirt, pressing a kiss to his shoulder blade.  “Morning, Spence.  What are you up to?”

“I figured I’d make you breakfast, but then I remembered I don’t have the greatest track record in the kitchen, so I settled on toast with jam instead,” he shifted his body so you were face to face, your expression lighting up with mirth at the sheepish look he was sporting.

“Mm wise choice, we don’t want a repeat of last time”.

He groaned, remembering how your neighbors called the fire station when they smelled smoke coming from your apartment a few months prior.  He was trying to surprise you with a homemade meal in celebration of your promotion, but instead, you came home to an apologetic Spencer, a concerned neighbor, and a stern firefighter.  Not quite the celebration you were hoping for.

Cheeks still red but desperate to change the subject, his hand found yours in an instant. 

“Thank you for last night, Y/N.  I’m sorry you had to deal with that”.

“Don’t ever apologize, Spencer- that’s what I’m here for.  You’d do the same for me, right?” At his nod you continued, “then it’s settled.  We’re a team- I was just fulfilling my half of the bargain”.

He chuckled, playfully rolling his eyes at you.  “Only you would call our relationship a bargain”.

“Mm well it was the best deal I’ve ever gotten- walked into a museum and came out with a bookmark and a boyfriend!  I mean c’mon Spence, even you have to admit that’s a bargain”.

His lips softly met yours in response, and you watched as he pulled away slightly, leaving your foreheads brushing.  “I love you. And I still feel bad I bought the last copy of the book you wanted that day”.

You closed the gap once more, letting your lips linger for a few seconds, pulling away when the grumble of your stomach interrupted the otherwise quiet room.  “I love you, too, babe.  And don’t feel bad- now that we live together, I can read it every day if I want to.  It was all part of my master plan”.

His eyebrows rose, fingers wiggling in your direction as he moved to tickle your sides.  An uproarious laugh left your lips in response, immediately jumping backwards and retracting your statement.

“Okay, okay I lied! The book was just a bonus”.

He smirked, pulling you against him and letting his fingers dance along your sides for a moment, both of your laughs echoing throughout the room.

The impromptu tickle session was cut short at the sound of your stomach grumbling once again, his newfound mission of making you toast and a cup of coffee taking centerstage.  He released you with a gentle kiss on your forehead, your figure immediately moving to stand by his side.  Your fingers moved along his arm, gently toying with the sleeve of his white t-shirt on the ascent and fiddling with his wrist on the descent.

Toast made and coffee poured in matching ‘I ♡ Vegas!’ mugs, you and Spencer found yourself situated at the kitchen counter, dangling feet bumping into each other at every opportunity.  

His eyes were skimming over his book while yours were tracing the mug closest to you, smiling in recollection at the memory of Diana sending them to you a week after your first visit along with a note saying she wanted to get you something as colorful as the rainbow you saw out her window.

Wait.  That was it.

Your eyes turned to Spencer, taking in the way his white tee shirt hung from his frame.  He had dozens like it in your bedroom, the shirts a trusted go to when he had to pack pajamas in a rushed go bag.  

It wouldn’t hurt to add a pop of color to a few of them.

Penelope said you had to spend $20 or less on a date- and if you used clothes you already had, you were almost positive you could buy tie dye materials and have money to spare.

“What are you thinking about, sweetheart?” his question cuts through your thoughts, your eyes meeting his to find nothing but love.

“You have a lot of white tee shirts”.

With that, love made way for utter confusion.

“Um…yes?”  His brow furrows, watching as you moved the mug into his line of sight before jogging towards the living room.

Your return was marked with his fingers tracing the sides of the mug, every inch of his being determined to figure out what had you so fascinated.

Plopping down next to him, you place the date jar stick next to the coffee, moving your legs until they rested against his calves.

“What if we did tie dye for our February date?”

“With my clothes?”

Your features soften, taking his question as a sign of hesitation.  “Only if you’re okay with it, otherwise we can find some on sale?  Or we can always do something else if this isn’t’-”

You trailed off as his left hand found your cheek, looking up to find his eyes already on you.

“We can use mine, love. I think it’s a great idea, and I wear them to bed anyway so it’s not like anyone really sees them,” he watched as a smile overtook your features before continuing, “we can do some of yours too! And maybe some plain white socks? I think we both have some buried in our drawers”.

“Oh and we can do a pair of your boxers!” you added, positively giddy at the thought.

Spencer, on the other hand, was not.

“My boxers?  Isn’t that weird?”  His lips were pursed, his hands protectively moving to cover his thighs.

You smirked, right hand moving to cover his.  “I don’t think so, it’s not like anyone’s gonna see them besides me, baby- unless Penelope hacks into my photo album again”.

You both shuddered at the thought, heat rushing to your cheeks as you remembered the shrieks she let out the last time she looked through your photos (and the ‘atta boy’s’ Derek graced Spencer with).

You shook your head, willing the memory to a far corner of your mind before squeezing Spencer’s palm.

“So, babe, what do you say? Tie dye for our date?”  You watched as his lips curled into a smile, his teeth swiftly biting his lower lip before he responded.

“Only if you dye a few pairs of your underwear, too”

That was already a given, but he didn’t need to know that.

“You’ve got yourself a deal, Spencer”.

***

You went to the store for supplies the following Saturday while Spencer mess proofed your living room floor. $18.65 later, and you were armed with a tie dye kit, two squeeze bottles, pancake mix, and a basic food dye set. The kit only cost $9.99 and sticking with the theme of the day you figured colorful pancakes were the way to go.

Surely, there wouldn’t be another kitchen incident if you were there to help Spencer.

You walked into the door, instantly greeted by a plastic tarp placed on the floor and covered in an assortment of tee shirts, underwear, socks, and pillowcases.  Spencer was amid the pile, face beaming as he placed a white bedsheet on top of the pile.

“I figured we may as well go all out, right?  Go big or go home or something like that?”

You laughed, nodding your head in his direction while you walked into the kitchen.  “That’s the spirit, Spence!”  Pancake supplies placed on the counter, you grabbed the tie dye kit and two glasses of water before taking your rightful seat next to your boyfriend on the floor.

“Ready for this, babe?”

He enthusiastically nodded, inching closer to you to help set up the dyes.  “Mm-hmm.  Did you know that the origin of tie dye traces back to the 6th century, with the first recorded instances taking place during both the T’ang Dynasty and the Nara Period?”

You looked up at him, admiring the way he licked his lips while he awaited your answer, his fingers fiddling with the top of one of the bottles of dye.

God, you were so in love with him and the infinite amount of knowledge he seemed to possess.

“That’s really cool! So, what did they use as their dye?” You questioned, eyes solely focused on your favorite view- his face lighting up every time you asked him to elaborate on one of his fun facts.

“Well, it’s quite interesting, actually,” he began, “they used natural dyes and essences from things like berries, flowers, and leaves”.

You grinned, adding the final bottle of dye to the pile that had accumulated at your feet.  “Maybe next time we can try that method”.

He nodded in agreement, placing a kiss on your forehead before reaching for a tee shirt.

“Okay, so where do we start?”

He observed as you put rubber bands around one of his tee shirts, blotching up the fabric in a series of places to allow the dye to spread.  Pink, purple, and red dye was splashed across the material, your glove covered hands coming in handy as you twisted and folded the shirt with each splash.

Once you were satisfied with the design, you laid it on the corner of the tarp, leaning up to give Spencer a quick kiss on his pursed lips before reaching for the next item.  He followed suit, and together you worked to the sound of giggles, bundles of socks, underwear, and shirts joining the line of finished products.

Taking a break, you watched as he mixed every color on one of his tee shirts, the colors bleeding together until they resembled the color of mud.

“Spencer!” his name came out of your mouth in a breathy huff, your smile uncontained as your hand moved to pick up the material and observe it for yourself.  

Secretly, he knew it looked awful, and he was sure whoever roomed with him on the next case would agree.

But, he also knew he’d do anything to keep that smile on your face- even if it made him the most unfashionable agent in the FBI.

“I for one think it’s gorgeous, Y/N”.

“Everything looks gorgeous on you, babe, so I’ve gotta say I’m inclined to agree”.

All this time together and his cheeks still flushed every time you complimented him.

“Can I ask you something?” The serious tone of his voice was enough to drop the smile off your face, especially when you noticed the wrinkle that had developed between his eyebrows as he awaited your response.

“Anything.  You can always ask me anything, baby”.

He took a deep breath, moving to take one of his gloves off as you mirrored his action.  Uncovered hands clasped together, you squeezed his hand between yours, giving him the time he needed to gather his thoughts.

“Do you- do you think we’ll do this with our kids one day?”  His voice was quiet, and if the room wasn’t as still as it was you would have missed the question.

It was something you had discussed in passing before, midnight pillow talk turned into discussions about future children and Punnett squares as you daydreamed of a life with the pitter patter of little feet.  Children that were made from love and taught to be kind to others, shoot for the stars, and make their mark on the world.  But, this was the first time the discussion breached daytime hours.

You pulled the other glove from your hand, motioning him closer to you as you grasped his cheeks, your eyes fully situated on each other’s.

“There’s nothing I want more, Spencer.  You’re gonna be the greatest dad one day, I just know it”.  He closed the gap between your lips at your statement, his kiss swimming with love, respect, and excitement.

You broke apart when the need to breathe became too strong, resting your forehead against his while your fingers played with the strands of hair resting at the nape of his neck.

“I have something else we can do with our future children in the kitchen, actually,” you began as you stood, leaving the mess of tie dye materials for later, all too eager to get a move on with your plans for the day.

Spencer followed suit, mind swirling with possibilities.  “Is this a good thing to do with our kids or a bad thing?”

You laughed, sneaking a peak over your shoulder at him.  “It’s a good thing!  At least I think it is.  You’ll probably hate it”.

“That’s reassuring”.

You laughed, clutching his hand in yours as you approached the kitchen.  “Ta-da!  I got some stuff to make rainbow pancakes, I figured we can layer the bottles with colors and try to make tie dye pancakes for dinner to stick with the theme”.

“You and I have very different ideas of fun- do you not remember the kitchen incident?” He shook his head with a chuckle, his actions contradicting his words as he gathered bowls to mix pancake mix and dye.

You worked together in the peaceful glow of the afternoon sun, your fingers leaving trails of colorful batter on each other’s faces with a mixture of kisses and belly laughs in between.

He bit his lip in concentration as he worked to make the perfect pile of pancakes, each slightly burnt around the edges and raw in the middle but a massive improvement from having to call the fire department.  His consisted of circles, ovals, and squares while you wrote out ‘I ♡ U’ in a sea of colors, turning the pan towards him so he could see your creation.

“I love you, too, sweetheart,” he sealed his words with a kiss, leaning closer as you took the opportunity to let out a confession of your own.

“I can’t wait until the day we tie dye our entire house with our hypothetical children and feed them rainbow pancakes for dinner, Spence”.

A life full of love and a house filled to the brim with happiness- it was all he ever wanted, and in this moment with you, streaks of red pancake batter splattered across both of your cheeks, he knew he was already there.

“I can’t wait either, Y/N”.

Young Spencer Reid would be proud.

***

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