#there’s only three songs by her I like and they are doing some heavy lifting

[theamazingannie]

You know what? I’m gonna be shameless. Those songs are good and there’s a reason they’re up there

[amywritesthings]

press four for more options. | part two.

( Read on AO3 )

Pairing: levi ackerman x f!reader (attack on titan / shingeki no kyojin) Word Count: 3.5k Summary: After seeing your ex with his new girl at a work party, you take the not-so-smart advice from a friend to call a sex hotline to get over him. Your match? A baritone bossy dom named Levi.

Warnings: 18+ MINORS DNI - smut, alternate universe (modern), sex work, phone sex, dirty talk, dom!levi, light dom/sub, guided masturbation, pet names, nipple play, overstimulation, multiple orgasms Credits: dividers by @saradika-graphics

part one. / part three. | masterlist

2-5-1-2.

It’s an easy enough combination to remember, being Christmas Day and all.

Pressing 2, 5, and 1 is easy. The final '2' makes you second guess yourself.

You’re not sure why you’re panicking. He’ll pick up.

(It’s literally his job, idiot.)

Fuck it.

Your index finger hits the '2' and the hashtag to finalize the combination.

When you hear the line go dead, you tense every muscle in your body.

No breathing.

No blinking.

Just waiting for that silky, sultry siren song to come over and confirm your bias that it’s the single sexiest voice you’ve ever heard.

—but it’s that automated lady you tried to bypass from the menu.

“Please enter your credit card number, followed by the expiration date—”

“Oh, Goddamn it,” you groan, shouldering the phone to shuffle your purse around.

Eventually after some digging, you find your card before she can continue a second loop of her payment spiel. 

You can’t believe you’re legitimately putting your credit card information out there for anyone to steal.

Yet, if Annie’s been doing this for ages, then it ought to be safe.

Right?

After typing in the necessary numbers and confirming they’re correct, you’re so out of your own head that you don’t even realize the line switches from slight static to smooth nothingness.

“So you finally called back.”

“Shit!”

The buttery smooth greeting — or lack thereof — makes you nearly drop your phone.

You gasp and manage to catch the device just in time to hear a chuckle, graveled and low, on the other end.

“And just as jittery as last night.”

“Levi,” you greet breathlessly, straightening your outfit like he can actually see it.

You swear you hear a smile in his voice.

“Hey, baby.”

Oh sweet Jesus.

“Or do you prefer it when I call you Scarlet?”

You prefer literally anything he’ll give you, is what you want to say back, but you don’t want to automatically appear as though you’re ready to be walked like a dog at minute one.

“I’m… fine with ‘baby’,” you confess after a beat, focusing on the swirl of the marble counter below you just to dissociate to his voice.

“Thought so,” he arrogantly states before making this grunting noise, like he’s rolling his body in a chair to get more comfortable. “Are we talking again?"

"Is that alright?"

"You know it is." Levi's voice lifts, softer now. "And how's your Saturday so far?”

“Very mundane and super lackluster,” you admit. “I’m sure you’ve had a much more interesting day than me.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” he replies without skipping a beat.

“No?” you ask with a smirk. “I’d say getting people off with the sound of your voice makes for a pretty interesting job.”

“Who said it’s only just my voice?”

Son of a bitch.

The phone shifts from your right shoulder to your left.

“It isn’t?”

He makes a noncommittal hum, and it runs straight to your core. “That's confidential, sweet Scarlet."

"Boo," you joke. "You're no fun."

"You haven't seen me at my fun yet," he corrects. "Speaking of fun: how are you not hungover?"

“The power of heavy tylenol and H2O? Which... I have to apologize that."

"For what?"

"Uh, I pretty much poured my heart and soul out to you last night.”

He chuckles. "I didn't mind it. Feeling any better about that situation?”

“I haven’t really thought about it since last night, so you’re already a miracle worker.”

"Oh?"

"Yeah, no joke."

“Huh." He clicks his tongue. "And what have you been thinking about?”

You say it without realizing you’ve said it out loud:

“You.”

Both ends of the phone go silent.

Your eyes widen, wanting nothing more than to take a pan out of one of the cabinets to bash your head in with anguish. 

“In, like, an interested sense.”

Shit, that isn’t much better.

“An… interested sense,” he repeats, slower this time. His vowels dip deep.

“Oh no,” you bemoan. “Okay. Let me restart: I mean it in like a — you were on my mind? Today, sort of way. So I called.”

“...uh-huh.”

“Because the call ended so quickly!” you add. “I didn’t think it was going to end so abruptly at the fifteen minute mark, but I wasn’t done talking to you, so I called again.”

“You’re shit at asserting yourself, aren’t you?”

His words make you blink twice.

“Huh?”

“You don’t like making decisions or having to explain things,” he replies without judgment. “You think if you want something, then it makes you selfish.”

Ouch.

“Well, when you put it like that,” you reply in a bitter, yet lifted tone of surprise. 

You hear a noise on the other end. A ‘tch’ if you can make it out.

“Sorry," he apologizes. "Too far?’

“No! Too real,” you admit with a small laugh. “And I’m sure you don’t want to play analyst-therapist tonight, so.”

“I’m here to do anything you want,” he reminds, syrup-y sweet. 

“Anything?”

“Mostly anything,” he adds, and there’s a tiny chuckle bubbling between the words that makes your heart flutter. “Can’t hold a tune worth a damn and I don’t know how to speak some languages, so there are limitations.”

You laugh despite yourself, feeling your stress melt.

Then—

A small groan, like his head's tilting backwards. “Damn, I like hearing that.”

You turn away from your kitchen counter, subconsciously padding to your bedroom. “Hearing what?”

“Your laugh,” he explains. “It’s sweet.”

“Sweet?”

“Very.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” you say, rolling your eyes playfully.

Dark hair. Gray-ish blue eyes. Sharp nose. High cheekbones.

Fit.

When your eyes flicker to your own bed, you try to picture a version of him waiting there.

He could be leaning back on his elbow, button-down shirt splayed open like a newly-peeled present.

Maybe his legs are parted.

Maybe he stares at you like you’re all he could ever want.

His voice cuts through the fantasy, causing your breath to catch.

“What do you want, baby?”

Then it drops an octave lower.

“...c’mon, be selfish for once.”

For once.

Like he can read your soul through a damn cell phone.

But Levi is right — your entire short-lived relationship with Porco and just about any other man before him has been through a small lens. Fitting in the middle seat just to never make any noise. To bend with the curve rather than against it to create your own path.

It’s just a sex hotline, but for some reason, his words resonate.

Be selfish.

Wasn’t that the point of calling in the first place?

“Anything?” you repeat a second time, much softer.

Levi shuffles on the other line then exhales like he’s getting comfortable.

“What do you need?” he asks, tone low and words slower. 

Purposeful. 

“What do you want?”

You close your eyes, drawing in a slow, steady inhale.

Are you seriously doing this?

No more overthinking.

“Should I... get comfortable?” you ask, too afraid to say what it is that you want.

What you’re about to do.

“Mm, you near a couch or a bed?”

“A bed.”

“Don’t get on it yet,” he orders, “but walk towards it. Bend over it.”

Jesus Christ.

“Bend over it?” you ask with a shaky breath of disbelief.

“Yeah,” he confirms. “You’re home from a long day. I’m home from a long day. All you’ve wanted all day is to have someone tell you what to do, right?”

As much as your face feels like it's on fire, you slowly walk to your bed and put the phone down between your splayed palms.

You press the speaker option to ‘on’, and feel a wave of arousal hit your gut when you hear him sigh through the phone.

“I thought you said you wanted me to be selfish,” you remind, bending over your bed.

“You’re allowing me to take charge,” he retorts with little hesitation. “You’re letting me take care of you the way you always should’ve been taken care of. Your ex-boyfriend has no fucking clue what he’s missed out on.”

You exhale, trying to keep it together.

“Levi—”

“I’m right here, baby,” he huskily promises. “Right here. Not leaving you.”

You feel ridiculous.

You’re so turned on it’s almost laughable.

“You ready to let me take control?” he eventually asks, and you nod like he can see you.

“Yeah, I’m— I think so.”

“I like using a red-yellow-green light system,” Levi hums. “Red’s a hard stop. Yellow is negotiating, a slow down to check in. Green means you’re in.” He pauses, and you lean down closer to your phone, bending further. “Color?”

Even on speaker, his voice rips straight through you.

“Green,” you decide, blurting before your brain can catch up.

“Good girl.”

You’re not going to survive this.

“Are your lights off?”

“Yes.”

“Good,” he decides. “I want you to crawl slowly onto the bed now. Can you do that for me?” 

Your hand slides obediently, passing over the phone as you begin to rest one knee on the mattress. It dips with give. 

“All the way up to your pillows, then you can lay on your back — but keep your eyes closed.”

“Okay.”

Eventually you drag your phone with you as you crawl to the headboard of your bed, only to then slowly turn around and drop to your back.

“Are your eyes closed?”

With the phone speaker right at your ear, it almost lends itself to the fantasy of him hovering above you.

His lips dip at the edge of your ear, the static lost to you.

“Yes,” you exhale, relaxing into the bed.

“Good. You’re doing so good for me already, and we’ve barely started.” He pauses, shifting once more. “What’re you wearing, baby?”

“Something so not sexy,” you joke, and it earns a breathy laugh from him.

“Bet you can make anything sexy,” he tells you, and it shoots straight to your lower belly.

“How would you know?” you ask, your hand already reaches for the hem of your shirt. “You’ve never even seen me.”

“No, but I hear you, and it’s fucking delicious.��

Your breath hitches, and you can hear it; the smile in his voice.

“Take everything off, except your underwear.”

“Bra, too?”

“Only if you’re comfortable,” he tells you, and it’s much less breathy. It’s certain, like he wants to check in — make sure you’re just as into it as he sounds. “Would you rather I help you take that off?”

Your brain blanks.

Slowly you push your jeans off first, kicking them to some unknown corner.

Then you rise, ripping your t-shirt off of your body, until you’re sitting in your mismatched bra and panties.

“How would you take it off of me?” you boldly ask, though you can’t quite get rid of the shake of anticipation in your voice.

“Fuck, I’d love to,” he grunts, and your face burns. “I’d be so busy pressing small, slow kisses to your neck. Reach up and touch your neck for me. Feel how I’d kiss it.”

You do.

As surprised as anyone else, you reach up and press your fingers against small parts of your neck, earning him a tiny gasp and noise of want.

“Dragging down to your throat.”

You press two gentle fingers to your skin again, following his path, before slamming your thighs together to try and relieve the heat between your legs.

“My finger would just… slip, right under the right strap of your bra.”

Your fingers dance across your collarbone, slipping your middle finger just under the delicate strap to mirror.

With your eyes closed, the motions lend to an almost out-of-body experience.

Like your hand trailing down your body isn’t yours; it’s his.

You’re his, right now.

“Is this okay?” he whispers, and you nods furiously.

“Very.”

“Good. Let me pull the other one down. I wanna see how pretty my girl is.”

The praises, the way he so easily speaks this way, has you all sorts of flustered.

Slowly you raise your other hand to pull down the strap, and whimper when you tug down as far as you can.

Your breasts spill out over the cup, allowing your hardened nipples to greet the night air.

“Can I touch you?”

The words almost make you open your eyes, as if you’ll see this mystery man hovering over you.

You know he's not here.

You wish he were right here.

“Yes.”

“How do you like to be touched, baby? Show me.”

“Levi,” you whine, allowing your shaky hands to run along your breasts.

You’re afraid, you’re exhilarated, but when you finally pinch the little buds and roll them between your fingers, you’re too far gone to care.

“Fuck—”

“Feels good, huh?” Levi’s own breathy voice interrupts your curse. “You look so beautiful like this. Letting me play with you— God, I could do this for hours—”

“Want you to.”

You don’t even recognize your own breathy tone. 

Hell, you only hear him.

You only feel him.

“Need more,” you pant, and he hums with amusement.

“No,” he replies, “think I’m gonna play with you a little more right here for now.”

You accidentally pinch your nipples, harder, like he’s teaching you a lesson.

“Levi.”

“What, is my girl getting impatient?”

His girl.

You don’t even know him, but you’d sure as hell like to be.

(How easy is it, for you to fall so fast from your judgmental high horse when Annie first slipped you this number — only for you to be moaning on your bed, hands groping and kneading your breasts, for a man you didn’t know?)

“Y-You said,” you stammer, “to be selfish, and I want—”

“Shh, I’m gonna take good care of you, okay?” Levi interrupts on the other end. “But you have to do something for me, too.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t want you holding back on me. No shyness. No second guesses. I want you, I want to hear what I do to you. Is that understood?”

You can’t take it.

Your one hand leaves your chest to skim down to your belly, unable to wait any longer.

“I want you to touch me,” you hiccup.

“Yeah?”

His voice wavers in the response before it strengthens. Demands.

“I want those panties gone first. Take them off and spread your knees. Feet flat on the bed.”

No need to be told twice; you hastily pull your panties down your hips, your knees, until they pool at one of your ankles.

Your knees knock together before spreading, and you squeeze your eyes shut.

“I want to touch you, too, baby.” Levi swallows, coating his throat. “How wet are you for me?”

Fingertips run past your lower belly to touch the apex of your thighs, gasping with surprise and relief when you feel that familiar electricity.

“Really fucking wet,” you admit.

The groan he emits is delicious. “Fuck.”

For a moment, you feel completely out of your depth. 

This is meant to be a sex hotline, but there are lines blurred in your mind. Something about the sheer image of him leaning back into his chair, fucking a fistful of his cock while he has a phone operator headset against his ear, only turns you on that much more.

“If we had time, I’d spend all night memorizing what you taste like. What you feel like. How you let go — for me, only for me.”

“Only for you,” you promise, unable to stop yourself from drawing circles over your clit.

You moan, head bent back against your pillow.

“Fuck, you’re touching yourself, aren’t you?” he asks, and his voice seems less controlled now. It’s got a hint of raggedness, and it only quickens your pace. “You feel amazing, you know that? Such a pretty pussy, all spread and wet for me—”

“Shit, Jesus, Levi,” you gasp, knowing that you’re not going to last long.  You’re too wound up from the night before. “If you keep talking like that—”

“What, are you gonna come for me?” Amusement tickles the question. “Oh, you can come for me, baby, but I’m gonna need at least two from you tonight.”

Your fingers press a little harder to your clit, and you keen. 

“Wh– At least?”

“As if I’d ever be satisfied with only one,” he murmurs. “No, I wanna watch you come apart. Feel it on my fingers with those cute little contrac—”

That’s it.

You moan louder than you expected, the taut bowstring suddenly snapped in half. 

You arch off the bed, relentlessly rubbing your fingers against your body to ride out the insane orgasm that you — that Levi has given you.

Even if you’re blissed out, you hear it on the receiving end:

“That’s it. That’s my girl. Fuck, you sound amazing. I know it’s gonna be tough, but keep going for me, okay? Don’t stop.”

“It’s sen– ha, sensitive!” you whimper, wanting to stop your hand.

“Mm-mm, you said you’d be good. Be selfish, baby. Give me two.”

“But Levi!”

Everything is on overdrive.

Your hand; your body; your mind.

You imagine he’s hovering over you, working you with his hand with a near-sadistic relentlessness.

As you battle your own refractory period, your toes curl, teeth clenched.

You want to be good.

You want to be so good.

And somewhere in that overwhelming intensity, you feel it: the ebb and flow of pleasure returning, crawling through your veins and forcing you to not give up.

To give this to him.

Then you hear it: panting.

As if he’s getting off to this himself. Your eyes snap open, wide, to an empty room. 

When your cheek turns to the phone, you confirm that’s what you hear:

Ragged breaths, albeit softly, with added grunts of control. 

Like he’s holding back.

Something about that image of him in a chair, his hand relentlessly pumping his cock in time with your hand, your whimpers and moans, does damage.

“I need— mm— want— please.”

“I’m right here, baby,” Levi promises, though his voice is weaker. You can even hear him swallow again. “Right fucking here, wanna hear you cum so bad.”

Maybe you really were pent up enough for two, because soon you’re slipping — falling — into that blissful nothingness while your body clenches on itself, clit fluttering from a second release.

It’s less intense, but that doesn’t make it any less good.

Everything throbs in your body as you come down, panting, with a slight sheen of sweat on your skin.

You turn to your phone, totally gone in the bliss of the aftermath.

Levi has grown silent as well; only light puffs of air come through the speaker now.

“Feeling better?” Levi asks with a hint of pride in his voice.

“Shut up,” you answer with a gentle laugh of your own. “I’m… shit. I guess that’s why they pay you the big bucks.”

That statement gets Levi to laugh, and your heart feels twice as full.

“That’s one way of pillow talk, I guess.”

The man pauses.

“Are you alright?”

As if he’s truly concerned, worried about your wellbeing.

You don’t allow yourself to fall for it, not completely.

This is his job — even if it felt so real, in the moment.

“Much better,” you promise, smiling to yourself.

“Happy to help,” he hums, his voice returning to that stormy swirl of seduction and softness.

The sobering reality of an empty bedroom should deter you, but all you can do is smile.

(When is the last time you genuinely felt giddy? Excited? Satisfied?)

“Hey, Levi,” you murmur eventually, slowly sitting up to unhook your bra and toss it away. No need to keep it on.

“Yeah, baby?”

You’ll never get over the way he sounds when he calls you that.

It’s permanently stuck to your frontal lobe, obscuring any other logic or reality.

“Am I still allowed to call?”

“Allowed?”

“Yeah, even though we…”

“What, you think you get one experience and your membership is up?”

Levi chuckles, shifting in his seat — or bed — or wherever he is.

“You can call me anytime you want.”

“Any?”

“Between company hours, yeah.”

“Even to talk?”

“Of course,” he answers, softer this time. “Always to talk. Go get some rest.”

“Mm,” you mumble, turning on your side as exhaustion takes over. “I will, but only because I want to and I’m being selfish.”

It surprises you to hear him laugh again, but it’s louder now.

More prominent. 

As if he genuinely enjoyed your joke.

Get your head out of the clouds, girl, is what you want to say to yourself, but you can’t be bothered to care.

“Good. You earned it.”

A noise emits from your tired throat to acknowledge him, too sleepy to formulate a real sentence.

Then his voice drops to a whisper, for your ears and your ears alone.

“Goodnight, baby.”

You press the ‘end call’ button and fall into the deepest sleep you’ve had all year.

.

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading part two of P4! This is insane. I still cannot believe the feedback I got in part one. Seriously, you all made my June. I hope this next part has satisfied your curiosity of how Levi would be a hotline operator.

Thank you for likes, and even more love to those who choose to reblog this to help spread the word of this series or reply in the comments. ilu xo

[yueebby]

Ok so this is a random and weird scenario i thought of after watching some INTERESTING videos on YouTube, I know but I just need to tell someone(it involves lovesick!Gojo- and no this isn’t a request, more like a rant😭)

imagine- it’s summer and all the second year students are sweating and want something cool to eat. Satoru randomly brings in a watermelon and challenges the others to try and open it without any cursed energy or a knife, just pure raw strength. Nobody can do it except him and he laughs a bit before reader crushes the watermelon between her thighs and opens it just like that…IDK Y I THOUGHT OF THIS AND IDK HOW HE WOULD REACT TO THAT BUT I IMAGINE HE WOULD BE RED IN THE FACE AND LIKE ‘me next🙋‍♂️’ IM SRY IM AWARE THIS IS VERY WEIRD😭😭

2:35pm — gojo satoru

synopsis. a certain challenge makes gojo go feral for you

contents. fluff, CRACK, lovesick!gojo, he is (highkey) a pervert, everyone in jujutsu tech is sick of him

“The one and only Gojo Satoru is here to save the day~” The familiar drawl of a sing-song voice calls over the sound of the dingy fan that you and Shoko were huddling in front of. Both of you were sprawled on a tatami mat with the door wide hoping, hoping to catch a gust of wind.

The grin adorned on his face didn't falter when his only response was three annoyed groans.

“It is way too hot for your antics Gojo,” You look up from the fan to half heartedly glare at the white haired boy in front of you. He stares at you, blue eyes slightly wider than usual before he gulps. You brush it off, knowing that you probably looked like a mess, considering you had just finished training in the sweltering Tokyo heat.

Your usual uniform is long gone, replaced with the dress shirt that you wear below it. Even with the undershirt and your skirt, you’re still suffering from the particularly hot day, skin glowing in the sun as a silent testament.

Gojo is forcibly kicked out of his trance upon Suguru harshly bumping shoulders with him.

“Show them what we got,” Suguru’s smooth voice says. Your eyes follow down to whatever he was referring to.

Without any difficulty, Satoru holds up a large watermelon proudly. Your mouth nearly waters at the sight of the large green fruit. How refreshing!

“Ah you didn’t have to go through the trouble after your mission, Suguru!” You leap from your spot, a bright smile painting itself on your face.

The pleased look on Satoru’s face turns sour. “I was the one that brought the watermelon?” He lifts the large fruit, flexing the muscles that were showcased from his dress shirt being cuffed up to his forearms.

“I should be the one getting the thanks, it was my idea to get it in the first place,” Shoko wraps an arm around your shoulder.

The taller boys in front of you look sheepishly away under her stern gaze.

You wrap an affectionate arm around her, “You’d make a good wife one day Shoko.”

Gojo’s jaw drops incredulously, leaning closer into your face, “What about me? [Name]! Wouldn’t I be a good doting husband too?”

You lean away, flustered at his sudden confrontation. His intense blue orbs never leave your face, expectantly waiting for an answer.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Shoko snorts, shielding you from his heavy gaze. “Anyways, how are we going to cut this thing? You brought a knife didn’t you?”

…

There is a long silence shared between the four of you.

You think you see an irk mark appear on Suguru’s forehead.

“I clearly told you to bring a knife from the kitchen,” Suguru snaps his head to his white haired counterpart.

“Must’ve slipped my mind, heh,” Satoru whistles. “We can just break it ourselves, no?”

TEN MINUTES LATER—

“Ready,” Satoru’s smile grows wide. “Go!”

You watch expectantly as Shoko’s hand descends onto the watermelon in a swift chop. To your shock, the watermelon stays unharmed despite the legs of the wooden table below it creaking loudly.

“Wha–?” She furrowed her eyebrows.

Satoru shrugs, “Better stop smoking and start training. You’re falling behind~”

You and Geto have to hold Shoko back from lunging at the smug white haired bastard.

“Next challenger, step up!” Satoru announces.

Fueled with hunger and the desire to get your hands on the juicy watermelon that awaits, you sit down on the cement floor of the school with the watermelon in your lap.

You gently place the fruit in between your thighs, inhaling slowly.

Squish!

The watermelon breaks in half with a crunch.

“Oh,” You blink in shock, surprised that your plan managed to work. “I did it.”

Your joy is short lived when you realize that your legs are sticky as a result of the juices of the fruit. A sheepish smile makes its way onto your lips.

“Gah–?!” Gojo chokes on air as he watches your thighs glisten with the sunlight. Though his mouth is agape, no words seem to escape. He’s nearly certain that the heat rushing throughout his body is not from the sun.

Shoko whistles, squatting down to eye level with your thigh to assess the damage done. She gives your thigh a good squeeze, “Nice legs.”

You’re too flustered to hear Gojo growl from just a couple of feet away at Shoko’s shameless attempt at flirting.

“My face next.”

extras:

- the only reason why satoru forgot to get a knife was because he was practically skipping to you once he got through the gates of jujutsu tech. suguru was nice enough to spare these details from you.

- despite all sorcerers being able to detect cursed energy, gojo satoru is pretty exceptional, being able to mask his cursed energy usage. that, and you were too tired to even notice it. (he lightly coated the watermelon right when each person went up to break it. suguru noticed immediately, but wanted to see how the prank would play out).

[satxnsupreme666]

Immortal: Agatha Harkness/Agnes x fem!reader

Masterlist

Requested by: @agathaharkness-simp

Summary: Agatha is immortal and she fell in love with you when she was still in the coven, she lost you in the past but even when you reincarnated in different periods of time and in different countries, she always found you again and again because she promised herself she would always find you, and this time is not going to be different, she kept falling in love with your soul every time.

Based on the song Immortal by Reinaeiry

Warnings: Angst with happy ending

Word count:  9K+

Author’s notes: Hi, this was a requested story, I do not know if I should tag the people who requested at the time, I want to be respectful, so I am not sure if I should tag them, I will try and do it since it was their request and their idea and if any of the people who requested back at the time now feel uncomfortable being tagged, please let me know and I will delete the tag.

This was one of the first stories I wrote three years ago, I had posted them on Tumblr on my old account, but due to my mental health, I had to take a break from Tumblr and the toxicity and hate that had suddenly increased, I deleted all of my stories and my old account, now I have decided to upload them again here on Tumblr and also on Ao3.

Again, as this was one of the first stories I wrote for Agatha Harkness is a little bit short, I will be uploading the rest of the stories from time to time, I have to edit them and make sure they are legible enough and with not a lot of grammatical errors.

I hope you like it!

Taglist: @midnight-lestrange @eliscannotdance

Sometimes when I look in the mirror

I still see your face resting on my shoulder

 It was not easy for Agatha to be without you, she missed you all the time, but waiting for your soul to return to earth one more time so she could find you again was the only thing that made her feel that everything would be alright

She used to think of her life just as a tragedy, but waiting for you was the only thing that made this worthy, and she came to the conclusion that it was a beautiful tragedy, the only thing she hoped and craved the most was that you would come back to her once again to be with her, by her side loving her just like you knew how to love her.

You were her life and she would never stop looking for you, it didn’t matter how far you were, if she felt you again, she will go wherever you were, no matter what.

She still remembered the first time she met you, the first time of many times.

She still smiled at the memory of back in the coven in 1685, it had been so many years, many centuries, and still even after all this time, she was sure, her feelings for you would never change.

Agatha was walking through the misty forest because she loved watching the fog coming down in the evening, Agatha thought that day would be another calm and normal day, but the moment she heard the sound of footsteps in a hurry running right towards her, she knew this would be a different day, she felt curious because no one else knew this place, it was weird to hear someone coming to this forest.

The footsteps became louder and louder and before she knew, something made her fall to the grass, the impact was a little harsh and when she lifted her head to see who was beside her, she saw you.

You were breathing quickly and your breathing was heavy too because you had been running for the past thirty minutes, but you had tripped over a branch, this couldn’t be happening, how did the witch-hunters find you? You were not sure but you had to keep running, otherwise they would catch you.

Agatha saw the worried look on your face and she didn’t understand why you were in such a rushed state until she heard some men yelling not so far away.

“Catch her, she’s a witch”

Agatha immediately understood what was going on and why you were running.

You were about to start running again but you felt a hand grabbing yours, stopping you from going away.

“Wait, don’t go”

That was the first time you saw her, with her messy long hair, and her beautiful blue eyes, however you didn’t have much time to admire her beauty, because you had to go.

“I have to, they’re coming for me” You said to her with tears in the corner of your eyes, you were afraid, like you’ve never been before.

“You do not have to worry, I can protect you” The girl in front of you showed you her hand that had started to glow purple and you were surprised, that meant she was a witch too.

“There are many of the them coming” You whispered in a hurry, she quickly stood up from the floor, never dropping your hand and she helped you to stand up, but when you were about to stand straight, you felt a sharp pain in your ankle and this made you lean against the girl in front of you.

She noticed this and she quickly put her arm around your waist, helping you to lean more onto her, holding a strong grip on your waist.

“It’s alright, you don’t have to worry, they won’t get to you, I won’t let them, alright?” You quickly nodded and when you heard the footsteps of the men coming closer to the both of you, you saw how the girl’s eyes started to glow purple too, you were amazed, you’ve never seen another witch in your entire life, you were always trying to hide your true self from everyone and that´s why you never got to understand all of your powers, and what you could do.

But before you could keep thinking a wave of purple power came from the blue-eyed girl and when you heard grunts and whimpers in front of you and then the sound of people falling to the floor with a thud you saw how all the witch-hunters were laying on the floor.

You were surprised you´ve never seen something like that, that had been incredible.

Agatha still remembered the way you quickly turned your head to look at her, she could see the excitement in your face, the fear you had been feeling had vanished and your expression showed it. Since that moment Agatha knew she wanted to be with you, Agatha promised herself she would make you fall in love with her, Agatha would do everything she needed to see your beautiful smile.

“That was wonderful, how do did you do it? Also, my name´s y/n” You said to her with a shy smile, she still had her arm around your waist and Agatha couldn’t help but smile to.

“Thank you, you have a beautiful name, I´m Agatha Harkness” Agatha still remembered the feeling she had got when she first met you and she was sure, she would always feel her face getting warm at the memory.

Since that day you had arrived to the coven, you never separated from her, she took you into the coven, and everyone their accepted you, if someone just dare to give you a bad look she would make sure they regretted it, you were all the time with her, no one would see one of you without the other, if people were looking for you they always knew wherever Agatha was, you would be near, it was the same for Agatha, if they were looking for her, they would just look if you were near, she loved that everybody knew that.

One of her favorite memories of you back in the coven was one of when you had asked her to teach you how to have a better control of your magic, and she gladly told you she would teach you; the way your face had lit up when she agreed was one of the expressions she would never forget from you, the way your eyes would beam in excitement and joy, she just loved every one of your expressions, and Agatha knew that no matter how many years, even centuries took her to finally meet you again, she would never forget you.

The day you were training with her in the forest, she had asked you to close your eyes and to focus on what you were feeling, she had asked you to tell her what you felt, Agatha placed herself behind you, putting her hands on your waist to whisper comforting words to your ear, she was feeling nervous because she was in love with you, and even though she was sure you liked her back, she still couldn’t help but feel a little insecure.

But Agatha was surprised when you turned yourself to be face to face with her, you put your hands on her collar shirt and you grabbed her a little to make her lean into you and you kissed her.

Agatha was surprised, because she had though she would be the one to make the first move, but she wasn’t complaining, she loved it, Agatha carefully pulled you closer to her, with a firm but soft grip on your waist, she loved the feeling of your hand caressing her face while your other hand rested on her shoulder, it was a magical moment for her, the sound of the birds around the forest, the wind hitting against the trees and making their leaves and branches move in a steady way, she could have said that was everything she could hear, but she could swear that the loudest sound was her beating heart, she was afraid you could hear it and that you would notice how nervous she was.

Agatha touched her lips with the tip of her fingers and she smiled at the memory of centuries long ago, it had been your first kiss with her, and she would never forget the feeling, she treasured all of you’re the memories she had of you, and she was afraid of forgetting them, her memories of you were everything she praised when you weren’t with her, she found herself thinking about you and everything you had passed with her every single day.

Agatha was looking at her reflection in the mirror and she thought of you, how could it be if you were still with her by her side? She knew she would be holding your hand and resting your head on her shoulder just like you used to do, she would be stroking your hair whispering sweet nothings into your ear.

All the times she had lost you she felt part of herself been ripped away from her, she knew it had to happen, you were a mortal, but she would never get used to the awful feeling of losing you.

Nothing would ever compare to that first time it had happened, she felt she would die at any moment, she wanted to die to be with you on the other side, Agatha didn’t want to keep going without you.

Life had been really unfair, she had met you when you were running away from the with-hunters and she had saved you, but the second time you encountered with-hunters, that atrocious time she couldn’t save you, and she blamed herself, if only she had been faster than you, if only you hadn’t pushed her against the floor to prevent the bullet from hitting her, if only she had been faster to drag you to the floor with her, you wouldn’t have been shot by that man. You had sacrificed herself for her, you had protected her when she had promised to protect you, and she couldn’t even do it.

Agatha used her powers to throw the man against a tree with a cracking sound she knew he was not alive anymore, but that didn’t bring her comfort, she had to saved you, Agatha tried to used her powers to heal the wound, but it was too late, she couldn’t do anything, she really tried to save you but she couldn’t, you were her life, you were her light, and you had been taken away from her.

Your beautiful face was pale, you did not have any expression on your face and it had been the worst she had ever seen, she didn’t want to keep going anymore, she would have wished she had died in that instant to be with you, but she knew it was impossible for her to die, for the first time in her life, she knew this was a curse on her, she thought you and her would live a long life, she thought you and her would share your life, and she even had looked in forbidden books for something to make you immortal like her, but she was too late, she hadn’t been quickly enough to make you live longer, and she hated it, you were everything she needed and now she had lost you, you weren’t with her anymore, and she felt devastated.

Since that day, no one in the coven saw her smile again, wherever she went, she would always go alone, she dedicated herself to just learn more, she just studied giant books about different types of magic, she focused herself in getting every type of knowledge she could, she even started to study dark magic, she had tried to look for different ways to get rid of her magic, she just wanted to be with you, and it didn’t matter dark magic was forbidden, because she didn’t care anymore.

Even the day when the other witches made a trial against her, she hadn’t cared that they had banned her from the coven, they would never allow her in it, and Agatha couldn’t really care, without you, nothing felt the same.

 And my heart beats so fast

That I start to feel alive again

 Agatha kept looking for a solution, she tried many spells to try to break her curse, but nothing had worked out.

She travelled to different places, even different countries to gain more knowledge, but she found nothing about what she wanted to know, Agatha just felt hopeless, she cried herself to sleep, she missed you a lot, she needed you with her, Agatha just wanted to hold you against her when you were about to sleep like she used to do in the coven in your shared bedroom, all of your memories made her cry, she would never stop loving you, and she knew she would always miss you, without you nothing made sense.

Agatha never stopped thinking about you, how could she?

One day in 1775 while she was in France walking through the shore with a book in her hand, she was admiring the view, thinking about her long-lost lover, there was no time in which she didn’t think about you, you were in her thoughts all the time, and the memory of you was everything she had to cling to.

The white foam vanishing in the sand, the waves crashing against the shore and the feeling of the water against her bare feet, the humid sea air, everything about the place was beautiful, but nothing would ever compare to your beauty, how could it be if you were still with her? Would you have loved the beach? Would you have liked to collet seashells just like back in the coven where you loved to collect small rocks from the river where you used to pass the time, she still had all of your belongings with her, some of the dresses you used to wear back in the 1600s, your collection of little rocks, she loved to hear you talking about them, she never got tired of it, she loved everything about you, she also had with her your three favorite books about plants, all of these things were a treasure and she would always keep them with her.

She was so focused on her thoughts that she didn’t realize she was coming closer to a woman sitting on some rocks, in front of her was a canvas and in her hand, she was holding a palette, and with the other hand she was holding a brush, she was painting on the blank space of the canvas, when Agatha notice that woman, she felt something, it was a feeling she couldn’t describe, that woman was kind of familiar to her, she felt she had seen her before, but where? She was not sure, she felt intrigued, her heart started to beat faster, and with each step she took her breathing became heavier, that woman resembled her beautiful lost lover of years ago, but how could it be? It had to be an illusion a simple beautiful and incredible illusion; how could it be?

Agatha walked faster towards the woman and when she was close enough tears started to fall from her eyes, she was just like you, her hair, the sitting position was the same as the way you used to sit, it was the same posture you had, the way the woman tilted her head it was the same way you used to tilt your head to the side when you were focusing on something, she was the same as you! It was your face, your hair, your expressions, how could it be? Was it true? Her wish had been listened?

Agatha couldn’t believe it, was it you? Were you real? The only thing that was different from you were the clothes, but apart from that, everything about you was the same.

Agatha didn’t realize she had been staring for more than ten minutes until she heard a gasp.

This time when she saw the woman´s eyes, she knew it was you, she would always recognize your eyes, Agatha was sure it was you, her beautiful y/n, she had found you again.

“I didn’t realize you were there” When she heard your voice, more tears started to fall from her eyes, it was the same as she remembered years ago, she wanted to hug you and tell you how much she loved you, but she had to contain herself, she couldn´t rush things.

“Are you alright?” You had stood up from where you were sitting and you came quickly towards her, you took her hand softly and Agatha loved the way you caressed the back of her hand with your thumb, even your touch felt the same, the same touch she had craved for many years, you were like a dream, she had wished so many times that you would come back to her one way or another and now that you were here, again, in front of her, with  the sound of the waves hitting against the shore, the seagulls screeching in the distance, and you in front of her, it was the most amazing view, and she would always picture this in her mind, the second time she got to see you again for the first time in many years.

Agatha wiped the tears away from her face with her left hand and she slowly nodded and when she saw how concerned you were, she couldn’t help but smile a little, you had looked at her like that many times.

“I´m sorry, it´s just that your painting is beautiful, and I was feeling a little melancholy, and I couldn’t help myself” You smiled back at her and your hand never left hers.

“Thank you so much, I completely understand how you feel, the beauty of the nature can be overwhelming” You said with a shy smile, how much she had missed your smile.

“Would you like to stay here for a little more?” You had asked her and she eagerly nodded, you sat back on the rock and you patted on the rock next to you with your hand, so that she would sit next to you.

“My name´s y/n by the way”  And just like centuries ago, like she was the first to say her name, Agatha felt more tears threatening to fall from the corner of her eyes, she remembered when she first met you back in the misty forest, but what she thought was the most surprising thing, it was that you had the same name.

“My name´s Agatha” Agatha saw how you turned your head to look back at her again, you had a curious expression, and she could see that you were examining her face, she gave you a smile and this time you talked again.

“I know this will sound a little bit weird, but I feel as if I´ve already met you, you look so familiar” When you said that, Agatha felt her heart melting, part of you remembered her, and she couldn’t happier, she had been right, it was you! You were finally back with her, and this time she would make sure you never went away, this time, Agatha would make you fall in love again with her, just like she had done years ago.

And the rain, it washes away all the pain

‘Cause it feels like the sound of your voice

She saw that you took the pallet again in your hand and with the brush on the other hand you started to examine the colors in your palette.

“How do you get the color of the sea?” Asked Agatha, she already knew how but she just wanted to hear your voice as much as she could.

“That´s easy, you take the a little of viridian green, and a little of the titanium white, this way you´ll get a light tone of green, you separate these colors and then you take the cerulean blue and in case you don´t have cerulean blue you can use a little of Phthalo blue, and in the end you add just a little amount of yellow and then you mix all of these colors together” Agatha saw the way you passionately talked about the oil colors and the way you carefully mixed them on the palette, when you finally got a turquoise color you proudly showed it to her.

“This way you will get a really beautiful light turquoise color, and if I want a darker tone, I just add a little bit more of viridian green or cerulean blue, that way I can play a little with the tones”

You said with proud smile on your face, you always spoke with the same passion about the things you loved the most.

“You´re so beautiful” Agatha blurted out but this time Agatha didn’t feel nervous, she was pretty confident, she saw how you bit your lip, the same way you used to do it, and she loved everything about you, the old gestures and the new one she saw in you, like the way now you move a little your hands when you were feeling a little nervous, she loved you so much.

“Thank you, you´re really beautiful too, Agatha” You said with a timid smile, Agatha saw the way you brushed away a strand of your beautiful hair, you looked so delicate under the sunlight, she wanted to picture you like this forever.

This was your second chance to be together, and she wouldn’t miss the opportunity, Agatha offered you to help you with your painting, she just wanted to be near you, and of course you said yes, if you had to paint something for a job, Agatha would be there with you, watching you being so concentrated, she loved watching you, you were so beautiful, she didn’t want to waste more time, she wanted to kiss you and hold you in her arms, but she didn’t want you to be scared, she wanted to take things slowly but she really wanted to be more than just a friend to you.

On a sunny day when Agatha watched you from her usual spot at your house from a chair, she had her chin resting in her hand while she watched you work on another painting, she saw you had some stains a paint in your hair and she loved the way you tilted your head a little to the side watching the angle of the canvas, she was mesmerized by you.

“What do you think?” You asked her standing from your sit and you showed her your painting, Agatha was astonished, you had painted her, with her hand on her chin while she was watching you.

“It´s amazing” Said Agatha and she stood from her chair and she walked towards you, you smiled at her and before you could say something else, Agatha came closer to you and she placed one of her hands on your chin and the other on your waist, this time Agatha had been the one to kiss you first, finally Agatha felt your lips once again, they were so soft, she could smell your perfume mixed the smell of the paint, she heard faint moans coming from your mouth and she loved it, Agatha caressed the soft skin of your face and you rested you passed your arm over her shoulder while the other remained on her arm, both of you had your eyes closed and once again, Agatha pressed you closer to her body, embracing you.

The second time she met you, she certainly knew you were her soulmate and no matter what, she would always found you again, Agatha remembered one time when both of you were laying on your bed, your legs were tangled with hers, your head was resting on her shoulder and she was reading French poetry to you, she remembered what you had told her after Agatha finished reading a poem about past lives.

“You know what? I believe in past lives, and I believe that there are many lives after this one” You stopped talking for a minute and she saw that you were thinking what to say next, she waited patiently for you to keep talking and she brought her hand to stroke your hair.

“I feel this amazing connection with you, and I think that before this life I will meet you again, and that´s what I want the most, I love you Agatha and I want to share as many lives as possible with you” In that moment, Agatha started to cry, if she could she would make everything to keep you always with her, just the way she was, she wanted you to be immortal just like her, so that you would never leave her side, but still there wasn’t anything she had found about this, she loved you so much, and she didn’t want you to leave her again, but she knew this was life and you would have to part form this life, but this time she knew, she would meet you again, and that was the only thing that reassured her just a little.

“I feel a strong connection with you too, doll, and just as you I believe in past lives, and I´m sure we were together in a different life, and I´m sure that after this life we will still be together, I will find you again my love, and we will be able to love each other for many years more” At this point you were crying just like her, Agatha loved you too much and she just wanted to share all her life with you, Agatha promised herself to always find you again, no matter how much time it took her, she would always look for you, you and her would share many lives, and she would make sure of that.

And I’m comforted by the sweet smells of dew

Because the sunrise reminds me of you

This second time Agatha got to share twenty years with you, and they were the most amazing years of her long life, she loved everything about her life with you, she learned more things about you this time, you had painted many things all through these years, you were an amazing painter, you went for long walks around the beach, she would link your arms with hers and that way you would go to walk around the shore, with your bare feet touching the warm water of the sea, you would sit with her for hours to appreciate the marvelous views of the coast, sometimes the two of you would go into the sea, at the start you were a little afraid of the deep ocean, but she reassured you that she would always hold you against her, and that made you feel protected, with her you always felt protected, and you loved it, Agatha placed herself behind you holding you close to her by your waist and her chin resting on your shoulders Agatha loved the way you used to pressed your hands on her hands resting on your waist, she would never get tired of this feeling, you were the love of her life.

These years were amazing, until you had to part from this life again, and this time it had been due to an illness, she didn’t know what it had been, one day you were alright and the other, you couldn’t stand up from your bed, she hated to see you in pain, she couldn’t bear to see you this way, she used her magic to try to heal you, but she didn’t understand why it wasn’t working, she made herbal teas and she tried different spells, but none of them worked, why was this happening to you? She just wanted to be with you a little bit more, but also, she couldn’t stand the way you were suffering.

She decided to tell you about her power, she showed you what see can do and she can´t help herself from crying in front of you, she told you about your past life with her and how she is angry because it doesn’t matter what she can do, she can´t help you get better, she is kneeling in front of your shared bed while she holds your hand with a soft but firm grip, she´s afraid you could vanish and she doesn’t want to accept what will happen next.

“Oh Agatha my love, I always knew I would share many lives with you, and I´m sure, as I told you years ago, that we will find each other again, and if I can´t find you first, you will do it for the both of us, you do not have to be angry, I´m happy I meet you, and I´m happy that I got to live the most amazing twenty years of my life with you, what I had with you was a gift, and I will always treasure all this time I spent with you, we will meet again, you don´t have to be sorry because no matter what, we will always find each other again” You whispered to he while some tears fell from your eyes, Agatha wiped them away from your face and she kissed your knuckles.

“I promise you; I will find you again, I will always love you and I won´t stop looking for you, I promise y/n” Agatha said, she couldn’t stop her sobs, it was too painful, she was going to lose you for the second time, and even if she knew she would find you again, that didn´t make this any less painful.

Your last words to her were “Je t´aime” and Agatha found herself crying over those simply yet so beautiful words for her.

“I love you too, my love” She couldn’t believe it, you were gone again, she knew she would meet you again, but how many years have to passed for that? She would miss you terribly, all of these years would be a beautiful memory of you waiting for the next time she got to find you one more time.

 Since the second time you were taken away from her again, this time it took longer for Agatha to find you, there was no trace of your soul anywhere, she didn’t feel you, where was her beautiful lover? She missed you so much, she felt there was this part of her that was missing, Agatha needed you a lot.

After more years that Agatha couldn’t find you, she felt desperate, traveling from one country to the other, searching for you, every time hoping you would be somewhere but, you were never there, she couldn’t find you, where had your soul gone? Where were you?

After all these years she finally started to understand the reincarnation,  after reading about it in different books, she came to understand that one person could live multiple times, it was a cycle, but sometimes it could take many years for a soul to reincarnate once again, she believed the human soul was eternal, and that you and her were destined to be together, she just had to wait a little bit more, she could wait many time, but the pain would always last.

 Agatha found herself looking for more knowledge so when the next time she finally meet you again, this time she wanted you to be able to live with her as many years as her, she just wanted you to have a longer life like her, the thought of sharing her life with you in eternity felt so amazing, it would be heaven on earth with you.

But this time she had to wait, it had happened over two centuries, and still she hadn’t felt you again here on earth, where had you gone? Where had your soul gone? All these centuries and Agatha still kept many of your belongings, your collection of rocks from your first shared life with her back in the coven, the painting you had made of her back while you were living in France with her, some of your brushes and some other paintings you had made, some pieces of clothes that had belonged to you, letters from your an your favorite books, she had all of these things safe inside a beautiful old wooden box, you and her had painted the box with your favorite colors, and Agatha had loved the result, after your death she would have loved to stayed more time in the pretty house you two had shared, everything reminded her of you, your paints, your brushes, all your paintings, of course it had to be that way, she would always love this house and she would make sure no one touched this sacred place, she would have loved to stay here with the memory of you lying next to her in your bed, but she didn’t know where you were going to appear again, in which country you were going to come next time, and she also needed to keep looking for more magical knowledge, even if it hurt her to leave her home, she had to, next time she would finally have an answer to have you with her forever.

 And I’ll always find you again and again

And I’ll love every version of you

 Centuries had passed and her hope never faded away, all these years she always had you in her mind, and just as time passed, she understood more about immortality and reincarnation, her magic was strong, but not strong enough to make someone immortal, she needed something more powerful.

So when Agatha felt a powerful magic in a town not so far away from where she was, she thought that maybe, just maybe this could help her, still she was really concerned about why she hadn’t found you again, and it frustrated her, she just wanted to see you again, but what if life had decided to make her wait more years to finally reunite with you again? She wanted to hug you so bad.

Agatha used to sleep with one of your favorite books in her hand at night, and sometimes Agatha would hold against her one of your old blouses, Agatha always dreamt of you, she just wanted to have you by her side one more time.

Agatha wished so many times to do everything with you, watching people through the periods holding hands and sharing their lives just made her missed you more, all the time she would wonder, what thing you would have loved the most about something in specific, like the time when she arrived to Lombardy, Italy, Agatha couldn’t stop thinking about how would it be to hold your hand while the two of you walked through the beautiful narrow cobbled streets, she was sure you would have loved it, how much she would have loved to walk side by side with you under the dim lights of the little lamps hanging from the walls, Agatha would have loved to be with you with all of these amazing views, but the only thing she could do was to wish, she couldn’t do anything else, every time she felt a hole in her heart because you weren’t there with her

The day she arrived to this place town called Westview Agatha realized there was something really powerful coming from here, it was an impressive magic, and she was more impressed when she recognized how everyone in this town was in some sort of mind control, everyone here in Westview had a role, all of them were acting in someone else´s illusion, but what dragged her attention the most was that the habitants here didn’t seem to be in pain, how was that possible? Wasn’t it supposed that mind control was painful? This was a mystery and even though she had gained a lot more knowledge about magic she had just some ideas of what this could be, but she wasn’t sure, so she would have to act as someone from here, Agatha just wanted to know if this power could help her, after understanding that the magic came from a person not a thing, she thought it would be great to try to talk to her, being close enough to her would help her to understand the magic, she wasn’t sure but she had to tried for you, she just wanted to be able to make you stay with her forever.

After welcoming Wanda to the block, Agatha went back to her “house” she would have time to explore the town a little bit more later, for now she just wanted to place your old things in her new house, she wanted to place some of the paintings on the wall, put your book on her nightstand and place your old clothes in her closet, it was like this all the time, she loved to do it because it made her feel like you were with her, of course she had hid your things so that Wanda didn’t suspect anything.

Agatha was about to open her door´s house after taking the things she had brought with her, but she was not expecting that someone else open the door for her, who could it be? Did she have a roommate?

But what she saw, made her feel alive one more time, you were there, in front of her, with a beautiful dress that match the time period you were in, you were here, you were right in front of her, your hair was in a ponytail with a pretty bow on it, your eyes, how much she had missed your eyes, she could see the same sparkle in your eyes, the same you had from your past lives you had shared with her, Agatha didn’t have enough time to process what was going because you threw yourself into her arms.

“Oh Agnes, you´re back from your trip, you do not know how much I´ve missed you” You were under Wanda´s mind control, and you were Agnes´ wife.

Agatha started to cry, it was a beautiful overwhelming feeling, you were back again, she hugged you so tight, she placed her arms around your waist and she pulled you closer to her, Agatha smelled your perfume, it was so good to have you back, this time, she would make sure that you stay with her forever, it didn’t matter what she had to do, she would make you stay for real.

“I´ve missed you so much, you have no idea how much I wanted to come back to you” Of course you didn’t understand the depth of these words, but it didn’t matter to her, she could finally hold you in her arms, once again she was touching you, she was feeling your soft hair, after centuries she could hear your voice again, and this made her feel alive again, Agatha felt overjoyed, she could share her life with you again, how much she wanted to make this chance the last one you could finally share an eternity with her.

Agatha separated herself from you to have a better look of your beautiful face, you were the same just like years ago, your expressions were the same, and this was fascinating, how couldn’t you remember everything from your past lives but still you had some of the same gestures, the way your face would make a concerned expression, the way you bit your lip a little and how you frowned your browns, they were the same gestures that she had fallen in love with centuries ago.

“You´re so beautiful” The way you lower your face a little at her compliment reminded her of the times the two of you were in France and she would always say how much she loved you, how you tried to hide your face a little.

“Oh Agnes stop” You said with a timid smile, the same one you had given her centuries ago in the coven, Agnes felt tears coming from her eyes again, this time they were happy tears, there was no more pain in her chest, all these years waiting for you had been worthy.

“What´s wrong my love?” The feeling of your soft hands on her face wiping the tears away was something she had craved for a long time, she put her hand over yours caressing the back of your hand with her thumb, she wanted to feel you more and she couldn’t wait for it, she took your hand and brought it to her lips, pressing a soft kiss to your knuckles.

“Nothing y/n, is just, I really missed you a lot, being away from you felt like years, and now that I am back with you, I can´t help it, I love you with all my heart, and I´m glad to finally be here with you again” This time Agatha softly grabbed your face with her free hand and she left a soft peck on your lips, she wanted more, but the soft feeling of your lips against her helped her to ease the craving sensation a little, she had all the time with you, she could wait a little bit more, patience was something she had learned from all these years without you.

“I felt the same, I missed you so much, but now you´re back and we can enjoy our life together”  You didn’t know how much those words meant to her, to finally enjoy your life with her sounded amazing, and this time she was not going to lose you, she wouldn’t bare a third time losing you, she wasn’t sure she couldn’t stand it, not again.

“What do you have in there?” You had asked when you notice what she had in her hands

“These are reminders of beautiful memories I brought for you, I´m pretty sure you will like them” You nodded eagerly and you let her come in, she closed the door behind you, Agatha felt happy, she hadn’t felt this way in a really long time.

 And you’re never truly gone

As long as a part of you in me lives on

 Agatha had wanted to wake you up from the spell Wanda held you in, but she couldn’t, this was a strong magic, something she´d never seen before, but she never stopped looking for answers, the paintings of you past life were hanging on your walls, you had loved them, but one painting in particular made you feel something different whenever you looked at it, it was the one of Agnes´ portrait, but she looked a little different, she had a purple blouse and in the painting her hair was a little messy, it was your favorite painting because whenever you looked at it you felt a strange connection with it, you felt like if you had been there when this had been painted, it was a warm and strange feeling you got, there was another one that you loved, it was the one of a sea, Agnes had told you it was her favorite, you never asked why but you felt curious, you still remembered the first time you had looked at the painting of the sea, for a moment a thought of a beach like the same on the oil painting, made you remember a warm breeze and the sound of seagulls in the distance, you had thought the painter had made such a good job that it had captured their feelings, those were amazing pictures.

Agatha got to see the real time periods that Wanda was constantly changing in Westview, but nothing compared to how amazing was to have you here with her.

It was her chance to pass through all the time periods you couldn’t pass with her, she loved the way you look in all the different clothes, you were just beautiful and all of this had been a gift.

She got the chance to share with you all the time periods she couldn’t share with you, and Agatha loved it, she knew you were under Wanda´s spell, but she didn’t care at all, she loved to call you her wife, it was something she had wished for, and now that she had the chance she wouldn’t like it otherwise, Agatha wore her wedding ring with proud, everywhere she went, she had it with her, she loved it and of course you did the same.

You loved her and you were happy to share your life with this amazing woman, within you, you felt you had a strong connection with Agnes and you were sure she felt the same.

Lately you started to have some dreams, they were strange dreams about her, you just thought that maybe they didn’t mean nothing but they felt so real, like memories, you were not sure, and you really wanted to tell her about the dreams, but you weren’t sure, so you just decided not to share them.

They felt like memories, but you haven’t done any of that things, it was odd, you felt like you had pass through all of that, but how could that be even possible? The was this dream in which you were in a forest with Agnes, kissing each other and she was holding you against her, with your head resting in her shoulder, in all of these dreams you could swear you smelled every scent of your surroundings, the smell of the wet soil, and in all of your dreams there was this smell of oil paints and a vanilla scent, what was that? You couldn’t tell, you really didn’t want to forget any of these so you decided to write all of them in a little notebook you had in one of your drawers.

-

For her part Agatha had already discovered how Wanda managed to create everything in here, it was chaos magic, and she knew Wanda´s magic was linked to her own feelings, Agatha just needed a little of her magic for what she needed, but how could she get it? She had to do something to make Wanda use her powers, and a good amount of her magic, so the only things she could think of, was to send vision outside Westview, it would be the only way Wanda would use all of her powers, she knew it wasn’t the best idea but she really needed her magic.

So, Agatha planned everything, she would manipulate Vision a little, she just had to make him curious about what was outside, so she tricked him into thinking she was in pain and that she wanted to leave Westview, Agatha pleaded him to save all of you, and with that Vision walked to the limits.

Agatha knew she didn’t have much time for this, first of all she needed you to be safe, she couldn’t risk you again, Agatha used her powers to appear in your house.

“y/n? Where are you?” She asked when she noticed the light were off

“I´m here!” She heard you answering from your shared bedroom, Agatha went upstairs to look for you and when she entered to the room, she saw you were writing something down in a little notebook, she would have to ask you about that later.

“Doll, I need to make something, I will be here later, alright? But I need you to wait for me here, promise me, you will stay here inside our house” Agatha was almost pleading you, and even though you didn’t understand what was going on, you agreed.

“I promise you Agnes” She kissed you fiercely and she hugged you again.

“Good girl, I love you and y/n, I want to share my life with you forever” You frowned a little, you could see her hands were shaking a little, but you didn’t have the chance to ask her what was going on because she left your room in a rush, you really wanted to know what was happening but you had promised her to stay here, so you just did what she told you.

You went to your shared bed to lay a little to think about all of these dreams again, but you were dragged from your thoughts when you saw how the sky changed from the usual blue color to a red color, you were shock, you were pretty sure that was not normal, you were a little afraid.

The urge to go out of your house to look at what was going on was immense, but you had promised Agnes to stay inside, you were conflicted, would Agnes really know if you went outside? She would never know and you just wanted to have a better view of the sky, so you quickly went downstairs, this felt wrong, really wrong but you couldn’t help yourself.

The moment you opened your door a red wave of energy hit you, it made you step back and you were confused what had been that? Blinking several times, you tried to compose yourself, so you went to sit on your couch, what was all of this? You looked to everything around you, how long time have you been here?

-

Agatha just needed to get close enough to Wanda to absorb a little of her magic, that was everything she needed, but she had to be careful, Wanda seemed to be really mad and she didn’t want to start a fight with her, not now.

Agatha saw how she was trying to close the barrier again and the time Wanda closed her eyes, Agatha took this as an opportunity, stretching her hands out towards her, she started to absorb some of her magic, just a little and with that she would have enough power to make what she had wanted for years.

She stopped absorbing her magic when she felt it was enough, Wanda didn’t even notice and that was a good thing, she didn’t need Wanda to fight her, she just wanted to go back to you.

This would be the time, you won´t have to part from this life anymore.

With a flick of her hand she used her magic to go to your house, her excitement had been covered by worry, your door was open, what if something happened to you? No, no this time, not now when she finally had answers, Agatha quickly entered to your house and she felt relieved when she saw you in the couch, you were holding head In your hands, what was going on? Why had you left the door open?

“Y/n?” She whispered and she saw tears in your face when you lifted your head to look at her, Agatha didn’t know this expression, was it fear? Were you scared?

“Agatha?” How did you have called her?

“Is it really you? Agatha?” Was it true? Did you remember her? Agatha slowly nodded and walked closer to you, when she was right in front of you, she knelt on the floor, she recognized your expression, this time it was the same as the ones you have given to her centuries ago, was this real?

“Agatha, how much I´ve missed you, oh god, I remember everything!” Agatha caught you in her arms, your sobs echoing in her ears, you buried your face on her neck and she stroked your hair with her left hand, with her free hand she started to rock you back and forth while her fingers ran through your beautiful hair.

“I´ve missed for such a long time, and now you´re completely back, I won´t lose you again doll” You eagerly nodded into her neck, you just wanted to be with her for eternity, all of your dreams have been memories of your past lives, and in each one of them Agatha had been there with you.

“Agatha, I don´t want to be away from you, I love you, and all of my memories of these years ago with you are here, inside me, I feel everything, I don´t know how but, I remember all of that, I don´t want to die, I don´t want to be without you”

“This time you won´t go my love, all these years without you I kept myself looking for a way to make you stay with me, forever, I won´t lose you this time, you and I will be together for eternity, and now that I have the answer I want to make you just like me, you will live for centuries with me, would you like that?” Agatha asked you with pleading eyes, she wanted to make sure you were alright with this, and when you nodded eagerly, she took a deep breath.

“Close your eyes doll” You did as she said and you felt her placing her fingers on your temple and then you felt her soft lips on yours, it was a sweet kiss full of love, the kiss made you almost forget the sensation of what she was doing to you, you felt something strange all over you, you felt something covering your entire body but it was a warm feeling, you didn’t know what it was but you trusted Agatha with your life.

After what it felt like hours, Agatha broke the kiss and she pressed her forehead against your forehead.

“What did you do?” You asked with a smile, Agatha wiped some of the tears in your face away with her fingers.

“I made you immortal like me, listen carefully my love” She grabbed your face with her hands

“The magic I used is really powerful, remember our days back in the coven? When you didn’t know how to use your magic and I taught you?” You nodded, of course now your remembered them

“Well, I´m sure this will give you magic abilities, but your magic will be stronger, but you don´t need to worry, I will be here with you, I will teach you and I will take care of you, you don´t have to worry about anything” Now you had magic? Just like in the past? This was for sure a lot to take in, but you didn’t care about that, this time you will be able to finally share all of your life with her.

“I trust you, I know you will always help me, I´m happy to know I won´t die again, now everything will be different and I´m happy that I will get to finally be with you”  You were hugging each other on the floor, and maybe the world around you could have been crumbling, but that wasn’t important, what was important for you was that you were back with her again.

“Thank you for waiting for me” You said to her as you removed yourself from her a little to look right into her eyes.

“I will always wait for you, it was worth it, there were times in which I felt desperate because I wanted you to be with me, but I couldn’t do anything I just had to wait, but every time I found you, all the sadness and pain went away, you´re everything I need angel”  She whispered in your ear just as her hand grabbed yours, the sound of the rings hitting against each other made you realized you were married here and this made you smile.

“I know that we´re already married, but I would like to marry you again, this time for real” You smiled at her comment and you smirked a little

“Are you proposing to me?” You feigned shock and Agatha chuckled.

“Yes, but I will do it better next time, I want to surprise you” She said while playing with your fingers.

“We can go wherever you want, Italy, France, Greece, Slovakia, we can go to the first places we met, we can go to the beach we met centuries ago in France, there´s so many things I want to do with you” You couldn’t help but smile at her excitement, you wanted to do many things with her, and now you would have all the time in the world.

“We can plan all of this, we can decide where we can go, we don´t need to rush anymore my love, we will have all the time we want” Agatha nodded, you were right, you were not going anywhere, this time you will stay with her for all of the eternity, finally she would have everything she wanted, she was excited, she would have slow dances she had wished you and her shared, you will visit different countries and she was going to teach you everything she had learned through the years, nothing will take you away from her anymore, and this made her feel relieved, you were the love of her life and she was going to make you happy just like you had made her feel all this time, you and her were connected permanently, this time your love will last forever.

 ‘Cause I’ll always find you again and again

[s7-evermore]

To Love You Once More [Time Travel! AU]

Vil Schoenheit x Fem! Artist!Yuu (/reader)

This is just a concept I got in mind. Not sure if I’ll keep continuing it. This was just the result of some daydreams caused by Bruno Mars’ and Lady Gaga’s new song lol

“Um…Vil, we’re ready now.”

The young man slowly lifts his head upon hearing the sound of his name. Weary eyes shifts to the figure past the bed in front of him where the new head of STYX, Idia Shroud, stands.

“It’s time to push through with the mission. We’ll take care of her from here.”

Vil Schoenheit gazes longingly at the woman on the bed. A year passed when she went missing, and another since she’d been asleep. He misses the way those eyes perceived the world, how they looked at him with so much love and care.

His thumb brushes against the back of her hand as he held her. He remembers how these hands of hers would hold a brush and paint to her heart’s desire. How she would squeeze his hand to reassure him that she was there.

He lifts his free hand and places them on her abdomen. He feels her breathing, and the loss of the life they had been anticipating together.

Noticing the gesture, Idia clears his throat to speak.

“…We uh, we couldn’t find anything on the baby,” he said slowly, “we checked all the human test subjects they’ve preserved. None of them were newborns. We— we don’t know where they…they dispose of them either— uh, yet, at least.”

“And Grim?” Vil asked.

“Nothing on him either.”

“…I see,” Vil’s voice was no more than a whisper. 

Vil stands from his seat and leaves her with three kisses. One on her wedding ring, a second on the back of her hand, and another on her forehead. 

Vil feels his heart breaking with every second she remained asleep. They said she wasn’t dead, but she didn’t look alive either. She was breathing, but he could barely hear it unless he held his own.

With heavy reluctance, he lets go of her hand and leaves the room with Idia.

“Since we used a bit of her power to run the Trackback machine, it can only work on one person and once,” Idia explains as they walk down the hallway. “Once you’re back there, you can’t return here. Our present now will change depending on how much you change the past.”

Idia halts in front of a door and faces Vil, “This whole mission is dependent on your success. She’s already weak, so we can’t use any more of her power.”

“I understand,” Vil’s expression hardens.

Idia nods in acknowledgement as he pulls out a keycard and scans it on the side of the door. The door opens as an artificial voice acknowledges his position.

The laboratory they enter is completely busy. Technicians were checking the diagnostics of the machine while other scientists were setting the systems up. Ortho, who had been assisting someone, notices them.

“Brother! We’ve done the final system tests on the Trackback machine, everything’s ready for the operation,” Ortho says as he approached.

“Good, keep it running. It’s time.”

Idia walks over to his station as he instructs some of the staff members.

“Vil Schoenheit, are you ready?” Ortho’s voice was softer this time.

“Yes. Is there anything I have to do before I enter the machine?” He asks as he looks over at the Trackback. It was a pod-like machine that was fit for only one person.

“Aside from the previous trials we’ve done, there’s nothing else. Have you said goodbye to Yuu yet?”

Vil’s face softens slightly at the sound of her name, “Yes… I have. Please take care of her for me.”

“Don’t worry, you can count on us!” Ortho exclaims.

Vil nods solemnly before letting the humanoid boy lead him towards the Trackback.

“We’ll be monitoring your vitals, so make sure to stay calm. You have to be in good condition for this to work since we can’t risk you getting hurt,” Ortho explains.

Although the interior was comfortable, Vil feels like he is being laid into a cold coffin.

“Don’t worry, Vil…“

Ortho’s face was the only thing Vil could see through the pod’s window.

“You’ll see her again soon. It won’t be the same, but… I’m sure it will be better next time.”

Vil knew better than to hope for good things. To him, it was better to work towards it rather than relying on luck to get there. However…

Ortho returns to his brother’s side.

“All systems are operational. Time displacement parameters set for 9 years into the past. September of 20XX.“

…this time, he really wished all his hard work would pay off.

The Trackback hums to life. Vil feels the soft vibrations reverberating through his body.

“Coordinates locked to Night Raven College, the morning of the Xth Entrance Ceremony.”

“Thanks Ortho. Give me a full system diagnostic before activation.”

“Initiation system diagnostic… Energy levels stable. Temporal field generators at full capacity. Quantum tether is synchronized with present time. All safety protocols are active.”

“And the displacement window? We need that at 100%.”

Vil knows full well that she wasn’t going to wake up any time soon. All he could do now is to continue to forge ahead. He has to be strong enough to fulfill this mission, to achieve a better future…

“Displacement window integrity is at 98.7%. An acceptable margin for human travel. Estimated arrival time: 15 seconds after activation.”

“15 seconds? We calculated 10 seconds in the earlier trials.”

“This discrepancy is due to the minor fluctuations in the temporal field density. No risk of deviation outside acceptable limits.”

Idia sighs, “Alright, this is as good as it gets. Everyone get ready. Ortho, initiate the countdown.”

…For him. For her. For their child… And for all the people who had been affected by the catastrophe…

“Affirmative. Beginning countdown: 10….9….8….”

The air in the room starts to ripple, and the lights dim as the machine hums louder.

Vil thinks back to the woman on the bed. He feels his wedding ring with his thumb. He had her initials carved into them, and his on her ring.

Something beeps in the background. A technician’s muffled voice reaches Vil’s ears.

“We’re getting some interference on the energy output.”

“Ortho, can you stabilize it?” Idia asks.

“Interference detected, compensating… field stabilized.”

He wants to see her paint again, he wants to tell her how much he loves her…

“7…6…5…” 

He wants to hold her in his arms...

“4…3…”

Even if he has to go through everything again, Vil was sure of one thing…

“…2…1…”

He wants to be with her. Forever.

“Time travel initiation. Displacement commencing.”

They will never be apart ever again.

[zombholic]

𝐀 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐏

“who the fuck moves to tennessee dad!” you threw your hands to your head while having a heated argument with your father.

he said something about his business booming if they moved over there, how he’d be making twice as much as his regular income.

but next thing you knew you were unloading boxes upon boxes into your farm house that was beautifully remodeled you can even say. you chose the room with a gorgeous bay window that showed the entire farm from the backyard, you can say this is the whitest thing you dad ever decided.

after a couple of weeks of still getting settled into your new home, the only neighbor you had being at least three miles away. your dad had hired some help with the farm, he was eager to make it into something beautiful, he was having them buy all sorts of crops and farm animals. yeah, you like animals but if a chicken chased you, you are running for you damn life.

“y/n, come here real quick!” you slipped on your fluffy little slides and made your way downstairs to see your dad sitting down with a couple other people, he made them something to snack on in the meanwhile.

“yeah?” you sat on the arm of the coach “these are our farmers, they’re gonna be here for a very long time so introduce yourself now because they’re gonna become family real soon” he chuckled, you got up and shake their hands, your eyes getting caught on the muscular blonde with a long braided ponytail, her blue eyes and freckled face could’ve ended you right there until you noticed her arms.

“uh.. i’m y/n but you guys can call me y/nn if you want” your handshake with the girl lasting a little longer “well of course miss y/n, it’s great to meet you, my names abby!” a strong southern accent slipped from her lips.

—

every time your dad left for work you took the opportunity to blast music from you room, the songs slipped through the little cracks in the wooden house enough for the farmers to hear. you noticed today was a little hotter than other day so you decided to be a good little help and bring them sandwiches you made with something to drink.

walking outside over to the guys you thanked them for their help and handed them the snack, you couldn’t seem to find abby until you heard noise coming from the stables, entering it you swore you could’ve passed out at the sight of her. the sleeves to her button up rolled up to show off her veiny arms, sweat seeping through, strands of her hair sticking to her face. she was loading hay bells on top of each other, she noticed your presence after you staring at her with goo-goo eyes.

“hey ms. y/n, can i help you with anythin’?” she took her gloves off tucking them into her back pocket, wipes the sweat off her face with her arm, breathing heavily from the labor.

“i um made you a sandwich, you guys deserve a break” you gave her a shy smile before handing her the sandwich and cold water bottle “that’s so sweet of you hun, thank you” she took them from your smaller hands, gulping down the water bottle within seconds. “oh um, did you want another one?” you didn’t it was humanly possible to drink water that fast.

“no no, it’s all good miss, thank you s’much” god you couldn’t get enough of that accent of hers, “did you need help? i can help load them” you walked in front of her and tried to pick up one of the hay bells before miserably putting it back on the ground “no, don’t hurt yourself miss, they’re too heavy” it seemed almost like an insult, you can do heavy lifting as well.

“i can help around my farm as well abby, see” you finally lifted the hay, struggling very very badly to put it on the other ones “if you want to help, miss, you can pick those pretty little flowers” she grabbed the hay bell from you and settled it down “i don’t want your pretty little hands getting all rough n calloused like mine” she threw her gloves back on.

“i can do that” you went over to the small garden that growing the prettiest flowers, getting on your knees you slowly started picking the ones that you thought were pretty, you screamed bloody murder when you saw a little snake in between the flowers, jolting up and running away from it before hitting into something hard.

“oh god miss, what? what happened?” she held your arms with a very concerned look “abby there’s, oh fuck” you coughed a little, hiding your face in her chest unintentionally, you had the worst fear of snakes, didn’t matter how big or small they were, they scared you to death “what? miss? wheres what?” she noticed your distress and rubbed her hands on back “there’s a snake in the flowers, ohmygod im gonna pass out.”

abby had you sit down on the bench near the stable, your knees tucked against your knees as you were afraid of anything else showing up, she bent down and easily grabbed the little snake, a laugh erupting from her “you were scared of this little fella?” she looked over at you, you were tense by seeing her holding that thing.

“yes! please put it away somewhere far!” anyone else would’ve said you were overreacting but a phobia is a phobia.

she came back over to you with the softest smile “let’s get you back inside miss, don’t need you gettin’ a heart attack” she halfheartedly joked, agreeing with her you slowly and carefully walked back inside your house, abby following closely behind you like a bodyguard. turning around went you reached your back door you gave her an embarrassed look.

“i must’ve look so stupid to you, city girl comes to the country and screams at the first thing she sees outside” your comment earned a laugh from her “i can’t blame you miss but i grew up in this area so i’ve seen everything you can think of.” you smiled at her, giving her a small thank you before walking inside.

AUTHORS NOTE: ima drag tf outta this series yall!!

[piningforstan]

Too Sweet

Summary: Stan has lied and cheated and fought his whole life, and he’s not exactly sure when he had time to do whatever it took to deserve you.

Pairings: Stanley Pines x Reader

Word Count: 1.4k

Warnings: mention of an age gap, suggestive adult content but nothing graphic, fluff with some light angst

A/N: Inspired by Hozier’s song by the same name!! I seriously need an edit of Stan to it

Also, an age gap LI with Stan (like they’re in their 30s or 40s) just really does something to me. Stan mentions “women” once in the story but otherwise I wrote it with the intent of being GN.

A shift of the mattress roused him from his fitful sleep. Stan cracked open an eye. The flickering alarm clock told him that he’s only been asleep for a few hours, he vaguely remembered creeping into the bedroom sometime after three. Dreaming peacefully then, free of punishing nightmares, you now stood with your back to him, stretching your arms up over your head.

His gaze traveled appreciatively from your head to the slip of skin revealed by your t-shirt lifted ever so slightly. Pale morning light slanted into the room in thin bars thrown across your face. You hum to yourself as you pull on your bathrobe and shuffle into the bathroom, Stan watching you from heavy lidded eyes the entire time.

A groan climbed up his throat. He threw one arm over his face.

What was he doing?

He didn’t miss the time when he would wake up alone, head muddled by alcohol. He missed the time when he did not feel so goddamn guilty. Your presence reminded him constantly that you were too…good for him. He had lived a long, shitty life and it never bother him — his decisions, his lifestyle — when he was by himself. But now you were here.

Not only were you younger than him, you had never done a fucking bad thing in your life. You went to bed at a decent time and always woke up early to watch the sunrise, you faced everything with unflinching enthusiasm. You smiled and laughed and danced without inhibition or regret. And, worst of all, you looked at him and loved him in spite of his mistakes and wrongdoings.

When the bathroom door opened he quickly pretended to be asleep again, the knot in his stomach tightening as you stopped to press a kiss on his cheek on your way out.

By the time he actually woke up, he didn’t even want to acknowledge the time, Stan shuffled into the kitchen to find his family immersed in a heated debate. Mable stood on her chair with Waddles on the table, gesticulating wildly while you and Dipper argued with her.

Upon spotting Stan, Mable cried out, “Grunkle Stan! We need your help.”

Stan scratched his chin. “What is it, kid?”

“If Waddles was going to wear pants —”

“They would be like this, right?” You intervened before Mable could finish, drawing a line around the pig’s midsection then gesturing towards his back half. Dipper nodded, signaling his approval.

“No, no, no, no,” Mable said, “it would be this way. To cover all his wittle wegs.”

She indicated the imaginary pants around his entire body, covering the entirety of his lower half. Stan stared in disbelief as the debate lapsed into an argument once more.

“I need coffee,” he grunted.

Without even stopping, you pressed a steaming mug into his hand, then raised your eyebrows expectantly.

Stan sighed. “Why is the pig wearing pants? That lucky son of a gun has been naked since the day he was born.”

“Just hypothetically,” Dipper said.

Turns out, Stan’s opinion wasn’t actually needed. Rather, you and the twins set to speculating about the possibility of pig pants without including him. Eventually he just collapsed into one of the ancient chairs and sipped his coffee, willing his headache to go away. He noted affectionately how passionate you were about this topic of choice, always ready to leap into whatever strange scheme his family concocted.

After some time Mabel loudly exclaimed that she was going to knit pants for Waddles to “prove everyone wrong!” and the debate dispersed. Dipper stormed off muttering, leaving Stan alone with you.

You looked still deep in thought as you collected your own now cold coffee and sat back down. You poured in about half the container of sugary creamer.

“You should’ve been on my side,” you sniffed. Stan knew by the hint of a smile on your mouth — god, your mouth — that you were teasing.

“My policy is always no pants,” Stan said. “No doubt about it. No pants.”

You rolled your eyes. “Clearly.”

Stan shifted in his seat, grinning at you. He never bothered putting on pants in the morning, just his reliable ol’ boxers.

“Hey, you’re lucky I’ve got these on. Anyways, you weren’t complaining last night by —”

“FORD!” You quickly exclaimed.

Stan’s grin only grew more pronounced as his brother strode into the room. If Ford had heard the tail end of your conversation, he didn’t mention it. More often than not Sixer was so completely in his own world that he barely knew he had company.

Stan liked how your cheeks were still pink as you bid Ford good afternoon. Afternoon. Fuck.

Panic spiraled through him.

“I’ve got a tour to give —”

You waved your hand while sipping your coffee. “I rescheduled it for…” you consulted your phone, “thirty minutes from now. Better hurry, old man.”

“Thanks, kid. You really saved my bacon.”

“Again,” Ford muttered.

Stan shot him a glare but still hurried out of the kitchen to get changed. He glimpsed Mabel in the living room, crisscrossed on the carpet, measuring Waddles for his pants. The pig snorted pleadingly in Stan’s direction.

“Women,” Stan said, “always making guys like us put on pants.”

Stan would have to be his brother to count on his fingers how many times you anticipated something he needed. The coffee. The tour. A distraction for the tourist when the googly eye of one of the exhibits popped off. A redeeming interpretation of his reaction to Waddles’ pants after spitting out his beer. Then, to top it all off at the end of the day, encircling your arms around his middle and sagging into him. His heart surged with profound emotion.

“Ah, c’mere, kid,” he mumbled against your hair. You smelled like home.

Stan held you tight. Too many times he had let the good things in his life go, slip right through his grip. He was determined not to lose you too.

He fumbled to find the words he’s been meaning to tell you all day. “I, um…thank you. For today.”

For every day.

The words stuck in his throat.

“For what?” You blinked at him. The need to protect you, to preserve your happiness and well-being, seized him so strongly that it took him several moments to compose himself.

“Ya know.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Saving my ass. Yer, uh, too sweet for me. Ya know what I mean?”

How many more times would he say ya know? Did he know any other words?

Your face lights up anyways. “I love your ass. I will always save it. Don’t want anything happening to it.” You squeezed said ass playfully and he smirked in response. “But seriously, Stan, you don’t have to thank me. I love you. That’s what you do for someone you love.”

Stan bristled. No matter how long he had been with you, after several months of skittering around each other, he wouldn’t get used to those words leaving your mouth. His parents had never uttered them, nor his brother. Hell, he rarely said it, can only remember saying them to you.

If he ever said them to anyone else — any past lovers or ex-wives — it was in a placating nature, never like this. Never real.

“Anyway, you do lots of things for me too,” you tell him.

“Do I?”

You lay your head back on his chest. “I always fall asleep before you do and you always make sure to tuck me in and refill my water when you come in. You make me laugh and you make me feel safe.”

You kept listing examples but truthfully he had stopped listening. Stan realized he did do these things, things that he didn’t even think about doing, he just did.

“—maybe you’re just too sweet for me,” you finish, drawing him back.

“Ha!” Stan laughs. Hopefully it’s more convincing than it sounds to his own ears, self-deprecating instead of secretly pleased. “Better not let anyone else hear you say that or I’d have to give them a knuckle sandwich.”

“THEY FIT!”

You closed your mouth. Whatever you were going to say is swallowed by the sounds of Mabel’s excitement. Stan smiled at you as you grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the sound of Mabel’s demands — come here! come here! — and Waddles in his new pants.

He committed everything about you to memory as you stooped down to admire Waddle and commend Mabel for her hard work. Stan knew that you would fit in perfectly with his family. He never would’ve guessed that someday he couldn’t imagine his family without you in it, couldn’t even conjure a day without you there.

Maybe you were too sweet for him.

But he was sweet on you.

[littlelovelyra]

I'm with you - Astarion FanFic

Fem tav x Astarion

Tav is a bard

Summary: Unbeknownst to you, Astarion has realised that perhaps his plan is falling apart, you have felt him distancing himself for a few days. You now arrive at last light inn where one night Alfira asks you to perform one of your latest songs. Which leads to you and Astarion alone in your quarters later.

Notes: Ive written this based around a song by vance joy, there will be the use of the lyrics from the song (maybe a few changed lyrics) for the plot of this story, so you will be reading the song lyrics - if you wish to listen to how its meant to be sung, the song is called “Im with you” - I suck at fanfic writing but I day dream a lot and since hearing this song I have had this “encounter” in my head so I like to get it out.

Warnings: Fluff, Oral, PiV, fingering

MINORS DNI

He’s been distant, and you don't know why. You spend your time lost in thought, replaying moments in your mind, searching for what you might have done to push him away. He hasn't sought you out for his daily feeds either, which surely means he must be growing weak. The last time you were alone together was two days after obliterating the Githyanki Creche. You wonder if he's still mad about the blast from that weapon you triggered. But you'd asked him multiple times if he had forgiven you, and he had reassured you that it was in the past. He had even warned you that next time he would be the one to wield the powerful weapon, as if he were more responsible than you.

You arrived at Last Light Inn in what you believe to be the early hours of the morning, though time feels different here. Your companions insisted you take the single room available, with its own bed and privacy. Perhaps they don’t know that Astarion hasn’t visited you for the past three nights…

Three nights ago, you had quietly slipped into his tent for him to feed on you. You remember how gently he laid you down, cradling your head with his arm as he carefully kissed your neck before sinking his teeth in. You can still feel his other hand cupping your cheek, his thumb tracing loving circles around your jaw. His soft moans as he drank you in echoed in your mind. After he had his fill, he placed another tender kiss on your wounds and slowly pulled you into a long, slow kiss that felt earth-shatteringly intimate, something you had never felt from him before. Remembering the feel of his cold hands exploring your body with such tenderness and purpose sends a shiver through you, as if you can still feel his touch. The breathlessness you both shared while tangled together in a night of passion, only to wake up the next morning with him already gone. You wondered if you had imagined the love radiating from him.

But now, there is nothing but silence. Eye contact avoided. Your chest feels as if it has caved in. You don’t know how to repair this, so you do what you know best. You pick up your lute and begin to compose. After what seems like an eternity of trying to collect your thoughts, you compose something that perfectly captures how you feel in this moment. Yet, the heaviness still weighs deeply within you. Sighing to yourself, you set down the paper and your lute and decide to purchase a drink at the bar.

“It’s you!” A familiar voice calls out from across the room. You lift your head to see the friendly face of Alfira, a fellow bard. You meet her smile with one just as wide and pull her into a warm embrace.

“I’m so glad you made it here, Alfira! I hope you’ve been keeping yourself out of trouble!” you say, holding her at arm’s length, taking her in. She seems healthy and safe.

“Well, it’s all thanks to you, Tav! I’ve been keeping out of trouble, just working on my music. In fact, I’ve been providing entertainment here for a while. I thought this place needed some nightly music to lift everyone’s spirits… OH! YES! I have the BEST idea!”

You know where this is going, and you don’t like it.

“You need to play here tonight, Tav! Please!” Her eyes are practically sparkling with excitement.

“Look, Alfira, I’m sure nobody wants to hear my stuff. Yours is probably way more interesting.”

“Nonsense.” She looks around the bar and loudly announces, “Who wants to hear Tav tonight instead of me?”

Gale, being Gale, yells in agreement, and the rest of the bar follows suit. You shoot daggers at him, who holds his hands up in surrender, offering an apologetic smile.

“I suppose I can, but one song only, Alfira.” You offer her a small smile. One song—you can handle it. It will be fine.

“Amazing! I heard some music coming from your room before, which is why I came inside. I’d like to hear that one, please! OH, I can’t wait. This is going to be AMAZING!”

Before you can protest the song choice, she gives you a quick hug and exits the building, spreading the news of your performance.

__________________________________

You spent the rest of the day polishing the lyrics of the song, and the time has finally come to head out and wait for Alfira to bring you up on the makeshift stage set in the corner of the room.

“We have an exceptional surprise for you all tonight! Our very own Tav will be performing one of her latest compositions! Please help me in welcoming her up!” Alfira extends her hand out and you sheepishly take it to hop up on the platform. Casting a look around the room you take a moment to compose yourself, this is what you did for a living before all hell broke loose. You can do this… and that’s when you see him lingering in the back, swirling his drink in his hand, his gaze completely fixed on you. You inhale deeply and you begin to play your new song, your stare never leaving his as you sing…

“I saw you standing there, the curls in your hair, the way it came tumbling down, just like a waterfall. And if you need a light I’ll be the match to your candle My Darling I’m ready, to burst into flames for you.”

Holding his stare you see something flicker in those ruby eyes but you continue without faltering.

“I was just coasting till we met. You remind me just how good it can get..

Well I’ve been on fire dreaming of you Tell me you don’t, it feels like you do Looking like that you’ll open some wounds… How does is start and when does it end? I’ve only been here for a moment but I know I want you But is it too soon? To know that I’m with you? There’s nothing I can do”

“There's nothing I won't do to see you shine I'll swing for the fences I'll run to the line And it's high time that you love me 'Cause you do it so well Oh darling, I'm with you There's nothing I won't do…”

You concluded the song, and the entire Last Light Inn erupted in cheers and hollers of approval. It had been a long time since you had experienced such genuine appreciation for your music, and your heart swelled with gratitude. You offered a small bow from the waist and made your way off the platform, shaking a few hands along the way. Alfira had returned to the stage, and the entertainment resumed.

_______________________________________

After a brief conversation with some of your companions, you excuse yourself and head to your room. Placing your lute gently on the table, you begin to prepare for bed, starting to undress. As you stand in your underclothes, a sudden chill envelops you from behind, causing your body to tense. You inhale a familiar scent - bergamot, rosemary, and a hint of aged brandy - and realize that you are not alone.

"Hello, darling," he breathes into your ear as he places a hand on your bare waist, sending a cold shiver down your spine. You slowly turn to face him, lifting your gaze to meet his. A thousand questions scream in your eyes, and you can tell he clearly sees them.. Before you can even form a sentence his mouth is on yours, with heated desperation his hands moving across the fullness of your body, taking you in, holding you as if he would never hold you again. Your questions vanish and nothing but desire flows through you down to your precious core that is aching with need for him. In an instant he’s guided you to the bed in the corner, placing you down, his kisses never missing a beat as he undresses you. The peaks of your breasts swell with anticipation as he scatters kisses down your neck, across your collarbone and eventually sucks in one of the tender peaks. A moan escapes your lips as you feel his hand moving toward your core.

He finds the bundle of nerves that eagerly await his touch and he begins rubbing slow circles around your clit.

“Astarion.’ You breathe out in a soft moan that sends him trailing kisses down your body until his head is at your very centre. You arch your back in anticipation, your body begging his mouth to find its home.

He lets out a soft growl as he buries his head in you, his tongue expertly delivering long calculated strokes, flicks and swirls. As he feels your body nearing its end he curls two fingers inside you and pumps them in and out while completely devouring you. You feel yourself becoming light headed and your body shaking as the wave comes crashing down. You let out a loud moan as you completely shatter around his face.

Astarion comes back up to you slowly cleaning his fingers off with his mouth while never breaking his stare. He slowly brings his face to yours kissing you deeply and you feel his hardness through his clothes pressing against you. A soft gasp escapes your lips as he undoes his trousers, springing free you feel his hardened flesh on yours.

While never breaking his kiss he slowly eases himself into you, the two of you exhaling the moment he fills and stretches you. He moves in and out in a slow rhythm, one almost matching the composition you had performed earlier. You can feel the passion and heat with every kiss and every pump that fills you.

“Astarion…” you whisper between his kisses, his pace quickens as if a torch had been lit under him, he drives into you harder, faster more desperate and you can feel him reaching his end. You are not even aware that you are doing it, its as if its become instinct, you turn your head exposing your neck, an invitation for him to have complete satisfaction. Without hesitation he sinks in groaning so loud you swore you felt the bed shake. You can feel his body starting to twitch and buckle as he comes undone, you find yourself exploding in ecstasy with him.

The two of you lay there, breathing heavy. All is silent for a moment until his gaze meets yours.

“Why?” You manage to choke out, your throat tightening. You wish you could demand answers, explain your hurt, anything but this pathetic whimpering mess. Your eyes are stinging while you hold back tears, screaming to yourself in your mind that you will NOT cry.

Astarion’s ruby eyes slowly scan your face, understanding flickering through them and his face softens; you think you see a hint of shame there.

“I was afraid,” he whispered softly. “I… I’m not good for you, Tav.”

You look at him and place a hand on his face. “Let me decide what is good for me. Please. It's okay to be afraid… I thought I had done something wrong. I thought… I thought you grew tired of me.”

Pain flickers across his features that vanishes all too quickly and is replaced with a quiet chuckle. “You do everything right, Tav… I cannot fault you on anything. As for growing tired of you? I don’t think I would ever be capable of doing that… ever… and perhaps that’s what scares me the most.”

You understand now. For an immortal, growing close to someone must be a frightening thing. Maybe, just maybe, the two of you could find a way for you to be with him forever.

You keep your thoughts to yourself and softly place a kiss on his lips.

He smiles and whispers, “For the record, Love, I’m with you too.”

[whizzing-fizzbee]

Flowers on the Grave

Sebastian Sallow x MC Word count: 1,508 Rating: G Themes: loss, sorrow, love, friendship

Summary: After Anne's death, MC reflects on how far they and Sebastian have come since their fifth year. Notes: This is just a short songfic inspired by "Flowers on the Grave" by The Maine. Lyrics are italicized. (Is it annoying when people insert lyrics into fics? I can't decide. Tell me.) Definitely recommend listening to the song to feel the vibe. Not sure if I'll post this to my AO3; just kind of wrote it from boredom.

Despite the heaviness of the moment, the breeze comforted Sebastian Sallow. It reminded him of the person he was mourning because it was just like her – gentle yet assertive. It was a quiet, peaceful morning on the outskirts of Feldcroft. Though Sebastian preferred to stay away from his former hamlet, only one thing could bring him back.

“She loved daisies.”

Sebastian’s gaze remained on the newly erected gravestone but his eyes didn’t register any information to his brain. His mind felt incapable of any thinking, a stark contrast from his usual state of mind.

“She loved daisies,” he repeated. He didn’t know why the sentence was worth repeating, but it comforted him. Probably because it was a fond memory of her.

You lifted your head to offer Sebastian a small, encouraging smile. That was the first time he’d spoken that morning.

Feel the moment all around you. And the quiet that surrounds you. The time you have is sacred. Don't wait around and waste it. They can't take that away from you.

The pain that had seized Sebastian’s body and mind for the previous two days had subsided, leaving him with a new kind of numbness. This was goodbye and he wasn’t prepared for the finality of it all, but somewhere, deep inside the both of you, was a selfish sense of relief.

Anne Sallow was no longer in pain. She passed peacefully in her sleep two nights ago, leaving Sebastian as the sole member of the Sallow family and leaving you and Ominis Gaunt to be his support system just before the start of your seventh year at Hogwarts.

The three of you stood solemnly after Anne’s burial. Her grave site smelled of freshly dug Earth as you laid a bundle of daisies on top of the mound of dirt. The hush that settled over the three of you wasn’t new – you often sat in comfortable silence together – but it felt different. Sebastian felt different. 

Over the past two nights, Sebastian’s grief took many forms. At first he cried in anguish over his dead sister. Then his sorrow shifted to anger, something you were all too familiar with. Finally, he went quiet, which actually scared you more than his previous expressions of grief.

So you handled him the best way you knew how – with gentle kindness, but tough resistance when his words became too cruel or his actions too selfish. You held him as he slept and made it clear you had no intention of ever leaving him.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now,” Sebastian finally whispered, his eyes still on Anne’s gravestone that the two of you transfigured together.

“You don’t need to know right now,” you said. “You just need to know that it’ll all be OK.”

Everything is temporary, even the sorrow that you carry. So tell me, are you OK? You say you are OK. I'm OK now I'm with you.

You reached for Sebastian’s hand to give it a reassuring squeeze, unsure if the gesture even registered with him. It didn’t appear to, but you knew better than to be offended. This was bigger than you.

This was a teenage boy who was forced to grow up far too quickly. He’d been pushed to make tough decisions, some of them impossible and some of them terrible. He’d seen things that many seasoned wizards will never witness. He’d committed the ultimate crime, a sin so terrible, he’d nearly lost everyone and everything for it. Now, he’d lost his twin sister and the only part of his past worth keeping.

You also had suffered loss in the past two years, but none as great as this. Though you had grown to love Anne like a sister, you could never understand a loss like this.

But Sebastian’s hand twitched in yours, a sign of life and a rush of relief. It was his way of saying he was still present with you. He didn’t want you to worry.

'Cause you don't plan life, you live it. You don't take love, you give it. You can't change what is written, so when fate cries, you listen.

“I’m glad she’s no longer hurting,” Sebastian said quietly. You and Ominis nodded, both encouraged by his willingness to speak. “And I’m glad she forgave me. I can’t change what happened and I can’t bring her back, but I can spend the rest of my life trying to make her proud.”

“She loved you,” you pointed out. “Even if her forgiveness took time, she never stopped loving you.”

“It was unconditional,” Ominis added.

And finally, Sebastian’s gaze met yours as you shared a knowing glance.

“I understand,” he said. 

And flowers on the grave of the child that I used to be.

Sebastian’s feelings for you didn’t come to fruition until your sixth year. Of course, he knew they were there. He’d anguished and fought himself over them since the day the two of you took down that troll. But you two spent your fifth year fighting something even bigger, so any feelings beyond your adventures to help Anne and to save wizardkind from Ranrok went undisturbed.

But once the dust of Solomon’s death settled and Ominis and Anne forgave Sebastian, you became focused on returning to a normal teenage life free of death, ravenous acromantulas and goblin rebellions. The only excitement you wanted was solving an occasional Merlin trial or dueling a worthy opponent in Crossed Wands.

Anne’s love for her brother may have been unconditional, but her forgiveness wasn’t. She made Sebastian vow to drop his pursuit in finding a cure for her. You watched him agonize over the agreement but his need to be on speaking terms with his twin prevailed and soon, Sebastian also returned to life as an everyday student.

That’s when Sebastian found life was becoming increasingly difficult around you. Not that he didn’t want you around – he wanted you around all the time, constantly, and that was the problem. His former thoughts of curing his sister were replaced with the constant thought of you.

Soon, he began fighting with the other boys who were vying for your attention until it all came to a head during Potions class when Garreth Weasley asked you to Hogsmeade. Sebastian sent him to the hospital wing covered in boils and when you scolded him, he declared that no one deserved you. You mistook the meaning of his words and during his panicked attempts to clarify his intent, Sebastian kissed you. That was the end of your reign as partners in crime and the start of your journey as two people who needed to be together.

It was summer when you told me that you loved me by the old creek. My ears had never heard that, tongue forgot the words and feet forgot the earth, it's true.

If Sebastian ever needed to conjure a patronus, his happiest memory was the day by the babbling brook. It was early summer before seventh year and he lay with the back of his head in your lap, reading a book as you gazed peacefully at the water.

You glanced downward at the boy in your lap, and though he couldn’t see it with his sight shielded by the book, you smiled. 

“I love you,” you blurted out.

The book snapped shut immediately and went forgotten at Sebastian’s side as his eyes darted upward toward yours.

“What?” he managed.

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes. How very typical. Ever since Sebastian had made amends with Anne and stopped obsessing over a cure for her, the boyish sides of his personality surfaced. Sure, you’d loved him through his dark intensities when all he could think of was his twin, and when revenge against those goblins had driven him toward dark magic. But his silly, often sarcastic and bemused side had become so endearing to you, you vowed to yourself that you’d do everything in your power to keep him away from that darkness.

'Cause you don't plan life, you live it. You don't take love, you give it. You can't change what is written, so when fate cries, you listen.

“I said I love you, you daft troll,” you repeated.

He grinned stupidly up at you, shifting upward to support his weight back on his elbows. 

“I heard you,” he said. “I just wanted to hear it twice.”

And then he scurried away as you tried to smack him with his own book.

“By the way,” he later told you, after you’d managed to catch up to him and shove him in the water. “I love you, too.”

And flowers on the grave of the child that I used to be.

That moment felt like ages ago, though it’d only been months. Now, that happy memory was temporarily replaced with grief for Anne, but as you stood over her grave to say your final goodbyes, Sebastian’s eyes told you he was no longer driven by darkness.

I was on the verge of breaking down, then you came around.

[poussacha]

My Maxley Fics Masterpost

✨🎆the rise and fall of a midwest love affair series

[the man, the myth, the legend. The series I'm writing based on Chappell Roan's Midwest Princess Album. A story for most tracks (some of them are mashups).]

[This series does not need to be read in order whatsoever, they're all independent of one another (allegedly)]

hit it like it's hot to go

Rated E | F/F Genderbent Maxley | 17,477 Words | Complete

Summary: It’s pitch black and from the booth she can only really make out flashes of light and a writhing mass of bodies. Their voices lift to sing in unison with the music she’s broadcasting while their bodies undulate like live wires.

This is the part she loves most about playing in clubs. The drunken, writhing mass of voices that lend her their ears. They listen to her heavy-handed remixes, her mash-ups, her house beats all without a single complaint. For a moment, she controls their narrative, holding them captive with a beat.

She’s three quarters of the way through her set when her least favorite part about playing in clubs rears its ugly head. In the form of a wasted brunette with long curly hair and a sneer.

“Can you play a song with a fucking beat ?”

OR

Max is a DJ at a club Brittney (Bradley) frequents with her finance bro boyfriend. Brittney tries her damndest to be obnoxious. Max might just be endeared toward her anyway.

Tags: DJ AU, homophobic slurs, minor violence from a fist fight, internalised homophobia, lesbians, jumpscare het sex, man attacking a woman, implied/referenced domestic abuse, explicit sexual content, degradation kink, vers characters, praise kink, tongue piercings, angst, heartbreak, cheating, genderbent

Song: Femininomenon To Go Mashup

Playlist(s):

hit it like it's hot to go (official)

After Midnight

Rated T | M(IN)/F College AU (Trans Masc!Intersex!Bradley x Cis!Fem! Max) | 104,757 Words | Incomplete, ongoing

Updates on all days ending on 7 and on most days that are multiples of 7

Summary: It’s Max’s first year at university. She arrives on campus with her two best friends PJ and Bobby in Bobby’s beat up sleeper van from the 1970s that reeks of musk, weed, and boy sweat. She doesn’t know yet what this year has in store, but she hopes it’s something to remember.

Bradley is in his final year in law school. Just trying to graduate, pass the bar, and move on with his life. That is, until someone comes along to change his perspective.

Tags: CHEATING, INFIDELITY, AGE GAP, College AU, genderbent, fem!Max Goof, fem!PJ Pete, masc!Bobby Zimmeruski, fem!Roxanne Rover, fem!Stacey, trans!Bradley Uppercrust III, intersex!Bradley Uppercrust III, masc!Tank, no x-games, underage drinking, marijuana use, falling asleep in precarious situations, fist fight, harrassment, masturbation, shotgunning, fishing trips, San Francisco, indulgent touching, body worship, body dysmorphia, semi-nudity, tws at the top of every chapter

Song: After Midnight

Playlist(s):

After Midnight (Official)

Gamma Mu Mu House Party Playlist

& if you let me, i would've loved you always

California

Rated E | M/M Doctor!Bradley x Disabled!Dancer!Max AU | 18,851 Words | Incomplete

WARNING: DUB-CON, DEAD DOVE

Summary: Max Goof is at the prime of his life. He’s finally realized his dream of becoming the main dancer and choreographer for his favorite singer of all time, Powerline. That is, until an accident brings everything crashing down in an instant.

Leading to him to return home to Ohio, metaphorical tail tucked between his legs.

Will he find peace back home with his dad? Or will being back in Ohio only complicate things more?

Tags: blow jobs, bathroom sex, public sex, disabling incident, characters with disabilities, ableism, toxic relationships, DEAD DOVE DO NOT EAT, incomplete spinal cord injury, polyamory, angst, wheelchair user max goof, canonically disabled della duck, discussions of medical insurance, allusions to drug abuse, eating disorders, slow burn, EXTREMELY DUBIOUS CONSENT, DUBIOUS MORALITY, POWER IMBALANCE, semi-public sex, prostate examinations, erectile dysfunction

Song: California

Playlist(s):

i'm never gonna get the things i want the most

🐩Standalone Maxley Fics

i just wanna sweet talk for awhile

Rated E | M/M Canon Divergent Post X-Games AU | 2,975 Words | Complete

Summary: They were always fighting. Two sides diametrically opposed. Except, as perfect opposites, they find themselves pulled together like magnets. Until they can't deny their chemistry.

Tags: fluff, self indulgent, frottage, frotting, inexperienced bradley uppercrust iii, experienced max goof, bottom bradley uppercrust iii, top max goof, soft boys, shockingly gentle to be something written by me, body worship, gentle words

Song: Sugar High

take it like a taker

Rated E | M/M Canon Divergent Post X-Games BDSM AU | 5,777 Words | Complete

Summary: Bradley's breath is quiet, measured. Muscles tensing beneath Max's fingertips, illuminated by the warm orange glow of candlelight, as he deftly loops ropes in simple patterns around his upper thigh and ankle. Until his legs bend open, splayed

His wrists are next. A simple double column across both arms and up through the center. OR

The shibari and wax play fic nobody asked for

Tags: shibari, wax play, porn without plot, BDSM, dom max, sub bradley, hurt/comfort, sub drop, panic, aftercare, bradley is the biggest brat, humans because getting wax out of fur sounded painful, max might be a brat tamer if you squint, self-indulgent, body worship, rimming

Song: The Giver

🐕🐩🐕‍🦺Braxanne (Bradley/Max/Roxanne) OT3 Fics

i'm so obsessed with your ex

Rated E | M/M/F Mean Girls/Swap AU (Boy Next Door!Bradley x Homeschooled!Max x Queen Bee!Roxanne) | 19,324 Words | Complete

Summary: Max moves to Spoonerville after spending his formative years traveling around the world with his dad and his stepmom to study weather phenomena. Specifically lightning storms. He runs into a bit of a storm himself when Brad Uppercrust and Roxanne Rover both take a liking to him at the same time.

Tags: Mean Girls AU if you squint, Brad is the boy next door, Roxxane is the Queen Bee, this a brad and roxanne swap AU, surprise, max is a virgin, roxanne wants him bibilically, so does brad, brad and roxanne are bitter (?) exes, halloween parties, threesomes, explicit sex, teasing, praise kink, multiple orgasms, underage drinking, everyone is 18, but this takes place in the us so, MMF threesome

Song: Obsessed

Playlist(s):

i'm so obsessed with your ex

🛹⭐Sw00ney Brobert Swap AU fics (not maxley)

Brad Crust x Robert Zimmeruski

More from the Swap AU here on Sw00ney's ig

bite your tongue or i'll do it for you

Rated E | M/M | 2,007 Words | Complete

Summary: Brad convinced Robert to do something stupid again, this is the aftermath of their latest near-death experience.

Tags: they're so unhinged in this, degradation kink, brat on deck, going in dry, sort of, begging, wacky power dynamics, dirty talk, they're so mean to each other, but it's love i swear, established relationship, robert is a rich boy, brad's just a teenage dirtbag baby, i had too much fun writing this

Song: Good Hurt

Art for this fic by kofiracha!

beautiful boy, your words are made of poetry

Rated E | M/M | 1,457 Words | Incomplete

Summary: Bobby comes over to yell at Brad for something he (allegedly) didn't do only to find him suffering from an intense migraine.

Shenanigans ensue.

Tags: slow updates, migraines, hurt/comfort

Song: Sugar High

🐱‍🏍🐛Other AEGM fics (that aren't maxley)

Bobby x Max

open our bodies, i quietly knock on your door

Rated E | M/M (Trans!Masc!Max x Cis!Masc!Bobby) | 1,902 Words | Complete

Summary: "Fuck," Max says, coughing a little at the tail end of his latest hit. His voice echoes in his head, making him feel like he's at the crossroads of a hundred different timelines. Consciousness dipping and floating through each. Like he's the doorway of time. "What did you say this was?"

"OG Blueberry Creme," Bobby drawls, voice slow like syrup. He takes the blunt when Max passes it back to him, raising it to his lips to take another hit. "One of my all-time favorite highs, man."

OR

Bobby and Max get high and fool around in his van. That's it, that's the fic.

Tags: porn without plot, explicit sex, cum play, marijuana use, having sex under the influence, established relationship, van sex, trans Max Goof

[brightaxe]

PROMPT : Carta. DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION ERA. Words: 1006. Characters: Suri & Velrand Cadash.

“The Knight-Captain here from Hasmal seems… squirrely.”

Velrand did not so much as glance up from the leather-bound journal in front of him. He scribbled something down, then scratched out another something higher on the page, his heavy brow knitting. “Hasmal is out. The Garvish family has dealings with the Marchers from up north.”

They’d been given their own quarters, if only just. There was a bed, a cot the size of a footrest, a vanity that was more than half-mirror, and a bucket to piss in. Behind a simple wooden divider was the other half of the broom closet they’d been shoved into, which was unoccupied as of yet. If they hadn’t flashed one of the Orlesian templars some of their product, they might have been truly roughing it.

There was no desk, so Velrand used his thigh for a writing surface. And below him, sitting on the cot with her short legs folded, was his sister.

“So everything along the Minater is out?”

“Yes.”

Suri let slip an annoyed snort. “By the fucking Garvishes?” She knew enough about Lutag Garvish to fill their piss bucket, and it was all bad. Or dull, rather. “How’d they land an agreement like that? From Hasmal to Wycome?”

The scratching of Velrand’s quill slowed, then stopped. He looked up at her, his dark eyes bleary and his concentration well and truly shattered. “What?”

“Lutag Garvish is dumb as a sack of nugshit,” Suri said, rather than repeating herself. “Fresh nugshit.”

Velrand’s massive chest heaved in a sigh.

“Yes, and?”

“How’d he get Hasmal and Tantervale and Starkhaven and Wycome buying his lyrium?”

Suri watched as the sharpened end of her brother’s quill tapped anxiously at the edge of his journal. The tap tap tap made her eye twitch. “Starkhaven’s Circle isn’t an option for any of us. Burned out about a decade ago, and the mages were sent to Kirkwall.” With his free hand, Velrand scrubbed a hand through his thick, brown beard with such ferocity that the three, gold-clasped braids under his chin bounced in response. “And he doesn’t have Wycome.”

“Then we should –”

“The Kadrat family has Wycome.”

That stopped her short, and she sighed the heaviest of sighs, her shoulders deflating into a weary slump. The Kadrat family didn’t just deal in lyrium. They dealt in everything – lyrium, weapons, textiles, wine. One of their lot ran a dye business in Orzammar that was swimming in gold and had been for longer than even her mother had been alive.

“So, what’ve we got left?”

Velrand began writing again. “Mother wants Cumberland.”

“You’re shitting me.”

That brought a half-smile to Velrand’s serious mouth. “Not shitting,” he grunted. “She pulled me aside before I left. She wants Cumberland, and she wants Sezda out.”

Suddenly, the fog she’d been carrying since the incident in the Deep Roads cleared. Suddenly, there was brilliant sunshine and a song playing on the wind and the weight of gold in every single one of her pockets. That was how you measured a mother’s love, wasn’t it? It couldn’t be anything else, not with theirs.

If opportunity was a woman, she’d have her tongue down her throat.

“I can do that for you.” The words sprinted from between Suri’s eager little lips. Before her brother could interrupt her, she lifted a hand with an, “Ah!” that stole his voice out of his throat and replaced it with an annoyed growl. “I know I’m shit in a large-scale fight, but you know I’m good for something that’s one-on-one. I’ve beaten you. Let me put a knife in the bitch.”

Velrand gave his heavy head a shake. “I know what this is.”

Suri stood up from the cot and planted her feet in front of him. The wound on her jaw was healing, if only just, but her smile was as uneven as his own. Just for different reasons.

“Don’t say I’m just doing this to get back into mother’s good graces,” she demanded, the edges of her raspy voice sharpened in her own brand of frustration with her brother. “It… might be that a little, but that’s not all. I’ve always wanted to do good by you, too, you know? And you’ll be taking up the business soon. Let me get you Cumberland.”

At first, the rigid line of Velrand’s broad shoulders made her think he was going to snap his quill in half and make her eat the damn thing. But then, they relaxed, and he looked up at her, and his half-smile turned into a full one. There was an undercurrent of surprise that she didn’t appreciate, but what could she expect, after all she’d done recently? Who could believe in her, except for herself? Except for – maybe – her brother?

“I’ll look around the place tonight,” Suri continued. “I’ll check things out and get my bearings, and tomorrow afternoon, I’ll put Sezda Varmi in the Stone.”

That night, as Suri was doing as she said she’d do, she happened upon something else entirely. She did not find an old dwarven woman with a crisp white braid and twin bruisers for sons. She did not find a letter or a trap or an empty bed, indicating that Sezda Varmi was long gone or had grown wise to her plan. She did not find another trio of dwarven merchants, counting their gold against the bottles of glowing blue lyrium that remained.

What she found was an old woman in fine Chantry garb and a god, floating above the ground, with lyrium that shone red rather blue rising from the pallor of his skin. What she found was a dropped orb, rolling towards her feet. What she found was another path in her story, another twist, another loss, as she lifted the orb into her hands and the world split open.

She would only see Velrand once more – a smoking corpse in a field of bodies, stuck in motion, stuck in agony that would chase him forever.

It was her fault.

It was all her fault.

[rythmicjea]

Jeronica Endgame Analysis

I wrote this on Reddit and have been meaning to bring it over here. But commenting on @elizacinnamon's tumblr is what convinced me to do it. Buckle up because it's a long one!

Okay so, looking at all of the easter eggs in the episode, to me, it's heavily coded that Betty and Archie do end up together and that Jughead and Veronica end up together. The first thing that should be acknowledge is that everything in this episode is done with a purpose. They couldn't definitively say who Archie ended up with because Archie comics is predicated on the unanswered question of "Betty or Veronica?" so they had to make things "ambiguous" so people could come to their own conclusions.

When we hear of Veronica's life, Jughead says that she was known for her "impeccable taste" and "produced some of the most iconic movies of our time". So, right there, that's huge. That's a lot of heavy lifting. While he is complimentary and sensitive to everyone else's ending, the way he describes Veronica's life is just more. Take Fangs, he doesn't describe "Pixie Girl" as a "timeless" or "iconic" song. He just says that Midge and their daughter were taken care of and that his gold record will hang as long as there is a Riverdale High. He doesn't mention if Kevin or Clay won any awards for their work, but he says that Veronica won two Oscars. He goes out of his way to note the importance of Veronica's achievements.

The scene at The Babylonium is where I've found the most clues to their shared future. Jughead says "I always loved this theater". He doesn't say that about any of the other places they visit. Throughout the show, they regularly used characters to represent overarching themes. For example, Archie = Riverdale. I take Jughead's declaration to be a euphemism for Veronica. It's not that farfetched to believe that they fell in love while in high school. They were together for a year and a half before graduation. So, in the scene, he says "I always loved this theater. But it had a good run." At this time, in reality, both Veronica and Jughead have passed. Their run ended. He then lifts the seat and HIS CROWN is drawn under it! Why? This is a quick visual cue that he and Veronica are connected. If the Babylonium is a physical representation of Veronica (which is what the episode frames it as) then she essentially has a Jughead tattoo on her (a bit of a dramatic way of putting it lol). But, also this is not the first time something like that is in the show. In season 1 and 2, Betty wears a sweater with a yellow three pronged crown. It's universally recognized as Jughead's crown (she wears it on his birthday and in the Heather's musical episode). So, he makes his statement and BAM Veronica appears. Every time we see a character that isn't in the "relived day", it is a clip of them in the future. Veronica is the only character to essentially be an apparition. They didn't have to include her, but they did. And seeing as it's Narrator!Jughead (the real/angel Jughead is in the Pop's in the Sweet Hereafter, and the show literally ends with typewriter sounds) telling Betty all of this, Veronica's appearance can be taken as a clue that she is ever present in his mind/life.

When we see her in her office, she has four "The Comet" posters behind her. Hanging posters of the movies you made is very common. What isn't common is that one franchise has such a place of honor, so that means it's incredibly significant to her. Her clothing is in the style of the early 80s (the creators had an idea to bring everyone through time with each episode but it wasn't feasible so this is kind of a nod to that. Cheryl is seen in the late 60s, Betty in the 70s, and Veronica is the early 80s). We know that Jughead adapted The Comet into a comic book, and he was the one that introduced her to WEB DuBois' people. The artwork of the posters is the same as the comic he created. Making movies at that time was very time-consuming. Also, franchises like that were not common. The whole "Saga", "Trilogy", and "Universe" collections of today were not done to the same extent back then. So, not only was "The Comet" incredibly popular (because it got four movies) but it spanned over a large time frame (again, she still has the posters up decades after graduation via her clothing style), meaning that there was a consistent dialogue between Jughead and Veronica.

Outside of the Babylonium is a poster for "The Big Sleep" (It's also on the Marquis). This is a direct reference to the episode "The Red Dahlia" (3x14) where Veronica enlists Jughead's help. It is one of the main "Jeronica" episodes of the series. In that episode he says that he'll be her "Philip Marlowe". In The Big Sleep, Philip Marlowe is the main character played by Humphrey Bogart. In the same episode he says "Nice hat... Bacall." Lauren Bacall is the female lead of The Big Sleep. Bogart and Bacall were a huge draw for audiences. They were a power couple of their day (and they were also married... hint hint lol). They were the Bennifer and Brangelina first.

Now, moving onto Jughead. He doesn't talk much about himself. Everything that Betty says can literally be read on screen in his obituary. There are two main takeaways from this scene. The first is he barely talks about himself. When he does, he focuses on talking about his career and there's no mention of his personal life. This is a parallel to Veronica's description. He only describes her career and not her personal life. What is also a parallel is that in his summary of Veronica's life he says that she was known for "taking risks on young, raw talent" ie Jughead. Jughead tells Betty that he "put all of his eggs in one basket". That turn of phrase is to mean that you did the riskiest thing possible. When Betty asks if he ever regrets not getting circled he says 'sometimes'. It's a very ambiguous statement. BH shippers will say that he is talking about Betty. But his relationship with Betty ended in high school (both times) and were never rekindled later in life. It doesn't have to be that regrets not marrying Veronica, but it can be taken that way.

The second is on the artist easel in the Madhouse offices. There is a picture of Veronica. It is not a photograph it is the canonical comic book portrait of Veronica (Pep Comics IS Archie Comics). And it is smack dab in the middle of the easel. This is another parallel to Veronica's future. She has "The Comet" posters and he has her portrait. Remember, his first comic book line that he created was "Veronica: The Teenage Witch". So this is a clue that he has used Veronica's likeness IN his magazine for most, if not all of, the run. There's no picture of Betty or Archie. Why still have Veronica's portrait and use her likeness if they weren't still connected in real life?

Now we come to the final scene. So, throughout all of Riverdale (with a few exceptions) the milkshakes that the core four drink all correspond to their hair color. Betty = Vanilla, Archie = Strawberry, Jughead and Veronica = Chocolate (double chocolate to be specific - which can be extrapolated to represent them. It's a stretch but it can be made). In the final moments, we see that this formula has been flipped. When Betty sits in the booth, Archie is drinking a Vanilla milkshake and he hands Betty a strawberry one noting it's "her favorite". What are Jughead and Veronica drinking? Double chocolate milkshakes. If in the Barchie Endgame theory Strawberry being Betty's "favorite" is to mean "Archie" then we can apply that same logic to Jughead and Veronica. Then there is their seating arrangement. The girls on one side and the boys on the other. Betty is sitting directly in front of Archie and Veronica is sitting directly in front of Jughead. Again, because they had to keep the "Who will Archie choose?" answer ambiguous they use this blocking technique to show the pairings without the pair sitting right next to each other. (Couples either sit next to each other or across from one another.)

That is my analysis of the finale using clues to prove that Jughead and Veronica were "endgame". I hope you liked it! If you have any corroborating theories let me know!

[thesmokingguns]

Fixing Forever Chapter One

Stepping out of the recording room and into the mixing room, Izzy felt the tension between his shoulder blades from playing the guitar for so long. The dull ache that promised of music being made that actually meant something and left immense satisfaction buzzing through the man in it’s dull throbbing ache.

There were a couple guys in the room, some drinking beers, a few in the corner, passing a joint around and making the area fill with the hazy and heavy smoke.

He couldn’t go home smelling like pot.

Checking his watch, he grimaced at the time.

It was nearing one am and he had told his wife that he would be home in time to help with bedtime for their three little kids. Bedtime ritual started after dinner, which was always at six even in the chaos of his house his wife managed to keep the kids on a schedule.

“Hey, did Bernie call?” He crossed his fingers in his mind, hoping that she had called and just needed him to pick up something from the store and wasn’t calling to see why he hadn’t shown up at home.

Izzy knew that he was extremely lucky with his wife.

His pretty wife who he had met just as he got sober and moved back to Indiana. She had rear ended him with her father in the car, had apologized so many times, not knowing as soon as her pretty face stepped out of the car Izzy had forgiven her. He had smoothly, in his mind, asked for her number and called her that night to ask her out for dinner.

They had been married ten months later.

“She called a while ago,” Dan confirmed, pushing papers around and finally lifting an ashtray that should have been emptied and finally, held up a yellowed piece of paper up tp Izzy with a triumphant sound, “Here it is! She called twice, once at 6:01 and then again at 9PM. Asked to talk to you but you were writing the song and in such a trance,” he shrugged, “Last couple times she just asked you to bring some stuff home so I figured that you could do a grocery run before heading home.”

Made sense but Izzy instantly got heartburn because she had called during dinnertime and she had called twice. If she needed milk for the kids cereal in the morning that would have been one phone call, not two.

He didn’t even think a grocery store would be open right now to get whatever she needed either so he was going to have ro go home empty handed.

“I’m headed out,” Izzy picked up his guitar that he had already packed away, wanting to keep it close in case another idea hit him in the middle of the night. Granted, it was the middle of the night now, “See you guys tomorrow.”

The drive home was quiet, a soft wind coming in from the open window helped him stay awake as he yawned again. The lateness started to hit him and make him worry for some reason.

At home he had a wife, she was only 28 with three of their kids alone with her. Jack was their son, who at seven years old thought he was the man of the house and had broken more windows than they had in their house. Jack was their first baby, a surprise after they had been married a couple months and he seemed to have thrived off the fear he had put in his parents' hearts as they navigated their first child. Their second son was quiet, at five years old Mikey liked to spend his days outside playing with his trucks or close to his mother, who coddled him with gentle touches and sweet words. And then there was the baby of the family. At three years old she ran the house with her sweet green eyes, just like her daddy, and struck fear in all the men of the house who had fallen under her spell. Sweet little Charlotte, who they called Charlie rounded off their family of five. She could get away with murder and they’d cover it up for her.

Izzy rubbed his chest, the ache that had been in his back from making music moving to this tight constriction around his heart as he longed to be with them. He missed his family. It should be ridiculous because he lived with them but he was suddenly realizing that he wasn’t around as much as he should be and was missing time that he would never get back with them.

There needed to be more balance. He would need to find it.

Pulling up into the garage, he shut off the car and moved into the house.

It was so quiet as he moved up the stairs, heading to go check on his children who he was sure would be fast asleep in bed. Except when he pushed open the door to the boys room, the bunk beds were empty. No Jack with his limbs thrown wildly out in every direction on the top bunch. No Mikey with his blankets tugged tightly around him. Just emptiness.

Panic clutched at him now, fear fueling him as he moved down the hall, quicker and without the quiet steps he usually snuck around his house with. Throwing the door open to Charlie’s room her bed was also empty of the little princess.

Izzy felt his hands shake, sweat filling his pals as he tried to wipe it away as he moved to his bedroom, pushing open the door and letting the feeling of relief wash over him in a cold wave as he saw all three of his children piled in the bed. A mess of little kid limbs all filling the bed that he shared with his wife. His wife, who was absent from the pig pile on the bed.

The way the curtains from the small balcony they had attached to their bedroom swayed drew his eyes and he calmed as he saw the silhouette of his wife, standing outside, her long dark hair curled around her face as the wind pressed against her cheeks, darkening them.

It was a cooler spring and I was surprised she was in just her sleep pants and a tank top, none of her long sweaters or fluttering robes to keep her warm.

“Hey B,” her eyes lifted, red rimmed and hollow as she looked at Izzy. She had been crying and the fact he didn’t know why stuck him deep, “Baby B, what’s-”

“I need you to get some clothes from the closet and go sleep in the guest room or your office tonight,” She was looking at him, anger in her gaze but not yelling at him or letting it slip into her voice as she spoke.

It was the quietness, the way she was controlled because she knew her babies were sleeping and she wanted to keep a handle on things for them, that surprised him. Bernie wasn’t a yeller but she could get angry and snappy. To see her like this with him shocked Izzy.

He had never been banished from their bedroom before. Never been unwelcome in his marriage bed.

“I was at the hospital for four hours tonight with three children, Jeffrey. Alone. Mikey and Charlie both got a stomach bug so bad they hadn’t eaten. Jack was trying to stand in for you but he was scared because of all the crying and he shouldn’t have to. For Christ sakes, he’s a seven year old boy who knows more about being a man than his own father. And you,” She took in a shaky breath, “You just come home whenever you want and act like it’s not a big deal because you’re making music, living your dream without care. And I love that you make art and get to have that. I love that and hope you never lose it but honestly, you need to find a better balance. We need to find a better balance because I’ve been thinking of using my book royalties and moving to Maine to be closer to the ocean. I need something to change because I’m at my breaking point.” He blinked as she stood there, trembling, tears falling from her eyes.

Bernie was always beautiful but now Izzy looked at her and started to see the toll his absence was taking. She had lost weight, her clothes looser than usual. Her cheekbones were sharp and eyes sunken. Her beautiful long hair was haphazardly braided, flyaways coming out in every direction. The lips he loved kissing were chapped and bitten from stress.

She had been fading in front of him and he hadn’t noticed.

“Are they okay?” He felt guilty for asking but she nodded, looking past him at the kids on the bed who were asleep as their parents stood like strangers in the night air, “I’m sorry, Bern. I can not got to the studio tomorrow and help out.” He offered but she sighed, shaking her head.

It was like they were speaking a different language, unable to communicate and understand what the other was saying. Izzy could give up some time but that wasn’t what she was asking for from him. Bernie was just asking for the father of her child to be present and to be the father of her children in more than name.

“Goodnight, we can talk tomorrow. It’s late.” She touched his arm, like a consolation for kicking him out of the room. One small touch like she wasn’t furious with him. Furious like he was at himself for letting things get bad like this.

He knew he was being dismissed and as she passed him, slipping into bed he watched feeling like a stranger as Charlie rolled, crawling on top of her mother, her head nestled under her chin. Jack pushed Mikey against his mother, kicking his own foot out until his foot laid against her knee, his hand curling into hers. And Bernie soaked it all up, seemed not to care that she had no space and just nestled in with her babies.

Izzy was lost, had lost moments of familiarity with his family and he knew, as he moved through the darkness of his house to the office where he would be sleeping on the couch, that he had to fix this.

He had to fix his forever.

But how?

[jinhua-shu]

THE AFTER-EFFECT

Scaramouche/Wanderer x GN!Reader

PART ONE: OVERTHINKING

PART TWO: HIS POINT OF VIEW

PART THREE: HELPLESS

PART FOUR: THE AFTER-EFFECT

PART FIVE: I.. LOVE YOU.. DUMMY

MENTIONS 🫶:

@swivy123

Scaramouche held out a long sigh as he plops himself back down on his bed. his phone was dead therefore he couldn’t reply to Y/N’s confession. he grumbled loudly as he frustratingly pulled on his hair in annoyance. that stupid charger he bought from Dori who egged him on to buy it because it’s very “Fast” charging. didn’t work. once again, he grabbed his pillow and screamed onto it.

Nahida sweat-drops as she passed by scara’s room hearing the loud grumbling and frustrated muffled screeches.

.

.

.

Dottore chuckles to himself as he sat on Childe’s office chair with a long smirk on his face.

‘My.. i should really stop.. screwing with him huh.’

He said as he placed down scaramouche’s phone that he had lost “accidentally” while he was at Physical Education class, 2 months ago.

Childe chuckles, ‘Well.. i think it would be best to just stop this thing.. before lumine finds out and beats me up.. haha—‘

Dottore choked back an amused snort. before standing up to open scara’s phone once more to delete the messages before you can read it.

Dottore’s heart leaped, as he reads the response from you. he sweated heavily before throwing the phone towards Childe.

‘seems like we’ve messed up.. better face lumine tomorrow then.’

Childe reads your response twice before wincing. ‘uh.. we’ve broken the chance of our dear comrade getting a significant other.. ‘ Childe awkwardly chuckles as he just chucked the phone inside dottore’s messenger bag.

Dottore heaved out a sigh as he sat back down. ‘well.. it’s his problem now—‘

Childe shook his head. in disappointment before chucking once more awkwardly.

‘ how do we tell him-?’ childe asks Dottore ‘…i don’t know.’ Dottore replied to childe.

.

.

.

Lumine sighs as she went back to your door with a heavy heart. she glanced down on the floor to see the bell still there. she cannot just leave you be.. because she had felt the same thing. she had experienced the same thing.

Lumine knocked before entering the room..

‘Hey.. what’s up?’ she asked as she laid down next to you.

‘well.. i got rejected..’ you said as you sniffed and smiled at lumine. ‘I’m.. happy.. at least the heavy weight in my heart has been lifted.. i don’t ha-have to worry..’ you told her before breaking down once more.

‘But.. i cannot help but cry.. he’s.. the only guy who’ve made me feel this way before..’ you sobbed as you hugged lumine, wetting her white hoodie with your tears while crying your hearts out.

‘Lulu.. i don’t know what to do.. i can’t just forget him and move on.. i love him so much..’

Lumine smiled bitterly. ‘sometimes you just gotta let go of the things you loved the most. sometimes you just gotta let the wave flow and let go of him..’

‘I know it would be very hard. but please rely on me while you’re in this state..’

Lumine finished off before going through her thoughts. (( I would treat you better than him. so please let me and open your eyes for me. ))

Lumine hugged you tightly as she ran her hand through your hair. humming a song that her brother used to hum.

.

.

.

Scaramouche wanders off towards his wardrobe to look for his wallet that he threw. still frustrated he needs to buy a new charger to finally reply to your confession and.. hopefully be with you.. and have you accept him for his flaws or imperfections.

grumpily grabbing his wallet that’s near his shoe rack, he took his jacket that’s nestling in his closet.

‘Nahida, i’m going out to buy some new charger. don’t wait for me for lunch since i’ll be dropping off at y/n’s.’

Scaramouche told nahida who was ordering food for lunch. as he walks towards the door, nahida went and stopped him for awhile.

‘I hope that.. you’ve sorted out your feelings for her.. because i’m very proud of you.’ nahida smiles as she hugged scaramouche before going off back to the kitchen.

scaramouche stood there stunned before shrugging off the warmth with determination.

‘Y/N.. please wait for me.. ‘

He mumbled to himself as he tied his shoes tightly before opening the door and rushing towards the Nearby 7/11 that’s just 4 minutes away from his house.

Grabbing a charger without looking at the price, he immediately went to the cashier to pay for it.

‘can i use your charging port?’ he huffed as he slammed the money on the counter, terrifying the cashier. the cashier nodded their head shakily before apologizing for looking at scara right at the eyes.

pathetic. scara thought as he calmly walked towards the charging station to plug in his phone. waiting impatiently scara grumbled before going off to an aisle to buy milk bread and some banana milk.

.

.

.

Childe was seen running down the streets with scara’s old phone in his hand, Huffing and wheezing loudly, he turned a corner to check if scara is still at 7/11, which he is. scara was seen paying for the bread and milk he got before heading off towards the charging station once again.

Child entered the CVS, with an awkward smile plastered on his face.

‘what’s up with you? idiot.’ Scaramouche egged on childe who approached him, while rummaging through his pockets to look for something. scaramouche’s eye brow went up as he was curious on whatever childe is going to do.

‘Here.. your phone.. i found it-?’ childe awkwardly chuckles before scratching the back of his head nervously.

scaramouche glared at the tall ginger seemingly knowing that he and dottore took it.

‘ “found” it? you must be shittin’ me. i knew it was with you and Zandick. that dickhead took it and wanted to put the blame on you, didn’t he? ‘

scaramouche snarls at the ginger man who was still nervously scratching the back of his head, before snatching the “Old phone” that he had “lost”.

Childe gulps his saliva in fear. before opening his mouth to say something.

‘Sca— comrade— we did something bad-‘

scara rolled his eyes as he snorts.

‘ Don’t you guys always do something “bad”? ‘

‘well— yeah— but you’re also apart of it, you know-‘

‘ You didn’t hear me say, “i am not apart of it” did you? ‘ scara groans as he kicked Childe’s shin hard.

Childe who’s now on the floor, gripping his shin groaning and moaning in pain. finally told scaramouche what they did.

‘ Scara.. you see— me and Dottore actually wanted to mess with you for awhile.. so we decided to answer the confession.. you got from Y/N.. and.. we’ve gone too far.. we were originally going to delete it fast but they read the message quite quickly! we thought they were asleep at the time.. ‘

scaramouche stopped on his tracks.. gripping his old phone tightly as the screen began to crack. viens prominent on his hand as he squeezed his old phone. Scara’s eyes darken as he felt his heart drop. they did what now? he thought as he grabbed Childe’s collar in frustration.

‘What? you thought that playing with someone’s feelings is funny? you piece of shit. no wonder lumine doesn’t fucking like you back. ‘

Scara heatedly said as his eyes becomes wider and bros furrowing deeper.

Childe gags as he taps on scara’s tight hand that’s holding the collar of his shirt.

‘ he-hey calm down—‘

scara’s smiled at Childe.

‘ Calm down? you made me feel like i want to kill you right here. you’ve hurt their feelings, by doing that little prank of yours. the “little” thing is the same size of your dick and brain. and it’s pathetic. ‘

Scaramouche snarl’s before letting Childe go.

‘i’m warning you. Tartaglia. if i see your face again. i’ll make sure to make your little high-school life hell. ‘

Scaramouche growls loudly as he glares down at Childe who’s wheezing for air. he spat at childe’s shoe before turning away to control his temper.

Scara looks towards the cashier, eyes empty and in void as he plugs out his charging phone to go on his way.

How do i..? fix this mess. those two idiots really went too far.

Oh.. Y/N.. will you still accept me right at your door.. if i show up?

TO BE CONTINUED

— Last part will be out soon.

[vampirememory]

pick a card | comfort

Hello lovelies. Need some comfort before you rest your head? I am here to assist.

Pick a pile before you drift off to sleep, or whenever you feel called to read a message. Some shufflemancy will also be done, featuring Sleeping at Last's Atlas I album (one of my favorite albums and one I find lots of comfort in <3).

All piles are written while I listen to the songs. Piles are inspired by impressionist artwork provided by the National Gallery of Art.

See full versions of the artwork here: Pile 1 | Pile 2 | Pile 3 | Pile 4 | Pile 5 | Pile 6

Pile 1

You're on a journey, and it's almost over my love. the uphill battle will soon be calm waters, you just need to take one final leap of faith. the world is in your hands, the universe loves you, and you are loved. Your luck is changing and you'll soon be able to swim in the riches of your hard labor. Don't give up now, you're almost there <3 You don't see it now, but you are like a tree, all of your roots are below you and you are so grounded, nothing can push you down now.

Pile 5 may also resonate with this group.

Cards: Page of Bows (stoat), Nine of Stones (tradition), The Wheel, Queen of Vessels (salmon), The World

Pile 2

There is some generational trauma here, and I want you to know that you're going in the right direction to overcome it. Remember not to fall back into the cycle, but if you do, the universe has it's hand out for you to be lifted right back up. You are protected and little bird, it's okay if your wings are tired, you will rise again.

Page of Arrows (wren), The Green woman, the guardian, the seer, three of bows (fulfillment)

Pile 3

This is an instrumental song. Please breathe. Why do you feel so hurt? Your emotions ebb and flow with the tide, you may feel overpowered or overburdened by your emotions, but I want you to know that it is your strength. Like the mighty ocean, she doesn't change herself, she is powerful, all-mighty. You can look at her negatively, see her anger and how she kills, or you can look at her for how much life she holds, how beautiful she is, and the secrets she has yet to unveil. You have the ability to make any decision you desire, do not let the thoughts of others sway you so easily, like the tide. Remember your roots. Remember that you are life.

page of arrows (wren), two of bows (decision), the world tree, the mirror, eight of arrows (struggle), king of vessels (heron)

Pile 4

You may be carrying lots of responsilibites at this time, but you are at peace. Know that the weight you carry is appreciated by those you love, you aren't doing this for nothing. Remember that you are worth more than just the services you provide and remember that your loved ones don't only love you for that reason, they love you for you. They want you to rest, please rest well and easy, they will help with the load if you simply ask. You are a provider but don't forget to provide for yourself too.

King of arrows (kingfisher), eight of bows (hearthfire), the world tree, ten of bows (responsibility).

Pile 5

Ah yes, you are the embodiment of love. You are loved, so loved. I feel like you forget this sometimes, but please, let yourself be swallowed in the sea of love and care and admiration.

Okay, this is so weird and completely changes the mood but...it says that this song has lyrics when it's instrumental and funny enough... it's the lyrics to Faith by George Micheal. When I think of this song, I immediately think of the movie Sing as well so... these things might be significant to you or they may be a sign??

Also pile 1 might resonate with you as well, it's the same exact cards almost.

Six of Bows (abundance), the wheel, page o bows (stoat), tradition, queen of vessels (salmon)

Pile 6

Oh this is heavy, who hurt you pile 6 :(? ooo! I got a card I've never seen before.

You may feel like you need to continue to keep your walls up pile 6, but I want you to know that someone is going to come and sweep you off your feet pile 6. They will love you so much and they'll be so angry for you against whoever hurt you pile 6. They won't be afraid of you and who you are, they'll welcome all of your pain and love and everything you have to offer, this love is unconditional. They'll do anything to protect you and help you heal if you allow them. They'll go right into the storm of your emotions until you both can get away safely. You'll be overflowing with feelings of being loved and healed, I am happy for you pile 6.

the clock was also at 12:22 when I ended the reading, and I feel called to include a second song as well (Mercury by Sleeping at last)

two of vessels (attraction), knight of arrows (the hawk, this may be this person), nine of vessels (generosity), queen of stones (bear, this is you <;3)

[sabraeal]

Seven Swipes for Shirayuki, Chapter 6

[Read on AO3]

Obiyuki Trope Madness 2024, Semifinal #1: Bodyguard Crush

“Yuuta.” Names have never been Shirayuki’s forte; she struggles with Sarah and Sara, crosses her fingers when she comes across a Siobhan or a Ciaran, and now labors to decipher whether this is a ‘u’ sound or an ‘oo’ sound— gosh, it might even be a ‘uu’ situation, which is a whole other disaster entirely—

“Does he have a last name to go with that?” Obi murmurs, just loud enough for her to catch it. Well, so she hopes. “Or maybe you could just ask him for his number. Skip the whole swiping song-and-dance and just get down to—”

“Could you spell that for me?” she asks, a hair louder than necessary, hoping her smile doesn’t flicker under pressure the way old fluorescents do . “The patient’s name, I mean.”

“Oh! The…the patient’s…” Her well-meaning visitor shuffles, pink flaring up right under the spray of small freckles across his cheeks. It really is just like being back at the old B&B again, trying to smother a laugh as the sweet retriever from down the street keeps bringing back the wrong ball. “Right, of course. You need the patient’s…god, sorry, I wasn’t even thinking…”

“Happens all the time.” She bites back a smile as pink blooms into carnelian red. “We don’t tend to see people at their most put-together here.”

“Haah, right, makes sense.” His tanned hand digs into the tousles mass of his hair, sending it wild. It's a charming look, she has to admit. Makes her wish there were Beggin’ Strips for people too— he looks like he could use a treat. “Just feels a little stupid, that’s all. Not like you could look me up. In a patient registry, I mean.”

“You got a Tinder, though?” Obi crosses an knobby ankle over his knee, pant leg riding up enough to show the chili peppers on his socks. “OkCupid? Plenty of Fish?”

"Uh." The man blinks, first at him, then at her, as if she might confirm that this line of questioning is somehow part of the official visitor registration process. It's not. “Y-yes?”

"Ooh?" Obi pitches forward, fingers poised over the app store. “Which—?”

“Obi.”

“What?” Having reached the end of his leash, her wayward hound finally comes to heel. With a tug of his coat, he slouches back, not a hint of contrition lingering in that smirk of his. “I was just wondering.”

She lets her glare do the heavy lifting as she repeats, “What was the name again?”

“Ah, my dad’s? Katsu. Katsu Baudin.” The man coughs, clearing his throat. “And I’m, uh, his son. Yuuta.”

“We know,” Obi chirps helpfully as she puts in her login. It shouldn’t work— IT’s supposed to update the registry at midnight, and she’s been legally off payroll for three days— but the system only takes a long, hard think and rolls over, displaying patient information with the same enthusiasm as a dog wagging its tail. “With two ‘u’s?”

“Uh…”

Her visitor— Yuuta— glances at her, but she’s too busy tallying the number of security and privacy regulations violated to give him much more than, “Katsu Baudin, Room 7760.”

There should be some palpable relief on the air, or at least the barest whiff of gratitude, but instead their wayward visitor shuffles awkwardly behind the counter, not flushed but— strained, maybe. “Um, sorry, I don’t mean to be a pain or anything, but do you think—?”

“Two floors down.” Wistal is hardly as labyrinthine as Wirant— built into a hill, each wing designed to be the magmum opus of architects thirty years apart, resulting in atria so beautiful they graced the covers of Architectural Digests and hallways so nonsensical as to be be hostile to human life, with entrances on every floor between the first and the fourth besides the third— but with each level laid out exactly like the last, it’s easy to get turned around. “If you go straight out from the elevators, take your second right. 7760 should be down that hall on your left.”

“Ahh, right, thanks. That’s…a huge help.” He hesitates, gaze fixed down the hall as if it were a thousand yards instead of five. His fingers fingers drum nervously on the counter top. “I don’t want to— I mean, it’s just—”

He hangs his head, dark eyes huge and pleading as they peer up from under that fluffy flop of hair, as helpless as a dog that’s found a door it can’t nose open. “I suck at directions.”

It takes every last ounce of her self control to keep only the corners of her mouth twitching. “That’s no problem at all. Just let me call down to their desk and give them the heads up that you're coming. Then you can go there and have someone take you right to the room.”

“Oh!” His head snaps up, eyes so wide she can nearly see a waggling tail behind him. “You can do that? Er, I mean…I wouldn’t want to put you out…?”

In Wilant there would have been some grumbling, some pointed questions about just how many times his parents had dropped him on his head as a child if he couldn’t go two floors down and take a turn without getting it all twisted, but here—

Shirayuki glances across the hall, catching a flash of pale hair above a designer button-down, of a profile that has graced more covers of GQ than she’s got fingers on one hand. As exceptional as Izana is, she doubts that’s even the most impressive statistics on the floor. There’s a husband just around the corner she’s pretty sure has a collection of Super Bowl rings. Recent ones, considering all the rubbernecking outside their door.

“They’re used to worse,” Obi offers, so helpful as he scrolls. “A little hand holding isn’t going to break the scale.”

Yuuta blinks down at him. “Er, all right. If you’re sure.”

“Please,” he scoffs, slouching further into the ergonomic plastic. “Unless you’re bringing your mistress to watch your wife go through labor, no one's even going to—”

“Just a minute!” Shirayuki smiles as she picks up the phone, refusing to acknowledge anything over her shoulder. “Let me see what I can do.”

*

There may be no phone trees or music on internal lines, but there’s still plenty of waiting, especially with no voicemail for stale calls to be shunted to. Still, it’s only a few minutes before someone picks up— a nurse fresh from shift change, happy to take of ‘that old charmer’s baby.’ Watching Yuuta’s back disappear into the elevator makes a nice ending to an unplanned long night, and Shirayuki—

“What, you aren’t going to go with him?” Obi leans back in his chair, straining the ergonomic claims of those cushions. “Make sure the prodigal son makes it back home? Maybe hold his hand a little?”

“I think he’ll manage just fine.” She blows out her cheeks as she sits, letting her mouth settle into her sternest frown. “Now, I trust you deleted that thing?”

“Me? No. I’ve swiped right on three real studs already. And let me just say” —he presses a hand to his chest, the silk of his tie rumpling under the pressure— “I chose better for you than you choose for yourself.”

“Obi!” It’s a strangled noise, one she just barely keeps to quiet-hours guidelines. “I told you that I wasn’t interested in—!”

“Trust me, Miss,” he soothes, entirely too smug. “You’ll be interested in these guys. Or at least their traps.”

“I thought we agreed that—”

“We didn’t agree on anything.” His eyebrows may twitch up to angelic heights, but his attempts at innocence are ruined by the downright sly curl his mouth takes. “You said I should, and I declined to take your advice.”

All at once, the fight seeps out of her, leaving only the weariest sigh in its wake. “Obi…”

“Aww, come on, now, Miss. No need to go borrowing trouble yet. It's not like you've matched.” His lips twitch. “Yet. But let’s be real, who could say no to a knock-out like y—?”

“You are going to delete that,” she informs him with all the authority of a limp dish rag. “Right now. While I can watch.”

“Aw, Miss,” he whines, using only the most pitiful pitches. “I’m just helping.”

Shirayuki stares. “You think this is helping?”

“Of course.” His shoulders twitch, halfway between a shrug and a shield. “What better way to recover from a bad break up then having someone blow out your—?”

“Ah, no!” Her hand flies up, the flimsiest barrier between them. “Don’t— don’t finish that thought.”

“But, Miss—”

“I appreciate your…consideration,” she informs him, gracious. “Really, I do. But I think that maybe you and I process this sort of thing differently. Very…very differently.”

“I didn’t say you had to jump right into bed.” Though he sounds dubious on that order of operations. “But you could let someone take you out, treat you right. And then maybe on date three, you—”

“Three?” It’d taken almost six months for her to even kiss Zen, let alone even think about the sort of activities that might require the removal of clothes. And by then, it took them three months of planning to even get them in the same room. “Do people really…?”

“You know how it is, Miss.” Obi’s sprawled across the chair, lounging in a way its ergonomic bullet points were never supposed to accommodate, but there’s nothing casual about the way his eyes settle on her. “People are busy nowadays. Not much time to take it slow.”

“I have time.”

Shirayuki nearly jolts straight out of her chair. “Ryuu?”

*

(Shirayuki’s not given to believe in the supernatural— not ghosts, not ESP, not sixth senses that seem to only work in hindsight— but she’ll give Yuzuri this: her ability to locate her anywhere in this rabbit warren of hallways is downright occult.

“Have I got the goss for you, girl,” she squeals, stealing a baby carrot out of her lunch box as she slips into the empty seat beside her. It’s all empty seats in the break room right now, but Yuzuri rolls even closer, voice pitched low. “Word on the street is that Ryuu’s got something going on with the new intern.”

“In Imaging?” It’s hard to picture her— she’s a shy thing, always disappearing behind a white coat as a cart turns a corner, just a blonde ponytail above pink scrubs. “I guess they’re around the same age.”

“Same age,” Yuzuri scoffs, gnawing on her ill-gotten gains. “Is that what you think people care about? The same age? No, this girl is like…his type.”

That doesn’t sound quite right, not to her ears. “I don’t really think Ryuu has—”

“Of course he does. Everyone has a type, Shirayuki, even you.” Her voice drops to mutter something that sounds suspiciously like, “Even if you don’t realize it.”

“I just mean that Ryuu hasn’t shown much interest in…anything like that.” Romance, she means. But if she says it, Yuzuri will probably counter with something about sex, and quite honestly, she’s not sure if she can handle Ryuu and... and that idea in the same sentence. “I’m not really sure he wants to, either.”

“Yeah, yeah, normally I’d agree with you,” Yuzuri says with a dismissive wave. “But this girl is like, smart. And super cute. Like freckles everywhere! And her laugh— seriously, you have to hear it. He like, smiled and stuff.”

Well, the smile is a start. “Is that what his type is? Smart and cute? Freckles?”

“I mean, basically right?” Her hand flop open into something between a slouch and a shrug. “That’s what you’re like.”

It’s a good thing there’s no silverware involved in eating hummus, otherwise it would have clattered to the floor. It’s sad enough that she’ll have to toss out this baby carrot casualty. “Excuse me?”

“Oh, you know how it is,” Yuzuri presses on, as if she didn’t just drop a detail more devastating than an atom bomb. “It’s not about you. It’s just that every guy wants to fuck their mom or whatever. Freudian stuff.”

Shirayuki has opinions on Freud— capital ‘O’ Opinions, as Obi likes to call them, along with, the kind that don’t get us asked back to the country’s finest conferences— but all she can manage is, “I think I’m more like a sister than a mother.”

Yuzuri shrugs. “Same difference.”)

*

“Ryuu.” Her hand slaps to her chest, as if that might keep her heart beneath it better than own her ribcage. Which might be true, from how hard its pounding to get out. Shirayuki can hardly blame it. “What are you…? Ah, I mean, were you…?”

It’s still strange to have to look up to meet his eyes, to see the way his face furrows with the beginnings of annoyance. “It’s now or not until after four. Should I come back?”

“Wha— oh, the ultrasound.” Now that she’s on her feet, she can see the cart at his side, loaded up with one of the mobile units he must have requisitioned from Imaging. “Are you doing it?”

“I said I would.”

There’s no humble shrug to go with his words, no inflection to imply emotion, just a simple recitation of the facts. “Well, yes, but I thought you would have one of the techs on shift come up and—”

“I had time.” His shoulders settle into stern angles as his chin lifts, as imperious as any MD. “Is there a problem with that?”

There’s a half dozen, starting and ending with how he’s the Attending today; someone who has a thousand more pressing responsibilities than doing some investigative ultrasound for her patient. But as much as she might try, the words won’t stick together in her mouth, won’t let her make anything but the most unconvincing sputter. “N-no, it’s only—”

“Aw, come on, big guy.” Obi saunters up to the counter, elbow brushing her shoulder as he furls himself up for a lean. It’s nice; steadying. “You know there’s no one else Miss would trust to do this more than you. But don’t big shots like you have busy schedules? I wouldn’t think you’d have the time to come help little old us.”

A stubborn red that clings to the tips of his ears. “As I said, I do. Is it in that room, there?”

His head bobs toward the door. There’s no one behind the window now, just a straight view from hall to window, blinds strung tight across the glass.

“Yes, 9060.” He’s already wheeling the cart towards it when she adds, “Izana should be with her, too.”

The cart squeals to a stop.

“Oh.” His knuckles blanch so white she can see bone where they grip the handle. “Then maybe I should come back. Later. After…”

He doesn’t finish the thought. Shirayuki frowns. “I don’t see why. Is there something wrong with—?”

“Oh, I get it.” Obi’s smirk stretches long into a leer as he leans toward her, voice pitched to be heard as he whispers, “I think he’s afraid of Her Majesty. Intimidated by laying hands on America’s Sweetheart. Little too famous for his blood, I—”

“I didn’t say that,” Ryuu grumbles, sullen. “I’m not laying hands on her anyway. It’s only the probe that will—”

“So it’s His Majesty then,” Obi amends, so considerate. It’s a struggle to keep her mouth from twitching, giggles straining behind her teeth. “Can’t say I blame you for that one, little guy. That guy makes me break out into a cold sweat.”

“I’m not afraid of Izana Wisteria.” The name snaps between his teeth, cold. “I just thought that if she has a visitor, she might not want to be interrupt—”

“You know, Miss.” It’s hard to call something as languid as Obi’s lounging aggressive, but that’s what it is— weaponized slinkiness, the way a cat weaves through legs at dinnertime. “If Ryuu thinks that this is too rich for his blood, you should really just get someone else to—”

“I’m doing it.” The cart squeals as it angles toward the door, wheels grinding with the same single-minded focus as Ryuu’s teeth. “I— I’m already going!”

He doesn’t so much march as storm over, shoulders hiked like pickets by his ears as he knocks at the door. “Excuse me,” he says, swinging it open. “Name and birth date, please.”

It shuts before she can hear Haki’s answer.

*

“Boo.” Obi doesn’t so much sit as he does slump, a puppet with all his strings cut. “He coulda kept that door open a smidge longer. I've heard that America’s Sweetheart fudged the date on her birth certificate to get that role in Mean Girls.”

“I doubt that.” Shirayuki spares him the flattest stare, fingers striking the keys with a pointed power as she logs out from the system. “Her family’s a big deal, aren’t they? Hollywood Royalty, isn’t that what Yuzuri called it?”

“Miss.” His shoulders shake along with his head. “Only you could ask if the Arleons were a big deal.”

Years ago she might have blushed, might have stammered out excuses about the how cable didn’t run out that far until she was in college, and the combination post office/movie theater in town only ran movies two years out of date, but now— now she simply says, “That proves my point, doesn’t it? There were probably newspaper articles about it. An entertainment Weekly birth announcement? Something. It can’t be much of a mystery.”

“There was also some website that counted down to her eighteenth birthday.” He shrugs, casual, as if that isn’t the most horrifying thing he’s ever heard. Then again, knowing Obi, it probably doesn’t even make the top thirty. “But you know, once you get a thing like that in your head…”

He lets his grin do the rest of the talking. Like all of his outrageous behavior, she simply ignores.

“Thank you for that, by the way.” One of his narrow brows hikes up toward his hairline, and she clarifies, “With Ryuu. You’ve always known how to handle him better than I do.”

“You do just fine.” The seat creaks as he tucks his thigh against its arm, elbow lazily hooking over his knee. “He just needs a little heat to get him into the kitchen sometimes. And you’re not someone who’s comfortable with turning it up. Especially when it comes to Ryuu.”

Shirayuki doubts her interns would agree with that particular assessment, but she simply says, “Thank you anyway. If you hadn’t been here, I think we really would have been waiting until four.”

Obi hums. “Oh, I’m not sure about that, Miss. Seems like you handled it just fine the other day.”

She blinks. “The other day?”

“You know.” His shoulders twitch, the laziest suggestion of a shrug. “Ms. Luteal Cyst?”

*

(The cart wheels catch on the threshold, casters making a nasty ka-crack as they struggle over the metal strip. The noise alone has got her grimacing, but when she sees the close-cropped dark hair, so like Obi’s now that all the curls have been left on the barber shop floor, her mouth pulls thinner still.

“Ryuu.” He’s supposed to be on days this week— at least according to the schedule posted up in the break room— but yet he’s here, wincing as the last wheel wails across the floor. Ah, and he’s gotten the squeaky cart. “I didn’t think you’d be…?”

In, she wants to say, but doing the tech’s job keeps trying to elbow its way out at the same time, and instead the question just hangs, awkward.

“Oh, Shirayuki.” He blinks, first at her, then as he leans out the door, as if—

“This is the right room!” she assures him, a laugh startling out of here. “It’s just a slow shift, so I though I might keep my friend here company while she waited.”

“Oh.” The girl sinks further into her pillows as he stares, withering under the stern furrow of his brows. Shirayuki’s half-tempted to tell her that it’s not personal, that without regular reminders, Ryuu’s face defaults to forbidding. “The gel’s going to be cold.”

“I-I don’t care.” She lifts her chin, defiant; a challenge if he means to make it one. “Anything’s fine as along as my baby’s okay.”

Ryuu shoots her a wary glance across the bed— don’t let this girl have emotions on me, it says, loud and clear— before he turns back to the computer, fingers clacking pointedly across the keys. That leaves her to help the girl lift up her johnny, rearranging blankets and drop cloth so her legs and clothes are covered, terrible mesh underwear and all.

“I’m surprised to see you here.” The words might be for Ryuu, but Shirayuki keeps smiling down at her patient, trying to keep her in the conversation. “Usually we don’t have doctors doing untrasound, but Dr Goldregen sometimes helps out when there’s a bit of a scheduling back up—”

“Or when the tech no-shows.”

Her smile stiffens. “O-or that.”)

*

“Ah…” Shirayuki shakes her head. “That didn’t have anything to do with me. Mihaya was late for shift change—”

“Must be nice to have a wing of a hospital named after your family,” Obi muses, head tilted over the back of the chair. “Then you can just waltz into work at any old time, and everyone just says ‘thank you for your time.’”

“I don’t think anyone says that to him,” she snorts. “And he does a passable job when he’s here, so—”

“So no one can fire him.”

Shirayuki struggles against a smile. “So no one can fire him. Ryuu just got here early for shift change and saw there had been a request pending for over an hour. It had more to do with being efficient than helping me.”

Obi hums, unconvinced. “I think you underestimate just how much that kid likes to please you. Maybe he didn’t know it was your patient or whatever, but I bet he showed off once he knew you were there. Probably had good bedside manner and everything.”

*

(The girl yips at the first touch of gel on her stomach, but Ryuu doesn’t even flinch, already pressing the probe down to spread it around. “It’s cold!”

He sends her a sidelong look. “I did warn you.”)

*

“Not…measurably.” It’s effort to keep her tone even. “Ryuu respects my opinion, but he’s really not the sort of person to give special treatment just because—”

“I’m done.”

“Ryuu!” Zen used to joke about putting a bell on Obi— or at least he did, before Obi sent him an Amazon link to a few human-sized collars— but Shirayuki is beginning to wonder if they might need to find one for Ryuu. Last thing they need is for him to startle someone into coding. “A-already?”

He nods. “One sac.”

Shirayuki frowns. That’s hardly what she expected. “Are you sure? Sometimes it’s tricky to see if—”

“I checked for a posterior placenta too.” His shoulders twitch, the barest shrug. “Sometimes hyperemesis gravidium is just hyperemesis gravidium.”

“I guess.” There’s just something unsatisfying about saying it’s hormones; something that feels dismissive rather than diagnostic. “I just could have sworn…”

“What I said before.” Ryuu clears his throat, looking like he’d rather be anywhere than right here, standing in front of the nurse’s desk. “About not doing it again.”

“I know, I know.” She sighs, waving a hand. “It was already kind of you to do it this time— and personally too. I won’t ask again.”

“No, that’s not…” His lips press tight, a white line cutting across his face. “I mean, I’ll do it, if you really need it.”

She blinks. “Really?”

“In a few weeks,” he tells her, stern, as if she might turn around and tell him to go back in there. “There’s things that might not show up now. Rare things. But…things.”

“That’s really kind of you, Ryuu.” For anyone else, she might reach out— pat their shoulder, shake their hand— but for him, she just smiles. But the way he straightens, it’s enough. “But I’d hate to bother you after—”

“It’s not a bother. If you think something’s wrong, I believe you.” It’s been ages since he was the boy genius, a teenager that trembled when he walked onto the floor. But there’s shades of it now in the way he looks at her, gratitude and trust and affection all tangled up into something that makes it hard to look away from his too-blue eyes. “Garrack always told me that you have good intuition. My own experience agrees. It would be foolish to deny that based on something so subjective as statistics.”

It must be a little too earnest even for him, since he shakes himself, quickly adding, “I have other things to do today. Goodbye.”

He rolls off, squeaky cart wheel wailing, and all she can do is stare at his back.

Obi snorts. “No special treatment, huh?”

She’s not sure how to answer, but she’s saved from having to figure it out when Obi’s phone blings obnoxiously. “What’s that?”

He glances down at the screen, mouth unfurling into a terribly devious grin.

“Why look at that, Miss,” he drawls. “Looks like we got a match.”