#they were all just enjoying each other's company! what else am i supposed to do when that happens!

[anistarrose]

finishing up a one-shot that's barreling rapidly towards 10k and yet it doesn't feel 10k in scope. there's no cosmic scale to it or anything. the characters were just having a good time together. hanging out and savoring the moment. who was I to put a stop to that. who was I to shoot down family bonding

[daycourtofficial]

You’re losing me

Summary: Azriel has always put his duties as spymaster above his own needs and wants. How long can you let him keep putting work over you before boiling over?

Author’s note: I am so sorry about this babes, this is pure heartbreak. Anyway angst is a new genre for me so please lmk how this goes for you (good, bad, awful - lmk)

(1k celebration masterlist 🍾)

You sit in the library of your shared home, the soft cushion of your favorite armchair not providing the comfort it used to. The library was your favorite room in the house - you and Azriel spent thousands of hours in here reading independently, reading to each other, or just enjoying the silence with each other for company.

The room was beautiful- you both adored the entirety of the house, but this room drew both of you in immediately. It’s beautiful stain-glass windows creating brilliant hues of color to move about the room during the day, bringing life to the dark wood that adorns the walls of the room.

Vivid colors from the scenes in the stain glass window would dance across the floor, as if reenacting the depictions just for you two.

It’s dark now, the sun having set hours ago, and you can’t remember the last time you enjoyed the light of the room. The last time you and Azriel had enjoyed the light of the room.

The last time you and Azriel just enjoyed each other’s company without knowing he was going to leave in a matter of hours.

It was a song and dance you were familiar with by now - he’d return home from doing some work requested by Rhys, you’d make him some food, you two would snuggle or have sex, and he’d be gone by the time you woke up.

It wasn’t always like this, but the two years since the war have caused Azriel to dive headfirst into his work, accepting every scrap of work Rhysand would push his way, darting out the door like it was calling to him.

You hear the front door open, knowing who it is despite their silent entrance. Sighing, you stand up and walk out of the library, closing the door behind you.

You walked through the halls of your home, feet softly padding on the hardwood floor until you see him across the living room, still in his leathers.

It used to amuse you, when he’d return in his leathers, compared to you in your frilly nightgowns. It was quite a sight, the dark leather surrounded by the satins and cottons of your nightgowns.

Now it just furthered to prove the divide between you.

“Az, we were supposed to go to the bakery today to taste cakes.”

You hardly let him walk through the door before picking a fight, but his absence at the bakery hours ago left you ample time to stew in your negative emotions.

He runs his hand down his face, the purple and blue bruising under his eyes having grown more and more prominent over the weeks. Truthfully, you don’t want to start a fight, but you’ve let too many of these things slide in the past two years and you’re at your tipping point.

Missed dates, rescheduled dinners, missed anniversaries, cancelled trips. You had tried talking several times about it, but you need your fiancé around more than he has been. No amount of begging can make him do anything about it, though.

The most egregious of all was the continually delayed status of your wedding ceremony. You’ve had to rescind the invitations two times now, and you’re have tempted to send out fresh ones that just say “date: TBD”.

He just sighs in response, telling you, “I had to work, I had a mission.”

You sigh, knowing it was the truth. Your fiancé would never cheat on you, but he would put everyone else’s needs above his.

And above your own.

“Azriel, I really needed you today. It was important to me for you to be there.”

“It’s just a cake - pick any flavor you want. You know what I like,” he says, sitting onto the couch and taking off his boots.

“It’s not just a cake! This is your wedding too - I cannot make every decision for this. It’s supposed to be about us, not about me.”

You shake your head, exasperation bubbling to the surface, “I feel insane going to these appointments because I have a fiancé who never shows up! I swear I heard the florist say she pitied me because I pretended to be engaged!”

Azriel drags a hand down his face, “can we not do this now? I’m exhausted and want to bathe before bed.”

You huff out a laugh, as Azriel tries to move past you but you continue to follow him. “When would be a better time? You’re hardly home lately, and you leave at a moment’s notice for Rhysand.”

He whips his head at you, “it’s my job, my duty.”

You roll your eyes, “I’m pretty sure you could delegate a decent proportion of your work to the people under you that you both hand selected and trained yourself!

He sighs, exasperated, “it’s my job.”

A line you’ve heard a thousand times. You knew who he was when you began dating him, you’ve always known who he was and what he did.

But you thought his need to feel worthy would wane with time, not get worse.

“You put Rhys’s needs over mine!” You’re shouting now, something you never do, and Azriel bites back, “he’s my high lord - and yours.”

“That doesn’t mean he gets to keep you at his beck and call!” Your hands were running through your hair, unable to have the same argument again and again.

“That’s exactly what it means.”

“Oh so was it Rhys’s beck and call to push our wedding back three separate times?”

He whirls around at you, pointing, “That’s not fair and you know it.”

“Three times is not fair! It’s like you don’t even want it!”

His silence to your accusation rings through your ears. A damning, deafening silence.

You count to ten in your head, and he hasn’t made a sound, only looking at the ground.

His lack of words echo through your mind, even as his hands reach out to you, his desperate pleadings of “I-” and “baby” falling on deaf ears.

“I’m glad to see where we stand.”

You begin to turn, but stop yourself.

“When I told Nesta our wedding was delayed again, she told me if you really wanted it, really wanted me, you’d suggest we just run off and get married like Rhys and Feyre did.”

You take a shaky breath, “but you never did.”

You step back from him, unable to look him in the eye, unable to do much of anything, except retreat from your shared bedroom, softly shutting the door behind you.

Azriel stands in the now empty room, your footsteps ceasing down the hall but continuing in his mind. Every second he stands there, the further you become. He starts to move, starts to pick up his feet, his shadows urging him to go, go, go.

You can fix this, they tell him. Go, now.

His thoughts are broken up by Rhys’s voice, a smooth sound at such odds with the chaotic edges of his thoughts.

Az, I need you.

Azriel doesn’t even ask if it can wait. You’ll understand. He’s sure of it. He can fix things when he comes home. Rhys just needs him right now, he can help him out, then he can talk to you.

He scrawls a quick note on the table for you to find before retreating into his shadows.

He returns home a few hours later, his assistance speeding up Rhys’s needs. He stops to grab you your favorite flowers, a book you’ve been eyeing, and a necklace he’s had his eye on in the shop for ages.

The necklace gives him pause, as he realizes he first saw it eight months ago, its shine reminding him of your eyes.

Had it really been eight months?

He kept telling himself he was going to buy you the necklace for a special occasion, but so many have slipped by without his acknowledgment this past year.

Gods, he thinks, did he even celebrate your birthday?

Surely he hadn’t gotten that caught up in his work.

Had he?

The streets are quiet as he makes his way back to your shared home. He thinks over the past year and how he hardly saw you, and when he did, he often left not soon after seeing you.

He opens the door, the house eerily silent following your fight earlier. He deserved your silence. He couldn’t tell you how scared he was to marry you, tethering your soul to his for the rest of your lives.

You, who was so kind and so loving, shackled to him for eternity. He knew the insecurities were ridiculous, that you loved him with every part of yourself.

But that didn’t stop the self-hatred from oozing out of him every moment.

He hadn’t been there for you this past year. He had let his own need for approval overshadow your needs.

He groans, needing to find you so he can fix things. He walks through the house, not even realizing the book he’s carrying is a duplicate to the one sitting on the coffee table.

He starts really thinking, trying to remember the last time he had touched you, kissed you, held you.

Too long, he realizes, as he’s made his way through the whole house without a sign of you. A shadow wraps around his wrist, pulling him into the kitchen. He finds the note he had left earlier still on the table, but you had scrawled a second message underneath. Five words that break his resolve, forcing him to his knees. Your handwriting so clear, save for the splotched ink, wet from tears.

I wouldn’t marry me either.

Part two

[lacroixwh0r3]

The First Taste

DBF!Joel Miller x F!Reader

Summary: You meet Joel, your dad's best friend, for the first time after your dad begged you to join them at the lake to keep Sarah company. Both you and Joel become fascinated by each other the moment the two of you met.

Warnings: SMUT!!! DUB CON, heavy sexual tension, drug usage (weed only), petnames, age gap (Joel is 36 and reader is 21), masturbation (F and M), fingering, voyerism, daddy kink, dom!Joel, Joel is a perv and an asshole, cursing, swimming??, no outbreak

Song inspo (feel free to read if you want): The First Taste by Fiona Apple

PART 2 PART 3

A/N: This takes place four years before Blow My Load, but can be read as a standalone.

Please share, comment, like, and reblog...enjoy lovies! <33

"Dad, I thought it was supposed to be a "boy's trip," and the last time I checked, I am not a boy." You point at your body as you tell your dad. For some reason, he is begging you to come to the lake with him and his friends the day before they leave. "Why won't you just tell me why you want me to go? And maybe I'll give you an answer."

You finally got him to crack.

Your dad let out a defeated sigh as he scratched the back of his head and avoided eye contact. You mentally prepared yourself for whatever bullshit your dad was about to say. "Well, you see, honey, one of the guys couldn't get a babysitter for his kid, and I offered you to keep her company." He winced.

And there it is. The thing he was holding back from you

You let out a sarcastic chuckle. You really couldn't believe this shit. "Are you serious, dad? I refuse to babysit some random kid because you offered me up without even asking me first!" You exclaimed at him. "I don't even know a damn thing about this kid."

"Look, I know it was wrong for me to do that, sweetheart, but I swear Sarah is a good kid. Most of the time she has her headphones in and minds her business." He tries to reason with you, almost pleading with you. You began to feel bad for blowing up on him like that, but it really did piss you off that you had to watch someone else's kid. "I'll even pay you."

This weekend, you planned on doing nothing but self-care. You wanted to do nothing but stay home, watch movies, get a mani and pedi, go get a massage, drink, and maybe even play with the new toy you just bought yourself at Spencers.

You feel yourself giving into your dad; it wasn't the money that made you say yes, but the fact that he always found a way to make you feel bad, even if he didn't mean to do it. "Ugh, fine!" You scoff as you turn to look away from him. From the corner of your eye, you can see his body perk up.

Your dad lets out a sigh of relief, saying, "Thank you so much, sweetheart! You're such a lifesaver; you know that, right?" He slaps your shoulder playfully, causing you to shrug it off and narrow your eyes at him playfully as well.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. How old is your friend's daughter, anyway?" You asked him, unfazed by it all.

"I think she's around 14?" Your dad said cluelessly. "Not too bad, right? I'm sure that you can find something to talk about with her."

It wasn't that bad, but what the fuck would you, a 21-year-old, have in common with a 14–15-year-old girl?

"I guess. I'm gonna start getting my stuff all packed up," You tell him as you turn around to go up to your room.

"Alright, sweetheart, and thanks again!" He exclaims to you as you make your way farther up the steps.

"Yup!" You yell it out dismissively.

As much as you hated the circumstances, you were happy you were finally able to get away for a little bit.

...

It was the next day, and you were tired as hell after only getting four hours of sleep. You had spent all night packing and stressing about what you were going to wear. It wasn't like you were trying to impress anyone, but this was your first time meeting your dad's friends, and you wanted to look decent.

You had left it up to your dad to pack your things into the car as you were too tired to do anything besides shower, put your clothes on, and lay back down for a little until it was time to go. As you lay face down on the bed, knocked out, you heard your dad knock on the door. "Hey, kiddo, are you ready to head out?" He asked you as he stood at the door.

You slowly sit up on your bed as you yawn and stretch your arms over your head. "Yeah, let me just get up and grab my purse and stuff."

"Got it." Your dad says this before turning around and making his way downstairs.

After moments of sitting on your bed, stairing into space, you got up, grabbed your purse, and began to leave your room. However, on your way to the door, you see the pouch that contained your weed and weed paraphernalia. You hesitantly swiped it from your dresser, dropped it into your bag, and went downstairs.

If the men got to have their fun, why couldn't you?

Once you get to the last step, you hear your dad saying bye to someone on the phone before turning to you. "My buddy, Joel, just got to the lake house, so we should start headin' out." He says this as he grabs his keys and motions for you to follow him to the door.

After making sure the security alarm was set and locking the door, the two of you were finally on your two-hour journey to the lake house.

...

You and your dad finally made it to the lake house. It was a three story house that sat on top of a hill, surrounded by nothing but trees.

You and your dad hop out of the car and start bringing your bags to the front door. All of a sudden, the moment you sat the last bag down and brought your fist up to knock at the door, it swung open, revealing a man who looked to be in his early 30s with short, dark, curly hair.

Beside him was a woman with long locs, smiling warmly at you. Meanwhile, the man looked at you with confusion, trying to piece together who you were. You looked familiar to him, but he couldn't put a name to your face.

"Tommy!" Your dad said loudly behind you. You could hear the excitement in his voice as he greeted him. Tommy's eyes moved to look behind you at your dad, and his eyes lit up.

"Oh man, y'all come on in!" He opened the door wider as he and the unnamed woman moved out of the way to allow you to walk in first, followed by your dad. "I'll grab the rest of the bags out there." Tommy says.

Tommy brought the bags in as your dad greeted the lady. "Hey, Maria!" He asked her as he gave her a side hug. "I didn't know you were gonna be joining us this weekend as well."

So that was her name.

"I didn't think I was going to be joining either. Tommy invited me last minute, so I just decided to take some time off of work," She replies back.

They stood near the entrance as they began to get deeper into the conversation, talking about God knows what, leaving you standing there awkwardly as you watched them. You decided to take that moment to observe the room. Even though the house was spacious, it still had a cozy feel to it.

As you were in your own world, your dad gently slapped his hand on your shoulder unexpectedly. "And this young lady right here is my daughter." He smiles at the two as Maria and Tommy turn their attention to you.

"Nice to meet you, kid," He says as he offers his hand to shake yours, which you accept. You shake hands with him before dropping them to your side. Tommy then points to Maria. "This is my wife, Maria."

You shake hands with her as well while you tell them your name. "It's so great to meet you two!" You beam at the couple.

They begin to ask you a series of questions about yourself, such as what university you attended, what your major was, and so on, to which you gladly answer.

However, in the midst of your conversation, your words are abruptly interrupted by the sound of the sliding door opening, followed by heavy footsteps. "And here comes my asshole brother, Joel, and my niece, Sarah," Tommy says to you, prompting both you and your dad to look behind you. You can hear Maria let out a loud laugh at Tommy's words.

Your eyes immediately focused on him as he got closer to you, not even paying attention to the fact that his daughter was right behind him as well.

The man named Joel had short, dark, curly hair like Tommy’s; the only difference is that he is a lot shorter, and the roots of his hair were slightly gray at his temples. Joel also had a patchy beard with a thick mustache. He has this rugged and mysterious look to him that completely enraptures you.

He and your dad greet each other, giving a quick bro hug and pulling away. Joel then turns to you, and you feel your hands quiver. His dark, dominant eyes intensify the intimidating aura that surrounds him, yet it still makes him even more interesting to you.

Holy hell, you think to yourself. This man is so fucking fine.

You continued to stare at Joel, saying absolutely nothing, until you realized that he was giving you a confused look as if he were waiting for something. Your eyes darted down, and you realized that he had his hand out, waiting for you to shake it. You felt your face heat up with embarrassment as you went to shake his hand.

"Joel," was all he said as the two of you shook hands before he let go and discreetly rubbed his hands into his shirt. You could feel yourself shrink with embarrassment as he did this. Not only did he not even give you a chance to introduce yourself, but he wiped his hands after shaking yours.

What a fucking jerk! Tommy was right; he is an asshole.

You quickly snapped out of your feelings when you realized that Sarah was now in front of you. She wore a pink crop top and jean shorts, while her curly hair was placed in a low ponytail.

She suddenly brings you in for a hug with a massive smile on her face, catching you off guard. Nonetheless, you still happily return the hug.

"I'm Sarah. It's nice to meet you!" Unlike Joel, Sarah was a lot more friendly with you. She had this radiant energy to her that made you wonder where she got it from because it definitely wasn't from Joel's grumpy ass. You tell her your name.

"It's nice to meet you as well, Sarah!" I return a smile back to her. She seems like the sweetest 14-year-old you've ever met. "I think we're gonna get along just fine this weekend."

"We sure are!"" She agrees.

"Sarah, sweetheart, how've you been?" Your dad asked her.

As your dad began to talk to Sarah, you decided to check Joel out while he listened to the conversation, occasionally putting in his two cents. Unlike the rest of the group, Joel wore a dark gray shirt, jeans, and some boots.

How is he not hot?

I mean, he is hot, but I meant temperature-wise, you think, causing yourself to let out a low chuckle.

You guess you said that out loud because Joel’s head, along with Maria's, Sarah's, and Tommy's, suddenly snapped over to you with eyes wide and eyebrows raised. Your dad's voice slowly began to fade when he saw the mortified expression on Sarah's face.

"Wait, what happened?" Your dad asked cluelessly as he looked around the group. He was so in his own world that he didn't hear what you said. Thank-fucking-goodness. "Everyone just stopped talking all of a sudden."

"Nothing!" You quickly tell him as you give him a disengenious smile before looking at everyone else. Sarah looked embarrassed for you, as Tommy and Maria still looked shocked. You get a glimpse of Joel as you wince in embarrassment and close your eyes; he had this smug look on his face.

You gathered that Tommy obviously loves to fuck around with people because he let out a stifled laugh, causing his wife to slap his arm and tell him to shut up.

You just wanted to die right then and there. This is now the second time today you've embarrassed yourself in front of this sexy ass man.

Your dad, being the clueless person he is, continues on with whatever he is talking about, not even realizing that no one is paying attention to him. Maria interrupts your dad as she clears her throat to catch your attention. She had a sympathetic look on her face. "Sweetie, your room is on the second floor next to, uh, Joel's, if you wanna get settled in," She offered to you. "We're going to head out to the lake and start putting some things on the grill around 2 or so." You just nodded your head because you were too afraid to speak.

"Hey, Joel?" Tommy looked at his brother with a teasing look on his face. "Why don't you go show her to her room, yeah?" He nods his head in the direction of the staircase.

You wished that you could just punch Tommy across the face at this very moment.

"Umm yeah..." Joel agrees slowly as he gives Tommy a dirty look before glancing at you. "Follow me," You nodded your head and grabbed your purse and other bags. As you followed Joel, the group quietly picked up their conversation again.

Without saying a word to each other, you and Joel arrive in the room. He steps aside, allowing you to enter, and turns around to make his way down the hallway to go back downstairs, but you quickly stopped him before he could get any further. "Hey, I'm sorry about what happened down there." You apologized to him. "I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable or anything."

Joel just turns around and gives you a small smirk. "Oh, darlin', I'm far from uncomfortable. I'm actually flattered...more than flattered as a matter of fact." He winks at you before departing down the hallway, leaving you shocked.

You were somewhat relieved that Joel wasn't disgusted by you, but it still didn't help with your embarrassment as much as you hoped it would.

You scanned the room, taking in the room that you were going to be spending your weekend sleeping in. The walls were painted a light gray. There was a queen-sized bed that looked really comfortable and had bedside tables on each side as well as a TV, which was mounted onto the wall opposite the bed. There was a door that led to a balcony. You could see an overview of the calm lake and the tall trees. It was a beautiful view.

...

It's been a while since you went downstairs with everyone. You were still so embarrassed by the incident this morning that you decided to spend most of your time scrolling through social media and catching up with your college friends. The only time you came out of the room was to go to the bathroom.

You eventually rolled out of bed and worked up the courage to join everyone.

After changing your clothes that you had on earlier and putting on your swim suit, you slipped on your oversized shirt, put on some waterproof mascara, and put on some lip gloss.

You made sure to grab your sunglasses, put on your flip-flops, and jogged down the steps.

Once you got down there, you realized that Maria was in the kitchen. You headed towards her, quickly greeting her. "Hi, Maria," You say while positioning yourself behind the chairs on the island. She was gathering something that she needed to put outside.

"Hey, sweetheart!" Maria happily greets you back with a smile as she turns her attention to you. "How're you feeling?" She asked you gingerly as she looked at you with sympathy. Her goal wasn't to embarrass you; she truly wanted to know if you were okay after earlier.

You felt yourself begin to get flustered. "I'm fine. Thanks for asking." You sheepishly replied. You avoided her eyes, beginning to feel awkward.

"Of course. They're out in the back; you should join them." She points to the sliding door. You just nodded your head and made your way to the door. Before you went out there, you stood there looking outside. You could see Joel's tall figure standing over the grill as he flipped the meat and sipped on his beer.

You felt yourself getting nervous just looking at him.

You then looked and saw your dad helping Joel take the food off the grill and start to place it on the table. Meanwhile, Sarah and Tommy sat at the table, talking to each other. Whatever Tommy had said made them let out loud laughs, causing Joel quickly turned around, let out a chuckle, and shook his head. He then went back to putting things on the rest of the food on the serving platter.

His smile is so gorgeous, it almost takes your breath away.

"Are you going out, sweetheart?" Maria asked behind you, startling you. You had forgotten that she was still here.

You turned to her as you began to stammer over your words and realized that her hands were full with plasticware and plates. "Do you need me to help you take those?" You asked her without even answering her question.

"I do actually," She just looked at you with a questionable look before speaking up again. "Can you just grab the forks and spoons from the top and place them on the table out there, please?" She asked. You grabbed the utensils before turning back around and opening the door.

They didn't notice you at first until Sarah caught sight of you and loudly called out your name as you got closer, causing Joel to look over at you as he closed the grill's top.

"Sarah!" You exclaimed dramatically. Once you reached the table, you sat the plasticware down and went over to sit next to her.

You noticed that her hair was wet and that she was wrapped in a towel. "What've you been up to, girlfriend?" You asked her as you sat down in the seat.

"Nothing much; I just took a quick dip in the lake, and now I am starving," Sarah whined out as she looked over at her dad, who was coming over with the food.

You can hear the sound of Joel's heavy feet approaching behind you and stopping at the free seat at the end of the table, which was next to you. He first put the food in the middle of the table, then plopped himself down. We all began to put things on our plates and begin eating.

Tommy grumbled something about starving, causing Sarah to make a joke about how he was always starving. In reply, Tommy stuck his tongue out at the young girl in a teasing manner.

As Joel ate, he was manspreading under the table. You could feel his hairy, bare leg graze against yours, making you move your leg away. Joel wiped his mouth with the napkin, took a sip of his beer, and looked at you with a blank stare, not saying anything.

You decided to speak up and compliment him on the food. "Joel, this is really good," You smile. Everyone hummed in agreement as they ate.

"Why thank you, darlin'?" Joel says, going back to eating.

...

After eating, we all sat there with our tummies full as we sat around talking about whatever came to mind. That was until Sarah ran into the house without saying a word.

"Oh goodness, that girl." He sat back as he watched his daughter running around the house through the sliding door before running back outside with a box of Uno cards.

"Who wants to play?" She asked the whole table as she ran to her seat and plopped down.

We all agreed. She began to shuffle the cards, dealt them out to everyone, and then set up the game. It first started with you, Joel, Maria, Tommy, then your dad, and lastly Sarah.

Sarah was the first one to get Uno, even though she had the most cards at one point. We all accused her of cheating, which she was quick to deny. No one at the table believed her, especially Tommy and Maria. She just rolled her eyes and helped your dad while he was stuck figuring out which cards to play next.

While the two silently argued about which card was the best, you looked over at Joel and saw that all his cards were showing. You looked around and noticed that no one was paying attention to his cards. Tommy and Maria were sitting there watching your dad and Sarah.

"You're bleedin', Joel," you whisper to him as you point to his card. His face scrunched up with confusion as to what you meant. He looked down at himself and saw no blood.

"What, sugar? I ain't bleedin' anywhere," He said as he tried to recall if he had maybe scraped himself anywhere, but it wasn't coming to him. You couldn't help, but laugh at his confusion.

"It means your cards are showing, Joel." You giggled at him as he chuckled a bit and put his cards up so that he wasn't "bleeding" anymore.

"That's so stupid, who taught you that?" You just shrugged your shoulders at his question and looked back over to see if your dad had finally picked up his card yet.

"Oh my gosh, this isn't rocket science, dad! Just pick a card already!" You exclaimed it, causing everyone to laugh.

"I'm tryin', I'm tryin'!" Your dad waved you off as he went back to silently arguing with Sarah about which card to choose.

The game got drawn out longer than it was supposed to because every other minute someone (usually Tommy) would start arguing about another person cheating. And in the end, Tommy lost the game.

We put the cards away as everyone except for Maria decided to hang out by the dock and take a swim. She said something about having to get on the phone with a client of hers, but she would come join us when she was done and would bring popsicles.

You and Sarah walked in front of your dad, Joel, and Tommy until you yelled out, "Beat you there!" to Sarah as you both haphazardly ran down the steps to get to the dock.

"You girls, be careful down those stairs now! Don't want y'all gettin' hurt," Joel yells out from behind. The two of you don't respond or slow down; you just keep giggling and running. Joel had to suppress a smile from appearing on his face. It brought him joy to hear how much fun Sarah was having with you.

Once you make it to the dock, Sarah flings off her towel and jumps into the lake with a squiel before she goes under water and floates back up. You quickly kick off your flip flops, throw your sunglasses down, and take off your shirt. Unlike Sarah, you didn't jump into the water, you sat down on the dock and scooched into the water.

Oh, come on! You should've jumped in!" She says this to you as she splashes you with water. You splashed her back.

"I'm too afraid, Sar-bear!" You yelled out to her, and she gasped. The men appeared from the concrete steps just as she did so. Joel dropped the towels in his arms before walking over in front of us, while your dad and Tommy moved to the other side of the dock with their beers and their folding chairs.

"Dad, can you believe that she's too afraid to jump into the water?" Sarah yells out to her dad.

He looked down at you from the dock with his hands on his hips and cocked his head to the side in confusion. "Really? It's not that scary, sweetheart," He tells you.

"Then how about you get in, Joel?" You say to him without even thinking.

"Yeah, come on, dad. Get in and show her how it's done!" Sarah yells out as she encourages her dad to get in.

You watched Joel as he took off his shoes and shirt, all while keeping his eyes on you. You couldn't help but suck in a breath and bite your bottom lip when he pulled off his shirt. You got a glimpse of his shirtless chest. Joel wasn't the most muscular man, but whatever his job was, it kept him fit, and you loved it. Your eyes quickly scanned over his neck, then his broad shoulders.

Those damn shoulders of his. You wished you could hold onto them as you rode on his co-

Your thoughts were abruptly shattered when Joel took a big leap into the lake, causing a splash of water to hit your face and go up your nose. You tried to make an attempt at turning your head, but it was too late. You coughed as you tried to clear the water from your lungs. As you do so, Joel comes up from beneath the water.

He gasped as he allowed the air back into his lungs and used his big hands to wipe his face. Once he noticed that you were coughing, he quickly swam over to you with a look of concern.

"You okay, sweetheart?" He asked you as you let out one last cough and nodded your head. He brought his hand up to stroke the side of your head and gave you this tender look before pulling away when he noticed that Sarah was coming over.

If it were just you and Joel on the lake, he would've probably pulled you into his body and placed a soft kiss on your lips.

Even though he had just gotten into the lake, Joel decided to get out before he did something that he would regret.

"Alright, girls. I'm gonna get out now." He says more to Sarah than to you. Once again, you just nodded your head at him. You knew that if you spoke, you'd embarrass yourself again.

"Wha-Dad! You literally just got in." She tries to convince him, but he just shook his head and grabbed onto the rails. He pulls himself up with a grunt and walks onto the dock.

"I'll get back in in a little bit." He dismissed her as he went to get a towel.

Sarah began to say something to you as she swam around you, but you were too focused on Joel to listen to what she was saying. She was too busy talking to notice that you weren't listening. Your attention was stuck on Joel, and his wet shorts stuck to his surprisingly nice ass. He then turns around as he dries off. Your eyes drifted down and widening when you saw his bulge. You were taken aback by the sight.

Oh my god, you thought to yourself.

You looked back up at his face to realize that Joel was already staring at you and smirking while he wrapped the towl around his waist.

Oh fuck!

He obviously saw you staring at his cock because he was fucking smirking.

Joel walked over to have a seat with his brother and your dad. You diverted your attention back to Sarah, acting as if you knew what she was talking about. You just nodded your head a couple of times, and she believed it, but again, your mind drifted.

You were thinking about her dad; snap out of it for Christ's sake.

For the rest of your time at the lake, you refused to look at Joel. And just as promised, Maria finally joined you all about an hour later with the popsicles she said she would bring. Once we ate them, Maria convinced the other adults to have a swim in the lake, to which they all agreed after some groans and pressure from her and Sarah.

...

After spending most of the afternoon outside, everyone went off to do their own thing. Sarah decided to take a shower and then go to sleep while your dad, Tommy, and Maria opted to go out to a bar that a local had told them about, and Joel refused to go out tonight because he said that he was beat from the lake. As for you, you took a quick shower and decided to watch the sunset on the balcony that was connected to your room and smoke.

Before slipping onto the balcony, you grabbed a preroll and a lighter from the pouch, your headphones, and a water bottle from the bed.

When you first got here, you didn't notice that there was a door connected to the balcony that led to Joel's room. However, the sheer curtains were closed, so you could only assume that he was asleep, meaning it was safe for you to smoke without him seeing you. You sat down on the lounge chair, put your headphones on, turned on some music, and began your session.

After two hits of the preroll, you felt the effects of the weed. Your body began to relax, and your eyelids felt slightly heavy. As you continued smoking, you couldn't escape the thought of Joel. You know that he is your dad's friend, and you would never think to go after him, but you have to admit that he is an attractive older man. Just your type.

You barely spoke to him throughout the couple of hours you had been there, yet you could tell the type of man he was. He is very reserved, doesn't speak unless spoken to, and likes to observe. Joel is respectful, but he didn't take shit from anyone. It was very visible that he was protective of not only Sarah but also Tommy.

Everything about him drew you in more and more.

With a few more hits of your preroll, you see a figure standing in the corner of your eye just a few feet away from you, causing you to quickly pull off your headphones and flick the preroll from your fingers and off the balcony. You look over to see Joel watching you with his eyebrows frowned and his hands on his hips. Your eyes widen with shock.

"Shit! I mean, hey, Joel..." You smile up at him awkwardly, trying to seem as sober as possible. "What are you doing out here?" You asked him in a sickly sweet voice. He continues to stare at you before answering.

"I just came out here to check on you. Heard you out here, so I decided to see what you were up to." Joel grumbles as he switches his weight to his other foot.

You prayed that Joel didn't know you were out here smoking weed; your dad would kill you if he heard about you doing this. Little did you know that your attempt would be a complete failure. As soon as Joel walked outside, he could smell the smoke and aroma of weed. He could also see your bloodshot eyes.

"Oh, yknow, nothing much really, just out here enjoying the view and listening to music!" You say this while waving your hand, gesturing to the view in front of both of you. You visibly cringe after this sentence because, even though it was the truth, it wasn't the full truth. He seemed to buy it, so you relaxed a bit.

"Mm, you enjoyed yourself today?" he asked.

"Yeah, I had a lot of fun today. Sarah definitely made it fun for me, she's amazing." You admitted to him, and it was true. His daughter was truly a joy to be around.

"Yeah," He laughs out as he looks out at the sunset, his handsome smile threatening to appear on his face. "She's amazing, for sure." He whispers. You can't help but smile at his words. It was refreshing to see that there was someone who was able to crack his hard exterior.

A silence falls over the two of you before he speaks up again. "Y'know, when we were walking back to the car after the lake, she talked about you the whole time. I couldn't shut up about how much cooler you are than Tommy and me." He scoffs as he rolls his eyes playfully and folds his arms to his chest. His confession made you laugh so hard that you couldn't stop, which caused him to laugh as well.

"I mean, she isn't wrong." You teasingly say it to him, causing him to shake his head.

"Yeah-fuckin'-right, darlin'. I can be cool, too."

"Mmhmm.." You reply back to him as you turn your head to look back at the view. However, Joel's eyes remained on you, but you didn't mind too much.

Once again, silence fell over you two. You wanted to look back at Joel, but you knew that if you looked at him in the eyes, your heart would beat out of your chest.

"Did you enjoy yourself, Joel?" You asked him without looking at him.

"What?" Joel asked.

Was he that engrossed in my face that he wasn't even paying attention, or were you not loud enough?

You suppress your laugh as you turn your head to look at him again. "I asked if you enjoyed yourself today." He quickly snaps out of his trance and looks away.

"Oh, yeah, it was enjoyable for the most part, sweetie," Joel sighs out. You said nothing else after this.

You didn't realize it until now, but you were starting to grow tired from the weed. You also wanted a snack.

"Well, I'm going to head back in, maybe fall asleep to a movie or something." You tell him as you grab your belongings, get up from the chair, and walk to the door.

"Alright," He says as he watches every step you take. "And one last thing, darlin'," You stop with your hand on the doorknob and look up at Joel as you wait to hear what he has to say. With a mix of your high and the nervousness you were feeling because of Joel, your heart was pounding out of your chest at this point.

"You don't gotta lie to me, sweet girl. You know that, right?" He says lowly as he motioned to his eyes.

Fuck!

Your body tenses up, and you freeze. You decided to play dumb, even though you were caught. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Joel," You say as you let out a nervous laugh. Your eyes shifted to the ground, avoiding eye contact with Joel like a guilty puppy.

"Oh, no need to play stupid with me, sweet girl; I won't tell your daddy." Something about the way he said these words made you want him so bad; it was almost like he was teasing you.

You felt your walls crumbling, no longer feeling the need to lie to him. "You swear, Joel?" You asked him as you looked at him with pleading eyes.

Joel wished that you would look at him with those pretty eyes while you were on your knees, pleading and begging for him to feed you his cock. In all honesty, he'd give you the world if you asked for it with that look. You made Joel feel something he hasn't felt for a woman in years, and he was willing to do just about anything to have you. However, he could tell you weren't ready for that yet, but he knew in due time he'd have you.

"You have my word, darlin'," He nods his head. "Just don't lie to me again," Joel tells you as he points a finger.

You frantically nod your head in agreement as you bite your lip. "I won't do it again, Joel."

All Joel could think about was how obedient you are, so eager to please him and do as he says. He could feel his cock getting hard in his shorts as he looked at your bare thighs and had these thoughts. Not once did you realize that Joel was checking you out.

Oh, how badly Joel wanted to grab your chin and kiss those lips of yours. He kept reminding himself that he needed to be patient.

"Good." He says before speaking up again. "You should go inside, darlin', maybe get some rest." Joel insisted as he made his way to the door and gave you one last look before walking inside, leaving you outside by yourself.

You stand there dumbfounded for a moment as you think about your interaction with Joel. You weren't sure if it was just you thinking too much into the interaction, but you felt like there was some sexual tension between you and Joel.

Any time you're around him, nervousness takes over, and a sense of yearning aches deep in your bones.

You needed him badly.

"Don't," You say to yourself. "Don't fucking think about it." You say it lowly as you try to shake the thoughts out of your head.

Joel is off limits; he's your dad's best friend.

You realized how crazy you must look standing at the door thinking about Joel, so you went inside.

Once you entered the room, you noticed that it was a little too warm in there for your liking, so you decided to leave the balcony door cracked to get some fresh air.

You put your things away, got into bed, and watched a movie on the TV across the room.

...

You weren't sure when you fell asleep, but you did during the movie without even realizing it. You felt very discombobulated, so you sat in the dark for a few minutes. Your clothes felt disgusting on your body as you sweated through them, and your throat was dry.

You quickly got out of bed, slipped off your clothes, got back into bed, and took a sip of the water bottle that lay next to you. During this, you got a glimpse of the digital clock that sat on the bedside table. It read 12:48.

The house was quiet. You were sure that Maria, Tommy, and your dad were back from the bar by now and asleep. Sarah and Joel were probably sleeping as well.

You laid back down on the bed, pushing away the uncomfortable blanket, leaving your body bare. You should have gotten up to close the door because if Joel were to come to your balcony door, he'd surely get a glimpse of your naked body. However, you were still sleepy and a little high, so you lacked the motivation to get up.

It really didn't matter anyway; he's probably still sleeping.

You had laid restless in the bed, constantly flipping the pillows to get the cool side and changing positions, but you still couldn't sleep. You decided to lay on your stomach; it helped you fall asleep sometimes.

You knew one thing that would definitely make you fall asleep, but with a particular someone lingering in your thoughts, it felt wrong. It is completely wrong to have these thoughts about him.

He's way too old for you, and he's your dad's best friend.

Though you tried your best to resist these thoughts, you couldn't help yourself.

Fuck it, it's not like I'm gonna actually fuck him, you think to yourself.

You were suddenly taken back to earlier, when you first laid eyes on him. Those eyes and the curve of his nose. You wanted nothing more than to feel his beautiful nose rub against your clit while he ate you out.

Or when he shook your hands and you felt those thick, rough fingers against your smooth hands.

You were sure that Joel knew how to use them very well.

Subconsciously, your hips had bucked into the bed, trying to get friction onto your clit causing the headboard to hit against the wall ever-so-slightly.

"Shit!" You cursed out loud, hoping that Joel didn't hear. Your heart was pounding at the thought of being caught by him, but your pussy dripped with your wetness.

You waited a couple seconds until you took your hand from underneath the pillow and slowly moved it between the bed and your body, allowing your finger tips to graze against your pussy. You couldn't help but whimper at the feeling. Your arousal ran down your fingers, to your knuckles, and onto the bed.

What you didn't know was that Joel wasn't even in his room; he was sitting out on the balcony. He had been sitting out there for about an hour or so because he couldn't sleep, not with you on his mind, so he decided to sit out there and bore himself to death until he got some sleep. When he first came outside, he checked on you and saw that you were knocked out. The room was dark, and the only thing that brought some light to the room was the bright moonlight reflecting over the lake.

As Joel got up to check on you one last time before he went back to his room, he heard you let out a whimper. He slowly walked to your balcony door so that he wouldn't scare you in case you were having a nightmare, but that wasn't the case at all. Again, Joel heard you let out another noise.

First, you sharply gasped, then moaned out, "Oh, Fuck!"

Joel became more intrigued with whatever was going on in your room because it became very apparent that you weren't having a nightmare. In fact, it didn't even sound like you were sleeping anymore.

Like a thief in the night, Joel peered through the door that was half open. What he saw before him could've brought him to his knees.

You were lying down on your stomach, fully naked on the bed. He noticed that with your right hand, you were touching yourself. Joel wasn't hard before, but he's definitely hard now. He felt as his cock strained against the fabric of his shorts.

Joel knew it was wrong to watch you masturbate without knowing, but he couldn't take his eyes off of you. It had been nearly two years since the last time he had been sexually active, and quite honestly, it was catching up to him at that very moment. He had been so busy with everything in his life that sex was the last thing on his mind until now.

As Joel watched you hump your hips into your fingers, you were imagining a shirtless Joel sat up on the bed, with you sitting in between his legs. Your legs would be wide open, propped up over his, as you allowed his calloused middle and ring finger to collect your arousal from between your folder and rub it into your clit. With his deep Texas accent, he would be whispering into your ear about how much of a good girl you are and how wet you were for him. Your head would be laid on his sexy, broad shoulders as your eyes rolled with pleasure. You imagined that as he played with your clit, his other hand would touch your breast and quickly tweak your nipples as they continued going up and firmly wrapping around your neck.

You were so caught up in your thoughts and pleasure that you hadn't realized that you were moaning out Joel's name.

"J-Joel, please," You quivered out quietly enough so that you weren't too loud, but loud enough for Joel to hear. "I'll be good, p-please, daddy." You followed up.

Even though you thought that Joel was in the next room over (which he wasn't) and there were other people in the house, you still continued to touch yourself as the headboard faintly knocked against the wall.

Yet you were so blissfully unaware of it all. So unaware of the fact that Joel was standing right outside the door, watching you rubbing yourself completely nude, and unaware that Joel had pulled his cock out while he watched and listened to you.

Joel didn't care that what he was doing was wrong. He didn't care that watching you, this freshly 21-year-old, masturbate without your knowledge was bad.

The sounds of your panting, moans, and dirty talk made him want to walk right into the room and give you the pleasure you needed.

Joel has always been a selfish lover when it came to the bedroom; he liked to be the one who was dominant and always took control. He could tell you needed someone like him to fulfill your desires—not some foolish 20-something year old, but a real man.

As you continued to grind against your fingers, Joel saw how your ass moved back and forth. He wanted to spank you for being such a naughty girl. Touching yourself without asking for his permission. He would remind you that only slutty, bad girls did that.

He jerked his cock at the same speed as your hips moved. "Oh my god, daddy!" You moaned into the pillow, causing it to be muffled. The thrusting of your hips had sped up. You were on the cusp of cumming, but that changed when you suddenly pulled your hands from between your legs and got up to change positions.

You were now lying on your back with your legs bent up to your chest as far as they could go. Using the hand you just used to grind up against, you bring your middle and ring fingers to your mouth. You began to suckle on them intensely, pretending they were Joel's fingers. You could taste yourself as you did so.

A minute later, you pop your fingers out of your mouth and bring them down to your pussy. As you sink your fingers inside yourself, you can feel the wetness, allowing you to slip deeper into your tight hole. You squirmed as you felt a little discomfort due to your fingers. You decided to slowly thrust your fingers in and out, allowing yourself to get used to the feeling. With your free hand, you brought it up to your mouth to muffle your soft whines.

Oh, my baby, she can barely take her own fingers, Joel thought as he watched you.

To Joel's surprise, you still didn't see him standing by the door, hastily jerking himself off at the sight of you. It wasn't like he was being discreet about it either. He was almost fully through the door at that point. Your eyes were closed as you fingered yourself.

Finally, you were able to adjust to your fingers. As you picked up the speed, Joel could hear the wet, slick sounds coming from your pussy all the way across the room. Hearing this only heightens the pleasure for him.

"Joel, I'm-oh my god-I'm gonna cum!" You moaned lowly.

Joel wanted to be the one to make you cry, but he knew he couldn't at that moment.

Your messy wetness had allowed your fingers to go deeper inside, causing you a certain spot. Your legs shuddered as your finger tips grazed the spot. In a 'come here' motion, you continued to hit the spot over and over again. "Fuck! That's it, baby. Keep going just like that." You purred out.

Joel convulsed at the way you said these words. He was ready to cum at any moment, but he wanted to cum with you.

With his hand still rapidly moving up and down his length, he finally heard your release.

"Yes! I'm cumming all over your fingers, Joel!" You moaned a little louder this time. Joel could hear you breathing hard as you continued to ramble about how good it felt.

Instantly, Joel was cumming. He withheld his groans and grunts as the hot cum hit the palm of his other hand. Instead, he was breathing hard through his nose, hoping to God that you couldn't hear him.

Finally, your orgasm began to die down. "Oh my god," You sighed out blissfully, as you pulled your finger from your pussy. Your legs moved from your chest and you dropped down on the bed. You were still trying to catch your breath. With his mind still cloudy from cumming so hard, when Joel saw you move your legs, he thought that you were going to get off the bed, causing him to panic and move away from the door so that you couldn't see him.

You could feel the cum webbing between your two fingers. You decided that you wanted a look, so you opened your eyes and brought your hand close to your face. You could see the bright moonlight illuminate your cum. You'd never come so hard. Not with any of your hookups, let alone when you masturbated.

You felt spent after that, but you needed to get up to clean yourself off. You decided to rest your eyes a bit before getting up, but without even realizing it, you had dozed off into a dreamless sleep.

Less than five minutes later, Joel heard light snores coming from your room, so he decided that it was safe to look again. You were dead to the world. Joel saw your limp hand hanging off the bed—the same one you had used to fuck yourself with. He could see the wetness gleaming on your fingers. He wanted to come over them and suck your cum off of your fingers, but he stopped himself.

The post-nut clarity had hit Joel, and he realized that he must've looked like a creep with his cock out while he watched you sleep. So he closed your balcony door and headed back into the house to wash the cum from his hands.

Joel knew that he would have you one day; it didn't matter how long it took for him to get you. He would get you right where he wanted you eventually.

...

You woke up feeling like a brand new person that morning. Your limbs felt loose, and you felt like you could conquer the world.

You could feel the sun on your naked body as you rose out of bed to stretch. The sounds of people moving around let you know that everyone was awake.

You suddenly realized that the balcony door was now closed. You don't remember getting up to clean yourself, and you definitely don't remember ever getting up to close the door.

Realization had hit you hard, and your heart dropped.

Shit! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!

There was no way anyone could have come into your room because you had locked the bedroom door. However, Joel had access to the shared balcony.

He was the only one who could've closed that door.

Whatever, you were going to enjoy yourself this weekend and act like nothing happened.

=============================================

A/N: I had a lot of trouble writing this for some reason, but next one is going to be a lot better. I got so much planned already hehe

[shirefantasies]

hii! love your writings, I was wondering if you could do a reader x fellowship (plus eowyn and arwen) where reader is usually seen in armor and unkempt garments + dirty hair but then one day they show up (probably for an event) in beautiful fancy clothes, hair did and everything? Thanks!!!!

scREAMS I LOVE THIS YES. Warning: minor blood mention in two

LoTR Characters Seeing You Dressed Up For the First Time

Aragorn

Both of you had only borne witness to the other in times of battle and survival, not exactly the most formal of circumstances, but such had never even occurred to you until the night of celebration in Rohan. King Theoden invited you to the company of his family, offering his niece or nephew to take you to a bathhouse and present you with a new outfit. Aragorn turned your way the moment you stepped out, eyes positively glowing with reverent awe focused entirely on your form, your smile as your gazes met. He said nothing, simply drew closer until you could feel his warmth upon you. "The people of Rohan have been good to us," he said. "Yes," you agreed with a nod, "I wish we can give as much back. But perhaps we should start by enjoying their hospitality, hm?” “Indeed. Let us keep this night for ourselves. I fear if I stray too far, though, I may get lost in you.” “Don’t worry,” you whispered, lips quirking upward as you pulled Aragorn into the fray of dancers, “I’ll be here to pull you back, too.”

Legolas

Legolas managed to seem dressed up in nearly anything he wore, a feat you certainly envied! Your travels left you feeling like a drowned rat half the time or else just dirty and bedraggled. When the elves of Lothlórien offered you housing, bathing, even food and dancing for two nights, no had fled your vocabulary entirely. Taking their hands, you were swept off into a river of luxury, emerging clean and smiling and draped in the finest fabrics. An elf on either side, you made your way down to the lower flet upon which your hospitality lie, the way Legolas turned his head not once but twice unable to escape your notice. "What?" You teased, aware at least of his shock to see you clad so differently. "You didn't know what I looked like beneath my helmet?" "I didn't know you looked so nice beneath it," He conceded with a smile, stepping closer, "Perhaps we ought not to return it after this night."

Boromir

Had someone asked him, Boromir would never have said he wanted someone with blood under their nails and sword in hand. That was him, that was his job. And yet he felt something different when he clapped a hand to your shoulder after you saved him in combat. When you emerged at the party dressed up, though? His heart swelled five sizes. He should have known- you could do anything. “Putting everyone to shame here, aren’t we?” “What do you mean?” You asked, gaze flitting deliciously down to the hand Boromir laud upon your shoulder, all but challenging him. Accepting it, he rested the other on your hip, urging you out into a dance. “Looking better than them in both mail and finery.” “I suppose I’m just lucky.” “No, I am,” Boromir shot back, “For I am the one who gets to have you in my arms.”

Gimli

To use Gimli's words, around each other you two tend to remain "fully armed and filthy". It is Lord Elrond, of course, who offers an alternative state upon your entry to his homely-house, granting you the reprieve of your first bath in far too many days and even a new outfit. Elvish craftsmanship was like nothing else, delicately embroidered and soft and light unlike anything that has ever graced your skin. Reactions were something you hadn’t considered in the slightest, but as soon as you emerged you found yourself giggling at Gimli’s parted lips and removal of his helmet as if in some reverence you had not earned. “Now this,” he nodded with a smile of approval as he swept an arm over your entire form, “This is the one thing the elves have gotten right.”

Frodo

The tailors’ shop was busy this morning. Bilbo needed a new set of threads to replace some tugged-off buttons, but every working hobbit was rushing around before Frodo could even ask if they had a spool of forest green to spare. What were they- “Frodo!” He would recognize that voice anywhere. Turning, he caught sight of you in the middle of a fitting, the tailors having been flitting about your form as they worked on quite a fine outfit for you. “What do you think?” Spinning around and then striking a joking pose, you fixed him right in the eyes, and it was like an arrow struck him, taking the very breath from his lungs. Finally Frodo’s sense and words returned to him, bringing a smile to his lips. “It’s perfect.”

Sam

You had worked with Sam plenty of times in the gardens, so he had seen you countless times in things like overalls or pinafores or aprons and thought you looked fit for any king and castle. But then came Fatty Bolger’s birthday party, a bash all his friends were invited to…and plenty of other hobbits would find themselves at anyway. One such was you, and knowing you’d be dancing you got cleaned up quite nice, standing at the edges of the lantern-hung floor hoping you might be noticed. And noticed you were, for you caught Samwise Gamgee as he controlled his gaping expression and shook his head out before he approached you, asking if you’d honor him with a dance.

Merry

Gimli was teasing you as Merry entered the room, feeling his heart shoot into his throat at a mere glimpse. He caught a few spare words from the dwarf, including him asking you if you had someone you’d like to impress. “Hush,” you chastised him, “What if he hears you?” At that, Merry couldn’t resist stepping forward. “I don’t know who you’re trying to impress,” he told you, eyes full of wonder, “But he’s an absolute fool if it doesn’t work.” “You really think so?” Your tone, your hopeful look, those beautiful eyes Merry could drown in. “I know so.” “Well,” you glanced away, “That’s good. Very good, since it was you.”

Pippin

Tired and bedraggled, you all but fell into the arms of the elves of Lothlórien, blissfully bathing and shyly accepting the fine garb they offered you. Tugging it into place, you emerged through the doorway, unaware the rest of your fellowship waited beyond the threshold. Soon as his eyes fell upon you, Pippin's jaw dropped, his lips slowly curling upward into a wide smile that had you mirroring it, gaze dropping from his. “Wow," Pippin breathed as you drew closer still, hands hovering in front of him in the space between your bodies, "You- you look- Wow. They’ve certainly given you a fine…wow.”

Faramir

On the battlefield you had fought side by side, faces obscured by steel and focus. Soldiers from two armies melded as one. Yet here you were simply citizens, representatives of your people. Diplomats even on the dance floor. All thoughts of such relations fled from Faramir’s mind, though, as your form filled his vision. “Never did I think I would be granted such a moment as this,” he confessed as you took his hand and gripped about his neck, body swaying against his.

Eomer

Theoden, Rohan's king, was giving a celebration all were to attend. Something of a victory revel, but you must confess that you just looked forward to the dancing. Stuffy as it may have been, it was also quite fun donning a nice outfit, your reflection beaming back at you. The expression carried on all the way into the great hall, shining into the hanging lights. You caught sight of a head turning the moment you emerged. A golden head. Eomer. With a wave, he dismissed the man he spoke to- a fellow soldier, you presumed- and strode before you. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" "To the same thing everyone else does, I suppose," you teased in response, "This revel." "Well, remind me to thank my uncle later," Eomer replied with a wide smile, extending a hand in a clear invitation to dance as his eyes traveled up and down over your form, "Shall we?"

Eowyn

She had worn a smile of surprise when you even removed your helmet for the first time in her presence, let alone donning your finest. When it came time for a celebration with her people, a far different garb hung from your body, all in gorgeous fabrics and colors perfectly complimenting your own hues. As soon as you stepped into the light of Rohan's hall, Eowyn positively grinned, her eyes of soft blue alight. Taking up a cup from the table by which she stood, she crossed over to stand before you and offer you a drink, which you accepted. "The garb of Rohan suits you perfectly," she complimented, "Do you plan on dancing?" It was worth seeing the progression of shock and speechlessness melting back into a grin when you extended a hand and replied, "If you will have me."

Haldir

Working side by side meant seeing each other in some of the worst moments, sleeves slashed and blood seeping from wounds. Armor caked with dirt and quivering devoid of arrows. Body carried to healers with reddening bandages hastily tied around limbs. And yet this, this is what shocks him. Haldir’s breath is utterly stolen, not of concern or fear this time, but in the manner of one first seeing the falling stars. “Stay still,” he breathes, almost pleading, “Let me take you in for a moment.”

Galadriel

You were a warrior by profession. In a way, at least. One such that mail was your garb far more often than any dress or robe. Thus, when you made to visit the elves of Lothlórien, you were shocked to see the fine things they'd lain out for you, pulled gently onto your body as if you deserved servants. In fact you had tried to protest, but they had simply smiled and shook their heads as fine jewels were hung about your neck. That you had earned an audience with the Lady Galadriel, was a testament to your service you would not soon take for granted. Thus, as you stood before them, you made first to lower yourself in reverence. Before you could fully adopt your posture, though, you felt the grip of a soft hand beneath your chin gently pulling you back up. Soon you were raised to meet Galadriel's eyes. "You need not bow to me. I confess I wished very much to see you like this. Come with me, if you please."

Elrond

Some might say the Lord of Rivendell should not look upon a soldier such as he did. Some of those same voices might have spoken up of the love of man and elf that had brought forth his ancestors. Not that he would not have understood. Yet as it was every time you removed your helmet something stirred in Elrond that had not done so for some years. And then one night came the celebration, a festival to which all in his counsel were invited, you included. It was that very night, in fact, that he realized how little he had seen of you outside the patrols you took together, and the same in which he would confess to you how he felt beneath the moonlight, finally spilling forth every word of your beauty you deserved.

Arwen

Had you asked her, she would have thought not at all of your dress. Your heart was what she loved, the way you cared and the way you smiled whenever you looked upon someone dear to you. Yet the day of her birthday, you draped yourself in your very finest, emerging in the view of an Arwen who could not bear tearing her eyes off of you. Grinning her beautiful grin, the elf took your hand and immediately twirled you, viewing you from every angle with her expression never faltering. “You look amazing,” she told you, "For a moment, I thought I was dreaming."

Taglist: @lokilover476 @fuckyoumakeart @kilibaggins @filiswingman @ibabblealot @stormchaser819 @pirate-lord-of-narnia @datglutengoblin @letmelickyoureyeballs @mossyskinn @wordbunch @tiny-and-witchy @th3-st4r-gur1 @fleurdemiel-145 @mistresskayla-blog1 @misabelle717 @h0n3y-l3m0n05 @evattude | Reply/Message/Ask to join 💕

[elvestoneanzelote1]

Hello! This is my first time I request. Can you write Aventurine x Male Reader that part of Astral Express? Can you also make it as yandere? Take your time, please don't rush.

Gʀᴇᴇᴛɪɴɢs ᴛᴏ ʏᴏᴜ, As ʏᴏᴜʀ ʀᴇǫᴜᴇsᴛ ɪs ᴛʜᴇ ғɪʀsᴛ I ᴀᴍ sᴛᴀʀᴛɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʏᴏᴜʀs, ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴇǫᴜᴇsᴛ ᴀɴᴅ I ʜᴏᴘᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡɪʟʟ ʀᴇǫᴜᴇsᴛ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ғᴜᴛᴜʀᴇ.

I ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ʟᴏᴠᴇ Aᴠᴇɴᴛᴜʀɪɴᴇ ᴛᴏᴏ, ʙᴜᴛ ᴜɴғᴏʀᴛᴜɴᴀᴛᴇʟʏ I ᴅɪᴅ ɴᴏᴛ ɢᴏᴛ ʜɪᴍ ᴇɪᴛʜᴇʀ.

Aɴʏᴡᴀʏs, Yᴀɴᴅᴇʀᴇ Aᴠᴇɴᴛᴜʀɪɴɢ x ᴍᴀʟᴇ ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ғʀᴏᴍ Asᴛʀᴀʟ Exᴘʀᴇss.

(Rᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ sʟɪɢʜᴛʟʏ ʙᴀsᴇᴅ ᴏɴ Rᴇɴɢᴏᴋᴜ ғʀᴏᴍ ᴅᴇᴍᴏɴ sʟᴀʏᴇʀ. I ᴍᴇᴀɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇʏᴇʙʀᴏᴡ ᴀɴᴅ somehow... I suppose.)

"Astral Expressers huh?".

Aventurine interest was slightly caught by the trailblazer and no you aren't taking the place of Stelle nor Caelus. Thankfully.

Either way, you had your own reputation among the stars I mean literally you had a reputation to hold onto.

The day Aventurine met you was the day he could confirm on that you both are opposite of each other.

You had family (the astral express) . He doesn't.

You Had a peaceful life (or how he sees) and he didn't at least now...

Your smile and your words were honest yet he...

He wonders how he even gain your trust... Maybe he didn't... Maybe you just... Want to use him perhaps.

Or perhaps... You truly cared for him in a way.

Honest... Truthful may have been sour but at least you don't sugar coat your words. And truthfully... Honestly wanted to be with.

He wonders if he hadn't met you through that day would things be better if he met your earlier?

.

"Well little expresser, why do you like Hoggin around me? Have I caught your attention too much?"

"Why yes! You have interesting shade of eyes! Like my eyebrows!"

"Ah... I see" he mutter as he squint his eyes... He swore you were too bright for the world.

.

Heck even Ratio couldn't comeback with you as you were literally too genuine.

He never met someone like you.

If he was a kid still it will bring him... Happiness... Well it does still now.

.

"Thank you Kind man! I swore to repay you back for the payment!" You exclaimed while eating the eight bowl of rice as he meekly smile.

"It doesn't really not necessary... But I will consider your offer" 'though you won't repay back' his thoughts muddle whether to really believe your word but he let it kept aside.

.

He for some reason attracted to you like the moon like the sun that shine and wish to be like them...

Perhaps he doesn't mind getting slightly burned by your warmness after all it is not everyday.

He preserve and you attack (just kidding).

I mean more word... Likely... Uhm... You know how to hit his heart unknowingly.

.

"Is this real?" He asked while slight tucking your eyebrows as you laugh.

"Why? Does it seems weird?"

"I suppose I never saw eyebrows like yours"

"What can i say I am quiet a catch" you laughed as he just sighed.

.

He doesn't know how positive you are perhaps unaware... No.

That thought went over when the day he saw you fight against him protecting your fellow express friends.

A katana. Like the colour of the flames and the determination of your eyes

Something snap inside his mind when you eventually were concern of him.

Even if he was the one about to hurt all you approach him worried.

You never accuse him for what he have done.

Nor you look at him in betrayal nor disgust.

Just warm and understanding.

.

"...you know my mother used to tell me... Strong should protect the weak... And since I am strong I want to protect you some way"

"Why"

"Why? Because we are friends now"

"..." He never understood the look of your eyes.

.

He never felt the love.

He never... Thought he will ever get the feeling of love and protection of sort.

.

"I do not understand you at all"

"Hmm? Well isn't it awesome then? We all are different but we can understand the other more and more but not completely"

"...huh..."

.

Irrationality your words were but... For some reason he enjoy your company more and more.

The fact you don't go for logical thinking... Maybe you do... But your kindness... Is something else.

You never get mad either.

Whenever someone been rude of sort you don't be mad instead smile and talk to then happily.

He never thought someone like you exist.

Neither he thought he will experience something like you.

.

"Y/n... Don't you ever get angry?"

"Hmm? And why should I be?"

"..."

"??".

.

He never understood you... But he wants to.

He for the fact he does want to learn more and more about you.

He wants to spoil you locking you away from the world... After all... He doesn't want to let go of the warm.

The blaze of warmness around you.

No wonder the astral express friends of yours wanted you to be around them.

Supposedly... They are selfish.

Well... He will to be if he were to apart of the group.

.

"Y/n"

"Hmm? You seems like you haven't get any sleep?"

"Ah... I just... Had a bad day"

"I see! My mother always tell me a hug can help someone cheer up"

.

He didn't oblidge of you hugging him. Instead it felt just right.

He doesn't want to let you go.

Can't you stay more?

Why you have to leave?

He can give you everything you want.

Can't you... Let him stay in your warm?

The fact he falls for you... He is not shock.

After all... Who wouldn't.

You are literally something worth the praise.

Will it be selfish... No he wants to be selfish.

.

You felt a tug on your haori as you turn and look down to see the familar blonde male with his significant glasses.

"Is something the matter buddy?"

"When are you leaving?"

"Well... That depends on them"

"...why do you travel with them for?"

"To find a way home"

"...oh"

'Can't I be your home... No... Perhaps he was never meant to get a home..' He thought to self but his thought halt when you kept a hand on his shoulder.

"And I believe we will meet again buddy"

"...y/n... You could stay here you know Penacony is good in a way and beside I will be happy to help you stay and settle here"

"Why thank you, Aventurine but..." Your gaze fall onto the Astral express members Himeko , Welt and March as the trailblazer was somewhere elsewhere.

"I think I would find a way through them"

"I see..."

"You seems upset"

"Huh? No I am not"

"You don't want me to go?"

"...well it is your wish to leave but... I"

That day... There were two choice made for him.

.....

"Yes I do not want you to leave"

"Hmm?"

"...because I find comfort in you and..."

"..."

"It is your wish to leave but I never had a friend like you so" he grimance by the word friend but... He was glad.

You value the word friendship.

"Sure I will stay for some more days."

"Can it be months?"

"Huh? Uh... Sure I suppose?"

He smile but you notice it was genuine smile of his.

As usual you ruffle his hair yet this time he didn't mention how it takes to make his hair.

Instead he embrace it.

After all... It won't be long that you will be within his.

He finally can have you.

And he will make sure he will.

He will make sure you will come around for him.

After all the sun and the moon... Are admire by all when they come together.

Creating the eclipse.

.

.

.

.

.

A:n- thank you take care I hope you rest well.

[sil-writes-fiction-too]

Lucifer Drabble

Lucifer x GN!Reader

Genre: fluff, suggestive

CW: slight suggestive themes at the end if you squint-

A/N: helloooo I am not dead, surprise! After June of Doom I wanted to take a little break, enjoy the Summer holidays and focus a little more on my studies... then I ended up in the ER and my focus kinda went out the window! :D Now, my exams aren't over, and as a matter of fact I have one next Monday, but!! I kinda still wanted to keep the writing part of my brain noodle exercised, and if I don't distract myself from all the shit I just went through I will go crazy, so here I come with a very short, very self-indulgent drabble! Eeeenjoy!

“Come to my room right now. Don't make me wait.”

That's all he wrote to you, and you didn't really question it. You just got up and walked down the hallway to his room. You know Lucifer, and you know what he wants. Right from the get-go this morning you knew it was going to be a long and stressful day for him. It is not unlikely for Lucifer to request your company at the end of days such as this and honestly? You welcome it.

You were unable to spend any time with him lately, and it was really starting to get to you, so going to see him sounds like a great idea right now.

You knock at his door with no hesitation, and, like other times before, it opens on its own, letting classical music pour out of the room. Lucifer is sitting on the sofa with a tea tray on the coffee table, his coat abandoned on a chair and his shirt slightly unbuttoned. Ah, so it is the kind of day that requires the full treatment, huh?

You walk over to him and plop down in the spot next to him, even though you know that that's not nearly close enough for him and that soon you'll probably find yourself in his lap.

“Long day?” You offer with a smile, and Lucifer wraps his arm around you and, of course, pulls you closer with a tired sigh

“You have no idea.”

You settle into his side with a sympathetic smile and place your head against his shoulder.

“Anything I can do?”

He squeezes you a little closer still, as if he was trying to merge your souls together. “Let's just stay like this for a while.” You nod and say nothing else, nuzzling your cheek against him as you slowly relax.

You stay like that,basking in each other's presence for a little, but after a while you decide to start talking to tell him about you week, careful not to drown out the sound of the music coming from his record player. He doesn't say much, merely humming here and there while he runs his gloved fingers through your hair.

You don't know when, but at some point you switch positions, and find Lucifer's head in your lap as you run your fingers through his hair. Despite his silence, you know he appreciates the tender gesture. At some point, though, you realize that the music has stopped, and you throw a glance towards the record player. It is completely turned off, so you come to the conclusion that Lucifer must've stopped it with magic.

“Ah, I'm sorry. I've been prattling on for too long, haven't I? You wanted to enjoy your music in peace.” You say apologetically, smiling down at him.

“Don't be ridiculous.” He grabs your wrist and gently brings your hand to his lips. “I merely decided to turn off the record player so that I could listen to you better. Your voice is my favorite sound, I thought you would know that by now.” He gives you a self-satisfied smirk when he sees your cheeks turn red at his simple words. You are just so adorable sometimes. What is he supposed to do with you?

“As a matter of fact-” he sits up and leans over you, caging you against the sofa with his arms “-I think I want to hear more from you...” He drawls in a low purr before leaning down to lavish your neck with kisses and little bites.

[starsomens]

Warnings: language! Argument! Established relationship! Noah puts his hands on Y/N, BUT NOT HITTING!!!

Noah was the owner of many businesses and companies. One of his earlier and most successful investments was a strip club and bar. After he invested and fixed it up it was bringing enough money for him to invest and build other businesses. Aside from him being the head of an organization it was just extra income. However, before you started dating he’d go on the weekends and stay there most nights to see how it’s doing or just enjoy the club

But after you had been dating for about 2 years, he let you in on what his life was really like. The luxury, the money, the danger, the true way the system had worked. He told you if you wanted to leave he’d understand and he wouldn’t hold it against you nor would he try and convince you to stay. But you never wanted him for the money or perks or anything like that. You loved him for him……although currently you wanted to rip his head off.

You knew that there were times where he had to go and observe his investments, even if that meant posing as a customer. He was late to a special dinner you had planned and you were so pissed you made one of his men take you to his location. When you had pulled into the parking lot of the club you groaned. You had asked him not to go just because you felt uncomfortable with him being in there. He said he’d try to go as least as could, but that lasted only a short while, then back to regular visits.

Recognizing who you were security let you in through the back door without a second thought. You knew which private booth was for him and his investors and you had only seen them at first….until some girl only wearing a thong had straddled his lap. Her body was swaying and grinding against him and you could feel your blood boiling. You didn’t move and instead decided to simply call his phone and when he picked up you asked

“Are you enjoying your little dance Mr.Sebastian?” He looked over and saw you. He had gotten up as if the girl wasn’t even there and ran after you. The entire ride home was an argument and here you were still arguing about an hour in and 1 vase broken that you had beamed at him out of anger

“I fucking own the club what do you want me to fucking do Y/N!?” He yelled back at you

“I don’t know maybe don’t fucking go!” You answer

“Oh alright and let us go broke, let shit fall apart right?” He furrowed his brows as his hands rest on his hips

“Oh who gives a fuck about the fucking Money!?” You fall into a chair and rest your forehead in your palm

“You seem to give a fuck about the money” he chuckles more out of frustration than actual humor “we’ve fabric in your body, every gem, each nail and inch of make up is because I go to the fucking club and make sure shit is running how it’s it’s supposed to”

“Oh so having some naked girl in your lap is being you money?” You asked as you stand from your steps again

“I have businesses to run Y/N. That bring us money, the money that gets us food, this fixing house, all your clothes and cars and jewelry” he tells you as he waves his hands in front of him frantically, his usually calm temper coming to its end

“I don’t give a shit!” You stomp your foot “if you visit that club so much you gotta be fucking one of them, why else would you go so often?!” You were honestly speaking out of anger ans frustration but why would he go so fucking often?

“Oh don’t fucking being that bullshit up. If you’re gonna use something against me at least make it a good argument” he rolled his eyes “

“I see how they all fucking look at you. They always want to come and give you a little dance” you push more as you step closer to him “and you love it don’t you? You love knowing you still got it huh?”

“Y/N stop-“

“Am I just not enough for you?”

“Y/N no one said-“

“You want to go and fucking Cheat every weekend and feel good about it?” You keep going

“Y/N…stop. Now.” Noah took a deep breath.

“I’d you fucking like her so much then go and fuck her then!” You yell at him

“Y/N!-“

“Maybe She’ll suck your dick and make you food aside form fucking other people too-“ you keep going and going as your hands dance in front do your face to emphasize what you meant

“Y/N!” He finally snapped and grabbed both do your forearms stopping your motions and being you close to his face “you say one more fucking word about it, I’ll make sure you don’t speak another word for the rest of the night, do you understand?”

“I-I-“ you try and answer but your voice was caught in your throat

“Do you understand?!” He raised his voice more and shook you as he asked again He’s never spoken to you like that before. He never wanted to. You weren’t everyone else. You were his girl.

All that could be heard was his panting and your voice trying to escape from your throat as a cry. He realized his grip on you was too tight, you were shaking and your eyes were scared….of him. He lets you go and overlooks you. You arms come in close to your body, almost shielding yourself from him

“Y/N…baby I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to do that I-i” he reach out to you just for you to step back further from him

What has he done? You slowly make make your way to the door without looking away

“Baby please, im so sorry you know I’d never hurt you!” He tried to console you but you ran out as soon as the door opened “Y/N wait!”

He called for you but you don’t look back as you disappear upstairs most likely into the bedroom.

“FUCK!” Cursed out and slammed the door to his office. His fist finding the wall with a pinch, chairs kicked, papers scattered.

In this world you become what you practice. In his line of work he had swore to you and himself that he’d NEVER let you be on the receiving end…now look at him

He became what he hated the most.

Part 2????👀 part 2

「✨Taglist✨」 @lilhobgobbler @cncohshit @vir-tual @tdopomymind @concretenoah @misspygmypie @fvckmeorchokeme @lust-for-sacher @thescarlettvvitch @cind6547 @itsmrsfuentes @purple-lili @lma1986

[ficsilike-reblogged]

Of Monsters & Mistletoe

A/N: Yet another holiday fic? Already? Yes, because I am extra sappy this year and Steve deserves a smooch or two. Reader does celebrate Christmas in this and she and Steve both have shitty parents. It also makes mention of all events of seasons 1-4. I hope you enjoy!

Pairing: Steve Harrington/F!Reader

Rating: PG-A soft little thing

Word Count: 8.2k

Summary: The five times Steve almost kissed you beneath the mistletoe and the one time he finally did.

The first time Steve almost kissed you beneath the mistletoe, your family had just moved to Hawkins and had been invited to the holiday party at the country club. Just like his parents, yours were more interested in being seen than having an actual holiday-themed good time. You were dressed up in a stuffy red dress with fluffy white detailing and were told to sit still at a table near the back of the banquet hall with a steaming cup of hot chocolate as your only company.

Steve was seated a few tables away, his own hot chocolate long since drained. His parents were…somewhere. He could hear his mom’s laugh just barely over the Christmas music—she’d been practicing it in the mirror before leaving the house. His father was probably at her side, speaking with someone “important.”

“And you need to be on your best behavior, Steve,” he said, for the fourth time that night before the car door shut.

But ‘best behavior’ didn’t mean he couldn’t talk to the sad-looking girl, right? He could have friends, too. Steve hopped out of his designated seat and walked to your side. “Hi. I’m Steve.”

A small smile twitched at the corner of your mouth and you shyly gave him your name, too. You offered to split your hot chocolate with him and he learned that you were a grade below him, about to start school at Hawkins Elementary the next week. You were nice and kind and a little strange, Steve would admit, with your interests revolving around books and bugs, but you were nice. And it had been your idea to sneak away from your table to see the rest of the pretty decorations strung up around the country club. Your little hand curled around his as you darted around dancing couples and between schmoozing groups to look at the intricately decorated trees, the miniature porcelain towns, the light displays all over the sprawling building. It was beautiful. Really. But Steve just liked holding your hand. You were out of breath by the time you slowed to a stop near one of the exits, a bright smile on your face. “Everything is so pretty,” you said, still holding his hand.

“Yep,” Steve said with a smile of his own. He’d never had this much fun at one of these parties. “Do you want to help me build a snow fort tomor-”

Someone behind you cooed and you both turned to see his father’s secretary looking at you, pointing at something above your heads. You looked up and saw a small sprig of…something. Green leaves with tiny berries tied up in a red ribbon. “It is mistletoe, little man,” the woman said, hands on her hips.

Steve felt the blood drain from his face at the realization. Mistletoe. He knew what was supposed to happen but you were his friend. His first friend he made in a long time. And friends don’t kiss each other.

“You have to do it!” She prodded with another coo.

Following directions was something pressed onto Steve from his parents since day one. Telling him to do as he was told (and to be seen not heard) came out of their mouths more often than “I love you.” So, Steve frowned but leaned forward, intent on pressing his lips to yours when your hand came up to his face and you none-too-gently pushed him back. “Germs. You have germs.”

**

The second time Steve almost kissed you beneath the mistletoe came a few years later. Steve was on the cusp of entering high school and you were still more interested in books than most everything else, aside from the archery hobby you picked up at your father’s insistence. (Thankfully, your fascination with bugs and fear of germs had subsided.) And, despite both sets of parents’ hopes, you two didn’t exactly run in the same social circles at school. He had settled into the sporty, popular crowd. And you? Well…you had one friend: Jonathan Byers. The resident weird kid who was “lightyears away” from your family’s position, according to the whispers Steve heard between the Harringtons and your parents. And Steve tried to understand why he didn’t like Jonathan. He saw you smile and laugh with the Byers kid more than you ever did at these ridiculous country club “parties.” You were still kind to Steve, though. In your own strange way. And it really shouldn’t matter,

right

? It wasn’t like you were actually friends. More like you were each other’s only confidante in these circumstances, the only kids in your age range.

Sure. That was it.

You weaved through the crowd with your chin tucked to your chest (expertly dodging an underpaid assistant dressed as an elf who had a bit of mistletoe tied to a long pole that he’d dangle over people regardless of marital status) with two cups of hot chocolate in your hands, topped with an excessive amount of whipped cream and sprinkles. Steve took the proffered cup as you slid into the chair beside him and resumed your game of people watching from the sidelines.

“That woman,” you whispered from behind your hot chocolate, pointing a mostly inconspicuous finger at a woman with an outrageously tasseled sweater near the pyramid of champagne, “is apparently sleeping with one of the bigshot’s at her husband’s firm.”

“Does the husband know?” Steve asked, hiding a smile of his own.

“Yes. But he won’t say anything because he’s apparently getting a large raise to let it keep happening.” You took a large sip of your hot chocolate, earning a smear of whipped cream on the end of your nose. You tried to lick it away without success and Steve eventually tossed a bright red napkin at your face with a laugh as you continued to fill him in on the gossip you had overheard. There were, unsurprisingly, a large amount of affairs. Someone was probably (definitely) stealing from their boss. And someone else was caught doing coke at their office after Thanksgiving.

“How do you know all this?” Steve asked.

You shrugged. “Um, my parents are always telling me to keep my mouth shut and my head down. Maybe people think that since I’m not talking, I’m not listening.”

He winced. The old “be seen and not heard” song and dance was his father’s favorite, too. But while Steve still wanted to at least gain his parents’ attention, you seemed to revel in being forgotten most days. It looked…freeing. At least from the outside looking in.

“Aren’t you two adorable?” The sudden question had both you and Steve looking up from the table to see the assistant standing near the edge, a broad smile on his face. “Childhood sweethearts? How cute!” Then, without waiting for an answer, swung the mistletoe toward you, dangling it over your heads.

Dread immediately washed over Steve as he looked at the little berries and green leaves. Did you want to kiss him? Plenty of other girls as school did—and he usually took them up on the offer. But this was you. And this was the Christmas party. If his parents caught him making a scene-

“We’re just friends, actually,” you answered with a smile.

The elf-assistant did have the tact to blush and mutter an apology before trudging away, promptly swinging the mistletoe between another pair who quickly kissed. The crowd around them cheered, tipsy on eggnog and champagne.

“That was creepy,” you muttered. Your fingers trailed around and around on the edge of your mug of hot chocolate.

“You said we were friends.” The words were out of Steve’s mouth before he could stop them. Before he could understand what he was trying to say. Were you friends? Did you think of him as a friend?

But you just smiled and finished off your hot chocolate before speaking again. “It’s okay, Steve. I know I’m only your friend at these parties.”

Steve felt his face fall as he watched you smile and shake your head. Would that be so bad? To be friends with the weird girl? But, just as he opened his mouth to say something, anything, you were standing and walking away toward the door where your parents were waiting.

He watched you go, a little helplessly, and tried to smile at you as you glanced back at him, pulling your thick coat on. It didn’t work.

**

The third time Steve nearly kissed you under the mistletoe came years later. It had taken a monster from a different dimension nearly killing him and getting his face nearly caved in by Jonathan Byers for Steve to truly see you as a friend. You were funny and smart and brave. And you cared so much for other people. Steve had caught you sobbing in the hallway after helping Jonathan put up posters for Will and you had stood in front of Steve, armed with just your bow, and had earned yourself nearly thirty stitches and a scolding from your mother when she’d picked you up from the hospital for ruining the designer sweatshirt you had been wearing. Both Joyce and Hopper had looked furious but you’d waved them off as you let your mother lead the way out of the hospital.

“I’ll see you at school on Monday,”

you murmured with a lackadaisical smile as you passed him.

“Might want to put a bit of ice on that shiner, though.”

Yeah, you were his friend. He didn’t even mind the whispers that came when he would talk to you in the hallways. (The rumors he’d heard about your injuries ranged from plausible to ridiculous and he tried to shield you from them as much as possible.) He should have been hanging out with you this entire time. Steve had never felt so at ease with Tommy H. or Carol or any of the other bullshit hangers-on he’d been surrounded with for years. You were just…you. And Steve liked you. When you’d excitedly hugged him after he told you he passed the economics exam you’d helped him study for, it felt like his entire chest fluttered. So, when you invited him to a Christmas party at your house, muttering something about your mom not trusting your dad around a certain waitress at the country club, he leapt at it. His parents were probably already invited, too, and he didn’t want to leave you alone to face that monotony.

He and his parents arrived “fashionably late” to your parents’ large house. Everything was perfectly in its place; from the oversized and ornately decorated tree to the lighted garland wrapped around the carved banisters and railings. People were muttering about how much the decorations and food must’ve cost behind their cups of mulled wine as they waited their turn to speak to your parents. A string octet was set up near the stairs, filling the entire house with subdued versions of popular Christmas songs.

But Steve wasn’t here for that. He was here for you. Your movements were still a bit stilted, favoring your right side even though your stitches came out yesterday. The Santa hat on your head was crooked, too, but you didn’t seem to mind as you sucked on the curve of a candy cane. And why did his stomach twist at the sight of it?

After seeing that his parents were already preoccupied, Steve slipped through the crowd and to your side, snagging a candy cane of his own on the way. You smiled around the sweet treat as you spotted him, patting the bar stool at your side. He took it with a smile, fumbling with the candy cane’s plastic wrap for a moment before you grabbed it and deftly unwrapped it before handing it over. “Thanks for coming. People watching isn’t as fun without my usual partner in crime.” The smile you gave him made it impossible to not reciprocate.

“Yeah, yeah, anytime,” he said even though he’d missed the last handful of Christmas parties. Now Steve wished he hadn’t come up with a flimsy excuse to get out of them.

You settled onto the stool beside you before swiveling around to look out at the large crowd milling about your house. The conversation quickly fell back into your old habits of people watching and you regaling him about the gossip you’d learned as the adults around you steadily got drunker and drunker on the expensive wine your parents had brought in by the case. Steve added a few things here and there that he had overheard, too. But, eventually, with the taste of spiked eggnog on your tongues, you asked about classes and told him about yours, too. You shook your head when Steve asked about the book you were writing for your creative writing class and tried to hide your smile behind your cup. “It is so nerdy. You’d hate me.”

“I don’t think I could ever hate you.”

The answering smile you gave him was near blinding and Steve wanted to make you smile like that again. All the time. Even if he didn’t really understand the “lore” (as you called it) of your story and didn’t really understand the appeal of elves and monsters and dragons, he liked your smile. Even if it did twist at something in his chest. The strange sensation he’d felt the night he saw you and Nancy with Jonathan returned like a sledgehammer to his ribs when you mentioned you’d be spending the holidays with the Byers family since your parents were taking a cruise to “work through things.” You didn’t believe it.

“You and Nancy are spending Christmas Eve together, right?” You asked as you finished. You’d snuck him another cup of eggnog and then pulled your Santa hat off to plop it right onto his hair. For a moment, he could smell your rose and mint perfume and he wondered if you wore it all the time. Not that it mattered, right?

“Yeah, her parents do a big dinner that night.”

“Nervous?” You asked with a quirked brow. “Quite a time to make a first impression, yeah?”

“Why would I be nervous?” Steve asked with a scoff. “Parents love me.”

And you laughed. Laughed and patted his knee. “Sure they do.”

Before he could ask what the hell you meant, his dad was saying his name. The prominent red across his face let Steve know that his father was either drunk or angry. Or both. His mother was at his side and they both said a few words to your parents before leaving with broad, fake smiles. Great. Just great. That was never a good sign.

You slipped off your barstool with a grimace. “I’ll walk you out. C’mon.” You led him to the door, weaving between people with ease and slowed to a stop beside the door. “Get home safe, okay?”

No one had told him that before. And wasn’t that just pathetic? “Of course-”

“Pucker up, kiddos!”

In a twisted sense of Deja vu, Steve looked up to see the sprig of mistletoe above the doorway. There was a small crowd near the door, and everyone’s drunken gazes were focused on the pair of you. He heart leapt as he looked at you, seeing the Christmas lights wash you in their gentle glow. He could kiss you right now and try to see what those twists and flutters in his chest were trying to tell him.

He could.

But he didn’t. He was a lot of things but he wasn’t his father. There was an apology on the tip of his tongue, for embarrassing you in front of all these people, for not kissing you, for-

But you beat him to it. Feeling the eyes on you, you hooked your thumb under Steve’s chin and gently pushed his head to the side. You made a show of pressing a loud peck to his cheek before stepping away from his side as a few of the more intoxicated partygoers booed in your direction.

“Merry Christmas, Steve.”

**

Maybe winding up under the mistletoe with you was just a strange yearly tradition. At least that was what Steve told himself the fourth time he nearly kissed you. It would be a better tradition than the return of the demogorgons and the Upside Down.

This year had…sucked. His parents had continued their usual disinterest but now it was coupled by grating disapproval, too. His prospects of getting into a good university were dwindling by the week despite your best efforts to help him raise his grades, and Nancy had basically left him for Jonathan. But he had you.

Right?

That’s what he told himself when he had been invited to Tina’s Christmas party. He could go with you instead of feeling like a complete loser. You accepted his invitation with an unsure smile, not entirely comfortable with that crowd, but Steve had tried to soothe your worries with a promise to not leave your side. It was the same promise you had given him before you and the kids had jumped down into the tunnels to set “the hub” on fire to help Eleven.

“I am not letting them do this on their own, Steve. And I won’t leave you behind. I promise.”

Despite the absolute beating Billy had bestowed on him, Steve had followed you in. You’d been hurt, too, caught up in the slaughter at the Lab, trying to keep Mike and Joyce safe. But you hadn’t stopped. Steve found himself realizing you never did. You were often the first to arrive and the last to leave whenever anyone needed help with something. He’d found himself parking next to your car, more often than not, whenever the kids needed a ride home from the arcade or the Wheeler’s house. You hadn’t batted an eye when Steve rang your house at some god-awful hour to ask you to come over after he saw how happy Nancy was with Jonathan; you had arrived at his house with a thermos filled with hot chocolate and a sleepy smile. You’d listened to Steve pour his heart out and you reciprocated, telling him how you had felt a little betrayed that Jonathan had gone to Nancy instead of you when they had wanted to bring down the lab.

“But they’re happy, right?” you asked, licking at the remnants of cocoa on your lip. “We just want them to be happy. Even if it isn’t with us.”

You were always there. Ready to listen. Ready to try and make him smile. Just there. Always.

The party was in full swing by the time Steve parked his Beamer on Tina’s lawn beside the dozen other haphazardly parked cars. You slowly got out of the passenger side and gave him a thin smile and Steve was quick to smooth his hands down your arms to squeeze at your mitten-covered fingers. “We can leave right now. I don’t mind.”

But you shook your head. “You wanted to go and…and it’s about time I actually start going to parties, right? Maybe I’ll have fun.”

“If you’re not having fun in fifteen minutes, I’m getting you out of here and we can go to the movies or something.”

Your mouth twisted to the side and you ducked your head to look at the snow beneath your boots. “Can we go look at Christmas lights instead?”

And Steve just about melted. “Yeah, sweetheart. We can look at Christmas lights.”

You nodded and he watched a bit of tension fall from your shoulders before he led you into the party. Spinal Tap’s ridiculous Christmas song was playing over busted speakers but hardly anyone cared, already a few cups deep into the trashcan drink that Tina had sworn tasted like candy canes. You winced as you took a drink and Steve quickly switched it out for a can of Pepsi he snagged from the fridge.

You were content to sit in the kitchen and sip on your pop while Steve was called from one end of the house to the other by one acquaintance and then another. But every time he turned to make sure you were still okay, you smiled at him. Maybe it was the Christmas lights Tina had strung up across every wall. Maybe it was the snow starting to fall just outside. Maybe it was the second cup of that candy cane drink.

But you were beautiful.

Fuck. But this was fine, right? Friends could find one another attractive and still be friends. Before he could stop himself or realize what he was doing, Steve was walking toward you, discarding his drink on the nearest flat surface. “Wanna get out of here?”

Your nose scrunched as you looked down at the watch on your wrist. “You still have seven minutes of your allotted fifteen.”

Of course you would know that. Of course you were keeping track. “Doesn’t matter. I think I promised you Christmas lights.” He stole the can of pop from your hand and set it down before curling his arm around your shoulders after righting your evergreen scarf over your neck. Your laugh had his heart clawing its way up his throat but his stomach gave an answering drop as soon as you reached the door and someone behind him yelled for him to stop. Steve turned, hauling you with him, and saw Tommy H. pointing at something above your heads.

Mistletoe.

“Let’s see if Harrington still has any sway with the ladies!” He sneered. The crowd around him cheered. He wanted to humiliate Steve. “C’mon, Stevie-boy! Can’t you even get into the nerd’s pants?”

You tensed. Steve felt the muscles of your back and shoulders coil like a snake waiting to strike. “What’s your problem, Tommy?” You bit out. “Did Carol cuck you again so you need to take it out on someone else to feel like a ‘man’ again? Or did you finish too early—again—and she kicked you out of bed?”

The crowd around them cheered, again, too drunk to truly pick a side.

“That isn’t true-”

“Are you sure? Because I’ve heard about your lackluster skills too many times.” The red lights from Tina’s tree were bleeding across your face, making you look like some vengeful warrior. “I wonder why she puts up with you; it surely isn’t your looks or your limp dick.” Tommy’s face was an impressive shade of red and he opened his mouth to say something else but now you were the one pulling Steve outside, bypassing the mistletoe entirely with a firm hand in his. “C’mon. I hear the lights in Loch Nora are really good this year.”

He could have kissed you. Maybe he should have. But he didn’t.

**

“I swear to god, Steve. If you don’t actually do something-”

“Shut up, Robin!”

It had been two years (again) since Steve had been beneath a bit of mistletoe with you. Two years of confusing feelings and nearly dying. Two years of more monsters from the Upside Down and lingering looks that Steve hoped meant what he thought they did. Two years of changes and moving forward.

The biggest change, in a weird way, for Steve was that you had moved out of state to start university, rooming with Robin. Sure, there’d been the “mall fire” and the “earthquakes” but you leaving had been…different. It wasn’t Hawkins anymore if you weren’t in it.

But for right now, you were here. He spotted you across the large room as Joyce whispered something in your ear that had you giggling before Will tugged on your hand. Your bridesmaid dress was made of silky dark green fabric and you looked…beautiful. Of course, Joyce looked nice in her simple white dress with snowflake lace at her wrists, but Steve couldn’t stop looking at you. Joyce and Hopper had (finally) pulled the trigger and got married, waiting until all the kids were back in town for the holidays so everyone could attend the celebration with a few dozen other guests. It was a perfect little party and it had been so good to see everyone. The small venue was filled with Christmas trees and an overabundance of tinsel and extra lights stung up across the ceiling. (There was a few sprigs of mistletoe, too, but Steve was definitely not staring at those.) Christmas music was interspersed with cheesy love songs from decades past and snow was slowly falling outside. It was a perfect late December evening. You were dancing to The Ramones’ strange Christmas song, mostly jumping around with Jonathan and Will with an infectious smile on your face.

“Dude. Staring.”

Steve’s entire face felt hot and he turned away to face Eddie with a frown. “I’m not staring at her.”

And Eddie smirked. The faint scarring stretching across his cheek puckered the slightest bit. “I never said anything about her.” He then turned to look at you, too, watching as you let El tug you into another dance so you could messily dance with the kids, laughter on your tongue. “She does look good, by the way.”

“I know she does,” Steve grumbled. You had been self-conscious about the thin shoulder straps and cut of the dress and had fretted all morning after helping Joyce get ready, saying that your scars were too visible. And yes, he could see them. He could see the jagged thing twisting down your arm from the Soviet guard’s best attempt to break you in the underground base. (You hadn’t broken, but Steve’s heart nearly did when you screamed for him.) He could see the small scar on your knee from where you’d fallen off Max’s skateboard, an unofficial end to your skateboard lessons with the younger girl. You’d traded archery lessons with her, but Max had taken to archery as well as you had to skateboarding—but Steve knew that your steady presence in Max’s life had been a comfort to the redhead, even if she was slow to admit it to anyone aside from you. You’d bailed on the country club’s party last year to spend it with her since Susan needed to work a double.

“So, since you’re definitely not staring at her, would you mind if I danced with her?”

The grip Steve had on his cup of eggnog almost hurt before he pushed out a slow breath. “Yeah, man. Go for it. She loves to dance.”

Eddie groaned. “That is not what you were supposed to say!”

The outburst drew your attention, even over Wham’s Last Christmas starting to boom over the speakers Jonathan had set up. Your brows furrowed as you looked at both of them before Steve waved you on and El grabbed at your hands again, pulling you back into the dance. “Shut up, man. Jesus.”

Eddie clapped him on the shoulder. “Remember what I told you in the Upside Down? She saw you about to jump into the lake and did it first because she didn’t want you hurt. She is it for you, Harrington. Just like you are it for her. Would you have let anyone else take you to the eye doctor?” Eddie didn’t wait for an answer and bulldozed right on. “Would you have listened to anyone else if they’d suggested community college to get out of this shitty town?” Eddie dropped his voice the slightest bit, a low drawl in his ear. “Would you look at anyone else like you’re looking at her right now?”

The party all knew. The older kids did, too. They all knew that Steve was probably in love with you.

Possibly.

Definitely.

At least they were encouraging, in their strange, sometimes mean way.

He watched you jump and laugh with Lucas and Max as the song changed to Mellencamp’s version of “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” as Mike and Dustin pretended to score your dancing. It was zeroes across the board. But you still laughed and raised your hands over your head as you spun again, letting the scar that started on your back and bloomed above your chest truly be seen. Steve’s gut twisted at the sight of it. It wasn’t ugly. No part of you could ever be ugly. But the memory it brought was still fresh. You���d stayed with Lucas, Erica, and Max as the Creel House while the others went back into the Upside Down to kill Vecna. The plan had gone…about as well as any of the other plans regarding the Upside Down had gone (not well). But when Steve and Dustin were dragging a barely conscious Eddie back through the gate, you had been fending of Jason and scream-singing Kate Bush to Max after her Walkman was destroyed. It had worked—Max woke up after breaking one of her knees and an arm, but she was awake. You’d earned a bullet to your back from Jason Carver who thought you were part of the “Satanic cult” he was sure was residing in Hawkins. But you had survived. Jason was blamed for the murders after you spun quite the tale from your hospital bed. His insistence that there was something supernatural at play definitely didn’t help him, but the town was saved from a trial and Eddie was cleared, walking out of the hospital a free man. Vecna was killed from the inside out by El, aided by Nancy’s sharp shooting. It was over.

And Steve would never forget watching Lucas and Erica drag you out of the house and into the camper, covered in blood and near delirious.

“Stay with me, sweetheart. Okay? You gotta stay with me.”

He had nearly lost you.

“Yeah,” Eddie continued, taking Steve’s silence for an answer. “That’s what I thought.” He clapped him on the shoulder with a long sigh. “Just give it a shot, Harrington. It’s the holidays. We’re at a wedding. Everything about this screams romance.” Before he could say anything else, Eddie was called away by Will and Erica, waving him over to a table across the room.

The song finished and you gave a clumsy curtsey to the “judges” as Max booed the final results. You pressed the back of your hands to your cheeks, trying to cool yourself down as you turned away, your eyes immediately finding Steve. A smile bloomed across your face and Steve’s poor heart shot up to his throat. He took a giant gulp of his eggnog and nearly choked on it immediately. As luck would have it, you were at his side as he started to cough and patted his back with a soft laugh. “Had too much already?”

Steve wiped at his mouth with a wince but felt himself relax as you reached out to right his gold-rimmed glasses again. “Thank you.”

You hummed and leaned against him with another smile. “I’m really happy for them,” you said, looking as Hopper led Joyce out onto the dance floor.

Dean Martin was starting to croon about his love keeping him warm and Eddie’s words (along with Robin’s) were suddenly echoing in his head. “Wanna dance?”

And you beamed. “I’d love that.” You tangled your hands together and let Steve lead you out onto the floor after he dropped his glass onto the nearest table. Steve twirled you around twice, just to hear you laugh, and you hopefully missed how both Joyce and Hopper gave him a thumbs up when they spotted him. You spoke with him easily, telling him about your classes and professors, and Steve reciprocated with stories about his first few classes at Hawkins Community College between shifts at Family Video. You both commiserated over trying to avoid your parents for most of the holiday and he made you laugh when he suggested cracking open a gate as a “distraction.”

“I’ve missed that sound,” Steve murmured, hoping you didn’t notice how his hand was starting to sweat as he held yours.

“My laugh?” You looked at him, Christmas lights reflecting in your pretty eyes. “You hear it at least twice every week when I call.”

And Steve treasured those calls. Made sure his shifts and classes lined up so he could always be near the phone when you rang. “But it sounds better in person.”

You shook your head with another smile. “What am I going to do with you, Steve Harrington?”

“Keep me forever?” Steve winced. Stupid. So stupid.

“You’re stuck with me forever, Steve. Hate to break it to you.” And you said it with such simple honesty, making it sound like of course you would always be in his life, that Steve had to stop himself from pulling you closer, from wrapping his arms around you tight and spilling his ridiculous feelings in a jumble of words that would never make sense.

Instead, he just smiled and shook his head. “What a burden.”

“Aren’t I just the worst? How do you put up with me?” You teased, adding a wink.

“I dunno, you might have a few redeeming qualities.”

“Oh?” You hummed. He twirled you around again just to hear you giggle, your smile infectious as he pulled you close. “And what might those be?”

This was it. This was an opening. And, judging by the way Nancy and Robin were frantically pointing at the mistletoe you’d just stepped beneath, this was the moment. Right? “Well, you’re stubborn. Like, the most stubborn person I know.”

“I thought this was supposed to be a list of my good qualities.” You snickered and earned a quick poke to your side because he knew you’d jump and squeal.

“And being stubborn,” Steve continued, ignoring you, “means you are one of the most loyal people I’ve ever met. Loyal and stubborn to the point of getting yourself hurt. And you are kind, one of the kindest people I’ve ever met.” Your steps started to slow as you listened to Steve, eyes shining. “And you’re so smart. I could have never been able to come up with a story like the one you gave the cops to keep Eddie out of jail—especially not if I was high on, like, six different pain killers.” He pulled you a little closer as he pushed on, even as other couples danced around you. Steve took both your hands in his and curled them close to his chest, hoping you wouldn’t feel how hard his heart was pounding beneath his ribs. “Just, you know, overall, you are a good person. You give good hugs and you’re so patient with the kids, with me. And I’m pretty sure your smile could light up a damn Christmas tree.”

You sniffled, blinking rapidly to stop the tears Steve saw starting to line your lashes and you laughed, again. “Wow, tell me how you really feel.” Your fingers drummed against his scarlet silk tie as your mouth twisted to the side, a sign Steve knew meant you were trying not to cry. “We’d be here for ages if I listed off all the good things about you, you know.”

Glancing up, you spotted the mistletoe, too. “How many times have we been caught beneath mistletoe? Five?”

“Yeah,” he murmured. “Something like that.” Slowly, hands steadier than his heart, his fingers smoothed down your arms and up to cradle your head in his grasp. He could do it. He could smell the peppermint on your breath. He could see the bits of glitter Nancy had dabbed on your cheeks. You were so beautiful. He whispered your name and-

Jonathan shouted your name and you all but leapt out of Steve’s grasp with an embarrassed huff. You both turned and saw Jonathan frantically trying to mop up spilled red wine that had started to pool near the dessert table. You were quick to dart away, grabbing a handful of napkins to help. And Steve could just stand there, wondering what he must have done in a past life to have this happen. Five times.

Jonathan caught his eye over your shoulder and mouthed ‘sorry’ but the look Nancy was giving the other man let Steve know that she was more than ready to throttle him.

**

It had been years since the last time Steve caught you beneath the mistletoe. He’d given up hope on ever doing it again, on ever kissing you

at all

. The kids had all but given up, too. Their teasing slowly dying because… “It isn’t fun anymore,” Max said through a mouthful of popcorn. “Now, it’s just pathetic.”

He wasn’t ever taking her to the movies again. (He knew this was a lie.)

But as the years trickled by, you had remained a presence in his life. You arrived on his doorstep one day and all but shoved him into your car, saying you’d called off work for him for a week, and that you were kidnapping him for spring break. You had screamed and clapped and cried together as you watched ‘your’ kids cross the stage for their high school graduation. He sat next to Joyce and Jonathan and Will and watched you graduate from university, too, and didn’t mind waiting his turn to murmur his congratulations into your ear as he held you close.

You’d attended his graduation, too, two years later. After getting everything he could at Hawkins Community, he transferred to a bigger university to finish his degree just outside Chicago. You had hollered like a soccer mom when they announced his name and Steve had nearly tripped when you broke out an air-horn in celebration.

His parents hadn’t attended. But that didn’t matter because you did—and Robin and the kids were right beside you, being equally obnoxious. He’d found his path. It took him a few hits to the head and a weird, zig-zagging track, but he’d settled on elementary education. If he could handle the snark and the vibrating chaos that was the group of his favorite people, he could handle kids. Being a kindergarten teacher wasn’t flashy or well-paid but Steve liked it. He liked what he did. He liked helping kids learn the alphabet and spell their names and count to ten. And he was good at it. Within the first two years of settling into his new career at a school in the suburbs of Chicago, he’d been named teacher of the year out of the entire district.

The kids had found the newspaper clipping and had framed it for him for his birthday. (He cried.)

You had settled into a routine, too. Your book, a not-at-all autobiographical science fiction horror story about monsters from another dimension and a group of tenacious kids, had become an international bestseller and you, despite living in New York, swung by his house with a bottle champagne to celebrate. The book had earned you a seven-book deal with a huge publisher and an “insane” royalties cut. “I want Will to illustrate all of them,” you had said, lounging on Steve’s couch. “I think that’s what made this one a best-seller, you know. He’s so talented, my baby Will.”

Every year, everyone got together for a weekend around the holidays. It had become a tradition by accident but everyone had come to expect it to happen and there was usually a bit of bickering about who got to host. It was Steve’s turn this year and with every ornament he hung on his tree, hope returned. By the time he was putting the little star at the top, Steve swore that this year—this year, really, he meant it this time—would be the year he finally made a move. He wouldn’t get interrupted. He would tell you how he felt and maybe (hopefully) be able to kiss you under the mistletoe.

Dustin arrived first, fresh off (another) breakup with Suzie and ranting about his physics final at MIT, he froze like a deer in headlights when he saw all of the decorations. There was the tree, of course, and then stockings for each of them on the mantle. There were fake candles flickering in each of the windows and Steve had strung up plastic snowflakes around each of the overhead lights. “Jesus Christ, it looks like Christmas threw up in here.”

“Thank you, Dustin,” Steve hissed. “This didn’t take me hours at all.”

The younger man waved his hands. “I didn’t say it was bad! It’s just… Did your students make these ornaments?” He poked at one of the messily but earnestly made reindeer on the tree’s nearest branch.

Steve swiftly smacked at Dustin’s fingers, earning a smack on his arm in return. “Don’t touch them! They worked hard!” His students had each made an extra ornament for him during craft time and had bashfully given him the gift before winter break had started, having heard Steve talk about his friends coming into town for the holiday.

“They’re cute!”

The door burst open and Max and Lucas shoved their way in, swinging their bags around as they argued about the practicality of the Home Alone booby traps. “Watch the tree!” Steve hollered as Max’s bag nearly took out his lamp.

Ignoring him, Max turned, dropping her duffle at her feet. “You’ve been hit in the head enough, right? You think a paint can would knock you out?”

“Of course it would knock Steve out!” Lucas argued.

“Thank you for that, Sinclair. And, just for that, you’re sleeping on the couch! El can share with Max.”

By the time the Wheelers and the Byers-Hoppers show up, pizza had been ordered and the house was filled with good-natured (mostly) arguing while Gremlins played in the background. The sound of car doors slamming had Steve’s head snapping to the side so fast Lucas laughed at him until Nancy threw a pillow in his direction.

“Calm down, man. She’s here for the whole weekend.”

The door opened again and Eddie led the charge inside, Robin quickly following, with you picking up the rear. All three of you were arguing over if it was hygienic or not to string popcorn as garland for the tree. Steve managed to greet all of you between your squabble, wrapping each of you in a hug, and herding you toward the living room. But, just as you were about to cross the threshold, you hung back and grasped at his wrist with a familiar smile. Without a word, you pulled him close and hugged him again.

“It is so good to see you, Steve.”

His poor heart felt like it was trying to leap out from between his ribs and nestle in your hands.

As the night wore on and Gremlins turned into Home Alone which turned into Black Christmas, the pizza was eventually demolished, as was the gingerbread. The younger kids eventually turned in, tired from the trip and bellies full. His house was big enough to accommodate everyone, but sleeping bags were still needed and straws were drawn as to who had to sleep on the floor for the night. It was ridiculous and only started more fights and Steve wouldn’t have it any other way.

Steve took a seat beside Jonathan as they all nursed the last dregs of the Hot Toddies Nancy had made for the older crowd. Eddie was finishing up his story about opening for Metallica—“you should come, guys! I’ll get you tickets!”—as Robin, you, and Nancy all disappeared upstairs to get into your pajamas. As soon as they heard the door click shut, both Eddie and Jonathan rounded on Steve. “What is your game plan?”

“What?”

“You have to do it. C’mon, man. This is the year. I can’t take another Christmas of her sighing wistfully and you looking like a kicked puppy. I can’t do it.” Eddie always had a flare for the dramatic. The years hadn’t dulled his edge.

“She was talking about this trip nonstop the last time she called,” Jonathan added. “And Eddie said she asked-”

“Three times!” Eddie hissed.

“-if you had a girlfriend on the way over from the airport.”

And while that had been encouraging, Nancy and Robin had cornered him, too, while you were distracted by Jonathan and Eddie, talking about possibly going taking everyone ice skating tomorrow (it was a disaster waiting to happen and all of you knew it). You caught Steve looking and smiled, bright and beautiful.

Robin snapped her fingers, grabbing Steve’s attention. “Listen, Dingus, I am going to break out the dry erase board again if you don’t kiss her by the end of this weekend. With how much you’ve been staring at her mouth, I wouldn’t be surprised you already know what chapstick she’s wearing.”

“It’s cherry, today.”

Nancy smacked his arm, fighting a smile. “You are hopeless. Both of you. Please just tell her how you feel. We can distract the kids for a few hours tomorrow and you need to just tell her, god dammit.”

Comforting.

Steve thought about what his friends had said, turning their words over and over in his head, wishing for sleep and a good plan on how to tell you how he felt. But, hours later, he gave up on both and quietly stepped out of his room, trying not to wake Eddie and Dustin, and walked down toward his kitchen in hopes of getting a glass of water. And there you were, swinging your legs as you sat on the counter, humming along to Dolly Parton singing about hard candies at Christmas on the radio. The slowly blinking lights of the Christmas tree washed you in green then red then green again, making you glow.

“Hey,” Steve whispered.

Your head whipped to the side and you let out a soft laugh as you pressed a hand over your heart before hopping down. “Sorry, you scared me a bit.”

He waved off your unnecessary apology and cracked open the fridge to grab two bottles of cider before handing you one. “Couldn’t sleep?”

You shook your head as you twisted the cap off and took a small sip. “Yeah. Robin kicks in her sleep, you know.”

Steve laughed and took a drink, too. “I do know.” As always, the conversation was easy, speaking about anything and everything, and Steve was happy to hear you ramble about your ideas for your next books even though he was still learning the difference between an Orc and a Lich but he knew you’d be patient with him.

“I’ve missed you,” you murmured, reaching out to him as soon as Judy Garland started singing, wishing everyone a Merry Little Christmas. “I know we talk every week but I just miss…” your words trailed off as your hands curled around his arms. “I just miss you.”

Steve moved just enough to wrap his arms around you, resting his cheek against yours. “I missed you, too.” Then, knowing you’d laugh, he started swaying you side to side in time with the song and earned his promised laugh within a few moments and made him smile into your hair.

The winter winds were whistling outside with the promise of snow and you snuggled a little closer, nose digging into Steve’s chest but he didn’t mind. This felt right. This felt…perfect. He wanted this, quiet, perfect moments like this with you forever. He didn’t want to wait anymore.

“So, I’m looking at houses in Chicago,” you murmured into the soft fabric of his red and white sleep shirt. “My publisher says I don’t have to live in New York if I don’t want to.”

If you heard how his heart sped up, you thankfully didn’t mention it. “Chicago, huh? You’d just be a quick train ride away from me.” And he could feel your smile as it pressed over his heart.

“Yeah, I think I’d like that. Eddie’s got his thing going on in LA, Robin’s finishing up her PhD at Northwestern, and Nancy and Jonathan live out of their suitcases mostly because of their jobs so they can be anywhere. The kids are scattered, but…but, yeah, I’m thinking Chicago.”

“Well,” Steve started, attempting to keep his voice steady, “I think that’s the best present you could give me.”

You laughed against his chest again and wriggled out of his grip for a moment before grabbing at something on the counter. You pressed it over his heart and he tried not to hope at the sight of your nervous smile. “I actually got you a little something. I know it isn’t quite Christmas yet but…I didn’t want to wait.”

The small package was wrapped in crinkled white paper, patterned with gold snowflakes. You’d carefully wrapped a bit of silver string around it, too. Steve was careful to unwrap it as you kept your arms looped around his waist. He could feel your thumbs brushing nervous circles into his spine. When he finally saw what was inside, his heart leapt and skipped and sang.

Wrapped in a tiny bit of white twine, was a single sprig of mistletoe.

“I was…hoping that sixth time might be our charm.” Your voice was low and soft. Almost shy.

Feeling like the luckiest man on the planet, he held the mistletoe over your head and finally, finally, finally kissed you. You were worth the wait.

A/N: Please let me know what you think! Thank you for reading!

[writethrough]

The Accident That Led Me to You (Part II)

(Morpheus x Female Reader)

Synopsis: You and Morpheus finally go on that date.

Warnings: Feelings of unworthiness, fluff, mutual pining, Death and Lucienne being the ultimate wing-women

Word Count: 2542

A/N: Here it is! Part two! Grammarly decided to be a bitch today and not help me edit. Also, I don't know why I'm doing this to myself, but what about part three?

Read Part I

If the emissary and janitor of the Dreaming had gotten wages, neither would’ve been happy. A month had passed since that day in the library. You and Morpheus were still making cow eyes at each other, Matthew and Merv kept renewing their bet, and Lucienne had enough of you four. Death, on the other hand, was greatly amused by both of you.

You were a close friend to her now. Despite her compassion and kindness, she didn’t have many. She practically jumped at the opportunity your strange circumstance put you in. Not that either of you minded.

Though Death was busy frequently, she always made time to see you. Now, curled up on your couch with wine, you couldn’t help the giggles as she told you a story about a younger Morpheus.

“It’s true! He doubted me, and I had to prove him wrong!” She said it like it was the obvious thing to do.

“But did you have to steal the horse?” You pursed your lips, trying not to laugh.

She shrugged. “I had to make an entrance.”

You both erupted into more giggles.

You could only imagine the look on Morpheus’ face when all of this happened. Did his lips tug into a smirk? Were his eyes alight with amusement at his sister’s antics?

It wasn’t until Death spoke that you realized you’d gone quiet.

“So…” she drawled, giving you an expectant look. “How are you and my dear brother?”

You groaned, knowing exactly where she was going with this.

“We’re fine,” you said, taking a big gulp.

“Just fine?”

You nodded, avoiding her gaze.

“You looked cozy when I dropped by the other night,” she said.

She had arrived in the Dreaming a few nights ago to talk to Morpheus. When she didn’t find him in his throne room, she searched and discovered you and him in the library. Lucienne was off somewhere while you were shoulder-to-shoulder over a book. Death would’ve made herself scarce if Morpheus hadn’t caught movement out of his periphery. Later, when she questioned her brother about it, he said nothing was happening between you two.

“Come on, (Y/N)! When are you going to ask him out?” she whined, gripping your wrist.

“Why would I ask him out?” You pretended to be clueless.

“Because you like him!” she said, exasperated. “And he likes you.”

“Has he told you that?” You weren’t expecting her to answer.

“He literally doesn’t stop asking about you,” she said. 

“Oh.” You paused. “Do you really think it’s a good idea?”

She pinched the bridge on her nose. “You are both going to be the death of me.”

You snorted and couldn’t help bursting into laughter, and she soon joined you.

—

No matter how long Morpheus stood in front of his soon-to-be creations, he couldn’t seem to finish them.

Half-formed shapes and featureless bodies could not focus him. Instead, he thought of you.

What were you doing at this moment? Did you start a new book, or were you still stuck on the previous one? Were you having a good day? When would you go to sleep so he could see you? Should he visit you before you go to bed so he could see you sooner—

“My lord?” Lucienne broke him from his thoughts.

“Yes, Lucienne?” He continued to face his would-be dreams, intent to appear as if he were busy.

“Are you alright, my lord?” she asked tentatively. “You seem distracted.”

Of course, his librarian could read him like a…well, like an open book.

“There’s no need to concern yourself. I am alright.”

There was a moment of silence. Morpheus could feel Lucienne wanting to speak.

“Is there anything else, Lucienne?”

She clasped her hands in front of her. “If I may…you and (Y/N), you’ve gotten quite close.”

“I suppose,” he said, smearing a wave of hair onto one creation to distract himself.

“And you enjoy her company—greatly,” she added.

“Yes.” His reply was a bit drawn out as if he didn’t know where the librarian was going.

“It’s just…I believe she’d be happy if you were to tell her. And…”

Morpheus now fully faced her. “And?”

“And perhaps you should both stop mooning over one another and do something about it,” she said, letting a breath of her exasperation slip through.

Morpheus, shocked at her outburst, could only think of one thing to say.

“I’m not mooning over (Y/N).” His cheeks turned a faint shade of pink.

“My lord.” It amazed him how Lucienne could twist his title, like she said, “We both know you’re lying.”

The look in her eyes made him divulge his hesitance.

“How could something possibly come from us? It…It could not last.” He let his gaze linger over her shoulder, recalling why they had been able to meet in the first place.

Lucienne gave him an understanding smile and took a step forward. “We both know there is no such thing as an ending. Only new beginnings. Perhaps this is one the both of you must start together.”

Her words sunk into his bones. Death had never been final—it did not signify extinguishment. It was simply a transition. One which (Y/N) somehow avoided before meeting him. But maybe that transition was taking on another form—one that could begin with a simple question.

—

You and Morpheus had just left Cain, Abel, and Goldie. The young gargoyle was rapidly growing and was ever the playful creature. Though, she tired fast, too. Goldie spent most of her time curled up on your lap, sleeping.

“Abel grows more worried each time you visit,” Morpheus said as you walked back to his castle.

Your brow furrowed. “What do you mean? Why would he be worried?”

“He fears Goldie will want you instead of him.”

You rolled your eyes. “Oh, please, she loves him and Cain too much to ever leave.” You squeezed his arm slightly. “And besides, I can’t take care of a growing gargoyle part-time. I’d need to move in if that were the case.”

“That can be arranged.”

You stopped, your hand on his arm halting him as well.

“You’d let me live here?” You both got along well, but would he really want you invading his space?

“If you wished, yes,” he said, earnestness in his eyes.

“Would that even be allowed? How would that even work?” You were mortal. And alive. You knew Matthew had been a human, and Cain and Abel were invited by Morpheus to stay here, but all of them were technically dead.

“I am the ruler of this realm, (Y/N). Of course, it’s allowed.”

“But wouldn’t I have to die?” You’d be lying if you said you weren’t a bit worried.

He chuckled. “No, I would never suggest it if that were the case. And you’d be free to come and go as you please. I would not keep you from your life.”

“Oh.” You sighed, relaxing. “That’s reassuring. The not dying thing. I know you’d never do anything to hurt me.”

“Good.” He gave you a gentle smile.

You stood there, taking each other in.

His eyes never left you. Usually, you’d shrink away if someone paid this much attention to you, but Morpheus always made you comfortable. It was uncanny how connected you felt to him, and sometimes it scared you. But you couldn’t shake the feeling of something more. Maybe Death was right. Maybe her brother did have a soft spot for you.

You hadn’t noticed you had returned his smile, and it was the way he glanced down at your lips that had you speaking before you could think.

“Would you want to go on a date with me?”

—

A few days later, you sat with Lucienne, trying to figure out what a date with an Endless should look like.

“Whatever you plan, he will enjoy,” Lucienne reassured you.

“But how will I even know he’s enjoying it?” You sighed, exasperated. “It’s not like his face will show it! Honestly, it’d be easier to read Moby Dick in Mandarin.”

“I’m afraid the closest you’ll get is reading it in Chinese,” she said without looking up at you.

You brushed her comment off with a wave of your hand.

“You know what I mean.”

She set her pencil down. “Yes, I do. And I also know his lordship. He would not have agreed to a date with you if he wasn’t completely interested. You could take him to watch paint dry, and he’d be happy.”

You considered what she said. It was true—Morpheus had no issue denying someone. He also seemed…content when you were around. After all, he was the one to approach you after you ran away from him and his sister.

“It’s just…I want him to have the best time. He’s this powerful entity who’s had all these experiences. What am I going to do that could ever keep his interest?” How could you ever compare to him?

“(Y/N),” she said, gaining your attention. “You keep his interest. All you have to do is share the same space, and he’s entranced. Not to be rude, but it’s why nothing ever gets done anymore. His lordship’s nearly useless when you’re around.”

“...I’m sorry?” you said, uncertain if she wanted an apology.

“There’s no need. I’m hoping once you’re in a relationship, everything will be in order again.”

“A relationship?” Would Morpheus want to take things that seriously that quickly?

“(Y/N),” she gave you an “are you serious” look, “he’s—oh, what’s the colloquialism—he’s whipped.”

—

Your biggest concern about your date tonight wasn’t if Morpheus would show up or not—no, he would never stand you up—it was if he’d like what you had planned. What kind of first date would an immortal being enjoy? Dinner and a movie seemed too simple. A museum had sounded intimate initially, but frankly, you weren’t interested in looking at anything other than him. You landed on an evening at the local fair.

It was during a weeknight, so it wasn’t that crowded. And you could snack on fair food as you walked around and talked. There were benches scattered around the grounds. And in an hour, music would play at the stadium near the back.

You told him to meet you at the front gate. You had to force yourself not to play with the beginnings of a hangnail as you scanned the incoming people. He had a few minutes before he’d be late, but he was a king. He had better things to do than go on a silly little date with y—

“(Y/N).”

You turned, and there he stood. The first thing you noticed was his smile. Though small, it was gentle, and his eyes were bright. He seemed lighter somehow.

His gaze slid down your form, and heat settled in your cheeks when he looked up again.

“You look beautiful,” he said, and if he couldn’t tell you were already blushing, he could once he pressed his lips to your cheek.

“Thank you,” you whispered, then cleared your throat. “Shall we?”

He nodded, still giving you that look, and held out his arm.

Once inside, you pulled him to your favorite hot cider stand.

Walking around the various vendors, you pointed out different spots you had tried and reminisced about your family and friends.

“The look on his face when she proposed was priceless,” you said, gesturing to a bench in front of a stack of hay bales. “Then he pulled out the ring he got for her as his answer.”

“They are fortunate to have found one another,” he said. “Not many can say they’ve found their love.”

“No, they can't.” You led him to the bench, needing to rest your feet for a moment. After brushing the hay off the seat, you sat shoulder to shoulder, the band starting up.

“It’s a common dream—and nightmare,” Morpheus said. Then, after a pause. “Tell me, what is your dream?”

You opened your mouth, not sure where to begin.

“I…well, after what happened, I want to try everything,” you said. “I want to travel, and explore, and…and find love.” You breathed out a laugh. “I guess my dream is to just…live.”

The look he gave you was one you couldn’t decipher. He was focused, maybe searching, trying to figure out a puzzle you weren’t aware had something to do with you.

Then, his features relaxed. “If I can help you achieve those dreams. I will.”

You blinked. There was no sign of a lie or uncertainty. He wanted to see you succeed. And before you could say or do something to embarrass yourself, you returned his question.

“What about you? What’s your dream?”

His brow furrowed as he considered your words.

“I…I don’t think I’ve ever been asked that.”

“Really?” He was the embodiment of dreams—surely someone had wanted to know what the Dream Lord wished for.

He shook his head. “I don’t know. I suppose I’ve had dreams, but now…I haven’t thought about them in ages.”

You hummed. “We can help each other then. If there’s anyone who deserves to accomplish their dreams, it’s you.”

His eyes grew wide. And just because it was so rare to see him surprised, you continued.

“I’ll be your own personal Queen of Dreams,” you teased, wiggling your fingers as if casting a spell.

He chuckled. “I quite like the sound of that.”

“Good.” You then realized a slow song was coming from the stadium, and an idea popped up. Before you lost your nerve, you stood, holding out a hand to him.

“Dance with me?” You smiled when he placed his hand in yours without a second thought.

His hands rested on your waist, and he pulled you close.

Your arms wound on his shoulders as you swayed, not noticing the glances and small smiles thrown your way.

Morpheus’ thumb grazed your side softly, a breath of a touch.

“Thank you. For tonight,” he said, eyes boring into yours.

You tilted your head. “Does that mean you enjoyed yourself?”

The corner of his mouth lifted. “I always enjoy it when we’re together.”

Heat pooled into your cheeks as you let out a nervous chuckle and looked down.

He returned your gaze to him with a hooked finger under your chin.

“I believe this is when I request your company for our next date. Or am I mistaken?” The slight narrowing of his eyes suggested he was trying to remember.

“I don’t think the social rules apply to us,” you said. “And I would love to.”

His smile made your stomach all fuzzy.

“Tomorrow?” he asked, hopeful.

His tone emboldened you to answer with a kiss on his cheek.

“Sounds perfect.”

—

Morpheus was in his throne room, preparing for your next date when Death arrived. She strolled in, whistling.

“So, when can I expect a wedding invitation?” Death teased.

Morpheus shook his head slightly with a small smile and played into her. “I already asked her to move in with me, unintentionally.”

Death laughed. “Your first date, and you already want to cohabitate.”

“It was before.” His reply was somewhat hesitant, knowing his sister would enjoy that information a little too much.

She clutched her side, still giggling. “Oh, little brother, you’ve got it bad.”

[synthleeius]

new years day

kind of taylor swift reference,,,, ☹️

NEW YEARS FIC!!!!! im sorry its 4 days late um. (im lazy)

lee!xiao

ler!aether

Xiao materialises silently on the balcony behind him, arms crossed. “Hmph, it’s you,” He murmurs, his voice barely audible.

“It is,” Aether said, waving him over as he leaned against the rails. Xiao complied, moving himself to stand next to the traveller. “So, is Liyue big on new years? It seems like it..”

Xiao’s gaze shifts to the bustling streets below, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Yes, Liyue is known for its grand celebrations during the lantern rite. Mortals gather to welcome the new year, hoping for good fortune and prosperity.” He turns his attention back to the figure beside him, his expression softening ever so slightly. “Is there a reason you ask..?”

“Not necessarily.. I was more asking if you were big on it.” Aether admitted, smiling softly at the city.

Xiao's eyes flicker with a hint of surprise, as if caught off guard by his question. "I... I suppose I don’t partake in such festivities," he admits, his voice tinged with a touch of melancholy. "As an adeptus, I have always maintained a certain distance from mortal affairs. My duty lies in protecting Liyue and its people, but I have never been one to revel in celebrations or seek personal enjoyment. It’s not in my nature."

He pauses for a moment, then adds, "However, I am willing to make an exception, if it is your wish to experience these festivities together."

Aether chuckled at the offer, shaking his head. "You don’t have to do that, Xiao, I know you’d rather not. But if you want.. we can stay up here for a bit?” He asked, tilting his head. “Please?”

Xiao's gaze shifts back to the lively streets below, watching as the crowds grow larger and the excitement mounts. "I appreciate your consideration.”

He turns his attention back to the blonde, his eyes meeting his. "If you wish to join me in this seclusion, I would be honoured to spend this time with you." He gestures to the balcony, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

He smiled widely, “Thank you~..” He lowered himself to the ground, his legs criss-crossed around each other.

Xiao follows Aether’s lead, lowering himself to the ground beside him and crossing his legs in a similar fashion. He glances at him, his smile a rare sight. “I hear your back from your travels in Fountaine, correct?”

“Yeah, it was.. well, Fountaine.” He laughed softly, his eyes trailing down his arm before he noticed something. “The ocean was amazing though, they-.. Hm.”

“..What is it?” The adeptus asked, a confused expression on his face as Aether’s fingers reached out to his skin. With anybody else he’d flinch away, but he's learnt to accept the travellers touch. “You're bruised.”

“I.. suppose I am,” He stated, seemingly not paying much mind to it. “Mere consequence of my battles.. You shouldn’t worry, There's probably many more to come. But.. they will heal due to time.”

“I know, it doesn't mean I like it.” He muttered, huffing quietly. “Yknow, if you ever need me to patch you up all you need to do is ask.”

“No need,” Xiao insisted, “But.. If it comes to it, I’ll remember that.”

“I’m glad.” Aether smiled, satisfied with the answer he received. His fingers dragged down the skin until he reached the end, his hand moving to rest on top of the other’s. -which of course would’ve been fine, but..

His fingertips trailing down his forearm made Xiao gasp, reflexively flinching back a bit. “A-Ah.. apologies, Aether. You just..”

“It's okay,” He replied, softly cutting the other off from speaking any more excuses. “My fault.”

The two sat like that for a few minutes in silence, simply enjoying each other's company. Well, it was simple until the blonde’s hand began to shift, nails drifting across his wrist an-

“Aether,” he spoke in a faked stern tone, turning to look at him.

“Uhuh,” He replied calmly, his nails grazing the same sensitive spot. “I'm just making sure you're not hiding any more injuries from me. What if you're in a critical condition and I didnt even know, hm?”

“Ihim- i’m not..?” a soft yelp left his lips, dare he even say– a giggle? “You’d know..”

“How am I supposed to believe that though? You're a very secretive person, Xiao. Now, I insist, stay still.” Aether smiled smugly, speaking whatever excuses came into his head first as he sneaked a hand to the adepti’s torso and latched onto his side.

“A-Ah! Aetheher..” He let out a shaky breath, restraining himself. “Don't just-..”

“Don't just what?” Aether tilted his head with a fake confused expression, his hand perfectly still.

“I.. ugh, your childish, Traveler.” Xiao sighed, turning his head away. Aether simply laughed softly, letting his fingers wiggle gently up his ribs. “I’m funny, excuse you.” He huffed, “I'm sure you’ll find me funny in a few minutes too.”

“I will no-hot!” He gasped, desperately trying to keep a straight face. He debated hiding with his mask on, but knowing Aether he’d probably give him hell for it..

“You’re no fun.. Come on, you're supposed to be laughing.” He whined, a playful smile shining on his lips.

“I don’t laugh.” He states, biting the inside of his cheek to keep his composure. “I’m an adeptus, it's un- hah.. unprofessional..”

“Sure you can, giggles. I’ll even help you!” Aether teased, gently pressing his thumbs into the bone.

“Don’t cahall me thahat!" He tried to grumble the best that he could, but he couldn't refrain from the small giggles that started bubbling from his chest.

“What, giggles? But it's cute! And you are giggling, y’know.” He pointed out, his hand darting to the others mid section and rubbing circles into his hip bones.

Finally, the dam broke with a gasp and breathy giggles, the shorter ducking his head down. “Thahats- nohot the pohohint..”

Aether cooed at the sight, shifting his position a little to be able to reach over and use both his hands. “Awh, Xiao~ I can think of a different point. Maybe about how you aren’t pushing me away?”

“I.. do nohot wihish to huhurt yohou.” Xiao mumbled out, his hands squeezed in fists to restrain himself. “Hm.. Excuses, excuses~” He sighed dramatically, giving his torso a couple last squeezes. “Alright, alright.. I’m done, sorry.”

As he regained his composure, he sighed softly, arms crossing over his chest idly. “It's.. fine. I suppose.”

“I bet.” Aether replied in a monotone voice, a knowing expression on his face. “No more tricks, ‘kay?” He promised, slinging an arm around his shoulders as a truce.

“..Mhm.”

[deiaiko]

The story of a little boy named Twenty-fifth Night.

Inspired by The Little Prince / Le Petit Prince

Written by @deiaiko Illustrated by @cheer-soli-art Betaed by @jusalilweird

There was a little boy who lived all his life in a dark and cold cave. He built a tower made of rocks, so tall in hopes of reaching the ceiling where light trickled down from between the cracks. It wasn't an easy task, for the sharp edges of the rocks easily made their marks on his unprotected skin. But for him, who had no one but himself and accepted pain as part of his life, it was nothing but a little itch.

A girl showed up from the other side, bathed in blinding light that the boy had never hoped to ever see in his life. Her hair was a lovely shade of gold and her face was littered with stars.

"I shall call you The Twenty-fifth Bam," The girl said, "for I have found you on this night."

"Night of the twenty-fifth," the little boy repeated. At that moment, he finally understood what it meant to be lonely, for he was no longer alone.

-----

The little boy came to enjoy her company, and for once, he felt content.

His day started when the girl came, and ended when the girl left, for he had nothing else to distinguish between day and night.

He learned what longing meant. He would be bursting with excitement the longer he waited, and he would feel sadder the longer he spent time with her.

-----

"I shall go and climb the tower myself," said the girl, countless nights later. "This place is not big enough for me. It doesn't have what I want."

It bewildered the little boy, for he was already content with only her presence. "What is it that you want?"

"At the top of the tower, just me and a massive sky with stars that twinkles as far as the eye can see." The girl said dreamily, and the little boy knew she had gone to a place where he couldn't reach.

"What's so good about it?"

"Because stars are supposed to be beautiful, no? That's reason enough."

"How can you say they're beautiful if you have never seen one?"

"Because I believe so."

The little boy didn't understand.

"Can't I come with you?" Because what would his cave become without the sun coming to chase away the darkness?

"No, Bam. The tower is too dangerous for you."

If it's dangerous for me, then wouldn't it be the same for you? The little boy wanted to say. But instead he asked, "Will you be happier then?" With a silent plea that she would say no.

"I will."

-----

The tower was a place the little boy could never have imagined. It was colorful yet blinding, vast yet crowded, and the fresh air smelled like doom.

The little boy had never felt so small. It was so overwhelming that he couldn't really register what he had done, until a firm hand took his and they ran.

The owner of that firm hand was just a boy like himself. Unlike the little boy however, he had hair the color of the vast sky, his steps were surer, and his eyes were sharper.

The blue haired boy extended his hand and smiled with all teeth, "Shake my hand, and we shall climb the tower together."

"Why me? I am weak. I will be of no use." The little boy shrunk away.

"It's no matter." The blue haired boy's eyes softened. "Your company is enough."

The little boy smiled and shakily took his hand.

-----

The little boy stood by the balcony, looking at the twinkling night sky above. Soon the last test would be held.

"Those lights up there, do you see them?" The little boy pointed at the light above to his blue haired companion.

"I do."

"I think they're lonely. So far above, out of reach and apart from each other." The little boy sighed wistfully. "Will you leave me too?"

"Why should I?" His companion tilted his head, finding the question very absurd.

"Because of the beautiful stars."

"Stars are nothing to me but a myth."

This time it was the little boy who tilted his head. "But aren't they beautiful?"

"I wouldn't know until I saw one."

That was something that the little boy could finally agree with.

"Then what does beautiful mean?" The little boy asked, curious.

"You." His companion said easily.  "I have seen a lot of pretty jewels, but none of them shine as pretty as your eyes. I have heard plenty of songs and played different instruments, but none of them brought as much joy as your laugh."

The little boy blushed at the compliment. "Then I shall laugh more often, so that the stars will envy me."

-----

The little boy ended up being the one to leave, not by his own volition.  He lost his companions, so what reason was there to laugh? What reason for him to be beautiful if there was no one to acknowledge it?

-----

After years of anguish and loneliness, the little boy finally got his companions back. But something was still lost. Something had changed. Yet the boy didn't know what that was. So as per usual, when his feelings were tangled and nothing seemed to make sense, he went to the balcony to seek the answers in the vast sky.

His blue haired companion noticed and decided to join him in silence. It was exactly like what they did all those years ago, yet it didn't feel the same.

"I love looking at the sky. Bright blue at day and deep blue at night, it's beautiful." The little boy said, when he noticed his companion's not so subtle glances. "It is beautiful because it always reminds me of you."

His companion blushed. "Is that so?"

The little boy smiled wistfully. "When I missed you, I would look at the sky."

"How often?"

"Every chance I got."

There was an unreadable expression on his companion's face. "All this time, I thought you were gone for good."

The little boy bowed his head, not knowing what to say.

"So even if you're standing next to me right now, it somehow feels as if you're still out of my reach." His companion confessed, and it broke the little boy's heart.

"Then, hold me! See that I'm right here, still within reach." The little boy looked at his companion, pleading and desperate. "And when you do, make me stay."

His companion cupped the little boy's cheeks that were streaked with tears. "I see. You're no longer the light that was hung up above."

"I am not." The little boy smiled. "I am The Twenty-fifth Night, and the lights are my friends."

[ravenmichaelisstuff]

"Better late than never" part 13

Ghost gets tickled

(This might be a little different as I had a break from writing, I am still doing my exams!)

It might have been a typical day for everyone else, but for Soap it was an unusual one. It wasn’t an everyday occurrence to get such valuable information on Ghost. That bastard was ticklish.

They were sparring like always, showing rookies some take-down techniques. Soap was demonstrating how to properly pin somebody to the ground and immobilize them. That somebody being Ghost. Newbies were always surprised at how much Lieutenant Ghost was letting the sergeant do during sparring.

Soap had Ghost pinned to the mat on his stomach, his knee pressing on his bicep while sitting on his back and holding his other hand down. He was explaining to the soldiers around them what exactly he was doing and how to do it safely with their sparring partner when he noticed Ghost’s hoodie running up, revealing his skin.

That was definitely not something Ghost would be comfortable with if he was aware of it, so Soap wanting to correct the material grabbed it and accidentally brushed his skin with his warm fingers.

Ghost gasped and flinched away from the touch, definitely stifling a giggle. Soap froze as well as the rookies who now waited for the lieutenant to choke their favourite sergeant to death. They weren’t far off, as when the Brit realized what happened he send Soap flying of off him. He hit the mat with a grunt.

“Dismissed!” Yelled Ghost, glaring daggers at everyone in the gym. They all scattered away, not wanting to be anywhere near the man while he was getting off the mat.

“Ow..” Soap hissed, still lying on the floor. “What did ah do to ye?” He slowly sat up just to get hit in the face with a rug.

“Next time keep your bloody hands to yourself, sergeant.” 

Soap snickered at that. “Oh, I think ye enjoyed it, didn’t ya? What about that little chuckle?” He smiled devilishly, already trying to get closer to Ghost.

“Not a word, Soap.” 

But now that Soap had that information, he is not letting it down.

“Come on, Lt… ye are a tad ticklish, admit it.” The Scot grinned cockily and when close enough tried to jab at Ghost’s sides to tease him a bit. The masked man was faster though- he grabbed that hand before it even touched him and twisted it slightly.

“Ow, ow, ok, ok, I will stop!” 

“You try that one more time and I will put a knife up your arse and twist it around your intestines.” Ghost let go of Soap.

***

Soap didn’t listen. A vision of a knife up his ass wasn’t so bad if he got to make Ghost jump every time he walked near him, trying to tickle the older man.

It gets to the point where Ghost just simply refuses to spar with Soap because he played dirty. Trying to distract the lieutenant with the gentle brushes of his fingers. The gentle touches that made Simon’s hair stand up, goosebumps running up his arms with Johnny’s every attempt at tickling. Causing this giddy feeling in Ghost’s chest, butterflies gently tickling his tummy with their wings. The deep blush hidden under the hard mask, the flush running from his face down to his shoulders and chest.

Yeah…

Ghost liked it. He really liked it.

But Soap did this only in public. In the mess hall, in the gym, when they were on their way on a mission- always when there were other people around. Not even once did he attempt to do the same things when they were alone doing paperwork or just enjoying each other's company. Maybe… maybe then Ghost wouldn’t stop him, maybe then he would let it happen. 

He trusted Johnny with so much already that relaxing into it wouldn’t be even that hard. But whatever they had that Ghost was too scared to put a name to -  it was between them. Them and no one else.

So what was Ghost supposed to do? He wanted Soap to tickle him in private and maybe simply asking was the best option he had - no matter how embarrassing it would be, It was Johnny.

***

They were smoking cigarettes in Ghost’s room, both leaning on the windowsill trying to get as much smoke outside through the open window. 

Ghost had his balaclava off most of the time around Soap now, inhaling slowly the pleasantly bitter smoke and preparing mentally to ask the shorter man the awkward question.

“I thought ye hate smokin’ in yer room, Lt.” Soap blew some smoke out through his nose, turning his face to the open window.

“I am allowing it today.” Ghost took one last drag of his cig and squashed it on the wall leaving an ashy spot before tossing it into the trash.

The sergeant raised his brow. “Any special occasion for such generosity, Simon?” He finished his smoke as well and threw it out of the window to Ghost’s irritation.

Ghost sat on his bed and looked up at Soap just to avert his gaze when meet with the sky blue of Soap’s eyes. He found a loose thread of his blanket really fucking entertaining suddenly, playing with it between his fingers.

“Everythin’ alright?” Soap turned his head to the side, concern evident in his voice. He sat next to Ghost, putting his hand on the other’s man knee and squeezing lightly.

A shiver run through Simon.

“M’fine. I have a question though and Soap if you laugh I will kill you.” 

“Nah, ye won’t but sure, whatever it is.”

Ghost took a deep breath. “Why do you never tickle me when we are alone?”

Soap was a little taken aback by that. “What do ye mean? I value my throat, there is a smaller chance of you choking me to death in public than without the witnesses.” He chuckled. “What? Do ye want me tae?” Soap teased.

Ghost stayed quiet.

“Simon?” John squinted, trying to look Ghost in the eyes. “Do you? Want me to…?”

Ghost shrugged at first, then he opened his mouth like he wanted to say something but ended up closing it again. Finally, he nodded.

Soap lit up. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok, sure! Yeah, ah  can do that!” The sergeant was beaming with excitement. 

A smile appeared on Ghost’s face, a small shy smile. He swayed a little back and forth trying to deal somehow with the sudden excitement. “Ok-”

Soap’s hands were suddenly at his sides. Ghost gasped and instinct told him to swat his hands away, but he was pushed to lay on the bed before he could do that. 

Ghost wasn’t tickled in what felt like and could be forever so he was a giggling mess right of the start and Johnny laughed with him. To see Ghost like that was a gem. 

Soap wanted to discover where else his lieutenant was ticklish. He caressed the inside of Simon's knee and he bend over laughing, almost kicking Johnny in his face. Soap explored some more and then his hand travelled to Ghost’s neck.

But Ghost grabbed his hand, gently this time.

“Not there, Johnny.”

Soap nodded in understanding. “Ok, feel free to stop me whenever.” He wanted to resume, but Ghost was still holding onto his hands. “Si?”

Ghost blushed deeply and guided Soap’s hands under his shirt, shivering when skin touched skin. 

“Oh”

After that Simon as well as Johnny laughed and smiled for hours, savouring the intimacy and comfort they gave to each other. They were both in good hands.

+++

After Ghost had enough, they lay together on the bed, still giggling. Simon finally looked at Soap and realised that he was looking at him already.

"Now that ah know how nice does your laugh sound I will make sure to make ye laugh more."

“I already laughed more than for the whole…  year, Johnny. Thank you.”

They were in silence for a bit.

“Ghost?”

“Mhm?”

“Would ye let anyone else do this? All the things we have done together?”

“You know the answer,  Johnny”

....

….

“Ah’m glad I get to be that person, I hope ye know that.”

And Ghost knew, so he nudged Johhny’s pinky finger with his, hooking them together.

I hope you all enjoyed it! I know I took my time with it but I am really busy with life <3 Let's pray I still can write. Also, was that admission of feelings? Did they stop being idiots? I dunno, you tell me :D Comments really motivate me, so leave one if you feel like it <3

[that-one-enby-ranger]

Alone

Day 5 of the Ranger Gathering - Alone

Pauline handed a steaming hot cup of coffee to the young man in front of her. Will had come over to visit Halt and Pauline, seeing as he had nothing else to do that day. Halt was out dealing with some robbers that were reported to be camping out somewhere close to Wensley village, but Pauline was still at the apartment, and Will took this alone time with her as an opportunity to bond.

Will and Pauline were very close, but he wasn't as close to her as he was with Halt or as Alyss was with her, so he wanted to strengthen their bond. Pauline had mutual feelings.

“So,” Pauline said, taking a seat opposite Will, “how have you been doing.”

Will took a sip of his coffee before replying. Good stuff. “Fine. Not much has been happening around the fief lately other than those robbers, but Halt’s taking care of them.”

“Yes,” Pauline said, “Halt mentioned that there hasn't been much activity for the past few months for whatever reason. But I suppose that just means that you two don't have as much work to do.”

“True,” Will agreed, “but it is nice to get out and do something instead of being cooped up inside with tons of paperwork and reports to go through.”

“Yes,” Pauline repeated, “Halt tends to complain about paperwork a lot. But you can still get out without having to track down criminals.”

“I know, but it's not as fun,” Will grinned, and Pauline smiled back.

They sat in silence for a short while, sipping their coffee and enjoying each other's company. Then Pauline spoke up.

“So,” she started casually, “what's going on between you and Alyss?”

Will looked up from his coffee mug, a little taken aback by the sudden question.

“What do you mean?”

Pauline shrugged innocently. “Just wondering, that's all.”

Will looked suspiciously at her before replying. “We see each other around, we talk and when we both have the time we try to meet up for dinner or something. She's a good friend.”

“Yes, of course,” Pauline replied, taking a careful sip of her drink, “friends.”

Will stared at her with suspicion again. “You know,” he said, “when I used to ask Halt about you and him, he would tell me to shut up before threatening to send me up a tree. And then one time he did.”

“Well then it's a good thing you're not Halt and we aren't talking about him and me.” Will didn't even bother to point out that that wasn't grammatically correct. Pauline knew what she was doing.

“Why do you want to know about Alyss and I anyway?”

Pauline shrugged innocently again, “Am I not allowed to be curious and ask questions?”

“You are,” Will replied, “but it doesn't mean you're going to get any answers.”

Pauline regarded him. “That sounds like something Halt would say.”

Will grinned. “That's because it is. He would say that exact sentence when I asked if I was allowed to be curious about something.”

Pauline laughed, “Sounds like you've picked up some habits from living with him for so long. But I'm still curious as to what's really going on with you and Alyss.” When Will didn't respond she added, “I promise I won't tell anyone.”

Will sighed. “What I told you is true. It is mainly just meeting up when we can.”

Pauline pressed on, “But?”

“But the problem is that's all it is.”

“You like her don't you? Really like her.” Pauline asked and Will nodded. “Then tell her.”

“I can't.”

“And why can't you?”

“Because I don't know if she feels the same.” Will said quietly.

“Will,” Pauline said, “if you live your life afraid of telling someone something, just because you're afraid of how they're going to feel, then one day you're going to find yourself regretting that you didn't say anything sooner, and you won't be able to tell them anymore. Trust me, it's easier to know how someone feels about something, than to live with the regret that you never bothered to find out.”

“I know,” Will replied, in a way that told Pauline that he didn't know and had never considered it. “But what if telling her ruins our friendship?”

“Trust me, it won't,” Pauline said firmly. “You two are too close for it to be completely ruined from this. The worst that would happen is your relationship is a bit rocky for a while, but it would get back to normal pretty fast.”

“What about you?” Will asked, “Were you nervous to tell Halt that you liked him?”

Pauline pretended to consider the question for a second. “Well that's pretty hard to say considering that he said it first. After he told me, it was pretty easy to say I liked him back.”

Will looked a little shocked. “He said it first?”

“I know,” Pauline replied grinning, “big surprise there. It's very hard to get that man to admit something, especially that he actually likes someone for once.” Pauline turned serious again. “Trust me Will. Tell her. I know it might be a bit scary at first, and you might have some thoughts of ‘oh my god what did I just just do?’ but in the end you'll feel better knowing that you've told her. And she hadn't told me anything, but I think it's pretty obvious that she likes you back.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

At that moment Will and Pauline turned their attention to the door as it opened and Halt walked into the apartment, muddy and with a bit of blood on his clothes. He looked at Will.

“What are you doing here?”

“Just talking to Pauline,” Will replied, then he gestured towards the blood on Halt. “Are you okay?”

“It's not mine,” Halt replied gruffly, taking off his cloak and walking into the room he shared with his wife. It was obvious to both Will and Pauline that he wasn't in the mood to talk. 

Will glanced outside through the window that was in the apartment. He saw the sun begging to dip behind the trees.

“I should get going,” he said, “thanks for talking with me, Pauline.”

“Anytime Will,” Pauline replied, smiling fondly at her surrogate. “Tell her.”

Will smiled back. “I will. Eventually.”

“That's all I ask for.”

Will waves goodbye and left the apartment. Pauline picked up the two now empty cups of coffee and placed them by the sink, planning to wash them later, and went to go help her husband clean the blood off of his clothes. God help them if he was to do it by himself.

The premise of this is that Will and Pauline have alone time just in case you missed it. That is probably the most unserious moodboard I've done because of the yapping things tbh. I didn't know what to put, and I wrote this last night so I didn't even remember what it was about and I'm too lazy to re read even though I should probably proof read it. Just don't be surprised if you see many many errors. Hope you enjoyed it, I''m gonna go stress at getting the others done now :)

[pain-is-too-tired]

Crush Culture

Pairing:

Valgrace(Leo Valdez/Jason Grace)

CW:

Mentions of neglect

Synopsis:

Jason is the crown prince to Olympus and son of one,and the highest,of the many great Lords of the lands of Hellas

Leo is the son of another great Lord, a dragon who has hidden himself away from most of Olympus.

What happens when feelings start to form?

Confusion and emotional crisis of course!

Aka. My excuse to explore customs and courting in my own au fdgdf

Also aka. Jason's autism rizz gets a whole dragon guy falling in love with him

Ao3 Link:

Jason was a mess.

He been laying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. His thoughts seemed to be rushing around his head.

He been laying there for hours at this point,partly hiding from his father and stepmother,partly having a crisis.

“You're kidding, right?” Nico,Jason's younger cousin, was leaning against the door with his arms crossed. “A dragon? Seriously?”

“I know!” Jason groaned,covering his face with his wings.

“Wow.” Percy,Jason's older cousin, whistled. “How did no one notice you sneaking out for, what, 3 months?”

Jason sighed, “I didn't have any lessons or important events…” He said. “So,I don't think anyone really cared to notice.”

“You say that like people just not keeping tract of the literal crown prince just cause they don't need him is the most normal thing in the world.” Percy grumbled.

“It's…not?”

“...Jason, buddy-”

“Not getting into your obvious situation of neglect- Jason,again,a dragon? How you even meet him? Was that the one they wanted you to take care of?” Nico asked,raising a brow.

“Well no- their his son..?” Jason laughed nervously.

“His- Your telling me you were sent on a mission to push out a dragon from an nearby cave, but instead you befriended and now have fallen in love with his son?”

“I…Maybe?”

“Damn.” Percy said, “Talk about a wild way to enter teen rebellion.”

Nico groaned, “I'm no longer letting you guys make fun of me for Will.”

“Your crush turned out to be a fae prince,Neeks.”

“Not important right now.” Nico said quickly before looking back at Jason. “What are you gonna do about this now?”

“Ignore it and hopes it goes away…?” Jason laughed nervously.

“The Nico route of having a crush I see.”

“Jackson I swear,I will throw you out that window.”

Jason sighed, burrowing his face in his pillows

“Thanks for the help guys. So encouraging.” He groaned, muffled by his pillow.

“Look, just tell him man.” Percy said. “Can't be that hard.”

Jason sat up, “I'm still not even sure if it's a crush! What if it's not? I might just be getting closer to him and just- I don't know.” Jason sighed. “I've never really had a friend like this before, how am I supposed to know what feelings are platonic or not?”

Percy and Nico looked at each other before back at Jason.

“You're seriously not sure?”

“Seriously! I don't- I've never- I don't know. It's confusing!” Jason sighed, flopping back and curling up in his wings. “I don't want to ruin our friendship. He's just- he's so nice and funny. He doesn't look at me like I'm something else. It doesn't feel like he's pretending to enjoy my company. I feel like I can be myself around him.”Jason said softly, he felt like his mind was flying fifty miles a minute.

“Yeah. That sounds like a crush dude.”

“Does it..?” Jason frowned. He wasn't sure, he never was good knowing exactly what having a crush was supposed to be like. Even though he heard it time and time again from his cousins,it never sounded too far off from platonic feelings to him. Really, the idea of dating always just sounded like a premium version of being close friends. He never quite knew the difference.

Which made what he was going through right now even more confusing. He really didn't know what he was feeling, and it scared him.

“I mean, you've been having a freak out all day thinking about him. So yeah, I say so.” Nico snorted.

“Just tell him, man.” Percy said. “Just say how you're feeling. Better than letting it build up, right?”

“But I don't know how I'm feeling!” Jason complained.

“Just try,explain what you do know. Can't end that badly if he's how you describe!” Percy grinned.

“I guess…” Jason sighed. He still wasn't sure. “I'm still not sure.”

Jason really didn't want to ruin what they did have. Leo was so kind to him. He made things so much easier to deal with. Jason was one of the only fae in his family. Something he got from their grandmother. For some reason, his father didn't want others to know. Really, his father cared too much for his image. He liked to still seem in control of his kingdom and situation,so any sentient being other than human or sorcerer was banned from Olympus.

To find someone else not at all human or sorcerer,who he felt like he could talk to without feeling like he was pushing weight off his problems onto, felt great. To be with someone who'd see his wings and tail and not either scorn or pity him for it? It was a relief.

What if having and admitting to a crush changed that?

“Okay, but there's another problem.” Nico said, pulling Jason from his thoughts. “What if you get caught seeing him? Surely they'd get suspicious at some point.”

Jason stiffened up,anxiety hit him like a boulder.

“I-I don't know. I hope they won't..maybe it'll just be them catching me sneaking out and I can make enough of an excuse that won't expose Leo.”

“You’ll still get in trouble dude. And you know we’re not here enough to bail you out.” Percy said.

“I know. They'll probably just have me on quarters arrest or something, maybe clip my feathers. I'll be fine.” Jason said softly. “I'll just make sure that I can't be followed. That's what's important.”

“Your safety is important too, Grace.” Nico said, frowning.

“I know. I'll be fine. I just…yeah, maybe I should at least try to bring this up to him. I'm just not sure how…”

“Do what feels right, you'll know it.” Percy grinned.

The next time Jason went to see Leo, he was a nervous wreck.

Managing to sneak out of the castle grounds, wearing nothing but a simple blouse under shirt and slacks that allowed him to have his tail and wings out. Something that still felt odd to do when not on his own in his room.

He flew off in his small form, able to move without easily being spotted on the sky.

His flying was atrocious, even after three months of doing this regularly, but he managed to get to their usual spot without much issue. Turning back to his common form once he was there, landing messily on his feet.

“Okay.” He breathed, talking to himself. “Alright. Good. You got this.”

Jason had a few days to think about what he really wanted to say to Leo about what's been going through his head.

Despite that, the only thing he really could clearly think about was bringing a gift of some sort. A warm orange-brownish gem he found that reminded Jason of Leo's eyes. He wasn't sure why it called to him to bring it, it felt almost instinctive when he saw it, but he thought he wouldn't hurt.

He perked up when he heard movement in the trees. Looking up at the branches, before seeing a pair of familiar ember brown eyes. He felt a flutter in his chest, like he was still flying.

“And the feathered prince arrives! Sup, sparky!” Leo laughed as he jumped down from the tree he was hiding in, landing right in front of Jason. “Thought you might not been able to come tonight!”

Jason smiled, “I managed. Had to make sure I wasn't caught and all. Oh- and I-uh- got you this?”

Jason nervously handed him the gem,anxiety pricked at him. Scared Leo would find it weird.

Leo looked confused at first, the dragon tilting his head a bit.

“A gift-? Oh, man thanks- but I didn't get you anythi-”

“No. No need.” Jason said. “Just saw it and thought of you I guess.” He blurted out without thinking. “Well, I'm mean-’

Leo's blinked at him, seeming shocked, before chuckling.

“Aww~ You think of me!” Leo said playfully, his smirk was almost enough to make Jason melt.

“Oh- Yeah- I mean- you've been very kind to me, so- thought I get something.” Jason rubbed the back of his neck.

Leo smiled.

“Well thank you very much,Sparks.” He chuckled,pocketing the gem.”Sooo,how's castle life going?”

Jason smiled back, “Nothing new, really.” He shrugged. “Cousins’ been over, that's usually chaotic in itself…what about you?” He said quickly, not wanting to get into his home life too much.

“Eeh,same ole same ole. Dad and Aglaea are away finding scrap for another of dad's projects,so Jake's in charge.” He shrugged. “He can be pretty serious about it, we have to remind him not to push himself all the time.” Leo rolled his eyes.

Jason managed a soft chuckle, he always liked hearing about Leo's family. Leo had such a close bond with his siblings.

They sat and talked like they did every time, Jason mostly listening as he really wasn't use to actually telling others about himself to begin with. Leo seemed genuinely interested in learning about him though, which was new to Jason.

He was used to nobles who liked to up themselves up to him. Leo wasn't that.

“So, like, no offense dude- but how often you preen your wings?” Leo was now hanging off a branch, his tail curled around it to keep him from falling on his head.

“I'm sorry?” Jason frowned.

“Like, you know, clean out molts and such- that's what preening is right? Only a couple of my siblings have feathers.” Leo shrugged as he swung on the branch he hung from.

“I-uh-i don't know. Why?”

Leo stopped, “You don't know?” He frowned.

“I mean- I try to get it when I'm cleaning I guess? It ain't have my wings out during the day, so-”

“Dude, no wonder you always look in pain. You're just asking for cramps!”

Jason blinked, he did have cramps on his wings but he learned to ignore it. It wasn't like he had much of a choice.

“I guess. I just…kinda do what I can to keep them healthy,I don't really know for sure how often I should be doing so.”

“Wait,really?” Leo tilting his head. “No one taught you?”

Jason shook his head, “Not really…my family's mostly sorcerers.”

“Dam.” Leo got down from the branch. “Even dad taught us how to deal with the shedding season.” He shrugged, before plopping down next to Jason.

“Yeah, well, just never really was taught. Even my governess only was allowed to teach me the basics. I think she wanted to teach me more about fae but…well, father forbade it.” Jason sighed. Lupa really was the only one who actively taught him anything he felt was important.

“What a jerk- or uh, no offense- I know he's your father and all, but good lords.” Leo snorted. “I can help with preening at some point, if you want.” He said before suddenly stuttering. “I-Well-I mean if you need the help- just get you getting better at it and such and- uh-”

Jason felt his face flush, he didn't know why the offer made him so flustered.

“I- sure, yeah- that would be nice.” He breathed. “Thank you.”

“Right. Yeah. Cool.” Leo nodded. “Of course.”

— — — — — — —

By the time that reached the end of the night, and Jason was off again, Leo's head was racing.

Well, it was always racing, but even more than usual now.

He slipped back into the cave, flopping down into his part of the nest and groaning.

“Damn. That bad?” Leo's older brother, Jake, said as he sat down beside Leo.

Leo looked up at his brother and pouted.

“I offered to help with preening-”

“You what?”

“-And he said yes.” Leo groaned. “What was I thinking?”

“He said yes??” Jake scoffed. “Oh he definitely likes you.”

Leo sat up, “He might not know allopreening and such is usually seen for family and partners! Poor guy isn't even allowed to stretch his wings out most of the time! Lords,you should see him flying!” Leo sighed. “The offer just slipped out,I didn't even think about it, I definitely didn't think he'd agree to it!”

“Okay. Even without social views of allopreening,I think he'd at least have a personal feeling about it being for people you're comfortable with.” Jake said.

Leo sighed, “I guess- and, lords- he gave me a gem-”

“A gem??” Jake's mouth went agape.

Leo nodded, taking it out of his pocket and showing him. “He said he saw it and thought of me- what am I supposed to do with that??”

Gifting gems and such was often part of dragon flirting customs,surely Jason hadn't known though. Right?

“Oh he has it bad.” Jake said.

“He probably didn't think anything of it-”

“Leo, he picked up a gem because it reminded him of you and accepted an offer to allopreening.” Jake sighed. “He's like one step away from nesting at this point. I can't believe you managed to get a crown prince to fall for you, a storm fae at that, and yet your self esteem is still at rock bottom.” He shook his head. “Just ask him out.”

Leo fell back into the nest, “What if he says no? Then I've made it awkward. I'm still processing I find him hot!”

Leo covered his face with his hands. Jason was definitely out of his league anyway.

Jake rubbed his eyes, “You are more of a demisexual disaster then my own boyfriend,dear lords, is this how Lee and Charles felt?” He grumbled to himself.

“Hey-!”

“He obviously cares about you.” Jake went on, “Even if he really turns out to not like you back, I doubt he'd hate you for it. If anything he's more likely to think you hate him if you start avoiding the topic or thinking about it.”

Leo sighed, flopping his arms out beside him.

“Yeah, yeah guess you're right.”

“Of course I am, I'm your big brother.” Jake chuckled ruffling his hair.

“Come on!” He complained,”not the hair! It's already a mess to fix with nest head!”

Both chuckle, before Jake got up,offering a hand to Leo to help.

“Come on. Let's go hunting for everyone. Past dinner anyway, Harley might start chewing on Christopher if he's not fed soon.”

“Oh Lords, I could hear the fussing already!” Leo laughed, he was thankful for Jake tugging him out and on his feet. Why he wasn't great at hunting, he often did the cooking of everything. It helped him to do something active.

As much as he hated to admit, Jake was probably right. He just needed to yank the dagger out. Even if the thought scared him,at least it would be better than having a crisis everytime Jason Grace even smiled at him.

Lords, Leo really was a mess.

[skunkox]

Sweetheart and Darlin' Knew Eachother As Kids

I have 2 headcanons for this. I would, however, like to preface this by saying that Darlin had done things ballet and / or figure skating before moving to Dahlia. Where it was enjoyed but still mostly forced upon Darlin, It was very much a choice for Sweetheart. This would be enjoyed in eachothers company.

■▪︎■▪︎■▪︎■•■

They first is that they met at a cotillion. They weren't supposed to dance together. Designated to sit at separate tables, but their chairs were back to back. In such close quarters and both having only recently awakend their cores, could feel the others aura. It only took a moment of eye contact for mistivouse smirks to down their faces.

They didn't have much time between the ending of meets and being picked up, but the two concocted a plan to have at least a little fun.

They hijacked the ball. At least, the closing dance portion of it. Smash Mouths' "All Star" blared on the computer. After fained confusion fron the both of then, Sweetheart having pretended to have just come back from the restroom, began dancing. It was only a matter of seconds before the other children joined.

Disappointed parents began grabbing their children off of the dance floor. The two were both yanked off by their respective parents. Sweetheart in trouble for having used their powers around the unempowered. Darlin' for embarrassing their parents. They only had enough time to wave to each other one last time.

●•●•●•●

The second Headcanon is that they were in a larger friend group as kids (5). The only empowered in the group. Sweetheart rode a bike while Darlin' a skateboard. Outside of the group, Darlin and Sweetheart spent the most time together at their practice. Often partnered up together because Darlin' would become too awkward and stiff to work with anyone else.

Their free time was spent at the skatepark. Sweetheart used to carry a camcorder. Catching fails and the kids being general punks. Sometimes, the group would pass the camera around and share their hopes and dreams.

What are those hopes and dreams? I'm not telling yet.

●•●•●•●•●

Regardless of the situation the two lost touch. When Sweetheart could make it to pack meetings, Darlin avoided and dodged them like the plauge. They didn't want them to see the husk of who they once were. Nor to feel they'd have to open up more to their pack. Mentions felt high enough already, and the last thing they wanted to see was for an old friend to turn away from them in favor of a mate. So Darlin turned away first.

Sweetheart couldn't understand why they never wanted to talk. And it hurt. Maybe that's how growing pains were. But did it have to be? They connected so easily before. They felt close before, regardless of the physical time spent together. Milo asked about the situation, but they were always vague about it.

"They just seemed familiar. " is what they'd usually say. If Milo were to ask Darlin themselves, they'd play dumb. This also would become a strain on Darlin's relationship with the pack.

■▪︎■▪︎■▪︎■▪︎■

I am very much so projecting my version of Darlin' and Sweetheart. I always see stuff for Angel and Babe being close. And for obvious reasons. I'm not big on Milo's videos for the simple fact I absolutely hate horror. My imagination is a little too vivid for it. But I do enjoy his main story and would like to do more with Sweetheart as a character.

This is probably a part one. The second or maybe third installment should be a fic if there is one. Which version of the story do you like better? I'm leaning towards thr larger friendgroup story but it's funny thinking of these two pre-teens absolutely reaking havoc at a fancy party.

[sparrowofthedawnsworld]

Last Minute Changes - Sam Kiszka

A/N: Here she is, in all her filth and glory!! I was watching Dirty Dancing the other night and have also been goofing around with some of my old dance routines. I always wish I had stuck with dance, but who knows… Maybe I’ll end up going back. Anyways, enjoy! I love you all!

DISCLAIMER: I haven’t danced in YEARS okay, so forgive me for my lack of proper terms in this fic - as I honestly don’t remember most of them.

WARNINGS: Sam and Reader don’t get along, Light-ish angst, arguing, harsh language. Contains explicit sexual content! 18+, Minors DNI! Hate fucking, degradation, choking, slapping, spanking, mirror play, oral (both receiving), edging, fingering, unprotected sex.

Masterlist

••••

You ran towards the doors of the dance studio, holding a random hoodie that was in your car over your head to shield yourself from the rain.

It certainly hadn’t been one of your best mornings ever and of course, the sky decided to fall out in a torrential downpour.

“For fucks sake,” you muttered in annoyance, yanking the the door of the building open.

“Hey, Y/N! You okay?” One of the dancers there - Danny, had asked with a concerned expression.

“It’s been a shitty morning… but I’ll be fine once I start dancing.” You told him honestly, giving him a halfhearted smile. “How are you?”

“I understand. It’s definitely not been my best morning either. I’m okay, though,” Danny admitted with a light chuckle. “But, I have to get going so I can work on my routine with my partner. Have fun and I hope your day gets better, Y/N!”

“Have fun! I can’t wait to see it!” You waved him off, walking down the opposite hallway to your own practice room.

The dance company that you were part of, was participating in a huge dance competition in two days. This was the most pressure you’d ever been under, wanting to be absolutely perfect for the sake of not only your partner, but also for the entire dance company. There was nothing any of you would love more than to win this competition; the effort, time and tears each of you were putting into your routines, was something all of you deserved some recognition for.

There were a number of you picked for duet dances, the rest of the company being left with the freedom of solo pieces. You had been one of the first dancers picked to be part of a duet, with another boy in your company named Luke.

You and Luke had practiced every day (even into some late nights), for the last two weeks. You were both incredibly proud of your routine and the chemistry the pair of you seemed to share.

You came up to the door of your assigned room, looking around in slight surprise that Luke wasn’t there yet - Especially since you both had yesterday off to get some much needed rest.

Figuring he was just running a little bit behind, you decided to just start warming up without him.

Nearly fifteen minutes passed and you got up from the floor, walking over to check your phone to see if you had maybe missed a text or call from him.

Suddenly, the door was being opened and you looked up with hopeful eyes, but your face quickly dropped upon seeing your teacher.

“Miss Y/N! Lovely to see you’re well,” Mrs. Scott greeted with a sympathetic smile that made your face twist in confusion. You returned a warm smile anyway and she continued. “Unfortunately, I have some bad news…”

“What is it…?” You hesitated to even ask, worried that it may have something to do with Luke.

“Luke has fallen sick. He said he started feeling bad last night.” She explained, with a disappointed shake of her head. “This means either I will have to assign you a new partner, or you will sadly have to back out of the competition this weekend.”

“Excuse me Mrs. Scott, but how am I supposed to teach and learn our whole routine with somebody else, in just two days at that?” You panicked, hands becoming shaky and clammy.

“You are incredibly talented, my dear. I think you can manage just fine. I have the utmost confidence in you.” She answered genuinely, with an expectant look.

You stayed silent for a moment, processing everything she had just dumped on you in such short notice. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, but it undeniably felt horrible and a bit unfair.

“Who would my partner be?” you asked her, mind running through all the people who were dancing solo and could do it.

“I was going to pair you with Sam Kiszka.”

You found yourself fighting back a groan at Mrs. Scott’s words. The urge to back out of the competition, didn’t seem nearly as bad as before.

You stared at the ground silently, while your mind raced in circles.

“Does that not sound like a fair plan?” Mrs. Scott asked, raising her eyebrows questioningly at your sudden silence. “Sam is fantastic and could learn your routine very quickly. I would hate for you to have to withdraw from the competition, when you have a solution right in front of you.”

You knew she was expecting you, as your longtime teacher, to see this through - Despite the time crunch and doubled pressure you were now being practically crushed and suffocated under.

“I… No, yeah… I guess that will work. We can make it work.” You nodded in -hesitant- agreement, letting out a ragged breath.

“Like I said, I have the utmost confidence in you AND Sam.” Mrs. Scott reiterated. “I’ll go and get him for you.”

With that, she disappeared out of the studio door to retrieve Sam.

Sam was probably one of the most skilled dancers in the entire company. You had no doubt he could learn your entire routine in the two short days you had. It really came down to the fact that he could be a nightmare to work with. He was snappy and so easily irritated by everything it seemed. You thought you were a perfectionist… until you met Sam. He would definitely have something to correct about your routine. Sure, you were open to helpful criticism, but he didn’t seem to have a good grasp on how to deliver constructive criticism very nicely.

You paced around in front of the mirror lined wall, glancing at yourself in it every few seconds - Looking like a flustered mess.

You practically jumped out of your own skin when you heard the door swing open, whipping around to see Sam sauntering in. Sporting an unfazed expression. Shocker.

“Alright,” Sam sat down on the floor, stretching out his legs casually. “Tell me about this routine, I guess.”

“Well… t’s really sensual and sexy,” you began, trying to stay cool as you broke it all down for him. “Lots of touching, very intense emotionally… Seductive. It’s to the song ‘Crazy In Love’, but the Fifty Shades Of Grey version.“

Sam’s lips twitched at the corners with an amused scoff as you finished explaining. “Surprised you would do such a risky routine.”

“Why?” You scoffed, cocking an eyebrow at him.

“Don’t know really.” Sam shrugged. “You just don’t seem like the type to do such an erotic number.”

You let out a humorless laugh, looking at him in disbelief.

“Especially to that song.” Sam added, with a pointed expression that made your blood start to boil. “I hope you can pull off being obsessively in love and seductive.”

Your teeth gritted in irritation as your jaw clenched painfully tight. “I guess you’ll know soon, won’t you?”

~

“That’s sloppy.” Sam huffed for the thousandth time, stepping away from you.

The two of you had been practicing since the early morning, when your plans were so suddenly changed. It was now after eleven o’clock at night and both of you were tired and irritated, but neither of you were ready to quit - feeling pressure of having less than forty-eight hours now, to complete the routine.

The routine that Sam had been nitpicking at all day.

“Jesus CHRIST, Sam. What do I need to fucking fix?” You snapped rather loudly, not caring about your volume. You were the only two left in the building anyway.

“A lot of shit! We need to switch up some of these moves. We’re supposed to be toxic and sexy and intense.” Sam emphasized frustratedly. “You expect these judges to believe any of this shit you came up with? Because I certainly wouldn’t buy it.”

Your mouth gaped at his harsh words, hands balling into fists at your sides. “For fucks sake! We’re dancing, Sam! Not fucking on the stage, for god’s sake!” You raised your voice, gesturing around wildly as if there was a stage nearby.

“But the same level of passion and energy needs to go in this god forsaken dance!” Sam argued, matching your volume. “You act like I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing!”

���My GOD, I never said you don’t! I said we don’t have the time to change these fucking moves, Sam!”

“I suggest you stop yelling at me or I will walk the fuck out of here right now!” Sam hissed, taking a step closer to you with a pointed finger.

You drew in a quick breath, trying to calm yourself down as best you could, despite your raging anger that Sam and all the stress had caused.

“Maybe we should take a break.” You suggested dryly, looking at the two of your bodies in the mirror.

“Fine. Fifteen, then we’ll come back and we’re gonna try some other moves.” Sam told you, as if it wasn’t up for any sort of discussion.

You didn’t even bother answering him, snatching up your water bottle and storming out of the door. You bee lined it to the front doors, desperate to feel some cooler, night time air on your skin in hopes that it would sooth you.

Unfortunately for you, the anger was so deep set in you that even the crisp, late night air wasn’t quite enough to calm you down.

Regardless, your break was coming to an end and you had to go back into that god forsaken, mirrored room with Sam.

You breathed in the nighttime air, mentally repeating as many encouraging and uplifting things to yourself as you could. The two of you would surely be much better after this break, right? It was definitely naive to even hope that just this little fifteen, would solve your problems and relieve all your anger. - On not just your end, but Sam’s as well.

Sighing in partial defeat, you swing the door open and made your way back to your practice room.

Pausing just outside the door, you heard the song for the routine playing. It almost made you wonder if Sam had even taken a break, or if he had just sent you off to take one.

You shoved the door open, watching Sam work through different moves that you had been arguing about changing, since you started teaching him the routine.

Sam caught sight of you out of the corner of his eye as you made your way deeper into the room and stopped, walking over to shut the music off and turning back to you.

“You ready to cooperate?” Sam snipped, a sharp edge still lingering in his tone, showing you he definitely hadn’t done much calming down.

“Are you gonna compromise?” you countered, trying to sound much calmer than you really felt.

Sam sighed in half annoyance, half defeat, throwing his hands up and out dramatically. “Fine, yes. Whatever gets us out of here faster.”

“It’s almost midnight, can you please cool your jets? Just a little?” You chided, putting your water bottle down beside your phone.

It felt pointless to even ask. Sam was clearly not calming down anytime soon.

“Let’s try and run this with the music.” Sam said, completely ignoring your plea.

You sighed in defeat, picking up your phone and searching for ‘Crazy In Love.’

The run through with the music was… a mess to say the very least.

Both of you messed up in multiple places and collided awkwardly in moments where the moves just weren’t flowing.

Of course, this would all happen with Sam. You never had any of these issues with Luke.

Sam marched over to the speaker, shutting it off from there.

“Oh, my god.” Sam tangled his fingers in his hair, rubbing at his head in frustration. “Yeah, we’re changing like… everything.”

“Whatever the hell you wanna do, Sam.” You hissed venomously. “It’s not like we only have less than two days now or anything.”

“You know what, Y/N? Why don’t you go the fuck home and let me work this shit out on my own? I’ll rework some of this and teach it to you tomorrow.” Sam threw his arm out and pointed at the door, hurling just as much venom back at you.

“And hopefully you can learn it that quick.”

Your jaw clenched painfully in anger and you stormed over to all your belongings, snatching them up in your arms.

Jerking the door open, you turned to Sam one last time. He was frozen in place in the middle of the room, arms crossed over his chest.

Absolutely fuming, you snapped the final words of the night between the two of you.

“Fuck you. Do whatever you want.”

<>

The next evening’s practice with Sam rolled around way quicker than you had hoped it would. Not a single part of you wanted to go back.

When you finally entered that same practice room, neither of you could be bothered to even mumble a dry “hey,” to the other. It was torturously silent in the room, until Sam had finally started to explain all the things he had changed - Going as far as dancing it out for you to the song.

“So,” Sam finished, shutting off the music.

All you had really gathered so far was that it was practically a whole new routine. He left maybe one of your own moves. Two if you were lucky.

“Think you can do all that?”

You fought against the urge to cuss him out, feeling just as angered (if not more) than you were when you left last night. But, in light of just wanting to get this whole evening done and over with as quickly as possible, you swallowed down your anger and agreed.

“Yep.” You nodded once. “I can do that.”

~

The two of you ran over the routine piece by piece, with as much patience as either of you could find within yourselves. And there certainly wasn’t much patience to be found.

It was nearing midnight and the amount of times you guys had tried to run your routine in full -but failed- Well… both of you had stopped counting.

“For fucks sake!” Sam’s voice rang out angrily over the music. Your own aggravated groan ringing out not long after. “”Yep! I can do that!” He spat, mocking your words from earlier dramatically.

“SHUT the fuck UP, oh my god!” You yelled back. Neither of you bothered pausing the song, far too lost in fury to even care anymore.

At least the two of you were (once again) the only two in the building.

“I got all the fucking moves right! What else could you possibly want?!”

“I want some damn emotion!“ Sam threw his hands out towards you, gesturing around to your body and face. “I mean, jesus christ! Be seductive! Obsessive, sexy. Be a fucking whore!”

“I think you’d be better off being the goddamn whore! Hell, you’re already a brat!” You shot back, through clenched teeth.

“Watch. Your mouth.” Sam seethed, stepping a little closer to you than you had expected, but you stood firmly in your spot. “How about you put all this bitchy energy into this dance, huh? Cause being a bitch has to be good for something, right?”

You took a step closer to him this time, your body acting long before your mind had processed what you were even doing.

With both hands, you shoved into Sam’s chest roughly, causing him to stumble backwards. His look of utter shock didn’t last long, before his eyes darkened and flashed with something you couldn’t hardly process.

“Do that shit again. I fucking dare you.”

As you and Sammy stared each other down, It felt like the music was somehow blaring even louder than before, as the song was set to repeat over and over again.

“I can’t fucking stand you.” your voice was drenched with pure anger, but way Sam was staring at you, had your stomach twisting in an undeniably delicious way.

“Well, I need you to be obsessed.” Sam spoke in an unwavering, low tone. “Absolutely desperate.”

Sam took a few steps forward, getting rid of most of the space that was between the two of you. He peered down at you, and as much as you hated to admit it, his fiery gaze started to make you feel small.

“Show me you can be the part, or I will help you fucking learn.” Sam growled.

A sick, twisted part of you wanted to push him further. The urge to make him run this whole dance again and you fuck something up on purpose, just to see what he would really do… Well, it was becoming harder and harder to ignore.

“Get the fuck off my case, Kiszka. I know what I’m doing.” You bit flippantly. “You’re such a dick.”

“Then god damnit, Y/N, DO IT.” Sam’s voice raised. Had you not been half expecting it, you might have cringed slightly at his volume.

“Cause I’m sure as hell getting sick and tired of being here with you.”

Storming over to speaker, you started the song over for what was easily the millionth time and went back to your starting position. Sam was already in his, giving you a bone chilling stare.

The two of you started moving towards each other in perfect synchronicity. Truthfully, if it weren’t for the raging anger in both of you, you’d probably be doing this whole routine perfectly. Alas - doing this dance sans the rage, was probably not going to happen. Not even at the competition; unless both of you were miraculously lucky.

In a half decent attempt at looking past your anger and exhaustion, you followed Sam’s lead, delivering each move beautifully. You could tell Sam was letting himself get deeper into it, almost fully diving into the part.

Obsessive. Sexy. Intoxicating. Crazy.

He pulled you into his body and you continued to follow his lead, coming close to the section your routine where you had found yourself falling apart every single time. It was so intense. Sam was demanding something from you that you secretly didn’t believe was there.

“Don’t fucking fall apart on me.” Sam spoke loudly over the music, demanding you to keep it together and follow through the way you had been so far. “Put a little more passion in it. It’s not that damn hard.”

Spinning you around, you listened to his demands and began growing hot. ‘Perhaps I could pull from your anger’ you thought to yourself. Maybe you could shift that energy into some warped and twisted form of passion somehow. That was probably the only way you were gonna get it… At least to the level Sam was looking for, anyway.

Mentally hyping yourself up and diving into your raging anger that Sam had provoked the last two nights, you mustered up as much courage as you could - hoping and praying it would carry you through these next few moments.

“Fucking finally. Keep going,” For once, Sam sounded half pleased with what you were giving him.

You said nothing back, hyper focused on not crumbling into your awkwardness. Again.

Everything was going perfectly and you were finally a little over halfway through the routine. It felt like it was taking forever to get through it; having to look deep into Sam’s eyes with an intensity that had you wanting to throw up and fall to pieces. You couldn’t though. No matter how badly you wanted to pry away from his burning touches and look away from his still cold, fiery eyes, it was all too good. The two of you were bound to win with this… So long as you kept yourself together.

However, while you were busy fighting with yourself to stay focused, Sam had a problem of his own. Between all his built up frustrations and anger, mixed with the lust that he was supposed to be exuding into this routine, the lust slowly became much more real for Sam than it was for you. Sure, it was driven solely on his exasperated state, but so was the distorted “passion” you were pushing out.

Sam took a firm hold on your arm, pulling you roughly, but rhythmically into his body. Damn him for keeping this move of yours. Of the few he decided to keep - this one; the one that had put you in the predicament of having to go over this dance, over and over again with him - is one of the ones he kept.

The two of you sunk down to floor together. You hadn’t met his eyes just yet, but you were anxiously counting away the beats that were leading you up to the intense moment… The crescendo of the whole thing.

Sam grabbed both sides of your face and your eyes shot up to his. His grip on your cheeks, forcing you to keep your eyes locked with his. You kept your eyes fixed on his for as long as you could, determined to finally make it through the rest of the routine. Sam’s hands traveled from your face and down your body, as you slowly started to stand back up together. Even though you’d made it a few good seconds passed where you had previously been losing it, you began to falter yet again.

“God damnit, keep your eyes on mine!” Sam commanded, chasing after your gaze that had abandoned him, to stare at your reflections in one of the large mirrors. “Y/N, I swear to god!”

You groaned in vexation, ripping Sam’s hands off your body aggressively. Turning away from him, you sighed heavily. You were doing everything you could to try and understand why you were just so flustered. Was it Sam? Was it doing such a handsy piece with a new partner? The stress of how little time you had to get this, and you still hadn’t even run the whole thing through flawlessly?

All of the above seemed to resonate deeply, which didn’t make you feel much better at all.

Sam came up behind you, eerily quiet , causing you to tense. You could feel every bit of the hot-blooded, fierce energy that was pouring out of him. It filled the room with a suffocating heat and palpable tension.

“What did I tell you, Y/N?”

Your breath hitched as his now raspy voice, broke through the music that was still bouncing around the four walls. Your brain searched frantically through the countless things he’d said to you tonight, eventually landing on the one you knew he was probably alluding to.

“”Show me you can be the part, or I’ll help you fucking learn.”” you weakly quoted his words from earlier perfectly.

“Exactly.” Sam reached out for you, turning you around to face him. You didn’t dare meet his eyes. “Look. At. Me.”

It took you what seemed like forever to meet his command. You eyes trailed around the floor for a moment, finally landing on his feet. From there, you raked your eyes nervously up his body - taking note of how his hands were fisted at his sides. His shoulders were visibly tight and his face was flaming bright red.

“You’re an absolute nightmare to work with, you know that?” Sam questioned, as if you genuinely didn’t know you were being difficult.

“Sam, i-“

“Shut up.” Sam barked, stepping closer to you. “I think you need a little bit of an incentive. What do you think, doll?”

The pet name rolled off Sam’s tongue effortlessly, sending a wave of fresh heat through your body when it reached your ears. It made you even more irritated that he was getting to you.

“I don’t need help. I can get it, let’s just do it aga-“

“Absolutely fucking not. I’m not doing this god forsaken routine again-“ Sam closed the remaining space between your bodies, poking your chest pointedly. “-Until I believe you can do it without screwing it up.”

“Oh, do tell me, how the fuck do you expect me to prove that?“ You snarled, stepping back from him.

He took another step forward, not wanting any new space between the two of you.

“I want you to prove to me that you can keep your eyes on mine.” Sam told you, as if it was obvious. “We drop eye contact, we lose the intensity of this whole damn thing. We lose focus. You end up out of touch with me and that, doll, is what is royally fucking us up.”

You scoffed loudly. Even though Sam had made a seriously valid point, you still didn’t quite understand how he intended to get you to prove anything to him.

“Am I just too much for you?” Sam taunted, leaning down to come nose to nose with you. “Do I make the poor little brat shy?”

“No.” You stood your ground, trying to remain firm and cool. “You’re just insufferable to be around and work with.”

“Mmm, then we’re just two peas in a pod, aren’t we?f” He jested dryly, rolling his eyes. “You know…” Sam’s hand raised to your face, causing you to jolt when the back of one of his fingers came in contact with your warm temple. “I think behind this little bitchy attitude, you’re dying for me to show you what I want you to do.”

You blinked away from him, trying your absolute damnedest to keep heat from rushing to your cheeks.

“I’m only being bitchy because YOU are bringing it out of me.” Despite your efforts to keep your voice strong, it still came out shaky and overly defensive. Not meeting his eyes, was definitely not helping your case either.

“See?!” Sam huffed an exasperated and humorless laugh. His finger found your jaw and tilted your head forward, but your eyes didn’t follow - Looking absolutely anywhere but Sam. “You’re already doing it again. Come on, look at me… right in my eyes. Be a big girl and do it.”

When you stubbornly still didn’t listen to him, Sam settled on a different approach. He turned you towards the mirror, moving to face it with you.

Feeling the growing wetness between you legs, you quickly tried to dig your way out. “Sam, what are you doing? Let’s just take a brea-“

“No breaks. If you won’t look at me, look at yourself,” Sam cut you off, pointing at your reflection. Finding the will to fight him growing thin, you caved, slowly raising your eyes to meet with your own in the mirror. “So flustered and pink. You’re just too sweet to do this. Maybe I should find a different partner…”

Sam’s words definitely stung and you hated that they did. You gave him a single glance as you spat back. “Fuck you, prick.”

With a widening smirk, you words clearly barely even scratched the surface. They were utterly amusing him if anything. “You would love that, wouldn’t you?”

Your eyes fell down to your arm, where his fingertips were grazing the skin of your shoulder, just shy of the strap of your sports bra and trailing down your arm. You cursed the chill that shook your spine and the goosebumps that formed over your skin, because they definitely didn’t go unnoticed to Sam.

“You’re so reactive to me…” He teased lowly, watching you closely in the mirror. His fingers stopped at your wrist and moved over to your exposed torso, running across the hem of your leggings. “I think this might be the motivation you need.”

“What? A good hate-fuck? Yeah, that’s just what I need.” you snarked. “You probably can’t last long enough for that to even be an effective solution.”

It slipped past your lips before you could stop it. You had said some questionable things to him, but judging by the shade of red that his face took on, these were definitely the words that hit him the hardest.

Within a blink, you were being abruptly turned back towards Sam and his hand found your jaw in a grip that could take you straight to your knees.

“Listen you little mouthy brat, I will fuck you so hard you can’t even fucking stand tomorrow. Then what? Neither of us get to fucking win. How does that sound?” Sam stared you down like he was ready to throw you across the room.

Reaching up, you pried his hand off your jaw and held it away from you. “I think that sounds like an empty fucking threat.” you hissed back, knowing good and well you were challenging him. It was easily close to one in the morning now, so fuck it. There was very little chance of getting anything else done tonight anyway.

Sam closed the gap between the two of you, yanking your whole body into his so forcefully it had you both stumbling. Your teeth clashed with his, but neither of you cared even the slightest bit. His tongue fought against yours for dominance, which he won by tangling a hand into your hair and pulling it roughly.

“At least so far your mouth is good for something other than making bitchy comments.” Sam shot as he pulled away to catch his breath.

“As much of a dick as you are, I hope you know how to use yours.” You shot right back, earning you a harsh smack to your outer thigh that had your knees buckling.

“Oh, pretty baby, you’re about to find out.” Sam smiled wickedly. It was probably the first smile you had seen out of him, in the two days you’d spent with him so far. “On your knees, I’m tired of listening to you.”

You sunk to your knees immediately, as if you had absolutely no control over your body anymore. Sam took a step back from you, taking the hem of his shirt in his hands and pulling it over his head. His fingers found the tie of his sweatpants, tugging it lose.

You watched his thumbs hook into the waistband and spoke up in protest. “What if I wanted to take them off you?“

“You haven’t earned that. You’ll be lucky if you even get to touch me at all.”

The only thing that stopped the annoyed groan from coming out of you, was the sudden view of Sam’s hardened cock as he shoved his sweats and boxers down his legs.

He looked as though he’d already been achingly hard for a while. He ran his thumb over his tip, soaking it completely with his pre cum.

“Open.” Sam commanded, gesturing to your mouth with his hand. You did as he told you, slowly opening your mouth up for him.

Sam’s thumb dipped into your mouth, giving you a taste of himself. “Go ahead… suck it.”

Without hesitation, you closed your mouth around Sam’s thumb, sucking every drop of his pre cum off with a barely audible moan.

But, even though he couldn’t hear it, the tiny vibration it sent through his finger was definitely a give away.

“Yeah, you would love this,” Sam scoffed down at you. “You’re just a submissive little thing, just like I thought.”

“Far fucking from it, asshole.” You lied and he knew it.

“As easily as I got you down on your knees, I’d say otherwise.” Sam snickered, beginning to stroke himself right in front of your face.

The drool that formed in your mouth at the sight of him was embarrassing. It was a damn good thing he couldn’t see it, because it would just be one more thing for him to make a snarky comment on.

“Just fuck my face already. Maybe I’ll pass out and won’t have to deal with you anymore tonight.” you huffed, licking over your lips.

“Bold words for a girl who can’t even look me in the eyes.” Sam retorted, grabbing your jaw and forcing your head back. “But since you asked…”

You opened your mouth for Sam and he slid himself in, giving you time to feel out how he felt in your mouth and his size.

After you adjusted and got comfortable, you slowly began moving your head up and down his length. Your hands gripped at each of his thighs, digging into the soft skin as you took him all the way to the back of your throat, earning a groan of approval from him.

“Fuck. That mouth could get you in so much trouble and get you out of it, all at once.” Sam groaned, head tipping back as his eyes gazed up to the ceiling blissfully.

Sam let you keep control for a while, until he figured you were comfortable enough. “You want me to fuck your mouth now? Hmm? Fuck all of those rude words right out?”

You nodded around him, but didn’t even try to hold back the exaggerated eye roll you gave at his words. Grabbing each side of your face with his large, calloused hands, he slid in and out of your mouth slowly, but rhythmically at first.

“This rude little mouth takes me so perfectly,” Sam rasped out, fucking into your throat harder.

“Who would have thought.”

You hummed around him, too focused on breathing to really listen to what he was saying. Even though he was being an ass, the few things you did choose to listen to, didn’t fail to send waves of wetness quite possibly soaking through your leggings completely.

“Look up at me. C’mon, be a big girl and look at me while I fuck your pretty face.” Sam’s thumb rubbed over you cheek, a much softer gesture compared to the force his hips were snapping into your mouth.

You squeezed your eyes, preparing yourself to look up at him. There was no way you were gonna let him win. You had to prove him you could do it.

Opening your eyes, they traveled up his toned, thin, chest. You hadn’t really had much opportunity to admire him, but you were definitely gonna take it now. Sam was so perfectly and intricately sculpted. He was painful to look at, really.

Finally meeting his eyes, Sam had the filthiest smirk plastered over his lips. You despised that smirk… And how it alone made you wetter than any man ever had.

“There they are… those innocent little eyes.” Sam cooed tauntingly, hips slightly faltering in your mouth.

“Mm, you didn’t think I was gonna cum in your mouth, did you?”

You gasped to fill your lungs back up with air, as Sam pulled out of your mouth.

“You don’t deserve to taste all of me like that.”

A noise of disappointment tumbled out of you before you could stop it. Thankfully, Sam chose to ignore it in light of the other plans on his mind.

Before you could even try to stand up, Sam was sinking to the floor in front of you.

“You’re not really gonna fuck me right here on the floor…?” You asked incredulously.

“Where else am I gonna fuck you stupid?” Sam questioned, sounding as if your question was the biggest inconvenience. “Unless you want me to take you up against the mirror.”

A brief glance at the mirror caused his eyes to darken even more and without another word, he was moving around to sit behind you.

“Sam, what are you doing?”

“Just turn and face the mirror and be quiet.” Sam ordered, not really giving you the time to move on your own - rather helping you along with a bruising grip on your shoulders.

“Okay… Now what?” you questioned, sounding horribly impatient.

“Christ, how many times do I have to tell you to shut your mouth?” Sam wondered aloud in annoyance, swinging a leg around so that he had one on either side of you. His fingertips trailed up your arm, all the way up to the strap of your sports bra.

Pulling the wide strap away from your shoulder, he released it with a loud snap against your skin.

“Fuck- Sam!” You hissed, hand reaching across your chest to cling to the burning spot on your shoulder.

Sam let out a low chuckle, moving your hair around to your opposite shoulder and pecking soft kisses to the back of your neck.

“What? I want it off.”

With a shaky hand, you reached up to the front zipper running down the middle, wincing at the sound it made. An obnoxious reminder of what you were about to do.

“Jesus christ…” Sam mumbled, unabashedly marveling at your chest as you pulled your bra away from your body.

Barely giving you any time to get it off and toss it to the side, his hands came around to cup both of your breasts in his hands.

A shaky breath was all you were willing to let slip, not wanting him to know just how much his touch was setting your body ablaze with need.

“Is your dress for the competition tomorrow night low cut?” Sam asked seemingly out of the blue, staring at your breasts through the mirror.

Your brows knitted together in confusion. “What?”

Sam’s fingers grazed across the swell of your breasts, all the way up to your collarbones. “Will the judges be able to see all this pretty skin?”

“I mean… Yeah, probably so don’t-“

Sam shifted, pulling you down to lay back against his leg. He leaned down over you, mouth sucking dark hickeys along your chest.

“Sam, fuck- You can’t-“ You choked out. Not a single part of you truly wanted him to stop, though. “Damnit, Sam..”

“Yeah, you’re gonna need to cover these up,” Sam smirked wickedly. Of course, he’d put them there just to make your life a little harder. “Don’t worry, I’ll leave you a few that you won’t have to put makeup on…”

You relaxed a little deeper into his arms, subtly pushing your chest out more for him. His mouth continued leaving hickeys scattered around your chest, going back over different ones to make them darker. Growing too hot for the leggings you were still wearing, you hooked your thumbs into the hem, not even pushing them down an inch before Sam stopped you.

“Did I tell you to take those off yet?” Sam asked lowly, barely lifting his mouth away from your skin.

“No… But it’s hot.” You huffed, going back to shoving them down your hips.

“You’ve been dancing how many hours now and these are just now getting too hot for you?” Sam smacked one of your hands away, replacing it with one of his own.

“Just take them off, I guess, since you’re obviously not gonna listen.”

You didn’t even try to suppress the smirk that tugged at the corners of your lips. That was definitely going down as a win for you, even though he was right; you were definitely not going to listen.

“Look at that…” Sam gasped in faux shock.

You looked at him in confusion once again, but followed his eyes.

“Oh..” Your eyes landed on the wet spot that had formed over your panties.

“How are you so shy, but such a whore all at once…?” Sam wondered, gliding his fingers over the top of your left thigh. You watched his fingers trace around silently, holding your breath in anticipation for where they were going.

“As much as I’d love to make you beg…” Sam pushed your panties to the side, coating his fingers in your slick and slowly began sinking them inside you. “I’m tired of listening to you talk.”

“Fuck you-“ you snapped through a gasp. Sam moved the two of you around, tilting your face towards the mirror as his fingers continued their slow pace.

“Look at yourself. Fucking pathetic, right?” Sam locked eyes with you through the mirror and you avert yours immediately. “That’s what I was hoping you would do.”

Sam’s thumb joined the mix, rubbing agonizingly slow circle into your clit. A moan of relief bubbled out of you before you could stop it.

“I bet that does feel good, doesn’t it?”

You nodded, fully leaning back against the front of Sam’s body.

“Here’s the catch, baby doll,” Sam grinned evilly. Pulling his fingers out of you, he gestured for you to raise your hips up. Skillfully, he tugged your panties down your legs, throwing them to the side somewhere to join your bra and leggings.

With a glance up at the mirror to try and catch your eyes, surprisingly he did and before you could tear your eyes away, he started to speak again. “If you look away, I’ll stop everything… How does that sound?”

“I think that sounds like a dick move.” You breathed out, not sounding nearly as harsh as you wanted to.

“Well, you’ve gotta learn somehow princess. You wanna win, right?” He spoke right into your ear.

A particular curl of his fingers as the slid back into you, sent you lurching forward and grabbing at his wrist. Accompanied by a loud moan that was loud enough to drown out the repeating Beyoncé song.

Sam’s free arm wrapped around you, jerking you back to his chest and holding you there. “Settle down, doll face and look up.”

You forced your eyes up to meet your obscene reflections.

Sam’s hand was buried between your thighs, other arm tightly around your upper body to hold you in place. His face was right beside yours, with perfect access to all the places he needed: Your neck to bite and suck on as he pleased, or your neck - to lean in and whisper his cocky demands.

“Oh, god, Sam…” You whined, eyes closing in pleasure as you circle your hips into Sam’s hand harder.

A dull burn had already started to form in the pit of your stomach. Sam had his own way of knowing of your building orgasm; watching you clench around him through the mirror.

“You better open those eyes if you wanna cum.” Sam warned, pressing his thumb deeper into your bundle of nerves.

“I c-can’t.“ you gritted out, only able to keep your eyes open for a few seconds at a time.

“Mm, that’s too bad.” Sam pulled his fingers out of you, bringing his soaked fingers up to your mouth.

“Open.”

You turned your head away from him, like a baby turning away from food they don’t want.

Sam’s arm wrapped from around you and shoved you forward onto your hands.

“Why are you so fucking impossible? A stubborn. hard-headed. brat.” Sam delivered three harsh smacks to the swell of your ass, each one significantly harder than the one before.

“Sam!” You cried, fingernails digging painfully into the hard floor in search of something to grab onto.

“Should I keep going, or are you gonna do what I say now?” He questioned with raised eyebrows, watching you slouch deeper into the floor.

“I’ll listen, I’ll listen.” you rushed out, looking up to watch Sam without him even having to ask.

Just to be a dick, Sam gave one more harsh smack right over the same spot.

“Atta girl.”

In reward, Sam’s fingers dipped into you again, attacking a whole new spot inside you thanks to the new position.

You moaned loudly, completely giving up on holding to your stubborn act. Sam bit his lip as he watched you. The way you were drinking in your entire appearance and just the current situation you were in. Your eyes swept over your own face, taking in your flushed cheeks and the way your mouth hung open slightly open, letting out little gasps and whines. Then on to the rest of your body: Your arms, the way they shakily held you up as Sam’s fingers sent shock waves of pleasure through your body. Your chest, heaving up and down unevenly with each breath. And finally, you pushed yourself a little, eyes landing on where you were connected with Sam’s fingers.

“Awfully vane of you to only look at yourself.” Sam scoffed, deepening the angle of his fingers. “Looking at yourself isn’t gonna do you much good. I’m the one you need to look at.”

You released a noise of irritation, but your eyes traveled up his arm and up to meet his eyes nonetheless.

Sam undeniably had gorgeous eyes, along with an intensity to them that seemed as though they could burn holes into literally anything and anyone.

You fluttered around Sammy’s fingers, trying not to become dizzy as your heart pounded away rapidly in your chest.

“I think you like this. Am I that nice to look at?”

Your blood began to boil at his cockiness and what was once a pleasure filled gaze, quickly shifts into a chilling glare. You hurled a command of your own at him, feeling the knot in your stomach tighten.

“Shut up and just make me cum.”

“That all depends on you, doll.” Sam shrugged cooly. “But let’s change it up a bit, shall we?”

Sam removed his fingers from you, beckoning for you to sit up with a nod of his head.

“Lay down.”

“On the floor…?” You hesitated, the spoiled side of you that had only been fucked on nicer surfaces showing through.

“Right here. Don’t make me repeat myself.”

You laid back against the cold, hard floor with a long sigh. Sam moved around you, carefully positioning himself between your legs.

“When you get close, I want your eyes on mine while you cum. If you break eye conta-“

“You stop. I fucking get it.”

Clearly becoming incredibly agitated by your attitude for the millionth time, Sam wanted nothing more than to shut you up.

He licked up your center, immediately flicking at your clit with his tongue. Forgetting where you were thanks to his mouth that had been on you for all of 10 seconds, you threw your head back. A groan of pleasure and pain ripped out of you; one hand shooting down to tangle in Sam’s hair, the other to cradle the back of your head.

He chuckled against you, watching you in amusement as you frantically tried to collect yourself.

Sam’s mouth worked against your fervently. His tongue worked against your bundle of nerves in skillful, intricate patterns. Bringing two fingers up to your entrance, he pushed them inside you, immediately searching for that sweet spot inside you.

Within a few short minutes Sam had you pulsing around his fingers. Even though you refused to make hardly a sound, it was evident that he had some sort of effect on you, just by how quickly he brought you closer and closer to that sweet high.

You made it just to the edge of your orgasm and remembered what Sam had told you just minutes ago. You mustered up every bit of courage you had and looked down at Sam, who was already looking up at you.

You stared directly into his eyes and immediately felt the heat rush to your cheeks.

Feeling yourself growing flustered again, you rolled your hips into Sam’s mouth, hastily trying to throw yourself over the edge before he could deny you. Your eyes had done nothing more than briefly shoot up to the ceiling and his mouth was already slowing down to a stop.

“Eyes down here, or I stop.”

“Sam, I- Fuck. Fuck, I hate you.” You said through clenched teeth and choked moans that you were trying to hold back from him.

“I’m blushing, Y/N. Really.” His fingers kept pumping in and out of you, but your clit was void of his mouth. You could already feel your second orgasm dwindling back down to just a dull ache. “You know, it’s a good thing you have me as your partner now. You and Luke would have never pulled this routine off.”

“You know, I think your mouth is better at spouting- bullshit than it is at giving head.” You managed out bitterly, not sounding nearly as venomous as you intended - Although, that definitely didn’t seem to make a difference in Sam’s reaction.

Sam retreated from your core entirely, moving over your body so quickly that you winced slightly.

“You’ll be lucky if you can even god damn dance tomorrow night.” Sam wrapped his hand around your throat, lining himself up with the other and slamming into you.

“I- oh fuck, Sam!” You cried out, Despite your efforts in keeping yourself quiet, not wanting to give Sam the satisfaction of pulling true moans from you.

“Take it, bitch. Or do you wanna run that nasty mouth of yours some more?” Sam spat, tightening his grip around your throat as he mercilessly pounded into you.

“M-maybe you should just smack me in the m-mouth next time.” You stuttered out, half hoping he would do it.

“If that’s your way of asking me to slap you, I think you can do a lot better than that.” Sam rasped, removing his hand from your neck.

“Smack me, Sam. Do it, right here.” You turned your face to the side, gasping loudly when his hand collided with your cheek without even a second thought.

“Oh, fuck- yes! D-Do it again, please-“

He repeated the action with the same amount of force as the first time, clearly more cautious about hurting your face. Regardless, it sent you plummeting straight for your high and Sam knew it.

“God, you’re already close? You’re such a little whore, baby doll.” Sam mocked, bringing his hand in between your bodies and to your clit. “This is how I need you to- be tomorrow night. Fuck— my little dancing slut.”

You couldn’t even find the words to form a quick, bitchy, remark. There was absolutely nothing. Your brain was completely clouded with debilitating, mind numbing, bliss and an ongoing chant of Sam’s name.

“You’re right there. Give me those eyes, let me see them.” Sam demanded, his hips stuttering inside you a few times. If you had even been half coherent, you would have gathered that he was close, too.

Sam’s free hand grabbed your jaw roughly, growing immensely impatient with you. “I’ll get myself off and make you run this dance with my cum dripping out of you. You’ve got about 10 seconds, doll face.”

As simultaneously hot and antagonizing as the idea was, there was no way you were letting him win on such a level.

You pried your eyes open, locking with Sam’s. They were impossibly dark and lust filled, fiery and still holding a bit of that coldness from earlier when the two of you were still practicing.

“Cum for me, baby doll. Look at me while you cum all pretty on my cock.”

You were slammed into your orgasm, like waves slamming against rocks. Your vision grayed out around the edges and whatever else Sam said was completely lost on you.

Sam followed only seconds after you, quickly pulling out and pumping himself through the rest of his high. Swears and groans of pleasure flowed out of him in a constant stream. You’d already started to come down before him, and you were hoping that he was letting go of all his frustration.

Somewhere in your few moments of silence, you realized the music was still playing on a loop.

“Fucking christ…” Sam let out a long, uneven breath.

He stayed over top of you for a moment or two, before he finally got up and walked over to his bag. Retrieving an extra shirt he had, he walked back over to you and knelt down, cleaning you up as best he could.

“Get dressed, doll. Quickly.” Sam tossed your clothes to where you were still sat on the floor as he gathered up his own.

“We’re running this shit ONE more time and then I’m going the hell home.”

@theharryhype @theweightofjake @jordierama @jake-kiszkas-smirk @samsrestingbitchface @belovedsamuel @safety-sammy @positivegvfthings @doodle417 @shutupdevvie