#they were like “do you want this break stop test and engine flush” and i looked at them like a deer in headlights ajfdgsjhfgshdjf

[shadowglens]

just got my car serviced and i feel like such a sterotypical woman

[foolhearts]

you were made to steal my heart

lewis hamilton/sebastian vettel, 1.3k

happy birthday @collarboen!!! i wrote this scene/snippet of a fic idea we've discussed :) this is only sort of a fic bc it's minimally edited and not beta'd (excuse any mistakes). i just kept thinking about this scene so i threw some words onto a page. hope you enjoy!!!

Lewis is heading back to his motorhome when he hears a familiar voice calling his name. He turns to see Sebastian jogging toward him. Seb's changed out of his fireproofs and is wearing his usual ensemble of an Aston Martin zip-up with sensible pants and sneakers. His hair is a bit disheveled and his beard is longer than Lewis has seen in a long time. He’s a sight for sore eyes. Lewis smiles and stops to let him catch up.

“Good first day?” Sebastian asks as he reaches Lewis, grinning and tilting his head toward the track.

Lewis hesitates, not sure how honest he should be. It’s only the first day of testing so it might be too early to tell, but he senses the W13 isn’t quite where it needs to be. He also hasn’t worked with the engineers as much as he would've liked coming into Barcelona.

“I’m excited to be back but I have a lot of work to do,” he admits. “It’s been a busy offseason and it’s an adjustment to get back into the car, even after all these years. And I’m not sure how we’ll fare with the new regulations.” He wouldn’t tell that to any other driver but this is Sebastian. Their friendship has deepened over the years and if there’s anyone who would understand, it’s Seb.

Sebastian nods sympathetically. “I know what you mean. I’m struggling with the car a bit and there’s many adjustments I need to make.” He flexes and extends his neck with a slight grimace. “I could also use a neck massage right about now.”

“At least you’ve raced recently. I saw those photos and videos at the Race of Champions.” Lewis can’t help laughing as he recalls the video of Seb running in the snow in shorts.

“Ah, so you’ve been keeping tabs on me,” Sebastian teases, a light flush entering his cheeks.

“I always keep tabs on my competition,” Lewis replies with a grin, referencing a little running joke between them.

“I don’t know that I’ve been your competition for a few years now. You’re probably better off redirecting your resources to monitor somebody else.” Sebastian’s tone is light but Lewis knows how painful the past couple years have been for him.

“You’re still my favorite rival,” Lewis says firmly. He figures it’s time to change the subject. “Hey, I’m sorry for not replying to your messages for most of the offseason.”

Sebastian waves a hand. “Oh, it’s okay. They’re mostly informational messages anyway. No response required.”

Lewis chuckles fondly as he thinks about the texts Seb sends. They’re usually singular photos of something new or interesting he’s discovered or they involve one of his hobbies. This offseason the photos he had sent Lewis included his beehive, plants in his garden, the view from a hike he discovered, his new gluten free bread recipe, among others. But Seb had also texted a week after Abu Dhabi asking how Lewis was doing, and Lewis hadn’t replied to that message either.

“Besides,” Sebastian continues, “I don’t blame you for needing a break from everything and taking time for yourself after how the season ended.”

Lewis takes a breath. “There was another reason too,” he confesses. “Do you want to go back to my motorhome to catch up?”

Sebastian raises an eyebrow at the request. They both know their friendship has never involved casually hanging out in each other’s motorhomes.

“Yeah, sure, as long as I’m not intruding. I’m sure you’re busy and you probably also want to just relax,” Sebastian answers pragmatically.

Lewis could still take it back; he could agree that he’s tired and they’ll talk tomorrow. But he shakes his head. “I’d love to catch up with you and hear the stories behind the photos you sent.”

Sebastian gestures for Lewis to lead the way.

When Lewis opens the door to his motorhome, Angela is sitting on the sofa working on her laptop. She glances up and gives Lewis a knowing look when she sees Sebastian behind him.

“Hi Seb.” She smiles and nods in greeting.

“Hello Angela! It’s good to see you.” Sebastian steps into the room after Lewis. He surveys the living room and pauses the moment he notices the baby sleeping in the bassinet next to the sofa.

“Seb, this is Amelia,” Lewis introduces. “My daughter.” He answers the question that is undoubtedly on the tip of Sebastian’s tongue.

Lewis can see a flicker of confusion then surprise before Sebastian’s face melts in a grin and his eyes light up. “Oh Lewis, she’s beautiful. She looks like you.”

“Thank you,” Lewis answers, relieved at how Seb is reacting to the news. He feels the tension he didn't know he was carrying ease from his shoulders.

Sebastian’s already walked over next to the bassinet and crouched down so he’s nearly eye level with Amelia. “Nice to meet you,” he whispers, studying her as he watches her sleep.

Lewis chuckles at the look of concentration on Seb’s face. It’s reminiscent of when he’s inspecting a car.

Angela clears her throat. Lewis tears his eyes away from Seb and Amelia. Angela’s standing by the door, holding her laptop, a bemused expression on her face. “I’m gonna head to hospitality for dinner. It’ll be time for Amelia’s next meal soon too. She’s probably going to wake up any minute now.”

“Thanks, Ange.” Lewis can’t express how grateful he is for her. He knew it would be difficult when he decided to come back with Amelia for this season and he definitely would not have done it if not for the support from everyone in his life, including his family and Angela and Toto.

As if on cue, Amelia starts fussing, her eyes blinking open. “Oh!” Sebastian exclaims. “Is it ok if I hold her?” He gestures toward her. “I promise I know how to hold a baby. And I’ll try not to make her cry.”

Lewis nods. “Yeah, of course. She has been a little wary of new people at first, but you can try. Let me get a bottle so you can feed her, that might help.” He goes to the kitchen to prepare and warm up some formula. He doesn’t hear Amelia crying which is a good sign.

When he goes back into the living room, Sebastian is sitting down on the sofa, cradling Amelia in his arms as she looks at him with a delighted expression on her face. Her arms are outstretched as she tries to grab at his beard.

He laughs loudly. “What do you think, Amelia? Do I need to shave it off?”

“Actually, I like it and I think she does too,” Lewis interrupts as he sits down next to them and hands Sebastian the bottle.

Sebastian murmurs his thanks and shifts Amelia in his arms so he can lift the bottle to her mouth. She starts drinking hungrily, her wide eyes staring up at him.

Lewis can’t take his eyes off Sebastian feeding Amelia. He’s holding her like she’s precious and gazing at her like she’s the best thing he’s ever seen. Lewis can relate to that. He tries to ignore the tight feeling in his chest.

Sebastian glances between Lewis and Amelia, his brow slightly furrowed. “Lewis, I don’t want to pry but... are you raising her alone?”

Lewis knows what Seb really means to ask is, where is her mother?

Lewis leans over and gently smooths down Amelia’s hair. She giggles around the bottle when she notices him. He loves her so much and he can’t imagine his life without her, even though it’s only been a few months.

He looks back up at Seb with a faint smile. “Yeah. It’s just me. I mean, I have the help of my family and Angela and so many other people. But there’s no mom or anybody else because, well, she’s a wish baby.”

[thefanbasewhore]

Accidentally Bare - Preference #2

Summary: A preference/snippet of pedro characters accidently seeing the reader in their underwear. Honestly, ignore the title I suck at them lmao. I also have no idea why I kept mentioning showers. 

Warnings/Content: A little suggestive, dirty thoughts. 18+ please. 

Paring: Din Djarin, Javier Peña, Agent Whiskey, and Frankie Morales/Female reader

I am also taking requests for head cannons and more preferences at this moment if anyone has any ideas!

Din Djarin

Nothing could stop the deep chill that created goosebumps that made your body shiver despite the thick wool of Din’s cape that was pulled tight around your chest. The walk back to the crest was freezing, clothes heavy and weighing you down with every squish your boots made underneath you, the temperature of the stupid desert planet plummeting at night into single degree temps, falling into the lake was definitely not on your to do list.

Water still dripping from your sleeves, fingers shaking where the fabric bundles in the middle of your chest to support the heaviness of the cape as the crushing on dense sand from heavy boots behind you let you know the Mandalorian is still there. He’s silent as ever, mad at himself for letting you even step on the ice but as soon as he saw you fall into the deep pit of water he dived right in after, forgetting the bounty, making the choice to let him escape.

The first step on the Crest is a relief, familiarity and warmness welcome you but it’s not enough to calm the numbing that took over all your senses, voiding any sensation in your trembling fingers. The breeze that falls over the crest as the ramp closes with a gush of wind but you don’t seem to care as the cape wrapped around you falls to the floor. The Mandalorian walks past you silently, which you guess retiring for the night because at the last second before the he climbs the ladder of the cockpit by the way his fingers start to peel of the beskar not caring as it trails and clanks against the floor of the ship, fingers rim the edge of his helmet lifting it just enough to see the ends of his hair curl and stick against the nape of his neck as it drips to his tunic before the cockpit swallows him. 

If it wasn’t for how freezing you were there is no doubt you would be taken back by his openness, even wet you weren’t expecting it to so wavy, a little messy but it touches the collar of the tunic and you honestly couldn’t move as the realization dawned on you. Eyes running over the length of the ladder that rattles due to deep hum of the engine, the imagine burning behind into them. 

The cool shiver reminds you of the current predicament, fingers burning and toes numb at the verge of turning purple. A frustrated huff falls from your lips as you pull at the laces of your boots, fingers too stiff to move but eventually get them off, not caring where they fall. Only functional thought is to feel the warm water of the fresher to regain feeling in your appendages.

Hands grasp the hem of your shirt, lifting it despite the cool air that nipped the skin of your stomach. With only one goal in mind and a stubborn button that just won’t latch from your pants, you don’t notice as the ladder shakes with the weight of the Mandalorian as he gains entrance back into the belly of the ship. He’s out of his armor, but the helmet had seem to find it’s way back onto his head but his upper body in a white, thin shirt, his pants hand dangerously low on his hips, they offer his body more warmth with no doubt lined with some kind of fleece, gray in color and a pair of socks. The wet pants stick to you, with your back turned toward Din who freezes the moment he notices you shimmy them down your legs, revealing the black pair of underwear the hugs your ass in the most delicious way.

He’s red, blushing, no doubt you can see the way his chest spots pink through the white shirt, hands forming fist next to his side as you turn to make a b-line for the fresher but the mass of the man catches your eyes, pausing.

Eyes never leave you, he just freezes up, unable to move as the situation seems to do the same to you. He tries, really tries not to look but can’t help it as he notices how thin the bra is, a pretty pastel pink, cute but the way your nipples harden against it is anything but, he’s speechless, mouth drying as eyes take in the smoothness of curves, drops down to the thinness of underwear, they leave little to the imagination, sticking against skin letting him see every inch and suddenly he wants nothing more than to rub his own -

His eyes lift back up to your own, the embarrassment that paints your cheeks makes him realize just how wrong it is. “I-I’m sorry.” He stutters, eyes casting down to the cotton that covers his toes, ashamed with red cheeks, horrified that it has even happened. “Just came down to use the shower -.”

Desire sirs deep inside his stomach, makes him awkwardly shift his hips as he turns to leave but the smooth hands that catch his fingers makes him pause, turning to face you once again.  “We can both use it.”

Javier Peña

Nothing can still your pounding heart, it’s racing, taking up all the space in your chest that it barely allows room for your lungs to expand, to take one good breath to sustain your frantic body needs, instead it’s broken up into patchy, erratic breaths that make you dizzy, vision blurring as a result. 

It’s a blur but there’s no mistaking the metallic taste of blood, it’s not yours but it seems like it should be by the way it covers every part of you. It dots your face, coats your hands with such thickness, soaks through the shirt to stain your chest pink. There’s so much of it, it takes over and fills all your senses. All you see is red, all you feel is hands rub your face to talk yourself out of this moment of weakness but the way it smears even worse across your skin, fills the pores of your skin, makes bile raise but swallow it down. 

It’s been an hour but fear still makes you shake, not bothering to even talk to anyone the moment you pull the trigger just driving home without a single word, not even to your partner Javi. The door of your apartment is even left open in your own wake, trying to yank the soaked clothes, not caring as your bloody shirt falls from shoulders staining the white carpet of your apartment. 

Finger fumble with pants as well, too shaky but none the less slowly shimmer them down flushed thighs. You suddenly can’t move, no matter how bad the shower calls you from the other room, shaky fingers press to the floor under you for support as you lower yourself to the ground until the rough carpet scratches the back of thighs but your thankful to feel something other then pure terror, relish in the scratch the spreads to the back of your knees as you bring them to your chest, lean against the couch for support with a shaky chest.

“I’m sorry.” You don’t realize how much time passes as the low baritone breaks through the sound waves, Javi averts his eyes, realizing the vulnerability on the situation. “The door was open, I just let myself in.”

“I-It’s okay.” Chest moves with the stutter, unable to realize your in nothing but a thin bra, that leaves little to the imagination and a matching black thong, that shows just how much the carpet irritates the skin of inner thighs, leaves a big rash just on the underside of your cheeks.

It’s not the way he intended seeing you like this the first time, beautiful doe eyes filled with tears that slip past beautiful, full eyelashes. It makes his heart stop, the low light of the lamp in the corner contour the dark shadows of your face, show the sharpness of cheek bones, outlines the shape of your jaw. He hates the way he can’t look away from your heaving chest, flushed breast barely fill the cups of the lacy bra, down the smoothness of skin, still stained a dark red from all the blood, down to the edges of inner thighs. 

You watch as his gaze falls between your legs but when they meet up at your face again, his lips fall, a deep sigh as a thick layer of tension fills the room. There’s nothing you want more then to forget this feeling, distract yourself with Javi.

Suddenly, he’s all that’s on your mind. The way his tongue runs over those perfect lips, wanting to feel the sensation of his moustache against your upper lip, the burns between your thighs. It’s what you think you’re getting as he lowers to his knees, finally give into the temptation of each other but the blanket that falls to your shoulders surprises you. His fist wraps around each end to ball it against your chest as his other hand reaches for a small piece of hair that frames your face, pushing it behind your ear as his lips ghost over it. “Let’s get you in the bath, cariño, yeah?”

Unsure eyes meet his, not trusting your own legs but his gentle fingers that fill the gaps between your own reinsuring. It’s a soft whine of surprise that makes you look up at him, a thankful sad smile that makes Javier return one that shows every scar of his soul, the feeling all too known to him. “I got you, honey.”

Agent Whiskey

It’s a mix up, an annoying one but none the less it’s not like you can kick Whiskey out of the hotel room and besides you’re both functioning adults, staying together in the room should be no problem but it’s a little difficult to feel comfortable with a stranger especially with one as pushy and touchy as the cowboy. 

He’s nice, very polite but smug. There’s always a tight smirk across his face, sexy eyes that test your every move as you bring the rim of the glass to your lips with a soft sigh. The bar of the hotel is loud, a thick cloud of smoke from the passerby's tickles your nose. You try to ignore it, but turn abruptly even catching Whiskey off guard as he adverts his gaze but he’s not as sneaky as he thinks. 

It’s hard to remember exactly why you turned when he offered a sweet smile, elbow against the bar while his hand wrapped around his own glass, other hand spraying over the thickness of his thighs, sitting to face you with that dumb smirk. You really can’t help it as your eyes fall between his legs, “What’s up, sugar?”

It’s either he chooses not question why or is just so used to women checking him out but your throat dries at his peering gaze, the way he wraps his lips around the glass after his tongue pokes out to wet them. It makes your face hot, averting his intimating eyes. “Nothing, thought I saw something is all.”

“Mmmm.” It’s a small hum, hesitant like he wants to ask more but settles with the answer. It’s quiet, not awkward but the tension is heavy, clouding the space between you both. Scooting to the end of the seat, eyes nervously looking at him as you shift onto your feet, standing and muttering. “I’m going to head back to the room.”

“Alright sweetheart. I’m gonna have a few more drinks, head up without me. If you need me.” Two fingers press against the shell of his ear, his way of saying I’ll hear ya. You try not to let it affect you but the heat that crawls up your skin makes you huff, closing the door of the hotel room tightly. 

A shower, to sooth the burning desire for your new partner, it was embarrassing, feeling like a teenage girl for a man that you barely know, all hot and bothered by him simply spreading his legs but it felt like an open invitation just for you. Hands reach for your shirt, pulling it up with little hesitation except for when it catches the onto the ear piece, stepping forward with a yelp as your foot comes in contact with the large bed frame. Pulling the ear piece off with not much thought, throwing it and the shirt onto the bed, fingers pop the metal from the buttonhole also discarding your pants. 

It all happens so fast, the door crashes open, hitting the wall. Pure instinct takes  over, despite only being in a very, very revealing bralette and a matching lacy thong fumbling for the gun on the night stand next to you, pointing it towards the mass of a man but let out a sigh of relief. “What is wrong with you? barging in like that, I could have shot you.”

It goes to deaf ears, smooth lines of your collarbones catching him off guard, dropping to the soft curves of your breast. He steps closer, shutting you up immediately as his fingers spread out across the hem of your underwear, warmness erupting to the lazy trail of his fingers. 

The cocky smirk that overpowers your own confused one as a tick falls from his lips, sucking his bottom lip between his teeth, eyes peering under that stupid cowboy hat, “Now If you wanted me to see you naked you didn’t have to pretend you’re in trouble, darlin’.” 

Frankie Morales

There was never a day Frankie thought he’d be in the deep end of the forest again. The memories are still fresh, the sun doesn’t quite sting his skin like the one in Brazil but it’s a close second, the aching memories still squeeze his heart but it’s a silent burn, one he’ll take to his grave and a life he thought he left behind forever.

Frankie is a man haunted by his past, the memories never let him forget that life he used to lead. He is anything but soft, he’s kind, caring, smart, passionate but a sucker for a pretty face. It’s shown in the way he shameless answers too quickly for his liking at your proposition. To rescue your father, a man that owed a bunch of narcos too much money but you had nothing to offer except to help a single father who seemed to be struggling. 

Maybe it was the way your sad eyes looked at him with an exaggerated expression, tiredness sag your face, large purple bags that crinkle with every sigh. There was no hope, and even if your father was alive, he kissed that life away a long time also, but then again here he is.

Deep in the jungle of Argentina, sun beating down and burning his skin, sweat beading on his forehead, between the valley of his chest as he swings the bottle of water back, the coolness soothing his raw throat. Your stance matches his own, shoulders dropped, heavy breaths but slower, the heaviness of the gun wrapped around your shoulders.

You were slowing him down, it was no lie. He told you multiple times he would do it but specifically didn’t want you to come with him, he would handle it all but sending a man alone to do something like this, despite how experienced he may be it didn’t seem right.

“Go.” You huff, fingers pushing against his shoulder. It had been the third time he stopped for you in ten minutes, clearly frustrated with a crinkle of his forehead, annoyed eyes looking for any sign of danger, even with the thick trunks of trees that camouflage into the color of face paint that decorates both yours and Frankie’s faces. “I’ll be right behind you.”

He looks unsure but nods lowly, turning as his feet to walk up the ledge of the tree as you take a deep breath, fingers trembling as you try to catch your breath, ass hitting the dirt harder then you intend to but it’s a relief to aching feet. It’s a blur of blackness, hand reaching up to pull yourself up but instead pull at something squishy?

Before you could react, big, black bugs by the hundreds run up your legs, crawl under your vest and shirt. The yell that echoes the forest is what catches Frankie’s attention, turning from his short distance ahead to find you. Face hot, fearing the worst as his heart pounds against his chest. Arms flaring frantic through the thick ropes and vines as he slips skillfully past above ground roots of trees.

You are no where in sight but the peaks of dark green clothes along the brush catch his eye, picking the fabric up, clutching your shirt between fingers. With one more look around he notices another piece of clothing, but the sound of splashing catches his attention. It’s not too far, just over a large tree that separates his view from you. It’s not what he expects, practically naked except for the nude bra and matching underwear that makes his eyes widen. If it wasn’t for the panic on your face he would have taken a second to appreciate the beauty in front of him, let desire burn deep on his skin but the way you frantically try to rub the bugs off makes him take action, hands catch your own, comforting eyes meeting your own. “Relax, relax, I’ll get them off.”

“It’s burns.” It’s a soft whine, as his fingers fall to your own, pressing them against his warm skin as he flattens his other hand down the skin of your arm, down your stomach with a delicious sting from the heat of his. 

“I got you, honey.” The words are low, sugary as the realty of the situation makes your own cheeks flush. The bugs are gone, scattering at feet but his gaze never leaves your own. Only inches away from your face, lips so, so close but what really makes you dizzy is the way his hand cups your waist, squeezing so gently as his hot breath fans your face, fingertips trail to the wire of your bra, something in him snaps, giving into the desire as his lips press against yours with urgency.

tags: @victias​ @altarsw​ @coonflix​ @mudhornchronicles​ @buckysalefty​ @capsheadquarters @godohammers​ @ilikemymendarkandfictional​ @rogertaylorsfalsettogivemehives @maileecabudol @itsfangirlmendes​ @mermaidbrina​ @nikkixostan​ @moonlightnumbsthepainifeel @dinsbeskar​ @est19xxshit​ @owloveyounever​ @engie115 @impala1967666​ @akatasukilove​ @nerdalert-andi​ @mailee420​ @you-and-i-deserve-the-world​ @thatonedindjarinfan​ @winter_rxn @Sporadicshoebailifffish

[imagineabrighterworld]

{Four Hundred Thousand Yen} Tamaki Amajiki x Reader

Tamaki had a lot of questions in life, but the list was reordered the moment he was chosen for the date auction of 3-A.

Why me?

Why was my name in the bid?

Why did no one look surprised?

Was this rigged?

His last question was answered fairly quickly, the class did in fact rig the polls. It was a tie between him and Mirio, but after some convincing from Mirio and Nejire, the class had filled the ballot box almost entirely with Tamaki’s name.

“Why would you do this to me?” He mumbles into his desk as he bowed his head to keep from seeing his traitorous best friend. Mirio was standing next to his desk with a huge smile on his face. Tamaki couldn't see it, but he could hear it in his friend’s voice.

“It’ll be fun! Don't sweat it, you're gonna be great!”

“I-I can't even- go on stage..” Tamaki lifts his head to show his lips were trembling as he was on the verge of a breakdown. The thought of being on stage for people to bid on- what if no one wanted him? What if it was just silence and he wasn't picked at all? How embarrassing would it be when he left the stage without a single bid? “What if no one picks me? I-I would be humiliated.”

Mirio pats him on the back. “Trust me, there are plenty of girls and guys waiting to bid on you, I did a poll!”

Tamaki’s face burns red. “You what?” He squeaks out.

“Well not an official poll, but I asked around the school and everyone was pretty excited to hear you might be in the auction.” Mirio rubs his chin. “I’d say you had a good seventy percent of the students I asked.”

The wheels in Tamaki’s mind stutter as he focuses on the thirty percent that must have said no. He groans and stands up from his seat. “I'm going to the workshop..”

“3-H?” Mirio asks.

“Yeah..” Tamaki slides out of the classroom with his head ducked low. His face was still a bright pink when he entered the third year’s workshop. It was enormous compared to the first year’s space. It had gear and tech that the first years were not yet trusted with.

He walks around the empty room, looking at the half built suits and the observation window that separated the testing room from the rest of the space. It was a special glass that was essentially bomb-proof, nothing could break the glass, which made it essential for testing costumes that needed to undergo massive damage.

“Tamaki!”

He turns around to find you dragging a massive robot by a thick metal chain. You were covered in scuff marks and grease, but you had a light in your eyes that made him smile. His thoughts were briefly distracted by the date auction and instead directed towards you. You were one of his friends since his second year when he needed an update in his costume. He still got shy around you, but talking with you became easier the more he visited you.

It was a small miracle that you didn't mind his silent days. You both would listen to your radio while you worked. You didn't push him, and it was greatly appreciated. Sometimes he needed a break and you were there to take it with him.

“Whatcha doing here Tama-chan?” You release your grip of the chain, unbothered by the loud boom as the heavy chain falls to the ground. It was startling sometimes to remember that your quirk was strength based. You lifted gear so easily, it looked weightless to him. “Got a problem on your mind? You look like a shrimp.” You brush your gloved hand over his flushed cheek.

Tamaki rubs his face while looking to the ground. “Iwasvotedinforthedatingauction..” He whispers quickly.

“What was that?” You tilt your head. “You lost me at I.”

He takes a deep breath and speaks a tad bit louder. “I.. Was voted in for the dating auction..”

“Oh. … Oh.”

You both stand in silence, listening to the ticking of the clock in the room.

You're the first to break the quiet. “Mirio was behind it wasn't he?”

“And Nejire.” He adds softly. His best friends other than you, both ratted him out. They knew he had trouble with the spotlight, with his.. His self image.. He couldn't do it. “I think I'm going to call in sick. Mirio is more popular than me anyway, he’ll definitely get bids.”

“I think you should do it.”

He startles. “What?”

You smile down at him. With your work boots you were a good few inches taller than him. “You're really sweet Tama-chan, you're underestimating yourself again.” You tap him on the forehead. “Think of this as a mission. The goal is to get to the finish line. Don't think about how much you earn, think of getting to the end of the auction.”

“But I can't handle crowds-”

You put a hand on his shoulder. “Tamaki.”

He looks you in the eyes, his heartbeat racing as he sees your normally nonchalant expression turn serious.

“You're Suneater, an amazing hero that always gets the job done. This is just another job. And you're going to rock it.”

He gulps.

Just a job. Not a game, not an auction, just a job. Another mission that needed finishing.

He nods his head reluctantly. “Okay.”

“Good.” You pull him in for a side hug, completely forgetting you were covered in grease. “Now help me figure out what the hell I'm doing.”

-

The day of the auction was hectic. It was a festival, which meant that the class was divided into doing different jobs, a sixth went to preparing the auction with the other classes while the rest went on to handle food stands and games.

Mirio was in charge of the money earned during the bids while Nejire was the announcer.

Which left Tamaki alone behind the stage with the other “volunteers”. Some of the students actually did want to participate, but he could see from some of the faces that some where plucked forcefully by their classmates.

At least I’m not the only one. He thinks to himself.

He mourns quietly as the students file in line. The first to go were the first years, then the second, then the third years. Which meant he was the first of his year to go onstage.

So far the highest bid was for Todoroki of 1-A who got fifty-one thousand yen.

I'll be lucky if I get one hundred yen.

Tamaki fiddles with the cuffs of his suit. It was black with gold sun cufflinks. If it were a different occasion, he would have liked the suit. It was comfortable and completely black, allowing him to blend in rather than stand out. But in this situation he would have no choice but to stand out.

He squeezes his eyes shut as he hears his name called out.

“Next up, Tamaki Amajiki from Class 3-A!” Nejire cheers from beyond the stage.

With a small pat on his shoulder from the boy  behind him, Tamaki steps through the curtain and walks on stage.

Faces. So many faces.

The crowd was bigger than he thought, it was full of people-

“Remember, keep your head up, eyes to the sky, it'll be over before you know it. Trust me.”

Your words ring in his head as he walks down the catwalk, his eyes on a distant tree as he tries to keep from folding over in shame as numbers are called out.

Ten thousand yen. Thirteen thousand yen. Fifteen thousand yen. Thirty thousand yen.

He stops at the end of the stage and keeps his hands clenched at his sides. He felt like he was going to collapse-

“Two-hundred thousand yen!” A familiar voice chimes from the crowd of people.

Tamaki’s gaze snaps to Nejire who had floated off the stage and was staring at Mirio with a look of wonder. Who- What? What! Who would bid that much!

No it had to be a mistake!

“Four-hundred thousand yen!” It was the same person. “You're twisting my arm here Nejire!”

Tamaki scans the crowd for the voice.

No, it has to be a joke-!

You stand in the center of the crowd with one of the bidding panels in your hand. You were grinning widely. “Neji, I could go on forever, just give him to me.”

The crowd parts around you as they whisper the number incredulously.

Four-hundred thousand yen.

Tamaki didn't even expect to get a percent of that!

Nejire lands on the stage with a small thump. Her smile was nearly identical to yours. “Any other bidders? Going once. Going twice?” The crowd was talking but no new bid came up. “Tamaki Amajiki, sold for four-hundred thousand yen!”

-  

After the auction, Tamaki finds you with Mirio, a thick stack of yen in hand.

He runs to you. “Wait!”

You look back at him just as Mirio tucks the cash into the metal box full of bids. “Yeah?”

He stands across from you, frazzled and in desperate need of a good cry. He almost ran off stage just to keep from collapsing in fear.

“How could you- why did you-” He stumbles over his words. “Why did you bid on me? Why so much?”

You smile as you zip your wallet shut. “That’s easy Tama-chan. I knew you wouldn't feel comfortable going on a date with a stranger, so I paid an amount I knew no one would be able to beat.”

“But, it's your money..” He squeezes his hands into fists. “You can't just waste it on me, I’m not worth that much..”

You step away from Mirio and stand in front of Tamaki, fixing his crooked tie from running. “I'm an engineer. I know how much each part costs and the cost of the overall product. You're worth more than I could ever buy Tama-chan.” You press a small kiss on the tip of his nose. “And I couldn’t pass up the chance of getting dinner with you in that suit.”

Finally, Tamaki collapses in a fit of pink.

You look at Mirio.

He laughs. “He's all yours!”

His plan went just as expected.

[forsakenoathkeeper]

I Am Alive (chapter 1/?)

Chapter 1: A Nurse for Androids

Deviant!Connor[RK800] x (fem!)Reader Rated M(18+) for canon-typical violence and gore, medical procedures, and graphic sexual content

Synopsis: You were a biomechanical engineer, a fancy way of saying that you repaired androids. After the revolution, you decided to move back to Detroit to offer aid as, essentially, a nurse. After stopping by to visit an old friend, you began to grow attached to his android partner.

Chapters • 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • more coming soon

You can also read on AO3 & thank you for supporting me ♥

"Lieutenant, this place is-"

Connor stopped himself when he caught the look Hank was giving him. It was something akin to a scowl, though his lip was a bit more crooked and his eyes were more annoyed than angry.

"Hank," Connor corrected himself. "This place is-"

"Can it," the detective groaned, knowing full well he was about to get criticized for living in a dump.

Connor caught himself smiling a little, despite the fact he had just been told to shut up. There was something oddly satisfying about getting on Hank's nerves, especially when it was over harmless things. 'Banter' was what it was called.

Hank had been sober since the revolution, and that was nearing six months ago. It was a little difficult for Connor to get a grasp on how that made him feel. 'Proud' seemed to be the word that came up the most in his searches. He was proud of his partner and wanted to congratulate him.

The older detective insisted 'I don't need nuttin' and 'don't buy me no damn gifts' when Connor suggested they celebrate. After some insistence, Hank reluctantly agreed to let Connor help him clean his house. It seemed to go hand in hand with Hank's new resolve: get your shit together, tidy up the place, buy some new fucking furniture.

"Isn't the point of this whole deviant thing to not do stuff for humans?" Hank asked, mopping the kitchen while Connor loaded up 'Hank's crap' in a box to be donated.

"I'm doing this because I want to," Connor insisted. He paused and turned to Hank. "We could test it? Tell me to do something."

Hank leaned against the broom, eyeing the android suspiciously. "Fine. Trim Sumo's nails."

Connor did not even break eye contact. "No."

Hank let out a howling laugh. "Smartass."

The android smiled and resumed what he had been doing. It all made sense, why humans got such a rise in telling people to fuck off, why Hank had no issue telling Connor to 'mind his own damn business' when he scolded him for his choice in food. Free will felt good. Connor had his own apartment, collected a paycheck. He went to work every day because he wanted to.

The doorbell rang and Connor eyed Hank first.

The lieutenant shrugged his shoulders. "Knock yourself out. Probably just some damn door to door salesman."

Connor trotted over to the front door. When he answered , he was greeted by a pretty woman, a few inches shorter than him, with a bright smile and beaming eyes. She had a curious demeanor: like she had knocked on this door dozens of times. Well, you had, it had just been a long time.

Before he could utter a word-

"Holy shit," you exclaimed through a wild grin. You had expected Hank to answer the door. But, a familiar face did instead. His hair was neatly trimmed with just a few devious strands fallen over his forehead, kind brown eyes and a squared jaw. Most guys grew out of their freckles. You were pleased to see that he did not.

His eyes flickered with confusion at the sight of you. It was to be expected, so you didn't overthink it.

Excitement overwhelmed you and you reached forward, wrapping your arms around his shoulders, pulling him down into a friendly embrace. He was frozen stiff in the door way, one hand still on the handle while the other hung limp at his side.

"God you got tall," you murmured happily into the space above his shoulder. You pulled back and looked into his confused eyes.

"Cole, don't tell me you forgot your best friend?" you teased. His head tilted slightly and his brow softened.

In the corner of your eye, you could see Hank approaching from the kitchen. When you saw the look on his face, your excitement settled down. He did not look like the police officer you knew growing up. His once clean shaven face was covered in a messy beard. His once neatly trimmed hair was long and shaggy. He had greyed a tremendous amount, likely from stress.

Yet, his kind eyes were the same as you remembered.

"Officer Anderson," you addressed him with a smile.

Hank didn't even have to ponder over who you might be. You were all grown up, sure, but like hell he'd ever forget the kid his kid spent most of his time with. He uttered your name with a sort of fondness that brought you right back to your childhood. However, there was something equally depressing in the way he said it.

"I am very sorry; but, I am not Cole."

Your eyes returned to the young man in front of you, the one you had just embraced. He offered his hand to you. You gawked up at him for a moment, processing what he had just said. It was then that you finally saw it, the solid blue LED on his temple.

Embarrassment flushed your face; so, you took his hand to try to drown it out. "My name is Connor and I am a detective with the Detroit Police Department," he introduced himself proudly.

"I - I'm sorry. That was very rude of me," you apologized, voice so much smaller than it was a few seconds ago. Connor didn't seem bothered at all by what had just occurred.

"Good to see ya', kid," Hank grunted. You nodded at him and forced a smile. Hank did not.

The older detective made a gesture, beckoning you inside. "Why don'tja come in..."

The android, Connor, stepped out of the way and you followed Hank into his living room. It had not changed one bit since the last time you were here: the same shaggy carpets and wrinkly old couch and faded recliner.

He had not said it yet; but, as you took a seat and began to process everything, you knew what was coming. Hank took a seat in his recliner and leaned forward, elbows on his lap. You felt your heart sink into your stomach and blood rush to your ears.

"Cole died, not long after you moved away," Hank explained. "This hunk'a'plastic is my partner." He motioned at Connor with a wave of his arm. "Sorry," he added on gruffly.

He had died... that long ago? And you had no idea... You had grown up, graduated college, lived through a quarter of your life already and Cole was... was gone, had been gone, long before he could experience much of anything.

"Hank - shit - I'm sorry. I came barging in here and-..." Hank waved you down, hoping to calm the storm that was beginning to brew. You continued, however, trying to settle the unease in your voice. "Me being here - it probably brought back painful memories. I should leave."

"Brought back memories, ya. Not painful ones," he replied, tone low, but sincere. "Less you count the time he fell outta the tree and broke his arm. You blamed yourself. So, I had two crying kids. Fucking hell."

His grumpy, yet playful tone, brought a smile to your face, and you choked out a laugh. "It was my fault," you giggled out.

"Yeah, well. That's a'right. He wore that cast like a medal," Hank replied with a soft smile, eyes looking off into nothing for a moment.

"I just wanted to say hi - check in on you guys," you explained, sniffling. You wiped some tears away before standing up. "I'm a mechanic - er, nurse - for androids. Moved back here to help, after the revolution - well, y'know. It's gonna be awhile before we can figure out a healthcare plan for androids."

"Sounds like you got a lot on your plate," Hank replied.

"Well, I'm glad to hear you're still a cop. I imagine you'll be hearing from me a lot - abuse cases, y'know?"

"I'm glad you made something of yourself," the older detective added on, fatherly tone catching you off guard. It forced a sincere smile to your face.

"I better get outta here," you breathed. "Oh! Uhm - here - in case you ever need to get ahold of me." You pulled a card out of your pocket and offered it to Hank before offering another one to the android. You avoided his gaze in the process, but he took the card eagerly.

"I'm mainly gonna be stationed at Thirium Clinic. They just opened a couple weeks ago. Lots of... well, battle wounds and-..." You trailed off when Hank nodding in understanding. Tensions were still running high, violent protests were inevitably going to continue for a very long time.

Hank yanked his wallet out of his pocket and tucked the card away.  In the corner of your eye, you could see Connor do the same with the card you handed him. "Thanks, kid. My cell never changed if you still have it."

"Good to know. Thanks, Hank."

"If we meet again, I hope it is under good circumstances," the android - Connor - stated. Your eyes landed on him, a natural response from trained politeness.

You tried not to be overwhelmed by the site of him. He looked like Cole - like Cole had grown up and matured into a handsome young man. His soft brown eyes and freckles clashed deliciously with his sharp jawline. His designers had even put texture in his skin around his mouth and along his jaw and chin, suggesting he shaved every morning. Most androids had flawless skin; but, Connor had visible pores.

"I hope so, too," you replied, forcing your eyes away from his face.

Did Hank know what Connor looked like? He said they were partners. Did Hank choose Connor? Was he made for Hank? Did Connor know what he looked like? You had lots of questions. But, none of them were even mildly appropriate.

"Hank, thank you for letting me bug you for a bit. It was nice."

He smiled a crooked smile. "Sure thing, kid. Now, get off my lawn."

You returned his smile and saw yourself out.

As soon as the door closed, Connor's mouth was open.

"Don't you apologize or any other dumb shit," Hank scolded him.

Connor's mouth made a quiet sound when he smacked it closed.

"Back to work," Hank groaned.

...

...

...

Luck had it that you saw Hank and his android companion less than a week later. It first came in the form of a text from the older detective.

'connor fucked up his hand you working?' was what it read. You replied with a simple 'yes' and two of Detroit's finest were walking through the sliding door to the Thirium Clinic.

When you approached them, Connor had a towel wrapped loosely around his hand, the cotton stained blue from all the thirium that had leaked out of him.

"Hope you didn't expect something fancy," you said shyly as you ushered the boys over to a booth. The place was clearly an abandoned grocery store turned medical office. They had not yet put up any real walls, just portable ones to give the illusion of privacy. Simply put, it was a shit show

Connor sat down and propped his arm on the chair's operating arm. You took a seat next to him, flipped on the hovering light, and carefully removed the towel.

"Really? Have you seen my house?" Hank barked.

You chuckled at that; but, the laughter died off when you exposed Connor's injuries. The sheeting - skin, if you will - was completely torn off Conner's right hand: his palm, the pads of his fingers, even a few inches down his wrist. The wiring was exposed, and you could already spot several that needed to be replaced. His hand felt stiff as concrete, further proving the damage you had feared.

"Shit," you cursed, spinning away from him in your chair to a nearby filing cabinet. You fished out some wires, and continued fishing until you found the right ones for his model.

Connor had remained quite still, you realized, when you came back around. You looked over his arm again, mentally preparing yourself for the path ahead.

"Aside from the obvious missing tissue and thirium loss, it's like nerve damage," you explained over your shoulder to Hank.

"Damn it, Connor," he grunted.

"Sorry, lieutenant," the android replied, intentionally robotic, but with the slightest smirk on the corner of his lip.

You had to choke down a laugh. "I'm glad it hasn't been hurting you, Connor. But, this might," you warned him as you set down the wires.

"I understand," he replied firmly.

He twitched a little when you plucked the first wire. For the rest, he managed to stay still. With how close you were, you could occasionally hear him let out a quiet, sharp hiss, so quiet that Hank was unlikely to hear it. You ended up replacing almost every wire that ran from his digits, through his palm, and down his wrist to the first joint bracket. Listening to him wince in pain never got any easier.

"Finally. Done with the wires," you breathed once the last one was secured. You leaned back and let Connor flex his fingers and twist his hand. He began to rotate his wrist around when you decided to stop him, gently cupping the back of his hand.

You did this all the time; but, you were faintly aware of heat blossoming on your cheeks as you held Connor’s hand. You silently scolded yourself, feeling a little too old to have a silly crush.

"Gotta patch you up, then a thirium transplant," you breathed.

Before it would adhered to an android and take on a skin tone, their flesh was pale, metallic, shiny and sparkly. It was also something between plastic and silicone, and had to be melted.

Hands were detailed, with corners and wrinkles, and much harder to get right than patching a wound on a thigh, which meant it would take a little longer. You had a handheld device that made it easier. It looked almost like a tattoo gun, and allowed you to carefully adhere it over the gaping wounds on his hand.

Normally, you had to ask your patients to be still. Connor seemed to be doing a great job of handling that without needing to be told. As you finished, you watched in awe as the flesh took on the peachy, light color of his factory default skin tone.

With a sigh, you set your tools down and maneuvered over to a nearby storage container holding bags of thirium. You wished one out and handed it to the detective. His levels weren’t low enough to require manual insertion. He could do it a more conventional way.

It was almost funny that androids were designed this way, that their only existing digestive track was to take in more blood. Keeping their thirium levels in the proper range was the closest equivalent they had to the need for nutrients.

Connor smiled gratefully as he took the bag from your hand. “That should be good,” you stated, trying not to feel so bashful beneath his gaze. “Let me know if anything feels wrong in your han-”

It was an unexpected door slam that shattered the moment. Some gasps sounded from the around room, You stood up and looked towards the entrance to see a severely damaged android limping in, a gun in his left hand and his right cradling a wound. He was wearing scraggily clothes that looked unfitting with his prim and proper haircut.

"I want an android doctor!" he demanded, the gun tight in his hand but pointed to the floor. His posture suggested he was scared to use it. However, that did not stop Connor from drawing his own gun.

"Wait," you hissed at him, pushing his arm down.

Connor uttered your name in a scolding tone as you stepped away from the chair and approached the injured android.

You took slow steps towards him, palms exposed in a display of yielding.

"S-stop!" he stuttered, shouting at you. Yet, he didn't point the gun at you.

"Hi. What is your name?" you asked him, not bothering to try and hide your nervousness. Everyone was staring at him nervously, patients near the door scrambling to get away from him.

He hesitated, looking at you with fear in his eyes. "T-Thomas..."

"Hi, Thomas," you replied, trying your best to steady your voice. "I'm sorry but all the nurses here are human. We came here from all over the country to help androids. You don't need the gun."

"No!" he cried out. "I don't want any humans touching me!"

Thomas was not just handsome, he was gorgeous. He had the type of pretty face people dreamt about and bright blue eyes. It didn't take a genius to determine what he was made for.

"Thomas, no one here is going to do anything that you don't want," you spoke to him, firmly. That was easy to say without fear, because it was the truth. "I promise."

You stepped closer, one foot at a time, and kept your eyes on his. You offered your hand and watched the fear slowly melt away behind his eyes.

"H-humans lie," he uttered, choked up, tears threatening to fall.

"I know. I'm sorry, Thomas," you replied quietly. For a moment, you had forgotten that everyone was still staring. "You're free now. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. Thomas, I want to help you. But, before I can, I need you to put the gun down."

"I don't wanna go back," he whimpered. He didn't point the gun at you, but he held it as if to declare that he would use it to make sure that wouldn't happen.

"Are they making you work, Thomas? Your owners?" you asked, watching his face contort in agony. His LED was hidden behind his hair; but, when he turned his head, you could see it blaring red.

"They don't own you anymore," you said, firmly, anger shining through. "Please let me help you."

You stepped a little closer and, this time, he lifted the gun enough that it pointed at you. You almost could see down the barrel.

"It's okay to be afraid. I am, t-too, Thomas," you continued, lifting your hands a little higher. He was sobbing, now, fat tears falling down his cheeks, tinted blue from the stress. His hand, gripping the gun, was shaking.

"Y-you're going into shock from lack of thirium. Please, Thomas, please put the gun down and let me save you!"

His grip had weakened; before you could react, a hand came out of the corner of your field of view and grabbed the gun, effortlessly yanking it from Thomas' grasp. The android collapsed onto his knees in a fit of sobbing, clothing soaked in blue that oozed onto the floor.

Connor stood over the android, Thomas' gun now firmly in his grasp. When did he-? That fast... or had you just not seen him sneaking up behind you?

You brushed past Connor and joined Thomas on the ground. You offered your hand again and he stared at it for a moment. He gasped, once, then twice, before finally taking your hand. Another nurse was at your side in seconds and helped Thomas to his feet. The android was babbling on static, on the verge of powering down.

Connor watched you stagger away with the android, his thirium seeping all over you and staining your scrubs. You were still speaking to him in that gentle voice, ushering him to calm down. All the surrounding patrons had relaxed and continued on as they were. Connor was still holding the gun in his hand. It was covered in buildup, likely uncleaned for years; but, it felt heavy, definitely loaded with a full magazine.

He was so hyper-focused on you that he did not even notice Hank approaching. "You alright, Connor?" Hank asked, knocking the android's arm with his own.

"She's amazing," he replied quietly.

Hank laughed at his declaration. "Look at you getting all doe-eyed." Hank clapped a hand over Connor's shoulder and dragged him towards the door. "Come on, Tiger. With your track record, I'm sure you'll be back in here in no time."

...

...

...

Admiration, Connor realized, is what he felt for you. You were smart, independent, strong. He was impressed with the way you handled an agitated android. He was even more impressed by how much you cared about them. Or, maybe flattered was a better word? He didn't quite know. He just knew that he couldn't stop thinking about you.

"Earth to android," Gavin bellowed, snapping his fingers in the android's face.

Connor looked up at him with an unbothered expression. He was seated at his desk and Gavin, apparently, had been leaning over him, trying to get his attention.

"Watching porn in your head or something, tin can?" he suggested with a sneer.

"I was going over the case files, which happened to be far more important than your whining," Connor replied coolly.

Gavin slammed his hands on the android's desk. "There's still a score to settle. Test me, motherfucker," he growled.

"Sure. Name the game," the android replied with a small smirk.

"Quite the pair on ya' for someone with no balls," Gavin said through clenched teeth.

Connor glared at him slightly, a retort bubbling up in his throat. He did, actually. Without the function of human genitalia, but passable for a real pair, so to speak.

"Maybe if you called him by his name, he would answer," another detective suggested, delivering a harsh slap to Gavin's back as he passed by.

Gavin swung around and hollered at the passerby. "Yeah, when I'm fucking dead!"

Connor rolled his eyes and returned to the computer screen in his mind. He was looking at case files, actually. He just wasn't... thinking about them.

"Another human killed by an android. You'd know all about that. So, enjoy," Gavin declared proudly, dropping a file on Connor's desk. He could care less if Gavin spent the rest of his life hating his wires. But, another detective had... defended him? How... odd. But, not unwelcomed.

Connor opened the case file and took a breath that he didn't need.

...

...

...

Coincidences... Perhaps, a glitch in the matrix? Or just pure luck.

The very morning after patching up Connor, you were in line to get coffee with none other than Hank right in front of you.

"You stalking me?" he teased, hands shoved into his coat pockets and breath visible in front of his face. Most of the snow had thawed, but it was still too damn cold outside.

"Probably," you replied dryly. "This place is the only good place in town."

"Great minds think alike," Hank agreed.

It was your turn to order everyone coffees, so you had several on the way. You and Hank waited together, and even after he got his single mug, he still waited alongside you.

"Whatever it is you wanna ask, just ask, kid," he grumbled.

"Just surprised you got an android partner," you uttered, looking away from him nervously.

"I didn't like him at first. He grew on me, and he's a damn good detective," Hank answered, pausing to take a sip of his coffee. "Don't be embarrassed 'bout confusing him with Cole. I'm not oblivious to the way he looks."

You looked over to Hank, who looked oddly peaceful despite what he was saying.

"Those Cyberlife bastards knew he was gonna be partnered with me. I doubt it was an accident."

Your brow shot up at his implication. "Connor was made to be a detective android, then?"

Hank nodded into his drink. "Yep."

"Does he like being a detective?"

"I asked him that once, when he wanted to come back after all the... protests. He said his programming was gone, no more 'lines of code' telling him what to do... but he still wanted to solve crimes. All I can do is hope it's what he wants, and not choosing the path of least resistance."

"Me too," you whispered, far too fondly for your own good. Hank shot you a look; but, luckily, the barista came to your rescue and called out your name.

"Bye, Hank!" you hollered, rushing to the counter to grab your drinks and see yourself out. It wasn't entirely for selfish reasons. The clinic was waiting, after all.

[littlefreya]

The Kitten & The Bear - Part 2

Read Part 1

Summary: Walter’s bratty wife has gotten herself in trouble with the law. meaning her own husband. 

Pairing: Detective Walter Marshall x OFC (first person pov)

Word count: 4k

Warnings: Bratty behaviour, dominant BDE husband, abuse of power, arrest, bondage, teasing, grinding, loads of sexual innuendo, mentions of oral, promiscuous behavior, fingering, lewd and dirty talk, manum sasquatch Walter.  

A/N: So both Marti and I were so anxious you guys won’t like it and we were literally overwhelmed by the amazing reception, so thank you so much guys! As promised, here is part 2! The thickens plot! Reminding you this is a collab between @wolvesandhoundshowltogether​ and I based on your role play game. 

Title: The Kitten & the Bear

With the alcohol flushing through my veins, mingled with the sheer exhilaration of anger, I became more daring than ever.

“I think you are just scared because we both know you are never going to tame me.”

With the harsh grip of Walter's arm, I was yanked from the hood, turned and forced to look at his face.

"Do I look like I'm enjoying it?" It resonated in his mind that he was going to have to take his own wife, whom he'd just arrested, to the precinct where everyone knows him. 

'For fuck's sake!' This may jeopardise his career at MPD. A detective having a wife with a police record... 

'Fucking great'.

It's one thing that I acted like a brat at home, but that was his workplace, where he'd have to take me - looking like that. 

His cock twitched as he looked at my dress again.

~~~

Colder than the air itself, the deprived energy in Walter's cerulean gaze cut like diamonds. There was a battle in his glassy cold stare, and I recognised that furious desire, being the only person who really knew Walter Marshall. His hand was still on my wrists, pressing the cuffs hard against the small of my back and my thighs slightly parted as he stood too close.

I trembled and not just from the chilling cold. "If you are asking for my sincere opinion, then yes, I think you are, by the look of it," I answered and gandered down his groin and back at his face, giving him a bitchy grin. "I strictly remember ending with your head between my thighs last time I wore this dress" I provoked. "Hold on to that memory, it's going to be a while." 

Walter cocked his head to the side, pretending to think about my ultimatum, before suddenly stepping closer to haul me flush against him. I felt not only the warmth of the bulge at his groin but the cold hard outline of his gun against my stomach. I gasped as he leant close to my face and his lips hovered over mine while he ground his hips against me. 

A moan escaped me when he suddenly pulled back.

"Don't make threats you can't keep. Your little cunt is always hungry for attention."

Keylah and Stephanie exchanged astonished glares between them as they watched the heated battle. I continued to frown, trying to remain stoic, but the creeping chill made me tremble as the freezing metal of the car pressed against the back of my knees.

His obliviousness to how cold I was, the way he was treating me and his words only further fuelled my anger. I was like an unleashed hellcat, unable to stop my own stupid mouth.

"Don't test me. Both you and I know how clingy you are Mr. "promise-me-you'll-never-leave-me." I spat back his own words to him. Words he blurted out in a vulnerable moment the night before while he was making sweet, intimate, passionate love to me. 

It really was a low blow from my side.

Walter felt like his stomach got headbutted by an angry bull when my cruel words registered. The previous night he found me at home with the entrance door unlocked while I'd been blasting music. He had an exceptionally shitty day as a criminal who abducted a woman from her own home had to be set free for lack of enough evidence against him.

The fight that followed between us culminated in passionate makeup sex. He asked to be handcuffed to the headboard so that he wouldn't unleash all his desperate anger and accidentally hurt me. In an especially vulnerable moment, he begged me never to leave him, not for what he does nor for who he is. 

And here I was, throwing it back to his face.

"Fucking bitch," he hissed so only I could hear it. I gasped as I could see the exact moment Walter transformed back from my husband to the cop who responded to the crime scene. As if he suddenly needed to hide behind the mask of a stoic, invulnerable officer.

Without another statement, he grabbed one of my forearms, dragged me to the open back door of the car and tossed me inside. My upper body landed on Keylah's lap while he circled the car, got in the driver's seat and started the engine.

"Pig!" I shouted at him as Keylah helped me adjust and deliberately pushed me to sit in the middle seat so I could stare at him during the ride to the station. I leaned back, looking at him through the rearview mirror. He was not staring back, keeping his forbearing eyes on the road.

"Sooooo…" Stephanie uttered, "Magnum, is it really 10 inches?"

Walter just glared at Stephanie but provided no answer. After a moment's pondering, he threw a glance at me through the mirror, and drew one of his brows up, challenging me to answer Steph.

I crooked my eyebrow back at him, spreading my legs to show him the red silk panties I wore beneath my dress. 

"Well you know, it's basically a cock that has a man attached to it." 

Keylah snorted and shook her head with disbelief, "No fucking way she is that lucky, I call bullshit, sorry Walter." 

Again Walter didn't reply to her, just straightened in his seat a little and cocked his chin forward, keeping one hand on the steering wheel. If his whole demeanour wouldn't have answered Steph's question, it was my blush, visible even in the dark backseat, that made it clear that Walter's big dick energy did not end with the energy. Both girls gasped. 

"Fuck, bitch!" Keylah squealed, and they both started giggling while I remained silent as the blush permeated to my chest. 

"But what I want to know is if the police baton's thick too," Stephanie added and stared at me. I remained quiet for a moment, spreading my legs further for him to see the sticky patch at the apex of my body. Between every street lamp, the light danced over the backseat, illuminating the girls and me.

"Look at him," I finally uttered, "everything is thick and girthy, especially his skull".

The girls howled with excitement.

My lewd reference to Walter's size and girth made the corner of his mouth twitch almost unnoticeably as he was watching the road with an unbearably cocky expression. His eyes then ventured to the rearview mirror. Immediately they widened, and his face hardened simultaneously when he noticed the little dark spot on my panties between my spread legs. He instantly turned his head back to the road and switched the radio on. 

I could see the little twitching muscle in his cheek, his jaw straining as he noticed me spreading my legs. The fact that the gals wouldn't shut up about his cock and began making jokes didn't help either. I squirmed slightly on the leather seat and bit my lip, letting him see what he can't have. 

"Magnum, I bet you are one of them who likes it when she gags on your big fat cock."

"Steph, I'm sitting right here!" I called out. "You can just ask me, and I'll tell you how deep he likes to go!"

"I bet, Jen has a broken cervix, that's why she takes a lot of days off from work," Keylah laughed. "Detective Walter Marshall, cervix destroyer." 

Losing all patience Walter slammed the break, and we scrambled forward against the partition.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, ALL THREE OF YOU!" His eyes were blazing as he turned his head back and looked at us between the two front seats. "Do you even understand you're going to a holding cell?" 

But before Keylah or Steph could blurt out some snarky comment, I breathed out "Yes, sir", which immediately short-circuited Walter's mind. He was the one yelling for silence, yet I quieted him with two syllables. He bit both his lips, turned back and started driving again.

The girls glared at one another, shivering, unable to hide the twinge of exhilaration from Walter's alpha behaviour and how it broke me into submission. On any other day, I'd have told them to back off from my man, but we all knew it was prohibited to speak right now.

The rest of the drive to the station passed in lingering silence. Keylah brushed and fixed my hair carefully while I glared at Walter - half angry, half lustful and utterly missing my husband. Still, my ego prevented me from showing any emotion other than rage. 

As he finally parked the car, I looked at the giant stuffed bear next to him. Still rather intoxicated I whispered to the girls "there are two of them."

~~~

After Walter parked the car, he remained seated for a couple of seconds. The reference that he was my big bear sent little tendrils of softness straight into his heart at a most inconvenient moment and looking at me through the mirror he only started to realise that I will be exposed at the police station. 

Care, duty and the desire to discipline me were warring inside of him.

"Keylah, Stephanie, get out and give us a minute" he orders the girls. 

~~~

The girls opened the doors from each side. They quietly exited the police car, giving me a sympathetic look and standing outside, hugging themselves from the cold of the night. I kept quiet, looking at Walter and waiting for him to speak while chewing the inside of my cheeks.

 It was then that I realised how painful my wrists were with the cuffs around them. I wanted to go home, I hated him right now. 

Walter sensed my hatred and distress and opened his mouth to speak, "The better you'll behave, the quicker this will be over." 

He waited for a response, but I said nothing, so he drew his brows. "If you decide to behave yourself, I'll take off your handcuffs right now, and you can retain a shred of dignity at my workplace." Still nothing. "So the way this will go down depends entirely on you." 

My legs began to jump anxiously while I kept gnawing at the soft tissue of my mouth until it began hurting, "you proved your point, Walter, I want to go home now," I answered with irritation, feeling completely helpless. He gave a heavy sigh and lowered his gaze to the red slutty pumps around my feet, 

"This wouldn't have happened if…" I began speaking.

Forcing his eyes from my red shoes and mouth-watering legs, Walter interrupted me by shooting me a hard look, "...if you hadn't vandalised the store. Don't even try shifting the blame."

He got out, stepped to the back seat door, leaned in and pulled me out. I stood on wobbly legs when he gave me one last chance. "I ask again. Can you behave yourself enough to go in without handcuffs?"

His sheer hulking height and his broad shoulders dwarfed me. Even with these heels, I was puny compared to him. But then again, Walter was known as the largest guy in town. Visibly shaking, my legs almost bucked down as he looked at my face anticipating an answer. What agitated and excited me most was how professional he remained.

"I'm not going to run or hurt anyone," I said matter-of-factly. "I'm still your wife, not some criminal in case you forgot." I looked away from him, indicating that I was hurt by his mistreatment, wrongly thinking I deserved special treatment.

"I haven't forgotten that you're my wife," Walter retorted. 

How could he ever? 

Taking out a small key from his pocket, he turned me to uncuff my wrists and continued behind me, "But as far as this whole ordeal is concerned, tonight you are first and foremost a person in custody, and I'm the arresting cop, so behave accordingly."

His words and the sensation of his fingers around my wrists made my entire skin tingle and become riddled with goosebumps. For whatever reason other than him being my husband, I was longing for him despite my anger and how degrading this situation was, perhaps even because of it.

"Yes, Sir", I answered coldly, my eyes floating to the dark sky before he guided me toward him and our eyes met fiercely. 

The way our gaze clashed made time stop. He could see the scared longing in my glare, and I could see for the first time tonight his inner conflict.

I didn't have time to further contemplate this because Walter's hand shot out, grabbed my nape and pulled me close to a devastating kiss. He drew my head so that my ear almost touched his mouth so he could whisper, "It's going to be alright, my little wild cat."

Both Stephanie and Keylah gasped behind us and then whispered between them, giggling like cheerleaders. 

My chest was nearly empty as I looked up to his gaze, my lips swollen with need. It became very apparent that we hadn't touched one another for the last 24 hours and fuck, I just wanted more. No matter how aggravated and humiliated I felt, I wanted my big grizzly bear to touch me. 

He spun me around to lead me in. My legs almost failed me. It was cold, I was shaken from the kiss, and the last thing I needed was all his colleagues seeing me like this. 

Walter headed into the building followed by us. It provided a very comical scene as I insisted that Walter bring the teddy bear in for me. When we entered the bullpen, everyone got quiet seeing the big scary cop with a huge stuffed bear under an arm, surrounded by the three dolled up, tipsy babes. 

The sergeant blurted out "What the hell?"

I beamed at him "Hey, Sarge. How's Sue? We came to party!"

"No, they didn't." Walter cut in angrily as everyone was ogling me.

I couldn't help but smile and wink at all the guys, behaving as if this was nothing but a show, while both Stephanie and Keylah snickered seeing all the baffled looks. It was as if the moment we had an audience, we regressed into thinking we owned the place, marching past Walter as if he was our guard dog rather than our captor.

I flung my hair from side to side, snapping my heels and swaying my hips to emphasise the curve of my ass. I could feel the shift in Walter's demeanour, and I suddenly paused and bent over in front of him, pretending to fix the strap of my heel so he could get a good look of my ass.

"What's going on?" the sarge asked amused and Walter had to blink fast to drag his eyes off my slutty pose.

"They are the perps of the store vandalism." 

Everyone's jaw dropped, but I shrugged innocently.

"I just wanted a teddy bear," I pouted.

Having had enough, Walter grabbed my upper arm and signalled to the girls to follow us to a desk.

"You want some coffee, ladies?" Toby asked with literal heart eyes.

"They are NOT guests." Walter hissed, but I answered sweetly, "Milk, no sugar, please."

He pushed me down on the chair, and by the firmness of his grip, I knew he was forcing himself to be as gentle as possible. My ass hit the hard plastic with a small huff, and I giggled at the smack.

"Don't move!" Walter grunted as he went to get the paperwork. Obviously, the girls and I began whispering between us, giving Walter sneaky glances and then chuckling loudly.

Not understanding Walter's message, Toby came along with a hearty cup of coffee, handing it to me.

"You're a saint," I thanked him and took a gulp, groaning as the liquid hit the back of my throat. "That's a really great tie, Toby," I then added and got up to lean forward on the desk, grabbing his tie and examining it up close.

I knew every single guy at the station was currently staring at my ass, whether they wanted to or not. It took me back to prom year when every guy in school had wanted to get a piece of me, and none of them had a flying chance. I couldn't deny I loved the attention, especially after having none of it all day long as my husband was acting more like a cop than a lover. 

Walter marched back to the desk, ordering the lovestruck Toby to fill out the reports of Keylah and Steph, and dragged me away. 

The officer at fingerprinting jumped as a huge sasquatch of a detective kicked the door open and marched in, dragging a smirking babe with him. 

"C-can I he-"

"I'll handle it. Get out" Walter barked at him. The guy scurried away, and Walter sat me down, circling the fingerprinting station. I watched mesmerised as he silently, methodically prepared the ink pad.

Intimidation struck the chords of my heart as I watched my husband being completely efficient and professional. I was impressed, having met him when he'd already been in the police force I never had a chance to see this part of his life. It's something he always kept away from me, afraid it would terrify me.

Well, I was terrified indeed, and the fact that he was actually going through with the entire process made me tremble.

"Can we drop the act?" I asked when there was no audience left. I crossed my legs together and folded my arms around my chest defensively, "or are you keen on putting your wife behind bars as well, so no one but you gets to have her?"  

Walter's nostrils flared, but he simply said "It's not an act. Charges will be brought against you. My guess is parole or community service," he explained as he pressed my fingers on the ink pad and then on the respective brackets on the paper one by one.

My lips trembled as the information sank in and I jumped up from the chair just as Walter finished with my left pinky. 

"I don't want it! Neither parole nor community service!" I burst out, "You're my husband!" my voice hitched, "Do something!"

I looked at the stern, unimpressed glare he was giving me and then frowned as he simply rolled his eyes at me. But of course, what made me think I was the first person to beg him not to charge them? 

"Sit. Down." He answered calmly while I stood infuriated and shook my head with protest.

"You have the very power to make these charges go away! You are doing this on purpose!" I pointed my ink-stained finger at him and started stomping my feet in the ground. 

"What if I'll march right out of this room? You going to throw me into a cell, Walter? Oh oh, excuse me, Office Marshall, SIR!" I slurred with disrespect.

"I don't know what you mean by "this", but the only thing I'm doing on purpose is my fucking job", Walter said in a menacingly low voice. "And yes, if you march out of this room without my permission as arresting officer, I am obligated to throw you in a cell." He leaned back in his chair and stared in my eyes with unflinching confidence.

"You gonna throw me in a cell!? Your wife!?" I cocked my eyebrow at him daringly. "You sure about that?" I stretched up and straightened my dress, pulling the hem down over my thigh as it kept riding up.

Walter tilted his head unimpressed, his brows rising as if he was waiting to see if I was really willing to risk challenging both his authority and power. 

"I'd think of the consequences if I were you!" I spat out and turned on my heels and snapped at the door, opening it wide open and stepping outside courageously. 

I walked out of the room and started running in the empty hallway, my heels clicking loud. It didn't even take me ten steps when Walter's body pressed to my back, pushing me against the wall. He turned me toward him, and by the time I understood what was going on, he put back the handcuffs on my hands in the front. He then dragged me to the interrogation room's anteroom where people were working. 

Walter didn't stop at the sight of them, he took me to the interrogation room where one wall was a one-way mirror. 

"WALTER!!!" I shrieked, panting with both shock and effort while he hauled me by my nape and forced me down on the chair, making the metal chair hit me hard on the ass. 

Adrenaline surged through me, my breasts rose up and down in the cleave of my tight dress.

"Are you fucking out of your fucking mind?!" I screamed at him and then peered at the mirror, realising everyone could see us. "If you don't take me home now I will never speak to you again!" 

Walter refused to be baited. Stepping out to the anteroom, he shut the door behind him so that I won't hear what he was saying to them. The officers gawked at him. "Get out", he said in a low voice, and they jumped and rushed out. 

Unbeknownst to me, Walter locked the anteroom's door with a flick of his wrist, making sure no one would disturb us, then he turned back and marched in. He circled the desk and sat on the edge, one of his thighs almost touching me. My glossy eyes rounded up as I stared at him. 

"That's enough," he said in a low voice as if there were still someone watching through the mirror. 

I looked at the mirror frightened, thinking of the audience who sat there before redirecting my gaze to Walter. My heart was racing so badly I could feel it in my ears. 

"Walter, I swear I'm not going to speak to you ever again" I fumed. He was giving me a condescending look and fuck, he was too attractive when he was angry and pumped of authority. I couldn't help but clench my thighs beneath the desk.

Walter ignored the pang I caused him by blackmailing him with our relationship as he watched the top of my thighs rubbing together. He hardened his face, stood up and walked back to the chair on the opposite side of the desk.

He said nothing but I got inspired by his arousingly hard look. Glancing at the mirror behind where the cops were watching, I decided that the only way to get to that thick cop brain of his is causing a scandal that will force him to take me home.

Taking a deep breath, I regained my forces and tried to appear as strong as I could. An opposing force to his absolute control of the situation.

"Do your colleagues know you stalk your wife?" I asked him, my voice dropping lower, my eyes cutting into his like daggers. Walter gave an unimpressed glare, slightly shaking his head at me.

"Tell them, Walter," I spread my legs wider only for him to see my striking red panties again as I angled my pelvis to give him a better glimpse. "Tell your friends at work what a sick, controlling perv you are, following me like the guys you arrest." 

Walter put his elbows and forearms down on the desk interlocking his fingers, and leaning forward, his burly shoulders appearing even more intimidating. 

"I could tell them", he said in a calm voice, "but they'd see that the way you're behaving totally justifies it."

He knew exactly what I needed. I needed to be put in my place, but not by the cop. 

By the husband.

He made a show of glancing down my soaked panties, and he licked his lips, not entirely an act. I WAS delectable for him.

"The way I'm behaving?…" 

Fury simmered in my veins, my breath short and slightly heavy as Walter not only kept his cool but also visibly exhibited his raw sexual desire. It did nothing but made me want to grind myself on the chair.  

I shifted involuntarily, spreading my thighs even wider in a primal invitation for him to conquer my defenceless offering. I was like a soft little rabbit caged in a room with a big hungry wolf, and his hunger was for more than just food.

"How exactly am I behaving, detective?" I drawled, challenging him, unwilling to back down.

Walter shifted his eyes from my face to my spread legs, then looked back in my eyes. At the same time, he leaned back against the back-rest of the chair, arms crossed on his chest, his lax pose, implying that he was completely comfortable with what he was about to say.

"Like an attention-seeking, cock hungry whore," he stated in an even tone.

His words hit me like a slap on the face, whatever decency I had left was completely lost to me right now. I pushed myself up from the chair, causing it to fall behind me with a sharp echo. 

"Excuse me?!" I called out angrily, holding my cuffed fists against my chest, knuckles white with tension. 

"YOU ARE THE ONE ACTING LIKE A PERV STALKING ME AND MY FRIENDS!!!" I shouted and looked at the mirror, trying to peer through the people sitting in the room. 

"Yeah, you hear me? This is the man who should be under arrest!" 

Not thinking twice I climbed onto the desk and marched toward him, peeling my dress up my thighs, exposing myself above his face. 

"Tell them, tell them how much of a big fucking pervert you are, sitting in the dark and stalking women. Did you jack off in the patrol car thinking about this all night long?"

When I finished shouting and just stood on the desk panting, he slowly stood up, turned around and walked to the door. My heart dropped thinking he was leaving me here, but Walter only went to look the door. The clicking sound reverberated in my core, causing a spike of fear and adrenaline in me. 

He walked back to the desk, and quick as lightning, grabbed my hip and thigh and yanked me down. His powerful arms braced the impact so it won't hurt me, but the air was knocked out of my lungs. 

I was lying on the desk, knees drawn up, while Walter leaned above me, one of his palms on the desk next to my waist, the other grabbing one of my knees, and slowly trailing up on my thigh with an ominous caress.

"Now that you've informed them about what kind of man I am, I don't need to hold back, now do I?" he drawled, the hand reaching the apex of my thigh and his thumb sweeping against the wet fabric of my panties. 

The world turned black for a moment as the initial shock took over. My body was spasming with fear and as I regained my control over my muscles again my eyes floated to the huge windowed mirror.

A terrible chill coursed through me as I saw him hovering above me in our reflection. All big and burly, my protective husband looked like nothing but a large predator while I was his helpless victim, and the thought that people were watching us and not doing anything to stop him was horrifying.

His thumb caressed over my covered mount, making my whimper and shaking my head with protest.

"Stop…" I called out, my voice puny and weak as my lungs gave in. I held my cuffed wrists to my chest and stared at him begging. "Stop, they're watching, Walter!"

"You kept on throwing at me that you are my wife, demanding special treatment here," he said coldly as he grabbed the chain of my handcuffs, yanked it over my head and slammed it down to the table, forcing me to stretch my arms and arch my back meanwhile his other hand pulled the line of my wet panties aside, and to my utter horror and forbidden excitement he slowly, very slowly pushed a long thick finger inside me. 

"How's that for special treatment?" he drawled in a dark, lustful voice.

"Walter!!" I whispered urgently, shuddering across the desk while my body unwillingly pressed further into his finger by natural, primal instincts. My face rested to the side, and I glared at the mirror again. "Walter, please, don't! They're watching us!"

I was at a complete loss of power, bound, defeated, knowing very well he could do whatever he wanted, and I wouldn't even have a fighting chance. My body was taken captive by the forbidden desire, and I did all I could to mentally fight him. I tried to close my thighs around his arm and desperately kicked my legs while shooting my glossy gaze back at him. 

Walter pulled his finger out, causing my pelvis to lift as my pussy mourned the loss. He reached over my torso and pushed his wet finger in my mouth, pressing down my tongue with it, forcing me to taste myself. 

"Let them watch," he growled. He pulled his digit out and licked my wetness and saliva off it. He let go of the chain, and I pulled my arms back to my chest as I watched him sit down on his chair, pull my panties down and stuff it in his pocket. 

"Ready?"

[sweetestlamb]

Wake Me Up Inside(Chapter 2)

Summary: Hope is a flickering light, coming and going as it sees fit. 

Author's note: Y'all like this? Color me surprised I thought everyone had cast Sujin aside based on tumblr post honestly, expected maybe 3 people to read this. I'm happy so many are enjoying, thanks for coming along for the ride. If any talented individuals want to make me a header that would be great, anyway enjoy the teen angst. More awful parenting, beware. it hurts me to write this but random immediate romance doesn’t make sense to me so here we goooo. 

The world seems larger, everyone towers over her as they squeeze by jostling her tiny body, she twists and turns desperately searching for a familiar face and faltering when there is none. Just blurred faces with stretched out smiles that are horrifying grotesque, almost as if they were painted on by a deranged circus clown. She begins to run frantically racing away from the figures, who are now reaching out for her grabbing her arm and tugging at her pigtails. She opens her mouth but nothing comes out, bringing a trembling hand to her lips she finds them sewn shut, silencing her petrified screams.

Then a hand clutches at her elbow and she's spun around, suddenly staring into the face of evil.

"Where have you been you brat? Everyone was waiting for you."

She tries to tug free of his punishing grip but his fingers tighten on her tender flesh, marking the delicate skin. Ignoring her evident trepidation he forcefully pushes her towards a table, with a large looming birthday cake.

"Hurry up and blow out these candles, you're almost old enough to be useful to me."

Screaming no in her mind, she breaks free of his hold running as fast as her compact legs will take her but she miscalculates and trips over a stray toy, tumbling over the edge of a pool she hadn't noticed there earlier. The cold splash of the chlorine scented water on her skin shocks her in a panicked daze and when she pries her eyes open the menacing face of her father greets her looking nonplussed by her hectic drowning.

"Good riddance." He smirks sipping from his cup as he stalks away, no longer bothered with her. 

Water constructs her airway and she continues to sink to the bottom. Forgotten and discarded.

With a flash she bursts from her nightmare silent scream on her tongue, it's his presence that silences her cry. Wide feline eyes regard her from his crouched position, it takes a moment to realize that the rapid puffs of air filling the room are coming from her lips. She grips at the mattress beneath her, hopelessly pleading with her heart and lungs as her body quivers from the intensity of her dream.

"Are you okay? You looked like you were having a bad dream, I called your name a few times."

She's decidedly not any semblance of okay and has no concept of what that would entail for her but she finds herself nodding, lying as easily as she always does.

"I'm fine." Clipped and brisk despite the cold sweat on her skin, she's probably soaked through his shirt the collar almost plastered to red collar bones.

He doesn't reply further than pursing his lips and walking over to a dresser she'd hadn't noticed earlier.

"That lie would probably be more believable if you didn't look as if you were going to pass out at any second." She can hear his eyes rolling at her and it raises her heckles, she doesn't need anyone looking after her, she is fine on her own.

"I should go." She says curtly, forcing herself out of the dangerously warm bed to walk across the room and test her previously soaked pajamas. Damp, but they'll do.

"I thought you had nowhere to go." He challenges finally standing to his full height, subconsciously she flinches at the sudden movement and immediately he takes a step back pressing himself almost flush with the wall. Lowering his head until they are almost eye level. Shame washes over her do strongly she has to turn away, so pathetic.

Speaking to his bedpost she answers, "That was last night. I can go home now."

Her father will be at work until late into the evening, she just needs to lock herself in her room and she should be safe until school tomorrow.

He hums at her sounding closer than he did earlier, "You don't have to go. I'll find an excuse to give my mom, you can stay here."

No she can't. She knows what's going through his mind, probably the same thing that went through Suho's when he saw the blood on her lip for the first time, you poor little thing. Pity was always the first reaction but it never lasted, eventually pity shifted to annoyance nobody wanted to be friends with someone getting beaten. It was depressing, and uncomfortable to discuss and there was nothing anyone could do to help her. It was her penance for being born a girl and not being the best at least to make up for that disappointment.

"I'm not a stray puppy, you can't just pick me up off the street and expect me to stay. I told you, I'm fine." This time she says it harder, sharper with a bite that screams don't push me.

Unsurprisingly enough Han Seojun doesn't seem intimidated by her.

This time she gets to witness the eye roll as he approaches her but still keeps his head lowered as if deferring to her. "I already told you that I don't pity you, you need help stop pretending you don't."

But she's not pretending, that would imply that she wants others to help secretly. That just isn't accurate, she wants nothing- expects nothing. Her father pound any inkling of hope she had out a long time ago.

Stepping into his space, her eyes narrow as she bites out, "I don't need anything certainly not help from you. You're not a nice person, what am I your one good deed? Just mind your business."

She pointedly glances away at the flash of hurt that scatters across his expressive face.

She expects him to lash out, stretch to his full form and berate her, reprimand her ungrateful behavior and an even darker side of her almost expects him to slap her. I see why your father does that, you deserve it.

"Suit yourself."

That's all he says solemnly with a shrug before tossing more dry clothes at the bed and silently exiting the room.

She feels worse than she did before. Guilt gnawing at her, she ignores the offered clothes she doesn't deserve his hospitality or warmth. She disrobes and puts back on the damp chilled pajamas, that matches her better.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

That's what he gets for trying to help someone, his act of kindness thrown back in his face. Angrily he pours the boiling water into the waiting cup, starting his mother's mandatory morning tea. He's so lost in the routine that he doesn't notice her presence until she clears her throat. His pride stops him from turning around, her words were as painful as a dagger.

"Your clothes are on the bed. I called a cab."

He nods without looking back, "Get home saf--" He cuts himself off, maybe he's overstepping again. So he just hums and stirs the now perfect cup of tea with a splash of milk. His sister's will get three sugars, she has such a sweet tooth.

The soft snap of the front door closing is loud in the silence of the morning, the sun has barely risen. His mother will be out in an hour, he was worried for nothing. Nobody will even know she was here. He can pretend this was all a fever dream and listen to her advice, he's never minded anyone else's business why did he decide to start now?

Lesson learned.

He spends the remainder of his weekend not thinking about the bruises on her face and instead plays video games, bullying Suho into playing Call of Duty with him online until the stupid genius starts to win too often and it's no longer stress reducing.

"Sore loser." He scoffs at the staticky insult through his headphones, draining the can of soda he took from the fridge. He should start dinner soon, his mom and sister will be back from shopping any minute.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did." He can't help but roll his eyes at the lame response but he pushes on ignoring his brain shouting at him that this is the opposite of minding his business. He hardly listens to his brain, his gut is much stronger.

"Does Sujin have any siblings? Or does she like to box or anything like that? " He tries to make sense of the night, maybe it wasn't what he thought initially. From his memory Sujin comes from a very affluent respectable family, there's no way right?

"What? What kind of question is that?"

"Just answer me." He quips impatiently, ready to let go of this unwarranted worry that's been weighing on his heart.

After a long pause where he checks if his Wi-Fi disconnected he finally hears a response, "No. She lives with her mother and father, she's an only child. And I’ve never known her to do anything physical like that."

His chest tightens, not what he wanted to hear. Her flinch this morning flashes brightly in his memory. He wasn't mistaken. He's sure of it, she'd been scared. 

"Why?"

He can barely hear through the ringing in his ear, "Nothing. I have to go."

He signs off before the other boy can reply, walking autopilot to the kitchen to get started on dinner. Chopping vegetables does nothing to stop the nausea bubbling in his stomach.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Taking the bus the next day is out of the question, he has spent the entire weekend wishing he had the nerve to get the girl's number but anyone he asked would misunderstand why and he didn't need anymore rumors circulating, he would just have to get it from her himself. If she wanted him to mind his business she shouldn't have collapsed where he could see.

The engine rumbles between his legs as he brings his motorcycle to a stop, swinging off effortlessly before tugging the helmet off and shaking his hair free. He doesn't notice the various lecherous female and male eyes watching his very moment, too focused on walking into the school and finding her.

Turning a corner he sees her instantly, sandwiched between her two best friends, they look like a high school brochure giggling as they walk down the hallway garnering the attention of most of the male population. The purple bruise on her cheek is missing, nothing but smooth blemish free skin. He almost does a double take. As all three of them pass him, he locks eyes with Sujin for a moment, the mask slides off for a second but the moment he blinks the façade snaps back into place, nothing left but a pretty empty smile.

He follows them into class, sliding into his seat and promptly going to sleep. He has to catch her alone.

Doing so proves to be a near impossible feat, she's always surrounded by her two bestie shadows and Chorong and the gang are never far from him either. He sighs forlornly even time he sees her only for someone to interrupt before he can approach her. All too frustrated.

He's sitting dejected on the staircase when he hears the bustle of students in the hallway, their voices carrying down the long space and he rolls his eyes imagining what ridiculous situation they've deemed as drama now. Last time it was Ju-Kyung having pimples, a topic that was completely groundbreaking and worthy of weeks of discussion. So it's with the smallest shred of curiosity that he stands up wandering over to the commotion.

"What's going on?" He directs to the closest person, some mousy looking girl who stutters out an indecipherable answer. He looks at her confused before stalking away to find someone who has a better grasp of communication. He poses the question again, to a boy this time.

"I heard one of the girls started freaking out in the bathroom. Screaming not to be touched."

He stands frozen before the words register in his brain and his feet are moving without his brain's permission. Shoving past gossiping bystanders, he easily gets to the front only to see Ju-Kyung covering someone with her sweater as they walk down the hallway. Immediately the crowd comes alive and they surge forward like a wave all calling questions out at once, "What's wrong with you?", "Why did you freak out?", "Who do you think you are? Are you too rich to be touched or something?"

He twists his head around ferociously at the last question, everyone in front of him gulps while taking a step back. The hallway is a cacophony of voices and shouts and he can feel his anger boiling, slamming his fist into the nearest surface-a wall- he gets everyone's attention.

"Go back to your classes. Now."

Some of the male students look as if they are going to challenge his authority but another step forward is all it takes to get the student body scampering to their classrooms.

Inhaling deeply he stomps off to find the source of his unease.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It had been hard to disregard, how lacking of warmth her house was. Seojun's apartment had been brimming with warmth and love, the fridge bursting with papers and drawings documenting that someone cared enough to show them off. Her home was a large empty prison in comparison.

But she'd been right, it was dark and quiet proof that her parents were not home. With her heart in her throat she ran to her room, locking the door behind her. Sleep captured her before she knew she was in its grasps, waking up groggy hours later and forgetting where she was. Fierce pounds on her door reminded her instantly.

"Open this door now."

His voice is a low growl, even more terrifying than when he's screaming his lungs out. She grabs her vanity chair pressing it under the door knob for more protection.

She jumps when the door bulges, the loud crashing making it clear that he's slamming bodily into the door now determined to get to her.

"Please....stop." She pleads, tears already cascading down her bruised cheeks.

"Open this fucking door!!"

She's sobbing now, body folded as she cries her eyes out shaking viciously as her father continues to ran into the door, dread filling her stomach as he's never fought this hard before.

Then everything is quiet.

The pounding is gone as suddenly as it arrived. She doesn't let go her panic just yet, still too raw. Butt seconds crawl to minutes and she hears nothing so she finally exhales, sliding to the floor in relief.

She weakly crawls to her bathroom, turning the dial to the hottest temperature possible wanting to burn off his brand on her skin. After her shower she brushes her wet hair, staring at the bruise, it's turning yellow now with tinges of purple. Good thing she let Su-ah and Ju-Kyung convince her to buy foundation the last time they were in the beauty store. She will have to layer it on tomorrow.

She's starving but the thought of leaving her room with him in the house is enough to eliminate her appetite. Instead she puts on a warm sweater and sweat pants and wraps herself in a thick blanket, still too cold ice running through her veins.

She had never felt as warm as she did at his house.

A quiet knock thankfully pulls her away from such unnecessary thoughts. She simply listens.

"Su-jin, it's mom. I brought you food."

She sits up, crawling out of bed to stand in front of the bed. Her mother has never brought her food, even when she was nine and hadn't gotten a perfect score on her spelling test and her father locked her in the closet for two days with only a dictionary. She'd contemplated eating the pages before she was finally set free. Her mother had simply looked away, avoiding eye contact until she was safely back in her room.

But her stomach grumbles at the mention of sustenance and despite her best judgement she opens the door.

It's a mistake.

Immediately she notes that her mother has nothing in her hands, trembling herself and before she can slam the door shut a foot blocks her escape.

He uses the belt that time whipping her in places that others will never see, her back, thighs, and shoulders. Her mother's weakly calls out, "Don't hit her face she has to meet that boy you wanted this week."

It goes on for what seems like hours, he leaves her crumpled on the ground her body stinging as she refused to cry, blinking her tears away not wanting to give him what he wants. When her mother meekly walks over and extends a hand to her, she looks at her with listless eyes. Her mother has a fresh bruise on her cheek, her father hardly hits her anymore using Sujin has his punching bag instead but at times of high frustration he would regress.

She wonders if her mother knew that one day this would be her faith. If this was the purpose of her birth.

She doesn't take the hand. It seems there was still some hope left, it is extinguished now.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The school day had been easy she's been hiding her abuse for years, no teacher had ever suspected a thing and she didn't even blame them. It would just be bothersome, her father was a powerful man there wouldn't be much they could do.

She slaps on a smile, allowing herself to be dragged around by Su-ah and Ju-Kyung, listening as they giggle about their boyfriends chiming in the appropriate moments to not seem disinterested or jealous. She is jealous though, of their freedom and innocent problems, she'd lost her innocence a long time ago.

She knows Seojun is trying to talk to her but she can't handle seeing him right now, having to face someone who knows what she's going through sounds worst than being beat right now. So she jolts at every sight of the tall lanky figure, thankful for his fan club who seems to announce his every arrival. She's on her way to having a successful day when everything goes to hell.

She's in the bathroom drying her hands when a classmate comes in, responding to the small talk she answers the girl's question before nodding her head in goodbye.

"Oh your tag is sticking out."

That's all she hears before a hand is brushing across her sore beaten neck and her reaction is instantaneous, she turns around catching the offending hand and twisting it.

Her throat wheezes out, "Don't touch me."

The girl stares at her wide-eyed before tugging her hand away, then other girls begin to come of the stalls to see what's happening and before she knows it she's hyperventilating on the ground, nonsensical words dripping off her tongue. Everything is too loud and her head is splitting in half just when her vision is graying out, she smells a familiar perfume.

"Su-jin ah, you're going to be okay. Just breathe with me, follow me."

Ju-Kyung's voice is calming and sure, not touching her but covering them both in her sweater as she models how to breathe, she follows until her lungs are no longer burning.

"Good. You're doing so good, is it okay if I touch you? I'm going to help you up."

She grabs at the bathroom wall yanking herself until she's upright, trying to show her friend that she's not that weak but a look of hurt is displayed on her face and Sujin doesn't comprehend why.

The other girl shakes it off though, now covering her fully with her cornflower yellow sweater.

She's suddenly reminded of her nightmare this morning as she has to pass all the students in the hallway, all pointing and laughing as she falls apart some of them even have their phone out recording her and she sways uneasily before catching herself, trembling the whole way she walks down the hallway until a loud bang and a voice she recognizes all too well silences the uproar.

Resisting the desire to look back she allows Ju-Kyung to pull her up the stairs until they're on the roof. Air pumps into her lungs as she's finally free of all the judgmental eyes.

She expects the other girl to start interrogating her the moment the door closes but it never comes, instead Ju-Kyung places her sweater around her trembling body.

"You're okay. Just keep breathing."

She does her best to follow the uncomplicated directions.

After a few minutes, Ju-Kyung's phone suddenly rings disturbing the quietude. She barely hears blood rushing in her ears like the waves at the beach.

"Okay we're on the roof."

She stills at that utterance, turning in alarm.

"Who was that? Who did you tell where we are?"

Ju-Kyung looks guilty, as if she wasn't meant to hear that conversation. She doesn't want to see anyone right now, can barely stand to be with herself.

"Call them back and tell them not to come. I want to be alone."

Ju-Kyung holds her phone in her hands gingerly staring at the screen, clearly contemplating what is the right decision. She almost lunges for the phone to see who is the most recent call, but it's not needed as the roof door slams open.

"Why are you here?" She shouts, walking away now furious that tears are already filling her eyes now just at the sight of him.

"Nice to see you too princess." He drawls back, following her further onto to roof.

"Will you two be okay? I have to go back to class."

She spins to glare at her friend, why would she leave her alone with Seojun? They have had any interaction at school that hasn't been antagonistic.

"Yes, we need to talk." He answers for them and that's enough to make Ju-Kyung nod before walking off with a smile in her direction. The door shuts loudly behind her retreating back, Sujin wants to chase after her. Instead she turns back to him spitting fire and poison. 

"I told you to mind your business."

"Are you okay?" He counters, eying her like a wild animal who can bolt at any minute, he isn’t wrong.

"That's none of your business!"

His expression remains the same, those beguiling feline eyes that scream at her.

"How hurt are you?"

Her emotions come crashing down again. He just keeps pushing and picking at her, no matter how much she shouts and shoves him away he just won’t go away like everyone else did. What is wrong with him? Couldn’t he see that she was more trouble than she was worth?

"What do you want to hear, huh? That everything hurts, that he used a belt this time! Do you want to hear about how he beat me until I bleed! Why do you care what happens me, why won't you leave me the fuck alone!"

Sobs ravage her body, she keeps brushing the fiery tears away fighting with her emotions but they won't stop and her palms are wet from covering her face, her breath is hitching until she starts hiccupping uncontrollably and she starts to feel light-headed.

"Hey! Su-jin! Breathe!"

But she can't, she doesn't remember how. Her body only knows how to hurt.

"Breathe, damnit!" Despite his shout, she hears the slight quiver in his voice but she can't discern why it's there but it desperately makes her want to obey.

When he cups her head, staring her head on she feels the vine wrapped around her lungs shrivel up and air starts gushing in until she feels dizzy, she sways back and forth gravity now also working against her and then she's being reeled in, her head placed on his chest. The thumping of his heart lulls her into a meditative state, she starts to count the beats and before she knows it the cobwebs in her head subside. Embarrassed by their sudden closeness, his arms are still by his side now almost immediately retracting from her head but she can feel his warmth radiating onto the skin of her thighs, she begins to draw back.

"Just stay. It's helping."

She blisters at his words, preparing to push him away.

"It's helping me, seeing you like that....it scared me. I helped you the other night, you should return the favor."

She puffs up before deflating, she'll never admit it but this is helping having something else to focus on, his scent, his heartbeat, the way his chest expands and constricts with every breath. The buzz of their skin nearly touching, his deep voice rumbling through his chest and into her ears, all placating and soothing her worries away. 

"Fine."

She's never known Seojun to stay still for this long after years of attending the same school, always bursting with kinetic energy so she's pleasantly surprised by how long he simply stands and lets her rest on his chest, neither of them saying a word.

She stiffens when he suddenly starts moving disturbing their stillness, she sees his hands balled into tight fists by his side and wonders what's going through his mind.

"You can't go back there."

This again, she starts to remind him that she has nowhere to g--

"Stay with me."

[hedgiwithapen]

0 missed calls

for @mosylufanfic and Ciscoramonlovebot (update:5:18, missing opening added in) Cisco didn’t call.  Caitlin checked her phone absently, over and over, until Frost told her she was acting like a middleschooler waiting for her crush to  text back. She felt herself flushing and flipped her phone over, putting a stack of papers over it for good measure.  A minute later she checked it again. “Caity.” “I just, he  moved,  that’s--you call to let everyone know you arrived safe,” Caitlin defended. “Did he call while he was on the road trip? Or in Antarctica?” Caitlin chewed her lip. “ Not much but--- but service was bad, and he was really busy…” Frost sighed. ~ Cisco didn’t call.  Caitlin checked her email, her spam folder, answered every single telemarketer and robo-call just in case. “Caitlin?” Iris asked. “Everything ok?” “Uh, no, yeah, I mean…” She trailed off. “Oh, I have the results. On that test, for your article. It looks like--” she  scrambled for the printouts. “ whoever’s doing this isn’t a metahuman. They must be using tech, to make it seem like--” “Thanks,” Iris took the papers, glancing at them. “But you know that’s not what I meant. Contrary to what some people think, our lives don’t have to be just work.” Caitlin gave an elegant shrug. “I just… it’s been a week since he left and that’s… it’s just weird.” “Did you call?” “Him?” Caitlin asked. “I… he didn’t answer. I didn’t want to keep leaving messages. It was … it was late…” “I meant, did you call all the times you left,” Iris said gently. Caitlin shrank inwardly. “No,” she admitted. “Just give him time.”

~ Cisco didn’t call. Caitlin stared at the article, frowning as she read the comments. It was the usual internet noise: an argument over a tiny detail blown out of proportion , a metaphobe stirring up trouble,  fans of Iris praising the writing,  and of the Flash cheering the effort. “This isn’t right,” she said softly, scanning usernames and icons. “Uh, what?” Barry asked, sprawled on the couch with the remains of a 3 foot sandwich. “Iris did her fact checking, and she was there for most of it. What do you think she got wrong?” “Not that,” Caitlin shook her head, turning the tablet so Barry could see. “Caitlin. You’ve gotta learn not to read the comments.” “No, this,” She gave an angry sigh, flicking a finger to scroll back to the headline. “Flash defeats E-vile in Tech Team-up.” Barry frowned.  “Uh. That… is what you were calling him, right?” Caitlin stood, pacing. “ something’s wrong, see for yourself.” Barry took the tablet and speed-read through the comments. “I… ok, I must still have that concussion. What is it?  No one’s being mean about the name….” “I know! That’s the problem! It’s a terrible name, and cisco hasn’t so much as left a comment about it! Something isn’t right.” Barry scuffed a shoe along the floor. “Caitlin, he made his choice.  He doesn’t have to be part of this mess--and I can’t blame him… I miss him too, but-” “No! No buts! He’d never let me live this down.  I want you to take me to his new  apartment, now.” “If he wanted to see us, he wouldn’t have left,” Barry said, stopping her before she could interrupt. “ he asked for space. Let’s just… give it to him. Ok?” “Ok,” Caitlin said, but her heart wasn’t in it. ~ Cisco didn’t call, and Caitlin was sick of it. On the one occasion Barry had visited ARGUS to see if Ramsey was in any state to have a trial, he hadn’t even seen Cisco. If the engineer was avoiding them, Caitlin decided, he’d have to tell that to her face. She’d left, but she’d always said she was leaving for good, she hadn’t made it seem like--like-- well. She made up her mind. Getting to ARGUS on her own was less than convenient, but not impossible. She told the team she was off duty for a weekend, entrusting Allegra with the massive first aid kit, and took off. They were surprised to see her. “Is Cisc-- is Agent Ramon available?” she asked the agent at the security desk, signing her in. It felt foreign, being so formal. “No.” The agent did not elaborate, exchanging a glance with the Agent who’d met her at the door.  “What’s the nature of this visit?” “Oh, I’m here to check on Ramsey. Er, Dr. Rosso.” “Oh, Bloodwork. We could have sent over the latest files, saved you a trip. Flash drop you off, Dr. Snow?” “Uh, No,” she said. “I’d like to see Dr. Rosso.” “There’s no change since the last check in, you know.” “I know.” She’d read the scant report. “I just need to double check a, a new theory.” “Hmm. I hope you’ll let us in on that,” the agent sighed. “Fine. Visitor pass.” He handed the laminated card over it, and the first man nodded. “Well, follow me, and do not wander.” Caitlin nodded, feeling like a chastised kindergartener. She sent a quick text: I’m here, when’s your lunch break? I need to see you. There wasn’t even a ‘read’ indication.  ~ Ramsey had not changed. There was no light in his eyes as he smiled at her, dripping darkness in his containment cell, and asked how her friends had fared. She’d  tried to ignore the parts of her old friend she could almost still see, going through her mental checklist. The files had been accurate. His condition was… stable, for now. Leaving containment would speed up the progression, until he was… well, until Ramsey wasn’t anymore.  The thought hurt. “I’ve seen enough,” she told her ARGUS escort, blinking back tears. How was this her life? So many people gone, her heart full of open graves.  She didn’t wait for the agent to lead the way back through the doors into the main hallway, trying to get the sight of Ramsey out of her mind. “Wait, Dr. Snow,” the agent called out, and she froze in the doorway. She’d pushed open one of two doors, forgetting the one that led to the exit. She stepped back, releasing the door and  letting it swing shut in her face again. “Sorry,” she said, her voice thick. “I… I wasn’t thinking. Just turned around.” It was a lie, of course.  She worried the agent would be able to tell, that he’d see in the way her eyes went blue in anger, what she’d seen. But he merely walked with her back to the front hall. Caitlin swallowed bile, clamping down on Frost screaming in her mind. There were too many agents, with too many weapons. They’d be on her in a second if she tried to do anything without a plan. But she couldn’t get the image out of her mind. The container, the tiny prison cell smaller than a Pipeline box, labeled Subject 2, and Cisco standing in it, one bloody, bandaged hand pressed flat against the glass.

[mshermia]

Full Circle - Webpril 01: Field Trip

summary: Peter and MJ are less interested in the field trip and a little more invested in spending time with each other. Someone, who's not spending any time with MJ at all is Tony, very much to his annoyance...

read on AO3

#

Nothing could ever even compete with the way Peter's stomach would flip when he would swing through the urban canyon that was Manhattan. Sure, Queens was awesome, it was his home after all, and there came a special sense of accomplishment with protecting one's home. 

But there was absolutely nothing like swinging from one skyscraper to the next.

Now, it had been forever since Spider-Man had been seen in Manhattan. Not since that day he had climbed onto that spaceship. He hadn't gone out there patrolling for a while after that final battle. When he had put his suit back on for the first time, it had seemed more important than ever to stick to his own neighborhood.

But patrol was not why Peter was back in Manhattan.

He craned his neck, eyes narrowed as he looked up to the very top of the MetLife Building. The name pulled an uncomfortable cringe on his face. It wasn't right. Years ago, the Stark letters had stood up there, only to be replaced by the Avengers symbol after the invasion of New York.

A cold shiver ran down Peter's neck and his entire back spasmed at the sensation. Aliens. The purple grape man. He shook his head. All that was in the past. 

"Hey, you okay?" MJ's hand slipped into his, hidden by their jackets from the rest of the group.

Peter forced his lips into a smile. Well, it honestly came easy whenever he looked at her. His skin broke out in goosebumps once again, in a good way though. In a way that matched the crazy rhythm, the butterflies in his stomach were dancing to.

MJ squinted up at the very top of the building herself now. "You ever been up there? When this was still Stark's?" She kept her voice low. It hadn't taken her long to figure out just how far she had to drop her voice for her words to stay just between her and Peter's enhanced-hearing.

"Long time ago," Peter nodded. "A few parties and tests in the lab before he sold it."

"Talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity, Penis."

Peter stumbled to the side as Flash push himself past them, right between him and MJ. With a heavy sigh, he stopped right in front of them, hands perched on his hip like he was supposed to be the center of attention.

"Actually, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results," Peter hisses through his teeth.

"Well, you would know, Penis, wouldn't you."

Peter's eyes flickered close in resignation, his arms tightly crossed in front of him.

"Get lost, Flash." MJ stepped back next to Peter and pushed him to the other side of the group.

"That's so sad," Flash laughed. "Look at you all whipped, Parker!"

"Just ignore him," MJ mumbled, eyes now on Mr. Harrington who was handing out lanyards to every student.

Peter nodded, eyes on his feet. It was embarrassing, always had been. It was way worse though with MJ right there to witness it. 

"Dude, I'm so psyched!" Ned had been first in line to get his lanyard, excitedly waving it in Peter's face. "How close do you think they'll let us get to it? You think we get to touch it? I mean at least the... the exterior... wall... thingy?"

Some of the tension fell off Peter. His lips slowly pulled back into a genuine smile at Ned's excitement. "Not the way you're buzzing, man... you'll have to be careful not to trigger a fission reaction."

Ned's face morphed into a mask of serious consideration. "That would kind of defeat the clean energy aspect."

Peter laughed. "Exactly!"

"But..." Ned's fingers were drumming against his chin like he was preparing for his full transmission to mad-scientist. "...it would get me Tony Stark's attention though for sure!"

"Ha," Peter barked. "Yeah, but not the kind of attention you're looking for, dude."

Ned grinned at him before he stormed back to the front of the line. Peter however decided to hang back after Mr. Harrington handed the last two lanyards out to him and MJ.

They walked into the lobby side by side though MJ didn't reach for his hand again. Instead, she was craning her head along with everyone else, looking at the oversized window fronts that were projecting different things from facts about the building's layout from floor 1 to 70, the different companies renting office space as well as the event plan for the next few months. When the Tower was still owned by Stark Industries they had had information on all kinds of things that were happening in SI buildings all over the planet projected there, all the way up to the tall ceiling of the entrance area.

"You ever seen one?" 

Peter glanced at her. "An arc?"

"Yeah." Her eyes were now following the lines of the interior design along the columns to the exquisite marble floor.

"I have. Not this one though," he shrugged. "They had one at the Compound upstate."

It had been where Peter had spent most of his real intern days, long after the Tower had been sold, after Toomes but before the purple grape man.

"Not this one? No parties next to the big bulb of energy then," she smirked.

Peter shook his head, glancing over at her. "Nah. Most of Tony's guests prefer the top floor to the basement."

That did get her attention. "The top floor, hm?"

She said it in a tone that made those butterflies in his stomach tumble excitedly. "Great view up there..." 

"Yeah, I bet." She held his gaze for a moment before a lady from the security team ushered them through the barrier.

The students in their group were bouncing excitedly, following behind the tour guide towards the line of elevators on the far side of the entrance area. 

"You know," MJ said, her tone as aloof as always. "I've always been more into architecture than energy technology. Structural engineering, that kind of thing."

Peter kept his eyes on the group, his fingertips buzzing with a new kind of excitement. "You love clean energy."

"I love to use it, but it's not like I necessarily want to build the things that generate it..."

Peter chanced another glance at her, MJ's eyes waiting to meet his. They were halfway across the room when Peter decided to hell with it, he'd just go for it. One hand on MJ's arm, he held her back for a couple of steps, letting the gap between the two of them and the group expand before he pushed her to the left, heading straight for another corridor that forked off and led to a single elevator.

They kept their heads low as they stole around the corner out of sight. The corridor was empty like it always had been even when this had been Mr. Stark's personal elevator. The doors opened right away as Peter pressed the call button and they both slipped into the waiting elevator car.

MJ shot a glance over her shoulder then grinned at Peter as the doors closed behind them. "You know, if they arrest us for this..."

"Can't arrest us for something they didn't outright ban us from, can they?"

One hand clutching her heart, MJ beamed up at him. "Peter Parker, I'm so proud. I bet they'll change the procedure from now on and move the lecture on which sections are off-limits to before they hand out these." She gave the lanyard around his neck a little flick.

Peter barked out a laugh. "Proud of how you're corrupting my pure innocent soul?"

She stepped a little closer to him. The hand that had just been resting on her heart came to lie on his cheek instead. "The circle is now complete." She leaned forward, her lips softly brushing against Peter's. "Student... master... someone becoming the other..."

The butterflies in his stomach, well... they were excited. Excited enough that a flush of heat was rising up to the very tip of his ears. His eyes were falling shut as he leaned against MJ, her lips warm and soft against his until his eyes flew back open. He leaned away from her just enough that MJ staggered forward a little, her eyes flickering open as well.

Peter studied her face, his mouth still gaping a little. "Did you just quote Star Wars to me?"

The confusion fell off her face. With an un-ladylike snort, she dipped her forehead against his shoulder. "Let's say it's your reward for the rule-breaking initiative." Her hand found his as she turned towards the elevator wall. "Let's do this." Her head spun back and forth a couple of times before Peter even caught on to what the problem was. "Wait, there's no control panel."

"Shit..." His heart sank. That tiny detail was going to ruin this for them. "No panel, it's voice-activated. Fuck, I forgot."

"So, you just say the floor and it gets you there. That's pretty cool." MJ looked up at the ceiling. "Level 70."

For a moment, they both froze in anticipation but the elevator didn't move an inch.

Peter rubbed the back of his hand across his forehead. He was starting to sweat. This had been such a dumb idea. "You need clearance for it to work," he grimaced. "Shit, sorry. That was a bit anti-climactic."

Like he was taunting the universe, the doors of the elevator opened and both of them jumped in surprise.

"What up, Parker," Flash chimed up amused. "Trespassing, are we?"

"Jesus Christ, you gotta be fucking kidding me," Peter hissed under his breath, clutching his heart.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Ned was right behind Flash and followed him into the elevator car.

"Nothing. We were just leaving."

"Eww, were you trying to sneak off to hook up with her?" Flash made a face, his upper lip curled up as he looked from Peter to MJ and back. "What a sleazy move."

A bead of sweat was running down the side of Peter's face, anxiety clawing its way under his skin.

"Don't be such a perv, Flash." MJ had her arms crossed, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

"Whatever," Flash mumbled as the doors of the elevator shut again. He craned his neck looking around the car. "How does it move?"

"It's voice activated," both Ned and MJ groaned in union.

Peter squinted at Ned. "Wait, how did you even know where we went?"

"Saw you sneak off, didn't we... floor 70," Flash called out to the ceiling. When nothing happened, he pursed his lips. "Floor 70, please?"

Ned snorted, pulling a scowl onto Flash's face. "Well, I saw you. That one," he pointed at Flash, "just stalked me."

Eyes narrowed, Flash turned on Ned. "Maybe you should work on your sneaking skills if you don't want to be followed."

Ned waved him off. "You try it, Peter!" 

Excitement rang in Ned's voice, like Peter had the secret key to make this work. All it did was make his heart sink. It would have been bad enough to disappoint MJ, but Ned had just skipped out on the very thing he had been daydreaming of for years, seeing the arc, to follow them to a different adventure that Peter would not be able to deliver. Letting him down was even worse than embarrassing himself in front of Flash.

Peter pressed his eyes shut in resignation. There was no way the elevator would move. Without FRIDAY, he had no clearance. If it hadn't been for Flash and Ned, he might have made use of his web-shooters to steal up the elevator shaft with MJ... well, if it hadn't been for Flash... 

Still, he owed it to Ned to at least try. 

"Floor 70, please," Peter mumbled, resigned to the trip turning out to be the bust he had expected it to be.

His knees almost buckled underneath him as the elevator started to move.

"Woohoo!" Ned cheered, clapping him on the shoulder. "Dude, you did it!"

MJ grinned at him, only Flash looked a little pale around his nose. In all honesty, Peter didn't feel much better than Flash looked as the elevator was climbing higher and higher. This shouldn't have worked. He hadn't been in that building for, well 2 to 7 years, depending on who you'd ask. Tony had sold the Tower in 2016.

His head still a little fuzzy, Peter hesitated as the doors opened onto the top floor. He had almost expected them to crash some kind of function. That would have certainly explained why the elevator worked, but the entire floor was empty. It was almost eerie to see it like this when Peter had only ever experienced it lined with cocktail tables and packed with people in fine evening wear. 

"Shit, this is so cool," Ned mumbled, slowly advancing towards the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked Manhattan. "You can basically look right into the Chrysler Building!"

Flash had walked up next to him and waved towards the other building like a little kid waving at all the other cars passing through the rear window of a car. "You know, my dad said he's gonna buy this whole thing one day. So, if you ever want to be invited to one of my parties..."

"Well, he's a little late for that. I doubt the Tower will go back on the market for the next few decades."

Peter's insides froze. For a moment, he was hoping that it was just an illusion, that maybe he was just having a stroke or a minor concussion from patrol he hadn't noticed before. But when he turned, there was no doubt. The man that stalked towards them, decked out in a three-piece suit, dark shades on his face, was no other than Tony Stark.

Both his friends and Flash had turned at once.

Ned looked like he was hyperventilating while his high-pitched whisper rang through the room. "Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod..."

"Oh. My. God," Peter groaned. "What are you doing here?"

Tony gasped, his face pulled into affronted shock. "Is that how you greet your favorite Avenger?"

One hand twisted in his hair, Peter could only stare at him. "I can't believe this is happening right now," he mumbled, staring straight at Tony.

"Okay, while Peter is still trying to reboot that genius brain of his." Tony pointed at Ned who's eyes were in danger of bulging out of his head. "Ted, I presume. Don't know this one," he mumbled as he pointed to Flash, but then his attention singled in on MJ. He strode right past Peter, an outstretched hand extended to her. "That means you must be MJ..." 

MJ's eyes were wide, shifting from Tony over to Peter and back. "Mr. Stark..."

"Call me Tony." The smile underneath his dark-tinted glasses was blindingly bright as she shook his nano-tech hand. That in itself left Peter at a loss for words. "I wish I could say I've heard a lot about you, but that would be a lie." He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder a couple of times in Peter's direction. "You'd think he was guarding Fort Knox. Scratch that, it was easier to get in there than getting anything out of Peter when it comes to his new girlfriend."

"Oh god, please, stop talking!" Peter's face was hot, glowing like the surface of the sun. Even as he was hiding behind his hands he felt like he was illuminating the entire room.

"See, even now he's acting like this is all a big secret. Like I wouldn't notice how he rather spends his weekends in the city now than with dear old me, but I noticed and I do have his aunt's number. I mean, what does a guy have to do in order to be granted some time with their... well, intern. I only saved the universe, well, half of it. The lost half. You're welcome, by the way." He pointed at Ned and Flash as well. "You too, I guess."

Unaccustomed to Tony's rambling nature, MJ, Ned and Flash were sporting an identical look of opened-mouthed wonder, eyebrows slightly pulled together as they tried to follow Tony's chaotic monologue. 

"It's not like I don't still have about a million things to teach him. Lesson number one," he turned to Peter. "You never ever stop making out with a girl to point out a Star Wars reference. I didn't think anyone would have to be taught that!"

Peter's jaw popped open. "Oh my god, you were watching us this whole time?"

He waved a hand at Peter. "FRIDAY and I were quite amused, I'm not gonna lie, but-- hey, come on!"

One hand on Tony's upper arm, Peter pushed him toward the other side of the room. While the other three were rooted on their spots in stunned silence, Peter had no such reservation.

"What in holy hell do you think you're doing?"

"Would you calm down? You're the one who's sneaking off without thinking about the 5 gazillion cameras that are installed in this building."

"And how exactly do you still have access to all these cameras, huh? Did you bribe someone to spy on my field trip?"

"Yeah, talking about that field trip, you know you could have just told me your team wanted to see the arc and I could have—"

"Don't change the subject!"

Tony tilted his head a bit to the side. "I don't usually have to bribe anyone to access what's mine."

Even though his eyes were almost entirely hidden behind the dark-tinted glasses, Peter stared at him. But no matter how long he did, Tony did seem entirely serious. "You bought back the Tower."

It wasn't a question and Tony didn't bother to pretend like it was either.

Peter's shoulder's slumped in resignation. "When did this happen?"

Tony shrugged, suddenly suspiciously quiet. 

His nerves reaching an all-time high, Peter blew out a long breath. "Was this before or after my school's decathlon team happened to be invited to visit the arc?"

"Erm..." Tony pursed his lips, pretending to think. "I mean, I'm not sure about your little club's time table or anything like that so I wouldn't be entirely sure if—"

"You gotta be fucking kidding me." Peter ran both hands through his hair, at a complete loss. "What the hell is going on with you?"

"Hey, it's not like you gave me much of a choice." Tony's finger was pointed at him, his eyebrows raised above the dark rims of his glasses, like Peter was in the know of what was going on.

"I have no idea what you're even talking about."

He huffed out an annoyed little breath. "Well, why is it that May got to meet your girlfriend and I'm still wondering if you made her up or not? And even that just because Pepper let something slip that May wasn't supposed to talk about when—"

"Okay, please..." Peter's arms and hands were stretched out, voice low like he was trying to calm a skittish animal. "...please tell me, that you didn't buy back the Tower just so you could meet MJ."

Tony crossed his arms in front of himself. "Oh, don't flatter yourself, Underoos."

"Oh god..." His head was hurting. 

"I did not. Pepper would skin me alive."

Peter wasn't quite sure if he meant for spending that kind of money or for meddling with Peter's love life in general. "Then why didn't you just tell me you bought it?"

His arms twitched with another shrug. "I thought it would be a fun surprise."

Peter glanced over his shoulder in the direction of his friends and Flash, but they were well out of sight. "Listen, I'm sorry I haven't made it out to the cabin that often. It's not... it's not like I don't want to come out, it's just... it's the other side of town and—"

"And there's not enough room and you don't have a desk there to work at and the basement is too small and Morgan's up at what feels like dawn and has you grumpy in the mornings and the woods are creepy and you still don't like driving and what did I miss?"

Peter's head was bowed low. He had never said those things to Tony. Not out loud. He'd thought them for sure though.

"I know things haven't been ideal and with the Compound gone, well... this will be the better option."

Peter frowned, slowly looking back up at Tony. "The better option?"

"The lab in the Tower will be big enough that we can have like three desks each, easily. It's close enough for you to drop by whenever you want or go home in time so you, you know, don't miss a date or something. If you want to stay over there's no reason your room has to share a wall with Morgan's, the kitchen, or the living room, so no early wake-ups. No creepy trees outside your window and the subway station is just around the corner."

Peter's eyes were burning. Somehow... somehow this did sound a lot like he was the reason why Tony bought back that damn building after all.

With a swift motion, Tony took off his glasses, the expression on his face soft but sincere. "I miss you, kid. I'm not happy with how things have been going since they... well, since we've moved back to the cabin full time."

Peter moved his weight from one foot to the other. It wasn't like he hadn't missed Tony. He didn't even mind the cabin all that much, things had just been, well, different.

It wasn't just about where Tony lived now, that he was married with a kid. It wasn't that he had retired Iron Man, not really. 

Everything was just so different and for some reason, Tony of all people acted like nothing at all had changed between them. 

"Listen, Pete, I don't mean to—" He stopped himself, lowering his voice little further. "If I overstepped and you actually... well, if you actually just want your space and you want to cut back on the erm... internship, either way, that's perfectly fine and of course, we can figure out a new routine for the... neighborhood side project to—"

"I can't believe you bought the fucking Tower for me," Peter mumbled.

Tony tilted his head to the side. The corner of his mouth was pulled back into a soft smirk. "I invented fucking time travel for you, kid."

Peter's throat was dry, but he tried to swallow the growing lump anyway. "You did that because of the purple grape. Because of what he did to like 50% of the universe."

There was a beat of silence between them. Tony held his glance, staring at him unblinkingly. "Did I?"

Peter's lips parted, but there was nothing to say, his mind simply blank. "Tony... I... I'm not sure—"

"Alright now..." Without another moment of hesitation, Tony stepped a little closer, his arms pulling Peter into a tight hug. "We won't do that now. Not here. Not today," he whispered. One of his hands, the human one, was on the back of Peter's head when he quickly pressed a kiss against his temple. "I missed you, buddy."

Peter's fingers were clinging to Tony's back, his eyes pressed shut as he tried not to think about what Tony had said. Tried not to analyze what it meant if he had really done all of it just for him.

It took a few more mumbled words from Tony until he let go. His head held low, Peter ran the sleeve of his shirt over his eyes.

"You want this?" Tony held out his glasses for him to take. 

With a wet snort, Peter waved his hand away. "Yeah, 'cause that's not super obvious at all..."

Tony shrugged, the smirk on his lips deepening. Just before he pushed his glasses back onto his face, Peter caught a glimpse of the glassy brown eyes, a little red probably not unlike his own. With an overly heavy sigh, Tony wrapped an arm around Peter’s shoulder. „Come on, buddy... I think at least one of your friends is dying to see that technological marvel in my basement.”

Peter scrunched up his nose, not even trying to pull away from him. “Can you at least try not to be weird?”

“I won’t make any promises.” 

"You could make up for it and let Ned touch the arc." He bit his lip, hiding a smile. "He really really wants to..."

"Why do you want to break that thing I just bought for you?"

Peter let his head drop against Tony's shoulder. "It's okay, I'll help you fix it."

#

This is the first time I've written something for this fandom that is *not* whump, so let me know, what you think!

I'll try to fill a bunch of these prompts, because I love running from my WIPs. Don't hate me for it ;) <3

[kazoo5480]

Killian startled awake to music coming from his living room, it was jarring as the loft was usually quiet and Emma was usually next to him soft and warm. He got up rubbing his hand over his face and put some pants on. Walking towards his kitchen, the scene he walked into was not one he expected.

Emma was in one of his tee shirts and nothing else, swaying her hips and dancing. August next to her doing the same, what he assumed was breakfast left in a heap of ingredients forgotten for the moment on the island. Fleetwood Macs “Little Lies” blasting out of the speakers, the two of them wore the biggest grins he had ever seen.

Killian leaned against the doorframe while he watched August spin her around his kitchen and sang the chorus with her dancing like no one would be watching them. It was an odd picture to take in, but he loved it so much.

August brought out that carefree side of Emma out-one he had yet to see, and he was absolutely delighted by it. She looked gorgeous, laughing, and smiling- her blonde curls swinging and bouncing with her movements.

“Good morning” he called out, and August winked at him, and continued singing and smiled totally unashamed and swung his hips as he began to beat the eggs. Emma’s cheeks were flushed pink, and she grinned at him, dancing her way towards him, throwing her arms around his neck, and sang to him as she swayed her hips. He leaned down and kissed her and released her bouncing form.

“Hi babe. We are making breakfast” she said, and danced her way back towards August, his tee shirt swaying dangerously close to the bottom of her ass. Killian struggled to peel his eyes off of his girlfriend and grabbed a cup of coffee seating himself at the island.

“I can see that. I am enjoying the entertainment very much- both of you” and August blew a kiss at him, and turned to sing to Emma, using the whisk like a microphone. Killian shook his head, his body shaking in laughter.

She looked so happy; her smile alone might crack her face in half. Toast popped up and Emma shimmied her way to grab it, swaying as she spread butter on the slices, tossing the plate in his oven.

The song ended, only for Whitney Houston to start up, the familiar synth beat of “how will I know” and her melodic voice coming out.  August started singing, obviously they each had portions they sang, Killian thought laughing.

Emma grabbed her spatula, turned and began singing to Killian.

“How will I know if he really loves me?

I say a prayer with every heartbeat,

I fall in love whenever we meet,

I' m asking you what you know about these things!”

Killian swallowed thickly and winked at her with a beatific smile on his lips, and she spun continuing to sing with August who watched and smiled at her dance towards him.

August grabbed Emma’s hand dragging her back to the island twirling and dipping her. Emma’s head thrown back in laughter, her curls nearly brushing the floor, and August released her breaking out into full song and dance while Emma stirred the eggs. Killian felt like an intruder on this, but it washed over him- they were including him. His heart cracked wide open, this was Emma letting him in.

He knew the words, so he surprised both Emma and August by standing, and jumping into song with them, pretending to play the saxophone in the background while August and Emma impersonated Whitney’s portion. August laughed hysterically, and nodded at him- welcoming him into the fold of their pseudo family. Killian grinned like an idiot until the song faded.

Emma plated the eggs up and swayed to their playlist as she stood and ate. She watched Killian and August laugh back and forth, she felt something in her chest twitch unnaturally. August’s surprise text at the crack of dawn about a breakfast dance party had made her world light up, and watching the two of them made it pound in her chest.

August wanted to meet Killian, spend time with him in his space on his turf, and see her life- or what it might look like. Emma was touched, and it had been far too long since she let loose for their classic breakfast dance parties.

She rinsed her plate and left them to wash up and by the time she got back they were in a debate over music. Emma laughed, danced along to “A-Ha” while she washed and rinsed their plates. Killian stood and walked to her, kissing her on the neck. “I’m heading to open the shop love” and she grinned and nodded, kissing him quickly and watched him walk out.

August began drying the plates, placing them back in their places, as Killian came out pulling his jumpsuit up, a cigarette behind his ear. August’s eyes widened, and he shot Emma a look. “Jesus Christ, no wonder you fell for him in a day” and she scoffed slapping his arm.

“Hands off, Jones is mine” and August laughed at her.

Killian shook his head, lighting his smoke up while he opened the garage door and the entry door. He looked at the list, he had a few in the lot for pickup today, but they were done. So, he turned his own music on, and grabbed his clip board, figuring out what else he needed to get for Emma’s bug, and the sedan he was repairing.

He noticed Augusts Porsche out in the lot and shook his head. Emma and August appeared a few minutes later fully dressed and made up, and she kissed him goodbye as they made their way out to Augusts car.

Killian had just turned “fat bottomed girls” up on his radio, as Graham pulled in the lot in his wrangler. August lowered the soft top on his car and peeled out of the lot with Emma’s laugh carrying on the wind, Killian smiling after them. Graham got out and came towards Killian shaking his head.

“Humbert, it’s too early for you to look like you have a stick up your arse- Sheriff or not” Killian said laughing at his friend and stamped out his cigarette.

“Who was that?” Graham asked him sternly.

“A guest” Killian replied cryptically, just to mess with his friend.

Graham sighed, “seriously Jones.”

“August. Emma’s brother and best friend” Killian said smirking. “Why? Do you plan to arrest him this early for going slightly over the speed limit when no one in town is even awake aside from us?” and laughed walking away from Graham.

Graham rolled his eyes “you’re not making this easy man” and Killian shrugged.

Facing his friend, he lit up another smoke, and sat on a stool. “You want to talk, then talk Humbert.”

Graham stood across from him. “I’ve been a real asshole, I apologized to Emma, but I can see she obviously doesn’t care one way or the other that I apologized.”

Killian took in his rigid posture and inhaled the smoke deeply. “Why do you care if she accepts your apology for being a wanker? She is my girlfriend, not yours mate” Killian said exhaling.

He was trying to get under Grahams skin, a tested method that usually yielded results in deciphering Grahams mood swings.

Grahams eyes widened at that comment. Bulls eye, Killian thought.

Killian’s eyes twinkled mischievously, and Graham balked at him. “Your girlfriend!? That’s just bloody perfect, isn’t it?”

“Emma seems to think so, so yes” Killian said back, poking the bear, he was spoiling for a fight and he smirked as “black betty” came on the filling the garage and his adrenaline began pumping.

Graham groaned, “Yeah? well maybe Emma is…”

Killian was up so fast and had Graham by the neck of his shirt and against the door before Graham could even say it. Killian’s eyes flashed murderous, “You will want to tread lightly before those words leave your mouth Sheriff” Killian shouted an inch away from Grahams face, his forearm across Grahams windpipe.

Killian released his hold “Whatever your issues with her and I are, deal with it mate!” Killian barked out, and Graham glared at him.

Graham looked deadly, rubbing his throat he pulled back his arm, his sucker punch cracking Killian’s cheekbone before Killian had a moment to register what had just happened. He looked at his friend and charged at him, tackling him to the ground landing halfway into the lot.

He punched Graham in the mouth, and the sheriff spat blood across the ground. “Fuck you Jonesy. You don’t deserve a girl like that, and you bloody well know it!” Grahams accent stronger than he may have ever heard it sober.

Killian punched him again in mouth, and Graham flipped him landing a punch to Killian’s jaw. They walloped each other hard, anywhere they could reach that was open on the other. Killian felt blood running down his nose, and he spit it on the ground where it joined a mix of both of their blood splatters.

August pulled into the lot, and killed the engine blocking the exit as he took in the scene unfolding him. Emma looked up, and she stopped talking mid sentence, and August smiled at her. “Interesting scene” he mused and exited the car leaning against the hood. Emma leaned next to him, watching Killian beat the shit out of the Sherriff, and she would bet that it was over her.

August grinned at her, “Two men fighting over you? Pft. I expected more” he teased, and she elbowed him.

“Should I do something?” she asked watching them, and August grabbed her elbow “Nope. Let’s see what Jones is working with.” Neither man noticing Emma and August sitting on the hood of his Porsche watching them pummel each other.

“Get it out Humbert. Say it!” Killian shouted at him, and cracked him a punch to the ribs, feeling the skin on his knuckles split open. Graham landed a punch to his lower back. “The fucking kidneys you arse. What the fuck!” Killian shouted as Graham tried to chokehold him. Killian slammed the back of his head against Grahams face and heard the telltale crunch of a broken nose.

Graham released him, blood running down his chin. “You fucking wanker. You couldn’t just leave the lass alone, you had to put your filthy hands all over her. You don’t deserve a girl like that you fucking arsehole, fucking anything with a cunny up the entire eastern seaboard!” Graham growled out cracking Killian in his side with his fist.

Killian doubled over, hand on his knees, spitting blood as the pain radiated through his ribs. “That’s precious Humbert. I love her you asshole. What the fuck would you know about it? You wouldn’t know love at first sight if it bit you in the bloody pecker” he shouted breathing heavy.

Killian looked up from the blood covered cement, noticing the look on Grahams face he bent his neck to follow Grahams line of sight and spotted Emma and August.

“Bloody Hell” he mumbled. Emma’s eyes were wide, and August looked like he was about to eat a bowl of popcorn and settle in for a show.

Killian watched her step forward with deliberation, her beautiful face filled with anger as she gave him a once over and got right in Grahams face. “What the hell is your problem Graham? I don’t care if you think I am a whore, but you don’t have any right to hit your friend you asshole!” She shouted and her fist connected with the sheriff’s eye, and Graham hit the cement hard landing on his ass and elbows, groaning in pain.

August began laughing hysterically, and Emma shouted at him to shut up. Killian collapsed on the cement, and began laughing too, his lip split, and it bloody hurt. It was only too perfect that this small woman cold cocked the sheriff who lay feet away from him, hand over his eye.

August strolled up, extending his hand to Killian, and helped him to his feet. He stood over Graham, a wicked gleam in his eye. “Hello Sherriff” he sing songed, and Graham looked up at the stranger with a deadly glare. “I see you aren’t in a welcoming mood” he said, striding back to Emma and Killian’s sides.

Killian bent and cracked his neck and stepped forward extending his hand to Graham. Graham glared at him, his eyes flashing murderously, but he grasped Killian’s hand and he helped his friend to his feet. “Feel better Sherriff?” He said seriously to Graham. Graham looked at Emma and August and back to him, giving a stiff nod.

Killian nodded, “Good. Now get your ass out of my lot before I have to call your deputy to pull Emma off of you.” Graham looked at Emma, with something like regret all over his face.

“Emma...” Graham started, and she glared at him.

“Go! Now!” She shouted, her voice cracking, and Graham headed toward his Jeep as August moved his car. Killian watched Graham peel out of the lot, his tires squealing.

“Come on Rocky, let’s clean you up” August said leading Killian inside and Emma shutting the gate to the lot. August looked him over, “you got a first aid kit Jones?” and Killian pointed at the red case on the wall. August grabbed it, and grabbed some things out, wiping at Killian’s cuts. Killian winced when he dabbed his lip with an alcohol wipe.

“Bloody Christ!” He jerked, and August apologized and continued. Killian watched Emma pace back and forth, and as she grabbed the hose and began spraying the cement, rinsing the blood away. She didn’t come inside until she was done and slid the garage door down. When she met his eyes, she looked mad.

“Emma, I’m sorry. He had it coming though” and Emma nodded silently.

“Well, I am deeply entertained, here I thought this was a quiet sleepy town, and Emma would be fine here, away from trouble. Who knew you were the cause of the trouble” August teased her.

Emma nailed her brother with a glare. “Not another word August.” She sat on a stool and looked at Killian, guilt washing over her face as she looked at him, her green eyes sad.

“You really thought it was a good idea to beat the shit out of the Sherriff?” she accused him. “I told you I didn’t want you to fight with your friend, his opinion doesn’t matter” she said.

Killian shrugged, and winced as August cleaned a cut on his brow. “Alright stop nightingale, bloody hell.” And August tossed the wipe sitting on the stool by Emma.

“What shall we do with him” August asked Emma, and she smirked.

“Sandbag?” and August shook his head in disagreement.

“Waterboard?” August replied and Emma shook her head at him.

“Confinement?” Emma said smiling.

“Short Shackles?” August countered, and she nodded grinning.

Killian watched them, “are you two talking about bloody torturing the Sherriff? You two are completely mental!” he said, and Emma giggled.

“Just joking Killian” August said and bent to put Killian’s arm over his shoulder, his arm wrapping around Killian’s waist, and he got him up the stairs into the loft. “We need to work on his sense of humor Swan” August said to Emma, and Killian rolled his eyes.

Emma went to start the shower, then helped Killian undo his jumpsuit, as August steadied him while she stripped him. He heard August whistle lowly as he walked straight into the bathroom shutting the door behind him.

“Stop gawking Aug” she said and gathered Killian’s bloody clothes taking them down the hall to the washer and started it.

August leaned against the kitchen island eyeing her, “You are absolutely sure you want me to leave you here?” and she nodded.

“He does have an ass you could bounce a quarter off of” he laughed, and Emma laughed.

“Told you!” Emma said gleefully.

August nodded, “Do I need to worry about the Sherriff? Is he going to pull me over on my way out of town?” and Emma wasn’t sure.

“I don’t know, I don’t think so” she said.

“And you? Will I be wiring bail money to Jones? I have his account information already, maybe I should throw a few grand in there in case” he joked.

Emma rolled her eyes. “This is absolutely not how today was supposed to go” she said shaking some Tylenol into her hand and filled a glass with water for Killian.

August walked to her, pulling her into his chest. “Oh? You mean you didn’t foresee your boyfriend pummeling the town Sherriff in defense of your honor? Lets not forget the part where he said he loved you at first sight” and he felt Emma bury her face further into his chest. He smoothed her hair, holding her tight. “It’s ok Emma, really.” She leaned back and looked at him skeptically.

“Don’t run. I am telling you not to. I see it all over your face, you don’t want to drive two friends apart, and you’re looking to remove yourself from the equation. Do you know how destroyed Killian will be if you do that? And you? You are in just as deep as him” he said softly pushing against her walls.

She scoffed, and he grasped her arms not letting her go. “August” she said exasperated, and he nodded.

“I like him, he is crazy over you, and how could you not relish in the idea of two hot men with matching accents fighting over you? I would be bathing in that attention if it were me!” He laughed.

Emma rolled her eyes, “I just don’t want conflict; it is messy, and I don’t need that.”

August spotted Killian walking down the hall towards them and eyed him, and Killian stopped and leaned against the wall listening.

“I love you Em, I will be here for you if there is a dumpster fire at the end, but I have to tell you I don’t think that is what this is, or where this is going.” He said and stroked her cheek.

“You don’t?” she asked him in a soft voice.

“No, my dear, I don’t. It’s time you let Killian be your morning dance partner, and I will visit whenever you want me to so long as the Sherriff won’t be writing me a speeding ticket or keep a holding cell empty for me” Emma laughed and nodded.

August almost asked her if she loved Killian, but knowing he was listening wasn’t fair to Emma. He wouldn’t betray Emma like that, and he probably knew before Emma even realized it herself. “Hey slugger!” he called out to Killian.

Emma spun and saw Killian. She grabbed the Tylenol and the water, and he winced as he smiled and kissed her, “Thanks” he said and moved to the couch.

August clapped his hands together, “Well as you have Florence Nightingale here for your sponge baths, I do believe I should get going.” Emma looked up at him sadly.

“No Swan.” August said without Emma having to say a word. Her lip trembled, and August wiggled his finger, “you manipulative little duckling. No.”

Emma stood and wrapped her arms around her brother, “I love you. Will you come back soon?” and he nodded embracing her. She went to the kitchen and was grabbing more water.

He bent next to Killian “Take care of her” he said lowly.

Killian nodded, “I will. Thank you.”

August stared at him with an arrogant smirk “I’m serious. Take care of her or let her go. Don’t hurt her, or those torture methods will be used on you and the Sherriff both. I am holding you responsible for her wellbeing entirely.”

Killian swallowed, “the theatrics are overkill” and August smiled clapping him on the shoulder. “See you soon Jones” and waved, closing the doors behind him.

August made his way down the steps, spotting her bug, and slipped the envelope out of his coat pocket, placing it into her glove compartment, it should be enough he thought and quietly closed the door of her car, exiting the shop.

Emma watched him walk to his car and waved to him from the balcony as he backed out. He blew her a kiss, and she blew one back. She was going to miss him; she hated the goodbyes with him.

She looked at Killian who had a bag of peas draped across his eyes and cheek. She lightly rubbed his head, “are you ok?” she asked.

“Aye.” Killian responded.

“Thank you. For defending me, and August, just thank you. I am sorry you and Graham fought” she said grimly.

Killian removed the makeshift ice pack and looked at her, he cheek bruised. “I knew what I was doing Emma. It had to come out or we weren’t going to move forward” and she looked at him curiously.

“You purposefully antagonized Graham? Why?” she asked incredulously.

“We have been friends for a long time. I knew his jealousy ran deep, so I needled him until he blew, let it out. Him and I will patch it up, but it had to happen. I just didn’t know how you were involved exactly until today” he said and placed the peas back over his eye and cheek.

Emma heard her phone chirp; she went to it and saw Ruby texted her.

RL: “What the fuck Emma?” Emma sighed, and dialed.

“Emma?” Ruby asked.

“Hey Ruby” she replied.

“What is going on? Graham looks like someone hit him with a bat, said it was you. What happened?” She asked.

Emma sighed, “August and I came back from grabbing coffee, and saw Jones and the Sherriff pummeling each other in the lot. Graham said some shit about me, so I cracked him in the face for it. I only hit him once, Jones did the rest.”

Ruby cackled, “Ah, you were just the thing I was hoping for. We were too boring before” she said excitedly.

Emma huffed out a laugh “I live to be your entertainment Ruby.”

“As you should. So August is gone?” She sounded sad Emma noticed.

“Yeah, just left, but he will visit soon” Emma said.

“Ok, well I will drop by with some food later for you guys” Ruby said, and Emma agreed hanging up.

“So, the whole town knows?” Killian asked.

“Appears that way” Emma sighed.

“It isn’t your fault Emma” he said.

“Feels like it is” she said.

“Why duckling?” he asked.

Emma blinked. “Augusts nickname?”

“You can tell me only if you want to” he said.

“We were both scrawny kids when we ran. He used to read me the ugly duckling when I was smaller, he said I was the ugly duckling who believed she was a Swan. I legally changed my name to Swan when I was 18. The nickname stuck” she said quietly.

“I see. I think you’re beautiful” he mused.

She smiled, he was bloodied, and cut, defending her, he loved her. She recognized the unfamiliar twitch in her heart. She was in love with him too, but she wasn’t going to say that if she could help it. She leaned down next to him and placed a light kiss to his other cheek, and he smirked. “Get some sleep” she said, and he nodded.

Emma grabbed her purse off the stool in the garage and walked into town. She was going to find the Sherriff right now and end this today.

She went into the diner, and Ruby looked up surprised. “Hey slugger” she laughed at Emma.

“I need Grahams address” Emma said.

“He is at the station” and pointed kitty corner where his Jeep was.

“See you later, text first” she smirked.

“We need a sheriff, remember that” Ruby called out as she walked out.

Emma climbed the stairs and pushed open the door. “Graham” she called out.

“Here” came his voice and he was laid on a cot in a holding cell with an eye pack over his eye. Emma smiled satisfactorily.

“We are going to talk; I am going to talk, and you are going to listen. Understood?” She asked, and he nodded not moving the ice pack but struggled as he sat up.

“I don’t know why you hate me so much, or why you went after Killian today; you have been an asshole since the moment that you saw us together, and it is none of your business. I want to know why, because your friend is hurting, and you caused it. You really want to throw your best friend away like that? she said.

Graham lowered the ice pack, his orbital bone purple and swelling. He looked at her, “you have a wicked right hook” he said, Emma laughed.

“I was-am jealous. But you didn’t deserve me to say anything about you, I don’t even know you. I just knew there was something about you the moment I saw you. Killian- he doesn’t deserve you Emma” he said sounding resolved.

“You don’t even know me Graham. I am flattered, but I am with Killian, I am happy with Killian. I don’t know what else to say” she said.

He nodded, raising the ice pack back up and laid back down. “Well, that is my problem, not yours Emma” he said.

“Are you going to fix it with Killian? You guys cant be that dumb to fight over a stranger and throw away your friendship” she said.

“Jones and I will fix it Emma. You and I, no hard feeling I hope” and she laughed sarcastically in response.

“Sure, right” she said.

Graham looked over at her, “I am serious Emma. I deserved your punch. I am putting my feelings aside; I just haven’t felt this way in a really long time, you caught me off guard and I had hoped that maybe I made you feel something too. I just hope we can be friends at some point if you’re staying” he said and turned his head back away from her.

“Are you going to continue talking shit about me? Because that isn’t fair to me, or to Killian” she said resolutely.

“I have no hard feelings over anything today with either of you. I mean it. Going forward I wont either, but with a hook like that I suggest you apply for the deputy position” he said quietly with a smirk.

Emma sat next to him on the cot and nudged him in his rib which made him wince, “okay. Apology accepted. And no thanks on the job” she said and put her hand over his.

Graham smiled at her “he is a lucky guy. I hope he knows that.”

“He does, I am lucky too. He surprised me just as much.” She stood, walking out of the station without waiting for his response, heading back towards the garage.

Her phone chirped; it was August. “Look in your glovebox. JIC.”

Emma made her way toward her car and popped the glovebox open. She opened the white envelope, counted it and laughed.

“Five grand? You think I need bail money just in case?” she replied.

“You never know, and I didn’t want you stuck. Love you.”

She smiled and typed out “I love you too. Visit soon!”

She made her way up to the loft, and Killian was sound asleep. She went to the closet and tucked the envelope in one of her bags and zipped the pocket. August was always looking out, she thought and smiled. She grabbed her book and went to sit on the balcony while Killian slept it off.

Killian woke up, and everything hurt. He pushed himself up and noticed Emma out on the balcony. He smiled, despite the ache over his entire body it was worth it. She was absolutely worth it. He thought to this morning, to Augusts words to her. He wanted to be her morning dance partner, see that side of her, and he was fine with sharing her with August like that.

Killian also understood by August acknowledging him earlier, letting him hear what he said, he was saying to both of them. Screw Graham and his self-righteousness, he thought. He made his way out the door and sat next to Emma, and she smiled up at him, cupping his cheek.

“Are you ok?” She asked as he sat and kissed him lightly, trying to avoid the cut on his lip. He nodded at her. Emma swallowed, he looked incredibly sexy all roughed up. She swung her legs over and stood grabbing his hand. Killian looked at her confused, “Come on Rocky” and led him toward the bedroom.

She dropped her skirt and pulled her top up and off. Killian’s eyes darkened, and he winced when he accidentally bit the cut on his lip. Emma stepped into his arms, kissing all the cuts and bruises on his face. He caressed her back, and unhooked her bra, his hands trailing down her exposed skin, and she cupped his cheek, kissing him as soft as she could.

He moaned, and his hands flexed and cupped her ass, lifting her up and she wrapped her legs around his hips. Emma tried to not grab onto him too hard but giggled when he dropped her on the mattress.

She leaned up on her elbows watching him strip off his tee shirt and drop his jeans and boxer briefs to the floor, chewing her lip as she watched. He knelt over her, his blue eyes burning into hers and leaned down to kiss her, his tongue stroking hers, as she gently cupped his jaw.

He leaned back, pulling her panties clear off of her, and she nudged him to lay back, hovering over him on her forearms, her long blonde curls a curtain around his face as she kissed him. He tangled his fingers in the curls, bringing her closer, licking deeper into her mouth as his free hand gripped her narrow hip.

She moaned softly and he pulled back looking into her green eyes, he saw fire and lust breathing in them as she gazed at him. “I need you” she said, and he swallowed, nodding.

He nudged her hip and she scooted back, hovering over his cock, and she gripped it in her small hand, angling him before she sank down on him. Killian groaned at the sensation, how wet she was, and Emma leaned forward keeping her weight off of his chest and kissed him, sliding up and down his cock.

“Fuck” he said tightening his grip on her neck and hip. She kissed him lightly and her eyes stayed on his, he was lost in her, the sensation of her surrounding him, flooding through him. He leaned up, his cock hardened, stiffer than ever before.

The pressure point that Emma hit had so much blood flowing to his dick that his brain began to feel fuzzy, his head light. “Emma” he growled out and she moaned in response speeding her pace.

He traced his palm over her stomach, his thumb rubbing at her clit just above where they were joined, and Emma’s body shook, a tremor shot through her.

Emma was lost in the sensation; she was trying to hold back her weight not placing any more of it on him than what was needed. His voice cracked as he cried her name and she arched, hitting that spot deep inside her, and he continued pushing her higher with every swipe of his thumb.

Emma bit her lip, and began squeezing her tits, rolling her nipples as she rode him hard. She felt her orgasm coming, it crackling through her veins like a riptide, and Killian pinched her clit and she exploded screaming out his name as it took over her whole body.

Emma clamped down around him with her orgasm, her legs shaking and her hands gripping her tits as she slowed her pace, and his rushed out tearing through him. It was so intense it sent his hips arching into her, his hands holding her still as he pulsed deep inside of her.

He heaved for air, his lungs burning. Emma looked wrecked, and so bloody gorgeous. Her nipples rosy from her attention, the swells bouncing as she gasped for air. She rose off of him and laid next to him on her side smiling.

He rolled to the side, and he stroked her cheek. She placed her hand over his and turned it kissing his palm. He smiled and just laid there looking at her, don’t say it Jones, don’t do it, “I love you.” Emma smiled at him widely and her cheeks grew pink.

He knew by the look in her face she felt it too, but he was ok with her not saying it back. When she finally let him win her heart, it would be worth the wait to hear those words spill from her perfect lips. He kissed her forehead and pulled the sheet over them as they laid there staring at each other, wide smiles and she snuggled into him gently. He kissed her hair, letting exhaustion claim him.

Emma sat there, not surprised completely, but still a little shocked. He just said it, like it was the easiest thing in the world. He never stopped surprising her, and she believed him when he said those words to her.

She felt the same, but it wasn’t as easy for her, he seemed to understand that. The fact that he didn’t look sad or disappointed at her lack of ability to be as open made her fall even harder for him. She snuggled as close as she could without hurting him and felt Killian kiss her hair before she closed her eyes for a nap.

@hookedmom​​​ @xsajx​​​ @kymbersmith-90​​​ @kmomof4​​​ @katie-dub​​​ @ohmightydevviepuu​​​ @lassluna​​​ @pirateherokillian​​​ @teamhook​​ @stahlop​​​ @elizabeethan​​​ @whimsicallyenchantedrose​​​ @resident-of-storybrooke​​​ @therooksshiningknight​​​ @jennjenn615​​​ @lfh1226-linda​​​ @ilovemesomekillianjones​​​ @killianswannn​​​ @stories-enchanted​​​ @eleveneitherway​​​ @girl-in-a-tiny-box​​​ @withheartfulloflove​​​ @kday426​​​ @lyssapup27​​​ @swanlovato​​​ @kaoslikesstuff @djlbg​​​ @kristi555​​​ @laschatzi​​​ @xarandomdreamx​​​ @lkles08​​​ @wyntereyez​​​ @bubblegum1425​​​ @xhookswenchx​​ @yasbio2015​​ @tiganasummertree​​ @winterbaby89​​​ @wefoundloveunderthelight​​ @hollyethecurious​​ @let-it-raines​​​ @jonesfandomfanatic​​ @searchingwardrobes​​ @dreamingdreamsalways​​ @oncechicagolove​​ @andiirivera​​ @vvbooklady1256​​ @gingerchangeling​​ @everything-person​​ @klynn-stormz​​ @qualitycoffeethings​​ @vampcoffeegyrl23​​ @enchanted-swans​​ @cassy1511 @ohmakemeahercules​​ @donteattheappleshook​​ @bluewildcatfanatic​​ @the-darkdragonfly​​ @demisexualemmaswan​​ @lavenderbudd​​ @grimmswan​​ @spartanguard​​ @flslp87​​ @ultraluckycatnd​​ @sarahpaq08 @thisonesatellite​​ @captainswan21​​ @zaharadessert​​ @mariakov81​​ @snowbellewells​​ @xouatxcs​​ @kiwistreetswan​​ @batana54​​ @nadine200179​​ @probalicious17​​ @courtorderedcake​​ @julesep3026​​ @jackieorioncat​​ @whatthehell102082​​ @xemmaloveskillianx​​ @jarienn972​​ @sthonour​​ @linda8084​​ @carpedzem​​ @pirateprincesslena​​ @daxx04​​ @winterbythesea​​ @artistic-writer​​ @scientificapricot​​ @cocohook38​​ @wisfan3000​​ @chrisilybrooke @pcrcabcth @captainswan4life85​​ @molly958​​ @kingofmyheart14​​ @badwolfreturns​​ @itsfridaysomewhere​​ @mcakers @chamomileandmint @fallingforthecaptain​​ @lovethelifeyoulive1106 @onceratheart18​​ @strangestarlighttree​​ @omgmarvelous​​ @justanother-unluckysoul @anothersworld

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Space Orcs, “What Happened.”

Sorry for any issues this one might have, but I am trying to write it between flights and and scrambling to find a plug that will work, so I hope you like it anyway, and I hope it answers some questions you have 

Three months leave

IT was going to take an extra three months  before the ship would be ready for launch. Even as they spoke, it was docked at the Europa station as they put on the final finishing touches. Until then, it had been Commander Vir’s job to go through files on the personnel he wanted aboard his new crew.

He had suggested some alien additions to make the crew more diverse, which the GA had loved considering that the ship was an amalgamation of both human and alien technology. It had Rundi communications systems, Celzex weaponry, Vrul shields, and  a Tesraki warp core. The design otherwise was completely human. But for those reasons, the project was obviously very time consuming, and they were lucky that it was going to be finished in as little a time as it was.

Sunny hadn’t seen Adam very much in the last month or so considering that he had been working hard to find an extra five hundred members for his crew, and speak with the brass about what he had seen on the other side of the wormhole.

Sunny knew that it was important that Adam do his job, but a part of her was annoyed they hadn’t been able to speak properly since getting back.

Instead, she was stuck in base housing on the cost, alone and with nothing to do aside from long walks on the beach. She had never been the the beach beforehand as anin didn’t have any substantial bodies of water like that, at least near her, and there was something about the endless water that unsettled her. Even Krill and Conn were off doing important things. Krill was giving his services to a level one trauma center in New York, and Conn was helping the base MPs conduct polygraph tests, though he had sort of replaced the polygraph.

That left Sunny alone most days to think.

She hadn’t gotten over Adam’s disappearance, and not how he had tricked her, pushing her from the bridge before turning around and preparing himself for death. She felt a bit cheated, and like a decision had been made for her. She wasn’t stupid, logically she knew that is what she would have done if she were in his place, so she couldnt fault him for that, though she still coudln’t help feeling hurt over it.

And these thoughts she was left to stew on, tossing and turning in the quiet of the night while everyone else was out and busy.

Needless to say she didn’t expect the little bell on her front door to ring late one evening, and when she opened the door she certainly didn’t expect to see Adam waiting on her front porch.

HE was smiling, though the skin around his face and neck were already flushed a light pink with embarrassment.

In his arms, he held a large collection of flowers.

“May I come in?”

“Adam!” Her surprise was a bit delayed 

He shuffled his feet, “I uh, I got the go ahead to take the day off so I…. thought I would see you.”

He shifted again.

He looked better now than he had on returning from his ordeal, face clean-shaven and in clean clothes that actually fit, though she had to admit his cave-man look hadn’t been so bad.

She stepped aside, and he tentatively followed.

She closed the door and he turned to face her, “I uh…. um … well I…. flower…. Or I mean, I got you, flowers I…… Bought some, but also picked…. some ….. I not that that really matters I just.”He sighed took a deep breath and cleared his throat, “I got you flowers.” he held them out, and she took them in half amusement, picking one from the top and popping it into her mouth before setting them down on the little side table.

“Look, I’m sorry we haven't been able to talk since I got back… and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a little bit of me avoiding having a tough conversation.”

“I like that you are at least being honest with me.” She said quietly., “Do you want to sit down?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, “Actually, I was going to ask you if you wanted to go on a walk…. I.. I think better when I walk.”

She shrugged and agreed, following him outside to where a thin layer of clouds had veiled the sun which was slowly inching towards the horizon. The clouds muted the colors and the sea was grey in the distance.

Together they walked a little ways along the sand, him shifting nervously, and her walking to the side, relaxed though she didn’t feel like it 

The silence stretched on for nearly a mile before Sunny -- growing frustrated -- was forced to break it.

“You tricked me.”

He looked down at his feet, “I did.”

“You tricked me, and because of that I have had some of the worst few months of my life.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I understand you did what you thought you had to, and I get it that if I was in your place, I would have done the same without hesitation, but…. I I feel cheated, and I feel used, and for some reason I can’t stop it.”

He looked away, “I’m not sure what to say.”

“At least say SOMETHING.”

HE turned to face her single green eye wide. Looking down she could sense that his hands were shaking. A part of her felt bad about that, but they needed to have this conversation, and she wasn’t going to let him out of it.

“I… would do it again to save your life, and I won’t apologize for that, but I’m sorry that that’s how you feel.”

“I thought we were a team.”

“And we are.”

She paused, her feet digging hard into the sand, and he drew to a halt beside her, “I need you to understand Adam, when Drev say a team, they mean a battle pair and that means….”

“I know, I know……. I know what it means, and I am agreeing with you.”

“Will, you try, for me.”

“Yes, but sunny, I I don’t know how well it will work out, I…. well I’m broken when it comes to this sort of thing I don’t even know if I can.”

They went silent again and she could see the veins pulsing in the side of his neck. Beads of sweat collected on his brown and face. He looked almost nauseous, like he was scared or something, that too made her feel bad, but she didn’t really know how to help.

On instinct, she reached out a hand, inches from his before pausing, “I…. Can I?”

He paused look down at her hand.

His clenched into a fist.

He was pale whit like snow now.

“I…. I don’t think I can right now but…. Thanks for asking.”

She watched the expression on his face closely, and on his face she saw him proceed through a rapid series of emotions starting with fear, working over to shame, sadness and finally ending on guilt.

He turned away.

She walked up next to him, head tilted, “You don’t have to, Adam, but maybe if you told me why I could better understand. Of course you don’t have to.”

He took a deep shaky breath, “You deserve to know. But just don’t… I don’t know laugh or something. I know logically it wasn’t a big deal but….”

“Adam, I promise I won't laugh, you have my word.”

He nodded his head slowly and sighed, “I can trace it all back to one event I think. It was MY freshman year of high school…. Maybe and I was the awkward, nerdy sci-fi weirdo who believed in UFOs and Aliens.

***

Adam Sat Under a tree outside the school arms wrapped around his knees back tucked against the bowl of a tree which cast the shadow of its leaves down over the ground to wave and rustle in a light breeze.

It was lunch break, and he was watching the other teens standing around in their cliches. The football jocks were playing a game to one side, the cheerleaders were clustered around a bench, and all the rednecks were sitting in the back of their trucks in the parking lot laughing loudly and occasionally turning on their trucks just to rev the engines as loud as possible.

His hair was long-ish, kind of scruffy and hanging down around his ears. The clothes he wore were baggy hand me downs from his older brother Jeremy (a senior) and shoes with holes in them from his older brother Thomas.

He didn’t mention the holes to his mom, dad was in between jobs right now, not that it was a big deal, he would find work, it was just paperwork in the way, but he didn’t want to worry her with something extra that didn’t matter right now.

He looked down at the ground where he had a stack of books waiting in the grass for him, The Martian, War of the Worlds, and an old tatty compendium of start wars stuff with pictures and diagrams.

The T-shirt he was wearing was one he had purchased online, and had a diagram of the star-trek enterprise on it.

He shuffled his feet in the grass waiting for his brothers to show up and feeling sort of lonely as he waited.

Since he was a little younger, he got out a half an hour before they did, and only got to spend thirty minutes of his half hour lunch break with them, otherwise he tried to avoid people as much as possible. It wasn’t that he was bullied per-se, because he wasn’t really, neglected by his peers was probably a better term for it.

They were nice to him in the way you are nice to small children or crazy people, keeping up polite conversation just long enough to leave as soon as possible. He was used to the treatment, and didn’t bother subjecting people to his presence more than he had to. He knew he was weird.

He was sure he would have a harder time if it were not for his older brothers. Jeremy, who was a popular football player, David because he was student body president, and arguably the best looking guy in school, though he never seemed to be dating anyone, and Thomas, who was a bit of a loose cannon and didn’t mind getting in fights to protect his family members when he wasn’t hanging out with the other weird and unpredictable kids.

He was sitting there thinking about his brothers and staring down at the grass, when he saw a pair of shoes appear in his vision. They were white vans, or something similar with bright green laces, and when he looked up he saw a girl standing over him. The school was small enough that he recognized her immediately. Her name was Amanda and she jumped between the Drill team and the Basketball Girls click.

She was smiling, and he watched her as she turned her head back to her group of friends who were giggling and trying not to look like they were looking over in their direction.

Adam sat up a little straighter, “Can I help you.”

She smiled at him, her cheeks slightly pink, “HI…. Adam.”

He frowned, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

She shuffled her feet, and off in the distance, her friends giggled and looked away.

“Can I help you with something?’ He wondered, waiting for the punchline somewhere. Something about the weird UFO kid, or maybe they were going to ask him to help them do something against school rules, so when they got caught they could all blame it on him. Or maybe they were going to ask him to be the designated Sherpa for their bags or something.

He had been tricked into most of those things before, though by now the teachers and the principal knew that he was just socially stupid and not a troublemaker.

“Relax ok, I’ve just come to say sorry?”

“Sorry for what?”

“Sorry for treating you like you were weird.” When she smiled it seemed genuine, “You see its…. One of my friends.” More giggling I the background, “She thinks you’re cute, but she didn’t know how to act before.”

He glanced past her to where  the group of girls had burst in to excessive giggling.

He frowned again, “I’m not stupid, you know.”

“I didn’t say you were.”

She crossed her arms, “Serious, Adam.”

“Who is this friend of your.” His eyes narrowed, but past that he was looking towards one of the girls in the group. She was pretty  with honey blonde hair and an infectious smile.  She played the violin, and he knew for a fact that she was a comic book nerd. He had seen her carrying them around, and she was a petty good artist too. He felt his face flush a bit but tried to fight it back.”

“She smiled, “Avery.”

His eyes shot wide, and he felt his face turn scarlet. The part of his brain that had been skeptical immediately shut off as the human brain is prone to do when they think something good might be about to happen.

“I… really.”

She grinned, “Really.” She reached into her pocket and passed him a note, “She wants you to meet her by the stadium.”

His hands were shaking a bit as he took the note, but he felt his heart hammering in excitement.

Was this his way out of exile?

He had always been extroverted, starved for all the friends he wanted and all the people he wanted to talk to. Avery had the life that he wished he did, a large circle of friends, and fun things to do every weekend.

Maybe with her around, he would finally have that.

All the better if they were dating, but he was getting ahead of himself.

He watched as the group of girls dispersed and Avery moved towards the back of the building over towards the stadium, her beautiful, honey-blond hair blowing in the wind.

He stood awkwardly gathering up his things and shoving them in his bag without zipping the zipper all the way before turning and cutting around the other side of the school. His heart hammered in his chest and his hands were cold and sweaty as he made his way around the other side of the building and towards the stadium.

His heart only began to race faster when he saw her standing alone under the stadium between the cross-bars and in the shade of the metal benches above.

He approached nervously, his hands shaking in excitement.

She turned her head, bright blue eyes catching his.

He stopped in place at the edge of the shadow. But she smiled and waved him in, “Adam over here.”

He followed nervously his feet trailing in the dirt. As she approached she nervously rocked back and fourth on her heels hands in her pockets. He paused a few feet away. She looked up at him through her lashes, and he noted she was wearing little Iron Man earrings.

“Hi.” She said nervously

“Hi.” He replied back

She shuffled her feet, “Look I…. I’m sorry about laughing at you earlier today In class I…. well I think your funny, not, like in a bad way or anything.”

HE knew he was bright red at this moment, probably brighter red than any tomato, “Really?”

“Yeah, so I wanted to say sorry, and…. And maybe make it up to you.”

His heart was in his throat, “Oh, you, you don’t have to.”

“But I want to.”

It went quiet as she stepped forward, and he was frozen in place. She was right in front of him now. She leaned forward a little, and he was frozen in place. Her eyes closed, and then so did his, he waited for the moment, and waited, and waited, but nothing came.

Someone snickered, and he cracked an eye to see Avery’s once pretty face twisted up into a sneer of contempt and malicious amusement.

“April fools.” She jumped at him, and in surprise he tripped backwards over one of the metal bars landing hard. The zipper of his backpack, not all the way done up, erupted outward spilling all his books out onto the dirt.

Laughter.

He turned his head looking around to the cracks in the stadium seats where dozens of eyes stared at him laughing.

Avery stood over him as others began flooding down from their spots laughing.

He crawled back, his head down, “But it’s not even April.” He whispered

“Its not even April.” Someone mimicked from behind, and he ran into soemthing hard looking up to see one of Avery’s friends standing over him. She was state shotput champion last years, and her arms were as big as his head, “What is this.” She reached down and picked his book off the ground.

“Please, give it back.” He said crawling to his knees and reaching up for it.

“The Martian.”

“please.”

She flipped open a few of the pages. He stood up trying to reach for his book but he was blocked by another two of her friends.

The laughter continued, the mocking voices over and over and over again.

He tried to push forward reaching for his books which had been picked up off the ground.

“Gross, Its all sticky!” the friend yelled.

“No it isn’t.” He protested, it was true, he took very good care of his books. But of course no one listened. A chorus of disgust rose up around him. His books were dropped, one clattering to the rocks its pages bending, the other one landing halfway in a puddle of stagnant water.

He cried out and dove forward pulling it out of the water even as mud dripped form the hardback.

He cradled it in his arms, feeling hot tears of anger and humiliation begin to prickle at the corners of his eyes.

Laughter continued.

“Look.”

Fingers pointed.

HE stood fists clenched ready to hurt someone, but when he turned the same girl from before hand his book in either hand and when he moved she pulled.

There was a sharp ripping noise as the spine of the book tore a quarter, and as he cried out she laughed and dropped it into the puddle.

As a paperback, the book didn’t stand a chance.

Mud and water caked his hands as he reached in to pull it out on his hands and knees. Something hit him hard in the back and he pitched forward into the puddle getting the book wet a second time as the kids laughed.

He scrambled sitting up coughing and spluttering feeling the slimy grittiness of the water on his lips.

Someone knelt down next to him. A voice in his ear, “If you tell anyone. I’ll tell the teacher you tried to touch me.”

Tears dripped down his cheeks as he tried wiping mud from his face. The laughter receded and he was left along kneeling on the gravel.

His face grew hot and read as he stared down at the ruined cover of his book. Hot tears dripped onto the mud coating his hands.

His breathing started up in great gasps his heart hammered so fast he thought it was going to burst out of his chest. His head was going to explode either from anger or frustration he didn’t know. Choked sobs broke from his mouth as he knelt over the books ruined in his hands. He couldn’t breathe. He stood vision clouded face hot wet and muggy from the heat.

And then he ran.

He had no idea where he was going or what he was doing.

His paperback held muddy and dripping in one hand he pelted into the woods and didn’t stop running until his foot caught on a branch and he went rolling into the leaves.

He lay there on his stomach heart still hammering breath still coming in ragged gasps. He just couldn’t calm his breathing down.

He didn’t know where he was.

He felt like he was having a heart attack, or dying, or something. He lay there gasping on the forest floor for hours.

It grew dark. The mud dried on the back of his book and against his chest and hands.

It was only when he heard the voices did he finally sit up, mud caked and bleary eyed.

“Adam!”

“Adam!”

There were no other sounds for a long moment before the call started up again.

He stumbled over, it was dark so his feet kept coughing on branches and twigs.

“Adam, ADAM! I swear ADAM.”

“Thomas?” He said his voice so raw it was barely above a whisper.

“ADAM!” Footsteps rushed towards him through the trees, and Thomas burst from the foliage his scruffy blind hair run wild, his jeans covered in dirt, “Adam there you are where have you-“

He didn’t have time to say much else as he was hugged tight around the middle.

“Adam I…. what’s wrong. What happened! Who did this to you!”

Thomas looked ready to rip someone apart, but Adam didn’t say anything. He wouldn’t say anything about the event for the next two years.

***

Sunny stared wide eyed as Adam turned away again.

“Look, I know its stupid, it happens to plenty of kids and they don’t take it the way I did, but. I mean, with the panic attack on top of it, and then a few years later the same thing happened on my first date, so now I just… I can’t…”

Sunny was quiet for a moment while he looked away.

“Who the FUCK do they think they are.” She snarled.

He looked up in surprise, “I what.”

She marched around in a circle, “What the hell kind of person does that to someone. That’s just sick and wrong. That is just… horrible.”  She pulled out her spear, “I swear If i ever meet someone like that if i ever meet THEM, I am going to-”

He caught her arm, “Sunny stop, it was a long time ago.”

“It doesnt matter!”

A small smile cut across his face, “IT doesn't matter sunny, you want to know why.”

“Why.”

“Because I saw their pictures.” he grinned, “Avery got really fat and her friend got hit by a car, not fatally but I consider it Karma doing me a solid.” He paused, “It’ll be ok…. I just need some time. Think you can do that for me?”

She paused and nodded her head, “Yes, I think I can.”

[yourgalaxy]

~FINDING HOME~ (Part 5)

Pairing: Taehyung x female O/C

Genre: Fluffyest Fluffy Fluff, a little bit of angst if you squint really hard.

Summary: After getting used to the idea of just being her and her little daughter against the world. Autumn is proven wrong once again when fate has different plans for them.

Warnings: None

Word count: 2865

A/N: The original prompt is from @hybridfanfiction ( their prompts are the cutest, check them out!) This is my first attempt on sharing some of my work and is also my first hybrid fic. I love the reader inserts but not a fan of the Y/N type thing so feel free to just imagine your name instead if you prefer! I have material to make this a series but will leave it as a one shot for now to see if you guys like it! I totally don’t own the gifts.

Disclaimer: English is not my first language. Read at your own risk 😂

Extra A/N: I didn’t get the chance to post this last week but to compensate you guys, I’ll be posting the first part of my new Mafia Au, so watch out for it!

Ch. 1 Ch. 2 Ch. 3 Ch. 4 Ch. 5

After being living with Autumn and Haneul for a month and a half, Taehyung was finally meeting the rest of their family, he had already met Jin, Jimin and Jungkook and even though it was hard for him to trust them fully, he had decided that he liked the three males… Not that any of them really knew that because Taehyung still avoided them every time he could, though it was not really possible to avoid Jimin after he discovered that he and Taehyung were the same age and decided that they were to be best friends.

‘’ Mamma… MAMMA...Mamma, can Tata be my daddy?’’ - That finally caught Autumn’s full attention, she turned around making sure that the hybrid was still taking a shower, praying that he couldn’t hear them over the running water and his own singing voice. She rushed to kneel in front of her daughter. - ‘’ Haneul, baby, that’s not something that we should say...’’  ‘’ But mamma, he tells me stories to sleep and sings to me and tucks me in sometimes, all the kids have a daddy and…and  I saw it on tv, the daddy that lives together with you and your mamma, and tells you stories is your daddy! Does my Tata don’t want to be my daddy?’’ - Haneul’s pretty eyes swelled with unshed tears at the idea, and Autumn could have sworn that she heard her own heart break. - ‘’ No honey bear, you know your Tata loves you very, very much! He tells you that all the time, right? It’s just that for a woman and a man to be a mommy and a daddy they have to really really love each other a lot. - She couldn’t believe she was having this conversation with her 5 year old daughter, her flushed little face was destroying her heart. -  

"But momma, don't you love Tata?" - Autumn could practically see the engines in her daughter's head starting to over think, tears threatening with reappearing.- "I do sweetheart, I do, but it's just a little bit different for adults, you know, adults are dumb sometimes and things don't work the same for us...Let’s talk about it later, ok? we need to go see your uncles!"

"Noona, I'm ready!" - Autumn felt her soul come back to her body when Taehyung decided to appear, giving her the chance to escape the impossible conversation she was having with her daughter. She smiled at him, noticing the way he was referring to her, she was almost sure that it had to do with spending so much time with Jimin.- 

The drive to Yoongi’s apartment was filled with loud singing and laughs. The prospect of getting together with her best friends had Autumn in a really good mood, and even though Taehyung felt really nervous, the smiles on both mother and daughter’s faces helped him breathe easier. He knew most of the men they were getting together with but the fact that they were actually entering the territory of another hybrid, one that he hadn’t met yet, was nerve wracking. He was worried that his instincts would get the best of him and he would piss Autumn’s loved ones off, how would Autumn react? what would she think of him? would she start hating him if her friends didn’t like him?

Taehyung didn’t have to wonder for too long. Everybody’s temper was tested when Hobi had to let go of Autumn as she was being yanked back by a strong arm towards a wide chest, a low growl vibrating against her back. Sensing the hostility in his own territory kicked Hoseok’s instincts on, even though Autumn and Haneul weren’t his humans, they were part of his family and he felt really protective of them, so soon there was a battle of growls and silent snarls. For a few moments none of them really acknowledged the attempts of the others to calm them down. 

‘’ Tata, don’t be mean to uncle Hobi, I promise he is really nice!’’ - Haneul’s innocent voice and the way she hugged his leg was what brought Taehyung back to his senses . As soon as he stopped growling, Hoseok did the same, he understood where the younger hybrid was coming from, he remembered being in the same place a few years ago, he wasn’t about to let him cross the line in his territory, establishing hierarchy was a basic hybrid instinct anyway, but he was also excited for the new addition to the friend group even if he was not about to show that at the moment. -

Taehyung was utterly embarrassed about his conduct and after a solid ten minutes of being scolded first by Autumn an then by Jimin, he just wanted to curl up into a ball in a corner and cry his heart out, but they were so loving even when scolding him that  he couldn't even do that. He hesitated but ultimately approached Hoseok who was setting things up for the movie night. 

‘’Hyung… I… I’m really sorry about earlier… it’s not really excuse for my behavior but…”- Before he could finish his apology, he was attacked by a very effusive fox hybrid, Hoseok was bouncing on the balls of his feet, too excited by the idea of having a new hybrid friend, Taehyung couldn’t help the smile that divided his lips.-

‘’ I’m really sorry about that, Yoongs. Taehyung is a little bit weary of males, and new environments are a little hard for him to take in.’’ - Autumn was worn out by the whole scene, feeling sorry and guilty for everyone in the room, she didn’t blame Taehyung, she knew well enough of his apprehension towards males and she knew how protective hybrids could get when facing threats to who they considered their people, specially in the presence of other hybrids. She remembered the first time she met Hoseok with a shiver. But she couldn’t stop feeling bad for her friends. It was their home at the end of the day.- 

‘’ Hoseok, really likes him, I can see it in his face that he already is taking him under his wing. I don’t think we will have any problem. - Yoongi assured with a wink as he motioned towards the three hybrids that seem to have engaged in an enthusiastic conversation about what movies to watch, after Jimin joined them in the living room. Autumn felt her body relax, realizing how worried she was until that moment, a soft smile appearing on her face. -

‘’ Uncle Yoongi, up!’’ - A new battle arised, this time, between Yoongi and Jungkook fighting over who was Haneul’s favorite with Haneul enjoying herself in the shower of attention and love she was getting. -

‘’ He really is the right fit, isn’t he?’’ - Jin's voice came from behind her before a pair of arms encircled her shoulders. She let herself relax in his embrace, feeling happy to be home, loving how her brothers embraced Taehyung so effortlessly.- ‘’ Haneul asked me if Taehyung could be her new dad’’ - She whispered, knowing that Jin was close enough to hear her and everyone else was so loud that she doubted they could hear her even if she were to scream it. She felt Jin humming in thought, it wasn’t a surprise to him even though this was the first time Haneul had ever said something like that. - It is good for her to have some kind of father figure in her life… And if he is sticking around for a while… How do you feel though? - She knew exactly what he was referring to, her an her friends never really payed any attention to the stigma that interracial relationships between humans an hybrids carried with them, but she had given up on dating a long time ago, men were too inmature, too insensitive and she didn’t have the time or the energy to deal with someone else’s child. - ‘’ I don’t know Jinnie, I haven’t really consider it, I mean, he is one of the most caring an loving people I’ve met, always looking out for both of us and looking for ways to collaborate, you know how happy he was when you offered him to work at the flower shop, an he loves Haneul so dearly, she loves him even more, I’m afraid she will get hurt if anything were to happen and he decided to leave… But we are not in that type of relationship, Jin. I am his sponsor and he is our hybrid, and I’m totally fine with that.’’ - Jin left a soft brief kiss on top of her head, hugging her a little closer.- 

‘’Then there is nothing to worry about, Mamma Bear.’’ - Autumn closed her eyes in contentment, right on time to miss the look that Taehyung directed to them, but Jin was able to catch the turmoil of emotions that twirled in his eyes. A knowing smile dancing on his lips, He knew how dense Autumn could be when it came to this topic, it would be fun to see how these two would figure things out.He had the hunch that Taehyung was there to stay, and his hunches were usually right- 

‘’ Jin hyung, stop hoarding noona all to yourself and come sit, we are about to start the movie!’’ - Hoseok complained in a whine that Jin responded with a scoff before complaying and dragging Autumn with him.- ‘’Next time we should invite Namjoon, Yoongi hyung! ‘’

 ‘’ Yeah, I like him’’ - Autumn and Jungkook agreed and Yoongi just nodded lazily. Asking them to be quiet and start the movie. Autumn’s fingers  immediately found their way through Taehyung’s soft locks when he seated himself on the ground in front of her, resting his head on her knee, missing the heavy tears that rolled across his cheeks. -

…

Autumn woke up gasping for air, her heart felt like it was held in an iron grip, she couldn’t breath, and for a minute she wondered if she was about to die. She didn’t realize she was crying until she rubbed her hands over her face and felt the wetness on her cheeks. The images of the nightmare are very vivid in her mind. It was the same nightmare she had had ever since Ha Neul's dad had left, just that this time, there was a spin to it that made her sick to her stomach.

She didn’t notice Taehyung sitting on the ground next to the door until after, in her fuzzed state of mind, she almost fell over him, being stabilized by his firm hands, she heard him whimper. Her eyes filled with tears one more time as she felt herself getting lost in his bright brown orbs. She straightened up and as she pulled on her arms to free them from the Hybris grip, Taehyung let go of her. He soon trailed behind her, buzzing with worry. 

Autumn wasn’t sure for how long she was zoning out with the untouched glass of water firmly held in her hand, when she felt Taehyung’s larger hand over hers as he loosened her grip, taking the glass away from her and holding her hand on his. She followed him almost unconsciously as he led her to the couch. He sitted and then led her to sit almost on his lap, they were so close that when his hand cooped the side of her face to have her look at him, she could feel his warm cinnamon breath fanning against her skin. They stayed like that for what felt like hours, Taehyung was tracing invisible circles over the skin of her jaw and cheek with the pad of his thumb, both of them getting lost in each other’s eyes when he spoke, his voice barely above a whisper.

‘’ Please… Please don’t cry, don’t be sad… It hurts so much… It hurts so, so much’’ - He knew about her nightmares, at least the ones that she usually had where her ex-husband abandoned her and Haneul over and over again, she had mentioned them once when he found her just zoning out in the living room, unable to go back to sleep after a nightmare. His voice was strained, it sounded like it was in the bearge of breaking. As she remained silent, he gained some courage from the wonder and affection that her eyes always seemed to reflect when she looked at him. He traced over her face with the tip of his nose, in one of the most intimate shows of affection for hybrids, subtly breathing her in. She felt her cheeks burn as her heart threatened with leaving her chest, but didn’t make any attempt to move away from his touch. -

 ‘’ If you would just let me… If you will just look at me the way… If only I could become a man in your eyes. - He closed his eyes as he rested his forehead over hers, a pained expression claiming his sharp features. His lips almost brushing over hers as he spoke. Autumn felt so vulnerable, yet so safe there in his embrace. She took the opportunity to notice all of his little details like the cute little freckles in his nose, his left cheek and the side of his chin, or the way his long lashes rested on top of his cheek bones as he closed his eyes, his rosy lips an the natural blush that seemed to be always present over his honey like skin. Taehyung was simply breathtaking.

Her fingers brushed against his jaw line in an almost hesitant movement, skimming over his skin in a feather like touch but it got him to relax immediately, the frown disappearing, he let out a relieved sigh, the feeling of her touch over his skin felt like a lullaby to his heart. But then there was something soft and sweet pressed against his parted lips, his heart pounded against his ribcage. The contact lasted mere seconds making him whine in the absence of it. He opened his eyes, facing the storm on hers. She was searching for his reaction, he could see the fear aflame in the depth of her grey orbs.

 He knew at that very moment that he would give his life for this woman in a blink. 

‘’ Noona...Can you do that again?’’ - He breathed out a plea over her lips, his eyes going back and forth from her eyes to her lips as if he was begging her, and he was, by all means ready to beg for her. She moved painfully slowly, her eyes also wandering over his face until her lips met his once again and this time, Taehyung took his time to savor her, his hand sneaked to the back of her head to keep her in place, he felt so blissfully light headed that he wouldn’t be surprised if he was to wake up the next morning and realize that it was just another dream. He almost cried out loud when she pulled away from him. 

‘’ Taehyung… I... ‘’ - He didn’t want to hear it, he didn’t want to know what her eyes were trying to say. He could sense the confusion, the fear that rolled out of her like crashing waves. The little bit of her conversation he had overheard a few weeks ago back at Yoongi’s apartment playing over and over in his head.’I’m just his sponsor and he is our hybrid’ she had said crushing the fluttering hope that had erupted in his chest when he had heard how she told Jin about. Haneul asking if he could be her dad, he wasn’t able to hear the whole conversation but what he heard was enough for him to understand his place in their lives. 

He had convinced himself that he was completely ok with that, he was happy to at least be allowed to just stay with them but after the moment they just shared he understood how greedy he had become and how much of them he wanted. He couldn’t take it.

‘’ It’s because I’m a hybrid, right? ‘’ - He murmured more to himself than anything else but she heard him and tried to stop him in a panicked attempt. He couldn’t take it, he needed to get out, he needed some time to think. -

And so, he ran. His heartbeat was so loud that it was the only thing he could hear. So loud that he couldn’t hear her

‘’No, that’s not...no, please no… Don’t leave us… Don’t leave me’’ - Autumn could feel the panic attack closing her throat. Incapable of really moving to try and console her hysteric 5 year old that had woken up to the image of her beloved hybrid hero running away and her mom becoming a crying mess. -

[the-pale-goddess]

The Talk - Ethan Ramsey x MC (Tiffany Addams)

And I’ve got nothing left to lose, besides you

I’ve already lost you once, what more could you do?

Warnings: a few curse words, a bottle of wine, just a mere mention of some adult themes? nothing filthy this time – what happened to me???

Author’s note: This fic is the second part of We’ll Talk About It Later two shot based on OH2, Ch 8+9 > the first part: Breaking The Habit (NS*FW)

It’s been an emotional rollercoaster, but... the talk™ is finally here. I’ve put so much work into this and I don’t think I’d ever be satisfied with the result so...I’m just posting the last version and never reading it again lol  

Taglist - none of the tags worked last time, so I’ll post the taglist separately in a reblog

_____

We'll talk about it later.

Tiffany's mind was racing at a speed she couldn't control. She stared out the window the whole ride from her apartment to Ethan's, stealing only occasional glances in his direction. They didn't talk much in the car and she was grateful he didn't push the small talk through. The young doctor was reluctant to burst the bubble prematurely and this soothing silence proved to be a source of cold comfort.

Everything seemed so volatile...She needed them to be real now more than ever. But the fear of another heartbreak was eating her alive. Sure, there's been an evident shift in his behavior. As the walls of his stern professionalism have been gradually crumbling down, the list of their unethical pursuits kept on growing – he let her back in, he confided in her, he was showing her affection, he kissed her twice, he comforted her, he fucked her brains out just a moment ago in his office...But he never said he changed his mind about the nature of their relationship. We'll talk about it later. And later was finally coming their way.

„So...Your friends weren't home?” Ethan was the one to break the silence and Tiffany's stomach jumped.

„Yeah, Sienna & Elijah are doing the night rounds. Jackie's probably out & about. I'm not sure about Aurora.” She tried to keep her thoughts in check by recognizing the neighborhood. They must've been just a few minutes away from his apartment.

„What about Lahela?” Tiffany cocked her brow and looked at him with arms folded across her chest.

„What about him?” Her giggle received a reproving side-eye.

„He's not living with you?” Ethan's hidden agenda behind this question was blatant and made Tiffany laugh even harder.

„No. He's just always around, you know, as a part of the gang. Just like...” Her voice suddenly cracked and she swallowed loud before finishing the sentence. „Kyra.”

Ethan's hand slipped on her knee, giving it a comforting squeeze as they were driving into the underground parking in his building. He parked in his spot and turned the engine off.

„Tiffany...” He took her hand in his, their fingers entwined tightly. They shifted in their seats to face one another. There was something different about his smile, something warmer than what she was used to. „Do you remember your first weeks at Edenbrook?”

„How could I ever forget?”

„I've made the beginning of your internship truly horrible, haven't I?” The roughness of his fingers far removed from the gentle touch of his thumb against her silken skin.

„Well...I wouldn't say it was that horrible. But I have to admit you were extremely demanding and harsh. Not to mention you had a real mean streak.”

„I was an asshole, Tiffany. Let's face it.” She dropped her jaw in surprise, but didn't oppose. „I played on your emotions and pushed you to your limits.”

„You wanted me to be the best doctor I could be, I...”

„You had the potential to be the best even without my supervision. Besides, my motives are not the case here.” He interrupted her with a shake of his head. „The point is...I pushed you hard. And you always pushed back. You have a habit of finding a way through all the mud and the dirt. Everything you've experienced only made you stronger and prepared you for the worst. You can do anything, Rookie.”

„Ethan...” She smiled at him with teary eyes and leaned closer.

„I suppose it's not much of a comfort when your friend is dying and you're more than aware of the grim prognosis...But we'll do whatever it takes to save Kyra. And you'll be the strongest support by her side.”

„Didn't we establish earlier that the idea is to stop me from crying, not make me all weepy again?” They shared a laugh while Tiffany tried to keep her tears at bay.

„We did. I just thought you needed a reminder of how powerful you are.” Without a warning, he captured her lips in a sweet, long kiss. Her heart was ready to jump out of her chest.

„I feel reminded. Your mission was a howling success, Doctor.” She muttered between a few quick pecks on the lips.

„Have you seriously considered a different outcome?” His scoff earned a roll of her eyes.

„Oh, boy...I suppose your ego will be joining us at the dinner?”

„My ego will cook the dinner. Quit complaining, let's go upstairs.” She gave him that look before they finally got out of the car. The you're fucking unbelievable look, the one that always gave him an unhealthy sense of pride. Truth be told, he was justifiably proud of himself this time – shutting Tiffany Addams up is quite an accomplishment.

***

„Jenner's in Providence again?” Tiffany asked while taking her heels off. A sigh of relief escaped her mouth when her bare feet touched the cold marble floor.

„Yes. My father's babysitting him.” With a simple hand gesture Ethan invited her to follow him further inside. He watched her walk by his side in a skintight jacket dress. He noticed the change in her clothing back in the car, but it was impossible to admire it in the dim glow of the streetlamps. He had to catch up.

„I miss this fella and his cute little paws.” She pouted with disappointment as they moved towards the kitchen.

„Don't worry, he'll be back next week.” Tiffany flushed under Ethan's intense gaze. The unspoken promise of whatever could happen next startled them both.

„Is that an invitation?” She leaned on the counter trying not to show how nervous she was. But Ethan looked right through her. He took a step forward, approaching her with a similar trepidation, and twirled a strand of her hair around his finger.

„It is. Mind that Jenner tends to extend his walks – you'll need a pair of comfortable shoes for that.”

„Noted. I'll be ready.” She nodded, cursing herself as a reminder to stay stane. But it was already too late, she was under his spell.

„I need a shower before we start demolishing my kitchen.” Ethan looked her up and down, his eyes were trailing over her curves while his thoughts tormented him with the vivid memory of the silky skin underneath her clothes. „Would you...like to join me?”

Tiffany hesitated with the answer. A part of her demanded immediate answers, the other urged her to throw herself into his arms. She bit her lip so hard she probably bruised it, if Ethan's teeth haven't already done that before.

„As tempting as it sounds...If I'd choose to shower with you we wouldn't be able to keep our hands off each other.” She returned the hungry look and smiled like a wicked witch. „And I came here for that talk you owe me.”

„You're right.” Tiffany could sense the heightened tension in Ethan's voice, no matter how much he tried to hide it. „First things first.”

„First things first.” She repeated after him. „Besides, I freshened up real quick in my apartment. I can actually play the assistant chef while you're showering.”

„Not a bad idea. We're having salmon with tomato sauce.” He moved across the kitchen to get the ingredients. „It's the kind of comfort food that doesn't require much time and energy.”

„I really like the sound of that. Just boss me around, Chef Ramsey.” Tiffany winked at him with a teasing smile, unintentionally testing his patience. He shook his head undefeated, the iconic smirk playing back on his face, his fragile composure still in place.

„You can start with squashing these tomatoes.” He put a bowl of ripe cherry tomatoes in front of her, soon joined by a bulb of fresh young garlic. „And then slice the garlic nice and thin. You'll find all the equipment you need in the drawers on your left.”

„Got it! Just don't take too long.” She waved at Ethan's back while checking the nearest drawer in search of a proper knife and a cutting board.

After gathering all the necessities, she washed the tomatoes and chopped them in halves. When she finished slicing the bulb of garlic into thin wedges, she instinctively moved to the liquor cabinet and started browsing through an impressive collection of expensive wines, allowing herself to pick their poison for tonight.

The search was interrupted by Ethan's footsteps. Tiffany strolled back to reality, experiencing another surge of undeclared anxiety. She glanced at him over her shoulder and the sight had her taken aback.

„Ethan Ramsey in a plain t-shirt and sweatpants? My, oh my...You took the sleepover joke way too seriously.” She hid behind a soft giggle, hoping it would relieve some of the tension.

„You don't think that I move around my house in a suit, do you?” The amused grimace on her face made him chuckle. „Please, don't answer that.”

„Sorry. I didn't mean to make fun of you. I just...” Her eyes scanned his body, admiring the way the tight white shirt fit over his defined chest. „Didn't really expect you to be serving this kind of look.”

„Well.” His hand flicked through his damp hair. „I intend to serve you dinner.”

„Then what are we waiting for?” Tiffany grinned at his response and Ethan shook his head with a slight discomfiture as he guided her back to the kitchen. She took one of the bottles and quickly followed him.

„Peregrine is an excellent choice.” Ethan pointed at the red Burgundy cradled in her arms. She fixed him with a meaningful look and put the bottle on the table, waiting for him to bring the corkscrew and two glasses.

„Yeah, I'm a big fan of high-class red wine.” He snorted with laughter while opening the bottle.

„You picked the one with the funniest name, am I right?” Tiffany bit her bottom lip and laughed along as she walked up behind him, sniffing at the fresh scent of his musky cologne mixed with the shower gel.

„What gave me away?” Her eyes were fixed on the burgundy liquor slowly filling the glass. In spite of the seemingly laid-back atmosphere, neither of them could shake the pervasive tension off.

„Let's just say I'm familiar with your drinking habits.” He offered her a full glass and a cheeky smile, and she readily accepted both, brushing his finger ever so slightly when she reached for her drink. Their eyes immediately locked.

„I can't even disagree with you on that. Would you like to propose a toast?”

They kept on staring at each other for a long while, the maddening silence wrapped around them, closing the distance between their bodies.

„To happy endings and new beginnings.” As soon as their glasses clinked, they dipped their lips into the wine, holding the gaze the whole time.

„We should...”

„By all means, yes. The cooking will take about 10 to 15 minutes, so you can make yourself comfortable in the living room.”

„No, I'm coming with you, Chef.” He raised his brows, a knowing smile lit his face up and he nodded in approval.

Tiffany sat on a bar stool in the kitchen, where she had a first-row view at Chef Ramsey in action. He put a drizzle of oil to a hot frying pan and fried the garlic until it was caramelized. Then, he added the tomatoes and cooked the sauce for a few minutes, trying not to distract his attention from the kitchen maneuvers. With a determined effort of will he maintained his focus, barely squinting at Tiffany, as she watched him hypnotized – studying his face and every move he accomplished with mathematical precision.

„You're strangely silent.” He stole a glance at his companion while seasoning the salmon.

„Shh. I'm watching a cooking show.” A dulcet laughter escaped Ethan's mouth and he found himself distracted for one split second when Tiffany sent him the most charming smile.

He put the fillets in another pan and cooked them until the fish was done. After he chopped and stirred fresh mint and dill through the sauce, he dished up the salmon fillets and served them with a generous spread of the sauce and a side of Greek salad.

The Chef Ramsey Special lived up to Tiffany's expectations and she eagerly praised Ethan's cooking skills during the dinner. They managed to forget about the whole purpose of the visit for the time being, chatting about everything and nothing in particular. As quickly as they finished the first glass of wine after the meal, the odd vexation sneaked up on them again.

„Shall we move somewhere comfortable?” Ethan's offer was greeted with a quiet acceptance. Tiffany strolled to the living room and curled up on the couch. Ethan refilled their glasses and joined her, keeping the safe distance between them. His emotions rapidly skipped from vaguely calm to a nervous wreck. He took a massive gulp of wine in order to gather his courage and looked over the room.

„So...”

„We're really doing this.” Tiffany crooned.

„I suppose we are...” He took a deep breath, thinking of a proper way to verbalize his thoughts.

„I had a really long talk with my dad after you've left the other night. It made me realize what a timorous fool I've been.” He downed his Pinot Noir, holding the glass with shaky fingers.

„That's one way to put it.” She took a sip of her wine, leaning on the big pillow.

„A delusional jackass. A blind asshole...” He continued, his voice was dripping with absolute contempt.

„I think I got the gist, Ethan.” She covered his hand with hers. A rueful smile spread across his face as his thumb brushed her skin.

„Tiffany, I can't even begin to apologize for all the hurt I've caused.” He muttered, deeply ashamed.

„You tore my heart apart. I won't lie about that. All these nights I've been wondering where did I go wrong. I've tried to explain to myself which part of me was so undeserving...” She trailed off, her gaze focused on her half-empty glass of wine. The anguish of rejection was stamped on Tiffany's mind. She felt a stabbing pain, much like an old wound just reopened in her chest. The depth of this feeling was so overwhelming, it made her sick and she found herself near to tears.

„Tiffany.” Ethan squeezed her hand tight, his expression dead serious. „It was never about you.”

„I've realized that soon enough. It was always about you, Ethan. And I really thought I could fix you.”

„But you did fix me.” Her eyes met his again, their gaze reflecting the overflowing wave of emotions that filled the room. „I'm sorry it took me so long to acknowledge all the effort and hope you've put into me. You've fought for me tirelessly even when I felt like giving up on myself.”

„I'd never give up on you, even if it was the right thing to do.” She smiled through fresh tears cascading down her cheeks. Ethan's thumb immediately came to the rescue, wiping them away with a gentle stroke and a reassuring smile.

„Does that mean you accept my apology?” Tiffany bobbed her head in answer and sniffled quietly. Ethan drew closer to her, sighing softly with relief when she allowed their knees to touch and leaned into him.

„It's very rare that I'm wrong...But I'm willing to admit when I am. And I was hopelessly wrong about pushing you away, Tiffany.”

She regarded his features thoughtfully without saying a word. Once he realized it's a subtle sign that she's waiting for him to elaborate on the subject, he pinched the bridge of his nose and pressed ahead with his discourse.

„I always considered love to be a load of bollocks. I never thought it was on the cards for me. Then I met you and I knew right from the start that you will turn my world upside down.” The words stuck in his throat for a second. Her fingers entwined with his, sending an encouraging shiver down his spine as he continued. „I was such an adamant coward, too scared to admit that I'm losing my heart to you. I fooled myself into thinking that running away will solve everything.”

„But it didn't solve anything, did it? The reset button didn't work.”

„I don't remember psychology major on your resume, Rookie.” The corners of his mouth formed a cheeky grin.

„I can't blame you, it was listed as a hobby.” She shrugged her shoulders with a triumphant smile. Ethan studied her face in silence for a moment, as if he was looking for the missing piece of the puzzle.

„That's right, it didn't.” He finally affirmed. „I've been living in denial, making excuses I didn't even believe myself. But it ends now. I'm coming clean. ”

Tiffany freezed, feeling panic-stricken all of a sudden. It was happening. She wrote the script down in her mind, rehearsed it about a thousand times and waited patiently until that very moment to watch it unfold. It was really happening. Deep in her heart she knew what he was going to say. He didn't have to actually say it. And yet, it was crucial that he did.

Ethan imagined he'd be composed. He prepared himself to remain calm. He had it all planned, calculated and revised. The world-beating diagnostician failed to add one variable to his equation, though – the presence of the woman he's in love with. The way her wet emerald eyes penetrated his every thought, or how quickly her unstable breathing caused his limbs to shake. But this was the moment. The ultimate make-or-break decision.

The air suddenly brimmed over with bullish expectations. They gazed into each other's eyes, anxiously anticipating what was about to happen. Ethan inhaled sharply before speaking up, trying not to let the overpowering variety of emotions affect the outcome of the talk.

„I want you. I want to...Be with you.” He reached for her hand again and placed a kiss on her palm, studying the thunderstuck expression on her face. „I want to make us work properly this time. If you would have me back I promise I won't let you down.”

Tiffany freezed up completely as she stared at him speechless for what felt like forever. Ethan held her hand tight, stamping one of his feet impatiently in the hope of an immediate response.

Nothing could possibly prepare her for this. His last words triggered something hidden in Tiffany's memory. Her mind flashed back to the first day of her internship, and that distant thought brought an arcane smile to her lips.

„You can see the future?” When she finally found her tongue, Ethan's jaw dropped on the floor. Those were his words. A quick recollection of their conversation during the very first day of Tiffany's internship splashed across his mind.

„I guess I deserved that.” He chuckled lightly and rubbed his chin. Tiffany's infectious giggle was short-lived as her expression turned into an unsolvable riddle. She looked him deep in the eye, still holding his other hand.

„I can't have you back, Ethan.”

Ethan stopped breathing for a second and his body broke out in cold sweat. He didn't understand. Everything was going according to the plan...Has he misjudged her intentions? Could they really be at cross purposes?

„I can't have you back...Because you've never actually left.” Tiffany closed the distance between them, lowering her voice to a soft whisper. „You're the blood in my veins.”

Time stopped the moment they exchanged looks, allowing the meaning of their confessions to wash over them. They marvelled at each other with a beam of happiness, never breaking the gaze.

„Don't let me down, Ethan.” His face lit up with the most radiant smile she's ever seen on him and it was the only answer she needed.

„I'm never making this mistake again. I've learned my lesson.” He grabbed her by the sides and with one swift movement placed her on top of his legs. His hand traveled all the way up to cup her cheek, while she hooked her arms around his neck and squeezed him in a crushing hug.

„I'll be the judge of that.” Tiffany gently bumped her nose against his and licked her lips. Before she could blink, Ethan's lips crashed into hers with tremendous ardour. The kiss tasted like dry red wine and the longed-for sweet victory. It was urgent and deep.

And it still wasn’t enough.

[thepointoftheneedle]

BUGHEAD APPRECIATION WEEK: day three - favourite trope

I am a very simple creature so my favourite trope is the coffee shop AU.  I’ve written the little thing below the cut to celebrate it and as a thank you to the kind folks who have mentioned one of my stories this week. It honestly means such a lot! 

Betty tied the apron and stood attentively behind her shift manager, Kevin, as he showed her the idiosyncrasies and foibles of the huge Fracino espresso machine.  She was pleased to have got the job and wanted to present herself as an uncomplicatedly good hire.  The coffee shop was a five minute walk from her apartment and she liked the ambiance.  She’d been a regular since she began her research degree, stopping in often on her way to class in the morning.  It would give her a break from the solitude and intensity of her thesis and it would force her to interact with people, she needed the human contact.   After her initiation into the sacred rites of the machine Kevin gave her a laminated recipe card, took a seat on the other side of the counter and called out orders to her as she practiced. 

“Tall latte, three shots,” presented no problem and she even managed the leaf design in the foam with a reasonable degree of skill.  Kevin had clearly given his own order as a first trial because he took the drink from her hand and sipped it as he continued to put her through her paces.

“Medium cap, extra wet, rice,” was next, followed by “Flat white with legs.”  She turned out the orders competently although the difference between them was negligible. He tested her listening skills and her ability not to laugh at an order with the "Grande, bone dry, five-shot ristretto, extra-whip, two-raw-sugars cappuccino” and the "Trenti iced coffee, 12 pumps vanilla, 12 pumps hazelnut, 12 pumps caramel, 5 pumps skinny mocha, a splash of soy, ice, double-blended.” When he asked what she would suggest to up sell that customer she suggested a shot of insulin, which made the only client in the place bark out a laugh.  Kevin raised an eyebrow and she pointed at the millionaire shortcake instead and he nodded his approval.

“Ok, now for the real caffeine heads you need to get the serious drinks just right every time.” He had her draw a straight doppio, a ristretto, a lungo, a red eye and a black eye and lined them up along the counter.  As she served the last Kevin looked over his shoulder at the lone customer.  “You want any of these before they go down the drain, Hemingway?”

The guy looked up from his laptop and nodded, shuffling over and gathering up all of them in two journeys and returning them to his booth like a squirrel gathering acorns to tide him through winter.  “Thanks Kevin,” he muttered as he secured the last of his spoils.

“Don’t thank me, Betty here made them. I only worry that all that caffeine will stop your heart. An ambulance outside will do nothing for our reputation,” Kevin replied.

“I have a high tolerance.  For caffeine if nothing else.  And thanks Betty.  Nice to meet you.” He looked at her as he spoke and she was surprised by his eyes.  They were a striking blue green, not the brown she would have expected with his dark hair.  His eyelashes were unexpectedly long too, sweeping almost up to his brow line.  Now that he wasn’t hunched over the keyboard she saw that he was handsome in a poetic, sensitive, romantic kind of way.  He looked out of his time somehow, more suited to doublet and hose and rhyming couplets or drinking absinthe with Rimbaud.  But here he was, drinking free, cold coffee in Greenwich Village.  

“He’s a fixture and fitting, aren’t you Jones?”

“You’re my Café de Flore Kevin.  I’ll dedicate the book to your hospitality,” he smiled.  Betty liked the smile.

Over the next few weeks she exchanged a nod of greeting with Jones almost every day.  He was generally in his booth when she arrived at four and left around seven, gathering up his laptop and a tall Americano to go, as if he hadn’t already risked his sanity with the amount of caffeine he’d consumed.  “That’s quite a coffee habit,” she observed as he ordered another cup of drip coffee one afternoon.  

“I’m a machine for turning coffee into prose, got to fuel the engine,” he quipped with a smirk. It was clearly a line he used a lot.

The next day as he collected his to-go brew she asked him if it stopped him from sleeping and he explained that he worked nights.  “This’ll keep me going til four tomorrow morning.  It’s good to be able to hate your job with the required degree of enthusiasm.” He was funny in a dry, self deprecating way that she enjoyed.

She started to try to sneak him extras with his coffee, offering cookies and chocolate stirrers. He turned them down.  “I just like coffee with my coffee.”

“If you drink anymore you’ll start twitching.”

“No, I know my limit.  I stop when I start being able to see noises and hear smells.”

She began to tease him about the consistency of his ordering.  “Hey Jones, give me a challenge.  Order something milky with complicated syrups and whipped cream.”

“Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death and sweet as love,” he replied.  “That’s not mine by the way.  It’s a proverb from Turkey or somewhere.”

“But you don’t use sugar.”

“No, I replace the love with bitterness,” he laughed, returning to his seat with his usual drip coffee.

The next day she suggested a cortado.  “Come on Jones, let a little light into that darkness.”  He grinned and accepted a macchiato.  “Today a dab of foamed milk, tomorrow a vanilla latte with whipped cream.  You’ll find you can live without pure intravenous caffeine.”

“I can live without it but all the folks who remain unharmed because I am well caffeinated really don’t want me to skimp.  Anyway if you wean me off caffeine you’ll slash the profit margin of this place,” he smiled. “Not that I’m here solely for the coffee.”

She began to look forward to the jokes, to his familiar presence, to looking over at his long fingers dancing over the keys as he typed.  There were moments when she found herself imagining them moving over her skin that way, flushing and tightening her ponytail in confusion as if he’d be able to read her thoughts.

One afternoon she found him slumped in the booth, his head against the seat back, snoring softly.  She let him sleep until ten to seven before holding his Americano under his nose.  He blinked his magnificent eyes as he awakened and then shook his head to disperse the sleep.  She’d like to see that a lot more often, preferably from the adjacent pillow. “Thanks Betty, not enough coffee today and Jones without coffee is like… something without something…sorry, too sleepy for bon mots.”

 Betty learned that he was doing his MFA at the New School, supporting himself by working nights as a porter at Bellevue.  “Takes too long to travel all the way back to Yonkers between class and work so I hide out here and write.  Besides I live with a singer/songwriter so it gets sort of noisy at home.” Betty hid her disappointment.  Of course he had a girlfriend.  

“A musician.  Would I know her work?” she asked, twisting the knife masochistically.

“Him.  No, I doubt it.” He paused and then looked at her a little shyly through his untidy, dark curls.   “He’s playing downtown at the weekend and I’ve got a night off. You should come.” Betty reproached herself for her heteronormativity and smiled weakly.  She really didn’t want to see Jones and his boyfriend together.

“Oh I’ve got … stuff this weekend.  But thanks though.  I’m sure he’ll be great.”  

Jones flushed and looked at his feet. “I’m sorry if that was inappropriate.  You don’t come to work to get hit on.  Sorry,”

“Oh, no I didn’t think you were asking me on a date.  To your boyfriend’s gig?  That’d be weird.  Oh unless…Oh, I mean, weird was rude.  It’s totally your business but I’m not…like, I’m pretty strait-laced I guess.  But you do you…or whoever.  Sorry.”  Jones was actually laughing now.

“Archie’s my roommate not my boyfriend.  I wasn’t inviting you to a threesome.  I was asking you on a date.  If you’re busy or you’d rather I got lost just say so.”

The gig was the most fun she’d had since she moved to the city.  When he leaned in for a kiss her heart thumped like she’d just drunk ten shots of espresso. After the encore she put her hand on Jughead’s arm and looked into his eyes.  “Would you like to come to my place… for coffee?”

[suckerforsmylex]

Ripe Peach - Pt. 8

Joker POV

She stood there in my blazer, looking delicious with the makeshift Harley outfit on. An insatiable thirst for her coursed through my veins, making me clench my fists violently. Her body was a beautiful paradox.  There was a profound softness and pureness to it, like the flesh of virgin fruit on my carnivorous mouth. Yet, underneath her sweet candor, I picked up the scent of a more…carnal inclination. The thought of possessing her thrilled me immeasurably and I had to run my fingers through my hair to reclaim my thoughts from the dark place they had settled into.

You’ve been a bad girl, haven’t you sweetheart?

Yes, she was a precarious creation and my favorite kind of challenge. Her voluptuous curves spilled out lustfully and brazenly on display.  The diligence she put into hiding behind fabric was undone by the very quiver of her breasts as she sauntered toward me. There was an alluring plumpness to her lips whenever she looked at me, whether in a moment of poutiness or pleasure. I was addicted to the flush of her face, taking great pleasure in inflicting her with doses of humiliation.  Seeing her cheeks warm and redden whenever my desire simmered over into an intense stare became an addiction that required almost hourly satiation.  My eyes would pierce her, chipping away at her chastity, until she would pinken with a pretty blush.  She unfurled for me at only a glint of my metal grin.  

That’s it.  Melt for Daddy, my little peach. I want to see some cherry in those cheeks.

My old flame had caused a conflict within my battered brain.  My mind had trouble processing Harley’s unannounced, grabby little fingers all over my luscious peach.  Yet, I was captivated by how she flushed at Harley’s desperate advances.  It was uncontrolled and her confusion at her own arousal was scintillating.  I relished the heat of her surprise and shame as it coursed through her, with her wrists restrained by me.  It emanated through her and onto me, from their spontaneous synthesis.  Chemical reactions appeal to the mad chemist in me. The forming and breaking of bonds, the unstable elements, they have a certain undeniable charm.  Still, I always feel the dominating urge to exert my power and neutralize these reactions. I marked her as MY property, biting her ravenously and growling as Harley came forward, but it was to no end. Harley is insatiable. She doesn’t understand what boundaries are. Her ultimate mistake was to grab the delicate treasure that is my Peach’s ankle.  I hadn’t even been able to kiss there yet.  I cocked the gun and aimed at Harley in a manic, angry bloodlust.  She should be dead, but the feeling of holding the gun with Harley at my feet and Peaches against me having her scorching awakening, rendered me so hard that I couldn’t concentrate.  I gave her the option and she chose to spare Harl.  She asked so nicely that I couldn’t kill her.  My bloodlust vanished, replaced by a serious, intense longing to be inside of her.

That’s it, beg Daddy to stop – such a good girl.    

I wanted to rip her panties off with my teeth and destroy her.  Her utter ignorance of my compulsion with The Bat only distracted me for a moment and I reluctantly suppressed the urge to reach out and choke her soft, vulnerable neck.  I let the twitch in my jaw soften and gave her a stern warning.   “Don’t bring up The Bat.  I’m still cooking up some ways to kill him, but right now, I’m more interested in murdering you in bed.” She bit her lip and I could tell without even examining her that she was dripping for me.  I led her, gripping her at the nape of the neck, into my black, 4-door and threw her onto the back seat.  Her eyes called for me to impale her right there but I had better plans.   “Lay down,” I commanded, stifling the urge to release myself.

That’s it. Get on your back.  Daddy’s gonna’ make you squirm first.

She surrendered beautifully to me and I slammed the door shut, jumped into the driver’s seat, locked all the doors and turned on the car.  I hit the gas and accelerated to 90mph and I could hear her moan softly. She likes me crazy and wild and I decided to give her a little test.  “Are you Daddy’s good girl or Daddy’s bad girl?”  She was so thoughtful, always wanting to please me. I felt her struggle with her answer before landing on saying, “I’m whatever you say I should be Daddy.” This is what I mean about her being dangerous.  She’s a literal split between so very good, and so very naughty. I purred uncontrollably and grabbed the clutch, shifting gears abruptly.  “That’s a perfect answer. Daddy wants to you be a bad girl right now.  Take off your clothes, but leave your panties and heels on.”

Put on a show for Daddy.  I can taste you on my tongue already.

She was eager to please me, ripping off the blazer, jacket and shirt with reckless abandon. I closed my eyes for a moment while weaving in and out of the traffic, thinking of how her bare skin felt against the leather of the back seat.  I opened my eyes and had to look up to get a glimpse of her in the rear-view mirror.  

Fuck.  

It took all my strength to avoid slamming into the back of the charter bus in front of us.  I barely missed the collision as I jerked the car to the left, laughing hysterically. “Mmmmm. Now spread your legs and touch yourself until we get home and don’t you dare cum.  Say yes, Daddy J.”  She spread her legs, parting them slowly with her left on the seat and her right onto the car floor and began touching herself aggressively.  

Say it, say it, say it, say it…

“Nggg…Yes Daddy J.” She said my name as I got onto the expressway and I nearly flipped us off the side rail of the onramp.  I gripped my left hand onto the wheel and pinched as much of the side of her ass as I could, hard and fast.  I wanted to hear her squeal, and squeal she did.  The sound made me think of all the times I had ever plunged into her, thrusting hard into her tight center.  I was in pain, constricted and bulging against the fly of my pants.  I quickly unzipped and released myself, sliding my hand down my shaft and rubbing the dribble of liquid from my tip into my palm.  “Look at what you’ve done to me. You’re such a naughty, naughty girl. I am going to have to spank you. Shall we use the cane when we get home?”

Daddy’s cane awaits, my juicy peach.

“Yes Daddy.  You’re the boss Daddy. You should use the cane.” I looked at her again through the rear view and she was breathing heavily, slipping into her folds and rubbing all over.  She was beginning to place a finger underneath her panties and into herself when I decided to stop her.  I braked hard and pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned the engine off. “Did I say…to put your fingers inside of yourself?”  Her eyebrows raised and her eyes widened and she knew she was in trouble.  I began to laugh uncontrollably and then I lunged into the back seat, gripping her with both hands at the throat.  Her eyes were wide and frightened and welling with tears. “Youuuu, are just too naughty for your own good, aren’t you?  You don’t put your fingers inside unless I tell you to.  Take off your panties.”  She removed them and I quickly shoved them into her mouth.  I pat her between her legs, making sure to graze her clit.  She was a sopping, slippery mess.  “Tell Daddy you understand.  Touch it and say ‘Daddy, I don’t put fingers in my pussy unless you tell me to’.”  I still held her in the choke hold and only loosened so that she could speak as much as she could, with the panties still in her mouth.  Her speech was garbled but she repeated the edict.  “Daddy, I don’t put fingers in my pussy unless you tell me to.” She reached down to touch herself as I had instructed and I released the grip, stroking her face with my lips, kissing her and biting her ear. “Spit the panties out baby.”

That’s right, repeat after Daddy, my sweet whore.

I grabbed her by the hair and dragged her out of the car and onto the open highway.  “Okay, Peaches, you want to be Daddy’s bad girl?  Then I’ll fuck you like a bad girl.”  She started to protest but I put my tattooed hand over her mouth and started to cackle.  Her body glistened against the backdrop of the night sky as the cars whizzed by, blinding us with their lights.  I slammed her onto the hood of the car and held her there with my forearm as I bent down to nuzzle into her nakedness.  “I want a taste of you right here and right now.”  She writhed underneath me as I slowly extended my tongue and stabbed into her swollen pussy.  Her dampness bubbled onto my tongue and her cries became louder as I lapped at her relentlessly.  She tasted sweet and was endlessly slick as I darted my tongue in and out. “Always so juicy for me.”  When I could feel her release building, I stopped and jerked her back again by the hair. I took my other hand and grabbed her crotch, dipping a long finger inside. “You come when I tell you to.  Do you understand?”  But it was too late for my little peach to stop herself.  She was already bucking onto my hand and crying out as she orgasmed.  It was an intense orgasm that she couldn’t will herself to stop and I made sure to pour it on thick as I looked at her with strict disapproval.

You’re in trouble now, Peaches.

After the last aftershock of her orgasm subsided, I pulled the long finger out of her slowly, never breaking the intense glare I was giving her.  I looked at my glistening finger and shoved it directly into her mouth, feeling for the back of her throat.  “Taste your failure, you dirty slut.”  She choked on my fingers and tried to utter an apology. “I’m sorry Da…”  

*SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!*

I backhanded her across the face and gripped her chin and to my surprise, she looked up at me smiling and giddy, and panting.  I reached into the back of the car and grabbed my golden cane and then back down to grab myself and stroke my thick length.  The little cock tease was killing me.  I leaned in close, pressed my cheek to hers and spoke directly into her ear.  “What did I just say?” I kissed her earlobe and she breathed into my ear and started to moan.  I gripped her by the throat again, shouting loudly.  “WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST SAY?”  Her doe eyes looked watery again as her apology came tumbling forth from her mouth. “I’m sorry, Daddy! I’m so sorry, I know I wasn’t supposed to come.”  I released her and slammed her back onto the hood of the car.  “That’s right.  You weren’t supposed to.  I guess we’re going to have to continue treating you like the whore that you are.” I grabbed the cane and smacked her across the thighs and watched her body jump.  The sight of it made me throw my head back and laugh.  “Ok Peaches, you ready for Daddy to murder that pussy?” She nodded profusely.  Of course, she was ready.  

They are going to draw chalk lines on the pavement, after I’m done with you peaches.

I held the cane across the base of her neck so that it choked her tightly.  “Spread your legs wide.”  I placed the tip of my cock at the base of her entrance and when I felt she couldn’t take my teasing anymore, I forced myself inside with one thick thrust. “Ahhh!”  She screamed at the feeling of me filling her.  “That’s right doll face, I’m going to destroy you.”  I thrust into her in a frenzy, disregarding her screams and purred into her ear with each thrust. “Fuck Daddy, it hurts!”  I looked down at the tears rolling down her face and it only served to spur me on.  I spoke to her with mock sympathy.  “Oh no, it hurts, sweetheart?  Is Daddy too big for you?  Too fucking bad.  Turn over so I can finish stretching you out from behind.”  She started moving slowly, but I couldn’t wait any longer and I yanked her by the arms and pushed her down onto the hood, kicking her feet apart roughly with my shoe.  

Are you crying baby girl?  I’ll give you something to cry about.

She was spread open in front of me and I couldn’t stop my wicked idea from coming to fruition. “You know, we never christened this cane.” I grabbed ornamental cane by its decorative knob and began to push the straight end of it into her, knowing that any minute she would realize and protest. “No Daddy, please!” She turned back over her shoulder with a desperate look in her eyes.  I gave her a grin, my words coming out of my mouth like silk. “Now Peaches, you know when you’re bad that you deserve to be punished. Isn’t that right?  Now, push back and fuck Daddy’s cane.”  She agreed reluctantly and began to push back with hesitation, her tightness sliding onto the metal of it, drenching it with her juices. “Yes, that’s right.  Let’s see a more spirited performance for.”

Again, she obeyed my command until I could see that she was starting to enjoy it, moving back and forth onto it with more fervor until her voice broke through the nasty, lewd sound of her cunt being impaled.  “Daddy, Daddy, fuck, please, please, please let me come!”  I pulled the cane from her swiftly and stabbed into her again with my cock.  “Come now! Come all over my cock.  Give Daddy all of it!  Give it to me!  Give it to me!  Give it to me! Fuck yes!”  She came all over me, bucking into my crotch and triggering my own release.  I felt it gushing into her, hot and satisfying as she slumped onto the hood unable to move until I carried her into the passenger seat and wrapped my blazer around her and buckled her in, kissing her sweetly. “How can one peach be so deliciously sweet, yet so horribly rotten at the same time?”  She smiled up at me in a daze and I began driving us towards my home base.    

[perseusjackson-jasongrace]

Hey...I am AN ABSOLUTE jercy TRASH like A HUGE JERCY FAN and I was wondering if you could like a one shot of jealous percy...I have seen a lot of jealous jason fanfics but never really saw a jealous percy!!! Thank you and I LOVE YOUR BLOG SO MUCH...

Hello darling Anon!! Adore that you're #jercytrash (is there really any other way to be????) and I'm so happy you enjoy the mess of content i have🥺💙all the heart eyes

Anyway I loooovvveeeeeddddd this prompt and this is evident by the very many words I couldn't help but write! I do hope you love it as much as I loved writing it☀️please excuse any mistakes it's like 3am here and Ciara be tired as hell

Masterlist

"Are you coming to the party tonight?"

"Gods no," Percy shivers, face pulling into a look of distaste.

"Why not I heard Annabeth is gonna be there," Leo's eyebrows waggle, earth eyes sparkling.

He wants to laugh, to cry a little too. If only that is the blonde he is so infatuated with.

"Nah bro those parties always end up much wilder than they need to be and nine times out of ten they're shut down by the cops."

"That's half the fun Jackson!" Leo's smile widens.

"I'm good thanks, my idea of fun is sitting here playing Playstation and gorging myself on M&Ms."

"Will you at least promise to come on the trip this weekend?"

"I don't know man," He shakes his head, "I've got a psych test to study for and there's like three assignments due by the end—"

"Oh excuses, excuses Jackson you haven't gone out once since we started. It's gonna be winter break soon and we won't see each other for at least a month." Those brown eyes are puppy wide.

He sighs, half-ready to give in, "Who's gonna be there?"

"The usual gang. And Jason finally gets to come this year! His dad is on a business trip so he isn't spending the weekend for once."

Percy's ears get hot and he hopes they don't look flushed, "Oh that's nice I guess. If you leave me alone tonight I'll come on the trip."

Leo's answering whoop is enough to make him laugh. When he collapses on the couch, after waving goodbye to his friend, there is a warmth blooming in his chest.

Three hours, five packets of M&Ms and a stream of curse words at the TV later, he finally decides to head to bed. But as he's shoving on a pair of sleep shorts there's a knock at his door. He frowns, considers ignoring it but his mind whirls with all the possibilities.

What if someone got hurt? What if someone needs his help? What if someone is....oh gods he doesn't want to think about it. He brushes his fingers against the wooden headboard, rubs at his head, grabs his elbow and then he takes a deep breath and opens the door.

"Peerrccccyyy," A slurring, smiling Jason Grace stumbles into him.

"Jason?" He grabs hold of the blonde's arms and pulls them both into his apartment, "What are you doing here?"

"I came over because–" Pearl white teeth flash, "Wow you're so pretty." Those golden hands grab Percy's chin, pulling their faces together until there is nothing but tension and breath between them.

"What are you doing?" He swallows.

"Has anyone ever told you your eyes look like emeralds glistening at the bottom of a river?"

"Uh no can't say they have," He wants to laugh but Jason's lips are so close and his hand is still on Percy's face and oh gods he needs to move before he does something he shouldn't.

"Have we kissed before? No I'd remember that." Eyebrows scrunch, "I think you have a beautiful mouth."

"I think—" He inhales sharply as Jason's fingers dance along his collar bone, "I think we should get you to bed."

"Aw," Full pink lips pout, "But we are having so much fun."

"I think we'll have more fun when you're sober."

The blonde giggles, "I'm not drunk silly. I only had like... fifteen shots of vodka."

"Jesus Grace how are you even standing?"

"When you're this tall it takes forever for the liquor to do its thing and you need a lot of it otherwise it all goes to your toes and you never get drunk."

Jason is frowning again and all Percy wants to do is kiss the crease in his forehead and pull him closer. Instead he tugs him by the hand and guides him to the bed.

"Where will you sleep?"

"I'll take the couch." He pushes the blanket aside and let's the blonde fall into the sheets.

"Are you sure? You can always stay with me?" Those blue eyes are bright and big and so full of, of, of... "I promise I won't kick you. I stopped doing that in first grade."

He can't hold in his laugh this time but when he recovers enough to reassure his friend he'll be fine he is greeted by the peaceful sight of a sleeping blonde. He shakes his head softly, allowing himself a moment to take in the scene. Tangled white sheets, golden hair, soft deep breathing, a tiny splattering of freckles, and the wonder of tomorrow carried on the wind that stirs the chiffon curtains. This moment will live within his soul for the rest of his life. Of this, he is certain.

***

The treadmill beeps incessantly indicating the end of the session and the end of Percy's day. He's about ready to pass out from exhaustion and he couldn't be happier. The days are long and blurry and he would do anything to escape the weight on his chest. A blue-eyed, golden-haired weight. He snorts at the innuendo. If only the actual person was sitting on his chest, entertaining each other. But no it's just the feeling, the emptiness, the lack of anything weighted. His eyes shudder closed as he steps into a red-hot shower and let's the memories of his last meeting with the blonde wash over him. There is a time, mere months ago, where Percy would have scoffed at these feelings. Would have told himself it was ridiculous and stupid and there were much more important things to be focusing on than some boy. But every interaction with Jason Grace feels like the middle of a fireworks display, feels like crawling into the sun, or falling off a cliff only for the water to catch you. Every interaction feels electric. And he cannot help but overanalyse each touch, smile, lingering look. Are they for him, or for the world? Jason had always been easy. He could make you feel like the most important person in the world just by glancing at you. It was beautiful, magnetic, but it also meant Percy never really knew if anything they did was genuine. If the extra squeeze when they hugged was as a friend or something more. If those blazing eyes over the campfire was a trick of the light or... But tomorrow it's their annual WastedWinter trip and at the very least he can look forward to a few nights of bad decisions and sinful delights.

The day dawns bright, cloudless, and icy cold. He breathes in the fresh winter air and lets the sting travel through his lungs. There are few things as lively as the winter morning air. With a look through his apartment window to see the birds flying and the wind shaking the trees awake he ducks into the shower and gets ready for the trip.

At exactly eleven a knock echoes through his apartment. He clicks submit on his assignment and races over to throw the door open.

"Good morning Jackson! You're looking especially radiant this find day."

"Must be the seaweed face mask I put on last night."

"Oh," Annabeth Chase frowns, "And here I thought you got down and dirty with someone."

He snorts, stepping aside to let her in. "No such luck Princess, I'm down and out on laundry."

She smacks his arm, grey eyes sparkling, "I hope you know you're driving for most of this."

"Is this because I'm the only one who can be trusted to get us there in one piece,"

She gives him an incredulous look and then turns her nose up, "No Jackson it's because the rest of us want to get wasted and you don't drink."

"Ah, glad to know I'm of some use to the group."

"Oh you're plenty useful," She winks.

He laughs at that, mind flashing to the fling they had at the start of their undergraduate years. Both had realized pretty early that life was leading them in different directions and it would be better to stay friends. But tumbling in the sheets with her had been fun while it lasted.

"Alright who's in our car?"

"We got me, you," She starts tapping her fingers, "Leo, Jase and Rey,"

"Great so I'll be talking to myself for most of this trip." He rolls his eyes.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well Leo and Reyna will fall asleep about five seconds after we start driving and you and Jason will talk incessantly about gods knows what, which leaves poor old me."

"We will not!" Annabeth's ears go pink as she glares at him.

"Mhmm okay Princess."

"Shut it." She grumbles, shoving him.

Some minutes later they're all piling into the car: Percy driving, Reyna in the front, Leo at the back on the left, Annabeth in the middle and Jason on the right.

"Hello everyone ready to roll?"

"I didn't get nearly enough sleep last night," Leo mumbles and then he's fluffing his pillow against the door and closing his eyes.

"What was he doing?"

"Engineering project," Jason grins, "He forgot and had to sit up all night to submit before we left."

"I'm also out," Reyna throws up an uncharacteristic peace sign and settles into her seat, eyes already shut.

"And her?" He asks, a little sore his right-hand passenger is ditching him for dreamland.

"No idea," The two blondes shrug.

Percy refrains from rolling his eyes and puts the car in gear. With a final check to make sure everything is in its place he pulls onto the road and starts the long journey to Lakeside Lodges.

The music is soft, some pop song that everyone is raving about, and the city is alive with the lunch hour rush.

"Jason," Annabeth starts, "What are you doing for the structural—"

Percy tunes them out, content to let their university talk become background noise. He glances at the rear-view mirror and sees shining blue eyes staring intently into serious gray ones. He looks away, focuses his attention on the road.

Sometime later they leave the city behind, the sound of cars and sirens and endless people fading into calmer, more lilting noises. The quiet of the empty road, and the crackle of the radio, and the soft chatter from the backseat. He cannot help but feel at peace, feel as if the world is balanced just right.

Annabeth giggles, catching his attention and he watches in the mirror as Jason lays a hand on her thigh and laughs into her shoulder. Quickly he adverts his eyes, swallowing the sinking feeling and turns the music up to distract his thoughts.

"Percy," At tap on his shoulder. "Pers?"

"Yea what's up?" He smiles and it feels like surgery with no anaesthetic.

"Did you hear what Jase said? It was such a stupid joke I said you'd appreciate it."

He shakes his head, "Wanna tell it again?"

"Nah," Jason mumbles, "Won't be as funny the second time."

"Aw come on Jase," Annabeth pouts, "For me?"

He watches from the mirror as those blue eyes light up, "What do you mean for you? I thought I was telling the joke for Mr Driver?"

She giggles, shoving at his arm, "That's what I mean."

Percy isn't sure he can't take anymore of their whatever it is so he clears his throat and asks them for a pack of Sour Patch Kids.

"Oo I love those!" Jason gasps, rummaging around in their snack bag. A packet drops into the cup holder and he thanks the blonde.

"Jase throw them at me, let's see if I can catch!"

The six gummies shoved in his mouth turn bitter as he watches the two giggle and joke and share space. By the time Jason throws the last gummy Annabeth is practically in his lap to catch it. Percy wants nothing more than to get out of this damn car. His skin is hot and he's sure his blood is about two degrees away from boiling. The stones in his stomach are stacking up like rock scultputres. Pretty but destructive. Nothing can get passed but nothing can leave either. And the heavy, sinking feeling certainly doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Finally though they arrive at the lodges and after check in he practically vaults himself out of the car and disappears into a bathroom.

There staring in the mirror he can see his misery reflected back at him. His green eyes are stormy, and there seems to be a permanent crease in his forehead. His mouth is down turned and his hair is in a state of complete disarray. Tugging at it when he's frustrated is an unbreakable habit.

He stays in the little bathroom for longer than he thought because he is sharply pulled to the present by a rap on the door.

"Percy?"

"Coming," He sighs. He straightens his back, attempts to tame his hair, and plasters a smile on his face.

"You good?" Frank frowns when he walks out.

"Yea sorry, drank one too many slushies."

His friend laughs, "Tell me about it. I think my tongue is going to be stained red for a month."

"I mean that's your fault. Blue is clearly the superior slush."

"Blue is the worst flavor," He scrunched his nose, "It isn't even a flavor. They somehow managed to give colour a taste."

"Well red is nothing but iced medicine."

"Hey guys," Frank waves their friends over, "Percy thinks blue slushies are the best flavour, care to tell him he's wrong?"

There is a pause amongst them and then everyone is talking at once.

"No,"

"I mean I kind of agree."

"Green is obviously the best."

"There is no way, it's red all the way."

"What about-"

"Okay!" Annabeth shouts, "Let's settle this WinterWasted style,"

Leo rubs his palms together, a gleam in his eyes.

"Everyone who says red stand on one leg, everyone who says blue stand on anything but the floor."

They all shuffle around, pushing each other over and generally causing chaos but soon they're in their spaces. Everyone observes the room.

"That's four to red and three to blue." Leo announces.

Jason, Percy and Hazel are standing on the couches and counters. Piper, Annabeth, Leo and Frank are on one leg in the middle of the lounge.

"Yes! We won." Frank smirks, "Alright losers you know the drill."

"No!" Percy yells, "We're missing a person. If Reyna joins us then we're even and we go into death round."

"Okay Jackson, I see you can't take the loser title sitting down so we'll get Reyna's opinion. But if she chooses us you guys have to drink and jump." Frank's black eyes sparkle with mischief.

Percy narrows his own, pinning his gaze on his friend, "Deal Zhang."

Just then Reyna walks in and seeing the odd scene sighs heavily. "What are we trying to settle? We haven't even had lunch yet."

"First of all it's six o clock so it's a little late for lunch and secondly are you Team Red Slush or Team Blue Slush?"

She scoffs, looks over them and grins, "I'm Team Purple because grape is obviously the only valid flavour."

Everybody groans, cursing her.

"Grape is the absolute worst Arellano." Leo gives her a look of disgust.

"Mhmm," She simply smiles.

"Well if you had to choose between blue and red which one?" Percy asks.

She taps her head for a moment and then looks to the ceiling in exasperation, "Guess I'll choose Red."

"Hell yes!" Frank whoops, laughing as the blue team groans. "Guess who's doing the BigFalls jump tonight!"

Percy grumbles but there is a light in his eyes and as he swats away a hand ruffling his curls he decides it was worth it, even if his friends are wrong.

That night they all stumble to the GreatCliff, an area that had witnessed many a fall, kiss, and confession. Most importantly a place that held some of their favourite memories.

Percy, being the only fully sober one, constantly counts his friends, making sure none of them have gone over-cliff or landed in a ditch somewhere. Soon enough they make it to the clearing and lay down the picnic basket and their towels.

"Alright losers," Piper smirks, "You ready for this?"

Hazel pouts, "Do we have to?"

"Yes!" Annabeth exclaims, blonde curls bouncing as she jumps up and down in excitement.

Jason whispers something in her ear and she dissolves into giggles. Percy looks away, refuses to let their closeness ruin his night, weekend, forever.

"On the count of three," Frank starts.

Reyna takes off her sarong and settles down on the blanket with a smirk.

"One..."

Hazel bounces nervously.

"Two..."

"Don't get hypothermia," Piper laughs.

"Three!"

Jason, Hazel and Percy are sprinting, racing for open air. With a yell they jump and then they're free falling, flying, screaming.

Percy hits the water in a neat dive, barely flinching at the icy temperatures. When he comes up for air the world is noisy with laughter and cheering. He waves to his friends at the top of the cliff and checks to make sure his fellow jumpers are okay.

Hazel is grumbling about being fully sober again and Jason's teeth are chattering but there are smiles on their faces and stars in their eyes and Percy knows the weekend has just begun.

They all swim up the stream and climb all the way back to the cliff where a small fire is crackling and their friends are dancing sporadically to a bawdy ukelele tune being played by Leo.

"Oh gods," Jason groans, "How are we already at this stage of the night."

"Whatever Pipes put in the punch is going straight to our lungs," Annabeth giggles.

Reyna shakes her empty glass in confirmation and request. Soon everyone is hopping and bouncing and singing badly around the fire. Percy settles into the blanket and watches his friends. They are full of life and magic and he can't help but tear up at the love he has for them. Even Reyna is joining the revelry, laughing bright and beautiful at something Hazel says.

His attention catches on the twirling figure of Annabeth. And then Jason grabs her mid spin and pulls her to him.

"Dance with me,"

"Of course Mr Grace," She bows.

They draw together, his hands on her hips, her head on his chest, swaying slowly. Annabeth mumbles something and Jason's shoulders shake with laughter. She looks up, their eyes meeting. Percy can't stand to watch anymore. Abruptly he gets up, throws the blanket aside and stalks into the trees.

"Pers?" Someone calls. He doesn't bother to respond.

He hears scattered conversation and then footsteps are running towards his retreating figure.

"Percy wait!"

He manages to hold in a groan as he realizes who followed him.

"Pers slow down, what's going on?"

"Nothing," He grits, "I just needed some air."

Jason laughs, "We are literally in the middle of a forest how much more air do you need?"

They're still stalking through the woods, dead leaves cruching under their feet.

"Come on, what the hell happened? You just up and left?"

Percy stops in his tracks, whips around to face the blonde, "I'm surprised you noticed."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You've been so wrapped up in Annabeth all day I wouldn't be surprised if you forgot to breathe unless she told you to." He spits.

Jason's face crumples, "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Percy instantly regrets his words but he can't take them back, "Just nevermind. I'm going to the cabin. Be careful walking back." He turns to walk away but a golden hand on his arm yanks him back

"Um no, you're going to explain right the fuck now because this isn't like you at all."

"Isnt like me?" He laughs sharply, "What isn't like me?"

"This," Jason motions up and down, "You walking away, being angry with us? What is going on?"

"I'm just tired," He sighs, "Can we drop this?"

"No Percy. I've seen you tired. I've seen you so exhausted you couldn't even see straight. I've seen you sad and angry and frustrated and happy and excited and calm but I have never seen you so... volatile. So just tell me—"

"I'M JEALOUS OKAY!" He yells, "I. Am. Jealous."

Jason reels back, lightning eyes blinking, once, twice, widening, "You're jealous?"

"Yes," He breathes, "And I'd appreciate it if we stopped talking about this."

"Oh," Is the blonde's intelligent reply.

"Yea oh," He scrubs at his face, running a hand through his hair.

"You're jealous of me? If you liked Annabeth why didn't you just say so? I wasn't flirting with her, we were just being dumb. I've had a few too many tequilas and she's hilarious and gods I'll back off I swear I didn't mean to hurt you. I'll even hype you up to her if you—"

"You are such an idiot," Percy growls and then he grabs the blonde by the t-shirt, pulls him in and sears their lips.

Jason tastes like the sky, like winter breezes and lightning storms and home. He tastes like home.

When they break apart Jason is gasping, mouth opening and closing.

"Do you get it now?"

"You- and I- and we- and Anna- and just- and-"

"Are you speechless because you don't know how to let me down easy or because I took your breath away?" Percy winces.

He needs to know. Needs to understand if this is a one-sided thing, if he's been dreaming up their dynamic all these months.

"Do that again," The blonde breathes.

A slow smile spreads across his face and then Percy Jackson cups Jason Grace's cheek and comes home at last.