#this got so much ridiculously longer than i'd anticipated

[haaam-guuuurl]

Little Women Amy x Laurie Fake Dating Modern AU

Theodore Laurence and Amy March run into each other in France, after years of not speaking.

The not speaking thing wasn’t their fault, though, not really. But Laurie and Amy’s sister Jo, who’d been his best friend, had a big falling out a couple of years before, after he told her he loved her and she told him she didn’t. Consequently, Laurie took upon himself a March embargo, determined to completely forget about Jo and anything that could remind him of her, which included her family.

Which is a shame, since he’d been quite close with the March sisters, and came to regret not keeping in touch with Meg and her husband, his good friend John, and their new babies, as well as not being there as Beth got sick, and no longer seeing Amy, whom he’d started to be real friends with as well.

So, the contrast of denying himself their presence and suddenly being completely surrounded by Amy almost overwhelms Laurie, but as it turns out, he’s nothing but happy upon seeing her, as well as relieved.

Amy March is as bubbly as he remembers, even though she’s older, and accordingly more mature. She’s not as dramatic, he thinks, and seems to be more careful of what she says and how she moves. For a second, he reflects on how the innocence and freedom of childhood is truly gone, if Amy, the youngest among them, is now a grown woman, but mostly he marvels at the adult she’s become.

Amy, for one, is ecstatic at seeing Laurie again – he’d been severely missed in the March household, and while Jo had been annoyingly vague about what had happened between them, they got the gist of it, and gave them the room they needed to process it all.

Amy always thought it was unfair, though. That just because he and Jo had a fight, that no one else could be in contact with him either. Sure, they’d been best friends (which they’d never missed a chance to remind the others of, always going off on their own lone adventures), but Laurie had at least been friends with them, too. But they weren’t allowed to say anything, and Laurie became a ghost, vaguely somewhere across Europe, but as good as dead for Jo March, and so as well for the rest of them.

Finding him in France, though, leaves no room for Amy’s grievances, or her insecurities. They were friends, it’s clear now. They are friends. They can have their own relationship, independent of Jo, and she’s so happy to have her friend back, to have back a piece of home that’d been missing for long.

They become almost lifelines for each other in the foreign country. Laurie has his contacts, and Amy has made friends in the art course she’s taking there, but the two quickly become inseparable, almost as if making up for all the time they lost not talking - she fills him in in all things March; he regales her with tales of his gap year misadventures. And a misplaced piece of the universe rights itself a little bit.

So, when Amy needs an reason to refuse a date with Fred Vaugh – an old acquaintance, here on business, whom yes, she’s admittedly been flirting with for the past few weeks, but whom she can’t, in good conscience, actually go out with, because while he’s perfectly nice and respectable, he doesn’t actually do anything for her romantically, and wouldn’t that be leading him on? – Laurie’s is the first name to pop into her head, and is, she thinks, a perfectly valid excuse. Well, valid, with a few tweaks. Namely, saying that he’s her boyfriend, as opposed to the far truer, yet less usable, boy friend.

When she explains the situation, Laurie finds it weird. Then funny. Then, given the opportunity to act out the role at a party she knows Fred will be at, downright hilarious. Amy would be furious at him for making fun of her situation, if he didn’t manage to, at the same time, make a convincing enough showing that Fred leaves her alone. And, she has to admit, it is pretty funny.

It hadn’t been anything more than that, really. Shortly after, Fred went back to London, and the whole thing was simply a lark between the two friends, notable only because Laurie starts referring to Amy as a heartbreaker.

It only becomes a thing a couple of months later.

Amy has since returned home, her summer course over, and spends the first weeks of Autumn in Massachusetts, prepping for her final school year, looking after Beth as she waits for test results about her remission, babysitting the twins for Meg, and avoiding telling Jo about her summer, since she’s not quite sure how her stance on Laurie has shifted (or not) in the past few years.

This becomes apparent when Laurie calls her, a few weeks into the semester, to cash in.

Apparently, Amy has inspired him, and Laurie is returning to the US as well. Seeing her has made him realize he misses home, and, admittedly, his grandfather has been on him about what is an acceptable amount of time for a gap year. This decision prompted him to reach out to Jo. They talked, for a bit, and mostly everything was fine. Great even, and signs pointed to them being able to return to their friendship after all! Until Laurie had the brilliant idea to tell her he’s dating her sister.

Amy, which she feels he deserves, promptly laughs in his face when he tells her.

He says he’s completely and totally over Jo, he is! (Amy maintains a healthy skepticism about this, but lets him go on) It seems that Jo had been looking forward to seeing him again, but adamant that her feelings hadn’t changed, and hoped he’d finally moved on. He’d made assurance after assurance, but the only way he could think of to truly prove it was to tell her he was seeing someone – which isn’t completely a lie, as he had dated other people in the meantime – only to then pop out Amy’s name when Jo asked about it – which is completely a lie.

Here is where Amy questions his reasoning, since he could have said literally any other name beyond Jo’s baby sister’s, and how could he think she’d take that well, and Jo was going to think she’d kept it from her, Laurie, did he have any idea how furious she will be when she sees her at Christmas??

But Laurie maintains that Amy owes him for Fred Vaughn – which has her rolling her eyes every time he mentions it, because c’mon, that was nothing like this – and that she’d been the first person he’d thought of – which does warm her heart a little – and who else could he rope into a fake relationship who could understand the whole thing with Jo?

“Fake relationship” stops Amy in her tracks.

Apparently, Laurie has a plan. A whole plan.

Amy tries to explain that all her lie had demanded of him was going to cool party. Laurie doesn’t see the relevance. Amy wants to yell at him through the phone.

Laurie will be arriving in Massachusetts shortly before Amy’s winter break, giving him only a while to face Jo on his own (and hopefully mend some bridges), at which point Amy will return home, spend her break cuddling with him by the fire – “Is that really so bad, Ames?” – convincingly enough that Jo sees he has completely moved on. Come the New Year, Amy will return to school, and eventually they’ll break the news of their uncoupling, stating how they’re better as friends, and everything will go back to normal.

It’s so easy!

Sure.

It starts off not easy at all, when the very next call Amy receives is from Jo, demanding to know every single detail of her relationship with Laurie.

For all intents and purposes, Amy is pretty proud of her performance, actually, given how little time she had to prepare. She thinks she manages to sound convincing yet apologetic, explaining how they’d gotten close in Paris and had been keeping it low-key because they weren’t sure where it was going yet, plus the long-distance while Amy went back to the States and Laurie stayed in Europe, not to mention his previously chilly relationship with the rest of the family (a not-intentional, but also not-untrue dig at Jo, there, which Amy isn’t sure she gets or not). She talks about how she totally intended on telling her when they knew it was serious, but Laurie totally blindsided her by telling Jo so soon. The best lies, Amy finds, have a little bit of the truth.

“So it’s serious?” Jo asks, and Amy hesitates for a second. A serious relationship. With Laurie. Faking a serious relationship with Laurie.

Her heart does a weird little twist she isn’t sure comes from lying to her sister, the anticipation of the scale of the performance she’ll have to give when they’re all together, or something else entirely.

“I guess.” she settles on, and promptly puts it out of her mind. There’s no point in spiraling for the intervening weeks, she tells herself, even if she does get progressively more stressed out as the semester ends.

When she does get home, though, it’s all so familiar, her anxiety just vanishes.

She’s missed her family. As close as they’ve always been, it’s always been tough being away from them all for months at a time. As soon as she walks through the door, it’s all hugs and smiles, and she feels nothing but welcomed.

And, admittedly, despite everything else, she’s missed Laurie, too. He’s already there when she arrives, like he’d told her he’d be, and Amy doesn’t even think about it before hugging him tightly when she sees him. It’s been ages since they’ve been together in person, after all, and this after months of spending every day together. No matter what else is going on, she just missed him.

It’s only when Jo chides at them to “break it off, lovebirds” that Amy remembers, and hopes her resulting awkward smile/grimace is seen as embarrassment for being with her “boyfriend” in front of her family, instead of regret over her every decision of the past few months.

Other than that, though, it ends up being not too bad. As much as Amy is loath to admit it, Laurie wasn’t too far off in his plan. They don’t have to act that lovey-dovey, just sit together at gatherings, hold hands once in a while, talk amongst themselves for a bit. It’s actually remarkably similar to how they’d behaved nearly every day in Paris. Amy hadn’t even thought of it as romantic, though, not until now, when the contrast of how they used to be, in their childhoods, is so apparent.

Her family’s reactions aren’t so bad either. Dad makes a joke about Laurie having to watch himself from now on, but since it’s been well established how much he loves him and the Laurences, it’s never meant as nor taken seriously. Marmee attempts to have a talk with her about their relationship, but Amy manages to abort that pretty quickly. Meg looks at them like she wants to say something, but doesn’t ever actually do it. Beth, bless her, just tells her she’s happy for them. And Jo makes a few comments here and there, which almost get to Amy, until she reminds herself that the whole purpose of this thing was for Jo and Laurie to get their friendship back.

And it even seems to be working. Since she’s been home, Amy’s watched Jo and Laurie joke around, argue and play off each other almost exactly like they did when they were kids. She can’t bring herself to talk about it with Laurie, but he hasn’t said anything to indicate otherwise, either, not that it was going poorly between them, nor that it was going in any other direction at all.

She’ll admit she was skeptical, when Laurie explained his plan to her, and that a large part of it was because she wasn’t ever truly sure if Laurie was really over her sister, as he claimed. He’d seemed so in love with her, before. And he’d been so heartbroken, when she’d rejected him. A small part of Amy wondered if he wasn’t just saying all of this for show, and if, once he saw Jo again, his feelings wouldn’t come rushing back. Amy does hope not. Even if she had her doubts, she wants for Laurie to be over Jo, really. She never did think they be very good together, is all. And she doesn’t want them to go through that heartbreak again.

If she watches them closely, just to try and see if there’s anything in Laurie’s eyes beyond friendly affection… Well, she’s just looking out for him, isn’t she? For both of them, really, or even for all of them, because everyone’s been excited to have the March and Laurence families together again, and another big emotional fight is the last thing they need.

And if she’s a little relieved every time Laurie notices her there and comes over, slinging his arm over her shoulders, or giving her a peck on the cheek… Well, that’s not really anyone’s business, is it?

It all goes fine, though. Jo and Laurie are perfectly friendly, not a hint of romantic drama nor icy coolness between them, and everyone’s happy through the holidays, and no one’s seemed suspicious of Amy and Laurie at all.

Amy’s all but forgotten about the plan and her anxieties over it, until it becomes all too real right on top of her.

Literally.

On Christmas morning, after they’ve opened their presents, and once Laurie and his grandfather have joined them for breakfast, Amy’s just greeting him, like she’s done every day, when Beth pipes up.

Amy hadn’t realized. She hadn’t been there when they decorated the house this year, even though their decorations haven’t changed in years.

As it always has been, right in the middle of the archway that separates the kitchen from the dining room, and right on top of where Amy and Laurie are standing, is a sprig of mistletoe.

It’s not even a big deal. Beth is the only one who noticed, and then Jo, who turned to look at them when she said it, but everyone else is busy, no one is really paying attention to them.

Yet, in Amy’s mind, this is maybe the worst thing that could’ve happen.

Mistletoe. Of course there’s mistletoe. How could she not have remembered the mistletoe?

Laurie seems as dumbstruck as she is, but he recovers quickly. They’re supposed to be a couple, after all. Couples aren’t supposed to be completely terrified by the mere notion that they kiss.

Amy only has time to register that it’s happening before it happens. Laurie inches his face closer to hers, and Amy doesn’t move away, doesn’t say anything. She meets him when he reaches her, and they kiss.

Laurie only intended it to be a chaste kiss, anyways. Something tangible enough for the others to not get suspicious, but light enough as to not make things uncomfortable, threading the needle to slip under the guise of them not wanting to kiss in front of their families.

It was supposed to be a chaste kiss.

It’s not that.

It’s something else entirely.

Before he knows it, not only has Laurie stepped closer into Amy’s space, but his hands have come up to her cheeks, and Amy has responded by placing hers on his waist. His eyes are closed, yes, he can’t see the room surrounding them, but all of a sudden he isn’t even aware of it. The only thing he’s aware of is Amy.

It’s so familiar. She’s Amy. He’s known her almost all their lives. They’ve been close for most of that time, have seen each other in all sorts of ways, have touched each other numerous times, they’ve shared friendly kisses and teasing ones, they’ve even kissed under the mistletoe before, a simple kiss on the cheek, when they were very little, after which Amy had blushed furiously, and Jo mercilessly made fun of them for the rest of the day.

But it’s also so new. He’s never been this close to Amy. Has never touched her like this, has never known what her lips tasted like before now. Peach chapstick. It should all be so simple and familiar, and Laurie should just let go and pretend it was nothing, but it isn’t and he can’t.

He has no idea how long they’ve been kissing, when Meg and John’s twins barge into the kitchen, crashing into Amy and Laurie and sending them almost flying apart. Jo “oooh”s at them teasingly, but it’s quickly forgotten about, in the bustle of the twins’ arrival, and the adults trying to get everyone to sit down and have breakfast.

Except that Laurie can’t forget about it. He can’t stop thinking about it, in fact. He can’t even make sense of it. He tries to catch Amy’s eye, to try and see how she’s feeling, but she won’t meet his. Is she being glib? Did it really mean nothing to her at all, just a fake kiss for their fake courtship? Or is she totally weirded out, unable to meet his eye? Could she be just as lost as he is?

The rest of the day passes by quickly, almost in a blur, and before he knows it, goodbyes are being exchanged, everyone headed back home for the night.

Amy’s barely looked at him since the kiss, but he tries one more time to talk to her before they leave.

And though she does look at him, this time, and smiles, gives him a quick hug goodbye, even, she’s gone before he can barely say anything.

She clearly doesn’t want to talk about it, then, so Laurie decides to try his best at putting it out of his mind. It was a kiss. So what? A great kiss, yes, but that was that. It was part of a plan. His plan. A plan that went great, even. Him and Jo are friends again, the Marches don’t hate him, and all they have left to do is explain they decided to break it off, in a few weeks. That they tried, but determined they were better of as friends. Him and Amy. Friends. Because that’s what they are.

Except that friends don’t think about each other for as long as Laurie starts finding himself thinking about Amy that week. Friends don’t wonder what it would have been like if they’d kissed any other time in the past couple of days, or if they’d been alone when they had, or wondering about any scenario where Laurie could have kissed Amy again, or for longer. And friends probably take each other’s calls, too. Which Amy hasn’t done since Christmas Day.

While Laurie understands she could perfectly well be busy, which would be a logic assumption from her curt text responses saying just that, Laurie also knows how it feels like to be brushed off, and it quickly becomes obvious she’s just avoiding him.

He wants nothing more than to talk to her, be near her again, something in the back of his mind desperate to be with her. It’s like seeing her in Paris after all those years set something off in him that can’t be satisfied, and it was only made stronger by that goddamn kiss.

But he won’t push her. He hopes she isn’t mad at him for the whole scheme, it is possible it was more taxing than he’d anticipated, after all. She’s probably weirded out by the kiss and needs some space. Okay. Space. He can do that. He won’t push.

He does count down the days until he sees her again, though.

Namely, at the Laurence’s New Year’s party, a week later.

Though Amy hasn’t explicitly stated she’ll come, the Marches have all been attending for years, and while there have been exceptions granted for illness, or work, Laurie sees (hopes for) no reason for Amy not to attend.

He’s already planned out what he wants to say, how he’s sorry for the whole thing, how he understands if she feels put off by him, how he just wants the two of them to be okay, and they never have to mention anything about the whole mess ever again.

Of course, though, as soon as he sees her, walking through the door after her sisters, the first thought that comes into his mind is how he wants to kiss her again.

Instead, he turns right back around and gets a drink.

He spends the next hour telling himself to get it together, that it’s just Amy, and he’s being ridiculous, and only then goes to talk to her.

Amy is reticent about being alone with Laurie, but also knows she’s avoided it for as long as she can, and they really should talk.

It’s not like anything will happen, right? Just because they’re alone, and Amy’s been thinking about the kiss, as well as basically everything that happened over Christmas ever since then, it doesn’t mean anything will happen when she actually talks to Laurie, other than just that. Talking.

Aware she’s trying way too hard to convince herself of this, Amy follows Laurie, becoming determined to push all of her internal doubts and bubbling feelings to the side and just have a talk with her friend. They’ll clear the air, he’ll tell her how the kiss meant nothing and will never happen again, and they’ll be back to normal. Friends. As it should be. And anything Amy might be feeling that’s clearly been brought on by the nostalgia of being home and not having been in a relationship in a while and not at all by this new-found closeness with Laurie and inability to pay attention to anything else when he’s near, it will all just fade away.

When they’re alone, he does apologize for his scheme and how maybe it went too far. He thanks her for going along with it, but that he never meant to make her uncomfortable, and he probably didn’t think it through as he should have, and if she wants, they can just come clean to their families right now.

Something in Amy melts a little. She’s not mad at him, not really. The fake relationship thing was weird, sure, but in the end, she gets it, and if things can be good between all of them in the end, then it was worth it. It was all maybe a bit more than she’d bargained for, but that doesn’t really matter does it? It’ll all just go away.

She also predicts that telling everyone they were lying now will just make things worse and more confusing, so Amy tells him she appreciates it, but there’s no need, they’ll just lay low and stick to the original timeline.

They both leave the room feeling better for having hashed it out, but still a little disappointed. It’s been agreed. They’ll just let the next few weeks go by, and that’ll be that. Back to normal, and no possibility for anything else. Great.

The rest of the party goes well, as light and fun as it can be. And if Amy and Laurie barely leave the other’s side during it, well, to anyone else, they’re supposed to be in a relationship, right? That’s normal. Beyond even that, they’re friends, it’s totally okay! Just like before, Amy squashes any feelings, even part of her is telling herself to enjoy it while it lasts.

Either way, when Mr. Laurence announces to the party that it’s only a couple of minutes till midnight, of course Amy and Laurie find themselves next to each other.

The panic from their first kiss is gone, and a certain inevitability remains over them. Well, of course this would happen. Of course, as a couple they’ll be expected to kiss at the stroke of midnight. When they turn to each other, Amy’s prepared to shrug it off like just something else they’ll have to do – she does not want to be caught off guard again – but finds Laurie already looking at her, a slight smile on his lips, and she can’t help but mirror him.

When the clock strikes midnight, cheers go up around them, but Amy and Laurie are oblivious. This one doesn’t even start as a peck. For all her distancing herself from it, Amy leans into the kiss fully intending to savor it this time. And for all his denial over it, Laurie does the same.

Before long, Amy’s hands are reaching up into Laurie’s hair, and his arms are circling her waist. One kiss turns into two, then three, as they slowly disentangle themselves to get some air.

Amy feels lightheaded, her body against Laurie’s, their foreheads pressed together and her eyes still closed. She can’t push it away this time. She wants to do that again. She wants to kiss Laurie forever, if that’s even possible. She just wants Laurie.

She doesn’t feel able to say anything right now, but Laurie beats her to it.

He says he’s been wanting to do that again since the last time, and Amy can’t help but agree.

She opens her eyes, sees Laurie, looking at her like he’s just had some revelation of his own, and Amy wonders just how long they’ve been headed here without realizing it. Before Christmas? Since Paris? Maybe even before that? Either way, standing here now, it feels inevitable. Her and Laurie, it’s just… It’s fitting. She doesn’t want to let go.

Amy drops the pretense.

“What are we doing, Laurie?” she asks, softly,

“I don’t know” he answers. “Do you want to stop?”

She shakes her head no, and he smiles.

“Can you just…” Amy adds. She needs to make sure. “This isn’t… It’s not the plan, right? It feels, different, at least for me, so just tell me, Laurie, is this still about that? Is it still about Jo, about getting things back to how they were?”

Laurie shakes his head, already interjecting as soon as Amy finishes speaking “No! No, it’s different for me too. It’s not… It’s certainly not about Jo. Amy, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you in days. Actually, probably years. I don’t want things to go back to how they were. Not if they can be better.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Amy can’t help but smile brightly. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you either. This feels… I don’t know what it is, but… Better, yeah. Better’s good.”

Laurie’s grinning right along with her, and he has, frankly, waited long enough, and dips his head to kiss her again.

When they finally separate, Amy asks “So, you still think we should go tell our families we’ve broken up?”

Laurie laughs, the whole plan he’d concocted feeling like a lifetime ago. “Well, maybe not right now. Or in the next few weeks. Or years. I don’t know, how about we just see where this goes?”

Amy grins. “That sounds good, yes.”

The two kiss one more time, blissfully unaware of the party going on around them, the Marches and Laurences and other guests toasting, and celebrating, and awaiting the New Year unfolding in front of them all.

[seonghwaddict]

★ NEVER SAY NEVER. [ 001 ] over my dead body.

synopsis. something about the eight most well-known boys of your campus just didn't sit right with you, so you never gave any effort to interact with them. but after a series of... interesting incidents, they can't seem to leave you alone. pairing. college students! vampires! ot8! ateez x fem! reader. genre. fluff, angst, eventual smut, college au, vampire au. chapter warnings. suggestive comments, swearing, wooyoung being an annoying piece of shit. word count. 1.1k

　　　　　　　　chapter i // chapter ii

"The groups have already been decided and the list can be found on the bulletin outside. See you all next week." And with that, your professor walked out of the studio and left your classmates scrambling to get out of class and find the list.

All things considered, your day could have been worse. Yes, you'd gone to bed at 5 am and woken up at 7 to your housemate blasting music in the bathroom as she showered. Though, that was a daily occurrence, being mad over it just didn't make sense anymore. Yes, when you got into the shower and turned on the water without paying attention to the heat dial, you pretty much burned off your skin. Yes, on the way to the art department you had dropped one of the paintings you've been working on for over a month, getting mud all over the bottom half of the artwork.

But, nevertheless, it could've been a lot worse.

As you gathered the used paintbrushes next to your easel, you thought about who could be your partner for this collaborative project with the dance majors. Professor Yun just spent about ten minutes informing you and your peers that the art majors were to pair up with a dance major to create an artwork. The specifics—such as whether it'll be a painting or collage or other media—were completely up to the students.

You holstered your bag on your shoulder, finally leaving the art studio to see who you were paired with. Maybe it'll be Suncha, possibly the most beautiful girl you'd ever seen. You could definitely see yourself working with her. She moved with grace and would probably be the best subject you could ever wish for. Maybe Daehyun—you'd always found his face and body aesthetically pleasing.

The crowd in front of the bullet slowly dissipated and people found their partners in the crowd, already making conversation and talking about the project. With a slight sense of dread but a pinch of anticipation, you stepped up to the list and scanned it, quickly finding your name next to-

Oh you've got to be kidding me.

Nevermind, this was definitely one of the worst days you'd ever experienced. Because right next to your name, stood a name associated with one of the eight most sought-after men on your campus.

Jung Wooyoung.

They'd never done anything to you personally, but you just weren't a fan of the way they'd go from girl to girl without being ashamed or being called out. Granted, you weren't sure if all eight of them behaved like that (though this particular Jung Wooyoung did), you still disliked them (except for one of them, but you'd never admit that). Maybe it was how they were practically handed everything they needed at any given moment on a silver tray. Or how ridiculously good looking they were. Either way, something about them just felt... off.

An arm being slung over your shoulder broke you out of your thoughts of just ending your life right then and there. Without even looking at the person, you already had a suspicion of who it could be.

"Hey there, partner," He stepped in front of you, hand lingering on your shoulder for a second longer than you'd like. A mischievous smile graced his features, "I don't think I've ever talked to you. What's your name, pretty?"

"It's on the paper right behind you." You deadpanned, resisting the urge to roll your eyes.

For a second, Wooyoung's eyes hardened before that playful glint returned. "I know, but I'd like to hear you say it. After all, I don't want to be pronouncing it wrong."

With a sigh, you gave him your name and he repeated it, testing the sound of it on his tongue. Seemingly satisfied, he returned to your side with a hum and once again slung his arm over your shoulders, steering you toward the exit of the arts department and practically dragging you with him.

Along the way, you passed multiple clusters of girls and boys, some of them watching Wooyoung with admiration and lust in their eyes while others simply glared at you out of jealousy. Feeling their stares, your head turned to the ground and you screwed your eyes shut, wishing it was Daehyun dragging you. Not this painfully pretty, charming man that you couldn't stand.

"So," Wooyoung started—though he never really stopped talking, "I was thinking, if you don't have any courses or stuff for the rest of the day, you can come over to my place and we can start working on whatever it is we have to do."

"I told my roommate I'd be back early to clean our apartment."

"Oh, then I can come with you, help you and then you can come to my place."

"Why not just do it at my place?"

"That's fine, too. Maybe you can show me to your bedroom?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and you had to hold back the urge to smack him right then and there.

"Over my dead body."

"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not really into necrophilia."

It was then that you noticed you were walking towards the campus' parking lot. You stopped in your tracks and waited for Wooyoung to turn.

"Ok, first of all, what the fuck. But I guess I'm glad that's not your thing. Second, what are you doing? Where are you taking me?"

He blinked. Once, twice. "I'm taking you to my car...?"

"Why?"

"To take you to my place so we can work?" He looked behind him and then back to you, his dark hair bouncing around and revealing the bleached layers underneath.

"But I have stuff to do." You crossed your arms over your chest, shifting your weight to your right leg as you looked up at him. He wasn't that much taller, but because of his proximity, it was hard to look him in the eyes without craning your neck just a bit.

A chuckle (though it sounded more like a giggle) escaped him. "The dishes and vacuum can wait. I'm only available for the next two hours, after that you're free to do whatever you want."

You took a second to mull things over before dropping your head and groaning. "Fine but–"

"Great!" Wooyoung grabbed your hand and resumed pulling you across the parking lot. "Let's get going, maybe the food Seonghwa-hyung made will still be warm when we get there and–"

"Wait!" You tugged on the hand that held yours harshly, making him stop to look back at you with a raised brow. "But... no funny business. Please."

He let out another high pitched laugh. "Oh, YN, my dearest darling YN, I don't plan on doing anything like that with you. Today, at least. Though if you'd like-"

"No!" You extended a hand to stop him from finishing that sentence, cheeks blushing dark crimson. "Please just- just lead the way."

That specific mischievous grin returned to his face as he whipped around and practically skipped to his black Mercedes with tinted windows. You didn't stop to appreciate the car, getting into the passengers seat and strapping the seatbelt on.

　　[ lilo's notes ... ] hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter!! any guess as to who the ateez member is that YN likes more than the others? hint: it's not wooyoung. also, i'm basing each of the mebers' looks off of different eras. in case you couldn't tell, we will be dealing with oreo wooyoung here.

　　ଘ(੭˃ᴗ˂)੭ taglist ... @atinytinaa @marievllr-abg @legohwas @moonsangie @kiss-hwa @cqndiedcherries @ateezourstars @r1kitti @sarahleighflora @kyukyustar

　　NEVER SAY NEVER　©　seonghwaddict, 2023

[blue-slxt]

One Hammock - Chapter 2

🔞Minors Do Not Interact🔞

A/N: Here's the much requested Part 2 for the one-shot I wrote. I honestly didn't expect it to be as popular as it is and I certainly didn't think I'd write a second part for it, but I'm glad y'all are loving it! This part came out a little longer than I meant for it to, but I got lost in the sauce lol. So I hope you guys enjoy! All the characters are aged up.

Previous Part

Pairing: Neteyam x Fem!Omatikaya!Reader

Warnings: Explicit smut, masturbation (M and F), vouyerism kink?, Fingering, P in V, Creampie, Scenting, One bed trope (kinda), I think that's it

Word Count: 3k

Summary: You've been avoiding Neteyam since the hammock incident because you're trying to figure out your feelings, but you can't avoid him any more when your parents have you stay with the Sully family while they're away.

It had been a week since that night, and you had been avoiding Neteyam. It wasn’t like you were mad at him or anything, you just didn’t really know how to act normally around him in public anymore. Just the mention of his name sent your mind racing with memories of what happened. The few times you did happen to see Neteyam, he seemed perfectly normal. Not an awkward bone in his body. How does he do it? Meanwhile, you were a ball of nerves whenever you were in close proximity to him.

Kiri and Lo’ak take notice in your change lately too. They’ve tried asking you multiple times, but you dismiss them every time. There was no way you could tell them the truth. Nobody wants to hear about their brother doing something like that, especially with such a close family friend. What would they think of you?

You’d talk to Neteyam again when you felt like you were ready to fully face the situation. You just needed time to finish processing your emotions about it and him.

Unfortunately, it looks like you were going to be forced to process this a lot faster than you anticipated. Your parents are going on a 3-day long hunting trip and they’ve asked for you to stay with Jake and his family. This is ridiculous, you’re an adult so you should be able to be home alone. But your parents are very protective over you as their only child. And they only trust the Sully family with your safety and once they’ve put their foot down, there’s no getting them to change.

It’s going to be a lot harder to not talk to Neteyam when you’re going to be staying in his home. But maybe he won’t even want to talk about what happened either. Yea, maybe he’s feeling weird about it too and he’s just better at containing himself than you are. Either that, or it just simply wasn’t a big deal to him. But the thought of that being the case hurts your feelings just a tad. Why? Did you want it to mean something to him? Did it mean something to you?

You figure that maybe going to bathe at the nearby waterfall might help clear your head a bit so that you can hopefully get some sleep tonight.

You loved coming to the waterfall at night. Something about the roar of the rushing water against the quiet night air was like a melody to your ears. You remove your clothes before walking into the waist deep water. For it to be after eclipse, the water is still surprisingly warm. You sink down to your knees and let your head fall back and your hair sprawl out across the surface of the water. It’s so therapeutic. You’d stay here all night if you could, but you know if you take too long, somebody will come to look for you eventually. So, you start cleaning your body off.

You run your hands along the length of your arms and your torso and then you reach the spot between your thighs. It’s right where he was. You hold your hand there for a second just remembering. It was hot and heavy and slippery against your skin. When you look down, you can still visualize the way his tip poked out from between your legs over and over again. Your fingers travel up mere centimeters and find your already throbbing clit. Shit, you were sensitive just from the remembering. You start rubbing mindless circles on the little bundle of nerves and your breathing gets heavy.

Your eyes close and your mind tells you that instead of your own hand, it’s Neteyam. Instead of your fingers, it’s the tip of his dick brushing against your sensitive spot again and again. “Fuuuck…” you breathe out. He was so close to being actually inside of you. Oh, how you wanted to feel him inside of you.

You lean forward onto a rock to help steady yourself as your legs grow weak beneath you. Your fingertips poke and prod at your entrance teasing you. He’s teasing you until he finally sinks into you. A loud moan escapes your lips, “Neteyam…ah…”

You do your best to keep your voice down so as to not attract the attention of anyone who may be nearby. Thankfully, the sound of the waterfall is loud enough to mostly drown out your sounds.

Your fingers move in and out of your dripping pussy making such obscene sounds which just pushes you further into your fantasy. Neteyam pounding into you from behind whispering sweet nothings in your ear. Your core tightens and you can feel how close you are.

Memories of that night replay in your head fueling your oncoming orgasm. “Haah…I-I’m gonna cum!” You remember the feeling of his cum on your skin and his hands on your body, gripping you harder with his own release. It’s enough to get you to your peak and you cum with a loud groan that echoes in the area around you.

You continue leaning on the rock to keep yourself up while your mind slowly comes out of its fog. You finally feel like some of the weight has been lifted off your mind and you can think clearly again.

However, unbeknownst to you, there was someone watching you the entire time. Neteyam didn’t mean to find you in the forest. It was pure coincidence. But when his eyes caught sight of your bare, slender body in the water, he couldn’t tear himself away. And then you started touching yourself. He knew this was wrong and he shouldn’t keep watching such an intimate moment. But his fascination was too much for him to move. And then you said his name. His ears shoot up at the sound of his own name being on your lips. Before he knew it, he was palming his own dick while watching you. Fuck, how he wanted to be the one feeling you right now. He wanted to hear you scream his name, not just simply whimper it.

Knowing that you made yourself cum with the thought of him made his head spin. Caught in a dizzying space of pleasure. He was nearing his own high at the same time as you. His seed spilled out over his own hand making a big, sticky mess.

He runs off to find a different stream to clean himself off in and rushes back home before you get there.

When you get back to the tent, you see how Neteyam tenses up at the sight of you. That was odd. After being totally normal all week, he’s suddenly acting like the awkward one. You didn’t get it. But it’s probably best to not think too hard on it.

…

Sadly, sleep still doesn’t come easily for you tonight. Even though Lo’ak isn’t snoring tonight, your mind and body are still too restless. Jake had put up a temporary privacy curtain for you while you were staying with them, but you stare at it feeling uneasy. Neteyam is just on the other side of this curtain and you wanted so badly to see him. Truthfully, you hated being so isolated. Being by yourself like this made you umcomfortable. But you don’t want to be ungrateful since Jake had put this up just for you. You chew on your bottom lip and try to bear with it and turn your back to the curtain. Then, there’s a sound in the silence. It’s just barely there, but you catch it. Footsteps and it sounds like they’re coming towards you.

“You still awake?” Neteyam whispers to you peeking his head behind the curtain. He tried to keep his voice small enough to not wake you in case you were asleep.

You turn around to face him and shake your head.

“Is it okay if I come in?” he’s hesitant.

You just nod at him. Words don’t seem to be coming to you just yet.

He carefully and quietly makes his way over to your hammock and scoots his way in. His body is right against yours and the contact sears your skin.

“I know you don’t really like sleeping alone and I was worried you might be scared over here by yourself.” He says quietly.

He remembers. That was part of the reason you two would share a hammock so often when you were children. You would beg and plead until you were purple in the face because of your fear of being alone while you slept. And Neteyam never minded. He always played the role of protector and he liked making you feel safe.

“Thanks” you say to him and you’re grateful that he can’t see the flush of your cheeks in the dark.

Your face studies his silhouette in the dark with only the small rays of light from the stars seeping in through the spaces of the tent. Your eyes travel further down to his chest watching it rise and fall and to his abs that flexed slightly with each breath he took and then even lower and the flashbacks hit you again. It’s like you can literally feel how your clit wakes up in his presence.

You fidget in your spot trying to squeeze your thighs together for some relief.

“So, listen, um, about that night” he starts.

Oh no, do we really need to talk about this right now? But you have nowhere to hide.

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable”

“No no, I wasn’t uncomfortable. I mean I was the one who offered, right?” your face feels like it’s on fire. “Honestly, I kind of…liked it…” the last words come out as more of a whisper than a confident statement. You’re cautious with your words since you’re still not sure where his head is in all of this.

Now, it was Neteyam’s turn to blush, thankful for the cover of the dark.

“The truth is…I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since then.” He confesses.

Your heartbeat picks up in your chest. So he did think about it just like you.

“And I was thinking that I could help you out sometime too…You know, if-if you wanted to…” his words trail off with his growing uncertainty.

You’re not sure what came over you in that moment. What suddenly gave you the confidence boost to say what came next, “C-could you help me now?”

His breathing hitches in his chest. He turns onto his side to be face-to-face with you. Neither of you say a word, but your eyes are pleading with him. Begging him to touch you. He slowly lowers his hand to the waistband of your loincloth. He pauses, his eyes still silently asking you if this was okay. You give him a small smile letting him know to continue.

His fingers pass your loincloth and come into direct contact with your heat. One of his fingers strokes your aching clit and your breathing gets heavier. You chew on your lip trying to bite back the moan you desperately want to release.

Neteyam’s notices how his own loincloth is getting tighter at the feeling of his fingers gliding up and down your slit.

Small groans of pleasure fall from your lips at his touch. He felt even better than you had imagined. And the way he touched you, it was as if he knew how to please your body even better than you did. His fingers touch you with just the right amount of pressure and speed. You feel drunk at his touch.

“Neteyam…m-more… please” you whisper just inches from his face. He can feel his own restraint slipping at the sound of your pleas.

‘Eywa, please just let me have this.’ He thinks to himself before he captures your lips in a hungry, sloppy kiss. You waste no time moving your mouth in sync with his. Your tongues dance together in each other’s mouths. He loved the way you tasted. He just wanted to drink you in all night.

That tightening in your core is back. Your back arches trying to press yourself even more into Neteyam’s body. His lips muffle your moans, but he can feel how close you are. Just at the last second, he plunges a finger into your heat sending you over the edge. Your body jerks and your hands fly up to hold onto his shoulders while you struggle to keep yourself from being too loud.

Neteyam bites his lip to keep himself quiet feeling your walls pulse around his finger.

You come down from your high and rest your forehead against his chest.

He looks down at your face and when you look back at him, Neteyam knows he’s done for. Your big, round eyes staring up at him still full of longing. Without a word, or a second thought, you both hungrily crash your lips together while you both hurry to shimmy out of your loincloths. You couldn’t wait one more minute. You wanted him, needed him, and you needed him right now. You felt like you might lose your mind if he wasn’t inside of you immediately and he felt the same.

He turns your body around and you instinctively push your ass back against him making him let out a low groan. You use one of your hands to spread your still drenched pussy for him. He holds on to your hips while he swipes his tip up and down against your slick. He lines up with your opening and he slides in you painfully slow. You had never had anything bigger than your own fingers inside of you and the slow fill was indescribable. Holding back your moans was nearly impossible. He’s struggling too, trying to deep breathe his way through the feeling of your tight walls sucking him in. He finally pushes all the way into you and you burn the shape of him into your body’s memory. You want to only know the shape and feeling of him forever.

He pulls his hips back, but you’re clenching on him so tight, it’s difficult to even pull out. It’s a wonder how he didn’t cum instantly. He moves slowly in and out of your warmth. Every thrust drags across your sweet spot.

His head falls forward resting in the crook of your neck. One hand slides up your body to massage your breast while the other reaches around to rub small circles on your clit.

“Of f-fuck…Neteyam…” it comes out as a whimper and it drives him crazy.

“Shit, you’re so fucking tight. Taking me so well” he breathes into your ear. It’s exactly how you dreamt it.

His hips pick up their pace, “You have no idea how badly I’ve always wanted this.”

“M-me too…ah…” you’re losing your breath from panting.

“Yea? You touch yourself thinking about me? You want me to make that pussy feel good?” his voice is low but commanding in your head.

“Yes yes!” your voice comes out a bit louder than you meant to. Your hand cups itself over your mouth to muffle your sinful sounds.

Neteyam is loving every second of it. He loves watching you lose yourself to him.

“Oh, fuck yawne, I’m gonna fill you up so good” he rubs his face into your neck mingling his scent with yours.

“Please Neteyam…” even whispering, your voice is still strained.

He wants nothing more than to just pound into you mindlessly, but he knows that would make too much noise right now and he uses the last shred of his power to control his thrusts. But he can still feel your approaching orgasm. Your walls tighten even more around him, he wasn’t even sure that was possible.

“G-gonna cum…I’m gonna cum again Neteyam” your eyes blur unable to focus under the influence of your impending release.

“Do it, cum with me.” His grip on your body grows as he chases his own high.

The knot in your core snaps with ground-shaking force and you definitely would have screamed had it not been for your hand over your mouth. While you’re still at the peak of your release, Neteyam shoots thick, hot ropes of his seed deep into you. You felt so full that you thought you might burst. It intensifies your own orgasm tenfold.

You both stay there unable to move an inch from the exhaustion. Neteyam manages to pull himself together enough to pull out of you and his cum slowly drips out of you too. He rolls onto his back and watches the ceiling still catching his breath.

“Hey, Neteyam?” you mumble.

“Hm?”

“Would you stay with me? At least until I fall asleep?” you still didn’t want to be alone.

He smiles gently and turns over to pull you against him, “Of course” he places a small peck against the shell of your ear.

His arms are like walls around you shielding you from any feeling of fear or unease. He’s just so inviting. You fall asleep within minutes. Neteyam isn’t far behind you, falling asleep just moments later.

…

In the morning, the gentle sound of someone rustling around out of bed wakes you. You don’t open your eyes yet though. You just want to stay how you are for a little longer. You can hear Lo’ak’s voice on the other side of your privacy curtain, “Hey, have you seen Neteyam? He’s not in his hammock.”

At the same time, he’s pulling your curtain back to come talk to you, “oh shit!”, he pulls the curtain closed and jumps back on the outside.

Your eyes shoot open and your body jumps awake. The sudden movement and loss of warmth wakes Neteyam too.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to…interrupt.” Lo’ak says from the other side of the curtain. Your head falls into your hands in humiliation. “You guys should probably get yourselves together before mom and dad wake up.” You can hear the amusement in his voice.

Eywa, out of all people, did it have to be Lo’ak? You both knew you weren’t going to be hearing the end of this any time soon.

You look over at Neteyam and he shoots you an amused smirk of his own. You can’t help the small giggle that you let out. He props himself up to kiss you.

“How about next time we go somewhere actually private?” he jokes.

“Definitely.” You say smiling back at him.

‘Next time.’

[faketrex]

The cakegate bodyswap ficlet I posted a few days ago stands alone as a one-shot... and also, if you were wondering what happens next... here's the next bit of that story.

This a work in progress, y'all, be forewarned! To be continued.

...

SHARING A SLICE... part 2

RWRB, rated T, 600 words (this part).

(click here for part 1)

...

For all Alex had complained about it – being forced to waste his weekend celebrating the marriage of someone he didn't know and a monarchy he wished didn't exist – the plan had been simple.

Fly to England. Sleep, hopefully. Get ready in the morning. Attend Prince Philip's wedding. Drink as much expensive booze and eat as many canapés as possible before getting scolded by June, then compare numbers with Nora. Think dark thoughts about the American Revolution and how, if you asked Alex, it should have been more comprehensive. Stay away from Henry. Leave.

Now, he's standing in a stupid fancy, ugly fancy, break-something-and-get-tossed-in-a-dungeon fancy room with Henry, covered in cake. And he's in the wrong fucking body.

Shit got complicated.

“You can’t leave,” Henry insists, hands on hips in a way that would look silly even if it didn't leave frosting handprints on his pants. (It does.)

“I'm sure as shit not staying.”

“Alex–”

“Do you seriously think I'd stick around after you – I don't even know what to call it. Bodysnatch? Bodyswap?”

“How the bloody hell should I know? You're the one to blame.”

“Me,” Alex scoffs, weirded out by how snooty it sounds in his – Henry's – voice but not letting that temper his anger, “you think I did this? Are you fucking joking?”

“It's quite clear that you dislike me.” Henry shakes his head, making crumbs shower down out of his – Alex's – curls. “I suspect you would take any opportunity to embarrass me.”

“Whatever, it’s still your fault. You know what? I bet it's a curse. Hundreds of years of racist, imperialist, monarchical bullshit and someone finally got fed up and cursed your family's asses.”

Henry stares at him. “Are you mad?”

“It makes sense! Your brother's in line for the throne. Curse the cake, so when he eats the first bite, bam, you've cursed the future king.”

“You are mad, and you've stolen my body, too–”

“Would you like to share your theory, Prince Perfect?”

Henry rolls his eyes. “My point stands. You need to stay.”

“Do you know the expression, ‘get the hell out of Dodge?’ You should, it's–”

“We need to fix–”

The door opens, admitting a tall man with an impressively neutral expression. Alex would be laughing his ass off at the sight of Henry covered in cake. Unfortunately, he's a little preoccupied right now.

“Your royal highness.” The man nods. “Mr. Claremont-Diaz, I’m afraid it's taking longer than anticipated to prepare your transportation, due to your current state of dress.”

Alex can translate: nobody wants frosting all over their town car.

Henry-as-Alex nods politely, then he and the man both look at Alex, waiting. It must be a ridiculous royal protocol thing. Alex needs to pretend he's Henry.

“Thank you,” Alex says haltingly. “That's... fine.”

“Yes, thank you,” Henry echoes, suspiciously fast, “but actually, his royal highness just suggested we reconvene at Kensington Palace.”

Alex did not fucking say that.

“Oh?”

Henry continues before Alex can get a word in. “Since we'll need clean-up for this… event… in more ways than one, he kindly offered the use of Kensington for... strategic planning.”

Alex would not fucking say that.

Both of them are looking expectantly at Alex-as-Henry again.

Alex fumes. Henry's right. They have to figure this out somehow, probably together. It's bad enough pretending to be Henry in front of just one person.

“Yeah. Let's all... go. To Kensington. Please.”

“Very well, your royal highness. I'll inform Mr. Claremont-Diaz’s entourage.”

What Alex wouldn't give to have the simple plan back.

…

(Part 3)

[athenasparrow]

Top five favourite fics written by you (and perhaps why? 🥹)

Thank you for allowing me to self-promote here! 😂

DWOHT is at the top because it's my only long multi-chap (so far) and I had the BEST time creating it! It was fun and flirty and I smiled the entire way through it. I really adore how Lily and James developed in that story and I still have such a fondness for those two sweethearts! AND Euphemia! My god! She is my favourite interfering queen and she's is HARDCORE in this one!

Uncomfortably Numb because it's the fic that started everything! My first Jily fic! If I had the chance to write it again, it would be *much* longer, but I still love it for what it is! I would absolutely write another in-war fic with SpyLily!

Stripped Back To Basics is a collab between myself and @charmsandtealeaves I giggled SO MUCH!!!! Charms is a hilarious writer and I think our styles balanced beautifully in that fic. It's ludicrous and ridiculous and fun and anyone who reads it is guaranteed a laugh (and yes, people actually go naked on TV IRL)!

The Right Door The first of many stories that involve Lily breaking into James' house... again, now that I've written so many I might change it, but I like the comfort that James offers and the ridiculousness of Sirius and Remus meeting them and how Lily faces him off in the end!

The Art of Identification because I got to explore Hogwarts Jily and gift it to @annabtg AND it brought me out of my exam funk so I like it for that too. I felt really clunky writing it and was so pleased when I had more glowing responses than I'd anticipated for a one-shot! I was like YAY I'M BACK so it brings a smile to my face whenever I think about it!

I'm also incredibly proud to have enough fics to do little rec lists that aren't just my entire repertoire!!!!!!

I am working my way through Top 5 asks and also playing ask a reader game

[haretic]

Present Day; 30/06/24 | Present Time; 1:53am

public pools

went back through my old diary blog and found some truly insane ramblings. i've always had a major amount of imposter syndrome about my issues so seeing it in retrospect, while disturbing, was really helpful.

some of the active psychosis ramblings were pretty funny though. I'm not sure how i get it in my head that i'm dying a painful death or that i'm actually an angel or my brain has been uploaded to the internet (that which is now true to a certain degree)

but still

i prefer this current blog, other people can actually see my posts here, and even if i don't expect interaction or anything, its helpful to know that someone, somewhere out there, even if its just Angel (who will never be a "just" in any other sense but in this case the sentence structure requires it) can all see my posts and i am not truly alone

because are you ever truly alone when youre on the internet?

its as scary a though as it is a calming one, and while i do think the internet is (for the most part) dead, its still nice to see other peoples puttering about in their own niches.

idk. just my evening thoughts

of more thoughts. I'm not sure the guy i like likes me that much. He seems plenty interested in me, but i just don't know if its in that way. my friends say yes, but i dont want to jump the gun and ruin things. we were friends before this and i'd hate to not go back to it afterwards.

we're going to hang out tomorrow. he got an invite from a friend to go somewhere also and he said if i wanted to come along i could but if not he wouldnt go. i said no and if he wanted to he could still go, i didnt want to be the reason he missed out on anything, and he said it was okay because he could always go later in the day.

i know that was objectively a good answer, i'm not sure i should expect anything more, but i'm always looking for someone to say "no! you're enough for me! if you don't want to, we won't go, together". which is an extremely selfish thought.

one of my biggest flaws is my selfishness i feel. i always want more than i've got, and feel empty without it. I know thats ridiculous, i'm working on it. We'll hang out tomorrow and i'll enjoy it. He's going to introduce me to his cats. Or cat, because one of them is shy and may not want to say hi.

i'm talking to him now, prying into his personal life. i want to know if he has a boyfriend. i feel like he does? i don't know though. i started writing this as a distraction so i wouldn't just do nothing in anticipation of his attention. really i don't know if this is a crush or craving closeness. i like to think i've gotten better at being by myself, and being alone. but there are still loads of times i crave closeness with someone. sometimes that can't be helped. but i've felt like this for a few months, longer than those relapses into selfish want usually last. but then again, i don't even know if he likes me back. we'll see i suppose.

i've been thinking a lot about the pools i used to go to as a kid. there are two, i drove by one today.

the outdoor one was smaller, it has a diving board, and its got this giant shower right near the entrance, as well as showers in both washrooms. they've got grassy areas for you to lay out your towels and stuff, but they've also got a massive greenspace that holds the toddler pool (a small hole in the ground that holds maybe a half a foot of water. i used to lay in it and stare up at the sky in it. just enough water i was always wet but i didn't have to put in the energy to float). for whatever reason they just won't connect that area to the main pool. one time my brother drank too much water and threw up there. he had had a massive mix of soft drinks at the airport earlier that day before my dad had landed in from a flight. at least i think those were on the same days, because i think thats part of why he was sick. i remember trying to touch the bottom of the deep end, near the diving board, and i remember jumping off the board. it was so daunting as a kid, but when i went back a few years ago, it seemed like barely a hop. i remember going there with my childhood bestfriend (someone i no longer talk to) and i remember burning my feet on the hot concrete running back and forth ignoring the no running signs. i remember getting sleepy and insisting on my mom to cuddle in the water. i always felt safe there. i could crawl right in her lap and the water was like a big blanket. i wish she had held me more in there. i remember playing mermaids and all the other typical kid things there. its a happy memory for me

the indoor one was much bigger, they had lanes and more fun splash pads and a slide. i remember how the stairs felt all cold and grimy and sandy as i jogged up them. my legs always hurt after it, but i had fun. the showers here were massive. for some reason old women would get absolutely butt naked there. it was only one wrong 90* turn to see ten fully naked grandmas lathering up in the pink soap out of the wall dispensers. i'm not even sure they ever even went in the pool. i remember a birthday party my other and much older childhood bestfriend had there. i got a little chihuahua toy as a party favor, and i slept with him every night for ages and ages. i remember playing there with my friends all the time, but it was never the outside pool. games there could be more fun, there was much more space, but there was always such a lack of natural lighting. either way, its also a happy memory for me

regardless of the pool, i always remember the showers. i had this habit of bringing the little hotel shampoo and conditioners to these things and showering fully with them. i don't know why i did that, i suppose i thought if i was going to shower i should do it properly instead of just a rinse. i'm sure nowadays i wouldn't care, but it was a whole procedure for me. i had to do it otherwise the pool day wasn't complete, and otherwise i felt sick

i have a lot of weird procedures like that, though. i guess thats normal for me. i like them, i don't find them harmful, i don't mind indulging them. i don't see why some people think its a bad thing. some people just like to keep organized, thats not a crime is it?

either way. i'm going to bed now, he's not dating anyone. i relapsed earlier again. i look forward to seeing him tomorrow. i hope hes interested in me. i don't plan on making any moves until i can see him in person and maybe reassess his feelings to me, but for now i'm just excited to leave my house for the first time in a week and actually see other people. i'm stoked.

[cartoonrival]

im caught up on the manga as well, i just have a super vague memory of some like resurrection adjacent artifact that was found in the ocean. or something. idr.

yeah i get what ur saying, i think i just immediately looked to compare their relationships because imo naruto's relationship with sasuke is the most emblematic of the type of person that he is and how he's suffered, and his obsessive sort of love (which isn't just reflected w sasuke (tho def w him the most), its also in him eating iruka's letter and feeling deeply deeply betrayed by sakura trying to kill sasuke because he thought they were on the same ridiculous page and couldnt wrap his head around her changing her mind) is the biggest thing he has in common with what's currently (imo) most interesting about kawaki.

i def obv agree that the adults have failed ToT tho i think the manner is sort of interesting bc boruto is like. very pampered. there was the scene where sasuke and naruto were talking about how he always has clean clothes and stuff. like he has a mom and dad and little sister who love him and he's annoying and bratty because everything comes easily to him and therefore he's never had to dedicate himself to anything in his life. sasuke hates his life so goddamn bad he can't stand to be around his wife and daughter for longer than an hour, he only got married because he didn't know what else he was supposed to do and he still hasn't and will never forgive himself for what he did and doesn't ever think that anything can make up for it, he doesn't think he deserves to be alive and thinks his only purpose is protecting naruto (because naruto is the hero who saved the world and sasuke is the fuckup who at least has the power to back naruto up), he'd sacrifice himself for naruto on a dime because thats how much he doesn't give a fuck. but this is all written in a different post that ill rb just for you<3. at the same time idrk how the fuck you should anticipate the shit that happens in boruto like how do u even prepare ur kids for that. what the fuck even

i'd say theres grounds for a VERY loose comparison between kawaki and itachi in terms of how the way they were raised caused them to love in a really fucked up way, though i think trying to make that comparison sort of dismisses the deep societal reasons that itachi grew up the way he did; not to say that kawaki growing up in poverty with an abusive father wasn't societal, but whatever the fuck with those bags from the ceiling was definitely not. itachi is the poster child of everything wrong with konoha and with the ninja system in general, and it resulted in him being put in an absolutely insane position where he had to balance his entire clan against his village against an all out war, and his twisted ideas of what safety and rightness actually meant, along with debilitating guilt, caused him to fuck sasuke's entire life. like itachi is a very complicated case and honestly i think kawaki is just sort of weird. its possible that a connection could be drawn maybe by someone who liked kawaki more but again i think itachi is similarly much too complicated to draw a satisfying comparison between him and anyone in boruto

ok + for goodness' sake sasuke so that the screenshot takes up less space

1)parallels between naruto/sasuke and naruto/kawaki. i think honestly carrying over and actually bringing attention to the love-obsession thing that was going on sort of mostly unaddressed in the original series (in terms of no one called naruto as insane as they frankly shouldve) has the potential to be very interesting, especially because bringing it into the sphere of a father-son relationship rather than a platonic/romantic one is not really something i've seen before, along with the fact that kawaki doesn't actually know naruto much at all, making this very much an idolization of an idea of the person who saved you, someone who can do no wrong and is so without flaw. it was what this dude said:

like kawaki's obsession is weird and emblematic of how he grew up. also, the way that both of them sort of end up treating the other like a thing to be protected or owned or passed around, kawaki trapping him in time prison with zero regards for the fact that no one wants to be in time prison, and naruto's famous "give sasuke back/dont talk about sasuke like you own him in front of me/i'll get sasuke back/ill break your legs if i have to", there is the dismissal of actual personal wants However.

kawaki does this because he thinks that naruto's life is worth more than anything ever, and the reason he thinks this is because he thinks naruto is the most perfect person in the world and the only one who can save the world from evil. in naruto's case, even though he has a habit of possessiveness, sasuke is very much still a person to him, someone he violently and desperately wants to be close to. he doesnt think sasuke is perfect or can do no wrong, he just doesnt really give a fuck what wrong things sasuke does because he loves him too much and wants him too bad to ever hold anything against him. anything sasuke does is understandable and forgivable. naruto wouldnt put sasuke in time prison to protect him because then they couldnt hang out, and he knows sasuke wouldnt want that anyways. while i think naruto's obsession is insane, its more possessive than dehumanizing, which is def the angle kawaki is taking. again, i think this could be interesting if it was expounded upon but i dont think anyone in boruto is enough of a character for this actually do be pulled off in any satisfying way.

2)boruto/kawaki vs naruto/sasuke. i think honestly i just dont really have it in me to even act like kawaki and boruto have a dynamic that even comes close to the bullshit naruto and sasuke have going on, but if i were to attempt to explain why i dont think this is the case than i think at least part of it (beyond the fact taht ever character in boruto is painfully undercooked) is that boruto and kawaki's bond is based almost entirely around both being marked by karma. like they become friends sort of on a more surface level same way boruto is friends with anyone else, but its definitely not the same as naruto and sasuke's inexplicable pull towards one another since they were kids. even though kawaki has like sort of stupid convoluted internal strife going on, boruto doesnt honestly have enough inner issues to even shadow the bizarre knot that is sns. boruto and naruto both didn't want to kill their wayward friends because it's hard to kill someone you care about, i don't think that reads as a strong parallel because its like . what kind of story would it be if boruto was just like Okay lets kill him... now! also if kawaki dies naruto stays trapped im p sure so if he kills kawaki he is also functionally killing his dad

3)naruto and sasuke are both terrible parents but sasuke is leagues leagues leagues worse and he sees boruto has his son more than he will ever see sarada as his daughter. to him, she is his daughter because that is the only way she should have the sharingan. he can't really stand being around her and any interaction he has with her is out of guilt. boruto is his son because boruto is naruto's son

4)why did they bring up that jiraiya might get resurrected and then just drop it or is this me forgetting since i watched boruto 6+ months ago

[sequinsmile-x]

I love both of those lists and I saw one from each that I would love to see you do.

This one can I please have number 16 from List 1 💖 and when you get a chance; number 31 from List 2 💖

I could not tell you how I took two fluffy prompts and turned it into this…well I could, but if there is a chance my therapist HAS found this page I'd best not.

The prompts are:

“Can I try some of your food?” “Of course. Open wide” and Fogs up mirror and writes a message

-x-

Enyo

Enyo (/ɪˈnaɪoʊ/; Ancient Greek: Ἐνυώ, romanized: Enȳṓ) Goddess of war, destruction, conquest, and bloodlust.

She hears the shot before she feels it, hitting the ground as the sound still rings in her ears, everything slowing down as the pain spreads from her left shoulder, the warmth of her blood seeping through her shirt and jacket.

A Lo-Fi AU.

Words: 4.7k

Warnings: Canon typical violence, injuries, blood, hospitalisation, both Emily AND Aaron Whump

Read over on AO3, or below the cut

Emily felt like she’d barely slept.

It was so late it was almost early by the time they made it back to the hotel, enough time to get a few hours sleep, to rest just enough that they could get straight back into it the next morning. Coffee and adrenaline fuelling their trip to New York, the seriousness of the case not lost on them. 

She was grateful that the others now knew about her and Aaron, that they no longer had to sleep in different rooms when they were away on cases. She knew the small amount of time that she had with him, falling asleep in the arms of the man she loved, was the thing she needed. The very thing that could energise her in a way she could never have anticipated when they first got together.

It started shortly after Penelope was shot, Aaron checking in on her once the case was resolved. He’d told her since, that he realised during that case how much she looked after everyone else around her, and he found himself wanting to do the same for her. At first, it was just coffee, then dinner. Then he kissed her, a taste of finally on his lips as he showed her to her door. 

They loved each other, had said as much, and were currently skirting around the idea of moving in together, trying to decide whose place was best. Things weren’t always easy, he had an ex-wife who was still coming round to the idea of him moving on quicker than she had anticipated. Their relationship was still partially secret at work, with only the team knowing about them. 

Emily was sure Strauss knew, something about the way the woman looked at them sometimes tipping her off, but she didn’t want to pull at that thread. Still unsure of what the consequences would be. 

When Aaron’s alarm woke them up, only a matter of hours after they had collapsed into the bed in their joint hotel room, Emily felt like she hadn’t slept at all. Groaning as he coaxed her out of his embrace, pulling her to her feet as he stood as well, a kiss to her cheek as he murmured something about starting the shower for them both, not enough time for them to shower separately before they had to head back to the field office. 

Despite her attempts, he doesn’t give in to her advances in the shower, raising an eyebrow at her as she offers to wash his back for him, her intentions clear. He brushes her off with a smile and a quick kiss on her lips, a warning she thinks he intends to be stern when he tells her they don’t have time, and a promise that they’d have time later. He climbs out before her, wrapping a towel around his waist as he goes, giving her the extra few minutes she needs. 

He’s standing in front of the bathroom mirror when she gets out of the shower herself, the hot water having left it covered in steam. She smiles as she wraps a towel around herself, watching him catch her eye in the mirror, winking at her as he draws a heart in the condensation left on it. 

She chuckles and walks over to him, wrapping her arms around him from behind, her cheek against his shoulder. 

“You, Aaron Hotchner, are a ridiculous man,” she tightens her hold on him, “and the worst part is no one would believe me if I told them.”

It had surprised her, what he was like when he was behind closed doors. When he didn’t have what often seemed like the weight of the world on his shoulders. All the parts of himself that he often hid from everyone were on full display to her. It felt like an honour, that she got to see these parts of him, that he trusted her enough to let her underneath his tough exterior. It always made her feel lighter, and she was grateful for it, a tiny bit of them in the middle of a case that made uneasiness gather in her chest, sure they were missing something important. 

“I do have a reputation as a hardass to uphold,” he says, the smile on his face letting her know he’d done it on purpose. Something small, and slightly absurd, just to make her laugh. He turns in her embrace and wraps his arms around her, he leans down and kisses her, his hands pressing into her lower back, “you doing ok?” 

She shifts her arms, linking her hands behind his neck. “I’m ok, I’ll just be grateful when this is all over with.” 

“Me too, sweetheart,” he replies, kissing her forehead, “we should get ready,” he says regretfully, “Kate already sent me an update this morning.” 

She doesn’t mean to react, knows she wouldn’t have if she’d had enough sleep or at least her first cup of coffee of the day, but she does. Her nose scrunching up before she can stop it. Aaron notices, as he always does, his eyebrow creasing slightly as his thumb traces over her skin through the towel she had on.

She’d brushed it off when JJ mentioned it, laughed at her joke about how Kate looked exactly like Haley, and replied with her own about Aaron liaising with her when she was at Scotland Yard. Then she’d seen how blatantly Kate was flirting with him, how she wasn’t even trying to hide it, and any humour Emily had found in the situation quickly disappeared. Jealousy she hated taking up residence in her chest, meaning she had to force herself to remember where she was, that they were in a federal building and she couldn’t just kiss him there. 

Although, that hadn’t stopped her late the night before, pressing a kiss to his cheek after the first time Derek had openly challenged him, a tension in her boyfriend's demeanour that had her dragging him to an empty office, checking they were alone before she leant into him. 

“What is it?” He asks, and she rolls her eyes at him, wondering how a man so intelligent, so excellent at what he did, could be so oblivious. 

“She flirts with you,” Emily says, trying, and failing, to keep her voice even. 

“No, she-”

“She does Aaron,” she says, cutting off his protest, “the others have noticed too,” she clears her throat, and carries on speaking before she can stop herself, “and she looks exactly like Haley.” 

She regrets it as soon as she’s said it, cursing herself for it. She sees a series of emotions wash over in his face in a matter of seconds, and he settles on a small smile, one of his hands moving to cup her cheek. 

“Em,” he says, making her look at him, “I love you, ok? Nothing is going to change that.” 

She smiles at him, ignoring how her cheeks flush with his words, his love warming her from the inside out. She leans up to kiss him, needing to step on her tip-toes to do so since she was barefoot. 

“I love you too,” she says as she pulls back, “so much.” 

Their moment is broken by the ringing of his phone in the bedroom, and he sighs as he pulls away, going to answer it before it went to voicemail. They get ready quickly, sharing another kiss before they leave their room, their last moment of something close to normality before they almost lose everything. 

___

Emily laughs as Cooper takes her words onboard, her ability to read him so easily clearly a surprise to him, and she turns to walk away when he stops her. 

“Wait, let me do you.”

She turns back to look at him, her eyebrow raised at him. “Excuse me?” 

“No,” he replies, his hands on his hips as he raises an eyebrow at her, “let me have a go at profiling you.” 

She chuckles, thinking he’s joking, but she realises he’s serious and nods. “Ok, give it your best shot.” 

He looks her up and down, makes a point of doing so, before his eyes meet hers again.

“You’re with the suit. Agent Hotchner,” he says, and her eyes widen in response, not expecting him to say that, and this time he laughs at her, stepping closer as he carries on, “I’d say it’s pretty serious.” 

‘What…how did you know that?” She asks, her mouth open slightly in shock. 

Cooper dares to smile at her before he steps closer again, now right next to her.

“I saw you kissing him in a meeting room yesterday,” he admits, smirking at her as she glares at him, a slight flush to her cheek as she realises they weren’t quite as alone as she had thought the day before when she pulled Aaron aside to calm him down. 

“We-”

“Your secret is safe with me,” he says, winking at her, anticipating what she was going to say next, “although, I’d try and be more subtle in future.”

He walks off, a slight spring in his step, and she shakes her head before she follows him.

___

They spot the unsub in the crowd, almost losing him in the thrall of New Yorkers on the street, almost as unmoveable as the buildings around them. 

Emily manages to break through the crowd first, taking off at a run ahead of Cooper, spotting the hooded unsub turning a corner into an alley.

She hears the shot before she feels it, hitting the ground as the sound still rings in her ears, everything slowing down as the pain spreads from her left shoulder, the warmth of her blood seeping through her shirt and jacket. She breathes out, the sound shaky, and hears two more bullets being fired in quick succession. 

Time slows down as Cooper kneels down next to her, shouting into his mic that there was an officer down, that she’d been shot. She hears the panic of the team in her ear, Penelope letting out something close to a scream, but it starts to feel distant, Aaron’s barely restrained panic in his voice evident as he demands an update from Cooper. 

She only realises she’d closed her eyes when they shoot open, pain spreading through her shoulder and chest to the rest of her body as Cooper presses down on her wound hard, his jacket in his hands.

“You’ve got to stay with me, Prentiss,” he says, in an attempt to keep their earlier playfulness in his voice, “your boyfriend will kill me if you don’t make it.” 

She chokes out a laugh as she thinks of Aaron, of the life together that they were on the precipice of. A future they had discussed in earnest. Suddenly it felt blurry, just out of reach. 

“Aaron.” She gets out, her voice just loud enough to be picked up by the rest of the team if his response over her earpiece is something to go by. 

The last thing she hears before she passes out is his voice.

___

He leaves Derek in charge of the scene, the mere thought of seeing her blood on the floor, the life force he usually felt thrumming through her veins, his fingers against her pulse, too much for him to bear. 

The team understands, or at least they don’t try and argue with him on it. Kate does at first, unsure why he’s abandoning his post just because a member of his team is hurt. He sees the moment it clicks, the moment she realises Emily isn’t just a member of his team, and she nods, telling him she’d call him with an update, a silent promise to give him as much time as he needs. 

He’s on edge until they let him see her, relief flooding through him when the doctors tell him that she made it through surgery, that she was going to be ok. 

He sits next to her hospital bed, his hand wrapped around hers as she sleeps off the anaesthetic, his thumb tracing over her wrist, her pulse reassuring. Her skin was paler than usual and she was hooked up to too many machines for his liking, blood and medicine being delivered by wires, a cannula in her nose giving her oxygen to help her breathe a little easier. 

He wants her to wake up, to see her beautiful dark eyes before he has to leave, the time he could allow himself this, to be a worried boyfriend, almost at an end now he knows she’s ok. Responsibilities he could not ignore for much longer. 

“Hotch?” He turns to see JJ standing in the doorway, a regretful look on her face. “There’s been some developments.”

He sighs, nodding at her before he turns back to Emily. He squeezes her hand and stands up, gently brushing her bangs to one side so he can kiss her forehead before resting his own against her, his eyes squeezed as tightly as her hand in his.

“I love you,” he says, hoping she can hear him despite her slumber, that she knows he’s there, “I’ll be back as soon as I can ok?” 

Aaron pulls back, and is grateful to see JJ isn’t looking at them, that she’s giving him as much privacy as she can. He walks away from the bed, his hand leaving Emily’s at the last possible moment, and he clears his throat to get JJ’s attention, the pregnant agent offering him a tight smile. 

“JJ, can you-”

“I won’t leave her side,” she finishes for him, her hand briefly squeezing his arm, a quick show of affection, which he knows is more for her best friend’s boyfriend than her boss. “Now, you go save the city, she’ll still be here when you get back.” 

Aaron nods and throws another look back towards the woman he loved before he left the room, the feeling that this wasn’t quite over yet settling over him, his skin itching with fear.

___

The first thing Emily feels when she wakes up is pain, her shoulder and chest burning with it. She groans as she opens her eyes, blinking against the bright light in the room, she looks around, trying to shift in her bed, wincing as the pain shoots through her shoulder again, her good arm pressing into it, feeling the roughness of the immobiliser against her skin. 

“Damn it.” She whispers, breathing out as the pain settles down again. She realises she’s alone, JJ standing just outside of her room on the phone, her words muffled by the closed door. 

She wishes Aaron was there, knows that he likely was earlier, that nothing could have kept him from her side when her life was on the line. Now she was ok other things came first, the case a priority he couldn’t put off. 

JJ walks back into the room, forcing her phone into her pocket, a wavering smile on her face.

“Hey, you’re awake,” she says as she sits down next to Emily’s bed, “how are you?”

“Sore,” Emily replies, purposely underplaying it, “what’s going on?” 

Initially, her question is one of interest, wanting more than an update on what they had found out whilst she was unconscious, but JJ’s reaction has fear catching in her chest, her heart rate increasing on the monitor she was attached to. 

“JJ…”

“Emily,” JJ says, reaching out and placing her hand over her good one, “the team has it in hand, there’s nothing you can do from here.”

“JJ, tell me what the hell is going on.” 

Her friend stares at her for a few seconds before she sighs. “There was an explosion,” she says carefully, her words even, “Hotch and Kate were caught up in it.” 

For a moment, everything stops. The ticking of the annoying clock on the wall, the feel of JJ’s hand against hers, even in the pain thrumming through her body. There’s nothing except fear and preemptive grief for the man she loves. 

Everything comes back all at once, and she tries to sit up, grasping at the IVs in her arms, uselessly trying to remove them as if she knew what she was doing before JJ stops her.

“Emily-”

“No,” she stutters out, groaning as she moves too sharply, pain radiating throughout her body, “I’ve got to go, got to find him.” 

“Emily, no.” JJ says, her voice as firm as she’d ever heard it, her eyes boring into Emily’s, “you got shot today, you have to stay here.” She squeezes her hand, trying to press some reassurance into her skin, “Derek has gone to the scene, he won’t let anything happen to Hotch, you know that.” 

Emily nods, settling back into the bed, blowing out an unsteady breath as she does so, panic filling her lungs as she does so, the cannula tickling at her nostrils delivering her oxygen doing nothing to help. 

“What the hell happened?” She asks, trying to steady herself, knowing if the nurses caught her like this they’d likely sedate her, and she didn’t want that. Didn’t want to miss out on any news about him. 

“The SUV they were trying to get into blew up. Kate was closer, Hotch is thrown clear from the vehicle.”

Emily frowns slightly. “You saw it?” 

“Garcia found the footage.” JJ answers, and Emily looks down at the floor, sees JJ’s bag next to her.

“You have your laptop?” She asks, and JJ nods in response, “I want to see it.” 

“Emily-”

“I want to see it.” She repeats, her voice firmer this time, no room left for argument. “Or I’ll get out of bed and get it myself.” 

She knows it’s cruel, playing dirty so her friend does what she wants, but she needs to see it. To see that he somehow walked away from it, knowing she won’t believe it until she sees it with her own eyes. 

JJ sighs as she leans down and grabs her laptop, muttering under her breath that Aaron was going to fire her if he found out she’d shown Emily, but she does it anyway, bringing up the footage on the screen before passing the computer to Emily. 

If she sees the tear that escapes Emily’s lash line as she watches him get thrown through the air, JJ doesn’t acknowledge it.

___

The next time she wakes up, she isn’t even aware that she had fallen asleep, and she curses herself as she opens her eyes, angry that she hadn’t been able to stay awake. 

She breathes a sigh of relief when she sees Aaron sitting where JJ had been earlier, his eyes fixed on the floor and his familiar hand wrapped around hers. She can see the blood on his shirt, the cuts on the parts of his face that she can see, and it makes her ache for an entirely different reason than the ever present pain in her upper body.

“Aaron.” She says quietly, and she frowns when he doesn’t react, seemingly not hearing her. She squeezes his hand and he jumps, his eyes flitting to hers, relief loosening some of the tension in his shoulders.

“Emily,” he breathes out, wincing as he leans forward in his chair, pressing his lips against hers, “how are you feeling?”

“Sore,” she replies, her eyes searching his, “you?”

He flashes her a tight smile. “The same.” His poor excuse for a smile fades, and he brings their joint hands to his lips, pressing a kiss against her knuckles. “I love you. So much.” 

“I love you too,” she replies, and she does her best to squeeze his hand in hers, “JJ showed me the footage,” she doesn’t miss how his eyes harden, anger filling them quickly, “don’t be mad at her, I threatened to get out of bed if she didn’t.”

“Em-”

“Please tell me you got checked out by a doctor before you came in here,” she says, knowing him better than she knew herself, “I don’t want to have to get Derek to drag you to one.” 

He barks out a noise somewhere between a chuckle and a sob. “Yeah, I did. Several bruised ribs, a couple fractured ones. Acoustic trauma to my ears.” 

She holds his hand a little tighter, smiling shakily at him when his eyes meet hers again. He looks sad, broken in a way she knows she will tell him all about eventually, once he’d gone through it in his own mind. 

“We totally should have had sex this morning.” She says, and it makes him laugh, then wince as the movement pulls at his injuries, “what? It’s true,” she quips, a corner of her lip turning upwards as she successfully distracts him. “Look at the state of us, we won’t be able to have sex for weeks, Aaron.” 

He shakes his head at her and kisses her knuckles again. “I’m just glad we both made it, I was…” he drifts off, clearing his throat, “I was so worried I’d lost you.” 

Her smile trembles as she nods. “I was worried I’d lost you too,” she squeezes his hand. “Kate?” she asks, the way he closes his eyes the only answer she needed. “I’m so sorry, Aaron.” 

“I tried so hard to save her.” He says, smiling sadly, and she knows that’s true, knows that she didn’t have to be there to understand it’s the truth.

He wasn’t the kind of man who wouldn’t have tried everything. Too stubborn to let anything go without giving it his all. 

“I know.” 

He stays with her until she falls asleep, and she feels like things are going to be ok for the first time since they landed in New York.

___

Cooper comes to visit her just before she’s released from the hospital. She raises her eyebrow at him when he walks in with a gift bag, pulling a bottle of scotch out of it as he places it in front of her, smiling at her reaction. 

“Not a gift you typically buy someone in hospital.” She says, smiling at him.

“Well, you don’t exactly buy another man’s girl flowers,” he replies, his hands in his pockets, “especially when that man scares the shit out of you.” 

Emily laughs, wincing when it jostles her shoulder, and she sees the look on the man’s face, something too close to guilt for her liking. 

“Thank you, for saving my life.” She says, “the doctors said you did a good job until the EMTs got there.” 

He laughs derisively, “Well, it was the least I could do since you got shot, I should have got there first.” 

She rolls her eyes at him, “Come on, it was just bad luck,” she replies, “it could have just as easily been you.” 

There’s a slight knock on the door before they can carry on, and they both look up to see Aaron standing there. She doesn’t miss how Cooper stands a little taller, his back straight. 

“Agent Hotchner,” he says, and she rolls her eyes at how professional he sounds, wondering to herself what he would make of the Aaron who had drawn a heart on a bathroom mirror only days ago when it was just the two of them, “I just thought I’d come say hi before the patient gets sent home.” 

“Thank you, Agent Cooper,” Aaron says, shaking his hand, clearly squeezing his hand a little too tightly even from where Emily was standing, “for everything.” 

Cooper bids them both goodbye, throwing a comment at Emily about stopping by the next time they were in town, and she watches as Aaron watches him leave, his gaze never leaving the other man. 

Once they are alone he looks back at her, and she rolls her eyes.

“What?”

“Men.”

___

She’s almost relieved when she’s told she isn’t allowed to fly, knowing it was the only thing that would convince Aaron he shouldn’t either, his own discomfort not enough for him to follow his own medical advice. 

Emily rolls her eyes when Dave arrives in her hospital room, car keys in hand, commenting that he was the one who had drawn the short straw to drive them home. She and Aaron walk slowly to the car, neither complaining when Dave carries their bags, both painfully aware that they were incapable of doing so themselves. 

Aaron sits next to her in the back of the car, choosing the middle seat so she can lean her injured shoulder against him, trying to make sure there would be minimal movement in it throughout the journey ahead of them. She breathes a sigh of relief as both of their seat belts click into place, her head leaning against Aaron, feeling peace wash over her as he rests his cheek against the top of her head. 

“You two ready to go back there?” Dave asks, and her eyes meet his in the rearview mirror, a playfulness that annoys her without him saying anything shining in his eyes.

“Good to go, Dave,” Aaron answers, a hand on her tight, gently squeezing at the muscle, a silent request for her not to bite at Dave’s silent attempts to wind her up.  

“Excellent,” Dave replies, pulling the car away from the hospital entrance, “if you kids behave back there I’ll buy you a happy meal each when we stop.” 

“Shut the fuck up, Dave.” She exclaims, Aaron’s smile barely concealed in her hair.

___

When they make it back to his apartment it feels like it has been years since they had last been there. They chose his place over hers, a silent agreement that neither of them would be up to taking the stairs several times a day.

The moment they are alone, Chinese food Dave had insisted on buying them on the kitchen counter, Aaron wraps her in a gentle hug, something she returns fiercely, her one free arm wrapping around him tightly. 

Something about being back in a familiar setting, the feeling of home that she knew had more to do with the man wrapped around her than it did the apartment they were standing in, makes her let go. The emotion she’d been holding back for days escaping, a sob aching in her chest as it breaks free.

“You’re ok, love,” he says, his ragged voice giving away that he was crying too, “we’re both ok.” 

She nods against him and pulls back, pressing a gentle kiss against his lips. “I know, I love you.” 

“I love you too,” he replies, kissing her before pulling back, his arm around her waist as he leads her to the dining table, encouraging her to sit down, “you should eat so you can take some more meds.”

She hums as he brings the containers of food over. “As long as you do too.” 

“Deal,” he says automatically, placing her favourite dish in front of her, and opening the cardboard container for her so she didn’t have to attempt it with one hand. He tucks into his own food, eating with such ferocity she wonders how much he’d eaten in the last few days whilst she was still in hospital for observation. 

“Can I try some of your food?” She asks, knowing he would never deny her anything. 

 “Of course, open wide.” He says, offering her a fork full, laughing at her as she scrunches her nose up at him, “come on, sweetheart, it’s not like you can do it yourself,” he says, a smile on his face as he tilts towards her good arm, her hand already in use as she digs into her own food. 

She rolls her eyes and leans forward, eating the food without further comment, the smug smile on his face making her shake her head. They fall into silence for a while, content just to eat.

“Aaron?” She asks, and he doesn’t react, and she sighs sadly, knowing he hasn’t heard her. She puts her container down and reaches out for him, her hand on his thigh. He looks at her and smiles sheepishly.

“Sorry.”

“No need to apologise, honey,” she replies, “I was just going to ask, do you think you can help me wash my hair when we’re done,” she grimaces, “I still smell like hospital.” 

He nods at her, “I think between us we can manage that.” 

She smiles in agreement, and knows that together they can do anything. 

-x-

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[reservethesun]

Hi! I saw you're still accepting prompts so... can you do this one for gramblack?

"You owe me." "I owe you $20 not a day of pretending to be your boy/girl-friend to get your parents off you're back." 

I'm a sucker for fake dating and i just want to see an au where they are a bit more happie than cannon cause I'm guessing we will suffer with this ship during the series

Thank you!!!!

Thank you so much for this prompt!! It was a lot of fun to write and kinda explore what could be if their situations were different. I hope that you enjoy this!! [Prompt List]

Pairing: GramBlack Prompt: "You owe me." "I owe you $20 not a day of pretending to be your boyfriend to get your parents off your back." Word Count: 2113 Notes: This one got a lot longer than I anticipated but here we are. This is 100% an AU verse of some kind so keep that in mind before you read.

Black stared at Gram, trying to figure out if he had really heard what he thought he had. Gram kept looking at him expectantly, so Black could only assume that he had. "No," he replied and he focused on his homework again.

"You owe me!" Gram insisted.

Black sighed and turned in the chair to face Gram better. "I owe you twenty dollars, not pretending to be your boyfriend to get your parents off of your back."

"Black, please. They haven't stopped pushing since Nuch and I broke up. They wanted to set me up with someone and I panicked!"

Black rolled his eyes and faced forward again so that he could continue his work as he said, "You mean since she got smart and dumped you."

"I'm ignoring that. Just… please?"

Gram moved to kneel next to the chair that Black occupied, resting his chin on the arm of it with a cute expression that probably would have worked on anyone else - or if Black was drunk. "Why don't you ask White? He'll help you."

He almost seemed like he would consider it for a few seconds as he sat up straight but then he shook his head. "Sean would murder me for asking and I'd like to avoid that at least until after graduation. Yok is still out of town visiting his boy and my parents wouldn't believe it if I brought Gumpha to this thing."

Black sighed heavily, making Gram smile brightly. He knew from that sound alone that Black was going to help him out. "You're the best!" he insisted as he stood up and ruffled Black's hair which made him jump up from his chair and start to chase Gram around. Both of them were laughing the entire time.

Several days later, Black found himself standing outside Gram’s family home regretting his life choices. It was one thing to try to fool Gram’s parents but apparently it was his whole family that was going to be there (which Gram neglected to tell him until that morning). Somehow that made Black almost feel nervous, which was ridiculous. It wasn’t like he was actually dating Gram so what did he have to be nervous about? Black had almost convinced himself to just leave and let Gram deal with it alone, but the front door opened and he was tugged inside by Gram before he could do so. “You’re late,” Gram said as he directed Black to where there were some slippers waiting to be used there in the main hall. There were far too many pairs of shoes there for Black to be comfortable. He didn’t realize that Gram’s family was so big.

“I’m not,” Black finally found himself after to say after his own shoes had been removed and he’d put on what Gram gave him. “You told me this time and I’m here at this time. Not my fault if others showed up early.”

Gram huffed out a breath, but he realized that Black had a point. It wasn’t Black’s fault that his siblings and aunts and uncles and cousins had shown up earlier than previously anticipated. “Mae wanted to meet you before everyone else got here but it’s fine. She’s in the kitchen now.”

“Wait,” said Black as he grabbed Gram’s arm, stopping him from leading Black into the kitchen. “What have you told them? Like… about us?” Black frowned as he said it, finding that it was strange to say since he and Gram were really just friends. Maybe he should have pushed harder for Gram to ask White to do this - but Black kind of didn’t like that idea.

“Oh. Just that we’ve been friends since first year and this is still kind of new.” Gram shrugged one of his shoulders. He hadn’t seen much point in creating some elaborate story, after all. It was easier to keep up with if they kept as close to the truth as possible. “Don’t think about it too much. Just… act like we’re hanging out with the guys.”

“If we were just hanging out with the guys I’d be kicking your ass for making me dress up for nothing,” grumbled Black, though he followed Gram into the other room.

He hadn’t let go of Gram’s arm, which made Gram smile softly to himself. “Mae, we’re here,” Gram announced as they entered the kitchen, making the occupants of the room look toward the two of them.

Black could easily tell which one of them was Gram’s mother - they looked quite a bit alike. He wasn’t sure who the others in the room were, but they all seemed to be helping her with the final preparations for dinner. Black finally let go of Gram’s arm as he went over to his mother and hugged her and he put his hands into his pockets, trying to ignore the way that a couple of the room’s occupants were whispering while looking at him. They didn’t look much older or younger than him and Gram - so Black was assuming siblings or cousins. Gram then introduced them as his cousins Mint, Dawn, and Kay. “And this lovely woman is my mother,” he said with a smile that earned him a gentle face squeeze from his mother and a comment about him being cute. “This is my boyfriend, Black.”

“What happened to the last one you brought home?” asked Dawn.

“She and I broke up a long time ago, remember? Nuch deserved better anyway.” Gram truly believed it, too. He would always love her and she was an important part of his life - but she deserved a boyfriend that was in love with her.

“Welcome, Black,” Gram’s mother said, raising her voice to speak over whatever it was one of the other cousins had to say (it sounded like some sort of playful insult that resulted in Gram pulling Mint into a headlock). “Ignore the children. Make yourself at home, please. Everyone’s out back. Gram let Mint go - you stay and help me, she can show Black out back.”

“But Mae-” Gram started to argue but then stopped when she gave him a look that silenced him immediately. Black didn’t even try to hide the amused smirk that formed on his face - it made Gram narrow his eyes at him some but Gram did let Mint go.

The backyard was incredibly crowded. It wasn’t a huge space but they made it work with lots of tables and chairs. There were some kids playing with a football in the back corner of the yard. Most of the yard was taken up by the patio that everyone was gathered on. It was noisy but not annoyingly so - Black felt incredibly awkward and he didn’t really know what to do or say to anyone. His own family never did such a thing for any reason. Not even birthdays were a big deal in their home. He and White always exchanged gifts and set time aside to eat together; but that was about it. But he gave a small smile to Mint, who said that she would introduce him to everyone so that he wouldn’t be a stranger anymore.

Hours later, after the lights strung up in the yard had come on and the sun had gone down, Black found himself standing leaning against the back fence and Gram came over to him, handing him a cup with something to drink in it. Black thought it was some kind of tea but he wasn’t sure. “Hey, thanks for being here,” Gram said underneath the noise of the conversations around them. “I know we’re kind of a lot-”

“It’s fine,” Black interrupted with a shrug of his shoulders. “This was kind of… fun, actually.” It had been incredibly awkward and uncomfortable at first; but Gram's family were all very welcoming and friendly. “Your family’s nice.”

“Mn.” Gram nodded his head and smiled before he took a drink out of his own cup. “Are you ready to go? Things are going to be wrapping up soon and if we leave now we won’t get roped into helping my cousins with the dishes.”

“Okay.” Black nodded his head and the two of them made their way back toward the house, placing their cups on one of the tables as they passed. Gram paused to say goodbye to his mother and promise her that he’d be by soon to visit. He then took a hold of Black’s hand and led him toward the front door, only letting go so that they could easier switch back to the shoes that they had worn there in the first place.

They didn’t really say much as Gram drove Black back to his dorm since Black had taken a taxi there in the first place. The tension was a bit weird but neither one seemed to be willing to really break it with conversation. The day had been filled with so many questions of when they got together and how, and comments about how cute they looked together (which had made Gram go all red in the face as he stammered over some sort of subject changer the first time it had been said). It didn’t hit Black until they were almost at the building he lived in that he hadn’t really minded any of it, and that there was a part of him that felt bad for lying to everyone - especially with how welcoming and accepting they had all been. Somehow he doubted his family outside of White would be like that with anyone that he ever brought home. It made him frown when he thought about it, honestly.

When they got to the building, Black’s goodbye was almost distracted but he promised that he would talk to Gram later about meeting up to study. He wasn’t entirely sure what Gram’s response was, but he was too busy overthinking… well, everything and trying to figure out why he couldn’t shake the feeling of being disappointed. There was nothing to feel that way about. It had been a good day (lying aside) and he’d had fun spending time with someone who was arguably his best friend.

His best friend that he didn’t actually hate the idea of dating - unlike the idea of dating someone like Yok made him cringe. Black sat down on his bed and sighed heavily because… well, just because. He didn’t like that he was overthinking what was ultimately nothing. Gram had only asked him to be there because nobody else could be, after all. It wasn’t like Gram had actually wanted him to be there. Had he?

Black could not stop himself from thinking back to how when he wasn’t off talking to someone else, Gram had stood close to him the entire time and somehow Gram’s hand had always ended up at the small of his back. It hadn’t felt uncomfortable or awkward (and it hadn’t made him almost break Gram’s arm like he’d done with the last boyfriend that had tried that with him). Did… did he actually like Gram?

It came as a surprise to him, honestly, and he almost felt as though someone had physically kicked him in the chest. That couldn’t be right, he couldn’t like Gram. Gram was… Gram. They were friends. They spent all their time together. They fought and disagreed on a lot; but they also had quite a bit in common. Gram was one of the only ones that could calm him down when he was upset or worked up over something. Black swore under his breath and ran his hands through his hair several times before he stood back up and went to the door so that he could leave. He opened it and then stopped because Gram was standing there, looking as though he was trying to decide whether he should knock on the door or if he should leave.

“Uh…” was the only thing Gram seemed to be able to vocalize as he tried to come up with some excuse as to why he was there.

“Look, if you didn’t come back here to kiss me like one of those ridiculous dramas White watches-” Black’s sentence was cut off by Gram stepping forward and doing just that after he processed just what Black was saying to him. It was awkward at first - neither one had the angle quite right - but they wordlessly readjusted until it was a much better kiss. They had things they probably needed to discuss but that could wait until later, Black decided as he grabbed the front of Gram’s shirt and used it to pull him further into the room so that he could shut the door.

[boxofbadaddiction]

Just Like You Like It

Song Inspired

George Weasley x Reader

Warnings: Light Smut. A curse word.

George could tell y/n was stressed, he didn't have to be told. He could see it; he were the first to notice. The way she shut down. How much shorter she'd become with everyone. How the smallest of inconveniences could set her off.

Her hair was constantly a mess from the amount of times her fingers tugged, pulled and ran through it. She gave up wearing make-up to avoid the way it smudged as her hands frequently dug, clawed and rubbed at her face in frustration.

He wondered if she even noticed how cold their relationship had become. The spark between them which raged within their chests as an all comsuming flame; diminished to less than an ember. Still alight but too weak to any longer feel it's warmth.

Though they shared the same bed every night he'd never felt further apart. He missed her. Her new routine left him hanging at a distance.

She'd wake up, shower, get changed and leave. No words spoken. No smile on her face. No kiss good morning or kiss goodbye. The nights were no easier. She'd arrive home late, disappear to the study, then later crawl into bed beside him well past midnight. No conversation. No kiss goodnight.

He could barely remember the last time they'd touched let alone had a meal together. George had been patient hoping this were simply a rough patch, that things would fall back into place eventually. This morning however, was his breaking point.

As he woke to an empty bed, the sound of running water coming from the bathroom just like many mornings before, he reddied himself for work. As he pulled on a fresh suit for the day something caught his ears. A sound which, though muffled, were undeniably caused from distress. He stepped closer to the bathroom, leaning towards the door and listening intently. Sobs and strained breaths cursed the air. George felt his heart be ripped from his chest in that moment. He made to open the door but stopped himself, he weren't even sure how to comfort her anymore. Things were evidently far worse than he feared what if, by barging in on her in this time, he made matters worse unintentionally?

He restrained himself, giving her the space she most likely needed right now, though determined to fix things. It was time. No more waiting for things to sort themselves out.

He sat patiently on the edge of their bed for her to come out, preparing to have the difficult conversation.

Later she emerged, fully clothed for work with eyes still puffy. He stood, words forming on the tip of his tongue, but she wouldn't even look at him. Like he weren't there. Simply grabbing her keys and wallet from off the chest of draws, muttering a lame 'I'll be home late' and leaving as swiftly as she'd entered.

He was too slow. Too hesitant. His brows furrowed, staring after her with parted lips. Dread began to fill his heart, thickly being pumped throughout his bloodstream. How could he fix this?

That evening y/n slowly made her way home, like many before it were well past the time she ought to be arriving home. Her body felt too heavy for her legs to carry. Back aching as did her feet, with shoulders unbelievably tense from several large knots taken root in her muscles. Rubbing at them frustratedly as she walked her eyes shut tight in pain whilst brimming with tears. This was one of the worst times of her life, everything that could go wrong did and it seemed unlikely ever to resolve. With no sign of her ridiculous work load easing. The state of her currently crumpling relationship. Now even her body were turning against her.

She was hungry, not having ate properly in days. Tired, her sleep restless and tormenting. Her head ached continuously and she found herself on the brink of tears or an emotional outburst given any moment.

As her key turned in it's lock she pushed the door open preparing for yet another night spent in the study. Closing her eyes she inhaled sharply, the very thought causing a sickness to settle in her stomach. There was something different about tonight though.

As her lungs filled, she felt herself relax considerably. A content sigh slipping from her lips as she exhaled slowly. Opening her eyes, they travelled over the flat to find her favourite candles were scattered and alight, the flicker of their flames the only source of light within the space. As she stepped across the doors thresholds y/ns breath was stolen from her. Finding not only her favourite candles but countless bunches of her favourite flowers lining the tables and windowsill. Additional flower petals littered the floor, leading like a pathway to the fire escape.

As her head peaked from the window her ears were met with the soft melodic sounds of distance music. Climbing from the windowsill she ascended the staircase. Reaching the top and quietly stepping over the roofs lining y/n was blown away once again. More flowers decorated the space beautifully while a few small candles lit a table at the roofs centre. The music was clearer now, quiet but loud enough for her to recognise. Her favourite slow songs.

A bottle of wine and two glasses sat atop the small table in front of her, her fingers delicately traced the bottles label.

A warmth began to spread through her body from a presence behind her. Two strong hands gently moved over her waist, encapsulating her entirely in an embrace. Y/n gave herself to the hold, leaning back into his chest and relishing in the heat that fanned her skin from his hot breath and the soft trace of his nose against her neck until finally his lips came to connect with her nape. Her arms fell atop of his, where his fingers slowly moved against the fabric of her shirt. She sighed contently, the sound only just audible with the low hum of the music which played.

Her brows furrowed at the feeling of his lips and one arm leaving her body. The light pop of the wine bottles cork and the trickle of liquid filling two glasses, generously, which followed was enough to bring the smile back to her lips and finally she opened her eyes again to accept the beverage before her.

Though one hand still remained attached to her hip George moved to stand in front of her with a sly grin as he clinked their glasses together ceremoniously.

"You've been busy today" she smiled, sipping her wine. "You've been busy everyday." His face was stern at the thought, heart no less heavy as he watched her head fall at his words. The hand on her waist came to cup her chin, bringing her attention back to him. His thumb gently stroked her jaw as he spoke, "Did you think I hadn't noticed?". Tears fell from her eyes. His expression bore so sorrowfully into her soul she felt laid bare. "I'm sorry" "It's not your fault, sweetheart." A soft smile replaced the concern filled expression he wore moments ago, "I just wish you'd give yourself a break. Talk to me if something's the matter."

Her cheek pressed against his palm as he wiped away the stray tears, but more fell as she closed her eyes.

"Come here", George grabbed her glass, setting both drinks down on the table, and lead her away a few paces. He pulled her into his chest, one hand on her waist while the other held hers in a firm grasp. She looked at him confusedly, only causing him to smile cheekily back. That's when he began to lead her in a slow dance. Y/n chuckled at this, unable to help the eye roll and wide smile to stretch upon her face at how cheesey this all now seemed.

Gazing back into his eyes fondly they continued to sway in time with the gentle melody which filled the air. Y/ns cheek rested against Georges chest as his chin laid atop her head. Fresh tears lined her eyes now. Different from the ones before. Tears of love. Pure, unfiltered and all consuming.

They held close together like two shadows in the dark, illuminated solely by candle light. The spark in their chests burning like a flame, lighting the night for them in an entirely other way. Rekindling the love in their hearts that hadn't been felt in so long.

"I can't believe you did all this for me" y/n voiced honestly, unable to see how she was deserving of such a guesture.

"This is for me right? I didn't just spoil some intimate night with your mistress did I?" She joked looking up to him. "Funny." George rolled his eyes at this.

"Love, everything I do is for you." "You're really laying on all the charm tonight aren't you? Wine, candles, dancing..." Y/n quipped, loving every second. "Pouring it on strong and smooth. Just like you like it." He leant down, capturing her lips in a deep kiss.

Arms wrapped around his neck as others rested around her sides. The kiss was broken in pieces as y/n tried to speak but George was reluctant to let her, only a word coming through at a time, he understood her nonetheless, "Where's Fred tonight?" She'd asked. This question successfully putting an end to his neediness for their lips on one anothers. Leaning back with a raised brow, an expression which read 'really?'.

"You know, as inseparable as we are love, I was sort of hoping we could do this without him actually." He chuckled. Y/n rolled her eyes. "He's out. Out of the apartment and out of our way." His lips found hers again while she smiled.

George rested his forehead against hers, "We've got all night long, so tell me what you want." Y/n stood, breathing him in while she thought. A decision made as a smile spread over her features. She licked her lips in anticipation, unable to hide the eagerness in her eyes. Feeling playful, she spoke in a teasingly slow and sultry tone, "What I'd love, more than anything is a nice, long, and hot bath." Georges brow raised along with his signature mischeivous grin. She placed a tender kiss to his lips, which he reciprocated and deepened hungrily.

George nudged her towards the fire escape, signalling for her to head inside and placing a quick playful slap to her ass as she left and he grabbed the wine from the table. With a flick of his wand the candles all extinguished and the music faded to an end.

Steam encompassed the white tiled bathroom as hot water filled the bath tub. Y/n stood at its edge, in only her white singlet and underwear - other clothes already discarded, tying her hair into a messy bun before checking the water weren't too hot. She'd taken a couple candles from the living room and scattered loose flower petals across the waters surface.

George entered quietly, leaning against the door frame, balancing the wine glasses in one hand as the bottle hung low in his other.

His eyes traced her neck, light condensation glistening over her skin. His head tilted, examining the rest of her body with a sigh. She turned, feeling his eyes on her to which she playfully raised an eyebrow. He smiled, running his bottom lip through his teeth before placing the wine by the side of the tub. He held himself straight, towering before her while his eyes fixed directly to her features.

Slowly brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear then letting his fingers trace down her neck and travelling down slowly between her breasts coming to the end seam of her t-shirt. Both hands gripped the thin material to pull it over her head.

Y/n now reached to undo his tie and unbutton his shirt. Leaving his torso as bare as hers. Fingers toyed with with his belt as the two stared into each others eyes ridding the final items of clothing. Y/n stepped into the water pulling George with her.

A content moan unashamedly voiced as they sank beaneath the water, heat immediately help to soothe her aching body. George sat behind her, running hands delicately across her body. Cupping hand fulls of water to run over her shoulders. The sensation causing her head to fall back into his chest. He took advantage of her position, lightly kissing the crook of her neck as his hands massaged her back then shoulders. Tension melting away with every dedicated and tender movement of his thumbs against her muscles. When the last knot had eased from her shoulders he pulled her into his body completely, laying back so she were beside him cuddling as they had so many times on the sofa.

Though the water surrounding them began to cool, things between them only got hotter. Starting with innocent and loving kisses to her temple and light touches tracing one anothers body, soon both knew they needed more.

Y/n made to straddle him. The kiss starting tenderly, filled with love, but in no time George was sitting upright leaning into her body as they kissed passionately. Hungrily. Y/n grinding slightly against his lap, chest pushed flush against his eliciting a deep growl from her lover.

He wrapped a firm grip around her body, lifting them both from the water and stepping out of the bath. Y/ns hands placed to his cheeks, kissing him feverishly while he made the blind journey to their bed. Y/n chuckled as he dropped them onto the mattress eagerly, soaking the sheets in the process. Their bodies entangled in perfect rhythm. With George paying particular attention to her wants and needs, ones he hadn't met in so long. She was a mess beneath him with every loving and gentle caress of her skin. Every soft whisper in her ear. The way his lips connected with her neck. Exploring her as if it were the last time he'd get to do so. Touching her so delicately as if she were glass figurine. Breathtakingly beautiful, but fragile and likely to break. His pace slow but firm, eyes scrunched tight together while his breaths fell heavy through parted lips. Relishing in the heat that fans his skin as she breathes his name. Pure ecstacy igniting the flame in their hearts further, burning under one anothers touch. Her nails rake his shoulders as they peak together. Arms shaking as he struggles to hold his body from hers. Breathless and heavy above her, his lips capture hers again in a slow and tired kiss.

They lay beside each other in the after glow, comfortable silence encapsulating them. Until George is pulling her from the bed at the talk of dinner, lazily throwing on a singlet and boxers as she pulls on his jumper and a pair of knickers.

He sits her at the dinner table while he reddied the meal he'd prepared earlier not expecting the nights events to unfold as they had but loving it either way.

Y/n sipped a fresh glass of wine contently, unable to wipe the love struck smile from her face. Staring into the deep burgundy which swirled within her glass, deep in thought over the man currently pattering about the kitchen. Reminiscing on the past events, ones from this evening to as far back as when they'd begun dating. Every thought completely occupied by him and him alone.

She was brought to the present by a plate being sat in front of her. Another of her favourites. George placed a gentle kiss to her cheek and whispered into her ear, lips pressing against her soft hair, before taking seat beside her. She bit her lip in attempt to contain the wide grin forming across her features at the words,

"Just like you like it."

[fandom-collective-writers]

Love letters (Victor x MC)

Fandom: MLQC

Pairing: Victor x MC

Genre: Fluff

Word count: 1262

Author: @rikumorimachisgirl

A/N: Thank you, @voltage-vixen for the vote of confidence and for reading through this first.

Disclaimer: I do not own MLQC or its characters, but I own the idea for this fic.

Victor Li 

CEO

Loveland Financial Group

February 14th

Dear Mr. 27-year-old CEO, 

Please consider this as my intent to resign as a business partner. I no longer wish to produce shows under your portfolio nor do I require your financial assistance to fund my company effective immediately. Now, before you start rolling your eyes and call me an dummy (which I resent, by the way), I'd like to tell you that I've thought this over, and I'm positive that this is for the best. 

You are the worst person I've ever partnered with - you ask me to work under tight deadlines, only to order me to rest and take it easy after working me into a frenzy in the first place. You also don’t even spend five minutes reviewing the reports I spent days writing only to nitpick the most minute of flaws. On top of everything, you are always waking up at odd hours of the night to hear my voice, then turn around and insist I fall back to sleep….how do you honestly expect me to fall back to sleep after being woken up by you?  

You have no respect for privacy - you grab my notes without permission, read through my diary, and even check my emails when you think I don't notice. Thanks to that, you now know my favorite restaurants, my dream destinations, and my honest opinion of your work ethic. So much for secrecy!

You have no concept of work-life balance - you send me emails and ask for reports even while you're supposed to be off work, you join my conference calls while you're with your family, and you sometimes drag me to have dinner with them just so we could continue talking about work. 

In the last twelve months, I have worked more hours than five regular employees in your company have. I have foregone days off in favor of accompanying you on your trips and scouting for possible locations to shoot for new episodes to meet your ridiculous deadlines. I have also blurred the lines between work and personal time so I can anticipate your calls, which could happen anytime between the time I step out of your line of sight to the time I make my morning coffee. I am exhausted from a lack of rest and sleep as you invade my every thought. 

Yes, my every thought. Day and night!

I'm not even sure when it started, but somewhere between you walking me home in the rain, teaching me how to dance, and cooking for me at Souvenir, my heart started to feel funny. At first, I thought it was just a case of nerves because I always get nervous when you boss me around; however, the feeling I've been getting lately is far different from that. It happened a lot more frequently after - when you held me in your arms in the dark hotel room to keep me safe while the rain raged outside, and that time you picked me up at the airport because there was a snowstorm and you knew I had nowhere to sleep, and the skillful way you dove after me when I slipped and fell in the pool because of my drunkenness. You've made my heart pound faster and harder than it should more times than I can count, but I think the worst incident of all was when you invited me to your aunt's wedding rehearsal, not as a guest, but as a bride. Your bride. I bet you had no idea how breathtaking you looked in your three-piece suit, or how hard my heart pounded when you reached out to me that my whole body shook. I'm positive you had no idea how you've kept me up all night after the rehearsal, replaying everything that happened in my head - from the way you held me like I was a delicate piece of China, to the way you looked at me like I was the most beautiful girl you've ever laid eyes on. I also realized after that incident that I simply can't start or end my day without seeing you - or even hearing from you at the very least. I have come to look forward to waking up to your calls or text messages and find that I can't sleep without hearing your voice, too. I realize that I have fallen in love with you, and that, for me, is a big problem. 

I can't continue to work with you in the light of these new circumstances. I maintain a strong work ethic and believe that it is impossible and improper to mix business and pleasure. Having said that, I'd like you to please accept my resignation as your business partner effective immediately. And once you've approved of my resignation, please accept my invitation to go out on a date this Valentine's day. 

Yours truly, 

(Y/N)

--------

(Y/N)

Miracle Finder Producer

February 14th

Dear Dummy, 

I'm writing this in response to the letter that Goldman handed to me right before I stepped into the boardroom for the Quarterly Business Review. I had intended to read it after the meeting, however, my assistant wore a cheeky smirk on his face that meant your letter was probably worth spending a minute or two to read. And while I was hoping to be entertained by whatever was written on your note, I certainly wasn't expecting you'd be so bold as to confess your feelings on paper. Your courage, I feel, should be rewarded, which is why you're receiving this note. 

I have to admit that you have given me a ton of headache since we first met. I knew, right when I laid eyes on you again after, that you would be nothing but trouble. I was hoping to be wrong about my intuition for once, but the more we spend time together, the more I knew I was right. 

You have all the right attributes for someone in the wrong field of expertise - you are too kind-hearted, too considerate, too trusting, and too easy-going for your good. It's hard for me to understand how you could be so forgiving, and how you always choose to see the good in other people even when they have the meanest intentions towards you. You always barely meet the deadline, and your reports are always poorly written despite my constant corrections and advice, it's a wonder your own company hasn't fired you yet. Your decision-making skills are highly questionable, I would've been bankrupt if I relied on you to call the shots. 

Yet, despite all these, I couldn't take my eyes away from you even for a minute. I know when you're nearby and I scan the room the minute I step in to find you. Your smile is so silly, I find myself smiling at you when you're not looking. Your messages are often nonsensical, yet I don't mind receiving and reading them over and over. I close my eyes and picture the rest of my life, and I see you in it - with me. 

That said, I can't accept your resignation as my business partner. I feel you've still got a lot to learn about me and LFG, since I intend to keep this within the family. And if you get my meaning, I'd like to also say that I accept your invitation to go out tonight and would like to ask you to bring a change of clothes with you. After all, it seems we've got a lot of time to get to know each other better tonight. 

Yours always,

Victor

[getitinbusan]

Camping with Jungkook

This is my contribution to the Campfire writing challenge.

Soft Smut - 2125 words

He was straddling the picnic bench, his thick thighs spread open teasing your eyes. 

Standing with a few of the girlfriends you couldn't help but stare in awe. He was drinking and even though the firelight danced pretty shadows across his features you could tell he was flush from the alcohol. 

"You know you're getting together with him tonight right?" they all laughed. "Jin said it's happening even if we have to lock you two in the outhouse." 

"You guys are disgusting. I'd really prefer if that didn't happen….the outhouse, not the getting together part."

It was a well known fact that there was a mutual crush happening. It was also common knowledge that you were both idiots too afraid to act on it. 

Your best friend was dating Yoongi, she was the catalyst behind this epic disaster of a set up. Wanting you around more, wouldn't it be perfect if you hooked up with Jungkook? 

Admittedly, it would.

Sitting at the table noticing the direction of your gaze she called out, "Y/N, come drink with us." 

Subtlety was not her strong suit and you could feel the heat rushing to your cheeks as you made your way over. 

Patting the weathered wood slats of the bench Jungkook offered you the seat beside him. 

Two red solo cups were slid in your general direction, he picked them both up and handed one to you. Watching as he sniffed the liquid, his nose scrunched up in displeasure. Fuck he was cute. 

"Ready?" he held the cup to his lips.

"As I'll ever be." 

He winced at the taste as you both simultaneously set the empty cups down. 

This was it, it had to be now! It was time for the opening you'd been practicing all week. 

"Do you like S'mores Jungkook?" 

His eyes lit up as he reached for the bag of marshmallows. "I like mine with double chocolate, want me to make you one?" 

The childlike wonder he exuded would be almost comical if it wasn't for the contradictory body it came from.

"Actually, I thought maybe we could try a more adult version?"

He was puzzled. 

"Hang on, I'll be right back."

Running into the cabin, items were tossed quickly out of your bag until you found what you were after. 

Triumphantly returning you held the bottle out to him like it was a fine wine. 

His eyebrows raised, "Marshmallow Vodka?" 

"And behind door number two," your other hand revealed, "Chocolate syrup!"

"I don't get it?" 

Yoongi's hardy laugh bounced around the campsite,  "No but you're definitely going to." 

Three heads turned in unison to glare at him. Outnumbered in his desire to tease Jungkook, he sighed, defeated. "Well then, why don't you just show us how to make S'mores with Vodka Y/N" 

Turning your attention directly to Jungkook you instructed him. "You're going to tilt your head back and I'm going to squeeze in the chocolate syrup." 

"Should I swallow it?" 

"That's what she said," Yoongi interjected. You heard your friend's playful punch land against his shoulder. "Ow, what? Come on, he's making it too easy." 

"As I was saying, Chocolate Syrup, and no, don't swallow…" you smiled, "that'll come later." 

Yoongi's jaw fell slack, "Yah sure, it's fine when she says it." 

Turning your attention back to teaching, Jungkook's ears were red at the innuendos you'd been exchanging. He was flustered and it was charming. Reaching out you gave his earlobe a little squeeze, "Shall we continue?" 

He nodded, "Head back, chocolate syrup, no swallowing, got it."

"I'm going to pour the marshmallow vodka on top of the syrup and then you can swallow and take a Graham Cracker chaser." 

The night progressed as the shots poured. The more you drank the closer you seemed to inch your bodies together.

"I think you need one more," Guk giggled. Tipping your chin back with his fingertips he was really close. "Ready? here it comes…"

You felt a splat hit your cheek followed by a string of his apologies. He was confused when you began laughing.

"It's okay Jungkook, it's just syrup."

He smiled relieved,  scooching closer to where you sat facing him. Using his index finger he wiped the chocolate drop off your skin and stuck it into his mouth.

"Did you get it all?"

"There might be a little more," he moved closer and softly attached his lips to your cheek, painfully close to your mouth. "I think you're good now." 

Somehow as the hours ticked away your legs had made their way over his. Face to face you  sat with shy smiles and embarrassed cheeks. He pulled you in closer placing a kiss on top of your head. "Is it okay to confess I really like you?"

You wove his tattooed fingers between yours, "I think now's a perfect time." 

His arms were wrapped loosely around you, your head on his chest. The sound of your friend's voices and crackling fire were quiet compared to his heartbeat.

"Did you feel that? I think it's starting to rain."

No sooner than the words left his lips you felt it too. Everyone took to their feet and ran in separate directions, drinks and fire were abandoned for shelter.

Standing up you weren't in a hurry to leave. "I'm staying in the cabin." You gestured to the wood structure. "But I really don't want tonight to be over." 

"Not to brag but I've got a pretty big tent." He kissed your hand and pulled you into his arms. "Or," he began rocking back and forth, "you could just dance with me in the rain." 

"Wow, and I didn't even have Jungkook being a romantic on my campfire BINGO card." 

He laughed and twirled you back to him while singing, "Do you love the rain? Does it make you dance When you're drunk with your friends at a party?"

"You're singing to me Guk?" You stopped dancing. "Is it okay to confess I really like you too?" 

The biggest smile appeared across his face, "I think now's a perfect time." 

Pushing the wet hair from your face he leaned in slowly to find your mouth. He was so soft, so delicate, his lips brushed yours as the rain fell harder and distant thunder rolled past. He set his head on yours and sighed, "You wanna run?" 

He struggled to unzip the flap, both of you crawling in laughing at how soaked you were. Falling on top of each other it felt like time had stopped.

It was a strange feeling, like driving in the rain and going under a bridge. Every sound stops but the second you come out the other side, all your sensations are amplified.

"They say when you meet the love of your life...time stops."

Is that what this was? A pause held between you until he gave in, his mouth meeting yours full force.

His kissing was pure and simple, uncomplicated perfection that could be used the same way to describe every detail of Jungkook.

He was a great kisser, his lips pressed just hard enough, they were just wet enough and his tongue was as well choreographed as his body.

His hand didn't stray from the tender hold it had on your face and as much as you wanted it on your body, you knew you had time. Your heart was pounding as fast as the droplets hitting the shell of the tent in an orchestrated rhythm of anticipation. 

He pulled away leaving you breathless. "We should get you out of these wet clothes before you catch a cold" He reached in his bag and handed you his T-shirt.

"You want me to put clothes on? That's a plot twist."

He pulled his wet sweater over his head, "we've been drinking, alot."

He grabbed a towel and ran it over his hair, "I'm planning on falling in love with you." He blushed at his own statement. "And I'd just prefer that in a few years our first time isn't a foggy memory." He kissed the back of your hand.

"You certainly have a way with words Guk."

Shamelessly pulling off your wet clothes he pretended to shield his eyes while blatantly leaving gaps between his fingers. "Ugh, you're playing dirty." 

"Using your logic you'll forget what you saw by morning so I'm not gonna worry about it."

Grabbing you playfully he pulled you back down and tucked you into his blankets. 

The one thing you hated about camping was going to bed freezing and waking up ridiculously hot.

The sun had risen with a vengeance and the navy exterior of the tent held the heat in like a sauna.

Making your way out from underneath Jungkook you pulled the covers back and peeled his shirt from your body. Redoing the messy bun on top of your head you felt a light fingertips touch starting at the top of your neck.

Slowly he traced down your spine stopping between the dimples at the base. A shiver ran over your skin.

"These are cute." He let his finger explore your backside.

You giggled at the featherlight tickle, "They're called dimples of Venus"  

You were still facing away but you could hear him shift. His breath hovered close on your back.

"It's a suitable name for your body," his lips met the indentation.

When he made his way back up to your shoulder you couldn't resist the urge to see his face a second longer.

Turning you found a smiling, sleepy disheveled boy and your heart swooped with affection. Your thumb smoothed over his dewy cheek as his almond eyes took in your bare form. 

"Can you just come back in here?" He whined and made grabby hands.

"Should I put my clothes back on first?"

He pulled the blanket over his face, "Don't tease me."

How were you already wrapped around his finger?

"Fine, let me in."

Staying hidden he lifted the edge enough for you to wiggle in.

"This isn't a very good fort."

"That's not fair, I've got limited resources. I'm gonna make you a kick ass fort." He pressed his lips onto your neck. "For our next date we'll have a picnic and watch movies in it. We are counting this as the first date right?"

His hands were on your waist and his bare skin was pressed against yours. 

"We could even count it as a second, we did sleep together. Jungkook? Can you kiss me now?" 

His large hands moved down your body while his lips worked their magic against yours.

You could hear everyone slowly starting the day. Jin's laughter and the mention of your names infiltrated your moment making Jungkook stop to check with you.

"I don't care about them Guk, keep going." 

The heat didn't matter, the small space didn't matter, your friends on the other side of the thin nylon didn't matter. 

All that did matter was the way he looked at you and asked if you were okay before he pushed himself inside you. If there was a sight more beautiful than Jungkook laying over you in ecstacy you were completely unaware of it. 

Rolling his hips into you skillfully his length hit all the right spots. It was hard holding in your moans, god you wanted to be able to just cry out as he made your toes curl.

Biting your lip you tried not to tip everyone off to what was happening mere feet away from where they were preparing their coffee and breakfast over the camp stove. 

You wanted to tell him, you'd waited so long for this. You spoke the breathy whisper into his neck, "I hate being quiet Guk, you feel so good I want to scream your name."  

Your words did him in, with a loud moan and a face squinted in pleasure he spilled into the condom. 

Exiting the tent, of course your friends had to make a scene. The picnic tables had been rearranged to face Jungkook's tent and they all sat smiling in the direction of your exit. 

"Really, you couldn't just let us have this?" You hid under his arm as he confronted them.

Jin of course was the loudest, "Can you blame us? We never get front row."

Jungkook pulled you back towards the tent. "Well since you already know what we're doing, this time we'll put on a better show."

JK: Date 2 tonight! I hope you're ready this fort is gonna blow your mind!

This is fic belongs in the Golden Golden Closet Universe. Continue their story....

[xcaptain-winghead]

The thing about that prompt list is that even if it were shorter I'd probably still have a hard time because I'm indecisive, lol. There's just so many great options! But another that really caught my eye was Hand-holding #26, "holding their hands above their head, fingers linked together." With ScottSteve, because... well, because. lol.

So, this took longer than the other one, lmao. But! It's substantially longer than the other one. So much so I ended up posting it on ao3 for easier reading, lmao. And uh, ya gotta hang in till the end for the hand hold, haha. Hopefully you enjoy it! 💕 And as always, thanks for sending it in :)

Stop the World

rating: E

fandom: Marvel - No Powers AU

relationship: Scott Lang/Steve Rogers

prompt: Hand-Holding 26: holding their hands above their head, fingers linked together; @steverogersbingo Square O1: Fingering

summary: When Steve got hired to entertain at Cassie Lang's thirteenth birthday party, he had thought it was going to be like every other kid's party he'd booked. He'd show up, play Captain America, get paid, and go home.

He never quite gets to that last step, but to be fair, there was no way he could have anticipated the draw of Scott Lang.

wordcount: 6,828

When Steve got hired to entertain at Cassie Lang's thirteenth birthday party, he had thought it was going to be like every other kid's party he'd booked. He'd show up, play Captain America, let the kids hang off his arms while he 'saved' them from whatever bad guy of the week he came up with, and then he'd deem all the kids his new squadron of Howling Commandos and that would be that. Kids' parties were simple like that, though he supposed it helped that he was good with kids. Really, the trickiest part tended to be the parents. Eighty percent of the time the parents were great, they'd pay him, say thank you, maybe even ask for a couple business cards so that they could tell their friends. Twenty percent of the time they were a pain in the ass. Scott Lang had managed to be both types of client.

Oh, the party had gone well enough; Cassie was adorable, and all her friends were in the normal range of pre-teen/early teenage rebellion. All of that, he could definitely handle. It's her dad that's the problem. Scott Lang was entirely too adorable and too attractive for his own good. Steve had thought he was a fellow party entertainer at first, because when Steve stepped out into the backyard the man was doing magic tricks and, oh. Magicians were Steve's weakness. He had such a thing for magic, it absolutely delighted him, and he was aware of just how ridiculous that was considering he was a full-grown thirty-two-year-old man, but he really didn't care. He was also a full-grown thirty-two-year-old man whose day job consisted of dressing up in a Captain America costume for kids (his night job, on the other hand, was stripping a different Captain America costume off for adults— but just stripping; he was an entertainer, not a prostitute), so being a nerdy geek who liked magic was par for the course, really.

The entire first hour of the gig Steve had to actively work to keep his focus on the kids and not get distracted trying to watch the man on the other side of the yard performing his magic tricks. It wasn't until a man (Mr. Paxton, Steve assumed from the way Mrs. Paxton greeted him) arrived with the cake and the kids all gathered inside to sing happy birthday to Cassie that Steve learned Mr. Magic Hands' name. The man introduced himself as Scott Lang, which made him Mrs. Paxton's ex-husband and Steve found himself thinking that must be super awkward, but it wasn't something he was going to outright ask.

Scott, of course, was needed to take part in the whole cake ritual, and Steve felt his heart melt a little in his chest watching the man. It was obvious he loved his daughter, and that she adored him. And, weirdly, Scott and Mr. and Mrs. Paxton all functioned like a single unit, no post-relationship awkwardness— or at least none that Steve could immediately see. It had him wondering what kind of special Scott was.

Steve didn't get to ponder that for too long, because after cake he was back to being the main attraction, all his focus on the kids. He'd been booked for the entirety of the afternoon, so it was nearly four hours before the kids were all heading home, including Cassie and the Paxtons as the party had been held at Scott's house. The sudden and complete silence after spending an entire afternoon with a bunch of rowdy teenagers was startling, Steve's ears ringing a little. Maybe it was the quiet pressing down on them like a weighted blanket, but Steve was loathe to break it, even to ask about being paid. Which, y'know, he was going to have to do eventually, one way or another.

Read more on Ao3!

Send me a prompt❣

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

Dating Beverly Marsh Would Include...

Requested: [I'm sorry I can't remember who requested this or if this was an anon, I'm sorry!] Hey, could I request some headcanons about dating Beverly? (Also if you could add in the reader having homophobic parents 💕)

Warnings: obviously there will be homophobia, [at the end so people can skip if they need to read safely 😊] specifically from the readers parents so please feel free to skip if need be. And remember my blog is a safe space 💕 oh yeah theres also plenty of grammar/spelling errors i'm sure

A//n: This was WAY longer than I anticipated. I just kept coming up with more stuff and holy crap I love writing Bev x readers???? Please request more Bev Edit: this was in my drafts forever and again as much as i have been trying to get requests out in order, it's been pretty tough but at least this way stuff gets out sooner so here ya go.

Okay

First of all..

Y'all make the CUTEST COUPLE, OKAY?!

Like no joke

You know that cliche about girls stealing their boyfriends hoodies/clothes??

Well that goes for both of you and you both are always swapping clothes cause you both love each other's sense of style

Plus, ya know, it's got that great boyfriend girlfriend smell

It's cheesy and played out, but it's honestly so wholesome, and again, you guys each have an interest in each others senses of styles

If you're bigger than her, and her clothes don't necessarily fit you, pfffttt no big deal, she had a million blankets that smelled like her and then you two got together and now she can only find like,, two. But that doesn't mean she doesn't love stealing your clothes!! They're baggier on her but oH MY GOODNESS DOES SHE LOVE THAT. She just loves being able to completely immerse herself in your stuff. Especially when she isn't feeling safe in her own home and you aren't around, the best thing for her is to wrap herself in her your stuff and be comforted by you. Uggh, its hella sweet

But let's start from the beginning...

Both of you knew about each other from school

You definitely heard the many rumors about "Beaver-ly Marsh"

Not that you participated, but you were always overhearing rumors from gossiping girls and bragging boys in your class

Your school wasn't huge but it wasn't small either

But it was kill or be be killed, and rumors spread like the damn plague

It was inevitable

And it was just a matter of time before you overheard the several rumors of the "slut" who did it with every guy in school.

You'd roll you're eyes at the word and the ridiculous insinuations, knowing the massively overplayed game of telephone that ruled your school was not necessary the most credible source of information

And you were positive there were rumors about you, I mean, it really wasn't possible to go to that school without a rumor going around

Everyone had one

Anyways, you never paid much attention to them, but then you met her...

And oh no.

Immediately, it was:

You already never paid much mind to the rumors, but when you got to know each other??

Nuh uh.

No way

Not Beverly

No no no no, no

She was way too sweet, and shy, and beautiful, and awesome, and funny, annnd oh no the damn butterflies were back and shit she made you feel things

And you??

Bevery had no clue she was into girls until you came along...

You were her gay awakening and her being so used to all those nasty things people said about her and all those boys??

Even though it wasn't true, any of it, she still always expected that eventually one day she'd get her first boyfriend, to love and cuddle with and everything normal

Again, then you came along and her heart was all like

BOOM BOOM BEECH

You both danced around each other a lot. Seeing as you were two precious little gay beans that lived in a conservative town in the 80s, it wasn't exactly the most accepting environment and you guys didn't know if the other was into girls at all

On both sides it was "does she like me or is she just really laid back and friendly???"

It took way too long to figure out you were both into each other

If I'm being completely honest here, y'all were like the female reddie

Two girls who became best friends and always bickered like crazy to hide your feelings

The way you two found out you had feelings for one another was bumpy and awkward but silly and cute nonetheless

It came off in a passing comment that just slipped out

The two of you were having a sleepover like you did every Friday night you were available

and you two were laying on her bedroom floor talking about anything and everything staring at the ceiling

Her radio was playing in the background and the two of you were surrounded by various snacks you had been munching on all throughout the night and the conversation drifted to gossip about your peers at school

It went a little something like this:

Y: "Did you see so and so today??"

B: "Yes!!"

Y: *laughing* "Yeah, what the hell was that?"

B: I have no idea what goes on in her head...

B: but I guess I gotta give her some credit, she's always super confident and I'm like, 90% sure that's what makes her the most desirable girl in the 8th grade"

Y: "I guess that makes sense"

B: "I do wish I had her confidence. Maybe I'd have better luck romantically"

Y: "Oh please, like you need that. You're infinitely more attractive than her"

B: "What?"

Y: *panicked* "What?"

B: *slowly sits up with smug ass smirk on her lips* are you saying you find me... attractive?"

Y: ..."what?" *sweating*

B: *still smirking* "Wait,"

Y: "WhAT?"

B: *stILL smirking* "do you-?"

Y: *full on gay panic* "No!"

B: *smirking and blushing*

B: *lays back down* "well, I think you're pretty attractive yourself, if it's any consolation"

She's still so nervous though so it comes out in a whisper

She's 99 percent certain you just accidentally revealed your crush to her but her heart was p o u n d i n g anyway

What if it just came out wrong and that's why you panicked???

Had she just revealed her crush to you by mistake???

But no

You both were a blushing mess and it did not go unnoticed by either one of you

You're hands kinda accidently brushed and you both just had a heart attack on the spot

But the connection you two had that night

You both just... knew

You guys kinda just... happened

After that you both were aware you liked each other

But it was kind of unspoken

At first

It's not like you guys never talked about it, but you two definitely became more touchy and flirty

Holding hands when no one was looking

Shortly before you guys happened and before that night, she had introduced you to losers and they just totally accepted you as one of their own

You got along especially well with Richie (wonder why)

But Bev wasn't too happy about this particular fact...

Especially after you two got together

She wasn't necessarily jealous, especially cause she already had a sneaking suspicion about his feelings for another loser, but because he took up a lot of her time with you

But then, to her chagrin, Richie found out about you two

the eight of you were hanging out in the clubhouse, and Ben had to make some adjustments so him and the others left momentarily to help him get the resources

Except you, and Bev

You two volunteered to hold down the fort [literally]

aaaaaaand you two wanted to have a few minutes alone together too,

Nothing scandalous or anything like that, but you two didn't get be close around the losers

Then Richie returned way earlier than expected [turns out he was doing more harm than good and they sent him back]

He was just outside the entrance and he overheard you two

"I wish we could tell them,"

"I know. And it's not that I don't think they'll accept us, it's-" *sigh* "I'm just not ready... I'm sorry"

"Don't be. It's okay, we can tell them when we're both good and ready."

"Thank you, Y/n."

Richie just kinda stood there thinking about what he just heard

I mean, it made sense, you guys were really close, but then again, that's just how he thought all girls were

But everything else kinda made more sense the more he thought about it

And, it honestly reminded him of him and Eddie

More specifically, how he felt about his best friend

Now naturally this was a very emotional moment, but Richie Tozier being Richie Tozier wasn't about to waltz in there and give some sappy speech about he accepts you guys and he's here for you no matter what

No, no, no

He laid down on the forest floor, sticking his head in the clubhouse scaring the shit out of you two and said

"You guys should really be more quiet, Ben may be a suspiciously good overnight kid architect sensation but he has yet to soundproof this baby"

He then stuck his arm inside the clubhouse, patting the ceiling, shaking a couple spiders loose from his his hand in disgust

"Richie...!"

You two jumped apart and you about nearly shit your pants

"Relax, I'm not gonna tell anyone,"

You both were startled as hell and absolutely disgruntled but the two of you looked at each other, simultaneously breathing a sigh of relief

He got up and joined you two in the clubhouse, and began lounging in his usual spot in the hammock, arms behind his head

"So, this means you two are both into girls, huh?"

Once again, you looked at one another and back at him, nodding shyly

He plastered on the most mischievous smirk you had ever seen and nodded his head, his huge eyes squinting slightly from behind his glasses

"niceee"

This of course was followed by simultaneous eye rolls, Bev even threw her gum wrapper at him but you laughed

It was a relieved laugh

Here you were, exposed and unintentionally outed to Richie "Trashmouth" Tozier and sure enough his reaction was "nICE"

It was honestly a relief and kinda hilarious

You guys just kinda broke out into laughter

It was nice moment

***TRIGGER WARNING FOR [PARENTAL] HOMOPHOBIA BELOW***

And for a while, everything was great. That was, until your parents began to take note just how much time you were spending with Bev

They kept an eye on it at first

Then they started asking questions

You knew this day would come one way or another

Hell, you grew up with them after all, you knew what they thought about people like you and it broke your heart

It terrified you

And it's exactly what you heard every night when you tried to fall asleep, their voices speaking to you clear as day; how disgusted they were. They weren't really there of course and it wasn't until you became a loser that you found out what that voice was...

The point is, your deepest fear was being realized so you did what you could do

Lie

And it seemed to work. Briefly

Your mother had come in to check on you two for the fifth time - usually she checked on you two four times since their suspicions - and found you two snuggled up on top of your sleeping bags

Your mother screamed, scaring the crap out of you guys and you jumped apart

Your mother was thrown into hysterics and went to fetch your father, wailing like a damn baby

Needless to say that night was a long one for everyone

And as if things couldn't get any worse, just days later you found out that Beverly had been taken by It

Immediately, every doubt, every fear, every inkling of shame your parents and your community had drilled into you was forgotten and all that mattered was getting her back

You and your friends literally went through hell to get her back

Needless to say it was a terrifying ordeal but you all had each other's backs and everyone came out okay

When you left Neibolt, you and Beverly were hand in hand

You couldn't give a flying fck about it, you just fought a shape-shifting demon clown you could face your small minded parents

And more importantly you knew even if your parents didn't support you, you had other people who did that and that was enough

✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

Hope you enjoyed, sorry it's so long and again this is out of order of who requested it so I'm sorry to those of you who had stuff in before this, but I've just been stuck for too long and I needed to get things moving again. Anyways, I hoped you guys like this and again, omg I love writing Beverly!!! I would not be offended if you guys asked for more Bev fics/hc when I open up requests again

[voidendron]

I'd like to hear more about the mirror AU, if you're so inclined!

Gladly! :D

It’s a really weird AU to write because of just how opposite the Egos are in it, and I bet that makes it even weirder to read, but it’s a universe I have a lot of fun with! it was also created to be 100% self-indulgent because I’m a sucker for these kinds of AUs

I’ve already mentioned this (probably a few times oops ^^” ) but the big-bads are Chase, the King, Henrik, and Bing, with Chase and King probably being the most dangerous.

I’ll put it under a read more because oof. It got a lot longer than I anticipated but I love this AU so I should’ve expected it ^^”

I was just going off the top of my head, so I may have missed a few

I explain Chase more here

The King has an ability that isn’t quite mind control, but the others aren’t really sure what else to call it. It allows him to take control of his victim’s body, but they can still think freely, and if their will is strong enough they may also be able to speak. The Host is now immune to the ability due to losing his eyes. (he has the same ability in other universes, but can only use it on animals) King took over Ego Incorporated’s city and calls it his kingdom.

Bing and Google kind of swap roles, with Bing now being the one hellbent on destroying mankind. They’re both super tech-savvy, but Bing’s better at getting around Google’s firewalls and making files corrupt than Google is at protecting them. Google was more laid back, but tightened up a lot after Bing destroyed the Upgrades. Since there’s no actual laws/authorities in the Figmental Plane, Google’s been working to pinpoint the weaknesses of Bing and the others in an attempt to help his comrades take them out for good.

Henrik and Edward are both black market dealers who use their “patients” as the goods, carefully dissecting them to sell their organs for ridiculous prices. Henrik is more hands-on, with his go-to weapon being a meat cleaver. Edward relies more on poisons/hallucinogens. They absolutely hate each other and have tried to kill each other on more than one occasion. Hen works directly with Chase, and was the main man in corrupting Jackieboy to their side with torture and brainwashing, with Bing and Chase working more on the sidelines for that one. As such, Jackie is loyal only to Henrik. Henrik also has two kids--twins named Elias and Emil. Chase had ordered Hen to kill them and their mother (afraid they’d hold him back), and Wilford saved them in the nick of time, though wasn’t there in time to save their mom.

Host and Anti act as active parts of their creators’ respective fandoms, pretending to be theorists in a vain attempt to get the fans to see things from the right angle and help them. They don’t want the fans to know they’re real--for their own safety--but are also desperate for their help. Anti’s also an editor, creating gifs/moodboards/whatever he can of the good Septics/Ipliers to get them as much attention as they can. Host is strictly a “theorist,” and when not trying to get the fans’ help, he’s often leading patrols of two or three to check around the Hideaway for dangers. Host lost his eyes when the King tool control of him and forced him to stab them out with a pen; King had discovered Host had been saving his victims and. Really didn’t take kindly to it-

Bim and Jameson are spies. It’s a loose term for Bim, who purposefully tries to get the attention of the baddies to lure them in so that he can gather more information on them. Wilford usually has to teleport in for a quick save before whoever Bim lured can kill/capture him. JJ is a true spy. With him, I took the whole “he’s a spy/puppet of Anti” headcanon some people have and switched it around. Here, Chase thinks he has control over Jameson. Nah. JJ’s playing you like a fiddle, dude, and collecting all the juicy info while he’s at it. 

Dark is the oldest, and was created when Mark had no idea wtf he was doing. The problem is that, unlike Main Dark who was developed over time, Mark wasn’t able to work more on Mirror Dark’s development because it was around that time that King came around and tried to fuckin kill their creator (because “wait??? you guys are REAL????”) Now, Dark is a coward who has no idea how to use their powers and freakin accidentally teleports when startled. Now that Elias and Emil are in the Hideaway, the group’s found Dark is really good at caring for them, though, and Dark was the first one of the bunch the twins even remotely trusted.

Speaking of twins, the Jim Twins are politicians (or, as close as the Figmental Plane gets to politicians). Because what’s the opposite of reporters who share everything they find out? That’s right. The’re split up between Incorporated and Central’s cities and try to cover everything up. Don’t let Anti and Host reach out to the fans, don’t let other Guardians and their cities know what’s going on here in case the baddies decide to expand their reach, tell Bing when Google gets something he shouldn’t, stay on the King and Chase’s good sides. The Mirror Twins are total suck ups.

With the absence of doctors for the heroes of the AU, Jacques took it upon themself to put down their art and start studying. Unlike Main Jacques, Mirror is really good under pressure; they have steady hands, they learn fast, who better for the job when Google’s too busy for it? They’re always worried about the others and are the first to greet them when they arrive back to the Hideaway after patrols or fights to check them over for injuries, all while Muse follows protectively at their heel. They still miss their art, but they know the group desperately needs a doctor and hopes when it’s all over, they can get back to what they love.

Wilford acts as the heroes’ leader. He’s calm and collected, and will be the at the front of the line when the group’s doing something dangerous, and the last to return to the Hideaway after ensuring the others made it first. Many of the plans they have are ones he came up with with Google’s help; Google acts as a second-in-command type of figure. Host and Dark are his best friends and he’s always hesitant to let either of them leave the Hideaway on their own because of it. He’s also aware of the other versions of himself scattered through different universes. He’s not sure what to make of it and keeps it to himself.

Marvin is strictly neutral and finds amusement in watching the games of cat and mouse that the others play. He resides within Ego Central, and is the only one the building permits inside. None of the others even know what it looks like inside. He has a massive room full of screens where he can watch the other Septics, and sometimes if things are particularly boring he might...ah. Stir the pot a little, so to say, to piss someone off and get a fight started. He’s also aware of the other versions of himself scattered through different universes which...probably isn’t a good thing. He keeps quiet about it, though is curious if cross-universe travel is possible.

Jackie was actually created as a superhero. When Sean realized how out of hand Mark’s evil Egos were getting, he offered to lend a hand and created Jackie to help out. Everything was good for quite a while. Jackie was friends with the other heroes, chatted a lot with Dark, Anti, and Host. Then Chase was created, not by Sean, but by the fans. Then Henrik, accidentally so, when their creator was playing Surgeon Simulator. With Bing’s help, Chase subdued Jackie and took him to Henrik. From there, he was tortured and brainwashed until he couldn’t even remember his own name and was made into nothing more than Henrik’s attack dog.

Not sure how Eric, Illinois, Yancy, and Magnum should play into the AU yet

It’s one of those types of AUs where it seems hopeless for the heroes. Every time they gain a step forward, the villains leap over them to shove them two steps back.

[ghoulboyboos]

Hey dude! Big fan of your work here. If you are taking prompts, I'd like to suggest a Beetlejuice AU where Shane and Ryan are a loveable ghost couple (bonus points if they adopt a neglected goth kid in the end). Thank you in advance💕 Spooky season, hell yeah🎃👻💀

This one took a lot longer than I anticipated! I apologize for making it kind of cheesy and feelsy instead of creepy but I figured that Ryan would be too scared and Shane too soft to summon fucking Beetlejuice on someone’s butt. ;D Hope you enjoy!

Meenasquints up the outer wall of the house. It looks vaguely Victorianwith the brick walls, pointed slate roofs and a porch that is reallymore of a gazebo. Gothic Revival left its mark,she thinks as her parents and the movers take the trips to and fro toget everything inside. There is a large iron fence surrounding thehouse, but the bars are wide enough to not make it feel like aprison. She looks at the house again, taking in the small tower – Ithink the term is “turret”?- just left of the middle. Maybe if she got there first she couldclaim it as her room.

Thestairs look new, but the sixth one stillcreaksloudly. Something to keep in mind if she wanted to sneak out sometime. Usually Meena didn’t give her parents much trouble. Theyweren’t terrible,they were just busy all the time and boring as dust. Her dad was ininsurance and still in the mindset that he had to protect her fromher first boyfriend. Yeah good luck with that, Dad.Meanwhile, Meena’s mother tried her best to turn her into a“respectable young woman” which didn’t really work out,considering she nearly screamed when Meena showed up with a black andpurple undercut and refused to go back to her natural chocolatebrown.

Shewas much happier alone and alone she would be once the tower washers. Turret. Whatever.

-

About a week after moving in, she notices something strange. Wheneverher parents are out, things seem to be moving on their own. She hasyet to catch it, but she is sure that someone is moving stuff around.

Herparents’ bedroom is one of the spaces. The house had been nearlycompletely empty when Meena moved here with her parents, but a coupleof objects seem to have been forgotten by the original owners. On thewall, right above where a bed must have been for many, many years,was a wooden frame with a butterflybehind glass. It was a real one, very pretty in brightshades of blue. His mother considered it tasteless and put it in adrawer. When the butterfly somehow ended up onthe wall again, Meena didn’t think much of it until her motherasked her not to put that horrendous thing back up and that it wasn’ta funny prank. Meena didn’t say anything, just nodded and rolledher eyes as always. But she had grown curious. She took the butterflyfrom the drawer and hid it under her bed, making sure that herparents didn’t see her take it away. The next day, sometime in the afternoon whileher dad was busy in his office and her mom was shopping, Meenachecked under her bed.The butterfly was gone. She rushed down the stairs to the secondfloor and peeked into her parents’ bedroom. The encased butterflyhung above the bed as if it had always been there.

Meena chuckled and carefully took it down to tuck it under her arm.

“I’ll get you a new space. Otherwise my mom is going to throw youout.” She whispered to the frame, even though the butterfly waslong dead and couldn’t hear her.

She drove a nail into the wall of her little room and hung thebutterfly over her desk. Her mom was horrified but allowed it whileher dad only shook her head when his wife told him.

The butterfly stayed put after that.

-

When Meena had opened the door to the room that would be hers for thefirst time, an old guitar had been sitting against the support beamin the middle of the room. Meena didn’t know how to play guitar,but she had brushed her fingertips over the strings anyway. Up here,the acoustics were nice. The tone of the instrument had echoed alittle in her still empty room. She had put it behind the door whenshe made the room her own, not wanting to knock it over.

A few days after, Meena stirred from her sleep in the middle of thenight because she could swear she could hear music. Just a couple ofsoft chords and something else, maybe a voice humming a song shedidn’t know. When she opened her eyes, the room was empty andquiet. The guitar rested innocently in its original place against thesupport beam.

She screwed her eyes shut and counted to ten before pinching herselfin the arm. It hurt. She wasn’t dreaming. Meena opened one eye andglanced over. The guitar still sat against the beam in the middle ofher room.

Meena pulled the blanket over her head. Creepy.

-

Shefinds out aboutthe source of the strange moving objects one night when she can’tsleep. The new school rubsher the wrong way, because the kids thinkshe isweird and creepy – which isexactly what she isgoing for but there was no reason for them to be rude about it –and Meena liesawake thinking about what to do if the teacher reprimandsher for her hair againwhen she hearsthe shuffling of footsteps outside. At first she thinksher mother isgoing to check in on her, but then she hearsmuffled voices. Two male voices. She frowns.None of them sound like her dad. Issomeone breaking in? How did they not trigger the alarm downstairs?The only window up here isin her room and she definitely would have noticed someone creepingin.

She freezes when the door to her room suddenly unlocks. The click isincredibly loud in the quiet of the night and her eyes are wide whenthe door slowly but surely swings open, creaking only a little bit.Her breath stops when she sees two shapes move in, slightly hard tomake out in the bit of moonlight that’s falling in through thewindow.

“I think these people are alright, Shane. We should just leave andlet them have their lives.”

“You know we can’t leave. We tried.”

Meenastrains her eyes. She can make out the man that was addressed asShane. He is really, really tall and it’s kind of freaky to seesomeone that tall in herlittle space. He is slim,too. Lanky, Meenathinks. The moonlight falls on his face and her worries aboutburglars are calmed while the other, slowly growing worry in the backof her mind is confirmed:

Ghosts.

Theman called Shane looks younger than Meena’s parents, maybe in hisearly thirties and from what she can tell, he looks kind of pale. Abig head full of fuzzy hair and kindof hard to see, a plaidflannel shirt and jeans. There are onlyhints of color to him, thered of the shirt and the blue of his jeans washed out like he’s aphotograph left in the sun for too long. He’s a little bit seethrough and in the moonlight there is a silver glint to his outline.The other person steps closer. He’s about a head shorter than Shaneand maybe a few years younger. His hair is dark and his skin, despitethe ghostly pallor, is darker, more bronze. He’s clad in a t-shirtand a zipped up jacket, the mustard color of the jacket as washed outas the red of Shane’s flannel. He is wearing jeans as well and apair of sneakers that Meena expects are the kind of shoes that thepopular jocks at school would wear. The shorter guy seems to be asporty guy, but she doesn’t get a jock vibe from him. Neither ofthe men seems to notice her.

“I know we can’t leave. But we could… you know, stay back. Letthem have the space.”

“Ryan…”Shane looksat the other man with a look that Meena sometimes sees her mom giveher dad when he’s overworking himself. Caring but exhausted.Loving, but witha hint of innerpain. She glances over at “Ryan”, who seems to deflate.

“I know, Shane. I don’t want to leave this place either…” Hiseyes are locked on something and Meena follows his gaze to the guitarthat sits in the middle of the room. She looks back and watches asShane curls an arm around Ryan’s neck and presses a kiss to histemple.

Suddenly,she feels like she’s intruding on a private moment, which isridiculous because this is her room.So, Meena sits up and turns on her bedside lamp.

Ryan screams.

The scream echoes in the octagonal room. It’s how Meena finds outthat her parents can’t hear these two at all, because the volume ofRyan’s scream causes the glass in the windows to vibrate and herdad wakes up at the slightest of sounds.

Everything stays quiet downstairs. Up in her room, however, Shane ishowling with laughter while Meena and Ryan stare at each other. Ifshe’s honest, she is a little afraid. Who wouldn’t be? But seeingRyan that frightened just because she turned on her light helps alittle. Shane’s laughter does, too. Finally, Ryan gathers himselfand slaps the other man against the arm. Meena can see them connectand hears the smack, even though they look like they are not quitethere.

“Will you stop laughing? You’re making me look like an idiot!”

“You managed to do that yourself, man, that’s not my fault!”

“Hey!” Meena interrupts, because she hates being ignored.Somewhere downstairs, her father snores really loud and she holds herbreath for a moment. He can clearly still hear her. Not adream, then. But there are no further noises so she looks at the twomen again, who have stopped arguing and are staring at her.

“Wait…” Shane blinks, staring at Meena. He takes a step to theside and stops when she turns her head to follow his movement.

“You can see us?” Ryan’s voice is quiet and he still soundsweirdly scared. Meena looks at him and nods and the two look at eachother.

“Holy crap.” Ryan whispers and Shane reaches out to take hishand. Meena can see how hard Ryan is squeezing it.

“Uh…” She blinks. “Who are you? I mean… I gathered yournames-”

“We kind of… caught yours as well.” Ryan says quickly. “Throughyour parents. We’re around here a lot, you see. Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Meena sits up more and pulls her cold feet underher to sit on them. “I kind of spied on you, you kind of spied onme. Seems like we’re even.”

Shane chuckles and Ryan breaks out into a surprised grin. Theyexchange a glance and Ryan wheezes.

Meena catches Shane murmuring “I like her.” before he squares hisshoulders and holds out a hand towards her.

“Hello, Meena. I’m Shane. Sorry for invading your bedroom but yousee, it used to be our shared office and we’re still kind ofattached to it.”

Meena reaches out and takes Shane’s hand. Or rather, she tries tobut her hand just passes through. A tingle brushes through her skin,as if her hand had fallen asleep for a second.

“Oh. Well. I could have seen that coming.” Shane laughs, clearlyembarrassed as he rubs his nose. Ryan behind him is shaking his head.

“I keep telling you things about ghosts but you never listen tome.”

Shane turns his head and crosses his arms.

“You still didn’t give me a single good explanation why we’restill here, Ryan. We don’t have any regrets or unfinished business,right?”

Ryan bites his bottom lip and nods. Meena clears her throat, stillfeeling like she’s intruding and both men start and look at her.

“Sorry.” Ryan says, deflating. “We’re not used to… otherpeople anymore.”

Meena looks from one to the other.

“How long…”

“I don’t know.” Shane sighs and sits down on the floor, foldinghis limbs into a cross-legged position. “Time is passing…weirdly. I don’t remember dates. Not years, at least. Sometimes Ithink we’re asleep-”

“Not asleep.” Ryan interrupts. But he sits down next to Shane.“More like… gone. For a while. We completely missed you guysmoving in. For a while, we thought you were the ghosts.” Heexchanges a slight smile with Shane and Meena bites her bottom lip.

Shane smiles slightly.

“I didn’t want to believe I was actually a ghost… you know, Inever believed in this stuff when I was alive. And I might havegotten… a little angry when we noticed you guys. It wasn’tanything personal. I just felt like our home was being invaded.”

Meena remembers the fuse blowing when the movers put up the diningroom lamp. She remembers the loud crash upstairs nobody couldexplain. The cold breezes her mother would complain about…

“I don’t know much about ghosts.” She finally says. “Butmaybe you still feel like you belong here because you two are soyoung…?”

Both seem surprised, but then smile. Ryan shakes his head slightly ashe’s smiling, as if remembering something fondly and Shane’s eyesseem to glint in the moonlight.

“Oh no, don’t worry about us.” Shane chuckles. “We’re not…we didn’t die like this. We lived here together for a long time.Actually…” He frowns, glancing over at Ryan. “I think we wereclose to our Gold Anniversary when I passed.”

“We were.” Ryan’s voice is softer and the smile is slowlyslipping from his face. Shane reaches out and takes his hand again,their fingers entwining.

“You were married?” Meena asks. She looks at their hands,expecting to see wedding bands, but there is nothing.

“Yeah.” Ryan rolls his eyes but he looks affectionate. “He beatme to the proposal, I remember.”

Shane shrugs, smirking.

“Not my problem if you fret so much about it. You postponed it onetime too many and missed your chance.”

“I still did propose to you.” Ryan’s sidelong glance is softerthan it seems at first. “The right way.”

“You cried when I proposed to you, babe. You loved Disney.”

“Shut up.”

Meena giggles. They were so different from how her parentsinteracted. Teasing, joking, but clearly affectionate. Her parentswere quiet and their conversations and movements practiced andrepeated to death. It was strange, but these two seemed much morealive than her parents.

Ryan smiles at her.

“I’m sorry if we creeped you out. And… sorry for screaming. Iused to be terrified of ghosts my whole life and it’s a hard habitto break.”

Shane giggles a bit, but he shuts up when Ryan shoots him a glare.

“It’s alright.” Meena says. She has pulled her duvet aroundherself to keep warm and glances over to the guitar.

“I heard one of you play…”

Ryan flushes and Shane starts to grin widely.

“That was the one and only Bergara Guitara!” He is laughing whenRyan pushes at him. “No but really, he kept it to himself but hedid play beautifully.”

“Shut up.”

“I mean it. You would play for me sometimes and it was alwaysbeautiful.”

Ryan huffs.

“I kept it to myself. I liked to play to relax, you know.”

Meena nods.

“What about the butterfly from downstairs?”

Ryan groans and rolls his eyes.

“That’s Shane’s stupid thing.” He shakes his head when Shanegrumbles “It’s not stupid” and holds up a hand to stop him. “Itwas a gift he got forever ago. The room your parents turned intotheir bedroom was ours long ago and he had to win a long, gruelingtrivia game against me to be allowed to put it there where itcontinued to creep me out for decades. So yeah, he’s used to itbeing there and wanted it to stay there.”

“I like it here, too.” Shane says, smiling. “This was our…workshop. I liked being here.”

Ryan snorts.

“That makes us sound like we were artists. We weren’t. We madeYoutube videos about conspiracy theories and haunted houses andstrange history.” He’s smiling, despite his dry tone and Shanegrins widely, spreading out his hands as he turns to Meena.

“It was amazing. We were friends long before we got together andjust butting heads on all of that stuff was so great. Sometimes wewould talk for hours on end about all kinds of stupid stuff and thenonly stop because we were starving.”

Meena laughs and Ryan seems to mellow a bit.

“Maybe that’s why we can’t leave. We’re really attached tothis place… And we found out that we can only touch the things weowned in our time… There isn’t much left of it, though.”

Meena nods and looks over at the wall where the butterfly is mounted.

“I’m sorry you’re stuck here.” She whispers. “But I’mglad I have someone to talk to, now.”

Both men pause at that and exchange glances.

“Your parents seem… busy.” Ryan says diplomatically. “Theywill probably be right back caring for you after the first stress ofthe move is over.”

Meena shakes her head.

“They are always like that. It’s fine. I’m comfortable withbeing left alone.” She swallows. “Most of the time.”

“You know,” Shane begins softly. “We’re not able to leavethis place… and it’s been a long, long time since we had avisitor. A real one to talk to. I think it could be nice if we…hung out sometimes.”

“Really?” Meena sits up a bit. Ryan nods.

“Sure. We could tell you some history about the house. There are alot of great things that happened here. If you want, that is.”

“Deal.”

Meena holds out her hand before she realizes that shaking Ryan’shand will be as impossible as shaking Shane’s.

Shane saves the situation by giving her finger guns and a wink,causing his husband to roll his eyes and do the same. Meena gigglesand points her fingers at them, adding a little click sound as shewinks back.

Thus, a pact was made.

-

Meena starts to look forward to coming home after school, now. Herparents are usually not in, but Ryan and Shane will hang out in herlittle attic space, usually talking about some theory or another.Sometimes Meena will catch them talking about their situation and howto solve it. On rare occasion, she catches them talk about her. Fromwhat she can gather, they are worried about her. Not in the fussy,annoying way her mom is or in the distracted, serious fashion her dad“tries”.

Shane and Ryan ask how school has been, what subjects are herfavorite. They catch on when she’s upset about the other kids.Shane talks her through re-dying her hair, revealing that he had alifelong friend who loved to die her curls purple or turquoise.

Somehow, having Shane lazily float over the empty bathtub while shewashes the rest of the dye out is reassuring.

“Looks pretty rockin’” Shane says, waggling his eyebrows andMeena is sure that “rockin” was already out of fashion when Shanewas young, but she still appreciates it.

-

Ryan teaches her how to play the guitar.

Shane is usually banned from their sessions because he can’t stoptalking about Ryan playing the guitar and while it’s always sweet,Meena is sure he does most of it to tease the other man.

It’s strange, having Ryan’s fingers pass through hers to connectwith the frets and strings, pressing down to show Meena where to puther fingers. Still, she adores the sessions, because she is actuallystarting to like playing and because the glances her friends shootthe instrument when they think Meena isn’t looking become lesspained.

Somehow, the guitar is starting to become hers. She can’t quiteexplain it. Ryan is still teaching her and encouraging her topractice, but he doesn’t have to lead her hands anymore. She isstarting to remember the chords, or looks them up online. One night,she catches Ryan brushing his fingers across the strings.

There is no sound.

-

She gets in an argument with her mom. A bunch of kids chased afterher after school, yelling about her having bats in her hair and ratsin her clothes. She slams the door.

Her mother is home, which is a rare occasion and she is not pleasedat Meena slamming the door.

“You know, darling, I just think that if you got dressed a littlemore… appropriate, the other kids would find you a bit moreapproachable.” Is all she says when Meena tells her.

It’s one of the rare occasions when Meena looses her cool.

“Mom! I’m being treated like shit because I’m being myselfand all you got to say to me to help is telling me not to be me?Spoiler alert: You’re not helping.”

She runs up the stairs, ignoring her mother call after her as sheruns up both flights and slams the door behind her, sliding downagainst it.

“Leave me alone!” She shouts when she hears shuffling steps,burying her face in her arms.

“Hey kid…” She can hear Shane’s slightly drawling voice andfeels a tingle against her shoulder. “Come on, want to talk aboutit?”

-

Shane talks to her a lot. About a lot of strange subjects.

Meena loves his stories. Shane had delved a lot into history when hewas still alive and he collected some of the weirdest, funniest andunbelievable tales on the way. Meena is glad that her parents areaway on the afternoon when Shane tells her stories about Anne Bonnie,because it ends with the three of them racing around the oldworkshop, shouting things in overblown pirate impressions andlaughing way too loud.

She starts reading more, borrowing books from the schools library andignoring the other kids who call her a “weird gothy nerd”.Instead, Meena chats with the librarian and runs into a group of kidsthat meet after school to play Dungeons & Dragons in the libraryafter school. She originally doesn’t want to get into it, but theillustration of the tiefling warlock is too cool to pass up andsuddenly she’s knee deep in lore and holds a pencil smearedcharacter sheet.

When she tells her ghost friends about it, Shane is laughing outloud. Meena learns that Shane would host D&D games for years,playing with his friends. Ryan never quite got into it, but he wascomfortable sitting by and listening to the insane antics of hishusband and their friends.

Ryan tells her about the basketball games he would play with hisfriends. Meena never really cared for sports, much to Ryan’schagrin, but she does find some of the pictures from the charitygames Ryan played at.

Both men become very quiet when they see Ryan pose with some of hisold friends, grinning brightly with the gleam of the post-game flushon his cheeks.

Meena cheers them up with stories of her own D&D game and becauseRyan can’t really teach her how to dribble without Meena drivingher father insane, she buys a small hoop from her allowance, puttingit over the trashcan. She’s getting better at tossing her crumpledpages of writing and doodling that don’t please her through thehoop. Ryan is keeping track of her points.

-

“What kind of butterfly is it?” She asks one evening when she’ssitting over her Biology homework.

Shane looks up from her book. He’s perched on her desk, watchingher like a hawk so she will get her stuff done before dinner. Theyhave begun to watch over her homework and eating habits and whileit’s kind of annoying, Meena has to admit that it’s better thanbeing shouted at to bring home better grades because she couldembarrass her dad at the PTA meeting otherwise.

“I actually don’t know.” Shane admits, looking at it. “Inever bothered to check.”

Ryan chuckles in the back, leaning against the support beam in theroom while he watches both of them.

“He only had the terrible thing to annoy me anyway.” He quips.Shane sticks out his tongue at him.

While they were arguing, Meena has executed her best Google-fu.

“Morpho peleides!” She calls out, probably butchering the Latin.“Also called the emperor.”

“Huh.” Shane mutters, looking at the butterfly. “An emperor.Like Napoleon himself.”

“Guy also wore blue.” Ryan adds, only to get startled whenShane’s head whips around to him.

“So you do listen to me when I talk about history.”

Ryan seems annoyed for a moment, scoffing.

“Of course I do. Even if I don’t care about what you’re sayingyou’re… a good narrator.”

“Awh.” Shane starts to grin and Ryan rolls his eyes. “Likewise,babe.”

“Gross.” Ryan says and Meena starts to giggle.

Later that night, Shane tries to straighten the frame of thebutterfly hanging on the wall. His fingers pass through the glass.Meena looks away when Shane pauses to frown at his fingertips.

-

They all know what is coming. Things have been changing.

Meena doesn’t always come home after school. She has friends tohang with outside of the library and D&D.

Shane’s little advice about being yourself with confidence that hegave Meena once in a while has helped at least a bit and the otherkids have decided to give Meena a wide berth instead of honing downon her. Ryan was delighted to see pictures of Meena playing Lacrosse.She will never get into basketball, but she has to admit there is funin playing team games with others. People who actually want herthere.

She had a talk with her parents. Surprisingly, her mother had beenharder to get to come around, but they had long, evening talks. Itdidn’t change everything. But it helped. They let her wearwhat she wants and buy her the books she wants for Christmas. Whenshe talks about the girl she’s crushing on, there are no weirdglances exchanged between her parents. In fact, her father stops herin the kitchen when they walk into each other one afternoon.

“I might not… be an expert on this kind of thing. But… I’mglad you get to be who you are, now.” His face is honest, even ifMeena is sure he’s uncomfortable. They share a hug. It’s a start.

Her mother helps her re-dye her hair the next time. She commentsabout how she used to have blue streaks in her hair when she was ateen. She laughs when Meena suggests they could buy some dye for her.

-

They are fading. Meena hates it but she doesn’t know how to stopit. Ryan and Shane, however, seem mostly happy with it.

“Don’t worry about us.” Shane pets her hair and even thoughMeena can’t really feel it, it helps to soothe her. “We got thesehuge, long lives behind us. We have to move on at some point.”

“Yeah.” Ryan is sitting on her other side. “Also… Shane hatesbeing a ghost. I just know it. Because it proves I’m right.”

Shane makes a mocking face at him but laughs.

“I was wrong about ghosts. I wonder if I was wrong about theafterlife as well. And… you know, this is your home now. Not oursanymore.”

Ryan smiles at him and shakes his head a bit.

“You know.” He turns to Meena. “When we were still upset aboutnew people living here, another ghost gave us a slip of paper…contacts for a “Bio Exorcist”. A poltergeist to drive you allout.”

Shane puts an arm around Ryan and smiles at Meena.

“Ryan was against it from the start. He never was big on conjuringanything.”

Ryan takes his free hand and rubs his thumb over the back.

“Shane was tempted, but he’s a good guy.” He elbows Shane inthe side when his husband waggles his eyebrows at him. “He thoughtit was too harsh and there were other ways.”

-

Meena wakes up and instantly knows they are gone.

She sits up, slowly, eyes still closed and hoping to see them whenshe opens them.

Ryan and Shane are gone.

She takes the time to curl up in bed for a while and cry over theloss of her two friends. It seems silly, since to everyone else Shaneand Ryan didn’t exist, weren’t more than some strange imaginaryfriends, but Meena misses them anyway. She knows they had to goeventually, but it still hurts.

That afternoon, she packs some things and takes a trip to the localcemetery. It takes some time to find them, but eventually, she isstanding in front of a double grave with a wide stone.

Shane Alexander and Ryan Steven Bergara-Madej. She runs her fingersover the engraving and looks at the dates. They grew old, very old.Ryan outlived Shane by two years, which meant that both lived intotheir late eighties. Meena can’t help it. She giggles a little. Thetwo of them didn’t sound like old men at all. The line under theirdates makes her tilt her head in confusion. She isn’t sure what“Apple Taters” are, but apparently the two of them loved that.

There are fresh flowers on the graves and she remembers them talkingabout their adopted kids, about how Ryan had always been a father andhow they eventually moved but still visited on the weekend.

Meena takes the guitar from her back. She has her own by now andshe’s getting good. This was Ryan’s anyway and she thinks it’stime to hand it back.

Carefully, she leans the instrument against Ryan’s side of thestone, making sure it doesn’t fall over. Next, she pulls themounted butterfly from her bag and puts it under Shane’s name. Thelight catches on it and causes the blue wings to shimmer.

“Thank you. Both of you.” She puts a hand on the stone, smilingdown at it.

“I think I cracked it. You two were still stuck there because Ineeded to figure some stuff out. Sorry for taking so long getting myshit in line.”

She chuckles and takes a step back, looking over the grave one moretime before turning and leaving. Meena has only taking a couple ofsteps before she thinks about something.

“Oh right. If you guys want to come to my Halloween party and hauntsome of my friends and I, that is absolutely cool. You’re invited.”

She turns and gives the graves double finger pistols and a wink. Sheclicks her tongue when she winks.

“Smell ya later.”