#this really is a moment where i'm like oh oops i haven't mentioned that he's trans yet have i

[theherosvillain]

5: Something that you'll never kill

Previous - Masterpost - Next

CWs: captivity, violence

After a night of restless sleep, I didn’t feel much better. My ribs ached, and I felt a sharp pain down the left side whenever I took a deep breath. I couldn’t tell whether the rib was broken or just cracked. My arms and my torso felt bruised, but I didn’t check to see how bad it looked. I didn’t want to know.

The hours of rest only made me more aware that I was running out of time. Gingerly, I sat up on the cot and assessed how I felt. Could I run in this kind of condition? Fight? I swung my legs over the edge and slumped over, then hissed at the stab of pain in my ribs. Fuck. I couldn’t handle another fight. Running would hurt like a bitch, and I’d be slower than usual, but …

My fingers tightened on the thin mattress. It was wishful thinking, but what choice did I have? I’d been missing for more than a day already. Someone must have alerted the police, but maybe they wouldn’t take the disappearance of a troubled kid like me that seriously.

The police, honestly, were the least of my concern, and I could dodge questions from my aunt and my friends, too. I was used to that. My biggest worry was not getting out of here at all.

I picked the lock again. It took longer this time—a pretty good indicator that I needed more rest, but I pushed through until it clicked open, ignoring the lingering aches as I stepped out into the hallway. Then, immediately, I heard footsteps.

I stiffened, but before I could move, Ryker turned the corner, his scowl zeroing in on me. “You just don’t fucking know when to quit, do you?”

Normally, I’d give him a witty retort that would only piss him off more. Now, I barely had time to brace myself before he threw me to the ground, and his boot met my possibly-broken ribs. He didn’t even kick that hard, but I hissed in pain as I wrapped my arms around myself. “Thought you would’ve learned your lesson last time,” he muttered.

“Ryker, that’s enough.” Vale’s voice was disapproving, but only mildly. I stiffened; I hadn’t even sensed him approaching. I really needed more sleep. “I told you not to cause any permanent damage.”

I only uncurled when I heard Ryker step back. “He’ll survive,” he said.

“You’re dismissed. He’s not going anywhere.” Vale’s shiny black shoes entered my vision, stopping far too close. “Are you, Phantom?”

“Fuck off.” The words slipped out, and my breath froze in my chest. I braced myself for more pain. I rarely swore when I was acting as Phantom—it was part of the persona, being polite, but I was in too much pain to maintain that façade. Still, I got the feeling Vale would take the disrespect a lot less kindly than Ryker had.

There was a beat of silence. I heard Ryker walking away. Vale’s shoes stayed planted on the floor. “Do not speak to me like that again,” he said, his voice low and calm. I nodded, not daring to lift my head. “Now get up.”

I painstakingly rose to my feet, suppressing the urge to swear as my injured ribs shifted. It killed me to follow orders, but I couldn’t risk another injury. Vale had barely touched me yet, but I was under no illusion that he wouldn’t. He barely made sure I was standing before he turned his back and started walking, like he was expecting me to follow.

The worst part is, I did.

“I spoke with Amoret,” he said over his shoulder. “It was … enlightening.” He paused for a brief moment before he added, “She mentioned that she’s your mother.”

I flinched. I really wasn’t in the mood to think about that. “Why did her name surprise you?” I blurted out instead. It was a blatant dodge, but as long as we were talking about Amoret …

Again, he paused. I didn’t really think he’d answer until he said, “I knew Vivienne Thorn a long time ago. I hadn’t been aware that she and Amoret were the same person.” Despite how shitty I felt, the edge in his voice made me feel a tiny bit better. I hadn’t fucked up. If Vale was angry at Amoret for lying to him all these years, then I did exactly what I meant to do. “How long have you known she was your mother?”

The question jolted me out of my short-lived satisfaction. “Since the other night,” I muttered, my arms crossed carefully above my injured ribs.

He glanced back at me. “I take it you’re unhappy with this revelation?”

Oh, he had no fucking idea. I managed to keep a straight face. “It’s not the best news I’ve ever gotten, no.”

He scrutinized me for a moment before facing forward again. I wondered why he’d even asked. Why did he care what I thought about it?

By now, I recognized the way to the office, so I wasn’t surprised when we ended up there again. The desk was scattered with papers, and as I approached, a cold feeling washed over me. Sitting on top, front and center, was my school photo from this year: my bangs swept to the side, eyelashes dark with mascara, the collar of my purple top slightly askew. Printed above the photo, in big block letters, was the word MISSING.

All I could do was stare, the blood draining from my face. No. Nononono—

“So.” Vale’s voice cut through the panic buzzing in my veins. “Wren Argent.”

I whirled to face him, gripping the back of the chair as my legs threatened to give out. “Don’t ever say that name again,” I snapped.

“This is you, isn’t it?” He inclined his head toward the newspaper, as if I hadn’t fucking seen it. All I could do was nod stiffly. That was me—my civilian self, in the paper, on Axton Vale’s desk. His hand grazed the edge of the paper, and without thinking, I snatched it away with my powers. It crumpled in my fist, and I tried to take a deep breath, but the pain shot through my ribs. I stopped.

Vale studied me like I was a puzzle, and I wanted to shrink down and disappear, away from his prying eyes, away from the realization that he knew. “There is one thing I’d like to clear up,” he said slowly, eyeing the paper in my hand. “By all accounts, your civilian identity seems to be a … girl. Are you—?”

I cut him off, mortified and furious all at once. I wasn’t out, especially not in my villain life. When I was Wren, my gender was whatever I needed it to be. When I was Phantom, though— “I’m a boy.”

The words so rushed they sounded like a lie, and I was certain he’d call my bluff. To my surprise, though, he nodded slowly, although he still looked bewildered. “But—”

My grip on the chair tightened as my powers welled up inside me, threatening to break loose. I shoved them back down, reminding myself that I couldn’t afford another fight. “Is that really the most important thing here?”

His eyes narrowed. After a brief pause, he said, “No, I suppose not.” My relief only lasted for a second before he reached for a different newspaper. “I’m assuming this is why you became a villain.”

My stomach dropped as my eyes zeroed in on the familiar headline: LOCAL PROFESSOR ARRESTED FOR VILLAINY. It wasn’t the only article written about my mom’s arrest, but this one, in particular, had framed it badly. All the evidence was circumstantial, but the tabloids acted like it was such a concrete thing, like the Hero League actually had proof that my mom committed those crimes—

I cut off the train of thought before it could go any further. Even after all these months, it made my heart pound with rage. I tried to take a deep breath, and my ribs ached in protest. “Yeah,” I said, not quite looking at Vale. “That would be why.”

“What, exactly, were you trying to accomplish here?”

Rage spiked through me, my powers threatening to burst out. I counted to ten in my head before I felt controlled enough to meet his eyes. “I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

He set the paper down, his full attention on me. “I want to understand your motives. Your mother was arrested for villainy, and you became a villain yourself because …?”

“Because she didn’t do it!” I snapped. “Amoret confessed to framing her—” I cut myself off and looked away, fists clenched. I said I wouldn’t explain myself.

“You don’t have any evidence of that, do you?” I swallowed, still not meeting his eyes. I was working on it. Vale let out a weary sigh. “Phantom, you’re clearly a very bright, driven, and powerful young man. What you lack, though, is perspective. You’re a wolf lowering yourself to the level of sheep.”

I laughed, and it came out sounding hysterical. Between the pain and the panic, my grip on the chair was the only thing keeping me standing. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that you are wasting your time.” His tone was clipped, matter-of-fact. “You could be doing so much more with yourself.”

The newspaper crinkled in my fist. “Like working for you?” I asked icily. The possibility of it made me feel ill. I only had a vague sense of what Vale did for a living, but I knew it was nothing I wanted to be a part of.

“Working under my guidance would be a much more productive use of your time than the petty villainy you’ve dedicated yourself to.”

I doubted it, but I didn’t doubt that he believed it, and that part scared me the most. I had to get the fuck out of here.

I bolted for the door. Before I could get far, his hand landed on my shoulder, and I froze. “Just where do you think you’re going?” His voice was almost casual, his fingers digging into my skin. “I know where you live, Phantom. I know where your friends live.” My breath froze in my chest. The door was right in front of me, but I didn’t dare move. “Ariel Becker, Danika Cameron … you wouldn’t want anything to happen to them, would you?”

I whipped around, and my fist slammed into his jaw. He grunted, staggered back—then his hand jabbed my side, and my ribs exploded in pain. I gasped and doubled over, and he yanked me up by my hoodie. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. The neutral expression on his face had evaporated, replaced with simmering rage. “If you ever do that again,” he said in a low, calm voice, “I will kill them, very slowly, and I will make you watch. Do you understand?”

My mouth went dry. I swallowed, my eyes darting away. “Yes,” I whispered.

He grabbed my jaw, forcing me to look back at him. “Yes, what?”

It took a moment for my brain to catch up, and another moment to push past the bitter taste in my mouth. “Yes, sir.”

I stumbled when he released me, my back hitting the door. I stayed there, trying to breathe through my aching ribs, and watched him dab the blood off his mouth with a handkerchief. Then he turned back to me. “Go back to your room. Think this through. You’re a smart boy, Phantom. I’m sure you’ll reach the right conclusion.”

Mechanically, I left the office. I could run, I thought. He’s not following me. He won’t expect it. I could run.

Then Vale’s words rang in my head again, cold and clear, and I decided to stop thinking.

I shut myself inside the room and sat down on the cot, reality settling over me like a heavy weight.

-

Title credits: Thank You For The Venom - My Chemical Romance

Tag list: let me know if you want to be tagged in future updates!

[watchtowerindistress]

the empath and the eldritch horror (2/5) - ben hargreeves x empath!reader

Summary: Haven't you heard? It's the end of the world. And what's a small wedding among friends and family? Oh, and Ben is really bad at being a functioning human being. And why does he keep looking at you like he can't decide between kissing and killing you. Wait, what?

Word count: 4.0k

Series masterlist

Warning: drunk!ben, language, angst, fluff (we've got everything!), mention of smut (not the way you think)

Author's note: Still feeling the muse, let's go!

This series was meant to be a three-parter, but while writing this I realized the third part was just the morning after 😅 So, I'm merging everything. Watched S3 after writing this. Just noticed Sloane actually made that dress herself, oops. 🥹 Eight is wearing the dress by Zuhair Murad on the right. For these events, Eight likes to cover her skin due to her powers making her feel sensitive. I figured if Allison can go all out, so can my character. It's the end of the world, what the heck. Please tell me you guys want to read my S4 fic when I start to work on that 🥹🤗 You know how it goes, comments and reblogs feed me.

“Hey, Y/N, where have you been?” The moment you heard Luther’s voice from a distance in the lobby, you turned your head to watch your brother walk arm in arm with Sloane towards you.

You winced at the reminder of the team meeting you had deliberately neglected to show up for. “Oh, I’m sorry. Luther. My body can’t handle the weird tension with Allison and Viktor. I’m all for easing tension, but I’m getting a migraine just being there. The last time I numbed myself was not a good week for me,” you explained, while realizing you were on a rambling roll when you were done.

“I understand. Listen-” Luther started.

“Luther and I just wanted to let you know,” Sloane snuggled deeper into his side before she gingerly raised her bejeweled hand, while pressing her lips together in a nervous but excited energy. “We’re getting married.”

It took you a few seconds to understand what your eyes were seeing. Your giggling eased the tightness in their bodies. “Oh my God. Congratulations, you two.” You had to stretch a bit on your tip toes to reach Luther’s gargantuan shoulders when you tried to hug them both simultaneously.

It was moments like this when you appreciated how Luther always gave the best hugs among your siblings when he squeezed you a tad tighter than you did. Still, no broken bones, no foul.

Lingering in their embrace, you felt like you could breathe again when you said, “I’m so happy for you, Luther. You guys deserve it.”

After finally letting go, Sloane offered you a grateful smile while rubbing the inside of Luther’s arm. “Thank you. It’s tonight, at 6 in the banquet hall. Black tie-” she said, listing off a mental checklist of important information.

“Which is in a few hours, so…” Luther added, chuckling excitedly.

You smiled, letting yourself be swept away by his infectious energy. “Can’t wait. Let me grab a dress real quick,” you replied, pointing with your thumb behind you and secretly hoping there will still some shops open. Or still standing.

Luther nodded in understanding. “Right, you do that. Gotta dash to my bachelor party. Can you believe I just said that?” He already walked a few steps when he stopped in his tracks.

“Forgot something.” With a surprising motion, Luther kissed Sloane, while lowering her into a dip and with such a passion like he didn’t need air. After that public display of affection, he rushed off with an adorable wave.

“You guys are sugary sweet. I feel like I could die just watching you,” you said with a dry tone.

Sloane’s cheeks were blushing when she staggered slightly. “He’s it for me.”

With arching eyebrows, you nodded. “I can see that. Now I gotta think about where to get a dress in the apocalypse.”

While following your steps, Sloane asked, “Do you mind if I catch one with you too?”

You chuckled at their spontaneously planned wedding. “Sure. Let’s make our own bachelorette party, huh? I’ll meet you here later, okay? I’ll be quick.”

“Let’s do that.”

Quickly, you rushed towards the elevator which transported you to the floor of where your hotel room was located.

As soon as you arrived on the floor, Ben’s voice jolted you from behind. “Nice of you to finally show up.”

“Oh God, don’t do that.”

Ben walked by your side as you tried to locate your hotel room. “I told you before, you need to work on your powers.”

“Don’t worry, I felt your cloud of pure bliss when I entered the elevator.” You learned very early on that appearing omnipotent to your surroundings didn’t generally put people at ease.

Ben forced a smile on his face. “You’re hilarious. Did you hear the news already?”

“Judging by your reaction, I can guess which one you meant. Or did another happy event occur which I should know about?” At last, you arrived at your destination when you opened the door to your room and unceremoniously tried to swing it shut behind you.

Ben frowned darkly when he caught it, following after you.

Your eyes wandered over to him, perplexed by his need to continue the conversation. Ben was truly baffling sometimes for calling himself a lone wolf who didn’t need people. Dramatically, you swung your arms around to invite him to your living space.

“Why don’t you enter? Have a seat? Get a drink while you’re at it?”

Almost like accepting the invitation, the mocking undertone ignored for the moment, Ben sat on your made bed. “I mean, getting married? What the hell?”

You grabbed a few clothes from the wardrobe before going into the bathroom to change into them, yet keeping the door slightly ajar.

Feeling like he was being ignored, Ben approached the adjoining wall connecting you. “The apocalypse is right at our door and we’re celebrating a damn wedding?”

“You mean the wedding of your sister? You have to relax with that ‘I can’t stop until I’m at the top’ mindset,” you grumbled in a low voice to imitate Ben’s. “Life doesn’t have to be about missions and constant success.”

“That doesn’t sound anything like me,” Ben grunted. His focus intensified when he heard your clothes rustle as you changed into them. He furrowed his brows, like his attentions focused on what you were doing. “Where are you going?”

“Kind of in a hurry. Going dress shopping with your sister.”

With pursed lips, Ben nodded unwittingly. “Nice to know someone is so damn likable. Having a bachelorette party?”

“It’s a two-way street with us. Sloane is a sweet one and maybe I’m just fun to be around. And it’s not that much of a bachelorette party but …”

Ben felt something soothing stroking his skin.

“Why don’t you just talk to Luther?”

He snorted, crossing his arms. “What makes you think I care about a stupid bachelor party?”

You stepped out of the bathroom after you had changed into looser clothing to adapt to the Kugelblitz absorbing everything around it and with the world going literally up in flames.

“There’s no need to pretend with me, Ben. Maybe you shouldn’t spend time with the person who can feel everything you’re feeling.” You chose to remind him of that little tidbit since he seemed to want to linger within his blissful ignorance. It felt strange that Ben felt safe in confiding in you when he didn’t even like people.

“Luther is just a guy who wants to enjoy his wedding and wants to spend time with the people who care about him.” You implored vehemently, facing Ben again.

With a sarcastic air, Ben scoffed. “So sorry to disappoint that I’m nothing like your precious Ben.”

“You think you’re nothing like him? Sure, you’re way more eager to please daddy dearest. And there’s such a-” Your hands strained around his head in frustration while grunting. Sometimes, Ben’s whole aura compelled you to choke him or at least shake him profusely until some sense would barge into his head. “Dark cloud of wrath surrounding you, it’s insane.”

“You can fool anyone, your family or anyone else. That you don’t want anyone to see that you have goodness inside you. But here’s the thing: it doesn’t matter who you’re not.” You exhaled heavily.

“You’re Ben Hargreeves from the Sparrow Academy. Or what’s left of it. And I’m here for this Ben. I might want to get to know this guy.” You smiled endearingly, knowing that getting to a stubborn Ben Hargreeves proved harder than you’d expect.

Ben calmly stared at you. He pensively licked his lips before quietly admitting with a hoarse voice, “Stop making me like you.”

You tilted your head, smiling softly. “Why is that such a bad thing?”

“Because I don’t need-” Ben pointed between you and him. “This.”

Well, great. You were dealing with an emotionally stunted Sparrow.

“People are literally dying. Either do something about wanting to be a part of something or don’t.”

Ben shook his head, steeling himself. “Maybe you should work on those powers of yours. You think you know me so well, huh? Because you have no idea who I am.”

His solitude was all-encompassing. How alone he truly felt. After some time you could understand how it could deceive you into feeling like it was a comforting blanket.

“I know you’re the guy who needs people at his side. I know I haven’t said it before, but … I’m sorry about Fei and … you know, Christopher.” Although that grief wasn’t as profound, you could sense that on some level Ben cared. At least, Fei had something fascinating about her even if she tried to kill you with her crow powers.

At the memento of his family’s death or absorption into the black hole, Ben’s features darkened. “Don’t. Don’t pretend to care.”

“Sorry to disappoint then. This is all I can offer.” You shrugged. “Someone has to say it. You know, if someone hasn’t yet.”

Ben leaned forward until you could admire how utterly black his eyes looked. His wrath was wafting in dark smoke around his figure. “What makes you think I care about what you have to say?”

You felt so drained. “Then wh- You know what? Fine. End of the world and all that.” You twirled your finger in the air. “Do what you want.” Your hands made a cutting gesture. “I get to decide how I spend my energy. Just close the door behind you. And, just so you know, I’ll know when you steal something.”

You pointed at Ben threateningly before closing the door behind you.

Ben’s voice reverberated through the threshold. “Why would I steal your stuff?”

You leaned back in the chair, enjoying the taste of champagne in your mouth with the sensation of luxury. “You know, this is actually really nice,” you called out, trying to reach Sloane while she was changing into her dream dress.

You stretched out your legs, trying to relax. “Just us girls, having fun together. No baggage. No worries.” At the memory of impending doom, your eyes widened. “For now at least.”

Standing in the corner of the wedding store, Lila was curiously browsing through the clothes hangers and continued for you, “No annoying boyfriends.”

Through the curtain, Sloane added, “Nothing else to do but try out these gorgeous dresses.” With that, she stepped outside in a high-collared wedding dress.

Seeing her in all her glory, Lila and you hollered in delight.

“You look hot.” Lila draped her leg over your armrest to reach over and pop a small cupcake into her mouth in one go.

You merely raised your glass in silent agreement.

Sloane admired herself in the mirror while swishing with her dress. Disappointment laced her voice when she mused, “Allison could’ve been here.”

“I mean, I could’ve truly convinced her if I wanted her to and make her have fun, but that’s like half the fun.” You poured more liquid into your flute. “Allison wants to hold on to that anger of hers, fine. And just so you know,” you paused. With your glass hanging in the air, you couldn’t help saying out loud, “I’m tired. I don’t have the energy for it.”

“I could have tried my hand at that,” Lila retorted confidently.

You eyed her dubiously. “Are you sure about that?”

Lila shrugged, exhaling. “You’re probably right. Don’t think I want to get inside Allison’s head.” Her body shuddered at the thought of copying your empathetic power before her mood switched when she patted your leg. “Gotta rush to the loo real quick.”

You chuckled deeply. “Your cupcakes will still remain here,” you promised wholeheartedly.

Silently, Lila pointed a finger in warning at you. You merely observed her retreating form with knowing eyes.

Sloane continued watching herself in the mirror when she bit her lip while brushing the garment. You cleared your throat when you felt the stroking happening under the skin again.

“Something you want to ask me?” Your eyes met Sloane’s through the reflection.

“Have you talked to Ben yet?”

You chuckled at the mention of her brother, groaning loudly. “Did I tell you I’m tired already?”

Sloane smiled ruefully. “He took up all your energy?” The following heavy sigh perfectly encapsulated how it felt like to describe someone like him. “Ben, he’s, I think he has so much potential to be something more.”

Silently, you raised your eyebrows before adding, “Are you trying to tell me something I don’t already know?”

“He seems different around you.”

“You mean more intense? Are you trying rationalize him?”

Sloane chuckled while shaking her head. “I think you terrify him.”

“Thank you. That’s the biggest compliment anyone has ever given me,” you said sarcastically before emptying your glass. “You know, I’m over my bad boy phase.”

Excitedly, Sloane turned to gaze directly at you. “Wait, so you’re saying you’re into my brother?”

You shook your head vehemently at the mere insinuation while groaning. Not opening that can of worms.

“Ugh, nope, no. Not doing that. I’m not talking about your brother while you’re looking like a million bucks. Besides, today is about you.” You stood up with a coy smile, waving your hand at the mirage that was Sloane’s body.

“Damn right, it is.” Lila magically appeared to agree. “Are we coming to a decision?”

A sigh of deep regret exhaled from Sloane’s lips. “I think it’s going to be dress number one. What can I say? I liked trying on all these dresses.” She gushed while eyeing Lila and you. “And the company.”

“Aren’t you a doll,” Lila replied softly.

“Yes, Luther and you really deserve each other.”

You were wearing your long-sleeved golden dress when you entered the banquet hall. Despite the time crunch, everything was set up quite beautifully. With the lighting making everything appear almost intimately. You were getting some prom vibes with the balloons and the retro flair, but you didn’t feel like judging them for the quick setting up.

Luther joined you near the entrance, smiling warmly. “Fashionably late?”

You shrugged shyly. “As always.”

“How are you feeling?” Like when you were still kids, Luther patted your hair soothingly, making you feel all warm inside. Knowing how overwhelmed you could get with big events, or as big as they could get with the Kugelblitz absorbing people.

“Don’t worry, I’d prefer a wedding over a funeral.” You smiled warmly, staring up at him with pride. “Look at you, big guy. Can’t believe you’re getting hitched,” you said, playfully nudging his shoulder with your knuckles.

You felt the stirring sensation again. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Ben standing in the distance with Allison, sending you an inscrutable expression. Not exactly a scowl on his face, but still something dark remained while he was leaning with his crossed arms against the wall.

Luther’s positive energy pulled you back. He shared a beaming smile at you. “It’s really happening, huh,” he mused, burying his gloved hands in his trouser pockets. “Sloane told me you went dress shopping with her. I really appreciate you taking the time to get to know her.”

“Well, kinda already did that almost a week ago.” After seeing Luther’s blank expression, you continued, “When we were abducted?”

“Right. Feels so long ago.”

“At least our little get-together with Sloane was kinda fun. A small reprieve from the chaotic mess of everything.”

Luther nodded. “I feel you.” He was getting all jittery before he even said the next part. “God, I can’t wait to be married. I’ll see you outside.”

After a very emotional wedding ceremony—also because of Klaus’ flamboyant theatrics—Luther and Sloane were finally husband and wife. Watching them bask in their wedding dance was slowly getting to your sentimental vibes, you realized. Wanting them to have their moment, you joined the table of Klaus and Ben with your cocktail.

“… ridiculously easy to love,” Klaus finished with a fond presence.

“Am I interrupting a heartfelt moment?” You softly asked before filling the seat at Klaus’ side and taking a hearty gulp.

“Beautiful Y/N, join us! We’re reminiscing.” Klaus gushed with absolute joy, throwing his arms around your middle. With a quiet murmur, he whispered to himself, “I think that’s the word. Oh, dad’s holding a speech.” Klaus jumped from his seat.

“Did you know our Y/N loves seafood?” Klaus whispered like he was sharing a secret with Ben. His gaze switched over to yours. “Be a dear and keep sullen Ben company,” he said before sauntering away without a care in the world.

Blinking slowly, Ben’s words were uttered just as slowly. Like choosing them carefully. “Your dress is really … golden.”

“Wow.” You nodded to yourself, with a smile. “And you’re very drunk.”

Ben’s gaze wandered around. “Everyone’s leaving. Even Sloane prefers that big walking ape.”

“She’s not leaving. Your sister just found something else she liked more.”

“You mean liked doing more,” Ben mumbled tauntingly.

You had to restrain from barfing at the idea of your brother having sex. As much as a drunk Ben was kinda hilarious. “Oh, that’s gross, Ben,” you said, trying to stop yourself from laughing.

A solemn sigh exhaled from your lips. “You didn’t ask Luther, did you?” You asked knowingly.

Ben’s shoulders almost appeared too heavy for him to lift when he shrugged them carelessly. “I don’t get an invite and dad just gets to show up to this wedding. What does it matter?”

Ben mindlessly fiddled with the small straw in his drink. The speeches were over for now and people started mingling on the dance floor.

“I think it does to you. How people see you. To be liked. Makes you endearing in a way. We all just want to be accepted for who we are.”

Ben supported his chin with his hand in a casual manner, or at least tried to, when he missed it by a few inches. Instead, he held up the side of his head with his whole palm while observing you through bleary eyes.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” He mumbled quietly.

It was moments like these when Ben revealed stuff like this which broke your heart. “Are you not used to this experience?”

“I don’t understand you,” he mumbled. “Sometimes you make it really hard not to like you.”

Inwardly, you felt bliss fill you up at the unexpected compliment coming from someone like him. Even if that little confession delighted you, your concern for his inebriated state was higher.

“Easy there, buckaroo. Maybe you should have more shrimps. Or at least some bread,” you advised, sliding over a glass filled with grissini. “Someone is quite a talker when they’re drunk, huh?”

“Someone cares about my well-being.” With a sing-song voice, Ben taunted and smirked cheekily.

You smiled wistfully, almost bittersweetly. “You know what I think?” You paused, intuitively envisioning a possible future scenario. “I tell you how tonight’s gonna go down. You’ll have fun, lose all your inhibitions. Because you didn’t have to try so hard to be number one. Or be the best at everything.”

Speaking slowly, you added, “Tomorrow, you’re going to wake up, with all your guards up again. No longer chummy with the people around you. And a part of you is going to regret ever being this real version of yourself. All adorable and sweet.”

Ben chuckled suavely. “You calling me sweet? You know what I think?” He took up the empty seat of Klaus, almost toppling over with the effort. “You’re secretly into me.”

You rolled your eyes at Ben’s ability to feed his own ego. With a satisfied smile, you turned it back on him. “And you actually like that thought.”

“Oh, you think you’re so smart.”

“Whoa, déjà vu.”

“Okay, then tell me what I want.” Ben smirked confidently, waving to himself.

“It’s been a long time since someone dared me for a party favor.” Trying to keep him in suspense for a bit longer, you bit your lip and tilted your head in mock speculation. But then you whispered conspiratorially, “You want me to dance with you, Ben Hargreeves.”

Blowing air through his mouth, Ben groaned. “That’s what you think? Is this how you get guys—with that little technique?” He twirled his finger in your direction.

You arched your eyebrows. “Then tell me I’m wrong.”

He snorted. “I’m not falling for that trick.”

“Maybe. But now I’m in your head, Hargreeves,” you sang tauntingly before laughter sprang free. “Come on, it’s just one night to let loose.”

You stood up, beckoning him closer while walking backwards towards the dance floor. “I promise, tomorrow you can pretend to be the asshole again. Just have some fun for a night.”

“We can’t all be Little Miss Sunshine.”

You snorted loudly at that description. If anything, as an Empath, you were almost an antithesis to the preconceived notion of an all-caring and always-happy disposition.

“Only you would think that. Come on, Benny-boo. Show me those dance moves of yours.”

“You’re a bad influence,” he mumbled before he gobbled down another shrimp. Ben reached for you and energetically spun you in a circle until your fingers held onto his chest for stability.

“Stop calling me by that name,” he whispered, only for your ears to hear.

You let go of Ben, sending him a smoldering gaze over your shoulder. “Why don’t you make me?” You mocked, strolling over to the bride to dance with her and watched as he joined the fray reluctantly, but no less swayed.

“You owe me,” he mouthed.

In the end, you chose to ignore his little warning by teasingly shrugging your shoulders. “I can’t hear you.”

One hangover later … for Ben

“Did someone ever tell you, you look cute when you’re trying to fall asleep in an upright position?”

You watched in fascination how your words jolted Ben awake while he was leaning against the elevator wall, with his shirt pulled halfway down his muscled torso.

“Excellent workout routine, by the way.” You felt obliged to mention.

Ben grunted, rubbing his cheeks to awaken his senses even more. At the hint, he pulled his shirt down the rest of the way. “Why is Karma coming after me so hard?”

You stepped inside the elevator and pressed the button for the lobby for show, since Ben didn’t even select a button when he entered.

“It’s not Karma, Ben. It’s a literal hangover.”

Feeling a heated stare linger on you, your eyes met Ben’s whose blinking eyes tried to focus on you. With his arms crossed, his shoulder leaned against the other wall. “Then why do you look so pretty?”

You teasingly nudged his shoulder. “Aww, Ben Hargreeves, what a charmer. My body works in mysterious ways.”

Comfortable silence hung in the air the longer the elevator traveled to its intended destination.

“You know, your brother is a dick.” Finally, Ben decided to end the quiet.

You pursed your lips when several people who fitted that description entered your mind. Especially with a wedding in the past and many lowered inhibitions.

“Uh… which one are we talking about? You’re checking a lot of boxes right now.”

“Klaus,” Ben enunciated with every fiber of his being.

You nodded, comprehending their cautious bond. During the previous night, Klaus and Ben proved to be the tightest of bosom buddies. The fallout was unfortunate. Ben didn’t have a lot of people in his life. Most of your family would rather label him as Not-Ben in their heads instead of getting to know him as his own person.

So, yes, your family could be dicks sometimes.

“Well, he’s trying. The former Ben and him were like the closest for years.” You recalled fondly. Deciding to cheer Ben up a bit, you remarked playfully, “Judging by last night, you two were up to some wild shenanigans.”

Ben reached for your arm. “Wait. What happened last night?”

Chuckling, you shook your head. Almost impressed with last night’s Ben. “You were something else last night. I mean, you were just showing off with your tentacles. They were like really touch-starved. How are they even feeling after that spectacle?”

“Come again?”

The doors opened before you could divulge more. “Uh, you might want to check your shirt again. It’s still backwards. See you at the breakfast buffet.”

“This conversation isn’t over.” Ben exclaimed with great ardor before the doors shut again.

Tagging: @cherryinsalemverse @mellowstatesmanhandsempath @ravenmoore14 @blackmagicwoman @lelaamela

[lamamasjamas]

A/n: I made angst and depression on top of the ask oops (Anon is from my side blog which has now been "deactivated")

Warnings: Dub-con smut (Reader is not in a good mental state), heavy angst, he's so sexy grandpa, short drabble, mentions of addiction/drug use as well as withdrawals, Manipulative Joel, dark fic!!

"Don't."

Tess turns at his sharp tone and eyes him. Joel glances at the whites of her eyes from his peripherals. She looks up, her pupils pointed to the sky, her tongue pressing against the side of her cheek in mock annoyance.

"Why not?"

He stares off into the distance with his shoulders tense and his arms crossed in contemplation. The QZ was always an option to him and Tess. They could come and go as they pleased, they could leave if they wanted, together, maybe even make things work between them once and for all.

"She likes you, always has," Tess mentions referring to the addict that keeps coming back to him.

They had met years ago, barely twenty-two, already asking for some drugs, any drugs that could take away the images in her head, the thoughts that kept her up at night and made her afraid of herself.

She quickly became addicted to Joel as much as the stuff that he gave her. He likes that she keeps coming back to him like a dependency. He would never admit that to anyone though.

"You like her too, so what's the big deal?"

He sniffs, shaking his head in disbelief.

"She's young, she doesn't know what she likes, what she wants-"

"She's thirty-three, Joel."

He finally turns to her and gives her a look. She sighs. Convincing Joel of anything seemed to be completely useless at this point. With age, his stubbornness only increased. Most of the time she had found the appeal to it, the fun and lust for the thick headedness of his actions.

But she's tired and frankly, with her own age, the original spark had gone dull.

"You'd rather she be with some other fuck in the QZ?"

She knew where to hit him, where his anger would rise the most. Joel was always jealous, ever since they met. When Tess had been able to get in contact with someone over the radio named Frank, he felt acid in his veins.

Good thing Frank wasn't interested in her, not in the way he originally thought.

He scowls.

"Oh c'mon Joel, you've fucked her before, haven't you? It will be fun, I'm sure she'll want to do it again."

He stays quiet, she pushes on his shoulder lightly, starting to chuckle.

"Just open your palm and she'll come running like a little‐"

"Don't‐," he sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, turning back and stepping down from the small hill that overlooks the fallen jagged cityline.

"She doesn't deserve to be spoken about like that," he mumbles, as if he had more morality than her.

Tess hums, wanting nothing more than to have finished her sentence, aching to remind him of how much you were already wrapped around his finger. In some sense you really were, judging by your raspy moans and heady breaths a month ago, the last time Joel had seen you and coincidentally the night he had told you to stop seeking him out.

"Such a Gentlemen. See? You won't have to try so hard."

He gives her another look.

"We need this, then we might be able to get out of this place."

...

Withdrawals were a pain in the ass. Some moments you shake, having to hide your hand behind your back, biting your lip so hard it made you bleed, just so that officers wouldn't shoot you at the slightest twitch of a hand.

Other times you feel fine, your mind numb, cloudy but not enough to incapacitate you from your work. The worst is when your home, when you can't distract yourself with the flames and foul smell of rotting or burning flesh.

Being stationed in charge of the disposal of all of the infected bodies came with needs, and those needs could only be fulfilled by Joel Miller. The man who had left you to fend for yourself and deal with your sudden loss of drugs and supply.

You hated Joel, hated the way he made you believe he had actually cared about you. It's been a month, no pills, no nothing, only you and your thoughts.

Now you lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, your body covered in sweat and itching with discomfort. There's a knock at your door, the same one he had told you would signify his arrival.

Now you were hallucinating, thinking of the damn bastard that had left you feeling sick and deprived. Your mind was numb, your body needing something, something to make your skin sing, your veins to sting with pleasure even if for just a moment.

You think of his hands and the door knocks again. Your own fingertips travel down to your breast, pinching your budding nipple through the fabric of your ssweater. You hear your name, out from his own lips and calling for you in his voice.

A shiver rolls down your spine. Your hands slip down your stomach and towards your folds, spreading your legs, imagining his head between them, kissing up your thigh, commenting on how the taste of your pussy was enough compensation for the ache of his knees and back.

The dip of your fingers wasn't enough, your brows furrow, they weren't as thick as you wanted, the way it should be.

"Open. It's me."

The door shakes with another bout of banging. You almost fall to the floor. Your eyes start to water and your heart races. For a few moments, he hears you shuffle around, cursing under your breath and ultimately breathing in deeply.

You open the door, and his eyes soften, just a little. Enough for you to see the slight guilt and especially enough for you to feel the pity he had for you.

"What do you want?"

His eyes rake over your form, you wore nothing but a tattered sweater, the one he had given you and that he found while scavenging outside the QZ.

Your voice was weak, you pull your sleeves over your fingers, bitten raw and meaty. In your mind, you had yelled at him, screamed and pushed him by the chest to show your anger, frustration and betrayal.

Your hands start to shake as he makes his way inside, his eyes giving you a once over at the blank look you had. He sits at the edge of your bed. His face was stoic, still stern. He looked as though he didn't bring himself to your apartment, as if you were making him sit his ass down to tend to his wounds like all of the other times.

"C'mere."

You don't move, your skin starts to itch, anxiety builds in your stomach. His mouth barely opened; he grits his teeth as he repeats his command.

Seeing you like this made him angry. Your eyes were sunken in, your body looking sickly and frail. You weren't taking care of yourself, and it was all his fault.

You move forward and his hands wound around your waist to help you straddle his hips. Your hands instinctively move towards the breast pockets of his flannel, he slaps them away.

"I need something."

You ignore him, now clawing at his jean pocket, looking for a little reused baggy of baby blue or white pills. He takes your wrists and holds them so tight you flinch.

"Listen to me."

He was like a snake, moving his head languidly in front of your face until you had finally given him eye contact. For a few moments you scowl, your eyes were clear in their anger.

He felt you. The real you. Then you looked down submissively, attempting to keep still against him, despite the way your body shook in tremors.

God, he ruined you. He shifts his thigh, pushing you slightly back so that you weren't as flush against his chest. Your legs split between his leg as he adjusts on your bed.

Your breath hitches when your cunt spreads against the rough denim of his jeans. He watches as you lick your lips, he feels the way you dampen the fabric underneath you.

He stares at your lips, remembering the time he made you swallow down a pill with his cum still held in your tongue. His eyes soften and his palm meets the sweaty, hot skin of your cheek.

His thumb pushes in, he can't help it. You suck automatically, expecting there to be sweet chalky dust littered on his fingertips.

"Need you to do me a favor..."

Your eyes tear up and you suck harder, your hips starting to twitch back and forth.

"Have some friends working for Robert, yeah?"

You don't respond, he already knows. You feel a pit of anger build in your lower stomach; you pull yourself away, but he keeps your hips in place.

His thigh bounces up against you and his finger pops out of your mouth to grip your chin. He looks down at you softly, his eyes trailing down to your lips before leaning down to devour them.

His hand cups the back of your neck and his thumb tilts your head up. His lips move against yours hungrily, his tongue traveling further as you moan as his other wandering hand massaging into the side of your breast.

He breaks the kiss slightly, thick spit trailing over your lips as he kneads your body and flexes his thigh. His eyes search over your face as you start to roll your hips and your eyes flutter closed.

"C'mon baby... I'll give you what you want if you just tell me."

You swallow thickly and lick your lips. His hand lowers between your legs, a knuckle brushing against your cunt and circling over your clit, glossy with your slick and pulsing in time with each grind of your hips on his thigh.

His lips trail down your neck as you nod slightly.

"Y-yeah..." you trail off, only speaking with an exhale.

Your hands reach the back of his head as he bites down on your shoulder, humming as you finally answered his question. He looks up at you from there, tilting his head up to nuzzle his nose under your chin.

He helps you shift closer to him, your eyes closing tightly and your lips pursing as you contained your moans of relief and pleasure at his touch and the sudden closeness of another body against yours.

"Heard they found a battery..."

You nod and lean down to kiss him again, a whine escaping your lips as he tilts his head to the side and you inevitably miss.

"Joel-"

"Know where it is, honey?"

The slightest flinch of your brow, the question developing in your head and showing through your eyes made him hesitate. He kisses you again and you're distracted.

Minutes later he has your pussy squelching, your neck and jaw covered in love bites and your hips bruised with his grip. Your back meets his chest as your hips work over his thigh.

His fingers were furiously swirling over your clit, his other hand holding your neck steady as he mouthed over your neck.

Your body shakes and he feels the way your cunt pulses in orgasm. A garbled moan escapes past your lips and you feel the way his chest rumbles in a chuckle.

Joel's mouth doesn't stop, his lips start to suck harshly against your skin, making it bruise tender, your skin resulting in raised bumps.

You realize, as he tightens his hands on you and shakes himself, that he missed the feeling.

"Fireflies," you mumble against his chest. Your body was laid on the covers, his laying on his side beside you. His hands caress over your neck, he nods and sighs in what you think is relief.

A couple minutes later he sits up, your eyes close and you feel the cold brush through your body again. The tremors come back and the twitch of your fingers towards him were weak.

He leaves something on the bedside table, you hear the shuffling of his jeans and a wet cloth against your swollen cunt. It almost feels as if you were on the precipice of sleep.

You feel lips on your forehead, the wetness of them leaves an uncomfortable feeling on your skin. The door opens and closes softly.

As you lay on the mattress, finding that he hadn't even left his scent behind on your pillowcases, you realize something else. You stare at the baggy full of pills, a little more packed than the usual he would give you.

He's gone and he used you one last time.

A/n: Fun fact, I was listening to Fog as a Bullet by The Marias...but I don't think anyone cares anyway :)))

[pardi-real]

Tarot of Destiny / Chapter 8 - The One Who Changed Me

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Warning: skip Haures too if you want to avoid episode 2 spoiler

After Boschi left, I kept an eye on the door he exited from, but... 

the next butler didn't seem to appear.

> “Did something happen…?”

Ammon: "What happened? My lord."

> “Woah!?”

At that moment, suddenly I could hear Ammon's voice right behind my neck.

Ammon: "Ahaha ♪ Did you think I was coming in from that door? Oh, sorry about that.  I was in the mood for the opposite door. Didn't mean to startle you~."

> (Definitely a lie...)

Ammon: "Ah, you're making a 'definitely a lie' face, right?  As expected of my lord! You understand me so well~.  If that's the case... you probably already know my feelings without me having to say it, but... well, it's to help you, so. Let me lend a hand. 

Aight, here's the tarot card I got. 'The Moon' in the ‘upright position’... Seems to indicate 'weakness of the heart' or 'uncertainty and doubt.' 

Good grief… I know that already even without the tarot saying it. It's clear as day if you look at the scars on my back."

> “The scars on your back…”

Ammon: "Yeah. My lord, you already know about it, right? 

These scars... I self-inflicted it as a punishment whenever I couldn't forgive myself. Speaking of which... I haven't properly told you until now... 

but it was two years ago... when you first arrived in this world... We went shopping together with you and Muu, and got kidnapped by the residents, right?"

> “That's right”

Ammon: "At that time, I felt so pathetic… ……In a place where nobody could see... I whipped myself on the back that night."

> “............”

Ammon: "Oops... even if I say such things, it's hard to respond, right? However... looking back now... perhaps because of that day... I'm here today, I think. 

As I spent time with my lord... I was increasingly drawn to your charms... Every time those feelings grew stronger,  I remembered that day... and I promised myself that it wouldn't happen again. I wanted to become stronger. 

Before you came, I wasn't really serious about training~.  Of course, I did the bare minimum, but I didn't have the feeling of genuinely wanting to become stronger. 

I've always been just a florist...  my body isn't large, and I'm not suited for combat. No matter how hard I tried... I thought I could never win against Mr. Haures and the likes. So, I felt it was pointless to strive and struggle. 

But after meeting you, and truly desiring to become stronger... I started to feel that my previous self... was really uncool.  Making excuses all the time... it's so lame... What a lame way to live... That won't do to be my lord's butler, will it?

So... now I've completely changed my way of thinking... I've discarded the lame way of comparing myself to others. I'm just gonna do my best at my own pace! 

Now that I've started training seriously... It's surprisingly fulfilling. Look, ain't my arms a bit thicker? Well, maybe not much different. But there's no rush. The changes in the heart will surely reflect in the body later. 

It's all thanks to my lord. Thank you for changing me.  Just as you changed me... someday, I'll change you too, in my own way*."

> “Wh-what do you mean?”

Ammon: "Heheh. Asking that is awkward, you know. Anyway, I've said what I wanted to... I'll call Mr. Haures for the next one.  Until then, dab that sweat off your forehead ♪"

> “Ammon, you little…”

As Ammon left with a mischievous smile... I wiped my heated face with a handkerchief.

~ A while later ~

Clack… clack… 

Haures: "My lord. Sorry for the wait. It's my turn now, but...  Oh? My lord. Isn't your face a bit red?"

> “I-I guess?”

Haures: "Phew… I don't know what Ammon said earlier, but if he doesn't fully trust someone… he won't joke around. So, please cut him some slack.  However… if it goes too far, let me know. I'll give him proper guidance."

> "U-Understood."

Haures: "Now then… it's my turn next, isn't it?  As mentioned before… my card is the 'reversed position' 'Justice'. 'Judging others harshly'… Truly a card that represents me well. 

This negative aspect went out of control during... my demonization. Those nobles who are so full of their position, that they took away the people I hold dear to secure it… I genuinely wanted to pass judgment on them from the bottom of my heart.

If at that time… you hadn't stopped me… I would have forever… never have returned to being the 'kind brother' Tricia loved. Thanks to you, I could recall Tricia's words. You reminded me of how I should live.

As this card suggests, there might indeed be negative aspects within me… but there are still people who will guide someone like me back onto the right path…

Thanks to the tarot card, I've reflected on myself… ……I'm truly, truly grateful. Thank you very much, my lord."

> "Haures…"

In front of me, Haures deeply bows his head. Watching his gesture, I keenly sense his gratitude… feeling that I've been of help to him… I also become emotional.

~ A little while later ~

Horse sound: "Neighhh!"

Fennesz: "Oh. A horse sounds from outside the temple…"

Boschi: "Ah, looks like the ride's here."

Ammon: "Right. It's about time for them to head to the next place."

Haures: "There are three remaining temples… My lord, I know it may be a lot of work, but… please consider the feelings of the other butlers too… Please accept their thoughts just like you have with us."

> "Of course, I understand"

Click

Nac: "My lord. I'm here to pick you up. Please get on my horse. I'll lead the way to the 'Fire Temple' from here.”

note: “I'll change you in my own way” is written literally as “I’ll dye you in my color”, but the phrase can actually mean “I'll make you mine/I'll make you fall for me”

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[ceoofmetagala]

How's flora nowadays

3 awnsers since I haven't quite decided where in there current OC timeline I decided to make my official normal point so hermm... I'm leaning to 1 but 2 is funny. Look at these babies.(Valerie and audery( how can I tell them they need to wait to exist....

1. No Valerie or Audrey born yet so post fl time somewhere approximately

- very out of it.,(like they daydream and space our)

- has to be physically constrained for him to not open a portal because to their own dream realm (normally by galacta)

-clingy to galacta knight

-really dislikes meta knight and looks at him really aggressively while he's talking to galacta (pre metagala btw I imagine.,)

- it often falls asleep and forgets to eat since it never really stayed awake or ate in the dream realm to conserve energy

- if he is awake they spend most of his time outside in flower fields or tending to a garden galacta told meta knight they should really get him if they wanted flora preoccupied

- he's not quite out of their dream world mindset and believes that is reality still, it hasn't been that long since they found them after all

- surprisingly one aspect he does go against the dream world is galactas gender. You would think he'd insit he's a girl but no. Floras doesn't gaf. Flora doesn't quite understand gender and just views it as "oh galacta got a new set of clothes neat"

- oh wait yeah so Mentioned theyre clingy to galacta but he does act flirty to him as well. Much to gks dismay who 1.has always viewed flora as a sibling like friend 2.what the fuck

He's pretty nice about and flora gets extremely confused but kinda goes what the hell did I do sosmthing wrong? what did I do ???

This is a bit minupltive on floras part but like. Floras isn't in the best mindset right now

Galacta has since just "broken up" with flora who is like???? What. What did I do..no seriously what the hell did I do and galactas reason was "we're better off as friends sorry I didn't tell u sooner oops" and flora kinda just goes okay. But did I do anything wrong. What did I do.

Flora wants a clear answer but galacta is unwilling to so just leaves it at that saying flora didn't really do anything, it's just galacta doesn't like him like that anymore LOL.

So yeah now that flora and galacta have "broken up" flora is mkre quiet and less clingy to galacta. He's trying to take it well but that was a small crack in his dream realm mindset so he thought maybe something is different. Maybe something is off. Just a maybe.

2. Current present time where I imagine my OCS most often? (Valerie and audery are alive so quite a bit in the future)

- has realized dream realm is fake. Not taking it qell

- this happened a lil bit after Valerie was born.

-he was freaking out and and panicking and trying desperately to repair the fantasy

-hes failing duh and he starts to just lock themselves away for some period of time before returning, paranoid as ever

- they thinkz everything ismt real right now

- no one is really sure how to help flora. Various attempt to keep them company, flora particularly dislikes: galacta, techno, blacknoise and meta. He has made better friends with some during this but he isntits it doesn't matter since no one is real. (Better friend club; Veri(not same situation but has the most experience with coping with mental illness))

- just really uncomtble being around Valerie and Audrey when he finds out about their existence.

-is debating if finding out this dream realm was a lie was a good thing or not and is unwilling at the moment to recover what was lost(memories post galacta gets sealed) which is understandable. That's more stress!!!!

- 👍

3. Valerie and audery are teens (yes I do use Valerie and Audrey as my measuring sticks)

- finally has accepted what reality is and doing a lot better.

- currently looking for mirri.

- yeah they're doing better now. Back to pre sealing gk flora but like a more mature one ig

- not entirely happy tho since it's dealing with everything ya know.

-new issue; he avoids sleeping. Atelast he eats regularly now!

Yeah👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 rip flora in number 2 hope you gett better soon🙏(they do get better but no too soon)

[librathefangirl]

i need to know about all of these fics NOW (no pressure take your time ofc ofc)

Wrath of a Captain

Moment of Rest (a Decade Too Late)

Hitmen!Demon bros AU

Galand exposes Meliodas' demon secret

How to Demon (Yes, Captain, This is Really Necessary)

Meliodas and the Kids AU #1

also never realized how silly i name my documents till now 😭😭😭‼️‼️‼️

Ahh hearing you excited about all these is making me excited to write them again (hoping to get back to writing more soon - october was a mess and a half :( but I have 2 whumptober fics that I almost finished that should maybe might be posted soon?)

Okay so...

Wrath of a Captain

Fun fact about this one is that it was one of (possibly the) first nnt fic ideas I wrote down when I first got into the fandom. Tho in what - 1-1,5 years? - I've still barely started writing it (oops). But not for lack of interest! I'm still excited about this one, I just haven't been able to specify the scenario enough to start writing (I keep getting distracted by other fic ideas lol).

To summarize the idea in three words: Protective Captain Meliodas.

And here's a rough summary I wrote for myself:

The Seven Deadly sins were a well-known force only fools would take lightly. Though faced with a captain that was small and short, and seemed the complete opposite of wrath itself, it was easy to underestimate him. But just because the captain didn't get angry, didn't mean he never got close. Especially if one were foolish enough to dare attack his team.

A Moment of Rest (a Decade Too Late)

This is a fic I started this summer and then kinda forgot about (oh the art of finishing a fic before moving on to the next one). It takes place after the Capital of the Dead arc and deals with the aftermath of Sins being split-up for 10 years from King's perspective. Now, I can't remember, if it originally was supposed to be "Meliodas was alone for 10 years" angst or "Meliodas was alone for 10 years and demons don't do well in isolation" angst, but it's probably gonna end up being the second one now. Which means the rest of the Sins, while not knowing Meliodas' full story, knows he is a demon and how these past 10 years would have affected him because of it.

Here's a little sneak peek:

The princess had already retired into the Boar Hat, while Ban had simply settled for grabbing Meliodas and sprawling out on the ground. He wasn’t sleeping. His ease was a facade at best. King knew that he too was plagued by these past ten years, and the guilt they brought. It had never been supposed to go this far… Meliodas seemed dazed. A state hopefully only brought forth by the lull of sleep slowly claiming him. He wasn’t quite asleep yet though. To an outsider he might have seemed to be, but King knew him better. His guard was still firmly up, although slowly but surely being picked apart by Ban’s hand repeatedly running through his hair. Meliodas was curled up tighter than he normally would, yet at the same time more relaxed than King had seen him since before they were framed. His head was neatly tucked on top of Ban’s chest. Ear over his heart, no doubt. He’d always had a particular fondness of that, their captain. Easily soothed by the beat of a heart – by the beat of their hearts at least.

Hitmen!Demon bros AU

Oooh this one. thiiiis one! I'm still mostly in the planning stage for this one, but I can't wait until I get to share the full thing with you all. Like the name suggests, it's a modern (possibly slight futuristic) AU where the DK raised his sons as hitmen. It's gonna be a multichapter fic (probably my longest wip yet) and there will be lots of demon bros angst!

Fun fact, while the I had thought about this AU a bit, I wasn't necessarily planning on writing it at first. Then my mind provided me with this super angsty demon bros scene and an awful chapter cliffhanger, and well, now I'm invested. I need to know how this story ends. (If this sounds familiar, I did mention this once before).

Anyway, I have written the first 300-something words, setting up the angst before a jump back in time, so here's a sneak peek:

Perhaps one of the most defining moments in Meliodas’ life happened on January 29th the year he was turning 26. The day Meliodas found himself on a rooftop staring down his own little brother, a raised gun in both their hands aimed at each other. The only sound was the falling rain as the world itself seemed to hold its breath waiting for who would make the first move. At that moment, Meliodas had thought he had known exactly how the day would end. He had known it in the calculating part of his mind that he never could quite shut off, and had felt it in his heart that seemed to break every time he saw his little brother. He had thought he knew what would happen. He had been wrong. Everybody has a choice, but sometimes it doesn’t matter what you chose.

Galand exposes Meliodas' demon secret

Now this one I've shared a bit about before - partly to complain about my (still going strong) habit of stopping my writing in the middle of a sentence. Sadly, I haven't really made any progress since then. Mostly because I can't remember where tf the story was supposed to go (did I even have a plan?? I found the story aka the snippet of writing in a school notebook I hadn't used for months, so who knows).

Anyway! What I do know is that Galand fucks everything up on purpose, and is the one to reveal Meliodas' demon secret to the rest of the Sins. How the story continues from there, well, I'll figure that out eventually. For now, the last part of the fic looks like this:

It had all started with a confrontation with one of the Ten Commandments. Galand of Truth. He hadn’t even seemed to be looking for a fight – not in that moment anyway – King had noticed. He’d just been there to stir up trouble. Always playing games as usual¸ Meliodas had said. Well, games or not, Galand really had caused trouble. The demon had been quick to pick up on the rest of the Seven Deadly Sins’ surprise that Meliodas seemed to know him personally, and then deduced...DEDUCED WHAT??

How to Demon (Yes, Captain, This is Really Necessary)

This is actually a request/fic idea I got from a reader on ao3. It's also mostly still in the planning stage, having taken a backseat to my Febuwhump fic. But the idea is basically Melin giving a lesson on demons to the Sins with the (reluctant) aid of Meliodas. Or in other words, Merlin is sick of being (almost) the only one who knows how to keep Mel alive and will make it everybody's probably whether they want to or not. It'll also take place in the same AU as The Heat of the Storm (which means more of my demon thermoregulation, yay! - oh, actually, sidenote: I'm working on a post about that hc).

So, we'll have random demon lore/headcanons/stuff, some humor, and, of course, angst (probably more angst than should come from this otherwise humorous idea).

Meliodas and the Kids AU #1

The first of (at least) three fics taking place in the Meliodas and the Kids AU (aka Meliodas Adopts the Sins). In this AU, instead of the Sins becoming knights together way down the line, Meliodas ends up adopting/taking them in as kids* over the years.

Now, I use the term kids loosely here since neither King nor Gowther will actually be kids in the normal sense. But Gowther will be on his own for the first time and also still new to the world, and King, well, I still got some ideas for his relationship with Mel (and also, he is still significantly younger than Mel, so I say he still counts as his kid).

This first fic will consist of six chapters (one for each "kid"), exploring how Meliodas ended up taking them all in, and the dynamics of this mismatched little family (mostly the kids relationships' with Mel).

(Also Elizabeth is probably gonna be dead-dead in this AU).

Here's a sneak peek from the first (Merlin's) chapter:

When you find yourself stuck in time, it’s good to set up some rules for yourself, unless you want to lose yourself to madness. Meliodas didn’t have the luxury for madness. Madness was not going to solve anything. He would still be stuck here, unaging and undying, without an end in sight. Submitting to madness would also be admitting that the only purpose his life had left was suffering. An eternity alone in the human realm as a punishment for his crimes against the Demon King. His father was a huge asshole, okay? Meliodas was not about to give him the satisfaction of watching him break. So, he made some rules. The most important one was: do not get attached. [some other stuff not included in this sneak peek] Do not get attached. It was simple and important – and Meliodas had broken the rule before he had even made it.

(also I love your wip titles XD and will definitely send an ask for some ramblings of your own - but that will have to wait, I've got an 8am lecture in less than 7 hours and need to get some sleep, so Imma put a to be continued on the wip talk for now)

WIP Tag/Ask Game!

[sassy-ahsoka-tano]

DADDY ISSUES - Part Eight: Attention

Character/Fandom: Elvis - Elvis (2022)

Prompt: You finally gather enough courage to speak your mind to Elvis and, oh boy, does he have the perfect solution for you. [ Fem!Reader ]

TW: overstim, i don't wanna ruin it but a vibrator...of sorts, elvis being kind of a dick again (oops)

Rating: M, so very M || Word Count: 4995

A/N: we all know how i feel about the PSA scene so this was very easy to write and i'm now depressed i haven't experienced this personally

Song Rec: attention - charlie puth

This is Part 8 of Daddy Issues. Find the rest of the series here!

[ masterlist | taglist ]

🦋 mila

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Over the next few weeks, you start to settle into a rhythm. You get unpacked and fully settled into your new room, which includes scouting out places that are going to quickly become your favorite restaurants and stores as well as finding ways to potentially make new friends in the area. You find out pretty quickly that you actually really enjoy living in Vegas. The constant nightlife and social buzz give a sense of energy and life to the city which you didn’t always feel back home in the LA neighborhood where you lived.

As for your arrangement with Elvis, things are moving, albeit slowly. After almost two months of more or less the same routine, you’re starting to get pretty bored with your role. It’s always the same. He sends a letter, which now consist of a only few lines where he tells you what time to meet him and any other instructions, like what to wear. There’s hardly anything additional that he ever asks you to do.

You go down each week at your scheduled time and the security guard, whose name is Stanley, lets you in without question. At first, all you had to do was flash the TCB ring. Now, you don't even need to do that. Stanely just knows you.

You make your way to Elvis’ dressing room, knock on the door, and when he opens it, you give him a blowjob. The next day, you receive a package outside of your room with new clothes or jewelry or other little random gifts. You’ve caught on quickly enough to realize that whenever you passingly mention something you want, it inevitably shows up outside of your door.

As long as it’s an object, that is. You’ve tried your best to be assertive, to ask for what you want, but you must not be asking correctly. Any comments or suggestions you’ve made about changing up your arrangement or going out to an adventure in public have been ignored or missed. While Elvis hasn’t said anything explicitly, he’s made it extremely clear that he doesn’t want your relationship to be public knowledge.

It's not that you aren’t grateful. Of course you are. You could never afford any of these lovely things without his financial support and you certainly don’t mind not working for KNBC. But with only meeting Elvis once a week, you found yourself with a lot of free time during the first month. That time was difficult to fill since you had no friends or connections in the area. You did a lot of reading, mostly magazines and books, to try and learn how to be a better sugar baby for him.

But, honestly, you’re bored to tears and you wonder how he could not be. Not to mention that he never pleases you or even asks you if you’re interested in it. You’re getting a bit irritated, to be honest.

Despite all those hardships and the boredom that permeates pretty much every moment of your existence here in Vegas, you have started to break out of your small, lonely circle. Thanks to Max, the stagehand you ran into several weeks ago, you’ve actually begun to do things outside in the city. Things other than Elvis. Not only is Max incredibly handsome, tall, and muscular, but he's also very sweet and respectful. By now, you figure that he must know why you’re here and what you’re actually doing in Elvis’ dressing room. But sweet, sweet Max never mentions it, so you don’t say anything in return.

You usually try to catch Max before or after your meetings with Elvis. Recently, you’ve even started going down a little earlier to see him before he has to get going on setting up all the instruments and props. Not only has Max helped keep you company, but he’s also introduced you to so many of his amazing friends, some of whom work at the International. Thanks to him, you’ve built a decent friend group out here in Vegas.

You’re currently reading a book on the couch in the living room and finishing up your home-cooked dinner when a familiar knock sounds on the door. You trudge over and open it to find a note taped to the outside, just under the peephole. Prying it off, you don’t even bother looking at the script on the outside. You know who it’s from and have a decent idea of what it’s going to say inside.

Princess, 7 p.m. in the blue dress I sent you last week. D

You scoff and crumple the note in your fingers, squeezing it with white knuckles before tossing it into the trash can. The clock reads six p.m. now, which means you barely even have enough time to get ready. Nevertheless, you still manage to get yourself prepped and into the blue dress just as Elvis asked, all before 6:45. Just as you’re about to leave, the telephone in your room rings.

“Hello?” you lift the phone to your ear.

“Y/N? It’s Trixie! I wanted to see how things are going?”

“Oh, Trix! This is actually not the best time. I’m sorry! In fact, I’m about to be late to meet him. Can I call you back later?”

“Oh…” you can’t miss the clear disappointment in Trixie’s voice.

It’s been several weeks since you last talked. You spent almost every night on the phone together after she left but, unfortunately, life has gotten in the way of your long-distance friendship as of late. You didn’t realize how much you were going to miss her when she left. But your new friend group has required a lot of attention and you just don’t have as much time to talk as before. One of Max’s friends in particular reminds you a lot of Trixie and although you’re more than happy to settle into your new friend group, you can feel yourself growing distant. Every time you talk on the phone, it almost hurts too much.

“Yeah, sure! No problem,” Trixie replies. “Have fun and be safe! I’ll talk to you later! Bye Foxie!”

“Bye!”

You click the phone down and rush out of the apartment. Stanley the security guard offers you his usual warm smile when you approach the side stage doors. You pause to chat with him for a few minutes, like you normally do, before he opens the door for you. You pad down the familiar hallway behind the stage, pausing outside of Elvis’ door. You check your wristwatch one more time before wrapping your knuckles, three times as always, on the door with a sigh. Per usual, Elvis opens it, half-dressed and seemingly ready for your meeting to move forward.

On the elevator ride down, you’d decided to bring up your displeasure with him. You’ve grown exceedingly tired of this relationship being so transactional, of pleasing him only to be left unattended to like a slave to his desires.

Elvis opens the door and you enter in silence. As soon as you hear the door click behind you, you speak up.

“Mr. Presley, could we…discuss something?” you ask, nervously and absentmindedly twirling the TCB ring around your knuckle.

You felt so much more confident when you were rehearsing your lines in your head on the elevator. But now, as you stand in front of Elvis and stare up into his sparkling blue eyes and that handsome, almost intimidatingly so, face, you feel your palms starting to grow sweaty and clammy.

“Course, princess. What’s up?”

He plops down into the same red velvet armchair that he usually sits in during your meetings. You step forward to stand in front of him and clear your throat before speaking. You hope that the following few moments of silence will somehow help you to gather more courage to share your true feelings.

“I was just wondering if we could…try something different? I know that you like our arrangements the way they are, but I have some ideas that I think would make our time together more interesting.”

A few moments of silence pass as his eyebrows furrow and you wait tensely for his response.

“You’re unhappy with the arrangement?”

“No. No, I-"

“Because if so, I’ll have no problem finding someone else to fill your place.”

“Excuse me,” you scoff, shaking your head. “That’s not what I said-”

“As I mentioned when I first suggested it to you, there are plenty of willing candi-”

“Stop!” you finally shout, holding your hands up toward him. Not only are you offended by his words, but you’re also frustrated that he insists on interrupting you as you try to speak. 

“I’m just tired of this,” you gesture to the space between you. “It’s transactional. Boring. We do the same damn thing every week and it’s only one time a week. That’s all. It’s monotonous and pointless. You can’t possibly be happy with this arrangement. I’m literally standing here offering to try something different, to do anything you ask, and you’re mocking me. Of course I’m grateful for what you’ve done. I’ve been grateful from the beginning and I’ve repeatedly told you so. But this isn’t what I signed up for.”

You momentarily can’t believe that the words have just slipped out of your mouth. Your heart slams in your chest and your pulse aches in your temples. You curl your arms over your chest as if that will slow it down. You can’t let him see how nervous you really are. You stand strong. His eyebrows raise and he nods slowly, his eyes holding onto yours firmly without budging. You stare back at him with every ounce of strength that you have.

“Alright, princess,” he says coldly. “What do you want?”

You take a deep breath. Ask and it’s yours. With a renewed sense of confidence, you put a voice to your feelings.

“I deserve to feel good, too. I always pleasure you, without fail, but you never pay any attention to me. You don’t even bother asking if I’m interested in it. I just want to be paid attention to. If you won’t do that, then this not a relationship at all. It’s a business transaction. I thought it was intended to be mutual. I’m just asking for some attention, that’s all.”

“I understand,” he says.

You shiver as a mischievous smirk spreads across his handsome face. He stands slowly, his eyes never wavering from yours until he turns around and walks toward a closet in the back left corner of the cluttered room. You watch him in silence, still clutching your fingers onto your crossed arms. He rummages in a drawer for a few moments before pulling something out.

He turns, holding a black velvet box that’s tied with a red ribbon. Your eyebrows furrow as he comes closer. You freeze when he lowers his head to whisper in your ear. Your eyelashes flutter as his cologne wafts into your nose, sweet and intoxicating.

“You wanna be pleasured?” he asks in a voice that’s almost angry, tinged with some venomous undertone that you can’t quite place. It scares you. “Sure thing, princess. Here.”

He gently thrusts the box against your stomach. You hesitate for a moment as you wonder what could be inside. Your fingers flutter with a desire to snatch the gift but your pounding heart tells you to wait.

“Take the box,” he hisses.

At his command, and out of fear, you reach up and close your fingers around the velvet, pulling it into your hands. Elvis leans back, still towering over you but giving you just enough room to breathe. Unraveling the ribbon and popping the box open, you reach into it with confusion. Your shaking fingers hook around the side of something lacy and you lift it from the box. Your eyebrows immediately furrow as you stare down at the exact same pair of deep red panties that you’d thrown across the stage at him during the 1956 concert at Russwood Park. You glance up at him and his expectant expression infuriates you.

“What is this?” you spit. “Are you expecting me to wear these? They’re almost twenty years old…”

“Y’ain’t very bright are ya darlin,” he starts.

“Excuse m-” you huff angrily but he interrupts you.

“These ain’t your panties. They’re the same kind, yeah, but I bought em just last weekend. And I had them specially made for ya. Go ahead. Put em on.”

You shake your head and examine them again. They do look almost brand new,  colorful and bright and clean.

“Whatcha waitin for, doll?” he asks, plopping back down into his chair. “Put. Them. On.”

“What? Here? Now?” you ask incredulously.

“You the one complaining bout how we ain’t interestin enough,” he points to the spot in between his spread legs and with a clenched jaw says, “Put the damn panties on. Slowly. Right here.”

With a sigh, you step forward into the space. This isn’t what you meant, but you decide to play along in case he’s taking you somewhere eventually. You throw the box onto the floor and place the panties on Elvis’ lap while you reach for the bottom of your dress. You slowly curl the fabric up with your fingers, gently tickling it against your skin. You keep your eyes locked onto Elvis. As you pull the dress up, you drag your fingernail up the front of your thigh.

Once the dress reaches the very top of your leg, you lift your foot and place it elegantly on Elvis’ knee. Carefully, you stick your fingers underneath the dress and curl your pointer finger around the band to your panties. You hold the dress up just far enough so he can watch what you’re doing as you start to slowly slide the panties from your thigh. You drag the fabric down and bend over as you pull at the band.

You bend your knee and hold it steady, hovering in the air, while you slip the panties off your toe. After you remove the fabric from your bent leg, it drops with ease down your straight one, pooling by your heel on the ground. You step backward as a smirking Elvis hooks his long, slender finger under the red panties and hands them over to you. You snatch them from his grasp and lean down, making sure that he has a perfect view of your breasts as you slide the fabric over one leg and then the other.

As you pull the fabric up over your ass, you turn your back to Elvis and glance at him over your shoulder. You lift the dress up ever so slightly and pull the fabric up and over your bum, securing it onto your hips. You freeze when you feel something hard contact your folds. 

You had noticed that the panties felt a little heavier than normal ones but you didn’t think twice about it. You just figured you were imagining it. But now as you stand half bent over and frozen as a statue before Elvis, you realize that there is definitely something hard stuffed into the pocket of the panties right below your pussy. You turn around and place your hands on your hips. His face twists into an almost sinister smirk. You scoff.

“What-”

“Don’t you worry your lil head bout it, princess,” he says, hopping up and zipping his jumpsuit all the way up to his chest.

He runs a few fingers through his hair as you try to process what the hell is going on. Before you can formulate a question, the familiar knock comes on the door to tell Elvis that it’s time to go onstage. He really likes to cut your interactions extremely close to his show times, another thing that’s begun to irritate the hell out of you.

“This isn’t what I meant!” you shout as he makes for the door.

You can’t help but shake your head and fold your arms over your chest. He turns back toward you.

“You doin a lot of complainin for somebody who relies on me.”

“I just spent our entire time tonight telling you how frustrated I am that I’m not getting any attention and all you do is have me put on a show for you in panties that I don’t even own and now you’re just gonna leave me again, unsatisfied and alone, like you always do!”

In two quick steps, he’s standing above you, his face so close to yours.

“Oh, am I?”

You feel yourself waver but steel your body the best you can. His fingers wrap firmly around your jaw, digging into your skin. You blink in shock at the discomfort but your heart skips a beat with the excitement of possibilities. He tilts your jaw so that he can whisper into your ear, his lips brushing against the skin. Your breath wavers shakily

“I wouldn’t worry bout that, princess,” he hisses. “You gonna get what y’asked for. If you’re patient. Now, I expect to see ya out there in the audience. That’s a command not a request. Am I understood?”

You clench your jaw, refusing to play his game. He squeezes your jaw harder.

“Am. I. Understood?”

“Yes, Mr. Presley,” you respond begrudgingly, although your whole body is vibrating.

And with that, he releases your face and flies out the door, slamming it behind him. 

You curl your fingers into fists by your sides and release a few heated breaths from your nostrils as you stare at the door. Your heart is beating quickly and you close your eyes as you release a final slow breath to get ahold of your emotions. Then you grasp onto the door handle and fling it open. You huff and readjust your hair and dress before you catch Jerry’s gaze. He smiles and approaches you. You immediately feel your anger dissolve.

“So, how are things going?” he asks with raised eyebrows.

“Fine, I guess,” you reply bluntly.

“Is…something wrong?”

You shake your head.

“No, nothing. We just had a little bit of a misunderstanding about our arrangement, that’s all. We’re resolving it.”

“Hey, Y/N, listen,” he says, gently wrapping his hand around your bicep. “I know Elvis can be a difficult person to work with. If anyone understands that, it’s me. Like I’ve told you before, if you need any help just ask me. I’m here as a resource to you.”

“Why are you saying this?” you ask, letting your distrust get the best of you. “You don’t work for me and we’re not friends.”

“Just because I work for Elvis doesn’t mean I always have to be on his side,” Jerry replies without missing a beat. He throws you a crooked smirk. “And I have to admit that I’m sad to hear you don’t consider us friends.”

“I’m sorry,” you shake your head. “I’m just…frustrated. I shouldn’t be taking it out on you.”

“It’s okay. A word of advice, though? From a friend,” he says quietly and you smile. “Just be patient with him and be direct. Take the lead. If you want something, make it happen. He likes a woman who takes charge.”

You nod, your eyebrows furrowing as you consider his sage advice. When you lift your gaze, a soft smile spreads across your face as you catch a glimpse of Max. He meets your gaze and grins widely, lifting a hand to wave.

“Thank you, Jerry. Excuse me, I’m just gonna go say hello to a friend. Thank you, again, for your advice. I’ll keep it in mind.”

You slip out from behind Jerry and make your way over to Max, doing a little spin as you approach him.

“Hey, Y/N! You look…” he shakes his head in awe.

“Well, thank you. What are you up to today?”

“Just the usual,” he replies, gesturing toward the cluttered set behind the stage where the stagehands work. “Oh hey, are you busy tomorrow night? I was thinking maybe we could grab a drink after the show. Just you and me? What do you say, princess?"

Your head jolts upright and you stare at him incredulously. What? What did he just call you????

“What did you just call me?”

He straightens, his face falling into panic.

“Princess…I can never call you that again if it bothers you or something.”

“No…uh, no,” you shake yourself back to reality. “Sorry, just someone else always used to call me princess.”

“Oh, sorry. I’ll cut it out then.”

“No, please don’t,” you say, a mischievous smile curling into your cheeks. “I like it better when you say it.”

A smile takes over his face. His eyes quickly flick down to your mouth and he bites onto his lower lip, flashing his beautiful straight white teeth. You can’t help but feel your heart flutter at his handsome, charming smile.

Although Elvis will never find out about Max calling you princess, you’re still reveling in the feeling that you’re somehow getting him back, punishing him. You recenter your attention on Max who tilts his head sweetly, the ghost of a smile tracing his beautifully shaped pink lips. His deep brown eyes are like bowls of honey, beautiful and charming, as he stares up at you with such a gentle smile resting on his face. Max always has the slightest blush on his cheeks, for no particular reason, but it gives him a youthful energy that makes you want to be around him even more.

“Well that’s good. Cause I plan on saying it a lot tomorrow night,” he replies, adjusting so that he’s leaning ever so slightly toward you.

“Oh yeah?” you lean in toward him.

Your gut starts to spin in circles, the desire that Elvis cultivated left unsatisfied. You feel your body gravitating closer and closer to Max. It would feel so good just to kiss him one time…

You suddenly jerk back, upright, your mouth popping open as you feel a foreign sensation in your lower stomach. You gulp nervously and clamp your legs together, wondering what the hell it could possibly be. Max’s eyebrows raise in confusion and you try to tell him that you’re fine, but another jolt of vibration makes you clamp your legs together again and stops you mid-sentence. You laugh nervously and wave him off, backing away in fear that you’ll have another episode.

“Tomorrow! I’ll meet you down here, s-s-sound good?” you ask as you rapidly back toward the exit to the showroom.

Although Max’s face is still wracked with confusion, he nods and waves. You keep face until you swing around the corner into the shadow of the hallway leading to the stage doors.

As soon as you’re safe and out of view of the rest of the backstage crew, you fall against the wall, clutching your stomach. You pant through waves of pleasure that are starting to build within your gut. You gently reach down underneath your dress to touch the bottom of your panties. Yep, as you suspected, something is vibrating, literally vibrating. You didn’t even know a device like this existed but it’s currently wreaking havoc on your body. You breathe a sigh of relief when the pleasure stops for a quick moment.

You take that opportunity to rush out of the backstage area and into the audience. Your eyes land immediately on the exit up the walkway but suddenly the panties begin to vibrate again. You grasp with white knuckles on the handrails to keep yourself from falling over. You spot an open seat smack in the middle of the room and carefully migrate towards it, knowing that you can’t make it to the door. You can barely walk while this thing is tingling in your panties, rubbing directly against your core in the most frustratingly perfect way possible.

You plop into the seat at the abandoned table and try to get ahold of your shaky breathing as you watch Elvis on stage. The spotlight happens to be shining directly over your seat onto the stage and you wonder if he can just maybe see you out there. The stage lights are also half on, not all turned off like they’d normally be. He’s singing a song that you’ve never heard before about some plant called polk salad?

Just when you catch your breath, Elvis shifts his gaze and seemingly stares directly at you. You feel your heart flutter with a mix of excitement and fear as he smirks and dances around onstage. Your eyes remain glued to him as he sings and when he riffs during the song, you arch your back as you feel pleasure spiking in your heat. The vibration continues, moving rhythmically against you. You can feel yourself swelling at the pleasure and bite your lip to refrain from making any noises.

You glare up at Elvis when the pleasure subsides, your chest rising and falling heavily with your breaths as you try not to show everyone in the audience what’s going on. He glances down at you and winks before doing some hip thrusts. Suddenly, the sensation is back and you have to grasp at the tablecloth in your fingers to keep from thrusting your hips against the wonderful sensation. You can’t help but close your eyes and pop your lips open in pleasure. You want to give in so badly but your brain stops you. It feels like every single muscle in your body is strained at the exact same time, waiting for you to release the tension.

Your back arches as the pleasure grows, and you noticeably fall back against your chair when it subsides again. Panting, you glance up at Elvis with wide eyes and an open mouth. Although you’re angry at him for embarrassing you like this and putting you through this, you desperately want to finish. You’re incredibly swollen and dripping wet, you can feel the cold liquid on your panties as you sit in the chair. You don’t want him to know how badly you need to cum, but you know that there’s nothing you can do about it and that your facial expression is telling him everything he needs to know, pleading with him, begging him to let you finish.

As he stares across the audience at you, he holds your gaze and his eyes fade to black. He smirks and sings into the microphone. Your eyes can’t help but drop down to his hips which are gyrating rhythmically in time with the music. You bite your lip and grip the tablecloth as your entire body craves climax and everything in you desperately begs to be released.

As the vibrator turns on again, you find that you can’t resist squirming against it. It’s doing wonderful work on you but not quite enough. And with the constant pausing, you’ll never get there without putting in a little bit of work yourself. Your fingers grip hard onto the edge of the table, tangling into the tablecloth and threatening to pull it off as your hips move on the vibrator in time to the music. Your eyes flick down to the ring on your finger as the metal digs into your skin. The juices you’ve already leaked have dried cold on the fabric of your panties and you can feel it against your skin as you move. You clench your jaw and close your eyes tightly as the waves of pleasure build on each other, up and up and up until you finally start to crash down.

As the familiar feeling washes over you, your lips part and you feel your body shuddering. The vibrator continues to stimulate your sensitive bundle of nerves. You can’t help but release a quiet, soft, moan as you come down from your high. Thank god for the music. Your eyes flash open and you glance to the table on your right, where a woman is watching you with her eyebrows raised. You can’t stop the climax now but tear your eyes away from her and squeeze them shut in embarrassment. You will your body to stop enjoying your orgasm so much but the vibrator continues to overstimulate you. In perfecting timing with the song, you come down from your high just a moment after the last note.

You look up at Elvis, who is already glaring back down at you. The sweat glistens on his face and bare chest as he holds your eyes with a lazy crooked smirk pasted on his lips. He licks his top lip with the tip of his tongue and nods toward you. You breathe frustratedly, the euphoric expression on your face fading immediately into one of contempt. You hesitatingly glance at the table to your right to see the woman whispering to the man next to her, both of them giggling.

Of course, you don’t know for sure what they’re discussing. It could be anything, really, but in your heart, you’ve already convinced yourself that they’re gossiping about you. You glance around the audience, wondering just how many people noticed what was going on. Embarrassment floods through you and you feel like crying as you think about the things people could utter about you behind your back. And Max…you can’t have Max finding out about this. What would he think of you?

You gather yourself up and stand, feigning confidence and purposefully avoiding looking at anyone directly. You position your purse so that it rests against your back, hopefully covering up the stain from your fluids if there is one. You hold the bag steady as you try to walk as inconspicuously as possible out of the showroom. You can’t help but wince every time you step, the hard cover of the vibrator brushing against your sensitive folds. The overstimulation and constant vibrations have apparently destroyed you pretty well. With every step you take, your heat is overtaken by soreness. But you manage to make it out of the room and back upstairs, where you crawl into bed.

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[gone-series-orchid]

can i rant? Ive reread the book series recently and Ive noticed how much plotholes there were. John, a council member, is not mentioned after lies and we dont get any insight on how he takes care of the prees. When LP made it rain, when astrid threw Lp, he didnt say a word. Same to ellen, another council member. I also found the death of Orc and Dahra very unsatisfying. Yeah thsts it

rants are always welcome!

honestly, if lp were to actually say something--maybe not during the throw, but just before?--it would remind the audience, "oh, yeah, he's a character and not just a plot device."

and i also wanted to know what happened to the prees and the miscellaneous other characters we never hear the fates of! especially considering how big of an issue it's been in prior books, you'd expect the problem of maintaining the daycare wouldn't just become virtually nonexistent after mary and francis' deaths. so many little plot threads are just dropped, and it's, i guess, understandable? mg needed to prioritize the main characters and the series' endgame, etc., etc., but it's still kind of a bummer and makes the fayz seem a smaller place.

i found dahra's death to be unsatisfying, too. i'm not sure if it's because it's so unceremonious or what. narratively i understand mg's desire to have important characters die in unsatisfying ways because realism, but...i dunno. it seems like the other characters who die get a big moment (like brianna and caine), so dahra just feels snubbed.

i found orc's death kind of satisfying. i'm not upset he died; i like his big moment he gets where he stands up to gaia. as well as the scene where he receives a hug from astrid! i love that their dynamic which has been present (if underplayed) from the beginning gets a sendoff.

but i dislike that his death came from caine's dumb mistake and it's weird that his death doesn't seem to increase the stakes too much, even though orc has been built up to be a big asset to the townies. the loss of him seems like it would make everything a lot more dangerous and hopeless for the protagonists, but...i dunno, i never really got that vibe. i guess i wanted orc's death (and dahra's) to matter more, to have material consequences. granted, i'm probably forgetting details because i haven't read the series in like five years (oops), but that's what i remember, anyway.

[cutef1cs]

Somewhere Only We Know - Bertholdt Hoover x Gender-Neutral Reader

Description: You thought you were going to spend the rest of your life in fear, ducking your head and being forced to do things you don't want to. Until he took your hand and said:

" Let's get away from this place. "

Y/N and Bertholdt have run away from Marley, now, they are living in a small cottage in the woods. In a fresh moonlight, Bertholdt realizes that he is a passionate disaster for you.

Genre: Romance, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Sleepy Cuddles, Friends to Lovers, First Kiss.

Warnings: Anxiety crisis. ( But the story is cute, i promise! )

It was a silent and fresh night, the moonlight is illuminating the crystalline lake in which you swam. The place you were in was a peaceful forest. The pine branches swayed in the gentle wind and the floral scent  was everywhere.

The moon illuminated you and all the nature present there.

" Running away from there was the best thing we could have done "  You think to yourself while swimming in the lake. Being able to finally get out of the place that has hurt you so much gives you an enormous sense of inner peace.

You were dressed in a sleeveless black shirt and shorts, just swimming around and enjoying the peace of this wonderful night. You took a dip in the lake, wetting your beautiful (curly/straight/kinky) hair.

Peace, security and tranquility. 3 perfect words, 3 things you haven't felt in a long time.

You've spent your whole life living in Liberio, a town that sits on the banks of an unnamed river, in Marley... just the mention of that name gives you a headache. Marley is one of the most prejudiced and cruel nations you've ever had the displeasure to see. Because of Marley, your family is dead. Because of Marley you and your people spent many and many years suffering.

- " Y/N! " - A familiar voice called you.

You looked towards the voice. It was your best friend, Bertholdt, A gentle brunette with blue eyes. The boy was in front of the lake, holding an aluminum cup.

- " Ah, Bertholdt! " - You said, looking at your friend. You swam to where he was.

- " I made your favorite juice flavor. " - Bertholdt said, giving a soft smile.

- " Really?? " - You asked, with joy.

- " Yes! " - Bertholdt replied, giving you the aluminum cup.

You smiled happily, taking the cup. - " Thanks, Bert. " - You take a few sips. - " It's very good, you are so great making juices! " - You said, taking another sip.

Bertholdt smiles awkwardly.

- " I love the juices you make. "

" In fact, I love everything you do. " - You think.

- " Thank you, Y/N, I'm glad you liked it... "

Bertholdt was so great in the kitchen. He knew how to prepare delicious things, such as sweet breads and cakes for example! Once, when you were feling down, he made you a chocolate-covered carrot cake, it was delicious.

- " Bert, do you want to swim with me?  "

He gave you a smile. - " Oh, Sure! "

Bertholdt sit in front of the lake and calmly take off his shoes, meanwhile you just drank your fruit juice. You look at the silent fauna around you, feeling the icy wind on your face.

Bertholdt was taking off his shoes, entering the lake.

- " Hmm, the water is cold " - The boy said, giving a slight shiver.

You smile slightly. - " It's normal when we enter, especially with this wind. " - You said, putting the cup in the front of the lake. - " Enter in the water little by little.  "

The boy slowly entered the water. Upon entering, he relaxed.

You smiled. - " The water is good, right? "

- " Yes, it's great. " - Bert said.

You went back to swimming calmly, just relaxing. Bertholdt was starting to swim. He swam calmly in the lake, enjoying the freshness of the environment and the water.

After a few minutes of swimming, he passed by you, so in that moment you have an idea. When Bertholdt has passed by you, you purposely throw some water on him. - "Oops" - You say, laughing. - " Sorry, I didn't see you. " - You throw water on him again.

A wide and cute smile appears in his face. - " Ohh, so it's like that? "

The water war was declared!

Bertholdt throws water at you, and you hit him back, throwing even more water at him. The silence of a few minutes ago was gone, the water in the lake was choppy and you two were laughing a lot. In an attempt by Bertholdt to throw more water at you, you swim back, dodging and starting to throw even more water.

- " I surrender! " - You said, putting your hands up.

Bertholdt stopped tossing the water, laughing. You approached him, swimming slowly. Bert started to suspect you, but when he least expected it, you threw a lot of water on him again, laughing a lot.

- " I knew you would do that! "  - Bertholdt said, smiling.

You didn't even know what to say, you just kept laughing at the little water war.

Bertholdt would start laughing again, you look at him.... Bertholdt looked so genuinely happy, when you two lived in Liberio it was very rare to see him like that, Bertholdt always kept his head down, he always had sadness and fear in his eyes, but now... he looks so good. Your heart smiled to see him like this... Happy, genuinely happy.

Bertholdt is a caring and kind young man, you love him so much... You can't even tell when you started to fall in love with him.

- " Y/n? " - Bertholdt, asked.

You hadn't noticed, but you've been looking at him for a few seconds...

- " Hm? " - You said, coming out of your thoughts.

- " Is everything alright? " - Bertholdt, asks, a little worried.

- " Y-yes... i-it's nothing, i was just thinking. " - You smiled.

- " I understand why you like to swim in this lake, it's so calm and nice here... " -  Bertholdt says, looking at the vast night sky.

- " Yes... this is the perfect place... " - Bertholdt looks back at you when you said that. You kept talking

- " When i'm here surrounded by the nature, i have nothing to worry about. I don't have to fear anything, i don't have to focus on bad thoughts... I can just swim. " - You speak again, looking at nothing in special. - " When i was in Marley i just tried to ignore my bad feelings to focus on anything that give me comfort and peace, but here it's different, this whole place soothes me... "

You sighed, relaxed.  - " I don't need to ignore the reality of this place, because here, everything is good. "

Bertholdt looked at you with a look of surprise, he just gaped at you with the words you had said. The light-eyed boy stood for a few seconds looking at you, not knowing what to say, your words touched him in a way he can't explain.

After a few seconds, the surprised look turned into a gentle smile. - " I'm so relieved to know you're enjoying this place, I was worried about you going into shock..."

- " Into shock? " - You asked.

- " Y-yes... I was afraid you'd be shocked at the idea of running away, that you'd be sad, well... sadder than you were before. - Bertholdt says, looking at you with a shy smile. - " Knowing you're feeling good comforts me... "

You smile back, grateful for your friend's concern. - " Thank you, Bert, don't worry, i'm feeling happy here. "

- " Me too, this place is wonderful. I was about to ask you what you were feeling about this place, about the escape we made, but just your smile says it all... " - He just looked at your face, with a passionate smile. - "... Now you finally have a place to call home. "

You smiled. - " No, Bertholdt... now we have a place to call home. "

Bertholdt smiled with his cheeks turning red.

You had no idea how passionate Bertholdt is with you. He can't say when it started, but as our friendship grew the feeling of love grew in Bertholdt's heart as well. Everything about you enchanted him. Your melancholy eyes, your hair, your pretty smile whenever you see a cute animal. Your gentle, dreamy and cute way. Well, your kindness... your kindness attracted Bertholdt like an imam.

You didn't realize it, but Bertholdt was in love with you, that's why he couldn't stand to see you cry when you heard another war would break out. That you would have to use your titan again... That's why he decided to run away with you. He can not stand to see the person he loves sad.

Bertholdt wanted so much to tell you how much he loves you, how much he wants you. He wants to tell you that he wants to be your lover.

He looks at your face, Bertholdt looked at you with a passionate look. - "... Y/N. " - Bertholdt called you, he wants to say something.

You stop wetting your hair and turn to your friend. - "Hm?" - When you turn to him, Bertholdt was suddenly very anxious, the boy put his hand on his head... He looked very nervous about something.

- " Eer... - The brunette looked at the water and then at you, thinking of something to say.

You just waited for your friend to talk. You haven't noticed his nervousness, yet.

- "Do you want me to cook something when we get back? I can make muffins for dinner. " - No, that's not what he wanted to say to you...

You smiled when you heard that. - " Of course! I love muffins, especially the ones you make, Bert. "

Bertholdt smiled at you, putting nervousness aside. ----- Marley, Liberio -----

It was early evening in the city of Liberio, everything seemed very calm in the serene moonlight, but well, it wasn't that calm inside your mind. You were in your house, sitting on the wooden floor, hugging your legs with a crestfallen look.

An expression of sadness surrounded your whole face... if were to sum up your state with just one word, that word would be sadness. While you were sitting, Bertholdt was standing with a sad expression. The brunette was looking at you, with a worried look.

This morning, the warrior commander warned you that two days from now you all would have to leave to go to a war against the Middle East. The Marleyans want to send the Warriors and other Eldian soldiers to this war.... You were devastated when you heard that.

You two barely returned from the mission in the walls and already have to go to a new war.

You and Bertholdt have been sad all day...

Silence surrounded that little room, until you speak, still crestfallen. - " I still can't believe this is happening..." - Bertholdt listens you attentively.

You continue - " I don't want us to go to this war. I don't want to die because of this nation... i don't want to be stuck in a place that doesn't accept me the way I am. A horrible place that oppresses us, that attacks us, that kills our people d-daily! ” - Tears were beginning to form in your eyes.

- " Since i was a child i always knew that Marley has created the warrior program to use children in wars, to be easier to dominate other nations. At the same time i discovered the worst way how they kill our people... it's so ironic, they need us at the same time they want to kill us. "

You always knew that they killed and oppressed your people, it hurts because you can't do anything about it.

- " Y/n... " - Bertholdt said, worried to see you like this.

Tears streamed down the sides of your face. - "  Bertholdt... I don't feel comfortable anywhere, i hated those four years on that damn island, but i also hate living in this government... Sometimes i wonder if for once in my life I'll finally have one place to call home..." - You raised your voice, the sadness in your words could easily be seen.

Bertholdt was flabbergasted seeing you like this, he had a worried look on his face, not knowing how to act.

- " Every... every single day Marley is oppressing our people because of ethnicity, because of blood... Putting theyselfs on top of us but when it comes to creating u-useless and horrendous wars, we have to fight instead of them... " - You said between tears. - "...WE HAVE TO FIGHT FOR A WAR THAT IS NOT OURS... I-IT IS NOT OURS...."

Bertholdt quickly sat down beside you, facing you, putting his arm behind your back. - " Y/N, c-calm down... please. "

- " I want so much to be able to take our people out of this place and end this facist government, end these shitty wars... but it's impossible..." - You hugged your legs tighter, the tears ran down your face, making you sob. Anxiety and sadness were taking over your fragile heart. - " On the one hand, it's also impossible because i'm weak, incapable, passive... that's why I can't do anything, because I'm weak! I CAN'T HOLD IT I CAN'T HOLD IT UP NO MORE I CAN'T HOLD-"

- " Y/N! " - Bertholdt hugs you. - " Please don't say that, Y/N... " - " I... " - You couldn't say anything anymore, just cried. You didn't know more how to complain, to scream... the tears were so strong, the pain was so much, that you couldn't speak nothing, you just cried.

Bertholdt held you in his arms, hugging you with tenderness and affection, the boy's arms made a noose around your body, trying to calm your crying. You hugged him back, crying in his arms... any and all anger Bertholdt had for Marley only increased from that moment on.

Seeing you so sad made Bertholdt heartbroken, he wants so see you happy. He hated to see you like this, crying and feeling so sad and helpless... He wanted to end this once and for all... Bertholdt wanted so badly to at least get you out of this place.

He put his head close to yours, and said with delicacy... - " Y/N, You are not weak. I know how horrible Marley is with our people... That is precisely one of the reasons why you are scared, for which we are scared, but you are not a weak person. You always say such kind things to me, trying to show that i'm strong and worthy of love... Those kind words have to be true for you too, because you're amazing, Y/N. "

Bertholdt puts a hand on your face and gently wipes away your tears with his thumb.

- " Don't cry Y/N... You're sad because you're tired and afraid of the war they're forcing us to go but none of this is our fault. I know your feeling of inability is because you wanted to do something, i already felt this way, until i realized that i couldn't do something at the moment, but please don't feel guilty for something that is not your fault. You're not weak, you are not incapable! You are the strongest person i know, Y/N. "

He said, wiping away your tears. The fact that you're in his arms made Bertholdt's heart pound inside his chest, he wanted so badly to be like this in a moment when you were fine. He wants to be like this, hugging you in happy moments...

While he hugged your back, you put your arms around his stomach, with the tears still falling down your face. You look into Bertholdt's face. - "... Bert, why do you say that? do you really think that?"

- " Yes, i do! If it wasn't for you i wouldn't be alive, Y/N... you are the strongest person i know. The person who taught me to believe in my feelings, in my strength, the person who saved me... " - Bertholdt wiped your tears again.

- "... I want to spend the rest of my life by your side. " - Bertholdt said with his cheeks turning red, still hugging you, with tenderness and love.

When you hear that you feel your cheeks turning red, those words made your heart pound, you tighten the hug. You two continued to hold each other. Eventually your hiccup subsided and was replaced by an occasional sniffle.

A few minutes later, you tightened the hug again.

- " Thanks, Bert... y-you're wonderful. " - You said, blushing.

Bertholdt smiles at you.

The two of you look at each other. - "... And I'm sorry about that..."

- " You don't have to apologize, you didn't do anything wrong, Y/N. "

- " Oh, it's just...you know, i kind of freaked out a few minutes ago... I didn't mean to be a bother..."

- " Y/N... you don't have to apologize, you were feeling bad Y/N. I want you to know that you're not a bother or anuisance. You are not that... Don't blame yourself for your crises, you're perfect just the way you are, Y/N. I'll be here, by your side whenever you need it. "

- " T-thank you, Bertholdt..." - You smile, blushed.

The two of you spent a few more minutes holding each other, just enjoying each other's presence and warmth. You closed your eyes, just relaxing in your friend's arms. - For a small minute, you thanked him for not noticing that your cheeks were blushed -

For a few minutes, neither of you thought about wars, about suffering, about fear… you just enjoyed each other's body heat in that comfortable embrace.

Bertholdt couldn't lie, he was loving to hug you. The way you hug him, just resting in your friend's arms... Bertholdt loves that closeness, if he could he would stay like that with you for hours. He loves to hug you, to be with you...

A few minutes later, when everything got better, you two got up.

- " Are you feeling better, Y/N? "

- " Uhum, thank you Bertholdt, your words helped me a lot. "

- " I'm going home... Oh, if you need, call me, ok? " -

- " Okay, and i say the same... if you need me, I'm here. " - You smile at your friend

Bertholdt smiles kindly at you and nods.

Bertholdt opens the front door. - " Good night, Y/N! "

You approach the door - " Good night, Bert. "

It was like 7 or 8 pm, Bertholdt is walking the busy streets of Liberio, back to his house. He was relieved to see you feeling better, but he was thoughtful about something...

" Bertholdt... I don't feel comfortable anywhere, I hated those four years on that damn island, but I also hate living in this government... Sometimes i wonder if for once in my life I'll finally have one place to call home... "

Bertholdt thought about what you said, he hated to see you so sad, but the things you said were true. Bertholdt has always wanted to help his people, bring harmony and do everything possible and impossible to see the people of his city well, but there was no way... not with Marleyans in power.

Even if at the moment he can't do anything against the marleyans, he wanted to know if there was anything he could do for you...

Suddenly Bertholdt stops his walk.

- " Why... why did you save me? " - Bertholdt asked, there were tears forming in his blue eyes. The boy was without his limbs, in Y/N's arms...

- " Because i love you, Bertholdt. "

A fragment of memory passes through his head. An important memory, a unique memory that brought so many subjective impressions, emotions... The day you risked your own life to save Bertholdt's. The day you cried talking about how important, loved and special he was...

A memory that reminded him of one of the main reasons why Bertholdt continued to hope, even with a lot of bad things happening, Bertholdt still wanted to help everyone in town, bring peace.

Bertholdt remained standing in the street, looking straight ahead, but not noticing anything in particular, just thinking about it... you fought so hard for him, it's his turn to fight for you.

Bertholdt, with a serious and determined look, says to himself.

- " I already know what to do. " - He had an idea, an idea that would totally change both of your lives.

The young man turned around.

You were in your living room, reading a book, until you hear someone knocking on your door.

- " Hm? " - You get up from the couch and head towards the door.

You open the door, and to your surprise, it was Bertholdt again. The boy's dark skin and pale eyes gleamed in the moonlight.

- "Bert? Did something happen?"

- " Do you want to run away with me? "

Your eyes widened at that.

You stayed for about 10 seconds without saying anything, just looking at your friend with wide eyes.

- "... R-run away?..." - You looked at the street and then back to Bertholdt. - "... from Marley?"

- " Yes... Let's get away from this place. " - Bertholdt said. - " Let's pack our bags and take the first train tomorrow, do you know where that village of fugitives is? "

- " Yes, I know, the baker in town told me about... he had a cottage there. "

- " So... do you want to run away with me? " - Bertholdt held out his hand to you, he gave you a gentle smile

You looked at his hand, and then at Bertholdt's face. Bertholdt was always afraid of sudden changes, but this time... he didn't think twice.

You took his hand - " Let's go. "

-----------------

You two went back to the cottage.

You were sitting on the bed, combing your hair. Bertholdt was wearing a dry shirt.

- " Bertholdt, do you want me to comb your hair?" - You turned to the boy.

- "Oh, sure." He said finishing putting on his shirt.

You grab a comb and stand up, making room for the blue-eyed brunette to sit on the edge of the bed. When Bertholdt sat down, you started combing his hair, he had a bit of spiky dark hair, it was very soft and fragrant. The light from the candle lamp illuminated this delicate moment.

It wasn't the first time you combed his hair, you two are very close, so you always shared moments like that.

You continued to brush his dark locks with the brush. You can't tell if his hair was black or dark brown, it always changed with the lighting, but one thing you know, it's beautiful. Bertholdt was sitting comfortably on the bed, just enjoying the quiet moment.

" His hair is so beautiful..." 

You've finished brushing the back. - " I'll comb the front now. "

- " Right. " - Bertholdt answers.

You sat delicately on the bed, right in front of Bertholdt. You lean your head close to his hair, to comb it more carefully.

You started combing Bertholdt's bangs gently with the brush. While you concentrated on combing his hair, Bertholdt looked at you... admiring your beautiful face. It wasn't the first time he had done this... In everyday life, when you were doing some activity, for example, he found himself admiring you... looking at every trace of your delicate face, he often found himself blushing at your smile.

The closeness between you two made Bertholdt so comfortable, and at the same time making his heart beat faster. He continued to look at you, in love.

When you see Bertholdt looking at you, you look back with a smile. He got a little startled when he saw you looking at him, he gave a nervous little smile.

- " Is everything alright? " - You asked.

- " It's alright... " - Bertholdt replied, nervous.

- " Are you sure, the comb isn't hurting, right? "

- " No, it's okay. "

You continued to comb his hair, Bertholdt looked at the bed sheet, nervously running wild.

A few seconds later, he looked at you again... For Bertholdt, you are perfect just the way you are. Everything about you enchants him. Your bright eyes, your nose... your mouth.

Bertholdt stops and looks back down.

" What am I thinking?? " - Bertholdt thinks, putting down his own romantic feelings. " I can't keep looking at they like that... I'm only his friend. I can't keep thinking about these things... - Bertholdt sighed at his own thought. " Y/N shouldn't even like me the same way..."

Friends help each other through difficult times. Friends provide comfort and support when each other is down, Friends talk about various things, Friends admire their friend's bodies when they're sleeping, wanting to cuddle and stay like that for the rest of the night, Friends blush when their friends smile at them, Friends want to kissing your friend's beautiful mouths until they're breathless....

- " I finished it. " - You said, putting the comb aside, you made a little caress in Bertholdt's hair, with your hands, which made the brunette's cheeks heat up.

- " T-thank you, Y/n..." - He said a little blushed.

- " It is very good. " - You said still stroking his hair. - " Ah, it reminded me that a neighbor in the village, who makes wigs, these wigs are very beautiful. " - You took your hand out of his hair.

- " Oh, I think i know who you're talking about, lady Rochelle, the hairdresser. "

- " That's her! The neighbor who's a hairdresser, I'll do it like you, I'll start to get involved more, it's just that since we got here, I've been so focused on all the beauty of the place and my own thoughts... that I forgot to talk more to the folks."

Bertholdt gave a little laugh. - " I understand, since I got here, I like to admire every detail of this place, every part..."

- " Yes... everything here is beautiful, you said, looking at the window. " - You smiled.

As you looked out the window, Bertholdt just looked at you with a passionate smile. When you turn to Bertholdt, do you notice he was looking at you again, he was... kind of detached?

- " Bertholdt? "

Bertholdt said the first thing that came to his mind. - " Y/n, Can i kiss you? "

Instant regret, that's what Bertholdt felt.

You widened your eyes, surprised at what you just heard

- " ......W-What? "

You didn't believe what you just heard... you just don't, he really said that?

"Did he really say that? I can't believe it... "

He put his hand on his head and looked away, blaming himself for the embarrassment. - " Ah... s-sorry. Hm. I didn't mean... I mean... " - Bertholdt's cheeks turned red and he was completely lost in words.

- " W-wait, are you talking serious about that? " - You asked shyly, blushing.

Bertholdt looked at you, blushing. - " Y-yes... "

- " H-hm... I... Y-yes. " - you look to the side - " You can kiss me... "

" What? Was that really a yes?? Y/N accepted? "

- “ Wait... serious? "

- " Y-yes, i want to kiss you. " - You took courage and answered again. - " Bertholdt, i always wanted to kiss you... "

Bertholdt is shocked to hear this, his cheeks heat up even more. After hearing that, he felt like his heart was going to jump out of his mouth. His best friend, the person he love said yes to his kiss... when him on impulse asked him about kiss, what a random night.

Still nervous, Bertholdt slowly approaches your face. You, who were as nervous as your friend, do the same. You both lean in, slowly bring your faces together, both of you squinting your eyes. It was as if time had stopped.

Your lips is finally touching Bertholdt's lips, Bertholdt practically vibrated with excitement. With his heart beating nervously inside his chest Bertholdt begins to experiment your delicate lips. He couldn't stop thinking about how soft your lips is.

The kiss begins with Bertholdt placing small kisses, one after the other, on your soft lips.

Your lips glide over Bertholdt's sweet lips. You tenderly place your hand on Bertholdt's face during the kiss. The soft and luscious texture of Bertholdt's lips gave you a warm feeling.

Bertholdt wrapped his arms around your body, stroking your back as he kissed you passionately. You were thinking how much it felt like a dream, the person you love... kissing you, it looks a sweet and amazing fairy tale. It had been years since you and Bertholdt had been in love with each other, but you two never spoke about it... until today.

Your tongues connected and started to move with each other. The tongues traced each other. Bertholdt moved a little forward, wanting to get closer and closer to you and your warmth. You've wanted this for so long, you've wanted his hugs and kisses.

The kiss felt great, until the shortness of breath came and made the two of you part your lips.

You both looked at each other, surprised and red-cheeked. Bertholdt kept his arms around you, and you still caressed the brunette's soft cheeks.

- " Y/N, I love you... " - Bertholdt said.

You always wanted to talk about your love for him, today is the perfect day for that.

- " I love you too, Bertholdt, i always have... " - Bertholdt gave small kisses in your hand, with tenderness.

- " I'm so surprised by this, every time i hugged you i felt my heart pound. I was nervous in a good way with our proximity but i was always so afraid to tell you about what I feel, I was afraid it would ruin our friendship...knowing that you love me too makes me so happy. I love you for so long, since the beginning of our friendship, absolutely everything about you enchants me. I wanted to kiss you, hug you... tell you i wanted to be with you, but I didn't know how... "

- " I feel the same... So much so that my heart beat so hard when you said you wanted to kiss me, I couldn't believe it... It seems like the sweetest dream I've ever had. " - You say, smiling at Bertholdt. - " You are the one who makes me see beauty in everything. "

- " I love you so much... " - Bertholdt says, smiling with flushed cheeks.. - " Y/N, you are everything i dreamed of and more... "

Bertholdt caressed your cheek with his hand, admiring your delicate face. Bertholdt just looks at you, smiling with joy and love, just thinking about how much you are the love of his life

- " I love you too, my Bertholdt. " - Bertholdt began to give you several cute kisses on your face, giving gentle kisses on your cheek, on the side of your mouth making you tickle. You laughed, blushing.

- " Hey Bertholdt..." - You said, stopping laughing.

- " Hm?"

- " Thank you..."

- " For what? "

- "... Well, you always talk about the day i supposedly saved you..."

Bertholdt questions. - " But you really saved me."

- " No... It was you who saved me. " - You say, blushing. - " I want to thank you for that... "

- " Y/N... I love you so much. " Bertholdt smiles blushed at this, it was such a gentle and genuine smile that melted your heart.

You gave Bertholdt one more kiss, this time a short kiss, but still passionate.

A few minutes later, you got two ready for bed. You and Bertholdt were lying on the bed, facing each other. Bertholdt would stroke your hair with his hand, you take that same hand and start kissing it, you kissed the entire graceful surface of Bertholdt's hand, giving small, tender kisses, feeling his skin. He blushes at the affectionate gesture.

Bertholdt always slept in the same position, with his arms behind his back, he does it because of fear... but you hope that from this night on, that will change, that he will finally be able to sleep freely.

- " Bert, do... do you want to sleep in my arms? " - You ask, blushed.

- " Of course. " - Bertholdt smiles passionately, with red cheeks.

Bertholdt turn his back to you. You would gently hug him, putting your head on his shoulder. The brunette was smiling, in love... Every night you two slept in that bed, Bertholdt wanted your embrace. Same with you, you wanted so badly to hold him all night, but you didn't know how to talk about it, but well, now you two will sleep embraced in every night...

You gave Bertholdt a few kisses on the cheek, which made him chuckle cutely. - " I love you Y/N... "

- " I love you too Bert, goodnight... " - You said passionately, giving a goodnight kiss on his cheek.

" Good night, dear. "- Bertholdt replied, almost like a passionate whisper, your hug made him want to smile for the rest of the night.

You two slept cuddled together, feeling each other's warmth and love.

END

[toujoursmiraculous]

Thoughts and Reaction to ROCKETEAR!

It's a long post, but when are these ever really short? xD Seeing Carapace first made me so excited. I've been sad we haven't had much of him in the show. And then I saw that it seemed like Ladynoir was doing pretty good as they only had Carapace helping them this time. More S2 & S3 like. So I was like cool, cool, this is great. But what the heck scientist WHY ARE YOU BRINGING TYRANNOSAURUS REX'S BACK! Obviously she's going to be something big later on, she's too nicely animated not to be back. Not to mention Bob Roth's plans. Anyone else both intrigued but also scared at what that could do later? Big upcoming plot point, I think.

I screamed awwww because this is everything. I've wanted a LB/Carapace and Marinette/Nino friendship bond in this show since season 1. This scene made me incredibly happy! I'm a huge Nino fan, for those that don't know, so you can imagine how much I love this episode. Even though sad Nino.

"Alya, everyone has to believe that you will never use the Miraculous again!" End of episode: So anyway... So what I'm seeing here is, Alya's not fond of the idea of being just a spy, not being in on the action. Even though it's Ladybug's plan. Chat Noir isn't fond of what's going on right now either, where he thinks what's going on is all Ladybug's plans. Alya makes the decision to not do what Ladybug wants and tells Nino she's still Rena Rouge. So what's Chat Noir going to do to go against her? Because that's coming up on the horizon. Despite everything being easier for Marinette since everything's not just on her shoulders now, she's still been unable to play video games with her dad, and we know how much she loves doing that. :c That's really sad she doesn't even have time for her family anymore. DJWifi over here being all adorable. "You don't love me anymore!" Me: *Chat Blanc flashbacks* Alya suggests her new content could be Chat Noir edits and Marinette's like YES DO THOSE. Then those edits helped push Nino into thinking she was into Chat. Big oops. Not gonna lie, the rewind freaked me out for a moment. Last time I saw that was Chat Blanc so I thought something big was up. But nope, it's just like that scene in Puppeteer 2. Ugh poor Nino! He knows something's bothering Alya, but she won't say what it is and her behavior's too off from how she normally is. Poor guy. x.x Grumpy Nino that Carapace doesn't get attention and then they wrote his girlfriend with Chat Noir. I remember when Alya was grumpy for a bit about Rena Rouge not getting a party to celebrate her. Movie Ladybug telling Movie Chat Noir that he's better with Movie Rena Rouge. Is this a reference to the episode in Avatar, The Ember Island Players? Getting strong vibes when Play Aang and Play Katara were like, we're just friends nothing more and it's great! Play Katara was extremely into Play Zuko. I can see why Ladybug dismissed the movie (or was it the previous one since it's been awhile? Maybe?) because Rena Rouge and Chat Noir???? The writers (of the movie) just wanted to be different because everyone can see Ladynoir, unless they're blind. Alya and Nino are Andre's favorite couple. YES THANK YOU. I mean they're not my favorite because Love Square. BUT they're my second favorite next to them. Those kids are super adorable but definitely that kid playing Chat wasn't doing Nino any favors. First picture Alya shows. Chat with a heart tail. Yeah that's not doing her any favors lol. Nino: UGH CHAT NOIR'S COMING IN BETWEEN ME AND MY GIRLFRIEND. I KNOW, I'LL CALL MY BEST FRIEND TO VENT TO ABOUT IT. Best Friend Chat Noir: Best Friend Chat Noir: Welp maybe I should see what's up. Maybe I went a little to hard on the cat charm and she's fallen in love with me. Me: Oh oof here we go. Also can I ask, if anyone knows, who animated this episode? The fluidity is great and it looks really pretty. But it doesn't quite look like SAMG's work either. Whoever did it, I love it. S2 Chat Noir: You're not replacing me with a turtle, are you? :c S4 Nino: Who would want a reckless turtle as a partner? BOYS STOP. But yeah this whole scene had me laughing so hard XD Very dramatic and I love it. Nino's hilarious even when he's worried and sad! I would've absolutely loved to have heard this in English with the old English voice of Nino, but the new one worries me on whether or not he'll do a good job sounding like Nino and less high-pitched and whiny. :/ New York Nino was great but S4 Nino....x.x THE TRANSITION BETWEEN HIS INNER MONOLOGUE AND SPEAKING REGULARLY AGAIN 😂😂😂😂 Brilliant! It doesn't really feel like Miraculous Ladybug this episode, and I love it. Not that I don't love the show as usual but wow this is great. Okay, I want to point out that Chat Noir

probably was more worried about it than he would've been otherwise because of what happened with Marinette in Weredad. It probably made him more cautious about this sort of thing.

LOL Chat's sulking because Alya's laughing at the idea of being interested in him. 😂😂 I know that's a blow to one's ego and all, and he's dealt with this kind of thing a lot so I do feel bad for him, but that is his best friend's girlfriend and he definitely doesn't want her to like him. Alya: With him it's not just ❤️it's *makes massive hand gesture indicating she loves him deeply* SO SO SO CUTE OKAY ALL THIS DJWIFI 😭 Alya: And I don't even know your secret identity! I would never fall in love with someone I don't know. Chat Noir, literally fell in love with Ladybug, whose identity he doesn't know. Well Alya, I wonder if you saying that matters for later somehow.... o.O Nino running away crying is honestly one of the things that hurts me most in the entire show. Ugh. Adrien over here being all, I'm having a good day. I'm happy and smiling and it's great. And then it wasn't. Adrien, if Nino let him and didn't interrupt, would've told him about how Alya really doesn't love Chat Noir, and that would've seriously led up to his identity being exposed since Nino was watching and filmed them. o.o Did you notice how he was going to tell him about it? S4, the basement is where it's at. Adrien: Uhh, when did you arrange all this? Nino: *pounds fist on desk* I ASK THE QUESTIONS! 😂 So like. Why is Nino interrogating Adrien when he's after Chat Noir? He doesn't know they're the same person. XD He's looking at him like Adrien has info he's keeping or something omg.

Also again this animation is so nice. Adrien, feeling uncomfortable and so turns the music off. Nino, wanting his dramatic music on while he interrogates Adrien, turns it back on. Adrien, feeling even more irritated and uncomfortable, wants the music OFF and turns it off. Nino, turns the music back on. This may be a reference to something, I don't know, but lolol it's so funny. This episode is both super hilarious and super angsty! Honestly they've done such a good job in my opinion. Nino: I'm talking about something that I shouldn't tell you! ...but I'm going to tell you anyway! Alya's Rena Rouge and I'm Carapace! Okay but the way Adrien went from shock to utter anger, knocked his chair back and grabbed Nino's shoulders like "Tell me the truth. You two know about each other?" Aw man, my poor sunshine boy. A lot of the stuff bothering Adrien is all circumstantial, none of it is to purposefully keep him in the dark. And yet from his perspective, that's how it looks. "I thought secret identities must be protected at all times! If that was the truth, you would never tell me this!" Alright so three things. If he's referring to him saying that Nino and Alya know about each other, that was situational and important info for him to know now that this is out. It wasn't important to know before this. The time it happened was dire and was really no time to get around it. If he's talking about Nino telling him the secrets, well yeah that's not supposed to happen and Nino broke that trust. But also, I get the feeling pretty strongly at this point Adrien's going to be breaking some rules too and one of which is he's going to tell Nino who he is. Adrien's being too emotional in this scene to not be involved in it all, I'm wondering if that's going to be questioned later by Nino. He's acting like he knows too much to be a random viewer of the heroes like the rest of Paris. Also Adrien's best friend just totally dissed Chat Noir and went off about how he throws himself at Ladybug whenever he sees her with roses and love confessions. 😂😂😂 This is just too funny! "But he's always rejected because Ladybug finds him annoying! And she's completely right!" Omg Nino, that's not the reason anymore, shush! "And then Rena Rouge appears and he goes *tickles under Adrien's chin* hey pretty lady! You look elegant and you have great perfume." OMG does Chat Noir actually say and do stuff like that to Rena Rouge or is he just exaggerating here XD "If I could I would shut his mouth forever!" Yeah Nino, say what you really think about your best friend in the entire world. Yikes poor Adrien though. I never imagined he'd hear all these bad things about himself from his best friend directly like that. :/ That's a major misunderstanding of him. Which kind of pushes me more towards the "he's going to tell Nino" theory. Sad Adrien transformation DDDX Alya: *explained everything about why Chat Noir went over to her house in the middle of the night* Marinette *facepalm* Ugh that Chat Noir... Well at least there will be no misunderstandings there! xD "Chat Noir, you stole Alya from me! I will steal your life from you." Good lord man calm down. You can't just kill a man! Fanon: Chat Noir gets attacked by a guy over Marinette. Canon: Chat Noir gets attacked by a guy over Alya. Time to go back to the basement! lol Nino's music's still playing xD And the video is left with it paused on Chat Noir hugging Alya. Marinette looked a bit sad, but it was probably more about the situation being a mess rather than being sad he'd hug her. Meanwhile, Chat Noir's fighting Nino and would rather get beaten up by him than fight. x.x "I can't believe that I doubted you." "I can't believe I chose to do anything but be with you!" She wiped away akumatized Nino's tear just like how Ladybug wiped away akumatized Chat Noir's. ALL THE PARALLELS 😭😭😭 But that hug is so sweet!! Nino broke off the akumatization just like Alya did :o Dang, I wonder if that means something later too. "Love and secrets do not go well together, Ladybug. And I'm sure you have a lot of

them!" Secrets = from Chat Noir. Love = for Chat Noir. Yeah even Shadow Moth knows at this point. xP Thanks for that foreshadowing. Nino's charm is my favorite charm so far! It's my favorite shade of blue. Chat Noir: Everybody has doubts sometimes...even me." Ladybug: Is everything okay, Chat Noir? Chat: Oh yes...pound it!

So um. The placemet of Adrien's poster in between Chat Noir, Ladybug, and just with this entire situation feels very strange. Very intentional. But no clue exactly what that could mean..... Nino and Alya are happy over there watching those two, like they're waiting for them to figure things out or something. But really, Adrien should've talked to Ladybug when he could still do so calmly and be reasonable. I doubt that's going to be the case later on. And honestly Ladybug doesn't even know what's going on. Every episode we've seen really either has them working together or she's unable to be Ladybug when he's unable to be Chat Noir most of the time. I've said it before but these two really need to communicate. Nino and Alya are like a less adorably romantic version of what they'd be. "But they're a couple and they know their secret identities, so why does that rule exist for us but they can know?" Very simple. Because they were temporary holders and the Miraculous they had, Hawk Moth hasn't made it his life's mission to obtain, unlike them, who are permanent holders and Hawk Moth's been after them fiercely to make a Wish that could destroy everything. But. The fact he's asking this, and Marinette's Chat Blanc nightmare, really points in the direction that he's going to eventually find out that while she's thought about telling him all along, Chat Blanc's kept her from doing so.

Okay, so while it looks like he's staring up at the moon, if you notice, it really is just one of the pink bubbles.

Now, they could be making it seem like it's the moon though to give it a double meaning. But poor Kitty, he's feeling so awful right now over in that dark corner Dx Nino felt bad for only two episodes? and it got resolved, so hopefully this all won't last too much longer for him! Marinette had a few shaky episodes so hopefully he'll have a few before it gets resolved. But somehow I think that may be wishful thinking. This episode was so amazing, honestly. Wonderful writing, made me laugh a lot, aw a lot, and hurt a lot. It focused on the core 4 characters which I've wanted more of for a long time. The animation was beautiful. And it just felt so different in such a good way. Chat Noir's having a hard time right now, and I know there's a lot of anger and hate about it going around. But please, think of this as him hitting a rough spot in the road to a much better and brighter future. He's going to end up okay, he'll understand it all someday. And that day's honestly not that far for him if you think about it.

[dumblydork]

Patronus

So I wanted to do a bit of canon divergent stuff (as if I haven't already) and write something about Hinny in the OoTP universe, when Harry teaches everyone spells, most especially the Patronus charm. NOW I KNOW he was into Cho Chang at the time, and I mean no Cho hate but my Hinny shipping is superior to her and Harry (oops) so I thought I'd write a cute fluffy imagine on Harry helping Ginny with her Patronus spell!

I hope you like this!

-----

Wispy smoke blew inside the Room of Requirement, currently not the headquarters of DA, but a simple room with a few extremely comfortable sofas (yes Harry had checked), but the rest was empty. A huge mirror stood on one wall, occupying it completely. And at the moment, it reflected a slightly tall boy, with uncontrollable black hair curling over his ears, and bright green eyes. The wispy white smoke disappeared, swirling around Harry.

Thee door to the room burst, as Ginny rushed in. Harry looked at her through the mirror, as she walked towards him.

"Stupid Flitwick and his post class discussions. I can never seem to escape him. Sorry I'm late." She smiled slightly at the end, coming to stand next to Harry. She stood a few inches away, staring into the mirror as if it were the Mirror of Erised, reflecting a true deep desire. As Ginny stared intently at the mirror, Harry wondered if she truly was seeing something there which he wasn't. Because it did seem like a simple mirror to him.

"Your hair has gotten longer." She commented, meeting his eyes through the mirror, an action which left Harry's heart rate slightly accelerated. Lately, his heart seemed to be doing treacherous things, running away from his brain's commands. Was it something to do with the smiling redhead standing next to him? Harry did not know the answer.

"I think so, it's overdue for a cut. So, let's get practicing!" He announced overly loudly, turning away from the mirror. He brought his wand from inside his robes, and stood in a bit of a poised position, inhaling deeply. He could tell Ginny's eyes were looking at him intently, but right now his mind was completely filling with the many happy memories he had accumulated over the years. He selected one which always worked- it was the one from when he had first cast a Patronus, in third year with Professor Lupin.

Harry's eyes closed as he thought back to when he was almost a baby, the memory oddly clear for being from infancy. He could see his mom, Lily, speak to him, a bright smile etched on her face, and his dad James, do silly jumps in the background, making young Harry laugh in joy. His mouth reflexively curled into a smile and he let out the incantation, slightly softly. "Expecto patronum!" He said, pointing his wand nowhere in particular. When he opened his eyes, there it was, a silvery stag, standing in front of him regally, and it was hard to believe that it was made entirely of smoke. The stag walked around him, circling him one or twice before stopping in front, nuzzling Harry with it's antlers and then disappeared, leaving behind a blueish sparkle.

"Oh my god. That was absolutely gorgeous, Harry. I wish mine came so easily as well." Ginny commented, clearly in awe. Harry's cheeks turned slightly red, as well as a bit of his neck. A simple compliment from Ginny seemed to have filled him with pride and left him slightly embarrassed. This had been happening too often.

"You really have to focus on the memory. And not just think, but almost live it out again. Every single emotion you felt during that episode needs to be felt again. It is definitely challenging, but Corporeal Patronuses often are. Ready?" He asked, moving a bit behind as Ginny stood straight, her wand pointed slightly at the ceiling.

"Wait." Harry said, frowning, before walking up behind her and bringing her arm slightly lower, where it now pointed just above the entrance door. "You need to release a bit of the tension, It's not a hex. Patronus charm can often read the body language, so it needs a slight tenderness." He almost whispered into Ginny's ear, even though there was nobody who was listening in on them. His right hand stayed on the length of her arm for a bit longer, and a slight touch on her waist, before he walked away and put some distance between them. She nodded, and Harry almost missed the slight shakiness in it. He returned to his original place. "Okay, whenever you're ready." He nodded reassuringly, as Ginny looked over, slightly nervous.

"Okay, I'm going to try." She exhaled lightly, eyes closing and for a second Harry simply admired her. Her slim back, slightly arched as she stood straight, red hair falling to the middle of her back in smooth waves. A pale, milky face with a very generous sprinkling of freckles, currently pulled into a slight frown and a lightly pink mouth, slightly open, slightly inviting. Her eyes were shut tightly, reliving her happiest memory.

Harry was almost rendered breathless as he inhaled how beautiful Ginny had become. This sudden noting of her beauty had started at the beginning of fifth year, when he had started to see Ginny in a completely different context apart from Ron's sister. She had to have changed, right? Harry most definitely was the same from last year- same man, same feelings.

"Expecto patronum!" Harry heard her say, and a light wisp of smoke left her wand, dancing around the two of them. Ginny smiled brightly, looking over at Harry who nodded enthusiastically. They were both just getting used to the abstract shapes when most of the silver combined to leave behind a tall horse in it's wake, with a flowing mane. Much like Harry's stag, it seemed entirely difficult to believe that this was made out of silver smoke and nothing else. They both watched amazed, as the horse ran around the room, finally settling in a curl around Ginny, his mane teasing her lightly.

And then Harry saw Ginny all over again- bathed in the faint glow of her Patronus, her cheeks slightly tinged red from happiness and her lips pulled into a grin so huge that it crinkled the corner of her mocha eyes. Not to mention a slight dimple right in the apple of her cheek, a detail which was novel to Harry. He stood there, amazed, at how a single person could carry a universe's worth of beauty and warmth in them.

Ginny's Patronus stood there, and she looked at Harry. "Why don't you cast yours too? The two would look so pretty!" She suggested, playing with the mane of her patronus, which was definitely enjoying the attention. A low laugh escaped her and it took all of Harry's willpower to not dip and kiss her then and there.

And then it came tumbling onto him. All these new feelings were obviously, quite obviously because he had started fancying Ginny Weasley. And he realized, that it wasn't she who had changed- it was him. She had always been the bubbly, warm, beautiful girl she was, currently bathed in a ethereal silver glow, she looked otherworldly. All of these details were slightly stunning to Harry, but he could not help the giddiness spread through his chest anyway.

"Harry? Go on." She nudged, and he was brought back down to Earth, from his astronomical freefall as he processed this adoration for Ginny.

"Yeah." He said absent mindedly, but cast the Patronus anyway. The stag returned, clearly happy to engage with Harry, and looked questioningly at Ginny and her horse. Then moved towards them equally as cheerfully as he playfully butted with the horse, the two of them chasing each other around the room.

"A stag and horse. How interesting." He noted quietly, as Ginny's smile stayed. Her eyes met Harry's, torn away from the two silver beings and her smile widened, a bright sparkle in her eye. And Harry was thrown back into freefall.

The two silvery-blue Patronuses played with each other, bouncing across the room and suddenly it was clear- that was why the room had been empty apart from just the sofas.

---

NB: Okay, so this didn't turn out as fluffy as I had imagined, but changing direction midway to make it about Harry realizing his feelings for Queen Ginny is never a bad idea.

I hope you enjoyed this nonetheless!

[egg-node]

3, 4, 5, 7 & 8 for the Inscryption ask game?

wah! thank you! :^D

3. Favorite Act? Why? (Mechanics, aesthetic, story, specific moments, etc.)

who am i to deny act 1. played that one most out of all of them, not to mention that i played kaycee's mod like a madman (finally got an all challenges run to succeed OTL). it's just *fun* gameplay. my first go around i made absolutely *boosted* deathcards, and being able to watch them decimate was fun in of itself. and now i'm playing it with only one deathcard, and planning your deck ahead of time and figuring out how to win without a near-guaranteed turn 1 lethal is fantastic as well. and looking back on it in act 2 shows what leshy incorporated from the original game, and what he didn't. some of the dialogue especially from leshy, and also the other scrybes, in this act... im *specifically* thinking about the win dialogue you get from leshy on win 3 and win 4.

4. Favorite Scrybe?

i wonder...... nah it's leshy lmao. especially love how he narrates everything, like in act 2 after his defeat. oh, to get/become a dm as devoted to the craft as him

5. Favorite non-scrybe npc?

(is it cheating to say the archivist) (they're an uberbot. that's not a scrybe.) (i may be cheating just a little when that's p03's interpretation of grimora) (but they're neat. their lines... nice. i think p03 did a good job capturing grimora's voice and cadence and lexicon. and that battle was fun) (also the photographer. much more a bastardization of leshy imo, but that is also fun. to see how p03 sees leshy)

BUT if i had to do non-scrybe-but-reskinned. mayhaps goobert? a funny little guy... someone please help them

7. Favorite theory/theories?

i don't know if this one is a theory - it might be confirmed in game and i just. glanced over it. but if it isn't - i firmly believe that magnificus knew how it all would turn out. this includes leshy losing control, p03 gaining it, and grimora's deletion of the game. and it may be a first instinct to go "why didn't he try to stop it then?" but his premonition may be unchangeable - perhaps in the past he's tried to change the outcome he saw, to no avail. and in the visions we're given in act 1 where magnificus paints the next thing we need to do (eg. unlocking the safe, the knife, the cuckoo clock with the film reel), we're in a white void with a little bit of wood(?) ground. just like what we see in act 3's finale.

does this explain how he treats his subordinates? idk lol.

8. Favorite headcanon(s)?

this is not really a *headcanon* but my head is empty, and this fic is very very good. so this interpretation: "THAT IS ULTIMATELY THE CALLING OF A SCRYBE. NOT TO CREATE, NO- TO HOPELESSLY, LOVINGLY POSTPONE THE INEVITABLE." (from @scrybe-of-beasts fic AN ENDING. absolutely fantastic btw it owns my heart defo read it if you haven't already.) leshy captures beasts, who would otherwise die eventually, and lets them live and die repeatedly as cards. grimora raises the dead. magnificus paints his students, immortalizing them. and p03 scans its bots. and the end of the game is seeing them realize (or, on grimora's part, having already accepted) that they cannot postpone the inevitable (specifically magnificus's "Nothing beautiful can last.")

these answers may be a bit long. oop! but thank u again for sending me these!! :^D had a lot of fun answering (Ask Meme)

[amane-by-together]

I love you more than words can say || yugi amane

genre: fluff

summary: where [name] and amane have been shipped but they didn't mind because they like each other.

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

In one classroom, a certain choppy haired boy named Amane Yugi was looking by the window pane watching the blue sky as the clouds slowly moves in each second. He didn't talk much and is a little awkward with words when it comes to interaction, but he made an exception to someone. Her.

[name] is a new student to their class. She recently moved to Kamome during the summer. [name] doesn't really stand out that much, she's rather shy and awkward when you meet her, but when she started to talk to Amane, the two became closer and comfortable with each other.

"Yo~!" [name] pulled her chair next to Amane's desk. Her [hair color] colored hair was down and there are few hairs sticking out from different places meaning that she haven't brushed it first thing in the morning. She grinned softly. "How is my best friend doing~?"

Amane felt his heart skip a beat, he notices that her hair was a mess, he pointed a finger at her. "[name], your hair is such a mess." he smiled while pulling out a hairbrush. "Let me fix that for you."

Amane stands up and beckoned [name] to sit on his chair. "Oh, Amane-kun, it's fine." she insisted while swatting her hands.

"No, I insist." Amane grins charmingly at her. [name]'s lips formed into a thin line before sitting down on his chair. He held the hair brush and carefully brushed her hair.

"Yiee~ Yugi is brushing [surname]'s hair~!" One of their classmates mentions then soon the whole room was erupted with 'Yieee' and 'Aww'

Amane scowled at them still continuing to brush [name]'s hair. "Tch. Can you not?" he asked with a hint of annoyance on his voice. "I'm brushing her hair. It will be appreciated if you guys mind your own business and let the two of us have our quality time, yeah?"

[name] suddenly felt shy making her look down to her lap and twiddled her fingers. Due to their closure, their classmates started to ship the two, hoping that the two will end up with each other. The two didn't mind since they already have feelings for each other.

"Done~!" Amane announced as he feels proud of his work. [name] blushed, her face turning the color of a cherry tomato, taking some thick strands of hair and draped over to her face. "[name]?"

Amane smiled fondly, grabbing the chair and sat in front of [name] who was covering her face with her hair. "Hm?" she hummed. "What is it, Amane-kun?"

"Hold still."

"Eh...?"

Amane inched closer to [name], reaching his fingers towards her delicate face. He removed the strand of hair that was covering her face and tucked it behind her ear instead.

"Don't do that..." His cheeks seeped into a shade of vermillion, placing his hand on her cheek and slightly pouting his lips. "You're pretty cute, I don't want you to hide that..." he softly tells her while caressing her cheek using his thumb.

'Too close! Too close!' [name] warned herself. "Ne, Amane-kun...?" she questioned as she pointed at their classmates who were watching the whole scene unfold. Amane sighed frustratingly raising an eyebrow at them.

This time Amane was so done of them watching on how they were being sweet to each other. He usually didn't mind being shipped with [name] but sometimes it gets really annoying. "[name], let's go somewhere else where we can be alone."

[name]'s eyes widened a bit, it was bold of Amane to take her out just for them to be alone in each other's comfort. The raven haired boy tenderly gripped on to her warm hand and walked her out to the classroom making their classmates squeal loudly like fans.

"Amane-kun, do you want to go there?" [name] asks tilting her head towards the teenage boy.

"Sure~" Amane slyly smirked at her swinging both of their hands while walking. He leaned over to her side and whispered, his hot breath fanning against her ear. "After all, we're alone over there~"

Y/n's face turned into a bright red color, she slightly pushes him away from her and scoots away. "W-What are you doing?!" she whispered loudly.

"Just stop complaining..." Amane sighed grabbing her hand and interlaced their fingers together. "Let's go to the rooftop."

"Aw~ They look so cute together!"

"I wish all!"

"I ship them so much!"

"If they weren't dating, I bet they like each other!"

[name] kept looking forward ignoring their comments about the two of them. Amane turned his head to her direction. "You okay, Y/n?"

[name] nodded while smiling. "Mhmm, I'm fine."

Although, [name] fell head over heels in love with Amane at the moment he started talking to her. The two have great chemistry together, he noticed. Not long after, Amane begun to have feelings for the girl.

The two arrived at the rooftop, feeling relieved that no one was there. "Let's go sit at the bench." [name] pointed at the empty chair by the distance. "Okay?"

Amane sat on the bench and signalled [name] to come closer. The latter nodded as she sat down next to him. "Feel frustrated about them?"

But Amane didn't reply, he simply took her hand and started to play with her fingers. His excuse is that it's his habit to play with someone's fingers and the truth is that he admired her pretty hands.

"Amane-kun, tell me..." [name] sighed, averting her gaze away from the male. "Were you annoyed when they ship us?"

"Sure, the shipping could be annoying." Amane smiled caressing her finger joints using his thumb. "But I don't really mind if it was with you..."

"I mean, we just met recently and we get along pretty well." he grins causing his cheeks to turn red. "Although, they should tone down the shipping."

"What was our ship name again?" [name] puts her finger under her chin to think. "It's [ship name] right?"

"[ship name]..." Amane slowly drops her hands to process the words. "Not gonna lie, it's a cute name, our classmates really thought hard about it, especially on the part that they want us to be together..."

"It feels pretty nice, being shipped with the person you love." [name] stated until her eyes widened as she realized what she just said. "W-Wait! I-I didn't mean it like that!"

"What was that again?" Amane's tone turned into a teasing one as he leaned over to [name]. "I didn't quite hear you~"

"I didn't say anything." [name] turned her head away from Amane, her voice trailing down into a whisper.

Amane took her chin between his thumb and index finger to make [name] look at him but the latter remained her gaze averted from him. "You don't have to be so shy around me babygirl~"

"I like you, Amane-kun..." [name] confesses, her cheeks turning even more red than an apple. "Ever since we got so close..."

This time it was Amane's turn to blush and stutter at her words. "Y-you l-like me?" he asked in disbelief whilst pointing at himself releasing her chin. "For real?"

[name] nodded slowly, the feeling of embarrassment kills her but in the same time she feels serendipitous. Amane blushed, lowering his head as his bangs were slightly covering his amber eyes. "Please forgive me what I'm about to do..."

"I'm getting rejected aren't I?" Amane slips his hands around her waist then he blushed the way he was holding her intimately. [name] placed her palms on to his chest gently, completely clueless on what was happening.

"If you were then I wouldn't be able to do this..."

Amane closes his eyes and tenderly tugs [name] closer to him. Tilting his head slightly just before his lips reaches her, and then he planted a soft kiss on her lips eliciting a soft 'tsup' from their lips. He pulled away to see a blushing [name] trying to utter a word, he smirked. "I think I broke the blushing [name], let me try that again~"

Amane kissed her again but this time it lasted more than a mere second. [name] stood there blushing like a cherry tomato. "W-Why d-did you do that?" she questioned while placing her hands on his shoulders.

Amane lifted her chin up and grinned softly at her. He moved his face closer to her as their noses were touching. "[name], I love you more than words can say. I started to have feelings for you ever since we got shipped and we got closer."

"Be mine?"

"Of course." [name] smiled with a blush on both of her cheeks. Just then, Tsukasa came through the door like a normal person would as he watched his older twin brother with a girl.

"[ship name]~!" Tsukasa announced. "The ship has sailed!"

Amane blushed, he wrapped his arms around [name] and buried his face on to her neck making her feel flustered. "A-Amane-kun!" she frantically says trying to pull away.

"Nooo...don't pull away babygirl~" Amane digs his face even deeper to her neck to hide his blush. [name] beckoned Tsukasa to leave which the latter winked and left.

Amane releases [name] as Tsukasa left the rooftop. [name] hugged herself making him pout. "Why hug yourself, when you have my arms to wrap around you~?"

He swiftly pecked her lips making her caught off guard. [name] stood up from the bench because she was flustered by Amane's cheesiness but then he tenderly held her hand making her stop.

"I'm not yet done with you, Y/n~"

And you know what happens next (oop).

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

a/n: guess who? lmao it is i tomorrow-by-tsundere from wattpad, mostly known from my fanfic called ghosted...yeah. hope u enjoy this oneshot that took three days to make lmao.

[xxisxxisxxis]

Gateway Drug | Part Seventy-One

Sorry it's late, I ended up accidentally drugging myself when I got in from work last. I had a migraine and my mom gave me one her of Amitriptyline and I didn't realize it was going to knock me the fuck out for 12 fucking hours. I woke up earlier today and was so confused, work clothes still on, makeup still on, but my migraine went away so I guess it worked.

I told you guys a cut a part out (I'm saving it for another chapter) part of it was the preview for this chapter with the flashback of when Nikki came home after Viv and Duff were being nasty in his bed...anyway enjoy the chapter!

Words: 4k

Warning(s): explicit language, violence, mentions of drug abuse

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"What?" I ask Fred, taking a few deep breaths and he raises his brows. 

"They just got here today, Viv, there's no way in hell that kid's biting the hand that's feeding him, over you, without there being a damn good reason." He states and I sigh, only causing him to nod his head. "That's what I thought. Does Sixx know?"

My eyes widen as I glare at him as if he's crazy. 

"Is Nikki acting like he knows?" I sarcastically say and Fred crosses his arms. "No." I add, deciding now is not the time for sarcasm. "No, Nikki doesn't know...I mean, we haven't been seeing each other, really. We've only hooked up one time." I try to reason.

"When?"

"When we went on break in September for a few days." I explain, fumbling with my fingers. 

"What, you got a hotel room or something?" He presses and I apparently give away what happened because his eyes are going to the size of saucers and he's raising his eyebrows. 

"Fred," I start.

"You fucked another man in Sixx's house?" He asks me in shock that I had the audacity to do such a thing. 

"He slept with Vanity in our house, so why not?" 

"Yes, because the way to put a fire out is to start a completely different fire!" He raises his voice. 

"Shh!" I put my hand over his mouth. "If anyone finds out about this, I'm done with, and so is Guns N' Roses." I hiss at him. 

"Highly doubt Duff's waking up after a night of plowing you like a field, thinking about his career, or else he wouldn't be sleeping with you in the first place." Fred says back quietly. "And you, what the fuck are you doing? Are you insane? If you get caught you're done for." 

"I know." 

"Then why're you letting it happen?" 

"I don't know, alright? I just…" I let out a breath and think for a moment. 

"Do you like, love him or something?"

"No, of course not." I insist. "Well, I love him, but not like in love with him." 

"Do you love Nikki?" 

"It doesn't matter if I do or not. We're over with once the tour is done." 

"You've both completely annihilated your vows, Vivian, I think it's safe to say you two have been over." He replies and I don't answer, ignoring that realization. 

I continued to ignore that realization until Nikki served me divorce papers once he got out of the hospital after he overdosed.

I try to hold back a laugh as Donna politely rejects Steven for the umpteenth time since he met her, and he pouts at me as she walks away.

“Viv, I’m going crazy.” He tells me. “I’m losing the charm, I think.”

“Oh, c’mon, Stevie, you aren’t losing the charm. Donna’s just a hard nut to crack because she and Emi have been put on a ‘don’t sleep with the opening band’ order.” I suggest and he maintains his let down facial expression. “And Emi and Mick are already a thing and catch hell for it, so Donna’s more than likely not wanting to be in the same predicament.”

“This is so unfair.” He crosses his arms.

“Just hook up with groupies.” I shrug.

“I’m trying but they’re all leftovers from what Tommy, Vince and Nikk--” He abruptly stops speaking and I raise my brows.

“What was that?” I ask him.

“Nothing…” He mumbles.

“I already thought Nikki was hooking up with groupies, but thank you for confirming it.”

“Well,” He starts, glancing around to make sure the coast is clear before he’s pointing out, “you’re hooking up with someone else, too, so does it matter?”

He’s got a valid point and I raise my brows, deciding I can’t argue with that.

“No.” I say quietly. “I suppose it doesn’t.”

The guys are getting off stage soon enough, being brought back down from hyperventilation before starting in for tonight’s plans.

“Strip club.” Tommy and Vince say simultaneously.

“Stevie, you comin’ with?” Tommy offers  and Steven glances at me as if asking for permission although I honestly don’t care if he hangs out with them or not.

I’m just waiting for Duff to finish up his conversation with Axl and Izzy in their dressing room.

“Mick, you wanna come?” Tommy asks next, resulting in Mick glancing at Emi.

She shakes her head a little bit, barely noticeable. Barely.

Nikki lets out a shiteating laugh and I prepare for what’s about to happen.

“Nikki, lay off--”

“--Tommy, you shouldn’t have asked. You know Mick can’t take his mouth away from Emi’s teat long enough to make his own big boy decisions.” Vince and Tommy laugh at Nikki’s words, while Mick just lets out a heavy sigh and looks down at the ground not wanting to argue.

“Okay, Nikki, seriously, stop.” I state, glaring at him.

“Okay, Vivian, seriously, mind your own fucking business and stop being such a--”

“--Hey, everybody shut it.” Fred pops his head in, hearing an argument about to start. “Guns is riding back to the hotel with us, their ride has a flat.” He adds.

"Whoo!" Steven cheers, high-fiving Tommy.

I slip past Fred to see Axl and Duff waiting for us to get ready to go.

"Where's Slash?" I ask them, furrowing my brows a little. 

He's soon enough stumbling from the bathroom, wiping vomit from his mouth, causing me to wrinkle my nose as he mutters, "I'm right here." 

Slash was Nikki's trouble-buddy on the tour. They'd stay at the hotel bar until it closed nearly every night before hitting the town. Most of the time Tommy and Steven would tag along or split and go do something else of their own. 

Axl never really bonded with the guys as much as Izzy, Duff, Slash, and Stevie did, but everyone got along and considered each other good friends. 

Crazy how things would take a turn a couple years later.

We all wait patiently to file into the bus one by one and, of course, Vince and Tommy have girls with them while Nikki seems satisfied by just having a conversation with Slash and Izzy.

I catch myself looking for Tansy and Sparkie...until I remember they left to go score. 

All is well until Mick says something to Emi and she giggles like a school girl with a crush, and I can see Nikki's face getting red with anger as she's about to step ahead of Mick onto the bus. 

Nikki's plucking Slash's Jack bottle from his hand and pours the whiskey down Emi's jacket. 

She gasps, stopping in her tracks, horror on her face as she turns around to face him. 

"Nikki, what the hell is wrong with you?!" I demand. 

"Oops." Nikki slickly smirks, handing the now empty bottle back to Slash, who--like everyone else--is at a loss for words as Nikki cuts in line and gets on the bus before Emi can recover. 

I look at Duff, trying not to get overwhelmed with anger. 

He shrugs his jacket off, preparing to offer it to Emi so she doesn't have to wear her wet jacket. 

"Here, you can borrow mine." He tells her and she looks at him a second, tears in her eyes as Tommy, Vince, and their groupies walk around her to get inside. 

"Thanks." She mumbles, taking her wet jacket off and slipping on Duff's warm, dry one. 

"That wasn't cool." Steven mumbles about Nikki when we get on the bus, seeing him and Tommy laughing obnoxiously while Emi and Mick sit as far away as possible. 

I'm about to plop down beside Steven when I see Nikki whisper something to Tommy a couple seats ahead of us.

He smiles deviously at whatever Nikki just told him, before he's drinking a gulp of Jack and keeping it in his mouth, only to stand up, walk to the back seats, and spit it on Emi and Mick.

Nikki ruptures into sick laughter with Tommy, and I've had enough. 

I glance down at Steven's skull ring and take advantage of him not paying attention, to take it off of him, quickly. 

"Viv, what're you--"

I don't give him the time to finish his question before I've got the ring on, and I'm standing up as Tommy comes back by, punching him--his skin splitting where the heavy ring made contact.

I can tell he’s seeing red, I don’t help much when I sarcastically add, “oops.”

Everyone’s struggling to get as apart before he can slap me, Steven letting out a high-pitched scream when Tommy tries to bombard over him to get to me after Stevie pushes me on the other side of him.

Duff and Nikki get Tommy off of me and Steven, a trail of blood running down my friend’s cheek.

“Get her off my fucking bus!” Tommy demands at Fred once he comes back here to settle everyone off while Doc is behind the wheel.

“I wish someone would try to kick me off.” I threaten, knowing they wouldn’t get my ass off the bus without getting mauled first.

“Why the fuck can’t you take a fucking joke without being a fucking psychopath?!” Tommy asks me, yelling.

“You spitting a drink on them isn’t a fucking joke, just like Nikki pouring alcohol all over her isn’t a fucking joke!” I hiss back.

“If it bothered her, she would fucking speak up, Vivian, you’re not Jesus--stop trying to save everybody!” He sneers.

“She can’t speak up for herself because you assholes would try to fucking fire her!”

“And that’s none of your business if we did!”

“Both of you, shut the fuck up and calm do--”

“--I’m not calming down until you get that crazy bitch off this fucking bus.” Tommy interrupts Fred.

“Tommy, we’re not kicking her off the bus, now sit down!” Fred insists.

“You don’t have to kick me out, I’m gone.” I state, grabbing my purse, stepping over Steven’s legs to get in the aisle.

“Vivian, sit down!” Nikki orders me where he’s now standing, and I scoff in his face and shove past him.

“Vivian, please, don’t go anywhere.” Fred pleads, tired, and just wanting everyone to behave.

“I’d rather burn for an eternity than spend another minute on this bus with such sad, disgusting, strung out, drunk, bitter people!” I shout, walking to the door.

I hear several steps behind me, and I think it’s Nikki and Fred stomping after me, but I turn to see Axl, Izzy, Duff, and Steven following after me.

Slash is already passed out, oblivious to what’s been happening.

“K.” I say to Doc as he glances at me and sighs out. “Can you stop the bus and open this door?”

I thought we would get off that bus and walk to the hotel in peace, but turns out I left one fight and got into another one.

“You didn’t have to follow me, Axl, alright? I didn’t ask you to so there was no reason for you to come out here with me!” I tell him after he makes a comment about me getting them in trouble, possibly.

“No, I didn’t have to, but you’re my friend and I didn’t want you to be out here by yourself, even though you wouldn’t have to be if you would have just taken a breath and let it go instead of starting a fight, as usual!”

“We’re in Alabama, Axl! It’s not like I’m gonna get kidnapped--nobody wants to fuck me down here because I’m not related to any of them!”

“Both of you are overreacting! Vivian, you shouldn’t have punched Tommy but I understand why you did! Axl, we’re not gonna get in trouble or kicked off the tour for making sure Nikki’s wife doesn’t get snatched up! Now, can we please go to the hotel so I can get ready and go out and get some chicks of my own because I’m tired of sloppy seconds!” Steven outbursts.

Me and Axl look at each other, knowing we’re arguing over something deeper than just him getting off the bus for me.

"Axl, this is not what it looks like, alright?” Duff camly says as we get covered up.

“Not what it looks like?! Do you think I’m fucking blind, Duff, what the fuck are you thinking?! Oh, wait, sorry, you’re not!” He explodes, his face bright red.

“Axl, can you please just let us explai--”

“--You shut up, Viv! I don’t wanna hear another damn thing from you because you just proved to me you could give a fuck about our band.” He points at me. “And what you--all of us--have busted our fucking balls for is about to be completely undone over some fucking pussy?! Are you fucking me right now?!” He says to Duff.

“It’s not just ‘some pussy’, Axl.” Duff states, getting defensive.

“I swear to fucking God, Duff, if you say ‘I love her’ I’m going to--”

“--I do love her.” Duff interrupts him, and Axl’s throwing one of his rings at the wall, causing it to hit a decorative painting, breaking the glass in the photo frame, causing me to jolt a little.

“Axl, c’mon, now it could be worse.” Izzy steps into the room, sitting down on the bed next to us, rubbing his forehead.

“Could be worse? These guys--her fucking husband, Nikki Sixx, yeah, you fucking remember him--are giving us a fucking shot on this tour. And the first fucking night in…” He trails off, at a loss for words, clenching his jaw and rubbing at his face.

“It wasn’t just tonight.” I start, waiting for Axl to look at me as Duff lets out a ragged breath, waiting for Axl to scream again. “It happened back in September, too.”

“You sound awfully proud of that, Viv, you really do. Cheating on Nikki--”

“--He cheated first, Axl. And then you all hid it from me.” I snap.

“I don’t care if you fucking cheat back, Vivian, but out of all the fucking people there is to get your revenge fuck in with, you choose somebody in our band--who’s friends with the band Nikki’s in. That’s what I don’t fucking like. But hey, if you wanna go down as the whore who wrecked Guns N’ Roses’ shot, then go ahead, but if we get kicked off this tour because of you, Nikki will be the least of your worries.”

“You don’t know what I’ve been through, Axl, you don’t know the living hell I’ve been enduring for three years of my relationship, you don’t know.”

“That’s not my fault when you could’ve left him then. But you stayed and now you’re putting our necks at risk just so you can get your fucking rocks off.”

“He and I are getting divorced anyway so what the hell does it matter?”

“It’s my fucking band!” He insists. “It’s our fucking career, our fucking music, our fucking dream, all on the line over you! And if Nikki finds out, he’s not gonna be going through the technicalities of ‘well, we’re getting divorced anyway so it doesn’t matter’, he’s just gonna think of his wife getting screwed by one of his friends whose band he’s given a chance! That’s why it fucking matters!”

“Hey, this isn’t her fault, man, alright?!” Duff jumps in. “If you wanna blame someone, blame me, it’s my fault anyway! I’m the one who told her how I felt about her when she was vulnerable and shit happened!”

“Fine.” Axl says, exhaling.

“Sorry for fighting.” I mumble.

We finally get back to the hotel in an hour, managing to dodge seeing any of the guys, Fred, or Doc when we get in.

Once Duff and I are back in his room, he’s getting out of my shower while I'm aimlessly flipping through TV channels, trying to find something to watch. 

"Hey, Viv?" I hear him call and I put the remote down and step to him, leaning against the bathroom door, nothing but a towel wrapped around his hips. 

"What's up?" I ask and he looks at me. 

"I forgot my hairbrush." He tells me and I smile a little before stepping to my suitcase to grab mine while he finishes drying off and pulls his boxer shorts on, stepping into the room. "Thanks." He says when I hand it to him and he roughly goes through the strands of his hair, making me cringe. 

"Don't be so mean to your hair, Duff, geez." I comment, taking the brush from him, sitting on the bed. "C'mere." I motion him over and he playfully rolls his eyes and sits in front of me while I stand on my knees at his back and gently brush through his bleached tresses. "You need to start using more conditioner." I tell him.

"That's what Stevie tells me when he sees me struggling with it." He informs me with a chuckle. 

When I'm done, I'm putting my brush back in my bag and getting into bed, under the covers. 

"I'm sorry if this is a let down but I'm too tired to finish what we started earlier." I admit to him as he gets into bed with me and shuts the light off. 

"Tell me about it." He replies, his hand gently playing with the red strands of my hair strewn across my pillow. "And it's not a let down. Just laying in the same bed as you is well over good enough." He assures me and I look at him, smiling. 

I scoot a little closer to him, my arm wrapping around his waist, my lips kissing at his for a brief second as his arm snakes around me. 

"Goodnight, Duff." I say quietly. 

"G'night, Viv." He tells me, and for the first time in months, I sleep through the night, completely. 

I sleep through the entire day, waking up to the feeling of lips kissing up my neck, Duff’s soft hair brushing against my skin and I hum.

“What time is it?” I ask him, stretching, smiling softly as he kisses at my cheek next.

“Five o’clock.” He replies, moving to get off of me, but I wrap my legs around his hips and stop him.

“What time do we have to leave here for the show?”

“It’s an off day, remember?” He reminds me and I raise a brow.

“Oh, it is. I forgot.” I admit.

“Well, you have been asleep the whole day, so.” He brushes some of my hair from my face.

“Wanna get some room service tonight?” I offer. 

"Me and the guys were gonna hangout tonight." He explains. "But Steven already said I needed to bring you." He adds. "So if you wanna come, you can."

"Okay." I nod, rubbing my lips together. "Have you seen Nikki today?"

"He and Tommy were by the pool with Tansy and Sparkie earlier." 

"Is Tommy's cheek okay?"

"It's bruised, but I don't think it'll scar where Steven's ring got him." 

"Ughh, I'm gonna have to apologize to him for that." I mumble, looking at the ceiling. "I just wish him and Nikki would just leave Emi and Mick alone. I mean, you can't help who you like, you know?" 

"Talk to Nikki and Tommy about it." Duff suggests. 

"They'll laugh in my face if I say, 'you can't help who you like'." I state. 

"...Yeah, maybe don't say anything." He agrees after thinking on it for a moment. 

"Yeah." I giggle, kissing his cheek. "Alright, you're free." I release my legs from his waist so he can get up. "I gotta shower and get ready and I'll meet you guys. Who's room do I need to go to?"

"Probably Stevie's." He tells me, getting up. 

"Okay, I'll see you in a few minutes." I reply, getting out of bed and heading to the bathroom. 

He stops me before I can close the bathroom door, about to kiss me. 

"Babe, my breath." I lean back to avoid embarrassment. 

"I don't care." He states, pressing his lips to mine chastely. "See you in a few." He says before walking out. 

Once I get a shower and get clothes on, skipping out on doing my hair and makeup because these guys saw me look like hell for weeks when Nikki and I took those couple months apart, before I head down to Steven's room. 

When I go to knock on the door, it's cracked open already, and I peek inside to see he and the guys are nowhere around. 

"Oh-kay." I mumble, stepping inside to see if there's any sign they'll be back, like room keys, or shoes, or jackets. 

Nothing. 

I turn on my heel and head to the door when something appealing catches my eye. 

A ziplock of brownies. 

My stomach growls, and I realize I haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday morning. 

"Just one won't hurt anything." I say to myself. 

Fifteen minutes and five brownies later, I'm not even hungry for actual dinner. 

I put the bag back where I got it and head downstairs to see Steven, Axl, Izzy, Duff, Slash, Nikki and Tommy at the bar. 

I don't give Tommy or Nikki a second glance before sitting next to Steven and Duff. 

"You drinking?" Izzy asks me, amused I'm sitting at the "big boy" table. 

"No." I reply. 

"You want food?" Duff asks me.

"Nah, I'm full on brownies." I explain and Slash and Steven suddenly stop dead in their tracks, mid-drink, before looking down the bar at each other, and then to me. 

"On what?" Slash asks me, cautiously. 

"She said, 'brownies'." Axl tells him. 

"Oh...from where?" Steven asks me and I furrow my brows. 

"Your room, why?" 

"Oh, okay...um, hey, I think I forgot my rubbers in my room." Steven gets off the barstool. "Slash, you wanna come with me?" 

"Nah, man, I'm--" Steven's pulling him off the stool by the back of his jacket, the two of them walking quickly to the elevator. 

Me and Duff exchange glances and follow after them, Duff's hand keeping the elevator doors from closing at the last second. 

Steven looks pained when we step in with them, eyeing the two of them. 

"What's going on?" Duff asks them, casually, wanting to get to the bottom of it. 

"Nothing." Stevie denies, shaking his head a little. 

"Steven, be honest." I add and he shrugs. 

"Nothing's going on." He says, matter-of-fact.

"Stevie--"

I'm cut off when the doors open on our floor and Steven takes off to his room, getting the door unlocked, heading to the bag of brownies with Slash on his heels. 

"Steven, what's wrong?" I ask when me and Duff catch up. 

"Oh, no." He lets out, slightly panicked. "Oh, no, no. Not good. Oh, God. Oh, I'm gonna be sick." He runs his fingers through this blonde hair. 

"Steven, what is it?" Duff asks him next. 

"She ate, like, five!" Steven explains. 

"I can get you some more brownies, Steven, it's okay." I chuckle. 

Duff looks at the brownies, then and Slash and Steven, then back at the brownies, then at me, then back at the brownies…

"Were these…? Duff asks them, raising his brows. 

"Uh huh." Steven winces out and Duff's eyes widen. 

"A-And she ate five?" 

"Yeah." 

"How much was in them?" 

"Well...there was like ten in each brownie and she had five so--"

"--You gave her fifty milligrams of weed brownies?!" 

"Of what?!" I ask.

"I didn't give them to her, she ate them herself!" Steven points out. 

"Oh, no." I say aloud.

"Oh, no" was right.

[heartbreakerholland]

lunchtime losers [p.p.]

Summary: Peter Parker was one of your best friends in high school, but there were moments that made you question who exactly he could be to you. Here are a few of those moments you spent in Midtown, trying to figure things out year by year.

Word count: 6.8k

Warnings: mentions of underaged drug use, mild swearing, open ended. . . ending(?), unedited

Disclaimer: i cannot stress enough that you shouldn't do drugs/alcohol while underaged. i know high school is weird and everybody might seem to be experimenting with new things, but i promise there'll be a time and place where it's appropriate to do so. i am in no way glamorizing/romanticizing (underaged) drug use, even if it's such a small portion of this fic. drug/alcohol abuse is very serious, even as a teenager when it doesn't seem like you're abusing it.

A/N: i have some pointers! this is a different writing style compared to what i've posted before. i've written like this back when i first started writing fanfiction years ago and quite frankly, i don't even like it that much, so i'm very iffy about this. this is based off of my own experience with getting to know my feelings about a good friend, and a lot of the scenes in here are closely accurate to what's actually happened in my life. the only part that i can say is 100% pure imagination is the ending, which i know will probably make a lot of you frustrated ☺️ (it's because i still haven't told this person my feelings for him oops) ANYWAYS this is written in a very one sided perspective, but i tried to write in a way that you can read between the lines and get a little idea of what peter’s feelings are too. a lot of peter’s and the reader’s feelings are told merely through action and dialogue and less of actual explaining, but i hope you enjoy it nonetheless 💞

feedback is greatly appreciated and feel free to request a part 2! enjoy reading!

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•••

Freshman Year

"This has been going on for weeks," Michelle muttered to you. "If the tension at the table gets any worse, then I'm not sitting with you guys anymore."

You stepped out of the lunch line with your tray in hand, following MJ to stand away from the crowd of students. Looking behind her, you watched Peter and Ned enter the lunch room and sit down at your usual table.

You rolled your eyes. "I already told you. Maybe Peter likes me and maybe I like him back, but he's always been one of my closest friends. I don't want to ruin that."

She scoffed and began walking towards the table with you at her side. "So? You can date and still be friends—"

"But what about when we break up? We either stay friends or never talk to each other again. I'm not risking it."

You knew she would have said more, but the two of you already made it to your table. You took place in your usual seats, Michelle next to Ned and you across from them, next to Peter. You set your backpack on the ground underneath the bench where everyone sat. Without thinking about it, you handed Peter your chocolate milk carton and apple sauce, while he slid over his fruit snacks that May always packed for him. It was a routine; you always got those because you didn't like eating it but you knew Peter did, and Peter never told May that he doesn't like fruit snacks because you loved eating them.

MJ narrowed her gaze at you during the interaction, but you chose to ignore her. It was nothing more than a routine.

"Y/N, Michelle," Ned said. "Please tell Peter that he's being stupid.”

Without missing a beat, you and MJ repeated Ned's words at the same time.

Peter glanced between the two of you with mock surprise. "You didn't even know what we were talking about!"

MJ shrugged, taking a bite out of her food. "Don't have to. You're always stupid, Parker."

He put a hand over his chest. "I'm hurt, guys. I really am."

You chuckled but said nothing more, allowing your three friends to carry the conversation while your mind wandered.

You tried your best to pinpoint the moment you began liking Peter as more than a friend, but your heart wasn't into it.

All you could really tell was when you became more conscious of how close you always sat with him, thighs glued to the side and elbows never coming apart. You blamed it on the lunch table crowded with other students on either side of your friend group, giving you absolutely no space for Jesus in between.

You would catch yourself staring, taking note of his mannerisms and how his light brown hair always seemed to bounce whenever his head moved. You decided you noticed those things because of how long you've been friends with him.

You realized you always watched for his reaction first before seeing the others' after you said something funny, but you told yourself it was only because you valued his opinion the most.

You tried taking note of his flaws in hopes that it would get rid of whatever those feelings were. His hands were always clammy, his backpack was so big that you weren't sure how he didn't topple over when it was on his back, and sometimes he'd spit a little when he talked a lot. (For some reason, those things didn't push you away like you wanted.)

You felt a kick from under the table, bringing you back to the cafeteria. You looked up to be met with Michelle's glare, who signaled you to check your phone. Reaching into your pocket, you took your phone out and looked at the screen under the table.

Michael Jackson: if u keep staring at peter then he might actually notice for once

You gave MJ a look, who was the one who sent the text, and put your phone away. You didn't realize you'd been mindlessly eating until you felt full. You slid your food to Peter, who began eating the rest of it without second thought. (He always ate his lunch first then whatever you couldn't finish as well.) Routine.

Before you could actively participate in the conversation, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

The four of you rose from the long table, gathering your trash to throw it away. You slouched over to grab your bag from where you put it.

"Here ya go," Peter said from behind.

You turned around to see him holding up your backpack for you.

"Oh, thanks," you smiled, swinging the backpack over your shoulders.

He returned the smile. "You going to your locker?"

"Like always, Pete."

"Alright," he slowly backed away. "See you in five?"

You nodded and began walking the other direction, where your locker was. Michelle followed Peter to the band room while Ned decided to accompany you on your short walk.

"Soooo, Y/N," he said suggestively. "That dance is coming up."

You groaned. "I thought the four of us were just going to sleep over at MJ's that night?"

You stopped in front of your locker, opening it to grab a textbook for one of your classes later in the day. You grabbed one of Peter's hoodies that he left in there, knowing it would be cold in the band room. (You had a locker in one side of the school while Peter had his own in the other side. You both agreed to share both, merely for convenience and nothing more.) Ned leaned on the locker next to yours, facing you.

He fiddled with his backpack straps. "You know how the school's making it a 'girls ask guys' kind of thing? Well, Michelle was thinking that maybe we should go! Like, she'll ask me and you can ask Peter—"

You raised a pointed finger at your friend. "I see what you're doing now," you accused him. You shut the locker and began walking towards the band room with Ned beside you. "I don't condone meddling, Leeds."

"But Y/N!" he said excitedly. "MJ and I know that you two like each other. You know that Peter likes you. He knows that you like him. You know that he knows that you like him. He knows that you know that he likes you. It's a win-win!"

You sighed. "You're making it sound more complicated than it actually is."

The two of you made it to the band room and Ned opened the door for both of you to walk in. You both headed to retrieve your instruments, with other students swarming by.

"You're making it actually complicated! Look, Y/N. I'm not supposed to tell you this, but," he lowered his voice, "if you don't ask Peter to the dance, then he's gonna ask you."

You froze, holding your instrument case in the air. "What?" You regained yourself and set the case down, facing Ned. "No, Ned. No. Listen. I'll tell you what I told Michelle, okay? I just want to be Peter's friend—"

"But you like him!"

"But I don't want to do anything about it. It's just a crush—it'll pass. I treasure our friendship more than having a crush that won't last forever."

Ned raised and dropped his arms exasperatedly, giving up.

Michelle popped up, seeming chipper than usual. "Hey guys, we're practicing for contest today," she said. "What're you talking about?"

"It's not gonna happen, MJ," Ned sighed. He grabbed his instrument and trudged away, leaving you two alone since the rest of the students seem to have gone in their respective practice rooms already.

Michelle put her hands on her hips and stared at you, her attitude changing back to normal. "Why not, Y/N? Are you scared or something?"

You sighed. You turned around and headed the same direction Ned went, with MJ following closely behind. "No, I'm not scared. Can you guys please stop meddling? I just don't want anything to happen, and that's it."

The two of you stopped in front of your designated practice room, the door closed. You peeked through the small window in the door, seeing the boys were already in there, oblivious to you and MJ on the other side.

"Why not?" Michelle asked. "You'll regret not ever knowing what could have been—"

"No, that's the thing," you interjected. You were tired of hearing these talks about Peter, and it was beginning to show. "I know that I won't regret it. I can daydream about 'could-have-beens' with Peter all my life, and I'll be fine with that. I don't want to lose him, and if that means that I can't be with him romantically, then that's what I'm gonna do. Having a crush is always temporary, Michelle. Peter's the kind of person that I want permanently in my life. Do you know what I mean now?"

She stared at you with a hint of sadness in her eyes, like she could see right through your words. See what, you weren't sure. After a skeptical moment, she took a breath, surrendering. "Alright, fine. I'll let him know that."

You took a breath of relief. "Thank you."

Michelle turned to open the door to the practice room, Ned and Peter welcoming the two of you in.

-

The practice room was small with the four of you and your instruments in it, meaning you'd be in close quarters with them—Peter specifically.

It was easy to pretend your feelings for Peter weren't there. It was easy to act like yourself despite the elephant in the room. Before the complications, you and Peter were glued together, so why treat him differently now?

Maybe you noticed him noticing you, watching your moves when you pretended you couldn't see where his line of sight was directed. Maybe you took note of him flinching back whenever you accidentally brushed against him, and how the sweat from his palms were more prominent on his instrument.

But it was easier to ignore those things, which is what made it easier for you to act like it never happened in the first place.

Sophomore Year

You weren't usually one to gloat, but damn it you were right about the situation with Peter and you told yourself that you should be happy about it.

Crushes were always temporary. Friendship could last forever.

Could.

Michelle and Ned eventually stopped bringing it up freshman year, and you figured Peter eventually stopped liking you as well.

The whole ordeal wasn't something any of you talked about, an unsaid truth never to be spoken. You refused to even think about those weird few months and how you felt during that time. You told yourself that having a mutual crush on your best friend wasn't something to think about.

You were just glad that you weren't the center of Peter's attention anymore. You knew this was true, mainly because his attention drifted to Liz Allen. The intelligent, breathtaking, lucky girl: Liz Allen.

Besides Peter's obvious crush on her, nothing changed.

"If you three weren't my only friends at this school," MJ said, "I'd stop eating lunch with you guys."

You followed her out of the lunch line after paying, just like the normal routine since last year. The two of you began walking across the cafeteria and towards the same table you've always sat at, with Ned and Peter already there. (The only difference nowadays was Peter sat next to Ned, and you and MJ sat across from them, so Peter could helplessly drool over Liz across the lunch room.)

You chuckled. "Me too, I think. . . It's because of Peter, huh?"

She groaned. "Duh. All he does is gush about her."

You laughed as you sat down next to Michelle, having finally made it to the table. Before even being able to look at your food, Peter began talking.

"She straightened her hair today, guys! She looks so different but still. . . so good."

Ned followed where Peter's eyes were, seeing it was true. Michelle faked a gag, which only you noticed.

The two of you ate your food in silence, which was something different compared to before Liz came in the picture. Peter also stopped bringing you fruit snacks and eating the food that you couldn't finish, as well as denying to take chocolate milk and apple sauce from you.

Sometimes you'd catch yourself missing those little things, but you told yourself it was only because of the change in what used to be normal. Before, normal was getting squished next to Peter and enjoying it, oddly realizing the days he switched between his cologne, and endless banter between the four of you. Now, normal was having to think of what to say to strike a conversation with him, rolling your eyes at his comments on Liz, and being vaguely aware of the few times he looked your way.

You would find yourself hurting, and you'd have to correct your thoughts and say it was only missing the past. There was no use in feeling sorry for yourself, though. Things happen, feelings change, and that was that. You were still friends with Peter in one way or another, and that's what you wanted, so clearly you had to be happy about things going your way.

"You guys are losers," Michelle told the boys, who were still fawning over the senior girl in the cafeteria.

Peter didn't seem to hear her, (he didn't seem to hear anything you and MJ said, nowadays), but Ned shrugged. "You're still friends with us," he replied.

That was true. You were still friends and that's what mattered. It was weird having to remind yourself of that fact, but it was still that: a fact.

"Hey, Y/N?" Peter spoke out of nowhere.

His voice fazed you. It was odd hearing him say your name now, especially after realizing he used to say it almost as often as he breathed.

"You know about girls, right?"

You and Michelle shared a glance, knowing where this was headed.

"I mean, I am a girl, so yeah," you said. You looked at him, but his eyes never seemed to have left the special girl seated somewhere behind you. You paid no mind to it, your eyes going over how his head was dreamily rested on his hand.

"Okay, so," he began. "Hypothetically speaking. . . If you're a senior, would you date a guy that's a sophomore?"

You rolled your eyes, but decided to mess with Peter. "Well, what's the guy like?"

Michelle snorted.

"He's, uhm. . . He's pretty smart. Really nice, I think—"

"He's a cutie!" Ned chimed in.

You shrugged. "Well, if that's all he has going for him. . ."

"No!" Peter retaliated. "He's really cool, and uh, thinks you're pretty! Yeah, you're pretty."

You felt your face heat up and you were glad that none of your friends were looking at you for once.

-

You were warned that the people you walk into high school with would never be the people you'd walk out of high school with. People grew apart and that was life, apparently. You didn't think those warnings would actually apply to you, though. You thought the four of you were too strong together to separate.

By the time sophomore year was halfway done, you were proved dearly wrong.

You thought Liz would be the only strain on your friendship with Peter, but his behavior drastically changed out of nowhere then suddenly he got an internship with Stark Enterprises. Peter was one of the smartest people you ever met, so you weren't surprised. If anything, the real surprise was he not only quit the only class he had with you—which was music—but he stopped even trying to talk to you.

You and Michelle decided to stop sitting with Peter and Ned during lunch.

"There he goes again," Michelle pointed.

You followed her gaze and saw that Peter was fawning over Liz again, which was weird considering he rarely showed up during lunch anymore.

It hurt. You knew that now. Missing Peter wasn't something you'd expect to feel, but lately? It's all you've felt.

You didn't have to miss MJ or Ned, because you still saw them and talked to them regularly. It was only Peter. Always Peter freaking Parker.

Maybe you took him for granted. You'd never thought that there'd come a day that you'd stop sharing food, sharing classes, sharing a conversation.

"No point in regretting it," you said aloud.

It was more for yourself than to Michelle. You made your decision on who Peter was to you, so it would only be a waste of time in wondering who he could have been.

Junior Year

Something changed sophomore year. Ned told you that Peter ditched the academic decathlon which resulted in him getting detention. That was something you never expected to hear, considering Peter was the perfect example of Midtown High's star student.

The beginning of junior year, you saw him in music. He stayed this time.

He seemed to be taking advantage of "conveniently" getting the same class like before. He made a point to talk to you again—during class and lunch—and it was like he never ditched you and MJ.

"Oh my God," you rolled your eyes. You aggressively turned your body to face Peter who sat beside you. "You just want to win! You're not even right!"

He looked at Ned and MJ sat in front of you two for help, but they only stared back with clear amusement. (The four of you assumed your usual seats from freshman year, so you would always get squished against Peter's side at lunch again.)

"It doesn't matter if I'm right!" he exclaimed with big hand gestures. "A debate is a debate! You could be right—I'm not saying you are—but I'm just better at debating than you."

Ned did a terrible job at hiding his laughter from the argument you were having with Peter.

This was something that you were happy you had the chance of getting used to again—not that you'd ever tell Peter that. As soon as the school year began and all of you sat together, not so playful yelling was all that accompanied the lunch table.

The dorky boy loved proving himself right, and you loved proving people wrong. As soon as the second week of sharing lunch in the cafeteria passed by, it would have been weird not to bicker with him like before.

Michelle slammed her book closed, startling the three of you to silence. "Look," she said, giving you and Peter a death glare. "Y/N, Peter has some good points—all only technical, but still good."

Peter thanked her and you huffed, upset MJ wasn't on your side.

"Shut up, Peter," she said. "Peter, Y/N's still right, and you're just gross."

"Ha!" you yelled, then rose from the table's bench and reached over to high-five Ned. (You were sure he'd side with either of you, but it was the thought that counts.)

Peter scoffed. "It's not that gross," he said, refusing to take Michelle's answer. "If you were on a deserted island with a bag of frozen chicken nuggets and no microwave, it would still be safe to eat them—"

"The directions say to microwave them for a reason, Peter!" you interrupted.

"It's already cooked!" he brought up, which was something he pointed out earlier in the conversation. "It's cooked before it's frozen, then you can just warm it up in the microwave—but that doesn't mean you have to—"

"Y'know what, fine," you said, slamming your hands down on top of the lunch table. "You can eat frozen chicken nuggets all you want, Peter. But I am going to warm mine up in the microwave like everybody else. And if you get some weird disease, don't come crying to me because I was right—"

"I won't come crying back to you! Because I'm still right!"

The bell rang, signaling the end of your lunch before you could put another word in. The four of you immediately rose, with MJ and Ned heading straight to the band room.

You reached down for your backpack, only not to find it where you left it. Turning around, Peter held it in the air for you to shrug on. Just like before.

The two of you silently walked side by side to your locker so you could switch out textbooks and get one of Peter's sweaters that he always "forgot" in there.

"How's that one guy doing?" Peter asked, one hand in his jean pocket with the other gripping his backpack strap.

You shrugged, opening your locker. He leaned against the locker next to yours, staring you down with his usual grin.

You'd be damned if you didn't say puberty was doing Parker well. You wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't ditched you last school year, but he definitely got. . . toned, to say the least. He also learned how to use hair gel and walked around school with clothes that seemed to make him more confident.

You cleared the thoughts away. Those things were only noticeable because you were friends with him. Obviously.

"You mean Carlos?" you replied. You reached into the locker and sorted out what you needed to.

Peter nodded then grabbed the textbooks you had in your arms. You shut the locker and the two of you began your walk to the band room.

"I'm pretty sure he was flirting with me, which was nice," you told your friend. "But he stopped talking to me out of nowhere and hasn't even opened my messages since."

He scrunched his eyebrows. "Here, lemme see the messages."

Before you could reach in your back pocket for your phone, Peter beat you to it with his free hand. He unlocked it and went to the messages. While reading it, he chuckled.

"Seriously, Y/N?" he said, amused. "That's why he stopped replying! You called him 'dude!'"

You gave him a shocked look. "So what? I call everyone dude."

Making it to the band room, you opened the door and followed Peter in. He spoke while the two of you set down your belongings. "You friend-zoned him."

You scoffed. "I did not!"

He gave you a look. "Y/N. I've been friend-zoned enough times to know when somebody else is getting friend-zoned."

You rolled your eyes and turned around to get yours and Peter's instruments, but something felt off about what he said. You didn't really care about talking to Carlos, but what Peter said felt like it was partially directed to you. You didn't blame him, because you technically did friend-zone him. . . but that was two years ago! Clearly he let it go by now, because you definitely did.

Senior Year

You and Michelle stumbled inside her home, waving a goodbye to Peter—who dropped you two off—before shutting the front door.

"Dude," you turned to her. She looked at you with glazed eyes, but was still able to keep her focus. You continued, "I am so gone."

Both of you giggled, leaning on each other to take off your shoes and put aside your bags. MJ led you to a couch, retrieved water from the kitchen, then sat next to you. She chugged the water down with a hand clearly steadier than yours. "What do you mean?" she asked. Her eyes were bloodshot and droopy, but she looked put together for the most part.

You shrugged lazily, taking a sip of your water. "You've seen me smoke," you said to her. "I've been. . . chill, buzzed, whatever. But right now? I am high." Laughter interrupted whatever you could have said next, though you weren't sure if you had anything to say.

She laughed with you, still clearly having a good time despite being more sober. "Really?"

"Yeah," you nodded. "Like," you looked around the room, searching for the right set of words. "I haven't been this high in a while. . . Like, you've never seen me this gone."

"Ooh," she rubbed her hands together comically. "I'm excited."

You rubbed your eye, forgetting the makeup you had on. "Why?"

"Because!" she chirped up. "You know what they say? Drunk words are sober thoughts. Well, high words too, maybe."

You shook your head with a smile before drinking more water. You didn't mind letting loose with Michelle; you trusted her, which was why you smoked as much as you did in the first place. You were comfortable enough to allow her to see this side of you, even if there was the chance you might not remember any of it in the morning.

You helped each other up the stairs, having decided you should at least take off your makeup and change your clothes. (Thank God her parents weren't coming home that night.) By the time you both finished, you were seated comfortably on the couch once again, this time underneath one large blanket and with the television playing late night cartoons in front of you. A single lamp as well as the TV were your only light sources, which kept the living room in a dim glow.

"Can I be honest?" you spoke over the cartoons, startling Michelle. Neither of you were sobering up at all, but that fact didn't stop anything.

She nodded and turned off the TV. MJ turned to completely face you, giving you her attention. "Yeah," she said. "What's up?"

You began rambling without hesitation. "You know how Peter was at the game? Well, of course he was. He had to be because the band was playing for the football team and he's in band. . . But anyways, I didn't talk to him at all—he always seemed busy with somebody else—but I couldn't stop. . . I don't know. I caught myself looking for him a lot, like, to see if he moved around the bleachers or something."

Michelle nodded, allowing you to continue.

"Okay, well. . . I don't know, dude," you continued. "You remember how we had crushes on each other freshman year? Well—I don't think I have a crush on him, I swear—but I feel something. . . It's weird. He's one of my best friends but I know there's something stronger there."

She looked around the room thoughtfully, searching for a reply. "What do you feel?"

It was hard to think clearly and how to explain yourself; the only word that stayed in your head the entire time was his name. Peter, Peter, Peter.

You began rambling. As soon as the words left your mouth, you instantly forgot what they were, but that didn't stop you from talking. "Michelle, it's so weird. I've never really told you this but, remember when he had a crush on Liz? And when he ditched us for a while after that? I—I think I missed him. And not just as a friend. You know what, I don't know."

Peter, Peter, Peter.

You shook your hands in the air as if you could shoo your thoughts away.

You continued. "I care about him as a friend and stuff, but I don't think how I've felt about him is how I feel about other people, like you or Ned. It's different. Like, I don't want to lose him. I don't want him out of my life."

Peter, Peter, Peter.

You sighed. "When he was gone for the whole Stark Internship thing, it felt like I really lost someone. I mean, I don't have to talk to you or Ned for days—weeks, even—and I'll be fine. But when the same thing happened with Peter? I would feel so. . . lost."

Michelle nodded, staying attentive the entire time. There was a part of you that knew she wasn't high enough to forget any of this, though you were sure you wouldn't remember much.

"What do you want me to say?" she asked.

You shrugged, looking down at your hands. Peter, Peter. "What does it sound like to you? I don't know what I'm feeling is called, but it's definitely not just a friendly thing."

She stared at you for a moment, contemplating what to do next. "I'm not sure if this has anything to do with you two," she began, "but I think you should know. . . You know how you'd leave during lunch sometimes to go to the bathroom?"

You nodded, recalling the multiple occasions.

"Well," she continued. "Ned and I talked about it, and we noticed that Peter's not the same when you're gone, either. Like, he'd look so bored and would play games on his phone compared to when you're at the table and he'd never stop talking."

You imagined him doing so. "Huh."

"Yeah. . ." she said. "Let's just go to sleep, okay? Sleep on it, and I'll remind you whatever you forgot you said in the morning, alright? Then we can figure out what to do."

As soon as MJ said the word "sleep," you instantly realized how heavy your eyelids felt. You nodded at her proposal, and laid yourself down on the couch with her.

You weren't sure if your eyes were closed or if it was just that dark in the living room, but you were definitely thinking. You imagined the feeling of being brushed against Peter's body, whenever you sat next to each other or walked side by side in the school halls. He started driving recently, and for some reason you always got shotgun while MJ and Ned didn't hesitate to sit in the back. You could nearly feel your elbows touching when you both leaned on the console at the same time. You remembered the times he'd laugh around you, uncaring about how loud it might've been, as well as the fact that he said your name more times in one day than anybody else did in a whole month.

His absence sophomore year definitely put a strain on you. You loved Michelle and Ned to bits, but you were pretty sure you might've loved Peter in a different way.

Him being out of your life for that period of time was confusing but, at the same time, clearer than looking through a window. You managed to keep tabs on him even if it meant only scrolling through his Instagram or seeing how he'd hold himself across the hall. You knew then that you cared about that boy more than you ever cared for anyone else.

You were terrified of you two becoming more than friends because that meant you had a chance of it ending badly and never talking to him again. Staying friends meant staying safe.

It meant that you had more of a chance of him being with you, which is what you knew you always wanted. You knew you'd be happy, crush or not, as long as Peter was in your life the rest of the way.

Is that what it feels like to love?

-

You nervously rubbed your hands together, which gained odd looks from other students due to the warm New York weather. It was a few months after that fated night with Michelle, the day of the senior field trip. The entire senior class got to go into the city and do whatever they wanted for an entire school day.

Michelle coolly stood beside you, her hands in both her jacket pockets. "I'm excited," she admitted.

You squinted at her. "For what?"

An uncharacteristic smile broke her face. "You know! You're finally gonna confess your feelings to Parker. It's about time, honestly. Ned and I were beginning to think about calling off our deal we started freshman year—"

"Hey guys!" a voice chimed in from afar.

You gave MJ a look to stop talking about the subject, watching Ned and Peter walking towards you two.

"I am so excited," Ned said. You caught him giving Michelle a wink, which told you that she informed him of the "plan."

You would've groaned if Peter weren't standing right next to you.

"Me too!" Peter said obliviously. "I really want to check out that new pop culture museum."

A teacher announced for everyone to gather up and get inside the bus. The four of you sat in the back together, you and MJ sharing one seat while Peter and Ned were seated right in front of you.

"I'm scared of getting lost, honestly," Ned confessed a bit after the bus began moving.

Peter huffed his chest. "Don't worry, man! The internship," he winked at the three of you, "really let me get to know the city, so I'll know everywhere we go."

You and MJ rolled your eyes together. Peter had shared his secret about being Spider-Man with the two of you not too long after he got his license, only because his "spider senses were tingling" right before avoiding a crash.

"By 'everywhere' do you mean all the port-a-potty's?" you teased him.

Peter made a face. "That was one time! Ya use the bathroom once and that's when the paparazzi show up," he whispered to himself.

-

You were nervous for nearly the entire day due to the anticipation of confessing to Peter. It was hard figuring out when and where to do so; should you make a big deal out of it like one big crush proposal or just bring it up out of nowhere as if it were the most normal thing to say?

Decisions, decisions.

The four of you were inside the new Museum of Pop Culture, wandering around aimlessly with offhand remarks for everything in the exhibits.

"Guys," Ned said. He walked beside Michelle while you and Peter were behind. "The horror exhibit actually looks pretty scary."

You peeked through the glass doors, the exhibit on the other side. All you could see was red glowing from the ceiling, which did make Ned seem correct.

"Never fear," Peter whispered to the three of you. "Spider-Man is here."

Your group walked through the doors, instantly being met by speakers blasting screams and haunting music. The red lights from above were your only source of light, leading the way deeper into the exhibit.

"Oh," MJ said softly. "Y/N, don't look up."

Not many things scared you, but you knew that Michelle was well aware of what did.

Trusting her, you instinctively gripped onto Peter's upper arm and watched your feet move on the ground. You noticed he instantly tensed at the contact, his bicep tougher with your fingers barely able to wrap around it.

"It's alright, Y/N," Peter said, looking up to see what MJ was talking about. "It's not even that ba—ohmygod we're not walking that way."

He redirected you to the left after the exhibit opened up into a large room. You heard Ned and Michelle chuckle at Peter, who allowed the two of you to move in front of them.

"Dude," you heard Ned from behind. "It's just a bunch of hanging bodies wrapped like. . . mummies?"

Knowing you were well past whatever MJ told you not to look at, you raised your head and took in your surroundings.

"Oh," you said. "It's not that bad."

You looked to the right side of the room where Peter made a point not to cross and saw what Ned was talking about. You laughed, letting go of Peter's arm. "You call yourself Spider-Man? It's not even that scary."

All of you stopped and stood with one of the walls behind you, scoping out the exhibit.

"That's the one thing I don't like!" Peter complained.

Michelle walked over to the small area of fake bodies hanging from the ceiling, all of them covered with cloth and net. She poked it.

"It's fake, you dork," she said.

You and Ned followed her and saw the bodies made a maze, leading to an explanation on what movie that section was about. The three of you taunted Peter, walking into the maze.

The brunette puffed his chest. "Yeah, whatever."

He was last to go inside, the rest of you well ahead. There was a line of bodies between you and him, so you pushed the one closest to him.

Peter screeched.

"One thing!" he screamed. "That is the one single thing! I hate you guys!"

The rest of you broke out into laughter.

-

You were all seated in a McDonald's booth, leisurely eating your shared meals. You had assumed the same seating as you always did for lunch at Midtown.

You felt a kick from under the table. Looking up, Michelle gave you a pointed look.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom," she announced.

She scooted out of the booth and stood up.

"Oh yeah, me too." Ned said.

The two of them walked towards the back of the fast food restaurant.

So this was it.

How the hell were you going to do it? You didn't even know if Peter had any feelings more than platonic for you. What if all he felt was platonic? You would make things awkward, ruin your friendship, waste all that time for the past four years being one of his best friends for something non-mutual.

You could hear your heart beating through your eardrums. Your hand shook a little every time you raised a fry to your mouth.

You were terrified. You weren't sure if confessing would even be worth it. In a few months, high school would be over. You'd have no good reason to see any of your friends everyday again, nonetheless Peter by himself.

Maybe you've just been overthinking everything. It wouldn't have been hard to believe that your feelings came only from convenience of going to the same school, having the same class, eating at the same table.

You cared for him, but maybe that was all there was. It could just be an unconditional love, like loving a brother.

You shook your head at yourself. That wasn't it; you definitely did not think of Peter as a brother. Even a little graze against him made your senses go wild. Every time you had eye contact with him, you'd force yourself not to look away despite thinking he'd always have been able to look straight into your soul and know what you felt.

You always knew what he would say if he saw you do something stupid, and you were always excited to hear what he'd think about something that happened to you when he wasn't there. You'd be able to recognize his laugh a mile away, and being the cause of his smile made you feel light.

You knew he'd tell you the truth on which shirt looked better with which jeans and not just say you looked good no matter what. He'd make sure to take stray lint out of your hair and point out if you had something in your teeth.

You've had short crushes on other people, and you even dated some of them for an amount of time. They never made you feel the same way Peter did.

You remembered the feelings you had when you found out he went to homecoming with Liz Allen sophomore year. When you learned of his crush on her, it was a dull ache. But when you even saw them at the dance together? It pierced.

But you were still able to get back to the groove of your feelings after that.

Yeah, you might've been in love with Peter Parker. What took you four years to realize that?

"Hey, Y/N?"

Your head jerked up and you looked at him beside you. God, what were you going to do? Could you bring yourself to say it?

Shut up,you thought to yourself. Eventually, it'll be too late. Say it now.

Peter continued talking after you stayed silent.

"I know this is really out of the blue," he said. He put down the burger in his hands and faced you completely. "But I just want to say thank you for everything. We're gonna be graduating pretty soon and. . . I don't know. I just really appreciate you—and MJ and Ned—for sticking around."

You nodded your head, urging him to continue, nervous to hear what he had to say next.

"Things were really weird after I got bit by the spider and I still feel like shit for ditching you guys for a while. . . But thanks for letting me come back. I couldn't have ever imagined getting better people in my life than you three. Even if we go across the country for college or something, I really hope we can all stay friends. I love you guys, you know."

Oh.

You smiled at him like he did to you. Friends.

You cleared your throat. "I love you too, Pete."

[luminescencechatoyant]

Summary Ellie is nothing like her on screen character, neither is Pete Dunne.

Word Count 2594

everything that sounds like its made up, it probably is. If its really all rights reserved to the company's mentioned, Tyler is 21 BC I forgot how young he was until halfway through writing oops

ekayyla, tumblr.com

Ellie was nothing like her on screen persona, her character was the nicest, sweetest character Ellie had ever seen on the WWE and Ellie wasn't. Ask her friend and she'd describe her as an arsehole, Ellie just liked to think she was closed off. She didn't like people and if she didn't have to talk to them, she wouldn't - simple as that, not hard to understand really.

She hadn't come to the WWE to make friends, she hadn't started wrestling to make friends - she wrestled because she had terrible anger management and her therapist told her to. That's what she told people anyway, truth was she absolutely admired Lita growing up. All she ever wanted in life was to be as badass as her and not take anyones shit. Growing up in an countless foster homes, she was meek and quiet and never spoke unless spoken to, until she realized she didn't have to.

She talked back, she argued and if they still didn't see her point, she fought harder. She fought for everything other kids had handed to them, she fought to be respected. And who else was a highly respected but still badass woman? Lita.

She'd met her once when a particularly nice foster carer had noticed how much she liked to watch wrestling and bought meet and greet tickets. Ellie cried when the mother told her, she cried and she bawled. She was so happy.

So she met Lita, told her how she grew up in foster homes loving her and Lita smiled, hugged the tiny nine year old and signed her shirt with a stay strong, ellie scribbled on the front. She loved that shirt like she loved her foster mom, until the Alabama bush fires took her shirt and her foster mom. Ellie didn't smile for a year afterwards.

Abusive foster parents and a rough childhood left Ellie hostile to the world, she fought when she could, girls and boys behind the school, behind the diner on the corner near her house, anywhere.

It wasn't until she was fifteen that the school therapist suggest she find an outlet for all her anger, she tried soccer, football, hell, she even tried dancing. Nothing worked until the therapist told her about the new wrestling school opening up on the better side of town.

Ellie hadn't watched wrestling since she lost her foster mom and she spiraled out of control, standing on the steps of the wrestling studio had her heart hammering in her chest and hands shaking like a leaf. It wasn't until another girl near her saw how nervous she looked, took her by the hand and gently guided her into the gym.

Maria had been a few years older than her and already wrestling for a few years until her parents had relocated to Ellie's small town. Whenever her panic attacks would flare up or Ellie needed a hand with moves, Maria was there with a guiding hand and a calm voice. Whenever Maria had boy problems or girls were harrasing her, Ellie was at her back or standing by to give out hugs, something she didn't particularly like doing but it was Maria and she deserved her hugs.

So on Ellie's 16th birthday. Maria and her parents surprised her with a party and a certificate of adoption. She cried, hugged Maria and her parents, hugged the few people that came from the wrestling gym and cried again.

Eight years later, Maria and Ellie debuted on NXT and not two months later, Maria was the new NXT Womens Champion and Ellie had yet to be pinned. She'd had plenty of count-outs and disqualifications but she still hadn't been pinned until she'd aligned herself with British Strong Style.

Trent Seven, Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne were absolutely lethal in the ring and out. Seven and Bate were two of the most welcoming people she'd met in the company, her personality just clicked with theirs right from the start.

Pete Dunne was nothing like his on screen persona, yeah he's an arse, but hes never standoff-ish like his character. Ellie would rather describe him as sweet, since she'd met him he'd done nothing but try to get her to open up to him. He'd bring her coffee in the mornings and drop her home when Maria couldn't, it had taken her three weeks of being an arse for Maria to slap her around the head and tell Ellie not to be so rude.

She tried not to from then on, she thanked Pete for the coffee, invite him inside for a cup of tea after he'd drop her home and eventually it evolved into more. On free days, she'd invite him over to watch a movie and they'd cuddle on the lounge.

Pete started to ask her over for dinner, her and Maria were invited to nights out with the boys, gym sessions were mandatory and afterwards the boys would share their vegan pizza.

Ellie couldn't help herself, she started to fall for the Bruiserweight with a heart of gold. It killed her to watch him dance with girls when they went out, but she did, she turned around with a smile because all she wanted was for him to be happy. If it wasn't with her, fair enough it wasn't with her - but he was happy and that made her happy.

"C'mon love," Trent's voice echoed through Maria and Ellie's apartment, "If you don't hurry up we'll miss our booking!"

"Bowling lanes don't wait for wrestlers!" Ellie snorted when Tyler yelled out, he'd taken the joke baby of the group literally - It was a rare sight not to see him joking around.

"I'm coming! Don't get your knickers in a twist." Nora bounced down the stairs and waved her arms extravagantly when she hit the bottom, "Ta-da!"

"It took you that long to get dressed..." Trent hesitated, "...into that?"

Nora glanced down at her shirt and jeans with a frown, "I think I look fine."

"Pete likes it when you dress up." Tyler, the non stop voice of wisdom, spoke from where he was slouched on her coach.

"We're going bowling," Nora said plainly, Trent flicked any eyebrow up with out a word, "Fine, fine! I'll get changed."

She walked down five minutes later with the same shirt on, only tucked into a leather skirt, "Happy?"

Trent nodded with a smile, "Let's get out of here."

"Finally!" Trent sighed, rolling off the couch and hobbling out the door like a old man.

"You're nineteen, you bloody drama queen!" Trent snorted and followed him out the door.

It doesn't take them long to get the address Pete texted through and when they find their lane, Pete and Maria have cold beers waiting for them. Tyler downs half of his in one go and throws himself into a chair, Ellie rolls her eyes and slips into the chair next to Pete.

"Thanks guys, how was the meet and greet?" Ellie asks as she sips her drink.

"It was great," Pete's eyes flick up from Ellie's leg, "The fans were amazing as always."

"Oh, El -" Maria jumps in her seat and starts to dig through her bag and Pete gets up to start the game, "- there was this one little girl that wanted me to give you this."

She hands over a tiny bead bracelet with ELLIE ROCKS spelt out on it. Its bright yellow and doesn't match her outfit at all, but she slips it over her wrist anyway because her fan made her this. They poured their heart into it, she snaps a photo to upload twitter later so she can find the parent and send her a shirt.

"Your turn love!" Pete hollers from the point screen and gesture at the lane.

"Don't laugh at me, guys," she says as she slips her bowling shoes on, "I haven't bowled in years."

"You'll do fine, " Pete says as she grips the ball uncertainly, he see the uncertainty on her face and smiles softly, "Here, I'll give you a hand."

His large hand comes to rest on her elbow and straightens it while the other one sits on her lower back, a glance back at the group shows none of them paying attention but when she look back at Pete his face is inches from hers. Her breath catches when his eyes flicker own to her lips but then he steps away and she's left reeling.

"All you gotta do now is throw the ball down the lane." Pete tells her, his voice low, and then turns to sit with their friends.

She turns her back to them and stares a the lane, what the fucking fuck? She shakes her head and swings her arm, closes her eyes and just hopes for the best. The ball slams into the wood with a loud crack and not a second later sinks into the gutter, her second go is not much better and she turns back to the group with a shy smile.

"Told you I was no good -" she stops and eyes her friends, they're obviously trying to hide their laughter and Pete's face is bright red, "...what are you laughing at?"

"Nothing, hun." Maria stands up to take her go and whisper into Ellie's ear as she passes, "Pete was a bit too interested  in watching you bowl."

She dumbfounded for a moment before she realizes that Pete was sitting directly behind her, he had a perfect eyeful of her being over. She stifles a giggle at his slowly fading red cheeks and pats his hand, "Get a good look, Dunne?"

He frowns as Seven and Bate laugh loudly, ignoring her in favor of his beer. Ellie watches as Maria bowls a strike and lays her head on Pete's shoulder, "Sorry for teasing."

Pete shifts and drops his shoulder for her to lean on more comfortably, "All good, love."

"Were you really staring at my are?" Ellie asks as she traces pattern on Pete's bare arm that's resting softly on her  thigh.

"...yeah."

"Pete!" She laughs and nudges his arm off of her, but he catches her hand and bring it up to his lips.

He brushes a soft kiss against her knuckles and stares evenly into her eyes, "Its a very nice arse, love."

"Pete!" Trent hollers, "You're up, mate."

Pete drops her hand into her lap and moves to take his turn, Ellie watches him walk away until Maria plops into the open seat. "What was all that?"

"C'mon," Ellie pulls maria our of her seat and towards the bar, "I need another drink."  

"Wait, what happened?" Maria stumbles behind her and watches as Ellie's head slumps into her hands at the bar.

"I have it so, so bad for Pete." Ellie groans from behind her hands.

"Well, duh."

Ellie glances up at her from between her fingers and snorts, "I shouldn't even surprised that you already know."

"Is it that obvious?" She sighs as they collect their drinks.

"Yeah, I mean-" she hesitates, "I don't know if Pete knows but he's usually pretty clued on when it come to these things. He knew Peyton and I liked each other before we did."

"El! Its your turn!"

Ellie sighs and orders another round for the boys, the waitress is quicker with these ones and they carry them back to the boys. Pete's eyes follow Ellie as she sets the drinks down and grabs her ball, she swallows nervously and glances back at him, winks slowly and bends to take her shot.

She bowls a strike and turns back to the group smugly, "Someones gonna catch up."

Tyler rolls his eyes, "She's gonna be a sore winner, isn't she?"

"Always is, kid." Trent barks a laugh when Tyler's face falls.

They keep bowling until Tyler wins, smugly throwing his arms up and parading around with a toy wrestling belt he'd smuggled in for the winner. Ellie laughs and gives him a high five because she may be a sore winner, she's not a sore loser.

They wander over to the arcade and avoid the sea of children surrounding the kids toys. Ellie laughs as her and Maria fail spectacularly at Dance, Dance, Revolution, pouts childishly when Trent's demolishes her at buck hunting-

("Its not fair, you cheated!"

"...its buck hunting, El. How am I possibly able to cheat at it?"

"I don't know but you did, anyway.")

And laughs like a hyena when she beats Tyler's record at PacMan, who vows to never leave the machine until he beats her record,

(Trent and Maria pull him away five minutes later.)

Ellie wanders around the arcade until she finds Pete lazily throwing basketballs in the back of the arcade, she's stopped for a moment when she sees his arms flex in his singlet. She leans up against the side and tries to keep her eyes from ogling his arms, it doesn't work very well but Pete hasn't complained yet.

"I bet you I can sink all of these balls." Pete wages as he stuff another token into the machine and watches the balls drop.

"What's the wager?" Ellie's asks and settles on the seat of a motorbike game next to him.

"A kiss." He says, she eyes his face and sees not one trace of humour.

"Here?" She glances around, "Pete, there's kids everywhere."

"We'll find somewhere."

He's dead serious and she figures it can't hurt, he won't sink them all. "Fine."

Oh, how wrong she was. As soon as the words left her mouth, Pete turned and sunk the first ball, followed by the second, then the third and another after that. She can't watch, she closes her eyes and listens to the swish after swish until the buzzer sounds and she's jerked out of her seat. She briefly notices the 30/30 on the machine before Pete pull her from the arcade, hurries out of the building and has her pressed against the side of the building in minutes.

His lips press against her roughly, leaving a scorching trail of heat when they brush. Their teeth knock, their lips bite and hands grab everything they can, hers are grabbing his shirt, his are sliding down to her thighs before she's lifted and pressed against the wall harder. Rough hands press under her shirt and along her ribcage, she arches into his touch and -

"You have to return those shoes! They're property of the - oh."

- flinches away as the shoe loan worker swings around the corner. Pete drops her quickly and she blushes as she fixes her shirt. The shoes are pulled off and Pete and Nora are left standing in the shadows with socks on.

"Go home, kids."

They mumble apologies and flee to Pete's car where Nora pulls their shoes out of her bulging bag, she laughs airily and leans against the hood of Pete's car. "Well, that was fun."

Pete smirks and arches an eyebrow, "Fun? I just had a heart attack!"

"Don't be a wimp." She laughs and runs her hand over his shoulder. He catches her around the waist and draws her closer to him, pressing her between him and the car.

"Do you want to stay over tonight?" He asks as he brushes his lips against hers.

"Hell, yes."