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randomshyperson · 3 years ago

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LEFT BEHIND - WANDA MAXIMOFF X READER - #02 "R.I.P to My Youth"

Summary: The one where you lived in the apartment under the Maximoff family in Sokovia, or, your journey as a Sokovian civilian to Avenger.

A/N: So, chapter two is here. Honestly, this story is a mess in my head haha but somehow people are enjoying so i'm sharing. Good reading!

Dictionary for this chapter: dvornyaga - mutt || chuma - plague/brat || Prostite, mem - sorry, ma'm || Vor - thief || printsessa - princess || skuchnyy - annoying ||

Series Warnings: (+16) Violence, fighting, cursing, civil war environments, abuse of power, assault, torture, underage kissing, psychological torture, substance use, mention of assault/fighting of children, smut, kissing, teasing, insinuation of sexual and moral harassment, verbal offenses. Chapter warnings: Underage kissing, violence.

Words: 3.268 K

All Works Masterlist || Read on AO3 || Part One || Series Masterlist

//-//

Chapter Two - R.I.P to My Youth

Sokovia, 7 years ago.

You ducked quickly when you noticed the punch coming toward you.

"Stand still, dvornyaga!" Said the teenager trying to hold you by the shoulders, but you slipped out of his hands, dodging under his arms and starting to run.

The boy rushed to catch up with you, but you were smaller, and fit into places he couldn't get into. Rolling into a crevice in one of the abandoned factories, you laughed as the boy and his friends shouted angrily at you, unable to follow.

Your joy died the second you turned the corner. The nursemaid from the orphanage waiting for you with her arms folded.

"Running away from chores again, chuma?" The woman asked angrily. You ducked your head, walking over to her. As soon as you reached her, she pinned your ear between her fingers, causing you to grumble in pain as you were dragged into the building.

"Prostite, mem." You tried to apologize, but the woman would not listen, and then pushed you inside.

"No dinner for you." She informed you by throwing a broom into your hands. "Get upstairs and go clean the roofs now!

You climbed onto the rooftops with a grimace, softly cursing all the sisters as witches.

When you arrived, you noticed that there were already other orphans there.

"Good afternoon, Vor." Pietro greeted wryly. You approached him to help him carry one of the tiles.

"Stop calling me that." You retorted, but Pietro just laughed, thanking you for your help afterwards. "Why are you here?"

"I broke Nikolai's nose." He told you, and you looked at him reproachfully.

"And you let them catch you?" You asked. "You used to be smarter than that."

"Shut up." He grumbled humorously, waiting for you to finish sweeping the area you were in to return the tile to its place. "And what did you do this time? Are you going to tell me that Madame Pavlova caught you robbing the church again?"

You laughed, finishing sweeping and going back to helping Pietro lift another tile.

"Church money is for the poor." You retort. "I'm poor, how can I steal what's mine?"

"Keep this up and you'll be in jail as soon as you get out of here." A voice spoke behind you, startling you a little.

"You're so nosy aren't you, Wanda?" You teased the girl, and she grimaced at you before looking at her brother.

"What are you doing up here?" Pietro asked before Wanda could speak again. The girl crossed her arms, watching you guys work.

"I brought food for you two. But with this hostility, I think I'll stay downstairs."

You and Pietro exchanged giggles.

"Sorry, Wanda." You asked in unison, making the girl smile. She looked around to check if there were no priests, or nuns, or orphans staring at you from the window pane below before taking some bagels and bread from a wrapper inside her blouse pocket.

"Is there any possibility that you will stop stealing and behave yourselves?" Wanda asked slightly irritated, and you exchanged a look with Pietro.

"Unlikely." You replied, making him laugh. Wanda looked at you reproachfully. "Don't make that face, printsessa. This is stealing too.”

"Don't call me that." Wanda complained between teeth. But you smiled, because you noticed the slight reddening of her cheeks. "And I wouldn't have to steal if you two would stop causing trouble."

"Or maybe you could let us starve next time." Pietro retorted wryly, and ended up getting slapped on the shoulder by his sister, making you laugh. "Sorry, that was stupid."

"You two are so ungrateful." She grumbled turning to leave. You and Pietro exchanged a look, worried that Wanda was angry. But she gave you two one last look before turning away. "Tomorrow, wake up early. I want to show something."

Wanda went down the roof next, and you exchanged a smile with Pietro before turning back to work.

//-//

Wanda poked you in the ribs and you turned your head quickly. You, she and Pietro were ducking behind a car, breaking curfew, and probably some passing law, since you were in an abandoned building.

"They arrived last week." Wanda said to the two of you, looking in the direction of the back door of the building. There were three men in suits talking in the doorway, and casually looking around to see if they were alone. "They stay there all day."

"What's suspicious about that?" Pietro asked.

"Do you guys remember those kids who disappeared last week?" Wanda asked and waited for you and Pietro to confirm before continuing. "I found the orphanage uniform in the dumpster from the building. What if they are picking up the orphans?"

"You said they speak german, right?" You retorted with a question. When Wanda confirmed, you made a thoughtful face. "What if they are Nazi doctors? They could be trying that supremacist shit again."

"I think we should leave." Pietro said next. "Before they see us here."

"Yeah, come on." Wanda agreed before taking one last look at the door meters away from you, the men were entering. Neither you or Pietro notice that one of them looked directly at the girl before closing the door.

//-//

Pietro advanced against you with his fists raised, but you ducked and shoved him in the ribs.

"Well done, Vor!" He spoke contentedly, sounding surprised. He took two more steps toward you, but you dodged, and threw your arms against his waist. You both laughed as you both fell back onto the grass. Pietro rolled you on the ground to get on top. "You can't let them knock you down, little one."

"I'm the one who knocked you down, asshole." You retort humorously, trying to get up. But Pietro is heavy on you.

"I'm letting you win, obviously." The boy says with a smile. You hate that Pietro has grown so big as to win in fights, but at least he helps you learn to fight with the kids on the street. Which was funny, since Wanda always told you to run.

"Oh, really?" You hit back and then raise your knee hard, hitting him in the balls. Pietro lets out an exclamation of pain and falls beside you to the floor, whimpering. You feel bad at the same moment. "Shit, I'm sorry, Piet." You ask, but let out a giggle, watching him gasp in pain.

"What are you two doing here?" A voice suddenly asked, and you looked forward to find the high school monitor looking at you two reproachfully.

"Shit." You grumbled already hurrying to get up and lift Pietro quickly, who seemed to fight the pain to follow you.

"Maximoff! I should know." The woman spoke annoyed, hurrying to cross the railing. You and Pietro were skipping calculus class in the usually empty area behind the gym. But before she finished crossing, you and Pietro were already running away, laughing at the curses the woman yelled at you, and something about detention for a month.

By the time you stopped running, you were in the city, in the alleyways of suburban Sokovia.

Pietro punched you under the shoulder the moment you stopped, and when you grumbled he said it was for the kick.

"Are you hungry?" You asked as you massaged the spot of the punch.

"Yes." He replied looking around. Some people looked curiously at you two, probably because you came to the scene running, but you ignored it.

"I'll get us some food." You let him know and then you are already walking away to the fair area a few meters ahead. Pietro rolls his eyes at the smug expression you cast at him before you put the cap of your jacket over your head.

//-//

"What have you two gotten yourselves into?" Wanda asked angrily, throwing her backpack on top of the torn armchair. You and Pietro took your eyes off the card game to look at her.

The little crib you set up in one of Sokovia's condemned buildings was cold and damp, but it was the closest thing to a home where no one cursed, or order any of you to clean and do any tasks, so it was your favorite place.

Usually the three of you would run away from the orphanage and school as much as possible to stay around here, but then Wanda started actually studying and you and Pietro didn't.

"Sorry, Wands, calculus isn't really our thing." You grumbled to the girl. Wanda approached you with her arms crossed.

"But athletics it is, I believe." She retorted. "If you keep skipping class, you'll get kicked off the team. The guidance counselor told me to warn you two, and she talked for half an hour, so thanks for that." Wanda grumbled ironically, and you kicked Pietro lightly to get him to stop laughing.

You reached out for the paper package you left in the corner of one of the armchairs.

"Maybe this will improve your mood, printsessa." You said as you handed the item to Wanda. She looked tired, and grimaced, grudgingly thanking you. She smiled weakly when she realized it was food. "I saved some bread for you too."

"You two need to stop stealing." She warned, but took a bite of her food. You shrugged, and returned your attention to the game.

"If we had enough food, I wouldn't need to steal anything." You retorted, and Pietro murmured in agreement, while Wanda frowned slightly.

"You could get some work, too." Wanda argues and you laugh, rolling your eyes.

"We've had this conversation a million times, printsessa."

"Stop calling me that." She asks annoyed.

You rolled your eyes again, and made a move. Pietro sighed slightly, since he was losing.

"I can call you skuchnyy, if you prefer." You retort humorously, and Wanda slaps you on the arm, making you and Pietro laugh.

"If you keep stealing, you'll end up in jail! Or worse, killed." She then adds, and you exchange a look with Pietro.

"Only if we get caught." The boy says and you hold back a laugh, seeing Wanda's disapproving look.

She lets out an impatient exclamation, and starts eating in silence. You focus on the game again, knowing that this discussion would happen again. Wanda would always complain that you were stealing, out of pure concern, and you and Pietro would continue to ignore it, out of necessity.

//-//

Sokovia, 6 years ago.

Gasping and out of breath, you kept running.

"I'm going to win." You heard Pietro shout excitedly beside you, running as fast as you.

"Shut up." You shouted back, but Pietro actually reached the finish line first. You laughed, though, trying to normalize your breathing as you sat on the ground.

Coach walked over to the two of you next, past the small crowd of students who were watching the race celebrating Pietro's victory.

"That was excellent, Maximoff." Congratulated the coach with a handshake. Pietro smiled embarrassed, and you laughed at his face.

"Come on, I'll buy you lunch to celebrate." You told the boy as soon as you stood up, and the coach had left. Pietro threw his arm around you, and you pushed him away. "Get off, you're sweaty."

He laughed, and you parted your ways in the locker room. After taking a shower, you found Pietro already wearing his regular clothes instead of his athletic clothes, but he was not alone. There was a man in a suit talking to him.

As you approached, the man looked at you and waved his hat before turning and leaving.

"What was that?" You asked curiously, but Pietro had a grim expression on his face. "Piete, are you okay?"

"Yeah." He says looking away from yours to the paper in your hands. He puts it away in his pocket before you can read it. "I need to talk to Wanda. Rain check on our lunch later."

"Okay." You mumble confusedly, watching Pietro walk away quickly.

//-//

"Pay attention, no one must see you. Go in quietly, place the packages, and leave without being seen." Warned the man in front of you. You swallowed dryly, but nodded in agreement.

You exchanged a glance with Pietro and Wanda before turning to enter through the small gap in the railing, one of the new commercial buildings on the other side.

Now that you were older, the protest groups accepted you at the marches. You and the twins had been participating for a few months now, and they were usually peaceful walks. But then one of the leaders learned that you could fit in small places, and here you were, sneaking into one of the new buildings that took the place of one of the apartment complexes, looking for the exact spot to place the packages that the group handed you.

Even though you were nervous, you made it. And it was only when you were outside that you heard an explosion much bigger than you expected.

When you saw one of the security guards with a bloody head, shouting in Sokovian for the vandals to be stopped while the rest of the protesters shouted and held up their placards, everything seemed to get a little muffled for you, and you could only focus on the powder marks on your fingers. Stumbling away, you ran.

//-//

Sokovia, 5 years ago.

"You two have lost your minds!" You exclaim in surprise and irritation, taking yourself off the wooden bench you were sitting on. Pietro and Wanda look at you with confusion.

"I told you she wouldn't understand." Pietro grumbles and you look at him with indignation.

"Really?" You retort. "Of course I don't understand, Pietro! You've both gone crazy for good!"

"Keep your voice down!" Pietro retorted angrily, getting up as he looked around. No lights had come on downstairs, so no one from the orphanage was awake. "We're doing this for Sokovia."

"Tell me how offering yourself as an experiment for German Nazis helps Sokovia?" You retorted angrily and Pietro sighed impatiently. "I can't believe you two are actually thinking of doing this."

"What do you think will happen next week when we turn eighteen, heh?" Pietro asked aggressively, and you clenched your jaw. "We'll be kicked out of the orphanage, and we'll be on the street. If we didn't have food before, imagine after that!"

"I can get us food!" You exclaim with tear-filled eyes, but Wanda gives a dry laugh.

"You're not going with us." Wanda retorts and you look at her wide-eyed. "You're going to stay here, where you have a roof and a meal, and we're not going to waste the opportunity to change things in Sokovia."

You looked at them incredulously.

"I can't believe you are going to die for your ambition."

Pietro crossed his arms, looking at you seriously. You looked at Wanda, but she looked away to the floor. Shaking your head, you ran your hands through your hair.

"We are doing this for our country." Pietro stated seriously. You disagreed with your head, feeling your throat close up from emotion. But you did not cry. "Some of us are willing to risk whatever it takes."

You give a dry laugh at the provocation. Pietro was only saying that because you stopped participating in the rallies, ever since the protests got more violent and your colleagues started damaging property, stealing, and there were even rumors of fighting that ended in killing.

"Yeah, Piete, you're right." You retorted upset. "You and Wanda want to die in a cell with needles in your arms, lying that this is for Sokovia and not to get revenge for your parents. But don't expect me to stay and watch."

You accuse bitterly before turning and walking off the roof, your tears flowing as you reach the floor below, but you don't stop walking.

//-//

"What are you doing here?" You asked as soon as you raised your head, your gaze shifting from the vegetables at your feet to the girl in front of you. It had been a few days since you had argued with the Maximoffs, and you hadn't spoken to any of them since.

"I came to say goodbye." Wanda said simply, and you rolled your eyes, getting up from the ground and shaking some of the dirt on your fingers.

"When are you two leaving?"

"Now."

Ignoring the feeling that has formed in your stomach, you just grumble in agreement, turning your back on Wanda, because you don't want her to see you cry.

"And what's this now?" You retort as you sit on the edge of the roof, looking out over the city. "Did you come to tell me that you guys are going to remember me or some sentimental shit?"

Wanda laughs softly, and you hear her footsteps approaching, until she is sitting next to you.

"Well, we've been friends for eight years, I thought I should say goodbye." She says looking forward. You want to swallow the urge to cry, because you don't want them to go. But there is nothing you can do.

"Okay, Wanda. Goodbye then." You retort bitterly, looking down at your hands.

"I wanted to give you something before I go." Wanda adds softly, and you turn your head to her to ask what it is, but as soon as you do, Wanda breaks the distance, her lips meeting yours in a sweet kiss.

You sigh in surprise, and Wanda pulls away.

"S-sorry." She says breathlessly. "I shouldn't..."

But you kiss her again. Properly this time. She is grateful that you hold her around the waist, because then she doesn't fall off the roof when she completely melts from the touch of your tongues together.

You pull away to take a breath, leaving your foreheads together. The urge to tell her not to go anywhere is stuck on the tip of your tongue, and before you can let the words escape, someone is clearing their throat behind you.

"I can't believe you kissed my sister." Pietro complains in a mixed tone of teasing and annoyance. But there is no anger in his gaze. You and Wanda move away embarrassed. "We have to go."

Wanda nods in agreement, and looks at you one last time before standing up, walking over to Pietro.

The boy nods to you before leaving. And when the roof is empty, you let the tears stream down your face.

//-//

As soon as the twins left, you joined the protests again. It kept you distracted now that you were alone. And since you hated so much free time without your friends, you ignored the way that you now always ended up with bruised hands and sore throats after every march.

You got some of your fellow protesters to help you keep an eye on the building that Wanda and Pietro were staying in, and when they stopped coming out of there, you knew something was wrong.

Two weeks without hearing about the twins, you could no longer sleep from worry. You imagined that whatever those men were doing to them would take time. But you also didn't expect that your friends would disappear.

So here you were, sneaking around the abandoned floors to find some clue to where the hell they were. You knew you shouldn't be here. It was their choice, and they knew the consequences. But you kept walking.

Hearing a metal noise, you felt your heart race and quickly hid behind a wall. But no other sound came, so you thought it was safe to move.

Another noise, and a sharp pain in your neck a second later. And then you blacked out.

//-//-//-//

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p-antomime · 4 years ago

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dawn addiction.

— minors don't interact.

— wc: 3,3K

content + warnings: 18+, including: car sex, oral (female receiving), fingering, public sex (kinda of), unprotected sex, tummy bulge, pet names (dabi actually calls the reader "princess"), virginity loss (only mentioned), i bit of fluff bye

pairings: no quirk!dabi x fem!reader

— song: Press Your Number; by TAEMIN

After waking up alone one dark night without you sleeping next to him in the spacious bed placed in the middle of his room, Dabi catches himself thinking about you and feeling strange without having your warm body next to his in the bed. Thinking about Y/N was becoming a vicious habit for him and it was the kind of addiction that the more he fed, the more it seemed to swallow his sanity. However, he didn't blame you for not wanting to be seen or related to him, in a small town like the two of you Touya was the delinquent that people avoided interacting with lest they be excluded from that closed society.

He stretches to the side in order to get his own phone from the small table placed on the side of his bed and finds himself standing there for a few seconds feeling the smell of your body that permeated the pillow next to him. After taking a deep inhale, Dabi unlocks his cell phone to try to call you, but there is no answer, after all, it was past 1:00 AM in the dawn and Y/N was now probably lying in her own bed in her house trying to sleep.

The dark haired man lets out an impatient grunt before dropping the cell phone on the bed. He was deeply rooted in you and, because of that, feeling like an insane madman who was insisting on something that couldn't be his. But what could he do but fall in love with you after kissing your lips countless times and spreading your legs dangerously wide for him before claiming your virginity as his?

And the end of that night, just like all the others where you would finish fucking and you would shamefully put on your clothes to go home, would be filled by him masturbating with the thought of your naked body running through his mind.

Touya could feel the warm temperature of yours with little mental effort with his own fingers and would cling to the fading memories of the few non-sexual moments you had shared over the past few months.

That night, Dabi slept when the sun was already up, but Y/N, on the other hand, didn't even sleep a wink. She couldn't even take a lousy nap, because her eyes were glued to her cell phone screen waiting to see if he would call her again because on the first call of the night she wasn't brave enough to answer knowing that her parents were half a wall away. A coward? Yes, that's what she was. But there was a perfect daughter demeanor that she needed to maintain, especially if she wanted to continue to nurture her father's idea of letting her start studying at a university in the metropolitan area of the country.

Y/N would turn twenty a week from today — and if her father's promise to give you a car came true, her plan was already halfway done — and she didn't want to be stuck in that small, rural town forever. She had big dreams, and, ironically, in most of them the fulminating image of Dabi was present beside her. What if she was the only one there who wanted to leave that life? What if he didn't want to leave with her? But more importantly, at what point had their relationship become so deep?

It was now 7 o'clock in the morning, which meant that in about two hours your parents would wake up to go to work. You took a deep breath and reached out to grab the cell phone lying next to you on the bed, and then began to type a message as brief and vague as possible to your lover:

"Pack up all your stuff by next Friday. Take everything that you think is important or of value to you, pack it up, and meet me on the other side of the bridge that leads to the avenue out of town, the side that has the rusty 'Welcome to our town' sign. At two o'clock in the morning. No delays. And please try not to draw too much attention, wear the most decent, neutral clothes you have in your closet. Oh, and bring documents."

And all week long you could barely look your parents in the face without feeling guilty for wanting to break free from their protective arms, but you just couldn't take it anymore. You hated that small town, and you also hated being forced to go to church every Thursday and Sunday with your mother because she said that God would "bless you with all your dreams come true," so why didn't he just indirectly help you leave that town behind? Literally, the only thing holding you back in that town was Touya and you wanted to take him with you outside the boundaries of that town that looked more like a village forgotten by the rest of the world.

Y/N's favorite place to be was Dabi's lips, and even then, the girl's replies to him by messages and short calls that didn't last more than 5 minutes started to decrease drastically. The useless monologues continue to increase inside her mind. Until the Thursday before her birthday when Y/N was about to fall asleep after standing for almost 2 hours listening to the local church mass hoping that her mother would not notice her slouching and irritable posture, suddenly a sound of something banging against her bedroom window was heard. And initially she didn't bother to get up to find out what had caused the noise, until she heard it twice more and frowned as she got out of bed after seeing that it was almost two o'clock in the dawn.

You drew the curtains in front of the window, opened it and stuck your head out, looking down and suddenly feeling your cheeks heat up violently. And there was Touya looking at you with a look of sorrow and animosity. He pointed in the direction of the hidden backyard behind your house where the two of you in the beginning of your relationship used to hide just to spend some time together or have a make-out session that ended up leaving both of you sexually frustrated because neither of you had the courage to have sex in that place where anyone could see you if you made too much noise. However, Dabi was the devil in your life worth sinning for.

— What the fuck are you doing here? — Y/N asked almost desperately as she felt Touya wrap one of his arms around her waist to glue their bodies together.

— What? Can't a man miss his beloved and want to go see her? — He asked, holding her face with his free hand. — You barely answer my messages.

— I told you we were going to meet tomorrow, on Friday. — You rested your hands on his chest to move away just enough to look him in the face.

— And about that, you're killing me with curiosity, princess. What are you thinking of doing tomorrow? It's your birthday. — Dabi commented, running his thumb along her bottom lip affectionately.

— I-I know. — You replied, looking away. — I was planning on... going out... with you. — You just didn't say it was going to be an out-of-town trip with no intention of coming back.

— What are you hiding? — He asked, leaning down to place a simple, tender kiss on her lips.

— Would you follow me wherever I went?

— I would follow you to the ends of hell if you asked me to. — Dabi answered, and instinctively you grabbed his face to place your lips back on theirs in a kiss deeper than the one before in a frenzy of feeling.

— Then do it. — Y/N whispered against his lips staring into his beautiful turquoise eyes. — For my birthday the only thing I ask from you is to always be by my side, I don't need material gifts.

Seconds after you finished speaking, the sound of footsteps inside your house could be heard, and a shiver ran down your back as your hands desperately pushed Dabi away in the direction of the very door through which the two of you had entered the yard.

— Damn, not even at dawn I... — Touya began to complain as he walked briskly away from you and disappeared into the darkness of the night to return to his house.

— Shhh, shut up. I'll see you at dawn. Two o'clock, don't forget. — You whispered loud enough for him to hear you as you turned back and faced the back door of your house slowly opening to reveal to you the sleepy figure of your father.

— Honey? — He asked, and you gasped as if you were distracted by something while you could hear your heart beating rapidly. — What are you doing out here? It's late? and cold, you might catch cold.

— I... — Y/N looked around just to make sure there was no more sign of Dabi. — I heard a noise here when I went down to get some water and just wanted to come down and see if it wasn't an animal or something. But it was nothing, I guess it was just my mind playing with me. — It was a good enough lie considering that it wasn't hard to wake up during the night to go to the bathroom or eat something from the fridge.

And then your father called you inside and you promptly went. As the day went on, not even your father's birthday present with the car seemed to quell the anxiety inside you of going to see Dabi in the middle of the night with no intention of coming home. Y/N packed three backpacks and after watching your parents go to sleep, put them all on the back seats of the car after grabbing the keys that your father had left on top of the coffee table in the living room, and also grabbing some money from your father's safe that was in a secluded room in the residence.

After writing a short, albeit long, letter explaining to her mother that she was going to the metropolitan city — but without saying with whom — to try a new life there and that you would be fine because "there were friends waiting for you there" — which was a big lie, but she didn't need to know that — Y/N put on a sweatshirt and ran out of her now former home. Remembering all the various driving lessons her mother had made her take last year, you put the key in the ignition and made sure that your license and other documents were in one of the pockets of the three backpacks on the back seats. And you set off across town to reach the end of the bridge that served as both a gateway into and out of the city, parking exactly beside the welcome sign.

After about fifteen minutes, you watched a silhouette approach through the darkness, and if you didn't recognize the blue-toned sweatshirt with white details that Dabi usually wore when he didn't want to attract attention, you would surely lock yourself inside your car for fear that it was some sexual predator. Before he could finish approaching you at the agreed upon spot and open his mouth to vocalize something, you ran toward him to jump into his arms and kiss him fervently like you hadn't done in almost two weeks. He didn't fight your grip and responded to your display of affection instantly, he missed your touch more than he would admit.

— Where are we going? — He asked, analyzing her new car as he watched you open the back seat door and gestured for him to put his own belongings inside.

— To the big city. — You answered unlocking the door next to the driver's seat after hearing Dabi choke on his own saliva looking at you as if he hadn't heard you correctly. — Come in. — Your head swiveled inward.

— What do you mean we're going to the city? What about your parents? You have a loving family here, I have nothing to lose, but you? — Dabi put one hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently.

— I want to go to the city. I want to live with you. — Y/N replied feeling her cheeks heat up and looking at him expectantly. — You said you would go anywhere with me, to the ends of hell.

— And I will, but this decision... — You interrupted him.

— Please. For once in my life I want to do things my way. Without having to hide you from anyone, without having anyone judge me for being with you. Let's go to another city, live together, we'll figure it out when we get there. — You put one hand on his forearm, squeezing it gently.

Touya took a few seconds to process the information and after looking from you to the car, he said:

— Where are the keys? — You waved them in front of him, flashing an amused smile. — So get in the car, doll face. I'll drive. — He gave you a light slap on the butt before pushing you toward the driver's seat, getting into the car and putting the key in the ignition. — How long until we reach the city?

— About six hours, we can get there in the morning.

— Great. — Dabi started the car and began to drive along the deserted road while resting one hand on Y/N’s covered thigh and occasionally giving the area a gentle squeeze.

After about an hour of driving, you became distracted by fiddling with your cell phone until you noticed his long fingers sneaking up and over your thighs until they came dangerously close to Dabi's real intended destination. Her eyes cast a serious countenance at him as if she were silently saying: "Don't you dare" and in response his lips parted in a defiant smile as his hand on the steering wheel slowed and eventually brought the car to a full stop.

— C'mon. It's been almost two weeks since we had sex. — He said, lowering the two seats you were sitting on and pulling you to sit on his lap with your back against the steering wheel.

— And the best place you could find to have sex was inside my new car? — Despite your complaint, you didn't try to restrain his hands from reaching into your sweatshirt to grab and squeeze your breasts, nor did you object to the feeling of his knee pressing against the middle of your legs.

Touya lifts your arms and pulls up your sweatshirt and then concentrates on removing the simple tank top and lacy bra you were wearing, shortly after which he leans over your body to take one of your nipples between his lips to begin stimulating it. In response, you rub your hips against his leg as your hands grip his dark hair as a way to relieve the growing tension settling through your body. His hands slowly slid down your back, past your waist and into your pants, while his right hand also invaded your panties to run his fingers over your pussy lips and his left was busy opening the buttons of that garment.

Y/N put her hands on the hem of his sweatshirt, pulled it up, and was not surprised to see him with nothing underneath. Strangely enough, his skin was naturally too warm and it was not hard to believe that even with the low temperature outside the car he would only need a casual sweatshirt to not feel cold. And that was exactly why you liked so much to run your hands along his body exploring him calmly to make your touches last longer.

Dabi turned his body so that you were lying on the passenger seat and stood over you with a smug smile as his hands dug in and squeezed the skin of your legs after he finished getting rid of your pants with some difficulty because of the tight space.

— Keep your legs open for me or I won't let you cum, princess. — He whispered, sliding his mouth down her torso to her pelvis and pulling her hips up as high as possible before burying his fingers inside her pussy and enveloping her clit with his lips.

Y/N's hands gripped Touya's now messy hair and pushed his face against her hip in search of more of that mind-blowing pleasure she had missed for the few days she had been avoiding him. Suddenly the car became extremely hot, almost to the point where you both felt suffocated and ironically neither of you cared about that, not when Dabi was curving his fingers and sucking your clit in the way that always made your vision cloud and too loud moans escape your mouth. But, you didn't want to cum in his mouth, so your hands moved his face away from your hips and pulled his body up.

— Please, Touya, I need you inside me. — Her voice was slurred by her rapid breathing.

Dabi didn't need you to say anything else, he just stepped back briefly to get rid of the clothes that were still covering his lower body, adjusted your hips to his, leaned on the car door behind your body and guided his cock to the entrance of your pussy. As you felt him fill and enlarge you completely with his tip rubbing against your cervix, you groaned, leaning on his shoulders to face him and watching the small rise against your belly that was always present when that black haired man penetrated you.

Touya slid one hand down your neck and closed his fingers around your neck applying just the right amount of pressure to make waves of pleasure run through your body and not to hurt you. He began to move and Y/N passed her legs around his waist moving her body downward every time Dabi moved upward, occasionally he would take her lips on his just because he liked to feel her moans against his mouth and the rhythm of his hips gradually began to get harder and faster.

— I should cum inside you, hmm? — Touya asked, keeping eye contact with you every moment he thrust inside you again and making you clench your walls around his length without you even realizing it. — Damn, I love you so much, you have no idea what I would do for you.

— So show me. — You grabbed the wrist of his hand that was still resting on your neck and squeezed it without too much force. — Make me your girl.

With a smug and satisfied smile, he continued thrusting himself against her insides to the point where her hips began to ache just seconds before she reached her own orgasm with her nails digging into the skin of Touya's arm and her back arching as spasms coursed through her entire body at a high rate of speed. He gave a few thrusts against your pussy until the white streaks of cum painted your insides and slowly pulled out of you, wanting to prolong the feeling of having you squeeze him some more.

Dabi let his tired body fall back against the driver's seat and concentrated on stabilizing his breathing while you did the same as you looked up at him with the following thought running through your mind: "This is definitely the man I want to be with forever". The thought made your cheeks burn and it didn't go unnoticed by him:

— What? — One of his eyebrows arched.

— Nothing, I was just thinking... about you, about us. — You answered, starting to look around the car for your clothes, and an amused laugh came from Touya's mouth, who looked at you tenderly.

— So I'm always on your mind?

— More than you think, yes. — Y/N answered, leaning over to place a tender kiss at the corner of his lips. — Now get ready, get your clothes, let's get back on the road.

— Can we fuck again before we get to the city again? — Her eyes narrowed in disapproval.

— Shut up, you idiot.

#dabi smut #bnha smut #mha smut #my hero acadamy #boku no hero academia #bnha touya #touya smut #bnha dabi #mha dabi #i4nanami #bnha toya #touya todoroki #dabi x oc #dabi x you #dabi x reader #dabi x y/n #bnha

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musedblues · 4 years ago

Text

A Taste Of Honey (Part 2)

summary: A 1920's Deacy au! In which the reader, who comes from a family heavily involved in the American temperance movement, meets John, a bootlegger from overseas.

a/n: Well here it is. I'm fully aware interest may be completely lost in this fic but I'm very proud to have finished it. Im not sure where my writing journey will go from here. All I know is that this has been a very long time comin'... enjoy if you dare!

part 1 - 2

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

"If anything happens, Deacy, I'll have your head!"

Ivan shook his fist from the front porch, illuminated by the light flooding from the opened front door.

"I'll be fine!" You dismissed, skipping toward the car, still getting used to the sway of the heavy golden dress you borrowed from Alice.

"I'm talking about my car!" Ivan shouted, correcting you. John let out a laugh at the remark, and gave your brother a nod, while he opened the passenger door, nudging you toward it.

Your brother and his wife had loaned the essentials to send you and John away for the party a man you never met was throwing. It was a small thrill, the prospect of such fun to be had, in comparison to the sickening exhilaration that coursed through you at the thought of spending any kind of evening at John's side. And the fact he'd asked you to.

The ride was quiet and short, but dragged on with each new glance you dared to steal at the man driving. Both of John's hands relaxed on the wheel. A hint of that deadly smile on his lips.

By the time you got to where you were going, you'd been so preoccupied with thoughts of the man by your side, that you'd nearly forgotten your plans for the evening.

If you had any expectations, they were blown clear away. Before you was an estate made up of too many windows to count, draped in vines and hanging lights.

Even the crunch of the gravel that decorated the winding path you entered into sounded oddly elegant.

Inside was a fever dream of all the things you'd imagined on your short journey into the threshold. Across a giant winding staircase and below the shimmering chandelier were people from all walks of life, crammed together to have one grand time. Different music came from different corners and wild laughter filled the gaps, if there were any.

And before you, John led the way. You couldn't recall the moment your hand found the bend of his arm, or if he cared that you'd reached out to him as he weaved through the crowd. But the grin on his face when he turned back to catch your eye had to be a good sign; despite the way your heart nearly burst at his look.

John led you past hoards of people and trays of half full glasses. There was only one way to go, further inside the home, but John seemed to move as if he had an idea of where he was headed. Sure enough when the pair of you met the landing of the staircase, the host of the party was there to greet you.

The host's initial booming hello was focused mostly on John. And without more than a glance your way, the party thrower shuffled John away from your side, insistent on sharing a chat with him on the top landing of the stairs.

You were left to linger, stalling at the base of the stairs and studying the crowd around you. Girls in beaded skirts and men with slicked back hair passed you by flashing well meaning but entirely distracted smiles.

You'd felt mesmerized enough by the scene to slowly start to drift into it yourself. Reaching to brush your finger across meticulously carved bookcases and daring to take a glass from the extended hand of the first person to smile directly at you.

You reached for the stem of the blue stained flute, and managed to make your talk small enough for the interested lad to wander far off. But offers kept coming. Glasses of this and that shoved in your face. You accepted the offers more out of respectful politeness than any eagerness to lose your wits.

By the time you lost track of everyone's kind gestures, and a man was leading you closer to a table decorated with cards and chips, another hand intervened.

John was back, letting his fingers curl around your shoulder and nudging you in another direction of his choosing. Thrilling as it was for you, to have been handled just so by him, you were a little taken aback.

Funny how after the sips of this and that, you felt steady as ever. But one look from John and your knees threatened to give out and all your cares too.

In the middle of the packed house, with John looking at you that way, you felt like the only person alive. And somehow this all added up to equal your new found courage to speak a little bolder than usual.

"Are you on strict orders from Ivan to steer me clear of any strange attention or do you maybe fancy me a little, John?" You dared wonder. You almost didn't care of the answer. So long as he kept guiding you through this evening with a strong steady hand.

"Both." John seemed to decide, continuing to guide you along. The pair of you had reached the patio doors by now, and the cool night breeze rushed through in perfect time to ease the heat that had rushed to your cheeks at John's response.

"Let's go see the gardens!" You decided at first glance of the sprawling greenery that surrounded the estate.

John let you tug him along, darting between couples and groups who'd come to ruin the fresh air with all their smoke.

He followed along, a very good sport, smiling as you pointed out flowers and trees you didn't realize could bloom in this part of the country. As you turned from marveling over a certain rose's colour, John seemed almost enraptured. Maybe not by your subject but certainly by some part of you. His gaze was fixed, and he seemed to bite back a wider grin. And your already lightened spirits seemed all the more weightless as your eye's met his.

"If you keep looking at me like that, John, I'm going to have to kiss you." You let a small laugh escape, as the foreigners' expressions remained steadfast.

He'd kissed you only the night before, on your brother's staircase. It was the only reason you felt free of regret enough to lean in and brush your lips against his again. John reciprocated fondly, letting one of his hands creep around the bend of your waist. You never realized it was possible to feel so happy.

"Did you do that because you've been drinking? Or do you perhaps fancy me a little?" John mocked your earlier statement, when the kiss died and your eyes locked.

"Both." You smiled, charmed enough to try it a second time. But this kiss was broken much sooner than you reckoned any kiss ought to be.

"You know I'll be leaving soon. Just a week's more time." John killed the mood with a few words. You glanced to your feet and muttered understanding, noticing his hand still clutched your waist.

"I just don't want to see you disappointed." John spoke up after a beat of heavy silence, and the words seemed hard for him to piece together, but he spoke them all the while.

"Then don't disappoint me." You shrugged, glancing back up to the perfectly handsome man, who's smile seemed sad now.

"Come on, then." John said, moving his hand to find your own. "Not even I get to enjoy parties like this too often."

And you let him guide you back inside. You let the sun set on all the pretty flowers. And you let yourself feel grateful for the rest of the evening at John's side.

///

He rode the train home with you the next day, sitting across the bench from you, and not saying very much.

You felt the need to chatter at the pass of every few minutes. You got John to ramble a little about the other places he was due to visit in the states. The guy only one more stop at some.fancy hotel after your town, in the big city, next week. Then he'd head home.

After explaining as much, the man went quiet again. But you couldn't let the silence last. It was as if you didn't work to hold his attention, it would be lost the next time you looked up. Maybe that wasn't true. But you couldn't risk letting John slip away so easily. Not when your heart practically lept from your chest each time his eyes met yours. If it wasn't meant to be, then so be it. But you were going to fight for the chance that you had, while it was still within reach.

So when the train pulled into your neighborhood, and John stepped onto the platform, you stopped him waving goodbye.

"Will you be back? To our shop, I mean?"

John took a step closer toward you with a very serious expression that softened just before he spoke.

"I wouldn't dare leave before telling you goodbye." He promised, in a low, sweet manner.

John pressed his lips to your temple for one brief heavenly moment. And then he turned away to hail a cab.

At least now, in your terrible mix of emotions, something very bright and warm burned within you. And you got to believe, for a moment, that the same reigned true for John.

///

But all was not well at home. How could it ever be?

Your mother was horrified that you'd up and left for the night without so much as a word about it to her, and to your brother's home no less.

Her disdain for her first born left you sick to your stomach more and more each day.

But this was nothing new. You knew to give the woman a showy apology and to stay silent as she confined you to the kitchen table as she lectured about morality. Tomorrow things would be back to her regular sort of unhappiness.

What really stopped you cold in your tracks that night, though, was the sight of your father stood in the doorway of your room with his arms crossed.

To bring a frown to his face was your greatest fear. For he'd loved you and shown it. And you dreamed of doing good by him every chance you got. As you stalled in the hall and waited for him to speak his mind, you hoped this would only be a reprimand for causing your mother unnecessary grief, for her madness made you all ten fold more miserable.

"I know you've been with your brother..." Your father nodded with understanding, not looking right at you as he spoke calmly. "But that also means you've been with John. And I don't like that."

Oh. Ivan had warned you this might be your fathers mood. But you'd ignored his warning in hopes it wouldn't have been true.

"You know John!" You countered, "You work with him! You're telling me you get to work with a man you don't like but I can't see him?"

"He's a fine man. But all wrong for you."

"You're supposed to be the one who lets me find these things out on my own." You reminded. Your mother did plenty of directing you from day to day. Your father knew of what you spoke and nodded reluctantly, uncrossing his arms and looking you square in the eye.

"Well not this time. Stay away from John, you hear me? He'll be gone before you know it anyhow."

Your father rested a hand on your shoulder, giving you a reassuring squeeze as if to ease the blow of his demands. But as he walked back down the hall, the uncertainty that had stormed within you since John left you at the train station, raged wilder than before.

What a jam...

///

There was nothing stopping you from returning back to the depths of the coffee shop, the next time Ivan started up his business.

Your mother was sound asleep, and your father was already there, serving the last of the coffee up top. Once you arrived you knew he'd be cross but unable to march you away.

So you slipped on your finest dress and twirled down the rickety staircase that led to the party your brother charged for.

There were already a good deal of friends jam packed into the small basement; dancing to swells coming from the gramophone and lining up to grab a glass from Ivan's makeshift bar. Your brother flashed a grin when he saw you sauntering in, but his smile turned somewhat more into a worried grimace when he saw you march up the man near the end of those overturned book shelves.

So was everyone concerned over your connection with John? Even the man who'd held your interest sort of frowned at the sight of you demanding his attention.

John had his fingers curled around a glass. You took it from his grasp and the action made the bootlegger grin oh so slightly. But his frown returned after you slammed back the swallow of liquor in his glass- unsure yourself by what had come over you.

"Hey, come on, don't be that girl." Ivan called to you from behind the bar. You couldn't be sure if he was commenting on the way you'd claimed Deacy's drink for your own, or on the way you seemed too eager to get the stuff in your system.

Before you could snap back at your brother's comment, though, John spoke up.

"Don't worry about it," He insisted in the charming draw of his. "Just pour me another." And as the man who you adored stepped past you to hold your brothers attention, John sort of let his hand brush across your waist. And he left his fingers to linger along your sides as Ivan, disgruntled, poured another for John.

"Is that all you cut in line for?" Ivan sighed, nodding toward the few people, impatiently waiting to fill their glasses, stood in a row behind John.

And you hadn't really considered this before your brothers prompting. But at his asking, you were moved to pull out a twenty dollar bill from your coin purse, and demand he give you your money's worth.

Ivan was reluctant, going on for a bit how once your father spotted you here, like this, that he'd surely be disappointed. And you didn't want that, did you? But little did Ivan know, you'd already disappointed your father. And you were determined to get something you wanted tonight, one way or another.

So with a sigh, Ivan poured you a tall drink and informed you were good to come back for a few more, to match your payment.

So began your evening of ignoring John's worried remarks about slowing down. And as you kept the drinks coming you weren't even sure why. Perhaps it was to test your very own limits. To somehow prove you were more in control of your path than all the others who seemed to have something to say about the direction of your life.

And damn John, for the way he kept his eyes locked on yours between the distance he silently kept insisting upon. And damn him for helping you find your balance, despite the steps he kept taking away from you. For letting his hands stay secure around your waist, long after you'd straightened up from stumbling.

And damn your father. He had to have been behind John's change in attitude. From the moment you'd met, John had been a flirt. And steadily, his quips kept getting bolder, until the last party you attended. Ivan's rambling about your fathers dislike of your fondness of John had to be what caused him to step back.

And damn your father, for finding you all dizzy in John's well meaning clutch, now. Your dad pointed to the door and demanded you find your way out of this scene.

"I know you're not taking her back to your hole in the wall you've been staying at, in the state she's in." You father grumbled in a low curse, his eyes searing into John's. You tightened your hold on the fellow, shooting your father a glare all the same. He couldn't tell you where to go or with who.

"Take her upstairs if ya like. But don't step foot past the alley. I'll be up in a minute."

After a shared look, John moved, pulling you alongside him. You moved, happily leaning into him, disgruntled by the course of the evening all the while. Even Ivan seemed to shoot you a sorry grin when he noticed you being marched away, from across the room.

The alley was a little cold. But John's figure was warm. And as you followed his lead pausing just beyond the backdoor, you could feel this chance waiting to slip away.

"You like me, don't you?" You wondered, turning to face the man you'd been so taken with since the moment he showed up at your door.

"Of course." John nodded, and answered so softly and with such care truly felt as though it were melting.

"Then kiss me, John."

"You're drunk."

"But we may never get the chance again. One or both of us are about to be beheaded. Either way, that'll make kissing hard to do from now on." You implored, letting your head fall to rest precariously on his shoulder as you finished your plea. You heard John let out a somber little chuckle as he dared to tighten his arm around you.

And then you heard a shuffle beyond the backdoor, and let out a sigh at the timing of your father coming to ruin everything.

But instead, the door bursts open to reveal Rita in a fluster. Her usually perfect makeup streaking down her cheeks. At the sight of the girl you'd always admired, a pang shot through your chest. But not immediately for her upset, whatever it was, but because you realized you'd failed to see your friend here all night, until now.

Before you could apologize, or ask what the matter was, Rita sucked in a breath and let out a string of words for you.

"He was a snitch. He-he told my parents everything." She stammered, wild eye'd.

"Who?" You begged to know, having turned away from John, but not having totally turned your attention away from his hand still rested on the small of your back.

"The pastor's son. Cole. He- he said he was alright with this whole thing. But he... He told your mother. She's on her way here, she's-"

Sound of a car roared closer, and the engine died away, drowning out the last of Rita's warning. For a second, you thought of making a break for it. But then the click of heels on the pavement seemed to count down your fate.

And then she stood there before you. Your mother, dressed to the nines, complete with her usual scowl.

You couldn't let go of John. Your nails seemed to dig into his side on their own accord. The pair of you stared ahead to the woman who gave you life, and kept you from living it all the same. She stood and stared too, almost like she was giving you a chance. And that was the scariest bit of it all.

As time seemed to pause, John let your name escape him in a nervous breath, like a warning. Trying to alert you that your hanging off him wouldn't help. But there was no way you were gonna let him go now.

It was then your mother decidedly sauntered up to the two of you, letting her eyes search your from the top of your head to the tips of your toes and back up again.

When she let out a scof, you realized you'd been holding your own breath. And when you opened your mouth, willing oxygen in, or words of mitigation out, your mother decided what was next.

Before you could blink, one of her strong hands was digging into your arm, and she was tearing you away from John's gentle hold.

And despite his caution earlier, you could feel John's hand still trying to keep hold of you, as you were yanked away. The sensation of being taken from the man's clutch was horrid, but what was more painful was the feeling of his fingers trying and failing to keep hold.

So when your mother tossed you aside, toward the brick of the coffee house wall, you were hardly affected; not like you'd only just been.

And when you looked up, after steadying yourself and dusting your stone imprinted hands of dust, John was stepping closer toward your mother. He shouted something at her, about how she didn't have the right to treat you just so. But before he could finish defending you, he was shut down.

Your mothers hand flew across his cheek, and the sound of the slap and John's shocked hiss echoed through the alley and caused something vile to rise in your gut.

You pushed yourself from the wall then, indifferent to the dizziness you felt, desperate to reach out to the man you'd been so fond of; calling his name.

But your mother was there, more sober and more angry. And she halted your mission to make it to your man, digging her nails into your sides and forcing you in the other direction.

"John I'm sorry, John..." You called past the lump in your throat. That was when Ivan came upon the scene. He darted from the doorway and did his damnedest to block your mothers storming off.

"You're a monster. Let her go!" Your brother fummed, as your mother managed to storm around her first born, pushing you along.

"I'm her mother. And I'll do as I see fit to keep my child out of harm's way." Your mother stated, almost calmly.

"You're no mother. You're a walking nightmare. She's not your plaything-"

"Word's won't fix this, Ivan." You said, reminding him that his defying of the woman only ever made her ten times more evil.

"I'll pray for your children, son." Your mother nodded, opening the passenger door of her car, and flinging you toward the bench. "They're going to need it."

You didn't look to Ivan, as your mother drove off. You didn't dare look to John. You only hung your head and cried silent tears while your mother peeled down the road. And the whole way home, she spat vile things about you and Ivan. Her own children. About your father, her beloved husband. And aout John, a man who, since his arrival, had only tried to help out.

You let your tears dry when the car pulled up to the house you'd never really felt at home in. And went willingly from the ride to the door, knowing you would get very far in the countryside if you dashed away now. You'd need a wiser plan. Still, your mother dug her claws into your arm and marched you up the staircase to your room, like you were a girl no oler to know better.

"Stay here." She demanded after pushing your further into your bedroom, her fist around the doorknob, establishing total control.

You expected to be banished here. What you didn't expect, however, was the return of your mother with boards to nail against your windows. You might've laughed if you weren't the one being all locked up. Wasn't this sort of thing only supposed to happen in twisted fairy tales? You're life was twisted enough, you supposed.

She left you there, trapped in the space that was meant to be your own, meant to be safe. As you sulked in silence, the memory of your mothers assault on John haunted you. The horrid sound her action resulted in. His gut wrenching reaction, the small hiss, his stalling in the place she put him in.

And the way he watched you being dragged off, helpless and sorry for you. It was pathetic, the situation you found yourself in. So you let your tears bubble up again and you cried and cried; until exhaustion set in. Tomorrow was a new day....

///

There was a pounding at your door, loud enough to jolt you from slumber.

"Open up!" The sound of your father calling from beyond the hall stirred you fully conscious. In one swift dash you were stood before your door, jiggling the handle, feeling silly for hoping that would work.

"She's locked it." You groaned. "Do you have a key?" Your wonder was nearly frantic, and so were you- trying still to twist the knob. At the sound of your fathers grumbled cursing, you began to bustle about for some hair pins, but quickly realized you wouldn'tve had a clue to how to finess the tools into working like another.

Then you heard your mother. She shouted down the hall, telling your father to get out of her sight, to leave you be. Shouting that you were better off confined. That you'd be locked away until she found the right reformatory to ship you off to. You knew she meant it. You knew she'd send you away without a care of your consent.

"She's not a child anymore. You can't just treat her like a bad pet who needs training."

"I'm her mother. And I'll be damned if I don't do what's best for my child. I failed the first time. God knows you never cared about either of them like I care." Your mother spat, breaking your heart and your fathers too no doubt.

Their bickering lasted a while longer, and you spun away from listening in to force yourself to think. There had to be a way out of here, out of this life. There had to be a way to a better world.

And the best you could do was wait. Until dinner. Wait until your mother brought you a tray of soup and bread, trading a few put downs before she twirled from your room. And then you checked the time, and counted down the hours to her always predictable nightly routine.

And you waited still, until your bedside clock ticked well passed after midnight.

And then you used a lamp to pry the nails away from windows. You could tell her bedroom light was out by leaning against the sill.

With no time to spare, you tossed a change of clothes in your purse, and the envelope stashed with tips you'd been saving for over a year.

It wasn't a very long way down. With the help of a lattice panel and the dark of night, you found grassy freedom in no time. Your heart beat heavy as you crept toward the road. It wouldn't be safe, not until the city lights were in view. But your shoes were flat and your hopes were high.

Miraculously, no one stopped you. Not the truck who zoomed by somewhere still deep along the dark country road. Not the school kids on the edge of town, tossing bottles off the bridge. And not the sleepy clerk at the desk of the hotel you raced into.

"Be here, be here, be here..." You prayed under your breath, hurrying to the room you remembered John booking. And right as you rounded the hall, the door of the room you'd been in search of opened.

But the squeak of wheels gave away the presence of a maid, pushing her cart of cleaning supplies out into the hall.

"He's gone?" You sighed, stopping at the end of the hall, your feet aching after moving so ceaselessly through the night.

"Whoever was here left a while ago." The maid stopped for a moment, looking to you with a sorry expression. "Around dinner time."

"Right. Is there a phone at the desk?"

The maid nodded and wished you luck, and you thanked her for it. You'd need as much as you could get.

The clerk who was still kicked back, sleeping, startled at your ringing the bell on the desk. And though they didn't seem pleased at your begging to use the phone, they let you.

It only rang twice.

"Hello?" Your fathers voice was a pleasant surprise. Of course he'd gone to stay with Ivan, in the midst of all this chaos.

"Dad, Im-"

"Where are you? Does she know you've gone? I'll come fetch you."

"No." You implored, holding up a hand as if he could have seen your insistence. "No I've phoned to let you know I'm taking the train to the city. I've got to find John before he leaves. And I'm sure of where he is. I've got to try."

John had told you where he was headed next, on your last train ride together. And you'd felt silly for keeping the details at the front of your memory... until now.

The other line went quiet for a beat. And you'd fully prepared yourself for your fathers disapproval. But then he just said,

"Okay." Your father seemed to realize the weight of your feelings, you thought, by his tone of voice. "I knew you'd get out of there, eventually." And once more, you could tell by his tone he wasn't just referring to the room you'd been locked in for the last couple nights. "Phone us again, when you're safe and sound. I know you will be."

At his blessing, tears sprung in your eyes. You were going to go no matter what. But to have your father on your side made you even more determined to fly out of this hotel, and to the next one you knew John was meant to be staying at.

///

Booking a train ticket was nearly impossible. And if you had spent much longer pleading with the station, you would have missed the bus pulling up down the block, offering rides in the right direction.

The couple hour journey was maddening, and thrilling, and terrifying all at once. You were on your way to change your life. No matter what John said, or how he greeted you; no matter if he fell into your embrace or left you in the hotel lobby, you'd never go back the way you'd come from.

And luckily, you managed to find the hotel John had briefly spoken of, without much trouble. It was the grandest of the business booming on this side of the city. Folks flooded in and out of the revolving doors, as you considered the past set of days that had led you to standing before here with such an erratic heartbeat.

But you only stayed paused for a moment. Your feet were darting inside before your mind caught up with how close you were to the mission at hand.

The lobby was just as full of people as the revolving doors had been, lines forming near the desk, groups fighting to fit their luggage into golden elevators.

And though you hated to be the person you'd decided to be, you dashed to the end of the front desk, hoping the clerk would spare you a minute at most.

"I just need to know if someone's booked a room." You begged to know, shooting sorry looks to the people you'd cut in front of. The clerk seemed to have no patients for you, but miraculously, another set of hands swooped in to help. Some nice older woman flipped through the bookings to find John's name, after you gave it, and came up short.

"What about Deacy?" You hoped all of a sudden, quickly beginning to lose your ambition the longer she shook her head.

You'd done what you could, rudely so. And scurried away so your unwelcome presence would no longer be in the way of things.

And as you sauntered away, giving one last pathetic glance about the crowded lobby, you reminded yourself that it was all alright. You might not have found John. But you were finally free.

And then you pushed through the revolving door. And past your ghostly reflection, you spotted a familiar set of grey eyes.

John seemed to wait until your gaze registered his own, before spinning around to make it indoors. You ignored the chilly night air and pushed on until you were right back where you'd just started to leave from.

There he was, before you as real and sure as the sun and moon.

"You never gave me a proper goodbye." You reprimanded through a growing smile. He'd promised to give you a farewell, once.

"How about a rain check? I've got lot's more important things to tell you, as a matter of fact." The man you'd come to adore smiled then, and offered his arm. You held on without hesitation and managed to follow his lead through the crowd, to the room he'd been staying in.

It was a humble little space, his suitcase opened on the coffee table and a yellow lamp left on by the window. John shut the door behind you with a soft click, loosening the pale blue tie round his neck, as you glanced about the room.

"I came by. Your place, I mean." John admitted, leaning against the closed door, as you turned from admiring the wall art to face him.

"You did?"

And then John said your father had dragged the Brit along, that night he'd knocked at your door. John was outside with high hopes. But your mother had caught your father before you'd even known there was a plan.

"So you did try to come and tell me goodbye." You laughed a little, kind of glad he wasn't able to. This reality where you'd run to him was much more befitting to the situation, you thought.

"Well, no." John pointed, not laughing along with you. "I never really wanted to say goodbye."

You stood there, taking in the sight of him. Watching John's brows oh so slightly furrow upward, hope pouring from his expression. You considered the gleam in his eye and the way he slowly seemed to shift his posture a little closer to you.

"So we haven't got to part ways in a hurry then?" You wondered. Asking more than if you could linger a while longer in his rented room.

John seemed to know what you were asking. He seemed relieved, too. His shoulders loosened as the man crossed the space between you, in no big hurry. It seemed the two of you had all the time in the world at your disposal, now. John took his time, reaching out to tuck away some loose hairs near your ear. And his smile grew steadily too. By the time the guy pressed a kiss to your lips, you'd been wondering if the dawn would be breaking any time soon.

But the longer John went on kissing you, the less you thought of the sunrise. As John enclosed you in his arms, all your thoughts were of the man you'd come to adore.

And as laid next to him and closed your eyes to the rising sun, you couldn't recall ever having experienced such a bright morning.

"So you're not too eager to head back home, yeah?" John asked, once you'd both stirred from a restful slumber.

"I think I found a much more suitable place to be." You smiled, referring to the spot you'd settled under John's arm.

And it didn't take much convincing on his end for you to agree on catching the next boat across the pond.

///

The other line rang so long you'd almost decided to hang up. Then your brother answered.

"Helllooooo!" He sang in a chipper timbre, making you wonder if he'd been expecting you at exactly this time, or if he answered everyone that way.

"Well I was going to ask how you were but it seems you're so well I don't have to wonder." You laughed into the receiver.

The morning was early, and a breeze blew back a sheer curtain, obscuring your view of the grey English morning.

Ivan spent the next few minutes yaking about how glad he was to hear from you. And you were glad to listen. On your rather spontaneous journey overseas, you were bogged down for a brief moment, at the thought of being so far from your dear brother. But as he rambled in your ear now, you'd never felt closer to him.

Ivan asked how things were. He asked after John, and that mattered so much more to you than his concerns for your well being. And when you had had your fill of the attention being on you, you begged your brother to give you all the details of what happened after you ditched home.

He said your mother was as furious as expected. Said she tried to blame your brother and her husband for your running off. Said she tried to get the police to shut down the coffee house for hosting such an undignified business after hours.

"You should'a seen her face when she found out officer Willard was our most loyal customer." Ivan chuckled.

"We did have to pay a fine, in the end, so she'd quit her raving. It was almost everything we'd saved away for the baby."

Your brother sighed. And you cooed his name in commiseration.

"But my friend who owns that estate, the one who threw that party John took you to," Ivan explained. "He was good enough to loan us a bit of cash to stash away." Your brother said the man tried to give the money away outright, as a thank you to Ivan for helping start up his own speakeasy of sorts. But Ivan was dead set on paying him back, one day.

"Now we can't decide to name the babe after him, or John." Ivan chuckled.

"And what if it's a girl?" You mused.

"That'll just have to be a surprise." Ivan said, and just then the line went dead. You called your brother's name with a little hope he'd come back to tell you more.

But you didn't worry when the line went on buzzing. You'd see him and his darling wife and his child to be, one day. You'd see your father too, if he was still hiding out at your brothers place. Hell, maybe they'd all come over here.

Maybe you'd build a life with John, in his humble little English flat. You certain felt at home, watching the guy of your fancy stay dreaming as the sun rose.

John had been kind to you. He'd been your friend when he didn't have to be. He'd let you lean into him, and he laughed at your jokes. He invited you into his world and smiled wide the closer your ship rolled toward London.

And he'd treated your shoes as if they'd always been stored in the middle of the welcome mat. John opened his space up to you, and asked every night for the first few weeks, if you were happy, if you needed anything more. Your answers were always yes and no.

And he didn't need to ask for honey in his coffee anymore. You just knew to add a little in the warm cup you'd have ready near the place he liked to sit in the morning.

It was familiar and it was sweet, and so was John. Maybe he liked honey in his tea, too. And dear God, how you prayed every year from here on out; got to be spent guessing at life alongside the man who'd thrilled you by wondering all your answers all along.

#john deacon #john deacon x reader #john deacon imagine #john deacon fanfiction

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honeyoongiah · 4 years ago

Text

Curtains

Pairings: Taehyung x reader

Genre: Neighbour! Taehyung AU, fluff, angst, smut

Words: 6.3k

Warnings: mention of harassment, explicit sex

Summary: You just moved out to study in another city when you met your new neighbour Taehyung. You instantly feel connected to him, but somehow life just doesn’t stop getting in your way.

A/N: This is an older piece but I love it. I had to translate it before I could post it because I wrote it in german originally. And since I had a chance now, I edited it a bit. Enjoy!

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay?" - "Your plane is departing soon, get in this damn taxi now!" I laughed and pushed my mother out the door. Her eyes were still glaring at me with concern while trying to get free. "I can always book a new flight."

"Mom no, go now. I'm an adult, I can do this.", I said and gestured how tall I am already. "First of all you are only 22. And you live alone now! That's a big step. You were never very long or far away from me. In my eyes you'll always be my little one."

I hugged my mother one last time and kissed her cheek. "Now go. Tell me when you land and greet my siblings. And thanks again for helping me out so much. Are you sure I shouldn't bring you to the airport?" - "Yes I'm sure darling and don't thank me, I'll always be there to help you. I'll call you from home then!"

I watched my mother for a while until I closed the door of my new house and leaned against it from the inside. I really moved out now and my new home was not exactly around the corner. But I was lucky with this place, it's a beautiful estate and close to my university.

I walked straight up to my refrigerator in the kitchen because my stomach grumbled. A glance at the clock told me that their war had been a while since my mom and I ate breakfast and I hoped she wasn't starving on her way right now.

My eyes looked right into a yawning void and I sighed in frustration as I didn't feel like going shopping now. In the end, I would have no other choice. It was Saturday and if I didn't have food for today, I'll definitely stay hungry tomorrow.

I ran upstairs to my bedroom and grabbed my handbag that was placed on the bedside table and opened it. Phone, key, wallet. Everything inside. I took a quick look in the mirror and checked whether my pigtail was still sitting properly and pulled it again.

Then I ran back down the stairs and left my house, of course not without locking the door. I got in my car and started the engine. Less than 10 minutes later I stood in the parking lot of a grocery store and slammed my car door. With quick steps I entered the building and looked around. I wanted to get this over with as soon as possible, I could already hear my bed calling for me.

After my bulk shopping was done and I paid an inhuman sum at the cash register, I had a hard time carrying it all to the car. Somehow I had made it and dropped the whole bags into my trunk. After I drove back and parked in my garage, I threw myself into my seat in frustration as I remembered how many heavy bags I would have to carry inside now.

Come on, it doesn't take that long I tried to cheer myself up and forced myself to get out and go to my trunk again. I was able to carry the first 3 bags and just got the key out of my door when a small husky stared at me with an innocent look. "Um..." I got out of a urge to react as if the dog could answer me. I almost dropped the bags, but I was able to put them down in time and crouched down.

"Well, who are you?" I asked and the dog cocked his head to the side. I held out my hand and waited for him to come closer to sniff it. Who knew if he had not experienced traumatic and maybe attacked when I act too harshly.

Slowly the husky puppy padded towards me and nestled his head on my hand. I started to stroke him properly and his tail back and forth happily. "Snowball?" I turned around, but at first I couldn't find who this dark voice belonged to. "Snowball? Snowball where are you?"

Then the little one in front of me responded to these calls with even more wagging his tail. "I guess you're Snowball, right?" He barked loudly and I giggled. "Snowball?" Slowly he padded past me to his owner, I turned and looked up into two brown eyes that pierced mine.

We just looked at each other for a few seconds until I finally woke up from my rigidity and got up. "Um, hi. I'm y/n, I just moved in here." - "I'm Kim Taehyung and I live in the house next door.", said the other person while pointing to his house and grinning shyly. I returned the grin and looked over. "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. I'm sorry if Snowball scared or annoyed you. He just ran away when I wanted to get the mail in and I couldn't catch him straight away and then he already was out of my sight.", He laughed and scratched his neck nervously.

"Oh, no problem. I love dogs and Snowball is really cute.", I replied honestly and looked down at him again. "Okay, then I'm relieved. Still sorry and thank you for taking care of him. I don't want to bother you any longer."

His eyes fell on the shopping bags by the door and he looked back at me. "Do you need help carrying it in?"- "Oh ah no, it's okay. I'll be fine," I said, waving my arms around in the air.

"Sure? It's not a problem for me to lend a hand."

His long brown-gray hair fell into his eyes and he ran his fingers elegantly through them while his eyes continued to look at me. „I am sure these aren‘t the only bags, if you just moved in here. Come on, let me help you.“

I gave up and nodded. Taehyung's smile widened immediately and he nodded back in confirmation. "The rest is in the trunk. I go and open the door already, so Snowball won't run away again."

Taehyung let Snowball into my house and carried the 3 bags from the front of my door to the kitchen, then he came to my garage and took as many bags as he could carry.

"I can take some too," I muttered, but he just shook his head and walked back inside my house.

I locked the car and the garage, then I followed him.

"Should I help you unpack, too?"

"No no, that would really be too much to ask for. Thanks for your help, would you like some coffee?", I walked over to my machine and looked at him questioningly. "Oh no, I don't want to bother you."

"It’s totally fine and besides you just helped me and I want to give you something back." - "Well if you insist then it would be my pleasure.", I nodded contentedly and let the coffee machine do its work while I leaned against the counter. "So why did you move here?"

"I am here for my studies, the university is just around the corner. I also always wanted to be independent as early as possible." Taehyung nodded and surveyed the facility. "Everything is already ready here."

"My mother was here and helped me with everything. She flew back this morning."

"Do you miss her already?" - "I didn’t get to that part yet, to be honest. Since she's gone, I've only been grocery shopping, nothing more." I laughed and Taehyung joined in. We talked about our life for a while and I found out that he studied at the university like me and that he had lived here alone for a few years. Unlike my family, his family lived near him, only that he still didn't see them too often. They didn't have a particularly close relationship. He had Snowball only for a few weeks and he made him really happy, even if it brought him into all kinds of problematic situations.

"I'll be gone then too, my girlfriend is probably wondering where I am," he explained to me with a smile and went to the door. A part of me was really sad that he was apparently in firm hands. "Thanks again for your help."

"Thanks for the coffee. If you need something, just come over."

I closed the door, started to put my groceries in the fridge and finally made myself something to eat. Later my mother called me and told me that she had arrived safely but would fly back at any time if I needed anything. With a laugh I declined her offer and we hung up. I spent most of the following evenings curled up on my sofa watching some trivial series on TV before my eyes grew heavy and I fell asleep. One night I heard someone shouting and winced. I slowly opened my eyes and was startled because I was not used to the surroundings.

I switched on the light and turned the television off. Is someone arguing? So loud in the middle of the night? I decided to go to my bedroom after going to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Shortly after I entered my room and wanted to open the window when I noticed that I could look perfectly into the room across the street. Two people faced each other and seemed pretty angry. I could see that one of them is probably Taehyung and that the woman with him must have been his girlfriend.

She raised her hand and landed directly on his cheek. I flinched in surprise, but Taehyung kept a straight face. He said something else to her that I didn't understand and she left the room. Still staring in shock, I stared over until his eyes met mine and I felt caught.

You don't stalk people just like that, I thought and I blushed. Taehyung just smiled and shaped a sorry with his lips. I shook my head to signal that he didn't have to apologize for anything and he nodded.

I smiled goodbye to him again and then pulled my curtains shut. Apparently he was having a fight with his girlfriend. I hoped that would settle down soon and went to bed. A few weeks passed and I met Taehyung a few times at the university and in front of the house. I found out that he had broke up with his girlfriend and he apologized again for waking me up.

I also got to know the first people and made a few contacts. A boy named Jimin seemed to be particularly interested in me and he invited me to dinner. I thought why not? and agreed. He was really attractive and friendly, you could talk to him well, so I was looking forward to my date. On that day the doorbell rang and I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

Jimin wanted to be here in an hour? I wasn't done with getting ready yet. I trudged to the door and found Taehyung. "Hey, I wanted to ask, if you would like to see a movie or something today? I cooked and there would be something for you too." In fact, I would have liked this, but I was already appointed. "I'm sorry, I'm busy today. Next time?"

Taehyung was visibly disappointed but he smiled anyway. "No problem, what are you doing?" Somehow it was uncomfortable for me to tell Taehyung that I was on a date, but it couldn't be avoided. "I'm having dinner with Jimin, I think you know him." His eyes widened and he looked away in shame. "Oh oh yes, I know Jimin. He is really nice. I wish you a good time." We said goodbye and I got ready for my date. It was really nice, Jimin picked me up and opened all the doors for me, adjusted my chair and even paid. He was really courteous and gracious but also funny.

We stopped at my front door to say goodbye. "I enjoyed my evening with you, y/n." Jimin smiled shyly and scratched the back of his head. "I thought it was very nice too." I admitted honestly and he smiled brighter. But something was missing. Jimin slowly reached down to me, watching my reaction closely and resting his forehead on mine. When I didn't move away, he gently put his lips on mine and I returned the kiss. We quickly broke apart and Jimin said goodbye for today.

This was followed by some dates, some kisses and at some point we were a couple.

"Do you want to go out today, honey?" He asked as he hugged me from behind and rested his head on my shoulder as I made myself a tea. "I don't care, we can stay here as long as we are together." I replied and got a kiss on the head. "You are so adorable."

Jimin was really the perfect boyfriend and I enjoyed being close. Spending time with him was pure relaxation for me and yet I couldn't help feeling that I was missing something. But I didn't tell him, I didn't want to hear it myself and gave everything to be a good girlfriend to him. We sat on the sofa and I leaned against him. He immediately put an arm around me and put my cup on the table. "Hey, I wanted to drink it now!" I laughed.

Jimin leaned down to me and pressed his soft lips against mine. I sighed contentedly and he grinned into our kiss. "It makes me so happy to make you happy."

"You poet." I giggled and united our lips again. Just as he was about to lean over me, the doorbell rang. Jimin already had his lower lip out formed to a pout and I laughed. "I‘ll go."

Jimin got up and arrived at the front door in a few steps. "Oh, hey Tae. What's up?" Immediately I became clairaudient and got up to go to the door. I stood next to Jimin, who automatically put his hand around my waist. Tae's gaze immediately fell on it and I felt an uneasy feeling. "I-I just cooked too much again and wanted to bring something over. So you are together now?"

Jimin and I nodded, he definitely more vigorously than me. Taehyung put on a false smile and nodded. "I'm happy for you. Then you can eat it together, it'll be enough for two people." If it was enough for two, half was definitely not for Jimin and I felt bad to have canceled again when Taehyung indirectly asked me to meet. We said goodbye and I watched Tae walk down the stairs until Jimin closed the door. "Delicious food." Jimin murmured as he greedily examined the baking pan and I had to laugh.

Time flew and two years passed by quickly. Taehyung and I saw each other every now and then, when I was jogging and he went for a walk with Snowball. Who, by the way, had already become huge. Sometimes we were even grocery shopping at the same time. I also saw him go to bed every night because our bedrooms were facing each other and we always went around the same time to close the curtains. It was like a ritual. Neither of us mentioned it and neither said it was intentional, but we both knew we were eagerly waiting for 10 p.m. to finally be able to walk to the curtains and smile at each other least a few seconds a day.

After two years of relationship, I broke up with Jimin. He was a perfect boyfriend but he wasn't... perfect for me. The feeling that I was missing something grew bigger and bigger and echoed loudly in my head. I couldn't go on like this. Jimin was hurt, but understanding as expected. Again I met Taehyung while jogging, but this time I wouldn't just keep walking with a smile. I stopped, to mine and to his amazement. "Hey, Taehyung. We haven't talked in a long time," I said kindly.

"That's right, how are you doing right now?"

"Oh, it's okay so far, there's a lot going on right now," I replied. Please ask about Jimin, it shot through my head and I was scared of myself. Why did I want that? "Yes, the university is troubling us all. How's Jimin?" Yes! "I don't know, we broke up," I said, and I could have sworn to see a quick smile on his lips. "I'm sorry, you were together a long time." I nodded. "It was my decision. Something was missing," I emphasized. "Sometimes there are things that aren‘t meant to be and sometimes you have it right in front of you and you don't recognize it." he said absently and avoided eye contact.

We said goodbye and I thought about his words. Was he thinking about us? What would have been if he had not been taken or if it wasn’t directly after his breakup? What if his invitation had come a tick earlier? Would I have been with Jimin at all? I soon decided to cook too and bring him something over there. In fact, I still had one of his baking tins and decided to make a potato casserole.

But the university tore at my nerves and I couldn't find any time. Taehyung always seemed tired and stressed when I saw him in the evening or met him at the post office. Finally, half a year later, when I still hadn't given him his shape back, maybe just to be able to do this, I found the time and cooked for us. All day I was happy that it finally worked and something inside of me tingled with excitement. The thought of eating and talking with Taehyung, maybe laughing, gave me goose bumps and a pleasant warmth ran through my stomach.

I never had that with Jimin.

Humming happily, I cooked my casserole and looked proud at my work when I took it out of the oven. I let it cool down a bit and ran upstairs to choose something to wear.

Simple or a little bit more prettied up? We would only eat, but I still wanted to look good.

I entered my bedroom and automatically looked over into his.

My smile immediately disappeared when I realized that he was standing there with a girl and kissed her soulfully as they moved towards the bed. My stomach tightened but I couldn't look away. He held her face with one hand and with the other he pulled her closer to his waist.

She had buried her fingers in his hair and was playing with them.

I seemed to have been too noticeable because a few seconds later he broke away from her and looked in my direction. Just in time I could pretend to get my cell phone off the bed and disappear.

Before I left the room I looked over again. He had turned back to her and probably hadn't noticed that I had seen her. I sadly went down the stairs and wondered what I wanted to do alone with so much casserole. Then I just had something to eat for two days, I thought to myself, but I couldn't just keep it. It was meant for him and he should get it.

I got out a pen and a small piece of paper and wrote a message.

"Sorry for bringing over your cake tray so late. The casserole is for you and your girlfriend. Sorry, I didn't want to stalk! ~ y/n" I packed the form in aluminum foil and stuck the note on it. I quickly put on my shoes and ran the few meters over to put it in front of his door. Then I went back inside and threw myself on the sofa in frustration. Some things shouldn't be. At 10pm I went to my curtains as usual, but for the first time in 3 years, his curtains were closed.

The next morning I walked to my mailbox, but this time I saw no Taehyung.

I glanced at his front door. The casserole was definitely no longer there. But between my letters I found a small piece of paper. "The casserole was great, but not necessary! Thank you (^ o ^)" He did not go into the matter with his girlfriend, which is not surprising.

With a sigh I packed the remaining letters and ran back into the house.

The weeks passed and tests were pending. I hardly left my house, tried to focus as best I could. But Taehyung always managed to sneak into my thoughts and I tugged my hair I should have noticed earlier that I wanted more. Already at the first meeting I noticed that there was something. But he had a girlfriend. Then I had a boyfriend. The university also consumed a lot of time and now he seemed to be taken again.

He lives next door and is still so far away.

Another few weeks passed and Taehyung didn't come to the window regularly at 10pm. Maybe once or twice a week I saw him grinning at me through the window.

I always smiled back in a friendly way, but I was sad inside. I should just get over it and be happy myself again. After all, I had separated from Jimin over half a year ago. The university had planned a big prom after the exams and I tried to be happy and not to think that Taehyung would probably bring his new girlfriend there.

I got some invitations for this evening, but I didn't really feel like any of them. Everyone was really nice, but that's just not enough. Nevertheless, I accepted Haesung's invitation and he picked me up at 8pm. He drove us to the location and even looked really good in a suit.

We talked casually and entered the room.

The large hall was dipped in a soft blue and the furnishings matched perfectly. My dress was also color-coordinated, because the motto had already been announced. "Would you like a drink?" my date for this eveing asked, but I didn't feel like alcohol today. "No thanks." He got some of the alcohol-free punch for both of us, because he still had to drive. We talked and drank until my eyes fell on the door that someone was opening.

His suit looked great and my face immediately turned a light red.

To my surprise he was alone, without any company. His eyes roamed the room as if he was looking for something and finally met mine. We just looked at each other until he started eyeing me and my dress and smiled shyly. I blushed but smiled back. His smile was really heartwarming and it made my stomach tingle again. He looked over at Haesung and his eyes changed from shy to worried. What was going through his mind?

"y/n? Are you listening at all?"

Haesung pulled me out of my thoughts and I looked at him. "I'm sorry, I just noticed my neighbor." Haesung nodded and we continued the conversation.

My eyes fell briefly on the door again, but Taehyung was no longer to be seen. Well understandable, who liked standing in the door frame all night. The evening was calm and relaxed, I was still looking for Tae but couldn't find him anywhere. Time passed and slowly I wanted to go back home. Nothing kept me here.

"Haesung, I'm pretty tired. Would you mind if we left now?" I asked with puppy eyes.

You could see the disappointment, but he nodded and we walked back to the car. I searched for Taehyung one last time, but I still couldn't find him. Maybe he was home already?

The journey was quiet, there was silence between us but that was fine with me. I didn't really feel like talking to him anymore.

He walked me to the door and I tried to say goodbye, but Haesung supported himself on my front door with his hand and narrowed me down. "Can't I get a good night kiss?" He said, and I got a bad feeling about it. "Haesung please go now," I tried to say in a strong voice. He frowned. "But babe, we haven't gotten to the fun part yet." - "Haesung it is enough, I don't want that." I said with tremor in my voice this time and clenched my hands into fists to calm down. "Oh come on, I can still convince you. You will have fun."

Haesung moved closer and I was getting ready for the worst, but just before his face was close enough to mine, he was pulled back by the shoulder and stumbled a few steps back. "Fuck off Tae, this has nothing to do with you." Haesung said, visibly pissed off and tried to get out of his grip, but Taehyung gripped harder and harder. "No means no haesung and if you don't leave now and stay away from y/n in the future, you and I will have a problem." Taehyung said coldly and pierced Haesung with a look of death.

"Alright alright, I'm leaving," he muttered and went to his car.

Relief spread through me and I leaned against the door with a sigh. "Thanks Tae, it would have turned out badly without you." - "Nothing to thank me for. I was worried when I saw him with you, he has always been a guy who knows no boundaries. That's why I kept an eye on you and that didn't seem to be a mistake. Besides, you didn't seem really interested in him?", the last one came out half as a question and he cocked his head slightly.

"I thought he was nice and I didn't want to go to prom alone." I answered honestly and shrugged. "I would have invited you.” Taehyung murmured, looking at everything but me, hoping I didn't hear it. I did however. "I thought you were going with your girlfriend." I said, and Taehyung raised an eyebrow. "Exactly, I wanted to talk to you about that too. I have no girlfriend, where does that idea come from?" I thought back to the day I cooked for us and then saw him in the room with this woman. How he kissed her and pushed her towards the bed. My stomach turned. "I saw you in your room with a woman, and judging by what you were about to do, it looked very intimate." I replied embarrassed, playing with my fingers.

Taehyung thought for a moment, but then widened his eyes and blushed.

"I-I ... that wasn't my girlfriend. I just got to know her back then and … ah doesn't matter, it was a huge mistake. So you thought she was my girlfriend ever since?" He threw his head back and sighed heavily. "Don’t worry about it! You are grown up and can do whatever you want." I tried to calm him down, but he just shook his head. "You're right about that, but that was never what I wanted. No matter it's late, you should go to sleep. By the way, you look really gorgeous in this dress. Good night." he said and disappeared.

I unlocked my front door and warm air flowed towards me. I ran upstairs and saw Tae lying on his bed and running his hand through his hair while looking frustrated. I ran to my closet and dug out a long top because I didn't like to sleep in pants, and went to the bathroom to change. I could have just closed my curtains, but I didn't want to lose the chance to see Tae's face again. Who knew when the next time would be. I took off my make-up and changed my clothes. When I ran back to my room Taehyung was still there, but now he was sitting and resting his head on his knees with his hands. He probably hadn't noticed that I could see him yet.

For a few minutes I watched him go through his hair, check his cell phone briefly and throw himself back on the bed in frustration again. Then I decided to offer him his privacy and pulled my curtains shut. Another few weeks passed and our evening ritual was revived. We met and went jogging again often, sometimes we even ate together at the university. Finally it seemed to be going uphill. But fate was simply not on our side. I noticed that there has been an unusual amount of noise coming from his house lately and his bedroom looked emptier than usual. What was he up to? Renovation work? I didn't get to ask him, because the next day he was already at my door and handed me a small piece of paper. "I'm going to do a few semesters abroad. I can't be here anymore, but that's my number, if you need something or want to talk, just contact me.", He was still there until I finished saving his number but after that he wanted to turn back and go immediately.

No no no! I couldn't let something separate us again!

He was still walking along the path of my property when his cell phone rang.

He got it out of his pocket and took the call.

"Hello?"

"You said I should call when I need something. Don't go away, I need you." I spoke bravely into my cell phone, my hand trembled and I was ready to get the brush-off. A tear rolled down my cheek but I just ignored it. Taehyung continued to stand with his back in my direction for a few seconds, which felt like hours, but then finally turned to me and waöked towards me with huge steps. "I've been waiting for so long," he said before taking my face in his hands and meld our lips. I sighed contentedly and put my arms around his neck, pulling him further down towards me. He pushed me into the house and kicked the door shut. His hands moved from my face to my hip, where he pulled me closer and I moaned in surprise.

I buried my fingers in his long hair and scratched his neck. In response, he gave a low grumble and pushed me against the wall. "I've wanted to do this ever since I met you," he whispered against my lips as we briefly separated from each other due to lack of air. His eyes shone and I lost myself in them. He grabbed my butt and I immediately wrapped my legs around his waist. Again he pushed me against the wall and rubbed against me as he spread a thousand kisses on my neck. I cocked my head and took a deep breath when he touched a sensitive area with his soft lips.

"Found it.", He murmured contentedly and started sucking on it. I moaned softly and clawed into his back. I wanted to feel his lips on mine again, to memorize his taste. I grabbed his face and turned it back to me, didn't hesitate for a second and reunited our mouths. Taehyung pushed me a little more against the wall and grabbed my butt a bit harder.

He bit my lip lightly and I slightly opened my mouth when I moaned, which he immediately took advantage of and also united our tongues. It was a struggle for dominance that I would clearly lose. Slowly I felt something hard between my legs and gasped in surprise.

"Sorry, if that's too quick for you, we can stop too...", Taehyung said out of breath, still very close to my face. His breath tickled warmly on my swollen lips and I didn't even think about ending this. In response, I pulled him closer to me again and pulled his shirt up a bit on his back. Taehyung grinned and we pulled away from the wall so he could carry me upstairs.

In the meantime, I worked on his neck and left my love bites everywhere.

When we arrived in my bedroom, he threw me on the bed and immediately leaned over me to focus on my neck again. "I’m so damn attracted to you. I crave you." he growled in his deep voice against my skin as his hands slowly moved under my top and explored my body. He quickly pulled it over my head and looked at me for a while. "Taehyung what are you doing?" - "I'm trying to catch every detail of you." he answered, leaning back down to me. His lips wandered down my neck to my cleavage and opened my bra with his hands. It felt like his hands and lips were everywhere at the same time, my skin burned hot in the places he touched. The comfortable tingle in my abdomen became stronger and I gasped when Tae had reached my pants.

As he continued to spread gentle kisses on my stomach, he opened my pants and threw them carelessly across the room. I pulled his shirt over his head and threw it down to my pants. He took my panties off with his teeth and licked his lips while he examined my now completely exposed body. It was uncomfortable to show myself so naked, but his lustful gaze on me felt good. He climbed up to me again and we kissed passionately as he ran his fingertips over my body. I reached for his belt, which I had successfully opened after some fiddling, and tried to open the button.

But unexpectedly, Taehyung let his fingers disappear between my legs and I groaned loudly. He grinned into our kiss and playfully bit my lip. "Taehyung-ah, I can't concentrate like this..." I tried to make no noise while still trying to open his button. He let go of me briefly to take off his pants himself and I stared at the bulge that could no longer be overlooked. Again he kissed my body until he got between my legs and gently sucked marks on my thighs. "You don't have to concentrate on anything, baby. Just let yourself fall." he said seductively, his lips touching my clit lightly and driving me crazy.

Shortly afterwards, a pleasant sensation ran through my whole body and I moaned loudly when I could feel Taehyungs tongue. "Tae-Taehyung..." was the only thing that could leave my mouth, my hips started moving by themselves and I closed my eyes. The fact that I moaned his name only made him move his tongue faster and harder while he began to use his fingers. He pushed two inside of me, no time to adjust but I didn’t need it anyway. I clawed my hand in the sheet and buried the other in his hair, which exerted slight pressure on his head. Just when I was almost at the limit to cum, he stopped and I looked down at him in surprise. I whined at the loss of contact when he removed his fingers.

"I want to come with you, baby." he gave me as an explanation and I quickly nodded. There was nothing I wanted more than to feel him inside of me. I’ve waited for this for so long that I was almost nervous.He stripped off his boxer shorts and leaned over me.

I wrapped my legs around his waist and looked deep into his brown eyes, which I fell in love with at first sight. "Taehyung, I love you," I said, smiling, and Tae's look looked surprised.

"I love you too, (y/n). Finally you're mine.", he answered lovingly while entering me slowly.

I moaned deeply when I felt his length inside of me. This time I needed a few seconds to adjust, but Taehyung was patient and kissed my neck while he waited for my okay to move. I still felt like I could cum any minute, him stretching me out and his soft lips on my neck while his hands stroked my body drove me crazy. As he started to suck on my nipples I got impatient and whined. “Please move. I want to feel it.”

Taehyung groaned in response and moved his hips back and forth, his eyes not leaving mine. “I love how you look right now. God you’re so beautiful.”, he whispered to me and I blushed, not able to give him an answer, the pleasure too much for my brain to form words.

My fingers were buried in his hair as I moved my hips in sync with his. We both moaned louder when he started to thrust a bit harder, revealing how needy he really was. “T-Taehyung it feels so good I’m close.”, I whimpered, now scratching his neck and gaining a low groan in response. “I can feel it gorgeous, you’re clenching around me. It feels amazing.”, he answered and bit my neck softly. “Cum with me.”

His words sent me over the edge, the pleasure running through my veins as I moaned loudly. Shortly after I could feel that Taehyung was close as well, only a few thrusts away from filling me. I touched his body and marked his neck where I discovered he liked it the most and helped him cumming as well. “God you’re incredible.”, was the first thing he said after pulling me close into his arms. I chuckled and kissed his chest. “I’ve never felt like this.”

“Me neither.”, I whispered and looked up to him. “Are you really going to stay here with me?”

Taehyung nodded fastly and kissed my forehead. “I won’t let anything or anyone come between us. We wasted way too much time the past years and I think we need to catch up on that.” I nodded and sighed in relief. Taehyung wouldn’t leave me. We finally found each other and wouldn’t let go again. “I love you.”, he said lovingly and I smiled. “I love you too, from the very first moment I did and I’ll never stop.”

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mypunkpansexualtwin · 3 years ago

Text

Here we come with day two of pegoryu week, and it's gonna be the last one I post on time. I'll still be trying, don't get me wrong, I'm just not the kind of person who can write a fic I'm happy with in one day.

Yet.

As always, bulk of the fic is under a cut, link is in the reblogs, and I will daydream of baking you cookies if you share it.

“I did warn you.”

“Not even an arcade, dude?”

“Not unless you wanna get on a train for forty minutes.”

“Ugh. Laaaaame.”

After nearly a month of planning, Ryuji was visiting his boyfriend for Golden Week. One whole month of bargaining with all of their parents, putting aside every last yen they could spare, studying their asses off to earn the trip, and, of course, long phone conversations that were probably about eighty percent “I miss you”s and “I love you”s and “I can’t wait to see you”s. With Akira’s help via video call study sessions, Ryuji even managed to get into the top thirty percent of the class in their latest exams; a new record for him that effectively guaranteed the visit. But they’d been so busy celebrating and planning getting him out to the country that they may have completely forgotten to figure out what they were actually going to do when he got there. So now they were on the Kurusus’ living room couch, Akira cross-legged on one end and Ryuji stretched out across the rest with his head on his boyfriend’s lap, trying to scrape together a date idea.

“I’ll say it again. I warned you. Several times,” Akira repeated while he ran a hand through Ryuji’s hair. “There’s nothing to see here.” Ryuji caught Akira’s free hand, tangled their fingers together, and kissed the back of his hand.

“Yeah there is. You’re here, so I say it’s worth it.” Ryuji grinned as his boyfriend turned pink at the tips of his ears and wrinkled his nose.

“Sap,” Akira grumbled like there wasn’t a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Like they both didn’t know full well how much he liked hearing how happy Ryuji was that they were together, in every sense of the word.

“You love me,” Ryuji said, his grin widening just a little further. Akira’s expression melted into something almost embarrassingly soft as he went back to playing with his boyfriend’s hair. He curled and combed his fingers gently through the short strands, and huffed out a quiet laugh as Ryuji went boneless when he grazed his nails over his scalp.

“Yeah. I really do,” Akira sighed happily and got another kiss pressed to his knuckles. “You’re kind of my hero, you know.” It was something he’d tried to make a habit of telling his boyfriend, even before they were dating. Ryuji still sputtered and objected like it was his first time hearing it.

“You-- I-- that ain’t…” He sat up and shoved a pillow into Akira’s face with a groan. “Now who’s the sap?”

Akira draped himself across Ryuji’s shoulders and planted a kiss on the side of his neck, then smiled against his skin at the shiver that got. “You just have that effect on me, sunshine.” Ryuji grunted in response. “You like it.” Another grunt. Akira blew a puff of air at the back of Ryuji’s ear and laughed when he got swatted away. “Don’t pout. You were right, a date sounds nice. But you gotta help me figure it out.”

His boyfriend sprawled back out on the couch after pouting for a few more seconds, then looked up at him with those big brown eyes he’d been a sucker for since day one.

“Aight, what kind of food you got around here?” Akira could have been exasperated at his boyfriend’s predictability, but a dinner date was more feasible than a movie date, and a lot more pleasant than a gym date. He may have loved Ryuji Sakamoto with all his heart, but he didn’t plan on running again on the regular unless it was for his damn life.

“There’s only like ten places total around here. We’ve already visited three, two of them won’t serve me because the owners don’t like me anymore--”

Ryuji’s head jerked up at that, knocking Akira’s hand free. It was ridiculous how cute the guy was when he was offended. “What?! Why the hell not?”

Akira shrugged and went back to petting Ryuji’s hair in an attempt to soothe him. “Didn’t exactly bother to ask, but probably my record. Cleared of charges or not, my reputation mutated while I was gone and I haven’t really been able to fix it.” Not that he’d tried very hard when he didn’t plan on staying for even a second longer than necessary.

The frown that wrinkled Ryuji’s features was almost comical, but he probably wouldn’t appreciate being laughed at while he was already agitated. Especially when it was on Akira’s behalf. “Ugh, this town sucks, can’t wait to get you out of here. Wait, only probably your record? Why else would they dislike you?”

Akira huffed out another laugh, wry and joyless this time. “My uncle’s a pretty conservative guy, I heard he didn’t react well when he found out I was dating some guy from the city.” Quite literally heard it; he’d been getting ready to visit his cousin and could hear the old man shouting inside the house from the sidewalk. He’d opted to text Yuuta to meet up somewhere well away from their house instead when that happened. And, naturally, the news had mysteriously spread to the rest of town by the end of that week.

Ryuji sat bolt upright and twisted back around to face Akira with a scowl. “Your own effin’ family won’t serve you? What the hell?!” His expression was thunderous, made worse by the doomcloud over his head when he asked. Ryuji almost never got pulled into fights these days and was very proud of that fact--they both were--but Akira was certain that he was ready to deck the old man on sight on his behalf. He’d never encourage it, but the thought still made something in his chest swell a little.

“Just my uncle when I try to sit in. If it’s my aunt or my cousin taking delivery calls, they’ll still take the order. Plus a discount and extra desserts, if Yuuta’s the one who answers.” Akira shrugged, then tugged at Ryuji’s shirt to coax him into laying back down in his lap. He did, albeit begrudgingly, and Akira went back to running his hands soothingly through that remarkably soft shock of bright blond hair. “Anyways, the other five restaurants in town are fast food that you could get back home. So…” He trailed off and watched Ryuji’s scowl soften into an annoyed frown.

“Yeah, pass.” Ryuji closed his eyes, either to think or soak up Akira’s touch as he played with his hair, then cracked one eye open after a moment. “How ‘bout a picnic? You’re a pretty good cook and I bet we could find us a nice spot to just chill.”

That... was a pretty solid idea. Actually, that sounded perfect, and Akira knew exactly the spot for them to set up. He opened his mouth to agree, but was cut off by a low rumble of thunder outside. “...Maybe later this week? The weather should clear up before you have to go,” he said instead. Ryuji pouted up at the ceiling, or more likely up at the sky beyond it for ruining his brilliant plan. Then it was Akira’s turn to pout when Ryuji abruptly sat back up out of reach, but not for long.

The next thing he knew, he was being crowded up against the arm of the couch by one blond bombshell of an ex-track star. Ryuji was suddenly determined to pour himself into his boyfriend’s lap, all mischief and heat as he crawled across the couch towards Akira. He couldn’t think clearly while facing down that wicked grin curving across Ryuji’s face like Haru’s favorite battleaxe cleaving through the air. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d made out. It wouldn’t even be the first time Ryuji had taken the initiative and left Akira a flustered wreck when they did. But since it had been over a month since the last time he’d seen that look face to face, it was having more of an effect than usual, and Akira was left frantically trying to cling to his cool.

“I have an idea, babe.” Ryuji said lowly and Akira’s mouth went dry. Hands bracketed Akira’s hips on the couch as his boyfriend crept closer. “Y’wanna hear it?” Akira nodded and felt heat flare across his skin when he realized Ryuji was keeping that hooded, heated gaze fixed firmly on his lips. “Since your folks ain’t supposed to be back before tomorrow afternoon,” Ryuji’s tone was as light as his body was heavy as he straddled Akira and looped strong arms around his neck, “I was thinkin’ maybe… we could…” Akira was desperately trying to focus on the words being whispered into his ear over his boyfriend kissing his way up his neck and leaving his skin prickling in the wake of every touch.

“Y-yeah?” He couldn’t help the nervous flutter in his stomach. If Ryuji was implying what he thought he was implying... They hadn’t done… that... yet. Even with the house to themselves all day, they hadn’t actually talked about it, in part because Akira hadn’t even thought about it seriously yet. That nervous flutter hadn’t subsided and was starting to feel a little more like an anxious lurch.

Ryuji continued, oblivious to his boyfriend’s nerves with his face tucked against his neck. “We could maybe…” Akira’s hands flexed involuntarily around Ryuji’s hips. He didn’t dislike the idea, just-- His unsteady train of thought was thrown off again when soft lips brushed over his ear. “...watch One Piece together?” After a beat where Akira was left blinking stupidly for several seconds, Ryuji sat back on his legs with a grin that had gone from sultry to shit-eating on a dime. Oh. Okay, he could handle that. “I gotta get you caught up to me, plus I wanna see how much we can get through in one sitting.”

“...you’re truly a romantic for the ages, sunshine,” Akira responded flatly as his heart rate slowly returned to normal. He was teasing back now, because honestly that idea sounded just as good as the picnic, with a lot less effort to set up.

“I know,” he answered confidently, but his smile slipped a little. “Is that a no? I just thought maybe I could buy us dinner from your shitty uncle, and we can cuddle while we take advantage of that big TV with the fancy sound system.” Ryuji gestured hopefully to the flatscreen behind them that was nearly as big as Akira’s bed back at Leblanc.

“Sounds good. Netflix and chill, it is,” Akira declared. When he caught the way Ryuji’s smile and shoulders tightened slightly, he added, “y’know, in the most literal sense.” It wasn’t as though he was happy to see Ryuji nervous, but when his boyfriend relaxed at the reassurance, he couldn’t help but feel relieved that the two of them were on the same page as far as that was concerned.

---

Aki hadn’t been kidding when he said his cousin would hook them up. There was probably double what they’d ordered plus desserts in the bags the guy handed off.

“So, you must be the boyfriend, huh? He talks about you a lot. Y’know, for him.” Yuuta asked as he leaned on the doorway. Ryuji just grinned, because yes, that was him, he was The Boyfriend. Akira’s boyfriend. Akira’s boyfriend. It’d been months and Ryuji still got all giddy about it like it was brand new. Yuuta interrupted his thoughts when he called out past Ryuji to where Akira was sitting and watching TV, “Man, talk about punching above your weight!” Ryuji blushed and opened his mouth to object before Akira could start bragging on how amazing Ryuji was.

Apparently Akira had other plans, because before he could, two sharp whistles rang out behind Ryuji and he reacted basically on instinct. It was the signal Akira had always used to mean duck or you’ll get hit in the Metaverse, and Ryuji’s knees buckled with almost no input from his brain. He had just enough time to worry if he’d spilled the food--thankfully he hadn’t--when one of the couch throw pillows whiffed past his head and nailed Yuuta in the face.

“ACK! The fuck, dude?! See if I give you free dessert again, jackass,” the guy yelled and hucked the pillow back--and missed, from the sound of Akira’s laughter. Ryuji straightened up with a grin as Yuuta turned to him. “How the hell did you two even do that?”

“We’re just cool like that, I guess.” Ryuji shrugged. No need to explain how many times he’d accidentally taken a Lucky Punch or whatever in the back of the head because he got signals mixed up. “Seriously though, thanks for hookin’ us up, dude.” He held up the food and then added a little more quietly, “and, uh, thanks for havin’ Aki’s back while he’s here. It’s easier to not worry if I know there’s at least someone here talkin’ to him besides that damn cat.” That got a snort of laughter out of the delivery guy.

“No problem? I’d say obviously, ‘cause he’s family, but… Well, I’m sure he told you. Our family kinda sucks sometimes.” He frowned, shook his head, then brightened back up. “Anyways, sweet of you to worry. He really did luck out when he found you, huh?” Yuuta said as he stepped back from the door.

Ryuji shook his head. “You got it backwards, man. I’m the lucky one.” He turned back to where his boyfriend was watching TV, now fully absorbed in the show even if he didn’t really look like it. Ryuji couldn’t help the contented sigh that escaped him; he had his boyfriend again and he was going all in on one of Ryuji’s favorite things just because it was one of Ryuji’s favorite things, and it looked like he was actually enjoying it, too. When he turned back, Yuuta was halfway to his scooter, still loaded down with bags of food.

“You really believe that, huh?” He called back. “You keep that attitude, Sakamoto. Even when he’s bein’ a menace, alright? ‘Cause he’s a menace, but he’s my menace, and I’ll serve you up as dumplings if you hurt him!” The scooter rumbled to life and Yuuta added over the noise of the motor, “And you tell him the same thing. I like ya, so he’s gonna be the next lunch special if he’s an asshole to you!”

Ryuji waved in acknowledgment as he sped off, then closed the door and dropped the bag of takeout next to Akira. They paused the episode long enough to sort through the food; a double order of dumplings, pork miso for Akira, spicy vegetable ramen for Ryuji, ginger pork with rice that he was pretty sure they didn’t order at all, and half a goddamn cheesecake for them to split. It was an impressive spread that Akira was already calculating how much was going to be crammed into the fridge at the end of the night.

“Well. Anything we don’t finish tonight can go with us on the picnic?” He suggested as he started on his soup and turned the show back on. They hadn’t made it very far in just yet, and definitely had an uphill battle ahead of them.

Ryuji nodded, mouth already full of noodles. “Shoundsh good to me, dude.” Akira made a face at him like he always did when he talked around a mouth full of food, and Ryuji washed it down with some of the broth. “Family recipe?”

Akira hummed a confirmation around his own food, but paused to actually finish his bite. “Yup. Not as good as the place you took me, but I could just be biased.” Ryuji could hear the smirk in his voice that always cropped up when he was thinking about saying something sappy. Ryuji cut him off before he could, though. Butterflies wouldn’t leave much room in his stomach for ramen.

“I was thinkin’ the same thing. The Ogikubo thing, not the bias thing. Didn’t wanna offend, though.” Ryuji said and took another sizable bite. Even mediocre ramen was still pretty good in his opinion.

Akira chuckled. “Nah. Actually, the ramen there’s always been a little lackluster. I could’ve offered some advice to improve it once I got back, but now? Fuck that guy.”

Ryuji tried not to choke on his food with the laugh that threatened to escape. Scalding, spicy broth shooting out of your nose kinda sucked, especially if you got a noodle along with it. That was an experience he wasn’t keen on repeating. He swallowed down his bite and rasped, “could always pass it on to your cousin. He seems pretty cool when he ain’t threatenin’ to cook us.”

“Ah, you got the shovel talk, then--wait, us?” Akira nodded, but then froze partway and whipped his head around to Ryuji, who nodded in return after clearing his throat.

“Mhm. Said he likes me, ‘n if you break my heart you’re gonna be a lunch special,” Ryuji grinned.

“Asshole. He knows I can’t stand most of what’s in the rotation.” Akira grumbled and pouted into his soup. “What’d he threaten you with?”

“Dumplings.”

Akira’s eyebrows disappeared up into his bangs at that. “Damn, I think he likes you better than me. Uncle’s place is famous for its dumplings,” he explained as he picked the last bit of pork out of his bowl.

“I’m… honored? So is all your family this weird, or is it just you two?” Ryuji asked around another mouthful of noodles. The broth was definitely missing something, but the vegetables were pretty damn good; still pretty crisp but not undercooked. Good flavor on their own, prolly locally grown, too. “Also, how is a place in the middle of nowhere famous for anything?”

“Hey, we still have several other towns nearby, and folks will come here specifically for those dumplings. So you should be honored.” Akira huffed as he popped one of said dumplings in Ryuji’s mouth. Shit, it was pretty killer. Leagues better than his ramen. And of course his boyfriend looked as smug as Morgana when he caught the look on Ryuji’s face. “As for the weirdness? No idea. Around here it’s just me and Yuuta, but I don’t really know much about the ones that don’t live here. Might be because we’re in the middle of nowhere, might be because the ones who live here make a habit of cutting off any undesirables.” Aki shrugged and leaned up against Ryuji. “Maybe I’ll see if I can find any of them when I leave. I dunno.”

Ryuji leaned right back into him and planted a kiss against Aki’s temple, earning himself a pleased little hum from his boyfriend that he felt more than heard. “I’ll be right there with you if you do. I always got your back, babe.” Akira finished his soup and curled up against his side, tucked under one arm. It was nice, even if it meant now Ryuji had to figure out how to eat his ramen one-handed. Eh, he’d figure it out, it’s not like there was much left in the bowl anyway. “So, uh, earlier. You seemed a little tense when I was teasin’ you? And not like usual. I didn’t, like, push too much, did I?”

Akira had suddenly gone very still under his arm. Not the best sign.

“No. But, uh don’t take this the wrong way or anything, I was definitely glad you just wanted to watch One Piece with me. For a second there, I thought you wanted to…” He buried his face against Ryuji’s shoulder. God, his boyfriend was stupidly cute when he got all shy. “...y-y’know. Anyways, I was relieved when you seemed just as nervous about it? Not to be an asshole, but I’m kinda glad it isn’t just me who isn’t ready.”

“Right.” Well, that was that question out of the way, but now he’d paved the way for a new one that’d been rattling around in his head for a while now. God, best case scenario, Akira was probably gonna laugh in his face. Him? Ryuji Sakamoto, of all people, not interested in that? “What if…” He hesitated and tried again. “Well, how long would you be okay with that?”

“What do you mean?” Akira tipped his head up to look Ryuji in the eye. That really didn’t help things, ‘cause even on a good day Ryuji tended to feel small when Akira looked at him like that.

“Like…” Ryuji took a deep breath and steeled himself. “WhatifI’mneverready?” His stomach clenched. There it was, he’d finally said it. Years of wondering if his friends were just exaggerating what they wanted to do with the girls in their class; months of internet research and arguing with himself even when it was the only answer that made sense and trying to backtrack or minimize it with ‘well maybe I’m only kinda like that, maybe I’m that demi thing, maybe I’ll find someone’ to try and soften the blow; a whole year of slowly coming to the realization that that just wasn’t something on the table for him, no matter how attractive Ann was or how close him and Akira got, he just wasn’t wired for wanting that kind of thing, even if he wanted the rest of the sappy, romantic couple shit for as long as he could get it, ideally the rest of his life. All of that had built up to one rushed confession that could make this trip out to the country really effin’ miserable when he still had four more days of crashing at his boyfriend’s place.

“Didn’t... quite catch that?” Akira said after a moment of trying to process what Ryuji had just blurted out. Goddammit. Of course he didn’t.

Ryuji took a deep breath and tried again. “What if… I’m never ready for that? Would that be a dealbreaker?” His heart was hammering as he forced the words out a little more slowly this time. And Akira already looked annoyed. Shit. Shit. He couldn’t look him in the eye and instead stared down at his feet, trying desperately to swallow the queasy feeling in his stomach that threatened to bounce his lunch back up onto the floor in front of him. Ryuji opened his mouth to backpedal, to assure him that if he really wanted to then Ryuji would try for him even if the idea was kind of completely terrifying--

“Of course not!” The sharpness of his tone was what registered first and Ryuji was already braced for a breakup when the words actually hit him. It wasn’t a dealbreaker. It was okay. They were okay. They were... actually okay?

“Wh-- forreal?” Ryuji’s voice cracked embarrassingly and Akira shifted against him, one hand coming up to his chin to make him look at him.

“I already told you, you’re my hero. You…” Akira opened and closed his mouth a few times, like he was looking for the right words and couldn’t find them. One hand cupped Ryuji’s jaw and ran a calloused thumb across his cheek, and Ryuji couldn’t help but press into the touch. “You’re everything to me. I could write books on all the things that make you amazing; your compassion, your kindness, your loyalty, your smile, all of it. So what if we never…” Akira blushed a little, but he seemed determined to power through the embarrassment. “So what if we never have sex? What do I care? I love you, Ryuji Sakamoto, I’m not giving up my sunshine, the best thing that ever happened to me, for anything.”

Ryuji swallowed hard around the lump forming in his throat and buried his face against Akira’s neck. Even away from Leblanc, he still smelled like coffee and curry, still smelled like home. Akira had called it home too, and had told him once that he made Boss’ recipes whenever he was homesick for the cafe, or his team, or… Or for Ryuji. Ryuji wanted to believe him so badly. “It’s easy to say that when you still ain’t ready for it, but--”

“I won’t change my mind,” he insisted so vehemently that no part of Ryuji could even think of an argument. Even the part of him that had been certain for months that even admitting he was asexual to himself would ruin everything. “It’s not like I can’t take care of things myself. And that just means more time for everything else.” Akira paused and pressed a kiss to Ryuji’s forehead. “More time to cook your favorite foods,” kiss, “more time to cuddle,” kiss, “more time to watch our favorite shows, all of it.” Akira dropped one last kiss on his temple and went back to running his fingers through Ryuji’s hair. Then he added, almost too quietly to hear, “for the rest of our lives if you’ll let me.” Let him? He’d fuckin’ beg him if he had to.

“Babe, you’re gonna make me cry,” Ryuji said thickly, as if they couldn’t both feel the wet spots forming on Akira’s shirt from where tears were already streaming down his face. Part of him was still scared he wasn’t going to be enough, and it probably always would be for one reason or another. But for now it was easy to relax into his boyfriend’s embrace and trust that he planned on sticking around a little longer.

Akira kept playing with Ryuji's hair the way he knew he loved and wrapped his other arm tightly around him. He pressed a few more kisses to the top of Ryuji’s head and then asked, “do you need me to stop?” Ryuji shook his head and got another kiss. “Alright. Take all the time you need, sunshine.”

“Thanks, babe.”

“We’re gonna need to restart the episode after, though.”

#persona 5 #pegoryu #pegoryu week 2021 #my writing #had the idea for ace ryuji halfway through this prompt and couldn't resist giving favorite characters the tenderness I have yet to find #so if you clown here I will physically fight you

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bumbershots · 4 years ago

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A CERTAIN ROMANCE

CHAPTER THREE: WHO ARE YOU?

Author’s note: Hello! Once more I would like to thank you all for the love this story’s been getting, it truly blows my mind. I am also looking for a beta reader so if anyone out there is interested let me know! (: Let’s pick up right where we left off...

Story masterlist ** Word count: 2.3K **

Two souls don't find each other by simple accident, Harry thought after taking a seat for the first time that night, his feet were probably going to be swollen tomorrow, they were killing him already. But he wasn't keen on turning down a dance from the girl collapsing in the settee right next to him. A slow Amy Winehouse song was their cue to rest.

"Do you want a beer?" Her voice sounded a bit hoarse, probably from all the giggling and singing she did while dancing the night away.

"Yes please."

He watched her trot to the small bar on the other side of the flat, focused on how the multiple bracelets bounced in her left wrist as she instructed her brother which beer to give her. As she came back to take her previous seat, he felt a small wave of anxiety for wanting nothing more than to start a conversation with her, as she handed him the beer. Usually it was the other way around, but in most of the cases, people wanted to know his persona.

He knew the silence was becoming awkward, but he was still debating whether to ask about her upbringing or what she did for work, whatever the case was, he didn't want to make a fool out of himself, he almost never seemed to be that lucky.

"You're not used to people being calm around you, are you?" Alma’s frown os curiosity is a mirror to the one on the musician's face.

"Yes and no?" Harry's coy tone makes her smile warmly and shake her head in denial, "so, I'm Hampstead station guy?" Her eyes widen, a shy smile appears on her full lips before she takes another large sip of her drink.

"It's unlikely to find the same person thrice in the tube! I told my friend Laura, it felt like a glitch in the matrix." She answers and he lets out an amused laugh.

"For the record, I wasn't following you, at all..."

"I know, you just had to take the same line I did and it was a happy coincidence," she interrupts him, the new song gathers a few more dancers and Harry wonders if she will ask him to dance again, "although it would've made a great anecdote for my YouTube channel; story time, a famous musician follows me around the city possibly plotting my painful death." She joked as she gingerly flashed her hands before the two of them, as if presenting the latest play from the West End.

It was Harry's eyes turn to be wide and smack his hand into his forehead.

"You have a YouTube channel?" His interest was genuine and Alma made herself more comfortable on the sofa, before proceeding to fill him in about what that was about, just videos about her 'sort of interviewing remarkable people' or so she claimed.

It was something that started as a class project back when she was seventeen, trying to get good grades to win a scholarship and study abroad —none of those things happened. She kept doing it afterwards because it was too much fun, once she interviewed all her friends, she moved onto her family. "Believe me when I tell you, that I have more relatives than I should!" With a smile as big as hers, he sighed before breathing 'lucky' as his heart sped and she continued.

Restaurant owners, chefs, firefighters, barristers, doctors, accountants, waitresses, sexual workers, sex shop employees, bankers, homeless people, hairdressers and apparently every person from her home country had been on the informal interview series. Harry was impressed with the whole concept and her.

"I sort of abandoned it a little when I moved here last year, it was crazy busy the first couple of months and the whole bureaucracy... and I was a little homesick to be honest." For the first time in the night, her voice is thinner, he has to lean in a few inches to hear better, "I miss my parents, my cousins, my aunt, my grandparents. But this is something I've wanted for the longest time you know?" Her eyes bore into his, allowing him to see the vulnerability swimming in them, "I've never felt like an outsider here, never got lost in the tube, took the wrong bus or anything like that. Isn't it weird?" Harry smiled at the sentiment, thoughts of his latest trip to Japan flashing before him.

"No, I think it's marvellous that you feel that way." He cannot be real, is the only thing running through her mind like a restless hamster in its wheel.

Harry and Alma talked about everything they didn’t have in common, despite the brief interruptions to do some shots and drink champagne with the birthday boy. Their families were discussed, their favourite things to do in the summer. Alma even asked him how was work going, as if she didn’t know that he was one of th world’s most successful artists. Harry was thrilled to joke through their drinks and the girl wasn't shy to ask him for a couple more dances. None of them noticed the partying dying around them, it was only after Fernando said his goodbyes to his laughing sister, that they noticed how late/early it actually was.

Before they knew it, golden hues streamed through the window behind them as Freddie walked out of his room and offered them coffee.

"I'm never drinking straight vodka again," Freddie mumbled to himself after finishing his cup of coffee.

"At least it wasn't Vodquila like last time," Alma's words make him groan but agree. "I should go now, need a shower and a healthy breakfast."

After Harry also admitted he needed to be on his way, with all their belongings gathered and after saying goodbye to a very ill Freddie, neither Harry or Alma looked forward to their imminent separation. He had spent hours hearing how busy she is, when not recording content, she was working at Wenzel's and teaching Spanish to her neighbour's daughter on the weekends. Still, he was determined to meet with her again.

As soon as they started moving down the street, Harry noticed the next one was where he had to turn right in order to go home. It wasn't a short walk but the most effective route for sure.

"So, the bus stop is that way," Alma nodded her head to the left, smirking knowingly as she stuffs her hands in her coat pockets.

"Of course," they had come to a rolling stop at the corner. Harry suddenly felt beyond nervous about asking the girl for her phone number. "Thank you, for keeping me company last night." It was amazing he wanted to add, but licked his lips quickly instead.

"You mean keeping you from catching up with all your friends," she corrected him.

Harry shakes his head and smiles, the dimples graciously adorning his cheeks, his racing heart giving him the last push needed to finally ask. "Do you think we could go, like for coffee... sometime?” With that she laughed, immediately memorising the sound of it, her loud cackle is one of the nicest things he has heard in awhile.

"Only if I can buy you something from the selection of pastries." Harry laughed loudly, completely relieved by her answer. She dug around her purse for a moment before taking out a pen and what seemed to be an old receipt, quickly scribbling down her number and handing it to him.

"I'll call you," he beamed, carefully placing the piece of paper in his wallet. He'd be an idiot to lose such a precious fragment of information.

"Looking forward to it," Alma smiled at him for one last time before she started walking to the opposite direction. "See you around Harry." His face was a bit puffy from not having slept properly, but she would be lying to say he didn’t look adorable at the same time.

He waved and watched her walked away, her sweet and tired morning smile seemed to be engraved into the musician's mind as he headed home.

The air was still a bit cold, but the heat was starting to rise and plague London for the rest of the day, the hot summer everyone's been yearning for was finally here, even Harry could feel it in his bones as he continued down his path. He was still highly enamoured by the amazing night he spent sharing a piece of himself with Alma. His feet felt heavy, were even burning a little, but it was nothing as he made his way through his home gate twenty minutes later.

He decided to get some toast and a cuppa for breakfast, his high spirits not faltering even one bit although he could feel the consequences from the all-nighter already with each yawn. After eating he decided to take a shower that got him ready for a well deserved sleep in his comfortable bed.

Waking up around six o'clock startles him at first, Harry is well rested now but a bit grumpy for the weird taste on his tongue, something usual after drinking beer. He scolds himself for not brushing his teeth earlier as he walks in his bathroom. The cool tiles against his bare feet wake him up a bit more. After some needed dental hygiene, Harry gets dressed to go out and pick up his sister for their weekly dinner. Hopefully he can convince her to stay in, that way he can go on and on about the events from the night before.

His feet still hurt, he can even feel a blister underneath his big toe. But it doesn't bother him, it's actually a nice reminder of the incredible things that miraculously happened. Harry knew that since Alma was related to Fernando, someone that was bound to be in his life for the next six months or so, there was a big chance they would've met at some point. But he'd rather think it was fate, some sort of good karma coming round, he stared at her contact on his phone, still charmed by the fact that she gave it to him on the back of a receipt. Ignoring that she only did it that way, because the thought of asking for his mobile to enter it herself, was a very bold move. And Alma wasn’t really that confident, not when his green eyes were boring into hers anyway.

"When are you gonna call her then?" Gemma's voice snaps him out of his daydream for the third time during their quiet dinner in her flat. "What is it? You've got that look."

"What look?" He asks before his sister frowns and pinches her bottom lip with her thumb and index finger. It's his nervous quirk, he sighs, "I don't know, I'm just so nervous." Without a valid reason, he knows the girl is so lovely, maybe that's why.

"You're afraid of fucking it up," she knows, Harry nods. "Well, you could tell her that, perhaps on a text—

"—I want to call her, texting her will make me feel a wanker." Gemma smiles at her little brother, he looked uncharacteristically unsure of himself but nonetheless excited. It was endearing how the first thing he told her after crossing her home's threshold was 'my life is officially a chick flick!' Before proceeding to explain with detail about the whole situation.

"What about a text that reads: hello, this is Harry please save my number so when I find the guts to call you, you don't think it's a telemarketing scam," Gemma might be joking and mocking him all at once, but has a point. A text so she also has his number, makes the situation more even, she can call him too. "Assuming she gave you a real phone number."

"What?" Harry is mortified.

"I'm kidding, you should've seen your face," his sister wanted to drag a bit more her joke, but the preoccupied look on his face stopped her. Gemma couldn't wait to tell their mum, knowing that she would be just as absorbed. "There's nothing wrong with showing interest right away. If you want this to be honest and genuine, set an example." She finished before taking the last bite of pizza.

Harry knew that to be true, but now he was left wondering if it was the right time for him. Had he really left behind all the ghosts and baggage from his past? Or was he still carrying them in the new tattoos of his knees?

Despite his sister's encouraging words about how nothing could go wrong this early with Alma, he couldn't help but wonder if his still grieving heart was ready.

He takes his time walking back home, not caring if it was a really long one, he was aware of the curious eyes once he reached the Southbank but paid no attention to them. He welcomed the chill breeze, hoping for it to cool his boiling mind. Remembering the last time he walked along the river arms around his former flame, her laughter still ringing in his ears, her tender kisses in his knuckles, her delicious scent flying away with the airstream into London's sunshine.

Missing someone is not wrong, Harry reminds himself.

There's no point going down the rabbit hole of what ifs about their relationship. Harry can admit his mistakes, no matter how hard it comes to him, he can also apologise wholeheartedly. He did all those things already, months ago. Which is why he was able to keep her as a friend, not a close one, more like an acquaintance. And she's happy, he can see that, knows it.

Why does he feel like he's still drowning? He's already been pulled from the vast ocean of hers. Harry groans, struggles to open his gate, his good spirits from this morning nowhere to be found.

He doesn't know if it's the memory of her, the fear of loneliness, coincidence and laziness, or a bad habit? But he doesn't text the girl with warm brown eyes, instead he plays the voicemail that sometimes haunts his nightmares, on repeat, for the rest of the night.

///

Let me know if you like the story! *** Join the taglist!

///

TAG LIST: @laurxn-robinson // @mellamolayla

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#harry styles fanfiction #harry styles oc #harry styles series #harry styles #harry styles fan fic #harry styles fluff #harry styles fandom #harry styles fanfic #a certain romance #harry styles ou

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shimmeringclouds · 4 years ago

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♔ | 𝐕

»»-----　♔　-----««

"Uh... hey..?" You glued your eyes to the ground, internally smacking yourself for such an awkward greeting. What was he even doing here? His presence had thrown you off entirely! It didn't seem to bother Ozo, though, as he chuckled lightly.

"Are you nervous?" You could practically hear the grin in his tone. "C'mon, it's just me! There's nothin' to be nervous about! Although..." he leaned down close, catching your gaze with his own half-lidded eyes. "..You do look cute when you get all shy and flustered."

Your whole body felt like it was on fire as you quickly turned away from him, crossing your arms defensively against your chest. He laughed loudly, and you missed the way he ran a hand through his tousled hair, and the way his dark eyes trailed along your clothing before he snapped his gaze away.

"I'm just teasing!" His tone didn't seem to match his words, but you acknowledged it no further. "Hm? Where's Dayoko?" He asked, looking up and down the hallway. "Wasn't she supposed to take you to your room, or somethin'?"

"I-I thought so, too.." you frowned at your stutter, "But I'm not sure where she is, so I tried to find my room myself."

"Well I hate to say it princess, but all the guest bedrooms are on the other side of the house."

You froze. How did you end up at the opposite end of the house? You glared at the ground in confusion, racking your brain for an answer on just how you had managed to get so badly lost. You were so caught up in your swirling thoughts, you didn't notice Ozo move from his spot to stand in front of you.

"It's a good thing I'm here, huh?" He rubbed a finger under his nose with a smug grin. "C'mon, I'll take you back."

He didn't wait for an answer as he swiftly took a gentle hold of your wrist, tugging you along behind him. You stumbled slightly in surprise, eyes watching the way his fingers wrapped comfortably around your skin. His touch radiated a warmth you hadn't felt before.

"I know this place like the back of my hand," he glanced back at you, "Us taxi drivers just have a good sense of direction like that." You blinked.

"Y-You're a taxi driver?" tilting your head curiously, brushing away the hair that fell over your eyes.

"Yup! I'm the only one in this area, too, so we'll definitely be seeing more of each other," as you turned a corner, he pulled you slightly closer to his side so that you were walking beside him, "I told you didn't I? I'm always at your service."

You only hummed in response, too busy trying to fight the thoughts of just how smooth his voice sounded. Was it even okay to have thoughts like that? You didn't know why you didn't feel any sense of danger being near Ozo, even though he had mostly been perverted and weird half the time he was around you.

"Man, you're so lucky!" Ozo threw his head back as he whined. "Chorosuke's actually letting you stay here! He doesn't even let me stay here anymore.. You'd think he'd have more respect for his older brother.." he grumbled. The word 'cute' ran through your mind as you peered up at his pouting cheeks, but you quickly waved it away.

"I-I wanted to ask about that, actually..." you started timidly, playing with the hem of your shirt as he snapped his eyes towards you, giving his full attention. "It's just, you and Toshi- I mean -- Jyushimatsu, look very similar. I thought he was Chorosuke when he first came into the room before. Are you.. related?"

"You're really smart, [Y/N], y'know that?" Ozo sighed dreamily. He rested his free arm behind his head as he made a left turn, taking a quick glance out the window as you passed by. "Yeah, apparently we're brothers! All six of us sextuplets!"

"..Sextuplets?" You didn't remember seeing the same face six separate times. Ozo chuckled.

"There's another one of us who live here in Akashika, but he stays over at Iriabi, since he's got a little cafe gig over there. We should go sometime!" He nudged your shoulder gently, a sparkle in his eyes. "He's always giving us free food!"

"Why do I have a feeling that he doesn't have a choice in doing that?" you smiled lightly.

"What can I say? I have a certain persuasive aura about me," Ozo shrugged, raising a brow at you jokingly. You huffed a laugh, shaking your head with a teasing roll of your eyes.

"And, what about your other two brothers?" you continued.

"They live in the big city. One of 'em studies history, all that boring stuff.." he shuddered at the thought of being surrounded with mountain high piles of dusty old books, "And the other painful one is a rookie reporter for some paper."

You nodded along, certainly intrigued by this information. Sextuplets were rare to come across. You wondered just how identical each of them actually were.

"Wait, 'painful'"? You backtracked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, you'll see," Ozo rubbed a hand absentmindedly over his ribs, a slight grimace on his face. "They're actually all coming down for a visit here this weekend. So Chorosuke has to let me stay over!" he chuckled darkly, a sleazy grin crossing his lips. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you felt bad for Chorosuke. Although maybe you should be more concerned for Dayoko than anyone else...

"Anyway, that's enough about me!" Ozo came to a halt, surprising you. "Here's your stop!" He gestured grandly to the door beside him, sliding the door open to reveal the same bedroom you had been escorted to earlier that day.

"How did you know this was my room?" you looked at him incredulously. He rubbed a finger under his nose again, something you began to think was a habit of his.

"I may or may not have seen Dayoko leave this room with those clothes you're wearing," he looked down at your clothing again. You shuffled in your spot, moving closer to the door with a tint spreading over your cheeks.

"Just as I thought..." Ozo mumbled. "Red does look good on you."

You tensed, trying not to notice the way he smirked at your flushed skin and jittery movements. You had to get away from him before you ended up exploding. You felt him release his hold on you, his fingers leaving a feathery touch on your skin as he moved away, the warmth he radiated fading all too quickly.

"W-Well.."you cleared your throat, beginning to slide your door shut, stopping when your eyes could peek out the small opening at his taller frame. "Goodnight...?" Another awkward farewell. You needed to stop doing those. Ozo laughed softly, bringing his half-lidded gaze back to yours for the last time that night.

"Night, [Y/N]. I'll be waiting for you tomorrow!" he sang, turning away and heading back down the way he came. You carefully slid your door shut, turning around in the dim room to find your futon already lain out for you. You hurriedly rushed over to it, flopping down onto the fluffed covers and burying your face into the cool pillow, hoping it would remove the burn from your face.

You lay restlessly, tossing and turning as so many thoughts ran circles in your mind. Some from the past, some from the present, and many for the upcoming future.

The butterflies in your stomach seemed to multiply tenfold as you wondered if he would actually be waiting for you tomorrow.

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#matsuno osomatsu #osomatsu san au #osomatsu x reader #ozo akashika #ozo akashika x reader #denkimatsu #romance #romantic mystery au #ososan au #xreader

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btsrmono · 5 years ago

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Trial & Error | chapter 2

Main Pairing: (jimin): student/idol x (main): foreign student

Side Pairs: main x taehyung,, main x (nct) jaehyun

Part 1

CHAPTER 2

A good few weeks had passed and you only made a small group of friends. They didn't seem to be anyone you’d ever grow close to though they were nice people. You mainly stuck to having Jinsoul as your best friend in Korea. You guys hung out all the time and she helped you study Korean, boosting your skills in communication. You were really grateful and thanks to her, you seemed to meet a lot of new people outside of your school. Based off of what you’ve observed, Jinsoul was very popular.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" she had asked.

You looked up from your notebook to her lying at the foot of your bed. "I don't know, probably nothing or hanging out with you, as usual. Why?"

"Well, I was invited somewhere and I don't want to go by myself." Jinsoul was always doing something crazy like auditioning to become a trainee or going to a party and there you were, always getting dragged to places you didn't want to go because of her.

"Um, maybe I'll take a rain check this week," you replied, not really feeling in the mood.

She laughed while slightly rolling her eyes. "It's not what you think," she informed you. "I actually have a date."

You completely stopped focusing on your literature homework and wondered what she'd possibly want you to go on a date with her for. "You're... asking me to .... be a third wheel? Are you really that nervous?"

"No, I'm not asking you to be a third wheel, but yes, I am very nervous."

"If you're not asking me to be a third wheel then what would you consider someone tagging along on a date?"

"You're not a third wheel because you're a forth wheel," she answered quickly.

You wasn't exactly sure what that was supposed to mean but you wasn't really up to questioning her.

"Please?" she begged.

".... I don't know, Jinsoul."

She sucked her teeth. "Jimin is going to be there," she uttered, making you completely freeze. A sly grin showed on her face. "You can't lie, I know you like him, it's written all over your face whenever you see him."

"I-I don't like him, I barely- I don't even know him," you stuttered. And it was true, you didn't like him. Did you think he was cute? Yeah. But you saw the way he flirted with other girls at the bus stop or at parties so you instantly was never attracted to him in that sense.

"Y/n," she pleaded. "I'll never ask you for a favor like this again. You said you owe me, remember?"

You sighed, considering it. "Well whose the guy that has you so hooked?"

She smiled, biting her lip shyly. "Jacob."

"Jacob?" you asked, shocked but not shocked. You could always tell she had a little something for him but from what you knew, he wasn’t single.

"Yeah." She sighed, the smile quickly fading. “I already know what you’re gonna say--”

"Doesn’t he have a whole girlfriend?" you cut her off.

Her shoulders slightly dropped. "That was a long time ago.”

“They were just making out at the bus stop after school last week.”

“Exactly. A long time ago!” You looked at her skeptically as she sighed heavily. “They just broke up, y/n. He's a really sweet guy, believe me. And I like him a lot. You'd find out for yourself if you go on this double date. And who knows," she added, "maybe you and Jimin might have a connection you never knew was there. You both lowkey have a thing for each other, if it's not obvious to you, you're blind." She then laid back down into a comfortable position on my bed. "Think about it, he's always staring at you."

You wasn't going to deny that but you always thought that maybe the boy just had staring issues. "If I say I'll go can we make a deal that you'll shut up about this for the rest of the day?"

Her eyes widened. "Of course! A million times, of course," she exclaimed. "Thank you, y/n!!"

~~~

Only 20 minutes into the date and everything was just completely awkward. At least between you and Jimin. Jinsoul and Jacob were hitting it off just great. A little too great. You and Jimin were both completely ignored and all you two really did at that point was watch the two flirt and giggle, completely immersed into their own conversation.

You looked out the booths window on the left side of you, watching people walk on by as your thoughts began to wonder, one hundred percent bored out of your mind. At that moment, you thought about home and how much you missed it. Those days, you were so caught up in your new life that you tended to neglect your past, not even caring to call back your friends due to your busy schedule and the time zone differences surely didn't help. It was hectic and even if they didn't think so, you felt sorry.

But alas, your thinking was interrupted when you heard Jacob suggest for him and Jinsoul to go play in the restaurants arcade. She then giggled, agreeing as they both stood up, not even caring to look back at you and Jimin. You guys were practically invisible to them and you were starting to get nervous. You had never been alone with Jimin, not that it was a big deal but there was just something about it that made you sweat.

You looked over at him just to find his eyes already glued to you with a smile on his face. But then he slowly turned away. And just like that, you guys sat in an awkward silence for a good solid minute or two, neither one of you saying anything or even checking your phones when, suddenly, he spoke up.

"I... sorry if this sounds weird but I just wanted to let you know that you look really pretty today."

This caught you off guard , causing you to hesitate and only sweat a little more. "Um... thank you," you said shyly. You had no idea what was wrong with you, you’re not usually like this with boys but something was different about Jimin-- not in a good way but not in a bad way either. It was just that he seemed intimidating.

He let out a chuckle. "Are you okay, y/n? You're not usually like this. This isn't the you I'm used to seeing."

You shrugged your shoulders, unsure of what to say. "I'm sorry," you apologized. "I just find this all to be a little awkward, you'd be lying if you said you didn't too."

"Yes, it's true," he admitted. "This is very awkward. The things we do for our friends, huh?” he chuckled. “But breaking the ice is the way to make this a little more natural, no?"

Nodding your head, you agreed. But the only problem was that you didn't know how to break the ice.

“What state are you from by the way? I wanna hear all about it.”

You kind of laughed. “It’s funny this hasn’t really come up in most of my conversations with people here. They just hear ‘America’ and it’s all they need.”

He shook his head, giggling a bit. “My love, haven’t they told you I’m not most people?”

“Well,” you sighed, clasping your hands together. “I’m from New York City.”

Jimin’s eyes lit up upon hearing this. “Whoa, the Big Apple. Very nice place, I’ve been a few times.”

“Oh, have you?”

“Eh, not to brag or anything. But let’s just say I’m well travelled.”

You laughed at his obvious cockiness. “It sucks I’m not from some place a bit smaller, I wish I could tell you about places you don’t know much about.”

“Are you kidding me?” he asked you, surprised by this statement. “Do you know how many people would kill to live in New York?”

You knew he was right but you couldn’t help but to feel this way. “I know,” you sighed. “But when you grow up there it just feels so... I don’t know.” You tried to think of the right words to describe your experience but you just couldn’t. “While I appreciate the diversity of people, everyone there is kind of the same in a sense.” He looked at you, truly interested in what you were saying. “We all strive to do our best in school to get into a top University and get a good job just to impress our peers and family... Nothing is authentic and we’re all miserable, really.”

He shook his head, showing that you had his full attention.

“You would think living in a place like New York would allow you to freely show your creativity and do what you want but, no. That’s what people move to New York but for people that live there, we don’t see the big dream when it’s been our whole life.” You began to think about all of the missed opportunities you had while trying to live for your parents instead of yourself. You began to think that maybe it was just you.

“I don’t know,” you continued. “I just feel like everyone is shallow and I’m living a cliche.”

He nodded. “Funny enough, I know what you’re talking about. It’s the same here. Luckily, I was able to pick my career path but it’s still pressure.”

You somehow knew what he meant. You saw the way everyone around you acted. It didn’t seem any easier to you than New York. Mayhap's the pressure in Korea was even worse. “I see,” you said. “Everyone here are such hard workers. I know it must be tough.”

He shook his head, agreeing with you, somber thoughts seeming to fill his mind as his eyes wandered off. “You okay?” you asked.

His eyes snapped back to yours. He paused before taking a good look at you, a smiling creeping back up on his face. “Of course I am, y/n.”

Luckily, Jimin was a talkative person who knew how to easily lighten the mood as he went on to tell you horror stories of what went on in his dorm. You got really comfortable around him pretty quickly. He was a fun person who was really chill and easy to get along with.

".... and that, my friend, is why you must always fill your ramen cup up to the indicated line." You laughed after hearing his story on how he almost blew up the dorms microwave. "I mean, I'll tell you," he continued, "Jin hyung was so mad, it was almost scary."

Eventually, time started going by slow and Jimin began to run out of stories. You both had finished your food and neither Jinsoul or Jacob bothered to come back. You guys had officially been sitting there for a little over 2 hours, the waiters even asking if you guys were ready to pay the bill--more than once--to which, Jimin ended up paying for.

You sighed, finally pulling your phone out for the first time in which felt like forever. Your cell lit up with multiple notifications that you didn't even feel like checking. You just wanted to occupy yourself with something.

As you scrolled through your Instagram timeline, you could feel Jimin's eyes on you. "What?" you asked him nonchalantly, still scanning your phone.

"It's funny," he started, "us two being here."

You quietly chuckled, finally looking at him. "What?"

"Were you dragged here?" he curiously wondered.

"'Dragged' is an overstatement, but yeah, she did kind of beg," you admitted. "Why? Weren't we both?"

"No. When he said you’d be here, I didn’t have a problem with coming."

You awkwardly paused before making a small "tsk" sound, scolding yourself mentally. He turned around to survey the area to which you found yourself staring at him in quiet awe. You wasn't going to lie to yourself by saying that Jimin wasn't your type but you had to remember why you were there to begin with. It sure as hell wasn't because he asked you to.

At that moment, you took a second to check the time. It was currently 9:31pm. You looked back up at Jimin whom was already looking at you. "It's getting late," you stated. "My parents will start to worry. I should get home soon."

He nodded his head, quickly agreeing. "Yeah, that's totally understandable. I should walk you."

You paused, unsure of what to say. You weren't exactly expecting him to offer something like that so it took you off guard a bit. "Um... that's okay, Jimin. I can walk alone, the bus stop is only a short block from here."

He sighed as he slowly began to make his way out of the booth standing. "Can you at least allow me to pay for a taxi home?"

You then proceed to stand as well, smirking slightly. "A taxi? If you insist... But please let Jinsoul know where I went. I will text her as well but I'm sure she's not checking her phone anytime soon."

He smiles, tilting his head a bit. "Totally. And you know something, I really had a good time with you."

You surprisingly had a good time too. And it was then that you felt that maybe, just maybe, Jimin and you would become friends.

A/N: Yayyy so we got a little more of Jimin! Next chapter, a small (kind of big) shock comes to this small group of friends. Stay tuned!

(p.s. Jacob is below! Him and Jinsoul would make such a cute couple haha)

PART 3

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awkwardkitten13 · 4 years ago

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Harry had had enough. Everything was crushing him;His work load for the Aurors, His friends, and especially Andromenda not letting him see his godson because he came out as gay. He walked down the muggle city streets looking for the nearest pub. he finally found one called The Witches Brew. He thought that was amusing. The pub was pretty empty, so he walked in and sat down at the bar. He noticed the bartender with long platinum blond hair, turned away from him placing some glasses on the shelves.

"Damn that's an amazing ass." He thought to himself. "Excuse me, can I get some whiskey?" He asked politely. He was shocked when the bar tender dropped the glass he was holding and froze for a minute. Harry's eyes went wide as the bar tender turned around and he was met with the piercing grey eyes he'd dream't about for years.

"Draco?" He said quietly.

"Yeah." Draco laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck.

"What are you doing here?" Harry exclaimed.

"Well i work here, duh. Still a little slow, I see, Potter." Draco said but there was no malice in his voice like there used to be.

"I know that, but why are you working in a place like this? Shouldn't you be able to live off you family's money?" Harry said after rolling his eyes.

" Do you still want that whiskey?" Draco asked avoiding the question.

"Oh, yes please." Harry said as Draco poured him a glass. "Now are you gonna answer my question?"

Draco let out a deep sigh and slid the glass over to Harry, "I was disowned by my family."

"What, Why!?" Harry exclaimed.

"Still just as nosy as when we were in school? Huh, Potter?" Draco laughed. Harry took notice of how laid back and gentle he seemed now. His demeanor had changed so much since Hogwarts, five years ago.

"Sorry, Its a hard habit to break." Harry gave a shy smile.

"Well, if you must know," Draco looked down at his feet, "I came out as gay, and Father is against that so I was kicked out onto the streets, and i couldn't get work in the wizarding world thanks to the... you know. So i got this job. Could be worse i guess. atleast it pays the bills." Draco laughed again when he looked up and saw harry's shocked face. "What? don't tell me you hate gays too?" He rolled his eyes.

"No! No, actually..." Harry paused.

"No shit!? The famous Harry Potter is gay too?!" Draco exclaimed. Harry rubbed the back of his neck and nodded. "How long have you known?"

Harry downed his whiskey in one shot, "Can i have another?" Draco rolled his eyes and poured him another.

"So...?" Draco said waving his hands in a come on motion.

Harry looked down contemplating if he wanted to say it or not. He finally built up enough of his courage and decided to just come clean. "Well..." Draco leaned in closer, "when i first saw you actually."

Draco went pale and his eyes got wide as he realised he wasnt the only one with a crush, "R-really?" He stuttered.

"Yeah you've been my biggest crush since the day i laid eyes on you." Harry took another swig of his whiskey and refused to look up.

"I-I-I-b-but i was so mean to you." Draco had tears welling up in his eyes at the thought of Harry caring about him no matter what insult he threw at him.

"That's no joke." Harry chuckled still not looking up from his glass. "I guess i always knew that was just a front. I knew there was always something deeper inside you and one day it would shine." Harry finally looked up just as a tear slid down Draco's cheek. He nearly jumped over the counter, but he settled for clutching Draco's hand. The contact made them both shiver. "Hey! Hey, whats the matter. Please don't cry."

"I-it's just... I was so horrible to you, just because i wanted your attention. I cared about you so much and I just wanted to make sure you saw me. I shouldn't have been so terrible. I'm so sorry Harry." Draco cried. Harry's heart melted at the use of his first name.

Harry stood from the bar stool and leaned over the counter. Cupping Draco's face he wiped his tears away with his thumbs. "Hey, I forgave you years ago. You're a different person, a better person. I can see it and your absolutely stunning." Harry whispered the last part and Draco gave him a sad smile.

"Thank you, Harry." Draco whispered. They got lost in each others eyes for a minute. Till Harry shook his head and Draco looked away shyly.

" Wait a minute!? What do you mean 'you cared about me'?" Harry said sitting down again.

"Still so slow, Potter." Draco laughed, "You are my biggest crush too."

"'Are' as in i still am?" Harry was smiling from ear to ear now.

"Yes." Draco rolled his eyes and laughed.

"So if i asked you on a date tomorrow would you go?" Harry asked.

Draco looked down with a sad expression that made Harry's smile fade.

"I can't." Draco whispered.

"Can't as in have other plan or can't as in don't want to." Harry said sadly.

"No! No, i want to more then anything in this world. That's my biggest dream. It's just... I promised myself i wouldn't date for awhile. Till i'm comfortable on my feet."

"Oh." Harry said and they sat in silence for a few moments. "I should get going. I have an early morning tomorrow." Harry got up and started to leave.

"Harry!?" Draco exclaimed. Harry turned around. "Will i see you again?"

Harry smiled, "Gods, I hope so. I'd rather die than never see your perfect face ever again." with that he left leaving Draco smiling.

That night neither one of them could sleep. Draco was up all night thinking about how he might of missed the chance to be with the man he cared for so much. Harry was trying to think of any way he could get Draco to change his mind.

Harry's mind continued to think all through his work as an Auror, but it was interrupted by his boss strolling into his office towards the end of the day.

"Hey Harry,"His boss said, "so, there's a big mission coming up in a couple days, and I need you on top of it. It's not going to be an easy one though."

"How so?" harry asked.

"Well we tracked down a couple of death eater that are still very loyal to you know who. Theyre not gonna come easy, and they're known for being dangerous. You'll be risking your life on this one." His boss said.

"Ok, I'll check out the files on them and start preparing myself." Harry said cracking his knuckles.

Before leaving work that night he grabbed the files he need and went home to start studying. He tried his hardest to focus on the information, but his mind was too preoccupied on blond hair and blue eyes. He would do anything to just touch him right now. Finally, he became overwhelmed by the thought, so he grabbed his coat and headed to the bar Hoping Draco would be there.

Not sure what to say, He paced outside for about 10 minutes. He decided to just wing it.

"Harry!" Draco exclaimed excited to see him.

"Hey, I'm sorry to bother you at work, but i really needed to talk to you."

"You can bother me anytime you like." Draco laughed. "What did you need to say?"

"Look, I'm leaving in two days to go on a dangerous mission and i just cant think straight knowing we might be missing our chance to be together. Seeing you again has stirred up so many emotions I haven't felt in so long. I care about you so much Draco, and i have for such a long time. I want you in my life. Please take me on." Harry blurted out. Draco stood in silence, not sure what to say. His heart was pounding so fast and he couldn't think. He wanted so badly to say yes but he couldn't break his promise. Could he?

"I see you need to think. I'm assuming you don't have flew so here's my number. Please get back to me soon. Like I said, I'm leaving in two days." Harry said sadly handing Draco a piece of paper then turning and leaving.

I've continued this story as its own short story. It's under "Take On Me (Drarry Short)"

#drarry #fanfic #wattpad #writing #my fic #hardware #angst #fanfiction

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alchemisland · 6 years ago

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The Moors Mutt - I

Part II coming on Tuesday!

I. Old Stone

The beast I knew only in folkloric snippets. Hedge whispers perverting history to arcana through time immemorial. Perhaps too I had known it in nightmares, shapeless until named, becoming then familiar as a bedchamber.

It was grim autumn when that fateful letter arrived, setting in motion a chain of events both strange and unlikely. In retrospect, that a series of vignettes so bizarre could start with the simple act of a posted letter seemed comical.

The letter landed with a thud, dubbing me sole executor of the late Lady Renton Sizemore's last will, a grim charge requiring a trip to her wicked home, listed in the Briarscombe country house register as the third most bloodstained holding in England.

Dislike isn't the word. Lady Sizemore and I got on famously when last we spoke, thirty years ago. I wasn't the doting schoolboy turned dribbling manchild spending Saturday nights at bingo. Neither was she the elderly relation procuring coins from behind ears to the delight of the youngers.

We were not eachother's keeper. Why I was suddenly favoured for this sensitive task that required more mental finesse than anyone in the family gave me credit for out loud, puzzled me greatly. Somebody must have annoyed her at one of her events. Sandwich gala on the Pringle Estate destroyed by careless nephew's untucked shirt. In true family style, whatever infuriated her she took to the grave.

Once the money was apportioned, I was to ensure no stone went unturned, apt phrasing given its namesake. Cairn Cottage stood oppressively atop the mound some two hundred winters, a plundered megalith shielding against the bracing gales.

Up there the flowers bloomed blighted, grass grew sideways and only the sturdiest roots survived. Without the megalith's girth, perhaps those winds might have toppled the twisted demesne, but she held firm now as old.

Mystics, druids and spiritualists alike extolled the house's phantasmic virtues. Fringe groups scrambled to reserve exclusive use of the land for Candlemas ceremonies. Lady Sizemore didn't care, provided she was soundly remunerated.

Rumours abounded of hauntings, anomalies occurring on the land by midnight's trickery.

Upon receipt of instruction, I spurred my carriage toward Cairn Cottage, the house in whose shadow no local walked without rosaries.

Although my visit was primarily administrative, there was another matter pertinent to my interests. One muttering which above all others inspired fear. A cautionary tale warning children from the grounds by night. And sometimes, on cold and lonely nights, a brave man wandering alone might see fit to take the longer road home.

Worse than druids, they said a beast lived on the Moor. A hulking creature, whose snarling teeth bared in fullness of dark glowed like spears of starlight, whose stark brightness was dulled only by the gleaming viscera of previous engagements clinging in ragged flaps.

However the rumour started, it long sprouted legs of its own, more exciting with each recounting.

No smoke without fire. I intended to find the single primal ember, the lone truthful element, stripped of frill and frock, fancy and folly, bereft of myth, or loyalty to tradition. Was there something in the fields by night? Was it dangerous?

First came Sperrin, a grizzly hamlet outside the estate's confines. For a penny, a local lad promised to find a suitable nook for the trap. I visited the sole watering hole, a squalid cellar named Lar's. The tavern itself was not charmless, offering average vintage for below average prices, warmth, music, rustic flattery and inimitably, whispers of the beast.

The tavern's proprietor Lar was a man out of time. With his arms folded across his simian chest and those big lugs like trophy handles either side of his substantial forehead, he could have easily passed for a saxon chieftain. He stood astride the bar against a backdrop of coloured bottles. Immediately upon entering his eyes set upon me with great intensity. Unlike the merry keep of fireside tales, he offered no warmth in greeting. That you were found fit to sit his barstool was kindness enough.

Inebriates remained nursing drams, glowering at their respective lecterns. Occasionally I'd catch one staring at me, then turn away as I waved. After a while sitting and sipping, making a game of catching their nosy glances, I signalled Lar's attention. 'This is probably going to sound strange. Probably because it is. Hear me out though. Have you ever heard or seen anything strange out on the moor?'

Widened like an owl, Lar's right eye scanned me once, twice, three times before he moved a muscle. 'Have in fact. Not now though. Too many around. Later.' His lips barely moved. I tipped my nose.

Nearer closing, he poured a cup and sat, remaining on the business side of the bar.

'The beast, you say?' He leaned in close, one eyebrow raised, its shape the arching rod of a hooked line. 'I could tell you a thing or two about the beast alright.'

'Prithee speak, my curiosity is burning. I won't rest a wink until it's satiated. Tourist talk aside, do you believe, as men do God, a beast prowls these forests?' I inched forward, as if by closer proximity, the truths would be truer.

'Regular Theseus, eh? Monster hunters, we have had plenty. Lovers of darkness too. Students of forbidden arts. All are served here. Kings and paupers alike. Did you come all this way to hear me say that?' Lar spoke with great confidence. The manner of his prattling meant the tales he told were true, or this was practiced.

'No.' I replied, 'I have business in the cottage. My heart though, she belongs to this creature. I am not a quack, nor a holder of séances. I am not a man of low learning on the hunt for falsehoods. I am a lover of stories. Pray, continue your captivating narrative.'

He continued, 'Let it be said I was coaxed. You wanted this.'

In this ominous portent he let slip a mask of deft craft. There was artifice in his smile, a cheshire grin that touched either cheekbone. A whispered suggestion of hidden intent.

Everything made sense. Was I seeing clearly? More than ever. I saw his ruse; city boy down for the day, take him for a ride, tell him the usual stories. A pal of his will burst in at just the right time, scare me half to death, then they'll take me to the supposed hot-spot for the low price of everything I've got. Lar took me for a lettuce. Something in his warning tipped me. A little over-arch. If his performance was not theatre, then Shakespeare never wrote.

Doubtless once finished, Lar would proffer some overpriced talisman no fellwalker could risk refusing.

'Enough pussyfooting. Spill it. I'll need all the advice I can get.' Like a drill tip, I pressed my index finger into the bar.

'No matter what image I conjure in your mind's eye, the beast is yet more ferocious and terrible in the flesh. It's the great unreality of it.' He tapped his forehead. 'Your mind doubts what it's seeing, unable to comprehend its stimulus. Brave men are made mice in its shadow.'

'What evidence have you of such a creature?' I asked, draining my tankard. He did the same, then wiped the amber residue on the back of his hand. He looked me over once, as if to ask who I was to question. I returned a withering gaze, maneuvering my features to convey a similar message. For a moment the air felt charged with kinetic possibility. As when two pugilists circle to begin a contest, lead hands pawing. Neither of us wished to be responsible for qualms.

He broke the armistice. 'Evidence? If you didn't think it weren't here, you wouldn't have come. If you believed in your heart this week you'd be contending with a monster, you'd have stayed at home in your jams.'

'Nonsense, man! You forget I am summoned, not here of my own volition.'

'We, each of us, tell ourselves sweet little lies to justify how our limited time is spent. I have a right mind to think if the lady yet lived, you and I might still have met. On a yawning stretch such as this, arriving as you have: alone and curious. If there's one thing I can't respect, it's a self hating believer. Swanning around with all the cynicism of a non-believer, clad in the robes of an adherent, so that when the hobby is proved spurious you can point to your skepticism. You'd be first to the papers tomorrow if scientists verified the beast's existence, how you had journeyed and studied on your own dime to further the science.' Lar pursed his lips, knowing he'd cut me to the quick, vanished was his earlier reticence.

I hated how right he was. I was exactly this sort. Insulting people who believed the same things as me. First to refuse to enter a haunted house for fear a demon might take my soul.

I'd never concede his point though. I riposted, 'Few are more loathed than the opinionated barman. You speak much too readily. Do so again, I'll see your manners are checked for the next weary traveler willing to pay good coin.'

Lar's eyes lit, bulging with imagined riches. 'Let me fill your drink, sir. I meant no offence. We speak freely here. Manners soften. Soon one finds truths cannot be digested unperfumed. Here in the wilds, it's a duty to voice quarrel. Far from crown and court, unaired anger festers.' Lar gladly dispensed his pearls of rural wisdom as if they were sweets from a bulging striped bag.

'Really, man. Every idea can be made ridiculous if extrapolated to that degree. Manners take the edge off. I'm not offended by your candor. I intend to find the creature, if such exists. Have you no doubt about that.' I watched him pull another drink.

The returned tankard was too full to raise without spilling. I slurped loudly, head bowed. Like a pulled plug, half the liquid gone in a single gulp.

'What evidence is sufficient? Look around you.' Lar held aloft his hands, urging me toward his empty business, still cast in a sickly light from the last flickering sentinels.

He pointed toward the empty seats. A single patron remained hidden in the shadows. A local by his boots.

'We did a roaring trade before that bloody woman inherited the place. Once she came, the trade died. When I was a lad, that land was free to roam. No walls. She had them built to spite us. Worse rumours too and all, that she built those walls to house it.'

'It?' I asked

'It. The beast.' Lar's voice lowered to a whisper. 'A cage for a pet beyond control. That's your sort all over. Dabbling where you shouldn't.'

'Her sort.' I corrected, 'I'm not aristocratic. You're a presumptuous sort, you know.'

'Believe you're not the first to say. Her sort, whatever pleases. I don't subscribe to this theory. Me personally, I think it came from hell. One thing's for certain, it got worse when they shifted the cairn.'

'You say you have seen it?' Part of me thought I was the one stringing him along, but another more gullible me firmly believed, or wanted to believe, that he had seen something. Hoping not to seem needy, I drew myself close to him, the bar still between us, 'With your own eyes if you saw it, you must swear it now. Did you see it as I see you now, or as one sees the distant stars and erroneously assumes knowledge.'

'As I stand before you.' Lar gestured to his stained apron, which he then removed and hung on a hook overhead. He nodded to the barfly, who stumbled from his seat and shot the bolt across the lock, an angry black mechanism like a bas-relief, which clanked against the timber as he let it fall. 'That's Fergus.'

Fergus lurched over. One leg trailed behind him. I couldn't help imagining him as a gothic manservant, dragging corpses to the laboratory in pursuit of higher knowledge. He came to stand beside me. There were giants on the earth is those days. Though our eyes observed the same setpieces, his countenance betrayed little comprehension. He had the chiseled jaw of a marble bust in profile, but his mouth hung open permanently, moist lips pursed like a fish.

He placed an enormous hand on my shoulder. Such space was permitted between his splayed fingers that ten legions abreast might find passage unmolested. His knuckles protruded unnaturally, evidence of labour, something harder than masonry or smithcraft. Mayhaps soldiering overseas.

I stared at his hand. He never looked at me. I coughed, first mannerly, then more harshly, thinking to approach cautiously lest my assumption prove provident, that he had lost his sound during foreign campaigns, of whose spoils we all were beneficiaries.

'Don't mind him.' Lar said. He spoke softly in the presence of his friend, observing his movements closely, ready to interject with a steadying hand or a warning to the cruelly curious. I wondered were they brothers. They bore little resemblance, though stranger things I had heard. Lar took Fergus' wrist and pressed gently, disturbing the folds of his motheaten jacket. They shared a moment I could but observe, radiating warmth and glad tidings in a wordless wave.

'I mean not to speak boldly, and lash me with spite if I transgress overmuch, but I must know or I should forever wonder, are you kin?'

Fergus shared Lar's laugh with the same look of bemused ignorance.

'You hear that? Fancy man reckons we're brothers. Probly thinks we're all related down this end, and not in a godly way.' Lar laughed, a viking bellow.

Lar released his grip and the folds of Fergus' sleeve righted themselves. He spoke several octaves lower, miming offence at my observation. I started to explain I intended no hidden subtext, but Lar waved to indicate all was taken as delivered.

'We are not brothers. Close friends. Known Fergus here forever.' He gently tapped the giant's hand, slapped on the bar like some enormous muddy bird print. 'Used to be a keen cookie too, once upon a forever ago. Loved languages, Welsh mostly. Pugilism he loved more. One passion consumed the other. Anything burning so intensely inevitably cannibalises itself. Took one knock too many, stole his wits in an instant. A left hook across the bar sent him erstwhile. Twenty five minutes he was on the shores of night, learning the landscape of the dreamworlds, while we fanned his rigid form, wet his brow and whispered familiar names in his ear. When at last he woke a part of him was left forever in that place. I like to think, boyishly perhaps, it awaits him upon leaving this plain of lousy strife, like the belongings awaiting a homeward jailbird. The cloak of a lost lifetime. Not for him. He'll slide right into it, fit like a tailored piece, and all of eternity to speak. Not here though.'

Tears welled in his eyes. I took the reins, 'Think nothing of your emotions, man. We each have them. Doubtless I will shed a tear up in the old witch's place. Another life awaits, that much is sure. Grander than this. I'm sure he made, and makes, a fine man. Built like a gladiator. I am sorry to have dredged unpleasantness. I meant only to satisfy my own selfish curiosity. Forgive me. Please, continue.'

'I will at that.'

'It were one night, three years ago. Ferg was there. We'd been called out on account of strange noises near the workers' cottage. They wouldn't work until the evil was killed or driven away. We came down from the high road proper and saw it between the trees ahead. Like a horse it stood, with clumsy stilts supporting an ursine bulk that swayed as it shambled. It drank shadows to conceal its dread presence. Blackness it took for robe. In walking its front paws propelled its cumbersome form, while the rear set, less lengthy, dredged channels in the dirt. In motion it arched to reveal a belly spun of lighter felt, ashen in the scant moonlight. Bundled, it became an orb of shadow, nothingness.'

'Unbeknownst we watched it watching, green eyes like blazing protostars probing for movement. Well it knew to choose this site, one of only two wells being located nearby. In a flash then it was gone, satin-shoed away into the night.'

The tale Lar knew was a scorcher paused. He beamed, an actor awaiting applause. I gathered my jaw from the floor, brushed it and set it back properly.

Each word drew me closer, which Fergus mirrored, until we three sat as witches about the bubbling lip of their cauldron, a coven of pallid specters.

Lar paused to sip and nodded we join.

I wondered had my hobby, in a blink, become too dangerous to justify. It was well telling my employers of ghost hunts, but a wild beast - my insurance wouldn't have it! If it turns out some menagerie escapee, what then was it? Quest for wonder or recklesss folly? Weiss, Wellie and Wardun insurance, even in their most obscure policies, don't pay out for fools. That's why I chose them!

Lar went on, a fresh cigarette painting the air blue in his articulation, 'Each new, shifting moon we came to that spot and watched. We took it upon ourselves to rid the land of danger.'

'Fergus knows a bit about a bit, that's what's left to him, God bless. What he knows is knots. Army training dictates every officer have at least passing knowledge of ten or more useful fastenings.'

'Me? I know about animals. We make a fierce duo. We inquired in advance about a reward, to which the estate responded agreeably, so we set off with lengths of rope overshoulder and the angriest looking traps the furmen could spare, determined to snare it. We planted snares all about its presumed domain.'

'Nothing came. Not a rat. Not a wisp. Not never again. It's the mystery disturbs me most. I'd die happy knowing.'

In his voice a single note of longing rang, dispelling the subterfuge of his intentions and, in the length of a breath, his beings and inner machinations were laid bare. Far from the sinister goldlust and murderous intention I had silently attributed to him, he seemed eager in an earnest fashion, willing in the name of a job done.

I observed Lar, powerful and straight. 'Do I sense an unfinished quest?'

'Aye. Not too subtle, mind.' Lar flashed a toothy smile, the sort a condemned man spits at his executioner. 'You seem a serious man. I didn't know when you first came in parading your manners like fancy knickers. You can't be too sure about a man who gives too many pleases. You're not that sort and have proved such twice over.' Lar imagined that was a compliment from the look he gave me. Expectant almost, between child submitting scribbles for display and cat batting dead mouse onto pillow.

Well, of course I had something to say about that. Cats were hissing. A donnybrook of claws and torn fur not even a hearty stock of iodine could salve. 'And I might say also that I too had cast aspersions on your character, maintaining you were of sinister country stock. As you claim to have been rapturously convinced otherwise, as have I.'

'Once the lady's estate is divided and bequeathed I'll receive my own. I mean to inherit a substantial bursar. I will pay to you a fair sum. In exchange, you will guide me to the hotpots, generally ensuring nothing eats me. When we find it, you're in charge until it's bound.' If he came, it would be on my terms.

'Find it? Slow down. We've seen it once in a hundred times. I'll take you gladly all the same.'

Wordless, we shook hands and drained our horns.

'Tomorrow?' Lar asked. He drew my gaze to an unopened whiskey bottle, which I declined.

'Not so, good man. Tomorrow I will tend my affairs. In the evening, if all is ordered, I will return to discuss further a plan of action. Have you a room I might rent?'

'Not for everyone mind, so don't go saying. There's one in the back. I'll light the fire.'

'Please do.'

I left a generous tip. Before following the publican to the warm hollow, I shook Fergus' hand, assuming he too would be part of our fortean friendship.

While I slumbered, the nightmare broke free her paddock, thundering across the veil of my somnambulant phantasmagoria, its clanging hooves ringing shrill terror.

I saw spined creatures oozing pus, many-eyed. Edgeless orbs hissing like flying snakes from one black abyss to another.

Cats with human faces screamed. A hairless man with a tail curled upwards like a scorpions noxious pike disemboweled himself with a broken mirror.

Last came the bestial form, not unlike that which Lar had described, striding evilly. Two venom coated fangs, uncontained by its snarling mouth, curved inward toward its breast. Catlike claws glinted menacingly. Turning my third eye downwards as if to look upon my feet, I found I was formless, yet the beast circled knowingly around the space my corporeal form should occupy.

I knew instinctively this reverie was more tangible than the others. That if the beast should strike I would die or wake screaming with a crimson pool spreading below me. It sniffed the air, pawing closer.

I woke to my beastless chamber. Sodden, I sought a candle and in its gloam chronicled my nightmare. That night sleep ne'er returned, making groggy my morning plod toward Cairn Cottage.

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