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talkfastromance4 · 4 years ago

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2.) Without Me--Ashton Irwin ‘Lovers in a Song’ series

a/n: So while each ‘chapter’ is titled after a song it’s more of the mood and a few choice lyrics that really made the story. This story changed a lot as I wrote it but in the end it all flows really nicely together. I’m so excited to share this with you! Each part is 3,000 with the exception of the last part. Please don’t hesitate to send me messages, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Word count: 3k

warnings: casual drinking, unprotected sex, fingering, slight angst

Masterlist

LIAS masterlist

***

5 Years Ago

It’s raining cats and dogs on campus, the last night before graduation and Ashton is at one of the dive bars he frequented over his four years at school. There’s hardly anyone here and he’s staring at the bottle with his initials scrawled in golden loops with morose. After tomorrow when he walks across the stage, Ashton will take over the family whisky business. It’s been set in stone and passed on from generation to generation. It’s his namesake and his destiny.

“Go away! I don’t want to see you ever again and thank God after tomorrow I won’t have to!” A shrill voice erupts through the door. “Asshole!”

Ashton turns at the sudden outburst to see a beautiful girl drenched to the bone shaking off her coat before hanging it on the coat rack. Her hair hangs in wet strands reaching a little past her chest, her makeup is a bit smudged but damn, she’s a looker. Ashton’s seen her on campus and at parties but never knew her name.

She takes the seat one over from him.

“Rum and coke please, Teddy,” she asks the bartender setting her purse on the counter. She lets out a deep sigh and takes out a compact, snatches a napkin then dabs at her face. She closes the compact with a snap then smiles her thanks as her drink is presented before her. She drinks half of it in one go.

It hasn’t even been a minute and she’s already done so much to keep Ashton’s attention piqued. Who is this free-spirited woman?

“Can I help you?” her attention is directed at him, big eyes staring expectantly.

“Um, no, sorry you just…are you all right?” he asks.

“I am now,” she lifts her glass and takes another sip. “And now that my asshole boyfriend is an ex. I’m so glad I’m graduating tomorrow.”

“You are too? Congratulations,” Ashton grins and she smiles back.

“What’s your name? I’ve seen you around campus before.”

“I’m Ashton,” he holds out his hand making sure not to give his last name. Even if it is stamped on a bottle nearly six feet away.

“Cressida,” she returns and takes his hand.

Her hand is cold and wet from the rain, but a spark of electricity is transferred through them. They jump at the contact and laugh.

“I’ve never heard a name like that before.”

“My parents love Greek mythology. It means gold.”

“It’s also the third precious metal,” Ashton adds. Cressida raises her eyebrows and laughs. He only knows this because his family is trying a new concoction to add gold flakes in their newest whisky brand.

“What’s the first?”

“I have no idea,” he chuckles. “I should have paid more attention in science class. I remember gold because it’s beautiful, useful, and rare.”

“Are you sure you’re still talking about the gold or is this your Segway into a pick-up line?”

“No, no, I swear that’s not what I’m—”

“I mean it’s working in your favor, Ashton, so by all means,” she smiles interrupting his apology.

“Oh, it is, is it?”

Her eyes move to his empty glass.

“Let me buy you a drink, what’s your poison?”

Ashton doesn’t want to say whisky, it’s been on his mind since he was old enough to understand what it was. He’s also worried if he says it, Cressida will immediately know who he is. His family’s whisky is known all around the world.

“I’ll have what you’re having.”

An hour later they’re stools are so close together her legs have somehow found their way over his, and Ashton loves the warmth through his jeans. She notices the gold ring on his finger with a small ruby nestled inside.

“Is this real gold?” she asks tracing it with her pinky.

“Are you going to rob me?” he jokes.

“No, gold is only the third precious metal after all,” she giggles.

“It’s real. It was my great grandfather’s,” Ashton nods.

“It’s pretty.”

“You’re pretty.”

Cressida’s eyes sparkle up to his and the way he’s looking at her makes her stomach flip and her cheeks heat up. No one has ever looked at her with such intensity before, not even her asshole boyfriend.

“Are you doing anything between now and walking the stage tomorrow?” she asks taking a leap. Ashton shakes his head, and she leans forward, her lips grazing his cheek before touching his ear. “Wanna do me?”

Ashton slaps down some bills on the bar and moves towards the door as quick as he can helping her put her coat on. He notices there isn’t a hood, but he brought an umbrella.

“My apartment is only ten minutes away,” he says holding up his red umbrella.

They walk through the rain filled street, her arm looped through his as they talk about school and friends and what their next step is after graduation. Ashton tries to deter that conversation from him, he wants to forget about it if only for a night. And Cressida is the perfect distraction.

“I’m going to spend the summer in Europe,” she says, “I’ll be in charge of my family’s business soon, so I want a bit more freedom. I’m going to visit all of the museums and the historical landmarks.”

“That sounds really great, I wish I could do that.”

“Why don’t you?”

“I’m also taking over my family’s business as soon as I cross the stage it’s mine. It’s a big responsibility.”

She hums in acknowledgment then gasps when he stops at his building. It’s only slightly ostentatious with a secured door and a security guard inside. She’s staring at the gold mailbox slots when Ashton spins her into the elevator, she giggles against his chest. Then Ashton cups her cheek and slots his lips with hers.

She tastes like rum and coke and a night to remember, his last night of freedom. They’re stumbling through his door, removing clothes as quickly as possible. They roll around his sheets, laughing and moaning and exploring each other’s bodies. Ashton rocks into her and she moves easily, picking up on his pace like this is the hundredth time instead of the first.

“Wow,” she huffs when he collapses on top of her after he came in the condom.

“I’ll say,” he grins and pecks her nose before rolling off her to remove the condom. He retrieves two bottles of water and hands her one, climbing in next to her.

“So, Ashton,” she sighs staring at him with mussed up hair. “What is your family business?”

“I…I don’t know if I want to tell you.”

“What? Are you part of the mafia?” she snickers twisting her hair into a very loose braid. The ends of her hair tickle her nipple and Ashton slides his eyes to her face.

“No,” he laughs, “It’s just…people treat me differently when they know.”

“I can relate to that, that’s why I don’t go around shouting mine from the rooftops either. Tell me, I promise I will still look at you as the guy who picked me up at a bar because of a gold fact.”

Ashton rolls his eyes then takes a deep breath.

“All right. My family owns Irwin Whisky, my grandfather created it back in the prohibition days. After tomorrow, I’m in charge.”

Cressida is silent for a long time, just staring at him with a vacant expression on her face.

“What? What is it?” Ashton asks in alarm sitting up straight.

“Ashton, my last name is James. As in James Brandy.”

Ashton’s heart plummets to his stomach. While he was learning about whisky growing up he also learned that his grandfather started the business with his good friend, Walter James. After the prohibition was over, they joined all of their assets to get the company rolling.

Then there was a fallout due to unpaid expenses and a deal Walter made without consulting Ashton’s great grandfather Frank that could have upended the company before it really started. Ashton learned about distillery and grains and wheat and also to never, ever interact with a James’ family member. All they’ll do is double cross you and keep secrets.

And now he just had sex with his family’s enemy.

Ashton and Cressida meet each other’s eye before they both leap out of bed. He’s quickly pulling on some pants while she’s slipping her sweater over her head, both of them shouting nonsensical words in surprise.

“Why didn’t you tell me at the bar?!” she demands.

“I just told you I don’t go around saying my name because people treat me differently! You didn’t tell me yours either!”

“How was I supposed to know I was hitting on an Irwin!” she rages trying to find her pants. “No one can ever know about this; oh, my mother would kill me!”

“At least you’re going to Europe for three months,” Ashton seethes.

“You could go too, you know. Just because you’re taking over the business doesn’t mean you’re trapped,” she snaps.

“Then why are you going?”

She lets out an angry huff and throws her hands in the air. “My trip doesn’t matter right now! What matters is that we just had sex.”

“Yeah, I was there,” he rolls his eyes then stops his actions of frantically moving about. He’s not even sure why he was doing so, it’s not like the SWAT team was going to come bursting through his door. “Wait, wait, what are we doing?”

“I’m trying to find my pants so I can leave!”

Ashton rushes in front of her and grabs her shoulders, he shakes her slightly until she’s looking at him.

“No, I mean…why are we acting like the ceiling is going to collapse? Was it a mistake we did this? Probably, but I don’t regret it Cressida, not one bit. You’re…”

“I’m what?” her eyes are blazing and that’s when Ashton notices the small flecks of gold inside of them.

“You’re gold; precious and beautiful and the rarest girl I’ve ever met in my life. No one has to know about this except us,” he shakes his head.

“You’re saying ‘this’ as if ‘this’ is something…”

“It could be,” he shrugs, his eyes imploring her to meet him in the middle. “I thought this was going to be a one-time thing, but after being with you…and hearing you’re going to Europe. I want that, too.”

“You want to go to Europe with me? Ashton, we just met and found out our families are like the Montagues and the Capulets. Do you remember the ending to that story?”

“I’m not saying we share the same car to the airport where we can be seen together. I don’t want to let you go just yet.”

“Ash, this is crazy!”

“If it’s so crazy then why aren’t you still trying to find your clothes?”

She opens her mouth to retort something but closes it because she has nothing to say. Even though they just met, that spark they felt at the bar continued to his bed. It was as if they knew each other from a different life and were reconnecting all over again.

“Maybe I’ll make the mistake and book a trip to Europe and mistakenly run into you at an art museum,” he says tugging her sweater off her again. “And maybe I’ll mistakenly lose my hotel key and stay with you.”

He bends down pressing his lips to her neck where he sucked a mark only forty-five minutes ago. Cressida sighs into him, her hands holding onto his neck as he kisses the lobe of her ear.

“How does that sound?”

She can picture it. They’ll be in another country where their family won’t see unless photographers capture them, but they both aren’t the face of the name of their family business yet. They’re still young and free for a little while longer. She’s happy she stumbled into the bar where he as and that he found her when her heart was broke.

“Then be my mistake,” she sighs capturing his lips with hers and they fall back onto the bed a tangle of limbs and moans.

“What’s on your mind over there?” she asks while they have breakfast on the balcony. The sun is warm on their backs as they indulge in pancakes, waffles, and bacon.

“I’m thinking of Europe,” he squeezes her calf that is resting on his lap. When they woke up she didn’t bring up the night before of her crying and he didn’t either, but the axe is still hanging over their heads. It’s only a matter of time before it comes striking down.

“That was the longest we were together,” she smiles fondly at the memory of many late starts in the morning. “I loved those three months. And now we only have three—”

“Cressida, don’t,” Ashton shakes his head and sets his espresso cup on the saucer. He drags her onto his lap, and she hooks her arms around his neck and shoulders. “We’ve agreed that when we’re here, the outside world doesn’t exist. We have until Monday to face the music.”

“The music won’t shut up in my head,” she knocks her forehead against his.

“I think I can help with that,” he mutters slipping his hand under the hem of her robe.

Cressida gasps as his finger nudges her center, she tries to kiss him, but her attention is otherwise occupied on his finger that is now twiddling inside her. Her back arches as she rocks on top of him, the shoulder of her robe falls down exposing her breast that Ashton quickly sucks into his mouth. Cressida moans in pleasure from both stimulations, she spreads her legs wider and Ashton bites onto her nipple.

“So pretty when you moan,” he mumbles on her skin and adds another finger. He works her over, scissoring and twiddling against her walls as his thumb presses against her clit harshly.

“Ash!” she chokes out yanking on his hair.

“That’s right, I’m the only thing that should be on your mind. Come for me, baby.”

He moves his arm faster and her toes curl as her head spins in pleasure. She’s panting his name like a prayer then finally slips her tongue in his mouth. This kiss reminds her of their last morning in Europe. They were having breakfast and the finality of their time together loomed over them like a dark cloud. Neither one of them wanted to go because they didn’t know when the next time they’d see each other would be.

She kisses him more fiercely, trying to push that sad memory away and the dark cloud that’s above them now. Sensing her urgency, Ashton removes his fingers from inside her and carries her into the room. She drops to the bed untying her robe watching with hunger in her eyes as he removes his loose sweatpants. He’s already hard and throbbing for her.

Ashton pushes her knees to her chest, kissing over the initials he branded on her skin last night, over her navel and finally to her mouth. He pushes himself inside her, they both groan at him going in dry but he knows it won’t be long until she’s lubricated herself for him.

“You’re perfect for me,” Ashton sighs rocking his hips into hers. The dry rub is becoming more fluid as he thrusts shallowly in and out of her.

“You’re my gold,” her nails scrape into his 5 o’clock shadow and nips at his lips.

“No baby,” he gives her a deep thrust that has her moan loudly. “That’s you.”

When she’s slick enough, Ashton flips her over onto her stomach, her face pressed to the robe and her hair draped over her back gloriously.

“Ready for me, angel?” he asks gripping her hips tightly and presses between her folds.

“Always.”

Ashton drives himself into her, skin slapping against skin drifts outside in the morning breeze. He fucks into her desperately, wanting this moment to last forever and when she starts to rock back against him, he swears he sees stars. They’re frantic, it’s chaotic, it’s their secret of this love affair in physical form.

“Right there, Ash, yes!” she mewls tossing her head back.

Ashton fists his hand into her hair, tilting her head up so he can suck on her neck as he continues to plow into her. She’s choking on moans and his name, begging for her release.

“Give it to me, Cressida,” he breathes, and she falls apart at the sound of her name.

She squeezes on his cock and Ashton can’t hold on much longer from that as she relishes in her orgasm. Before he can comprehend what’s happening, he’s spilling inside her and they collapse onto the bed, their bodies slick with sweat. He’s never come inside her before, a rule they agreed on together because that would only complicate things more. But this weekend, all bets are off.

Her hair sticks to his chest and he trembles, rocking his hips until he’s finished. Ashton brushes her hair from her back, and he kisses sweetly onto her spine while Cressida gathers her breath. She gathers his fingers with hers, bringing them to her lips and kisses them. He breathes her in, a mixture of her own scent and his combined. It’s intoxicating.

“I’ll go get a towel,” he inhales heavily through his nose, the air whistling in her hair.

“Not yet…stay a little longer,” she tightens her hold on his fingers.

He stays until he feels her heartbeat slow against his hand on her chest. With one final kiss he pulls himself gingerly out of her. They both wince at the loss of warmth.

“I’m sorry. I know we agreed not to do that,” he apologizes cleaning her.

She rolls over scooting to the edge of the bed and wraps her arms around his waist. Ashton kisses her hair.

“I’m not sorry. It’s harder to let go now,” she sniffs.

“I know.”

Taglist: @calpalirwin @myloverboyash @loveroflrh @cxddlyash @princesslrh @spicylftv @notinthesameguey @itjustkindahappenedreally @calumance @thew0rldneedsmcreycghurt @sarcastically-defensive17 @another-lonely-heart @devilatmydoor @thatscooibaby @suchalonelysunflower @dead-and-golden @mymindwide @blackbutterfliescal @redrattlers @karajaynetoday @quasighost @i-like-5sos @creampiecashton @calpops @littledrummeraussie @sexgodashton @f-mu @mystic-232

#lias #lias fic #ashton irwin angst #ashton irwin smut #ashton irwin au #ashton 5sos #ashton 5sos writing #ashton fic

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tchallasbabymama · 4 years ago

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Funeral

Hey y’all, here’s Chapter 12 of Playlist. Catch up on the story and read my other fics by checking out my masterlist HERE! Also, In a couple weeks I’ll be starting up “Ménage `a Trois”, a T’Challa x OC x M’Baku throuple fic. Check out the preview here!

CW: Smut (consensual non-consent, knife/claw play, cutting, blood play). Basically if edge play bothers you, don’t read the last scene except for the verrrry end. Child endangerment.

Word count: 10,313

The King and Queen of Wakanda, along with their newborn baby girl, stayed in the royal birthing chambers for the rest of the day so the midwife could keep an eye on mama and umntwana. T’Challa spent almost the entire time holding and talking to his daughter, only easily giving her up when it was time for her to eat.

“Challa, can I have my child please?”

“Our child,” he said as he carefully handed her off to her mother.

“I know that, do you?” she said with a look that made the king’s cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

“O-of course, I just-”

“Shhhh, I’m kidding,” she chuckled before her face changed as Siyanda latched on for the second time since she’d been out in the real world.

“Does it hurt?”

“No it’s just...a weird feeling, but it’s good.”

T’Challa climbed in bed next to her and stroked her hair out of her face as she fed their daughter.

“I already want another.”

“Can my entire bottom half heal first, please?”

He chuckled and kissed her temple.

“I can be patient.”

Ashanti shot him another look and he changed his tune.

“When it comes to this, anyway,” he said with a smile.

When the princess was all fed and burped they felt it was finally time to let their loved ones in to see the new addition to the family.

Ramonda, Bisa, and Chidi came in first, each crying tears of joy over their baby’s baby. However, when it came time to hold her, T’Challa’s reaction surprised them all.

“I...I’m sorry, was that a growl?” Ashanti asked her husband, dumbfounded.

“...No.”

“Sounded like one to me,” Chidi said, cautiously stepping back from the bed.

“It’s just the herb in his system making him extra protective. Those panther instincts really kick into gear when you have a child,” Ramonda chimed in.

“Oh so is that why I barely get to touch my own baby?”

Ramonda nodded and reached for the baby, causing yet another deep rumbling in T’Challa’s chest.

“Down, boy,” Ashanti joked as she handed Siyanda to Ramonda and reached for her husband’s hand.

“How are you feeling intyatyambo?” Bisa asked, sitting on the bed next to her daughter.

“I’m tired and everything is sore, but I’m floating in the clouds everytime I look at her.”

“That feeling never goes away,” Ramonda chimed in as she looked down at her granddaughter. “You know, it’s too early to tell for sure, but she has N’Yami’s eyes, just like her baba.”

“That’s what T’Challa said!” she looked over to him as he followed Ramonda’s every movement with his eyes. Ashanti squeezed his hand and he broke his gaze. “Baby, stop. Nobody here is going to harm her.”

He lightly cleared his throat and nodded. Deep down, he knew that to be the case, but he just couldn’t help himself.

Ramonda walked over to Bisa and carefully placed Siyanda in her other grandma’s arms.

“Bast, she’s beautiful,” Chidi stood behind his wife and stared down at his granddaughter, too afraid to touch her out of fear that her father would rip his head off.

“Do you want to hold her?” Bisa asked him.

“That’s probably not such a good idea right now,” Ramonda noticed how T’Challa reacted everytime Chidi got close. T’Chaka had done the same thing. He had been wary of anyone touching Shuri, but other men brought out the predator in him and his territorial nature flared. It calmed down after a while, but it was the worst when she was a newborn. “In fact, I’m not sure if Daka can even come into the room.”

“Why is that?” Ashanti asked.

“Look at how he is with a normal man. We’ve never had two panthers at the same time, so I could be wrong, but I would give it a couple weeks for him to calm down...just in case.”

Ashanti nodded and kissed her husband’s cheek, his eyes still glued to their baby girl.

“I’ll go bring in Shuri and Kwame,” Chidi offered before heading out the door, a little hurt he couldn’t hold his granddaughter.

Ashanti lightly slapped T’Challa’s chest, “You hurt his feelings.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t help it.”

“Try closing your eyes or something.”

“I’d still hear it.”

“Not with my headphones! I’ll be back,” Shuri had barely made it in the room when she ran back out, and when Kwame entered he went straight to his best friend and pulled her in for a hug.

“I can’t believe you’re a mama now! Where is the little bundle of joy?” he looked around before his eyes landed on Bisa rocking her granddaughter in the corner.

“If you want to hold her I’d suggest waiting a couple weeks, baba might attack you,” Chidi complained from the doorway.

“No worries, I don't like holding them when they’re fresh out anyway. Too delicate.”

Just then, Shuri returned with her headphones and T’Challa tentatively placed them on, turning around to look out the window as a distraction, still holding Ashanti’s hand and bouncing his leg from the anxiety of not being able to know what's going on with his baby girl.

“Ok, now try, baby,” Bisa said, handing Siyanda off to her umakhulu.

“She looks just like you did when you were born,” Chidi added, walking closer to Kwame so he could see her cute little face.

“Awwww she really is cute!”

Everyone laughed as Chidi passed Siyanda to her auntie, but it was quickly cut short when everyone noticed the look of complete adoration on the older princess’ face.

“She...she’s beautiful.”

She stared at her little nose and her little round cheeks and swore to herself that she would protect her niece with her life.

There was a light knocking and everyone looked up to see the prince, never really one to follow directions, standing in the doorway.

“Stay there, don’t come in,” Ramonda warned.

“So I don't get to see my baby cousin?” he pouted.

Shuri looked at her brother, still turned towards the window and unaware of what was happening, then to Ashanti and Ramonda. Ashanti nodded and Ramonda let out a deep breath before doing the same. Shuri walked over to N’Jadaka and placed her in his arms after taking one last look at her distracted brother.

“Wow...she’s so tiny.” he played with her little fingers as she looked up at him. T’Challa shifted and they quickly but carefully placed the baby back in Shuri’s arms. N’Jadaka stayed in the doorway as Ashanti reached to take the noise-cancelling headphones off her overprotective husband.

Shuri placed her niece in her baba’s arms and T’Challa’s tension melted away.

“I apologize, I don’t know how to control it yet,” the king said softly while staring at his greatest creation.

“You’ll get there,” Ashanti placed her head on his shoulder and he smiled, kissing her temple.

Just then, Binta and Ramla entered to check on mama and baby so the family left to give them some space. After Ramla made sure everything was safe, she allowed the new little family to return to their quarters to start their new life together.

--------

Princess Siyanda was a very sensitive and reserved child. As an infant, she only wanted her parents and would cry whenever anyone else held her. It took her a few months to warm up to the rest of the family, but she eventually got there and they were able to step in and help take care of her.

As she grew, she continued to be a shy baby. During her crowning after her first birthday, it was almost impossible to get her to stop crying, seemingly overwhelmed by all the attention. After a few more months, the princess started to come out of her shell a little bit, but she was still very cautious around new people and people she wasn’t fond of.

Siyanda was also a quiet child, and she didn’t speak until she was almost two. Now, at three years old, Princess Siyanda was the chattiest little thing to people she deemed worthy, but still very silent in the presence of those she didn’t like. Like Mala and Ode, for example. Siyanda had been coming to council meetings since she was an infant, sitting in one of her parent’s laps as they ruled the kingdom, and even then she grew anxious when the Merchant and Mining tribe elders approached her. Now she would hide behind whatever family member was closest. It had started to become bothersome to the two elders who felt disrespected by the child’s behavior, which only fueled their already deep disdain for her and her common mother.

Ashanti and T’Challa were head over heels for their temperamental little girl, so when they found out the reason for her actions they were floored that they had missed the signs.

It all started with a headache that just wouldn’t go away.

“Mama? Baba?” came a little voice from outside their door, prompting T’Challa, who was a much lighter sleeper than his wife, to get up and let in his baby girl.

When he opened the door she squinted up at him and looked as though she were seeing him for the first time. She burst into tears as her baba crouched down to scoop her up, but she wiggled out of his arms.

“What is it, sithandwa?”

By this point, Ashanti had made her way over to the doorway and stood behind her husband as he tried to calm their daughter down. Siyanda’s tears subsided for just long enough for her to speak, “My head hurts. You’re too bright.”

“What do you mean bright, baby?” Ashanti crouched down to Siyanda’s level with T’Challa, hoping to stop her baby girl from crying.

“My head hurts, and it woke me up. You’re too bright.”

“Who, baby?”

“Both of you.”

T’Challa and Ashanti looked to each other in confusion before turning back to their daughter.

“Close your eyes, baby girl,” Ashanti said as she reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her into a hug.

“Now, tell us, how are we too bright?” he rubbed her back in slow circles to calm her down, but it didn’t seem to be working.

“There’s colors around you and-and it hurts my eyes,” the little princess huffed out between sobs.

“Colors?”

“Mhm.”

The two parents were perplexed as they turned to each other with their eyebrows furrowed yet again, both unsure of what they were hearing.

“Why don’t you come to bed with mama? Baba will make you some tea to help you sleep, ok?”

“Ok mama.”

“Keep your eyes closed, baby.”

Ashanti carried Siyanda to the bed while T’Challa disappeared to the kitchen to make a quick cup of tea. The princess kept her eyes closed as her mama sang her favorite lullaby and played in her soft curls that she got from her baba. Slight whimpers left her lips as a dull aching throbbed in her head, but she preferred it to the stabbing pain of the bright colors.

T’Challa returned and he set the tea down to cool before crawling into bed with his two favorite girls. “Tell us what you see, sithandwa.”

She sniffled as Ashanti wiped the tears coming from her eyes and T’Challa held her little hands in his. She tried her best to explain to them the bright purple and yellow light radiating from around them that they couldn’t see, but they just couldn’t wrap their heads around her words.

“How about we go see Umakazi Shuri tomorrow?”

“Ok baba.”

Ashanti helped Siyanda drink the tea with her eyes closed and eventually she drifted off to a fretful sleep, tossing and turning between her parents all night. They desperately needed to talk about the situation so they texted on their beads so as not to wake their sleeping child up.

A: It sounds like she’s seeing auras.

T: Isn’t she too young for that kind of thing? A: I always thought mutations kicked in at puberty.

T: They normally do.

A: Maybe it’s not a mutation?

T: I don’t know what else it could be.

A: Me either, but I’m worried about her.

T: Me too, Kitten.

They both gazed at their sleeping daughter’s not quite so peaceful form as she slept, neither one of them getting much sleep of their own that night.

The king, queen, and both princesses were missing from breakfast the next day, leaving Ramonda and N’Jadaka to dine alone. Siyanda found that she could open her eyes as long as she didn’t look at anybody, but that proved to be a harder task than she expected so she just kept her eyes closed behind sunglasses the whole way.

As they entered Shuri’s lab, she immediately sensed something was wrong with the usually much more excited princess.

“Yaya! What’s up?” she picked up her favorite niece and spun her around, surprised by the lack of giggles. “Ok something is wrong, talk to me.”

T’Challa cleared his throat, “We think she is seeing auras.”

“She has powers?!”

“Well that’s what we want you to help us find out,” Ashanti added.

“Sure thing, it’ll only take a second,” she set Siyanda down on the table before putting a painless blood collection device over her arm and distracting her while the machine drew her blood.

Shuri connected the device to her computer and the results appeared on the screen. After combing through the data, Shuri felt almost ready to make her declaration.

“I’ll need to run some more tests, if you don’t mind.”

Ashanti grabbed T’Challa’s hand and he looked down at her concerned face.

“Challa, I don’t want her to feel like we’re experimenting on her.”

“She won’t, I promise. I’ll do it with her.”

Ashanti nodded and the four of them spent the whole morning in Shuri’s lab. It turned out that Siyanda could in fact see auras and she had most likely been empathic since she was an infant.

The adults watched her play with fake gauntlets Shuri made just for her as they spoke in hushed tones.

“So that’s why she’s picky about who she lets near her?”

“Looks like it,” Shuri swiped through the screen until she came across a picture of a brain. “You see here? This is my brain.”

Ashanti and T’Challa watched the synapses fire and light up the screen.

“And this is ubhuti’s brain,” She pulled up another projection, this one with even more synapses lighting up the screen. “The heart shaped herb altered his brain so that he could have heightened senses and panther instincts, so that’s why he’s got more going on up there...I’m still smarter.”

T’Challa rolled his eyes as Ashanti grinned at her sister-in-law.

“But this...this is Yaya’s brain.”

All three adults stood in awe as they watched parts of her brain spark in ways they hadn’t ever witnessed before.

“What is that?”

“That’s her visual, emotional, and sensory centers firing off. Now look at this scan from when I had her look at T’Challa.”

“Bast…”

“Is she...this won’t keep hurting her will it? She has a headache and it gets worse when she looks at us, I don't want her to-”

“My love,” he grabbed her hand and kissed it.

“Sorry, right.” Ashanti took a breath, “Ok so what now?”

“I’m thinking: glasses.”

“Wh...glasses?”

“Yes, if I can filter out at least some of the light it’ll be more manageable for her. She’ll probably grow out of the headaches when her body gets used to her new power.”

“What if she develops more powers? Can you tell ahead of time?” T’Challa asked his little sister.

“Not unless she’s hooked up to machines when it happens.”

“So you for sure found the mutation in her genes?” Ashanti chimed in.

“Yep!” She swiped across the screen and brought up a swirling double helix before typing in a code and pulling up the exact genome. “Here it is, the X-gene.”

Ashanti’s mouth was wide open as she released her husband’s hand and stepped towards the screen, taking it all in. Her mind raced all over the place. She knew these things usually came from the mother, but as far as she knew there were no mutants in her family. She’d have to talk to her parents, and soon.

Despite her confusion and fear for her child’s safety Ashanti couldn't help the slow smile creeping up her face as she turned back to T’Challa.

“Our baby has superpowers!”

--------

“Umakhulu!”

“There’s my grandbaby!” Chidi swooped Siyanda off the ground as she giggled, but he paused when he noticed something was a little different. “What’s with the goggles?”

“Auntie Shuri made them for me because people were too bright.”

Chidi looked at Ashanti in total confusion and she waved him off.

“Yeah, I’ll get to that in a little bit. Where’s mama?”

“She should be back from closing the restaurant any time now. You know, I’m surprised you have her up this late...is everything ok at home?”

“Yes baba, T’Challa would’ve come but he got called into a meeting with the Avengers.”

“Your baba is such a busy superhero,” Chidi whispered to his granddaughter, making her giggle right as Bisa opened the door, saying hello to the Dora Milaje stationed outside.

“Well hello you two!” Bisa kissed everyone’s forehead and sat down next to her husband just in time for Siyanda to crawl into her lap and make herself comfortable. “Where’s my son in law? Somewhere getting on your nerves?”

Ashanti chuckled, “Not today mama, he’s working. Actually I’m here about Yaya...and her glasses.”

“Yeah, what’s up with these? They make her look so old.”

“They do, but she needs them until Shuri can come up with a better idea,” Ashanti took a breath, “Mama, baba...she’s an empath...a mutant.”

“What’s a mutant, mama?”

Ashanti took in her parents’ shocked faces before looking down to her child.

“A mutant is a person with special gifts.”

“Gifts?”

“Mhm, like how baba and Daka can run really fast.”

Siyanda nodded and went back to playing with Bisa’s bracelets, shaking her out of her daze.

“You said she’s an empath, what does that mean?”

“She can see auras and feel people’s energy. Shuri thinks when she’s older she might be able to feel peoples’ emotions, but we can’t know for sure yet.”

“What colors does she see around us?”

“Yaya?”

The toddler looked up from her grandma’s beaded wrists and her big brown eyes landed on her mother. Ashanti couldn’t help but smile down at her cherubic face. Siyanda was her little twin, she looked and acted just like her mama, right down to wearing her emotions on her face.

“What is it baby?”

“You don’t see the colors?”

“No, that’s your gift, not mine.”

“It’s pretty, mama. You’re yellow and baba is purple. And when you’re together it swirls.”

“Really?”

“Mhm,” she turned to her grandparents, “And you’re green and blue mixed together.”

“What do the colors mean, intyatyambo?” Bisa asked, her eyes wide with wonder at her granddaughter's gift from Bast.

Siyanda shrugged, taking in the swirling colors around them with a smile on her face.

“So what are the glasses for exactly?” Chidi asked. Much like his daughter and granddaughter, Chidi wore his emotions on his face and his bewilderment was still very obvious.

“The colors are really bright and they hurt her head, so Shuri figured out how to filter out the light so she can still see them without it hurting. Hopefully she’ll grow out of it.”

“Auntie Shuri said I’m a superhero like baba!” The princess jumped up and started play-fighting with her granddad, who then chased her around the living room and into the backyard.

“Those two,” Bisa chuckled, shaking her head before turning serious. “How are you holding up?”

“I’m ok as long as she’s ok. I’m just confused on where it came from. Does anyone else in our family have powers?”

“Well that depends on who you ask...the women in my family have been gifted for centuries, but it was mostly through dream work and divination, not as empaths. Though I’m not really sure what the difference is between a gift from Bast and a mutation.”

“I don’t think there is one.”

“Me neither.”

The mother and daughter sat in silence for a moment before Siyanda’s screeching laughter rang out as Chidi chased her back into the room. Ashanti scooped her up into her lap when Chidi plopped down on the couch, resting his head on his wife’s shoulder.

“I'm too old for this.”

Siyanda nodded and Chidi’s hurt face sent Ashanti and Bisa into a laughing fit. After they came back down to earth Ashanti felt her stomach growl and invited her parents to come back to the palace for dinner.

The four of them arrived just before everyone else and took their seats as the rest of their small party filed in. All except for the king, that is.

“Where is my son?” Ramonda asked.

“Yeah, where’s baba?”

Ashanti sighed and pushed back from the table, kissing her daughter’s head before sauntering out the room and down the hall towards the business side of the palace. When she reached his office she didn’t even bother knocking before she swung the doors open.

“T’Challa.”

He looked away from the documents on his screen, his tired eyes filling with worry as he took in her tone. She almost never said his whole name, so he knew he was in for it.

“Is something wrong, my love?”

“Uh, yeah. It’s dinnertime. Let’s go,” she turned to usher him out of the room, but he didn’t move.

“Kitten, I have work to do. We spent half the day in Shuri’s lab and then I spent the rest dealing with the Avengers-”

“You have to eat, don’t you?”

“Yes, I was going to have it brought to me.”

Ashanti crossed the room and rolled his chair back from the desk, sitting sideways in his lap.

“Your eyes look tired baby, give them a break from all the screens. Mama and baba are here...Yaya misses you...I miss you,” she pouted.

“I know what you’re doing-”

She placed a soft kiss on his lips. “I’m not doing anything,” she said before kissing his cheek, then his jawline. Her lips trailed to his Adam's apple and back up to his earlobe before whispering in his ear.

“I miss you, Kumkani.”

“I’m not doing anything,” he mocked, making his wife giggle. The king let out a sigh as Ashanti kissed up and down the column of his neck. He had already made up his mind about going to dinner, but he was also very willing to see how far she’d take her seduction.

Ashanti moved in his lap to straddle him and they connected in a passionate liplock, her hips grinding slowly into his. He let her have her fun before he stood and placed her on his desk, reaching his hand up the leg of her flowy printed shorts until he made it to his destination between her thighs. She moaned as his fingers grazed her clit, slowly stroking it through her underwear.

“You come in here and distract me.” He pushed her panties to the side and ran his bare fingers up and down her juicy slit, “All you had to do was say please.”

“Please kumkani,” she begged as he continued to tease her lips and his fingers slowly made their way deep inside her. He held her gaze as he fingered her slowly.

Ashanti wanted more, she needed more.

“Fuck me.”

“What was that? A little louder.”

“Fuck. Me.”

“You are giving orders now?”

“Please baby.”

“That’s better,” he said with a salacious smirk resting lopsided on his chiseled face. He grabbed her hand and brought it to his dick so she could feel how hard he was. “You think I don’t miss you too, my love? I miss your taste-”

He planted a sloppy open-mouthed kiss on her lips.

“-your smell-”

His head nuzzled into her neck and he took a deep breath, letting out a moan as he exhaled.

“-How you feel around my dick when I’m inside you.” He had her pussy hanging out the leg of her shorts, exposed to the elements as he stroked her clit and looked into her eyes as he spoke. The next thing she knew she was filled with her husband. His hips snapped into hers and his hands found their way to her hair, grabbing a handful of her curly faux locs and pulling her head back. He licked and nibbled on her throat as he buried himself in her and all she could see was stars.

It had been about a week since the King and Queen of Wakanda had been able to have any alone time, and they were both at their limit. They were used to going long stretches without any physical contact when he was away on missions, but when they were together they could barely keep their hands off each other. A week was way too long.

Her legs tried to wrap around him, but he was in no mood for that soft and sweet shit. He wanted to tear her to pieces and she wanted him to do it.

Ashanti’s eyes rolled back in her head and she felt the tension rise inside her as his thumb circled her clit. Her body melted into the desk and she struggled to stay up on her elbows as he leaned over her, teasing her.

“You miss me?”

“Y-yes Kumkani.”

“What do you miss?” He loved teasing her, especially when he knew she could barely speak.

“Mmm fuck. I...I miss your hands on me.”

He slowed his strokes and his large hands made their way up and down her body. His left hand found it’s home at the dip of her hip, gripping her tight. His right hand rested just below her throat as a tease, refusing to squeeze her the way she wanted.

“What else?” he slowly dragged his tip along her g-spot and a shudder went through her body.

“Your lips.”

He trailed kisses on every inch of her body he could reach, ending on her chest. His tongue brushed across each nipple as he french kissed her breasts, pulling each bud into his mouth and nibbling softly as she moaned in his ear. His hips kept a slow and steady pace until he released her from his mouth and dug deep inside her.

“Kumkani!”

“Mhm, what else do you miss?” T’Challa’s hands gripped her hips tight as he leaned over her and pulled her into him to meet each stroke. Her hips grinded up into his until he pushed her legs back further, damn near folding her in half and laying his weight on her as his hips rolled his dick deeper inside her.

“This. I miss this.”

“I bet you do, Kitten,” he chuckled before slowing down his strokes and kissing her softly. “I miss this too.”

Their tongues danced against each other as her body tightened and released around him, coating him in her juices.

“Where do you want it?” He couldn’t hold on any longer and desperately needed this release.

“Right there, baby,” Ashanti cooed as she wrapped her legs around him, pulling him in tight. The tension in his body rose to an alltime high and the vein in his forehead threatened to pop before his body jerked and he stilled inside her.

The two of them laughed as they untangled themselves and came back down to reality.

“You think they know?” Ashanti asked as she straightened his tunic. He twirled her around and was surprised there was no visible wet spot.

“We got lucky this time. You’re going to have to start keeping a change of clothes in here,” he slapped her ass just to watch it jiggle.

“Challa!”

“I’m sorry, let me kiss it-” he grabbed her and started kissing down her neck again as he firmly gripped her ass.

“No, we have to go,” she giggled as she struggled to get out of his grasp. “We can get back to this later.”

“But I want it now, you started it,” he whined and bit into her neck. “Let’s skip dinner.”

“Challa, I invited my parents.”

He visibly deflated and let out a deep sigh. He loved his in-laws, but he would much rather be blowing Ashanti’s back out in their quarters. He released her from his arms with a roll of his eyes and tried his best not to pout as she pulled him out the door, but his sad face was quickly replaced by one of great amusement as he watched his wife limp down the hallway.

Later that night, T’Challa was called to an emergency mission with the Avengers and was gone for a whole month.

--------

Ashanti had passed her creative genes right on down to her daughter. The little princess loved to draw and regularly surprised her parents with colorful portraits of the people in her life. They loved seeing the world through her eyes and kept every picture, even when the subject was unrecognizable. Their favorite was a picture she drew of the whole family holding hands, each one of them glowing in their different colors. N’Jadaka was red, full of passion and strength, and Shuri’s ambition came through as a vivid orange color. Ramonda was surrounded by a peaceful cloud of light blue and the bold blues and healing greens of Chidi and Bisa’s auras swirled together in perfect harmony. She even drew pictures of her favorite aunts and uncles, capturing how M’Baku’s red aura danced around Shani’s pink glow. The twins were a bright yellow with tinges of purple and blue, Okoye’s aura was the same fiery red she wore as armor, and the blue light emanating around Zina contrasted beautifully with the pink surrounding Jafari.

Siyanda’s drawings were always so bright and colorful, until one day she surprised her mother with a much darker piece of art.

“Who’s that, baby?” Ashanti asked with concern as she looked over her daughter’s shoulder. She was drawing a dark cloud of putrid greens and browns around a group of blacked-out people.

“I don’t know. I saw it in my dream.”

“Was it a bad dream?”

Siyanda nodded as she continued to focus on her dark masterpiece.

“Tell me about it.”

“I just saw the people.”

“These people?”

“Mhm.”

“Do you know who they are?”

“No, mama, they’re just the people.”

“Did they do something in your dream?”

“They were just there. It was scary.” She reached for the black crayon and scribbled around the perimeter of the peoples’ collective aura, encasing it all in the darkness.

That night, when Ashanti’s beads trilled with T’Challa’s special tone she quickly pressed her communication bead, prompting her husband’s figure to rest in the palm of her hand.

“Something’s wrong,” she said before he could even speak.

“What is it?”

“It’s Yaya...she drew this.”

Ashanti held up the wild crayon drawing and T’Challa’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Who is that supposed to be?”

“I don’t know, she just kept calling them ‘the people’. She saw it in her dream, Challa.”

“Her dream?”

Ashanti nodded, “I don’t think that’s ever happened before.”

“And she never uses dark colors like that, not even for an outline...what happened in her dream?”

“Nothing. She just saw this...she said it was scary.”

T’Challa was quiet for a while, wheels turning in his head.

“And these ‘people’ aren’t anyone she knows?”

“Nope. I’m worried about her, what if this is some sort of premonition? I told you what mama said about the women in our family.”

“Kitten, if it’s a premonition I think we should all be worried. It doesn’t look good.”

“No it doesn’t...when are you coming home?”

“I’m cutting it short, I’ll be there tomorrow.”

“Don’t they need you?”

“Probably, but I am needed even more elsewhere.”

The next morning, a very sleepy Siyanda waited for her baba on the tarmac with her family. Shuri held her on her hip as she rested her head on her shoulder, but the second the Talon came into view she perked right up and jumped down from her auntie’s arms. She tried to take off towards the ship, but Ashanti grabbed her arm before she could go anywhere.

“Not yet, baby. Wait until the doors open.”

“Ok mama.”

Her little leg bounced in anticipation and the second the doors opened and Ashanti gave her a nod, she took off towards the ship, running almost as fast as her Baba, when she noticed he wasn’t alone.

“Daka!” She tackled her big cousin and he “fell” to the ground.

“You’re getting strong, Punkin!”

She giggled as he tickled her until a throat clearing stopped them both.

“No love for me?”

She sprung from the ground and into T’Challa’s arms, leaving a sloppy kiss on his cheek.

“I missed you, baba!”

“Not as much as you missed him,” he pretended to be upset.

“It’s been longer since I saw Daka, baba.”

“It’s ok to say you missed me more. Don’t let him pressure you,” N’Jadaka said with a wink.

Siyanda giggled as the three of them disembarked the Talon and the returning Udakus were greeted by their family.

After a month apart, T’Challa and Ashanti were relieved to be back in each other’s arms. They held each other for a moment before going in for a kiss. They tried their best to keep their hands to themselves, but their kiss turned heated until Ramonda cleared her throat and Ashanti looked up to see Shuri shielding Siyanda’s eyes.

“Sorry, it’s been a while,” Ashanti hid her face while her husband laughed and pulled her in for another kiss.

“Eewwwwww,” the littlest princess was disgusted by her parents’ display, prompting Shuri and N’Jadaka to join her in her protests.

“Yeah, ewwww.”

“Mmhm, y’all nasty.”

“Alright, alright, damn. I can’t love on my husband?”

Siyanda shook her head.

“And why not?”

“Because it’s gross!”

T’Challa chuckled and scooped her up, placing her on his shoulders as they walked back into the palace. “You just keep thinking that for the next twenty years.”

“Make it thirty,” N’Jadaka chimed in from behind them.

“How about forty? Fifty, just to be safe?”

“Sounds good to me, man.”

“Stop it, you two,” Ramonda slapped the back of her nephew’s head at the same time her son received a deadly glare from his wife.

“Ow, ok. Twenty it is.” N’Jadaka laughed as he dodged his auntie’s hand, sending a wink to his big cousin who was trying very hard to not look down at Ashanti.

“So, what have I missed, little one?” T’Challa asked his daughter.

“I rode a rhino!”

“You did?!”

“Mhm. Mama almost didn’t let me, but Auntie Okoye talked her into it.”

“Well thank Bast for Auntie Okoye,” he sent his friend and protector a smile.

“Anything for our princess,” Okoye said, trying to keep a straight face since she was on duty.

“Anything?” Siyanda’s eyes were filled with wonder as her mind raced through the possibilities.

“Anything within reason,” Ashanti interjected before she got too carried away, booping her on her nose as they continued down the hallway to the living quarters.

--------

“Your highnesses, there is a rebel faction within our borders,” explained T’San, the River tribe elder. He had asked for a private audience with the king and queen to discuss sensitive matters, and they were intrigued when he said it was something he didn’t want to announce in front of the council.

“What proof do you have?”

T’San nodded to the guards stationed at the door and they opened it to reveal two River tribe warriors with a very angry looking woman between them.

“Let me go!” she struggled to get out of their grasp, but they held tight as they walked her into the throne room.

“Thetha,” Ashanti ordered. The woman stared at her in contempt and remained silent.

“Your queen commanded you to speak. Now speak.”

“She is not my queen,” the woman spat, eyes narrowing at Ashanti, who shifted in her seat uncomfortably. She could almost feel T’Challa’s blood pressure rising.

“She is and you will respect her. Ungubani?”

The woman remained silent until the River tribe warriors squeezed her arm tighter.

“Ouch! Ok, damn. My name is Iniko, your highnesses,” she said sarcastically as she gave them a weak Wakandan salute.

“Enough of your disrespect-”

“T’San, thank you,” T’Challa cut him off, standing and slowly walking towards Iniko. “Tell me, what is it you want?”

“We want a real queen, not some common whore.”

“That is enough! Take her to the holding cells, I will deal with her later.”

The palace guards collected her from the warriors and she thrashed in their arms as they led her out of the room.

“You’ll never stop The People!”

Ashanti and T’Challa made eye contact right as the doors closed. He made his way back to his throne and sat down, taking the queen’s hand in his.

“My sincerest apologies, my queen, my king.”

“Thank you T’San. How many more are there?” Ashanti asked, still a little shaken up from what she just heard.

“She is the only one we have found so far, my queen. My warriors are questioning her friends and family as we speak”

“Good. Keep us updated on what you find, and T’San?”

“Yes, my king?”

“Don’t breathe a word of this to other council members, I will address it in our meeting.”

The elder bowed his head in understanding.

“Anything else, T’San?”

“No, my queen, that is all.”

“Well, the king and I would like to thank you for your service to Wakanda.”

“It is my honor,” he saluted them and left with his warriors in tow.

As soon as the doors closed behind him Ashanti hopped up from the throne.

“She saw them in her dream, Challa.”

“I know…”

“This isn’t good.”

“I know…” He was in a daze. Not only was there a rebel faction out to get his wife, but his daughter was certainly having premonitions.

“Yaya has another power.”

“I know…”

Ashanti turned to look at him slumped down in the throne with his head resting on his hands. She went and sat across his lap, burying her face in his neck. They stayed like that for a few minutes before T’Challa shifted to check the time.

“It’s time to make our rounds, love.”

Ashanti sighed and got up, shuffling towards the door with her husband on her heels. They made their way to Ramonda’s vegetable garden to find her and the littlest princess digging around in the dirt, harvesting yams. Siyanda looked up and excitedly ran to her parents.

“Can we go see the rhinos now?”

“In a little bit,” Ashanti chuckled. “Let’s get you cleaned up first.”

“Mama, these look delicious.”

“They do,” she said proudly. “We’ll find out for sure at dinner.”

“I’m already hungry, let’s go before I bite into one of these things raw.” Ashanti said just before her stomach growled. “Zana Cafe for lunch?”

“Yes!” Siyanda was always excited to see her grandparents.

“We had better get going. See you later, mama,” he kissed her cheek.

“Don’t be late for dinner, I can’t promise N’Jadaka won’t eat all the yams again.”

“Oh we’ll be there, and tell him I’m not above fighting him over food,” Ashanti said with a serious look on her face as they walked away. Ramonda chuckled and went right back to tending to her garden.

T’Challa always loved making the rounds to the different tribes, but this time he was on high alert, as were the Dora Milaje that guarded the family of three. Siyanda had inherited her baba’s love of interacting with the tribes, and while her parents took care of the business side of things, she got to play with kids all over Wakanda. They’d swim in the river, play hide and seek, ride rhinos, and sled down bunny slopes. Naturally, she liked visiting the Jabari and Merchant tribes the best because she got to see some of her favorite people in the world.

Siyanda loved her big cousin M’Bari and followed the nine year old everywhere, but she really loved her uncle M’Baku. He always joked that she was his second child, even as his actual second child was still baking in the oven. It didn’t help that “Siyanda” was his suggestion.

“You know, I am the one that named you,” he told the little princess as she threw a snowball at him before hiding behind M’Bari.

“Really?”

“Yes, your parents could not figure out what to call you, but your Umalume M’Baku knew.”

Shani and T’Challa rolled their eyes as Ashanti chuckled.

“He brings that up at least twice a week,” Shani deadpanned as they watched M’Bari show Siyanda how to make the perfect snowball.

Getting Siyanda to leave Jabari land was like pulling teeth. She loved it up there and if Shani and M’Baku had anything to say about it, she could stay as long as she wanted to, but the royal family still had to visit Ashanti’s tribe. They said their goodbyes and Siyanda pouted most of the way down the mountain until T’Challa leaned in and started tickling her, making her frown go away.

They walked through the bazaar hand in hand, with Siyanda in the middle between her two parents. They spoke to passersby as they made their way to the center of all the hustle and bustle. Before settling in at the Cafe, Ashanti decided to stop by Taj’s, which was now completely run by Zina and Jafari.

“My queen!” Zina shouted when she saw Ashanti, almost knocking her over in a hug. Jafari poked his head out the back and smiled at the scene.

“Your majesty,” he bowed sarcastically, making Ashanti roll her eyes and pull him in for a hug.

“Stop that.”

“Where’s the rest of the family?” Zina asked, looking behind her for the princess.

“Across the way, stuffing their faces. Come eat with us.”

The three of them closed the shop down and joined the Mostafa-Udaku clan for lunch. Chidi and Bisa were already seated on either side of Siyanda and Ashanti took her place between her mama and husband, across the table from her friends and former employees. The seven of them chatted for what felt like hours before the princess let out a yawn.

“Nap time?” Bisa asked the king and queen.

“A little bit past it, actually. We should go before she starts getting cranky,” T’Challa responded, already standing from his seat.

The royal family said their goodbyes and returned to the palace so Siyanda could take her midday nap. While she slept, her parents figured they could get into some grown-up fun, but just as things were heating up both of their beads trilled.

Iniko was dead.

--------

Another week passed with no leads on Iniko’s death or on The People. T’Challa spent almost every waking hour pouring over evidence that led to a brick wall every time. He decided to call in the only reinforcements he knew he could trust, and as usual they answered.

Steve, Bucky, and Nakia appeared as holograms in the middle of the room as T’Challa explained the situation to them. N’Jadaka leaned against the door and M’Baku took up most of the couch, both listening intently as the king spoke.

“All my leads are coming up short, so I’m opening the floor to suggestions.”

“I could always go undercover. It won’t be hard for people to believe I turned my back on you,” N’Jadaka suggested.

“That’s actually not a bad idea,” Ashanti chimed in from T’Challa’s desk chair. He nodded slowly, wheels turning in his head.

“Let’s keep that in our pocket for now. Convincing Wakandans to accept you took too much time, I don’t want to impede that progress.”

“I will see what I can get from my contacts,” said Nakia, already typing away.

“What is it they want again?” Bucky asked.

“This ‘common whore’ off the throne.”

T’Challa bristled as she said the words again and everyone grew silent.

“Do they have a replacement already in mind?”

“We don’t know, we don’t even know how they communicate, where they meet, who’s in charge...nothing. Yet,” Ashanti tried to remain hopeful.

T’Challa let out a sigh and leaned back onto his desk.

“Maybe it’s time to let the council know-”

“The only one I trust other than M’Baku is T’San. He’s the only one of them who respected her before her title.”

“That’s good though,” Steve chimed in, making everybody turn to him, confusion written on their faces. “You already know some of them are untrustworthy, so pluck 'em one by one and see who squeals. One of them is bound to know something.”

“How did ole girl die, again?” The prince asked for clarification.

“Cyanide.”

“Damn, that’s too easy to get your hands on. Did Lil Bit track where it came from?”

“Ground up apple seeds.”

“Ok so we know they’re DIY-ing it, which means they probably don’t have the resources to do anything big yet. I’d say go with Blue Eyes’ plan for now.”

“You, Ashanti, and I will head the interrogations. The rest of you, keep your eyes and ears open.”

The three holograms disappeared and a hush fell over the room.

“Challa, I don’t think I should be there when you question the council members.”

“You won’t be, but I want you to come in towards the end so I can gauge their reactions to you,” he ran his hand over his face and sat down in the chair across the desk from his.

“You look tired...you both do,” M’Baku pointed out.

The king and queen looked at each other and took in their appearances. They both had bags under their eyes.

“Yes, well, it’s been a long few days.”

“Why don’t y’all take the rest of the day off? Dr. Jekyll and I can handle the kingdom. I’ll even take Punkin for the night, I know y’all need some alone time.”

“Is the word not ‘pumpkin’?” M’Baku asked, genuinely confused.

“Not if you’re Black. Anyway, what do y’all say?”

“Shuri won’t like that you volunteered her to run the kingdom…”

“Then I’ll run it and she can take Punkin, doesn’t matter to me.”

T’Challa thought it over before he noticed the hopeful look on his wife’s face.

“Ok, we’ll take the day, but you have to tell Shuri.”

“Damn, aight I got it. Y’all go take a nap or some shit.”

And that’s exactly what they did. A couple hours later they woke up and ordered dinner to be brought to them. They lazed around in the nude, watching movies, stuffing their faces, and just enjoying their time together not having to act as king and queen but simply T’Challa and Ashanti. They laid in the bed with his head resting on her stomach as his fingers lightly traced invisible symbols into her skin.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Hm? Oh, nothing.”

“Challa, I know when you’re lying. You’re not good at it.”

He chuckled and sat up before sighing.

“I’m thinking about The People-”

“No work!”

“I know, my brain just won’t stop going there.”

Ashanti brought him back down to her and played with his hair as he spoke.

“I’m just worried about how you’re holding up in all this.”

She took a moment to collect her thoughts.

“I can’t say it’s easy to hear that people want me dead-”

“They never said-”

“Challa, we know...they don’t have to say it. I’m just worried about where Yaya fits into all this.”

“Her premonition?”

“Yes and no. I’m more so worried about what their plan is for her. Is she in danger too or just me? I can handle being a target again, but my baby?” Ashanti fought tears as she thought the worst. She unknowingly fiddled with her pinky and T’Challa pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed it.

He hadn’t even considered that his little girl might be in danger, too. Just as he started to spiral down that rabbit hole he felt Ashanti move to the side of the bed and stand up.

“Come on, get up.”

“Where are we going?”

“Nowhere. We need to get our heads right.”

Ashanti went over to the balcony and sparked up one of the pre-rolls they had ordered from Amare, the royal grower. T’Challa came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and placing his chin in the crook of her neck as she held the blunt to his lips. He turned her face to his and shotgunned the smoke into her mouth before taking a hit of his own.

“More Snow Goddess OG?” He took another hit of his favorite strain before passing it back to Ashanti.

“Mmmhm, Amare must want a little prince running around here.”

“Or another princess,” T’Challa smiled just thinking about it.

“Don’t get too excited-”

“Too late,” he said as he kissed her neck.

“I mean about another baby, Challa,” she giggled.

“I know, and I mean this.” His hips thrust forward and she could feel his thickness between her cheeks.

“Oh well in that case, please do continue.”

He pulled away and she felt the chill of the night air on her back. The queen took another hit before ashing the blunt and following her husband back inside.

“I have a surprise for you.”

“What is it?”

“Stay here,” the smile on his face intrigued Ashanti. She hadn’t seen him look that giddy in a while.

When he came back she was very confused to see he was empty handed.

“Where is it?”

He pointed to the panther necklace that he definitely wasn't wearing before, eyebrows bouncing mischievously. Before she could say anything he called the suit on.

“Ok...I’ve seen the suit before baby.”

His smile grew as the suit retracted from his body, but stopped at his waist. Ashanti watched in awe as the suit partially covered and uncovered him. His hands were exposed while his torso was covered, then the nanites fused into his mask as the rest of the suit retracted into the necklace.

Ashanti reached out to feel the fibers and sure enough, it was the same as his old suit, just a little more...flexible.

“Shuri finally did it,” she said in awe.

“Mhm, and it took me forever to convince her. Of course, I didn’t tell her why.”

She had wanted to fuck him in the suit ever since she first saw it on him in Shuri’s lab all those years ago, and now her dream was finally coming true. Ashanti was about to fuck the Black Panther.

“Put it back on.”

“You don’t give the orders here.”

A shiver travelled down Ashanti’s spine as he circled her.

“So tell me,” he whispered in her ear as his fingertips lightly ghosted along her hips and down to her thighs before turning her around to face him and grabbing two handfulls of her ass. “How do you want it?”

“Push me to my limit,” she whispered and a deep rumbling chuckle erupted from T’Challa’s chest.

“You sure about that?”

“Yes, Black Panther.”

The chuckling was soon replaced with a growl as he pushed her up against the wall.

“Say that shit again.”

“Yes, Black Panther.”

He attacked her lips and his tongue slithered into her mouth as his hands pressed her hips into the wall behind her.

“That’s how you’ll address me tonight, understand?”

“Yes, Black Panther.”

“Mmm...you remember the safeword?”

“Papaya.”

“Good girl,” he grabbed her by her jaw and made her look at him. “You sure you want to be pushed to your limit?”

“Yes, Black Panther.”

He licked his lips and looked down at her as he called his suit on all the way, leaving his face visible.

“Hey Kim, play ‘Kitten’ playlist,” he called out to the AI and a shiver went down Ashanti’s spine.

Send my regards to the mother and father

'Cause somebody's daughter I just fucking slayed

Blood on the carpet, it came from my heart

Once I start, I can't stop it, and now we are prey

“I’m not stopping unless you say ‘papaya’. You can say ‘no’ or ‘stop’ all you want, it won’t work. Do you understand me?”

“Yes Black Panther,” Ashanti shivered as she spoke. She could feel the wetness pooling between her lower lips. He had always been dominant, but now he felt downright dangerous and that excited her.

“Go get my kit.”

Ashanti’s eyes lit up and she damn near ran to their closet. She found the small suitcase and rolled it out to the bedroom. T’Challa was seated at the edge of the bed with his suit completely on, face covered and all. She laid the suitcase on the chair and unzipped it, splaying it open.

I wanna dive in you tonight

Wouldn't that be special? (special)

'Cause you're so fucking special (special)

And that pussy ain't a rental (no)

I wanna get you so high (high)

'Til you feel it in your mental (mental)

Do you feel me in your mental? (mental)

I'm fucking drilling in your dead soul (woah oh)

“Did I say open it?”

He was behind her in the blink of an eye, but she never even heard him move. His hand wrapped around her throat and she shuddered.

“No.”

“No, who?!” he squeezed the sides tighter, putting pressure on her pulse.

“No, Kum- Black Panther.”

“I’m glad you caught yourself, you’re still a good little slut,” he held her face still with one hand as the fingers on his other hand slapped her cheek. “Vula”

She opened her mouth wide and stuck out her tongue, prompting him to remove the suit from his hand and stick his fingers down her throat.

“You better not fucking gag...good girl,” his helmet disappeared as he dangled his tongue from his mouth and let his spit drop into hers. “Swallow.”

She did as instructed and a sinister smile took over his face.

I lost my mind, yeah

So I made yours mine, yeah

Two souls and a dance with the de-

Only one comin' alive

“Get my favorite toys out,” he instructed and she hopped to it, pulling out her remote control buttplug and her clitoral and g-spot stimulator.

“Put them in, slowly.”

She reached for lube and put a generous amount on the plug before working it inside her. Once she was full of it, she then slid her other vibrator in and made sure it was situated on top of her clit.

“Good girl. Now stay just like that.”

She squirmed from the feeling of being filled in both holes as he dug through the suitcase, pulling out a blindfold. He stopped for a moment to press his beads and she released a moan as her buttplug started vibrating, followed shortly by the internal portion of her vibrator in her pussy.

“Don’t move.”

“Yes, Black Panther, but I-I want to be able to see you. Please don’t blindfold me.”

“Only because you said please,” he gave her a peck on the lips as he turned the vibrators up to the next level, making her moan even louder. “Bast, I love that sound. Come here.” He picked her up and placed her in the swing that had come down from its discreet hiding place in the ceiling, strapping her in and tying her wrists to the bar at the top before turning on the clit stimulator.

Send my regards to the mother and father

'Cause somebody's daughter I just fucking slayed

Blood on the carpet, it came from my heart

Once I start, I can't stop it, and now we are prey

Ashanti convulsed as an orgasm washed over her and she squirted all over the floor. He laughed at her as she came back down to earth and he continued to take her there over and over until she was a blubbering mess. Eventually he took pity on her and his suit covered his face again and uncovered his lower half. He ran his fingers along her pussy and removed her vibrator before stroking his already hard dick with her wetness and plunging deep inside her.

Go until you see the light

(Yeah)

Baby, do you see the light?

(That's right)

She stared into his eyes through the mask and struggled against her restraints as he took her there, suspended in the air and at the complete mercy of the Black Panther.

Call the coroner tonight (tonight)

Blacked-out girl, it's a funeral (funeral)

She was dead on arrival (arrival)

Heart crossed, hand on the Bible (alright)

Ashanti cried, she screamed, she begged him to stop, but not once did she want to use that safeword. In all the time they had been together she had never seen him so unhinged. If the bite marks up and down her body were any indication, he seemed to enjoy being so rough with her. They both looked forward to seeing her bruised skin in the morning and wondered how long it would take for the teeth indents to go away.

The one thing T’Challa didn’t expect from her was her excitement at seeing the razor sharp claws extend from his fingertips. They had engaged in knifeplay before, but it was more so his kink than hers. However, the sight of those claws flipped a switch in her, and he could tell.

'Cause I lost my mind, yeah

So I made yours mine, yeah

Two souls and a dance with the de-

And only one comin' out alive

“Tell me what you want, I see you staring.”

“I want you to cut me.”

He double checked that the first aid kit was in his suitcase before his thumb sliced a very shallow incision right down the middle of her thigh. He removed his mask and his tongue came out to lick away her blood, making Ashanti moan out with pleasure. She hadn’t expected that.

Send my regards to the mother and father

'Cause somebody's daughter I just fucking slayed

(Call the coroner tonight)

Blood on the carpet (it's a funeral tonight)

It came from my heart (my condolences tonight)

Once I start, I can't stop it (go until you see the light)

And now we are prey

When he kissed up her body and finally made it to her lips their tongues lapped at each other and she tasted the copper of her blood. It turned her on even more just thinking about it, her bloodthirsty apex predator.

He called the suit back into the necklace and undid her restraints, kissing the marks on her wrists.

“How do you feel?”

“Really good,” she smiled drunkenly. He wrapped her arms around his neck and removed her legs from the straps, wrapping them around his waist and walking to the bed. He placed her down in the center and grabbed the first aid kit.

“Challa, I’ve had paper cuts deeper than this, you don’t have to do all that,” she chuckled.

“Please, for my peace of mind.”

Ashanti sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes, but placed her leg across his lap and allowed him to tend to her wound anyway. “‘Only because you said please.’”

T’Challa laughed as he cleaned her cut, “You think you’re cute, huh? Even after all that?”

“Yes, Black Panther,” she giggled out as he tickled her other thigh. “We should do that more often.”

“Which part?”

“All of it. Even that little surprise at the end,” she gestured to her leg. “Bast, I love how nasty you are.”

“And I love how you’re such a good little slut for me, Kitten.”

Ashanti bit her lip and leaned in for a kiss, but they were interrupted by a banging on the door.

“AYE, GET UP!” N’Jadaka yelled, almost busting down the door. T’Challa’s suit immediately came on as he ran to the door and swung it open.

“Wh-”

“We gotta go, NOW!”

T’Challa and N’Jadaka took off running and Ashanti just sat on the bed, confused and concerned. She only sort of heard the beginning of N’Jadaka’s sentence as they ran out the room. Someone was being held hostage, but she didn’t hear who. She got up and ran the bath that T’Challa was no doubt planning to run for her before their night got interrupted by business. She soaked in the water for a while before she heard T’Challa’s tone coming from her kimoyo beads.

“Take care of it already?” She asked before looking up at the hologram to see the unthinkable. There was her baby girl with a blaster pointed right at her temple with tears in her eyes. Her lip quivered as she stared at the man with the slimy black tendrils surrounding him, his aura unlike any she’d ever seen.

“Hello, my queen,” seethed an unrecognizable voice behind the camera. “You have ten minutes to get here before I pull this trigger...or maybe they’ll pull one of theirs.” He panned the beads around the lab and she saw Shuri, N’Jadaka, and T’Challa with masked people standing behind them holding blasters to each of their heads.

“Please...please don’t hurt them, I-I’m on my way right now. I’ll be there as fast as I can.”

“Nine minutes,” they teased before ending the call.

Ashanti threw on whatever clothes she could get to quickest and ran out the door towards the lab. There was no way she’d make it in nine minutes on foot, so she alerted her Dora detail before hopping on T’Challa’s hoverbike and taking off as quickly as she could towards Shuri’s lab, praying to Bast she would make it in time.

Next Chapter

Taglist: @maddeningmayhem, @theblulife, @ljstraightnochaser, @determinednot2fall, @dersha89

#cecewritessometimes #black panther fic #t'challa #t'challa x oc #black!oc #playlist

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lamptracker · 4 years ago

Text

FIC: This Seat Taken? (Seo Changbin/Female Reader)

Literally the only reason I got this done was because I broke my toe and have an abundance of sitting-around time. So... yay, I suppose.

Onward.

Title: This Seat Taken?

Pairing: Seo Changbin (Stray Kids)/Female Reader

Summary: The reader finds herself falling in love with her best friend Changbin.

Warnings: A few potty words but other than that, not much really.

Author’s Note(s): This takes place in a world where A. There have only ever been eight members of Stray Kids (we do not talk about the AT&T of people) and B. Minho’s cats live in the dorms with them.

Which brings up two questions: Why don’t Minho’s cats live in the dorms? And have they fixed that stupid curtain yet??

As per tradition I tag @jisungiesbunnie I keep bringing this up in the Discord lol

The very last thing you wanted was to be part of a cliche.

They were everywhere. The “enemies to lovers.” The old standby “oh my God, they were roommates.” The good old fashioned “best friends to lovers.”

You wanted absolutely no part of it.

So why were you in danger of falling prey to “best friends to lovers”?

And moreover, why were you falling hopelessly in love with Seo Changbin?

You met Seo Changbin at a very vulnerable time in your life.

You were sixteen years old, and it was your first day at your new high school. You knew absolutely nobody. And since you were the new kid in school, there wasn’t a soul that wanted anything to do with you. Nobody wanted to sit near you in class. Even the teachers didn’t call on you, which was super unfortunate since you totally knew the answer in your math class. That wouldn’t have stung so much if the kid she called on had gotten it right.

So, at lunch, you found a table in the far corner, nobody around for what seemed like miles. This is as good a spot as any, you thought as you settled in.

You were partway through your cheese sandwich when you suddenly heard a deep voice say, “This seat taken?”

You looked up to find… a boy. He was short - not much taller than you were - but he had a lean yet muscular build and kind eyes.

“I don’t suppose so,” you muttered quietly.

The boy sat across the table from you. “I don’t recognize you,” he said. “Are you new?”

You nodded.

“Ah! Okay. Well, my name is Changbin, Seo Changbin?”

“(y/n),” you replied. “You’re the first person all day that’s actually said more than five words to me. And those five words have usually been get out of my way.”

Changbin scoffed. “That’s terrible. Look, some of these people can be real jerks, I-”

“Hey, Changbin! What’re you doing talking to that loser?”

The voice belonged to a boy who was in your social studies class, one who’d shoved you out of the way in the hallway to get to the lunchroom first.

“She’s not a loser, she’s just new. And she seems really nice. So if you can’t be nice to her, just go sit down.”

The boy rolled his eyes as he walked away.

“Thank you,” you said shyly.

“No problem.” Changbin flashed you a lopsided grin; you couldn’t help giggling in response.

“I have a really hard time making friends,” you admitted. “And my family moves around for my dad’s job, that doesn’t help.”

“Well, I am honored to be your friend. I mean, if you’ll let me.”

You smiled warmly at him. “Of course.”

The two of you were thick as thieves after that. It wasn’t long before you were over at each others’ houses all the time - it got to the point where your mom was picking up Changbin’s favorites at the store - and texting each other constantly. You didn’t let a day go by without at least texting each other once.

Even when you graduated from high school and went your separate ways - you went off to college, studying communications and mass marketing; he auditioned for a new K-Pop group that was forming - you made sure to talk every day.

You were there for each other when times were good - when you got accepted to your dream school, when Changbin was selected for Stray Kids. And when times were bad - Changbin was really down when Minho was eliminated, you’d had to have knee surgery right after you graduated college, and let’s not forget every failed girlfriend he’d had and every failed boyfriend you’d racked up.

He helped you find your job, too. You were six months out of college and still hadn’t found a job yet.

“I’m starting to think I majored in the wrong thing,” you lamented to Changbin over coffee one afternoon. “I loved my studies, but I just can’t seem to land even an interview. I thought communications was a growing industry, but…”

“I’m so sorry,” Changbin replied. “Let me see what I can do.”

“What you can do?” you echoed. “What can you do?”

“Give me a week,” he assured you. Shrugging, you turned back to your coffee.

“My mom wants me to join a temp agency,” you said. “If you can’t find something for me by this time next week, I’m going to.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Two days later, you’d gotten a call from an administrative assistant at JYPE. Your resume came across their desk, see, and looking over your credentials they thought you’d be perfect for a job that just opened up. Well, have you ever heard of the new group, Stray Kids? You’d be their assistant, pretty much. JYPE would book appearances and organize tours; you would be responsible for booking flights and hotels and meal reservations and whatnot. You would also live in the dorm with them - you’d get your own room, of course, far away from the rest of the guys (they’re all nice but Chan snores, a lot of them are talkers and Minho curses in his sleep). You might be asked to do a little light housekeeping, maybe cook on occas-

“I’ll take it!” you exclaimed.

The assistant laughed. “You don’t even know how much we’re paying you.”

“Don’t care,” you replied. “I’ve been jobless for half a year, and I have student loans. I’ll take it.”

Later that afternoon, you were enjoying a cup of coffee at your favorite shop, looking over the email from JYPE detailing your contract.

“This seat taken?”

“Seo Changbin! You did it, you son of a bitch.”

“Did what?” Changbin sat across from you and took a sip of his coffee, thoroughly confused.

You chuckled. “JYPE called me today. I’m going to be Stray Kids’ official assistant. I’ll be booking flights and hotels for appearances and the tour, I’ll be living with you guys and-”

“What!” Changbin rose from his seat and ran around to your side of the table, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. “That’s amazing! I thought they’d just get you a job in the office or answering fanmail or something, I wasn’t expecting that!” He pressed a quick kiss to the top of your head. “Okay, um. Fair bit of warning about the guys’ sleeping habits, uh-”

“They told me about a couple. Uh… Chan snores and Minho swears in his sleep.”

“Hyunjin and Jisung talk in their sleep,” Changbin added. “Felix always has to be hugging someone or something. Seungmin always, just, screams right as he falls asleep. Jeongin’s a sleepwalker, that’s super fun. We had to put like four locks on the door, we lock every other one because he just goes down the line and thinks he’s unlocking all of them. And-”

“You talk in your sleep too,” you finished. “Most of the time you’re looking for something or you’re lost, but I have definitely heard you do it.”

Changbin looked slightly wounded. “I was going to say I don’t think I do anything, but… okay, I guess.”

You laughed. “Hey, um, thanks. For helping me out. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem.” He squeezed your shoulder again before sliding out of the booth.

Some people who fall hopelessly in love with their best friend will tell you they can’t pinpoint the exact reason why they fell in love.

You can, though.

It was a year after you first moved into the dorm… and it was all Lee Minho’s fault.

You were going through the bedrooms, gathering up laundry.

“Just once,” you muttered to yourself, “if these morons could get their underpants in the vicinity of the hamper, I’d be happy.”

“They’re not mine.”

You jumped, nearly bonking the top of your head on the top bunk of one of the beds. “Damn it, Minho, you scared the crap out of me.”

Minho chuckled quietly. “Sorry. How’s it going?”

“Peachy. I’m so glad I went to college so I could clean up after a bunch of overgrown children.”

“Oh, come on. We’re not that bad, are we?”

You laughed. “No. I’m just… I guess I’m grouchy today, that’s all. Didn’t sleep well last night. I actually really do like this job, I’m grateful that Changbin helped me get it.”

Minho nodded slightly. “He's going out again tonight?”

“Yep. This girl he met at the grocery store, Ha-Rin? That might be right, I’m not sure. I can’t keep track anymore.”

“Wow,” Minho said. “He’s been really unlucky in the girls department lately, hasn’t he?”

“He really has, I don’t get it.”

“Do you think… do you think they’re jealous of you?”

You shrugged. “It’s possible. I’m a girl who lives with him and has been friends with him for years. Plus I am a snack.” You made a passing motion over your body. “Who wouldn’t be jealous of this?”

Minho laughed loudly. “I might be out of line here, and feel free to punch me for it, but… but do you ever get jealous of them?”

You wrinkled your nose in confusion. “What?”

“I mean, you guys have been friends since you were sixteen. You’ve never wondered what it was like to date him?”

You scoffed. “No! Absolutely not. He’s my best friend, that would be so weird. Like dating my brother or something, gross.”

Minho laughed again, raising his hands in a sort-of defensive gesture. “Okay! Sorry I brought it up.”

But that night, you had a weird dream. You were at your senior prom (in real life, you and Changbin had skipped it to have a Marvel movie marathon). You were wearing a beautiful royal blue dress, with sequins - not too many, just enough to make it classy.

You were slow dancing with… someone. You couldn’t tell who. It was dark, and your arms were wrapped around their neck, your head nestled on their shoulder; their arms were wrapped firmly around your waist.

“Close your eyes,” a soft, yet vaguely familiar voice whispered.

You did; the person holding you unwrapped one arm from your waist, tipped your chin up, and gently pressed their lips to yours. You quickly melted into the kiss, pressing yourself closer to them as the kiss deepened slightly.

The other person pulled away slowly; you opened your eyes…

...and found yourself staring at none other than Changbin.

You sat up with a start, and you were a side sleeper, so you nearly fell out of bed.

“God damn you, Minho,” you muttered as you pulled the blanket over your head. “I can’t tell him. I can never tell him. I don’t want to lose his friendship.”

So you made two solemn vows: You vowed to punch Lee Minho in the face the next time you saw him, and you vowed never to tell Changbin how you felt about him.

You settled for giving Minho a dirty look over breakfast the next morning. As for the other thing, well...

Every time Changbin had a new girlfriend, your heart dropped ever-so-slightly in your chest. And always twice: Once, when he’d first start dating her; and once, when she broke up with him.

It was practically identical every single time: He would meet a girl. He would rush into the living room, a big smile plastered on his face, and exclaim: “I met the most amazing girl!” He would list off her qualities - pretty, smart, funny, ordered the same obscure thing from the Thai place that he liked, etc. They’d start dating. He’d come home after their third date and proclaim: “I think she might be The One, y’know? She’s - oh, wipe that look off your face, Lee Minho; I mean it this time.” Things would go really well for a brief amount of time. The longest was five months; the shortest, two weeks.

And when it inevitably went south, that was practically identical every single time as well. He’d trudge through the door, kick off his shoes, slump down on the couch, and say: “Okay, Minho, you can say I told you so now.”

Minho would always refrain, to his credit, except for when Changbin and Ha-Rin (the grocery store girl) broke up; he did not like Ha-Rin. That was a really long story. But let’s just say if cats think you’re evil, so will Minho; and his cats absolutely hated Ha-Rin. (Especially Dori, and Dori loves everybody.)

Anyway, after giving Minho the chance to gloat (which, as previously mentioned, he only did once), Changbin would give you a Look™ and you would follow him into your room. The other guys knew not to bother you in there, so it was a safe place. He’d slump down onto the bed and smile sadly at you while patting the space next to him.

“This seat taken?” you’d ask, mimicking one of his favorite lines. He would shake his head ever-so-slightly. And you’d sit, and open your arms, and he’d fall into them, sobbing all the while.

Sometimes, he would tell you why they broke up with him. They were all terrible reasons, too: Just wanted to see what it was like to date an Idol. Wanted to make their ex jealous. Needed a date to this work/school/family thing. Just trying to get closer to Chan (twice), Hyunjin (four times), Jeongin (three times), Minho’s cats (once; that girl was weird). In at least one case, it was because of you. (That was why he and Ha-Rin broke up; he never told you that was why, but she did. Seems she made him choose between her or being friends with you and he picked you. Of course, you’d never tell him you knew.)

And every single time, your heart shattered right along with his, because you knew that you would never do this to him. So why didn’t he know that?

Those feelings only solidified the night you got dumped.

You had been dating Daeshim for roughly eight months or so. You’d met at the grocery store, and were immediately drawn to him. In hindsight, you admittedly pulled a Changbin: You fell for him, hard and fast. The two of you were practically inseparable. You’d kissed on the third date, he said “I love you” after a month, you were already making plans for you future house (try to find something within a few miles of the dorms), your wedding (he didn’t bat an eye when you said that instead of bridesmaids, you wanted your eight roommates to stand up with you), even your kids’ names (Nabi for a girl, Yu-jun for a boy). He not only wasn’t jealous of the fact that you lived with eight men, he embraced it. “They were here before I was,” he’d said, “so why would that bother me?”

Daeshim was your person.

Until… he wasn’t.

The guys were all at the studio, practicing choreography for their upcoming music video, so you were home alone. Perfect environment for wallowing.

You were on the couch, curled up in a giant blanket, sobbing so hard that at one point you were afraid you’d cry your brain right out of your nose. You were a hot mess - your hair was disheveled, your eyes and nose were red and puffy, your face was wet with tears and sweat and God knows what else. You did not look cute.

And, naturally, that was the moment Changbin came home.

“Oh, no, hey,” he said softly. “Did something happen with you and Daeshim?”

You nodded hastily.

“Want me to make the other guys go away for a bit?”

You shook your head. “They’re okay.”

“Well… do you want to go to your room? We can talk there.”

You sniffled as you reached for the box of tissues. “Okay.”

Changbin helped you off the couch and gingerly led you to your room as the other guys came spilling into the living room. Felix started to ask what was going on, but Changbin just shook his head and silently mouthed I’ll tell you later.

Changbin carefully helped you onto the bed. Reversing the roles slightly, you smiled sadly at him and patted the seat next to you.

Changbin couldn’t help but smile a small smile as he said, “This seat taken?” You shook your head; he settled down next to you. “Okay, what’s going on?”

You opened your mouth to tell him what had happened, but a loud sob came out instead.

“It’s okay, you’re okay,” Changbin soothed as he wrapped his arms around you. “Take your time, tell me when you’re ready.”

You wrapped your arms around his waist, burying your head in his chest as a fresh wave of tears came. Changbin said nothing, just held you as you cried, occasionally rubbing soothing circles over your back.

Finally, you sat up and took a deep breath. “He cheated on me.”

Changbin raised an eyebrow. “He did what now?”

“I caught him,” you explained. “I went to the coffee shop down the street to get a drink and one of those croissants with the chocolate in the middle, you know? And I did a little work while I was there, too, figured it’d be nice to get out for a bit. Anyway, I walked out to come home and… and I saw them.”

“Oh, no.”

Just when you thought you had no tears left, an altogether new supply started welling up in your eyes. “He met someone at work,” you said. “They were put on a project together, they got to talking, one thing led to another. He says he loves me but he loved them too and he couldn’t choose. So… you know… I chose for him.”

“And this person still wants to date him?”

“Went back to the cafe to get my laptop charger, saw them kissing when I came back out.”

“Ugh. Wow, (y/n), I’m so sorry.”

You snorted as you tightened your grip around his waist, resting your head on his chest again. “Usually this is the other way around, I’m the one consoling you after a breakup. Must be nice for you to have the situation reversed for a switch.”

“Actually, it kills me to see you like this. You don’t deserve that, I mean nobody does, but especially you. You are amazing, you know that? You’re sweet, you’re one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, you’re completely hilarious. You’ve done two things that I thought were impossible, you can out-drink Jisung and you can out-weird Seungmin. And, do you even know how pretty you are? Daeshim fucked up, and royally at that. Any guy would be so lucky to have you.”

You couldn’t help but smile through your tears at his words. But, you knew they were just that: words. He didn’t really feel that way about you. He was just trying to make you feel better.

Or was he?

Nonetheless, he only liked you as a friend, as far as you knew, and he was just helping lift your spirits.

He was successful at that, but he was even more successful at making you fall even deeper in love with him. The feelings you thought you’d gotten rid of when you and Daeshim started dating not only resurfaced, but intensified.

You sighed deeply, finally allowing yourself to relax in Changbin’s arms. His grip was firm but not too tight, just enough to make you feel safe and protected. He didn’t say anything else, he just allowed you to relax; occasionally he’d give you a gentle squeeze. Before too long, you were dozing.

It was only slightly weird that it was one of the best nights of sleep you’d ever had.

You woke up late the next morning, alone, but there was a glass of juice and two muffins on the bedside table. Had to go to practice, the handwritten note under the glass read. Sorry I couldn’t be here to have breakfast with you, so I figured I’d at least feed you. They’re blueberry muffins, Felix baked them fresh this morning. Take the day off if you need to, I’ll explain everything if JYP asks. Please call if you need anything.

Love, Binnie

You smiled softly to yourself as you bit into one of the muffins. Changbin was so sweet, and wanted to make sure you were taken care of. Just like a good friend should.

You scoffed slightly. Friend. That was all he’d ever be. Better get used to it...

Not long after you and Daeshim broke up, Changbin started dating this girl he’d met… somewhere. You didn’t know. Or, honestly, care. But her name was Min Jee, and she was way different from the other girls he's dated. She was pretty for sure, but she was funny and sweet and everything Changbin had been looking for. (And Minho’s cats? Adored her.)

Plus, she didn’t seem to be threatened by you in the slightest, so that was a definite plus.

You tried so hard to be happy for them. You even went out for coffee with Min Jee a few times, just the two of you, while the guys were practicing. That whole funny and sweet thing was no act - she really was that nice and that hilarious. She was touched that you wanted to be your friend, and you could have been her best friend, except for the fact that you guys had one thing in common: You were both madly in love with her boyfriend.

Two months into their relationship, the dynamic changed.

“You’re home early,” you said as Changbin gently closed the door behind him. “I didn’t expect you back until later, how’s Min Jee?”

“We broke up.” Changbin hung his keys by the door and started into the kitchen.

You sighed. “Oh, Binnie, again? I am so sorry this keeps happening to you.”

Changbin shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. If it’s not meant to be, it’s not meant to be, you know?”

For some reason - to this day, you have no idea why - but for some reason, this was the moment you finally snapped.

“You know, you go out with a lot of girls,” you started. “You always fall for them really quickly, and really hard. And you always end up single again after a few weeks. And it - you know what, Changbin? It breaks my heart, it really does. I thought Min Jee was different, but looks like I was wrong, you know? It absolutely breaks my heart to see this happen to you over and over and over again, because you deserve so much better than that. You deserve someone that truly loves you for who you are, not just because you’re an idol. You deserve someone who cares about you, who’s there for you when things are rough, who just… who loves you with every fiber of her being. I can almost guarantee that there’s not a single girl out there who can be even a fraction of those things, who can even come close to loving you as much as I do.”

Changbin’s eyes grew wide as your rant came to a close. He just stared at you for a moment, jaw slack, not saying a word…

...and that was the moment when your brain realized what your mouth had done.

Oh, no.

You know that thing you were never ever ever EVER going to tell him? That thing you were going to take to the grave with you?

Yeah, you just realized your greatest fear: You opened your mouth, and out it went.

Look, brain, you said to yourself. You can beat me up in a minute, okay? For now, though…

“I have to get out of here,” you said. You turned around and ran out the door, not even bothering to pull it closed behind you. You ran out the front door of the dorms, down the street, to the park just at the end of the block. You didn’t stop running until you reached the small pond near the back of the park - not too many people knew about this pond. It was small and clean and had a bench off to one side of it, facing the water.

Changbin found it one day, not long after he’d moved into the dorms. It was the perfect place to go to catch a breath of fresh air. He brought you here not long after you’d moved in; the two of you came here often to talk about things you didn’t want the other guys to overhear.

You slumped down on the bench, buried your head in your hands, and started sobbing.

Do your worst, brain, you said. I deserve it.

Of course you do, moron. How could you say that? How could you tell him you love him? There is no possible way he loves you back, you know that, right? You’re probably responsible for him being dumped so many times anyway, they’re all jealous of you. Even Min Jee, she didn’t REALLY like you. She was pretending, for his sake. He just hasn’t figured that out yet. You know what you just did, right? You ruined any chance of a romantic relationship with him, and not only that you’ve completely ruined your friendship. You are such a…

“This seat taken?”

You didn’t answer, instead you kept sobbing quietly into your hands. You thought that maybe if you ignored him, didn’t acknowledge his presence, he’d just… go away.

Weight settling onto the other end of the short bench told you that he did not just go away.

You heard Changbin heave a deep sigh before he started speaking. “Min Jee didn’t break up with me. I broke up with her. Uh, it was the most insane thing that set it off, too. Um, she was telling me all about her day. She always tells me all about her day. And she was telling me about her day, like she always does, and I caught myself thinking: Wow, I really do not care about this even a little bit.” Changbin chuckled quietly to himself before continuing. “I didn’t want to hear about her day. You know whose day I really wanted to hear about? Yours. Min Jee and I were together for two months and I was already tired of hearing about her day. I’ve talked to you every day since we were 16, and I never get tired of hearing about yours. Not even after you started living with us, and I got to see you every day. And I got to thinking: I have dated a lot of girls. But I think about them, even the ones I thought I loved, and I realize something: not one of them would have my back when things would be bad. When my anxiety is too high, none of them would have helped. When I felt like I had a bad performance, they’d just shrug and talk about themselves. Sure, they were pretty, and funny, and smart. But none of them cared about me the same way you do. Not even Min Jee.”

You raised your head, gently wiping your nose. “What are you trying to say, Changbin?”

Changbin gently grasped one of your hands in both of his. “I’m trying to say… I’m definitely saying that I love you too.”

Another tear slipped out of your eye as you stared at him. You tried to wrap your head around the ridiculousness of this situation:

Seo Changbin, the boy you loved and was sure did not love you back, just told you he loved you back.

Take THAT, brain.

“Um… really?” was all you could manage.

Changbin smiled softly at you; your heart fluttered in your chest. “Really. And you… you really love me?”

“Yes.” You were taken aback a bit by how quickly and effortlessly you answered the question.

Changbin’s grip on your hand tightened ever-so-slightly. “Can I kiss you?” he asked, almost shyly.

“I’d really like that.”

He let go of your hand and cupped your cheeks in his hands, carefully wiping your tears away with the pads of his thumbs. He leaned in, licking his lips slightly before pressing them to yours.

You had dreamed of kissing him before. But even your dreams couldn’t have prepared you for the real thing, how wonderful and warm and sweet it was.

His lips were smooth and dry against yours; they parted slightly as one of his hands moved down to your waist. His other hand stayed cupped against your cheek, thumb lightly brushing your cheekbone. As the kiss deepened, you could feel him pour every emotion he’d been repressing - love, mostly, but also a sense of tenderness and longing - into it.

Changbin broke the kiss, pulling back from you; he was smiling softly and looking at you as if you were the only other person on Earth.

Not even Daeshim had looked at you like that.

“Uh… wow,” you breathed.

“Yeah,” he replied, “wow.”

You smiled back at him, resting a hand on his knee, and you leaned in to kiss him again when a sudden stiff breeze rustled through the surrounding trees. You shivered involuntarily.

“Cold?” he asked.

You nodded. “Can we go home?”

“Sure.” He stood first, gently pulling you to a standing position. You walked back to the dorms, hand-in-hand; before you left the park, he asked: “So, how was your day?”

You grinned as you told him all about your day. And he was smiling the entire time.

When the two of you got back to the dorms, it sure looked like you were alone. Changbin settled down on the couch; smiling up at you, he patted his lap.

“This seat taken?” you asked, a goofy grin plastered on his face. Changbin just raised an eyebrow as he grabbed you around the waist, pulling you into his lap. He lightly tickled your sides as you laughed, trying to settle into his lap but squirming instead.

“Okay, okay, I’ll be nice,” he said, gently kissing your cheek. “I’m so glad I finally get to hold you this way.”

“Me too.”

“You really weren’t going to say anything?”

“Were you?”

“Fair point, I guess… didn’t want to mess up the friendship either, huh?”

“You are correct, sir.”

A short pause, then: “Only one of them broke up with me because of you, you know.”

“Ha-Rin, yeah. She told me. That was totally unfair of her to make you choose.”

“She told you? She swore me to secrecy and then she told you?”

“Wanted to make me feel guilty, I suppose.” You shrugged. “Didn’t work, I hated her guts. I was never happy to see you get dumped, except when Ha-Rin dumped you.”

“Yeah, that was the only time Minho said I told you so, too.” Changbin chuckled, shaking his head. “You know what, though? None of that matters anymore, now that I’ve got you.”

You hummed happily, leaning back slightly in his arms. “You’re right. But I am dying to know what that one girl was thinking.”

“Which one?”

“Dating you to get closer to the cats?”

Changbin laughed. “Some things, you just never find out.” He nuzzled the side of your neck. “I love you, you know.”

“I love you too, Binnie.” You turned your head, letting his lips connect with yours. Just as the kiss was starting to deepen, you heard the unmistakable sound of someone clearing their throat.

You turned your head away… and there were Changbin’s seven band members, all arms crossed, staring down at you.

Changbin grinned sheepishly at them as you waved and said, “Hey, fellas.” Chan started to open his mouth, but you cut him off. “Since I know you guys, and I’m reasonably sure you guys had money riding on this situation, I’ll just settle the main bet and the prop bets. I told him first, extremely by accident but it was me. He broke up with Min Jee because he felt the same way, but that happened before I told him, not because of it. He kissed me first, and… that should settle it, right?”

“Pay up, suckers.” Jeongin held out a hand as the other guys groaned and reached for their wallets.

“How did you know he was going to break it off with Min Jee but (y/n) would be the one to say it first?!” Jisung grumbled.

“I didn’t, I just guessed.” Jeongin shrugged. “Your money, sir?”

“Go buy yourself something nice,” Jisung said. “Anyway, now that that’s out of the way…I’m really happy for you guys, I really am. Even if you did cost me 20,000 won.”

The rest of the guys nodded in agreement, a few offering their congratulations.

“Look, we’ll leave you two kids alone, if that’s what you want?” Chan said, almost awkwardly.

“Nah, you guys have the living room.” You climbed out of Changbin’s lap, offering him your hand; he took it and you helped him stand. “We’ll just go make out in my room.”

Changbin laughed as you led him down the hallway. “Awfully presumptuous, aren’t we?”

“Look, I know what I want.” You pulled your door shut behind you. “And right now, I want to kiss you.”

Changbin smiled as you sat down on your bed. “This seat taken?”

“Just get down here.” You pulled the front of his shirt; he fell onto the bed, hovering over you.

“God, you’re amazing.” He leaned down, closing the gap between your mouths.

You cannot believe you were just never going to tell him how you felt. But now, as his hand slid up to your stomach, you are more than happy you did.

Was that a cliche? Of course it was. But a cliche was making you blissfully happy, so you didn’t seem to mind it so much.

#stray kids #stray kids fanfiction #seo changbin #seo changbin fanfiction #changbin fanfic #changbin #i think i can squeeze eight more tags in here

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thadelightfulone · 4 years ago

Text

All I Want... 25 Days of Christmas Challenge, Day 22

December 25th - Part 1

Erik was at DeeDee’s house waiting for her to finish getting ready. He was relaxing on the couch when his phone rang. He went out to her patio to take the call.

“Merry Christmas man! What’s up?”

“Merry Christmas E! Reena and I wanted to know what you were doing today? You are more than welcome to spend the day with us and the kids.”

“Thanks Quis. You know I would but I already have plans for the day.”

“Take out does not count, E. I know how you are about today. And I don’t want to see you holed up in your hotel room while everyone is with family.”

“Quis! Relax.” He heard noise and turned back towards the apartment. “I promise you, I’m not alone.”

“Who could you possibly - nevermind.”

Erik could hear another voice and some noise in the background.

“Get back woman. He doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“Put it on speakerphone, Marquis. NOW!”

“Fine.”

Erik heard the click and started to laugh.

“Hello Erik and Merry Christmas.” Serena’s voice came through.

“Good morning. And Merry Christmas to you too, Serena.”

“So, who are you spending the day with?”

“Don’t answer that.” Marquis’ yelled. “Ouch, woman. That hurt.”

“Answer the question, Erik.”

Erik laughed and smiled as DeeDee walked outside to him.

“E, what are you doing outside?”

He pointed to the phone.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” She whispered to him, “I’m ready when you are.”

She turned to walk inside and Erik grabbed her hand, pulling her to him.

“You aren’t interrupting anything. Quis and Reena are on the phone arguing about us.”

“About us? What do you mean?”

He pointed to the phone and put it on speaker.

“I told you he was gonna be with her. Pay me my money.”

“Reena, you bet on that?” DeeDee looked at the phone.

“Oh, hey DeeDee girl. I mean I just had a hunch.”

They all heard a loud thump.

“Quis, just get me my money and stop playing.” Serena’s voice sounded far away. “Look, I gotta finish cooking but you two have a wonderful day together.”

“Erik, be careful. She got a family full of women.”

“I think I’ll be ok.”

“We’ll talk to you later. We gotta get over to Ma Dear’s. Merry Christmas Oubres.”

“Merry Christmas DeeDee.”

Erik hung up the phone, leaned against the wall and pulled DeeDee towards him.

“So, what am I truly getting myself into today?”

“You wanna ask that now?” DeeDee crossed her arms over her chest. “After what Quis said?”

“I don’t care as long as I am with you.” Erik held her in his arms.

“Oh, they are going to eat you alive.” DeeDee fixed the collar to his shirt, “We could always order in and chill here.”

“Nope. Since you told me you weren’t cooking me a home-cooked meal.” Erik walked forward and backed DeeDee inside. “I gotta get that from somewhere before I leave.”

“I did say that, didn’t I?” She went and grabbed her coat and purse, “Well, then let me not keep you from eating good.”

He walked into the kitchen and grabbed the trays of food.

She shrugged, “I figured all you wanted was pie.”

Erik sighed and rubbed his temples, “You do not play fair, Miss DeeDee.”

“Fair? Don’t know the word.” She tugged at his arm, “Let’s go.”

---

The drive over to the house was comfortably quiet. Erik observed the scenery as he drove past the big trees lining the one-way streets and highways. He looked at some of the large one-story ranch homes as they entered the residential side of town.

Erik held DeeDee’s hand as she softly dozed in the passenger seat. They were bringing some of the desserts for today. And DeeDee told him store-bought was not an option. They spent last night making apple, pecan, and sweet potato pies from scratch. He had fun and he knew it had everything to do with the woman next to him.

He brought her hand to his lips for a kiss when he noticed a family outside in the cool winter morning. Some older women were sitting on the porch and watched the men of the family play catch or touch football in the front yard. A young mother stood at the top of the steps holding a baby and some little girls were running around with dolls in their hands.

Erik smiled at the scene. He was his parents’ only child but he always wanted a big family, especially during the holidays. And even though he had his father’s family, they didn’t do holidays like this, not like he grew up with. But his DeeDee already had all of that down here.

He couldn’t believe how intertwined their lives were and they only officially met a month ago. There was definitely something to what Miss Carrie told him last week, but he knew he was not the man that he is today. No telling what could have happened between them had they met before he was ready for her.

“Erik.” DeeDee’s sleepy voice drew him out of his thoughts.

“Yeah.”

“You’re about to pass the house.”

DeeDee pointed towards the house he was just admiring.

“That’s Ma Dear’s house?”

“Yeah, she’s about 2 streets over from Mama.”

“My bad, I was on autopilot to Miss Carrie’s.”

DeeDee laughed, “Yeah, I know.”

Erik pulled over and parked. They got out and moved to get the pies from the back seat. DeeDee tapped his arm from her side.

“Marquis didn’t lie. The women run my family. But you should know that since you know Mama.”

“Awww, are you worried about me, Miss DeeDee?”

“You? No. Me? Yeah.”

“Hey. Come here.”

DeeDee pushed the tray over to his side, closed the door on her side and walked over to the driver’s side with Erik.

“What’s up?”

“A lot and nothing.”

Erik lifted her chin.

“I don’t bring guests.”

“Just desserts?”

“They know who taught me. So, it’s a safe bet.”

“You say the word and we can go.”

DeeDee sighed, “Yeah.”

“I mean it. Deal?”

“Okay.” She looked at him, “Did I mention that most of my cousins are single?”

“What’s that got to do with me? There’s only one woman’s attention I want.”

DeeDee smiled and nodded.

“And that’s Miss Carrie.” Erik laughed and caught DeeDee’s hand when she tried to hit him. “Aht, aht, aht. I already have yours.”

“Maybe.” DeeDee laughed at his facial expression.

“Wow, ok.” He picked up the pies and grabbed her hand. “You ready?”

She looked down at their hands, “Yup.”

---

“Is that little DeeDee? And with a man?” The man with the football called out, “Ma, you gotta see this!”

“Junior, why you yelling at me?” One of the women on the porch stood up, “I see her. Go sit down somewhere.” She shooed him away.

Erik and DeeDee came up the walkway and were approached by various members of the family. Erik squeezed her hand and DeeDee put a smile on her face.

“Hey babies.” Miss Carrie pushed her way through the crowd, “Don’t worry about them. Come on inside and put them pies down.”

“Oooh, DeeDee made the pies again?”

“There is a god.”

DeeDee shook her head and waved to her cousins.

They followed Miss Carrie into the house and the kitchen. Erik handed the pies over to a woman who looked like she could be DeeDee’s older sister. Same bright eyes, height, and smile, only her hair was streaked with white. She set the pies on the countertop and turned down the music.

Then she walked over and gave DeeDee a hug. “DeeDee, you gonna introduce us to your friend?” She sat down at the table and pulled a bowl of beans towards her.

“Ma, this is Erik.” DeeDee looked at him. “Erik, this is my mom, Gloria.”

“Call me Glory, everyone else does.”

“You already know Mama.”

Erik stepped over and gave Miss Carrie a hug. He looked at the table and saw two more women who shared the family resemblance.

“At the table with mom are my aunts, Randi and Kayla. They are her sisters.”

DeeDee’s aunts nodded to Erik and continued with their work. DeeDee reached up into the cabinets and got out two glasses. She tapped Erik and gave him one, then walked over to the counter near the sink. Erik followed her as she got some sweet tea for herself.

“DeeDee, make sure he stays with the boys. You know them sorry daughters of mine.”

“Aunt Kay!”

“Aunt Kay, nothing.” She picked up her glass of lemonade. “If they don’t bring someone, they searching and you know this.”

“Don’t want to see you crying like Crystal was year before last when -” Randi tapped the table with a knife, “that Gregory boy was snatched up by one of them. I don’t understand why ya’ll don’t wait until you married to bring ya men around.”

“DeeDee, if one of them try you. I give you permission to snatch her bald.” Kayla continued.

Erik filled his glass with tea and lemonade. He leaned against the counter and took a sip while the ladies talked.

“Oh, I don’t think it will come to that. And my mama taught me better than that.”

“What I say? Cuz I am with them on this one. Don’t let them heffas try you over him.” Gloria looked at Erik, “Especially when he seems to be the type worth fighting for.”

“I know that’s right,” Kayla spoke up.

“Are you Mr. Erik?” Randi asked.

“Ma’am?”

“Worth fighting for?” Randi repeated.

“I believe I am.”

All the women nodded and Miss Carrie smiled from her corner.

“We’ll see about that.” Gloria mumbled.

“Let’s go. Time to introduce you to the boys.” DeeDee dragged Erik out of the kitchen.

They walked outside with their drinks and DeeDee leaned on the railing.

“Are they playing a real game of touch or just passing the ball back and forth?”

“You would have to ask them. I never pay them any attention when they’re outside.”

The two oldest men looked over at them. He had the ball and ran over to Erik and DeeDee. The rest followed.

“Aye DeeDee. How you been girl?”

“I’m fine Uncle AJ. And you?”

“You know I’m good.” He pointed the ball at Erik, “Whose your little friend?”

“Everybody, this is Erik.” She looked to him, “Erik, the two older gentlemen are my uncles, AJ and Rob. And the other two knuckleheads are my cousins, Junior and Darrick.”

“We’re Ma Dear’s boys. Have you met her yet?” Rob said.

“Not yet. I only know Miss Carrie.”

“Of course, he knows Mama.” Darrick spoke up, “You one of them Southern boys she be feeding at her restaurant?”

“Not anymore, but I used to be.”

“You play?” AJ held up the ball.

“Yeah, I do.” Erik sipped his drink.

“Good, we just messing around now. But we will have a game of touch later.”

“Just let me know when I’m down.”

DeeDee turned around and saw Ma Dear headed over to her chair. She pulled Erik in that direction.

“Hey Ma Dear.” DeeDee called out.

The older woman stopped and turned around to face them. DeeDee walked over and gave her a hug.

“Hey baby.” She looked at her, “You look good.” Ma Dear looked over at Erik, “And who is this fine young man you brought home?”

“This is Erik, ma’am.”

He leaned forward and gave her a hug. “It’s nice to meet you, ma’am.”

“Carrie!” Ma Dear yelled out.

“Yeah Etta?” She could be heard from inside the house through the front screen.

“Is this that boy you were talking about?”

DeeDee dropped her head, “Seriously?”

Erik coughed to cover his laugh. Then Miss Carrie burst through the front door and looked over at them.

“Oh yeah, that’s him.”

“Hmmm. Well, she looks happy so I can’t complain.” Ma Dear sat down in her rocking chair, “Don’t ever let her smile drop son.”

“Yes ma’am,” He looked at DeeDee. “I don’t intend to.”

---

Everyone was scattered around the house after eating during the first round of food and taking the first of many naps. The second and third turkeys were finally done and the uncles brought the rest of the meat in off the grill. All the food was done for whoever arrived or was ready for their next plate.

DeeDee and Erik were sitting on the porch swing. Her legs were on his lap and she leaned back with her arms laid across her body. Before long, she was asleep again. Erik took out his phone and snapped a few shots of her.

“Uh huh.” A voice came from the screen door before it opened.

Erik looked over and saw Ma Dear as she walked out of the house. She sat down in her chair right next to him.

“Ma’am.”

“Does she know?”

“About?”

“You helping Carrie?”

“No ma’am.”

“Good. And the other thing?”

“What other thing?”

“That you love her?”

“No ma’am.”

“Don’t wait too long.”

“I actually plan to tell her -”

“Ma Dear! How are you?” A loud voice bounced up the steps.

DeeDee stirred on the swing and lost her balance, but Erik caught her before she fell. He looked up to see her friend from the other day.

The young woman looked at him, “Erik, right. What are you doing here?”

“Phylly Phyll, what are you doing here?” DeeDee asked mid-yawn.

DeeDee moved her legs off of him and sat up straight.

“Bev invited me like she does every year.”

“And you finally came.” DeeDee said under her breath. “How nice. Where is she anyway?” She spoke up.

“Over there with Brandon. They are getting stuff out of the car.”

DeeDee tensed up at the mention of his name.

“Bev is your other friend who I met on Friday, right?” Erik directed his question to DeeDee.

“Yeah. She’s also my cousin.”

“Let me go help them out. I’ll be back.” Erik tapped DeeDee’s leg and left the porch.

“Why would you bring him here?” DeeDee yelled at Phyllis.

“Because he wanted to see you, duh.” Phyllis rolled her eyes, “How was I supposed to know you were bringing Mr. Note here for Christmas? Shouldn’t he be home with his folks anyway?”

“Little girl, you better not start no mess this year.” Ma Dear called out, “I will have my great-grands toss your fast ass right on out my house.”

DeeDee stood up when Ma Dear got up and helped her inside.

“I don’t understand why ya’ll keep her around?” Ma Dear mumbled as DeeDee closed the door behind her. “Ain’t that much friendship in the world.”

DeeDee turned around and faced Phyllis.

“Keep him away from me. I mean it Phyll.”

“I have no control over a grown ass man.” Phyllis shrugged.

“WOW! Phyll.” DeeDee turned and stormed inside the house, slamming the screen door behind her.

---

Erik ran over to Beverly and Brandon down the street.

“Bev?”

She turned around to see who called her name. Brandon stopped what he was doing to find out also.

“Oh, Erik. Hey, did DeeDee send you over here?”

“No, Phyllis mentioned you were out here with stuff to bring to the house. Figured I could help.”

“Thanks man. But we got it handled.” Brandon responded.

Erik looked him up and down. Brandon did not look a day over 16, but he recognized the smug look on his face. Fuckery was afoot and Erik was ready to play.

“You sure about that?” Erik watched him struggle with some cases of water, “Let me get that for you.”

Erik took the case from Brandon, lifted it up and onto his shoulder. He picked up the other case from the trunk, put it on his other side and walked back to the house.

Taglist: @teakturn @ghostfacekill-monger @shaekingshitup @nahimjustfeelingit-writes @woahitslucyylu @ladymac82 @bugngiz @eyeknowmywrites @ajspencer1892 @arafatih @issimplyaamazinggg @tchallasbabymama @killmonger-fics @beautifullmelodyxx @raysunshine78 @fd-writes @ljstraightnochaser @just-peachee @kaleidoscopeofsoul @sincerelykas

#25 days of christmas challenge #erik killmonger x oc #black panther fanfiction #bp christmas #all i want #thadelightfulone

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one-leaf-grimoire · 4 years ago

Text

"the knight who pierced the king's heart"

Chapter 2

Hey! yes, I'm actually continuing this medieval AU story!!! Please let me know if you like it so far~ Thanks for reading!

Warnings: alcohol use/drunkeness

Ao3 link

The jousting tournament was just one part of a three-day event, one that pitted all the squads of knights against each other in various forms of combat. Jousting, archery, and dueling are the three pillars of strength for a knight, so those were the three events.

"Congratulations, Fuegoleon. Your squad won 2 of the 3 events!"

"Thank you, your majesty-" Fuegoleon bowed his head politely to Julius. The next day after Lisa’s jousting win, Sei went on to win the dueling competition for the Crimson Lions, and now all the captains were attending a royal lunch in the castle as a celebration. “My squad has exceeded my expectations this year… especially Lisa.” Fuegoleon took a sip of his drink, so he did not notice the multitude of expressions that crossed the king’s face at the mention of the woman. “Although, I had to give her a stern talking to… she joined the tournament against my wishes, and even though she won, she got herself badly hurt.”

“Oh… is it that bad?” Julius frowned a bit, his heart pounding.

“She’ll be in that cast for a month. Strict bedrest.” Fuegoleon let out a sigh. “The squad is holding a celebration tonight, which she probably won’t be able to join.”

Celebration? Julius thought, glancing around the banquet hall. Nobles and Captains alike were standing around a little awkwardly. All of the royal events ended up like this, stiff and boring. Augustus invited me to dinner tonight… but maybe I should skip…

The event ended, and Julius was alone in his room, begrudgingly getting dressed for the dinner party. He buttoned up his shirt and stared at himself in the mirror. He knew it would be just like all the other parties, with Augustus gloating about something or other, and everyone there bored out of their minds. Plus, the Kira family didn’t even really like the Novachrono family, and just wanted to rub in that their house was more prestigious or dominant. It would be unpleasant all around.

I really don’t want to do this anymore… I wish I was still a knight. I wish I could go to the Crimson Lion party… and I wish I could get to know that girl better…

His gaze flickered down to his crown before going back to his face. With the crown on, he looked so regal… but that wasn’t him. He liked the face he saw now better.

… or… to hell with all that. I’m the King! I should be able to do whatever I want!

Without another thought, Julius quickly changed clothes, into something more casual. He wrapped a bandana around his head, covering up the birthmark that had been passed down through his family. Finally, he was ready to go, and without telling anyone his plan, he dashed out of the castle and made his way through the town unnoticed.

Meanwhile….

“SEI! What on earth is going on here?! And-” Fuegoleon’s eyes widened when he saw who was standing with his husband. “Lisa?! You should be in bed!”

Lisa and Sei turned to look at their captain, both standing by a large wagon that had just pulled up outside their squad’s headquarters. “Look, Captain! We’re going to eat well tonight!” Lisa pointed at the wagon with her good arm, and Fuegoleon saw that it was laden with every type of food imaginable. “And alcohol too!!!!”

“WHAT?! But-” Fuegoleon frowned, unsure of what to make of this. “I said we were going to just use the food in our storeroom, why did we need more?!”

“I used my authority as Vice Captain to buy more,” Sei answered, his lips twitching as he suppressed a smile. “We won two of the events, and that makes us the champions, so we deserve it.” He turned to the man who delivered the wagon, pulling out money. “Here, this should cover it.”

“THAT’s MY WALLET!”

“What’s mine is yours, remember?”

Despite Fuegoleon’s protests, all the food made it inside. “HOORAY! Thank you, Captain!!” the other knights cheered, already geared up for a long night of celebration. Their friends and family were invited too, so the room was packed, but also packed with joy and celebration.

“I suppose this is fine… we deserve to let loose after all that hard work.” Fuegoleon smiled to himself as Sei handed him a drink. “However… Lisa, don’t stay up too late, I don’t want your arm to get worse.”

“You’re not my dad!”

Lisa was already a little tipsy, waving around her mug with her good arm while the other rested in her cast. “Someone get me more!!! I won this tournament for you guys after all!” The people around her laughed, and she couldn’t help but laugh with them. Wow… she thought to herself, a little dazed but feeling great. A year ago, I could never have imagined that people would be cheering for me… or that I would have so many friends! Two of her comrades had their arms slung around her shoulders. I’m so glad I finally listened to my father’s advice… even if it was too late for him to see it himself. Her gaze moved up to one of the higher windows, where she could see the starry night. But, I’m here now… I’m sure the future will be even more exciting!

It wasn’t long before Lisa was in need of another refill, but this time she stood up to get it herself. Her knees were feeling pretty weak by now as she weaved her way through the crowd. Her broken arm was throbbing a little, but she ignored it as she clumsily poured herself another drink. Smiling to herself, she turned around to go back to her seat, but ran right into someone. “Ah!”

“Oh, are you alright?!”

Julius turned around to see none other than Lisa standing there, staring sadly at her now-empty cup which spilled on impact. His stomach immediately did a somersault. Ah! It’s her- ok, ok, stay calm- he gulped nervously before cracking a smile. “I’m very sorry-”

“It’s alright.” Lisa looked back up at his face, her eyes immediately narrowing. Uh oh, did she notice me? “My drink though-”

“Oh, I’ll get you another! Come on-”

Julius went to touch her shoulder and gently lead her back to the keg, but Lisa instinctually weaved her arm around his, holding it tightly in an effort to stay upright. Julius somehow managed to keep cool, ignoring how… close she felt as he walked off with her. So far so good… he thought to himself as he poured her another drink. No one’s recognized me so far, so the disguise is working! Even Fuegoleon didn’t notice me. And now Lisa’s here, right by me- She was pretty tipsy, but Julius was determined to talk to her longer. He wasn’t sure what he wanted out of this yet, but that’s why he had to “investigate.”

“Thank you.” Lisa took a long sip of her drink before looking back up at his face. That curious look appeared in her eyes again. “... have we met?”

Julius sucked in a breath, maintaining his easy smile. “N-No, I don’t believe so-”

“Huh-” Lisa cut him off, cocking her head to the side. It was… very cute. “I feel like I recog- hic- recognize you… hmm.” She shrugged before closing her eyes and grinning. “Maybe we were lovers in a past life or something!”

The smile combined with the sudden comment was enough to make Julius’s ears turn red. Lovers in a past life?! She’s so blunt- He managed to laugh it off, but his heart was pounding in his chest. So… does that mean she thinks I’m attractive? Or did she just say that for a laugh-

“Come on! I’m hungry!!!” Lisa suddenly grabbed his arm again and started dragging him away. Julius yelped, letting her lead him away. “The food is really good- and there’s a lot of it!”

Julius listened to her ramble on about it, smiling a little to himself. She was standing very close to him, her whole side pressed up against his arm, her hand balled up in the sleeve of his shirt. She has so much energy… I don’t know if I’ve ever met someone like her. Soon, they were sitting down again as Lisa ate.

“- and then- I knew they wouldn’t let me play anymore if they knew i had cracked my arm in half, so I just- hic- pretended I was fine! It was -hic- hard, but look where it got me!” She giggled to herself, chewing on the rest of her food. “Were you there? Did you see me?”

Julius nodded, resting his hand on his hands, propped up on the side of their table.

“I was there… and you were amazing.”

Lisa smiled again, and Julius swore he saw a blush on her cheeks.

However, the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood on end. Unnerved, Julius looked around the noisy hall. What was that? I feel like I’m being-

His eyes suddenly met someone else’s.

… watched…

Sei was staring dead straight at him. As soon as their gazes met, Sei didn’t look away. Instead, he frowned, recognition all over his face. Julius’s heart jumped into his throat, his blood running cold. Shit! Seiros recognized me-

After a moment of tension, Sei finally rolled his eyes and looked away, uninterested. Julius gulped before turning back to Lisa, his heart still pounding. Did he actually recognize me? Or am I just being paranoid-

“Oooh! Someone’s playing music-” Lisa suddenly jumped to her feet, her grip still on Julius’s arm. “Come on, handsome stranger, let’s dance!”

“H-Handsome stranger?!” Julius stuttered, caught completely off guard. “And- er- no one’s playing music-”

“So?”

Next thing he knew, Julius was on his feet, and Lisa had wrapped an arm around his middle. The man, for once in his life, had no idea how to react or what to say. All he could do was stand there, his face turning bright red.

“You… you’re warm…”

Lisa suddenly buried her face in his chest, letting out a soft, happy hum. Julius could feel it against his heart.

This… this is unexpected-

Julius didn’t know if he should be giddy or embarrassed, but it was hard for him to not descend into the former. There were many eyes upon the pair now that they were standing, and Julius started to get nervous about getting recognized. There were plenty of family members here that he managed to blend into, but now he was… exposed. He didn’t dare look Sei’s way but his attention snapped back to Lisa as she giggled drowsily and shifted her head so her cheek was squished against him.

“Warm…”

Her voice was weakening, and her eyes closed as she let her blissful haze take over.

Her knees wobbled, and Julius instinctively wrapped an arm around her to keep her upright. Lisa let out another happy sound. “Come on- I think you need to sit down-” Julius said, unsure of what he was supposed to do. Yikes, I didn’t expect any of this to happen- I’m glad she seems to like me, but she’s probably not going to remember any of this tomorrow. He started to inch back towards the table, wanting to sit down before people started to get suspicious or anything. Maybe I can try to see her some other time-

“LISA!”

Uh oh. Julius looked up just in time to see none other than Fuegoleon pushing his way through the crowd, a concerned look on his face. Julius quickly looked away just as Fuegoleon reached them. “Lisa! What on earth are you doing?! I told you to take care of yourself, and here you are dragging yourself all over this poor man! Do you have no shame-”

Lisa blinked her eyes back open, seeing a blurred image of Fuegoleon’s face. “H-Huh? Oh!” She giggled dumbly and pointed a finger into Julius’s chest. “This isn’t just a m-man- this is my boyfriend-”

BOYFRIEND?! Julius thought, feeling his stomach do another flip.

“BOYFRIEND?!” Fuegoleon barked, and to Julius’s displeasure, immediately looked right at him. Luckily, Julius’s disguise held up and Fuegoleon did not seem to notice that he was looking into the eyes of the same man he had spoken to at lunch. “Is this true?!”

“Er- no-” Julius stammered, his heart pounding with adrenaline. “I- uh- I’m just… I’m just here-”

“Well then-” Fuegoleon scowled before looking back down at Lisa. “You need to go to bed, before you fall over and break your other arm!”

Lisa stuck her tongue out at him. “You’re not my dad!”

“Come on- He has a point. You there, help me get her out of here-”

Julius felt Lisa shift in his arm, and looked down to see that none other than Sei had appeared to grab Lisa from the other side. He bit the inside of his mouth to keep from gasping out loud, but Sei didn’t seem to be any grumpier than usual.”O-Okay-”

“I’m sorry about this!” Fuego called after the trio as they hobbled off. “She’s usually better behaved than this! All the fame is going to her head!”

Lisa mumbled something incoherent as she stumbled along between the two of them. “I’m not even that drunk! I’m going to remember all this tomorrow-”

“Sure you are.” Sei hushed her, stealing a glance up at Julius, who was examining the floor ahead of them as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. He narrowed his eyes again before looking ahead as well. Before too long, he kicked open the door to her room and the two men got her inside. “Alright, get out of here-” Sei told Julius, starting to pull Lisa away. “I can do this myself.”

“Oh… okay.” Julius gulped before trying to stand back. However, it wasn’t so easy; Lisa’s grip tightened on his sleeve, and she let out a tired sound of protest.”

“No- don’t go- stay with me-”

“I can’t- come on-” Julius nervously reached up and started to pry away her fingers. Lisa looked like she was about to cry, and his heart felt like it was about to break. He had hoped to actually get to know her, and the night had been far too short. However… maybe this was the time for him to shoot his shot. “Well… I can come back tomorrow?”

Lisa’s eyes popped back open. “Really?”

Sei shot Julius a warning glance. Julius still wasn’t sure how much Sei knew about him, but he knew Sei was at the very least not about to trust him. However, he wasn’t about to give up. “How about lunch tomorrow? I’ll meet you here?”

Lisa nodded slowly, her grip finally loosening. Julius smiled and held onto her hand for just a moment longer. “Alright… goodnight.”

The skin on her hand was very… enticing. Julius wanted to lean down and place a kiss on it, something for her to remember him by until they next met. But Sei tugged once, and her hand slipped away.

“Come on, shoo-”

Before Julius knew it, the door slammed shut in his face, and he was alone once again in the hallway.

I… I did it… I’m going to see her tomorrow-

Before Sei came back out a couple seconds later, Julius was already gone, running away as fast as he could.

“...what happened to that weirdo?”

“Weirdo?” Fuegoleon looked down as Sei reappeared at his side, slipping a gloved hand into his own. “Who would that be?”

“Lisa’s ‘boyfriend,’” Sei added, glancing around. “Where did he go?”

Fuegoleon shrugged. “No idea. He disappeared. And you can’t just go around calling people weird-”

Sei stopped listening at that point.

Disappeared? Hmm. Maybe I was right… that man…

Julius didn’t stop jogging until he was almost back to the castle. He leaned on the side of a building, catching his breath. Despite the adrenaline from multiple close calls tonight, he couldn’t help but smile.

It was short… but I’ve never had so much fun. Maybe sneaking around is a good idea after all.

He straightened up, looking off into the city one last time.

Until tomorrow, Lisa… I hope you remember me.

He turned and walked off, a newfound skip in his step.

Sei belongs to @fuegoleonvermillion

#julisa #julius novachrono #bc oc #other's ocs #fuegoleon vermillion #oc: lisa #medieval au #au #black clover #fic #tkwptkh #horrible tag I know

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gothgovernment · 4 years ago

Text

In Bed With Geo (Louis Tomlinson One Shot)

December 2015

"Hi friends and welcome back to in bed with Geo. As you can see, today I'm in bed by myself. This video has been a long time coming, which makes filming it right now absolutely terrifying..." I trail off with a nervous laugh. "Because I was so nervous, I spent three hours getting ready just to avoid this for as long as possible." I smile into the camera before taking a moment to collect my thoughts.

"As I'm sure you've all heard, One Direction announced their hiatus today. I've known this was coming for a few weeks now and it breaks my heart to see this all come to an end. These guys are the reason I have a career. These guys are some of my best friends. These guys are the reason I'm still here. And I am so proud of them for doing what's right and taking a break now before they all burn out..." I start to tear up. Fuck this video is going to be a rough one to edit.

"So, this is my story of how One Direction, and one member in particular, impacted my life in the best way possible."

September 2011

"Welcome Mr Tanaka," the petite lady at the door said as she let my father and I into the party. It was packed with important looking people wearing their nicest suits and dresses. One Direction signs littered the walls as everyone celebrated the release of the boy bands first single 'What Makes You Beautiful'. My dad is a musician with Syco. He helped write and record the guitar for One Directions upcoming debut album. I've always admired his work and I am so proud of him for helping aspiring musicians to realize their dreams.

Dad turned to me and smiled while throwing his tattooed arm around me, "you look so beautiful tonight, honey." He always knew how to ease my nerves. I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear as I responded with a soft thanks. "I've got to go congratulate the boys, want to come meet them?"

"Of course! I've only been asking you to introduce me since your first session with them," I giggled as Dad stuck his tongue out at me. I quickly grabbed a glass of champagne from a tray a waitress was carrying before following dad in the direction of 5 young lads. As we approached them, beautiful blue eyes locked with mine. I smiled politely at the handsome boy as Dad and I came to a stop in front of the group. He returned the smile and stuck his hand out for me to shake.

"Ahh so you're Geo. Izuki here has not shut up about you! I'm Louis," he said cheekily, giving my dad a playful nudge on the shoulder after our hands parted.

"Oh really? What has he said about me? All good things I assume," I bite back a smile as I see Dad rolling his eyes at us. Dad has told me a lot about the boys, but especially Louis. He seems to think we are destined to be friends.

"Alright, give it a rest," my Dad huffed with a smirk, "Boys!" My dad called to grab the attention of the remaining four band members. "This is my daughter Geo. Geo, this is Zayn, Harry, Liam and Niall." They all took turns shaking my hand with Harry even giving me a hug. "Right well, I'm leaving Geo with you while I go and talk business." Dad quickly turned and walked away, leaving me with these strangers. I watched Dad walk away before slowly turning back to the boys, immediately locking eyes with Louis again.

I spent the next 3 hours being dragged around the party by Louis, being introduced to countless important people. Something about this boys carefree and almost childish nature made me feel instantly attached to him. He is just so unapologetically himself all the time, it's almost contagious.

We had just finished raiding the food table when Louis asked me, "so, Geo... what are your plans for the future? Izuki has mentioned you're an incredible drummer." I should have known my Dad would talk about my drumming. It is, after all, his greatest achievement in me. Instilling me with a passion for music is the reason we are so close to each other. After my mother suddenly passed away, connecting through music has gotten us through our grief.

"Well right now my dream is to work as a drum tech but I also have an idea for a YouTube channel where I interview musicians, in my bed, pyjamas on, and ask them real questions. I want to talk to people about how their lives have influenced their music. How being in the industry impacts them. I want to know about their families, their hopes and dreams. I want to talk to artists like real people. Get to know why they are in this industry and if it's worth it. If the pros outweigh the cons... But that's just a fantasy. I would have no idea where to even start. I mean, the only musicians I really know are my dad and now you." I fiddle with the ring on my middle finger, realizing I just gave a much longer than necessary answer. Louis' silence causes me to look away from my ring and toward him. He is looking at me, mouth agape. His face suddenly splits into a smile which instantly helps to ease my slowly growing anxiety.

"You're a very interesting girl, Geo. Very interesting indeed..." He trails off as he quickly pulls out his phone, texting someone rapidly.

It's now close to midnight and Dad has decided to call it a night. As I bid farewell to the boys in the form of hugs, I reach Louis last.

"So..." I made eye contact with the Doncaster boy. "is there any chance I could grab your number? Ya know, in case you ever feel like making that dream a reality?" The cheeky glint in his eye makes me nervous.

"What? You want to come on my imaginary show?" Surely he was just being polite. No way would he actually want to waste his time on an interview that would maybe get 6 views.

"I text the lads about it earlier and we're all on board. It sounds like a brilliant idea. I fully believe in you, love." Okay wow, this feels like a dream. THE X Factor boy band One Direction want to be interviewed by me?

"If you're trying to make me swoon, you've achieved your goal," I giggle, pulling my phone out of my purse and handing it to him. When he returns my phone I see that he had text himself 'sup u sexy fuck'. I burst out laughing before giving him a long hug, whispering a goodbye in his ear.

December 2015

"I met One Direction in 2011 at the single launch for 'What Makes You Beautiful'. My dad was the guitarist for all of the recording and writing of Up All Night. All the boys instantly accepted me into their lives. Especially my now best friend Louis Tomlinson. After talking to Lou about wanting to start this channel, he immediately encouraged me and we set up the first ever 'In Bed With... One Direction'. That video gained 400,000 views within six months and affectively created my career. My whole life as I know it is owed to Lou. If it wasn't for his complete and utter faith in me, I don't think I would be here today." I start to cry, reminiscing on beautiful memories. I take a sip of my tea and think for a moment. I really wish L was here right now, but I know we would both be blubbering messes. I need to do this alone. For once, I need to do something without relying on him.

"Since my first interview with One Direction my channel has blown up. It has afforded me this house, my friends, the opportunity to meet some of my biggest idols and most importantly it has moulded me into the strong and powerful woman I am today. So I want to take this opportunity to thank you boys. Louis, Harry, Zayn, Niall and Liam. I love each of you more than I can put into words."

My phone buzzes beside me and I pick it up. 'Big Louser' sent me a text.

baby g, you okay? youve

not text me in a week :(

I sighed as I put the phone back down. I should have known he'd pick up on me semi-ghosting him. I have been so nervous around him ever since he and Eleanor split up about 9 months ago. It's like, I finally have my chance to tell him how I feel but I am so scared of losing the best part of my life. That's why, when he called me about a month ago to say the band had finally come to the conclusion of going on an extended break, I knew I had to make this video. So that the world can know and remember how important Louis and the rest of the lads are. And so that Lou can finally know how I feel. I pick my phone back up, knowing I should reply.

I'm sorry L. I promise

I'll make it up to you.

I'm filming a new video

right now that will be up

later tonight. I'll send

you the link when it's up!

Love you x

I turn my phone onto do not disturb and return my focus to the camera. "I want to talk a little bit about each of the boys from a friends perspective. Firstly, I would like to talk about Zayn. Z, you are one of the gentlest, kindest people I have ever met. You have dealt with so much during and after your time with the band. The constant racist and Islamophobic tweets and comments really wore you down a lot more than you'd let on. But Z, you would always rise above them, knowing that your culture made you into the incredible person you are today." I pause, hesitant about what I am going to say next. I would hate to overstep any boundaries here.

Choosing my words carefully, I continue. "Leaving the band must have been the toughest decision anyone could make. I remember you texting me about two months after you left to ask if I thought you'd made the right choice leaving behind your friends, your brothers. Your concern wasn't about if this would affect your future career, it was if it affected your friends. That's the epitome of the Zayn I love." I knew I would edit in a few videos I have of Z and I over the years throughout this mini speech.

I have a video of Zayn and I napping together on the couch in the green room before their show in Sydney in February of this year. He'd been really anxious about the first show of the tour and the nerves wore him out. We were originally sat together, talking about how huge this tour was going to be when he drifted off to sleep with me in his arms. I soon followed after and we napped for two hours before he was woken up to get his hair done. Who would have known that just a few weeks later he would crumble under the pressure and quit. I wish I noticed the warning signs.

"Liam 'good game' Payne, where do I begin? You are my brother, my teammate, my friend. You have always been my favourite person to play Fifa with. I remember a week after my Dad died, I heard the doorbell ring and when I opened it, you were standing there with a dozen of my favourite red velvet cupcakes and your PS4 controller. We played together in silence for hours. Once I was finally ready to talk, you stayed awake with me until 6am, sharing stories about my Dad, our lives and talking about our futures. I will always cherish you, no matter how frustrating you can be." Again, I know exactly what videos to edit in of Liam and I. One of them is him, wearing a crop top and skirt voguing after I did a full glam makeup look on him. He's going to hate me for posting it.

"Haz. My love. My guiding star. I would be a complete disaster without you. Although you are the worlds worst replier and you never answer when I call, you always seem to text me or show up at my house right when I feel like I'm falling apart. It's like the universe has linked you to me. You're my crisis line, and I am yours. I cannot even begin to count all the nights we have lied on the couch together just crying. Happy crying, sad crying, angry crying... It would almost have to be as many nights that we have spent laughing together. H, you were destined to be a rockstar. I can't think of any other job you could be more suited to. I know this is just the beginning for you, and I honestly can't wait to see you grow." I still cannot believe that my baby H is only 21 yet has achieved more than most people do in their entire lifetime. "I love you almost as much as I love apple pie." I am full on crying now. That last sentence really broke me. He and I have an inside joke that nothing in this world is better than a homemade apple pie. We would often text each other about incredible/rare/unique moments and rate them on an apple pie scale.

"Horan. I don't really have much I can say here because 90% of our conversations are inside jokes but I will say this; you have changed my life in such a unique way. I know we've had our differences, but I wouldn't change any of it. You're the one person who can make me laugh no matter what mood I'm in. You are such a light to this world. Without you in this band, I think the boys would've collapsed under the pressure a long time ago. Without you, this industry would've swallowed up every bit of joy they have. You have kept all of us sane with your stupid, loud laughter and irritatingly optimistic attitude. Please never, ever change for anyone you precious wanker." I know that I might seem a bit harsh towards Niall, but this is how we speak to each other. We've always been way too honest and, at times, cynical with only each other. He truly is one of a kind. Niall and I haven't shared as many moments together as I have with the other boys, but the moments we've had are definitely special.

"And last but certainly not least, Louis 'dumb fuck' Tomlinson. I don't even know if I can put into words how you have changed my life. You are my favourite person in this entire universe. Without you, there's a good chance I wouldn't be alive today. You are the reason I have so much self-worth, confidence and happiness within myself. You have single-handedly gotten me through some of my deepest depressions. I can't imagine my life without you. I've been trying to think about what story best represents how you're truly an incredible friend. I decided that although everything you do is a testament to how amazing you are, I would tell the one that made me cry the most.

"The year was 2013, I was 20 years old and I experienced my first heartbreak. My girlfriend of 2 years cheated on me with multiple people. I called you up, crying so hard I couldn't form a sentence. You sat patiently on the phone with me for an hour, never knowing what was wrong, just waiting for me to calm down. When I finally just hung up because I couldn't string two words together you text me that you love me. Six hours later and you walked into my bedroom, pulled me into your arms and laid with me for two days. You flew home early from your press tour without any idea of what was wrong with me. You just knew I was upset and you pushed everything aside to be there for me. When I finally told you what had happened, you hugged me tighter, looked me in the eyes and said, "you are the most perfect person in the world and you deserve to be with someone who recognises that." I think it was then that I realised that I'm completely and utterly in love with you. But you were with Eleanor, whom I adore still to this day. I would never have wanted to ruin what you two had. Because all I've ever wanted since I met you is for you to be happy. And El always made you happy." A sob escapes my mouth as I think of how broken hearted I have felt over the last few years, knowing that my true love would never be mine.

I decide to talk some time to cool down, so I walk to my kitchen to make another cup of tea. While I wait for the jug to boil, I rub my finger over my tiny teacup tattoo. Lou and I got matching tattoos not long after the boys finished recording 'Little Things'. He showed me the song and I fell in love with his verse, so we went out that afternoon and got our tattoos together, his shout. I walk back into the bedroom, press record on the camera again and get comfortable.

"When you called me up crying because you and Eleanor split up, I came straight over and returned the favour. I lived at your house for a week, doing anything I could to make you happy again. And then you went back on tour, and I returned home, and I've never felt so alone. After that week of us spending every second of every day together I realised that you're my soulmate. There's no one I want to be around more than you. And I know you're going to be so mad that I'm posting this video instead of texting you back but I want the whole world to know that you are perfect."

I finished the video with a few happier stories about my time with the boys, then wrapped it up. This was going to be an emotional afternoon.

Pressing public on that video was strange. I almost felt numb after all the emotions I had poured out while filming and editing it. I immediately text the link to all 5 boys and went to have a shower. The video was about 20 minutes long so I expected their responses would be a little while away. What I didn't expect was to walk out of the shower and into my bedroom to see Louis sitting on the end of my bed, tears streaming down his face.

We made eye contact once he realized I had entered the room. Frozen in my spot, Louis took the initiative of standing up and walking towards me. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" His voice broke as he spoke, tears threatening to spill. I tried to form words but I was too scared of the impending rejection. "Geo. We're best friends. Why didn't you talk to me? I thought that... I..." His words trailed off as the tears streamed down his face. He looked down at his feet, he always gets embarrassed when he cries. I gently grab his right hand, causing him to make eye contact again.

"I am so, so, so sorry Lou. I didn't know what to say or how to say it. I guess I thought saying it indirectly would make this easier but it's so much harder than I ever could have imagined." I look away from his bloodshot, blue eyes and focus on my hand in his. "I'm in love with you. I think I always have been... And I'm sorry that this will make our friendship weird now. I don't expect you to ever want to talk to me again to be honest."

"How fucking dare you think that. If you think I could live without you, you're insane." Louis swiftly pulled me towards him with his free hand, kissing me with all the love he could possibly give.

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recurring-polynya · 4 years ago

Note

Oh boy!!! Polynya I have a sudden ferocious hankering for Byakuya and Aizen being viciously passive aggressive to each other. Most of the time you write B he is in the company of his family or his loved ones. So clearly the ultimate way to bring out the knives is an AU in which all the captains are in the same Homeowner's Association. I have no preference for ships; I crave only drama, the pettier the better.

Alopex. Alopex. Why. Why u do this 2 me. You’re my favorite, tho, I cannot refuse you. I hope this is petty enough. I almost made this whole thing an epistolary fanfic that took place over NextDoor, the worst “social media”, but I think it worked better with everyone in person.

Read on ao3 or ff.net

🏠 🏠 🏠

“Gosh darnit, the only K-cups left are apple cider and pumpkin spice!”

“Oh, that can’t be right, I know I filled up the carousel just before the meeting! Retsu! Retsu, honey, we’re out of K-cups, and I bought a whole carton at Costco and I just don’t understand--”

Kuchiki Byakuya glanced up from the presentation materials he was reviewing for the six hundredth time. For starters, Byakuya wasn’t really sure anyone should be letting Hitsugaya Toushirou have coffee in the first place. It was 8p.m., and the child couldn’t be more than twelve. Byakuya had never been very clear on a) why the Seireitei Estates Homeowners’ Association let the child attend the meetings in lieu of his father (or possibly step-father?), a doctor who worked late hours, and b) why a young child would want to attend a Homeowners’ Association meeting anyway, but he had more sense than most of the other board members, so Byakuya didn’t ask questions.

Byakuya also wasn’t sure why they had to have “refreshment breaks.” Breaks were for quitters, in Byakuya’s opinion. Granted, the meeting was being held at Unohana’s house this month, which meant that the baked goods were impeccable, but Unohana’s high-strung wife tended to radiate so much nervous energy that Byakuya worried the woman was going to spontaneously combust.

“Oh, sunflower, I’m sure they just got pushed behind the croquembouche,” Unohana purred reassuringly. “I’ll help you look-- oh, excuse me, Mr. Ichimaru.”

As Unohana pushed past that weaselly shyster Ichimaru Gin, she swung her hips, knocking into him. Approximately thirty K-cups tumbled out of the pockets of Gin’s couture tracksuit.

“Oh, there they are!” Unohana sang innocently.

“How did those get in there?” Gin gasped, as though he were genuinely puzzled.

Byakuya shuddered. Ichimaru worked for the second biggest law firm in town, after, of course, Kuchiki and Sons. Byakuya dreaded the day he might find himself across a negotiation table from the man. Not that harbored any doubts about annihilating that idiot in a contest of the law, he just didn’t like being in the same room with him.

“Here you go, dear,” Unohana said, popping a K-cup into the machine and patting little Toushirou on the head. Toushirou was too busy glaring at Gin to notice.

“That looks like some presentation you’re givin' after the break, eh, Kuchiki?” Ichimaru drawled, selecting a bearclaw from the pastry tray. “Or didja bring home the paperwork from the Tsunayashiro merger?”

Byakuya sniffed and shuffled his papers back into their portfolio. “I approach all areas of my life with the same diligence as I do my professional work.”

“What a coinky-dink! I do, too-- I don’t work hard at anything.”

Byakuya had no interest in frittering away his preparation time to small talk with a moron. “I am going to set up,” he said coolly.

“Good luck!” Ichimaru trilled, giving a saucy little finger wave.

Byakuya returned to Unohana’s sitting room, where he had left his easel and poster board near the hideous faux fireplace with its tacky LED candles.

Aizen was sitting at the cardtable he’d set up at the front of the room, fiddling with his chintzy little gavel. “You look very prepared,” he said, in a tone of voice that was almost as insipid as the oatmeal-marl turtleneck sweater he wore. “Do try not to run too long, though. I’m only the substitute president, you know! I want to run a tight ship, ha ha!”

Byakuya narrowed his eyes. He was still slightly salty that President Yamamoto had felt the need to take a last minute trip on a “Single Seniors Cruise.” Something something about a flash sale and when you’re old you have to take advantage of the time you have left, etcetera, etcetera, but if there were anyone that Byakuya could count on take his side in the matter, it was that antediluvian rule-enforcer. For that matter, Byakuya wasn’t actually sure whether Yamamoto even cared about clipped hedges and shoveled sidewalks or if he just liked yelling at people and slapping them with fines.

Aizen was also a bit of a stickler for the finer points of home maintenance, but the man had no substance to him, with his floppy hair and his chunky knitwear and his horn-rimmed glasses.

“All right, everyone!” Aizen called in his stupid simpering voice. Byakuya had no idea what the man actually did, but Byakuya figured he was a preschool teacher or an art therapist or something equally touchy-feely. “Please take your seats! The next item on our agenda is a presentation on, uh, ‘A Secret But Important Topic, from our neighbor over at number six, let’s give a big hand for...Byakuya!”

“Hold the applause,” Byakuya said sternly, holding up a hand. “I come to you today to call for-- nay, demand the expulsion of one Zaraki Kenpachi from the Board of this Homeowners Association, and possibly also the entire neighborhood, if that’s possible.”

“We can’t kick people out of the neighborhood,” Aizen stage-whispered to him.

“Is he actually a member of the HOA Board?” Kyouraku asked, scratching his shaggy mane. “I’ve never seen him at one of these meetings.”

Byakuya turned to Tousen, the Board treasurer, who had taken his seat at the front table with Aizen and Ichimaru. “Mr. Tousen, did you happen to look into the dues records, as I requested?”

“I did, yes,” Tousen replied. “It turns out that Mr. Zaraki is excused from paying dues. There was a post-it note in President Yamamoto’s handwriting that said,” Tousen made finger quotes, “‘Zaraki fixed my car, excused from dues.’”

Byakuya scowled. “That doesn’t seem… sufficient… it is of no matter.” He grabbed the bed sheet covering his posterboard, and dramatically swept it away. It would have been more dramatic if the bedsheet weren’t covered in Chappy rabbits, but there was no way he was bringing one of his own 800-thread counts into a house that contained cats.

“I have been closely watching Mr. Zaraki’s residence for the last few months, as his rear yard backs to mine, and I believe he may be operating a fight club in his garden on weekends. They do move into the garage if the weather is unpleasant.”

A hush fell over the room, except for Isane and Ukitake Juushirou, who were discussing the merits of blind-baking pie crusts.

“Er, sorry, did I miss something?” Juushirou asked apologetically, after realizing he was the only person talking.

“Kenpachi seems to be running some sort of fight club,” his scruffy husband supplied, looking deeply confused, as usual.

“Goodness!” Juushirou exclaimed. “Are you sure?”

Byakuya cleared his throat. “Allow me to present the evidence I have gathered.” He picked up two large binders, and handed one to Soi Fon in the front row, and the other to Aizen, who immediately passed his, unopened, to Ichimaru. “There are about two dozen disreputable personages who are frequently found loitering about the premises. The first page of the binder indexes each of them by a descriptive nickname, including times I have seen them. Photographic evidence follows.”

“They seem to be washing cars in most of these photos,” Soi Fon pointed out, flipping a page back and forth. Or are they fixing the cars? I can’t tell.”

Komamura craned his head over, curiously. “Wow, is that a ‘73 Stingray? Nice.”

“Yes, they also like to get together to maintain and detail their vehicles,” Byakuya snapped. “Usually at ungodly hours of the morning. I am almost positive that many of those cars do not employ catalytic converters. In any case, it is easier to take pictures of them during the day.”

“Looks like they like to spray each other with hoses, too,” Gin noted, waggling his eyebrows. “Why are there so many pictures of this one guy with the red hair and tattoos? He sure doesn’t like to wear a shirt, does he?” Aizen appeared to be leaning to the side, trying to look at the book out of the corner of his eye.

“My dutiful sister did the photographic surveillance! She is very thorough, and I appreciated the help!” All these questions were knocking Byakuya off his game. He smacked his pointer against the poster. “May I direct your attention to Figure A, a bar chart of traffic on his street vs. hours of the day.”

“Tell us more about the fight club,” Soi Fon interrupted, shoving her binder over to Komamura. “Are there weapons involved, blunted or otherwise? How many people usually show up? Is it held regularly, or do you suspect there’s, say, an email list or something?”

“I think it’s some sort of mixed martial arts,” Byakuya said, rubbing his forehead. “There are often up to a dozen of them, but sometimes it’s as few as three or four.”

“You know, I’m looking through the bylaws,” Aizen said, turning pages in the bylaw binder without actually looking at them, “and I’m not exactly clear on whether fight clubs are actually… you know, forbidden.”

“They’re illegal,” Byakuya bit off.

“Per-haaaps,” Aizen drew out. “But what really constitutes… a ‘fight club,’ am I right? I mean, Dr. Unohana teaches kickboxing classes in her basement studio, is that a fight club?”

“No,” Byakuya replied.

“Exactly, and we wouldn’t want her to be painted with the same brush for just trying to teach other women the arts of self-defense, now would we?”

“It’s not for self-defense,” Unohana clarified.

“Or what about having a bunch of friends over and hitting each other with foam swords while you pretend to be werewolves?” Ichimaru broke in cheerfully. “That’s just our rights as citizens, to pretend to be werewolves in our basements with our friends.”

“It’s a tabletop RPG,” Komamura growled. “I am not a LARPer. There are no weapons. Also, you really do not need to bring it up every single board meeting. It is a perfectly normal adult hobby that I do to spend quality time with my friends.”

“Speaking of which,” Gin turned his binder of pictures around, “isn’t this guy in your group? With the sunglasses?”

“Hmm?” Komamura flipped a few pages. “Oh, huh, yeah, that’s Iba.”

“Surely a good friend of yours wouldn’t have anything to do with an illegal fight club, eh, Mr. Komamura?” Aizen suggested.

Komamura made a non-commital grumble. “I mean, I could ask him if it’s a fight club, if you want me to.”

“I have yet to hear any evidence that supports the existence of this so-called ‘fight club,” Tousen broke in.

“That’s because I keep getting interrupted, I have an audio recording and also some several emergency room admission records--”

“Mr. Zaraki is an upstanding citizen of our town and a devoted father,” Tousen continued. “Are you suggesting that Mr. Zaraki is not a responsible parent?”

“Well, now that you mention it…” Byakuya mused.

“Juushirou, you and Shunsui babysit for little Yachiru all the time, don’t you?” Aizen asked sweetly. “Have you ever seen any evidence that she isn’t the sweetest little girl in the entire world?”

Toushirou raised his hand. “Excuse me? She is a menace, actually?”

“Oh, no, Yachiru is always a ray of sunshine!” Juushirou beamed. “Very active child.”

“Eats a lot,” Kyouraku added.

The edges of Byakuya’s vision were beginning to bleed into red. “We are not talking about the Zaraki child--who, by the way, buried an entire ham in my prize tulip bed--”

“It sounds like you have a grudge against the entire family, Kuchiki,” Aizen replied mildly. “These board meetings are not a venue for airing your petty grievances.”

“You are not even listening! If you would just turn to page--”

“I think you’ve wasted enough of everyone’s time.” Aizen turned his doe eyes to the audience. “Is there anyone here who wants to invest any more energy listening to Byakuya’s vitriol?”

Byakuya looked out over his audience, looking for an ally. Komamura shifted in his seat uncomfortably. The Kyouraku-Ukitakes refused to make eye contact. Unohana was reading a magazine about decorative wreaths. Toushirou raised his hand again with a helpful smile, but no one actually ever cared what he thought.

“Soi Fon, you’re an actual police officer!” he begged.

“It’s just a fight club,” Soi Fon shrugged.

Byakuya was desperate. “Dr. Kurotsuchi?”

Kurotsuchi looked up from his phone. “Eh?”

“Have you been paying attention to any of this?”

“Of course not, I only come for the snacks.”

Byakuya gritted his teeth. “Zaraki is running a fight club and these fools wish us to turn our heads and look the other way.”

“Well, it’s not a very good fight club,” Kurotsuchi agreed. “I’ve been. They don’t allow poisoned weapons and the beverage selection is quotidian at best.”

“You see! You see, right there, Kurotsuchi has even attended! That’s proof that a) it exists and b) it defames the character of the neighborhood!”

“I’m declaring this issue closed,” Aizen replied breezily. “And Kuchiki, I really think you should try to get along better with Kenpachi. You are neighbors, after all.” He brightened. “Oh, I know! We’ve got the community yard sale coming up in June. Why don’t you go ask him if he wants to join the planning committee?”

“Byakuya… will...ask....Zaraki...to chair…the yard sale planning committee,” Gin read aloud as he wrote it into the minutes.

“I agreed to no such thing!” Byakuya howled.

“Onto the next topic!” Aizen chirped. “Trash pickup happens every Friday at 7am and a few of our neighbors have been leaving their bins out as late as noon.”

Later, after the meeting, as Byakuya was packing up his binders and his posterboard, Aizen walked up to him, munching on a rhubarb scone. “Really nice presentation, Byakuya. Good fonts, well cited, you obviously put a ton of work into it. Also, that Zaraki is a blight on the neighborhood. Ideally, he would be thrown in prison.”

Byakuya stared at Vice-Presiden Aizen, mouth agape. “Then why did you and your cronies ruin my presentation and shut me down at every turn?”

Aizen’s eyes narrowed. His mouth curved into a cold smile. Light glinted off his glasses. “You dared to usurp my rightful place as the winner of the Spring Spirit Most Beautiful Yard competition.”

Byakuya blinked at him blankly. “You cared about that? A man’s lawn is his pride. I keep my yard beautiful as a matter of principle, not for some silly competition.”

“You pay for a lawn service. You shouldn’t have even been eligible.”

Byakuya didn’t even recall entering, he’d just received a letter that he’d won, and a festive yard sign appeared next to his front walk, which he had immediately removed and thrown in the garbage. “The prize was a gift certificate to a miserable chain restaurant. I would give it to you, except that I already gave it to my sister to go out with her hooligan friends. They are perpetually short on funds. I could get you another one, I suppose. The amount was paltry enough, although I was given to understand that the place offers ‘unlimited breadsticks’.”

“It’s too late for that,” Aizen declared. “You have made a powerful enemy. You will feel my revenge in a thousand cuts.”

Byakuya wondered how much of a hassle it would be to just move. He’d heard there were some nice houses over in Karakura Acres.

~end

Shinigami’s Cup: GOLDEN!

“Do you think it would help if I infiltrated the fight club?”

“I appreciate your zeal, Sister, but, no, I do not think it would help.”

“Because I think I might have an in. I feel like I would be really good at going undercover. I could wear a body mic.”

“Rukia, you know I have the utmost faith in you, but are not even five feet tall. I do not, in any way, see how you could realistically ingratiate yourself to an organization populated by large, lumpy men whose raison d’etre is to clobber each other in the face.”

“I have cat-like reflexes! I am really good at dodging and weaving!”

“Rukia.”

“And I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos about muscle cars. Go on, ask me something about Dodge Chargers!”

“Rukia.”

“I even ripped the sleeves of an old t-shirt, I look super tough in it. Please, Byakuya, please can I?”

“All right, fine. But do not drink any alcoholic beverages that have ‘light’ or ‘ice’ in the title. It is against our pride as Kuchiki.”

“Thank you Brother, you’re the best!!”

#my writing #wacky au requests #is this...the first time i have written aizen?#wait i wrote some aizen in a flashback scene of a little in love #i do not write very much aizen #it was...kinda fun #the man is petty as hell and i am here for it

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sankt-brekker-the-demjin · 5 years ago

Text

You Know, For Research Purposes - Tom Holland x Reader College!AU

Summary: Working on their research project, group mates Miles, Ned, Haz, Betty, Tom and Y/N grew closer together over the course of a few months. Also, how does Cheetos and ice cream taste together? ;)))

Word Count: 2,433

A/N: (gif not mine.) lolz hi! Look what boredom did to me.. I made a fanfic... [first time doing this idk what to do so there's that moving on. Hope u like it! Geronimo.]

Tom ran his fingers through his hair, tugging at the strands with force. He banged his head lightly on the table. He looked back at his Lit folder and saw he still had half of it to finish. He closed it and decided he would do it later. Managing the research project and studying for exams were taking a toll on his body and his sanity. He got up and went to the get some water.

It was halfway through midnight. His parents and brothers were asleep on their rooms. Miles, Haz, Y/N, Betty and Ned - his Qualitative Research applied subject classmates were sprawled all over the living room, laptops shoved to their faces, bond papers in hand. It was a typical students' night. The group had gotten together at Tom's house, and planned to stay overnight.

Miles and Y/N have History 1 together, while Betty and Haz had Calculus. But other than that, this was the only classes they all had together. Being in college is no easy feat, proper time management was necessary.

Ned had assigned each member to a specific part of the paper, and they've been at it since 8 pm. They all have to multitask and manage their time. Tom had almost finished his part of the paper, so he tried to do his Lit homework now.

Tom heard footsteps stomping on the floors. He turned and saw Y/N marching up to him with an annoyed look on her face and was about to speak but he cut her off.

"If you complain about the heat one more time, I'm give you a real reason to sweat," Tom set the cup of water with a smug look on his face.

She halted on her tracks and smacked the paper she brought on his arms. Tom chuckled, but didn't move.

"No, you idiot," Y/N rolled her eyes. "You might wanna fix that paper before you go off scaring people to death with that annoying face of yours."

His mouth twitched in amusement and took the stapled papers from her hands. "So you admit you've been looking at my face."

"You're so full of it," Y/N stepped around him and grabbed another glass, getting water from the tap.

Tom looked at the incorrect charts and tables he had made on the paper. He cursed under his breath. He had been working on it in the wee hours of last night. Spontaneous typing, no pit stops on spelling errors and everything else, just got it done.

"The original file is on my computer upstairs," he groaned. "I'll have to re-do this again."

"You do that," she clicked her tongue. "And I'll just chill here by your fridge for a moment."

Y/N opened the fridge and took the remaining slice of cake laid on a plate.

"That's mine -" Tom protested.

"Not anymore." Y/N ate the cake.

He scowled and moved to close the door of the fridge. Y/N leaned her back on the door. There they were, a few inches away from each other. Tom stood seething; Y/N chewed the cake with an amused expression. She wiped the frosting on her lower lip with her tongue reflexively. Before he realized it his eyes wandered to her lips.

Tom inched his face closer, eyes darting over to her eyes and lips. "If you don't stop biting your lips ..."

"What are you gonna do?"

Tom remained quiet but clenched his jaw.

Y/N chuckled, "You're all talk and no action."

Heavy footsteps echoed on the hallway to the kitchen, gaining both their attention away from each other. Tom whipped his head to the of the voice and shot him a look.

"I told you 7000 times, a chicken is a bird -" Haz bursted into the room with a phone clutched to his ears, pausing when he caught sight of Tom and Y/N. "D'you have a charger I could borrow?" Haz covered his phone with his hands.

"I have one in my backpack." Y/N said.

Haz nodded, talking again to his sister on the phone about chickens. He walked back to the living room, waiting for Y/N to follow him.

Y/N stopped by the table where Tom had been working on, and pointed at his paper. "I can't finish my part if you can't finish yours." Seeing as his paper's original file was on his computer upstairs, she grabbed his laptop without waiting for him to reply. "Imma borrow this ... Thanks."

She went back to the living room, laptop on hand.

"And don't look at my browser history!" She heard Tom call back from the kitchen.

"Wouldn't dare," she countered in a mocking tone.

As the weeks passed, they started collecting data on the field. They went through one institution to another, gathering reports and statistics, and validating it with professionals. Then after that it was all a blur. They submitted the paper to Mrs. Luxley and was graded, only given back to them for minor revisions.

The gang decided to spend that same night they passed the assignment on Tom's house again, just like they did when they were still making the paper. Tom's parents had gotten used to them staying over, and Sam always tried to flirt with Betty when he was around.

Ned and Haz raced to Tom's bedroom. Ned threw himself on the bed first. "God, I've never felt the bed being this good," he sighed and melted with pleasure. All those sleepless nights they've had finally paid off.

Haz hit him with a pillow. "Move over!"

Y/N laid on the couch, feet perched on top of Tom's lap, getting comfortable. Betty and Miles slept on the carpets of Tom's living room. They just sort of crawled to the floor in delight and just stayed there, too tired to move anywhere else. Haz came back to the living room, holding a bottle of champagne on his hands from the Hollands' cupboards.

He cheered. "Let's celebrate!"

But they celebrated the victory by sleeping out for an entire day spread all over the Hollands' house.

Even though their project was finished, the lot still remained close with each other. They spent times at Miles' favourite diner by the corner of the campus during their collective free time.

And last week, Haz's sister gave birth to a pretty baby girl. Haz invited them over and they all came to join the little house party his sister threw. The group counted on this as the official celebration of their hard work.

It was a Thursday afternoon. Family and friends chatted and caught up with each other in the Osterfield's backyard. Dream by Fleetwood Mac could be heard playing on the living room speakers.

Tom was talking with his dad. Betty and Ned sat at the garden chairs talking to one of Haz's brothers. Those two really were people persons. Miles and Y/N laughed at a hilarious history joke their professor rambled about. Tom tried to pay them no mind, though his glance drifted to them every now and then. His dad eventually noticed the shift in his mood, but decided to ignore it because his mum came to them, carrying Haz's niece. Tom accepted the baby to his arms while his mum and dad went to the kitchen.

Lily, the smol bean's eyes crinkled with joy and giggled. Her chubby little hands reached out to him. Tom stuck his tongue out affectionately her. He turned his head to the low whistle he heard.

"Wow... Daddy," Y/N smirked.

That day was all fun and games, but by the end it they still had school stuff to catch up on. A few weeks later, they decided to cram in the library.

Nothing feels better than suffering with acads together friends.

The group sat in a table by the corner, immersed in their own world. Tom went to the bookshelves to look for an autobiography book his proffesor suggested. Ned was compiling essays on his laptop. Miles was reading a book by Neil Gaiman. Haz and Betty were doing their Calculus homework.

Y/N's chin rested on her hands, staring blankly at her laptop screen. A straight line blinked repeatedly on the ends of the only sentence she typed.

What the fuck |

She just needed a head start on this critique paper. Nothing too heavy, just one paragraph to kick it all into place. That's where it's always hard. The first line. So now she's stuck with cursing. Before Y/N realize it, she's slumped her face down to the wooden table with a light bang. The group lifted their eyes to her, asking if she was alright. She shoved her thumbs up above her head, and they went back to what they what they were doing.

Haz who sat on her right, patted her back. "Same here, sis," he fought back a yawn.

Her eyes felt heavy. Then she groggily looked up to the little 'thunk' dropped on the table.

"Oh, great you're alive," she muttered before setting her face back on the table again.

Tom pulled his chair beside her. "Miss me already? I was barely gone for a few minutes."

"I'm so blessed to be with your presence," she stated in a monotonous voice.

Tom snorted. "Your professor is really gonna give you an A+ with those colorful words. 'What the fuck,' short but sweet."

She looked up and stuck her tongue out. Seeing his face has started to get old ... she tried convincing herself that, though.

They did their business. Ever so often, Y/N and Tom's elbows would brush against each other. Y/N had her earphones on, listening to her shuffled playlist on Spotify. Tom heard muffled tunes, and turned his head closer.

"What are you listening to?" He whispered; his breath fanned the side of her neck that sent chills up her spine.

She didn't look at him and instead continued to write key points to make on her essay. She spoke, her voice low. "This one's called Uncomfortable by Wallows."

He grinned and leaned even closer. "Can I listen?"

From across the table, Ned took 10 bucks from his wallet and shoved it on Betty’s hand. She pumped her fist in a silent triumph.

Y/N shifted her head to look at him, only to find his cute, devilishly handsome face inches away from hers. If she would tilt her head a little... their lips would touch. They locked eyes for a second, before she plucked one earphone and gave it to him.

He cocked his head, liking the song. Minutes passed. The only noises were from turning book pages, soft patter of keys on the laptops, and bits of hushed voices encompassed the area.

An hour later, Y/N felt herself getting hungry and went out to buy food, Betty tagging along. They ate outside since the library was strict on the 'NO eating policy.' Not even other drinks are allowed, only water. The others stayed behind. Then Betty came back to her seat.

"Where's Y/N?"

Betty sat on her chair, "She's outside, still eating."

Tom nodded and felt himself getting hungry, too. He opened his backpack and took a bag of Cheetos he stashed. He stood and said to them he was gonna eat outside. He went out, and spotted her leaning on a pillar, scooping ice cream out of a cup.

"I'm starving," he stood beside her.

"We've been there for ages," she scooped another spoonful of mint chocolate ice cream she got from the shop across the street.

Tom munched on his Cheetos. He turned to look at her happily savoring her ice cream. He moved for Y/N's ice cream cup but she swerved it out of his reach.

"Get your own," she swatted his arms away.

A thought crossed his mind. It reminded him of the last time they did this at his kitchen, over a slice of cake. And how they've been so close...

For the past few months, he's gotten a strange feeling whenever Y/N was around. Like there's an electric buzz in him, his heart would warm up at the sight of her. He couldn't stay away from her, and he wants to know her better, and feel her and just be there right beside her. He couldn't explain it.

Tom grinned at the memory, chucking a piece of Cheetos on his mouth. He stepped forward. "D'you wanna know how Cheetos and mint chocolate chip ice cream tastes like together?" he leaned closer to her face; his breath hot against her skin. His gaze shifted down to her parted lips. "You know, for research purposes..."

"Hmm?" She held her eyes up on his own gleaming brown ones. "Probably good. Anything's good with mint chocolate ice cream."

"Yeah?" His hands reached out to move the strands of her hair away from her face. "Wanna test it out?"

She shrugged.

Tom found his hand on the back of her neck and slammed his lips to hers. Y/N's eyes fluttered shut. He tasted full of that cheesy goodness. And her, a heavenly taste of vanilla and the aroma of mint. Her arm stretched out to keep the ice cream cup away. She parted from his lips to set the cup down onto the pillar. He wrapped his arms to her waist, pulling her flush against him. With her now empty hands, she ran her fingers on his soft brown curls. She tugged at the strands, eliciting a low guttural sound from him muffled by her mouth on his.

He broke the kiss and leaned his forehead on hers, breathless. "We should get back inside to do ... stuff."

"No no. Don't care." She pulled the back of his neck and closed their distance again. He chuckled.

Y/N loved the way their mouths danced to a rhythm, flavors mixing together from the forgotten taste-testing session, now a different kind of session.

A hand still on her waist, the other cupped her cheeks and tilted her chin to give him more access. She wrapped both her arms around his neck, welcoming warm the feelings burning inside her.

They parted, but still inches away from each other. Y/N bit his lower lip. Tom hissed in surprise but she kissed it better.

"So ... what do you think?" He murmured in a low voice.

"Mmm, I like it." Cheetos and ice cream forgotten.

"Yeah?" He grinned at her. "Me too."

Seconds lapsed. Neither of them moved, still stuck in a more romantic version of a staring contest.

"I like you." Tom's heartbeat raced.

She grinned back at him. "I like you, too. Like 3000. I like you that much."

Roll the end credits.

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give-me-back-my-rhodey · 4 years ago

Text

Here We Are, Born to be Kings - AUgust Day 9

Title: Here We Are, Born to be Kings

Author: Purple_ducky00

Rating: Teen

Warnings: N/A

Pairing: Rhodey/Tony

Square Filled: G2 Dramatic Proposal

Link: Read on AO3

Summary: Prince James is in love with Lord Tony Stark, a childhood friend. However, the Starks have been disgraced due to embezzlement charges. Can they overcome this?

++++++++++

“Your Highness. Lord Stark is here to see you.” Quentin Beck holds up his nose.

Prince James Rhodes rolls his eyes. It’s not like Beck should judge. He was only hired because his family was in serious debt. Tony is working out of his.

Tony walks in a few minutes later, hair askew. “Wow, Rhodey, your servants hate me. I call it an achievement.”

“They just think it’s ok to judge since their scandals happened long ago enough for people to forget. You don’t deserve this.”

“I probably do.” Tony shrugs. “It doesn’t bother me. Actually, it gives me the chance to ditch my politeness because they already dislike me.”

“Oh for that luxury,” Rhodey sighs. He hates the protocol he must go through. Maybe that’s why he finds Tony so refreshing.

They first met at a football match. Tony was on the other team, and he told the young prince, “We’re not playing any easier because you’re the prince. So, be ready for that.”

Rhodey laughed and started playing. Tony’s team was clearly better, and they defeated Rhodey's team easily. After the game, Tony invited him to grab some lunch. They have been fast friends ever since.

Now, Rhodey is 22 and Tony is 21. Tony’s father died last year, and Tony inherited his estate. After going over the numbers, Tony’s godfather, Obadiah Stane informed him that Howard had been falsifying records and was basically bankrupt.

Dazed and reeling from his parents' sudden death, Tony doesn’t know what to do with this information. He reaches out for help, but as Howard had been stealing money from his peers, everyone refuses to help him. Rhodey offers to bail him out completely. Tony won’t let him. He decides he will work to pay off his father's debts.

Tony was always incredibly smart. His patented inventions were used worldwide. He decides to start his own company, Stark Enterprises, where he builds and sells hi-tech machinery and entertainment devices. As his company quickly grows, he branches out into clean energy and satellites. Not even a full year after starting his company, Tony is very successful. With only Stane and his PA, Pepper Potts, at his right hand, Tony makes sure that he himself takes care of the books. Every entry is painstakingly entered and checked by the big boss himself.

Rhodey is very proud of his friend, but it seems that his family is the only one in the kingdom that is. King Terrance and Queen Roberta love the young man as a son, but they often wonder if he is taking on too much, causing his sleepless nights and unhealthy eating habits. Tony waves them off saying he had had those problems before his parents had died.

Prince James’ PR agent tells him that finding someone to date might be a good look for him. Everyone is looking for news of the royal family, and they will only assume the worst if they don’t hear from each member. Queen Roberta’s cooking classes and bingo games are televised. The king does a podcast twice a month. Jeannie plays tennis professionally. James is the only one without a big public profile, and he prefers that. However, there are some people who think that James is being pushed out of the spotlight or being abused in some kind. To quell any quickly rising rumors, Rhodey agrees to attend sports matches and talk to the press for a few minutes each time. When Tony’s not working his ass off, he often accompanies Tony.

What Rhodey doesn’t tell his PR agent is the reason he doesn’t date. He is hopelessly in love with Tony and admitting that would be bad for a few reasons. 1.) Everyone in the country is against Tony. They would slander his name even more if they thought he had got his “money-grubbing claws” in the prince. 2.) Tony is straight. He had never told Rhodey otherwise, and he has only dated women as far as Rhodey knows. 3.) He doesn’t want any reason to make Tony uncomfortable in the only place he is welcome other than his home. So, he skirts the topic because fake dating is not his idea of fun.

Now, Tony’s here and Rhodey knows he’s giving Tony heart eyes. “So, you’ve got a day off from me. What’s the plan, Rhodey?”

“You pick today. I’m up for anything.” Rhodey trusts that Tony won’t do anything Rhodey can’t.

Tony sits on the chair beside Rhodey. “I need to sit. I don’t think I’ve stopped moving for a week.”

“So, what you’re saying is you need sleep.” Rhodey retorts.

“No, I need to spend time with my Rhodeybear. We never did that Star Wars marathon after Rise of Skywalker came out, did we?” Tony pokes him. “We can order like tons of pizza and greasy foods and bro it out like the old times.”

Stuck in a theatre room with only Tony and highly unhealthy food? “Sounds like a great day. Let’s queue up the movies. I’ll have |Miss Cabe order our food. The usual?” Tony nods and heads off to the theater.

Rhodey pulls out his phone and texts a maid, Bethany Cabe, to place an order for the following: an extra-large bacon pizza, two orders of cheesy curly fries, mozzarella sticks, and onion rings. Rhodey has cases of Tony’s favorite beer, so they did not need to worry about drinks.

As they settle in to watch the movies, Tony tells him, “Wake me up if I fall asleep. I don’t want to miss Episode Six again.”

“Come on Tones, Return of the Jedi isn’t the best.” Rhodey smirks.

Tony glares at him. “It’s my favorite. Leave me alone. Go ahead and like Empire or whatever one you like the best. Geez.”

“You know mine is Episode Three. The tragedy, the pain, the John Williams’ scores? A masterpiece.”

“Anakin deserved better.” Tony mumbles as he eats a bite of pizza. Rhodey sighs. He’s heard this rant many times, and he’ll probably hear it again tonight. Tony really gets into these movies.

Tony falls asleep at the end of A New Hope, his head falling on Rhodey’s shoulder. He looks so exhausted so Rhodey lets him sleep through Empire since Tony thinks it’s overhyped or something. Rhodey likes it. When Return of the Jedi starts, Rhodey nudges Tony awake. “Episode 6? Honeybear, you are an angel.” Tony kisses his cheek.

By the time The Last Jedi comes on, both of the men are sleeping. Jeannette comes in to check on them and snaps a picture of Tony lying on top of Rhodey, both snoring away.

Rhodey wakes up a few hours later and freezes. Tony is sleeping peacefully on him, his head on Rhodey’s chest. He doesn’t dare move in fear of waking Tony up. He slowly reaches for his phone and scrolls through Instagram and other social media apps until Tony wakes up.

Tony wakes up slowly, but when he’s fully awake he jumps up and goes. “I’ve got to get to work!”

“Hey Tony. It’s Sunday. We were going to spend Saturday and Sunday together, right?”

“Oh. Oh. Whew. I thought.” Tony slumps. “Probably hallucinating from all that grease.”

“Maybe we should get a little more sleep in a real bed.” Rhodey suggests. Tony nods, and they walk up to Rhodey’s room. Since they were kids, Tony always slept in Rhodey’s bed with him. They only ever slept and/or cuddled, and Rhodey has a king bed in case either of them needed their own space.

They go to Jeannie’s tennis match then accompany her to an expensive Italian restaurant for dinner. The next morning, there are pictures splashed across the tabloids. Stark trying to get in with the Royal Family? Read more on page 3! One says. The Apple Doesn’t Fall far from the Tree – Another Gold-Digging Stark! Rhodey shakes his head. He was afraid this would happen. He calls his PR agent, Maria Hill.

She answers with a “Now do you see why having a partner would be good?”

“Yes. Do you have any candidates who would be willing to date with no sex and/or strings attached? For public only?”

“You don’t know how many celebrities only hope for that. Let me see which ones I can get. I’ll send you over a packet when I get them.”

When he gets the packet, Rhodey isn’t surprised to find that 75% of them are women. Skipping through them, he tells Maria to reach out to an A-list actress Natasha Romanov. She is a beautiful woman, and they seem to have a lot of the same likes and dislikes. She agrees to meet with Rhodey at a small café near the palace. He introduces himself as Rhodey, then corrects it to “James or Jim” when Romanov gives him an odd look. “I’m sorry. My best friend always calls me Rhodey. It’s just what I expect now. I mean, if you want to call me that in private, it’s fine. Maria thinks it’s better if you call me James or Jim when talking with the press.”

“Tell me about this best friend.” Natasha leans forward. “He sounds like a nice guy.”

Rhodey launches into a detailed description of Tony: his strengths, his flaws, his quirks, etc. When he’s done, she asks, “And you’re dating me because you can’t date him?”

“How did you…?”

“You’re in love with him. Just look at your face. It’s ok. I won’t tell the press. I have almost the same problem. I’m in a poly relationship with a different celebrity couple. However, since Hollywood, even with its sex scandals, still looks down on poly relationships. I need a beard to keep our activity on the downlow. Is that acceptable for you?”

Rhodey nods. “Of course. And you’re right. I love Tony, but I need to keep the press out of his life. His father put him through a lot, and he’s trying to make up for Howard’s sins. He doesn’t need the extra press coverage. Also, I don’t know if he likes me like that. I’ve never seen him date a guy.”

“Well, I’d like to meet him.”

+++++++ Natasha and Tony eventually meet. Tony is happy to meet her, but Rhodey feels that Tony is wearing one of his many masks. |When they kiss goodnight, Natasha tells him, “Rhodey, he likes you.”

“Not that I want to doubt you, but I’m highly doubtful on this one here.”

A few months pass, and Natasha and Prince James are photographed at red carpet events, at sports games, and at galas. Rumors are spreading that Prince James might propose soon. Natasha shows up at the palace for a surprise visit. “Hey, can we talk?” She pulls James from his family dinner.

She tells him how the couple that she is dating are planning on coming out to the press as poly with her because they know some younger people who are receiving hate for their relationships. They want to be allies for such people. And they want her there when they come out. “Can we say we amicably split? I’d love to keep in contact with you.”

“That sounds good.” His phone pings. He has a google alert set up for Tony because the press likes to come up to him for hostile interviews at the most inopportune times. James does his best to save him. “Listen Nat, I will talk to my publicist, but I have to go.”

The press has trapped Tony on the palace driveway. “What do you think of Prince James marrying Ms. Romanov?” One reporter asks.

“I didn’t know they got engaged, but I think they are an excellent match. Well-suited for each other.” Rhodey can see Tony is keeping his press face on but was not ready for the sudden press conference.

Another reporter sneers. “We know you were trying to get a piece of the royalty. Will you try for the princess now that the prince is spoken for?”

“Excuse me?” Tony reels. “What are you talking about?”

“They’ll never have you. You’re just a charity case to them. What do you think of that? Did you think Prince James really liked you? Especially after what your father did?” Another reporter shoves a microphone in his face.

Tony loses his mask. “Do I think Rho- Prince James really liked me? I have known the prince since we were young teenagers. I know he likes me… as a friend. But anything more? No. He never did, never will. I know what my father did; I know what I have to do to fix it. My father and Prince James have no correlation. What are you even trying to say here?” Rhodey can see the pain in Tony’s eyes. They flash when he says that Rhodey will never like him as anything more as a friend.

“Excuse me.” Rhodey steps forward. “Can you step away from him, please?”

The press apologizes and steps away. “Now, I want to say this once more and hopefully never again. Lord Stark is not his father. Lord Stark is paying his father’s investors back as quickly as he can. He started up his business on his own with his trust fund from his maternal grandmother. Howard never saw or added to a penny of that fund. What is the point of hating a man for the sins of his father? Keep rolling. I am talking to the country as a whole. Leave him alone, please. I want to say one more thing. Tony Stark, you are the love of my life. The reason I have not dated is because the only person I have ever loved was you. Yes, Natasha and I dated, but we did to keep other things hidden. I’m sure she will let you know at some point. It’s not my job. Tony, again, I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and perhaps rule with you. I do not have a ring yet because I had not planned to propose to you in front of live TV today, yet here I am. Will you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?”

“You’re serious?” Tony gasps.

“Completely.”

“Then Rhodey, my Honeybear, my Platypus, my Sourpatch, I will marry you in a heartbeat.” Tony smiles widely, and Rhodey kisses him deeply, in front of the cameras. As they turn to the palace, Tony turns back to the cameras, lifts his middle finger, and says, “Fuck you” whilst smiling sweetly.

++++++ The country is so shocked at Prince James’ dramatic proposal. People wonder if Tony is a good fit for the prince due to his blatant disregard for protocol. Princess Jeannie posts the picture she took of them sleeping in the theatre room on Instagram, the caption “I knew it.” She broke the internet with the most likes on an Instagram post.

Tony goes through his numbers and his father’s numbers again to make sure everyone is paid off. While looking at his father’s records again, he notices some discrepancies from Obadiah’s report. The truth comes out – Howard had not done anything wrong; it was Obadiah. He falsified documents, records, and even bills to give him much more money. Obadiah is fired and imprisoned. Tony’s name is cleared. Anthony Stark marries Prince James Rhodes a happy man.

#ironhusbands #royalty au #tony stark doesn't give a care #ironhusbands bingo 2020 #ironhusbands bingo #au_gust_2020 #i write!

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thatwasntlikeridingabikeuasshole · 4 years ago

Text

I’m gonna infodump about my crush and sound like an utter hopeless romantic possibly even on less intelligent Disney princess level so I’m shoving all this under the cut scroll past unless you wanna hear a kind of pointless love story

Wow, you actually decided to keep reading...okay lol, suit yourself.

Our story begins on the night of Halloween in the New England suburbs. The ground is disgustingly snowy; I say disgustingly because it’s not the pretty white fluffy snow like right after a good blizzard, it’s half-melted, dirt-spattered, muddy snow that is sometimes puddles and sometime big gray banks on the sides of the road. It’s freezing out, but I’m wearing two very warm sweatshirts one on top of the other, so it doesn’t bother me.

I’m standing at the bottom of the porch steps to my best friend’s house. We would’ve had one of her usual big Halloween parties this year if not for the coronavirus. These usually involved her entire extended family, our entire friend group, her mom frantically passing out water bottles before we left trick-or-treating, and a gigantic group picture before someone yelled “THREE! TWO! ONE! TRICK OR TREAT!” and we shot off through the neighborhood. Unfortunately, for our health we had to minimize it, and only I was coming over, to trick or treat with her, her two younger sisters, and masks. We were going as Among Us crewmates, and we were going to make the best use of the situation by using our masks as the visors on the crewmates. So here I was bundled up all in purple with a light blue mask, making my way carefully up the icy porch steps to the front door. I didn’t even have to ring the doorbell, because the youngest sister (we’ll call her Zu and resign to naming all people involved after Darkest Minds characters) saw me through the glass and let me in.

That’s when I saw him. The stairs to the second floor pretty much go straight down to the front door in my best friend’s house (we’ll call her Vida) and as I was walking in, he was coming down. Even though I’d never met him or seen pictures, I immediately placed him based on the fact that he immediately said, “Oh my God, you’re the hologram.” I knew it had to be Vida’s cousin (we’ll call him Liam.) She had told me about him claiming jokingly that I must be a hologram because how could she have a best friend who was a real person? So I said, “Yep, that’s me, and you must be Liam then?” He nodded, and then conversely told me I must be Ruby, which I confirmed to be true. We immediately got to talking. It was like we had known each other before. Usually I expect some degree of awkwardness when I meet members of friends’ families, even if I’ve met them before, even if they’re my age. But with Liam, it felt normal. As Vida and her sisters were being summoned by their mom to help put some groceries away, Liam and I just sat in the living room and chatted for a while.

When Vida’s mom finally let her come and say hi to me, she walked in on Liam and I deep in conversation. “Oh, well, I’m glad you two like each other,” was the first thing she said. Then she turned completely red. “I mean, you know, despise each other...less.” Liam and I both kind of chuckled, and said we did despise each other less. I don’t think I was in love with him yet, but I definitely knew I was going to be, it was only a matter of time.

Anyway, the rest of the day happened. Trick or treating was uneventful. Liam and I mostly stuck together, usually joined by Vida, sometimes by her sisters, but sometimes by nobody. The more we talked, the more I liked him, in such an incredibly natural-feeling way.

Shortly before we finished our circuit around the town, we ran into the third best friend in our small group, Vida’s and mine. She had just set out and she had nobody to go with. Vida was freezing and ready to go inside, and Liam didn’t know this friend at all (we’ll call her Chubs because why not) so he went inside with Vida. I decided to accompany Chubs on her trip and then rejoin the others afterwards.

So me and Chubs set out and had a good time. Then I walked her back to her house, which wasn’t that far from Vida’s, if you used the “secret passages” that consisted of narrow alleys between backyard fences that twisted and turned from Chubs’s street to Vida’s. Chubs offered to have her mom give me a ride home, since it was late and she doubted the safety of me walking home alone.

But I didn’t want to go home, so I made a really stupid decision. Disclaimer: please don’t do this. Since I didn’t want to burden Chubs’s mom with driving me back to Vida’s house, and I didn’t want the added Covid risk of being in the car with her, I decided to venture back to Vida’s house alone. I took the secret passages and was there in five minutes. Cate, Vida’s mom, told me I shouldn’t have walked there all alone in the dark, but what I mostly cared about at that moment was that in the cozy living room in front of me Vida and Liam were counting their candy on the coffee table. I found a seat and joined them.

The night wore on and I only fell harder for Liam. We got into some really deep conversations, the three of us. I was one hundred percent sure I was in love with him by the time he asked me whether I thought not meeting in a romantic enough way to tell your kids was grounds for breaking up with someone. I know because the only thing going through my head was “Halloween is a plenty romantic way to meet so we’ll be good probably”.

Anyway I wanted to stay and talk all night, but at 8:29 I realized that my dad was picking me up at 8:30 and he wanted me to be out on the porch when he came so he didn’t have to come inside with everyone. I practically leaped up out of my seat and declared I had to go, that I would love to see Liam again (surprisingly I had the opportunity to do this in a non-romantic-seeming way, we had an unfinished conversation) and Happy Halloween.

I felt pretty elated when I left, because I did kind of fabulously at being inconspicuous and chill even when I knew I definitely liked him. Usually I am very awkward and somewhat obvious when I have a crush, but I did so well that when I told Vida a month later about the crush, she was genuinely surprised. But I was also incredibly disappointed in myself for leaving. I felt like Cinderella when the clock struck midnight.

So ever since Vida has been trying to come up with a way for me to see Liam again. She told his older sister, too, we’ll call her Cole, and she highly approves (for some reason, we’ve never met) and really wants us to get together. So I have Vida and Cole on my side, but there’s only so much they can do. I’m just waiting on everything getting back to normal, so that Vida can start up with her big friends-and-family parties again and I’ll have a stronger chance of being able to see Liam.

Yeah that’s all. I’m surprised you read this. Peace.

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millennial-ring · 4 years ago

Note

Can we get more on the three P's? Pain, Pride, and Pure?

17. PAIN

So this is actually the document where I saved the RP where Bakura came back to find Malik engaged to Seto, aptly named “PAIN” because it’s...fairly angsty. Me and this friend used to RP on Skype, making new group chats with side accounts before deleting them and leaving the two of us (which is so unnecessarily inconvenient lol but it’s what we had to do so we could rp multiple things at a time/not lose the rp in our regular group) and whenever we finished or got bored of an RP one of us would sit down, scroll all the way to the top, and copy and paste the entire thing into a word doc for re-readability. We rp’d it for well over a year, if not longer, so there’s no way to really reread it and condense it into a summary because sooo much happens. I guess highlights that I remember (or at least thing I remember fgjkdjh? we started this rp in 2016)

Bakura gives Malik a necklace he made himself (instead of a ring) before they part ways and Malik ofc keeps wearing it even after Bakura comes back and screams at them. There’s one scene early into the power relationship (when Malik still considers them fuck buddies) where Malik jumps into bed with Ryou, shoves his phone into his face, and starts screaming about Seto’s “you’re adorable” reply to a no-make up, bedhead selfie Malik had sent (bc how dare Seto be cute and do romantic things like that and kiss Malik’s hand and feed Malik chocolate covered strawberries before sex and buy him jewelry when they’re just fucking!) and Ryou’s just like “oh my fucking god just date him already gtfo my room I want to sleep.” Uhm... Malik and Seto are in the middle of wedding planning (visiting Isis and Rishid in Egypt at the time) when Bakura comes back, but they’re talking about a spring wedding in one of the parks/gardens in Seto’s neighborhood and Seto makes a comment about having the ceremony under the wisteria tree because he wants to see wisteria blossoms in Malik’s hair. Malik imagines brushing stray petals from Seto’s hair as they lean in for the kiss that will bind them for life - and then ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE. Bakura passes out after using all his energy to scream at Malik (bc he JUST returned from the shadows, having had to go through multiple trials and actually give up some of his memories to be able to return) and they put him in the guest bedroom while Malik calls Ryou for help. While they wait for Ryou, Bakura wakes up and crawls out the window and runs away LOL. Uhm... Malik has a fluffy white therapy cat, ykno one of those grumpy looking smoosh faced ones, named Bakura. At some point while they’re still in Egypt Ryou takes Bakura to Kul Elna, where there’s a monument/memorial to the people that died in the massacre, and a very close knit community. Ryou takes Bakura to a community garden run by a pregnant woman named Adela who also owns a restaurant there - the food grown by the locals is used in the restaurant and iirc there was also some kind of donations thing going on where struggling families could come and take whatever they needed provided they bring back seeds or the scraps for compost or help a bit in the garden or something like that. I don’t think we ever made it explicit but we were pretty much implying that Adela was Bakura’s Actual Mom reincarnated. I think Bakura was also around for the birth, but I can’t remember much of it aside from him holding the baby. But the modern Kul Elna village actually practiced a lot of the old traditions and Bakura’s like “whoa... fuck it I might move here”. Uuuhh Bakura tells Ryou how every family in Kul Elna had a special “tzai” (tea) recipe and it could only be shared with people close to said family...before he makes some for Ryou. I think my friend got this from Star Wars? But I like it and we’ve included it in basically all our rps since. Uhm~ At one point Bakura kisses Malik and Malik slaps him and that’s how Bakura knows It’s Really Over. Malik and Seto play rock paper scissors to decide who bottoms every now and then, but it’s moreso a way to say “I want to bottom tonight but for some reason my pride keeps me from saying it outright” (dear 2016 us: bottoming is not shameful!) but also we never rp’d it, it was part of a time skip, but Malik and Seto had a threesome with Ryou and Ryou ate Seto’s ass. That’s all. We had Atem coming back and I remember he wanted to try and smooth things over but whenever Bakura saw him he had a panic attack. Uhm...that’s all for now lol, I can’t really remember much else.

18. pride

Unfortunately, again, this is not a document about prideshipping. Every so often I get emotional and I start writing emotional things that I think I’ll post to Facebook, but then I either chicken out because I don’t want to be known or perceived. Let people continue to think I’m a hyperactive halfwit and have no deeper meaning to my thoughts. It’s chill.

But this one was about the concept of LGBT Pride and how I felt about it, how startled I am sometimes when I run across support and acceptance in unconventional or unexpected places, how I worked hard to be comfortable enough to make the “because I’m gay” jokes out loud because growing up in a rural Kansas town I was exposed to my fair share of homophobia, both from family and from community, and even the people I called friends. It was gonna be one of those “wow I love my friends and family because now that I’ve weeded out the assholes I’m surrounded by love and support and this is exactly how much it means to me and why!” kinda posts, but I’m really bad at those, so this stayed in my WIPs. Maybe when Pride month rolls around again and I get nostalgic and emotional again I’ll finish it.

19. pure

This one’s a “fic” written about mine and my friend’s OCs from an old superhero/supervillain RP group. My character, Zaine, was separated from his girlfriend, Tansy, during a battle with heroes that killed a lot of supers and civilians alike. They were reunited after a few years (both had assumed the other had died and somehow hadn’t run into each other at all asdkja, it was our excuse as to why the characters had changed so much (since we were coming back to rp these characters after a few years ourselves, and wanted to revamp them a bit without them losing their relationships or experiences). But in that time, Zaine became better friends with his buddy Forest, and before the gal who made Tansy rejoined the group, me and the guy who made Forest were debating if Zaine and Forest should get together. But Tansy came back and Zaine got back together with her, but I made it canon that Zaine was crushing on Forest prior to that/still a bit after Tansy came back. Zaine is in a band and it’s sort of a running joke that his band members are all betting how long it takes for a threesome or for Tansy (who’s a bit possessive) to attack Forest, and they constantly tease Zaine about how much time he spends with Forest, make “hey don’t fuel the shippers” jokes, some other stuff along those lines, etc. It’s all good natured tho.

Anyway that’s all canon. The fic was “pureshipping” - Zaine, Tansy, and Forest. It was kinda me exploring how a relationship might develop between the three of them and I was writing little bits for my friends at work based on the answers they gave me to the “How would they react to/feel about this” questions I asked before turning that into a proper story.

It started with Tansy trying to remember when exactly she became open to the idea of polyamory, since as I said, she’s a bit possessive and got jealous easily. She recalls a night Zaine brings Forest back to their apartment after a bachelor party, with them plastered and barely able to stand. They fall down, and Zaine shushes Forest because Tansy has her laptop out and she’s working. Forest shushes Zaine back, they put their fingers against each other’s lips and keep shushing each other, drawing closer until the only thing separating their mouths are their fingers, and Tansy’s just like “whoa” and something clicks because A) she sees Zaine’s lids lower while looking at Forest the way they do when he wants to kiss HER and B) why is she not freaking out about this isn’t she a poisonous little viper that hisses at anyone that tries to flirt with Zaine? But nope, she’s never been jealous of Forest even if his and Zaine’s relationship is fairly intimate for what most consider friendship. And then a few days later she sees one of those memes that’s like “Zaine has two hands” (bc Forest is also a famous musician, and he and Zaine do a lot together, both professionally on the music front and in like. Idk, livestreams and general hanging out. so ofc weirdos ship them, and since Zaine and Tansy went public there’s gonna be ppl that include her in the weirdness) on a TVD fan page she follows so she understands some of Zaine’s inside jokes and she sees a comment from Zaine’s official facebook that’s like “these hands were made for holding!”

and Tansy’s like. “Oh shit. Zaine DOES have two hands!” so a few days later over breakfast she asks Zaine how he REALLY feels about Forest and ofc he’s like “he’s my best friend???” and Tansy’s like “ok but no for real how do you REALLY feel about him” and then calls him out about about having a crush on him and Zaine, who’s canonically weirdly monogamous is like “no!!” but Tansy whittles him down until he admits he “HAD” a crush on Forest before he and Tansy reconnected, but swears nothing happened between them and Tansy’s like “WOULD YOU LIKE TO?” and brings up the idea of Zaine dating Forest, and Zaine’s like “I’m with you, Tans, I didn’t mean to make you feel inadequate” and she’s like “I appreciate it but not what I meant. I know you, Zaine, I know you’re a lover and not being able to tell Forest how you really feel is hurting you, so if you want to then I highly encourage you ask him out” and after like 2 whole days of debating Zaine comes back to her saying he was going to, and then a few days later they invite Forest over to have The Talk and Tansy says they’re free to date, but Forest is still mourning Kelvin, his fiancé that “died” ((in quotes bc these aren’t our characters to actually kill so all characters are just assumed dead if the roleplayer didn’t rejoin but ofc if they came back “hey surprise i’m alive!) in the war between heroes and villains and says he needs time to think about it. He thinks it over for two whole weeks -and in the meantime, Tansy is happy to see his and Zaine’s relationship hasn’t changed at all- before agreeing. They sit down to discuss boundaries and permissions and whatever, and this line:

Tansy would never dream of forbidding them from doing anything that she and Zaine would do, especially because Zaine was a lover. He loved with all his heart, soul, and body, as if his purpose in life was to treasure his partners so thoroughly they would never question his feelings for them. It would be unfair to Forest and downright cruel to Zaine for Tansy to restrict them.

aaaa I know I wrote it but I love it. So after boundaries are discussed and all that Zaine and Forest have their first proper kiss, and it’s so sweet Tansy feels breathless alongside them. The three of them cuddle up to watch a movie but Zaine’s paying more attention to the two of them, taking turns kissing each of them while Tansy and Forest accidentally start competing for who can pull the most reactions from Zaine. Forest starts spending every weekend at Zaine and Tansy’s place and it always ends with them cuddling on the couch while watching movies, Zaine between them, but overtime Forest and Tansy become more affectionate with each other and end game was obviously the three of them, but I stopped writing it just after Forest spent the first night in bed with them.

Tansy smiled and looped her arm around Zaine, cuddling up to his side like a cat seeking attention. Zaine’s own arm found its way around her shoulders to keep her close. The last thing Tansy saw before her eyes dropped closed was Forest on the other side of Zaine mirroring her, and the last touch she registered was Forest’s hand brushing over her arm.

#wip tag

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