#when i saw heart-i rising first i went ooh nice

[minqies]

the way that both stcp and dreame are fighting for the first place is so funny to see

[tryingmydarndest]

Thank You (Luka Couffaine x Reader)

Summary (Part 1/probably 3): The author goes on a bit of a tangent about how Y/N goes on a bit of a tangent about Viperion. Who may just have a little, big ol' crush on them?

Tags: -not enough actual relationship -fluff -but like, a weird sprinkling of angst that I didn't plan on right at the end???

Word count: 1.6k

A/N: Inspired by this fic by @seriously-sirius-black <3. Luka? OOC? Idk, probably, I don’t write fanfic. But I am actually kinda proud of how well Alya turned out. Writing this made me realize how much of a mom friend I apparently headcanon her as. I wrote this gender-and-as-everything-else-neutral as I can make it (lemme know if you see ways I can improve, tho idk how much more fanfic I'll even be writing). Also, I freakin' RAMBLE and overuse italics, but ya get what ya get and ya don't gotta fret. Ooh, important note for future parts (if i write them) - this is a kinda!au where the miraculous users keep their miraculous. also if I had a nickel for every time I get awkwardly specific about the placement of both of a character’s hands I’d have TWO nickels. Happy reading!! <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

Part I - Paris's Cutiest Heroes

The look currently on Marinette’s face as she sputtered out a response was priceless, “Cat Noir? Cat Noir!? What makes you think I’d find Cat Noir attractive at all? And- and- HIM- the cutest superhero! Ridiculous!”

“Utterly ridiculous?”

“Nice one, Alya”

“Thank you so much, Y/N,” you gave Alya a high five on your way to your seat next to Juleka and Rose on the couch facing Marinette and Alya. A sunny Friday after school was the perfect place for Kitty Section and their entourage to hang out. Unfortunately without Ivan and Mylène, seeing as their anniversary called for a private celebration. After pushing a couple couches onto the deck of The Liberty, Alya had predictably started talking about Paris's resident hero team. Today, she chose to ask everyone who they deemed the cutest, and she made sure to jump on Marinette's... interesting response, “And girl, he has the same silky golden hair and dreamy emerald eyes as Adrien Agreste. What’s utterly ridiculous is you freaking out and dodging every time we bring up superheroes!”

The designated snack-boy, Luka, walked out precariously carrying three bowls of goodies for everyone, “Alright, I got more popcorn. Sorry, but looks like we’re out of cheese flavoring, Y/N”

“Oh... that’s fine. I honestly wasn’t expecting it since I forgot to ask,” your free hand not reaching for the bowl rubbed the back of your neck, “but thanks for remembering.”

“Oh, um yeah- Always," is it creepy to remember something so specific? Someone as nice as Y/N wouldn't be interested in some creep. Ugh. Luka took a seat with his own bowl after passing Alya and Marinette theirs. He ended up next to you on the floor, leaning against the arm of the couch, dangerously close to touching your legs.

Rose reached for the popcorn as she interjected, “You know, Alya does have a point. So Marinette, why don’t you just tell us who you think the cutest superhero is, if you don’t like us guessing?”

Somehow Marinette’s face went even paler as she spoke, “What- I mean, I don’t- I haven’t thought- Wha- what about Y/N? Why aren’t you interrogating them?”

Alya crossed her arms, “Because Y/N says the same thing about the same hero every day. Just watch. Ahem, Y/N, care to weigh in on the cuteness level of our lovely Parisian superheroes?”

You looked up from the bowl you had stolen back from Rose with wide eyes, "Hey! Okay, no, that is not fair! Besides, what is our criteria for 'cute'? I mean... Are we going just by physical characteristics? Is costume a factor? What about the animal they're representing, could our opinion of that make this whole thing unfair? And cuteness is so subjective anyway... Why are we even reducing these amazing and honorable superheroes to just their looks? I mean we could be talking about skill, or their powers or power lev-"

"-And your answer would be exactly the same. Seriously, are you done trying- and might I add, failing- to talk yourself out of this one yet? Or should I just read the article you wrote for the Ladyblog?"

"You said you deleted that!"

Luka had perked his head up at your initial fumbling response and turned to you when he spoke, "You wrote an article? That's pretty cool."

You rubbed your face to try and distract yourself from the burning embarrassment, "Umm, yeah. But it was terrible and extremely not. worth. publishing." You hoped the glare you sent the girl in question was enough to scare her into deleting it on the spot, or to at least lie about it, "So Alya kindly deleted it, right?"

Sitting up with a smug look and crossed arms severely lowered your faith that she'd keep quiet. "A good journalist archives everything. Especially something as juicy as one of her besties going on for five thousand words about how dreamy the great Viperion is," dramatically fake-fainting into Marinette's lap, Alya could barely finish before bursting out in laughter. Of course, quickly followed by the others joining in to varying degrees. Juleka and Rose happily giggled to themselves, Marinette looked more relieved that the heat was off her, and Luka seemed to be shocked, or maybe just holding back to see how you were taking this.

Horribly. Horribly embarrassed would describe how you were taking this conversation. You sat there stock-still as you hoped that none of the others could hear your heart's desperate attempts to pound its way out of your chest. That's certainly all you could hear, at least until Alya's voice brought you out of it, "Hey, it's fine," she made her way over to sit next to you as she continued, "We all have our little hero crushes. That's why I bring it up all the time, to show you that it's totally normal! I mean, we all know how I could go on about Carapace for days," Alya gestured for the others to continue, and used her other hand to try and comfort you.

"Well, I find Ladybug to be just absolutely adorable and so kind.... oh it just makes me so happy knowing she's keeping all of Paris safe," Rose added softly.

Juleka brushed a strand of hair aside as she spoke, "Rena Rouge is super mysterious, pretty rad in my opinion."

Alya was rubbing your back like the mom friend she is to try and help encourage you, "See? Super normal, so go ahead and release all this pent up Viperion energy that I know you have. Maybe it'll encourage Marinette here to finally join in the fun!" Alya stuck her tongue out at her best friend, who responded promptly by smashing her face into a pillow.

You just sighed, "I mean- it’s- it can't just-'' were you supposed to just get over it all just like that? Well, at least the embarrassment was wearing off, maybe you could just entertain her for a bit, "Well- um, you see.... HisHairJustLooksReallySoftAnd- you know what. Nope. Can't do anymore of this. Yep- that's all you're getting out of me!" This time when everyone started giggling, you were able to comfortably join them. It was a nice feeling.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A nice evening chilling out with your friends was always welcome, especially with the rising number of akumatizations making that less possible. But the night had come to a close. Alya and Marinette went home, Juleka was walking Rose back herself, and Luka and you had volunteered to clean up. Luka stopped drying the cup in his hand for a minute as he looked at you, “Um, I know it might not be my place, but I want you to know that you don’t have to be embarrassed about the whole... Viperion thing.” God, how am I supposed to take the news that MY crush has a crush on.... Sort of me? Am I supposed to count it as me at all?

“Oh, um. Yeah, thanks. I think I’m over the embarrassment now that it’s out. I don’t know, it’s just that a lot of people think it’s weird since he’s kind of a new hero,” how are you supposed to explain this to him? That you kept such a non-issue secret from him, especially without getting suspiciously defensive about it. “And then people use that to try and say that I only like him for his looks..... And that’s not it! I don’t know, it’s kind of.... A lot? To explain, that is.” This was not going well.

“Oh... Well, what is it? That you like about him, I guess.”

This was so not going well. But he was waiting for a response so... “Uh, well I guess it did kinda start..... that way.... but then I started doing research. I learned about his power and saw videos of his fights. He’s really good! Especially for being so new, which kinda goes into why his power makes me like him so much.” Shit. Rambling, I’m just talking and talking and I need to stop. But how am I supposed to change the subject now? And now Luka’s sitting down, and he seems so invested. Why does this have to happen to me?

“What do you mean by that?”

Luka’s voice kindly shuts your little thought-spiral in its tracks. What were you saying? Oh, Viperion’s powers! You can talk about this, you know this. Just keep talking, at least he seems interested in it, “Well, you know how he can go back and redo the last couple of minutes?” Luka nodded, “Well, we always see the time that worked out. Us civilians get to keep going from the one time it all went right. Just imagine all the times he failed, all the times he couldn’t get it right. It could be dozens, maybe even hundreds of times! He must get so discouraged at some point, I mean I know I would.... I guess I didn’t really think about it at first, but.... but, I doubt I could keep that determination, and I’m so glad Paris has a hero who can, and does.”

Silence. Why was it so quiet? Oh no, he thinks I’m weird. He must think-

“All of this from ‘his hair looks soft’?”

“Hey! You can’t tell me not to be embarrassed, then make fun of me! That’s against the rules!”

Luka chuckled as he said, “Against what rules, exactly?”

“The Rules Of Best Friendship, duh!”

“And who exactly said you were my best friend?”

“Well... your loss, I guess. Now you won’t get an invitation when I plan Rose and Juleka’s wedding,” you brushed off his offended glare as you took the seat next to him.

“She’s my sister.”

“She’d take my side.”

I’d take your side, too. I will always take your side. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

A/N the sequel: I am super bad at finishing things, but I really wanna keep motivated to finish this (like I have a full, probably 3 part, plan for this). If you guys want to help, shoot me a message and I'll send you a link to the google doc I'm writing this on. Feel free to leave a little comment (pls be kind, obviously) and see my writing process! Idk, would any of you guys be interested in that? Would you just get annoyed at having already read the thing before I post it?

[equestrianwritingsstuff]

Ooh! I just discovered you from the Bad Things Happen Bingo and I love your writing already! Could I potentially request the Bleeding Out prompt as a prequel for the Soup for the Sick story you wrote?

Thank you for the ask! I had to look up prequel to make sure that you meant before the events of Personalized Caretaker Part 1, and not after 😂. Here you go! In reference to this post.

So, with that note, this piece happened before Part 1 of Personalized Caretaker.

Personalized Caretaker Part 2

Part 1

Warnings: blood, vomit, losing consciousness, faking an injury, drugged whumpee, fear, implied touch starvation

*not edited*

~

Civilian hopped onto her couch, legs resting on the armrest and flicked on the television, going straight for Netflix.

It was a normal day, serene and tranquil with the perfect amount of work that made Civilian feel good inside.

She lazily gnawed on a piece of beef jerky and selected The Kissing Booth for personal enjoyment. Something cheesy and romantic to vibe to as she decompressed- even the best days required a period of relaxation.

But, her period of relaxation was very rudely interrupted by a thud. Right outside her door.

Civilian froze, heart racing, as her mind involuntarily replayed every known horror movie. She was the victim, the bad guy was going to break in and slash her throat as she unceremoniously says, "Who's there?"

Civilian shuddered, turning off the television, and slowly standing up. She grabbed her remote control as a weapon and very, very slowly, like a ninja, stalked stealthily up to the door.

"Who's there?" Civilian asked. Crap, her fatal flaw. Now the bad guy was going to rush out and murder her, then the police would come and there would be ten more killings and then there would be a ghost that was a moaning lady with pale skin and black hair that was hung in the woods seventy-some years ago and then it is reincarnated to be a doll that haunts children and-

Civilian drew in a deep breath. Don't freak out, don't freak out. It was probably a bird that weighed the size of a man- a bad man- that crashed into the window and died. And died. And died. And died. It was gone. Instead of using a remote, she should be using a plastic bag.

"Stop it Civilian, you paranoid freak," she yelled at herself, very loudly, her voive taut with utter fear as she peered through the shades.

The first thing she saw was blood.

Smeared blood in the direction of downwards, leading directly to...

A body.

Civilian felt nausea rise in her throat as literally the blood drained from her face. She wasn't the first victim, the poor human in opening credits, she was the next victim and her house was the killer's stash.

Probably to blame her for the death. To redirect the suspicion.

She had to hide the body and burn it before the cops came. Oh boy, the killer probably already called them. Crap crap crap.

Civilian whisked the door open, tossing her grand weapon of plastic and onto a nearby table, and prepared to wrap the body in a black bag.

The body moved.

Civilian screamed.

The body was not a body, it was a living man.

"Oh my gosh sir? Sir! Are you okay? Sir! Sir!" Civilian grabbed her hair and started to paced. "This can't be happening. This can't be happening. There is a bleeding man on my fricking doorstep." She started to ramble, muttering nonsensical curses and words that weren't going to help the dying man.

She was panicking, completely hyperventilating, by the time the man moved more than a shaky, uneven breath.

His eyes opened, revealing a drop-dead gorgeous icy blue. Eyelashes fluttered in the most enearding way as the man struggled to keep his consciousness to himself. Lips quivered as he whole face bunched together in an expression of pain.

Civilian didn't know if she could handle it.

"Are you doing to die?" She asked, rushed and abruptly. The man looked his clouded gaze on her. It took a moment, but he spoke,

"Heroes. Heroes, they are coming. Run, get outta here. Get outta here!"

Civilian shrieked, glancing hurriedly around. An insane plot twist, the good guys were the bad guys and...

Wait, this wasn't a movie.

And why was this man so scared of the heroes? Unless, of course, he was...

A villain.

Civilian covered her mouth and dropped to her knees. A v-v-villain? Was at her door? Civilian pinched herself to see if she was sleeping, but the nightmare didn't vanish. She was stuck in reality. Someone go get her a soda...

Villain's eyelids drooped as he weakly extended his arm. "Please," he begged. "I need help." Then his arm went slack.

Civilian was close to hysterics.

But nonetheless, out of fear, she grabbed the man's arm and attempted to pull him inside. She silently cursed. Her twigs for limbs could barely carry a box of mason jars; what made her think she could drag a two hundred pound full-grown adult male?

It was a taxing project that left Civilian in tangled limps, just begging for sleep. The man didn't stir at all, not even when Civilian's fist went into the gaping wound in his stomach.

Aw man, that was disgusting. Civilian vomited into a nearby trashcan before returning to figure out WHAT THE HECK TO DO!!!

"Can you wake up?" Civilian asked. "Please? I-i... how do I... how do I do this?"

Civilian was on the verge of tears, but then she reminded herself. This isn't a movie, he won't be miraculously healed after a good night's sleep.

With a quick reference to Google, Civilian finally felt prepared. She ran to get a pillow and slipped it under Villain's head. His eyelids fluttered as his eyes cracked open, but then they slipped close again.

Next she removed his shirt and was quite awestruck at the sight. Other than the painted crimson, his abdomen really was the definition of ab-domen. Hard muscles were lined perfectly.

Okay Civilian, someone is dying, don't admire it.

She placed one hand above and the other in the wound to staunch the bleeding. After the blood flow slowed, she lifted his legs to rest on the armrests in a similar position that she was in earlier.

Next, she jumped some hydrogen peroxide in and bandaged the wound. The villain never awoke.

Once the looming danger was gone, Civilian just stood there awkwardly. Dried blood crusted on his skin, but at least it wasn't wet.

So she stood there, arms crossed as meaningless thoughts rushed through her head.

What do call a male ladybug?

Is grass the earth's hair?

Do pineapples come from pine trees?

Why is a villain on my couch?

Civilian sat down, keeping a good three feet distance from the assumed murderer, and turned on the TV to resume her movie.

She leaned her head back, exhaustion tugging at her eyelids, but she refused sleep. Especially when a villain was slumbering next to her with one arm over his face.

He looked like a monkey.

One of those pale faced, brown haired primates from Curious George.

Not that his ears were splayed out or anything, the monkey had very tiny, collected ears that hid under his fluffy brown hair. His nose also held that itty-bitty appearance, perfectly formed to his face with the faintest trace of freckles.

He was cute.

Like a monkey.

Or not, as Civilian found monkeys utterly disgusting.

So cute, like a kitten.

Civilian smiled, looking down at her lap. Another thing Wikihow said that Civilian scowled at and ignored before. Put the victim's head in your lap to calm and keep them comfortable.

It wouldn't hurt, right? The villain wasn't even conscious, and he lost so much blood that he probably wouldn't remember anything if he did wake up.

She just met him.

Stress can increase heart rate which may be detrimental. Civilian scrunched her forehead. Was that even true?

Who cares. Civilian scotted her skinny self over and laid the villain's head in her lap. Then, temptation started its charismatic monologue.

Stroke his head. Be nice, clean his chin. Wipe the dirt off his eye.

Civilian hesitantly put her hand on his grimey hair- ew, he needed a shower ASAP- and gingerly patted it. Patted it, like petting a dog.

It was embarrassingly awkward.

For the next few hours, Villain slept. Civilian also dozed off between getting yummy smelling candles to fend off the revolting scent od blood and crackers to aimlessly gnaw on.

She watched through the first Kissing Booth and the second one when a thought struck her.

Pain.

The villain would be in pain when he woke up.

And the only thing Civilian had was Ibuprofen.

Like those barely took the edge off a headache, much less a gash the size of a baseball.

She reached for her phone to call her friend at the local drug store. Putting on a squeaky voice, Civilian said,

"Can you, uh, get me something for pain?"

"Slow down, Civilian. What?"

"I don't know benadryl or a very strong pain reliever," Civilian bit her lip, squeezing her eyes shut. Stupid stupid stupid...

"What did you do?"

"I, uh, sprained my ankle."

"You sprained your ankle?"

"Mhm hurts like-"

"Okay! I don't need your swear word dictionary. I'll bring you something after work."

"Thanks, oh owowowowowowo."

"Goodbye Civilian."

The line clicked.

Civilian smiled to herself and popped another cracker in her mouth. Problem solved.

The blood on the door.

Crap.

Civilian set Villain's head back on a pillow and ran to the frontdoor.

Great, just great.

Civilian flipped the middle finger at Villain's sleeping figure and walked out the door. She would meet her friend before she saw the splatters of blood.

Civilian sat herself on the curb, throwing her newly "spraind" leg out, letting out an insanely loud groan, and leaned back on her elbows.

"Oh my goodness! Civilian," her friend leaped from her black car and ran over. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Civilian waved it off. "Just wanted some air and the house is a mess, so."

Civilian, you are dumb.

"You sure? You asked to be hospitalized once because you stubbed your toe and the fact that a sprained ankle isn't bugging you... I am wholeheartedly worried."

"Don't be," Civilian chuckled. "How was work?"

Friend gave her a skeptical look. "Fine," she drawled.

"Good," Civilian nodded slowly, tapping the ground with her fingers. "So thank you for the painkillers."

"Mhm," Friend handed Civilian the plastic bag slowly. "How did you sprain it?"

"Uhhh fell out of the shower."

Friend looked genuinely concerned.

"Tripped and fell," Civilian repeated herself awkwardly. "On the ground?" Why did she have to say it as a question?

She was awkward and sounded hilariously awkward as well.

"Klutz," Friend joked, but her face was still taut with worry. "Need help getting inside?"

"No no!" Civilian exclaimed. Friend stepped back, so Civilian laughed to alleviate the tension. "I should walk it out."

"Ooookay," Friend said, nodding. "Good for you. I'm gonna go. I have a dinner date with this dude from Tinder."

"Oooo good luck," Civilian said, faking a wince as she stood up. Friend rushed in to help.

"Don't," Civilian cautioned, raising her "hurt" leg up. Friend looked at it and scowled.

"Dang leg huh? Well bye-bye. Don't fall out of the shower anymore. Got it?"

"Yup," Civilian said and fake limped back to her house as Friend sped away.

Missiom accomplished.

Villain was stirring when Civilian sat back down.

Perfect timing also.

She rummaged through the bag and grabbed a bottle of valium. She popped the recommended dosage out and approached Villain.

He was still too dazed and disoriented to stop Civilian from helping him swallow, but the second the water touched his tongue, he woke up fully.

"What are you doing? Don't touch me!" He yelled, pulling away. Civilian also backed away, a frown forming on her face.

"Me? I saved your life."

Villain was silent. "How much did you touch me?"

"Enough to save your life."

Villain jerked, looking around as if somone was in the shadows. Paranoid, Civilian copied him.

"What's wrong with you?" Civilian asked.

"You touched me?"

Civilian didn't say anything. She crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one leg, examining the villain.

Villain jerked to his feet, swaying madly. Civilian's heart jumped. He was so unsteady...

He fell, but Civilian swooped in to catch him.

For a moment, the villain melted into her half-embrace, head resting gently on her shoulder, before pulling away. He bit his cheeks, seemingly trying to keep tears back.

"What... are you? Are, are you scared of getting a hug? Sheesh."

"Mmm no," Villain shook his head quickly, then sat down as if the feat made him dizzy.

"Mmm yes," Civilian sat down next to him. The villain looked confused, but that may be the drugs kicking in.

Soon Villain's eyes starting to droop and he swayed in his sitting position.

"Whatdya give me?" He slurred, a faraway look in his eyes. "Mm tired." He collapsed forward.

Civilian steadied him and helped him lay back down. He groaned pathetically and grappled at Civilian's hand, desperate to hold it.

He held her hand until he fell asleep.

[make-me-imagine]

Red Roses: “I Love You” - Bucky Barnes Ending

Valentines Special: Day Nine

Day One: Morning Glories  //  Day Two: Blue Salvias Day Three: Sunflowers  //  Day Four: Pink Camellias Day Five: Yellow Tulips   // Day Six: Violets Day Seven: Lisianthus  //  Day Eight: Daffodils (Post with rest of the character endings)

Plot: It’s finally Valentines Day, the day the reader will finally learn who it is that had been leaving them flowers and notes expressing their secret feelings. 

Pairing: Gen!Neutral Reader x Bucky Barnes

Triggers: None     

Words: 2,233 (this is the longest ending I think but it’s mostly because of the lead up to the reveal/admission) 

Requested Taglist: @aquariuslavenderhoney​​, @thebookbakery​​ @spuffyfan394​​​, @fablesrose​​, @kitkatd7​​, @thefallenbibliophilequote​​, @beksib​​, @destynelseclipsa​​, @criminaly-supernatural​​, @tammythompson-singslikea-muppet, @belloangelus​​, @snarky--starky​​, @saintbootlegloras​​, @wecallhimbrowneyess​​, @empath-bunny​​, @okkulta​​, @katinthemoon,  @ravennight41​​, @youcancallme-rae , @radhumandragonclam, @unfortunateidiotinadilemma, @past3l-w1ngs​​ ,  @goinggoinggonzo​​, @mxxnmocha​​, @euphouriaszn2​​

February 14th

As the morning light lit up your room and you slowly woke up, you found that you had no memory of falling asleep. Stretching, you stayed in your bed for a few moments before slowly sitting up. Hearing a crinkling sound under your leg, you checked, finding the note from the previous nights bouquet delivery. You suddenly remembered that you had been lying on your bed, reading over the note. You must have drifted off to sleep at some point. Though, you had faint memories of weird and uncomfortable dreams, but no specifics stuck in your memory. 

The realization that today was Valentines Day hit you, and you were suddenly filled with a mixture of anxiety and excitement. You took a few deep breaths as you tried to calm yourself down. Today is the day, when everything changes. 

Getting out of bed, you got ready for the day. Knowing that you still had work to do today before the party this evening. You would try your best not to think about what was going to happen today. Even though you didn’t know for sure when it would happen exactly. Before the party, during, after?

You left the tower shortly after getting ready, you needed to go to the SHIELD base today, Fury had some assignments for you. Hopefully whatever he had for you would be distracting. 

Once you arrived you got right to work, tracking and scouting the possible group that sent the team after the SHIELD base. You never left the SHIELD building, instead, tracking them from drones and satellites. You were gathering information on their movements and number of people. Taking a few breaks throughout the day to work on some other assignments. 

Around 5pm, Fury came back to check on you and your progress. After updating him, he sat down on the corner of the table next to you, staring down at you. 

“So, got any plans for tonight?” 

“Uhh, just attending Tony’s party.” 

He nodded his head “Nothing else?” he questioned, something in his tone seemed off. 

Turning, you eyed him for a moment before rolling your eyes “Which one told you, Nat or Clint?” 

He smirked “Told me about what?” 

Knowing his game, you turned back around “Nothing.”

He chuckled “Okay, yeah, Romanoff mentioned the flowers, and being a romantic myself, I am naturally curious, so, do you know who it is yet?”

You sighed as you turned back to him “No, I don’t....but, tonight I am supposed to find out...”. He was the first person you actually told that too. No one else knew that they had planned to show themselves tonight. Not unless the secret person told someone else that is. 

“Ooh” he laughed “Well then, you better go get ready.”

“What? The party isn’t for another three hours.” 

“Well you’ve got to dress to impress right? Go, go!”

“I- “

“That’s an order Agent” he said with a more serious tone. 

Closing your opened mouth, you stood as he stared at you expectantly, after taking a few steps away you turned back to him “I never knew you to be a romantic.”

He smiled at you “Oh yeah, love that shit. Ever read Pride and Prejudice?” you reacted with surprise and an amused smile at this as he continued “It’s a secret passion though. Secret, got it?” 

You returned his smile and nodded “Yes sir” before turning to leave, feeling the anxiety you had tried to run from fill your thoughts again. Upon thinking more about the party, you realized that you never actually planned out anything to wear. 

- - -

You stared at the possible outfits you had laid out on your bed, you had narrowed it down to three. You figured that the party was probably ‘black tie optional’ but definitely ‘party-esque’. So, getting rid of the more extravagant outfit, you were stuck between the silky black outfit, and the gold and black outfit. You finally decided on the gold and black, you would match with the decor a bit more. 

There was a little over an hour left until the party actually started, so you got dressed and finished getting ready, before you sat down at your desk. You grabbed the small container you had been storing the notes in and opened it, reading over the notes one more time. Looking around at the flowers placed around your room, you were almost melancholy that most of them had begun to wilt. The potted plants were still thriving, though the flowers were beginning to die as well. 

You remembered that you still needed to press one of the daffodils before they began to wilt. Deciding to do it now, you clipped off one of the prettiest blooms and took out your supplies. By the time you had finished and put the flowers away, pressed underneath some heavy books, you checked the clock, seeing that the party had technically begun about 15 minutes earlier.

Rising, you quickly grabbed your stuff before heading out the door and to the elevator. While in the elevator you began to feel antsy, your anxiety rising. When the doors opened, you walked out into the hall, seeing some people mingling, the sound of music coming from the main room.

Waking past and saying hello to a few people you knew, you entered into the main room, seeing around 50 people had already arrived, some of the avengers scattered throughout the room. You and Natasha saw each other, and met in the middle of the room. 

As she smiled at you, you felt a growing intensity. “Hey, I was wondering if you were going to show up at all, most of us were down here already.” she asked as you stopped in front of each other. 

“Oh, yeah sorry I got distracted and forgot to check the time.”

She smiled but seemed to be studying you, she spoke again, a bit quieter than before “Are you alright? Did something happen?” 

You hesitated for a moment as you looked around “I just...” you let out a small sigh “I’m supposed to learn who has been leaving the flowers tonight.” you finally said as you watched her reaction. 

She smiled lightly “Yeah, I figured.”

“Do you know who it is? I mean, you don’t have to tell me, but just. Do you?”

She seemed to think for a moment “I...think I know. But, you know I’m not gonna say anything. But just...” she placed her hands on your shoulders “Relax. Don’t overthink too much, it’ll be aright.”

You nodded your head “Yeah I know, it’s just, this sort of thing doesn’t happen a lot you know?” 

You both chuckled, as she looped her arm through yours “I’ll stay with you for a while, we’ll get a drink and some food okay?”

You smiled at her “Thanks Nat.” 

- - -

You had mingled with Nat, Sam, Clint and Rhodey for a while before you all scattered to mingle elsewhere. A lot more people had arrived and the tower was getting pretty crowded. Anytime you saw or talked with one of the other’s you felt as though at any moment they could tell you it was them. 

It started to overwhelm you a bit, so you decided you needed a breather. Finding an empty balcony, you walked out into the cool air, staring out at the bright city. You leaned over on the railing, closing your eyes and taking a breath. 

You hadn’t seen that Bucky had been watching you, and followed you when he saw you leave. So you jumped slightly when you heard a voice from behind you “Y/n?”

Turning, you see Bucky peaking out of at you, taking a step out, he closed the door behind him as he spoke “Are you alright? I saw you leave and though something might be wrong.”

You smiled at him as he watched you from by the door, his hands behind his back as he watched you closely. “I’m alright Buck” you lied. 

He nodded his head as he walked over to you, he could tell you were lying, but he decided not to press. Making sure he kept his hands hidden, he leaning against the railing, and looked out at the city for a few moments before he spoke again “How’d the flower pressing go?” 

“Oh, it went well, I like the way they are turning out so far.” you smiled, welcoming the conversation, but feeling a pang of disappointment as you remembered how Bucky reacted when you told him about the flowers. You had hoped it was him, and that when you told him about the flowers, maybe he’d give in and tell you that it had been him the whole time.

He nodded his head a few times in understanding “I think it’s really nice that you want to keep them in some way” you shared a smile, as you tried to ignore the lasting disappointment. Bucky cleared his throat a bit as you noticed his demeanor change as he straightened back up “So, uh, how do you think these would look pressed?” he asked as he pulled a small bouquet of red roses from behind his back.

You straightened up as well as you stared at the flowers, your heart now beating heavily in your chest, how did you not see those? Looking between the flowers and Bucky you opened your mouth but remained speechless, unsure of how to react. Bucky watched you expectantly for a moment as you gathered yourself, you finally let out a breathy sigh and smiled, meeting his eyes. “It’s you?”

He shrugged slightly in response “Is that surprising? Or, disappointing?” 

You shook your head “No, no, you...were actually, who I was really hoping it would be.” you said somewhat shyly. 

A smile spread across his face as you said this, clearly relieved. Passing you the flowers, he watched as your smile grew as you smelled them before looking back up at him “They’ll go great with the others” he smiled at you as you fiddled with them a bit “Don’t...red roses mean.. I love you?” you asked as you met his eyes.

He nodded his head lightly before speaking almost in a whisper “Yes, they do. And...I do” he let out a small sigh, as if relieved and happy to finally be admitting  “I love you. I’m not sure for how long exactly, but...”

“I love you too Bucky” you muttered, the sentence alone making your heart feel as thought it was going to explode. “And, they’re beautiful” you muttered “Thank you.” you looked down at the flowers again.

He took a small step closer to you, bringing his hand to your chin as he tilted your head up, so you’d look at him “I also meant every word that I wrote ya’ know.”

“I know.” you smiled at each other before you spoke again “But, how did you get the flowers to my door the days when you were around me?”

He thought for a second “It actually wasn’t that hard, the Salvias, I left one of the times I left the gym when you were running, the Lisianthus when I went to go get my wallet.”

“And what about the Camellias, how did I not catch you?” 

He let out a breathy chuckle “Wanda. She found out the day before, she caught me with the sunflowers, so I asked her to help me out.”

“Oh” you chuckled “Who else knew?” you asked out of curiosity. 

“Just Sam and Steve. But I think some of the others might have figured it out too.” He hesitated for a moment before speaking again “I was really afraid that, you’d want it to be someone else, but, then, when you told me about wanting to press them, it gave me a new sense of hope.”

You smiled at him “I was kind of afraid when you didn’t really show much response, since I was hoping it was you. But, I guess it makes sense, you are pretty good at keeping secrets” you laughed “But I am very happy that it is you.”

Returning the smile he inched a little closer, bringing his hand back to your face “I only ever want you to be happy.” He paused for a second "Can I...?”

Knowing what his question was, you leaned a bit closer as well, nodding slightly, and whispering out “Yes.”

Meeting each other with a slow passionate kiss, your heart continued to beat rapidly in your chest, but no longer out of fear or anxiety, but out of excitement and joy. When you pulled away Bucky smiled at you “Since we both don’t really want to be here, wanna go somewhere else? Go for a drive, get some decent food?” he asked in reference to Tony’s choice of a “romantic dinner”. 

You chuckled “Tony will be mad.”

“So?” he asked with a smirk.

Smiling, you looked towards the frosted balcony doors, hearing the music and chatter of people, most of whom you didn’t even know. Looking back at Bucky, you nodded your head “Okay.” 

Reaching down, he took your hand in his with a smile before he pulled you back inside. You managed to sneak out of one of the side doors, only seen by a few, including Wanda and Steve, who spotted you at the same time, meeting eyes from across the crowd, they shared wide happy smiles. 

xx xx xx xx xx

I hope this was okay, I’m really bad at bringing one shots to a close, so they often end abruptly. But I hope you liked it!!

[plus-ultra-oof]

Pretty | SakuAtsu | Haikyuu!! | Tickle Fic

A/N: Ok hi so I wrote this a little while ago bc my SakuAtsu brainrot never stops and I figured I might as well share it. This is my first time posting a T-fic so please be kind lol. Also, sorry if the formatting is a mess I am on my phone.

Disclaimer: This takes place post timeskip so minor spoilers for Haikyuu! It’s nothing to major other than some vague things mentioned in passing. Also includes swearing and centers around tickling within a romantic setting (all sfw).

Summary: Sakusa’s stubborn as hell, but Atsumu is more than willing to get his boyfriend to go to sleep by whatever means necessary. Especially if that means he gets to see that pretty smile of his.

——————————————————

“Ya know, yer hair is really soft Omi,” Atsumu said, breaking the calm silence that had settled over the room. It was actually Kiyoomi’s room in his apartment this time. Atsumu was lying on his bed, running his hands through Kiyoomi’s dark curls as the other man laid across the bed, head placed conveniently in the setter’s lap as he attempted to read a book. He was far too tired to do so, in Atsumu’s professional opinion. The way his eyes kept falling shut for longer between blinks and how his grip on the hardcover kept shifting until he was barely holding it open where it lay against his propped up legs supported it too.

“You already- said that,” he replied, trying for flat and uninterested but the cute yawn that interrupted his sentence completely contradicted his unbothered persona.

It’d been a long practice for everyone, but especially the spikers. Both Bokuto and Sakusa had to run an insane amount of cut shot drills on top of their usual work. Just watching it had made Atsumu tired, so he could only imagine how Omi was feeling. The man had been practically dead on his feet when they’d gotten back to their complex, so the way he had melted into their bed upon finally brushing his teeth was unsurprising. His attempts at staying up were though. Atsumu blamed that on his insistence on keeping his routine no matter what.

The stubborn bastard could barely keep his eyes open, but sure, making it through a whole chapter of that thick ass book was totally plausible.

“It’s true though,” Atsumu was quiet for a moment and then, when he got no response he added on, “and it’s so pretty too,” For that he received a half hearted glare that was dampened by the way he could feel the man leaning into his touch as his fingertips scratched lightly again his scalp. The twin smiled, his boyfriend really lost his filter when he was this tired.

Gone were the biting remarks and cold expressions, leaving him far more pliant than he would ever admit to. Hell, here he was, letting Atsumu play with his hair and letting out little sighs of contentment. His eyes were even gradually falling closed as he relaxed into his boyfriend’s touch.

The harsh lines of his face were softened by the low light in the bed room, and with his brows uncreased by any worries and his hair pooled around his head like a dark halo, he looked almost angelic. Like something out of one of those fancy paintings.

“Yer so pretty Omi,” Atsumu murmured absently, the words falling from his lips easily. It was a statement to him. A simple truth of life.

The sky was blue, volleyball was the best, and Atsumu’s boyfriend was a damn masterpiece.

This was only proved further when his cheeks began to warm, the pink flush only complimenting smooth skin and pouty lips, twitching down into a petulant frown despite his flustered state.

“Shut it,” he mumbled in reply, unable to come up with a proper comeback in his half asleep state. Atsumu smirked. Another thing he loved about sleepy Omi was his inability to disguise any of his reactions. It always made messing him even more fun.

“Omiiii, Yer so cute m’gonna dieeeeee,” he teased, leaning down to admire his expression more closely. The new angle let him see the minuscule twitch of the corner of his lips, a sign that his adorable boyfriend wasn’t really as grumpy as he was trying to appear, “Aw is that a smile I see?” Said boyfriend had abandoned all hopes of reading his book in favor of moving off of Atsumu’s lap and onto his side of the bed, laying back and closing his eyes.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about Atsumu,” he stated, his voice still managing to stay level and unaffected, a true testament to Sakusa’s insane amount of self control, “Now its late, let’s go to sleep,” Too bad Atsumu was too much of an asshole to let him be. And, he knew him well enough to chip away at that carefully crafted mask until his boyfriend was puddy in his hands.

Miya pouted and moved closer, letting his right hand come back up to rest in his curls again and the other land at his back, rubbing slow circles into it the way he knew Sakusa liked.

“Oh c’mon baby don’t be like that, I just want ta see that gorgeous smile of yers,” he let his chin rest on Kiyoomi’s shoulder, pressing close to his back as his arm trailed down to wrap around his waist. He placed a light kiss against his boyfriend’s temple. The first in a trail that led down his cheek to his jaw and then took a detour down and up his neck to reach his ear again, earning soft sighs and hums as he went. Atsumu smiled, his Omi really was sweet like this: All peaceful and relaxed and unassuming, “Do me a favor and lemme see it?”

He shifted from kissing at his neck to mouthing lightly and letting his lips graze the expanse of soft pale skin at his disposal and the reaction was immediate, even if Sakusa tried to hide it. Sure, he stayed quiet, but Atsumu could feel the shivers that ran through him when he started and how his shoulders began to shake the longer he went on. He felt him jump when he let the fingers at his waist trace lazy shape into his toned stomach.

“Atsumu-“ His name was rushed out in a breathy way that only Atsumu got to hear.

“Yes Omi?” He purred, directly into his boyfriends ear, savoring the little squeak that came from the man shaking in his arms.

“N-no,” he whined, actually whined, shaking his head in an attempt to rid himself of the tingly sensations that were quickly perforating his sleep addled mind and making him want to give into the bouncy feeling rising in his chest.

“Why not Omi? M’just tryin ta kiss ya?” He followed his movements easily, continuing the playful torment of his boyfriend.

“You- you know exActly whehy not!” The squeak was louder this time and Kiyoomi even let a few titters loose as Atsumu started using his other hand to lightly scribble at the other side of his neck while simultaneously blowing into his ear.

“Ooh was that a giggle there Omi? What’s happenin’ baby? Somethin’ funny?” Atsumu knew that if he could, Sakusa would be griping about the teasing and how this whole thing was immature and unfair. For now though, he was too busy trying (and failing) not to devolve into a ticklish mess, so Miya was content.

“Nahaha stahahap yohuhu bahahastard!” He forced out through his giggles. The sound was light and filled with gasping breathes and squeals. Kiyoomi hated it, but it was one of Atsumu’s favorite sounds. Especially when he knew he was the cause of it.

Whether it came from unraveling him like this or timing a sarcastic joke just right, he savored it each time he got to hear it, so he didn’t appreciate it when both ungloved hands flew up to muffle it.

“Hey what’dya do that for?” He asked, his own pout forming on his lips as he leaned up to see his boyfriend’s face. His eyes were squeezed shut again and the flush was even brighter now. What was really captivating though, was the way his whole face seemed to brighten, even with his open mouth smile covered up.

Atsumu couldn’t help but stop and stare for a few seconds before remembering the task at hand. To see that pretty smile for real.

“C’mon Omi, just pull yer hands away or m’gonna haveta resort to extreme measures,” Atsumu increased his effort at leaving barely there kisses along Kiyoomi’s neck, feeling his heart race against his lips when he reached the pulse point. This got a cacophony of muffled squeaks and giggles before he finally gave into instinct and moved one of his hands away to push at his face.

As soon as it came up, Atsumu saw his chance and took it.

The hand that was drawing shivery patterns over sharp hip bones immediately skittered up Sakusa’s side to find its mark just above his ribs, sending the arm crashing right back down with a muffled shriek.

“Pffft phmp uff,” Came the dampened response as the other hand stayed stubborn in its quest to deprive Atsumu of his happiness. He decided to take it up another notch, because despite his tiredness, his Omi-Omi was still able to put up a good fight. He wouldn’t have him any other way: As headstrong as he was talented.

“Fine, don’t say I didn’t warn ya,” Atsumu leaned back just enough to leave some space between himself and Kiyoomi’s back. For insurance and safety purposes, he threw a leg over his waist to make sure he would fall off the bed.

Then all bets were off.

He started actually scratching at his armpits in tandem with leaving sloppy kisses along his spine and shoulder blades and any other part of his back he could reach at the moment, and the reaction was instantaneous and oh so satisfying.

“Mmmmphhhuhuhuck AtsuhuHU! NaHAHA STAHAP!”

“What babe? Somethin’ wrong?” He made sure to speak against the skin of his back, his words sending ticklish tremors through Kiyoomi as his worst spot was attacked.

“NOHOHOT THEHERE AHATSUHU!” Something seemed to switch off in his brain as his arms finally fell limp at his sides and he threw his head back against the pillows, laughing fully now. When they did, Atsumu immediately toned it down, abandoning his underarm in favor of leaving feather light scratches down the sides of his boyfriend’s back, making him shiver and keeping him caught up in his giggles without torturing him too bad.

Omi could never say that he was anything but nice about this....Well at least at this particular moment. Sakusa definitely kept a dated list of the times that his boyfriend had ruthlessly abused this specific weakness, but that was besides the point.

“Ahatsuhuhu,” Atsumu looked up at the sound of his name falling from upturned lips and found himself mesmerized by the sight.

Now that Kiyoomi had given up on stopping him he’d shifted to flop down on his stomach, bracing his head on his arms as he tried to contain the shaky laughter still spilling easily from his mouth. His hair was tousled from the struggle and his eyes were teary from laughing so hard and he was in an eternal state of flushed and fuck he was beautiful.

Too pretty for his own good. And Atsumu’s. At this rate, he was gonna die before he got to the Olympics.

He could just see it now: Miya Atsumu, beloved son, brother, boyfriend, and teammate. Cause of death: Seeing his godlike boyfriend laugh his heart out.

Shit, ‘Samu was right, he was whipped.

“Tsuhuhuhumuuu, m’tired,” Whiny giggles followed by a familiar yawn brought him out of his thoughts and he let his fingers slow to a stop, moving up in the bed to be beside his still giggling boyfriend. He turned him over onto his back before placing his book onto the nights stand and turning out the light.

“A-asshole,” Sakusa groaned, through breathy pants, giving him a half-hearted shove as he turned to face the blonde.

“But ya love me,” he teased moving in closer to lay his head on the dark haired man’s chest, listening patiently as his heartbeat finally started to slow down.

“You suck,” he murmured in response, his tone empty of any real malice. Plus, the way he was snuggling closer and lacing their hands together across Atsumu’s waist contradicted his words anyway.

Atsumu smiled and took a final look at his boyfriend before closing his eyes to follow him into sleep. And as a man of a limited vocabulary when it came to most things other than volleyball, his last thoughts prior to drifting off were as simple as they were true: Omi’s so pretty.

[sorry-i-ship-drarry]

29. Sweet, sexy and practically fainting

Prompt used- Tickling the other one | implied smut |

" okay stop being a damn beauty queen draco and step into the waters, nothing's going to bite you " pansy rolled her as she looked at Draco through her sunglasses over the bridge of her nose

"I love your determination to send me there but I'm good with sitting here and tanning myself. Besides look at the boys, they've gone absolutely wild " draco sighed as he leant down backward on the sheets, bathing in the sun.

" well I'll go in the waters " Hermione announced as she dropped her robes and walked ahead to the waters.

" see even she went and she's the most uptight women I know " pansy said as she too laid back on the floral sheets

" thought she wasn't so bad anymore " draco said with his eyes closed

" she's great but I'm just saying so you'd actually get up and go into the waters " pansy replied

" nice try pans " draco sighed.

" you guys aren't joining ?" A familiar voice asked besides them. Draco opened his eyes and leant on his elbows to see Harry now standing in front of them

" nah, I'm good being here " draco replied narrowing his eyes because of the sun. Pansy too nodded without looking up at harry.

" well if that's what you want " harry shrugged and started unbuttoning his shirt.

" Ron said waters great, I wouldn't miss it " harry grinned as he dropped his shirt on the sheets and walked away into the waters, letting draco watch him as he walked away.

" just go join him for fucks sake draco" pansy rolled her eyes

" why aren't you going?" Draco rolled his eyes at pansy. She took off her glasses and looked at Draco " because baby, queen never works in the crowd " and with that Draco broke into a fit of laughter.

" I'm sorry but queen " Draco mimicked her voice still cackling to death.

" what's so funny ?" Blaise asked as he started drying off himself.

" nothing, just his renowned self still laughing over an abysmal joke because of the inability of his brain to comprehend when to stop " pansy rolled her eyes

" do tell him pansy, I'm sure even his brain would stop comprehending when to stop " draco chuckled as his laugh started dying out. He glanced behind Blaise into the waters to watch harry rising out of the water, pushing his wet hair back.

" ahem " pansy cleared her Throat smirking at Draco knowingly.

" shut up " draco rolled his eyes at pansy, blushing lightly but he allowed himself to believe it was the sun. And he fell back into the sheets again.

They soon heard someone coming back, mumbling something on their way back something about not getting that thing in her hair. Draco looked up again to find Hermione and Ron joining them, drying off their bodies with towels.

" why aren't you coming ?" Suddenly harry asked appearing out of nowhere ruffling his hair to get rid of water

" eh, I like it here " draco expressed and tried to lay back but harry grabbed his wrist and practically threw him over his shoulder and carried into the waters.

" PUT ME DOWN POTTER " Draco bellowed trying to wiggle free from Harry's grasp

" oh- you want me to put you down-well-"

" don't you dare, harry- no- not the wate- augh " and draco was dropped into the waters as harry cackled looking down at Draco. He gave harry a scowl before he pulled him down too and tickled him.

" for- Merlin- I can't breathe " harry laughed as he fought for air

" yeah- should've thought about it before dropping me into the water " draco raised his eyebrows as he tickled harry further on his bare stomach.

" fuck- staph- I swear- draco please- " harry kicked the empty water almost dying out of laughter

" say you're sorry" draco commanded but harry shook his head until Draco tickled him harder all over his body making him beg draco to stop.

" fu- fuck- fine- sorry- won't-" and with that Draco took his hands off Harry's body. He rolled over in the water, Peeking his head out for air until he gave draco a sinister grin and pulled him under the water's again.

They spent the rest of their time on the beach laughing and rolling in the waters, splashing at each other and making fun of how their hair looked.

" you got Sand in my hair harry" draco groaned as they walked back to other who immediately stopped talking as soon as they came.

" what were you guys talking about ?" Harry asked as he picked up his towel and started drying off his hair.

" nothing, Just talking about tonight's party in the hotel " Blaise smirked. Draco frowned knowing exactly that he lied but Decided to not call him out just yet.

" what time is it ?" Draco asked as he too dried off his hair.

" I think around 8-ish. I might run a bit late, this maniac got Sand in my hair " harry rolled his eyes nudging draco.

" hey- you have a bird's nest. Do you even know how Long it would take for me to get rid of this beach smell alone, let alone the sand " draco rolled his eyes as he casually playfully hit harry over his arms.

" well I was just making you have some fun and you can't deny- you had fun " harry teased

" I was just glad a sea urchin didn't bite me " draco rolled his eyes

" keep covering it all up- anyways- I'm gonna go run back to hotel to get something to eat then meet you all at the party, how does it sound ?"

" sounds good to me " draco frowned. They all nodded at harry, Ron and harry deciding to go with him.

" harry, wait " draco stopped harry

" what ?"

" nothing- you just got a leaf in your hair " draco pulled out a leaf from the back of Harry's head and showing it to him. Harry gave him a sweet smile before thanking him and left.

As soon as harry had left the first thing he heard was laughter, from his friends.

" could you crush anymore over him ?" Blaise laughed

" whatever " draco rolled his eyes blushing and collected his stuff " both of you, die in hell " he pointed at his friends who were mimicking draco and harry and making kissing noises. Scowling draco left the presence of his friends. They were assholes, even if they were right.

After draco had finally taken a long shower and eaten something, he got dressed in his red floral shirt after much retaliation and black pants, he left for the party by 9.

He immediately grew morbid at the amount of people were at the party but this trip was supposed to be for having fun, take a few days away from their work life and so draco made himself adjust to the party and soon enough found his friends chatting by the bar.

" ooh is the Slytherin in red for the gryffindor who took away his heart " pansy teased

" seriously grow up, I wore it because I liked it" draco sighed

" I believe you honey- a glass of champagne and sex on the beach and a gin for the boy " Pansy told the guy behind the counter who nodded immediately and prepared the drinks

" but I don't wanna drink-"

" think you would If you'd see that " pansy pointed to the centre of the dance floor. At first draco didn't notice anything unusual until he saw harry, and not just harry, harry talking with someone, no laughing with someone. A silent jealousy fueled inside draco.

" I don't care- he's at perfect liberty to dance with whoever he wants- as long as I care- that guy's too tall for him " draco turned around and sat down facing the bartender.

" if that's the case then- hi harry " pansy immediately squealed.

" you won't believe, that guy is literally just so perfect for me pansy- thank you so much for setting me up with him- gosh- thanks for the drink " harry excitedly informed, took draco's gin, straight up drank it and left.

" you- you've got to be kidding me- you set him up " draco clenched his jaw at pansy

" don't worry. I know exactly what I've done. Have your drink draco " and with that they spent the larger part of the evening drinking, despite draco's initial rejection, he was drinking awful lot that he had lost the count.

" draco- alright that's enough- drinking won't make it go away " pansy sighed as he pushed away draco's drinks.

" what's up with him? Draco you fine ?" Harry asked as he returned for the fifth time now.

" oh- I'm absolutely smashed it's feels great- have fun with Georgi " draco slurred giving him a lopsided smile

" well it's Joe "

" right- Joe- have fun " draco smacked his hands against the counter.

" woah- "

" I'll take care of him Potter- you go " pansy sighed

" you- you knew and you set him up- why ?" Draco whined almost losing his balance on the stool.

" I- lemon please- I didn't set him up that way alright- you've got nothing to worry about " pansy told him

" nothing to worry about ? He's dancing with another man - " hiccup " how could you ?"

" draco- control yourself- here drink this " pansy pushed a drink at Draco. He looked at the drink wryly before bottomed up and let it have a tingling effect on him.

" better ?" Pansy asked. Draco burped internally before nodding. Feeling a little sober, draco turned to look at harry dancing with Joe again making something clench inside him.

" I have to go-" draco suddenly jumped off the stool

" go where ?" Pansy asked worrisome

" harry. If I don't go now, I will never "

" but-" but he had already made his way into the dance floor and towards harry. He sharply walked towards harry, not thinking even for the slightest what he'd do when he faces him but all he knew he needed to go to harry. He needed to.

And so when he reached harry with Pansy yelling behind him to stop, he grabbed his wrist and turned him around.

" draco- " but Harry's words were caught in his tongue when Draco pressed his lips against harry's and let it devour the taste of gin on Harry's lips. He pulled away as in asking for if harry wanted to step away but everything was happening too fast that harry didn't had time to refuse and pressed his lips against draco's. If jealousy made draco kiss him so phenomenally then harry wanted him to do this everyday because in that one kiss, that one sexy, mouth devouring, passionate kissing, draco hadn't missed an opportunity to make Joe cringe and leave.

" wo- jeez, just inform the next time before you do this " harry smirked against draco's lips, his hands in draco's hair.

" well there wasn't much time but I inform you now " and with that Draco kissed him again with the same passion just more lust as if it was the end of the World and if Draco didn't kiss him how, he never will. In the hot steamy crowd, draco pressed his body more against harry, his hands roaming Harry's chest, making harry moan when Draco lightly brushed over one of Harry's nipples.

" fuck- draco- let's go to the room " harry sighed against draco and immediately grabbed his wrists and lead the way towards his room, but it was more makeout than steps taken. They had to stop at each floor to kiss as if it was an appreciation for reaching this far without pounding on each other.

When they finally reached Harry's room, they wasted no time in making the make out session more cardinal with lust and intensely passionate. The room filled moans as harry pressed draco against the door, feeling draco's boner pressed against harry's thighs. Without thinking, draco started fumbling with the buttons on Harry's shirt until he stopped him.

" you're drunk draco" harry said, a sudden guilt washed over him and he stepped away " fuck- you're drunk- we can't " harry pushed his hair out of his face.

" so what ?" Draco whined closing the distance between them once again to kiss him again but harry stopped him.

" Merlin- draco I've waited long enough for this- but this isn't how I want it to be- I want to take you, need you, god do things to you but not this way"

" then take me harry, I'm all yours" draco whined. Harry chuckled, pressing a soft kiss against draco's forehead.

" say this in the morning and then I promise I'll take you just how you want me to " harry whispered smiling. Draco sighed but didn't bring it up again and soon enough draco fell asleep in Harry's bed.

And as said, the next morning draco woke up and as promised harry had him exactly the way Draco wanted, sweet, sexy and practically fainting.

Requests open

Sorry if this seemed fast

Day 28- I'll catch you | Day 30 - scared, potter ?

[moonbeambucky]

Hey Neighbor (Part 22)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader, Peter Quill x Reader Word Count: 3377 Warnings: fluff, angst

Summary: You had a plan and then life came along with one of its own. With your future almost derailed you worked hard to get yourself back on track and finally everything seemed to be going right… that is, until your new neighbor moved in.

A/N: I’m not going to lie, you’re going to be mad for a while. Feedback is always appreciated!

HEY NEIGHBOR PART 21 | HEY NEIGHBOR MASTERLIST

If you told yourself that after what happened Bucky you would be smiling and laughing more than ever before you would have called yourself crazy. At one point it felt like you would never be happy again and then you met Peter.

Peter was the sun that shined brightly pushing the clouds away. You went on a few more dates, texted everyday and found that there was no longer room in your mind for sadness. Bucky was the past and though you didn’t want to be friends at the moment you didn’t hate him as much as you had before.

“Ooh flowers! Someone must really like you,” Mr. Lee said, smiling from the security booth.

You smiled walking over to him, setting down the large vase with the gorgeously arranged bouquet Peter had delivered to your office.

“I think he really does,” you beamed, thinking about how sweet Peter has been.

Sure it’s still very new but you really like him and can’t wait to spend the weekend together. He had both days off and it was so tempting to call out of your internship. If you hadn’t taken off last weekend for the stupid wedding you would have, but you know that you can’t.

Steve finally hangs up the call he was on, and you didn’t miss his tight lipped grimace and the way he eyed the flowers as if they had wronged him personally.

“If you’re happy with Peter I’m happy for you but you really need to let Bucky explain.”

Your eyes flared with a flash of rage wondering if Steve betrayed your trust and spoke to Bucky and on top of that you were really tired of people telling you what they think you need to do. You bite your tongue, not wanting to berate Steve in front of Mr. Lee with the variety of colorful words that were swirling in your mind.

Instead you replied calmly with only the teeniest hint of sass in your voice, “Steve, there’s nothing to explain and I don’t care.” You wished Stan a good weekend, grabbed the flowers and walked out.

Steve knows you’re lying, that despite what you said you’re still hurt, he just wished you weren't so stubborn about admitting it.

Laughter filled the air in Peter’s apartment as the two of you danced in his living room, the lively music from his “Awesome Mix Vol. 1” playlist bouncing off the walls. Groot lays across the couch watching as Peter’s other pet, Rocket, a ferret with raccoon coloring thanks to the dark mask around his eyes, tries to unhook the latch of his cage.

Life has been so much happier with Peter in it. You love snuggling up next to him, petting Groot who insisted his head stay in your lap as you watched a movie together. Peter’s lips press a gentle kiss on your forehead, stirring you from the sleep you had nearly given in to. A tender smile spreads across your face as you look up to him, reaching forward to kiss him. A surge of desire ignited your senses, leaving you and Peter to some heavy petting that did not involve Groot.

The following Friday night you and Peter were eating at his place, trying your best to ignore poor Groot who whimpered beside the table. Steam was rising from the fresh pizza that sat on the table and as appetizing as it looked your stomach couldn’t help but twist with a little guilt. But pizza wasn’t something exclusive to Bucky, that’s silly. You could have pizza– it’s food, it’s fine. You shook off the thoughts.

Groot’s eyes followed the slice in hand to your mouths, gruffly barking in frustration because he wanted some.

“Down,” Peter commanded after Groot pawed at him.

You gave the dog a sympathetic smile, feeling bad as you continued to eat. Your eyes shifted towards your screen that lit up with a message from Wanda, wondering if you were going to make it tonight. You hadn’t hung out with everyone in a long time, spending whatever days Peter had off together. And then there was the fact of really not wanting to run into a certain someone, but Wanda assured you Bucky was not there.

It would be nice to introduce Peter to everyone, maybe Steve could change his attitude if he met the man that made your cheeks ache from smiling so much.

“My friends are all hanging out at a bar right now and invited me so, I don’t know if it’s too early for this but if you maybe wanted to come with me?” You cringed at yourself, realizing how you unconfidently rambled on.

“Sure kitten, I’d love to meet your friends.”

“Really?” You bit your bottom lip, smiling widely as Peter’s hand reached over to caress your cheek.

“I’d do anything for you.” The light sparkled in his eyes as he stared at yours, dropping his gaze to your lips and gradually back up again.

You would have texted Wanda back if your fingers hadn’t carded through Peter’s hair, your lips on his as he lifted you up, your thighs wrapping around him as he carried you to the bedroom. An unwatched table left Groot alone, happy to steal a slice for himself.

The night air was cool on your hot skin, still a little sweaty after your romp with Peter. You wondered if the smell of sex lingered on you, walking towards the bar together and stopping every few paces because Peter couldn’t keep his hands off you. With his arms around your waist he pulled you close to him, the metal gate of a closed store clanging as he leaned against it to capture your lips.

You were all smiles by the time you walked into the bar, hand in hand with Peter. Your eyes lit up when you spotted Steve and Clint, with Peggy and Natasha being revealed the closer you got to the table. You saw the back of Wanda’s head and were about to call out for her but your voice died in your throat as you spotted two familiar faces.

Bucky, and with him was that woman, Claire.

Your lips press tightly as you stare at her. Looks like Bucky kept his date after all, adding another fuck buddy to his mix since you left.

“Hey Y/N! Glad you could make it!” Sam waved you over.

Wanda whipped her head around, her brows raising with concern. With the squeeze of Peter’s hand against yours you put on a smile. Sam was the first to get up and introduce himself but you took over, introducing Peter to everyone including Bucky and the woman whose name you pretended you forgot.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” Wanda said, smiling tensely.

She grabbed your arm before you had a chance to stop her, pulling you into the women’s room.

Her hands balled into tight fists that she shook in frustration. “I wish you told me you were coming. I thought you didn’t answer because you weren’t and Bucky only showed up like twenty minutes ago but if I knew I would have– ”

“Wanda, I don’t care.” She studied your smile, looking for cracks in the facade she knew you had to be wearing.

“Uh huh, okay.” She rolled her eyes not believing you. “It’s barely been three weeks and you’re telling me that you don’t care? That’s bullshit Y/N and you know it.”

“Wanda, I mean it!” you snapped. “Bucky and I had sex– that’s it!” The cutting motion of your hand emphasized your words. “I’m with Peter now and I’m happy so you need to drop it, okay?”

You pulled the handle of the door roughly, wanting to quickly get back to Peter. A smile graced his face with everyone’s eyes on him. You slid in next to him, catching the tail end of a question Clint had asked.

“Hmmm craziest story. Well there was a time we got called to an apartment in Queens because this kid had a Q-tip stuck in his ear.”

Everyone wore a look of confusion that only grew the more Peter spoke.

“It was this high school kid with his buddy and one of ‘em thought a spider crawled in his ear. So apparently they were trying to shake it out but it wasn’t working so the other thought they could dig it out with a Q-tip but he pushed a little too far and panicked, thinking it was stuck in his brain.”

“And what happened?” Peggy asked.

“The EMT’s were able to remove the Q-tip but the whole time the kid was freaking out, saying he could feel the spider biting him in his ear but they didn’t see anything.”

Claire spoke up, not that you wanted her to. “That’s why I always advise patients not to stick anything in their ears.” Whatever miss know-it-all, I’m sure Sam would say the same thing too.

“But the weirdest thing is that a week later I saw this same kid walking by the station so I ran out to see how he was doing. He turned down an alley and then he was gone, disappeared outta nowhere. So I look up…” Peter paused, making eye contact with everyone before finishing, “... and he’s climbing up the walls– like a spider!”

Everyone burst into a fit of laughter and Peter admitted the first half of the story was true. He wrapped his arm around you, proud to have seemingly won over your friends’ approval. Most of them at least. You tried not to make eye contact with Bucky but it was hard. You felt his gaze burn deeper with every sign of affection Peter showed, and anytime you happened to give in and catch his eyes you felt your upper lip tremble.

But this was fine. The chapter in your life with Bucky is over. It wasn’t even a chapter really, it was a short story, a few lines of prose and it’s over. This is fine.

This is fine...

It took a while to fall asleep that night. Even though your body was desperate to rest after another an amazing round of sex with Peter your mind could not shut off. You were thinking of Bucky and the emotion that poured through his eyes, the tense line solidified in his lips. Was he upset with you? He couldn’t be. You haven’t done anything wrong. You weren’t the one that fed him lies and played with his heart like a game, tossing it aside for a shinier toy. No. If Bucky is upset that’s all on him, because he let you go and not the other way around.

In the early morning you and Peter walked with Groot until you went separate ways, the two of them heading to the station to begin Peter’s shift and you headed home. You didn’t bother sneaking in like you had before. If Bucky heard you then whatever, you don’t care, but you don’t want to speak to him.

Last night had been very awkward, having not said a word to each other. You’re not sure if anyone who wasn’t aware of the situation realized there was tension, though Natasha had given you a curious look when you said goodbye. If she didn’t know she probably suspected and you’re fairly certain you’ll be under interrogation soon.

You couldn’t help but wonder if Bucky was under the same scrutiny. His mom was still tagging you on Facebook posts, a mix of funny animal videos and “mom approved” memes. Does she know what happened? Probably, considering the Fourth of July is coming up and she hasn’t extended a barbecue invitation. Does she know about Claire? So far you hadn’t seen Claire Temple on her friends list.

Yes, you stalked her through Bucky’s Instagram. It’s not a big deal, you just wanted a little more information about who she was.

                                              Claire Temple            Compassionate Helper 👩🏽‍⚕️ Avid Runner 🏃🏽‍♀️ Coffee Addict ☕

Scrolling through her photos you learned she is a nurse and (after having a minor heart attack) you learned she used to work at Metro-General. She doesn’t post much, a few pictures of the sun setting between the skyscrapers or graffiti on the side of the building; typical aesthetic pictures. But sprinkled in between those were pictures of her with people; colleagues from her new job at Sacred Saints, smiling as her arms barely wrapped around a brick of a man; her brightly colored sleeves popping against the umber of his skin. She grinned from ear to ear with him, ex-boyfriend perhaps?

Stop stalking her Y/N, stop it now!

You exit her profile, vowing not to look again though you’re not sure how much you trust yourself to keep that promise. But then again Claire was just one of many people that Bucky was sleeping with, so unless she was insanely clingy you didn’t think she’d be flaunting a picture of a guy she knew she didn’t have a chance with.

Besides none of this mattered anyway. Even if Winnie invited you to a barbecue you wouldn’t have been able to go because the Fourth of July happens to be Steve’s birthday and everyone was getting together to celebrate.

Luckily Peter had off the whole weekend and you were so happy he was coming with you. He looked very handsome in his FDNY shirt with casual shorts that showed off his thick calves while you stuck with a mostly red, white and blue theme, breaking out your red converse again with jean shorts and a blue tank top with stars on it.

In the late afternoon you boarded a crowded train to Brooklyn where Peggy’s friend Carol was happy to host a party to celebrate America and America’s ass. Apparently that was her nickname for Steve, teasing him with it because she knows how red he turns when he hears it.

Steve and Carol became close because of Peggy and though she seemed a little reserved at times you could tell they had broken the ice with each other. You met Carol before, seeing her at Steve’s apartment, and with her girlfriend Val when everyone went out for Peggy’s birthday a few months back. Carol lived in a building right off the water in Brooklyn Heights and had the perfect view for fireworks.

Hand in hand you and Peter walked down a lively street with kids riding their bicycles past you, and rhythmic music flowing from open windows. You were buzzed into the building, climbing up a hefty flight of stairs before reaching Carol’s apartment.

Val opened the door, her face lighting up as she threw her arms around you. There was barely a moment to admire the white stars painted around the eyes of her light brown skin as she introduced herself to Peter, catching him off guard in a welcoming hug before inviting you both in.

“Can I get you guys something to drink?” she asked, gesturing to the assortment that filled the kitchen counter, various bottles of soda and seltzer, beers, bottles of liquor. “Firecracker jello shot?” she offered, holding out a tray of them.

“I think I’ll say hi to everyone first, thanks,” you replied, making your way into the living room.

Steve was staring at the view from the window, setting the beer down from his hand when he heard you call his name.

“Happy Birthday!” you greeted, hugging him tightly. “What’s this?” You smirked, pointing to his jaw as he and Peter were saying hello. “Too lazy to shave on your birthday?”

Steve ran his fingers along the beginnings of a scratchy beard. “I think I’m growing it out.”

“I wonder what Peggy thinks… Peggy!” you turned to shout for her, seeing her on the other side of the room with Carol.

You said hello to them, meeting a few of Carol’s friends along the way. Soon more of your friends showed up and you were having a great time until Bucky and Claire walked through the door. You were the closest one to the entrance, wishing you had Peter by your side to distract you but he had been caught up in a conversation with Carol about her time as an Air Force pilot.

“Uh hey Y/N,” Bucky spoke, your name a foreign word on his tongue, “Happy Fourth.”

It was probably because of the fact that you were on the spot, with all eyes on you as Sam shouted for Bucky, that he leaned in to give you a half hug. Your palms didn’t quite make it up to return the favor. His touch reminded you of the ways he had you crying out his name, but now you shivered because it all felt wrong. Claire actually hugged you though she was a little hesitant, unsure if meeting you once constituted a greeting like this.

You made your way back to the living room, uneasy and in need of a distraction, not finding that in Peter who was still deep in conversation. Clint’s gaze caught you from the opposite side of the room, and he signed asking if you were bored. You shook your head, forcing a smile and signed back, “Not with you here.”

Clint strode over, grabbing a handful of chips first before he stopped beside you. You hadn’t seen him that much so it was nice to catch up a little. He was so happy the school year was over, hoping now he and Natasha might have some time to actually plan their wedding.

“Speaking of couples, it’s weird to see that, right?” He nudged his chin towards Bucky and Claire.

“What’s weird?” You’ve seen Bucky’s fuck buddies before, that girl Dot tried to weasel her way into hanging out with everyone on St. Patrick’s Day but at least Bucky had the common sense to spare you all.

“Bucky. That he actually settled down. Who would’ve thought?”

Clint chomped on chips as your mind spiraled into panic. You tried to control the tremble of your voice as you asked for more details, finding out Bucky actually decided to date Claire. Bucky Barnes. The man that’s fucked more people than the American healthcare system was actually, seriously, honestly in a committed relationship.

Your heart pounded in your chest, overwhelmed by this knowledge that has you on the edge of screaming at the top of your lungs and bursting into tears. Your feet took you straight to Val, not having to do much convincing to get her to do a jello shot (or three) with you. It seemed she had sampled a lot already herself and you wanted to feel just as loose.

She wooed loudly, grabbing some patriotic tinsel that decorated the table and placing a bunch first behind your ear and then hers. She stumbled a little bit but you caught her, both of you laughing as you helped her stand somewhat upright, fixing the metal necklace engraved with some sort of Norse symbol from around her neck.

With a bit of booze in you things didn’t seem so bad, except for walking down the stairs, that wasn’t the best idea, but by the end of the night that’s what everyone did. Carol’s apartment was on a dead end street that led right into the entrance of a pedestrian walkway that stretched out above the highway. It had perfect views of Manhattan, the Brooklyn Bridge and the beautiful booming fireworks display.

Peter stood behind you the whole time, his arms around your waist, face nestled in your neck pressing a kiss that made you squirm in delight. But your mind was cruel, reminding you of Bucky’s lips where Peter’s had been; of the chill on Bucky’s nose as he sought the warmth of your skin; of Bucky’s hands around you, holding you close like a puzzle piece fitting perfectly together.

The fireworks were reflected in the tears of your eyes, that you thankfully brushed away before anyone noticed. That was the last night you hung out with your friends as a group.

You couldn’t do it anymore, seeing Bucky and Claire hurt. Maybe it was the lies, all the bullshit you ate up like a starved child. And then it hit you.

Bucky wanted a relationship, but not with you.

PART 23

[cierrabiscuits]

Miya Atsumu X Fem Reader : Eligible Bachelor Alt route.

Word count: 5.4 K

Warnings: Some suggestive content, harassment, alcohol consumption, Nightmares, and a dab of angst. Happy ending :) 

 AN: I felt awful for breaking his heart in Sakusa’s route, but I’m atoning for my sins today. I went with a new approach and the ending is very fluffy! Also a big shoutout to @ambershaydeoffical for helping me edit and giving me some ideas! I hyper linked all the songs used! I hope you guy enjoy.-CB

Find Sakusa’s route here

Find Bokuto’s route here

~Story~

 “Why did I ever agree to let you pick me up?” Your hand was gripping the support bar In Atsumu’s car for dear life.

 “Because you love me and you know I’d get lost without my lovely Y/N.” Atsumu gave you a goofy smile as he shifted the gears. 

 “First off I’m your manager, second can you please go the speed limit. I’d like to make it to this charity event alive and in one piece.” You looked over to see him giving you a devilish smirk. 

 “You said we were late, therefore I’m making up for the lost time.” You rolled your eyes at him, but knew he was right. 

 “Maybe I should have let Omi take me, at least he would have driven the speed limit.” You said smirking at the setter.

 “Oh yeah? Well yer stuck with me, besides I play good music.” He spun the volume button on the console all the way up. ‘This is what you came for’ started to boom through the speakers. 

 “Baby, this is what you came for Lightning strikes every time she moves And everybody's watching her But she's looking at you, ooh, ooh-” His thick accent attempted to sing along. You couldn't help but break out laughing.

 “Tsumu I love you, but there is a reason you're a setter and not a singer.” You turned the music down so he could hear you.

 “So you do love me?” He whipped his head to look at you. Your face ran hot, but panic came right with the rush of heat.

 “Umm-TSUMU WATCH THE ROAD.” You screamed as he swerved a bit. Your hand found refuge yet again on the support bar. “Thank God we're almost there, you're an awful driver. Maybe worse than Bo.” 

 “I was kind enough to offer you a ride since your car is messed up and this is the thanks I get.” Your car’s transmission decided to go out, leaving you without transportation until it was fixed. But it ended being a blessing and a curse. Blessing being you get to hang with Atsumu alone and not to mention how sexy he was driving the standard shift. Curse being he was a crappy driver and your transmission broke your savings account.

 “In all seriousness thank you Tsumu, you're the best.” You knew you were feeding his ego by saying that, but you were truly grateful. But he didn’t speak or even give you one of his normal cheeky comments. You looked over to see his cheeks glowing red,. You wish you could take a picture of the blushing athlete, but the venue was the next turn off.

 “Tsumu, turn left at the next light.” You could see the huge venue center, the picture you saw online didn’t do the justice.

 “You really sound like a GPS Y/N. Cute.” He turned the wheel with one hand and pulled into a parking spot.

 “You have reached your destination.” You tried to imitate a GPS voice, but failed. 

 “I hear ya, wait here.” Atsumu unbuckled and hopped out of his car. You sat confused but then realized he was coming to open the door for you. He opened your door and offered you a hand which you gladly took.

 “What a gentleman. Tsumu you're spoiling me.” You could get used to this side of him.

 “No fair, Omi didn't open the door for me.” You turned your head to see Bokuto pouting. 

 “You're lucky I even drove you here, quit pushing it.” Sakusa rolled his eyes. “That goes for you too.” He then shot a death glared at poor Hinata.

 “Okay guys less fighting more walking, Now pick those feet up, I need to meet with the event coordinator!” You lead the boys towards the venue. It reminded you of a  Roman colosseum. It was stunning.

 “Wow this place is huge! I bet there's a lot of people in there!” Hinata looked up at the venue it awe.

 “How dreadful.” Sakusa  said, adjusting his facemask. You had to beg him to come. After a little persuading he finally said yes.

 “You already agreed to come Omi, please don’t back out now.” You pouted at Sakusa, causing him to roll his eyes. “Besides we’re already here.” You pointed at the large doors that led into the venue. They all looked excited to be here (Minus poor Sakusa). 

 “I know yer just itching to letcher us. I can tell by the look on your pretty face.” Sporting a smug look, Atsumu leaned on the side of the building. He never missed an opportunity to make your heart flutter. 

 “You know me so well Tsumu.” You smirked at the setter. You turned your attention to the rest of the group. “As you already know this is for charity, so keep it classy. You will also be auctioned off for a date, so whoever gets you, please be nice and respectful. You have a little time to kill so explore the place a bit and put yourself out there.” 

 “We'll be on our best behavior!” Bokuto chimed in giving you a thumbs up.

 “I know. Now let's head in.” You went to open the door but Atsumu beat you to it. A heat tried to crawl its way up your neck, but you pushed it down. There was a time and place to dwell on the way Atsumu made you feel giddy. Now was not the time, sadly. It was hardly ever the right time, being the manager was a demanding position, their public image was one of your main concerns, which meant having an unprofessional fan girl moment was out of the question.

Once inside, you couldn’t settle your eyes to any one spot. To say the venue was packed would be an understatement. It was a flood of designer dresses and fancy tuxedos. It made you feel severely under dressed, but you're not here for fun. As much as you would love to dance the night away with the boys, specifically Atsumu, you were mature enough to realize how important tonight is. 

 “Bokuto let’s go eat! Atsumu isn’t your brother catering some of the food?” Hinata asked, eyeing the onigiri.

 “Yup, he worked all day to make enough onigiri for tonight.” Atsumu said proudly. He and his brother may fight and quarrel, but they are both so supportive to each other. 

 “We better hurry and get some!” Bokuto grabbed Hinata by the arm and ran towards the food.

 “You know where I’ll be. Just come get me when it’s time.” Sakusa walked towards a secluded corner.

 “Now what do you plan on doing Tsumu?” You asked looking around the crowded room. 

 “I don’t know. I’ll probably bother Omi-Omi at some point.” He glanced at Sakusa sulking in his designated corner. 

 “Leave him alone! I need him to stay cooperative.” You wacked Atsumu in the back.

 “Whatever you want doll. I have some orders for ya too.” Atsumu’s bright hazel eyes met your tired ones. Could he tell how nervous you were for this event? What could he possibly order you to do?

 “What would that be?” You looked up at him, ready to deny his request.

 “If you're gonna dance, make sure it's with me. We killed ‘Down on me’ at the last gala we went to.” Atsumu wiggled his eyebrows. You will never forget that night, you were full of liquid courage and danced on him all night long. 

 “Tsumu you have to dance with whoever bids on you. I’m in manager mode tonight and I’m staying sober this time.” You glanced at your watch and it was almost time to meet with the event coordinator. “ I doubt I’ll have time to dance at all. Oh snap, look at the time,I have to go to Tsumu.” You turned to walk towards the stage but he grabbed before you could get too far.

 “Don’t worry, I’ll make my way to ya. Count on it.” He spoke right next to your ear, causing your hair to rise up. He released you and disappeared into the crowd. Your face was burning from the bottom of your throat, to the tip of your ears. Damn that Miya.

~~

 “Y/N thank you for coming!” The coordinator extended her hand for you to shake. 

 “No problem, I look forward to working with you.” You shook her hand and smiled. The flashing lights of the dance floor blinding you for just a moment. You wished you were dancing instead of working.

  “Same here! Now let's get down to the plan. We’ve got a good line up tonight, I’ve got everyone lined up by group size, with yours being the smallest we will have your guys go last.” She scanned the clipboard in her hands. “Have them here in an hour please! I better get going, the rugby team is next and they have a lot of the team here! Ciao Y/N.” She made everything sound easy enough, but the hard part was rounding the boys up.

~~

 The music was booming, and the vibrations went through your body like an electric current. You wanted to dance so bad, but you remind yourself you have things to attend to. You try to spot the boys in the sea of people. You went to the food bar first but it looks like Hinata and Bokuto attacked it already considering there was nothing left. You began to walk towards the dance floor and heard the ‘cupid shuffle’ start playing. It was an iconic dance song, and a fun one to get a crowd going. People began to line up and make room to dance. You notice the tips of Bokuto’s hair, Hinata was on his right and Atsumu was on his left. You needed to reach them before the song really kicked in but It was too late.

 “Just in time Y/N!” Bokuto beamed down at you.

 “Guys we need to get lined up. Plus we still have to grab Sakusa.” You semi yelled over the music.

 “Come on Y/N one song won’t kill ya, well get rounded up quick after this okay?” Atsumu wrapped an arm around Bokuto and Hinata. “Now get beside me, you always mix your left and right up.” He wasn't lying, you loved to dance but sometimes became uncoordinated.

 “Fine.” You accepted defeat and got beside Atsumu, you took the chance to check him out. He looked so good in his suit, he had a grey tux that fit him like a glove. The white shirt underneath was unbuttoned and his tie left loose around his throat. He was too pretty for his own good. The music finally reached the start of the shuffle, and it pulled you from your thoughts. You followed the music with the rest of these boys in perfect sync. Tsumu nudged you in the right direction every now and then, but no one could see his hand lingering on your side. You smiled from ear to ear, it felt so good to dance some stress away and it felt even better to be so close to Atsumu. You watched his smooth movements, he was calculated on the court and on the dance floor. You could tell he was catching the eyes of women besides yourself. But right now it was you dancing next to him and that's all that mattered. The song came to an end and everyone tried to catch their breath.

 “Okay now let's go get Omi.” You lead them out of the dance crowd and toward where Sakusa was. You find him exactly where you left him. He had an intense aurora surrounding him. If looks could kill you would be six foot under right now.

 “Omi It's time to go lineup, are you ready?” You asked and he nodded his head. “Follow me guys.” You lead them to the side of the stage. 

 “So who’s going first?” Hinata asked nervously. You could only pray he wouldn’t puke on stage.

 “Hmm good question, lets have Bo go first, then you, then Omi and Tsumu last.” You felt nervousness creep on you, this was really about to happen.

 “Y/N you really saved the best for last hmm.” Atsumu flipped his hair dramatically. You rolled your eyes at him.

 “Do I have to take my mask off?” Sakusa gave you a pleading look.

 “Whatever is comfortable with you. I’ve put you through enough,” Sakusa sighed in relief at your words.

 “Okay now, make sure to make a good impression and run these rich ladies pockets up.” You smacked your hands together. “I better get going, remember I’m counting on you guys.” You gave them one last thumbs up.

~~

 You got a seat in the front so you could take some pictures of the boys. You were definitely going to get some good ones for the teams Insta. You know what the fans want and you feed them. You were to caught up in getting your phone ready you didn’t notice someone sit next to you.

 “Hey Y/N.” Osamu adjusted himself beside you.

 “Oh. Hey Osamu! Your onigiri was a hit tonight I heard.” Too bad you didn’t get any, you thought.

 “They paid me good for catering tonight, I wanted to make sure it was the best. I even had Tsumu come and try new recipes. He ate so much I thought I'd end up taking him to the ER.” He chuckled. You knew Atsumu loved his brother's cooking. “But enough about that airhead. You looked a little sad earlier when I saw you walking around, Is something wrong?”

  “Everything is fine, I’m just stressed. Plus I want to dance and can’t.” Your hands fell to your lap in defeat.

 ‘Why can’t you dance? Are you hurt?” He gave you a concerned look.

 “No I’m fine.” You smiled up at the twin. “I have to take pictures of the boys with their dates and make sure everything goes smoothly. Plus my dance partner will be taken anyway.” You let out a laugh to hide your disappointment. You really wanted to dance with Atsumu, but he will have fun with whoever gets him. 

 “Oh I see.” He seemed to have a small smirk on his face. “It looks like it’s starting.” The lights of the stage turned on and an upbeat song came on. 

 “Welcome to the annual Valentines day date auction! We are so glad you all could come out and join us. We have a great  line up or should I say roster. This year our theme was sport team singles! Ladies if you plan on bidding tonight just raise your hand when you see the man of your dreams. Shall we get started?” The announcer said hyping up the crowd of women young and old. Neither your or Osamu paid any attention to the stage, instead you made small talk and showed him embarrassing pictures of Atsumu. Your favorite one being his face pressed up against an airplane window fast asleep. You sat beside him on that flight and ended up falling asleep on his shoulder. You remember him covering you up with his blanket at one point, he was a sweetheart when he wanted to be. Time flew by and it was finally time for the boys to get on stage.

 “Next up we have the MSBY volleyball team!” Bokuto was called up, you got some good pictures of him flexing and just being his goofy self. Hinata came on stage and was more collected than you thought he would be. Sakusa came out and was stiff as a board the whole time, but you wouldn't complain considering he was kind enough to even come. And now it was Atsumu’s turn. You saw him walk on stage and your stomach began to feel like a merry go round. His wavy hair bounced with every confident step he took, he was hot and he flaunted it. Your eyes were glued to him, and once he found you in the crowd his eyes locked onto yours. He winked right at you and gave you one of his shit eating grins. You felt the embarrassment creep up on you, your attention went to your phone to take pictures of the cocky setter.

 “I wonder what poor soul will get Tsumu.” Osamu stuck his tongue out at his brother.

 “Hopefully someone who can put up with him, and keep up with his erratic dancing.” You laughed out. If you were being honest you wished you were the ‘poor soul’.

 “I only know one person who fits that description.” Osamu smirked at his brother

 “What?” You looked up at him confused. “Who?”

 “Alright for 175,000 yen, going once , twice...” You eyed Osamu and he reached his hand out and tickled your side, causing your arm to shoot straight up in the air.

 “We are now up  to 180,000 yen! Going once, twice, and sold! That concludes the auction! We hope you all have a wonderful night and a Happy Valentine’s Day.” Astumu gave you one last smile before exiting the stage. You were still in a state of shock as the stage lights dimmed.

 “I know what yer thinking Y/N, but it will be easier if you go talk to the dumbass. He’s a watin for ya.” Osamu got up and left you in a state of shock. You stood up quick and  made a beeline towards the large crowd of athletes. You could feel your heartbeat pick up the closer you got. You just had to know why.

 “Y/N over here!” You heard Hinata’s familiar voice over the crowd. You made your way to him and noticed the rest of the team standing with him. You wanted to congratulate everyone before you interrogated Atsumu.

 “You guys did so well! I’m proud.” You smacked Bokuto and Hinata on the back. “Your dates should come get you soon, remember to have fun and be kind to them!” Sakusa was standing nervously against the wall, you hope someone tame got him. You looked over at Atsumu and he mouthed ‘Let’s go to the lobby.’ You nodded your head and you left the team to find out what was up. He led you through the crowd and into the empty lobby.

 “I hope you're not mad at me Y/N, truth is I had something planned for you this Valentine’s Day, I wanted to surprise you,  but we ended up having to do this which ruined my plans. Kinda.” Your eyes widened at his words. “You may be the team's manager and I may be the setter. But tonight let’s just be Y/N and Atsumu. You won me fair and square so either way you're stuck with me.”

 “Okay, I’d like that actually. But I still have to check on the other every now and then.” You felt your heart rate pick up again. “But I have to know, who paid for you really?”

 “Samu did. He was going to give most of his earnings back to the charity anyway.. I didn’t want just some girl beside me tonight, I wanted my girl. So after some begging he agreed to do it. But In return I must refer to him as the superior twin for the rest of the year.” Atsumu had you dumbfounded. You would have to thank Osamu later. 

 “Tsumu what do you mean by ‘my girl’?” Your knees felt like jelly. You knew what he meant, but you needed to hear it.

 “Exactly what I said. I think we both know about each other's feelings. I love you more than Omi loves flu shots and lysol.” This was the oddest declaration of love, but it still made your heart melt.

 “That makes you mine too, right?”  He nodded his head and began to rummage through his pockets.

 “Yes It sure does darlin’. I’m glad to get that off my chest. I got you a little something, close your eyes and hold your hand out.” You closed your eyes and felt his hands clasp something around your hand. “And open.” You looked down at the tennis bracelet you’ve been eyeing for a long time.

 “Tsumu how did you..” You were at a loss for words, the bracelet was something you’ve been saving for. It was a pretty bracelet with a pretty big price tag. You couldn't help but smile.v

 “When we all went to the mall a few months back I went to find you and saw you trying it on at the jewelry store. You looked sad when the cashier put it back in the case. As soon as you left the store I went right in and bought it. And before you say a thing, that smile you have on is worth every penny I spent.” 

 “Tsumu thank you, but I’m sorry I didn't get you anything.” You felt guilty but he wrapped an arm around your shoulder.

 “Having you with me right now is plenty enough for this fool. Now let’s go check on everyone and get on the dancefloor.” He began to walk you back into the ballroom. You spotted the boys talking to their dates. Bokuto was with a shy curvy girl, she was absolutely stunning and she was definitely his type. You knew he would treat her good. A volleyball player from America bided on Hinata, they were talking about receives. She was a perfect fit for him. Sakusa was with an older woman, she seemed to be very respectful and calm. She mentioned that he reminded her of her late husband. All was well. They left with their dates and now it was time for you and yours to hit the dance floor. Atsumu grasped your hand and led you to the center of the dance floor. 

 “Tsumu wait.” You stopped a server and downed a glass of champagne.

 “Oh my, here we go again.” Astsumu rolled his hazel eyes. You and drinking never ended good.

 “I won’t go overboard. Now let's go dance.” You began to speed walk to the dance floor. The DJ was playing some straight up bops, you felt the music take over your body and you began to dance. As soon as ‘hips don't lie’ began to play you both went straight feral. You pulled away from him and swayed your hips side to side. Atsumu's eyes stayed glued to you as you let Shakira guide you. You came to a stop when you felt a lingering presence from behind you. You felt an unfamiliar pair of hands linger over your hips. You felt a wave of panic wash over you but Atsumu was quick to react, he wrapped his strong arms around and spun you away from the creep.

 “Don’t even try, she obviously ain’t yours, now screw off asshole.” Astumu held you as close to him as humanly possible while telling the creep off. The smell of his cologne grounded you. The man flipped Tsumu off and disappeared back into the crowd. “Are you okay Y/N?”

 “Yes thank you, but I need a drink to loosen back up.” You said eyeing the bar. You swore sobriety tonight, but you were feeling yourself. “But just one.”

 “Sureee just one,  I know better than that. You’ll be plastered by the end of the night.” He leaned down and whispered in your ear. His thick accent made your hair stand up. You rolled your eyes and led him to the bar. Bokuto was with his date at the bar, he was talking her head off, but she seemed to be interested in what he was saying. You didn’t want to disturb them, but Bokuto called you and Atsumu out.

“Tsumu! Y/N! Drink with us!” Bokuto ordered him and his date another shot.

 “I’m not drinking tonight, I’m the DD tonight. But our manager here is feelin bold.” Atsumu waved down the bartender and ordered your favorite drink. 

 “Don’t get too drunk Bo, Sakusa will kill you if you get sick in his clean car.” You downed your drink. The champagne from earlier already making your head buzz.

 “Yes ma’am, now me and this cutie are going back to the dancefloor. Have fun.” Bokuto held the girls hand and guided her back to the dance floor. They looked so cute together. 

 “I’ve got to use the bathroom, I’ll be right back.” Atsumu left you alone at the bar. Bad idea. You waved the bartender down and ordered two shots of tequila. You needed to get loose and the sugary drink he ordered for you wasn’t gonna cut it. You downed the shots and felt the warmth in your cheeks. You ordered one more for safe measure. With the evidence gone Atsumu didn’t suspect a thing when he came back.

 “Ready to get back out there?” You nodded  and headed back out. You noticed Bokuto was absolutely throwing it back on that girl, she looked so embarrassed but was definitely enjoying it. Sakusa and the older lady were enjoying a conversation at a secluded table. Hinata was hyping up the volleyball girl as she slowly dropped on the dance floor. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves. 

 “Now let's get back down to business.” Atsumu spun you around and pulled you close to him. “You have no idea how happy I am right now. I’m so glad your with me ” Atsumu planted a kiss on your forehead.

 “Me too, I figured it would be another lonely valentines day, but this was a pleasant surprise.” You kissed him back on his cheek. Under the flashing light you could see the blush spreading on his cheeks. 

 “You won’t be lonely as long as I’m around Y/N. And that is a genuine Miya promise.” He crossed his heart as the upbeat music came back over the speaker. “Now let's get busy.” You two danced with your bodies hot and heavy against one another. It felt like heaven the way your bodies swayed under the strobe lights. It was like no one else was on the dance floor but you and him.  You were fine and then all at once the tequila from earlier hit you like a train. The room was spinning and your spirit was rising. The liquid courage strikes again. You pulled away from Atsumu and stood in front of him.

 “Tsumu you  are so freakin sexy did ya know that?” You wrapped your arms around him and kissed his neck.

 “Well yeah I am pretty sexy, but what’s gotten into you all of a sudden?” He quirked his eyebrow up.

 “Tsumu, I had a little extra alcohol while you were in the bathroom. Don’t be mad please, but I’m feeling greatttttt.” You slurred out your words. “But don’t *hic* worry *hic* I can still dance, I’ve got a ton of songs left in me.” You looked up to see three Atsumu’s looking down at you. Between the alcohol running through you veins and the bright lights flashing your head went dizzy. The only thing you remembered before passing out was Atsumu saying something along the lines of “ARE YOU KIDDIN ME Y/N.”

~~

“Next on the stage we have Miya Atsumu, he is the setter for the black jackals! He is single and ready to mingle.” You watched Atsumu walk up on stage, your body felt frozen. You watched him but his eyes never met yours once. You heard girls screaming out his name and bidding on him. But he's yours, right? You were unable to move, unable to speak. You wanted to scream out to him, but no avail. 

 “Going once, going twice, and sold.” You watched Atsumu jump off the stage and ran to the girl who won him. He picked her up and spun her around. This can't be right, he was yours. He wanted you, why is he going after her? He looked so happy to be with her, but he was yours, he even said it.  

 “Tsumu why?” Your voice came out finally.

 “Your not good enough, you never were.” He began to laugh at you as the girl pulled him by the tie and kissed him on the lips. 

~~

 “NO!” Your body jolted up. You could feel your heart rate skyrocketing. You realize you had a nightmare, but it felt so real.

 “Y/N what wrong? Baby are you okay?” You heard Atsumu's voice but couldn’t make out where it was coming from.

 “Tsumu, where are you?” You felt hot tears run down your face. You see a lamp flicker on and spy Atsumu wearing a white fitted shirt and boxers. You realize you are in his bed, you could tell from the sheets and comforter you helped him pick out a few months back.

 “Hey, hey It's okay, tell me what's wrong.’ He came over and sat down beside you.

 “Tsumu am I enough for you? You could do so much better than me.” You sobbed out, he gave you a confused look.

 “You’ve always been enough, I don’t need better when I already have the best. Tell me what has you sayin these things.” He began to rub soothing circles on your back.

 “I had a nightmare, you told me I wasn't enough and there was another girl and she kissed you.” Atsumu looked sad as you explained your nightmare to him.

 “It was just a nightmare Y/N, yer my one and only. No one even compares to you.” He kissed your tear stained cheek. “What can I do to make you feel better?”

 “Kiss me.” You blurted out, you covered your face with your hands in embarrassment. “Tsumu you don’t have t-” Your body fell back on the bed and Astumu hovered above you. 

 “Ask and you shall receive.” He leaned down and gave a kiss that made you lips tingle. He pulled away and look down on you with a gentle smile on his face. “Better?” 

 “Umm.. yes.” You lifted yourself back up. “Not to kill the mood, but what happened, how did I get here?”

 “You blacked out on me princess. I had to get Bokuto to help drag you out of there and load you in my car. I was going to take you home, but I brought you here to make sure you were alright. No more drinking three shots of tequila back to back, Sakusa saw you and ratted you out.” Atsumu handed you some aspirin and a bottle of water he had on his nightstand. 

 “Sorry Tsumu.” You lowered your head in shame. You felt guilty for making him go through all the trouble.

 “Don’t be, you were kinda cute clinging to me.” He got up from the bed and walked towards his dresser. 

 “Uh, Tsumu what is this on the floor?” You asked looking at a pile of pillows and blankets scattered beside of the bed.

 “That is my makeshift bed, I was going to sleep on the couch, but I wanted to make sure you were okay.” He rummaged through the dresser.  “I’ve got some of your spare clothes from the last team sleepover. Do you want to shower?” He handed you the clothes.

 “Please.” 

~~ 

 The hot water felt like heaven on your tired body. You lather yourself in Atsumu body wash and tried to remember what happened exactly. You can remember Bokuto and Atsumu gilding you to his car at some point. You also remember Sakusa  dragging a drunk Hinata to his car, at least you weren't the only one. You remember a little bit of the car ride, Atsumu drove alot smoother thankfully. You stepped out of the shower and dried off. You felt like something was missing. You changed into your clothes and looked into the foggy  mirror. You reached up to fix your hair and noticed the tennis bracelet Astumu had given you was missing. You slammed open the bathroom door and ran to Astumu’s bedroom, he was laid back playing on his phone.

 “Tsumu my bracelet is missing!” You began to look around the room in sheer panic.

 “It's here, I took it off ya when we got here.” He pointed at his nightstand and you see the bracelet shine under the light of the lamp. You grab your chest and sigh with relief. 

 “Thank God, I thought I had lost it. I would be devastated if I lost the first gift my boyfriend gave me.” You eyes widened when you realized what you said.

 “Boyfriend huh? That’s got a nice ring to it.” Atsumu turned his phone off and plugged it into a charger. “Are you ready for bed, my girlfriend?” That did have a nice ring to it. You nodded your head and climbed into his king sized bed. Atsumu went to get back in the floor but you grabbed his wrist.

 “I’d feel a lot better if you slept next to me. Please.” You averted your eyes.

 “Anything for you, I’m relived you asked really. The floor is not very comfortable.” He lifted the comforter and crawled in beside of you. He kept a distance from you, despite what people may think, he was a true gentleman. You inched you way to his side of the bed and it didn’t go unnoticed. “Your making it obvious you want cuddled, come on over, I don’t bite.” You scooched over and laid your head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around you securing you in place. Your could hear the soft beating of his heart lulling you to sleep.

 “I love you Y/N.” He softly whispered into you ear and gave your forehead a feather light kiss. 

 “I love you too Tsumu. You’ll be here when I wake up right?” Your eyes struggled to stay open.

 “Yes I will, I will always be here. Sweet dreams my pretty girl.” You smiled and slowly fell asleep feeling safe and loved in his arms.

 Fin

[jalapeno-princess]

According To Him

CEO Mark X Reader

Genre: THE FLUFFIEST OF FLUFF I HAVE EVER WRITTEN (with some mentions of sex) (God how do I write about things I have never and probably will never experience I am so sad)

Word Count: 6.5K

Summary: Being in such a high position at one of the biggest tech companies in the country on top of attending college full time can be a lot to handle. You’ve never thought highly of yourself and there were days that you felt like giving up because the workload was too hard. You also were extremely insecure over every single thing about yourself. However, there is one person who makes you feel like the most beautiful, hard working and deserving person in the entire world--the CEO of the company you work at and the man of your dreams, Mark Tuan. 

A/N: (GUESS WHOSE BACK, BACK AGAIN IN LESS THAN A WEEK) IT’S ME WITH ANOTHER STORY but this time it’s adorable, endearing, full of love and laughter and everything I wish was going on in my life but no, I’m seconds away from a mental breakdown every single day. This is based off of Ariana Grande’s new song “POV” and honestly as soon as i heard the song I knew I had to write an imagine based on it it’s sooooo good I wish someone made me feel that way dude why can’t I have a boyfriend like Mark in this story (Or just Mark in general) Please enjoy! (And cry with me)

It's like you got superpowers Turn my minutes into hours You got more than 20/20, babe Made of glass, the way you see through me You know me better than I do Can't seem to keep nothin' from you How you touch my soul from the outside Permeate my ego and my pride

I wanna love me (ooh) The way that you love me (ooh) Ooh, for all of my pretty and all of my ugly too I'd love to see me from your point of view I wanna trust me (trust me) The way that you trust me (trust me) Oh, 'cause nobody ever loved me like you do I'd love to see me from your point of view

“If we want to build stronger relationships with our hundreds of clients in order to get them to prolong their contracts with us, I suggest that we increase the amount of stocks that we invest in to each of their companies and find more sponsors to help get the attention of the public—maybe we could start putting ads on television or on the radio?” 

If there was anything you hated about your job, it was public speaking. For someone who graduated with her master’s degree in communications with double minors in criminal justice and journalism, one would think you were great when having to speak to a large group of people—but no. Your entire body along with your voice was shaking profusely and you felt as if you were about to throw up. If it wasn’t for the devastatingly handsome man whose been sneaking cheeky winks and a few grins in your direction here and there in order to calm your racing heart, then you would have blew the entire thing. 

“I think that’s a wonderful idea y/n. A lot of people listen to the radio nowadays and television can get the attention of those who don’t drive or use cars as transportation. What does everyone else think?” 

If Mark wasn’t there, you were sure your heart would have jumped out of your chest. He actually wasn’t supposed to be there; he had a couple of meetings he had scheduled months beforehand, but when he found out that the members of the board were having a meeting and you were expected to be involved in it while presenting your ideas on how the company you were currently working for could expand throughout the United States and maybe even outside of the country, he cancelled every single meeting with the intention of giving you moral support. 

No matter how much you tried to reject his offer, not wanting to get in the way of his other responsibilities—you’d be lying if you said you weren’t extremely happy that he was there. His presence was undoubtedly calming; no matter wherever the two of you were, whether it was a board meeting, a company dinner or more relaxing and romantic places like the beach or on vacation in Europe, Mark could always bring you serenity. 

You looked around hesitantly in attempts to prevent Mark from seeing the blush he caused rise upon your cheeks from gazing at you and because you were genuinely curious about what your colleagues had to say about your brainstorm. When you saw a hand raise—particularly by a specific someone you weren’t all too fond of in your workplace, you wanted to let out a disgusted groan, but you refused to stoop to her level nor did you want any of your coworkers thinking you were rude. 

“Don’t get me wrong, that is a decent idea—but I know there are other things we can do that would better benefit the company without having to waste money on unnecessary ad sales. With all due respect sir, I don’t think it’s fair for you to show favoritism towards y/n just because she’s your girlfriend.” 

If you weren’t surrounded by fifteen other people, you were sure you would have leaped across of the table and socked her in the face. There were at least 1,000 people employed at the company you were working at and although you haven’t met every single person, you genuinely liked all the employees you did get the chance to get introduced to. However, there was only one person in particular that you honestly could do without and she just so happened to feel the need to speak up against you because she loved making you look stupid—especially in front of Mark. 

From the day you met her, Megan never seemed to care about you even if you were nothing but nice and friendly to her. You didn’t care though—you were there to work, not to worry about someone who dislikes you. But you didn’t do anything wrong for her to treat you as if you were scum of the earth. Every time you would walk past her desk, she would glare at you and during meetings like these that unfortunately she had to attend, she would always plot against you. 

You overheard a conversation between two colleagues in the bathroom one day about how Megan felt as though Mark might have taken a liking to her and you couldn’t help but roll your eyes. Your boyfriend had no clue about the way she treated you so rudely; you didn’t like starting unnecessary drama, but you were sure he caught on to her hostility—she wasn’t very vague about it. 

As the days went on though, you only grew more and more irritated with her and it was getting harder for you to bite back your tongue and prevent yourself from saying how you truly felt about her. It didn’t matter that your boyfriend just so happened to be the CEO of the tech company you’ve been working at for almost three years now; if you were to physically attack someone or instigate a fist fight, there was nothing he could do if she were to press charges—well other than bail you out—but that wouldn’t look too good for him as one of the youngest and most successful CEOs in the country. 

Your boyfriend Mark just so happened to take over his father’s company right after the elder man decided to retire just a year after you began working there. You were an intern at the company for a couple of months before Mark’s dad offered you a permanent job; stating that you were one of the best interns he’s ever had—that you were extremely responsible, hard working, dedicated to your craft, passionate about your education and just an all around kind of person. 

The Tuan family’s company was a very fast paced working environment. Nine hours would pass by faster than you could even comprehend only because you were constantly doing something. You’d be lying if you said your life didn’t get stressful every now and then—managing both college and a full-time job wasn’t the easiest thing to do; especially since you were a double major. But you did your best to stay on top of school and work. You were introduced to Mark one day by his father when he told you that he wanted the two of you to work together in order to build a healthy work relationship seeing as how he wanted you to be his son’s go to person. 

Mr.Tuan trusted you the most out of every single person working at his company; so it was only natural for him to want you to show his son the same support that you’ve shown him. 

Mark was nothing short of a gentleman when you first met him—he never used his position or the fact that he was the heir to the company to get what he wanted or to intimidate anyone of the employees in anyway. In fact, sometimes you’d forget that his family owned the company and that he was supposed to take over his dad’s position seeing as how he blended in so well with everyone else. He allowed you to show him the ropes; even if his father was the CEO and this company has been in his family for over four generations, he himself has never really been involved in what went on at the company. 

His parents wanted him to enjoy his life and do whatever it was that he wanted to do before having him take on such an important and tiresome role. Mark was such an amazing listener and he seemed to be very eager to learn. He complimented you on how dedicated and how hard working you were and he was very grateful that his dad had someone working for him who cared for the success of their company as much as he did. 

There was a point where you spent almost every minute that you were at work with Mark and you honestly weren’t complaining. You loved his presence and enjoyed how happy he made you. Although he wasn’t a man of many words, his actions spoke for him. He’d open every single door for you, pulled out your chairs, carried the things you would need for meetings, held your bag as you paid for coffee—hell, he even started to take over every bill that you had whether it was for food, drinks or just your necessities. 

At first, you assumed that he was only being nice as a way to no verbally thank you for helping him out—but with the way he would look at you with a certain glint and sparkle in his eyes, and the way he would try and touch you every now and then, whether it was bringing back some of your hair behind your ear, pulling you on the inside as the two of you walked on the sidewalk or playfully poking your cheek if he noticed you falling asleep from how exhausted you were, people didn’t do that to just anybody. 

It was obvious he felt comfortable around you and you knew it was a stretch to feel this way, but you were secretly hoping that he saw you as more than just a colleague. You knew you were screwed from the moment he was assigned to work under you—Mark had to be the handsomest man you’ve ever seen in your entire life. He had the most well-defined features; the prettiest brown eyes, a sharp and pointy nose, prominent cheek bones and the softest, heart shaped lips. 

You’d find yourself staring at his lips during meetings or when the two of you would get lunch together and you always wondered what it would be like to feel them against yours. Only after a month, your partnership with Mark grew more flirtatious. He would always playfully tease you and make jokes in attempts to make you laugh when he could tell you were stressed; he also complemented you every single day about how beautiful he thought you were and how your laugh had to be the prettiest and most contagious sound in the world. You’d observe the way he would act around the other employees to see if the way he interacted with you was just him being friendly—but he hardly ever talked to anyone else unless he had to for business purposes.

It made you feel special in a sense that maybe—just maybe Mark had developed some kind of romantic feelings for you as you quickly did with him. One night, Mark took you out to dinner as a way to thank you for all you’ve done for him so far and the night went along perfectly. Conversation flowed so easily between the two of you and you found out that you had so much in common with the older boy. Your sense of humors were the exact same and you both were very generous when it came to helping out the less fortunate. 

You didn’t think much of him offering to drop you home, you just assumed he wanted to make sure you made it in to your apartment safely. Once the two of you pulled up to your complex, he insisted on walking you to your door. You didn’t really expect anything once you were to reach the front door—you planned on thanking him for such an amazing night and for taking you home. 

To your surprise, he tugged on your wrist and pulled you in to his chest before connecting your lips together in a sweet kiss. His lips were so soft and tasted like bubblegum—he lowered his hands to your waist while licking on your bottom lip, ultimately bringing it in between his teeth. The two of you made out for a couple of minutes until Mark abruptly pulled away. Right as you were about to whine at the loss of his lips against yours, he hid his face in the crook of your neck and giggled softly. 

“I like you y/n—a lot more than I’d like to admit actually. If I’m being honest, I think it might be more than that. I’ve liked you from the minute my dad had me shadow you and if I’m being honest, I kind of hinted towards wanting to be partnered up with you because I witnessed how amazing your work ethic is and I’ve admired how intelligent and talented you are. I think my dad talks more highly about you than he does me and I can see why—you’re wonderful y/n. These last few weeks with you has been some of the best moments of my entire life. You make me so happy. I would have never thought that I would actually enjoy going to work as much as I do and it’s specifically because I want to see you. Would you—um—maybe want to be my girlfriend? I totally understand if you don’t want to and please don’t feel as if you have to reciprocate my same feelings because I’m going to be your boss or because you feel bad—“ 

You didn’t allow him to say anything else before you roughly smashed your lips back up against his. Now that you knew how it felt like to kiss him—something you’ve been dreaming about for quite some time now, you would never get enough of having his lips meld perfectly in unison with yours. 

“I like you too Mark. You don’t understand how happy I am—I’m sure you’ve caught me stealing glances at you every now and then. I would doze off sometimes and dream about what it would be like to be the lucky girl who gets to love you and be loved by you. I would love to be your girlfriend. If you don’t have to go yet, did you maybe want to uh—come inside for some coffee?” 

He beamed at you and nodded in excitement—it didn’t take a genius to know that coffee was not at all going to be involved in the nights festivities and he couldn’t care less. He’d be lying if he said he hasn’t dreamt about being intimate with you and getting to see you naked and bare—writhing underneath him while begging him to do anything to soothe the fire building inside of you. It’s happened on many occasions and he isn’t embarrassed to say a lot of his wet dreams were caused by you. As soon as you both made your way inside, he pressed you up against the door and began leaving sloppy kisses on the expanse of your neck and chest while whispering sweet nothings against your jaw. 

That entire night was spent relishing in your newfound relationship in your bed, in the shower, on the counter and up against your fridge. From that night on, the two of you were inseparable—it wasn’t much of a change from your usual time spent together other than him being even more clingy and touchier now that the two of you were a couple. Plus, you got to see him on the weekends which was a bonus—even if you spent almost ten hours a day every single day with him, it was never enough. 

Both you and your boyfriend decided to keep your relationship a secret from everyone at the company to prevent people from talking negatively of you or assuming that you were only dating Mark for beneficial reasons which was far from the truth. You didn’t think it was possible for Mark to be an even more amazing boyfriend than he was a business partner, but he proved you wrong entirely. He was so shy and soft whenever it came to you. 

Although he practically hovered over your tiny frame, the older boy would follow you around like a lost puppy. He would show up to your apartment every morning and take you with him to work so you didn’t have to worry about transportation. He would also wait until you were finished with work if he just so happened to end earlier that you did in order to take you home. If Mark was anything, it was extremely observant. 

It took him less than a week to learn your coffee order, he’d purchase all kinds of things for you while he’d go grocery shopping, he would buy you bags and clothes that he thought would look amazing on you, he would write you cute little post it notes and stick it all around your desk and if you were to catch a cold or if you weren’t feeling all too well, he’d take off from work in order to help nurse you back to health—in more ways than one. You never thought you would ever be able to experience the love Mark was giving to you. 

You’ve only ever been in two actual relationships before him. Other than that, you were the type of person who enjoyed to fool around. Whenever you and your friends would go out to clubs and bars, you’d find yourself getting drunk and taking someone home whose name you’d never got around to learning. If you were being honest, you never thought you would ever be in a long term relationship before. 

Your parents divorced when you were only two years old and it seemed like most of the adults you were surrounded with just so happened to be divorced also. Love was a foreign word to you—you never believed love could exist. Everything you’ve seen in movies was fake; all these shows and books about men who would give their lives for their significant others, you thought it was complete and utter bullshit. You ended up breaking up with both your boyfriends because you were afraid of getting your heart broken. 

It wasn’t like either of them really made you feel loved or genuinely cared for in the first place, so breaking up with them didn’t hurt as much as you expected to. That all changed the minute you found yourself falling in love with Mark. Time and time again, you told yourself you would never allow yourself to make such a stupid mistake—nor did you want to give your heart, mind, spirit and just yourself entirely  away to someone who would only break your heart and leave you like it is the easiest thing do to. 

For years, you’ve put up this barrier around your heart and kept every single person out of it. However, you didn’t know how he did it—but Mark knock down your walls and made you want to fall in love with him. Even before you really got to know him and how he was as a person, you know you could trust him. You wanted to give yourself a chance at love; it’s what you deserved. You couldn’t keep running away from something so good—or someone who obviously loved you more than life itself just because you didn’t want them to hurt you. 

The way he took care of you—even if you weren’t necessarily aware of it; the way he looked at you with so much adoration and happiness, the way he would talk so highly about you to everyone he surrounded himself with made it all the more clear that you must have meant a lot to Mark and you weren’t going to let anything or anyone for that matter get in the way of experiencing what true love felt like. Not once in your relationship with Mark did you ever have to worry about getting hurt—you knew that man loved you with his entire being. He never failed to show you or tell you every single day and sometimes you had a hard time accepting that someone could love you so much in the way Mark evidently did. 

Mark Tuan had to be the best thing that has ever happened to you and you were never going to take him for granted. He was the man you knew you wanted so badly to spend the rest of your life with—there was nobody in this world that you loved or could ever love more than you did with him. He captivated your heart in ways you didn’t believe was possible. Honestly, there were times where you felt as though he deserved better. 

You didn’t think all that highly of yourself; sure you had a pretty high position at his company for someone who was only 21-years-old and you were obviously well educated, but you weren’t very sociable nor did you think you were as street smart as you were book smart. You also never considered yourself to be attractive; you’d stare at yourself in the mirror ever now and then and picked out a lot of your features that you didn’t like about yourself.  

There were days that you thought everything about you was ugly; your teeth were crooked, your eyebrows were bushy, you had chubby cheeks, you were on the more curvy side—you had thick thighs, decent sized breasts and your butt was on the bigger side, but you also had big hips and your stomach wasn’t as flat as you wish it would be. On many occasions, you found yourself growing jealous of a few of the employees at the company because a lot of them were so pretty and had petite, dainty bodies. 

No matter how many times your boyfriend would remind you on a daily basis that he thought your body was so beautiful and that he was completely obsessed with each and every curve, beauty mark and birth mark scattered along your skin, your insecurities never failed to get the best of you and you’d always tell yourself that he probably wanted someone with the body of a model. However, you would observe Mark just as much as he did with you; he never batted an eye at any other girl—even when he talked to one of your colleagues, he seemed so disinterested and it made your heart flutter. 

You wanted nothing more than to be content with the fact that your boyfriend only had eyes for you, but it was only natural for you to feel as though you weren’t good enough for him. There was an insult on the tip of your tongue; you wanted to ask her what she had in mind and hoped that it was worse than your idea so she would look like a complete dumbass, but luckily—Mark beat you to it. 

“Decent? I think you mean brilliant—and no Megan, I do not allow my personal affairs to conflict with my work ethic. I genuinely like y/n’s idea and I would support her even if we weren’t dating. Do you have any better ideas?” 

You didn’t have to confess anything out loud; Mark could read your body language like it was a picture book. He knew you better than he knew himself and even better than you knew yourself. With the way you tightened your fists and clenched your jaw, he knew you were seconds away from reaching across the table and pulling on Megan’s hair and if he was telling the truth—he was all for it. Your boyfriend knew all about your ill-relationship with the older girl—he wasn’t blind. Your mood was always quick to change from excited and bubbly to quiet and visibly annoyed whenever she came around. 

He wasn’t the kind of person to press you for information if you didn’t want to flat out tell him yourself. He did wish you would tell him though; he wanted to know everything that was bothering you or things that made you upset—if there was anything Mark loathed, it was seeing you sad. His sole purpose was to make sure you were constantly happy, healthy and living the best life possible. 

As a CEO, he couldn’t fire her for the reason that she was tormenting you; there was no evidence. But as your boyfriend, he could use his title against her and he always used that to his advantage—to protect you. You had to bite your lip to prevent yourself from laughing at the sight of her now defeated demeanor. 

“No sir.” Mark sent you a cheeky wink before clapping his hands together and getting up from his seat. 

“What does everyone else think about the radio station and television commercial ad idea?” Everyone around you nodded their heads in agreement and some even gave your boyfriend a thumbs up—you weren’t one to boast nor did you particularly find contentment in proving others wrong unless they deserved it and Megan definitely deserved the shade your boyfriend gave her. 

“Good, then it’s settled. If anyone has any better ideas—then feel free to bring it to the next meeting. But until then, we’ll go along with what y/n pitched and take it from there. I have some phone calls I have to make, so I’ll be taking my leave. Good job everyone.” Mark bowed to the entire table and quickly made his way towards the door but not before walking over to you and gently squeezing your shoulder. 

“No rush, but can you come to my office once you wrap things up here? I want to talk more about your idea.” 

You nodded in agreement even if you knew that you and your boyfriend would only briefly go over what was brought up in the meeting before doing something you both shouldn’t do in a work environment. The meeting only lasted for a couple of minutes after Mark had left—all the employees in attendance were extremely supportive of what you came up with and you couldn’t have been more thrilled and grateful with their responses. 

Right after you adjourned the meeting, you made a beeline for Mark’s office; not wanting anyone—specifically Megan to keep you from your boyfriend any longer. When you noticed her approaching, you quickened your pace and made sure she was no longer tailing you once you reached Mark’s door. You knocked gently and waited patiently for him to invite you in and as soon as he called out for you to enter, you made your way inside and gave him no time to process your movements before flopping on to his lap and wrapping your arms around his neck. A soft giggle fell from his lips as he brought his hands down to your waist and held you tightly against his body. 

“You’re amazing and I love you. Thank you baby.” His laughter filled the room—going straight to your chest and making warmth rise upon your cheeks. For someone who was only three years away from turning thirty, he had the most adorable, high pitched laugh that you knew could light up any room he was in. 

“You’re the one whose amazing and I meant what I said—your idea is brilliant. Almost as brilliant as you my love. You never cease to amaze me. Did you see the look on Megan’s face when I indirectly called her out? That shit was priceless I wish I got it on camera. By the way—why didn’t you tell me about how she acts towards you earlier? I’m not stupid y/n, I know there must be some kind of animosity between the two of you and I know you’re not the cause of it. You know you can trust me with these things. What else does she do to you? Nobody treats my baby so unfairly and can expect me not to do anything about it.” 

You brought your hand up to his cheek and cupped it ever so gently before placing a chaste kiss on the corner of his mouth. He smiled softly against your lips and stole a couple more kisses before leaning back in his chair in order to get a better look at you. 

“I didn’t want to bother you with something I can handle on my own. I’m a big girl Mark and I don’t let shit like that bother me. I don’t know why she acts like this, I didn’t do anything to her—and I don’t want everyone here to think that I’m not capable of fighting my own battles and that I have to have my boyfriend use his power to fight them for me. I’m sure a lot of employees gossip to each other about our relationship—“

“Who cares what anyone says? Our relationship is nobody’s business but our own. I just—I’m sorry, hearing her try to make you seem so small—so incapable of great things pissed me the fuck off. You’re the hardest worker we have in this entire company and I’m not just saying that because you’re the love of my life. I’m saying it because I’ve watched you work your ass off for the last four years taking on overtime, flying all around the world to meet with and make business with all these important companies, staying up all night to study for exams only to come in the next morning like you weren’t exhausted at all. You are an ethereal being baby. You’re otherworldly and I just can’t stop looking at you in astonishment. I hope you know Megan and every other girl who acts that way towards you is just jealous of you and I don’t blame them. I mean, just look at you.” 

The tears were hot as they built up at the brim of your eyelids. This happened almost every single day. Mark had a habit of going in to detail about the love he had for you and how wonderful he thought you were and you were never prepared to hear his complements and sweet words. 

“I don’t know what they would be jealous about Mark. Like you said, look at me—“

“I am looking at you. I can’t seem to stop looking at you. All I ever want to do for the rest of my life is look at you and admire you for the extraordinary human being that you are. You are the most beautiful girl in the world, I’m being completely honest y/n. You are so fucking gorgeous, I can’t even form your beauty in to words. You’re honestly God’s favorite and definitely mine. I hate that you think so negatively about yourself when I think the world of you. I know there’s no such thing as a perfect person but damnit y/n, you come very close. I really don’t know what I did to deserve you—and yes, I know what you’re thinking and you can just get rid of the thought that you’re not good enough for me out of your mind completely. Y/n, you are the best thing to ever happen to me—I mean that wholeheartedly. All my life, I felt as though something was missing but I could never put my finger on it. When I met you, everything changed and it just clicked. You were my missing puzzle piece—you’ve brought so much love and light in to my life and I’m forever thankful for being blessed with you to be my person.” 

You allowed the tears to fall from your eyelids and a small sob left your throat leading Mark to laugh against your jaw while bringing you closer to his chest. He began to run his fingers through your hair and left a few gentle kisses all around your face. 

“God Mark, I don’t know what I did to deserve you but I would do it again and again—I would lead and fight an entire world war if it meant getting to be the person you love in each and every single lifetime. I can’t even—I know I tell you that I love you every single day but I can’t help to feel as though it’s not enough. I wish there was more I could say or do to show you just how much I truly, deeply and irrevocably love you, how you mean the entire world to me and how I would be completely nothing without you. I wish I could see myself the way you see me—from your point of view. I want to trust and believe in myself the way you do. I wish I could love myself, the way you love me. I’m trying to learn to love myself because I know you worry about me and I don’t want you to anymore. I want to make you proud Mark—“

“You do make me proud y/n—every single day. I know you want to keep us a secret for reasons I have yet to understand—I’m sure now it has to do with people like Megan, but you shouldn’t care about what anyone thinks about you other than yourself and me. I think you’re the most astounding person I have ever met. It’s okay if you never learn to love yourself baby—I love you enough for the both of us and I will spend the rest of my life reminding you just how much of a wonderful, amazing, beautiful both on the inside and out and extremely sexy woman you are.” 

He stole a few sloppy kisses from the corner of your mouth and began grazing your cheek feather lightly.

“You don’t have to do anything more to prove your love for me, I feel it in my heart. You’re the reason it beats by the way. You keep my blood rushing and my veins pumping. I would give up anything and everything—this job, my family, my friends, hell I would even give up my PlayStation 5 for you and that says a lot baby. You’re all I could ever want and need  in my life. Now, if you want to show me some gratitude for loving you so much and for being your backbone today, maybe you could help me fix the problem in my pants that you caused as soon as I saw you leave the bathroom this morning wearing this outfit. Did I tell you how breathtakingly beautiful and devastatingly sexy you look right now? You know what was so hard for me—well, other than my painfully hardened erection, but it was seeing you in this skirt and blouse—watching you tell everyone of your plans with so much confidence and observing the way all the men in there were looking at you with desire in their eyes and not being able to walk up to you and kiss you with all my energy. I would have fucked you right there on the table if I could. But now that we’re both on lunch break—I’m all for eating you out right now. Lunch with a view sounds amazing and I’m not talking about the cityscape babe.” 

You playfully shoved him while attempting to get out of his embrace but he wasn’t having any of it and tightened his grip around your waist if it was even possible. “Mark, we can’t have sex right now, everyone is going to find out what we’re doing. You and I are not exactly the quietest people when we have sex—“ 

He gave you the most adorable pout before bringing his lips right under your ear and nibbling tenderly—trying to get a rise out of you. “Why not? We’ve made love in here many times y/n. I daydream about the multiple times I fucked in to you auto against this desk and against the window. The imprint of your breast on the glass is still in the back of my mind. Who cares if they hear? All the more better. I saw the way all the men would let their eyes linger on you a little too long. I think it’s time they are reminded that your bed is spoken for. It’ll also teach anyone in this building not to mess with you. Don’t try to talk me out of it, I know you’re a huge exhibitionist baby. There’s this one particular position that I wanted to try out if you’re okay with it. I’m going to need you to get on all fours and this blouse, as amazing as it looks on you, I want to see these pretty titties bounce for me. Get ready to sing my love—I’m going to make sure everyone on this floor knows whose the boss in more ways than one.”

I'm getting used to receiving Still getting good at not leaving I'ma love you even though I'm scared Learnin' to be grateful for myself You love my lips 'cause they say the Things we've always been afraid of I can feel it starting to subside Learnin' to believe in what is mine

I wanna love me (ooh) The way that you love me (ooh) Ooh, for all of my pretty and all of my ugly too I'd love to see me from your point of view I wanna trust me (trust me) The way that you trust me (trust me) Ooh, 'cause nobody ever loved me like you do I'd love to see me from your point of view

I couldn't believe it Or see it for myself Know I be impatient But now I'm out here fallin', fallin' Frozen, slowly thawing, got me right I won't keep you waitin', waitin' All my baggage fadin' safely (baggage fadin') And if my eyes deceive me Won't let them stray too far away

I wanna love me (ooh) The way that you love me (ooh) Ooh, for all of my pretty and all of my ugly too I'd love to see me from your point of view I wanna trust me, ooh (trust me) The way that you trust me, baby (trust me) 'Cause nobody ever loved me like you do I'd love to see me from your point of view, yeah

[justjstuff]

Hey Just J, I wanted to let you know that I absolutely love your Daughter of the Fire fanfic and it’s the reason why I love Sakura so much. The world building is amazing and character growth is even better! 💕✨ A question, what inspires you to write?

Hiya, lovely! You can call me J! Do you mind if I call you Peachy? Thank you so much for the kind words, I really appreciate you reaching out!! It honestly makes me so happy to hear that you love Sakura because of my writing because she's the whole reason I started writing Naruto fanfics lol. I just saw so much potential in her and I was so angry about how she was treated both by Kishimoto and SP. I could go on an endless rant about it, tbh xD

Ooh, nice question!! Do you mean writing in general or writing Daughter of Fire? I'll answer both xD

I honestly can't tell you why I started writing. I was very young when I started and I remember receiving not so great grades and I can't explain why I didn't give up on it since I tend to let things go if I'm not immediately great at them lol (I'm also an absolute teacher's pet and it used to hurt me greatly as a kid whenever I didn't manage to rise to their expectations lol) so yeah. The problem, I think, is that I feel so fucking much and sometimes those feelings overflow into the things I do, so my writing didn't exactly hold any finesse to it xD

All of this to say, my writing and my emotions are greatly connected so I write because I feel. Be it pain, love, anger, sadness, everything I began to write so far came from a place of what I was feeling. I don't know if this answer the question about inspiration, precisely, but let me answer what inspired me to start writing Daughter of Fire.

Spite.

lol.

I started watching Naruto when I was 6yo and it was a huge part of my childhood/teenage years (NaruHina was the first fic I ever read when I was 9yo xD) so I always cared a lot about it. But then around 2009/2010, I think, Kishimoto went on a long-ass break and I was very frustrated that I didn't know what was going to happen because the anime was so far behind the manga so I started reading the manga instead. Mind you, English is not my first language and at the time I was nowhere near fluent but I knew just enough to be bullheaded about not reading the PT translation so for quite sometime I read Naruto understanding about 60% of what was going on xD Omg, this is getting huge I'm sorry apparently I'm allergic to being concise. Anyway. I stopped reading when Neji died. Honestly, it just broke my heart and I was so fucking annoyed with Sasuke and there were so many chapters focusing on him that I was like, fuck this shit. And rage quit xD Flash forward almost a decade, my cousin @calliartss was like: "Yo, since you ship SethKate, I think you'll love KakaSaku." And I was absolutely skeptical because uhm?? I never thought about the two of them?? But then she was like: "Just let me show you the fanarts and then I guarantee you'll ship it." She was absolutely right. SO. I'm getting back to my answer, I promise.

So, ofc, I read the whole FFN page (I know, I know, I can't stand FFN nowadays but that's how I was raised okay?? I'm an absolute A03 stan now). Yes, I do mean the whole thing, I went backwards and read any and all fic that interested me in the slightest. So I got a loooot of spoilers (it was how I found out about Obito!!!) and I reached a point where I was like.... maybe I should at least watch the anime? I was absolutely obsessed. So I started Shippuden back again and then... Sasori vs Sakura. Man, that shit changed my life xD The first time I watched it almost a decade before made me like Sakura (I didn't like her as a kid) and it made me fall in love with her when I watched it that second time. Now, please understand I couldn't remember a single thing from Shippuden by then so I was so very excited that Sakura was getting her development!! And then... nothing. Absolutely shit-all. She manages to acquire the Naruto-summoning-no-jutsu and that's all. I was so, so, SO ANGRY.

Yes, all of this to say I started writing Daughter of Fire because I was possessed by a vengeful, spiteful spirit and I had to do her justice.

I'm so extra lmfao, I'm sorry about this long answer, it probably didn't even properly answer your question ;-; thank you so much, once again <3

P.S.: fun fact no one asked for: I never went past the Pein arc :D The story of how I started writing DoF is very much longer than this but I'll spare y'all xD

[timebird84]

🎄 PotO Advent Calendar 2020 🎄

By @sloanedestler​

Mistletoe

 December 23rd

 “Thank you for such a lovely dinner, Erik.” Christine gave him a beaming smile as he opened the car door for her, leaning toward him just enough that he considered stealing a kiss, but he lost his nerve and merely helped her into the vehicle.

 Unbelievably, it had been exactly two weeks since he and Christine had had their first official date, and if her happy demeanor just now was any indication, he was hopeful there would be still more of them. When Erik slid into the driver’s seat and fastened his seat belt, she looked at him earnestly. “I was thinking maybe you could come up to my apartment when we get back there?”

 There was no chance he would say no to that invitation. Not only would he leap at any opportunity to spend time with Christine, he had been hoping to give her the Christmas gifts he had gotten for her tonight. While they planned to spend Christmas Day together, having been invited to spend the holiday with Meg and her mother, the thought of giving Christine her gifts in front of an audience made him apprehensive.

 “I would love to.” Unable to control the thrill that shot through him as her smile got even bigger, he continued, “but first, I had something else planned.”

 Christine giggled, knowing she was probably acting like a girl on her very first date, but she simply couldn’t help it - she had had feelings for Erik for so long, and now that she no longer had to hide them, it seemed like happiness was just bursting out of her. “Oh, really? What?”

 Erik shook his head, but she could see a slight grin on his thin lips. “It’s a surprise, my dear.”

 “Ooh, another surprise? You already remembered my favorite restaurant tonight.” Despite the difficulties Erik had in being around people, he had taken her to the same Italian restaurant that her father had always taken her to on special occasions, which she had just happened to mention to him months ago when they chatted after one of her voice lessons. As they had pulled up to it earlier that evening, she had fallen for him even more when she realized that Erik must have taken that bit of information about her and filed it away, even if he had thought he would never have the opportunity to actually take her there.

 Although she was dying to know what the surprise was, Christine decided to just savor the anticipation of whatever he had planned, and to continue to enjoy being with Erik like this, but as he drove them toward a residential neighborhood, her curiosity was nearly getting the better of her.

 Just as she was about to break down and ask him what he had planned again, Erik turned down a street seemingly at random, and began driving slowly down it. “You’re the expert, Christine. Does this look like a good street?”

 “A good street for what?” she asked blankly. She was crazy about Erik, but that didn’t mean that she always understood what he was talking about.

 “For Christmas lights? I remember you said you and your father used to drive around and look at people’s Christmas lights every year, so I thought maybe you would like to do that tonight.”

 When Christine didn’t answer, he glanced over at her, wondering if he had done something wrong, feeling his familiar insecurities rise up despite his best effort. When he saw the way her eyes were gleaming, his heart sank as he saw that he must have, if the tears in them were any indication.

 “Christine, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I can take you home now.” Already berating himself for ruining what had been a perfect evening, he started to make a move to turn the car around, but she stopped him with her small hand on his arm.

 “No, Erik,” she said huskily, “I would love to look at lights with you. I was just...surprised you remembered that I told you that. It was so long ago.”

 Erik met her gaze, his yellow eyes burning behind his black mask. “I think I remember everything you’ve ever told me, Christine. Every conversation we had after your lessons, you have no idea what they meant to me, what your friendship meant to me.”

 How she adored this strange, intense man. “Oh, Erik, it meant so much to me, too.” She nearly added that those conversations were what had led to her falling in love with him, but she held back, thinking it was too soon to tell him she loved him. Even though Christine knew without a doubt that she did.

 *****

 “You can still come up, right? I’ll make hot chocolate,” Christine asked once he parked in front of her apartment building, stealing a sideways glance at him. Although the mask made it difficult to read Erik sometimes, she thought she detected a happy gleam in his eye at her invitation.

 “Of course, Christine. I would love to.”

 Erik reached in the back seat on his way out of the vehicle and picked something up, but she couldn’t tell what he was holding until he came around to her car door. Even though it made her feel a little silly, Erik seemed to get so much enjoyment from opening doors for her that she didn’t have the heart to tell him it really wasn’t necessary. When she got out of the car, though, all thoughts of doors flew out of her head.

 “Erik!” she exclaimed happily. “You got me a present!”

 Seeing Christine’s excitement over the elegantly-wrapped boxes in his hand temporarily robbed Erik of any coherent thought. “Yes,” he agreed with her, “two, actually.” He immediately cringed at having stated the obvious, but his stupidity didn’t seem to bother her, since she slipped her hand into his free one for their short walk up to her apartment.

 When they got inside, Christine hung his coat up next to hers and led him over to the couch, where Erik placed her gifts on the coffee table in front of it. He sat, hoping she would join him, but instead she moved toward the kitchen. “I’ll just get the hot chocolate started, all right?”

 Erik would much rather have the opportunity to cuddle next to her on the couch, but Christine had brought up hot chocolate several times, so maybe it was important to her. “That sounds nice,” he said politely, if not entirely truthfully.

 Just when he started to wonder if he should have offered to help her, she called to him from the kitchen, “Erik, can you come in here?”

 Rising quickly, he made his way to help her, but to his confusion she met him in the doorway, hands empty. When she just looked at him and smiled, Erik started to feel self-conscious. “Did you need help, my dear?” Why was she looking at him like that?

 Still staying silent, Christine raised her gaze to the top of the doorway, and Erik realized there was something hanging there, some sort of Christmas decoration like the ones scattered all over her apartment. He stared blankly at her for a moment longer, and then suddenly realized what she wanted from him.

 Christine blinked in confusion when Erik reached for the mistletoe hanging above them instead of leaning down to kiss her. “Erik, what are you doing?”

 He paused, confusion in his eyes. “I...thought you wanted me to move this for you? Since I’m so much taller?”

 Just managing to bite back her amusement, not wanting to hurt his feelings, Christine shook her head. “That’s mistletoe, Erik.” When he just continued looking at her in confusion, she continued. “You know, when you meet someone under it, you’re supposed to kiss.”

 That certainly got his attention. “You...want to kiss me?”

 Now Christine was the one feeling confused. “Of course?” She and Erik had kissed multiple times over the last two weeks, and she was reasonably confident she hadn’t given him any reason to think she wouldn’t want to repeat the experience. “We’ve kissed quite a few times by now, Erik. Why would you think I wouldn't want to?”

 He glanced away, embarrassed. “I just thought...I wouldn’t want to presume anything.”

 Christine’s heart clenched as she heard what Erik wasn’t saying. Before her attempt to flirt with him under the mistletoe derailed any further than it already had, she simply reached up and pulled him down to her, meeting his lips with hers.

 Although Erik was stiff at first, he soon wrapped his arms around her and began kissing her in earnest, thrilling to the feeling of how tightly Christine was holding him as she eagerly returned his kisses. After a long period of time where they proceeded to get more and more lost in each other, she finally drew back with a shaky laugh, dropping her forehead to his chest.

 “I think the hot chocolate is probably cold by now,” she said with the most musical giggle Erik had ever heard. Truly, every sound she made was perfect to him.

 “I don’t mind,” he replied truthfully, but she laughed again and pulled away as he reluctantly let his arms fall from around her.

 “I’ll heat it back up. Meet you on the couch?”

 Unable to say no to her, he simply nodded.

 *****

 When Christine entered the living room and set the hot chocolate on the table, Erik expected her to sit beside him, but instead she went over to her small Christmas tree and pulled a brightly-wrapped package out from underneath it. Smiling shyly, she brought it over and sat it down next to the presents he had brought for her. Surely it couldn’t be...had she gotten him a Christmas gift?

 Christine smiled at him sweetly after she sat down beside him. “Do you want to open yours first?”

 Erik stared at the gift in shock, unable to believe that this lovely girl had taken the time to buy a present for him. “Open it?” he asked her blankly.

 “Well, yes, that’s what you do with gifts. Haven’t you ever gotten a Christmas present before?” Christine’s grin told Erik she was joking, but he decided he needed to try to collect himself before she realized the sad answer to her question.

 “Why don’t you go first?”

 He didn’t miss the eager gleam in Christine’s eyes. Erik filed away the information that his sweet girl liked receiving presents for future use.

 Christine reached for the smaller of the two boxes, but Erik stopped her by handing her the slightly bigger one first. Wondering if that meant what was in the small box was the better or worse gift, Christine took the package from Erik and tore the lovely paper off.

 “Oh!” she exclaimed happily when she saw that the present was a box of her favorite cookies, from a specialty shop in New York. “Erik! You remembered this, too!” Christine recalled raving about these specific cookies when she had described her last trip to the city to him. How sweet it was to think that Erik had been so attentive to all the little things that she had told him, even when he thought she would never be anything more than his voice student.

 When she picked up the smaller gift, she noticed that Erik’s always-straight posture became even stiffer. Was he nervous about whether or not she would like this present? Intrigued by what that could mean, she peeled the paper of it eagerly, but when she saw the tiny velvet box inside, she started to feel a little nervous herself.

 Was Erik going to propose? Christine knew she loved him, but this...was too sudden.

 Gingerly, she popped the little box open, nervous to see what was inside it. Christine’s first reaction at seeing earrings instead of a ring was relief, but she soon realized the beauty of the pair. Nestled in the box was the most gorgeous jewelry she had ever seen in person, each earring consisting of a round sapphire surrounded by tiny diamonds. This...was decidedly not costume jewelry. Erik must have spent a fortune on these, she thought distantly.

 Erik watched as Christine examined her gift, nervously hoping that she liked the earrings, but when she raised her wide-eyed gaze to his, his heart plummeted. She obviously didn’t like them, or thought they were too much, or maybe she didn’t like him at all and had only agreed to a few dates with him to be nice, and now didn’t know how to tell him that after he had foolishly spent several thousand dollars on jewelry.

 “I’m sorry, Christine,” he said hopelessly, as he started to rise from the couch so he could leave her in peace, but she grasped his arm to stop him.

 “What are you sorry for?”

 “I...it’s obvious you don’t like them. I’m sorry,” he said again. “It was too much. I-”

 To his surprise, Christine stopped his rambling by placing her delicate fingers on his lips. “Erik, I love them. They’re absolutely beautiful.” And to his surprise, she replaced her fingers with her lips, kissing him sweetly and sliding her arms around him.

 As their kiss started to deepen, Christine pulled back just a fraction, and Erik had to bite back a moan at the loss of her lips on his, but she was merely reaching for his mask. However, instead of tearing it off as she had in the past, she paused just before touching it to gently whisper, “May I?”, waiting for his slight nod before untying it.

 She turned away just long enough to set the mask on the coffee table, and then Christine was right back in his arms, but instead of instantly resuming their kiss, she pressed her soft lips to his forehead before kissing his wasted cheek. Even though he knew it was too soon, he couldn't stop the words that left his mouth, prompted by the sweet way she was treating his horrible face.

 “Christine, I love you.”

 The sweet angel in his arms froze, and Erik cursed his stupidity. It seemed he was determined to frighten her off one way or the other tonight. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I know it’s too soon, but I thought you surely knew anyway-”

 Once again Christine cut him off, this time by briefly pressing her lips to his, then pulling back to say, “Erik, it’s all right. I mean, obviously I suspected that you did.” She leaned in for another quick kiss. “And, Erik, I love you too.”

 Erik was completely stunned into silence by the words he had never dreamed Christine would say to him, but she spared him the need to answer by pulling him into another kiss. This one lasted quite some time, until she pulled back for air, leaving her forehead pressed against his.

 Suddenly she gave a little start. “Oh! You haven’t opened your present yet.” Turning away, she reached over to pick it up and hand it to him. Erik took the package from her and merely admired it for a moment, savoring the thought that the girl he loved had actually gotten this for him. Part of him wanted to simply leave it wrapped just like this so he could always have the reminder that Christine had cared enough to get him a gift, but he knew that would not be what she would consider normal behavior.

 When Erik began to carefully remove the paper from his gift, Christine was struck by a sudden thought: he had gotten her both an incredibly thoughtful gift and an extremely expensive, absolutely beautiful one, and she had gotten him-

 “A sweater! Christine, it’s perfect!” Cringing that Erik was being so sweet when she had gotten him the most cliché gift ever, Christine awkwardly tried to explain herself while Erik examined the fitted black garment as if it was the most delightful thing he had ever seen.

 “Sorry, I know a sweater is a little...boring, but I just thought it would look nice on you. And it’s your favorite color,” she finished lamely.

 “Christine! Why would you apologize? This is by far the nicest gift I’ve ever received.” No need to ruin the evening by mentioning it was also the only gift he’d ever received. In a sudden burst of inspiration, he added, “Because it came from you, of course.”

 That was apparently the right thing to say, as Christine threw her arms around him and drew him in for more kisses, the hot chocolate completely abandoned on the coffee table by this point.

 When they finally pulled apart, Christine nestled up against his side, laying her head on his shoulder. “I really am sorry your gift wasn’t more exciting, Erik.”

 “Christine, truly, I love it. I can’t wait to wear it to our celebration on Christmas Day.”

 “Oh, Erik, that is so sweet of you.”

 They lapsed into silence for several minutes, simply holding each other close, until Erik spoke again.

 “Christine?” he asked hesitantly.

 “Yes?”

 “Do you...think you might wear the earrings on Christmas? Do you really like them?”

 “Of course I do, Erik! And I can’t wait to wear them on Christmas.” Christine squeezed Erik’s thin waist in a hug, hoping he could feel just how sincere she was. He responded by wordlessly burying his face in her curls, holding her just as tightly as she was holding him, before finally breaking his silence.

 “I’m so glad you like them. Merry Christmas, Christine.”

 “Merry Christmas, Erik.”

[commonwealthoccurences]

Let It Snow

Word Count: 1,580

Prompt: Snowed In

Day: 07/27

The morning air held a chill that wasn’t there when Curie and Sole went to bed; it pierced the layers of blankets they’d piled over their bodies and turned Curie’s nose red. Sole shifted in discomfort, reluctant to rise from what warmth they were provided by Curie’s body heat, her body wrapped in theirs, legs tangled together, their head resting on her chest. However, the need to light a fire was too pressing, and they untangled themself from her carefully to peel back the blankets, rewrap her in them, and crawl out of bed.

They shivered violently as they crossed the room, but paused and went still when they looked outside. It had snowed. Not only had it snowed, it had snowed so much that their door was nearly covered completely. They were stuck indoors.

Sole rubbed their arms vigorously as they continued across the room and leaned down to light a fire. The logs smoldered at first, barely noticeable, before tiny flames leaped up and began dancing across the dry wood and scraps of paper. Then, they grew larger. Satisfied, Sole straightened up and quickly returned to their bedside, crawling in as carefully as they could so as not to disturb Curie.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work, as Curie was a light sleeper. Just as they settled back into the mattress, shivering at the way the blankets had already chilled in the time they were gone, Curie’s eyes blinked open sleepily and she shifted slowly. She struggled to let her eyes adjust to what seemed like a ridiculous amount of light, the details for the morning bleary in her sleep-coated gaze. After a moment her eyes finally focused on their face and her expression lit up with warmth. “Good morning, my love.”

Sole reached out and pulled her closer, pressing a sleepy kiss to her forehead. “Morning. I hope you’re prepared to be lazy for a little while. We’ve been snowed in and until someone can get to shoveling our door, we’re trapped in here.”

“Oh, mon dieu. Whatever will we do, unable to work.” Curie stretched out her arms with a pleased grin, her tone bleeding sarcasm. 

Sole laughed quietly before rolling closer to Curie and propping themself up on one elbow to look down at her. They smoothed some of her short hairs out of her face and brushed a thumb against her temple, content to simply admire her in the morning light, silently thanking the way the sun reflected off the snow and cast a spotlight on her face. She blinked up at them. “Should we get breakfast?” She asked quietly.

They responded with a noncommittal hum. Sure, breakfast would be nice, but it was so much better to simply lounge in bed for the first time in as long as they could remember, wrapped up in blankets with her. She brought her hands up, tenting the blanket slightly and letting the cold air flood in, before she snuck her hands under their shirt and pressed them against Sole’s warm back. Sole shuddered at the feeling of her ice-cold skin and gave her a playful dirty look. “Curie you’re gonna let me freeze to death.” They pouted before leaning down to peck her on the lips.

Curie laughed and wrapped her arms around them tighter, pulling them down against her chest where they buried their cold nose against her neck. She squeaked quietly as a shiver ran down her spine. Karma, she supposed. “We really should go make breakfast.” She mumbled against their shoulder.

Sole groaned in disagreement and snuggled deeper against her calm form, relaxing their full body weight on top of her. She laughed again, shaking both of them as she rolled her eyes at their antics. Curie looked to her side and saw that the window had already fogged up from the contrast in temperature. With a soft sigh she rolled over, taking Sole with her and turning the tables as she dumped them on their side of the bed with the momentum. They let out a quiet, “Umf.” and simply laid where she left them.

Reluctant, but ready to start her day, Curie peeled back the covers and tossed her half over Sole’s body before pushing herself out of bed. She picked her cardigan up from where she had left it neatly folded on her nightstand and shook it out before pulling it over her already-shivering body. The fire was just getting started with heating up the house, and she knew she’d be cold for at least the next half hour.

Sole simply watched as Curie made her way around the room and did her usual morning routine. She watered the herb that sat in it’s pot on the windowsill and pulled back the curtains, musing over what they would do later in the day. She pushed a stray pair of socks towards the hamper Sole had just woven recently and leaned down to pat Dogmeat’s head, where he lay in his cushioned bed at the foot of theirs.

God, Sole loved her. It was obvious, they knew, from the way they looked at her, no ounce of self restraint in their expression; from the moment they’d met they stared at her like she hung the stars in the sky. They weren’t self conscious or embarrassed about it, either. Instead, whenever someone would try to tease them about it, they would simply grin and embrace the teasing, agreeing readily when people told them they were head over heels. Even if they were embarrassed it would be worth it to see the way Curie grinned in response to the confidence in their replies. Their confidence in the way they loved her.

They sighed quietly to themself when she finally left the room, presumably to go make the breakfast she was so determined to get ahold of. Really, they couldn’t blame her. It had been a late night and she probably needed some sort of sustenance. After complaining out loud to Dogmeat that the world was unfair to be so cold and still force them out of bed, they rolled over and emerged once again from the blankets.

When they left the room and entered their small kitchen, Curie was already at the stove mixing a sugar syrup, razorgrain flour, and part of a Mirelurk egg to make pancakes. She’d picked up converting pre-War recipes to post-War alternatives after a few long conversations with Sole about how they missed some of the food they could no longer get ahold of. Their heart swelled at the sight; the effort she put in, the way she loved them both through her words and actions. They could never get enough.

Curie turned when she heard their footsteps and smiled at them before turning back to the skillet coated in bubbling Brahmin butter. Sole didn’t hesitate for another moment to join her, coming up behind her to wrap their arms around her waist and hide their face between her shoulder blades. She let out a quiet laugh, shaking slightly in their arms, and poured some of the batter in the skillet. “Are you hungry?” She asked.

“Mhm.” Sole responded, pressing a kiss to the back of her neck before moving to stand beside her.

The top of the window was the only uncovered area, leaving just enough room for them to peek out to the outside world. Curie followed their gaze to the snow-coated Commonwealth and leaned against them, letting the pancake bubble by itself, the smell filling the room. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? I never thought I would see something like this, all that time I was in the lab.”

Sole beamed. There was something special about witnessing Curie’s firsts ever since she made it out of the lab. The first time she tried food in her synth body, the first time she felt the sun on her skin, the first time she kissed Sole. It was something they could never take for granted, and this was the first time she’d seen snow stick to the ground, much less been snowed in.

“Hmm. Maybe in a couple days it’ll have melted enough and we can go out in it.”

Curie tilted her head curiously, thinking to herself. Sole could practically see the gears turning in her head as she debated whether or not that was a good idea. Sure, the cold and the wet was a downside, but her scientific curiosity almost always got the best of her, and maybe Sole was counting on that. They couldn’t wait to see how she reacted to a snowball fight between her and Preston.

The pancakes were fixed rather quickly and they settled at their small kitchen table to eat. It was peaceful in a way that was so strange to embrace. Not out of a dislike for the calm, but out of a wariness; the wasteland was never so kind as to give them a day off, much less time to have breakfast together. Like a family. And as Dogmeat trotted sleepily out of the room to join them at their feet, hoping for scraps and a lazy time waking up, Sole smiled to themself. They had a family again. “Ooh, once we clean up breakfast we can go try painting. We’ve never had the time, but it seems the stars have aligned for us this time.” Curie looked at them and beamed.

Yes, the stars had definitely aligned for them to have met Curie. They nodded. “That sounds amazing.”

[whathappenedtomyweekend]

It’s Just A Spark Ch.8 - Sunlight

Astrid skidded to a halt in front her calendar on the kitchen wall, coffee mug still in her hand.

She quickly retrieved a pen from a kitchen drawer and scribbled into the space for Friday, 'date w/ Hiccup 15:30!'. She grinned into her mug. So far she'd already mentioned him four times in a calendar she hadn't really used before. Except ... her gaze fell onto the date she had circled multiple times in red.

17th July.

A surge of energy went through her as she edged the date into her memory.

Okay. Two more weeks. Only two more weeks, then she'd have enough. Then she could finally quit and embark on a better journey.

Academical fulfillment, as someone had called it.

'Chase it.'

Oh, she would. And she was close to catching up.

She couldn't wait.

The sun had already started to rise by the time Astrid left her apartment for her morning run.

Now it painted Berk with soft shades of pink and orange, peeking just over the rooftops of the city. The young woman picked up a faster pace as she skipped around the corner, her feet beating the concrete in a steady rhythm.

Ten minutes later, however, Astrid felt as though she might collapse every given second now and came to a halt, panting, clutching her chest.

'Shit,' she thought. 'Am I just out of shape or going into cardiac arrest?'

She tried to walk on her wobbling legs and actually made it to the next turn before she decided she'd very much like to sit down, just for a minute or two.

'This is fine,' she thought, trying to breathe as evenly and deeply as possible. 'Inhale. Long exhale. Why did I ever stop running? Was snoozing EVER that good? Why did I have to trick myself into thinking I wouldn't enjoy running just to be stuck with THIS?'

Okay. She needed to get up. Sitting around on concrete wasn't going to get her back in shape.

So she heaved herself up and started walking, carefully watching her wobbly legs until she trusted them again.

Which wasn't the wisest decision as far as the occupation of her eyes went, she quickly realised as she collided with something.

Something solid.

Something warm.

Someone-

"Hiccup?" his name had tumbled off her lips before she'd even seen his face.

He was currently scrambling to pick up his headphones.

"Ooh, my god," he mumbled, "I am so sorry." Then he straightened up again, blinked and looked at her as if seeing her for the first time.

She grinned at his dumbfounded expression.

"You okay?"

Hiccup looked at her and suddenly he noticed the sun had come up and he wondered where his head had been.

"Hi," was the best he could come up with. "I, uh, didn't - wait. Let me start over."

Hiccup's heart was still racing, albeit not from running previously.

He inhaled and somehow his hands gravitated towards her as they uncurled, relieving the tension of his body.

"Good morning. I'm sorry for running into you - not, I mean, not running into you but running into -" he broke off, hoping she would release him from this misery.

Astrid laughed and took an involuntary step closer to the young man, part of her reminiscing about their first phone call, another part of her relishing in how adorable he looked, his cheeks flushed not only from running.

"I didn't look where I was going," she answered truthfully and watched his chest deflate as he exhaled. "But it's nice seeing you, too."

'Really nice,' she added internally as she took in his pushed-back and slightly damp hair, revealing his freckled forehead. Her eyes flickered to his upper body, just for a split second, to find his form hidden by a baggy t-shirt with the logo of the fire department on it.

Hiccup knew she was staring at him. If anything, their shared silence made it obvious. He tried not to stare back. Tried.

Well, A for effort.

He'd also be lying if he said that Astrid, her hair tied up to a ponytail, fringe pinned to the side, clad in a top and running shorts wasn't the best thing he'd seen all morning. Maybe even all week.

He quickly got to his senses, however, and gulped, his throat dry not only from running anymore.

He managed a weak "You, too," which made her meet his eyes again.

At least they still had the decency to both blush.

He watched her furrow her brow as if trying to piece something together, then she slowly asked, "How come you're out, though? Didn't you say you usually do this at night?"

He chuckled and pushed his hair back simply to somehow occupy at least one hand.

"It's a night shift week. So I usually go for a run really early and then sleep for another couple hours."

She nodded, still flushed and Hiccup offered her a toothgapped grin, which she easily returned.

"I didn't know you were a running person," he added. "You always up this early?"

Astrid laughed, waving off. "I wish. There was a time I was, but then I started slacking off, with the night shifts and all that. But I'm trying to get back into it."

If he had taken longer than 0.4 seconds to think about his next sentence, Hiccup would probably have cancelled it.

"Hey, if you'd - if you'd like, we could go running together sometimes. I find it's much easier if someone's forcing you to do it," he laughed nervously, his hand back in his hair, already regretting he asked this. She was Astrid, she wasn't just going to let-

"If you want to, yeah!"

He blinked.

Astrid tightened her scrunchy, a smile dancing around the corners of her lips.

"You're gonna have to go easy on me, though. I just jogged ten minutes and had to sit down for another five."

"Don't worry, " he said, still surprised by his own boldness. "You're up against a one-legged guy with asthma, how bad can it be?"

She laughed. "Yeah, but he also has a job that requires him to be on alert for more than 50 hours per week, so."

"Wait, how did you …?"

"Did you seriously think you were the only one doing some research?"

"I haven't done any …"

She smirked and raised an eyebrow. "The lasagna? My workplace which I never mentioned to you by name?"

"You're saying this as if Berk was overflowing with pet shops," Hiccup muttered and earned a playful nudge in his ribs.

"Here I was, thinking there were. Turns out Gothi's known you since you were a little mite."

'I'm barely thinking when I'm with you,' he wanted to say but bit his tongue and muttered, "Gothi knows practically all of Berk since they were little mites."

Astrid laughed and sqrunched her nose at him. There it was again. This distant memory of something that had not happened yet.

"Astrid?"

"Hm?" Her eyes were sparkling, reflecting the golden hues of the sun, making them look like lapis lazulis.

"Are you good with flowers?"

She paused, giving him a puzzled look, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

"Flowers? Why …"

"Oh, um, nevermind," he answered quickly, feeling his face heat up. "When did we want to meet up again tomorrow? I was thinking we could go to the market, they also have freshly caught fish."

To his relief Astrid did not seem to dwell on his question and replied breezily, "15:30, I just put it in my calendar."

"You … you put our dates in your calendar?"

Hiccup felt as though he only had two working braincells left upon seeing her smile.

"Well, yeah," she explained and he could have sworn he saw her blush at her next words. "Otherwise I'd forget how many dates we've been on."

Well, there it was. If Hiccup hadn't already been head over heels for the woman in front of him, this would have definitely sealed the deal.

For now, it was enough to make his heart skip a beat and confirm that she seemed just as occupied with this as he was.

"Well, how - how many have it been?"

"If we were to count the time you brought me the lasagna as a date, then four."

'Four,' Hiccup thought distractedly. 'Is four enough to be asking her?'

"Um," he said eloquently.

Astrid snorted, a smile returning to her lips but she waited for him to sort his two cells until he finally opened his mouth.

"Four, huh. I, uh, listen, I'm - how do I say this?"

"If you're going to tell me you're actually married I will punch you, you know that, don't you?"

"What? I - no! How could you-"

She laughed, nudging him again. "Come on, I'm just kidding." Her expression grew softer. Her hand stayed on his forearm. "You're actually worrying me a bit."

'It's a scary thing to ask,' he wanted to say but his voice failed him as she continued softly, "You don't need to think about how you say it, you know. At least not - at least not with me."

He let out a short pant, the ghost of a smile lingering on his lips.

"Okay. I, uh, actually wanted to ask this for some time, but it was probably too early, I don't know.

I … Astrid, I really - really, really like you and - and if it's alright with you, I'd like to keep seeing you. Exclusively."

Astrid stopped, openly surprised, her arm falling to her side as she looked up at him. Part of her felt as if she hadn't fully comprehended the full meaning of his words yet.

Then again, out here on the streets, his eyes only fixed on her, it sounded like a promise.

"You mean it?"

Hiccup almost laughted at the disbelief in her voice. "Of course," he stressed and quickly reached out to take her hands in his.

She did not pull them away.

"And do you," he asked, his voice low, eyes searching hers. "Want to continue … this?"

He let go of her hand to wave aimlessly back and forth between them.

"Yes," Astrid blurted, now grabbing his hand, maybe a bit too quickly but she couldn't bring herself to care. "I do. You don't even know how much more than alright this is with me."

For a couple of moments Hiccup only stared at her, seeing revelations and endless skies in her expression.

A slow grin blossomed on his face. Then the happiness that had bubbled up inside of him gave itself way in a breathless chuckle, not quite believing his luck.

And suddenly they gravitated towards each other, sparks soaring away in a warm breeze as they collided.

Astrid buried her face in his chest, her hands clutching around the fabric of the shirt around his shoulderblades.

She felt Hiccup exhale slowly and press the ghost of a kiss on the crown of her head. Astrid closed her eyes.

She had never been good with flowers. But she was willing to try.

[pikapeppa]

Fenris/f!Hawke: Wish

Act 2 angst and unresolved sexual tension between Fen and Rynne Hawke, anyone? That’s all I have to serve today. Also desire demons. 👀😳

~8000 words somehow, IDK. Read on AO3 instead. 

*************************************

Varric sat back with an enigmatic smile. “And that’s why that one specific manhole in Lowtown doesn’t lead to the sewers — and in fact, doesn’t lead anywhere at all. Whether it was filled in by workers hired by the merchant’s wife, or by magic, well…” He shrugged and lifted Hawke’s flask to his lips. “That’s anyone’s guess, really.” 

Hawke let out a low whistle and poked the campfire with a stick. “There’s a good lesson in that, actually: there’s no fury like that of a merchant’s wife whose husband keeps a pair of underpants for all the women he slept with during his travels.” 

Fenris snorted and rested his folded arms on his knees. “That is a pretty specific lesson, Hawke.”

“Exactly,” she said. “Should be easy to follow then, no?” She winked at him, and he awkwardly returned her smile before dropping her gaze. 

Two months had passed since he’d made the egregious mistake of sleeping with her. She had told him that things could go back to normal, and true to her word, she’d gone back to acting as though nothing had happened between them.

Fenris was grateful for this. Truly, he was. He only wished that he was able to act as normally around her as she was acting around him.

In truth, that wasn’t the only thing that Fenris wished for. Every night, after Hawke cheerfully bade him farewell in the wake of their daily misadventures, he would sit at the table in his derelict mansion and wish for all sorts of things: that his life had been different. That his night with her had been different — that his mind hadn’t decided that that was the moment to present him with fleeting flashes of the memories he’d lost and reminders of the gaping abyss that was his past. 

Every night, Fenris would sit at the table and wish that he was different, and that he could… that he and Hawke could… but no. There was no point wishing for that, because he was incapable of giving her what she really wanted. The most he could hope for was to be able to emulate Hawke and act like everything was fine.

Merrill’s voice interrupted his melancholy thoughts. “That was a scary story, Varric, but it wasn’t a proper ghost story.” 

Varric raised his eyebrows. “Who said it needed to be a ghost story?”

“Hawke did!” Merrill said. “She specifically said ghost stories. Didn’t you, Hawke?”

“I did,” Hawke said affably. “Ghost stories only seem appropriate, right? Don’t get me wrong, Varric, I still liked your story!” she said quickly. “It was nice and chilling. I’ll certainly be throwing out my trophy-underpants collection when I get home.”

Varric and Merrill laughed, but Fenris frowned. “Appropriate? What do you mean by that?”

Merrill answered before Hawke could speak. “Because of where we are, of course,” she said. “The Veil in this part of the Wounded Coast is thinner than in other places.”

Fenris’s eyebrows shot up. “The Veil is thin here? How do you know that?”

“You can feel it,” she said. Then she eyed him doubtfully. “Well, maybe you can’t. But Hawke and I can. It’s easier to do magic here.”

“Easier for your beloved demons to see you here, you mean,” he retorted. “Is that why you asked Hawke to bring us here?”

Merrill wilted and rolled her eyes, and Hawke shifted closer to him. “Fenris—”

He scowled at her. “You knew about this potential danger and you didn’t mention it?” 

“Don’t be angry at Hawke,” Merrill scolded. “It was my idea to come here.”

He gave her an arch look. “And why exactly did you want to come to this cursed place?”

“Because it’s pretty,” Merrill said.

“Because it’s pretty?” he demanded. “You brought us to a place of danger because it is pretty?”

“It’s not dangerous!” Merrill exclaimed. “And it is pretty! Did you even watch the sunset? That lovely green tint comes from the Veil, you know.” She lifted her chin belligerently. “Not all magical things are bad, Fenris.”

He curled his lip and prepared to retort, but Hawke cut in with a little laugh. “Hey now, the Veil might be a smidge on the thin side, but it’s fine. Nothing bad has happened, right? We saw a lovely sunset and had some lovely stew. We’re having a lovely time, aren’t we?”

Her smile was hopeful, and Fenris eyed her with rising exasperation. “Just because nothing bad has happened yet doesn’t mean nothing will.”

“It won’t,” she said. “I’m sure of it. I’m absolutely positive! I swear on Varric’s chest hair—”

“Hey,” Varric complained.

Hawke blithely went on. “—that nothing bad will happen before we pack up to leave here tomorrow.”

Fenris shot her a skeptical look, then settled back. “Fine. But if any misfortune befalls us, I’m holding her responsible.” He jerked his chin at Merrill, who wrinkled her nose at him.

“Nothing bad will happen,” Hawke said firmly. “I promise.” She took her flask from Varric and handed it to Fenris, then smiled at Merrill. “All right, Merrill, you owe us a ghost story now.”

“Oh good!” Merrill said. She settled herself more comfortably on her picnic blanket and looked at them all with wide eyes. “You’ve all probably heard stories of the Brecilian Forest, far to the east: that the only people allowed inside are elves, and that anyone else who enters the forest mysteriously goes missing. Well, I can’t say if that’s true or not, but have you ever heard of a sylvan?”

Hawke shook her head, and Merrill smiled and continued her tale, but Fenris could only listen with half an ear; the rest of his attention was on the hairs at the back of his neck, which were standing at attention. Now that Merrill had mentioned the thinness of the Veil, he could swear that he felt what she meant: it was like a faint creeping feeling in the air, even though nothing was there. Or as though the air was slightly heavier here than it was in Kirkwall. Or maybe he was just imagining it. 

He didn’t think his worries about demons were unwarranted, though. Hawke and Merrill had never seen the kinds of demon summonings that Fenris had seen. On more than one occasion in Tevinter, he’d witnessed careless apprentices being twisted into monsters due to their inability to control the demons they conjured, only to have the incidents brushed under the carpet by a magister’s whisper and a few carefully placed pouches of coin. Demons were not a small and inconsequential threat, and it behooved Hawke and Merrill both to remember that. 

“Hey,” Hawke murmured.

He looked at her. Varric and Merrill were chatting on the other side of the fire, but Hawke was eyeing him, and his heart did a little flip; her expression was soft and sympathetic.

He dropped her gaze and picked idly at her red scarf on his wrist. “What?” he said. “What is it?”

“If you’re that worried, we can go home,” she said.

His heart squeezed again, this time with a bit of guilt. Truthfully, he would have preferred to go back to Kirkwall. But Hawke wouldn’t have agreed to this trip to the Wounded Coast if she didn’t really want to be here. She had just had that argument with Carver at the Gallows yesterday afternoon, and escaping Kirkwall with all its demands for her attention was one of her favourite ways to cope… 

He roughly ran a hand through his hair. “No,” he said reluctantly. “We don’t need to leave.”

“Are you sure?” she said. “If you really think it’s unsafe…”

“It would be equally unsafe to travel through the wilderness when it’s this dark,” he pointed out. “If we aren’t attacked by demons here, it would be bandits or murderers looking to bury their deeds as we walked along the coast to get back to Kirkwall.”

“Don’t forget the giant spiders,” Hawke added. “Wolves too, probably.”

He gave her a sideways glance, then huffed. “Those as well, yes.”

She smiled, then stretched her legs out and wiggled her bare toes toward the fire. “We might as well make the best of it, then. Can I toast an Orlesian guimauve or two for you?”

“Orlesian guimauve?” he said blankly. “What is that?”

“Ooh, you’re about to find out,” she said with relish. A moment later, she was spearing a soft white object with the stick she’d used to stoke the fire and holding the stick over the fire.

Nonplussed, he watched as Hawke carefully rotated the guimauve over the flame. It caught on fire once, but Hawke didn’t seem particularly concerned; she quickly blew out the flame and continued to toast it, and by the time she removed it from the fire, it was nearly melting off the stick.

She held it out to him with a smile. “One toasted guimauve for the most handsome elf in Thedas.”

He raised an eyebrow. “It’s burnt.”

“That’s the best part,” she said. “Go on, try it.”

He gingerly removed the hot guimauve from the stick and took a small bite. It was incredibly sweet with a hint of vanilla, and exactly as Hawke had said, the burnt part added a depth of flavour that really did enhance the taste.

He looked at her. “This is good.”

She beamed at him. “It is, isn’t it? I like how the burnt parts are bitter. Makes the sweetness all the sweeter. Orlesian sweets are all about mixing the bitter and the sweet. There’s this kind of Orlesian cake I’ve heard about called la misère exquise, and I think it’s actually got deep mushroom in it which seems at first glance like a terrible idea…” She continued to chatter while she speared two more marshmallows and held them over the fire, and for a time, Fenris was able to put aside his worries as he listened to Hawke and watched her toasting the Orlesian treats. By the time Hawke, Merrill, and Fenris were getting ready to go to sleep, he was almost able to ignore the faint creeping feeling at the back of his neck. 

Hawke stood up and stretched, then kissed Varric on the forehead. “Goodnight, Varric. Holler if you need us.”

“I will,” he said. “Either that, or some unlucky idiot will.” He patted his crossbow, which was resting against the boulder he was sitting on. 

Hawke grinned at him, then turned to Fenris and batted her eyelashes. “You sure you don’t want to share a tent with Merrill and me?”

He gave her a chiding look. “Kind of you to offer, but no. I’ll enjoy my tent on my own.” 

“I’m sure you will,” Hawke said lasciviously. She winked at him, then crawled into the tent she was sharing with Merrill.

Fenris wryly shook his head, then entered his own tent and settled into his bedroll. He folded his arms behind his head and sighed, then gazed up as the fabric of his tent as he waited for sleep to claim him. 

A few metres away, he could hear Hawke and Merrill chatting quietly in their tent. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he could hear the warm cadence of Hawke’s voice. Her voice always had this characteristic warmth to it, like she was always on the verge of laughing, and when her words were muffled and soft like they were right now, he could almost imagine that she was murmuring in his ear. 

A heavy feeling filled his chest. Sharing a tent with Hawke, having her whisper in his ear with that laughter-laced voice… That was another thing that he might wish for. He could add it to the list of all the other things he wanted, but couldn’t – or shouldn’t – claim. 

He sighed and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was in Hawke’s house. 

He glanced around curiously, then padded into the front foyer. To the left, a wash of flickering orange light poured through the doorway: the fire in her study must be lit. 

“Hawke?” he called. He made his way toward the study, but stopped dead in the doorway. 

Hawke was kneeling on the carpet in front of the fire, and she was naked. 

Fenris’s heart seized. The fire was indeed lit, and it was painting her bare golden skin in a multitude of sunset hues. Her knees were parted and her spine was arched in a perfect bow, and her fingers were clenched on her thighs. Her chin was tilted up, and her expression was one of complete rapture: eyes closed, cheeks flushed, her raspberry-red lips parted as though to accept a kiss…

A kiss from the huge, shadow-coloured demon that was clutching her by the throat. 

“Hawke!” he bellowed.

The demon looked up at him then disappeared, and Hawke fell forward onto her hands. “Fuck,” she gasped. She looked up at Fenris with wide and haunted eyes. “Fenris? What – why are you – why—?”

“What are you doing?” he yelled. “You nearly let that – that creature possess you!” He ran over to her and grabbed her hand to pull her up. 

“I didn’t – it didn’t look like a demon,” she stammered. “I thought… f-fuck.” She ran a hand through her hair, and Fenris realized with a pang that she was shaking, but it wasn’t enough to soften his anger. 

He gripped her arm. “How could you let a demon trick you?” he demanded. “You know better than this, Hawke. I know you are stronger than this! How could you–”

“I thought it was you, all right?” she snapped. “I – fuck. It looked like you, Fenris. It even sounded like you – or… not exactly like you, but enough to… oh Maker’s fucking balls.” She patted her pinkened cheeks and shifted her weight uncomfortably, and Fenris was forcibly reminded of the fact that she was still naked. 

He swallowed hard and forced his eyes to remain on her face. His heart was pounding in his throat and his ears, and he refused to believe it was from anything other than fear. “You let this demon seduce you?” he said sharply. 

“I didn’t know it was a demon!” she yelled. “I told you, I thought it was you. It was saying all the right things, and I – fuck, I should have known better, but I…” She trailed off and nervously rubbed her throat, an old habit from when she used to wear the red scarf that she’d tied around his wrist, and Fenris’s gaze automatically fell to her hand.

Then his eyes tracked lower, to the budded nipples of her breasts. Then lower still, to her waist and her navel and the curls between her legs and lower still, down to the telltale sheen of moisture between her thighs… 

She was wet. She was wet and ready, and a wave of heat tore through his body. Ashamed of himself, he turned away from her and rubbed his mouth. “Why was a demon even here?” he said in a strained voice. “Is someone trying to trap you?”

“That’s possible,” Hawke said.

She didn’t sound tense anymore; in fact, her voice sounded like it usually did: warm and relaxed and curled with laughter. Fenris glanced at her in surprise, then frowned; she looked completely at ease, despite the fact that she was still nude. 

He narrowed his eyes. “Are you not alarmed by this? If someone tried to trap you, there could be more demons in your house.”

“There could be,” she agreed, and she took a step toward him. “We should track them down. Should we start in my bedroom?”

He stumbled away from her. “Wh-what?” he stammered.

She took another slinky step toward him. “My bedroom. Come on upstairs with me.” She reached out and gently tugged his collar. 

It was the sort of playful tug that she’d give when she made him laugh about some stupid thing or another during their daily travels, and a pang of longing swelled in his throat. He backed away from her. “You’re not Hawke,” he rasped.

Her eyes widened. “What do you mean? Of course I am. Look at me.” She ran her palm along the length of her body, and Fenris’s eyes unwittingly followed the path of her hand as it skimmed over the dusky peak of her breast and the golden planes of her belly. 

He forced his eyes back to her face. “You’re a demon,” he accused.

Her face twisted with hurt before becoming a smile again, and the play of emotions across her face was so convincing that Fenris faltered. “I’m not a demon, Fenris. I promise,” she said. “Look at me. Don’t I look the same to you? Don’t I smell the same?”

Sandalwood and sleepy skin: she did smell the same. Another wash of longing and regret swelled in his chest, and he shook his head, but Hawke stepped closer still. 

“It’s me, Fenris,” she murmured. “It’s just me.” She ran her palm down his chest.

That clinched it. This had to be a demon. The real Hawke wouldn’t touch him in such an intimate way, not after what had happened between them. 

He shoved her – it – away. “Demon,” he spat.

It opened its mouth. “Fenris!” Hawke shouted – but the shout was coming from behind, not from the creature standing in front of him. 

He whipped around in alarm. Hawke was standing in the doorway to the study, fully clothed and scared-looking. 

Hawke. A rush of relief rendered him dizzy for a moment, but he couldn’t be distracted. 

He whipped around to face the demon again, but it was gone. He curled his lip in disgust, then turned to Hawke, who was hurrying toward him. 

“I thought I heard you in here,” she panted. “Come on, we need to get out of here.”  

“Out of where?” he demanded. “Out of your mansion?”

She shot him a funny look. “We’re not in my mansion. We’re in the Fade.”

He gaped at her. “What?”

“We’re asleep, obviously,” she said. “I don’t really know how we’re here together, but I’m not going to complain about being stuck in a nightmare with the most handsome man in Thedas.” She gave him a cheesy grin.

He rubbed his forehead in frustration. “How… how is this possible?”

Her grin became a grimace. “Well, it, um. It probably has something to do with the, um, Veil being thin…”

He stared at her with growing anger. “I told you,” he snapped. “Did I not tell you something terrible would happen?”

“Nothing terrible has happened yet!” she said defensively. “And if we get out of here quickly, nothing terrible will. Now come on, let’s get moving.” She trotted out of the study, and Fenris took a deep breath to calm himself. Demons were attracted to strong emotions, so he needed to be as neutral as possible so he wouldn’t attract any more. 

He made his way to the door and stepped into Aveline’s office, but Hawke wasn’t there. He frowned and turned around, then began making his way through the city guardsmen’s barracks, but Hawke wasn’t in any of the rooms here. How had she gotten away from him so fast?

“Hawke?” he called. He listened for her response, but he couldn’t hear anything; it was as though all sound was muted here, or like it was echoing through a fog or a piece of heavy velvet, and Fenris listened carefully as he made his way toward the Viscount’s office. 

Finally, he heard something: the strains of music and laughter and talking. The Hanged Man, he thought in exasperation. Of course that was where she’d gone. He should have looked there first. 

He pushed his way through the tavern doors, and a blast of music and noise greeted him, along with a familiar sight: Hawke was dancing on one of the tables while the rest of the crowd cheered her on. 

She looked up when Fenris came in, and her face lit into a beautiful smile. “Fenris!” she shouted, and she jumped off of the table and ran toward him. “There you are! I’ve been waiting for you!”

He backed away from her. “Stop,” he barked. 

She stopped in her tracks, and her face fell. “What’s wrong?”

“How do I know you’re not a demon?” he said. 

Her eyebrows jumped up. “Why would you think I was a demon?”

“Because I was attacked by a demon that was wearing your face,” he hissed. “Before, in your study.”

Her expression softened. “You were attacked by a demon that looked like me?”

He stared at her. Her expression was sad and sympathetic and wistful all at once, and only now was he realizing the depth of what he’d just admitted by telling her that his demons looked like her. 

He shoved his fingers through his hair, and Hawke held up her hands. “Okay,” she said soothingly. “Okay. This is fine. We’re going to get out of here. But Fenris, we have to be careful, because this entire tavern is full of demons.”

He lowered his hands. “What are you talking about?”

“The patrons,” she said in a low voice. “They’re all demons. This isn’t the real Hanged Man, you know.”

“I know that,” he snapped. “But I thought…” He trailed off. To be honest, he hadn’t really had a chance to think about it, but now that Hawke had pointed it out, the patrons were all paying him and Hawke a little too much attention for his liking. Worse yet, when he made eye contact with them, he realized that their eyes were black: a flat, empty black. 

A ripple of revulsion ran down his arms, and Hawke lowered her voice even further. “It’s all right. We’ll just, um, start walking in a very relaxed manner until we get out of here, and we can figure out what to do next.”

He nodded stiffly, then followed Hawke as she started to ease her way through the crowd of demons. They headed toward the stairs that led to the inn part of the Hanged Man, but when the reached the top of the stairs, it was to find themselves in the main area once more.

Fenris scowled, and Hawke let out a little laugh. “Ah, fantastic. A tavern that never ends. Varric would be thrilled if he were here.”

“At least one of us is fortunate enough to be spared from this torment,” he said snarkily.

Hawke grimaced. “Well, for lack of a better plan, let’s keep going.”

“Why don’t we simply leave?” Fenris demanded. “The door is right…” He trailed off. In the place where the door should be, he instead saw the stairs to the inn area. 

He turned around to find the door, to no avail; it was still the stairs to the inn. “Venhedis fasta vass,” he muttered. 

Hawke laughed again. “Foreign swearing, my favourite. Are you sure you’re not a demon trying to seduce me?”

“Not the time, Hawke,” he bit off. “Come on.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the stairs.

They made their way up the stairs and into the main room again and back toward the stairs, and Fenris’s frustration continued to rise. But as he dragged Hawke through main room of the tavern for the third time, he started noticing something alarming: the demons were starting to trail after them, and they were clamouring especially closely to Hawke. 

He frowned at her. “What are you thinking about?” he asked.

She looked up at him. “What, er, what do you mean?”

He paused and studied her face suspiciously; her cheeks were pink and her eyes were bright. Whatever she was thinking about was making the demons particularly interested in her.

He scowled at the demons, then stepped slightly closer to her. “They are drawn to you. Whatever you’re thinking about, you need to stop.”

She laughed again, and this time she sounded distinctly nervous. “That’s a little bit difficult when you’re holding my hand.”

He looked down; he was indeed holding her hand. 

His heart thumped, and he released her. “You’re thinking of me?” he said faintly.

Her cheeks pinkened even further. “It’s nothing bad, I swear,” she said hurriedly. “It’s… it’s nothing you don’t already know.”

She wants me, he thought. That’s why they’re following her. That’s what is tormenting her.

He swallowed hard, then shot a glare at the spirits. “Come on, Hawke,” he said. “We need to find a way out of here.” He ushered her in front of him to keep the spirits away from her back, and they moved toward the stairs again, but his own thoughts wouldn’t stop hounding him now. 

I want her, too, he thought as they ran up the stairs. That was why his demons looked like her. That was why he was tortured by the thought of her naked body, and why they were stuck in this nightmare together.

A flare of longing and hopeless regret bloomed low in his belly. Then Hawke suddenly stopped, forcing Fenris to bump into her. 

She stumbled, and he grabbed her arm to balance her. “Be careful,” he warned.

“Um, Fenris,” she said.

“What?” he said testily. Then he followed her gaze, which was behind him. 

He recoiled. The demons were clamouring thickly behind him, and their eyes were horrible soulless pits of black. 

“What are you thinking?” Hawke said in a hushed voice. “They’re pretty fucking interested in whatever it is that you’re thinking about.”

I’m thinking of you, he thought. I can think of little else, and it is torture.

He tore his gaze away from the crowd of demons and looked down at Hawke. “I’m…” He trailed off as he took in her face. Her lips and cheeks were flushed, and her chest was rising and falling as she breathed – heavy breathing like when he was pushing her legs apart and feeling her sleek and tight around his fingers. Heavy breathing like when he was trailing his tongue over her nipple and pressing himself into the cradle of her hips. Her lips were parted like when she was demanding his kiss, like when she was pulling his hips toward her and brushing her nose against his thigh before–

She suddenly pinched his arm.

He flinched, then glared at her and rubbed his arm. “What was that for?”

“You looked like you were about to kiss me,” she said breathlessly. 

He scowled at her plump raspberry lips. “I was not,” he muttered.

She smiled slowly at him, but her words were serious. “They’re torturing us,” she said. “Using our thoughts against us. We can’t let them win. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to enjoy my dirty thoughts in peace instead of having them exploited by a bunch of demons.”

Dirty thoughts. A twist of heat flared low in his belly, accompanied by a perverse wish to know exactly what kinds of dirty thoughts Hawke was having. Was she thinking about the taste of his skin? The scent at the back of his ear? Because that’s what he was thinking about now: the sandalwood scent just behind her ear and at the side of her throat, that spot on her throat that would make her mewl like a cat in heat when he nipped it with his teeth –

“Fenris!” she said loudly.

“All right!” he blurted. “You’re right, you’re right. We need to move.” He grabbed her hand and hauled her toward the stairs. 

They kept moving in silence, shoving their way past the thronging demons and moving through the endless space of the Hanged Man toward the stairs that led to nowhere, and Fenris’s frustration continued to grow — not with the unchanging landscape of the Fade, but with Hawke. At some point while they were walking, she had laced her fingers with his, and her thumb was sliding along the edge of his thumb in a hypnotic rhythm that shouldn’t have been in any way arousing, but somehow still it was. 

“Will you stop?” he demanded.

“Stop what?” she said.

He clenched his jaw. Why did her voice have to sound like that – all soft and breathless like she was coming down from a climax? 

Hawke in the midst of climax, her neck arching and the blissful sounds she made… His cock pulsed at the thought. He hunched his shoulders defensively and shot the demons a venomous look. “Stop… rubbing my thumb,” he muttered to Hawke. “It’s distracting.” 

“Fine, sorry,” she said. She started to release his hand, but Fenris tightened his grip. 

“Don’t let go,” he said. 

Her eyebrows rose. “So I can’t rub your thumb, but I have to keep holding your hand?”

“You can hold my hand without rubbing my thumb,” he gritted.

“Why do I have to hold your hand at all?” she said.

“I am afraid to lose you in this crowd,” he said. “We should stay in contact.”

She let out a little laugh. “Hold your hand, but on your terms. Got it.”

Her tone was unusually brittle, and Fenris frowned at her. “What is your problem?”

“Nothing,” she said. “There’s no problem.”

He scowled. “Speak your mind, Hawke.”

She let out another distinctly mirthless little laugh. “Trust me, you don’t want to hear it.”

“As though that has ever stopped you before,” he retorted.

She stopped and shot him a hurt look, and a pang of guilt penetrated his irritation and his lust. But before he could apologize, she spoke in a hard voice. “Fine. I just… I want you, all right? I think about you all the time, about… about fucking you and lying in bed with you, and I – it’s just unfair, that’s all.”

His heart twisted, even while the perverse heat in his blood simmered higher at the thought of being twisted together in her bed. “What’s unfair?” he asked faintly.

“This!” she said. She squeezed his fingers – fingers which were still laced with hers. “Holding your hand but not being allowed to stroke it. Standing next to you and smelling you and not being able to… to fucking touch you.” She broke off and looked away from him, and he studied her tense jaw with a painfully pounding heart.

“I’m…” He paused; there was a lump in his throat. He swallowed hard before speaking again. “Hawke, I am… I’m sorry.”

She sighed and glanced at him. “I’m not blaming you, all right?” she said in a softer tone. “I just – I wish things were different.”

Another pang of regret jabbed its way through his lust. “So do I.”

She gazed up at him wordlessly, and whatever she saw in his face was enough to make her expression melt into <em>that</em> look – the look of wistfulness and hope that indicated more clearly than any possible words that she was in love with him. 

His entire chest felt like it was throbbing. He forced himself to take a breath in an effort to quell the pain. Then Hawke took a step closer to him. “Fenris, do you think…”

She was so close now – close enough that their chests were almost touching. Close enough that he could count her every eyelash. Close enough to kiss… 

He ought to move away, but he couldn’t seem to move his feet. He swallowed hard. “What?” he croaked.

She took a deep breath. “This is just a dream, right? How bad would it be if we…” She trailed off and nervously licked her lips, and he hungrily eyed the enticing sheen that her tongue left on the pillows of her lips.

“We… we can’t, right?” she asked. “Having sex would definitely be a bad thing to do with a bunch of demons hanging around.” She flicked a glance at the demons, which were still crowded around them like a thick fog.

He ignored the demons; he was too preoccupied by Hawke’s plump lips and her sweet woodsy scent and the tempting, tantalizing, torturous thought of ravishing her in the Fade. He stared at her lips and remembered the feel of them pressed to his and tried to think of something to say.

“We can’t,” he finally said, with great difficulty. “Not even if we… if we want to.”

She nodded and dropped her gaze to their hands, which were still twined together. For a long, loaded moment, they simply stood there hand-in-hand.

Her thumb was caressing his thumb again, but he didn’t have the heart to tell her to stop. He gazed at her face, at the dark curves of her eyelashes and the slight parting of her lips, and with every slow stroke of her thumb, the very air between them seemed to thicken. He stared at her subtly parted lips and he felt the careful caress of her thumb tracing over his own, and he wished that things were different. 

She met his gaze once more. “Do you want to?” she said. 

His breath stalled in his lungs. Her voice was soft and velvety like it would be if she was talking softly into his ear, and the answer to her question was so clear that he couldn’t believe she was asking. 

Of course I want to, he thought. There is nothing I want more than you. He couldn’t say that, though, because he couldn’t give her everything she wanted — everything she deserved. It was exactly like Hawke had said: it was unfair and he wished that things were different, but he was incapable of giving her any more.

He pressed his lips together to stop the words from leaving. If he told her how he really felt, it would only hurt her more than he had already done.

But his body wasn’t listening to his mind. Without his permission, without his conscious say-so, his free hand was rising up toward her face. 

He brushed his knuckles over her cheek, and her eyes fluttered shut. She tilted her head to the side, and Fenris skimmed his knuckles slowly along the side of her throat. 

His thumb smoothed over the edge of her collarbone, and her lips parted in a silent plea. He stared at her lips, her infinitely tempting lips – those perfect plump raspberry-red lips that he’d so enjoyed kissing and nipping and sliding the tip of his cock between… 

He inhaled shakily. His pulse was rising again, beating steadily in his throat and chest and down between his legs, and his hand was rising once more to brush his thumb over the precious plumpness of her lower lip. 

Her breath hitched, and the tiny sound of her pleasure nearly made him dizzy. “Fenris…” she breathed. 

He didn’t reply. He didn’t dare. If he spoke, he would break the stillness of this moment alone with her. 

And they were alone, he realized vaguely. The demons were gone, and he and Hawke were in her bedroom in Hightown. 

Her bedroom: the place where he and Hawke had spent that one perfect, terrible, torrid night together. The place that Fenris thought about every single night as he lay on his stark mattress in his dank lowtown mansion. The place where he’d savoured the taste of her skin and the taste of her pussy and the exquisite feeling of filling her up until they were both crying out their pleasure to the canopy of her bed… 

Her voice interrupted his heated reverie. “What if we did?” she asked. “Would it really be that bad?”

“What do you mean?” Fenris said distractedly. Her chest was rising and falling more rapidly now, and the neckline of her shirt was low and fitted, and he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the enticing valley between her breasts.

“Well, it’s – it’s a dream, right?” she panted. “If we… if we did, it wouldn’t be real. It’s… it’s just a dream.”

Her tone was pleading, and her spine was arching to draw his attention to her breasts, and fasta vass, he wanted to refresh his memory of what her nipples tasted like. 

He stroked her collarbone again. She let out a little moan, and when Fenris slid his fingers down to stroke the gentle swell of her breast at the border of her neckline, she mewled – that perfect, sweet, strained little mewl of desire that made his cock absolutely steely with want. 

He swallowed hard, then stepped closer to her. “Perhaps you’re right,” he murmured. “Perhaps we could… be together in this dream.”

Her eyes widened with hope. “Really?” 

He dipped his finger into her neckline and stroked the peak of her nipple, and she mewled again and arched her spine. He slid his hand around her nape, then brushed his lips over her ear.

“Or perhaps you’re a demon,” he whispered. 

She drew away from him, and a slow smile stretched across her lips. When she met his gaze, her eyes were a soulless, empty black. 

Fenris sat bolt upright with a gasp. It was pitch dark in the tent, and his cock was hard and throbbing, but his skin was awash with a layer of cold sweat. 

I’m awak, he thought. I’m awake. It was a dream. The knowledge of his waking state should have been a relief, but it wasn’t enough to comfort him. 

He scrambled out of his bedroll and shoved his way out of the tent, and Varric looked up in surprise. “Fenris!” he exclaimed. “You okay?”

Fenris ignored him and lifted the flap to Hawke and Merrill’s tent. “Hawke!” he barked. 

Merrill yelped and sat upright, but Hawke only moaned and shifted. Panicked now, Fenris crawled into the tent. 

“Fenris!” Merrill squeaked. “What in the Void are you doing?”

He ignored her and grabbed Hawke’s shoulder. “Hawke,” he snapped. “Hawke, wake up!”

She flinched and gasped, then finally opened her eyes. “Fenris?” she said. “What’s… fuck, what’s the matter? Why are you glowing? Did something happen?” 

He glanced at his arms briefly; his lyrium marks were indeed lit, but that didn’t matter. “Hawke, look at me,” he said. 

She was gazing worriedly at the tent flap. “Is something going on out there? Where’s Varric–”

He clasped her face in his hands. “Look at me!” he shouted. 

Her wide-eyed gaze darted up to his face, and he stared hard at her. Her pupils were huge in the darkness, but the light of his lyrium marks revealed that her irises were their usual warm gold.

She was fine. She wasn’t possessed, and she wasn’t a demon. It had all been a dream.

He exhaled heavily, and Hawke gave him a nervous smile. “Is this your idea of a booty call? If it is, your technique needs a little work.”

Fenris gulped in a breath of air. “Vishante kaffas,” he said shakily.

She smiled more widely. “Foreign swearing? You really are trying to seduce me.”

Merrill tutted. “I’m going to stay in Fenris’s tent. Goodnight, Hawke,” she said, with a pointed look at Fenris, and she crawled out of the tent. 

Hawke chuckled. “If your hope was to get her out, then congratulations. You succeeded.” 

He stared at her in silence. That thing she’d said, about the foreign swearing and the seduction… it was like an echo of what she’d said in the Fade.

No, he reminded himself. That hadn’t been her. That was the demons who were masquerading as her to torment him.

His gut was writhing. He gulped in another breath of air to try and quell it. “Are you… do you feel well?” he croaked.

Her smile faded. “Yes, I’m fine,” she said. “What’s wrong?” She reached up and pressed his hand to her cheek, and he realized belatedly that he was still clasping her face.

He exhaled slowly to calm himself, then released her. “Nothing,” he said. “It… it was nothing.”

“It clearly wasn’t nothing if you came bursting in here in the middle of the night,” she said. She tapped his knee. “You can talk to me, you know.”

Her voice was soft and warm, and so was her gaze. They were together in the intimacy of this tiny tent, and she was stretched out in her bedroll while he was kneeling over her. Her loose shirt was slipping down to show off her bare shoulder, and… and it was so close to being exactly what he wanted that it hurt. 

He dropped her gaze. “I would rather not,” he mumbled, and he shuffled away from her to sit on Merrill’s bedroll. “Go back to sleep.”

“All right,” she said slowly. She shuffled back into her bedroll and lay down on her side facing him. She was silent for a moment, and Fenris kept his eyes on his knees; he could feel her staring at him, and he didn’t dare to meet her eyes for fear of what he’d see — or fear of what she’d see in his face, were he to lift it.

When she finally spoke, her voice was soft. “Are you going to get some sleep?”

He shook his head. “I’ll keep watch,” he said. What he didn’t tell her is that he would wake her again if he suspected even a hint of a nightmare touching her mind.

“Let me get this straight,” she said. “Something worried you enough to make you come bursting in here in the middle of the night, but not enough that you want to talk about it. But enough that you’re… staying in this tent and keeping watch while I sleep.” 

“I suppose those are the circumstances,” he muttered to his knees. 

Hawke was silent for a moment longer. “If you say so,” she finally said. “But you should be warned that I get grabby in my sleep sometimes. If I start fondling you, I can’t be blamed.”

He scoffed and glanced at her; through the darkness of the tent, he could still see her cheeky smile. 

“That is a poor excuse for misbehaviour,” he drawled.

“It’s still an excuse,” she said brightly. “Consider yourself warned.”

He smirked, but he couldn’t keep looking at her; she was too beautiful, and it was… kaffas, it was as Hawke had said: it was unfair. Everything was unfair, and he wished that it wasn’t this way, but it was.

He looked back down at his knees. Hawke said nothing more, and Fenris assumed she must have fallen back asleep. He eventually settled into a more comfortable cross-legged position on Merrill’s bedroll, then sighed softly and tilted his head back. Venhedis, he was exhausted. This was the last time he was coming camping on the fucking Wounded Coast. And Hawke had better not decide to come out here on another overnight trip, either. If she did, he would most definitely be having words with her. 

The rest of the night crawled by painfully slowly. Fenris forced himself to stay awake, but his vigil turned out to be unnecessary; Hawke slept peacefully for the remainder of the night, and when she woke up the next morning, she was so chipper that it made him feel even more fatigued. 

She hummed to herself as she packed up their camping gear, and she flirted mercilessly with him and Varric and Merrill while they ate their breakfast, and Fenris could barely muster the energy to do more than murmur an acknowledgement of her playful advances. By the time they were plodding along the path that would take them back to Kirkwall, he’d stopped even trying to respond to the others’ lighthearted banter.

When they were halfway back to Kirkwall, Hawke sidled up to him. “Thank you for your company last night, by the way.”

“Don’t mention it,” he mumbled.

“No, really,” she said. “I think it helped. Before you came bursting in like a bull in a china shop, I was having the most unnerving dream.”

He looked at her in alarm as she kept on talking. “It was about you, actually. You were really acting like yourself in the dream. More than dream people usually do, I mean. You were mad at me because there were all these demons, and we were at–”

“The Hanged Man,” he blurted. 

Her eyes widened. “Yes,” she said. “Yes, exactly.” She gave him an odd look, and Fenris gaped at her with a suddenly pounding heart. Had they been… was it possible that they’d actually been in the same dream? 

She covered her mouth with one hand. “Oh no,” she said, and she started laughing. “Oh, no. Oh, Fenris.” She laughed some more, and he noted with dismay that her cheeks were turning pink. 

“What?” he said defensively. “What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing, nothing!” she said. “I just, um… I mean, if we were having the same dream, then…” She trailed off. Her eyes were huge and beautiful and loaded with unspoken words, and Fenris suddenly couldn’t breathe. 

If their dreams had been the same, then… then she’d been naked on her knees while a demon with his form tried to seduce her. She’d stood in front of him in the Fade and pinched him to stop him from falling into temptation like the demons wanted, even with all this longing and lust in her blazing amber eyes. But —  but had that been her, or a very clever demon? How much of the dream had they truly shared, if they’d both spent so much of the time being tortured by demons wearing each other’s skin?

He stared stupidly at her. Her long dark hair was more tousled than usual from sleeping in a tent, reminding him forcibly of the way she looked right after he finished pleasuring her. Her cheeks were turning pink, and her eyes were bright and intense, and in this terrible, breathless, desire-soaked moment, Fenris wished he was the sort of man who could answer the unspoken plea in her parted lips and kiss her. He wished that he was the sort of man who could have ceded to his base desires and availed himself of her naked and willing body while they were both cloaked by the immunity of the Fade. 

He wished for Hawke with every heated drop of blood in his body and every beat of his erratically pounding heart. But Hawke deserved more than a lusty kiss or a meaningless fuck in the Fade. She deserved everything, and no matter how badly he might wish for her, he was incapable of giving her what she deserved. 

His throat felt thick. With effort, he dropped her gaze. “Hawke, I—” 

She interrupted him. “Don’t worry about it. Consider it forgotten.”

He looked at her in surprise. “Forgotten? What… what do you mean?”

She smiled and shrugged. “I mean, don’t worry about it. I know you don’t, um, want to talk about… this.” She gestured awkwardly between them. “So don’t worry about it. It’s like it didn’t happen, all right?”

Her voice and her smile were so determinedly cheerful that they couldn't possibly be genuine. He swallowed painfully. “All right,” he said.

She punched his arm in a friendly manner, then bounced away to join Merrill and Varric, and Fenris followed them with a heavy heart. He listened to Hawke’s lovely barking laugh and watched as she linked her arm with Merrill and hugged Varric around the neck, and he wished that things were different. 

He wished that his mind wasn’t a bleached canvas written over with pain and hate. He wished that he could savour the sight of Hawke’s bare body as herself and not as a twisted image of his own crude desires. Fenris gazed wistfully at the lively sway of Hawke’s slender hips, and he wished.

[heistmaster69]

pariet lilium (2)

pariet lilium

pariet lilium by @heistmaster69 chapter two

A/N: ive accepted that nobody will ever read this and im chill with that but if you do read this let me know pls ALSO TO MY FIRST FOLLOWER/MUTUAL @fanficflaneuse THANK YOU SO MUCH this is dedicated to you love! 

a chill 1.5k words

chapter one

~

“Sorry, Reed. They told me to.”

Frankie’s eyes jolted open. She felt afraid, alone. Her face was stiff and her eyes were full of tears. They ached, as did her chest. She sat up steadily and leaned against her bed frame, wiping a few stray tears with her sleeves. She grasped at her sternum, trying to ease what felt like a fifty-pound weight crushing her lungs. The tears were still falling, she had a lump in her throat, and she was coated in a sticky layer of sweat. It felt like the air in the dormitories was thick with dust. 

Frankie pushed her blankets aside and brushed her dark hair out of her face. A gentle light from the common room illuminated the room enough so she could see, so she stepped down, feeling the cold stone on her feet as she walked to the bathroom. The squeak of the faucet and the cold water dripping down her face didn’t do much to ease her. She needed a hug, and she wanted one from him.  Frankie pulled her quilt off of the bed and walked down to the common room to find some calm in a cup of coffee and the fire. After getting her mug, she heard a voice.

“Chess.” Draco sighed. His nickname for her. He sat in an armchair, blonde hair a mess, bags under his eyes with and a strange kind of emotion swimming within them.

“Merlin, did you sleep?” Frankie stepped toward the armchair, moving to stand in front of him. He couldn’t look at her. “Draco?”

He shook his head.

“Was it him again?” She sat on the rug in front of him, resting her forearms on his knees. 

“I could ask you the same question.” He met her gaze and she saw what was in his eyes. Fear. 

It’s no lie that Lucius Malfoy was a Death Eater. The most loyal of them all. After what happened in the Chamber of Secrets last year, Draco’s nightmares had been full of him. His father returning to the Dark Lord and pulling Draco down alongside him. Frankie’s dreams were daisies compared to the thunderstorms of Draco’s, but he understood her. They understood each other.

“Yeah.” She looked away. “I just feel stupid. I should’ve known or something.”

Draco moved her face to meet his eyes, bringing his hand up to wipe away one of her tears. “What he did to you was a right awful move, Frankie. You didn’t deserve it.” Draco grabbed her coffee and took a swig like it was firewhiskey.

“He thought so.” She scoffed. “I can’t even say his name, let alone hear it. It’s such a stupid thing to be messed up about-I’m sorry, are you even alright?”

The two sat in silence for a minute, a few minutes.

“He’s trying to come back, Chess.” His voice broke. “I’m terrified.”  He sounded so scared and it broke her heart. 

In one fell swoop, Draco pulled Frankie off the floor and onto him. She immediately hugged him. She needed this as much as he did. As she felt his cries, she began to break into strangled sobs.

They sat there, holding each other, until the sun began to rise.

~

No one should have to take Divination this early in the morning. Trelawney babbled on about tea leaves and how they show the future, when really, all Frankie saw in Theo’s teacup was a blob.

“Franks-”

“What is it with you boys and saying everything but my name?” Frankie, Francesca, Chess, and now Frank. “It’s only a little funny.”

“Not my problem, Frank, but what is my problem is these tea leaves. I’m seeing something very exciting-Blaise- come take a look at this!” Blaise turned from his table with Draco, peering into Theo’s teacup. 

“Woah, Francesca!” He exclaimed, nudging Draco to take a look as well, but he must’ve missed the joke, because he just looked confused. 

Theo showed her the leaves, it looked like two-oh.

“Well it looks like your prophecy’s come true, Frankster.” He smirked.

“Go on, Theodore.” She laughed.

“Well here, you see, it says that you have some massive knockers!” Blaise, Theo, Crabbe, Goyle and most of the boys in the near vicinity burst in to laughter, Frankie with them, shaking her head. 

“Shove off, Zabini.” Cher laughed. Pansy and Daphne began throwing crumpled up sheets of paper at the boys. 

Frankie noticed that Draco snuck a glance.

Daphne piped up. “Cher, don’t worry, Theodore can’t help it. He wants you too bad.” The boys led a chorus of oohs, shoving him and snickering.

Frankie couldn’t stop herself from seeing how Draco reacted.

He didn’t.

~

Frankie day in the library, sitting in between to rows of books. She was piling up a stack of books on spells, spell creation, and the Unforgivables when she saw a blur of bright blonde hair.

“Malfoy? Malfoy-”

He interrupted. “I’m sorry about the boys, earlier.”

Frankie rolled her eyes. “If you actually cared about me you would know that I didn’t give a single-”

“-I care about you Chess-where the hell is this coming from?” He walked up to her and leaned against the stacks.

Salazar, did I say that out loud? “I was only joking, dimwit.”

"If this is about last night-" He started.

"What about last night?" Frankie's heart rate began to accelerate.

"Nothing-I-It just happens often, not that I mind, Merlin I do not mind, but I was just hoping that I didn't make you uncomfortable or anything." He is so cute. Wait-no, no he's not.

"You didn't, I was thinking the same thing, actually." She let out s quiet giggle, not seeing the blush that crept up his neck.

"How would you make me uncomfortable?"

"I don't know. I must've been crushing you or something. Plus I'm definitely not on the top of anyone's list of People They'd Want To Cuddle. Most people just see me as the fat girl who no one would want to shag."

"Who wouldn't want to shag-" He coughed, praying that she didn't hear that. "I mean, you were definitely not crushing me, and Chess, cuddling you was a very nice experience."

Frankie chuckled to herself, turning back to her book. "Thanks, Malfoy."

“Yeah, yeah, okay.” He sat down across from her. “What are you reading?”

“About the Killing Curse.” She didn’t look up from the book, but she wasn’t focusing on the words anyway.

“Merlin, Chess. How wonderful.” They shared a laugh.

“Do you know what a Horcrux is, Malfoy?” Frankie looked up, pointing at a picture on the tattered pieces.

“Well it sounds lovely. What is it?”

“It’s disgusting. When you use the killing curse, you break your soul, and it can sort of create immortality, in a twisted way.”

“Immortality? So by using the curse, you save your soul to live another, well, someone else’s lifetime.”

“That’s the point. It’s really creepy.” Frankie tossed the book to him.

“It says here that Herpo the Foul used them to-bloody hell that’s disgusting!” He tossed the book back to her with a grimace.

“A Horcrux can be created by anyone who commits murder, if they want to.”

“I wonder if You-Know-Who made those.” Draco wondered. “I mean, my father told me stories that would make your skin crawl, and he was always blabbing about immortality and being invincible-” His face fell.

“Malfoy, do you think-”

“No,”

No.

“Oh my god, Malfoy. Oh my god.” Frankie threw the book and scrambled to her feet as Draco did as well. “Bloody, god, Merlin, oh my god!”

He was panting heavily, Frankie grabbed fistfuls of her hair, feeling nauseated.

“I think I’m gonna be sick, Chess, Merlin.”

“He-” She looked him dead in the eye. “He did that, didn’t he?” 

“Bloody hell Chess, Salazar-” He stared into her soul, and reached to grab her sleeve. “We’ve got to tell Snape.”

~

“And why, might I ask, were you researching Horcruxes to begin with, Miss Reed?”

“Professor, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you-” Frankie panted, still freaking out.

“Why is it important? What’s important is that the Dark-I mean You-Know-Who is still alive.” Draco shouted. 

“Malfoy, It’s fine. Professor I believe there is a way to reverse the effects of the Killing Curse, and Horcruxes are the key to figuring it out. It’s a strange loophole, I guess.” Frankie sat down next to Draco.

Professor Snape scoffed, but the two could tell that there was a strange gleam in his eye. “There is no cure for the Killing Curse-”

“It’s not a cure, Snape. It would separate the soul of the dead with the piece of the soul of the killer and return it to the dead’s body somehow I just haven’t figured out-you know what-I’m not an idiot, I’ve been studying this for my entire life-”

“He Who Must Not Be Named has not returned, Francesca. Ten points from each of you for wasting my time with your childish nonsense and being out after curfew.” He stood up and went into his quarters with a flourish of his robe. 

Frankie hadn’t even realized that Draco had been holding her hand the entire time.

~

A/N: okay so i know that this isn’t as long as the last one, but i felt it was a good place to stop. I’m going ultimate slowburn slow with this fic lol. pls let me know what u think ! love you all ! mwah.

[mybunnyparadenme]

(This is my edgy blog btw) Ship: bunny duh Prompts: 3, 11, and 12 I couldn’t choose so you can pick one if you don’t want to do them all!

Sorry it took me so long! I managed to combine all three prompts and here’s the result! Hope you like it~

#2 Things you said too quietly/#11 Things you said when you were drunk/#12 things you said when you thought i was asleep

Kenny couldn't think of a better way to spend a Friday night. He and Butters were hanging out in Butters' bedroom, listening to sugary sweet pop music and drinking McDonald's iced coffees that Kenny had picked up on the way over. They weren't drinking just any iced coffee though. Butters had nicked a bottle of Kahlua from his parent's liquor cabinet, and the two of them had been adding it into their coffees all night. Kenny already had a good buzz going, and Butters had just gone past that judging by how loud he was talking.

"You can't hog it all, Ken!" Butters pouted, reaching for the bottle with grabby hands. "Give it here!"

"Dude you've had more than me by now." Kenny said, laughing when Butters pouted even harder. He handed it over easily though, Butters deserved a night to let as loose as he wanted.

Instead of pouring more into his drink, Butters brought it straight to his lips and swallowed down several mouthfuls before he pulled it back with a grimace. "Oh that's strong!"

"You should've mixed it with your coffee!"

"It's pretty much all Kahlua at this point." Butters said, swishing around the contents in his half empty cup. It was much darker now than when Kenny had presented it to him. He looked up and gave Kenny a wild grin. "Besides, I can handle it. Waterin' it down is for pussies!

Kenny laughed again, the full kind of laugh that only happened when you were drunk enough that every little thing became the funniest thing you ever heard. He was so glad Stephen and Linda were going to be gone until tomorrow afternoon. The two of them could enjoy this time without having to worry about getting caught with pilfered liquor. Speaking of being caught though... "Okay, so how grounded do you think you'd be if your parents walked in right now?"

"Um." Butters paused, looking worried for a split second downing the remainder of his drink. He shook his head and raised his fist in the air with a shout, "I don't know and I don't care! You're looking at a guy who doesn't give a fuck about getting grounded!"

"Holy shit, drunk you is a badass." Kenny said, a slow smile forming on his face. He felt more attracted to Butters in this moment than he ever had before, but then again being attracted to Butters wasn't really new to him. Still, he couldn't deny Butters saying he didn't care about getting grounded was really fucking hot. He grabbed the bottle of Kahlua, hoping a strong shot would clear his thoughts, and found that it was almost empty. "Damn, we almost finished the whole thing, Butters. We're gonna have to fill it up with something before your folks come back."

"Do we have to?" Butters asked, his eyebrows furrowing together. "They get enough from me already, fuck them and fuck their booze!"

"Hell yeah, fuck those tyrants!" Kenny said, but mentally he told himself to brew some coffee and vodka together later. As much as he loved this new side of Butters, there was no way he was letting Butters get grounded into oblivion over one night of fun.

"And if they try anything we could run away together!" Butters said, looking excited now. His eyes were bright and dreamy. "That would really show 'em. Ooh, we could really piss them off and leave a note sayin' we went to Vegas and are getting married!"

"Huh?!" Kenny had been about to tip the rest of his iced coffee into his mouth, but hearing that last bit shocked him so much he ended up spilling it all over his sweater.

Like a light switch flicking off, Butters' bravado fell away into concern. "Oh no, I'm sorry for getting so carried away and startlin' you Kenny! We gotta get that sweater in the wash before the stain sets in."

"It's... it's not that bad." Kenny murmured, hoping the heat rising to his cheeks looked more like a drunken flush. "I can just rinse it off in the sink when I go home."

"And catch your death of cold? Uh-uh, we're getting that cleaned right away. Give it here." Butters leaned over and started to lift it off of Kenny's body.

It took his alcohol addled brain a minute to realize that Butters was actually undressing him right now. Kenny couldn't help the long 'nice' that went through his mind as the sweater went over his head, but immediately afterwards their eyes locked and the full awkwardness of the situation finally hit them. Kenny's arms were over his head and tangled up in his sweater's sleeves, Butters' nose an inch away from his. He was close enough to a kiss...

"Oh sweet Mary." Butters breathed as he pulled back, his cheeks blazing. "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't've done that."

"No big deal!" Kenny quickly reassured him, his heart was slamming against his ribcage. He slipped his sweater the rest of the way off and held it out in front of him, keeping his eyes locked on the ground. "Here."

"Thank you!" Butters squeaked, standing up way too fast. He swayed on his feet, but managed to stay upright. "Y-You can go ahead and grab one of my shirts while I get this washed okay?"

"Okay, I will. Thanks." Kenny said, standing up awkwardly. He felt so exposed without his sweater, goosebumps rising all over his arms. He could feel Butters eyes on him even without looking up.

"I'll be back soon!" Butters said before bolting out of the room.

Kenny let himself wallow in embarrassment for a few seconds, but then the cold got to him and he made his way over to the dresser on the other side of the room. He picked the first long-sleeved shirt on, a pale green one that smelled like citrus detergent. His heart skipped a beat when he recognized it as the scent that always seemed to cling to Butters' skin. He brought the sleeve up to his nose and inhaled deeply, then buried his face in his hands when he realized what he was doing. The alcohol, he blamed this on the alcohol.

A few minutes later Butters came back into the room, still looking a little flustered. "O-Okay, it'll be ready in a little while."

"Cool." Kenny said from his spot on the bed. The tension was still thick between them, and it was high time they brought the mood back to what it was before. He put on an exaggerated grin and casually asked, "So what'd you think of my tiddies? They were pretty great right?"

"Oh my god!" Butters giggled, all of his nervousness fading away as he laughed. He let himself sink onto the bed next to Kenny, their shoulders brushing casually. "My honest opinion? They were a little flat for my tastes.

"You wound me, Butters." Kenny sighed, placing a hand over his heart dramatically.

"But I thought your freckles were neat. I never realized these were an all-over thing." Butters said, tapping the tip of Kenny's nose.

"Yeah, they... they're usually hidden underneath my clothes." Kenny said, his heart leaping at that easy touch. He hoped it wasn't just the Kahlua making him do that.

"You should show them off more often." Butters smiled at him. He said the next part softly, almost too low to hear. "They're really cute on you."

Cute? Butters thought he was cute? Kenny chewed the inside of his cheek, fighting back the smile that was threatening to give away how happy hearing that made him. Holy shit, Butters Stotch thought he was cute!

"I feel like dancin', don't you Ken?" Butters asked, as he rose to his feet again. He moved over to his nightstand where his phone was still playing pop songs. "Pick something fun for us to dance to!"

"Uhhhh, play some Katy Perry!" Kenny blurted out as he stood up too. "The earlier the better!"

"Got it!"

A minute later the two of them were belting out lyrics about getting hitched in Vegas, laughing and jumping around so much that Kenny was sure the floor was going to collapse underneath them. The room was spinning and the Kahlua and coffee mixture was sloshing around in his stomach, but Kenny felt better than he had in a while just being here with Butters. He always felt better when they were together.

They danced for half a dozen songs, shouting gibberish when they forgot the lyrics or just plain didn't know them in the first place. They were out of breath by the time they shut the music off and fell onto the bed in a tangle of limbs, giggling from both exhaustion and the alcohol still coursing through their bodies. Butters had a smile so wide his cheeks had to hurt.

"That was a lot of fun, Kenny." Butters said, reaching up to brush Kenny's hair from his sweaty forehead. His eyes were shining. "Thanks for coming over today."

"Thanks for inviting me." Kenny said, leaning into the touch with a sigh. "Hanging out with you is the best."

"Yeah?" Butters closed his eyes, a sleepy smile forming on his face. "I feel the same. You're my best friend, you know."

Had he known that? Kenny thought back to all the time they spent together, just the two of them. They were close definitely but... best friends? God that was freaking profound. Was that just the alcohol talking? Would Butters even remember saying it in the morning? God he wanted Butters to remember this.

"Butters do you-" He started, only to cut himself off when he saw that Butters' eyes were closed, his breathing even like he was fast asleep. He reached up and waved his hand in front of his face, holding his breath until Butters' eyes fluttered open.

"Mm? What is it, Ken?" Butters murmured, his eyes soft with slowly fading consciousness.

"You meant it right?" Kenny swallowed down the nervousness from earlier that threatened to steal his words away. God his eyes were the palest shade of blue. He wanted to tell Butters how beautiful they looked.

It was silent for a moment, long enough for Kenny to worry that Butters had fallen asleep with his eyes open, but then he reached up and patted his cheek softly. "'Course I meant it. You're my sunshine guy."

Kenny wanted to melt into this moment. Butters' fingers were warm on his heated face, and surprisingly rough with callouses. Probably from all the chores his parents had him do, but it was comforting all the same. Butters eyes drifted shut, and without the eye contact Kenny felt brave enough to reach up and place his own hand on top of his. He could feel his whole body relax as this quiet moment stretched on, and sleep started to overtake his consciousness. Just before he drifted off, he let himself murmur, "You're my best friend too Butters... light of my life. I love you so much."

He was asleep before he could hear the soft gasp that followed his confession.