#yeah it was stupid hard and I do think the boss rush is unfair

[kazekis]

okay opinions time.

so i love the new sonic frontiers update. yes its hard as fuck, yes i wanted to give up multiple times, yes i even said it was impossible in the Master King Trial. But despite all of that, it was fun.

It gave me a huge sense of accomplishment when I beat the Master King Trial AND the new End fight that I cried out of joy and stress when I beat both of them! I was so happy that I didn't give up, and ended up just sleeping on it whenever I felt like I was getting angry.

It also gave me a chance to connect with the Sonic community, as I am a new fan (got into sonic around 2020). I was looking through community posts and seeing other people struggle and complain and call it impossible, as well as people asking for tips. And the people who responded with tips helped me out soso much, I wouldnt have been able to beat it if not!

I dont know about you, but I was hoping for a boss rush in Sonic Frontiers, and now that we have it, despite being insanely difficult, im pretty happy about it. Being forced to learn new techniques (speedrunning tricks) AND finding out about features from the boss fights that I didnt know before (parrying Wyverns rockets, and parrying Knights spikes) was really fun.

plus, the ending was so worth it. i dont think I could find it but before I beat the game I saw a post speculating about how the Original ending was the bad ending, and the Final Horizon ending is the good one, and idk about you guys but I agree. i like that speculation

Plus the story? The playable characters? Amazing. playing as amy and tails and knuckles were all really fun and I dont have much words about them but djdkdhdkdjdjfn ( also amys voice acting in that one scene if you know you KNOW)

despite this, will i ever fully complete this update? Absolutely not, I cant complete most of the new Island challenges or any of the portals, but that doesnt take my enjoyment away.

Idk, im rambling at this point! im about to replay the update saturday so maybe my opinion will change or whatever but I liked the update thats the post bye

[runtedfiction]

nicer

day 1: facade @zelinkweek2021

ao3

* * *

Years later, when Link faces the castle’s crumbling walls, he thinks about the Princess.

* * *

The day King Rhoam announces this year’s Harvest Festival is also the day his subjects know they're doomed. Officially, it’s supposed to be a normal holiday. Unofficially, the language in the announcement—“the last celebration before the fight against Calamity Ganon”, “the last time the palace will be open to Castletown until the fight is over”—convinces everyone that they’re partying in the face of the apocalypse.

“They have no faith in me,” Zelda says, putting down her pen. “Ganon is brewing deep beneath the castle. Everyone knows it. Everyone knows I can’t stop it. This is their last chance to let loose before all hell breaks loose.”

Impa frowns and hands her the final page of raw Guardian data to clean. “You're too hard on yourself. You still have time.”

“I just have Mount Lanayru next week.” She focuses on the Silent Princess above her desk. It's wilting. “Do you think I’ll be wise enough? Maybe Hylia will smite me right then and there for being an idiot.”

“Princess!”

“I know, I know.”

* * *

They wrap up that afternoon’s study, an incredibly useful session in quantifying the powers of the Guardians, to get ready for the ball.

Zelda’s dress is her signature blue, but a bit more fluid and feminine than the one she normally wears. Made for dancing and a summer night.

“Collarbones,” Impa notes, and Zelda laughs. “A little off the shoulder as well! And the subtle constellation pattern in the tulle--how stunning!”

“Don’t act as if you didn’t design it.”

“Guilty.”

Impa’s dress, an even deeper blue, is similarly gorgeous. It’s long sleeved, form fitting, and silky.

“Impa, I just want to say—” Zelda pauses, looking at their reflections in the mirror. When will they ever look this nice again? “Thank you for being my friend.”

Impa' smiles. “Of course. And Princess—if I may.”

“Yes?”

“With all your talk of the world ending, of doom coming.” Her voice gets small. “Do you think it would be worth telling him?”

Zelda stiffens. She thinks of him somewhere in the castle, dressed in his best uniform, walking to find her.

She lies. “No.”

Three quiet, efficient raps sound against her door. Zelda’s heart lurches.

* * *

In the hot, overcrowded ballroom, she can’t stop wondering if he thinks she looks pretty.

There are important people here she needs to talk to: researchers from the Royal Ancient Tech Lab, religious leaders, captains of industry, and so on. She finds her father and tries to reach some common ground on the one night they aren’t preparing for Evil Incarnate. (She fails.) She should find the court poet and give him the dance he’s been writing about for the past month.

But all she wants is for Link to look at her.

He’s indeed in his best uniform. His gloves and boots are blindingly white; his collar sits high and stiff against his neck. He’s uncommonly handsome, and the uniform emphasizes it. When someone pulls him in to dance (technically he should be keeping watch, but that someone really insists), she hates the jealousy that blooms in her chest and takes the hand of the poet. When she twirls, when she makes conversation, when she curtsies--she tries to see it all from Link’s perspective, if he can even find her in the crowd.

“Princess, are you feeling alright?”

“Oh.”

The poet looks at her in the way that a puppy looks at its master. The neediness satisfies and repulses her.

“Yes,” she says, smiling quickly. “Thank you for asking. How are you?”

“Wonderful. I was sitting in the courtyard the other day and...”

It’s easy to tune him out and appear to be interested with the right amount of “mhmm” and “oh?” and eye contact. But every time he twirls her around, she tries to spot the top of a Royal Guard cap in the crowd.

She knows she’s being stupid. Even in the incredibly unlikely scenario where Link’s interested, what could they do? Given that her powers aren’t working, there’s only a sixty percent chance they’ll get through the Calamity. She thinks back to what Impa said earlier. Something about letting him know in the face of impending doom.

(Maybe it doesn’t make sense to do something that would possibly be useless, a tiny voice in the back of her head says. But on the flip side, it’s also possible that nothing will matter soon, so why not tell him?)

She scowls and lets the poet dip her far too low for common courtesy.

* * *

Link is definitely lost in the crowd now. The next song requires that they rotate between multiple partners, and she can’t spot him anywhere. There’s no way that he’d be looking at her anyway, because why would he? He’s the chosen one, kind and strong and handsome and blessed. She’s the failed reincarnation, mean and headstrong and cursed.

If (when) the world ends, it’ll be on her.

Zelda admits to herself, swaying in the arms of someone else who doesn’t matter, that because the world has an uncomfortably high probability of ending, it follows that maybe, possibly, probably it makes sense for her to say something.

A sense of urgency unfurls in the pit of her stomach. Where is he?

* * *

She tries to find him. She doesn’t know what she’d do--ask for a dance? Strike up a conversation? Maybe it's the heat getting to her, but it worries her that she's lost him. She walks the length of the ballroom and comes up with nothing.

There’s no way she could summon him, but…

She grabs a glass of water and walks out the ballroom to the nearest balcony.

Except in this very specific circumstance, it’s infuriating how easy it is for him to find her. Even when she doesn't want to be found, even when she’s actively running away (and nearly dying in the process), there he is. The knowledge that he’s almost always aware of her presence burns.

“Hello,” she says after a respectable amount of time.

He steps out behind her. Unfortunately, the moonlight’s softness makes him look angelic. “Hi.”

Zelda very rarely has no plan. She’s the one always bossing him around, deciding where they’ll go next and how they’ll get there and what they’ll do. She’s at a loss for words right now.

“Ah--hm.” A cooling night breeze passes by. “Are you--are you enjoying the festival?”

“Yes?” He looks confused. And hot, her unhelpful brain adds. Very hot. “Are you?”

“Yes. It’s quite warm inside, but I enjoy the music and the dancing.”

“The band is nice.”

She agrees and scrambles to find another conversation topic. Damn it. Still no plan. Think, think.

“Uh--” he starts the same time she asks, “Are you ready for Mount Lanayru next week?”

He nods, and she hates how she made the conversation about work. But he looks more confident now--talking about work is easier than trying to have whatever kind of conversation she had in mind. “Yeah. I read about the region and it seems relatively safe. We might see Naydra too.”

“That would be incredible,” she says. “I’d love to capture it on the Slate.”

He nods again. A silence passes (a horribly awkward one that eats at her) before she asks: “What were you going to say before I interrupted you?”

“Oh yes.” Link clears his throat, and the fact that he looks a bit nervous sends her heart pounding. Can he tell what her subconscious is trying to do? “I’ve been meaning to ask (oh God, oh God, what has he been meaning to ask)--are you avoiding me?”

She blinks. “What?”

He won’t make eye contact with her. Triforce of courage, my ass. “Are you avoiding me?”

“No?” She’s stunned. Avoiding? All she’s been doing for the past week is pining!

“But, I feel like.” He pauses to look at her briefly. Again, his nerves kick off her own. “Ever since we got back from the desert, you haven’t really talked to me.”

She needs to think. A week ago, what happened?

They were at the Kara Kara Bazaar, and she nearly died because she intentionally (stupidly) lost him. She relives the feeling of it now--the panic that came with facing certain death when she realized it wasn’t Link following her, but the Yiga, then the shock when he appeared out of thin air wielding the sword. His back, so strong and sure. His concern as he helped her get up afterwards.

How once she could process what happened, something kicked in her chest, and everything was so obvious so suddenly.

Then getting back from the desert, what did she do? She wrote a diary entry, spent a sleepless night deciding she had feelings for him that she didn’t want to name, and tried as hard as possible to conceal them. The pining was unbearable, and--oh. Looking at him made her face burn, so she turned away. She never knew what to say around him, so she chose to say nothing at all.

Perhaps she approached her yearning by offsetting it with its opposite.

They really haven’t spoken. Zelda shakes her head, and mentally kicks herself. How can someone like you back if you don’t even talk to them? “I promise, I’m not trying to avoid you.”

He furrows his brow a little. Cute. Unfair. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Ok. If you do--if you ever need more space, let me know.” He smiles a little. “I do have to follow you, but I can do it farther away or something.”

She smiles back. Please always follow me. “Thanks. No need.”

“Alright,” he says. He glances at her arms.“Do you want to go back inside? It’s a bit cold. You’re getting goosebumps.”

She didn’t even notice. An idea is forming in her mind, bright and hot and something that needs to rush out right now or she’s going to overthink it to death.

“Going back inside sounds good. When we do, would you--would you like to dance with me?”

The question leaves so quickly that she’s not too sure if he understood it. She holds her breath; she might throw up.

“Sure,” he says, and the disappointment that she expected to punch her gut doesn’t come; a flood of something wonderful washes over her instead. Sure is yes, her mind sings. “How about I find you before the last song? I’ve been doing a bad job of keeping watch.”

“Sure,” she echoes. Hopefully her excitement isn’t too obvious when she turns back and nearly runs into the ballroom.

* * *

When the band announces the last song of the night, Zelda lets go of the poet and steps back immediately.

“My Princess,” he says, and the normal repulsion she would feel turns into joy when she spots a navy blue cap making its way through the crowd. “I would be honored to have your final dance, if you would have me.”

“Another time,” she says, already turning to pick up her skirt and mosey her way through the last group of people separating her from a flash of sandy blonde hair. “Thank you though!”

She doesn’t wait for the poet’s response because the crowd is gone and Link is right in front of her, handsome and smiling slightly. Her heart is at a million miles a minute when she drops her skirt and steps forward to place her hand in his.

This isn’t like her. He must think she’s acting so strange. Either that, or it’s obvious just from looking at her what she’s thinking. It’s a frenzied array of thoughts, ranging from the obvious (handsome, handsome, smells so good?, handsome, kind eyes) and the embarrassing (The smallest, least repressed part of me has dreamed about this all week.)

The music starts and swells and she’s still dreaming. His hand on her back is firm. Thanks to the design of the dress, she can feel his glove pressing into her. She wonders if he can feel the heat of her skin.

“How are you doing?” he asks when they fall into a rhythm, and she smiles too fast, idiot, calm down.

“Great, how are you?”

“Good,” he says, and they spin. He smiles back. “Good to know you’re not avoiding me.”

“Of course not.” Stupid, you avoided him!

He dips her a perfectly appropriate amount.

She feels brave. It’s the adrenaline getting to her, because the rational part of her can’t stop (giddily) telling her that she’s dumb when she asks, “Why would you think that I'd avoid you?”

“Hm.” He looks away to consider the question. The tips of his eyelashes catch the chandelier light. “I thought that maybe last week was a bit too much.”

She thinks about how warm his hand was when he helped her get up after saving her life. “It wasn’t.”

“It’s ok if it was.”

“No, no, you’re too kind.”

Link clears his throat. “So you’re not avoiding me because I kept trying to follow you through the bazaar when you clearly didn’t want me to?”

She laughs. “No, it’s also incredibly stupid that I tried to lose you. Besides, what would’ve happened if you hadn’t?”

Link clears his throat.

She chooses to change the subject by asking an easy “What did you make for dinner tonight?” in an attempt to soak up the final minutes she has in his arms. He starts talking about mushroom risotto, and she can’t stop smiling.

* * *

At the end of the night, when he escorts her to her room, it’s late enough that silence is acceptable.

She’s decided that she needs to do something, but she doesn’t know what. A hug would be different, but too strange. I like you is simple, but too plain. Thinking about you makes my heart soft is embarrassing. I know I’ve been an incorrigible bitch but now my walls are down and I like you is too honest.

She turns around when they reach her doors.

“Tonight was fun,” she says.

He smiles. Zelda knows romance books don’t lie when her heart jumps at the sight of it. “It was.”

This is the moment. She takes a deep breath as quietly as she can. She has that nauseous feeling again. If nothing matters, tell him. Everyone knows the apocalypse is coming.

“Hey, listen,” he says right when she opens her mouth. He pauses to look at her. If she thought he looked nervous earlier when he asked her if she was avoiding him, it’s nothing compared to now. He does a visible gulp, and—

“I think I have feelings for you.”

She blinks. What?

“And I understand if you don’t feel the same way,” he continues, tense and fast, looking right at her, “especially in light of everything going on right now. But I just had to put that out there.”

What?!

She closes her eyes--what is happening right now--and when she opens them he’s still there. This isn’t a dream.

Holy fuck. “Really?”

He nods. “Really.”

“Huh,” she says. He beat her to it. “Huh.”

“Huh?”

She laughs. He beat her to it, and now all she has to do is the easiest thing in the world.

“I think I have feelings for you too,” she says. It’s so dark now she can’t see the blue of his eyes, but she can imagine it easily.

He’s surprised. “Really?”

“Really. In fact, I was meaning to tell you just now.”

“Really?”

She laughs. “Really.”

She smiles and takes his hand. He stiffens at first, then relaxes as she threads her fingers through his.

“Oh, actually, here, let me—” He lets go. Disappointment hits her briefly before she sees that he’s taking off his glove. Some of his scars are alabaster in the moonlight. He has so many.

(She wants to kiss all of them.)

His hand is warm and rough and lovely when he slips it back into hers.

“This feels nicer,” he says, and his voice is almost shy.

There are a million things she wants to say--what are we going to do if I end the world, what are we going to do if you save the world, how long have you known for, Hylia is going to smite both of us for being fools--but she settles on squeezing his hand instead. He squeezes back.

“Yes,” she agrees. Very gently, she cups his cheek with her other hand and leans in. He’s closed his eyes already. “Much nicer.”

[sunjaesol]

clandestine meetings and longing stares

juke secret dating au | title: illicit affairs // taylor swift | a middle of the night scribble

When twelve year old Julie Molina got a stern talk from her father that she wasn't allowed to date until college, the tween had no qualms with it. The only boy she's ever liked had been Sokka from Avatar and that was it. Real boys didn't interest her. 

Until she turned sixteen and caught sight of Luke Patterson. 

In the years between, she had small crushes here and there. Lance, Nick, Noah. None, however, competed with storm that erupted in her stomach each time Luke smiled at her - her heart in a constant frenzy. 

It was the beginning of junior year when he randomly sat next to her in music class and brought out all the bravado. It shouldn't have been cute. Julie should've rolled her eyes, dismissed his cute smirk, but she simply couldn't. The shimmering green of his eyes and the nice laugh was too alluring, too attractive. Soon enough, Julie was crushing on him hard. Which was fortunate, since he very much liked her as well, something he never hid from her. 

("Watch out, Julie," he joked during one of their first conversations. "The charm is gonna make you get a crush on me!") 

Luke kissed her two weeks after, chastely and secretly under the bleachers. Her infatuated mind forgot in that moment how she wasn't even allowed to look at a guy and eagerly kissed him back. It had been her first kiss and wow - what a perfect one at that. 

A beat later, she realised her mistake and told him about her dad's stupid rule. His face had crashed for all of ten seconds when a mischievous grin crawled on his lips (an expression that would get her into serious trouble one day) and said: "Why tell him?" 

Had it been any other boy, she would've shaken her head and regret kissing him. But this was Luke. She really liked Luke. The idea of not being with him, of not seeing where this could go, was a greater fear than her father's disappointment. In response, she snatched him back into a kiss he all too hungrily went along with. 

Rule #1: Don't date! Broken, busted, thrown out the window with a smile. 

It started off easy. At school, no one had to worry. She sat with him at lunch and let herself be coaxed under the bleachers and snuggled into his embrace at the end of the day. On the parking lot, she could pretend she was simply saying goodbye to her boyfriend and not going home to lie in her dad's face about why she was so overly chipper all of a sudden. 

(Luke made her so ridiculously happy it was unfair. Each time he surprised her with a hug, her feet lifted from the ground; each time they kissed, his thumbs grazed her cheeks like she was a precious gem; each time she came up with a clever lyric, he gave her the toothiest grin and called her all the cute nicknames he could think of. Boss, baby, babe, Lyric Queen.) 

God, she was complete mush for this boy. Sometimes she wondered if she was doing enough, not quite matching his overt display of affection, but she knew she must be doing something right if he never stopped smiling when she talked. That his eyes held a certain softness, timidness, reserved for her only. 

They outgrew school quickly. Both wanted to go on dates without raising suspicion, Luke wanted to come over and just be with her without causing havoc. 

"Why does the rule exist anyway?", he asked at the end of a cool December day. 

Julie toyed with the lapels of his red shacket. "It's dumb. I mean, I get it, but it's dumb." Sighing, she explained his reasoning. "He wants me to fully focus on school so that I can get into a good college. Once I secured that, then I'm allowed to have fun."

Luke frowned. "I- I guess I kind of get it."

Her eyes rolled teasingly. "You don't even want to go to college." 

"Correction: I wanna go to frat parties and have the college experience-" 

"Without the classes part," she deadpanned. His face fell flat, a giggle of her own following. 

His frown returned, a look she hated seeing. "You don't think he'll… I don't know, let go of that rule when he sees we're good?" His calloused hands slipped from her waist to softly cradle her face. Julie sighed, leaning into the touch. Resisting Luke and everything he did was hard. A smile twitched on his lips. "Would be pretty dope to come through the front door and kiss my girlfriend."

Her heart clenched at his confession. It would be amazing, but it sounded so unbelievable that it could easily be taken as a joke. Dad would go absolutely insane if she pulled something like that. Hey dad! Don't mind me as I jump into the arms of my boyfriend and he kisses me like a heartthrob from the movies! 

She should've known Luke would try something. His impulsivity was an admirable trait, she found, though the pebbles hitting her window past midnight have her such a fright that she cursed for a beat how one track minded he could be. Until she caught sight of him. Eyes twinkling in the moonlight, a wide smile, his casual stance. He pointed at her and she nodded, grabbing her phone to text him there was a ladder by the garage. 

Quiet like a ghost and quick like a fox, Luke snuck into her room, feet falling onto the floor with a soft thud. 

Butterflies raged in her stomach. Her secret boyfriend was here, in her room, right now, with her father sleeping just down the hall. 

"What're you doing here?", she whispered, already breathless from having him near. 

His nose scrunched up. "Trying to be romantic. Should I have called you first?" 

She shook her head. "It's fine. Maybe next time. It's-" Her arms slung around his shoulders, heart hammering a mile a minute. Her pyjamas were nothing special, an oversized pullover and sweatshorts, but it felt oddly intimate to be so cozy together. His own faded t-shirt was from a zoo in Oregon and his sweatpants softer than any of the ones she owned. Julie almost asked to borrow them, if it wasn't for his lips to swallow the words with a warm kiss. 

Her fingers slipped into his hair. Yeah. This was better than talking. 

It soon became routine. Every other week, Luke would text her a moon emoji and then climb into her room around midnight. They'd kiss and cuddle, Luke often leaving by five am and then making a whole show at school as if he hadn't seen her. Julie thought it was cute. If she could, she'd return the favour and go to his place, but Luke assured her she did not want that and, consequently, her father would just know. Unfortunately, she didn't have Luke's agility like some parkour champ. 

"Trust me, Jules, I don't mind," he told her at lunch while stealing a cherry tomato. "I like sneaking in."

Alex shot him a look. "You like feeling like the main character of a movie, that's what."

"You brainwashed me with romcoms, so it's your fault, dude,' Luke retorted, grinning when the blonde flipped him off. 

They got cocky though. Julie knew her dad would be gone during the day for a photography gig in Santa Monica, all the way on the other side of Los Angeles. It was the perfect excuse to get Luke over. Excited, Julie opened the front door for him with a flourish and did a silly courtesy. 

"Your first time using my door," she teased. "Must feel special."

His cocky nod made her roll her eyes. "Super special," he replied gravely, playing along. "She's been begging for me."

Her expression turned sour. "I haven't been begging for you." 

His smirk widened, tugging on a curl as he slipped past her. "Was I talking about you?" 

He didn't, but he did start making out with her the second they were in the safety of her bedroom, so she knew there wasn't much competition. 

That afternoon, they successfully avoided her dad's wrath and felt arrogantly confident about it. It made them daring. Pushing the limits, how far could they go, how blatant could they be before he knew? It was almost a game, the thrill part of the insane attraction she felt each time he snuck in. 

His strong arms were wrapped around her as she straddled his waist, kissing him. Every touch was languid and intentional, a searing passion that rippled her skin and left her mind empty. Kissing Luke always put her in a dreamy, blissful haze. Her fingers clawed at his shirt and he shrugged it off in one fluid motion, pulling her back in. His skin was warm, hers to explore. Julie grinned into the kiss. His fingers toyed with the hem of her top.  

"Julie?" 

They froze. Her dad. Other side of the door. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. As quietly as possible, the girl hoisted herself from his lap and motioned at her closet. 

"Julie?" The door handle began to shake. 

Her voice squeaked. "Just a second!" Luke tiptoes into her closet, Julie kicking his shirt under her bed as she ran to the door. Her flushed cheeks would be a dead giveaway had her father ever doubt her trust. Fortunately, Julie Molina was in the eyes of her family a perfect good girl. 

(The guy hiding in her closet would whisper something else in her ear.)

"Why is your door locked?" Dad frowned. "You never lock your door."

Julie shrugged, innocence leaking from her tone. "I can't have some privacy?" 

"Of course, Julie," he said, though his lips were pressed into a thin smile. This clearly wasn't the last time they'd talk about it. "I'm going to the store. Do you need something?" 

"No, thanks," she rushed. "Anything else?" 

"Uh, no. Don't lock yourself in, hm?" It was said as a joke, his brows lifted, but both she and her father knew he meant it. No more locking doors. Shit. 

When the front door fell shut and the car rumbled into the street, Luke reappeared with a careful smile. 

Julie sighed. "That… was close. Maybe we should stop hanging out right after school. I didn't even hear him coming up the stairs."

"Damn, Jules!” Peppering two kisses on her forehead, it did little to relief her stress. “Now that's an ego booster."

"I'm serious!" She huffed. "I hate this. I hate the rule and I hate that I'm making you put up with it."

"Hey, hey," he soothed. "It's shitty, yeah, but you're not making me do anything." Nodding at her lips, he added: "Your smile is already…" 

The smile bloomed on its own accord when he trailed off, edging closer. "What?" 

That little shake of his head almost made her kiss him, but she wanted to know what he was going to say, why his lips were parted in that wonderstruck expression. When nothing came, a curious hum rumbled in her throat as she placed her chin on his chest. 

He relented, tapping a finger against her cheek. “Your smile is already making me do dumb stuff.”

Oh, God. If he was going to continue saying things like that, she might actually fall in love with him. Back when Julie and Flynn were still obsessed with those relationship quizzes in magazines, she always claimed she’d like guys that weren’t so smooth with their words. She thought it meant they were players. But Luke never half-assed anything. 

Her head tilted, amused. “Do you always have words ready?”

“Zero words, Jules,” he quipped. “Ever.”

Yeah, she might actually love him. 

Public dates became a thing after that conversation. She simply couldn’t let him get away because of some rule, even if he claimed he wouldn’t. Eats & Beats was a cute, little café in the heart of Los Feliz with live music and amazing lattes; it was also their regular spot. They’d settle themselves into a booth, share a baked good (“If we’re trying the carrot cake now, we’re doing the pastel de nata next week.” “Deal.”) and talk for hours. Sometimes, when either was tinkering on a song, they’d work on it together.

One leg overlapped his, his fingers drawing pictures on her knee. The booth with the suede red couches and the scratching of a star in the wood was their safe haven.  

“Mh, no,” she swallowed the piece of muffin. “That’s such an ugly word, don’t use that.”

He grinned, shoulders nudging as a tease. “Drencher not doing it for you?”

A laugh bubbled up, kissing his cheek. “Just use ‘rain’, you dork!”

“Dork?”, he mocked, getting in her face. 

“Yeah.” Her nose brushed his. “Dork.” 

“You are a dork.”

“That’s the best you’ve got, Patterson?”

Luke smirked, eyes flicking across her frame. “Want me to show you my best, Molina?”

She pushed his face away, a blush creeping up her cheekbones. They haven’t done it yet, but whenever he got like this, she felt her entire skin heat up at the mere idea. A part of her wanted to take that step, but she felt bad doing it if her dad or tía didn’t know. Knowing that they wouldn’t support her for as long as the rule existed, made her settle with that heat for a little longer. Her leg slipped from his and turned back to his songbook. 

“So-”

“Julie?”

The couple looked up, once more paralysed as her dad’s familiar voice called her name. Why was he literally everywhere?! His tall figure stood in front of their booth, his hat shrouding the grimace on his face as his scrutinising eyes flitted between them. Oh, God. Did he know? Did he see? How much did he see? Did he see Luke checking her out? Mortification didn’t even come close to what she felt. 

“Dad!” Her pressed smile hopefully looked relaxed to him. Her dad had moments of obliviousness; she might be able to save this. “What- hi, I didn’t know you had a booking here.”

His suspicion didn’t waver. “Yeah, honey, for the Rodriguez’ - I told you last night. Was just getting, ah, coffee.” He nodded at Luke. “Who’s this?”

My boyfriend. The one I’m falling for. The boy I’ve been hiding for months. “This is Luke, he’s one of my classmates.” The way his arm tensed at the label made her ache, but she had to truck on. “We’re working on a song.”

If he didn’t believe her, she just hurt her boyfriend for no reason. It did the trick though. Her father’s face mellowed, noticing the scribbles in the tattered book. “You’re working on a song?”

“Yeah. It’s really getting along.” Her finger tapped against his thigh. “Right, Luke?”

He perked up, a cough following as he straightened his attitude. This really was not the way she wanted them to meet. “Uh, yeah.” His hand stuck out. “Hi, mister Molina.”

Dad shook it with a smile, fully relaxed now. “Ray. Nice to meet you.” The barista called out his name. “See you at home, Julie. Don’t stay out long, yeah?”

Her smile twitched and crashed the second he turned around, grabbed his coffee and closed the glass door. She groaned, dropping her head on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”

“I gotta be honest,” he whispered. “That hurt.”

“I’m sorry.”

Luke sighed. “I was okay being a secret before, but…”

She coaxed his jaw, needing him to look at her. “It’ll hurt more if I tell him and forces me to break up with you.”

For a moment, silence sunk onto the table, wedging itself like thick smoke between her and Luke. He seemed pensive, the green of his eyes peering. Suddenly, they lit up. “But wait, aren’t you getting your results? Early admission?”

She sagged in her seat, pouting. “If UCLA wants me.”

“They will,” he smiled. His arms wrapped around her. “Of course, they will. And if you get in, he can’t be mad that you’re dating me, right?”

Hope tinged her chest. She hasn’t considered that. She’s been so focused on Luke and trying to keep it hidden, that everything college-related went over her head. The letters and essays and interviews happened before she and Luke got serious, so with her being on that pink cloud ever since, school stress has been locked away. Why bother mulling over UCLA when she could be having fun with Luke? 

If she locked in UCLA… then Luke might be right. And if not UCLA, then she’d hear of USC and NYU next year. (If they were even still together by the time those letters got in the mail.) 

“You might’ve found the loophole,” she teased, hoping to lift the tension. And then she uttered out her biggest fear: “But if you haven’t… will you stay?”

His kiss answered her, soft and sweet and with a hint of blueberry muffin. A grin bloomed on her lips, burrowing her face in his shoulder. She felt it. That overflowing, unbridled adoration overwhelming her all at once. Julie loved him. It was April fourteenth and it only took her six months but Julie loved Luke. They stayed in the booth until they had to go home.

Her phone was mocking her. Luke and her were in her car, stagnant, as both stared at the white screen. Every few minutes, she refreshed it, yet no email came. Gah! Couldn’t colleges just send the email when they said they would? What was taking so long? Did that mean she didn’t get in? Was this a bad sign? It helped having Luke there, easing the rising stress that clenched her ribcage, but she wouldn’t be fully okay until that freaking email come through. 

As if sensing her thoughts, he drummed against the dashboard. “It’s gonna be cool. You look great in blue and gold, you gotta get in.”

She giggled, nerves lacing her tone. “Imagine if that’s how you got in. You’d get into USC then.”

“Are you saying I look hot in red?”, he teased. 

“You know you- oh my God!” She lurched for her phone as a new email pinged in, heartbeat stuttering in her ears. Frozen, her thumb hovered over the fated email. This would change everything - for better or for worse. She knew she should focus on the fact that it would determine where she’d go to college, but all she could think about was Luke, Luke, Luke. Was it selfish to care more about junior prom then UCLA? At this very moment, she thought it was completely justified. 

She shook her head. “I can’t. I can’t do it. You open it.”

His brows raised. “You sure?”

“Yeah-” She stuffed the phone in his hand and put her trembling ones on her lap. “-do it for me.”

Luke took a deep breath. Julie shut her eyes. Please. Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please accept her. Please let her be with Luke.

Ten seconds passed. His voice gave nothing away. “Julie?”

“Just rip the band-aid off,” she choked out.   

A familiar, calloused hand softly grabbed hers. Her eyes cracked open. Luke had the biggest smile on his face and it made her heart pop out of her chest. She bit down on her lip, fighting off a grin. “Don’t play with me.”

“I’m not,” he sang, reaching across the console to show her phone. You got accepted! blinked in bold, black letters. “You’re UCLA bound, baby!”

Euphoria burst out. Julie squealed, throwing her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a searing kiss. She got in! She fucking got into college! A great one at that! Another Molina was going for gold! 

And it might even get her to date Luke without secrecy. God, she hoped this was enough. She wanted to do everything with him. All the time, the entire time. Flynn has called them clingy, but Julie just wanted to get rid of the anxiety of her dad finding out. To finally relax and be fully with him.

Her head tilted, bashful. “Is it crazy to say that I might be in love with you?”

He dropped her phone in the cupholder and peppered another kiss on her mouth. “No. That’s good.” His thumb traced her bottom lip, eyes glittering with adoration. “Cause I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you too.”

She pecked his thumb, giddy. “Fuck it. Let’s tell my dad right now. About UCLA and you.”

He smiled. “You sure?”

“One hundred percent.”

Storming inside the house, the couple made a beeline to her dad’s office, his hand in hers. 

“Dad!”, she called out, door slamming open. Her startled father perked up in his seat, his wide eyes going from Julie to Luke right behind her. “I got into UCLA!”

Ray sprung up, cheering. “Mija-!”

“And I’m dating Luke!”, she yelled after. “And that’s okay, cause I got in, so you don’t have to worry about the rule anymore! So... ” She put her foot down, awkwardness creeping in her tone. “Yeah!”

Flabbergasted, dad faltered and let the cheers die in his throat. Luke came to stand next to her, squeezing her hand. Slowly, he nodded. “Ah… so that time in Eats & Beats-”

“A date,” she admitted. “And I’m sorry I went behind your back, papa, but I… really care about Luke. And we figured that if I got in, you’d stop enforcing the dating rule.”

His grap became even tighter. “I, uh, really care about her too,” Luke mustered. “Sorry that we kept it a secret.”

Ray sighed, propping his head in his hands and scrubbing the confusion away with his palms. The pair shot each other a look. He wasn’t mad, she deduced, so that was a good sign at least. Finally, dad moved again and gave her a tight hug. Her confidence grew, hugging him back and withholding a cry of victory. 

He pulled back, crossing his arms with a hint of amusement. “Well… the rule clearly didn’t work, but you seem happy and you- you did actually get in, right?”

She laughed, nodding, and showed the confirmation email. His smile grew. “Then I guess,” he trailed, “you’re allowed. To date. But no funny business!”

Julie quickly nodded, grabbing back onto Luke’s arm and jostling him in excitement. Luke bounced on his heels, trying to temper it but failing miserably. She thanked her dad, promised him they’d celebrate her acceptance later tonight and rushed back out with Luke. Dad yelled something about establishing new rules, but both gleefully ignored it. Once in her bedroom, he snatched her into a tight embrace, kissing her full on the lips. Julie whooped against his mouth and danced between his arms. This might be the best day of her life! Luke was her real real real boyfriend!

“You heard your dad, Jules,” he teased. “No funny business.”

She pouted, faux-peeved. “You won’t get to climb through my window again.”

“Won’t have to hide in cars anymore.”

“Won’t have to say you’re just my classmate.”

Luke dragged them onto her bed, laying side by side. “I can take you to junior prom.”

She kissed him with a giggle. “You’re taking me to prom?”

“Hell yeah, I am!”, he bellowed, drumming his fingers against her hips. “Let your dad take pictures of us and everything.”

She scrunched her nose. “Let’s maybe not push him just yet.”

“Yeah,” he exhaled, humming in agreement. “You’re probably right.”

Luke did that her to junior prom, to homecoming, to senior prom, called her hot in blue and gold and vetoed no when she begged him for a bright, blue velour couch for their first apartment. When someone asked her father what it was like, seeing his daughter find the one at sixteen, he had to admit with embarrassment red on his cheeks that it all flew under his radar.

That it all started with sneaky bleacher kisses and a hopeful heart. 

@blush-and-books @ourstarscollided @sophiphi @bluefirewrites​ @willexx​ @unsaid-emily​

[anonymouslyangsty]

Inspired by that Ultimate Assassin!Taka swap, how about Ultimate Child Caregiver!Taka? Mondo doesn't understand how kids could like this stick-up-his-ass dweeb.

Honestly? I think Taka would be a very good Ultimate Child Caretaker.

At first glance, his personality really doesn't seem fit for the task. He's stubborn, loud, strict, and very focused on academics. None of those traits scream "I'm good with kids". Plus he kinda looks scary. I mean, if I were some little kid, a loud man with angry red eyes would terrify me.

But! You have to consider that, while Caretaker!Taka would have the same personality, he'd have different goals. Yeah he's still serious, but he's serious about taking care of children. And he knows that play is just as vital as work to a child's development.

Child Caretaker!Taka takes everything seriously, both work and play. He'd be the best at playing games, especially things like playing pretend. Taka has no shame; if he's supposed to be a damsel in distress waiting for a prince to save him, he's going to do his best in that role.

Plus, he actually would respect the people he's caring for. Yes their young children, but they have minds like any other person. So he's not going to brush off any problems they have as unimportant and childish. Is there a fight over a toy? Kiyotaka will listen to both sides respectfully and come to a mutually beneficial solution. Is there a monster in the closet? Taka will search the area thoroughly to ensure that there isn't.

All this isn't to say he isn't strict with them, because he sure is. But they get to work hard and play hard, plus they get a lot of encouragement the entire way. He has a fanny pack full of snacks for them whenever they do good.

That strictness is important. It keeps everyone from getting out of hand, which keeps them safe. Because how can Taka take a group of like 20 little kids to the part if they don't listen to him? He doesn't want anyone running off and getting lost.

I'm sure it's an impressive sight, seeing a bunch of 5 year olds marching down the sidewalk like tiny soldiers. They're all doing Taka's "strict glarey" face.

Also, he's just so expressive, which will help them get over how scary his face can be at times. It's kinda hard to see him as intimidating after seeing him laugh, because Taka laughs and smiles with his whole face. Just the biggest, goofiest smile. It would make him very easy to like.

And he believes in them all so much! He's patient with them, because he knows they all have potential to do great things. And when you have someone believing in you that much, it makes you want to do well. The kids would love him.

With that belief, Kiyotaka absolutly doesn't believe any of his kids are too "young' or 'stupid' to learn anything. (with their parent's permission obviously) He teaches his class a lot of valuable skills. How to swim, ride a bike, basic math and reading skills, how to read a map. These 5 year olds can read at a 4th grade level. Good for them.

And if a kid has a particular interest? Taka goes out of his way to learn everything he can about it, then teaches all the kids about it. This is how all the kids know more about the solar system than their parents.

It totally makes sense that Mondo would think Taka's horrible with kids, because at face value he really looks like he would be. But being all fun and no discipline doesn't work for actually taking care of kids.

Mondo would have a hard time with a whole room of little kids. Sure it'd be fine for a bit, but good luck getting them to do anything. They just need to give him puppy eyes and he melts like putty. And once they know he can have his mind changed too easily, they are always going to try that, rather than actually listen to him. Then the rules will never be listened to.

Backstory wise, he's kinda hard to set up. Because of the scandal, I can't see people rushing to put Taka in charge of their kids. Maybe Taka starts babysitting for parents who have literally no other options? They're desperate, so they settle for him.

Then they realize that Taka's actually good with kids, despite seeming so strict. Which leads to more people having him babysit.

Alternatively, Child Caretaker!Taka could have a more Maki like backstory. I don’t know anything about CPS, so fair warning. Also trigger warning for Takaaki getting his son taken away because the world is unfair to this man

After the scandal and the horrible debt that came with it, Takaaki would seriously struggle with taking care of a child. He’s got to work full time just to keep them fed, and his horrible reputation means he either accepts mediocre pay or doesn’t work at all. Taka would be largely forced to raise himself, because Takaaki literally doesn’t have the time to, nor can he afford (or trust) a babysitter.

It’s a bad situation. And I can see someone, potentially fueled by a spite towards the Ishimaru name in general, making a big deal out of it. Calling Child Protection Services on Takaaki, accusing him of neglecting his son.

Takaaki would try his absolute best to keep them off his case, because Taka is the last good thing he has. But the bad reputation of the Ishimarus isn’t doing him any favors. When he tries to have his son stay in his office all day, his boss calls it unprofessional and threatens to fire him. When he tries to hire a babysitter, they try to charge him so much that he has to pick between paying them or buying dinner. He doesn’t have any family he can turn to for help.

Eventually he can’t keep up, because really he was set up to fail. Taka gets put into an orphanage because Takaaki is deemed incapable of providing for and giving proper attention to his child.

So Taka ends up in an orphanage or whatever. And nobody is particularly inclined to adopt him (largely in part because he just looks so much like Toranosuke; the Ishimaru genes are strong), so he ends up quickly becoming the oldest kid there. Which leads to him taking care of his younger ‘siblings’ a lot. Bam. Ultimate Child Caretaker!Kiyotaka is born.

I can definitely see Taka's passion turning away from politics and more towards preparing the next generation. Because it's the youth who will become the leaders, why shouldn't they have the best upbringing possible? Why shouldn't they have someone who believes in them, who realizes how great they'll one day be?

Taka wants them to know that they can do anything they want if they work hard towards it. And if they struggle? That's not bad, that's great! Who wants to be a genius who understands everything instantly?

[gruesomejack]

A Very Self Indulgent Meme Pt 2

You know the deal. I only answered the ones I wanted to and deleted any I wasn’t interested in or were too redundant :)

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

Touchy. He's the cuddley type and after any intimate acts, he's still all over you just in a gentler way! Soft kisses and praises and snuggles.

B = Body part (favorite body part of their partner’s)

You know how like there are ass and tits guys? Levi is a thigh guy. Thick thighs save lives 😔

D = Dirty secret

Does,,, lacy underwear count 👁👁

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

I would hope so! He's been alive for more than a thousand years.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

Cowgirl. Watching people ride and getting to ride is exhilarating to him.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

He’s happy being both and is able to switch it on and off for the situation. Usually he's just his regular goofy self with air of neediness to it!!

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

Levi has been stupid horny enough to rub one out in a bathroom stall. It's easy to get him going and hard to stop once he's there, so he'd much rather take a moment of his time and fix it than struggle.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Light BDSM?? He enjoys being bossed around.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

Talk to him! Tell him what you want, what you like, that you need him. It's very easy to get him riled up with a few words.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

He likes both but he's particularly happy getting it!

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

Depends! He's pretty good at picking up cues on when to switch it up and he's very receptive to his partners.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

He’s *so* down. If it's something that his partner likes, he's more than happy to sneak in rushed kisses and quick touches when nobody else is looking.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

Yeah! He's been alive so long, there's only a short list of hard "No Way" items.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

A couple if he wants to! Most of his partners are human, so he doesn't take it super far/too many rounds unless they're really into that sort of thing.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

He *loves* to tease and will do it until he gets begged.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

He talks and moans and hums-- Just like normal, he just can't seem to shut up. He'll babble his whole way through it and talk some more after. Up side? You'll never not know how he's feeling hjggFHCHCHCHC

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

He has his belly button pierced and one below the belt along his frenum. Like the rest of his jewelry, they're both gold.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

Average? He's not constantly clawing for it, but he does think about it often enough.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterward)

He doesn't. He can, but it's not something that happens like a switch. Levi has a hard time sleeping in general, so he's definitely more the cuddle and chat type until his partner falls asleep.

[stay-midnight]

Halloween of the SKidz 11

Guardian Angel! Jeongin x Male Reader

Word Count: 3.3K

This does not represent Yang Jeongin, Stray Kids and JYP Entertainment in any way shape or form and will only be used for entertainment purposes!

TW //: Explicit Smut, Reader fell of the stairs, Quitting of job, Reader almost getting hit by a truck and Fluff at end.

Warnings/Kinks: Hard Dom Jeongin, Sub (Kinda bratty?) Male Reader, orgasm Denial, mentions of hickeys at the end, anal penetration, back scratching, lip biting, making out, nipple play, jeongin calling y/n prince, unprotected sex (wrap it up), no prep before penetration, (also prep before penetrating), Cuss words and Angry Sex(?)

Don’t mind my grammar mistakes and spelling mistakes.. My lazy ass didn't check it 🤡

a/n: Why do I feel like my vocabulary is getting lesser- dkxkdkdkskkdd well ill start on the other request now since this is done. hopefully you like this though-

You rushed into your work building so fast, careful with the cup of coffee that you were holding. You saw the elevator closing, “Wait, Wait! Hold the door!” You groaned as the elevator door shut on your face.

You instantly switched to Plan B ran to the stairway and ran up to it, your shoes stomp echoing in the empty stairway.

You reached the fifth floor in 5 minutes as your grip on the stair hold tightened, your chest heaved up and down and you try to catch your breath. The coffee cup in your hand somehow full after a fast jog up the stairs.

You blinked and recollected yourself sprinting to your boss’ office, ignoring all the other workers’ eyes on you.

“Tsk, First day of your job and you’re already late,” he stopped to check his watch “6 minutes.” he spat with a glare.

Your lips formed in a thin line stopping yourself scoffing at his statement, “I’m sorry. Sir.” your voice laced with a slight sarcasm.

You hand him his cup of coffee, the main reason that you came in late due to a long queue in that cafe. You urge to throw the hot coffee at his face but didn’t not wanting to lose the only job that you got hired out of the of 4 other jobs as a secretary.

You wiped your forehead with your arm, removing the sweat from it. You saw your boss talking to air, probably his guardian angel, sighing, as you didn’t have one like others.

It was unfair for you since you weren’t born with a guardian angel that is protecting you like the others. You frowned upon this thought and look at your boss, “Sir.. What is my task?” You asked in a bored tone.

He looks back at you with a glare as you tried your hardest to not roll your eyes.

“I have a very important meeting in about 20 minutes and you’ll prepare it. This is your first ever task as my secretary so I expect you to give your best unless you want to be fired like the others.” he said seriously, handing you a tablet.

You gave him a nod, reaching your hand for the tablet and turned your back at him after. You tapped some things on the screen in a confused manner, “How the hell do you prepare a meeting with this..” You scrunched your noise, inspecting the tablet.

and in 20 minutes as well?!” I sighed and worked with this.

. . .

After about 7 minutes of tweaking and tapping, you were very stressed on how to use this. “This is stupid.” you exclaimed with no emotions. Another lost job is most likely the scenario that is about to happen.

“Hello~” You yelped suddenly and turned to your back, you blink a number of times. There was no one there.

You gulped, “Uh.. Hi?” you mumbled to particularly no one. You turned your head side to side, hoping to catch a glimpse of a person to know that you’re not going crazy.

All you saw was the workers working their butts off and they don’t seem to be speaking to you

“Quit the job~” a voice said, the sound of their voice similar to earlier. “I- I can’t do that?” you said perplexed by the situation.

The people surrounding you soundly ignored your weird antics of talking to yourself, mistaking it that you’re talking to your guardian angel.

“You should, you’re gonna get fired anyway. Save yourself from the embarrassment.” the male voice stated bluntly.

You grit your teeth, “How do you know that? Who are you anyway?” you said with sharp tone, looking around you again. “Show yourself..”

A sudden flash of white appeared behind you, he tapped your shoulder. “I’m your guardian angel~” he said in a quite chilling tone making your spine crawl.

You looked up behind you and saw a very handsome male floating in the air, smirking at you. Your mouth hung open in shock, “T-Thats a lie..” you breathed out. “I don’t have one. I wasn’t born with one..” you stated looking at him with a glare.

“You weren’t born with one but now you have one.” he said rolling his eyes at your glare and flying to your left.

“Yeah right. A guardian angel wouldn’t want the person their protecting to suddenly quit a job.” you said harshly, your eyes following him.

“Who said that I’m like other guardian angels? Listen here buddy, I protect you in return you give me what I want.” the male said, keeping the smirk plastered on his handsome face.

“Oh fuck that.” you spat at back at him, your glare burning holes right through him.

“Suit yourself, but like I said if you need me just call out my name—Jeongin.” he said, chuckling as he disappeared into thin air.

You rolled your eyes at nothing and looked towards the clock hanging at the wall, only 6 minutes left. “Fuck, stupid angel.”

Jeongin watches you with a grin, laughing every now and then at your failed attempts at your task. “Stupid human.. he’ll give in soon enough.. anyone human, I am tasked to guard and protect has extremely bad luck to the point that they can possibly die.” his grin widening,

“What to do with him after he gives in..” he furrowed his eyebrows, thinking deeply. He eyed your features before smirking, “My lust it is then.”

. . .

Jeongin hummed as he watch you get scolded by your boss, “Hm, he hasn’t quitted his job yet. Interesting, I wonder how long he could take all of his boss’ wrath. Probably not long..” he inspected your personality as he got curiouser of you.

. .

He yawned as he watched in boredom of you trying to ‘work’ if that was even what you were doing. You were all over the place, walking around and delivering papers. At this point on, you weren’t even a secretary. You’re more like helper running around.

Jeongin dozed off too sleep at some point due to the loss of entertainment.

Your eye twitched in annoyance as your boss commanded you, he instructed you deliver papers, print, stamp them as well.

“This is bullshit.” you muttered under your breath as you crashed the paper at the worker’s table. The female worker yelped suddenly and look up at you in confusion. She noticed your annoyed expression and stayed silent.

As much as you wanted to gouge your boss’ eyes out. You followed his every instruction and done every one of his task almost perfectly.

You sighed and wore an annoyed expression as you walked back down to the second floor, gripping the stacks of folders containing ‘important’ files, sounds nice to be set aflame.

You slipped on the tiles on the stairs causing you to gasp and fall down one set of staircase, the paper flew and created a mess on the time that you fell down.

. . . .

“Seems like my bad luck finally took place.” Jeongin let out chuckle, blinking his eyes open and grinning at your messy self.

“Just give up sweet human, unless you wanna end up like the last one. Killed in his sleep.” he sighed out to no one while you were getting up.

. . . .

“Ah-ah shit..” you fall back down as pain shot up your leg. You grip the stairhold and you try to get up again.

You grunt in pain as you leaned at the stairhold for support, you look down at the mess of papers that you created,

“I’m too tired of this stupid job.” You say, then you manage to stand on two feet, the pain slightly duller.

You then walked up to reach the fifth floor, extremely careful to make sure you don’t fall again while you limp up the stairs.

You shamelessly walked into your boss’ room, “I quit this stupid job.” you said giving him the I.D that you got just this morning and walked out of the room, ignoring your boss’ shocked expression with his lips slightly parted.

“Close your mouth, a bug might fly in.” you smirked and taunted him before pressing the button to to down the elevator

“That felt good.” you said dusting your shoulder while walking inside the elevator.

You sighed as you needed to find another job, “Maybe a barista at a bar?” you placed your hand on your chin and thought.

“Or maybe just a waiter or even maybe a cashier at a cafe.” you shrugged.

The elevator dinged before you walked out of it.

. . . . .

The sight of many cars driving around the busy road met you after leaving the building contrary to the quite silent road this morning.

You sighed as you waited for the traffic lights to turn red, thinking back to your encounter with your guardian angel, you grit your teeth in annoyance, “What kind of guardian angel doesn’t protect his human..” you fumed and saw the traffic light go red.

You sighed and walk across the road, you turn to your side...

A huge truck was speeding towards you.

You blink twice as you felt your soul leaving your body, a tear drop fell in that moment as the oxygen inside your throat got stuck.

Just before impact of the truck,

“Jeongin..” you whispered, your “guardian angel’s” name rolling of your tongue when you closed your eyes.

You felt your legs getting scooped off the ground as a strong arm was holding you from the back.

. . .

You slowly flutter your eyes open and saw that handsome male earlier, “I- Put me down!!” you said squirming while on his arms.

“Sure? I mean, I just saved you but if you want to go then fine..” the angel said as he loosened his grip slightly.

“Wa-Wait! Don’t!.” you said as you clinged on to him for dear life, grasping the white shirt that he’s wearing.

He rolled his eyes and flew you back into your house, landing softly in his feet, placing you down. “Now, let’s talk about what I want.” he smirked.

“What?” you asked tilting your head to the side,

He clicked his tongue, “Like I said, when I help you, you’d do anything I want.” Jeongin said before moving closer and grabbing your chin.

“And I already know what I want~” he teased, eyeing your features.

You glare at him, “No- Nope no way, I don’t know what you want but I won’t do anything you say.” you said, clenching your fist which made him take a step back.

“Hmm? That’s okay but remember you’ll die..” He said in a frown, “This is your only chance, I won’t be there for you next time.” Jeongin said, a bit bored.

Your breath hitched at his statement, “H-How do you even know I’ll die?” you said raising your eyebrows in disbelief.

He hums, “Yeah no, I’m not telling you. But I don’t mind if you want to take the risk. I’ll just be watching from the distance.”

You placed your hand on your chin, thinking “What do you want anyways?” you asked and looked at him.

Jeongin smirked, “You. Your body.”

“I- And what are you gonna do w-with my body??” you said, scowling at the guardian angel.

“I think you already know what I’ll do.. I’ll play with it, mark it up and do anything I want with it.” Jeongin chuckled lightly before grinning.

“N-No.. I don’t want that..” you stuttered out,

“Well good luck and maybe I’ll see you in heaven~” he taunted as he walked away, waving a peace sign.

“F-Fine..” you mumbled.

The smirk on his face returned again, he turned to look at you “What was that~?”

“I d-don’t want to die yet..” you say in a feather-like and light tone.

“Mhmm.. Now our deal, do you accept? I’ll protect you in exhange that you let me do anything with your body.” he said lending his hand for you to shake, smiling a dimpled smile.

You sighed, hoping to not regret this when your hand shook his hand.

“Let’s start now then.” he said as he walked over to you, keeping his gaze on your body. You felt small under his predator-like gaze.

You looked away from him when his face is an inch close to your face—feeling shy, he grabbed your chin “Don’t look away from me prince.” he grinned.

A smile stayed on his handsome face as he led you inside your house, “I’ll give you a pleasurable time, prince~”

Jeongin then pinned you to the wall after entering the house, he connected both of your lips together. You stayed silent as he kissed you, not even kissing back.

He bit your bottom lip causing you to yelp and give in, you kissed back and made out with him on the wall. You placed your hand on his shoulder. He slipped his tongue inside your mouth exploring it a bit before pulling away for air.

You gasped for breath and drag you into your bedroom upstairs, closing the door.

Jeongin then reconnected your lips before both of you stumbled into your bed, his hands slipped underneath your shirt and to your nipples. He rubbed one of the buds before squeezed it, making you let out a small moan against his mouth.

He continued to play with your nipples until he pulls away, creating a string of saliva. He pulled off your shirt and smirked, “You look pretty, prince~” he leaned down to your right ear and whispered “I bet you’ll look prettier squirming and writhing underneath me as you moan out my name.” he then softly bit the lobe of your ear teasingly.

His hand wander down to your bulge as he gave it a harsh squeeze, “I wanna hear you moan out my name, prince.” You cried as he squeezed, your sensitivity increasing by the more he touches you.

“S-Shit, Jeongin, just fuck me already!”

Another harsh squeeze, “You’re not in control here, shut up and let me play with my human.” He said referring to you.

You grit your teeth as both pain and pleasure shot through your body and bit your lip to stay as silent as possible.

“Let out those sounds prince~” he said before unzipping your jeans and slipping his hand inside.

“You told me to shut up so that’s what I’m gonna do.” you taunted him, glaring at him.

He clicked his tongue, “I’m not gonna say it again, let. Out. Those. Sounds.” he said giving a harsh jerk to your cock with each word.

“N-Never..” you said squirming under him, chewing on your bottom lip.

“Guess I’ll go have to go rough on you prince, I wanted your first with me to be soft and sensual but your attitude right now is pissing me off.” he said before unbuttoning your pants, pulling it off.

You scowled at him, “F-Fuck you.”

“I’ll fuck you until you can’t walk.” he smirked as he opened the drawer and saw some conveniently placed lube there.

“Hmm, didn’t expect you to have some.. Do you finger yourself prince~?” He teased before spreading your legs.

You look away from him, flustered at fully being exposed to him. He hums, “Are you shy now? What happened to all that confidence earlier?”

You shut your mouth and kept silent.

“Answer me, prince.” he said slapping your thigh roughly.

You whimpered at shook your head, he growls and fully removes his shirt exposing his chest, he then unbuckled his pants—throwing it somewhere across the room.

He was left in his boxers with quite a visible bulge in the middle. “Good princes deserves to be prepped while the bad ones take what they get.” he glared down at you.

You bite your lips when he glared down at you, finding it a turn on. He then removes his boxers and grabbed the lube he placed down on the bed earlier.

He squirts some down on his fingers and smothered his cock with it, he smirked “A guardian angel has very high stamina as they are needed for levitation and flying.”

You fluster and look at him as he spreads your legs wider and lined up his tip against your hole—the tip prodding yojr entrance.

With a snap of his hips, he thrusted all the way in and pulled out before thrusting once again, giving no mercy on his thrusts. “J-Jeongin, wait- slow down a-a bit.” you said and moaned again.

He keeps his steady fast and rough pace, pounding into you like a ragdoll. The bed hitting the wall with every thrusts.

You moaned at his pace, your hands fly to his back, leaving claw marks at his shoulder and back.

“Mmm, so warm and tight.” He stated, finally hitting your prostate causing you to let out a loud cry.

“Je..ongin~ T-There!” You cried out as he smirked and snapped his hips into you harder and rougher, his thrusts hitting your prostate everytime.

“Gonna cum!” his eyes darkened and grabbed ahold of your cock causing you to whine, “Wh-What.. let go~!” you whined as you bucked your hips into his hands, he squeezed harsher making you whimper.

“You’re not gonna cum until I do prince and who knows when that is~ I’ll keep my word of fucking you until you can’t walk.” he teased, his thrusts not faltering.

You whined as your orgasm dissipated slowly, “P-Please.. I-I want to cum..”

“You’ll get to cum later prince~” he said rubbing circles on the side of your thighs.

Needless to say, you had a rough and wild night.

You fluttered your eyelids open and immediately, pain shot through your body—groaning. The hickeys visible on your chest, neck and thighs glamored in the sunlight.

You felt dried out cum still leaking out of your abused hole, you look to your side and noticed your guardian angel isn’t there.

“Good morning? Had a good sleep?” a voice chuckled out in your head. “Fuck you Jeongin.” you said out.

“Hmm? 4 rounds wasn’t enough? You want more?” he joked.

You groaned again at his playfulness, you tried to stand up but it resulted to you falling back down to your bed.

He appeared in your room with a flash of light with that devilish smirk from him, “Come on, let me help you up, my dear prince.”

“Dear prince my left foot, you weren’t endearing to me last night.” you said with an urge to hit him.

“You want to get help or not?” he said in a teasing tone, you rolled your eyes at him and extended your arm for him to reach.

He smiled an actual smile this time and held you up with your legs wobbling and your lower back with a sore pain.

“I still hate you.” you stated,

“Nuh-uh you like me.” you said hitting him in his chest.

“No.” you said bluntly.

He pouted and your eyes widened at that, who knew that beast from last night could make cute sounds?

“It doesn’t matter if you like me or hate me since I’ll protect you either way.” he said looking at you quite fondly.

You smiled at his statement, “Okay, maybe I like you a little, Mr. Angel.” you snorted at the last part.

“Mhmm~ Though just because of that our deal is not off, I’ll have to do what I did to you last night everytime I save you.” he smirked,

“Stupid horny angel.” you glared at him as he help you walk towards the bathroom, hitting him in the chest in the process.

He chuckled, “I’ll let you fall right here Y/N, don’t test me.”

You stuck your tongue out, looking at him.

He rolled his eyes, “You look cute like that prince, but what I think was the cutest was your screams, moans and how much you begged me to let you cum.”

“S-Shut up!!” you said, glaring at him again.

[ijustwant2write]

A Little Secret-Alfie Solomons x OC!Reader (Part 1/?)

(GIF credit to @ancoravivo​)

Part 2

Summary: Izzy had vague memories of her parents, but the life she lives working for Alfie is all she knows. They have technically known each other since they were children, but they were never friends. She’s the best kept secret in the distillery until Alfie meets with potentially new business partners.

Characters: Alfie Solomons x OC!Reader, Ollie x OC!Reader, Thomas Shelby

Warnings: Swearing, mention of guns/death, arguing

(A/N: This is an idea I had for a new series, I've never written for Alfie either!)

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

"Morning Izzy. How do you always get here before I do?" Ollie asked the young woman, who had been standing at the bakery entrance, clinging to her thin coat and clearly shivering.

"Just like to be on time." she quietly said, though all of her words were quiet.

Ollie kindly smiled, taking out the huge keys, which made an annoying clanging noise as they hit against each other.

Izzy followed him into the warmth, holding back before the lights were turned on. She had always hated the dark. There was nothing nice about it. It was only when she turned twenty one all those years ago that she had stopped sleeping with the light on, an embarrassing thing to admit. Ollie sighed as he walked down the corridor, past all of the barrels, headed to his boss' office. Izzy caught up to him, her steps much smaller and quicker than his.

"When will Mr Solomon be here?" Izzy asked.

"When he wants to be. Why? Something you need from him?"

She shook her head."No. Just wondering."

Izzy looked over the list of deliveries that should be arriving that morning, her head already in work mode. Ollie looked at her for a moment, wondering how someone like her still worked here; not because she slacked or was bad at her job, but because she an honest, hardworking woman who could easily be in a higher position in a much better job. Yet she never left, her loyalties were too strong.

Izzy left Ollie, taking the inventory list (that she always had written up the night before) and a pen with her. She quickly discarded of her coat and bag, walking towards where the deliveries would be. She would have to go outside again, but keeping her coat on never crossed her mind, she always left it behind. Waiting for a knock on the door, Izzy yawned, scolding herself for feeling tired already. It had been a restless night once again, but no one needed to know of that. She was here to work, that was it. No need to indulge into personal matters, not ones that deep anyway.

Once the men arrived, she began ticking off the boxes that passed her, pretending to not realise that her boss was approaching her. She looked up at the last minute, smiling slightly to be polite.

"Izzy, everything in order?" Alfie asked, scratching his beard.

"Yes, Mr Solomons, everything has been delivered." she replied, her eyes glued on her list. 

"Course it fucking has." he said, though his tone was neutral."Otherwise they would have you to deal with, eh?"

Izzy hummed. She continued her checks, not phased by Alfie standing beside her. He remained silent, watching as she worked. Not to catch her doing anything wrong, just because that's all there was to do.

"Got a meeting with an important man today, you make yourself scarce like usual, yeah?" he informed her, receiving a nod as a reply. That's all he needed.

Izzy never intruded, never pushed to know who these business men were. They were Mr Solomon's clients and that's all. She remembered one of the workers gossiping about a woman he used to work with, who got herself into some dangerous activity after sticking her nose in it. Izzy wasn’t stupid, she knew how the rich and powerful men in this city earned their keep.

She was pleased as the hour went by, her routine going smoothly like it did almost every day; her stress levels would rise if anything was out of place, and though it may have been over the smallest thing, she couldn't help how panicked and upset she got over it. The men had now arrived for their shifts, some of them giving Izzy a nod as a greeting, knowing she wouldn't speak anyway. No man ever got too close to Izzy here, not after the incident.

Ollie had given Izzy a heads up when Alfie's mentioned guests were arriving. She thanked him, gathering her things before leaving. Alfie had always wanted her to be away from the real bad side of the business, felt that she was too delicate to deal with things such as that, especially after all she had been through as a child. She never minded. Sometimes things became a little more violent, and she really didn’t like witnessing those sort of things. Even a mere shouting match could make her nervous.

Often, Alfie would find errands for her to do when he had meetings, knowing how unfair it was to kick her out. Other times, Izzy had her own errands to run, either collecting food for the week or buying more sewing thread to repair yet another one of her dresses. Izzy sometimes found herself wandering towards the library, being the only place that you didn’t have to spend any money; and it was quiet, nice and peaceful. She wasn’t an avid reader, nor was she very good at it. The smaller books were always best for her, not too many big words, and a short story to keep her mind busy for the next hour or so.

Alfie knew where she went. He had one of his men follow her, he had done from day one. At first, it was to see what she was up to, whether she would do what he asked or use this time as an extended lunch break. But after hearing how honest she was, and after many reports about her dull afternoon, Alfie stopped sending his men after her. Instead, he did something that he wasn’t used to; asking Izzy how her day was. 

“Excuse me miss,” a gruff voice called out,“you seem to have dropped some cash.”

Izzy instantly tensed up as the man approached her. She was still in public, there were plenty people around her in the streets. He was holding out money to her, but she definitely didn’t have that on her when she left.

“Oh, that’s not mine.” she mumbled, already turning away from him.

“Nah, I think it is.” he protested.

He grabbed her shoulder and she instantly pushed it off of her.“It really isn’t. I...I’m sorry.”

Izzy tried to scurry away again, but the man grabbed her again.

“Why won’t you take the money?”

“Leave me alone!” she raised her voice, snatching her arm back before running away from him.

Izzy knew scammers lurked in the streets, she wouldn’t fall for their tricks. But this was the first time one of them had confronted her, and even if he wasn’t trying to rob her, he was scary enough on his own. She slowed down as she got closer to work, taking a moment to catch her breath, checking over her shoulder that he was no longer following her. However, she spotted him, he was quickly making his way towards her. Panic had set in. She knew that a scammer wouldn’t be trying this hard, they had to be after Mr Solomons; but she had no where else to run to.

Somehow she had outrun him again, managing to barge into the bakery. Red faced with small beads of sweat on her forehead, she passed many of the workers, all of them staring at her. She had to warn her boss, only realising that he was in a meeting after she burst into the office. Izzy froze, seeing Alfie and Ollie sat down, their business partners and their backup turning around to face her.

“Ollie, sort her out.” Alfie ordered.

Ollie instantly stood, rushing Izzy out of the office. He lead her away from prying ears, looking stressed.

“Izzy, what are you doing?! You knew there was a meeting today.” Ollie exclaimed in a hushed tone. 

“There was a man,” she was still trying to catch her breath,“and he was chasing me.”

“Which gave you the right to interrupt the meeting?”

She was offended that he hadn’t asked her if she was alright, though didn’t bring it up.“But he kept following me! Why would he do that? What if he was following me here-”

“Then you’ve led him straight to us. Izzy, he was probably after you cause you’re a woman. You’re safe here. Just...just get on with some work.”

Izzy bit her lips as he walked away, trying not to cry. Now she felt stupid. Perhaps the man was just after her, planning to...do something horrible. Mr Solomons was going to be furious with her when he saw her. She hated being wrong, not because of any pride, because of humiliation, hence why she always kept her head down to avoid anyone watching what she did.

Only half an hour had gone by when the meeting finished. Izzy turned her back to the men, hoping to be ignored. Their footsteps echoed past her as she concentrated on her work, she was desperate to see if they had fully gone, but didn’t want to risk making eye contact. When she thought the coast was clear, she turned around, screaming out when a gunshot went off. Instinctively ducking behind a tower of crates, Izzy curled into a ball, waiting for a shootout to happen.

“Izzy!” Alfie suddenly appeared in front of her, picking her up off the floor.“What man followed you?”

“What?” she squeaked out, scared at how tight he was holding her.

He shook her.“Who followed you here?!”

“I don’t know!”

There was a frenzy in his eyes as he stared at her, his breathing heavy. Realising that he was hurting her, he let go, stroking a hand down his face in annoyance.

“It’s alright miss,” a Birmingham accent reassured her,“it wasn’t any of our men.”

Izzy had no idea who this business partner was or why Mr Solomons was working with someone from Birmingham. But at least he was calming down the situation.

“W-what happened?” she asked.

“Alfie, you going to introduce us?”

Izzy had never seen Mr Solomons’ head snap up so quickly. He took long, slow strides to stand in front of her.

“She’s a worker. None of your concern.” He stated.

The brummie was still looking at the woman.“Looked a bit more than that to me.”

“Right, well, you’ve done enough now, haven’t you?”

Izzy looked elsewhere as the man continued to look at her, his shiny shoes in her peripheral vision. He finally walked away, and Alfie shouted at everyone to get back to work.

Alfie gestured for Izzy to follow him. Once again, Izzy was the centre of attention, and she loathed every second of it. Shutting the office door behind her, Izzy stood on the other side of Mr Solomons' desk, head ducked down as she anticipated the scolding she would receive.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Alfie hissed out, not wanting his other workers to hear.

"Mr Solomons, I didn't know-"

Alfie suddenly leaned forward in his chair."No, you didn't! Why would you lead someone back here?"

"I...I didn't mean to. I-I panicked, he scared me. Where else would I go?"

"I don't fucking know, somewhere that isn't here!"

"He...I'm sorry Mr Solomons it won't happen again."

Alfie's anger towards her was know pinned onto the man."He did what, Izzy?"

"Nothing. Should I get back to work?"

Alfie stood, rounding his desk to stand in front of her. Izzy hated how meek she felt, even if this was a normal conversation, her hands would always shake.

"Has he hurt you? Did he lay a fucking finger on you-"

"No, he just grabbed me a little."

"Ollie will take you home tonight."

"Oh, but it's so far from his home."

"He won't mind."

Alfie had finished that tiny argument with that. Izzy had made herself extremely busy for the rest of the day, pushing aside the events that had occurred. Alfie found that he couldn't concentrate on anything but Izzy, not that it was any different from any other day. As the evening pressed on, Ollie entered the office, seeing how stressed his boss looked.

"Right, you're taking Izzy home tonight. Make sure she gets back safe. I've got three men stationed at her home." Alfie explained.

"Yes Mr Solomons. But, can I ask, why the three men?"

"Because someone out there knows about her. And because of Tommy fucking Shelby."

"What about him?"

"He's seen her, hasn't he?"

Ollie was lost, waiting for a further explanation.

"It don't matter. Just do it."

To Ollie (and basically everyone else), it was clear how worried Alfie was over the woman. She was the only person he ever showed kindness to, in his own way of course. Ollie knew that there was a lot of pressure to drop her home, though it seemed like a simple task, there was a reason that Alfie was paranoid. He thought he hid it well, but the difference in his demeanour showed around her. As he left the office, Ollie checked the rounds in his gun, glancing towards Izzy. That woman was special to Mr Solomons, and if anyone were to touch a hair on her head, they would be a dead man.

[shorkbrian]

Video Game

Prelude -  Hopefully I did chicken man justice. This was inspired by me playing Assassins Creed Odyessy (amazing game!!!!) and almost crying out of frustration because I had to fight a boss several times because I kept DYING like a little shrimp. Big F in the chat for my ego. 

Prompt - “You have no idea how amazing you are.”

Pairing - Hawks/Kiego Takami X Reader

Warnings - NSFW towards the end, grinding and groping. 

Music - https://youtu.be/VdwaWp59qz8 

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

“Y/N! C’mere!”

You sighed.  Kiego really didn’t need to shout to get your attention, the two of you only in adjacent rooms. 

You were trying to water the few plants the winged man had gifted you, pinching off dead leaves and looking after them as best you could. You loved those plants. You loved them so much that given the chance, you would happily relocate them outside so they could grow, bloom, and flourish into the healthiest version of themselves. Instead they were stuck inside, as equally trapped as you were in Kiego’s spacious penthouse.  You knew despite your best efforts, the plants were doomed to a miserable existence, hidden away from sunlight and fresh air. Their roots had no where to go in the tiny containers except back into themselves, clawing, tearing, growing, destroying their insides in an attempt to survive.

“Dove? Don’t make me ask again!”

The irritation laced in Kiego’s voice was obvious as you heard him shout for you again. It would be nice - you thought distantly - if you could grow into yourself like a root, breaking and destroying everything before Kiego could get the chance.

The man had been playing some video game in the living room, and you could hear his occasional whoops of victory and tough-talk as he battled pixelated villains. He really reminded you of a child sometimes, with his selfish and irrational behavior towards you, his stubborn countenance; especially the way he would throw a fit if he didn’t get what he wanted. Right now? He wanted you to come see him, which wasn’t all that unusual when he was playing a game. Kiego always liked showing you a replay of him defeating a boss villain, Or pointing out how detailed and smooth the graphics were, often he wanted his “sweet little dove” to get him a glass of water.

The sharp note of anger you had heard hidden in his voice did make you somewhat nervous, rounding the corner into the living room with slight, timid hesitation. Keigo was sitting cross-legged on the couch, his controller thrown to the side, the TV screen showing that he had failed his mission or something. It was red and blaring and mocking the winged man, who had his head buried in his hands. As he heard you step closer (damn his enhanced hearing), his head shot up, those golden eyes fixing you with such a sharp, aggravated gaze that you froze immediately.

“Uh, Hey…..”

You offered awkwardly.  “Do you…….. do you need something?”\

Kiego patted the couch next to him, motioning for you to sit down. The harsh look in his eyes told you that he was in no mood for an argument, and refusing his request would end in copious amounts of pain for you. After gingerly settling yourself beside him, silence filled the space between the two of you as Kiego ran his hand through his hair, the muscles in his cheek and jaw flexing as his jaw worked in annoyance.

“Babe, you know how close I was to beating this quest?”

You almost flinched when he finally spoke, looking over to shake your head in answer. Kiego pulled his hand out of his hair, only to suddenly grab onto yours, painfully pulling you closer to him so he could stare down into your widened eyes. You tried to relax, even though it felt like he was trying to rip off your scalp.

“Seriously, so close! But then that stupid wraith had to mist me, ruined fucking everything! Doesn’t even make any sense-“

He inhaled sharply, cutting off his own sentence before grumbling about how unfair and rigged the game was.

“I’m sorry Kiego.” You managed to whisper, a hand coming up to clutch his wrist as he tugged you ever closer by your hair.

Noticing you wince, Kiego took pity on you, releasing his death grip on your strands so he could massage your stinging scalp. His other hand wrapped around your waist, subtly maneuvering you into his lap. You let him.

“Y’know what would make me feel better, Little Dove?”

His tone was deeper now; you could hear the frustration and annoyance slowly fading, although they failed to disappear completely. You knew where this was going, letting out a defeated sigh as Kiego began rubbing your hip gently, legs now unwillingly straddling his lap.

“I think it’d be nice-“ Both hands dropped to your butt, guiding and pulling you forward in a quick, rolling motion. “-if you gave me a nice little distraction and made me feel better, yeah?”

You tried not to visibly grimace as he began grinding roughly against you, burying his face in the crook of your neck to drench it in sloppy wet kisses. You knew his hormones would get the better of him at some point in the day like they usually did, causing him to bend you over the nearest surface to sate his lust. You had gotten used to his high libido by now, and you had learned that it was easier to let him use you however he liked. Whenever you had tried to fight against him and his predatory hands, the consequences were severe, leaving you crying and sore and shattered. 

He had broken you down into a pliant little doll at his beck and call, obeying like a dog at every command or passing whim he would come up with.

When had you become so empty, so detached and apathetic?

You would let Kiego pull you into his arms at night, let him kiss your hair and snuggle against you. You thanked him sweetly when he would bring you a gift, and when he had gotten you the first of your precious plants, you had voluntarily given the man a hug to show your gratitude. You followed his requests and suggestions, keeping his penthouse clean and organized, having amiable conversations when he initiated them, not pushing away his kisses and smothering hugs. At first it was because there was an underlying threat tacked on the end of each request -

“Have the house clean before I get back from my shift, ‘kay?” Or else.

“Little Dove, whatcha readin’? Tell me.” Or else. 

“Tell me how those little plants that I got for you are doing.” Or else.

“C’mon, let me hug you.” Or else.

“Hey Dove, gimme a kiss before I leave!” Or else.

But over time it had just become routine, your body and mind felt detached,  blankly going through the motions. Kiego would walk through the front door in search of you, stretching his arms wide when he caught sight of you, waiting for you to initiate a hug.

Was there even a shred left of the person you used to be?

A grinding thrust sharper than the others jostled you, pulling you out of introspection and back to the present. Kiego had detached himself from your neck, and was working your shirt off with one hand in a rush.

“Fuck, little dove, you have no idea how amazing you are.”

He breathed, giving up on removing your shirt and letting it tangle at your wrists. Clothed hips still rapidly humping against your own, Kiego moved to latch onto your skin, one hand guiding your hips, the other roughly groping at the soft tissue on your chest. You let him.

Kiego was making all sorts of noise, moaning and gasping out praise as his tongue laved and his hand squeezed at your chest. A weak cry tore out of you when he bit down, hard. 

‘Kiego! G-gentle Ple-! Please!” You stuttered out, purposefully ignoring his smile against your skin as your cheeks turned red at your breathy request. If you couldn’t make him stop, hopefully you could encourage him to treat you less roughly. Knowing Kiego, it was a slim chance. 

Another hard nip had you jerking in pain, gasping loudly as his lips kissed noisily over the bite mark. After he was satisfied with how much attention your chest had received, he pulled back so you could look at you; flushed, trembling slightly, your hair a mess. He was all smiles, his own cheeks ruddy and eyes dark with lust.

“Trust me little dove, I’m being gentle.”

A shaky breath escaped from your mouth. 

Tthis was probably going to hurt.

[abraxos-is-toothless]

Undercover- Throne of Glass AU (8)

Um, this one is a shortened update, not even 2k words. Thats because I took some off an moved it into 9:) Ren and Connall’s ship name is now Renall. I might write content on these two in other AUs as well?

A/N: If you read Surprises, the chap will come but I messed it up and I’ve had to redo things. And I’ve also had a few issues at home but I’m promise to get it to you as soon as I can<3

Undercover Masterlist.

Full Masterlist.

----------

Gavriel, Vaughan and Rowan were walking through Hyde Park, coffees in hand. It was early morning, grass still covered in dew and their breath could be seen on the air. A few days ago, Aelin had told them that Arobynn had a few men who stayed in the area a lot and she needed people to come down to see if they could spot anyone, taking all of their findings back to her. Rowan had offered himself up for the job, along with Vaughan and Gavriel. The two of them had agreed but Gavriel knew it was just to get them alone, could see it in the way his Boss was very adamant that the three of them could do it. So here they were, silently walking, seeing absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.

Rowan nodded towards an empty bench, gesturing that they should sit about twenty minutes into their walk. Rowan and Vaughan sat, but he chose to remain standing, facing them so they were covering all angles. The former was fiddling with the lid of his coffee cup, sighing when the latter turned and raised a brow at him. “Come on Ro, spit it out. You know something.” Vaughan just stared, waiting, and he felt himself go still when Rowan finally opened his fucking mouth.

“She’s Rhoe’s daughter.” Oh, for the ever loving fuck. Oh gods.

“Tell me you’re joking.” He whispered it, knowing what the answer would be, but he was terrified anyway.

“I’m not joking, Gav.” Rowan was looking at him, worry etched all over his face, but he didn’t know what to say, didn’t know what to do. This was all so unbelievably fucked up. Vaughan’s only sign of being shocked was the way his eyes widened just a fraction. Despite that, he was probably running over everything in his head, trying to figure out how he missed something so important. “Rhoe Galathynius, the man who led this gang before her, had a daughter. There is no information on her anywhere, absolutely nothing. But she was around what, nine or ten when he was killed, so her parents must have set something up in case the worst happened, making it look like she never even existed.” He felt sick. If he hadn’t left, if he hadn’t listened to Eliana, then maybe he could have done something, could have kept Aelin from Arobynn. Could have kept her safe.

But Eliana, his beloved Eliana had made him go, to keep him safe and their son, their Aedion. She had known who Gavriel was, why he was with them all of those years ago. It was his task back then to take down Rhoe and the whole organization, but she had shown him that they weren’t bad, not really. They were the ones trying to keep the city safe. Gavriel hadn’t meant to fall in love with her, but she was just so good, so pure and so fucking beautiful. He had left before it all went to shit, telling his bosses he was compromised, though Eliana would have never hurt him. He had walked away from the love of his love, his son. And now he was finding out he’d walked away from his niece. Which she was really, although Eliana and Aelin’s mother were cousins, they were sisters in all the ways that mattered. The realisation knocked the breath out of his lungs, his knees going weak, almost dropping to the ground before Vaughan was by his side, holding him steady. “Fuck Gav, what the hell is wrong?”

“She’s my niece.”

Rowan was confused; his tell was the way he scrunched his nose a little. “You fell in love with Eliana on that assignment we know, and she fell pregnant, but that doesn’t make Aelin your niece Gav.”

“It does because I married her.”

The sudden silence between them was deafening. He’d never told either of them this. Suddenly Rowan was glaring at him, slowly standing so that they were level with one another, face to face.

“I’m sorry; I thought you just said that you married her. This by the way would make you related to them, which would mean in the end, you’d go down with them.”

No going back now, the damage was already done. “I married her, Rowan. I took her last name and she had the marriage certificate. I didn’t think at the time and then everything happened...I didn’t think I’d ever be back here.”

“Fuck! Why have you never mentioned this before?!”

“I’ll always protect her, I’ll always protect them. Lia knew who I was, what I was there for. I told her once, that I’d leave it all behind, but she made me go, so that maybe one day I’d get to know my son. That they’d find me when the dust settled.” But it didn’t end that way. Rhoe, Evalin and his beloved were all gone and his son lost. It took him years to find Aedion and when he did, he was a coward, never approaching the boy, the man now, that he’d kept tucked close to his heart. Vaughan was now swearing, in multiple languages and Rowan was just staring at him, pine green eyes burning holes into his skull.

“One of them is going to piece together who you are eventually, Gav. Aelin asked how I hadn’t noticed how similar she and Aedion were. We need to start moving faster but I don’t know how to do that. They’re just so...” Rowan trailed off but he didn’t need to explain more. Gavriel understood perfectly, having been through this already. It was hard getting so close and going so deep undercover because the lines always blur one way or another.

You just have to figure out which side you’ll be on when it disappears completely, before it’s too late.

oOoOo

Aelin sat on the sofa in the living room, her legs tucked underneath her as she watched Lorcan, Elide, Manon, and Dorian play twister. She laughed as Lorcan, giant brute that he was, collapsed and began grumbling about how stupid the game was. “Oh come on, Lorcan. No need to be a sore loser.” Fenrys goaded him from his spot on the chair, bag of peanuts in hand. Lorcan simply flipped him off and Fenrys chuckled, throwing a peanut at his forehead. Manon had an unfair advantage, Aelin thought, considering how fucking flexible the woman was. She was somehow weaved in between Elide and Dorian and didn’t look bothered by the way she bent. Chaol flicked the spinner again, calling out a ‘right hand, blue’ just as Rowan, Gavriel and Vaughan walked in. All three men looked amused by the sight before settling themselves around the room. Vaughan moved towards Lorcan, still looking like a kicked puppy and Gavriel towards Fenrys, who frowned when the older man began stealing his snacks. Rowan however, he moved to sit beside her, a strong thigh pressed against her feet.

Aelin ignored the urge to press against him more and asked, “See anything interesting out there?”

Rowan shook his head, watching as the three idiots on the floor collapsed into a pile of limbs when Dorian moved wrong. “Nothing. It seemed oddly quiet though, I don’t know how to explain it.”

“We’ll just have to keep an eye out then.” All he did was nod. He seemed quite sullen and part of her desperately wanted to ask if he was alright but thought better of it. She still didn’t know what she felt about him and wanted to keep it between the two of them for now.

“Where’s Aedion?”

“Lys wanted to go shopping, again, and she took Asterin too. I made Aedion go so that he could keep an eye out.” Lysandra thought it would help Asterin feel better to get out of the house, to go and do something for herself. Manon had wanted to go with them but decided to let them be, to not overcrowd her friend. There was a rustling of plastic as the Twister mat was flattened again and Connall, Ren, Fenrys and Chaol started playing. Aelin didn’t miss the way when Gavriel called out ‘left foot, yellow’, Ren slipped just a little and brushed against Con, making the other man’s face flush. They stared at each other for a minute, abruptly looking away when the next move was called. Aelin let a little knowing smirk slip, just in time for Ren to catch her eyes. He had the balls to look at her dumbly, as if he hadn't a clue what he’d just been doing. They all forgot how attentive she was to things and thought they were being sneaky when they weren’t. She would be happy if they made a go of things, once they both stopped being idiots about it. Ren and Connall suited each other.

Yrene walked in from the kitchen with a small tray of food, murmuring gently to Rowan, Gav and Vaughan. It was now noon after all and they boys had been gone all morning. Vaughan walked to where she placed it on the coffee table, giving his thanks as he reached for one of the sandwiches. Yrene only smiled back at him and was just pulling herself back up to normal height when she let out a shocked, “Oh gods fuck.” Aelin stood instantly and Chaol abandoned the game, rushing to his wife’s side.

“Love, are you alright?” She nodded, one hand on her back and the other on her swollen belly. Everyone had stopped what they were doing now, all on alert as they watched.

“Yeah, yes, just fine. Uh, no need to panic.” Very reassuring. Aelin moved to stand in front of her, placing a hand on top of Yrene’s. The woman leaned back a little to look at her, wide eyes blinking a couple of times.

“My waters just broke.”

Oh gods fuck, indeed.

------

Again, I’m sorry it’s short but this is how I wanted the chap to end soooo:) Give me a shout if you want to be added to the tags!!!

Tags: @bryaxisthefaceofnightmares @lila-baard @empress-sei @acourtofterrasenandvelaris @tswaney17 @queen-of-glass @thesirenwashere @awkward-avocado-s @b00kworm @http-itsrebecca @eatmysandwiches @poisonous00 @flowersinvegas @julemmaes @mu-si-ca-l @spyofthenightcourt  @sis-it-dont-add-up  @mad-madeline-ace​ @df3ndyr  @jesstargaryenqueen  @notyournymphetish @carbconnoisseur @aelinfeyreeleven945tbln  @superspiritfestival @alyx801 @silentquartz @tillyrubes10  @dayanna-hatter

[chilling-seavey]

Anything But Mine - Cayleigh Breaks Up With Daniel

A/N I totally forgot I had written this but I thought it would be interesting to share!

Wednesday, September 9th, 2020

University of Toronto, Loretto College Dormitory

“She always just bosses everyone around and thinks there’s nothing wrong with that.” Cayleigh rolled her eyes, closing her room door behind them. “She’s such a bitch.”

“Yeah. That sounds frustrating.” Daniel chuckled lightly as he sat on the side of her single bed.

“But whatever.” Cayleigh crawled onto the bed behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his neck. “I have you.”

Daniel smiled softly at her, his hand falling to the side of her face.

“Thank you for dinner.” she whispered, kissing at the soft skin of his neck.

“You’re welcome.” Daniel smiled, leaning back to let her kiss him slowly. After a few moments, anxiety bubbling up in his stomach, he sat back from her and dropped his gaze to his lap with her hand in his.

“What’s wrong?” Cayleigh asked quietly.

“I need to talk to you about something important, but I don’t know how to start.” Daniel whispered. “I’ve been putting it off for too long.”

Cayleigh frowned in concern and shifted so she was sitting cross-legged on her bed, showing that he had her full attention, “Okay.”

“Um…” Daniel traced her fingers with his. “You know Florence had a baby in the summer?”

“Yeah.” Cayleigh chuckled.

“I…she…uh…we found out...” Daniel sighed deeply, closing his eyes tightly as if to will this important conversation away, “Fuck.”

“What’s wrong, Dani?” Cayleigh asked almost desperately now, giving his hand a squeeze.

“We went to the doctor’s last week and we found out that the baby…that the baby is mine.”

The silence that fell over them sent shivers down Daniel’s spine and he bit hard at his lip with his gaze downcast to avoid Cayleigh’s reaction.

“Wait…what?” she finally spoke, ever so quietly.

“Penelope is…my daughter.”

“That can’t be.” Cayleigh breathed. “How do you know?”

“Emilio and Grayson’s DNA tests were negative…I was the only other possible match and when I sent in the sample the doctor confirmed it.” Daniel rushed out, refusing to let go of her hand.

“When did this happen?” Cayleigh asked lowly.

“It was before I even knew you.” Daniel assured her quickly. “Back in November around Corbyn’s birthday.”

“But wasn’t she with Emilio then?”

“Yeah. I don’t handle alcohol very well and neither does she and it was a whole mess and we didn’t even remember it happened for months.”

“Fuck.” Cayleigh shook her head through a sigh but chuckled humourlessly regardless, “I always knew she was a slut.”

“She’s not a slut. Don’t say that.” Daniel replied quietly.

“Daniel, are you kidding? She’s with a new guy every week and cheated on her boyfriend with you and got knocked up.”

“They weren’t necessarily dating.” Daniel mumbled.

“Are you seriously on her side about this?” Cayleigh snatched her hand out of his. The action made Daniel almost flinch in his anxious state.

“Cay…I’m not taking sides. I just knew I needed to be honest with you. It’s a huge thing.”

“Yeah, it’s a huge thing!” Cayleigh stood up from the bed. “You have a kid, Daniel.”

“But you’re my girlfriend, okay? Florence and I talked about everything and nothing is going to change.”

“Then I don’t want you around her.” Cayleigh crossed her arms over her chest.

“What?” Daniel breathed.

“I don’t want you anywhere near her or her stupid kids anymore. She’s manipulating you, Dani.”

“She is not.” Daniel said strongly, standing up with her. “Cayleigh, I promise, nothing is going to get between you and me.”

“If that’s the case then drop her.” Cayleigh said casually with a shrug, staring intently into his panicked face.

“You know I can’t just do that.” Daniel said.

“Why the hell not? If you love me so much, why not?”

“She’s my best friend, Cay. She has no one. I’ve been with her since before Clementine was born and I can’t just leave her because of this. That’s such a…dick thing to do.”

“Are you kidding me right now, Daniel?”

“Why can’t you just trust me?” Daniel almost begged.

“Because I don’t trust her!” Cayleigh snapped. “She’s got this fucking hold on you that everyone obviously sees…somehow managed to get you to knock her up despite you being obviously opposed to anything to do with sex…and now what? She expects you to send her child support checks every month? All of your hard-earned money wasted? If she wanted to fuck her life up in high school and get pregnant that’s her business but she’s not ruining your life the same way.”

“Don’t say that shit! It’s not anything like that!” Daniel protested. “You don’t know her like I do.”

“I know her well enough.” Cayleigh scoffed.

“Cay, her ex cut her out when she fell pregnant and it literally almost killed her. Twice over. And I know because I was there to pick up the pieces. I’m not going to do what he did.”

“But you’re not her boyfriend! You’re mine!” Cayleigh yelled. “So what’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is that I’m not an asshole, Cayleigh! I’m not leaving her on the side of the road when things get complicated!”

“You’re 20 fucking years old, Daniel! You’re no where near ready to be a father! A father to some stupid kid neither of you even wanted!”

“I have already been more of a father to Clementine than anyone and you know that. You can’t ask me to cut out such a big part of my life because that’s so unfair. Working our way through it together is one thing but I will not stand here and let you tell me how I need to live my life.” Daniel said lowly, his anxiety replaced with desperation and anger.

Silence fell between them. The small dorm room was filled with the sounds of their heavy breathing, Cayleigh’s narrowed eyes glaring into his desperate ones. Neither wanted to speak first. The girl moved across the room to lean against her desk, pressing the palms of her hands to her eyes in the heat of her emotion. Daniel racked both hands through his hair in frustration.

Cayleigh finally spoke, “What does she have that I don’t?”

“What?” Daniel frowned at her.

“You’re able to touch her and love her and so easily get into bed with her to the point where you get her literally pregnant…but with me…you can’t even manage to take off my shirt without pussying out.”

“We were drunk, Cay. I wouldn’t have done it if-“

“We’ve been drunk together too, Dani. And you still push me away.”

“I just…I don’t…” Daniel sighed. “I don’t know, Cayleigh. All I know is I love you, okay?”

“So why won’t you leave her?”

“God.” Daniel groaned in frustration, shutting his eyes and letting his head fall back, a heavy sigh falling into the air. “Because I’m not an asshole. Why is that so hard for you to understand?”

“Because I don’t want her taking you from me! And her past isn’t really on your side here.”

“Stop saying that shit!” Daniel snapped.

“Saying what, Daniel?” Cayleigh retorted just as loud, pushing herself up from the desk. “The truth? The truth that your sweet little best friend seems to like to fuck her way around the city?”

She took a step towards him.

“You’re just upset. You don’t mean this.” Daniel said.

“And now you’re stuck trying to put everything back together while she watches from the sidelines and does nothing? She’s fucking up your life, Daniel!”

“Just shut up!” Daniel yelled. “I’m not giving into this bullshit!”

“What bullshit?”

“The bullshit that you’re so fucking insecure that you can’t have trust in me!”

“Wow. Real nice.” Cayleigh scoffed. “Real fucking nice. For the record, it’s not me that’s insecure. Look at yourself, Daniel. Panicking about dropping one toxic person from your life like it’s the end of the goddamn world? Talk about insecure to the mirror.”

“She’s done nothing wrong!” Daniel protested loudly, throwing his hands out. “You have nothing to be freaking worried about!”

“She’s being a fucking whore and manipulating you into bed!”

“I don’t know if you know this: but sex is a two-way street, Cayleigh…usually they teach you that in ninth grade. Get this through your head: I have done nothing that I wasn’t 100% sure about and calling her names is so fucking childish. Just because I don’t want to fuck you doesn’t make me a bad person so fuck off with that.”

“Oh, shut up!” Cayleigh laughed humourlessly. “I honestly cannot believe you. Two-way street? Whatever. How can you not see how fucked this whole situation looks? What else is she doing then, huh? She probably poked holes in the fucking condom just to get some of your money.”

The venom in her words sent Daniel’s stomach turning and he had to look away from her to avoid making the situation worse than it already was. He swore the day he met Florence that’d he’d protect her until his last breath and Cayleigh’s attitude was making his blood boil. His hands were clenched at his sides and he could almost hear his heartbeat in his ears, working in overtime between his fear of losing her and his anger that made him want to leave altogether.

“Nothing else to say?” she taunted.

“Don’t.” he said sharply under his breath.

“I want her gone, Dani.” Cayleigh said through her teeth. “I don’t want to be with you if you don’t cut her off. Tonight. Understand?”

Daniel took a step back as if her words physically shoved him, his chest heavy and breathing shallow as he looked back up to her dark eyes.

“No.” he said breathlessly. “Y-You wouldn’t. You can’t.”

“It’s her or me.” Cayleigh said strongly, crossing her arms over his chest.

“No, Cay, please.” Daniel whispered, his voice shaking as tears welled in his eyes.

“It shouldn’t be a hard decision.”

“Cayleigh.” Daniel breathed, a single tear falling down his cheek.

He tried to reach for her, but she stepped back, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Please let us work something out.” Daniel begged, grabbing her arm but she tugged away, making him resort to clinging onto her sweater until she pushed him back from her. “Cay. Cayleigh. Please.”

“What’s it going to be, Daniel?”

Daniel let out a small whimper, his bottom lip trembling as he stood in the middle of her small dorm room, the brick walls feeling like there were about to fall in on him and bury him alive. He couldn’t breathe.

He gasped shakily, panic rising in his chest, “I…I can’t…I can’t leave her.”

“You should go.” Cayleigh spat.

“No.” Daniel cried. “No, Cay, please don’t-”

“Get out.” she repeated strongly.

Daniel stayed stiff in the middle of her room, tears tricking down his pink cheeks, whispering her name desperately.

“Daniel, if you don’t get the fuck out of my room right now, I will call security.”

He could barely process her shoving him towards the door until it was slammed in his face, leaving him stood stunned in the empty dormitory hallway, his ears ringing with adrenaline as he broke down in loud sobs, palms pressed to the wooden door. Daniel slid to the carpeted floor, pressing his fist to his mouth to keep himself quiet, not wanting any other students to see him in such a state. A few moments later, two girls came down the hallway, laughing together, and Daniel got quickly to his feet, wiping his eyes and ducking his head down as he passed them quickly towards the stairs. He composed himself enough to get on the subway, biting his fingernail with silent tears trickling down his cheeks as he leaned against the window, watching the dark tunnels of the city pass by as he made his way farther into downtown. The apartment building stood tall in front of the setting sun and he let himself in, flashing his ID to the front desk before being let into the elevator lobby so he didn’t need to buzz up. He had always been on her guest list. He didn’t bother looking at himself in the mirror on the back of the elevator because he knew he was a terrible sight, so he kept his tired eyes on the numbers ticking up to 20. When the doors slid open, his shaking legs took him down the hallway to the apartment at the end, knocking lightly at the door as he took a shallow breath.

Florence opened the door a few seconds later, dressed in grey sweatpants and an old hoodie, her face tired and free of makeup and one look at her friendly and familiar being made Daniel break down in wracking sobs.

“Dani.” she sighed, taking a step towards him and pulled him into a hug. He clung onto her desperately, crying loudly into her shoulder. Her warm embrace made him already start to relax, melting into her arms like he was never going to let her go.

[thebestestboyo]

How Remus Started Working For Patton: Part Four

Tw: Remus being Remus/Swearing/mention of snakes but only for a moment

Masterpost

"Wow, I expected an old warehouse, or perhaps even a shady bar. This is... hilarious." The remark didn't come from Remus, no, this time it came from Virgil.

The group had stopped outside of a quaint-looking bakery, the shimmery blue and yellow sign reading 'Down With The Pastryarchy.' Virg was right though, it didn't seem to fit the vibe of 'gangster.' At least not to Remus. It was cute though! As in how a poison dart frog was cute before you realized it could kill you!

"First of all, warehouse?? Who would set up there? That's just irresponsible! How would you even heat such a large area?? Secondly, have you been inside one? Its just so loud!" Dee stepped inside, letting the others follow.

"For your information, I have been inside a bar. Probably for different reasons than you, ya overgrown garden snake."

"Excuse me! I'm not always up to no good!"

"The news would say differently."

"Society has never portrayed those who work outside its crippling boundaries as good. As you probably don't know Mr. Gloom Sky."

Pat butted into the tussle, wagging a finger at both of the men. "Now now, there's no need to be throwing names around. Its not very sweet of you two."

Those in question turned to look at him, this bubble of sunshine, and at least had some decency to look ashamed. Virgil could at least understand why Demetrius had warned that Patton was a force to be reckoned with.

Remus in the meantime, was laughing. Wait. Why was he laughing???

"That was a good pun. You know, considering the setting?"

Smiling up at him, Pat squeezed his cheek playfully. "I didn't think you'd catch that!"

"Well, I had to cake a chance! It clearly paid off," God Patton was cute. Remus was about to rattle off several more puns before Virgil elbowed his side, cutting him off.

"Less flirting, more getting to the point."

Blushing furiously, Remus swatted at Virgil, both for elbowing him and eluding to potential romantic feelings between him and Patton. Seriously, not everything he said to Pat was flirting!

Ok he was kinda flirting.

Just a little though! He wasn't about to rush anything! Especially when he hadn't asked Patton how he felt on the anatomies of several creatures, and the different ways in which you could steal someone's eye! How would he know if Patton was good for him until then?

For the umpteenth time that morning, Remus's thoughts were cut off, this particular time by Dee. Butts on a fish, he needed to chose a different time for his internal monologues.

"Come then if you're so desperate to find out. The entrance is this way."

Opening a door labeled 'employees only,' he seemed to...descend? Wait what?

A sudden grip on his arm was the only warning before Pat pulled him and Virgil in after, giggling. "You guys will love it! We worked so hard on it!"

"I find that hard to believe..."

This time it was Remus who elbowed Virgil, afraid of him upsetting Patton. "I'm sure it will be great Pat Pie!"

Virg groaned at yet another pun, but let the two of them be dragged down the stairs. It was surprising how they managed to fit this spiral staircase so seamlessly into the bakery, no surprise why someone hadn't found out their base yet. It was hiding in plain sight as far as anyone could tell.

Dee, further up ahead, called back to them, his voice echoing from the tall ceiling needed to fit in the staircase. "Pat, remember the trick step. They don't know about it."

"Oh! Right. Guys, hop over this next one ok?"

"Why would we need to-" Virgil made his mistake of not heeding Dee's warning, being thrown back by the step sliding out from beneath him. "Motherfu-"

"-By the sounds of idiocy I assume he didn't listen." Dee turned back to them, clearly hiding a smile as Remus supported Virgil, only to have the step beneath HIM slide into the wall as well. Before Virgil could snap back at him, all the steps were pushed back into the wall, resulting in all three of them falling the short distance to the ground.

"Oh I like this." Chuckling, Remus helped Patton to his feet with a flourish, before pulling up Virgil as well.

"This is some tomb raider bullshit, I'm calling it out right now."

His smirk all too clear on his face, Dee gestured to a lever right next to where the stairs had been. "No, tomb raider bullshit as you so eloquently call it, would be this lever sending you into a pit of snakes."

Eyes wide, Remus could hardly contain his delight at the prospect. "Does it send us into a pit of snakes??"

"Unfortunately, no. Just into a pit. Snakes wouldn't live well down there, there's no source of food or heat for them to thermoregulate their body temperatures."

Patton turned to face him, voice full of concern as he reached for Remus's hand again. "Plus, what if we fell on them! The poor snakes might get hurt!"

"You are right...but think about how cool it would be!"

"But snakes!"

"Ok, what about...a tank full of jellyfish? They'd have water and the water would stop the jellyfish from getting hurt!" Remus was surprised that Patton so easily took his hand, but it made him feel all fuzzy inside, the good kind. It was very unlike when you got a mouth full of raccoon fur.

Don't...don't ask.

As the two debated the moral complications of jellyfish compared to snakes and eventually to electric eels, Virgil deadlocked his gaze on Demetrius. If glaring could kill, he would have been dead where he stood. Unluckily for Virgil, he just smirked back at him in turn, continuing to lead the group to wherever they seemed to be going. At this point, he couldn't tell.

God what he would do to wipe that stupid look off of his face. It was unfair. He couldn't be hot AND evil! That was just cruel!

And he still had his stupid jacket off, showing his stupid muscular arms, and his stupid face with it's stupid grin was just making the situation worse, and it was all STUPID.

"Take a picture punk. It'll last longer."

"I'm just waiting for you to finally show us this place you've been droning of for the past thirty minutes. It feels like I've been forced to follow you for hours already."

"Don't worry Dark and Stormy, we're already here."

With that, he opened a door into one of the biggest rooms they'd ever seen. Wasn't this underground?? How did it have such a high ceiling?

And it was filled with people who Virgil would normally avoid. They all had that look about them, like if you looked at them wrong, they'd fuck you up. These were the king of people Remus tended to piss off when he was drunk and made everyone in the nearby vicinity regret him doing so.

"We're back you punks!" Dee called out to the group, smiling? Of course he was smiling. He was a gangster.

"Hey welcome back boss! And hello Patton!"

"Who are these two?"

"Where ya been? Normally you're not out so early!"

"These guys new members?"

Honestly it was kinda a lot for Virgil. Remus on the other hand was thrilled about this. They all had something chaotic about them! One of them had a sword??? Who the fuck fights with a sword!? Another was carrying what looked like a jar of live bees? Remus didn't know!!!

"These are visitors. Don't rough them up too much. Patty likes them."

"Dee!" Pat's cheeks tinted pink, clearly embarrassed at being called out. He didn't let go of Remus's hand though like he thought he would, instead tucking himself into Ree's side. Holy fuck. He was using Remus to hide in?? That was a first for him.

"Sorry, this is Patton's...friend, and the friend of Patton's friend." Cheekily, he and Pat exchanged a glance that Ree was too slow to interpret. But it made Pat's face turn even more red, so Remus assumed it was an inside joke or something.

Virgil in the meantime seemed thrown off by how domestic the inside of the base seemed, and being honest, he couldn't blame him. They both assumed it was much less...pleasant? Was that the word? No, there had to be more more suitable for this odd situation....

Calm! It was calm. God Patton was making him feel dizzy from all the sudden affection or something, usually he was better at this!

Remus looked down at the smaller man now cuddling into his side, sighing softly and unclasping their hands to set the overcoat he had brought with him around his shoulders. "You cold or something Pat?" He was ignoring Dee's comment from before, as it clearly was rubbing Patton the wrong way.

"Oh! Um, yes, a little! Thank you." Both of them played into the white lie, brushing it off to make him feel more comfortable. But perhaps Patton wasn't hiding in Remus just from the embarrassment...

Virgil cleared his throat from behind them, reminding the two that Dee had been waiting for them still.

Pat still kept the coat around his shoulders nevertheless, as they all packed into Dee's office.

"So. Remus."

"And me." Virgil interjected, sitting on the arm of couch that faced Dee's desk.

"And Virgil. You're probably confused as to why I made Remus a member of the gang."

"Uh yeah dimwit, you really had to drag us this far just to tell us this?"

Pat frowned at him, going over to sit on the desk near Dee. "That's not particularly nice of you to say."

"Sorry Patton. But I'm serious. This could have gone a lot faster." Virg couldn't believe himself. He was apologizing to the co-leader of a gang?? Just because he gave off disappointed dad vibes did not mean that he was completely trustworthy.

"I thought it best to reveal my hand, so to speak. You do know that telling the authorities about us would be unwise, due to the vast amount of resources we have. It would be a pain to have to move locations and change identities after we've set up shop here."

"So...this is a threat."

"Not necessarily. It's an invitation. For Remus specifically. He doesn't have to participate in our business, I just thought he'd appreciate being able to freely talk with Patton, and being part of our association helps with that."

Remus was...a tad shocked at this news. He was put into a gang...to be able to flirt cause havoc with Patton?

As if he could read his thoughts, Dee waved a hand dismissively. "While normally this doesn't happen, I decided to make it an exception. Originally, you, Virgil, weren't a part of the plan, but as you are Remus's roommate, I wanted to cover my bases."

"Don't tell me you're gonna pierce my ear as well."

"I doubt I could even try without losing a finger. The only reason I did it to Remus was because I was in a hurry."

Pat swung his legs gently as they talked, looking over at Ree for his reaction. It was, intrigued to say the least, Remus seemed to be pretty open to most things. Was that a strength or a downfall of his? Patton couldn't tell. But he did enjoy the coat around his shoulders, smiling to himself as he tucked into it.

Maybe this one would work?

And maybe he'd make a new friend as well! Virgil seemed nice, if not a bit guarded. He supposed that was to be expected, it's not every day that you get told your friend (best friend?) is now a member of a gang that controls half the city.

The words between his brother and Virgil grew muddled, as Patton daydreamed what this meant. It was a little shocking for him to find Remus calling his attention, snapping his fingers from the spot he had taken next to Virgil.

It was enough to get Patton back into reality, and to hear that Dee was asking him a question. "Pat were you listening? I asked what you thought about Virgil being allowed in as well."

"Oh! Sorry Dee Dee, just caught up in some thoughts! Sure Virgil can come in, maybe he can try some of your baked goods!"

Pat had seen the way his brother kept looking at Virg, so he thought he'd...well, help him out a little. Even if it resulted currently in an embarrassed Dee in the meantime. Sorry!

"Wait were you the one to come up with the idea of having your super bad gang cover being a pastry shop??" Virgil grinned mischievously at this new information, and Patton could tell that it lessened the stigma about Dee, at least a little bit.

"Not completely! I just thought it might be a good cover, and Pat had already come up with the name! What was I supposed to do???"

"That's rich! The snake in the grass bakes?"

"Wha- no!!!"

Glancing back over to Remus, Pat was delighted to find him cackling at the chaos Pat had created.

Perhaps this would become their new normal? If it did, Pat definitely wouldn't mind.

-Just an author's note-

Sorry it took so long to finally get to this point! I wasn't expecting the buildup to last four chapters 😅There will certainly be more backstory and action as I write this, so I apologise for how slow it is

Thanks for sticking around through it though! I really appreciate it

[naturaldisasterfanfiction]

35.

Moving onto my side stretching my body out “I’m gonna go to the toilet, I’ll be back” Chris said, nodding my head smiling at my daughter laying in the bed with me, she’s awake, she is content, she is happy “morning” pressing a kiss to her cheek and then resting my head back on the pillow, my whole heart. Placing my finger in her hand as she proceeded to just be in her zone and look around her, she’s just a happy baby and I’m a happy mommy. I think Fenty is so laid back with everything, we did have an episode for a few days where she was uncomfortable, but we worked it out that it was gas, the midwife helped with that, but she is ok now. My whole heart just here next to me, Chris and I have our trainer coming over today, he comes twice a week, so I woke up early. I have a lot of work to get through too, I need to chase up these gag orders that I have put through because of Chris. I have kept a low profile since the whole release of marriage thing, my dad signed the paperwork, the next time I speak to him it will be face to face, I will then have it out with him but right now I want to just enjoy my time with my daughter and husband, I am not expecting things to be so perfect, I expect bumps, if that didn’t happen I would be scared but business doesn’t stop, I have been trying to get back into the vibe of working on my business while home. Also preparing to go to California, Chris and I spoke. He was truthful and he said it to me, he wants to go back and how long can I hide away from that place but also he said he wants to deal with all that before my birthday, I don’t mind that. I told my team that we are moving together, we have to all go California together. Chris’ studio is getting done, which I am happy about. Chris seems more content, like he doesn’t let people get to him, removing Instagram from Chris is the best, he thinks of himself and that is what I want.

Chris jumped on the bed “hey! Watch it” I frowned at Chris “it’s ok, she good. My little gummy bear and gummy drop, bear and drop” he pointed between Fenty and I “you’re so annoying, so you think Fenty got my eyes?” I want him to admit to it, he keeps on saying a light shade of brown “it’s honestly a light shade of brown” he said, he is so deadass about it too “I hate you, not going to lie” side eyeing him “what we doing today Chris? You didn’t do it yesterday? You promised Fenty Skin video, it’s been about two weeks. If you are being involved in the Fenty family you need to pull your weight, so today Chris you do the little tutorial ok? I will watch you if you want. And then you need to design those boxers today. Then we can process that, we also got to prepare Amazon for the documentary, so going California will be good for us” Chris saluted me, I have lists for him because he needs to be busy “yeah, I think so too. I am excited to go back but I will do what you say boss” he knows who the boss is in this home “you’re stupid” Chris moved up from the bed and reached over his phone as it rang out.

I do hate that bitch so much and I wish she never had his number or that she never had his child but here we are, Chris is looking confused “rewind that back Amikka, what!?” he spat, Chris proceeded to put his phone on speaker “hear this” he said to me, I guess now I got to listen to that bitch speaking “say that again, Aeko is what!” Chris spat, Fenty jumped at Chris shouting “my daughter” I said to Chris “Aeko will be landing in London in an hour, he’s with my friend that was going over there. You have, well she has taken away income from me and you refuse to pay me anything” is she being real “Amikka, this is money! You are telling me my son is on a plane here!?” Chris said, she has got to be kidding me “to see his father yes, and until you can actually pay me to look after him” my mouth hung open, I am at a loss for words right now and so is Chris “Amikka, listen to me. I know we say a lot of shit out of anger, and we feel a certain way at the moment, we can sort the money out once we go to court. I am not paying for your lifestyle. I got you a home Amikka, I make sure the boy has everything he needs, you need to go to court. You are denying him of what he needs because you refuse to go and now you saying this? Stop trying to make it into a big thing” that woman is a whole bitch “Chris, I am being so serious right now, he will be landing, and you better be there to pick him up. That bitch says she wants to be the mother, then do it. I am sure you will be bringing him back over soon, and come up with a new deal of where you actually pay for the son you bought into the world. And you want proof how about you look at your messages, dickhead” Amikka disconnected the call and I am just here in shock.

Chris looked at his messages “oh fuck” Chris said, reaching up and grabbing his phone “she is dead ass! Oh my god, she has sent her son here!?” I spat, my eyes bulged out, I am not ready for this, oh my god. Pressing play on the video “be good for auntie, I love you Aeko” seeing that little boy with his backpack in the airport walking with this lady “Chris” looking at him “she ain’t lying” backing out of the message “she sent the landing time, that is literally in an hour, she wrote here. You want to take care of him then do it, time for you to play daddy. I can’t fully look after him with the lack of money” she is a liar, she is trying to look like she hard done by when it’s a lie “this can’t be happening Chris, literally this can’t” I am speechless, just when things are quiet “you barely know the boy, Chris. What the fuck!? She is just trying to be funny, that is reckless” he is just as lost as me right now, but he can’t turn a child away “what do I do!?” Chris looked at me for answers, I don’t have them and I want to say to him, this is your problem but I can’t bring myself to say it because he’s just clueless “right” getting up out of the bed “just get ready, and quick” I need to go down, I need to gather myself right now.

“Morning” Tina said “gang, meeting in the living room please” holding Fenty close to me as I made my way into the living room “Mel, I feel like I have jinxed myself, we was speaking of such things and they are coming into existence, I am freaking out” Mel shot up on the couch staring “sos?” she said, nodding my head “morning everyone” Jah looks like he has just woke up “right so, just when I thought Amikka was a thing of the past, guess what?” I have to laugh, if I don’t laugh I will literally cry instead “so she told Chris that Aeko is on the plane coming here, she can’t look after him with no money because I cut it off, so she shipped him off here and said be a father. She won’t have him back until we pay for her to be a bum, like are you fucking serious. I am panicking, I can’t have that boy here. We cursed ourselves, quick. Help me out here” I said out of breath, Tina’ mouth hung open “you’re joking!?” Jen spat, shaking my head “it’s the truth, I am literally shaking in shock, she’s dumped her son on him, Chris barely functions, and he doesn’t have a bond with his son like that, what do I do? Come on” I know it’s a lot, but they need to help me, I need someone to tell me what to do because I am not ready for this.

Jen is distraught, with the look on her face but I feel the same way “give into her” Jen said “no, if you do that then it proves that you will back down, right. This is a mess, but she is creating drama, I mean collectively we can all look after a little white boy?” Jah said “be nice” I added “see you care, uhm. Jah is right, all I am thinking is how is that child is feeling right now knowing his mom has shipped him here like some possession without a care, he doesn’t know you and he knows Chris, but he barely does know him, I am thinking of the child now. We are adults, and we need to stop treating him so unwanted, we use this as an opportunity to know him” Mel is talking sense “but I didn’t want him right now, I am not ready for that” I admitted “you married a man with kids, she is a bitch. We need to handle this right before it gets out that she shipped him off to here. I am unsure on what to do” I breathed “fuck” hearing the buzzer go off “can someone check that, we need to take her court. I am not taking that boy on, I am not. I just say it out of anger as we do. I was angry at that moment and I said it but I did not mean it” I am worried now “we get it, but I think we need to think like adults. Clearly she is not, she is doing because of what you are telling her. She wants you to break and say here have this, be quiet. At the end of the day Chris is the father and he needs to deal with it” Mel said “I am, I am taking him back” Chris rushed into the living room “just like that?” Mel questioned “yes, Germany is not far. I will get the jet and take him back, just smooth it over. He can’t be here, I didn’t ask for him to be here” Fenty whined out in my arms, looking down at my daughter she wants feeding clearly and it kind of hurt me to know a mother is doing that to her child, no matter who it is, a child is a child “stop” I said “just everyone stop, right. Stop saying those words, this is unfair, no child asks for anything. Chris, you go now because of London traffic. You get him, bring him here. That is all I want from you and your mouth” I said to him and I meant it, he talks like a child and I don’t want that “Robbie” my ears perked up hearing my mother’ voice, stepping forward a little to see my mom “mommy” my voice broke.

Hugging my mother close after giving Mel Fenty to hold “I am so sorry baby, I am sorry” that was it, my emotions came rushing back, to see my mother after all this and she came. I wasn’t expecting her to come here for me “stop it, don’t cry. I came for you, I am hurting for you. Ronald is bad news, he knows” my mom rubbed my back “thank you for coming” closing my eyes while my mom held me in her arms, I just want to keep this moment for life, I just needed her so much and I always do. Closing my eyes as I let the tears leave my eyes “I knew you was hurting, I felt it baby. I was unsure of coming but I came, I didn’t want to tell you because you would tell me not too but I am sorry, I feel awful that I had to choose such a terrible father for you” now I am just in the moment of crying, I can’t stop at all “you’re making me cry now” my mom said, I sobbed out. I am so hurt by my dad that I want to forget it but I can’t, he really did that to me “I swear, I would hit that man. I saw it all, I contacted Mel and I said I want to see it, hurt my heart so much Robyn, my grandbaby” I wish I could forget that moment, he really fucked me over.

Taking in a deep breath “why are you still here? Chris, you need to go. Don’t leave that child stranded, go” placing my hands on my hips “you’re crying, you’re upset, and I don’t like that” shaking my head “just go, and I mean it. You come back here, just go” I need to figure out my next move, this is such a mess “mom, can you come with me” walking off “Mel, I will be back. Entertain her, Chris. Seriously, go! London traffic is never good” if I come back and he is still stood here there will be problems, he is being stupid. Walking off to the kitchen, I just want to talk to my mother, well she can tell me what I am doing wrong and where I am going wrong “oh god, mom. It’s a mess, so uhm. We are going to Cali in a few days, that is not the issue but oh god” I breathed “the bitch baby mother, the other one. The Am something, the one with the son. She fucking called Chris right. So I stopped Chris from paying out money to her like fucking shut up money because why should we, that is my money now too. We are going court of course; I mean eventually we are going court. So she called and said that her son is coming here, on a flight with a friend of hers. She can’t afford to keep him, so this child is on a flight with a friend coming!? I am like what the fuck, the whole thing is mom. Chris doesn’t even know that child, she is claiming she can’t look after him, but she is doing it to get at us, I am in shock mom. I don’t know what to do or even say mom. Chris said he will take him back and talk to her but like, I don’t know. I am just in shock” I am just in shock; I am just saying words and can’t think straight.

My mom just stared at me all wide eyed, I mean she is looking at me like that but wonder how I feel right now “so many emotions going on, doesn’t the lady have money?” I shrugged “I suppose, I think she may be trying it with us. I think she wants Chris to kick off, she is up to something. I am just fucking shaking, like what do I do mom. I am going to have this boy in this home, I don’t know him, Chris doesn’t. Like what do we do?” my mom nodded her head “this is what I was worried about Robyn, the kids. He has kids here and there, it’s stressful for you. It’s hard but how long for?” my mom asked a question I don’t know the answer too “not sure, I suppose a while?” I can imagine it “you could ask Chris to stay in a hotel with him if you don’t want the child in this home or you can be the loving daughter I raised. He is a child, an incredibly young one at that and I am disgusted at how the mother is acting. I think you will be ok, but you have the choice of telling Chris to stay elsewhere but that won’t help your marriage” shaking my marriage “we do this together mom, I just need to come up with a big fuck you plan, wait. Chris!?” I shouted; I know he is here still. Storming off “Chris!” I shouted again “Dennis, get your camera!” he can add to this shit, he can show that Chris is a great guy, but the issue is that bitch. I will expose that little bitch for what she is, but I also hope it don’t’ backfire.

[kbandtrash]

Surrounded (Mafia Crossover AU)(Part 8)

~Megan~

Masterlist

Day6/N.Flying/The Rose/Like any other kband honestly x Reader

Warnings: Violence, self-harm

Word Count: 2.1k

Part 1

“Y/N! Y/N!”

Sungjin barged into your room. There you were, lying on the bed. You didn't seem to be conscious. He rushed up to you. 

“Y/N?”

You didn't wake. He shook you a little, careful not to hurt you. The result was your eyes opening slowly. When you saw Sungjin, you flinched. 

“Don't hurt me, please!” you begged. “I didn't mean to…”

“I know. Woosung has done things like this before.”

You covered your face with your hands and he saw your body start to shake. “And I've done just as bad things…”

“You don't… know that. You've got your own mind today. When you did those things, you were being controlled.”

You peeked at him from behind your fingers. “Sungjin… why did they hate you in the first place?”

“Well… you know how most Mafias are related, like family?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, Day6 isn't related. We were created by JYP, our boss, to oppose some other Mafia causing chaos. Ever since then, we've mostly been here to get rid of rogue Mafias like The Rose.”

“Why are they rogue?”

Sungjin sighed. “Y/N, there are some things I can tell you. Other things, other people can.” He paused. “I'm giving you an assignment, alright?”

You bit your lip, scratching at your arms. Sungjin gripped your hands tightly, stopping you from furthering your self-harm. You took in a shaky breath. 

“It's not scary. I want you to interview the Mafia members you meet, any of them. Find out as much as you can about all this stupid Mafia stuff.”

You furrowed your brows, suddenly confused. “Oh… okay?”

He chuckled, helping you off the bed. “I propose you start with Day6. Since I'm here, why not begin here?”

You warily nodded. “Uh, then… Sungjin, why is it called Day6 if you only have five members?” You already knew half of this, of course, but you needed to know more. 

He cringed and looked down. Then he was saved from the question when his phone rang in his pocket. He scrunched his face apologetically and answered the call, going out into the hall. You didn't expect him to come back, so you headed to the bathroom. 

To your delight, a set of new clothes sat on a stool inside, next to a shower. You didn't realize how gross you felt until you smelled the fresh and clean flowery smell—almost like roses.

You happily leapt into the shower and scrubbed yourself raw, making sure to avoid worsening your injuries. The joy you got from simply washing your hair was unreal. You felt like singing, but unfortunately you didn't know any songs. 

You stepped out feeling refreshed. Pulling on your clothes left you in awe—you had on something you hadn't thought you would look so good in. You wore a white shirt with the thin golden outline of a 6, a black leather jacket just long enough to reach your waist, and black slightly-ripped jeans. 

“Wow,” you said to yourself, quietly admiring the sight in the mirror. You left your dress on the bathroom floor. When you opened the door to your bedroom, you spotted a dirty-blonde man you recognized from being part of NFlying. 

He smiled. “Hi, Y/N. I'm Hun.”

His smile seemed pretty genuine, but he looked as if he were afraid of you. You didn’t blame him, and wanted him to feel safe around you, so you returned a shy grin. Hopefully you didn’t look creepy, like Woosung. “Nice to meet you, I guess. What’re you doing here?”

He was by your bed, leaning against it. He shrugged. “Sungjin told me about your little ‘mission’ thing. I’m here to answer the questions I can.”

“Do you not know everything about N.Flying, or are you only supposed to talk about some things?”

“I’m only allowed to speak of a few things with you, and then I can take you to the other members. I think the next person on the agenda is Jaehyun. He can tell you more than I can, but he also can’t tell you everything.” Hun noticed that you had stayed by the bathroom door, so he gestured for you to come closer. 

You walked hesitantly over to him and took a seat on the edge of your bed. Hun twisted around from where he was standing so he could still see you. “I guess I’ll ask a question…”

“Yep.”

“Is Seunghyub the leader of N.Flying?”

“Yes. Actually, when we operated in Japan, I was the leader. When we came to Korea, that role switched to Seunghyub.”

“Why?”

“He was originally a very important person here, and I wasn’t confident enough to continue leading here, so I stepped down from my position to let him lead. He had more experience here.”

“What do you mean he was important?” you asked, shifting on the bed, trying to find a comfortable sitting position. You decided to stand, because you weren’t going to sit on the floor in front of Hun. He would most likely get angry at you for doing so.

“He is an actual descendant of the original Jopok boss,” he said simply, lacing his fingers together and fidgeting quietly. “He was raised to be the leader of his own family Mafia, but he was recruited into this team instead.”

“Oh. So, what does N.Flying do? I mean, now, since you have to stay at JYP.”

“Well,” he began, licking his lips, “N.Flying has a long history. If you want to know anything about what we did before, I think Jaehyun can tell you. But now… I guess our role is simply working with DAY6, mostly. We don’t have a lot of the things we used to have before, and we don’t own this place, so we aren’t authorized to do much activity. A lot of the time, we just do what we’re told.”

You nodded and scrunched your eyebrows. “So I know that Dowoon is an assassin for DAY6. Who is your assassin?”

Hun seemed a little surprised with the sudden topic change, but he went along with it. “Hweseung. Have you met him?”

“I don’t think so,” you said, thinking hard. “You should just tell me about all of your members, so I don’t have to ask a million times.”

Hun’s eyes lit up as he smiled. “Well, there’s our leader, Seunghyub.”

“I’ve met him.”

“Oh? What’d you think of him?”

You looked at Hun sideways, and then sat back on the bed because your legs were getting tired. “What do you want me to say? He was nice? That would be kind of weird, since this is the Mafia and all.”

Hun nodded sheepishly. “You’re right. But was he at least handsome? I heard that an important part of being a Mafia boss is looking good.”

That brought a grin to your face, and you giggled a little. “I guess he was. But, to be fair, all of the boys I’ve met so far have been really attractive. Anyway, please continue.”

“Jaehyun is apparently more attractive than Seunghyub, according to some recruits.” He returned the smile and nudged you softly. “But… does ‘the boys’ include me?”

“I suppose you’re kinda cute.”

His smile dropped into a frown. “I am not cute. Tell that to Jaehyun. So!” He cleared his throat to change the topic. “After Seunghyub, by order of importance, there’s Hweseung, who I already told you is our assassin and spy. He’s outstanding at his job, by the way. Next comes Jaehyun, the trainer. He can also go on missions, but he isn’t the go-to assassin. You’ve probably met him before.”

“I have.”

“Then there is Dongsung. He’s a guard, and is also a mission-worthy person, because of his fighting skills. But because he’s kind of new, he has a lower role than he might have. He operates in the dungeons most of the time. Jaehyun likes to make fun of him for being down there.”

“I’ve never met Dongsung, either, even though I’ve spent five years in the dungeon.”

“Be glad he never had a post outside of your cell. He’s really talkative and would annoy the heck out of you.” He let a laugh come out, and then coughed awkwardly. “Um, then there’s K- uh, me. The doctor. Don’t underestimate me, because I can still fight. I just prefer to pick up after the fight.”

“Hm. Okay.”

“Yeah. That’s N.Flying, for the most part. Anything else you want to ask me before we should probably sleep?”

“Sleep?”

“Yeah, it’s almost…” he paused to look at the blue and white watch on his wrist, “eleven at night. You need your rest, and you should start getting used to an actual bed.”

“You heard?”

He nodded. “Young K tells me a lot. We aren’t super close, but he likes to keep me updated on everything.” He sighed. “I’m a little forgotten. He’s the only one who says much to me other than Jaehyun.”

“You seem to talk about Jaehyun a lot.”

Hun nodded. “He’s my best friend!”

You suddenly felt sad -- a pit in your stomach grew. “I bet it’s great, having friends.”

Hun felt the energy in you disappear and he cocked his head, looking at you sadly. “You can’t expect to have best friends on your first day out of a dungeon. Especially after your multiple relapses.”

“I wish I didn’t have such an awful past. It’s unfair that I can’t be trusted just because of this stupid relapse business.”

Hun sighed and began to step toward the door. “I can’t trust you, but I hope you’ll trust me. I’ll be your friend.”

You perked up. “Really?”

“Yep. Now get some sleep, and don’t be on the floor.”

You sighed, already dreading going to sleep. You didn’t think you could sleep in that bed at all. “Okay…”

He exited, closing the door quietly behind him. You sat quietly in silence, not wanting to lay down. After a minute or two, a knock came at the door.

You jumped up, running to answer the door. There you saw two short women, one around your age, and the other a few years older. You were surprised to see people here other than the many men you had been surrounded by since being brought out of your cell.

“Hello!” the younger one said, smiling.

You blinked, still taking it in. “Hi.”

“I’m Eun-mi,” she continued, pushing her way past you to enter your room. “And this is my older sister, Eun-chae. We’re maids here at the DAY6 mansion.”

“Um, nice to meet you, then.”

Eun-mi twirled her long brown hair and smiled. Eun-chae pushed a set of clothes into your arms. She had short black hair that was slightly wavy. Her nervous smile flashed for a moment.

“Well, those are your pajamas, miss. We’ll come by tomorrow to get you set up in here, and we’ll give you more things,” Eun-mi said politely.

You didn’t really want them to speak so politely, because you hoped to become more acquainted with them; after all, they were the first girls you had seen. “How old are you, Eun-mi?”

“Huh? Me?” She looked shy suddenly and bowed her head. “Don’t ask me not to use honorifics, miss. I am your maid.”

You crossed your arms, suddenly more sure of yourself because of her submittance. “You two are the only girls I’ve met, and I don’t wish to have maids. I would much rather have friends. So please, don’t bother with being polite.”

She blinked, and then smiled. “Alright, I’d gladly be your friend. Right, unni?” she checked, turning to Eun-chae.

“Alright,” the older girl said quietly.

“Now,” Eun-mi started, “Put on the night clothes and go to bed. Good night!”

The two nodded and exited, smiles on their faces now. You felt better knowing that you had two new acquaintances that seemed easier to get along with than the boys. The men were part of the Mafia, so they wouldn’t be the best to simply hang out with. 

You walked to the bathroom to change and did so, finding things to brush your teeth and hair with along the way. You were ready to sleep, now, but you weren’t ready at all to climb into bed. Sighing, you pulled back the covers and tucked yourself in, thinking hard about anything other than how uncomfortable you were. 

Somehow, you fell asleep.

Part 9

[crescent-yoon]

Boyfriend ♡ Bang Chan (Originally posted on Wattpad)

I'm a motherfuckin' train wreck

I don't wanna be too much

But I don't wanna miss your touch

And you don't seem to give a fuck

 This is all so stupid. I can't believe that we just broke up. We weren't supposed to. What's even more annoying is that we'll still be seeing each other at Jisoo's party. I don't know if I wanna go anymore or not but I have to. I have to make sure no one takes her from me. I don't even know if either of us even care. I just miss her and I know that I don't want to.

I don't wanna keep you waiting

But I do just what I have to do

And I might not be the one for you

But you ain't about to have no boo, 'cause

   I didn't want to break up with Channie. I don't even remember doing so. One moment, we're arguing and the next, he's walking out the door and I'm too stubborn to stop him. Should I have? No, I shouldn't be thinking about him. Not right now. I'm putting myself first right now. We aren't a thing anymore. I still have to see him at Jisoo's party though. I was going to have fun with Chris but now I'm only going to make sure that he doesn't find someone else.

I know we be so complicated

But we be so smitten, it's crazy

I can't have what I want, but neither can you

  I walked into Jisoo's party to see several guests were already here. No sign of Y/N, though. Did Jisoo have to invite so many guys? I have to keep an eye on all of them. Sure, Y/N and I just broke up like two hours ago but I don't care. She's my girl and no one else can have her. Especially if I can't either.

You ain't my boyfriend (boyfriend)

And I ain't your girlfriend (girlfriend)

But you don't want me to see nobody else

And I don't want you to see nobody

   I walked into Jisoo's house only to spot Chris lounging on the sofa in the overly crowded living room. Ugh, why did there have to be so many girls here? I was about to just man up and talk to him but sadly I couldn't. Not because I was nervous, which I was, but because some girl had the freaking nerve to start talking to him. I guess I've just got to teach him a lesson.

But you ain't my boyfriend (boyfriend)

And I ain't your girlfriend (girlfriend)

But you don't want me to touch nobody else (nobody)

Baby, we ain't gotta tell nobody

  Some random girl started talking to me when I had finally saw Y/N. She was about to walk over to me, or so I thought. She ended up walking right past me and to Jeon Jungkook of all people. I couldn't pay attention to the girl who was talking to me. Sure, she was pretty but Y/N was stunning. I felt my blood boil as soon as I saw that Y/N was touching all over Jungkook, smiling and laughing cutely. I should be the one she's laughing for! I should be the one she's touching. Hell, no. She's gotta learn a lesson now.

Even though you ain't mine

I promise the way we fight

Make me honestly feel like we just in love

'Cause, baby, when push comes to shove

 I slyly looked over Jungkook's shoulder to see if Chris was looking and sure enough, he was. Boy, he sure looked mad. Being the nice ex-girlfriend I am, I gave him a petty smile and turned my attention back to Jungkook, still keeping an eye on Chris and that awfully gorgeous girl. There's no way she is getting my Chan. I kept slyly glancing with a fake smile plastered on my face to make Jungkook think I was paying attention to what he was saying when I had seen Chris move some of that girl's hair behind her ear. I knew I couldn't hide the pissed off look on my face now. I knew Chris was playing some stupid little mind trick as soon as he had the nerve to wink at me. I walked past Jungkook after saying goodbye and decided to move on to another guy as I felt Chris' eyes on me.

Damn, baby, I'm a train wreck, too (too)

I lose my mind when it comes to you

I take time with the ones I choose

And I don't want to smile if it ain't from you, yeah

 Y/N knew that I was in on her little game now. I felt relieved when I finally saw her walk away from Jungkook. I let out the breath I didn't know that I was holding and excused myself from that random girl I had no interest in. I had to see where Y/N went. I want her back and she's driving me crazy right now by being around all these guys when she no longer belongs to me. I finally saw her when it occurred to me that she hadn't left Jungkook because she came to her senses. No, she was just trying to make me jealous with another guy. And another freaking Jeon if that! Why is she choosing all the tall guys, hmm? Is she trying to say something? I'm more annoyed than the Jungkook thing because I know that she had a huge crush on Wonwoo before she met me. He also had a bit of a thing for her but I swooped in before anything could happen. Now that Y/N's single, he definitely has a solid chance with her and now I'm left with two choices. Take her back or attempt to make her jealous again. Damn, Y/N really knows how to piss me off.

I know we be so complicated

Lovin' you sometimes drive me crazy

'Cause I can't have what I want and neither can you (oh no)

 I actually had no intention of talking to Wonwoo. I was going to talk to cute, little Jihoon when I had bumped into the boy I crushed real hard on.

    "Oh, hi Won!" I genuinely smiled at him. "We haven't talked in such a long time ever since me and Chris started dating. How have you been?!"

     "Y/N?!" He smile excitedly as he bent down to give me a gigantic hug. "I've been good, yeah. I missed seeing your face. How are things with you and Bang?"

    "I wish you'd stop calling him that." I laughed, remembering how Wonwoo would always call Chris by last name. "We aren't in a relationship anymore, heh."

    "Oh, I'm sorry," Wonwoo squeezed my shoulder with a look of concern. "So, you're single just like me, ey?"

  "Oh no!" I raised my eyebrows in shock at him. "You and Wheein broke up?"

  "Yup, some stupid argument we had." He shrugged nonchalantly, as if he knew things were just fine as they were. That the Earth was still spinning. "Hey, come with me. I wanna ask you about something."

  He extended his hand and took me upstairs to one of the bedrooms. I didn't know if something was going to happen. I doubt it. But I did know that Chan was going to be furious.

You ain't my boyfriend (boyfriend)

And I ain't your girlfriend (girlfriend)

But you don't want me to see nobody else

And I don't want you to see nobody

But you ain't my boyfriend (boyfriend)

And I ain't your girlfriend (girlfriend)

But you don't want me to touch nobody else (nobody)

Baby, we ain't gotta tell nobody

      Why in the hell is Jeon Wonwoo taking my girl upstairs? I know that we were supposed to be making each other jealous but now it's gone too far. They'd just better not be doing what I think they are. I don't care anymore what anyone says. Y/N is mine and she's leaving at the end of the night with me whether she likes it or not. She belongs to me. If she wants to act like a child , then I'll treat her like one. I'm finding her and then we're leaving.

I wanna kiss you (yeah), don't wanna miss you (yeah)

But I can't be with you 'cause I got issues

Yeah, on the surface, seem like it's easy

Careful with words, but it's still hard to read me

  "How do I fix things between us, Y/N?" Wonwoo sighed as we sat down on the bed behind the closed door of Jisoo's bedroom. "I miss Wheein so badly. She's still single but she keeps flirting with all these guys and it's killing me. I can't help but to want to kiss her and tell those guys to shove off because she's mine but I can't."

   "Ah, I see." I smiled, reassuringly at him. This must be how Chris feels with what I have been doing all night myself. "She broke up with you?"

   After a nod of agreement from him I continued to give the advice that he may need the most in this situation. "Won, she doesn't want all those other guys."

     "Really?" Wonwoo perked up, wearing a mask of confusion on his face.

   "Yes!" I giggled, playfully punching his shoulder. "All she wants is your attention. I'll text Wheein to come here. I won't say that you are here as well but when she arrives, tell her how you really feel towards her and how much you love her."

        "Thanks, Y/N." Wonwoo smiled, giving me a hug after I texted Wheein to meet here.

     As Won and I were hugging, the door slammed open revealing an certain angry, blonde ex of mine. We both jumped because of how loud the impact of the wall and the door was. Maybe I should follow my advice now.

Stress high when the trust low (mmh)

Bad vibes, where'd the fun go? (Ohh)

Try to open up and love more (love more)

Try to open up and love more

  They were hugging but it didn't matter to me. The fact that they were in any form of physical contact pissed me off and I didn't care who or how tall he was. Before I could even process what I was doing, I had grabbed Wonwoo by the collar of his shirt and punched him as hard as I could in the jaw. I'll admit that it was a bit unfair to Y/N's feelings and to Wonwoo because I knew he wasn't going to fight back for Y/N's sake but so what? What about my feelings?!

  "Chris!" Y/N yelled at me angrily, rushing to help Wonwoo from the ground. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

    "We're leaving." I demand, grabbing her wrist and pulling her away from Wonwoo. "Now."

  "No." She harshly yanked her wrist out of my grip as Wheein slowly entered the room bending down to take care of Wonwoo herself. "Says who? You're not my boss."

       "Yes, I am and says me." I grab her wrist again, this time she wouldn't be able to escape my death grip. "Let's go."

   I dragged her behind me and we left the party, heading towards my black Benz.

If you were my boyfriend

And you were my girlfriend

I probably wouldn't see nobody else

But I can't guarantee that by myself

  "Stop it, Channie!" She yelled through gritted teeth, continuously pulling at her wrist. "You're hurting me!"

   "Yea well don't you think that I'm hurting too, Y/N." I yelled at her letting go of her as I let out my frustration. "You're hurting me, too Y/N! It hurts so fucking bad in my heart right now and it's all your fault, baby. It really is."

     "Chan-" She softly whispered before I interrupted her, more calmly and gently this time around.

   "I don't care what anyone else has to say anymore Bang Y/N. You're mine." I gently held her face in my hands as I spoke gently and carelessly. "There's no one else meant to be with you more than I am, babe."

You ain't my boyfriend (boyfriend)

And I ain't your girlfriend (girlfriend)

But you don't want me to see nobody else

And I don't want you to see nobody

But you ain't my boyfriend (boyfriend)

And I ain't your girlfriend (girlfriend, yeah)

But you don't want me to touch nobody else (nobody)

Baby, we ain't gotta tell nobody

      "What did you just call me, Chris?" She blinked at me with shock written across her face. "Did you just call me Bang Y/N? Did you just unintentionally give me your last name?"

    I looked at her for a moment before whispering, "Yea, I guess I did. I love you, Y/N and I want you for the rest of my life."

     "I love you, too Chris." She whispered with a soft smile before cupping my face in her hands as well, kissing me with the lips that I've been missing for the past few hours.

    Yea, she is my girl until the end of time.

I’m sad bc I want this lol

[oriigami]

free to fly

[For @todofammonth Day Two: Failure] [AO3 link] [Inspiration]

“Enji! Enji, please, stop! You’re hurting him!”

“Get out of here, woman, and stop your screeching. He’ll heal.”

“He’s only five years old!”

“He’ll have to learn pain some time. Best it happens early. It’ll teach him. Otherwise, he’ll be nothing but a failure.”

*

Dabi was smiling. It was a sight that always made Hawks’s skin crawl, the way the expression stretched and tugged on the staples buried in his flesh, exposing the flexing muscles where the tattered skin came apart.

It looked like the smile of a zombie, of someone who couldn’t possibly be alive looking like they did. Hawks wondered at it sometimes, how Dabi could still even be functioning with so much skin just gone. It was never something he liked to ponder for long. Every time he thought of how much pain Dabi had to be in, minute-to-minute and hour-to-hour, he cringed away.

There was never any joy in that smile. But sometimes, times like this, there was amusement, in an ugly, twisted sort of way. Hawks felt his blood run cold immediately, turning into paralyzing, icy slush in his veins.

Dabi was holding a phone. Hawks recognized it. It was one of his burners. Ha, burners, that was funny, because he was going to die soon, probably, by burning, judging by the look on Dabi’s face and how he was holding one of his burner phones.

What had happened? When had he gotten it? He’d been careful. He always smashed them when he was done with them, or else threw them in the ocean. But then, those old models could be so stupidly sturdy-

“‘Hawks,’” Dabi read aloud from the small blue screen, lowering his voice into a mocking parody. “‘The Commission expects an update soon from your infiltration of the League of Villains. They’re concerned that you don’t seem to be making any progress in ingratiating yourself to the group.’”

Dabi’s voice changed, pitching up into what Hawks recognized, through several layers of dull horror, as a squeaky mockery of him. “‘Look, I’ve told you, they’re suspicious. Can you blame them? I’m working on it. Shove off.’”

“‘I know that, but the Commission may not be so understanding. You have to understand this is risky for them, Hawks. They’re uncomfortable. It will help us both out if you make some progress soon. I’m trying to be your friend here.’”

“‘Yeah, yeah. I’ve got a meeting with my contact tonight. I’ll see what I can do.’”

Dabi snapped the phone shut with a suddenness that rang like a gunshot, icy blue eyes flicking up to meet Hawks’s for the first time since he’d arrived.

“They’re suspicious,” he repeated again, this time in his normal voice, low and snarling and furiously angry. Blue flames flickered in his clenched fist, and the reek of burning plastic filled the air. He opened his hand, and the phone fell to the ground, reduced to a useless, fused brick. “Can you blame them?”

Hawks swallowed. “Look, Dabi,” he started, and it was just as well he didn’t get any further than that, really, because he had no idea what he’d say next.

“I am looking,” Dabi said, in a voice flat and dangerous. “What I see is a fucking dumbass who thought he could play both sides for the fun of it, and who turned out to be just as full of shit as every other hero.”

Hawks blinked, momentarily caught off guard. “Are you mad- because I lied?” he asked, too surprised to remember to be terrified. There was something about the way those last few words had been fairly spitten out-

“Fucking obviously!” Dabi snapped. “Fucking pissed at myself for falling for your act, too. Here I was, thinking, man, if even the Number Two is having doubts, thinking for himself, maybe we’re really getting somewhere, but no, turns out you’re just a puppet for the bastards who run this fucked up society. When you said you had doubts, all that shit about not ever having a choice-”

Dabi shoved him hard, sending him stumbling backwards. He caught himself with a flap of his wings and flinched, braced himself for the rush of heat. It never came. When he opened his eyes, Dabi was looking down at him disdainfully, scarred and ruined face distorted even further by an expression of disgust.

“Have you ever even had a thought of your own?” Dabi hissed. “Or are you just fucking empty?”

Hawks’s face darkened. What the fuck, he was probably about to die anyways, right? “What the fuck would you know about it?” he snapped back. “All you do is murder people for a laugh. At least I help people. At least I actually accomplish something.”

Blue sparks rained down from Dabi’s fists with incongruous laziness, fizzling out on contact with the pavement. “Yeah, sure, you’ve accomplished so much, which is why you’re standing in a warehouse, alone, with a wanted villain, because your precious handlers hung you out to dry,” Dabi snarled. “You dumb fuck. Did you even volunteer for this, or did you just do it because it was what you’re told, like a good little hero?”

Dabi always, always, said ‘hero’ like it was a curse word, but there was special vitriol behind it this time.

“Don’t talk about me like I’m some, what, some soldier. That’s not what I am. That’s not who I am.”

Dabi raised an eyebrow. “You haven’t done much to dissuade me, feathers. From where I’m standing, you’re a brainless, gutless idiot who’s never done anything but what he’s told.”

He opened one hand, and a ball of blue fire ignited. Hawks had seen Dabi fight enough times to know he never held onto his fire for long. There were only seconds before he was ashes.

He was willing to bet the warehouse windows had been welded shut with blue fire ahead of time.

“It wasn’t all lies!” he shouted. Dabi drew up slightly, eyes narrowing in interest, a wordless ‘go on.’ Hawks’s chest was heaving, his heart pounding in his throat, and he had one chance to survive this, and.

And he was going to take it, and deal with the consequences if he was alive for them later.

He didn’t want to die here.

“Everything I told you about me, about where I came from and how I ended up a hero, that was true! And about how I feel about it, that was true too. So you know what, you don’t have a right to be pissed! It’s not like you’ve ever told me anything true about yourself!”

Dabi’s eyes narrowed dangerously, but Hawks couldn’t backtrack now. “Are you arguing I should have trusted you more?” he demanded, stomping on the melted phone to punctuate the point. It crunched against the concrete.

“I’m saying you can’t be mad at me when this was an unfair partnership from the start,” Hawks snapped back.

“You’re the one who came to me, if you’re forgetting. You’re the one who wanted shit from me! ‘Let me join the league! Let me meet your boss!’ I don’t owe you shit,” Dabi ground out. “You make me sick. You know, if all that shit about your sad backstory or whatever is true, then it’s even worse. Heroes did all that to you and you’re still an utter fucking sellout.”

Hawks opened his mouth. Closed it again.

All at once, he had no words.

Dabi watched him a moment, eyes narrowed, before snorting derisively. “Got nothing to say to that, huh? God, you’re pathetic. What are you even gonna do now?”

Hawks blinked, too surprised by the sudden question to lie. “To be honest, I mostly figured you were going to kill me next.”

“Yeah, probably,” Dabi said with a wave of his hand. “But, like, on the off chance I didn’t, where would that even leave you? Would your bastard bosses take you back, after you got caught on such a stupid mistake?”

He kicked the melted lump of phone, sending it skittering across the concrete. Hawks watched it, his throat dry. Dabi… wasn’t wrong. He wasn’t right, either, he didn’t know what the Commission would do, but… he wasn’t wrong. He could keep his Number Two spot, but…

Where had Dabi gotten that phone? It was what his mind kept lodging on, skipping like a scratched record. Had he really fished it out of the trash or the bay, or had someone given it to him? Hung you out to dry, he’d said. He couldn’t have meant… they wouldn’t have…

…but he wasn’t sure if they wouldn’t have, was he. Would they sacrifice him like that, if they thought he was being disappointing, not doing his job well enough, if he was too high-profile and unreliable?

Yeah. He thought they would. And as soon as he had the thought, he was lost. He knew, factually, they hadn't. There was no way the Commission could even set him up like that, but he knew they would, if they stood to gain. And as soon as he'd thought that, it was all he could think about, filling his head and scratching at the inside of his skull. What was he doing?

“That’s what I thought,” Dabi said, sounding satisfied. “Welcome to the trash heap, feathers. You’re a failure just like the rest of us now.” There was something old and bitter and personal in those words.

Dabi hooked his thumbs into his pockets, rocked back on his heels. Hawks didn’t know if he’d ever seen him look happier. It wasn’t a nice kind of happy, though. It was the ‘cat that ate the canary’ kind.

“So the way I see it, you’ve got three options,” Dabi continued. “I can snap my fingers and you can go up in flames here and now, or maybe you beat me to it and get me with your feathers after all, and then you can crawl back and beg forgiveness from your bastard bosses. Or…”

He grinned. It was an ugly look.

“...or you can join the rest of us failures in the dark, and get away from the Commission and the stress and all the fucking heroes, and finally have some real fun.”

Dabi was still grinning, and it was all teeth. He held out a scarred and mangled hand.

“What do you say?”

[casbeanwrites]

Repeatedly 

part 2 of the Dick Pick AU - read part 1 here

dean/cas, 14k, explicit - established relationship, age difference, past boss/employee relationship, angst with a happy ending, bottom dean/top cas, dean in lingerie, multiple prostate orgasms

Dean isn't worried. He isn't jealous. He just... Cas has been working a lot. And he misses him.

you can also read it on AO3

Dean wakes up to soft kisses on his neck and the oh, so missed feeling of strong arms around his shoulders. His boyfriend's scent surrounds him, familiar and reassuring, and he grins at the hello, love, murmured in his ear.

It's not the first time Dean tries to wait for Cas and ends up falling asleep at the dinner table. Or in front of the TV. Or on the balcony. Or naked in bed.

It's been happening a lot lately.

He tries to move, stretching his spine up from the awkward way he fell asleep, hunched over on his books. His neck hurts something awful and his textbook's page is sticked to his cheek. Great.

Cas helps him up and kisses him all the way to their bedroom, holding his weight up because Dean's legs are still mostly asleep.

"What time is it?" Dean groans as he stumbles out of his jeans and onto the bed.

"Two a.m."

It's that damn promotion that Cas has been chasing for months. He basically lives at the office now. Dean hates it.

"Who the hell keeps you in the office until two a.m.? Talking to China or sumthin?"

Castiel joins him under the covers in nothing but his boxers and presses himself against Dean's back, arms strong and secure around his waist.

"Japan, actually," Castiel yawns. He kisses the back of Dean's neck and nuzzles there.

"Sure it wasn't your assistant?"

Another thing that Dean hates about Cas' job. His young, cute, and perky new assistant. Who gets to spend a lot more time with Cas than Dean does these days.

"Alfie?" Cas mumbles, already falling asleep. "I sent him home at eight. I'm not a monster."

He yawns again and then hums contentedly. Dean says nothing. He can’t complain. Cas is here, his thighs pressed up against Dean's, stomach on the small of his back. He can feel him breathe and their fingers are laced over his chest. It's warm, it's safe. He knows he'll sleep well tonight.

Usually Castiel manages to slip out of the office around nine or ten p.m., but always brings a pile of paperwork with him, or has a thousand emails to reply to, or schedules to fill out, or reports to write, and Dean has to go to bed alone while Cas sits at the kitchen table in front of his laptop, the mug of tea Dean has made for him left untouched by his side.

Dean doesn't like to fall asleep alone, without the weight and warmth of Castiel against him, without his slow breaths on his skin. He doesn't like going to bed alone, and likes even less waking up alone, with Castiel already gone for his 6 o'clock meeting, the sheets cold and not even the memory of lips on his cheek.

Dean tries to be understanding. This is a big deal - a big promotion, a chance for Cas to get out of "middle management" and make his way up. Way up.

And maybe Dean should be more patient. Maybe it shouldn't bother him this much that he barely sees his boyfriend at all. After a year of living together and almost two years of dating, maybe he shouldn't miss him this much when he's not there. He should be able to tough it out for a couple of months while Cas gets his big break. It shouldn't feel like claws in his chest and a big twisted hole in his stomach every fucking night when he walks in their empty condo and eats dinner alone.

But it does. Cas is not there and Dean misses him.

He misses his warmth in their bed. He misses his smile at the dinner table, his fingers on Dean's waist while they cook (well, while he cooks and Cas attempts to help). He misses talking to him about his day, about stupid things that don't even matter except when he gets to tell Cas about them. He misses watching TV with Cas or reading next to him while Cas plays a dumb game on his phone, he misses Cas stroking his hair distractedly while Dean falls asleep on his lap. He misses lazy Sundays in bed, he misses late night showers and early mornings, he misses kisses that taste like coffee and toast. He misses missing the end of movies because Cas got bored and decided that distracting Dean would be so much more fun.

He misses sex that isn't rushed, or tired, or says I'm sorry I came home so late again. He misses even the stupidest things, like grocery shopping or buying toilet paper or going to the mall to buy ice cream in the middle of winter and letting Cas drag him to three different pet shops. He misses Cas smiling, and laughing, and not looking so goddamn exhausted all the time.

Because that's the worst thing - watching Castiel be miserable. Watching him drag himself out of bed every morning, grumble around his cup of coffee, huff as he puts on his tie. Feeling the tension in his shoulder when Dean tries to massage the knots out of them. He hates that "long" is the only answer he gets when he asks Cas how his day was. He hates that Cas apparently hates this as much as he does, even if he doesn't say it.

But Dean can’t complain, he can't add to how miserable Castiel already is. At least tonight Castiel is here, and that has to be enough.

Things hit a new rock bottom when Castiel announces that he's going away on a business trip. He'll be leaving town for three days - Friday night to Monday night - which is longer than they've been apart ever since they started dating. Since they've met, actually.

And it shouldn't be a big deal, because they're adults and they can handle being in two different cities for a few days, but Cas' mood goes from bad to abysmal in the weeks preceding the trip. He still keeps repeating that he doesn't have a choice, that he needs to go make his pitch to corporate if he wants a chance in the running.

Castiel sighs and grumbles about it for the tenth time tonight and Dean can't keep his mouth shut anymore. He takes out his earbud, stops the movie and turns towards Cas, sitting next to him on the couch.

"You don't have to."

"Do you think I have a choice?" Cas frowns, looking up from his paperwork. "If I don't go, I lose this promotion, Dean. I lose everything I've been working toward for fifteen years."

Dean gets up. He grabs his laptop and starts to walk away.

"Everything that's been making you miserable for fifteen years, but whatever."

"And exactly what else am I supposed to do? Be a VP for the rest of my life?"

Dean turns around when he reaches the door. Cas' cheeks have heated up, but he still looks so goddamn tired, his hair sticking out in tufts and his eyes bleak. He sees no issue to this, that's obvious. Now Dean just feels guilty for bringing it up.

"No. 'S not what I'm saying."

"Not everyone gets to do what they love," Cas calls out. "We can't all have that luxury."

Dean doesn't answer and goes to take a long, hot shower. The water burns his skin and it hurts. But not as much as Cas' words. He gets it - he's lucky to be studying in a field he's passionate about. But it's not like he didn't sacrifice a lot for it. He took a lot of his classes online, and worked full time on top of school even when he went on campus. He took jobs he wishes he hadn't.

And yeah. Now he lives in his boyfriend's luxurious condo and pays a rent that probably barely cover the hot water. But Cas was the one who asked him to move in. Cas was the one who insisted he quit his job at the firm to focus on school. Cas was the one who said: "I don't need your money, Dean. I need you. I want you." Cas was the one who hated the fact that they were apart so much and wanted Dean in his bed every night.

Dean drops on his back in said bed, rubs his eyes, and lets out a long sigh. Fighting with Cas is the worst. It doesn't happen often, but these past few months have been... Just, bad, on all accounts.

His gaze falls on the framed HR contract hanging on the wall above his head. Castiel's gift to him when he moved in. A reminder. A promise.

Cas didn't just want Dean in his bed. He wanted Dean in his life.

Now it doesn't seem to matter as much.

The floorboards creak. Castiel is standing in the doorframe. He looks so tired. And old. Their age gap has never been an obstacle between them, never been more than something they tease each other about from time to time, but tonight Cas really looks... he looks ancient, he looks hundred and hundred of years old, and as tired as if he'd spent millennia doing paperwork and wasn't even halfway through.

"I'm sorry," he says. The crinkles around his eyes droop down. His blue irises are dark, the light extinguished. "What I said was unfair. I-"

"It's fine, Cas."

"It's not. You work so hard and-"

"Just c'mere."

Dean can't stand him looking so fucking sad and sorry so he stretches out his arm and gestures until Cas takes his hand. He almost falls on top of Dean and Dean embraces him, hugging him tight, until he's tucked under his chin and their bodies are tangled.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you said that."

Cas kisses him. Dean sighs into it. It feels like it's been a million years, even though he kissed him yesterday. Probably. Or was it Monday? Fuck. He doesn't even know.

His fingers card through Cas’ hair, who sighs happily. It's one a.m. and Cas' hands venture under Dean's shirt.

"Cas," Dean murmurs. He kisses the bolt of his jaw. "You should sleep. You're exhausted."

"Don't wanna sleep. Wanna be with you."

He's already slurring though, eyes closed and face smushed between the pillow and Dean's neck.

"I'm right here. I ain't going anywhere."

Cas' body goes lax at those words, like it's all he needed to hear.

"I love you," Cas murmurs, right before he falls asleep.

Cas is more careful around him for the rest of the week, and Dean doesn't bring up the subject again.

And what would Dean push for anyway? It's not like he has any fucking idea of what Cas would rather be doing. He's never talked about it. Maybe Cas doesn't know himself. Maybe that's what's so scary. Dean knows things that Cas likes - long walks in the forest to search for mushrooms (that he doesn't know how to cook to save his life, but that he enjoys picking anyway), going into libraries and looking at books, going into pet shops and looking at guinea pigs and rabbits and fishes, going to the farmer's market and smelling all the homemade soaps.

Doing any kind of shopping with him is endless, because he loves to just contemplate, to look at everything, to talk to the vendors, he loves to explore every last corner of every store - "maybe they got something new, Dean."

"S'not like you ever buy anything," Dean complains, every time. The guy never even treats himself to the things he likes. Dean's the one who goes back to buy him that soap that smelled "so lovely", that mug he held for a really long time before setting it back down with a sigh. Cas loves to look at plants, and has a couple in his office that he prunes and cherishes, but with the time he spends at home lately, it'd be useless to get him some for here. But Dean would've loved to buy him that orchid he spent half an hour admiring in that little shop they went by a few months ago.

Dean feels like maybe he should know. He should know what Cas' dreams are. Or if he has any.

Cas is set to leave on Friday afternoon, but still needs to go to the office in the morning. As usual, he leaves before Dean even wakes up. Dean had asked Cas to make an exception this time, but Cas doesn't, and writes him an apology note instead.

You seemed too peaceful. I hate waking you up. Have a good weekend, I love you.

Dean will be in class all afternoon, which means that he'll miss Cas when he comes home to pack.

He hates this.

He hates that he didn't get a goodbye kiss, and he should love Cas for caring so much, for this tenderness - but he hates him for not wanting to kiss him enough to wake him up instead.

By some miracle, Dean's afternoon class gets cancelled. Giddy, he decides to call Cas' office. Maybe they can have dinner when he comes home to pack. Maybe they can have a little down time at home, take a nap together before Cas gets on a plane to the other side of the country.

Alfie answers the phone, chirpy as always.

“Mr Novak's office - Oh, hi Dean! Oh, I'm sorry, Mr Novak’s in a meeting.”

Dean grits his teeth at the faked sadness of Alfie's tone.

“Right. Of course he is.”

“I’m sure he’d rather be with you,” Alfie offers.

Dean closes his eyes. Sometimes, when Cas is at the office until ungodly hours, he wonders. He wonders if it's really China, or Japan, or meetings, or reports, or that fucking promotion, or if maybe - maybe it's the cute ass of his new assistant that keeps him there.

It's dumb and petty, given the fact that Cas has never given him a reason to doubt him. But he just can't help it. After all, Cas fell for his cute assistant once. Could happen again.

“It’s fine - just, uh, can you just tell him I got off early? So I'll be home when he comes to pack. He can call me if he wants to.”

"Oh." Something in Alfie's tone ticks Dean off. That boy always sounds like he's guilty of something. "Okay. Um, I'll make sure he calls you."

“Just tell him I'm home.”

The phone rings about an hour later.

“Hey.”

“Hello, Dean.”

“You didn’t have to call.”

“My meeting is over. Finally.”

Dean hears the deep, exhausted sigh on the other end of the line. For the hundredth time, he wonders why Cas is working so hard for that promotion. If he does get to higher management, meetings like this are all he’s going to be doing. All day, every day. And he knows it.

“Right. Well, my class this afternoon got cancelled. I'm home, so, when you come to pack, maybe we could grab dinner or-"

"Oh." The silence that follows is like a blog to Dean's gut. "I - I'm already packed. My suitcase is here."

"You're not coming back?"

Dean only realizes he had hope when it all comes crashing down at his feet.

"I'm sorry. I won't have time, we're leaving earlier than I originally thought. I didn't think it mattered since you'd be in class..."

"Right."

Dean breathes out through his nose. Closes his eyes.

"D'you have any time until you leave? I could come by."

"I'm afraid I'm buried in paperwork."

Or buried in your assistant's ass.

"Okay. Well, uh. Have a good trip, then."

Dean hears Cas saying something through the speaker as he hangs up. It's rude, he knows. He should have said more - I love you, I'll miss you . But he couldn't. And it's not because he started crying. His eyes are wet and his throat is closed up because he's allergic to phone calls. That's all.

Cas had warned Dean that he was going to be busy this weekend. That he'd be in and out of meetings and conferences, preparing for his pitch, making contacts and probably spending his slim free time catching up on sleep.

Still, Dean grows increasingly frustrated on Friday night and Saturday morning as Castiel takes hours to respond to his texts with short, monosyllabic answers. Cas told him not to do the thing they usually do because he'd constantly be surrounded by colleagues, and accidentally opening dick pics during a meeting would definitely cost him the promotion. So he could at least reward Dean's efforts at PG texting by something else besides fine , ;) , or you too.

On Saturday night, Dean decides that he's done sulking around. The bed is cold, the house is empty. And there's no else that Dean really wants to talk to, but obviously Cas has better things to do. More important things to do. Work things, colleague things. Naughty skype calls to his assistant, who the fuck knows. Whatever it is, it matters more than answering Dean's texts, that's obvious.

It's been a while since Dean has gone out. "Going out" may be a bit much for just dinner with his brother and Jessica, but it's something, at least, it's getting him out of the condo where the scent of their empty home stifles him. Dean turns off his phone to avoid the temptation of checking for notifications.

He has a life too. The chair next to his at the dinner table feels empty, but since when has he become the kind of guy who needs someone else to feel complete? He doesn't even know when it happened.

When Sam suggests going out for drinks with some of his college friends, Dean says yes. He doesn't actually want to but it beats going home alone. He loves his brother to death, but his friends are young, and loud, and Dean doesn't know them or care to. He just needs to do something besides think about the fact that Cas is probably too busy to think about him.

Dean collapses on the bed at two a.m., not drunk enough, mildly sobered by a tall glass of water.

He turns his phone back on.

He has five missed calls.

From Cas.

"Hello?"

Cas' voice is slurred with sleep. Shit. Dean didn't think about anything before pressing the call button, he just -

"Cas? You okay?"

"Yes. I'm fine." He hears shuffling, a sigh, a groan. "What's going on?"

"You - you called me five times."

"Oh. Yes. I was trying to catch you before you went to bed. Didn't you get my messages?"

"Oh. Um. No." Dean rubs his face with his fingers. Presses them into his eyes. "Sorry. I was out with Sam, my phone was off," Dean attempts to explain, an excuse for waking up his boyfriend at two a.m. when he probably has to be awake again in a few hours to do very boring and important things.

"That's good," Castiel says. "I'm glad you had some fun. How is Sam?"

"He's fine, I - shit. 'M sorry I woke you."

Dean should have undressed. His clothes stick to his skin, heavy, uncomfortable. He's not really drunk anymore, he drank slowly and without a point, not really keeping up with the others. The result is a not-quite headache and just... heaviness. Tiredness.

"I'll let you sleep," he mumbles, because Cas is probably even more exhausted than he is.

"No, please. It's fine," Cas says, and somehow it really seems to be. His voice sounds more upbeat, Dean can almost hear the smile through it. "It's really good to hear your voice."

"Yeah?"

"Yes."

Warmth spreads through Dean's chest and he breathes a little better.

"I feel like we've been apart forever already."

"Yeah," Dean murmurs. "I know."

He puts the phone on speaker and wiggles out of his jeans, and then slides under the covers with a sigh. That's much better. All he's missing is Cas, and the way his arm curls around Dean's chest, the weight of his thighs between his own.

"I didn't remember how lonely and cold it is to fall asleep alone."

"Yeah," Dean scoffs. "I know."

He didn't mean for it to sound like that - like a reproach. But it does, a little bit.

"I'm sorry," Castiel says. "I-"

"I didn't mean..." Dean inhales deeply.

Maybe he did. Maybe he did mean it like that.

"Hopefully, it will be over soon."

Dean's very tired. And an idiot. And he's in love, and he's lonely, and he has always wanted more, more than what he deserves, more than what's given. More than he should ever get.

"What will, Cas? Meetings that run long, video-calls to Japan until midnight, business trips to the other side of the country? That - if you get this promotion, that's all you'll be doing. Forever."

All that Dean can hear is you're such an asshole on a loop in his mind.

"There will be a very nice salary compensation," Cas explains, slowly. "And after your diploma, we could relocate, anywhere you'd like, anywhere you get a job. With this promotion I can move easily, corporate has offices all over the country. This opens many so doors for us. I could buy us a house, and you wouldn't have to worry about anything-"

"Buy us a house?" Dean's voice comes out as a croak. "We don't - why the Hell do we need a house?"

"Because you want one," Cas replies like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"I - when did I - I never asked for a house!"

"When we took that walk down to the river bank a few months ago, we saw those gorgeous houses and we stopped and you... You said you'd always dreamed of a victorian house with a tower for a reading nook."

"I - Cas -"

"And whenever we drive to the farmer's market, you always look at the houses on Peach Lane. The tall yellow one with the white window shutters. And the blue one with the balcony with all the flowers. I see how you look at them. We don't even have a yard. Our balcony is too small for a table. We could have a back porch, so you could hang a hammock and read during the summer, and we could grow some vegetables in the garden."

Dean is speechless.

"Cas, I never asked you to buy me a fucking house."

Dean can hear Castiel frown on the other end of the line.

"I know. I-"

"It was just talks. Dreams. One day, I - maybe, but not now. And not - I didn't mean - I never meant-"

I never meant buy me a fucking house, idiot.

"I just want you to have everything you need. Everything you want."

"I do. For fuck's sake, I already do, Cas."

All that Dean can hear is Cas breathing.

"Look," Dean says, because Cas isn't saying a damn word. "If this is really what you want - if this job is what's gonna make you happy, if you - if you want this, then do it. Go get 'em, and all that. And I promise I'm-"

Dean closes his eyes. He can do this. If the asshole can plan his whole life around buying Dean a house, because he thought it was his dream, then Dean can support him no matter what.

"I'm not gonna sulk anymore. And I'm not gonna complain about the hours and the business trips and the paperwork and- I promise, I'll be good. I'm with you all the way, I-"

"Dean, you've been extraordinary the past few months. You've endured me in a state that I can't even begin to apologize for."

"Don't. Just promise me you're doing this for yourself, alright? 'Cause you deserve to be happy. I just - I want you to be happy. And I don't need a freaking house."

"Alright."

Dean’s whole body sags in relief.

"Do you really think we can do this?" Cas asks after a short silence. "If I take this promotion, do you really - think we can make it work?"

"Yeah," Dean lies. "We'll make it work. I'll fly out to surprise you in your hotel rooms with the sluttiest underwear. I'll bring you dinner at work and we'll eat at your desk and you'll complain that we're making a mess." Dean hears Cas let out a little scoff. "I'll sneak into your office and give you blowjobs during conference calls and I'll be your really hot date to all those super elite black tie things business people go to. And you'll fuck me in the bathroom and I'll lose my bowtie and everyone'll know, but we won't care. How's that sound?"

Cas laughs. It's deep and warm, unretained, and it's been a long time since Dean's heard that noise.

"We'll make it work," he repeats, and he's starting to believe it himself.

Cas falls silent again, but Dean can picture him, smiling to himself.

"And what if I don't take it?"

"Cas, as long as you do what you wanna do, and as long as it makes you happy, we'll be fine."

"Okay."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. Thank you, Dean."

Dean would give anything to see him right now. To touch him, run his fingers through Cas' hair, kiss the worried lines on his forehead. Feel him shiver as he'd let himself drift to sleep.

"I love you," Cas murmurs. "It doesn't feel like quite enough right now, but I guess it'll have to do."

"Good enough. I love you too."

Dean hears shuffling - probably Cas moving around in his bed. Dean does the same, getting comfortable.

"Time to sleep, maybe?" Dean yawns. "You gotta be getting up early tomorrow."

"Yes. What are you wearing right now?"

"Jesus, Cas, you serious?"

"Very."

Dean chuckles, but indulges him anyway.

"Hey, babe," Dean smiles, phone tucked against his shoulder.

He's been feeling giddy all morning, despite the fact that Cas is still not going to be home for two days. A weight has been lifted off his shoulders since their conversation last night and he woke up this morning without even the whiff of a headache.

He doesn't know what Cas plans to do about the promotion but it doesn't matter. For the first time in months, Dean feels like things are going be okay.

"What are you doing today?" Castiel asks. His voice is pleasant, teasing almost - he has something in mind, obviously.

"Nothing much. Might try 'n write a little. You? Lots of meetings?"

"I was actually thinking about coming home early. Catching a flight this afternoon."

Dean's heart leaps in his chest. He presses the phone against his ear. "Yeah? What about your pitch tomorrow?"

"I moved some things around."

Dean bites his lip to refrain the wide smile splitting his face in half. "That means I'll be seeing you today?"

"Yes. In just a few hours, if I play my cards right."

"Awesome." That's an understatement. Dean's heart is fluttering wildly in his chest. "Can't wait."

The bedroom isn't cold, per se, but Dean's been laying on the bed wearing nothing but very delicate panties, garters, thigh-highs and a lacy bra for hours, and he's starting to shiver.

Cas is late. His plane was supposed to have landed hours ago.

It’s getting dark out. Dean could move under the covers or put on a hoodie, but it would feel like giving up. He had this planned out. Cas was supposed to come home to this perfect surprise to end this shitty couple of months they've been having, but now... it's getting ruined. Again.

He's texted Cas a few times, but Cas hasn't answered. Dean even called, once. Castiel's phone is off. Either he's still on the plane, or he ran out of battery.

Or he turned off his phone. On purpose.

Dean shouldn’t be mad. Has no reason to. Cas moved everything around on his big important weekend to come back earlier, for him. For them.

He was delayed, that’s all. Maybe a meeting ran long. Maybe he decided that he needed to stay a little longer after all and didn’t have time to text Dean. It’s probably just something at the airport, and Dean’s an idiot for doubting him.

Cas loves him. He loves him, he's proved it to him over and over and over and Dean’s an idiot for laying in this bed in frilly, overpriced lingerie and getting cold but not wanting to put on something in case Cas miraculously gets here.

It’s just, if Cas was delayed at the airport, he would find a way to call, right? Or text.

And if he did push back his flight because of a meeting, he should have told him. Should have known that Dean would be waiting. Unless he didn't have time, unless he didn't think-

Or unless he's somewhere else, right now. In a motel somewhere between here and the airport, with the cute perky little assistant he missed so much after so many days apart...

Cas isn’t fucking his assistant. Well, he did. He used to. When Dean was the assistant. But he's not anymore. That’s stupid. That’s Dean’s stupid brain working on not enough sleep and three months of derailment.

It’s just that Dean would've thought he'd have texted by now, that’s all.

Dean startles out his half-sleep when the bedroom door slowly creaks open.

“Dean?”

His voice. Low rumble, hushed, testing whether or not he’s asleep.

"Hey. C'mon in."

“I am so sorry," Castiel says as his socked feet pad on the wooden floor. "We landed an hour late because of the weather, then it took two more hours before we could get out of the plane because other flights had gotten delayed, and then going through security took another hour and my phone was dead and I forgot my charger at the hotel and - oh.”

Dean stirs, opening his eyes to find his boyfriend at the foot of the bed, haloed by the yellow light of the hallway. His hair is sticking out like a paintbrush and his suit is wrinkled and rumpled, like he's been on a plane for - well, hours. He looks exhausted, but different than when he left. Softer around the edges.

His blue eyes widen as he takes in the sight of Dean sprawled out on their bed, the magenta lace clinging to his skin like it was made for it.

“Oh,” he breathes out again.

“Hey, Cas.”

Dean rolls onto his stomach, hugging the pillow under his head and grinding his hips once, lazily, just to accentuate the way the lace curves around his ass and how fucking nice garters look around his thighs.

“Oh. I - I didn’t think you were… waiting for me.”

‘Course I fucking was, Dean thinks. Instead, he shrugs. He’s too happy to see Cas, too relieved that he’s finally here, to start another squabble.

“Wasn’t. Just chillin’”

He hears a ruffle of fabric, a blazer falling to the floor.

“Can I…?”

“Yeah, get in here, c’mon.”

Dean tries not to shiver when Castiel’s body covers his own, firm, warm, here , finally. Cas' lips find the bend of his shoulder, pressing a long kiss there, his hands splay out and roam over the expense of skin underneath him.

“Dean…”

Dean hums, baring his neck for Castiel's teeth, pressing up against the taunt body above him, enjoying the stiffness he can already feel growing against his ass. Castiel smells like hotel soap and too much deodorant, but days away still haven’t washed off his scent of vanilla and pomegranate shampoo. It’s Cas, and he’s back, pushing Dean into the mattress as he slowly grinds down on him. His mouth is leaving sloppy, wet kisses on a path from one shoulder to another, and his hands part Dean’s thighs to settle between them, fingers hooking under the hem of his panties as they make their way up.

“Christ, Dean,” Cas growls. His teeth catch on the lobe of his ear.

“Missed me?”

Castiel stops moving. His nose brushes on the back of Dean’s neck. His lips too. He moves forward, until he can press warm, deliberate kisses on Dean’s cheeks, tender and soft, as his fingers find Dean’s hands. He squeezes tight.

“Yes. Very much so.”

Dean laughs a little bit, silently, fingers grazing through Cas’ hair. He’s here. He’s back. And he missed him.

“Looks like you missed me too, giving the welcome I’m getting.”

Cas gently coaxes Dean to turn around with firm hands on his hips, and Dean can’t but go willingly.

His heart skips a beat when their eyes meet, when he falls into the swirl of ocean blue above him. It's sparkling with something Dean hasn't seen in a while. Joy. He wraps his arms around Cas' neck and hooks his legs around his waist, brings him down for a long-awaited kiss.

It's a little sad, maybe, a little I'm sorry and I've missed you as Cas presses into Dean's lips with long, warm, insistent touches. But it's happy, too. It's I'm so glad you're here as Dean playfully nibbles on Cas' lower lip, as he opens up and meets Cas' tongue, hesitant but eager. It's welcome home as they both moan into it, deepening the kiss and panting into each other's mouth.

“Just thought you’d like the surprise,” Dean finally says when they pull apart, both out of breath.

He begins unbuttoning Cas’ shirt, his relief growing with every button being pushed out of its hole. Cas mouth at his throat, nibbling and suckling, leaving behind a red trail that will soon fade. Dean feels like he can’t pull at Cas’ shirt fast enough, can’t push it past his shoulders and off of him quickly enough.

He breathes in relief when he can palm at the warm muscles of Cas’ shoulders, slide his hands down the curve of his spine,  settle down on the small of his back.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, just. Get naked.”

“I will,” Cas smiles, white and a little blinding, entirely breathtaking. “I’m savouring.”

Dean whimpers as Cas’ tongue trails down his chest, leaving his wet skin too cool for the air around it. He arches when Cas latches on his right nipple, sucking it into his mouth through the lace. He wets the fabric, rubs his lips over and over on the hardening flesh. Dean grabs a fistful of Cas’ hair, bucks, whines. Cas bites through it and Dean almost loses it. His nails dig into the meat of Cas' shoulder, he grinds up, his cock leaking, still trapped in his panties.

Castiel moves to the left, giving the same treatment to his other nipple, until Dean's legs shake and he's desperately rubbing his cock on Cas' thigh.

"Babe, babe, c'mon, c'mon, please."

"You look so good in lace."

Cas' voice is wrecked with arousal and Dean groans. Both of his nipples are dark, stiff. Matching the ensemble.

Cas' cheeks are pink, too, his mouth swollen and flushed. His eyes are limpid, like a pool on a hot summer day.

He's gorgeous. He kisses Dean's skin reverently.

Dean wants to say something. I'm sorry. I love you. I love you so much that I-

But Castiel's palm presses down on his cock, giving him some much needed friction, and he moans instead. Cas strokes him through the satiny fabric and the wet spot grows twice as big.

"Babe, please, c'mon."

Dean tugs at Castiel's belt, attempts to slip it of out its loop. But Castiel's kisses on his neck, on his cheeks, on his mouth, the nibbles on his jaw, the fucking hickey right below his ear, are making it hard to focus.

The best he can do is unzip him and sink his hand down, awkwardly trying to wrap around his length. Cas' cock brushes against his wrist, smears precum on his skin. He's so hard but his skin is soft, and Dean knows what he tastes like, what he feels like, in his mouth, in his ass, against his stomach or between his thighs.

Cas is hard and it's for him, just for him, just for Dean - because of Dean. This is his . Cas’ palm on his cheeks, thumb on his jaw, tilting his head up to kiss up and down his neck like he’s so hungry for it. For him. Dean nuzzles into the soft locks of Cas' hair and inhales the perfume of his conditioner, pomegranate and vanilla, the shampoo he knows because he sees it every day in the shower. Their shower, their home, their life. This is his.

Dean doesn’t know what’s gotten into him. Why, when Cas kisses him again, Dean grabs him by the back of the neck and kisses back hard, surging up to meet him. He bites into Cas' lower lip, tugs, soothes with his tongue before licking into his mouth. He meets Cas hungry and demanding, leaving them both out of breath with swollen lips.

“Baby,” Cas growls against his mouth. His chest heaves, his fingers dig in Dean’s skin, pulling, gripping. His cock smears in Dean’s hand.

His teeth sink in Dean’s shoulders, his hands part Dean’s thighs around his waist. He moves down Dean’s body, mouth ghosting around the shape of his cock, wetting the tented fabric.

“Cas.” Dean’s nails graze his skin, pull at his hair. "Please."

"So beautiful," Cas pants. His lips are moving right above the head of Dean's cock, brushing on the lace. Dean makes a wanton sound and his hips would stutter if both of Cas' hands weren't pining him down to the mattress. "Looks so good on you, Dean. I can't wait to watch you ruin them."

Dean doesn't want to pause, but he does anyway.

"They were kinda expensive. Maybe we should try to be careful. So I can wear them again?"

Cas' eyes turn a shade darker. He leans over, trailing kisses up from Dean's navel to his sternum.

"No," he says when he finally meets Dean's gaze again. There's a challenge in his eyes. "I want to see them ruined by your pleasure. I want them soaking in it."

Dean whimpers. Fuck. Cas was always awesome at dirty talk - and fuck he's got the voice designed for it - but he keeps one-upping himself.

"I'll buy you a new set," Cas promises, kissing the uncertainty off Dean’s lips. Then he kisses his cheek, his jaw, his temple. "I'll buy you one for each day of the week. You deserve nothing less."

Dean's skin flushes under the attention. Cas' weight is warm on his cock, and his words are even warmer in his ears.

"You know," Cas murmurs, pensively, pulling back a little. "If I'd taken that promotion, I could have bought you a set of expensive, silk lingerie for every single day of the year."

Dean frowns.

"If?"

Cas looks down at him, uncertain. "I didn't... move things around. I just left. I'm not pitching for the promotion."

Dean chews his lower lip and tries not to smile too wide. He doesn't want to look too pleased.

"Okay," he murmurs. "How d'you feel?"

Cas tilts his head to the side, like he does when he ponders. He considers Dean, considers the question, as if he hadn't even thought about it before.

"Good, I think."

Dean's fingers caress the hair on the nape of his neck. "Good."

Cas turns a little, catches his wrist with his hand. Then kisses each finger, one by one. "Yes. good."

This time the kiss on Dean's lips is everything sweet. So is the kiss much further down, when Cas parts his legs and moves the slip of silk to the side. Then it's everything wet and warm and soft, and Dean surrenders. He always does, with Cas.

"Do you want-?"

"Yes, please."

The lube is uncapped, squeezed onto Castiel's fingers.

The way he looks at Dean - the reverence, the adoration. How could Dean ever doubt him?

Dean stifles his moan into the pillow as Cas pushes a finger inside. He cants his hips, needy, already wanting more than what is given. But who can blame him, when his boyfriend's got the most gorgeous hands in the world, sinful fingers that render him weak and helpless and aching with every single touch? Nothing is ever enough.

Cas' mouth ghosts over his cock again. His breath wets the fabric. He sucks at the taste Dean's leaked.

"Fuck, Cas-"

"More?"

Dean nods frantically. He pushes back against both fingers, rolls his hips to get them deeper. He barely remembers the last time Castiel touched him. Really touched him.

Quick blowjobs in the shower on the night before he left. Barely feels like it counts. They both just wanted to go to sleep.

The sound Castiel lets out vibrates against Dean's pelvis, warm gush of hair wrapping around his cock. His fingers slip in out and easily, in a quick, wet sound, as Dean slams back against them.

"P-please, Cas."

Dean's eyes roll back at the stretch of three.

He has dildos, he has toys. Brought them over when he moved in. They use them sometimes. Dean uses them on his own also. But recently, it just felt wrong.

It only reminded him that Cas wasn't there, that Cas was choosing not to be there. Dean feels selfish now, as his boyfriend lays adoring kisses on his skin, as he grips his thighs and encourages him to move, murmuring endless praises as Dean rocks his hips back against the fingers creating such a bliss inside of him.

Dean was selfish, to think he had to be the number one priority in Cas' life. That Cas didn't love him if he wasn't thinking about him constantly, if he had other things on his mind, other goals, other - that just because he put work first, for a few months, it meant that-

Dean's breath hitches. His eyes water. Fuck. Fuck.

"Cas-"

"Dean?"

Cas' fingers slip out and he wipes them on the sheets. He moves up, his body covers Dean's, cradles him.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah-"

Dean cups Cas' cheek, rubs his palm on the stubble Cas didn't shave this morning. Cas' lips press on his eyelids, on his cheeks, on the corner of his mouth. Dean helps him out of his pants, finally.

He shouldn't be shaking like this. Cas grabs his hand, squeezes it between his fingers. brings it to his mouth. Frowns.

"Dean?"

Dean tucks his head into the warm, soft skin where Cas' neck meets his shoulder.

"'m okay."

"Do you want to stop?"

"No-" Dean wraps his palm around Cas' neck and strokes. Somehow that relaxes him, to have him like this. Their ankles hook around each others, chests and stomachs pressed warm.

"What is it?"

It takes Dean a moment, a moment of Cas' hand moving up and down his spine, gently catching at the bristle hair behind his neck. A moment to push past the swelling in his throat.

"Did you not get the promotion because of me? Is it my fault?"

"Your fault?" Cas creases his eyes. Tilts his head. His lips find Dean's neck while he ponders his answer. "How could it be your fault?"

"'Cause I didn't want you to take it."

"That's not what you told me. Quite the opposite, actually." He pulls back a little, is thumb brushes on Dean's lower lip. He considers him with curiosity. "You told me that I should, if I wanted to."

"Yeah but - you didn't. You were going to, and we talked, and then you didn't."

"Dean." Cas smiles, of a little, secret smile, like he understands things Dean doesn't. "The only reason I was after that promotion was because I thought it was what I ought to do. I thought that.it was expected of me. By me, and by... you. Even though I shouldn't have, because we'd never talked about it, and obviously you didn't. But I thought you might want... certain things, one day, and that that promotion was the only sure way of giving those to you. Of assuring, in a certain way, a selfish way, I suppose, that you might be tempted to stay."

Dean's mouth falls open.

Dozens of emotions battle through him - surprise, disbelief, hurt, anger, a bubbly kind of laughter.  Does Cas - did Cas - did he think-? Dean struggles a little out of Castiel's embrace.

"Cas, do you think I'm a gold digger?"

Cas' cheeks turn pink. Very pink.

"No. Not - I know you have feelings for me. I know you love me," Cas adds quickly as Dean lets out a huff of indignation. "But I - when you moved in, to this bigger home, and quit working full time to focus on school, and could afford to actually let yourself relax and enjoy your life, I saw... I saw a change in you. You seemed..." Cas smiles, thoughtful, soft. "-happier. And I want to make you happy like that, always. I want to provide for you so that you can do what truly makes you happiest in life. And I wanted that promotion because I wanted to know that I'd always be able to give you everything you'd need."

"You're such an idiot."

The words come out of Dean's mouth before he can think to stop them.

"Excuse me?"

Well, too late now. Cas deserves to know anyway.

"It was you."

Castiel’s face creases in confusion.

"The reason I was so damn happy when we moved in. The reason I've been so fucking happy since. It was you, Cas, it was being with you, being around you. Being in love with you. I've never been this fucking happy in my entire life but it's not because of your goddamn condo or your goddamn money. Idiot. It's you."

"Oh."

Dean moves into Castiel's arms again, kissing the frown off his lips. "You're such an idiot," he mumbles for the third time. "Y'know, Kant's never been the one making me sing and dance during breakfast. Think my face hurts from smiling because of fucking Rousseau, Cas? Think he's the one giving me all the butterflies?"

"I-" Cas' face flushes red. He hides in the pillow, his hand keeping Dean pressed against him. "I suppose I never considered that I was..."

Dean searches for Castiel's eyes. "Enough?"

Cas looks down. "Yes."

"Jesus, Cas. You're..."

You're the love of my life.

"You're really an idiot."

Cas huffs and rolls his eyes. Dean's not good at this. Not good at emotions in the first place, not good at talking about this. He's never done this before. And he's the one who's freaking out, here. He's the one who is in way over his head, who's in love with a guy who's so fucking beyond his station that obviously, obviously at some point he's gonna realize it.

This wasn't supposed to happen. But then again, given the way their relationship started, he really shouldn't wonder about Cas surprising him anymore.

Cas, who's smiling and more beautiful than anything Dean's ever seen. Some heat has fallen, but the slow way Castiel's fingers are running on Dean's skin is awakening it again. The caress of his lips is deliberate. Cas looks so happy, Dean thinks, as he runs a hand through his hair, and arches a little bit against him. He doesn't remember the last time Cas looked like this, the last time he smiled like this, with those little wrinkles around his eyes and the dimples in his cheeks. The smile that makes his eyes gleam in the darkness like jewels in the light.

How could you think you weren't enough, Dean wants to scream. You're everything.

All it takes for Dean to get hard again is Castiel's body moving above him, his mouth on his neck, fingers grazing through his hair. He hears the faster, deeper breaths Castiel takes as their cocks line up, rubbing together a few times. He feels Cas' chest heave underneath his fingers. Then he moves, parting Dean's legs again.

"I'm sorry for doubting you," Cas murmurs as he hooks his fingers on the lace again to push it out of the way.

He slides his cock between Dean's cheeks, where it catches again and again on his hole. Dean whines, squirms. His mind is fuzzy, his body clenches around the emptiness.

"Cas- c'mon."

"I should have never doubted your love for me. Or your motivations."

"'s fin- ah, please, just -" Dean arches, lets out a breathy moan of relief when Cas' cock finally fills him up. He was was stretched a little too quickly and it burns in the most delicious way. "Fuck."

"Sometimes I'm just..." Cas bottoms down and Dean's mind spins around it. "Scared that I'm not enough for you."

Cas' mouth latches on his neck, stomach resting hot on his lace-clad dick.

"That's fucking ironic," Dean mumbles, a little dizzy with relief and pleasure, as Cas begins moving with slow thrusts.

It feels so good, so fucking good to finally get this - not just Cas inside of him, but Cas touching him, kissing him, taking care of him in that slow, sweet way he does sometimes, that makes Dean want to cry. His thighs open loosely around Cas' waist, his fingers slip on the sweaty skin of Cas back.

"Ironic?"

Dean can hear the beginning of a strain in Cas’ voice, possibly coming from the way Dean clenches around him every time he thrusts in deeper.

"Y-yeah."

Dean doesn't elaborate. He makes a keening sound and grips tighter into Cas' shoulders, fucking his hips back against him, mouth slack at the bend of his neck. Fuck, feels so good. So fucking good. To be here, with him, again. His love, again.

"Why?"

Dean doesn't answer. He shouldn't have said anything. He doesn't know why he did, how come that thought escaped his lips. He tries kissing Cas to distract him but it doesn't work for long, and suddenly Castiel stops moving, pulling back to look him in the eyes. He's frowning.

"Tell me."

Dean rolls his eyes and his hips, looking for a friction that isn't there anymore.

"C'mon, Cas-"

"Finish your thought. Please."

"'Cause, you're-" Jesus, now it's Dean who's flushed red from head to toe. He bites into his lip. Avoids Cas' inquiring gaze. He really should've kept his mouth shut, but Cas' cock doesn't just shove open his ass, apparently. "You're everything to me," he finally mumbles. Right there against the shell of Castiel's hear, a secret he's held in too long. Maybe Cas won't understand what it means, exactly. What Dean means when he says those words. "And I'm - I'm your fucking midlife crisis. So it's really fucking ironic that you - that you're scared you're not enough for me, or whatever."

Dean tries to brush it off, but it's hard with Cas looking at him like that, with his eyes so dark like freezing oceans.

He tries to move again, but Castiel won't budge. He's a bit shorter than Dean but he's larger and heavier, and he's got him pinned down.

"Cas-"

"You think you're my midlife crisis?"

Dean tries to shrug. He knows that Cas loves him, he just-

"Dean. The circumstances in which we met were... maybe a bit cliché, I'll grant you, but I'm pretty sure I'd have to be at least forty for this to qualify as a midlife crisis."

"Third of a life crisis, then," Dean attempts. He gives Cas a smile, tries to lighten the mood.

"That's not a thing."

Dean rolls his eyes. Castiel's frown turns into a smile and leans over to kiss Dean, very softly. His hips move again, waking up sensations inside of Dean that he'd almost forgotten. Oh, right, they were doing that.

"How about third of a life bliss?"

Dean huffs, both because of that statement and from the breath being fucked out of him a little bit.

"That ain't a thing either, but fine."

Cas' pace is slow, barely a warm up, but it drags his cock in and out of Dean deliciously, catching at his rim, sending shivers like ripples underneath his skin.

"Do you know why I fell in love with you?"

Dean lifts his hips, moving with Cas. He used to hate slow rhythms like this, the intimacy it created. Cas was the first person he really allowed this kind of lovemaking with. Now he misses it when they don't have time. When they don't make time.

"'Cause I sent you really good dick pics?"

Cas huffs, his hips giving a little punishing snap. "No," he growls. "You know I had noticed you long before that."

"Right. You did say that. Something about me being cute and having good references."

Cas' fingers tug at his hair, Dean hisses a little bit at the sting. It makes him squeeze so hard around Cas' cock that he arches and groans.

"Actually," Cas says, delighted to be finally telling this story, and of the effect his little game is having on Dean, "I fell in love with you on a day during which I was quite irritated with you." He grinds his hips deep inside of Dean until Dean shudders, parting his thighs wide and letting out a sigh. "You were slacking off. You weren't filling out the forms you were supposed to, were giving me my messages thirty minutes late. Took you an hour to get me coffee, and you got the order wrong."

Dean can't reply for a minute, too lost in the way Cas' tongue explores his mouth thoroughly.

"So, usual day." Dean attempts to sound breezy, but it's difficult with Cas' cock aiming for his prostate at every thrust.

The next one is harsher, the bed creaking under them as Cas drives them both into the mattress. His stomach rolls on Dean's cock, trapping it tightly into the precum soaked lace, and Dean whines in Castiel's mouth.

"No. You were a good assistant, most of the time. But not that day. So I did something..." Cas worries his lower lip. He bends down to kiss Dean, pondering. "Iffy?"

"You, the guy who made me sign a twelve pages HR contract before you fucked me, did something iffy?"

"Yes. I have a device in my computer that allows me to see everything my assistant does on their desktop. Kind of like what some parents use to violate their children's privacy."

"Damn, Cas."

Cas thrusts into him, slow, lazy. He sucks a hickey on Dean's neck.

"It turns out that the thing that was so distracting for you that day was a very heated argument on the internet with someone called PissMyTaterTot69 about politics, and, well, philosophy."

Dean groans, and this time the heat on his cheeks has nothing to do with the cock driving slowly inside of him. "Oh. Yeah. I remember him. Should've never engaged with that asshole. Wasted a whole fucking day-"

Cas's laughter shakes them both.

"Did you read all of it?" Dean groans.

"Yes. It was riveting."

Dean tries to hide his face in the pillow. Cas kisses his cheeks, his neck.

"You destroyed him. You quoted philosophers from Aristotle to Scanlon without pausing to breathe or drink coffee. You handed him his entire ass. In pieces."

Dean's chest shakes a little bit. "Kind of, yeah."

"I spent the whole day following that debate. And realizing that you might just be the most brilliant, hilarious, witty, thoughtful, intelligent, persistent, and determined person I'd ever seen."

Dean doesn't answer. He swallows thickly.

"Cas. Only a very peculiar type of idiot gets into political arguments with people called PissMyTaterTot69 on a meme forum."

"Yes, well. That may be true, but you also had such a cute ass."

Dean shoves him, but only a little bit. Cas is being very serious, and he kisses him, and it's entirely too soft, and it's not fair, because Dean is pinned down under 180 pounds of this and he can't escape.

"You were never just my assistant, Dean. You were someone I greatly admired and never thought I'd get. I'm an old, boring, middle management drone, and you're... the smartest, brightest, warmest person I've ever met. You've never not made me smile since the day I've met you, even if it was just a stupid pun about coffee or Mondays. You're... so much more than I deserve."

"S'not true."

Cas kisses him, and Dean clings, opens his mouth, asks for more. His legs are shaking. Cas is still inside of him, somehow, somehow he's managed to stay through all of that, all this insane, completely insane crazy talking.

Sometimes I love you so much I can't breathe, Dean thinks.

He looks at Cas, as his bitten lips, at the wild, adoring look in his eyes. Maybe Cas deserves to know some of the crazy stuff he thinks about, too. Maybe he can say it. Maybe it's okay.

"Sometimes I love you so much I-" he begins. It's harder than it looks.

"You what?" Cas' smile is soft. He gently nudges a finger under Dean's shin.

"S'like the wind gets knocked out of me."

There's that smile again. Breathtaking.

The roll of Cas' hips starts once more, slowly building up. Dean lets himself go, throws his head back.

"Dean," Cas pants. "Do you - can I-"

"Anything."

Dean didn't think that anything would mean Castiel slipping out of him, the emptiness and cold surrounding him. He finds Cas standing next to their dresser, rummaging in a drawer.

"What-"

Dean's question falls short when he watches Cas stretch out a rubber cock ring around his erection, nudging it right under his balls, where it tightens. Cas' eyes are full of fire as he climbs back into bed and spreads Dean's legs again.

"We're going to really make this beautiful underwear dirty."

Dean has only seen this look on Cas' face a handful of times, and he understands. But Cas still asks.

"You want to-?"

"Fuck yeah."

Cas knows exactly what to do. Knows how to bend Dean's legs up, how to seat himself inside of him at just the right angle. They lock eyes. Dean nods ever so slightly. Cas rocks his hips, slowly at first, shallow thrusts in and out. Breathy moans escape Dean's lips. He closes his eyes, the fireworks already starting to burst behind his eyelids.

Holy shit. Holy shit. This always makes him lose it - his arms start flailing, his mouth letting out insanely high-pitched moans, like he's getting murdered and not fucked into high heavens.

Which he is.

One day, Cas found a way he could fuck directly at Dean's prostate with his cock. And realized that he could, with a few skillful pounds, make him come apart entirely. He also found out that Dean's prostate could be stimulated over and over again and that he could come dry, barely spurting, his cock soft on his stomach, many times in a row.

It kind of made Castiel go crazy, especially when he saw how much Dean loved it.

They don't do it often. It has to precise and it's exhausting for both of them. But when Cas gets the idea in his mind, he becomes somewhat obsessed with pushing it further and further and... further.

Dean comes with a shout, two minutes and thirty seconds into Cas' steady aim at his prostate. Come gushes into his underwear, staining, sticking. It's gross and it's amazing. Cas keeps moving inside of him slowly, kissing his neck, his shoulder, his cheek.

He fucks him deeper now, just brushing over his prostate, letting him recover. He kisses Dean's lips, nibbles, and asks for permission again. Dean nods.

Cas fucks him hard. Fast. He's like a machine when he goes like this, his eyes are so focused, his mouth opened slack, his hair falling on his forehead. His chest glistens with sweat and his stomach rolls with effort.

He's so fucking beautiful Dean almost comes just from looking up at him, but the incessant pound at the most sensitive part of him is what does it. He's not even hard again yet but the pleasure comes from within, from Cas' cock ramming into his ass so hard and fast, from the slap of skin against the back of his thigh, from hitting that place inside of him so good - he cries out, a long whining haul, and curls up on himself.

He spurts a little, barely.

Cas' face strains. He breathes. Pauses.

They take a minute.

"How are you feeling?"

"'m okay," Dean mumbles.

Two (very powerful) orgasms in under fifteen minutes, Dean's doing fucking stellar, actually.

"Cas?"

"Yes, my love?"

"You know I'd love you just as much even if we were living in a shitty apartment, and all we could afford were ramen and boxed mac'n'cheese, right?"

Cas kisses the crook of his shoulder. Dean can feel his smile. "Yes. I do."

"Kay. Good."

The third time, Dean's nails leave bloody claw marks down the curve of Cas' back. He’s starting to get hard again but hasn't even had time to get there before the orgasm wave crashes through him, the strength of it taking him by surprise. He whines, huffs, lifting off the bed as he cling desperately to Cas.

Castiel doesn't give him any respite. He keeps fucking him, eager, hungry for his own pleasure. His kisses are bruising now and he bends Dean's legs for far back it almost hurts. Dean lets him. He wants to feel him deep, take anything Cas will give him.

He can feel his own come sticky and wet on his skin, on the lace, leaking around his cock and balls, still frustratingly trapped in fabric. He grows harder with every deep thrust of Cas’ cock inside of him. The head of his cock is oversensitive, rubbing against the hem of his panties. Cas teases it with his fingers, looking down at Dean with dark, half-lidded eyes.

Dean comes. He comes on Cas' fingers, smears them in a white coat, that Cas spreads all over the front of his panties as he squirms in an attempt to escape the oversensitivity. He comes shaking all over because it's starting to be a little bit too much, a little bit too good.

Cas' hips drive lazily into him. His grip on Dean's chest keeps him pinned on the mattress. His head is thrown back, he looks in pure bliss. That's what Dean is to him - pure bliss.

Third of a life bliss.

Dean could do this forever if it meant making Cas feel like this.

Cas changes his angle, nailing his prostate for the fifth time. He looks at Dean, watches him come apart. Dean whines, can't form words. Claws at the sheets. It's starting to be too much. He can hear himself saying things, begging and pleading and whimpering. He comes mumbling nonsense. He manages to spill, somehow, to stain again. Cas praises him, his fingers finally slipping under the hem of his panties, into the sloppy mess he's made.

Dean shudders. He always loves Cas' fingers, always craves his touch, but it's so much right now. His whole body hurts of too much. Cas kisses him. Warm. Slow. Soft.

"So good," he murmurs. "So good for me, baby."

Dean could die right there.

He's wide open for Castiel now, fucked out, gloriously fucked out. On cloud fucking nine. This is the absolute fucking best thing in the world. He’s riding the high of... what, five orgasms? Wave after wave still rippling softly through him, and in such a short time that his ass isn't even sore yet. Still feels so fucking good to feel Cas stretching him wide, his hands touching him everywhere, his mouth, his voice.

You feel so good, my love. So perfect for me.

And now Cas is gonna fuck him, slow, slow, slow, and then fast, and then he's going to come, and it's gonna feel so good-

Cas pulls Dean's legs up again, pushes them back against his stomach. Dean frowns, blinks back into full awareness.

"Cas-"

He lets out a high-pitched whine as Cas' cock drives into his prostate. It hurts, almost, he's not sure which one is it, pleasure or pain, he's threading a fine fucking line here.

"Cas, shit, wait, I-"

"What?"

"I don't think I can-"

Cas' thumb caresses Dean's lower lip, which always has the effect of disabling his brain.

"I think you can."

He can. It takes three minutes and a half, with the added bonus of being able to suck on Cas' fingers for the first sixty seconds. That always leaves him in a good kind of high. Cas' cock and the very precise angle do the rest. He comes dry and it's fucking amazing.

"Breathe," Castiel tells him, because his chest won't stop heaving.

Dean can feel Cas' exhaustion, too. His thighs are shaking against Dean's very unstable ones.  

"Cas, fucking Hell-"

Cas wipes the sweat from his brow and shoots his a devilish grin.

"No, Cas, I can't, I can't, no more, no-"

But Cas ignores him, and Dean wants to say stop it hurts it hurts stop but he doesn't, and it does hurt but also it feels so - and he can't talk anyway, he can't fucking talk when he's being fucked into the mattress to an inch of his life, and pleasure rips his soul right out of his body. He bounces him off the bed, screaming, flailing, tears streaming down his face.

He only passes out for a second.

"Are you okay?"

Dean manages to mumble something along the lines of: "Mmmggng."

Cas chuckles. "I see. One last?"

"Jesusfnngchrisss, no."

"It hurts?"

"S'too much."

Cas licks at the sweat beading on Dean's neck. "Too much what?"

"Too much."

Dean weakly tries to pull at Cas' hair to make him feel a little bit of what he means by too much, but his muscles are devoid of any strength or tone and his arm falls back against the bedspread.

"Mgngn."

"That was seven. Last time we did six... I think we can go for eight."

"Please," Dean hears himself say. "Please, please. Please. Cas."

"Am I hurting you? Like this?" Cas moves slowly inside of him. Deep.

Dean shakes his head. His eyelids are heavy, stodgy like caramels.

"Do you want to use our safe word?"

Dean thinks, for a second, before he shakes his head.

"Okay. Well I still need to come. Is it okay if I keep fucking you?"

"Yeah, please. Do that."

Cas' lips are distracting. So is his tongue. His arms, solid around Dean's face, his fingers grazing and stroking through his hair as he slowly explores his mouth. The length of his body, all warm and solid and heavy on top of him now that he's not holding his legs up anymore.

It’s all so distracting that Dean can just melt into him and focus on the burn of Cas' scruff against his neck, on the very gentle and slow rolls of his hips... Dean came too many times to get back on the roller coaster but he's on a nice plane of everything feels so fucking nice now and he fully plans on enjoying every last second of it.

He runs his hand on Cas' heated skin and catches drops of sweat as Cas begins to move faster. Dean can't do much to encourage him besides mumbling "yeah, baby, so good," and give him his best smile, his best kiss.

He expects to feel Cas spilling inside of him, hot and full and maybe biting in Dean's neck like he likes to do.

He doesn't expect his fingers pulling, folding over his legs again - "Cas" - and his prostate being under assault for the eighth fucking time. And Dean would protest if he could talk, or if Cas didn't look so fucking gone on him, if he didn't look like fucking Dean was the absolute best thing in the entire world. And once the head of Cas' cock has rammed into his prostate three more times, Dean's absolutely lost for words, for thoughts, for existence.

He's pretty sure Cas is about to break him and he's going to let him.

Dean's eighth orgasm obliterates him. He rips out some of Cas' hair, probably ends up with some flesh under his nails. Doesn't matter. For a second there he's in Heaven meeting God, having a fucking tea party with The Creator and then he's back down on Earth, body so taut with pleasure he's shaking all over. His throat hurts something awful but he can't stop making broken sounds.

He feels a sudden emptiness where Cas used to be, a bruising kiss on his lips, his lungs finally fill up with air.

A steel-like grip on his hip. Dean finally opens his eyes to find Cas above him. His gorgeous features are slack with pleasure. His blue are are looking down where he spills all over Dean's expensive, ruined panties with a shuddering groan.

There's come everywhere.

On Dean's stomach, on his thighs, soaking the red lace still trapping his softened cock. It's a fucking disgusting mess.

"Fuck."

Cas is beaming, the asshole. Dean's on the verge of unconsciousness, his whole body is both sore and numb, his face is wet with tears and his throat is raw. And Cas is grinning.

His fingers dip in the pool of their combined spill. Even goes as far as slipping between Dean's thighs, pushing some of it back inside of Dean.

"C'mon, babe," Dean groans.

"Sorry. I couldn't help myself. How do you feel?"

"Gross. Thirsty. Fucking incredible."

Cas offers him a smile and kisses the inside of his knee before slipping out of bed. Dean blinks awake again a minute later, to his underwear finally being taken off - very gently - and a warm cloth rubbed on his skin. He wraps his fingers around the water bottle Cas hands him and downs it in three big gulps before falling back into the bed.

Fuck.

Fuck.

They should definitely shower. A towel can't rid them of everything they've just done, but Dean needs a night of sleep (or three) before he can walk again.

He forces himself to at least stay conscious as Cas pulls them both under the covers and ready for bed.

"Sleep," Cas murmurs as Dean presses himself into his arms.

"No. Not yet."

"I think you need it."

"No. Wanna be with you. Missed you."

Cas’ fingers knead in the back of his neck and Dean bites back a moan.

"I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

"Tomorrow you are. If I sleep I'll wake up and you won't be here."

There's a moment; Dean doesn't even realize what he said before the warm shape in his arms slips out of reach. His eyes bat open to find Cas standing on the other side of the bed, phone in his hand.

His thumb hover the green icon right next to-

"You're seriously calling the office right now?" Dean calls out, suddenly very awake. He cringes at the effort it takes to pull himself up to a seating position.

Cas extends a finger toward him to shush him, frowning. Dean hears the message faintly through the speaker.

Castiel Novak's office this is Alfie -

"You're calling your fucking assistant? Is that who you think about when you fuck me, seriously?"

He knew it. He fucking knew it-

"Hi, Alfie, it's Mr Novak. I'm calling to say that I won't be able to come in tomorrow. You will already be at work when you hear this, so you can catch up on paperwork and then head home early. Please cancel my appointments, we will reschedule them when I come back."

Cas turns his phone off - all the way off, not just on silent - and Dean falls face first into the bed, hiding his shame in the pillow. Well. That was embarrassing.

He feels a weight. Cas sits next to him and gently rubs his shoulder. Dean can tell he's smiling, even though he's still buried so deep into his pillow he can't really breathe.

"Dean?"

A kiss on the small of his back, right where the sheet meets his skin.

"Are you jealous of my assistant?"

Still no answer, but Dean needs to move if he wants oxygen to reach his lungs. He turns his head and faces away from Cas.

"No."

"You're lying."

It's not a reproach, just a remark. Cas stretches out next to Dean, slides under the covers to wrap around him.

"I obviously overreacted," Dean mumbles.

"Yes. Obviously. But you've been dropping comments for a while now. I thought you were teasing, but now I think you're actually insecure about this."

Dean turns to look at him.

"You took the day off tomorrow?"

"Don't try to change the subject. And yes. I know you don't have classes on Mondays so I thought we could spend the day together."

"That's nice," Dean murmurs. Warmth and giddiness spread through him at the thought, and he nudges himself back into Cas' embrace. He still feels like an idiot - or rather, a fucking asshole. Cas keeps proving to him over and over how much he fucking loves him and Dean just... doubts him. Constantly.

"Dean, I have absolutely no interest in Alfie. Romantic, sexual, or otherwise."

"Why not?" Dean asks, honestly.

Cas squints at him from the other pillow.

"Why would I?"

"Because he's basically a new and improved version of me."

Well. That came out. Like that.

"A new and -" Cas' frown deepens. "Dean, he's nothing like you."

"He's a hot grad student with big wide eyes and a pretty mouth and he's always in a good mood, so, he's basically me, but better."

"You think he's hot?"

"You don't?"

Cas has never looked more confused.

"I don't - I don't know, Dean. I never really paid attention to what he looks like. He's good at remembering my coffee orders and at taking my calls, which is what I pay him for."

Dean resists the urge to roll his eyes.

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed he's got eyes grey like a Seattle sky and lips made to su-"

"His eyes are grey?"

Dean huffs. "Seriously?"

Cas has got to be kidding with this.

"Dean, I-"

But he looks so honest. And so very lost, right now.

"I'm sorry. Maybe it's wrong, but I don't pay much attention to him. I've been very busy."

"What's his major?"

Cas squints at Dean and God bless him, he truly doesn't fucking know. "Something in science, I believe."

"That's all you got?"

"Robots?"

"Evolutionary biology, Cas. The guy talks about it every time I fucking call. He must have bored you to death with it."

"I..." A faint blush spreads on Cas' cheeks. "Honestly, I don't listen to much of what he says, unless it directly relates to the matter at hand."

Dean bites on his lower lip. He's not sure if he wants to scream or laugh or... cry. "You kept asking me questions about school. Kept me in your office for twenty minutes every time I brought you coffee."

"Yes, Dean. But we've already established that I had quite a huge crush on you."

"Yeah, but why? I mean, even before the PissMyTaterTot69 incident, you already knew more about me than... I mean, pretty sure you knew the color of my eyes. You sure liked staring in them."

"Yes, I did. I noticed your eyes the moment you walked into my office."

Dean gives a tentative smile. "Really?"

This time, it's Cas who exhales loudly. "Are you really going to make me say it?"

"Say what?"

"How unprofessional I've been with you from the very start? That from the moment you walked in I-"

Cas sighs and refuses to go further. He's crossed his arms on his chest over the covers and looks bothered.

"You what?"

Dean pokes his stomach.

"I was enthralled," Cas finally admits. "By your beauty, your intelligence, and your wit. I never should have even hired you, Dean. It was beyond unethical."

Oh. Oh. And Dean always thought that Cas was so professional, with his HR contracts and constantly, constantly worrying about Dean's well-being before anything else. To know that he wasn't, that he - long before he saw those pictures, that he had a weakness, for Dean, is...

"I never thought I would act on it. I foolishly let myself believe it was safe, because I never imagined you would ever feel the same way about me. That it would ever be... dangerous, in any way."

Dean shimmers closer, until he noses at the nook of Cas' shoulder and neck.

"Didn't work out too well."

"No."

Dean smiles.

"D'you regret it?"

Cas gently, gently touches his cheeks. "Sometimes, I..." Oh. Oh, no. "Sometimes I wish we'd met in different circumstances. I hate that you ever, ever feel like I thought less of you because you were my assistant. Because I was your insufferable boss who made you get coffee in the rain and kept you late in the office..."

"Never heard me complain."

Cas gives him a small smile. "But you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, Dean. So I certainly cannot regret making a mistake that day and hiring you, if it led to this."

Dean buries himself in Cas' arms. His heart is so... full. He's not sure how to handle this. Because there were the I love you's, of course, and the let's move in together, and sure they meant that Cas felt for him, and they were so much more than Dean ever got before - but what he feels for Castiel goes so fucking far beyond anything that - sometimes, all the times, nothing feels quite enough, nothing feels enough for this thing inside of him.

"I'm sorry."

"About what?"

"Doubting you."

"It's okay. I thought you were a gold digger."

"Shut up."

Cas' lips press on his forehead. "Dean. I am sorry if I've ever made you feel like you weren't... well. Everything. To me."

God. That’s. A lot. Dean doesn't know how to answer, and they lay in silence for a few minutes until Castiel speaks again.

“Can I ask you why?”

“Why what?”

“Why you doubt so much of how I feel about you. Is it something I do? Or not do? Because-”

“No, Cas. It’s not, it’s - it’s me.”

Dean pulls back a little. He likes looking at Cas when they talk, likes the way his heart flutters a little every time Cas does his trademark frown of confusion. This isn't easy to say, but he owes it to Cas, and owes it to him to not shy away while he says it.

“We’ve been together for two years. No one’s ever stuck around me this long before. I’m a boy toy and you’ve had me in every way imaginable, so -- I guess I don’t know why you still want me. I mean, I live here on a ridiculous rent that we both know isn’t covering anything, I’m doing a PhD in a domain for which they keep cutting funds - I’m never gonna be someone, I’m never gonna - I’m never gonna have a huge important job and - and you have a much cuter, younger, perkier assistant who you could fuck in your office since you spend most of your time there anyway, not that it’s your fault, it’s just-"

Dean wants to punch himself in the face. Instead he hides in the pillow, his voice muffled. So much for being brave.

"I’m getting lost here - I just - I guess I don’t - I don’t get it. And, uh, I think - I know it’s been work that's been keeping you, I know that, but - but maybe it’s also me, maybe you’re also tired of me, so…”

Well, that’s a lot more than Dean ever intended to say. He can go die now. That'd be nice.

“Dean,” Cas states calmly, in the deep, gravelly voice that had Dean hooked from the moment they met.

Dean shakes his head.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbles. He feels like an idiot. But everything he said… it’s true. Castiel is older, smarter, richer, and the most delightful, gentle, amazing person Dean has ever met. What the hell is he doing with Dean?

Apparently, what he's doing is reaching with his fingers under Dean's chin to force him to look up into his calm, slightly amused gaze. And then he kisses him, soft, and slow.

“In a way, you are right," Cas murmurs. "We have been together for a while now. And I have had you in... many, many wonderful ways. But it’s never been about… having you. It’s about being with you. What we have, this intimacy, this profound understanding of each other, I have never felt it with anyone else before. And it never seems to stop getting better and better. At least, for me. You need to know that.”

Dean bats his eyelashes to chase away the tears threatening to pour over.

“Alfie is a fine functioning assistant but I don’t see him. I don’t see people, they’re not - ever since you came into my life, everyone else is… feels, neutral. Bonds of friendships, yes, shared interests, yes. But you eclipse everyone else, Dean. I can’t even imagine someone else in my heart, in my home... or in my bed." Castiel frowns, his mouth twitches like he’s retaining a scowl. "It’s unthinkable. You are everything to me.”

Dean blinks, he doesn’t know what to say - he feels too full. It’s too much.

Cas has a slow, sad smile.

“And now I realize that I may be scaring you.”

“No! No, Cas-” Dean pulls at him until Cas has rolled on top of him again. There's very little as relieving as feeling him weight on him. “Same. With you. I really fucking love you, okay? Like, crazy, all I do all day is think about you when I should be working on my stupid thesis, and think about everything that’s wrong and right and everything I want and my dreams and it’s all - It’s all you.”

“Well. I’m sorry I’m keeping you from your thesis.”

He doesn’t look sorry at all. In fact, he's grinning from ear to ear, and it's so beautiful Dean is melting like ice cream during a heat wave. He kisses a path underneath Castiel’s jaw. “It's worth it.”

“Hopefully." Cas nuzzles in Dean's neck, sighs against his skin. "And things… will get better, I promise. I’m thinking about making changes.”

Dean tenses. “Changes?”

“My work. As you know it’s… it’s good for my bank account. It’s not good for my happiness.”

“Oh," Dean smiles, relieved. He shrugs. "Then maybe you shouldn’t do it anymore.”

Cas pulls back and looks at Dean, like he’s evaluating something.

“Yes, well. I also have other projects that… that are also extremely important to me and my happiness. And I don’t know - it’s not the kind of thing one usually does while throwing the rest of their lives away.”

“Changing jobs doesn’t mean throwing your life away.”

“I don’t want to just go sit in a different office tower. I - I don’t want to do this anymore. I want to do something… for me. Own my own business, maybe. A shop of some kind. But that would mean even more time invested, and probably a much higher level of stress. You need to make profit, to make money…”

Dean’s lips curl into a smile. He had no idea Cas had thought about this - that Cas had started dreaming about this kind of thing. But it fits. And it would be awesome.

"Is that what you'd like to do? Your own little shop?"

Cas' fingers tense in Dean's hair.

"Maybe. I'm not sure which kind yet, though."

“Hey, Cas. Hey… it’s gonna be okay. If it’s something you love, something you’re passionate about, the stress is different. Alright?”

Cas nods.

“Those other projects… what’s that about?”

Cas grins and cocks his head down.

“It’s about you.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

There's a blush on Cas' cheek, a blush that makes Dean's heart pound a little too hard.

“How - how’s that-”

“Well, it starts with… a question, that I ask, and that you answer, yes or no…”

“Oh. Shit. Fuck, you wanna - wait.”

Cas pulls back on his hands, worried.

“Is it bad? Should I not?”

“No, shit, I mean - yes, I mean," Dean grabs Cas' face and kisses him, because he needs to make it clear, that yes, it's going to be yes if Cas ever asks that crazy fucking question. "I - you - um, you - you’re gonna - you're thinking about… doing that?”

“Eventually, yes. Soon… if possible.”

“You’ve - so you’ve thought about it? Like-?”

“Yes. I have… thought about a lot of things. I want… a lot of things. With you.”

Dean feels a tsunami size wave of tears about to pour out. Shit. Shit, he was not expecting that tonight. Is he wiping his cheek?

“It’s not happening right now, Dean, I don’t have a ring yet.”

“Shut up,” Dean grumbles, voice choked up.

Cas kisses his cheek, laughing softly.

“I have looked at some, though…”

“Please stop.”

Castiel uses his thumb to dry Dean's cheek.

“Is it too much? Are you not-?”

“No. Of course I - Jesus, of course I want -" It's hard to speak between wet, shaky kisses to Cas' lips. "I just… ‘m not used to being this happy? I guess. I mean. I should be. Been pretty fucking happy since I met you, but you keep like. Blowing up the roof every time.”

“Well, you might take that back when we move in a tiny studio over my failing joke shop.”

“Maybe I can actually pay my part of the rent for a change. Maybe I’ll be a college professor and I’ll be supporting my husband’s cute little library slash bring-your-cat coffee shop.”

Cas gasps.

“Dean, that is such a good idea.”

“You should quit tomorrow, then,” Dean murmurs, kissing Cas’ nose.

Cas drops back on the mattress next to Dean and gathers him into his arms again.

“Are you sure you don’t want Alfie? He’s much more age appropriate for you. And he’s only just starting his master's degree in biology, but I know he’s dreaming of being a college professor. You have so much in common.”

“So you have been listening to him,” Dean teases. “He talks a lot, some things do end up getting through.”

Dean laughs and then pretends to think about it.

“Mmmh. Yeah, I see it. Few years down the road, nice greying peach fuzz on those cheeks, a shitload of money.”

“Oh, you do?”

“Eh, I guess," Dean shrugs.

“Better prospect than me.”

“Mmh, yeah, broke fifty years old dude who always smells so weird -”

“I smell weird?”

“You will, because of your failed soap shop. You come up with the weirdest, most awful soaps and no one wants them.”

“Of course.”

“So you stink, and you have a beer gut-”

“I don’t run marathons anymore?”

“Nah, too depressed because of your failed business. You drink instead.”

“That is not a pretty picture.”

“Mmh,” Dean hums. He looks over at Cas, at their laced fingers, at his face smushed into the pillow and his eyes so full of light. “Eh. I still choose you.”

“Over the millionaire biologist giving conferences all over the world?”

“Hell yes,” Dean kisses him, and his heart almost gives out right there. “Any fucking day.”

The smile that Cas gives him then could brighten up the world.

Dean turns off the light and Cas turns around. Dean wraps his arms around him, tucking Cas into his embrace. Cas doesn't say it a lot, but Dean knows how much he loves being a little spoon.

“I don’t think we should let people bring their own cats,” Dean mumbles a few minutes later.

“Bring their own cats?”

“Yeah. To the coffee shop. We should have rescues or something but not like, clients’ cats and stuff. I feel like we'd have to mediate a lot of cat fights."

There’s a short silence.

"We?"

"Yeah. You don't think I'm gonna leave you alone with that, right? Plus I'm graduating with a PhD in philosophy soon, I'm gonna need a barista job or something."

Cas laughs. They should be asleep -- hell, Dean should have been asleep eons ago -- but Dean can feel that Cas is thinking. Can almost hear the gears working in his brain. He tightens his arms around him before he speaks.

“Hey, Cas. I know I teased you about your failed shops and stuff but… you know I don’t believe that, right? Whatever you choose to do, I know you’re gonna be fucking brilliant at it. If you open a little shop, or if you go back to school and pick a different career, I know you’re gonna be fucking amazing. And, uh, I feel really lucky that you chose me to be by your side for that.”

“I know,” Cas murmurs, fingers stroking over Dean's arms.  “And it is going to happen, just so you know."

“What is?”

“I’m going to propose. It’s going to happen. I mean it.”

“Well I think I've made it pretty clear what my answer's going to be.”

“Yes, I suppose the surprise is blown now.”

"Can we even surprise each other anymore?" Dean moans in a dramatic tone. "Maybe I should say no, just to keep our relationship spicy."

Cas kicks him.

"I'm kidding, Jeez."

Another silence.

"Hey, Cas? I'm really fucking happy right now."

"Me too."

"Guess we better get used to it."

"Yes. I guess we do."