#yeah she spoke four languages btw

[ashes-onthewind]

okay y'all I'm going the fuck to sleep now hopefully

it's 4am...... inshallah i can sleep.....

[afandommultiverse]

Enemies - Zora Ideale

word count - 2.5k

request - Z3ll0us

warnings - uhh none really, language probably, just some fluff

a/n - ya'll, my bad, I'm not dead just not creative, I somehow came up with this in the matter of like 5 months, and it's still shit I'm sorry guys, but I hope you all enjoy! Btw I'm going to be trying my best to come back!💕

~~~

It seemed no matter where he went, no matter what job it was if they were there, there was no chance for him. How many bounties had he lost? How many relics had they stolen right from under him for contracts? Zora was sick of it and made it a rule to himself that he would drop everything and turn the other way when he saw them, but what was even the point? Because no matter where he went, they were always there.

Even now, a member of the Black Bulls, he was having a hard time holding back from releasing magic spells. He wanted them gone, at least that is what he thought. Why else would he get this burning feeling looking at them to speak to Magna like they have been friends for years? But, of course, Zora could never tell them. However, he wanted them to talk to him like that, not like he was just some scum on the bottom of their shoes, but it is not like all he has done has exactly helped his relationship with them, which brought him to his current predicament.

"With who?" Zora could not believe his luck. Of course, he was going to be with them. What else would the fates do but trick and play with him? His suffering must be amusing. Yami puffed on his cigarette as he handed Zora a pack of mission information.

"You are with Y/n. Now go find them and get on; I forgot about that one under some stacks of papers, due dates in 3 days." Yami kicked Zora out of his office and left him there to stare at the door as he thought about how fucked the next four days would be for him.

~~~

It was a cave expedition. Some wild animals had been going in there and coming out with big mana. It was beginning to make it dangerous for the surrounding villages who hunted wild game to put dinner on the table. But, thank the gods, Yami had cleaned off his desk; if not, who knows what kind of trouble the guild would have been in the next few days.

Walking to their room, Zora had heavy feet, which seemed only to get more weighted and weighted as he got closer to their door. Then he heard their laugh vibrating through the walls and ringing out to the hall where he could listen, halting his step and his heartbeat. Zora swallowed a knot before bringing his hand up to the door and knocking heavily. He heard their steps before the door opened, and they stared at him, sitting into their hip and glaring.

"What?" They seethed, narrowing their eyes as if looking for a trick. He sighed and handed them the folder, not even bothering to mess with them right now; they will prove him wrong later anyways.

"Be ready in thirty minutes." And then he walked away.

Y/n P.O.V

I watched Zora skulk away, a different air around him, almost defeated. I frowned before closing the door and turning back to the guest.

"Who was that?" A friend of mine from hell, a tiny demoness who specialized in brews and potions. Aliza was her name, and she was a stout little thing with filled-out curves and gorgeous maroon skin that glowed. Her nails were sharp and black, seeming to glitter in the light as she lifted her cup, which was much more prominent in her little red hands. Red swirly horns curled around her ears before pointing up in effortless black points that seemed to drip back down her horns like minor oil spills. Most enticing were her pink eyes, slit-like a cat and equally as sharp.

"Zora, a team member." I settled back down in my seat in front of her and sipped my tea. Her tail swished around her curiously as she stared at me pointedly. Since she was so short, she had to stand on the table to see eye to eye; she looked adorable under the flowers in the vase sitting at the center of the table.

"Just a team member?" Her pink eyes seemed to glint in knowing, knowing what? I did not know. I eyed her suspiciously as I finished up my meal.

"Yeah. Just a team member who, by the way, gets on my nerves sometimes and is a huge asshole." I took the final sip from my tea and gathered the dishes before throwing them through a portal to hell. Aliza looked unimpressed as she watched me close the said portal. "What?"

"You cannot keep expecting Helltower to keep doing your dishes." I grinned, dusting off my hands and moving to change.

"Of course I can! He loves me! Plus, I always repay him with little trinkets from the middle world." I mused, throwing on my guild cape and walking out of the room, Aliza following me. Her heels clicked on the stone hall as she followed me, surprisingly keeping up for being so small.

"Where are you going?" She continued to drink her tea, which she had reheated with a small flame in her hand.

"Some mission, talk shit later, okay?" She laughed before slipping through a small red vortex in front of her effortlessly, and I continued to meet Zora.

It has been silent ever since we started walking, stale moods rising from both of us. Yami had mentioned that the mission would be within walking distance. What he had failed to mention was that he thought thirty-five miles was within walking distance, which brought us here, stumbling on the only trail that would lead us to the village in need. Wind around us blew softly, whistling through the trees and making the leaves above our heads shutter and shake. Orange and yellow leaves were falling overhead to frame our little journey. Now and then, deer or a rabbit would hop across a few feet ahead of us, some even stopping to stare at us with their beady eyes before walking off.

As silent as it was between us, the forest made up plenty of sounds, birds chirping tiny tunes to each other from the high treetops. We had even heard the roars of hogs fighting by a pond over a mate. We stopped to watch them for a second but continued a little after. Eventually, Zora let out an irritated sigh and walked over to a tall, thick tree, probably hundreds of old- and kicked it so hard, the roots ripped out from the ground, well, mostly. Before any dirt or rocks could hit us, Zora quickly set up a magic circle and reflected it all. I watched in astonishment and confusion. What the hell was he doing? Then, as dozens of birds flew away from the scene, scared of such commotion, he spoke.

"Cut this for me, dear?" I scoffed at the nickname, trying to ignore the sweet pound of my heart that followed after his raspy voice wrapped around that word in an unreasonable amount of attractiveness. Then I thought of a particular pair of pink cat eyes glinting at me. So I shuffled forward, opting instead of asking questions to pull an ax out of a small portal. "I always forget your weapons are double the size of Cap'n Yami." He muttered off to the side, watching as I walked up to the top of the tree and measured up the ax to swing. As I swung down on the trunk, cutting it just as it began to branch out, I heard a low whistle, and secondly, his footsteps walking along the tree trunk back to me.

"Clean shot, doll." He grinned down at me, then looked back at the severed trunks. "We'll take the long one for the rest of the ride, whaddya say?" He asked, reaching down to pull me up. What the hell is going on? As I gripped his hand, I was almost in a trance, confused and running through millions of thoughts. Setting my body on auto-pilot as I tried to figure out why the hell he was so lovely. Which, in the end, was a bad idea, or maybe a good one.

My foot slipped, and just when I thought I was going to eat shit, a specific pair of hands gripped me, pulling me up fast. We fell back, landing against the wood hard; well, Zora did at least.

"Fuck." He groaned, rubbing his head before looking up at me, his mischievous eyes and smile gone, there laid concern. "Are you okay?" He moved me off of him gently, surprisingly not making any inappropriate comments on our position.

"You saved me," I spoke, still flabbergasted with what happened and the events leading up to it.

"Yeah, it didn't look like it was gonna be a soft fall, sweetheart." He stood up, convinced that I was all right, and gave me a hand again, this time watching me intensely as if I would misstep again. After I was up, he walked away, going to the head of the tree to fill it with mana. Slowly, the trunk began to rise, higher and higher, until we were above the surrounding trees. Green leaves blocking the view of the forest floor we once stood on, and a soft sunset began in front of us. The trunk began to move forward, slowly speeding up before staying steady. The wind whipped my hair around, along with a few of my things, making me hold on to them tightly after tying up what I could of my hair. I walked up to Zora again, coming to sit beside him. The trunk was thick enough for us to sit side by side, but it was a tight fit nonetheless. So as I settled beside him, he moved slightly for me, but our legs stayed glued to each other.

"If you could just do this the entire time, why didn't you just leave me back there?" I laughed it off, so used to him being a pain in the ass, and it is not like it would not be the first time he screwed me over in some way. Our relationship was not one of the niceties or cordial words. So often, you would find us fighting or screaming to see the other because of something they did, which eventually leads to a fight. Zora did not look at me for a bit, but when he did, I wished he had never turned his head. His eyes were sullen, sad, and overthinking, foggy with millions of thoughts that looked to be running through his head. The evident frown that towed down his face bothered me, so used to the shit-eating grin he pranked me or others, or when after putting someone in their place.

"I guess I can be really mean sometimes, huh?" I did not know his voice could be so soft. Honestly, I was surprised I heard him at all, but I did and could not stop thinking about it. I did not feel it necessary to talk after that, instead finally shutting my trap and moving on to watch the sunset. Colors blurred and blended across the sky, framing the mountains and trees rising to kiss the sky. It was quite the sight with bright pinks, oranges, and even some purple painted across the blue sky. When we reached the village, the sun was long gone, replaced by the moon, just as bright and beautiful with specks of stars across the sky. At some point, I remember getting bored and searching for the different zodiacs and patterns defined by the stars. As soon as I had found my sign, the tree trunk began to descend.

The trees we once flew over surrounded us and shut us off from the sky once again as we settled on the forest floor. The tiny little path we had been following earlier continued beside us, looking as it had when we left it hours ago. Up ahead, I could see the village glowing lively. Its name is written proudly on a wooden sign almost overcome at the bottom in ivy. However, before we got there, I opened my big mouth again.

"I don't blame you for being so mean; I mean, I would be mean too if my guild partner beat me at everything." That is not how it was supposed to come out, I mean, I was genuinely trying to be nice, but I did not filter the words that left my mouth before. Zora's head turned to me, eyes gaunt and eerie, his brilliant smile no longer on display.

"You wanna run that by me again, Doll?" The venom that surrounded the once cheery nickname made my stomach drop. I felt backed against a corner with miles surrounding me to run off. Quickly I tried to explain what I meant.

"Wait, Zora, that's not what I meant- not how I-"

"No, I think I got it doll, you just think you're that much better than me, huh? So what, you got to some quests before me, stolen relics under my nose, and joined my guild, passing me up in less than four months. I don't care, Honey, 'cause ain't nobody better than me- 'cause ain't no one like me! I don't care how much mana you have, how many spells you cast, how skilled you are, or how fucking perfect you are! None of that is gonna change no matter how gorgeous you are!" Zora's eyes widen, and he clenched his mouth shut, turning away with a growl and turning to walk off toward the village ahead of us.

"You think I'm perfect?" I called out, watching him stop and turn back to look at me. Zora's face was blank as he spoke.

"Are you telling me that out of ALL that, that is the only thing that stuck?" He scoffed, and his eyes narrowed slightly, sharp jaws sent in a deep frown. I walked up to him and stopped a step ahead of him. I held out my hand slowly, making sure I held eye contact with him.

"Truce?" Zora looked at my hand, astonished, which slowly melted away and revealed mixed relief and annoyance. Then, finally, he moved to grip my hand and shake it firmly.

"Truce. Whoa-" I yanked Zora forward, pulling him close, catching his surprised blue eyes before closing my own and going in for a kiss. Fortunately, Zora fell into it almost too easily, slipping his arms around me tight and returning the kiss with a bottled fever. However, after a few seconds, he pushed back, letting me go.

"W-What was that for?" I stared at him, lips still buzzing slightly from the contact.

"I don't know; it felt like the right thing to do. I think you're perfect, handsome too."

[lovely-ateez]

Vampire Shift~

ꕥPosted: 5/23/21

ꕥGenre: Fluff, Smut, Angst, College!au, Horror!au

ꕥPairing: Fem!Reader x Vampire!Jongho (feat Wooyoung and Minho from skz)

ꕥWord Count: ~5.9k (whoops)

ꕥWarnings: Horror themes, Language, Thigh riding, Unprotected sex, Mentions of blood and blood sucking (please lmk if I missed anything)

ꕥTag List: @cappujinho @bobateastay

ꕥA/N: I hope you all don’t a more spooky concept! Halloween is my favorite holiday and even though its May, it’s always spooky season to me lolol. Also! Feel free to listen to Vampire Shift by All Time Low while reading this (it’s only on YouTube I cry) since this is inspired by the song :)

It was a terrible idea, really, to work the night shift at a gas station alone. Even more so when you’re a young woman whose only defense is the pepper spray on her key chain and 911 on speed dial. Alas, college bills don’t pay themselves and every spare opportunity to get cash was one I had to take.

The digital clock sitting on the counter next to me briefly flashed, indicating another hour had gone by. It was currently four a.m. and it was safe to say I was losing my mind. I’d worked for five hours now, and not a customer had come in. That was the only advantage, really. So long as no one was around my boss let me finish any assignments I had, which came in handy on more than one occasion.

I was only six paragraphs into a five page report and had been staring at my laptop screen for over an hour, feeling beyond brain dead. I was assigned the topic of financial statements and country trade deficits, and wanted to cry every minute I thought about it. I was half convinced to pay someone to write the report for me.

The ringing of a bell indicated a customer opening the door and I closed my laptop to peer around the counter, ready to greet whoever entered. The first man to catch my attention was wearing sunglasses which fazed me, but I tried not to stare. The man that followed had black hair with blond underneath, a combination that I strangely liked. Both men were donned in all back, their faces stoic. They were attractive, I had to admit, but neither were my type.

And then, the last man entered. He looked over to me as he walked through the door, giving me a nod and a slight smile. His slicked back black hair matched his black ripped jeans and highlighted his red leather jacket. He was so handsome he looked like he jumped out of a magazine and I had to suppress a ‘wow’. A string of butterflies fluttered in my stomach and I did my best to ignore them, not even knowing his name.

The three of them wandered through the aisles until I could no longer see them, and I scolded myself for being so thrown off that I forgot say any form of a greeting. I sighed and turned my attention back to my laptop, opening it and blankly staring at the screen. My ears perked when I heard the men’s hushed voices.

“Y’oughta get that girl’s number. I saw the way you looked at her.”

“Yeah, Jongho. She’s pretty cute. If you don’t get her number you know I will.”

“Shut up.” One of the men, Jongho apparently, responded with a laugh, “Let’s just get some snacks, okay? It’s gonna be a long night. Also I’m buying tonight so get whatever.”

A smile crept on my face and I looked down, fiddling with my thumbs.

They think I’m cute. Maybe Jongho’s the one in red?

I heard the bell ring once more and a girl entered who I vaguely remembered from high school. She was popular but for good reason, probably being one of the nicest people I’d ever met. Our circle of friends overlapped slightly so I’d spent a fair amount of time with her. She was smart as a whip and gorgeous all the same, which seemed to stay with her. She looked bright, long red hair falling around her face, freckles still prominent as ever.

We met eyes and she smiled, “Hey y/n!”

I smiled and waved, “Hey Annabelle. How’ve you been? I haven’t seen you in awhile.”

“Good! I got into my dream college and it’s been great, although I’ve had to take some pretty hard classes.” She giggled, walking towards me. It’s honestly not too far from here. You go to Westgate University, right?”

I nodded and I put my laptop aside. She spoke again, genuinely excited for me, “That’s awesome! Congrats!”

“Thanks,” I smiled, “I’m taking it you got into Orholt?”

“I did! I was really-”

One of the men that entered earlier—the one still wearing sunglasses—shouted the redhead’s name and caught her attention, “Hey Anna do you want a Redbull or a Five Hour Energy?”

“Redbull! I’m not a monster.” She laughed.

The man nodded and walked toward us with several drinks and snacks in his hands.

“Oh! I want to introduce you to my boyfriend!” Annabelle turned to the man still wearing sunglasses and reached for his arm, “This is Minho. I met him at Orholt.”

Minho gave me a slight nod as I introduced myself and he placed the food and drinks on the counter. I began to scan the items, the mindless routine that I was used to by now. The loud sound of laughter made me look up, seeing the two other men approach us and place their snacks down as well. I watched them long enough to notice the way two-tone—my new affectionate name for the man with blond and black hair, I decided—shamelessly checked me out, a cocky smile on his face when I caught him. I just let out a small laugh before resuming my task, watching his confused reaction in my peripheral vision.

“Oh my god I totally forgot to introduce you to my friends.” Annabelle giggled and pointed to two-tone, “This is Wooyoung.”

“Hiya, Wooyoung.” I said with a confident smile, enjoying the way he still had a slightly confused look on his face.

“And this,” Annabelle nodded towards the man in red, “This is Jongho. Both him and Wooyoung go to Orholt, too.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Jongho. I’m y/n.”

“Very nice to meet you.” The man smiled before he sent me a wink.

I had never been a particularly shy person, but as he did so my eyes darted down as I felt my face flush. I didn’t notice the gears turning in Annabelle’s head as she put the pieces together.

I placed the final items in the bag, raising my head as Annabelle addressed me,  “You know I’m having a bonfire tomorrow night at my place and you should totally come!”

I stopped to think, first trying to remember if I worked the next day, then wondering if I was willing to go the bonfire when I realized I didn’t have to.

She sensed my hesitancy and her face fell, “Aw do you work tomorrow night? It’s a Saturday!”

“Oh no, I don’t. I...” I stopped to think for a minute. Although I likely didn’t know anyone else who would be there, I was familiar with Annabelle’s house, which brought me a bit of comfort, “Are all of you going?”

Annabelle gave a knowing smile, “Yes. All of us will be here.”

I nodded, accepting the credit card Jongho gave me, quickly after handing them the bags, and returning his card, “I’ll go.”

“Yay! We’ve gotta head out but I’ll send you the details. You’ve still got the same number, right?”

“Yeah I do.”

“Alrighty! I’ll see you tomorrow then!”

Annabelle left with a wave, her boyfriend on her arm and Wooyoung behind her. To my surprise, Jongho didn’t leave with them, the cocky look on his face all but telling me why he stayed.

I looked at him with wide eyes, playing innocent. “Can I help you?”

He placed an arm on the counter, his dark eyes seeming to put me under a spell. The confidence he was radiating was almost palpable and I felt myself being pulled to him. It was intimidating, to be honest.

“You’re really cute and I want your number.”

I let out a surprised laugh, “You really don’t beat around the bush, do you?”

“No, not really,” He propped his other arm on the counter, leaning towards me and raising an eyebrow, “So what do you say, doll?”

A smile crept on my face as I mirrored his actions and leaned towards him, “You gonna memorize my number? Or do you have a phone I can put my number into?”

Jongho’s smile got brighter as he reached to grab his phone, handing it to me. “You’re a firecracker, aren’t you?”

I shrugged, “I’d like to think so.”

When I handed his phone back, our fingers brushed and I could’ve sworn I felt sparks shoot through me at the simple interaction.

“Well I need to head out before the rest of them get too annoyed,” He nodded towards the exit where Annabelle, Minho, and Wooyoung left, “But it was enchanting to meet you, y/n.” He bowed, drawing a laugh from me.

“Ah yes. You as well, absolutely delightful.”

He gave me a smile, “I’ll text you later.”

"Sounds good. I’ll hold you to your word.”

“I’d expect nothing less.” And with that, he was out the door, leaving my heart a fluttering mess.

-

Me [8:37pm] So is there a dress code for tonight?

Annabelle [8:42pm] Nope! Wear whatever you’re comfortable with. I’m wearing this if it helps at all!

Annabelle [8:43pm] 1 Image Attached*

Me [8:45pm] So leather jackets and crop tops?

Annabelle [8:48pm] Haha sure! We can match!

Me [8:51pm] Lol bet. See you at eleven :)

Annabelle [8:51pm] See you then!

I started the process of slipping on a white cropped top followed by my light washed ripped jeans. I knew I was getting ready far earlier than I could have, but something about new events made me anxious and I had to make sure I looked nice. I giggled at the black leather jacket I was throwing over my shoulders, not having worn it since high school. In the middle of debating whether or not I should add another layer of mascara to my lashes, my phone dinged.

New Number [8:59pm] Y/n this better be you. This is Jongho and I’m texting you for a really important reason and I need you to reply quick

Me [9:00pm] Yeah it’s me. What’s going on are you okay??

New Number [9:02pm] I’m gonna go grab some food before I head to Anna’s. You wanna come with?

Me [9:02pm] Oh my god don’t do that to me, you buffoon. You scared me so bad rip

[New Number name changed to A Cute Buffoon]

Me [9:03pm] But sure I’m down lol. Here’s my address btw

Me [9:03pm] 1 Location Shared*

It occurred to me perhaps a bit too late that I was sharing my address with someone that I’d met only once and in a gas station.

I mean, he’s friends with Annabelle so he’s gotta be good right? God I hope so. I thought to myself.

A Cute Buffoon [9:04] Then it’s a date :) I live pretty close so I’ll be over in 10. That work for you?

Me [9:06pm] Fine with me!

A Cute Buffoon [9:06pm] Sounds good. I’ll see you soon ;)

I set down my phone and thanked myself for already doing my makeup. I checked myself out in the mirror, satisfied with my appearance and proud of how well my makeup turned out. I grabbed my bottle of perfume and spritzed the liquid in the air, letting it gradually fall on me so it wouldn’t be too overpowering.

You look beautiful, babe.

The waiting game was harder than I thought, not knowing what to do except awkwardly sit around and play an assortment of phone games. When exactly ten minutes had passed I heard my doorbell ring and I lifted myself from my couch, grinning at his punctuality.

I opened the door to see Jongho holding a bouquet of flowers, a smug look on his face. “Lovely to meet you here, stranger.”

I wanted to make a joke back but I couldn’t seem to think of anything, too surprised by the flowers in his hands. It wasn’t anything extravagant, the small bouquet of violets, but I felt my heart swell.

It’s perfect. He’s perfect.

My voice was small when I spoke, “No one’s ever given me flowers before.”

His eyebrows furrowed as a confused look painted his face, “Really?”

I nodded, taking the flowers from his outreached hands and smelling their sweet fragrance, “They’re beautiful.”

My eyes flickered to his, the tender look on his face making me feel as if I was melting on the spot, “You’re beautiful.”

I squealed, my face undoubtedly turning pink while my mind short circuited. I’d never become so shy around someone before and the only thing I could think of to say in response was another ‘thank you’ followed by ‘I’ll go get a vase for these.’

I opened my door further, rummaging through my cabinets for a vase when I noticed Jongho was still standing by the door, “You can come in, you know? That��s why I opened the door.”

He laughed nervously, “Sorry about that. Force of habit, I guess.”

I raised my eyebrows in a teasing manner, “What? Are you a vampire? Can you only come in if someone invites you?”

I thought I saw a flicker of shock on his face for a moment, but it was gone before I could register it and I shrugged it off, my eyes finding the perfect vase for the flowers.

“It’s just how I was raised.”

“I get that.” I placed the flowers in the vase, giving them a bit of water before walking up to Jongho and gently patting his cheek, “Your good manners are appreciated.”

He laughed in surprise, full gummy smile on display as he playfully swatted my hand away from his face, “Alright, alright. Let’s head out already.”

I made a sound of agreement before noticing a slight pink on his ears. I was temped to tease him, but ultimately decided to save it for later. If I could fluster him once I knew I could do it again.

-

The diner we went to was one I’d never heard of before, let alone been to, and I was beyond frustrated that I didn’t even know about it’s existence. It was an adorable fifties style diner and even the attire the waiters were wearing fit the theme.

“This is the cutest place to ever exist, I’m convinced.” I said as we sat down on the same side of a bright red booth.

“I really hoped you would like it. This is my favorite restaurant ever and they have fantastic milkshakes. If you’d like to share one for desert, I’m all for it.” A wink.

I bit my lip and hid my face in the menu that was placed in front of us, thankful for any method of escape.

“You’re so cute.”

“Ahh no don’t say things like that.” I giggled from behind the menu.

His hand grabbed the top of the menu, pulling it down so he could see me, “Why’s that?”

“Because you make me nervous. Like a good nervous!” I tried to explain, which only resulted in becoming even more embarrassed, “I-I mean I’m excited to be around you but I’m also nervous. I hope that doesn’t sound weird.” I cringed at myself. Never in my life did I think I’d be blushing and stuttering over some man, but my god did he prove me wrong.

“Not at all,” he reached over to take my hand in his, “because I feel it, too.”

Before I could properly react our waitress came over, taking our order and effectively saving me from becoming a human tomato.

We handed our menus back to her after ordering and she looked at us with a soft smile, “You two make a cute couple.”

While I was a bit too stunned to say anything, Jongho didn’t seem to have the same problem and went along with it, “Thank you, ma’am. That’s kind of you to say.”

When she left, Jongho leaned closer to me, “I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable by saying that we we’re a couple. I thought that-”

“No, I didn’t mind it!” I bit my tongue after likely saying that way too fast with far too much enthusiasm, but I meant it, “I didn’t mind it,” I said again, softer this time.

The tips of his ears once again turned a faint shade of pink, “Good to know.”

The food was as wonderful as it possibly could’ve been, their fries alone being one of the best things I’d ever consumed. Just as Jongho suggested, we shared a milkshake, which led to shy eye contact and laughter and my crush becoming stronger by the minute.

Just as Jongho paid and we were about to leave, a certain song began to play and he looked at me with an air of mischief, holding out his hand to me, “Dance with me.”

I took his hand, trying to hide my smile but failing. He led me away from the table and next to the jukebox. The area surrounding it was more open, probably with the intention for people to dance near it. He grabbed my waist, holding the hand of mine that wasn’t placed on his chest and looking at me in a way that could make any woman fall in love on the spot. We swayed to the music and I couldn’t help but feel full. Like I’d found all that I’d ever need.

Put your head on my shoulder~

“Do you know this song?” He asked with a smile.

I scoffed, “Of course I do! It’s one of my favorites.”

“It’s one of mine, too.”

Hold me in your arms, baby~

I mouthed along to the words as I felt the need to prove it to him. As if to one up me, Jongho began to sing along, his gorgeous voice amazing me.

Squeeze me oh so tight, show me~

That you love me, too~

I blushed as he looked at me while singing along, becoming a bit flustered himself when the lyrics clicked with him.

Put your lips next to mine dear~

Won’t you kiss me once, baby~

As if we were in sync our eyes darted to the other’s lips at the same time. I could feel Jongho’s breathing becoming heavier before he said in a hushed tone, “Can I kiss you?”

“Please.” Was all I could respond before I pressed my lips to his, fireworks igniting inside me when he kissed me back. His lips were so soft and warm and as crazy as it sounded, he felt like home. I felt him smile against my lips as the music continued to play.

Maybe you and I will fall in love~

-

The fire was loud, crackling and lighting up the faces of all those crowded those around it. It was essentially the only source of light in the dark of the night, except for the distant lights still on in Annabelle’s house. My hands were interlocked with Jongho’s as we sat around it’s warmth, both of us finding it hard to separate from one another.

Conversation was flowing all around us, and I was relieved to find that everyone I had talked to was kind and welcoming. I was more nervous than I realized, but having Jongho next to my side alone calmed me. Someone around the fire mentioned an old story involving Annabelle and I began to wonder where she was, having not seen her since Jongho and I first arrived. I mentioned I was going to look for her and he nodded, at first wanting to join me but then getting pulled into conversation with one of his former classmates. I told him I’d head off on my own and he nodded again.

I looked around what seemed to be the entire property and still there was no sight of her. At that moment I heard yelling coming from her house, startling me. I felt my blood run cold when I recognized one of the voices as Annabelle’s. The yelling didn’t sound like it was out of fear, but instead more aggressive, out of pure anger. Without thinking I ran inside, hoping to calm the situation but instead found what seemed to be out of a work of fiction.

An unfamiliar man was on the ground, obviously trying to get away from a hidden figure before him that seemed to be cloaked in darkness. He let out a sound that I’d never heard a human make, one that I couldn’t even compare to something I’d heard before, and a shiver ran down my back. As the figure took a step forward I recognized it as Annabelle, or what seemed to be some version of her. Her normally grey eyes were now bright red, sharp fangs on display as she snarled at the man. A group of people were surrounding them, alarmed looks on their faces but hardly trying to intervene.

“What the hell?” I whispered, my eyes wide as I tried to back away without anyone noticing. But of course, I just had to step on an empty soda can, all eyes pointing my way. As I looked at the people around me, their expressions seemed to mirror mine and I swallowed, suddenly feeling immensely claustrophobic.

I met eyes with Annabelle and she seemed to change in a flash, her eyes returning to their former color and fangs disappearing. She looked more panicked than I had ever seen her which only scared me more. She was always able to keep her stressors under control, but as she stared back at me, I saw a version of her I never had before.

I was barely able to form a sentence, adrenaline coursing through me at a rampant rate, “Um...” 

Annabelle slowly walked towards me, “Oh—hey! Sorry I disappeared for a while but how’s the party going? Are you having fun?” Panic was still evident in her voice but I knew she was trying to keep a hold of the situation.

“I...I don’t-”

A stern voice came from left, and I nervously turned to meet Jongho, an unreadable expression crossing his face, “Y/n.”

“Yeah?” My voice squeaked as I began to regret agreeing to come along in the first place, still hyper aware of all the eyes on me.

“Come with me.”

His eyes softened at my panicked state and he held out a hand, “Please?”

I was hesitant, but being anywhere away from the crowd and whatever Annabelle turned into seemed to be a good idea. I took his hand and watched as he exchanged a look with Annabelle that seemed to calm her. Turning on his heels he led me back to the bonfire, sitting in a chair and motioning for me to do the same. Seeing no one around us gave me a feeling of both anxiety and comfort, and I wasn’t quite sure which feeling was winning at the moment.

“Well I’m sure you have plenty of questions.” He started, “I won’t lie to you and try to convince you what you saw wasn’t real, because it was, but I need you to know that no one is going to harm you. That guy is Anna’s roommate and they get into an argument at least once a week. Sometimes it can be nasty, but they never get physical and neither would ever hurt anyone unprovoked. No one here would.”

I was silent for a few minutes, trying to process what I saw on top of the time bomb of information he dropped on me. “Is she...is everyone....are you a vampire?” I whispered the last words, almost too stunned and afraid to say out loud.

He smiled slightly, his kind eyes making me feel safe. “Yes. We’re what you’d call vampires.”

I took a breath, almost afraid to hear the answer to my question, “Am I in any danger by being here?”

“No, everyone here is good. They don’t pose any threat. There are plenty of dangerous vampires but we stay away from them. Besides,” He placed an arm around my waist, playfulness in his eyes, “If there were, I’d protect you from them.”

“Oh? And how don’t I know you’re not dangerous?”

He leaned closer to me, clearly enjoying this, “You don’t, I suppose. Doesn’t that make it fun?”

“That’s very much debatable,” I smiled for a moment before a frown took over, “Everyone just seemed really...I don’t know, startled I guess?”

Jongho let out a loud sigh, looking down at the ground for a few seconds before looking back up at me, “Humans aren’t normally invited to these parties. It’s assumed that everyone here is a vampire. The perfume that you’re wearing, whatever the hell it is, is masking your scent. If I didn’t meet you before today I wouldn’t have known you were human. I guess Anna didn’t tell everyone, either.” He placed a hand on my knee and looked at me with kind eyes, “How are you feeling?”

“Surprisingly calm considering that I just learned vampires exist.”

Jongho laughed, “Yeah I’d say you’re taking it pretty well. Like I said earlier though, I’m sure you’ve got plenty of questions, so fire away.”

“Yeah I have a few.” I hesitated, hoping he wouldn’t be offended by my question, “Exactly how old are you?”

“Oh are you gonna age shame me?”

“No but it’s probably an important thing to know...since we kissed and all.”

He laughed again and leaned back in his chair, placing his arms behind his head,  “How old do you think I am?”

I used his question as an excuse for my eyes to wander over his body. He was beyond attractive, very clearly fit and he knew it, which equal parts pissed me off and turned me on. As hard as I tried, I kept finding myself being pulled to his thighs. Even through his jeans I could tell he had strong thighs and I had to press my fingernails into my palm to keep from drooling. “From your appearance? Early twenties. From what age fiction usually tells us vampires are? I’d guess you’re a hundred and three.”

Jongho nodded with a smile, “I’m not quite that old but that’s a fair guess. You had it right the first time. I’m a pure born and we actually age, but we don’t age as quickly as humans. I’m twenty.”

“Pure born?”

“It means both of my parents are vampires.”

I nodded as another question came to mind, a smile on my lips. “Do you sparkle in the daylight?”

“Oh my god,” He covered his face with his hands, a mixture of a groan and a laugh escaping his mouth, “No, we do not sparkle in daylight, “His hands came to rest on his knees, “But it sucks that we really shouldn’t be in direct sunlight for over two hours a day. That’s normally the rule to go by. It’ll burn us if we’re in it for much longer than that.”

“So do werewolves and witches and everything like that exist, too?”

“Yeah pretty much. We don’t all get along, but we have to coexist. It’s something we’ve struggled with for a while, unfortunately. Basically everything you’d believe to be supernatural exists.”

I was silent for a while, not really knowing what else to say.

“Y/n? Are you doing okay? If you’re not comfortable being here I can drive you home right now or if you’d rather be alone I can call an Uber or—”

My heart skipped a beat at his kindness. “No, I’m okay. I guess I’m just surprised I’m learning about this just now.”

“We do a good job of hiding it. Also it was probably a given, but keep this as a secret if you can. Having a lot of people know about our existence can be risky.”

I gave him a silent nod, unintentionally leaning closer to him. The sound of approaching footsteps made me jump into Jongho’s arms. I didn’t know why I found comfort in him, knowing that he could be dangerous as well, but he’d been nothing but sweet to me. I had no reason to fear him.

Annabelle approached us but stopped, taking a few steps back when she saw how I was buried in Jongho’s arms.

“Hey y/n.” She rubbed her arm, looking down as if she’d done something wrong.

“I guess Jongho probably told you everything at this point. I’m really sorry if I scared you and I understand if you don’t want to be friends anymore.” Even in the dark I could see tears beginning to stream down her cheeks and I felt a pain in my chest.

I got up from Jongho’s hold and wrapped my arms around her, feeling her stiffen, “I trust you, Annabelle.”

Those four words seemed to relax her and she returned my hug, still sniffling, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. We aren’t supposed to tell anyone and I thought you might hate me—”

I pulled back, “Why the hell would I hate you? You’re still you.”

She laughed through tears, gripping me tighter, thanking me over and over for not pushing her away.

We’re gonna be okay. It’s all gonna be okay.

-

Not too long after, Jongho drove me home. The ride was more silent than when we were headed to Annabelle’s house, but the air wasn’t heavy or uncomfortable. Feeling tired, I laid my head on Jongho’s shoulder, faintly hearing ‘sleep well, baby’ before drifting asleep.

When I woke, I was in my bed. I reached for my phone on the bedside table and found a little note placed next to it that read:

I hope you don’t mind that I carried you inside. I tried to wake you for like five minutes but you were out cold. Anyways, I had a really good time with you yesterday and I hope you had fun too :) Text me when you wake so I know you’re okay. -J

I looked at my clock and saw that it was still early, but I texted Jongho anyway.

Me [3:00am] Not sure if you’re still up, but I really enjoyed yesterday, too. I’m exhausted so I’m gonna go back to sleep but I just wanted to say I’m okay and everything is good :))

A Cute Buffoon [3:00am] Sleep well, darling. We can talk in the morning

-

It had been roughly a month since Jongho and I started dating, and while I felt like I knew him pretty well, we had only known each other a little over a month, on top of the fact that he was a vampire which was essentially an entire separate culture. I’d asked him most questions I had early throughout our relationship, but one in particular kept replaying in my mind.

We were currently sitting on the couch in my apartment, cuddling each other. The TV was on but neither of us were really watching it. I was far more interested in the warm body in front of me, and based off of how Jongho was looking at me, the feeling was mutual.

I bit my lip, anxiously mulling over the question I’d wanted to ask him for weeks. I didn’t know how he would take it, let alone how I would bring it up, but I needed to ask at some point. Knowing he could probably sense my nerves, I gave in. “Jongho, can a human turn into a vampire?”

He hummed, turning to face me. “Why do you ask?”

“I just...I didn’t know if it could happen or not.”

Jongho chuckled, “Yeah it’s possible. It’s a long ass process to go through though, and there’s a lot that can go wrong, so it rarely happens.”

I shifted in my seat, trying not to appear overly interested. “Why is that? What can go wrong?

He smiled and raised a brow, his cocky persona resurfacing, “You sound so eager to know, dear. Do you want to become a vampire?” His eyes briefly flickered towards my lips before he tilted his head, dragging his soft lips across my neck. I let out a gasp when I felt the tips of his teeth lightly scraping the skin, “Or maybe you’re just looking for an excuse for me to put my mouth on you?”

Like with anything that exuded him, I felt myself becoming quickly overwhelmed, my mind now hazy and distant. I shut my eyes in an attempt to gain some semblance of control over myself.

“Your thoughts are swirling, doll.” Jongho began leaving gentle kisses along the side of my jaw, “Don’t think too much. Just let me take care of you. Okay?”

“Okay.” I said through a short breath, knowing we’d just have to have the conversation another time.

We’d had sex before, so it wasn’t like this was new territory for us, but every time felt like the first, leaving me just as out of breath each time.

He lifted me and placed me on his thigh, dragging me across his flexed muscles. I felt my eyes roll back at the simple motion, my need growing at an embarrassing rate. I grabbed his shoulders as I began to drag myself against him, whines and whimpers spilling from my lips.

“God you’re hot,” Jongho said through hot breaths, beginning to kiss my neck, no doubt leaving marks.

“Thanks I try.” I managed to say, pleased when Jongho laughed.

“You don’t even have to, and it’s completely unfair.” His hands moved under my shirt and danced along my skin, “It’s like you’re an angel come to life.”

I let out a loud moan, feeling tears well in my eyes from his praise, “You always make me feel so beautiful when I’m with you.”

Jongho responded with a smile, carrying me to my bedroom and laying me down on the bed while hurriedly discarding both of our clothes.

“You’re always so eager, babe.”

He nuzzled my neck as he climbed on top of me, his hands finding my own and holding them, “As if you’re not.”

“I never said I wasn’t.”

He then moved in between my thighs, teasing me with his fingers as he ran them along my wet slit, occasionally rubbing my clit, drawing small whines from me.

“Jongho please just fuck me already.”

“Sweetheart, do you even think you’re wet enough for me?” He cooed.

Feeling frustrated, I pushed my fingers inside myself with ease, pulling them out and spreading them so he could see my essence dripping down my fingers, “I don’t know you tell me.” I said with far more sass than I intended.

Jongho’s eyes widened at the sight and wasted no time positioning his cock at my entrance, pushing in and letting out the most beautiful groans.

Neither of us ever bothered to use protection because, to put it simply, vampires couldn’t get humans pregnant. It was only possible when both partners were vampires, and we took full advantage of that.

“Fuck—baby you feel amazing. You’re so warm and tight ohmygod.” Jongho moaned as he began to move, thrusting in and out of me at a steady pace.

I clenched around him, loving when he was vocal. His sounds helped get me off just as much as his actions, at times it seemed.

“You feel...really good...too.” I said through heavy breaths. And as much as I wanted to last longer in bed, with Jongho, I never could.

“I don’t know if it’s because you’re a vampire and you’ve got like magic powers or something or maybe you’re just a sex god—but holy shit...I’m close.”

He threw back his head and had the audacity to laugh, something I really couldn’t stay mad at with how good he was making me feel. “Babe it’s been like six minutes.”

“Don’t be an asshole.” I joked, my laugh turning into a moan. It only spurred Jongho on, making him angle one of my legs up higher, hitting deeper inside of me.

“I know you’re close, baby. I can feel it. Cum for me, baby girl. Let go for me.”

He reached down to tease my sensitive nub, drawing quick circles until I was seeing stars, chanting his name like a prayer.

After Jongho came down from his high, he disappeared into the bathroom as he always did, coming back with a warm towel. As he pressed the towel to my thighs I tried to ask again.

“So...about the human to vampire thing?”

“Well,” Jongho sighed, “I didn’t think I’d be able to distract you forever.” He smiled, “It’s mostly done because couples want to stay together. The thing is though, the vampire obviously gets a taste of the human’s blood and it can be hard to stop once you’ve marked them, especially since smell is such a big allure for us.”

He took a long breath, “Then the human will almost always pass out, and needs to be taken care of for the next couple days because they’ll be so weak. Another problem is that the scent of their blood will be amplified during those days and it’ll be harder for the vampire to not, you know...” He looked away, not able to say the words. I knew what he meant, we both did. In some cases, vampires would kill their human partners for of their blood. Sometimes it was beyond their control. Just a primal need that would betray them. “Then their scent is more easily detected by other vampires and the whole thing is just kinda a mess. I think I’ve only heard of five attempts and only one of them was successful.”

I nodded, not really knowing what to say.

“And then on top of it all, it can be harder for the human to adjust and it can put a lot of pressure on the relationship. Human and vampire relationships are dangerous.”

His face was serious as he ran a hand through my hair. I looked up at him and leaned into his touch.

He cleared his throat and averted his eyes, a shy behavior I hadn’t seen from him before, “I guess it’s important for you to decide then.” His eyes met mine again, “Is this still something you want to continue?”

“Our relationship?”

“Yeah.”

“Of course, are you crazy? You mean the world to me.” I swallowed, realizing he hadn’t voiced his own thoughts, “What about you? Do you want this?”

“I think you have a pretty good idea of what I want.” He smiled and pressed a quick kiss to my forehead, his eyes sparkling.

“Hey Jongho?”

He hummed, looking at me.

“I want to spend forever with you.”

[nooneelsecomesclose17]

Ring out the old, bring in the new

Day 30

This is a follow up to 'I'm dreaming of a white christmas' and it's fluffy to the point of soppy but I hope you like it.

The title and lyrics are from 'The Perfect Year' by Dina Carroll which I've always loved and they seemed to fit. So, enjoy

BTW tomorrow's fic will be posted a little later on account of it not being finished yet, but I'm definitely posting at least part of it before the end of the month!!

(AO3 link)

“You’re not serious.” Aaron says when Robert tells him his idea. It’s boxing day and he’s about to take the kids up to the farm so Cain and Moira can babysit and give them a few hours of peace, and Seb had been crazing them all day wanting to see Isaac and all his new toys. “You want to renew our vows on new years eve? As in five days from now.”

“Yeah. It’s tons of time to get everything sorted.” Aaron raised an eyebrow, looking at the state of the flat, still a mess from the chaos of the day before.

“Everything? We said something small, just our friends and family.”

“Well I thought we could combine it with a new year party, makes sense doesn’t it?”

“You can’t organise something like that in that short a time!” He looks up from where he’s wrestling Ana into her coat at Robert’s scoff. “What?”

“I organised our first wedding in under twenty four hours. I can do this. A new year, a new start?” Aaron knew that voice, he’d learnt not to argue with it so he just nodded, even though he didn’t think they needed a new start, they’d done alright the past few years. “Right, when you’ve dropped them off, come back and we’ll sort a guest list and that. I’ll call Mum, she can help.”

“Yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir.” Aaron mumbled as he herded the kids out of the door. Even after two weddings and nearly ten years he still forgot how Robert could be when he got an idea in his head.

Ring out the old Bring in the new A midnight wish to share with you

It’s two days before the vow renewal and he’s ready to tear his hair out. Robert’s promise of something small

“Robert, how many people have you invited.” He asks as his husband and his mother come in the door laden down with bags bulging with food.

“Just the essentials, your lot, Gran if she’s feeling up to it, Liam, Leyla, Priya and I think Mack and Charity…Billy and Ellis said they’d pop by. Um…”

“So basically everyone in the village except Mum and Paddy?”

“Er, yeah. Oh, Cain said he’d make sure Eve was here too, at least for part of it.” Aaron smiled at that, he’d wanted to ask his Mum about having her over but she barely spoke to him these days and he really couldn’t face another argument with her.

“Thank you.” He kisses him as he passes by. “The only thing left is to decide who is doing the ceremony then. Or do you just want to say the vows and stuff ourselves.”

“Um, I thought about asking Charles. If that’s alright with you.”

“Course it is. We can ask him tonight at the pub.”

“Daddy.” Seb pipes up. “If you’re getting married, you need a best man.”

“Oh we do, do we?” Robert crouches down to him. “And who told you that?”

“Ganma.” Robert looked over at his Mum who shrugs.

“Well Ganma should know that it’s a vow renewal not a wedding.” He wants to kick himself when his son’s face drops and Aaron swoops to the rescue as he tries to come up with the right words.

“Daddy’s right, but you know what? The best thing about a vow renewal is that unlike a wedding there’s no rules, so if we want to have a best man then we can.” He looks over at Robert, having one of their silent conversations before turning back to him. “In fact, I was going to ask you to be mine.”

“Really?” Aaron nods and Seb runs off cheering as he goes. “Ganma! Did you hear?”

“I heard peanut. You’ll be brilliant. What about you Robert?”

“Maybe Ana can be yours?” Aaron suggests, getting caught up in it all.

“But then Sara’s left out.” He looks at their youngest who is rolling about with her cuddly bunny, chattering away in her own little language.

“I thought she could walk in front of us with your Mum, with Eve, maybe with flowers or something, you know how she likes to make mess.”

“Getting well into this all of a sudden aren’t we?”

“Yeah well…they’ll enjoy it won’t they.” He shrugs. In truth it was the contented look on Robert’s face that he was enjoying.

“You’d better stay with me, Robert.” Sarah pipes up. “The night before.”

“Er, why?”

“Because it’s bad luck not to.”

“We didn’t bother with that before.” He tells her and she and Aaron share a look.

“Your Mum’s right…look what happened before…best not chance it a third time.” He’s smiling so Robert knows he’s kidding.

“But…No, this is wrong, you’re ganging up on me!”

“You’re the one who wanted this all done ‘proper’.” Aaron can’t hold in his laughter and then Robert starts tickling him, which ends up as a family affair with the kids join in until Aaron pleads with them to stop.

It's New Year's Eve, and hopes are high Dance one year in, kiss one goodbye

“You ready?” His Mum asks, straightening his tie.

“Of course he is lass.” His gran pipes up from her chair. He was so pleased she’d made it over again and he’d proudly shown her around the cafe the day before, showing off a little, enjoying the pleased smile on her face.

“You don’t think it’s a bit silly do you?” He asks, nerves hitting him all of a sudden. “Three weddings…it’s not a bit…”

“I think it’s wonderful love. You and Aaron have been through so much, I don’t see why you shouldn’t celebrate the fact that despite everything you’re still together.” She straightens his tie again, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “I’m very proud of you.”

“Thanks Mum. We should get going.” He needs to or he’s going to cry and he doesn’t want that, not today.

They walk into the village, meeting Aaron and the kids on the path to the village hall. Cain’s with him and Robert can see Eve. Thank goodness Chas hadn’t put up a fight or he might have had to go round there and get the little girl herself.

“Hi.” Aaron’s eyes are soft as he looks at him, but Seb tugging on his arm stops his reply.

“Are we ready Daddy?”

“Yes mate.” He holds out a hand to Aaron as Cain helps Annie to her seat at the front, and Robert watches to make sure he wraps the blanket they’d bought around her. It wasn’t that cold for them, but he didn’t want her to get chilly, she wasn’t used to the English weather anymore. He bursts out laughing as she bats Cain’s hand away. “Oh I wish I had a camera.”

“You’re horrible.”

“That’s why you love me.”

Another chance, another start So many dreams to tease the heart

Unlike their wedding, there’s no readings, or sisters glaring at them, just Charles speaking about fresh starts and second chances, and how he’d come to know them well and had never seen any couple so in love. Aaron’s hand finds his then and he stares at him, wondering just how he got to be so lucky. Then it’s time for their vows.

“At our last wedding, I said that I was lucky to get a second chance. Never could I have believed that I’d need a third. You love me, even when I don’t deserve it. When I push you away, you’re always there. You’re a brilliant Dad to our three children, and I don’t know where I would be without you and I never want to find out. You’re still the bravest, kindest man I know, and I love you more every day.” Aaron’s got tears in his eyes and he smiles at him as he takes his turn.

“I’ve never been very good at this part and it always feels like what I say is not enough. I once said that I love you so much that I don’t know what to do with it, and that’s never changed. Not for a single second. You can be the most infuriating man, but I still love you because everything you do, you do for me, for our children and I promise that you’ll never have to be without be. You deserve every bit of love that we have for you, don’t ever forget that.” This time it’s him that’s crying and laughing and he feels a little light headed as he leans in to kiss Aaron, hearing the usual giggles from the kids, and from Eve.

“Well, I don’t think I need to add anything except to wish you both a long and happy life together.” Charles announces and then they’re walking down the steps to their family.

“Oh love, that was just wonderful.” His Mum is crying over him and he looks to Aaron for help. He just smiles and shakes his head as the kids are all over him. It’s perfect, just as he wanted it.

Your lips are warm, my head is light Were we in love before tonight?

“Alright?” Robert asks, stepping out of the back door, the noise fading away as he shuts the door. Aaron’s sitting on the steps, beer in hand but Robert can’t read the expression on his face. The party at the house has been going a few hours and everyone is more than a little merry. Thankfully the kids had happily gone up to his Mum’s flat with Sarah and Noah and were hopefully fast asleep.

“Yeah, course. Just needed a minute. Pretty loud in there.” He’d bailed when Sam had started dancing with a pint held to his head Robert automatically looked back inside, wincing when he thought about the state of the place. He’d worry about that tomorrow. “It’s been a brilliant day. I know I joked about it, but it really has.”

“I told you I could do it.”

“Yes you did. Not that I didn’t love both of our other ones, but I think this one might be my favourite…you know?” He nods, of course he did, there was no sadness anymore, no prison on the horizon, no grief to get through, just happiness and a life ahead.

“I know. I love you, you know.”

“Love you too.” He leans over to kiss him.

“Come with me.” He held out a hand to Aaron getting to his feet.

“Where, it’s nearly midnight.”

“I know. No one will miss us.” He shakes his head but follows him anyway, into the village.

No need to hear the music play Your eyes say all there is to say The stars can fade And they can shine Long as your face is next to mine

Robert doesn't say anything but a smile crosses Aaron's face when they reach the gazebo next to the village hall, still decorated from earlier in the day. He fumbles a little but eventually gets the lights switched back on and Aaron’s looking up in wonder. “That’s better.”

“What are we doing back here?”

“Wanted to see the new year in somewhere quiet, just us.”

“And the garden wouldn’t do?”

“No. This place…I’ve never been as happy as I was that day you know.”

“Me too. Today’s a pretty close second, sharing everything with our kids. Last time though, eh?” He smiled.

“Mmm, yeah, no more weddings.” He takes hold of Aaron’s hands, tugging him down the steps into the open. “Dance with me.”

“I don’t dance.”

“No one can see. It’s just us. For me…Call it a late Christmas present.”

“There’s no music.” He complained, feeling self conscious even though they were all alone.

“We don’t need it. Come on, as it’s our last wedding.”

“It better be!”

Neither of them noticed the time ticking over to midnight, or the fireworks going off in the distance as they swayed from side to side, just the two of them.

We don't need a crowded ballroom Everything I need is here, if you're with me Next year will be the perfect year

[markosmate]

heather

pairing; david x reader

summary; after meeting the boys, david knows the perfect way to make you jealous without even realizing he’s doing so. 

warnings; strong language, stalking (sorta), almost abduction in the beginning

au:// hiiii, so a lot of people have been asking about a part 2 for Baby Blues (thank y’all so much for all the support btw i didn’t expect that many people to read it <33) and i am working on a part 2 currently so expect that to be out soon! but for now here’s a david one that i’ve been working on for the past couple of days :)

The first time you met the boys, you had been absolutely captivated by David. It was like he demanded all attention be on him as soon as he made his way into a room, and you had fallen right into his trap. Despite the immediate infatuation you had of him, you distanced yourself. You weren’t stupid, you knew about those four boys - they were bad news, they weren’t good people to spend your free time with.

The second time you ran into the boys, his eyes met yours almost as soon as you were within distance of them. His lips pulled into a jagged smirk as he moved to make his way towards you. As soon as you realized what was happening, you quickly turned and busied yourself with searching through the shelves of jewelry set up at a small outside stand.

You would have never known he was standing behind you if he hadn't spoken directly into your ear.

"It’s a scam, you know."

You jumped slightly, and whirled on your heels to face him. You squinted your eyes at him, putting on a much more confident persona than you were used to. "What is?"

"The prices for the jewelry. They just buy them and sell them here for double the price. If you want a piercing my friend will be happy to do it for you."

"Oh yeah? They any good?" You challenged, following after him as he once again began walking - this time making his way back towards the line of bikes. His friends were no longer lingering there, they must have wandered off shortly after parking their vehicles.

"She’s done most of our piercings, she also makes necklaces and bracelets so - she has whatever you want." He grinned back at you over his shoulder. You could almost immediately tell who he was talking about. A girl around his age, who always rode on and off the boardwalk with the gang but separated from them almost immediately after the bikes were stopped. Her wrists were lined with gorgeous, dainty bracelets and she must have had at least three piercings in each ear. "Wanna go for a ride?" He looked you straight in the eye as he leaned back against the railing separating the wood of the raised walkway from the beach sand.

"Oh I'd better not." You declined almost immediately. It wasn’t exactly in your best interest to leave with one of the most feared men in town - especially in a place like santa carla. "I have to meet back up with my friends in the parking lot soon, maybe another time though." You spoke quickly, feeling your confident facade begin to waver the longer his cold eyes burned holes into your own.

You waved quickly before turning and practically bolting towards the other end of the boardwalk. You had told him a blatant lie that you were sure he had seen straight through - you had no friends waiting for you in the parking lot. You were just hoping to make it home before running into any other sketchy people.

The third time you ran into the boys, you quite literally ran into them. There had been a man following you consistently on the boardwalk the entire night. It wasn’t until mostly everyone had cleared off the boardwalk, and you were leaving your work, that he really decided to come after you.

When walking out of the small shop after closing up for your boss for the night, he had been leaning against the wall next to the door. "Hey doll, looking for a good time?"

"Oh, uh, no thanks. Not tonight." You tried to turn him down gently and immediately after turned to continue making your way to the parking lot. You didn’t even make it a couple feet before the man tightly grabbed your wrist and whipped you back around.

"No, come on babe. I insist." He gritted out trying to pull you along with him. You tried to think quickly in your panic, frantically looking around to find a way out of your situation. You tried kicking at his legs and scratching at his fingers but it did little to deter the man from what he was set on doing.

In one last desperate attempt, you brought your leg back and stomped on the back of his knee as hard as you possibly could. His leg buckled and he let his grip slip from your wrist in surprise. You took the opportunity given to you and ripped yourself out of his wavering grip, turning and running as fast as you could towards the beach desperately hoping there was a bonfire going on.

What you got instead, was much better. The four punks of the boardwalk were walking along the shoreline, their eyes lingering on each bonfire they passed. You took your chances and ran towards the platinum blond. He had tried to get you to leave with him not even three weeks ago, and even if the chances were dangerously slim - you begged to whatever higher power there was that the four would help get the creep running after you off your back.

You almost body-slammed into the lanky blond before frantically grabbing on to the platinum's arm. He turned around quickly enough to startle you but you were far too nervous to let it alter your decision.

"Hi, hi- um, I’m so sorry but could you please help me?" His eery smirk was replaced by a frown of utter confusion - eyebrows furrowing and icy blues traveling over your form to check for any injuries that you could possibly need help with. You turned to point out the creep standing at the top of the stairs who seemed to be scanning the beach for where you had run off to. "That man, he just tried to- I don’t even know what he was trying to do but he grabbed me and was trying to bring me somewhere after I declined his request to hang out and I don’t know, could you just-" You rambled, cutting yourself off however when the creep's eyes locked with your own.

His gaze immediately hardened as he jumped down the remaining stairs and jogged over to where you stood.

Once he stood within distance, he ignored the other four's presence and grabbed your wrist once more. "There you are babe, I thought I lost you for a second. Come on." He tried to drag you after him once more when you began to pull at his grip again.

"No, would you stop asshole? I don’t know you." You growled, but your words were ignored as you continued to be pulled back towards the stairs. You dug your heels into the sand and slowly your body came to a stop even as he continued to try and pull you behind him.

His attempts were proven useless as the platinum finally spoke up, grabbing onto your elbow to prevent you from being pulled any further. "Excuse me, the young lady said she doesn’t know you. I think it’s in your best interest to get lost bud." The other three teens moved to stand behind you, shoulders squared and chins raised to make themselves seem as intimidating as possible.

'With the way they rule the boardwalk I don’t think mire intimidation is entirely necessary.' The idea flashed across your mind and the creep seemed to have the same thought as he quite literally looked like he was about to shit his pants as he immediately ducked his head and took off back towards the parking lot.

"You alright?" Platinum grumbled, letting go of your elbow to light the cigarette in between his lips.

"Yeah, yeah. I’m good." You whispered, trying to convince yourself more than you were trying to convince him. "Just startled me is all." You whipped your palms on the legs of your pants, trying to calm your nerves even though they were going completely haywire in the presence of the boys.

"Name's Paul, dudette. And you are?" The lanky blond bubbled out, holding out his hand for a shake.

You smiled at his antics and reached out to shake his hand in your own. "I’m y/n." You answered, trying not to blush when you noticed platinum's eyes raking up and down your form. "Thank y'all so much for getting that dude off my back, he’s been freaking me out all night."

"Well, you won’t have to worry about him anymore." Platinum spoke, an underlying promise in his words that you weren’t able to pick up on. "David."

"Dwayne."

"I’m Marko babe, nice to meet you." A cheshire grin was sent your way as the other two of the group introduced themselves after David.

"Well thank you, once again. It means a lot." You smiled sweetly at each of them before beginning to turn on your heel. "I'd better get going, I’ll see y'all around."

You were stopped by David who reached out to wrap an arm around your should and hold you in place. "Do ya have to run off so soon? Hang out with us for a while doll."

And with little convincing, you agreed to spend the rest of the night with them. Before you knew it, weeks passed quickly. You had become quite the new asset to their tiny group and spent almost every night with them after getting off of work. You’d gotten closer with the four of them than you’d ever been with anyone in your entire life, it almost felt like fate that you had gotten twisted up with them.

Every night felt like a party, and you had never felt more happy than when you were with them. Paul had left the truth about what they were slip one night while high and immediately after had sobered up and stared at you with wide eyes.

You had been suspicious of them for awhile before the truth came out - coming to realize that they only came to the boardwalk strictly after the sun had set and had dodged all your attempts at making plans with them during the daytime. The most striking coincidence you've come to realize is that anytime anyone gave you or the boys a hard time, their face would wind up on a missing persons flyer the next day.

"What do you mean you already knew?" Marko had gaped at you after you shrugged off the confession.

"Well I didn’t know exactly what you were, I just knew something was up. Y’all aren’t the best at hiding it." You had grinned back at the four of them.

"Well, at least she didn’t flip the hell out and faint." Dwayne joked, and you all continued on with the night as if it had never happened.

The longer you hung around with the boys, the more the platinum leader continuously swept you off your feet. You didn’t want to admit it, too stubborn to accept the fact that you had feelings for someone like him who had girls throwing themselves at him every minute of every day.

Not to say the latter didn’t annoy you, because you could practically feel yourself smoking at the ears everytime he would leave with a girl.

'Sure,' You tried to convince yourself. 'He didn’t actually have feelings for them or anything, they were just meals.' But that never seemed to help the small pang in your chest each time it happened.

One night, you were feeling especially upset about the whole situation. He had a beach bunny tucked into his side the entire night, and the fact she was the exact opposite of you hurt the most.

Halfway through the night and you had already gotten completely agitated with the entire situation. The group had come up with the idea to go find a bonfire to find some other people to hangout with. You knew this was a ploy to get the girl and a group of easy targets alone for them to feast on, so you took it upon yourself and uninvited yourself from the plans.

The boys picked up on your sour mood as soon as you stood up to gather your things early. "Hey where you going?" Marko spoke up through a mouthful of fries. "We weren’t planning on going for another half hour."

"Yeah well I think I’m just gonna head back. I’ll see you guys later on, maybe." You spoke short and within a certain finality to your tone, letting them know that all you wanted at that moment was to lounge around the cave on your lonesome.

Each of the boys bid you a farewell, except for the one and only reason for your attitude. The leather clad vampire only spared you an eye-roll before turning his attention back to the chick clinging onto his side.

You made quite the show of rolling your eyes back at him before turning on the ball of your foot and walking out of the restaurant. Hours passed at the cave and you probably switched around to doing different things at least a dozen times. At one point you put on one of Dwayne's leather jackets and waddled around the main area, pretending to be tough and serious. Most things only managed to keep you entertained for a half hour at best and in the end you settled for spreading out across the couch, drumming your fingers against your thighs to the beat of the songs playing through the radio speakers.

It honestly felt like you had been waiting for days when your thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a motorcycle engine outside the cave. There were no shouts or yells of excitement however, and there only seemed to be one engine roaring. After a few seconds the noise was cut off and footsteps padded against the rickety stairs leading down to the opening of the cave.

You looked over to see David's boots come into view as he stepped down the fallen rocks leading into the main room. He stopped at the bottom of the rocks and his eyes locked on yours. "We’ve gotta talk."

"I don’t want to talk to you right now." You immediately refused, turning on your side to face the back of the couch and hopefully pretend to be trying to fall asleep. He jumped down from the platform and landed with a small thump, making his way over to where the radio sat and turning down the volume until the only noise in the cave was your breathing and the occasional flutter of wings from one of Marko's pigeons.

"Why did you storm off?"

"I was tired and had a headache."

"You know what I think?" You didn’t reply. He grabbed your legs and twisted you around to face him. He leaned forward until his hand was pressed against the back of the sofa, caging you in with his eyes locked onto yours. "I think you’re lying."

"Oh, do you?" You mocked, attempting to push him away and kick his hand away from your shin. You knew you were playing with fire. You had no real reason to be angry with him, he didn’t know about your feelings and he wasn’t required to like you back. But that didn’t stop you from being a little bitter about the whole thing.

"I don’t know what your problem is, but I think you need to chill out. I can’t help if you won’t talk to me normally." He was acting surprisingly calm, and you were sure that if anyone else had been around while you were giving him this attitude he would be completely tearing into you with just as much bitterness.

"My problem?" You cried. "What’s your problem?"

"My problem?" He echoed right back to you. "What in the fuck are you going on about?"

"At this point you must know I like you! And yet you walk around with some broad clung to your side every night and pay no mind to me until we’re back at the cave! It’s like you completely ignore my presence when you’re with someone else."

His face fell flat, and he stared into your eyes with blank pupils, no emotion shining through the blue. "I’m sorry, back up."

You stared right back at him, a hint of regret beginning to build in your bones. Maybe you shouldn’t have confessed to him, maybe he'd laugh in your face and never speak to you again. Or worse - maybe he'd tell the boys and they'd all laugh in your face and then never talk to you again.

"You like me? And I, was supposed to know that?" His eyebrow raised into a tilt as he laughed. "You've never showed any interest - how was I supposed to pick up on that?"

You grew flustered, twiddling your fingers on your lap. "I don’t know... mind reading?"

He laughed, a genuine one. Not his usual mocking one he used when he was playing with victims or teasing one of the boys. "I don’t usually use that trick, babe. You should’ve just said something."

"Why? So you could laugh it off?" You bit back, leaning back on the couch with a pout forming on your lips. He grinned, moving to sit next to you on the sofa and reaching out to grab at your waist and pull you into his side.

"No, so I could tell you that you threw a fit and stormed off for no reason." He smirked cockily at you before swooping in to capture you lips in a sultry kiss. You literally felt yourself lose your breath as you leaned into him, reaching up to cup the sides of his neck and hold him as close to you as possible.

When you both pulled away you gasped air into your lungs as you locked your own eyes with his. "I was being kind of dramatic, huh?"

His smirk returned to his lips as he stood, wrapping his fingers around your wrist to pull you after him. "Dramatic is a little of an understatement kitten."

He moved to sit on his wheelchair, pulling you along to sit on his lap. His arms immediately made their way around your waist as he rested his chin on your shoulder. "Talk it out next time?" You suggested, turning your head to smile at him as you heard the other three pull up outside the cave with a few whoops and cheers.

"Sounds good to me." He agreed, reaching to take out a cigarette.

[chocolate-parfait]

Okay, I just got myself a tumblr account to ask for this Ikémen Vampire scenario, because the world needs this. Can you do one where the MC questions Mozart about his song "Leck mich im Arsch" (Ger. for "Kiss my ass" (lit. Lick me in the ass). I just can't imagine IkéVamp Mozart composing something like this so please be creative and do something funny. The song really exists btw. Real Mozart was a savage.

Started off serious, became trashy insults somewhere in the middle

Mozart being asked about his song “Kiss my ass” - ikevamp scenario (TW; mature language)

Thoughts are in italic

Bold AND italic is just me highlighting something

"Ugh, it hasn't even been a week and Sebastian is already burying me with work!" You mentally whined as you stretched your arms over your head. "Collect the sheets, wash the dishes, polish the shoes and wash the tablecloths..." each chore you listed made one of your fingers go up, and as the count reached ten you let out a deep sigh. You weren't even nowhere to be finished. "...ain't mama raise no weak bitch. Better get done with this before Sebastian yeets me into oblivion", you quietly spoke to yourself before going back to your full time slavery.

A lonely figure in the long corridor, you walked slightly bent forward for both the heaviness of the basket you were carrying and the mental and physical tiredness of your untrained body. As you took a turn at the end of the hallway, the lone sound of your footsteps found a companion. A sweet melody, a familiar one you had heard as a child, drifted through the air and waltzed its way to your ears. About ten meters from you there was the music room; you remembered it from Sebastian's tour of the house, but mostly because of the ever-so-friendly white haired composer that threatened you to stay kilometers away from him unless you wanted to be smacked to outer space. You had every intention of listening to him and avoiding any type of unnecessary contact with the man, but right now an irresistible curiosity pushed your feet to the prohibited door.

Was he composing something? Would he let you listen to one piece of his or play a modern-time song if you begged hard enough? somebody come git her she's dancing like a stripper If getting on your knees and throwing the last ounce of dignity you still had out of the window meant getting to witness Mozart's genius with your own two eyes --an impassable opportunity, too taunting to be ignored-- then someone better had to open up their purse and buy you some protective knee pads, 'cause ya girl was ready to crawl all around the mansion to get that P iano performance.

Inhaling some well needed air to get oxygen to your already malfunctioning brain in preparation of what was to come, you left the heavy basket full of dirty laundry and responsibilities behind and gently pushed the door open while peeking in with your head through the opening. As soon as he felt a pair of eyes on his back, Mozart abruptly stopped his magical fingers to turn to you, face contorted in an annoyed grimace.

Mozart: what.

MC: I- uh- uhm,,,, uhhhh- I... um

"Great job, chicken brain. The hero I absolutely didn't need right now"

Mozart: "I- uh- uhm,,,, uhhhh- I... um"...? I understand 15 languages and troglodyte isn't one of them. If you have nothing to say then leave.

MC: wait I-

Mozart: you didn't even knock. Are you really that impolite or did you grow up in a cave or something?

It hadn't even been 30 seconds and you had already been owned so hard not even a burnt Thanksgiving turkey could compare to this level of roasting, but there was no way in hell you were going to give up just for some edgy frail-looking man spouting some insults at you. You could probably smash him to the ground if you wanted, maybe... actually it would probably end with him snapping your neck like a twig, but at least the will to punch him was there.

You were ready to talk back with a savage comeback of your own, but before your mind could send the input to your mouth, his curt tone cut you off.

Mozart: Staring at people is a normal thing for future people? Makes me pity mankind. Get out.

...as kind as ever, the pianist! Kinda makes you want to kick him in the shins but you kept that thought to yourself.

As you were about to leave, two pair of footsteps got nearer to you from the corridor. Turning your head to the side you saw the clown duo making its way to the room, and you knew they were the ones who could provide you with the perfect chance to either succeed in your intent or bring you to a violent death.

Arthur: Oh my, what's happening in here? Is our wolfie making a move on our lovely MC before I can ask her out on a date myself?

Dazai: Good evening, Toshiko-san! Is something the matter?

And if this was your only opportunity, then you were going to use all your cards from the beginning. Mustering the best puppy eyes you could manage, you turned to the couple, and with a slightly whiny tone that resembled a half plea for help, you said:

MC: Ah, Arthur, Dazai-san! I just wanted to ask Mozart if I could listen to him playing the piano but he did nothing but be mean to me the whole time! I didn't even speak a word and he's already told me to leave twice~

Mozart: Which you didn't. So now I'm telling you a third time, leck mich. (=bug off)

Catching your subtle hint and feeling in the right mood to mess with the other fellow vampire, they decided to fan the flames of his annoyance by bringing in the discussion that one thing they knew he abhorred talking about.

Arthur: "Leck mich"? Why, Wolfie, you surprise me! You really haven't changed from your youth days, haven't you? My dear MC, did you know that the genius pianist here wrote a song called "Leck mich im Arsch"? A song about licking bums!

Dazai: Buttholes!

Arthur: Arseholes!

Dazai: Bungholes!

This was NOT the type of conversation you would've expected to have in a house full of historically important figures of such caliber, and foremost you were so close to bursting into a raging fit of laughter that only the scary aura of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was preventing you to do so. Despite the amusement you were worried the vein on his temple would explode and show you something you did not sign up for.

Mozart: Haven't I already told you not to bring that up?

Dazai: My, what a chilling smile, Wolfie-kun! Keep that up and you'll scare all the ladies away~

MC: pft——— what ladies?

Mozart: What are you laughing about, dumbass

Arthur: Woah, woah, woah! That's not the proper way to speak to a lady, Mozie! Bad wolf, bad!

Mozart: Did you take me for a dog, you four eyed caveman?

The more the snow white haired man was filled with rage, the more the situation escalated into something even more ridiculous , so much that in the midst of it you didn't even mind the recent insult.

But something was nagging you at the back of your mind. Why did someone as much as a clean freak as him write a song about licking ass? Though you realized Arthur probably gave you the literal translation just to be more direct about his bullying, you guessed it still was something pretty vulgar for someone like him. although you had to admit that the gracious idea you had of him crumbled away the second he opened his mouth

MC: I would've never expected someone like you to write such a song...

Mozart: What are you talking about?

MC: Uhm, you know, you're pretty neat, you don't let anyone touch your piano because of their 'filthy hands'... a piece about butts is a bit...

Mozart: I was still young at the time. My humor used to be different from now, people change in the span of 100 years, you know?

Arthur: Sense of humor? I wasn't aware you had one!

Mozart: Ahahah, so very funny, you stupid tratschtante (=gossip aunt)

Dazai: Maa maa (=now, now ; ara ara maa maa), I don't think the song is that out of character. After all, "licking butts" still has the idea of cleaning something, doesn't it?

Everyone: ...

Arthur: ...That was a bit too much

MC: Yeah, it was.

Mozart: Disgusting. This is why I dont like you people

MC: Wait, so can I listen to-

Mozart: Scram. All of you.

[imagination-is-key-in-my-world]

Lockdown

Authors Note: I am a British writer and luckily enough I have never actually had to experience something like this happening. I cannot imagine what it must be like. There is reference to the ‘shooting’ during the fanfiction, therefore, I do not blame anyone if they differ from reading this. Nothing is graphic and if anything it only gets mentioned for a small portion and there is no one hurt either. I would really like to do a part two. Let me know if anyone is interested.

Summary: It was just a normal day in Beacon Hills. Y/N and her friends were going about her business when a gun threat disrupted the balance of things. Strangers and potential foes grew closer as their lives hung in the balance.

Warning: Gun Threat, Swearing, Adult Language and Themes

Pairing: Reader x Stiles Stilinski

Word Count: 3,787

“You can not tell me that you didn’t just see that look he gave you?” Jackson brushed up against my side as I tried to jot down the new notes that Coach was terribly transcribing on the chalk board. I mean was that even spelt correctly, how did this man become a legal teacher?

“It is probably just in your head Jackson.” I counter.

“No he is seriously giving you the stink eye. What is McCall’s problem?”

I shrug him off as he is up to his typical shit stirring mode. Jackson and I are neighbours and long-time friends. Since I was nine, we were barely ever apart, we shared our biggest secrets with one another. Mine was that I am the daughter of two illusive demon hunters. I am the only person who knows that he has been pretending to be someone who he is not. Jackson has been in a secret relationship with Ethan. Deep down Jackson was a sweetheart. A sweetheart who cannot control his mouth or fists but Ethan and I are working on that.

“Come on Y/N!” He bumped my arm which made my hand jerk and my notes start to resemble that of Coach’s horrible penmanship. If there is one thing that I hate, its when my notes are not written one hundred percent perfectly. I slam down my pen and turn abruptly in my chair to face Jackson, which sparks some attention from the brunette boy on the table in front. He did not fully turn his head around which was lucky for me as my cheeks immediately go red from embarrassment.

“What is your problem Jackson?” I enquire, nostrils practically flaring which only invoked a chuckle from my best friend.

“Take that chip off of your shoulder and listen to me would you.” He countered as he pushed a note into my hand. “Read this and tell me you wish I left you to copy down that gibberish from the board.”

I huffed and started to carefully unfold the piece of paper. Coach didn’t really care if we showed up to the lesson, let alone if we were actually listening. I read it three times before I actually registered what the words were telling me.

Hey Y/N If you could would you be able to meet me in the west stairwell after 3rd period? You look really pretty today, btw    

“Jackson, who is this from?” The boy shrugged and dropped his head to focus on the words coming out of Coach’s mouth. “Don’t pretend like you care about what he is saying” I gesture to the shaggy haired man “now tell me at least who you got this from.”

Jackson pointed to Lydia who was not at all aware of the two pairs of eyes on her as she casually scribbled in her journal. “But I have no clue who had the note before her. It was probably that McCall.” He sneered. I exhale disappointedly, as much as Scott was a nice guy and all, I don’t want this to be from him. I do not have anything against the guy, he is just not someone who I would want to be interested in me. He seems to always be around trouble, and that is something I cannot be involved in.

“Why don’t you just go and see who it is. I will go with you and if it turns out to be McCall, I will rescue you.” He gave my hand a slight squeeze for reassurance and gazed down at my notebook. “By the way what did you get for number four?”

I laugh a little too loud which causes the brunette to turn around and give me a quick glance that I couldn’t translate in time before he was facing the front again. Again, my cheeks flared, the same way that they do every time his eyes meet mine. I shake the thought away and turn back to my friend. “Jackson, did you think this was a test the whole time? Number four is literally asking you to write down your height.”

 _____________________________________________________________

I was packing my stuff into my bag as the bell rang. “So, are you going to meet this mystery person?” Lydia enquired as I put my water bottle into the slot at the side of my bag, looping the strap over my one arm.

Lydia and I do not really talk, but considering she was my only lead on who this note could have been from, I bit the bullet and spoke to my lab partner. As we were filling the beakers with corrosive liquid, I came straight out with it. “So, about this note you handed to Jackson for me? Do you know who it was from?”

Lydia shook her head, a little startled that I asked her a question that wasn’t ‘can you pass me the pipette?’ “No, to be honest I can not even say who had passed me the note. When I looked down from the board it was just there lying on top of my journal. I am sorry Y/N, I wish I were able to help more but I honestly wouldn’t be able to say who gave it to me.”

I was a little discouraged by only knowing what I did during first period and it was now third. I was meant to meet this person in only a matter of minutes. Lydia and I continued to talk throughout the class. She was really nice to talk to, but I could sense that there was something about her that wasn’t normal. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but there was something.

“I have no clue if I am going to go or not.” I admit, letting the anxiety slip in. It would be hard enough for me to go through with it even if I knew who it was I was going to meet up with. This person said I was ‘pretty,’ for all I knew this could be a joke. That’s all I needed, I was already the girl with all the ancient supernatural protection runes all over my person and possessions. My mum and dad are hunters, and I have been brought up in a world where I cannot go anywhere without some protection. The salt and holy water in my bag is proof of that.

“Well, I hope whoever it is, knows how amazing you are. If he doesn’t, he will have me to deal with.” She bumped my hip with hers and waved as she left the lab.

I picked up the last item on the table and turned to leave the classroom when I was knocked onto the floor, landing hard on my butt. At first, it felt as though I had walked straight into an invisible force field. Little had I registered that it was a person.

“Oh shit!” It was the brunette from this morning. ‘Dammit’ I thought. I could already feel my cheeks start to turn red. Why did this always have to happen. “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to; I wasn’t looking where I was going.” The brunette boy bent down to help me up from the floor.

I brush off my jeans once I am back on my feet, avoiding making eye contact with the boy in front of me. He too looked really nervous as if this incident was his worst nightmare. “I- it’s o- okay.” I stutter. Really voice, of all the times you want to fail me, it’s now. “I w- was just going.” I try to walk past him when a blaring siren started ringing throughout the school.

Panic flashed across my face and his too. Everyone’s worst nightmare, a gun drill. The siren was one hundred percent recognisable. “Get down!” The brunette boy threw himself at me as I yet again landed flat on my backside but with him on top of me this time. We were both frozen for a couple of seconds, my eyes locked on his and it might sound girly, but I could literally lose myself in them.

Finally, he lifted himself up off me and slid underneath one of the tables. I copied and mirrored him under the table in front of his. “I’m sorry, I thought I saw someone walk past the window inconspicuously behind you. I just panicked.” His eyes searched my body, the way that I was now hugging my legs, resting my chin on top of my knees. “Oh God, did I hurt you?” Fear flooded his face at the thought that he may have caused me any pain.

I shake my head. “No.” I whisper. “I’m okay, thank you.” My hand instantly goes to play with the locket that hung around my neck.

“What’s that?” His eyes caught my fingers tracing the metal details.

I freeze. “What’s what?”

The brunette flicked his head towards the chain that was between my fingers.

“Oh, it’s a necklace my dad gave me, to protect me.”

The boy smiled. “That’s cool. My dad gave me a baseball bat to protect me.” I felt the corners of my lips rise into a slight smile.

“I bet you wish you had it now?” I enquire.

The boy sniggered. “If only a bat was an equal match.” I knew what he was on about. A bat could not compare to a gun. “Wanna know something funny?”

“Something funny would be great right about now.” I could feel my foot start to twitch the way that it did when my mum and dad were out on a hunt. Total and utter uselessness. I was a sitting duck.

“My dad once told me that I am always at the centre of some drama.” He let out a sigh. “That wasn’t really that funny was it?”

I shake my head but smile. “Your dad seems like a smart man.”

He smiled and raised a hand to ruffle his hair. God why did he look so good when he did that. “He has to be, I mean he is the sheriff.”

“You’re the sheriff’s son?” I question my eyes went wide in shock. I had heard a lot about this boy. He was best friends with Scott McCall and his dad is right, he always seemed to be in trouble.

He smiled beautifully if that were possible during a terrifying circumstance. “Yeah, you didn’t think it was a coincidence that I am called Stiles Stilinski and there would be no relation to Sheriff Stilinski?” His smile and baffled tone made me smile back at him. “It’s not as common as most surnames. I mean what’s yours?”

“Winchester.” I reply.

“Now that is not a common surname.” He leaned out from under the desk with his arm stretched out. I took his in return. “Nice to meet you Y/N Winchester.”

“You too Stiles Stilinski.” My eyes locked onto his and our hands clung to each other. It felt like we had been holding hands for hours, completely frozen in each other’s gazes.

Suddenly there was a loud pop that rang throughout the building. This tore our hands apart finally. I retreated under the table and moved my legs back up to my chest, creating a shield. Stiles did the same but did not take his eyes off me. I started gripping onto my locket as my breathing became more rapid. I was normally better at threats, my parents dealt with the supernatural world. They battled ghosts, demons, vampires and even werewolves and yet a civilian with a gun going around the school, finger on the trigger, changed me into a nervous wreck.

There was this scuffling noise and suddenly there were arms around me holding me tight. “Shh, its okay Y/N.” Stiles was holding onto me, trying his best to soothe my breathing down. “Breathe with me okay. Copy me. Y/N, you need to look at me.” His hands were either side of my face as he whispered to keep our location a secret. “You can do this. Ready?”

My eyes locked onto his, tear stains running down my cheeks. I watched him attentively as he took each breath. I copied never losing eye contact with those light brown eyes. “That’s it. One more time okay?” His thumb caressed my cheek as I nodded. My breathing finally falling back into place. I take my last breath and let it fall. “That’s it.”

I thought now that my breathing was back to normal that Stiles would release me, but he didn’t. He held his grasp onto my body and did not look away. “Are you okay?” He whispered, his voice getting caught in this throat. Part of me wanted to say yes, to pretend that I was this tough girl. But the boy had just seen me during a panic attack. Me saying that I was not okay wasn’t going to come to be that much of a surprise. I shake my head.

“It’s okay not to be okay sometimes.” I went to wipe a tear that was falling from my cheek but Stiles was there before I got a chance. “Do you want to know a secret?”

I nod, dropping my legs from my chest. “I’m afraid of a lot of things. My friends and I, we face a lot of scary things and for most of it, I feel like I will die. But the thing is, we could die. But that could happen any day and at any time. I believe that we live through the scariest moments in our lives so that we can tell people about them.”

“What was the scariest moment in your life?” I ask, my voice all croaky from holding back the tears.

“Well apart from this one?” He pauses as he gathers his thoughts. “The scariest moment in my life was the day that something possessed my best friend and it led him to almost commit suicide.” I gasp, shocked by what he had just confessed.

“What happened?” I have dealt with possessions before, that wasn’t the part that shocked me.

“Well we went on a school trip and there was something supernatural that had possessed my friends, they were driven to madness. Scott picked up a flare, he was covered in gasoline, it was all around him.” He broke off as his voice cracked. “I walked over to him and held his hand and the flare. I told him that if he needed to do it, then we were both going to go. I was and always will be by his side.”

I took his hand this time and I felt him jump. “I had no idea. I am so sorry that that happened.” Stiles was staring at our entwined hands.

“But the other scariest moment in my life was when I wrote you that note.” I felt a sharp thump to the chest. I was so stupid, how did I not know it was the cute boy who sat in front of me in practically every class that we had together. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.” I respond. Stiles had not lifted his head since our hands connected.

“Were you going to come and meet me? I mean obviously before all of this happened.”

I stop and think. Was I? I hadn’t given that moment another thought since the siren went off. It felt like days ago I had been handed the note. “I don’t know.”

“Oh.” Stiles’ tone was defeated and sombre. His grip on my hand also weakened the minute my response registered. “I know it was a stupid thing to do. I just thought that if I was going to take a jump and finally try to ‘make my move’ as they say.”

“Stiles, it’s not that I don’t appreciate the gesture-“

“It’s just you don’t like me. I get it. I actually get it a lot.” His head dropped and he tried to pull away. I feared that he was going to leave me alone under the table and return to his own.

“No stiles it wasn’t that-“

“Is it cause I’m weird looking? Dad and Scott say I look a little odd.” The boy was rambling.

“No you’re not weird looking-“

“Then it is because of the way I talk isn’t it?”

“No it-“

“It’s my clothes then isn’t it? I dress in a lot of tartan. You know some people say-“ I grab the boy, placing a hand behind his head I pull his lips towards my own. Stiles’ eyes widened the second my lips connected to his. But soon enough his hands drifted from his side and tied themselves in my hair pulling me deeper into the kiss. It was as if Stiles had come alive once we kissed. Our lips moved in time with each other almost as if they were made to do this and only this. The shy boy became more confident and definitely more dominant as his tongue lightly brushed my bottom lip. I let his tongue meet my own, and his moan vibrated against my mouth.

Our bodies moved in sync with each other. My one hand entwined in his hair while the other draped down his back. His were on my hip and the back of my neck as we both pushed ourselves closer together if that were possible.

When I broke the kiss, his pupils were wide in surprise and desire. “Why did you stop?” Stiles questioned, brushing a strand of my hair behind my ear.

“I would have met up with you Stiles.” I whisper into his ear. When I pull my head away from his neck his eyes were wider than they were when the kiss broke apart. “But maybe next time, you should author your notes, perhaps?”

A cheeky grin spread out across his face as my words registered. “Wait, does that mean I forgot to say it was from me, that you’d be meeting me.” I nod as the boy put the puzzle pieces together. “I am an idiot.” The boy slapped his own forehead at his carelessness. “Can I ask you another question?” I smile and nod. “Can we do that kiss again? I really liked it.”

The smirk on his face was enough for me to give into his charms. Before I could lean in, Stiles had grabbed me by my hips and pulled me onto his lap. I hooked my arms around his neck and allowed his lips to connect with mine, his hands firmly on the space between my hips and my ass. It was a bit of a squeeze under the table, the top of my head was rested on base of the table. I was aware that I may have gum in my hair because of this, but I didn’t care. Hearing his moans as my hands trailed from the back of his neck and down his spine was enough for me to crumble within his arms.

Stiles’ lips drifted away from my own but instantly connected into the crook of my neck. This time it was my turn to let out a moan. “Stiles.” I sighed when he hit the right spot and began to suck on it with his hot breath spreading across my skin.

Both of us jumped apart when we heard a cough from the front of the lab. There stood Scott McCall. I was just thankful that it wasn’t Coach or any other member of the School Faculty. I looked back at Stiles who for once didn’t seem happy to see his best friend. “Not exactly what we were taught to do during a school shooting, Stiles.” He nodded towards me “Y/N, Jackson is worried about you, he said you were not answering your phone.”

Stiles detangled me from his lap and helped me to my feet in front of the table rather than being under it as we had previously been.

I pulled out my phone and funny enough there was sixteen missed calls from Jackson and twenty-two messages from him as well as a couple from my own father. Not cool Jackson do not get my dad involved in this.

“What are you even doing out in the open, Scott?” Stiles grilled. “There is a school shooting going on you know.”

“Dude that ended about twenty minutes ago, your dad came arrested the guy. The teachers announced that we could all go home. I was on my way home when Jackson came up to me and asked me if I had seen Y/N. When I told him no, he went into panic mode and started running up and down the corridors.”

I felt my phone vibrate in my hands, Jackson again. “Hello?”

“Oh my God. Thank God you’re okay. Are you still in the school? Where are you? I will come and get you and take you home.”

I look up at Stiles who held onto my hand and gave me the sweetest smile. “Jackson I am okay. I think I am going to get a ride with someone else. Thank you for always looking after me. I love you.”

“It’s my job. Who are you with so I know you are safe, put them on the phone?”

I hand the phone over to Stiles who takes it apprehensively. “He wants to make sure I haven’t concocted some excuse to avoid listening to Taylor Swift in his car, again.”

“Hello?”

“Oh my God, Stilinski? What are you doing with Y/N?”

Stiles pulls the phone away from his ear and places a hand over the microphone. “I don’t think he is too happy that you’re with me.” I laugh and he put the phone back up against his ear. “Jackson I will look after her, I promise. Enjoy Taylor Swift though. I really like the one she sings with Ed Sheeran.” He pulls the phone back and hits the end call button on the screen.

Scott looks questioningly between the two of us. “So, what is going on between you two. Is this going to be a normal thing now? Am I going to have to write up a schedule for who gets Stiles during the week?”

Stiles slaps his friend’s back. “You still got me. But now she has me too, only she gets more kisses than you. I mean we could add more kissing sessions when we are together if you would really like?”

“I think I will pass.” Scott announced.

“Good because there would be no competition.” Stiles twirled me so that I was now pressed against his chest and laid another kiss on my lips. When he pulled away, his head was bent down to mine, eyes locked on my own. “You ready to go home?”

Part 2?

[lady-kaya-duskraven]

WE NEED YOU (Ethan Ramsey x F!MC)

Warnings: Language, [you people ought to know that by now, like seriously] and fluff [cause why not?]

Age: I don’t even know why this option is here like seriously.

Note: Yeah this isn’t part of my other mini series (the open heart pregnancy one), but it’s more like what happens in the future. (Sorry if that doesn’t make sense)

Another note. Here’s that little series thingie: PART ONE. PART TWO.

Another other note: Sorry for mistakes. Oops. Sorry.

Paring: Doctor Ethan Ramsey x Doctor Leila Ramsey (they married y’all)

Other: Yeah, this is kinda short btw. Oops. Sorry.

Taglist (Lemme know if you wanna be added/taken off):

@mrsdr-ethan-ramsey​ @ethanplaysfavorites​ @scalpeljockeybrycelahela​ @writinghereandthere​ @openheart12​ @ethandaddyramsey​ @senseofduties​ @nazario-sayeed​ @the-writerly-night-owl​ @ethanramseyyy​ @akacalliope​ @ernestsinclairs​ @starfurytyril​ @drethanramslay​ @ethanramseyposts​ @lilyofchoices​ @rookie-ramsey​ @longneckramsey​ @strawberrwess​ @ethannazariostan​ @thanialis​ @oofchoices​ @eeethaaan​ @usuallyamazinglyaverage​ @choicesyouplayandmore​ @tyrilthemage​ @newcolonies​ @ethanramsey4life​ @choicesobsessedd​ @soft-for-drake​ @samihatuli​ @trappedinfandoms​ @yuruwuuu​ @nooruleman

E N J O Y !

“What is your problem?” He snapped at her, clearly losing his shit. “What-,” she interrupted herself, “what’s my problem?” As you can see, Doctor Ramsey and the other Doctor Ramsey, are clearly having an argument. Or as Doctor Ramsey, number one calls it, a disagreement. Ethan furiously stomped his way to their house’s front door, not wanting to deal with Leila. Just as he was walking towards it, he ignored the violent cries of his wife. “If you walk out of that door, don’t bother coming back,” Leila said, upset, angry, and sad. This phrase caught his attention. Ethan stopped midway, considering all of his options. When he continued walking towards the door (being as stubborn as ever), Leila flipped her white hair back, as tears continued to make their way down her cheeks, to her chin. As he walked towards the door, Leila immediately realized that this whole thing was her fault and she decided to make it right. “Wait,” her soft voice spoke again, and this time Ethan turned to face her. When his eyes met hers, his heart broke into a million pieces. And when her eyes met his, she could see the storm building up in them. “I can’t do this without you,” Leila admitted softly, “it’s my fault, this whole argument slash disagreement. I was wrong. It’s my fault.” At this point, Leila’s eyes were puffy and red from crying. And when she continued, she could see Ethan’s stone-cold expression soften to every word that she said. “But I need you. And the girls need you, Ethan. Your daughters. Your beautiful little girls, they need you. They need their father, Ethan. They need you,” Leila was a mess. A complete and utter mess. Ethan’s heart broke even more at this point. He immediately remembered what he wanted to do and felt like an idiot. A dumbfuck. An asshole. Was he going to leave his wife? Was he actually going to leave his own daughters? His own flesh and blood? Leila knew he wouldn’t, but Ethan was unconvinced. His greatest fear almost took place. He, Ethan Jonah Ramsey, being like his mother. He shivered at the thought. Almost like a cold blizzard running down his spine. And he felt even worse.

He rushed to his wife’s side, grabbing her by the waist and pressing her tightly against his chest. As she vulnerably broke down, she felt like a massive ton of bricks had been lifted off her shoulders. She silently prayed, begged for him not to leave her and their daughters. “Please. Please don’t leave us, please. I’ll do anything,” she kept crying and begging under her breath, making sure that Ethan heard it. He just hugged her. And rubbed her back. And kissed the top of her head, which was covered with white hair. And it was all she needed. “I won’t. I’ll never. Never in a million years, I swear,” he whispered in her ear. Leila’s arms tightened around his middle, almost to secure him from running away. The couple stood like that for God knows how long. But they were comfortable, finding comfort in each other. Loving and praising each other silently. Leila buried her head into her husband’s sweater, feeling the sticky sensation of dried tears on her cheeks. She sniffed as she had finally stopped crying. She looked up at her husband before she pulled him into a gentle kiss, a silent ‘I love you.’ Just as she sighed comfortably, a quiet voice startled the couple. “Mommy?” Both Leila and Ethan’s heads snapped up at one of their daughter’s voice. They saw that their oldest, Aubrey, was staring at them with confusion in her eyes, as well as fear. “Darling,” Leila said, pushing away her needs for her daughter’s while walking towards her. As soon as Leila got to the four-year-old, Ethan behind them, Aubrey jumped into her mother’s arms, without doubt, or hesitation. Aubrey snuggled her head into Leila’s shoulder and neck, as Ethan came from behind Leila, and kissed Aubrey’s head. Ethan then saw that the little four-year-old girl’s head popped up and her arms were reaching towards him. Leila quickly noticed this and decided to do something about it. “You wanna go to Daddy?” She had asked and Aubrey nodded her head furiously. Ethan chuckled as Leila handed them their daughter. Aubrey was sitting on Ethan’s hip, her head resting on top of Ethan’s shoulder, as he gently rubbed her back. “Where’s Jaime?” Leila asked her daughter gently, slightly touching her forearm.

“Sleep,” Aubrey mumbled into Ethan’s shoulder, unable to keep her blue eyes open. It was an exception to say that Aubrey looked like Ethan and Leila. She shared her mother's snow-white hair and her father’s piercing blue eyes. Whereas Jaime had Leila’s brown eyes and Ethan’s brown hair. Whenever they’d let their daughters stand next to each other, they didn’t even look related. “Well, in that case, we ought to get you to bed,” Leila said as she encouraged Ethan to take his daughter to her bedroom. As the three of them silently made their way towards Aubrey’s room, Leila had decided that while Ethan was putting Aubrey to bed, she’d check up on her other daughter. When they finally got to Aubrey’s room, Leila gave her a kiss on her forehead, before Ethan vanished into Aubrey’s room. Leila silently made her way to Jaime’s room, hoping that her brunette baby was asleep. Jaime was only two, so it could still be difficult to get her to bed. Leila slowly creaked the door open, only to find Jaime snuggled up into her covers, and her favorite teddy bear clenched in her right hand. Leila tiptoed towards Jaime’s bed, quickly gave her a kiss and out she was. When she got out of Jaime’s room, Ethan was already waiting for Leila in the hallway. “She asleep?” He whispered. “Oh, she’s as out like a candle,” Leila giggled. She was about to walk to their bedroom when Ethan’s hand grabbed her and pulled her into another hug. “I love you. And I’d never, ever leave you or the girls,” he whispered reassuringly to her. “I know. I love you too. So much,” Leila replied, finally feeling peace and comfort for the first time that day.

[alarawriting]

Inktober 2020 #21: Sleep

Based on the prompt from @writing-prompt-s, “The worst thing a wizard can do is sleep-talk.”

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

Words spoken by a person without the power thrumming through their veins were just words. Even the Words of Change, the secret language the universe was built in, meant nothing to the people without the power. But for the people who had it, words needed to be guarded carefully. “Umhaha”, for instance, unraveled thread. An easy mistake to make; almost every young wizard had a story about accidentally rendering themselves and everyone in the room with them naked, just by laughing a certain way after saying the word “Um.”

“Kefzhizoss” should have been a word that no one would ever say unless they meant to say it.

The young man was crumpled up as small as a human could make himself, on the bench in the police wagon. No one had confiscated the amulet of protection from his neck; like most such amulets, it wouldn’t come off while he was under emotional stress, pain or fear. But he was under a silencing charm, and the amulet didn’t protect him from being silenced.

The cleric was arguing with the detective on the scene. “It’s obvious he didn’t mean to do this,” he said, waving his hand at the devastation of what had been the young man’s home, with his parents and siblings. The broken remains of the wards that had contained the word, made sure the destruction spread no farther than their property, would have stopped the word if it hadn’t been spoken within their house, and there were other fragmentary charms present. One to prevent fire. One that would probably have protected books from water damage. There was one, still intact, that purified air as it went into the lungs of birds.

There were no birds in the wreckage, or bird cages. Neither were there human corpses, or any human beds, except for the one the young man had laid in. The destruction had been too thorough.

“Look, Elimiss, maybe I agree with you. Could be accidental sleeptalking. But four people are dead, and the damage was clearly done by the Devastating Word, and the only survivor’s a wizard. You see why I can’t just let him go, right?”

Tears ran down the young man’s cheeks, but there was nothing physically wrong with him. Either he was tremendously talented for one so young, or one or both of his parents had been very skilled wizards, to have created an amulet that had perfectly protected him and the bed he had been found on from the Devastating Word. It didn’t matter anymore.

“He’s traumatized! He needs a temple, not to be held indefinitely under a silencing charm—”

“Oh, for the love of all your gods, the kid can still read and write. But I can’t let a man who killed his entire family just traipse off to a temple to have his trauma healed. Did it occur to you that maybe a guy who killed his parents and brother and sister maybe deserves to have some trauma?”

“It was obviously an accident! He was wearing pajama pants, for the love of Merenethe Who Heals All Wounds!  What kind of devious, evil killer wears pajama pants and lays down in bed before blasting his entire home to ruin?”

“The kind who knows that people like you will assume it was an accident from that,” the detective said sharply. She was irritated that the cleric had felt the need to provide his god’s entire name, like he was offended that she’d invoked all his gods instead of his specific patron. “He needs to be interrogated, and we can’t let him speak until he’s told us his story.”

The man raised a tear-streaked face, brought up his cuffed hands, and with just one of them, signed, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” over and over again. Both hands, he might have been trying a sigil, though the detective was an experienced enough wizard herself to catch that before it accomplished anything, if he’d tried it. One hand, it was obviously sign, and she relaxed. Only about half of all wizards knew some kind of sign language, which was stupid given the control wizards needed to keep on their speech. Sigils were much more complicated and couldn’t be done accidentally.

“Babababawa” brought a light, misting rain… into a building, if that’s where the wizard said it. It was a hazard of raising wizard babies, that some of them came into their power so early they couldn’t really talk yet, and their baby babble could very easily accidentally land on that one. “Sh’shoot,” an expression thaumnulls might say any time if they started to say “shit”, thought better of it, and instead said “shoot” as a full word without just following from the original sh – more than one wizard teenager had been found that way, growing up among thaumnulls, not knowing what they shouldn’t say. It made existing electrical current surge in power, and could very well blow every circuit in a house, or start a fire. “Kolonel” was a big problem with people learning the language as adults, who didn’t know how to not pronounce the word “colonel”. The only thing it did was create an impenetrable darkness that flowed out to the nearest boundary, if indoors, and a mile or two outdoors, until a wizard said “Kohanoel” to turn it off and restore the light… but people who’d said it by accident and hadn’t known they were wizards didn’t know how to turn it off.

The Devastating Word, however – the detective, being a wizard, did not even think the syllables to herself – was commonly thought to be impossible to say by accident. The “zh” sound wasn’t even common in this language; most native speakers around here wouldn’t even make that sound in their sleep. And here was Elimiss, the mandated social worker who worked with the cops to de-escalate situations and help folks with mental illnesses, insisting that obviously the man – boy, really, he probably wasn’t even out of college – had said it in his sleep, because that was what the plainly traumatized boy had told the cops when they’d arrived. Because a perp couldn’t possibly carefully plan out the excuse he’d use to get treated like a trauma victim and charged only with negligent manslaughter, maybe even go free, after he’d murdered his family. Right.

“Sanavah. I know we have to get his full story from him. But do we really need to treat him as if he’s a dangerous killer?”

Detective Sanavah ofWinterfall looked over at the destroyed house, and then back at the cleric, an expression of disbelief on her face.

Cleric Elimiss Elidanson, adept of Merenethe, sighed deeply. “Yes. I know he killed his family. But if it was an accident—”

“How does anyone say that word accidentally?” Sanavah exploded. “It’s just… not a thing you’d say!”

The boy signed. “We were studying it today. The Dire Words. I’m in magic school.”

Okay, so he was out of college. Magic school, like law school and medical school, was a graduate school; you needed at least a two-year degree to get in. “Why the hell would you be studying the Dire Words?” Sanavah snapped. “How fucking irresponsible would your teachers have to be—”

“Be professional, Sanavah,” Elimiss advised, and she wanted to punch him.

“It’s advanced work. Magical theory. We have to take the Words apart to determine why they work and have so much power,” he signed. “K-E-F-Z-H-I-Z-O-S-S was fascinating, I was working on an analysis all day… but I would never say it intentionally! I was calling it the Kef word.” He signed the individual letters, but ended it with the sign that indicated he was replicating a pronunciation, not a spelling.

Oh. Well. Maybe that changed things. Maybe not; it might still be a really good story. “You know we’ll follow up with your school, right?”

He nodded. “I don’t care what you do to me,” he signed. “Any kind of punishment. I deserve it. I killed Mom and Dad and Lifah and Raoun. But I want the world to know, it was an accident! I loved them! I’d never have said the Kef word in my own house, not without containing it first!”

“This the first time you’ve sleep-talked?”

“No… Mom said I’ve been doing it since I was a baby. Raoun insisted I had to move out and get my own room when I was eight because I was keeping him up at night. My parents turned my dad’s study into my bedroom.” He picked up the amulet. “Mom gave this to me so I wouldn’t accidentally hurt myself by sleep-talking, but I guess she never thought… I mean, I never thought…”

“I’m going to charge his teacher with negligence contributing,” Sanavah said tiredly. “Gonna charge you, too, kid. At least. I’d charge your mother, too, but she’s dead.”

The boy began to cry again, sobbing soundlessly into his hands.

“You believe me now?” Elimiss said. “I’ve had a feeling from Merenethe all this time that this boy isn’t a killer. Not intentionally.”

“That’s great. Very nice of Merenethe. I’m sure ‘a cleric of Merenethe had a feeling’ will be great evidence in court. He’s still coming down to the station.” She spoke to her forensics team. “You about ready to wrap up?”

“Yeah, pretty cut and dried. I think we’ve found all the evidence of standing charms we’re going to, and the Devastating Word would ruin any evidence of any other active spells,” Sofrani, the head forensic wizard, said. “We can head on back now if you want.”

“BTW, got a name,” the analyst, Charron, said. “Bylan Evertide.”

“That is not a real last name.”

“It absolutely is. Got it out of the city database. There’s a whole Evertide clan in and around the city here.”

“It’s going to be all right, Bylan,” Elimiss said. “The police and court, I mean. If you’re telling the truth, we’ll be able to get confirmation from an oneiromancer or a cleric of Morosma. We’ll clear you of wrongdoing.”

“Aside from the negligence and sheer stupidity of a guy who talks in his sleep learning Dire Words and then not putting a silencing charm on himself when he goes to sleep,” Sanavah said. “Elimiss, don’t make promises to the kid that you can’t make good on.”

“I know it’s my fault,” the boy signed. “Charge me with whatever you want. I won’t fight it.”

“Not how it works,” Sanavah said. “You’ll get a public defender, and if you want to plead guilty, you’ll have to convince her that you actually are before she’ll let you plead it.” She looked over at Elimiss. “You took your own pheasant over here, or did you get a taxi?”

“Taxi,” Elimiss said. “I don’t have a place to take care of a pheasant, I live in an apartment.”

“Take Elimiss back with you,” she instructed the driver of the enclosed auto-wagon. “I don’t think the chief’ll be thrilled if he expenses another taxi.”

“Will do,” the wagon driver said, and spoke a word under his breath, that made the magical engine that drove the cart fire to life. Elimiss got in the wagon, and the forensics team either got on their own pheasants, or into pheasant-drawn carriages, because no one got rich enough on a cop salary to ride around in an auto-carriage.

As she saddled up her own pheasant, who squawked in mild irritation because the beast had been enjoying plucking seed pods off the nearby mimosa tree and snacking on them, she gazed over at what had been the Evertide home. “Hell of a thing,” she murmured. “Come on, Basil, let’s get back to the station.”

Basilica, a middle-aged hen pheasant who was known for her reliability and love of sunflower seeds, snorted, flapped her wings, and took off. Running pheasants – named that because they were actually faster on the ground than in the air – had native magic that allowed their wings to work despite their enormous size, and they could easily bear a human or two through the air. A running pheasant could cross the distance back to the station fast enough, if it was through open or forested territory, but being on the ground, in traffic, mildly upset most of them and absolutely freaked Basilica out, so Sanavah had to fly back to the station every time.

[godrics]

NCT DREAM BEYOND LIVE CONCERT!RORY

gif made by x

NCT DREAM BEYOND LIVE CONCERT!RORY

UNDER READ MORE  (bc it’s actually really long now that im on tumblr)

okay so the concert started with the vcr/video from the dream show ..

rory's little scene was her as a teacher !!! so cute

OOH and then the transition into her into her teacher clothes into a suit .. thats my girl

her hair is still like this. much more vibrant than it was because she redyed it oops

first song was GO!! change ur ways

she was wearing this [ black cargo pants, a black crop top, belt, along with chains lmao idk how to describe. oh and black boots ] for go, drippin', we go up, and stronger performances!

it was kind of awkward at first but then she saw nctzens' faces so she was happy

"to the world, this is the nct! we are nct dream”

she clapped excitedly, jumping up and down

"beyond the dream show~"

when haechan asked the time where the fans were, she read the comments, squinting funnily at the screen before gasping

"one of the czennies said it was 3am!"

the other boys gasped in shock before clapping slightly

"thank you for watching us even though it's 3am!" rory said to the fans. "but go to bed as soon as this is over~ or whenever you're feeling tired, that's okay too!"

"for our global fans, we prepared something special, right?" haechan said and rory nodded, smiling

"so we prepared our greeting in various languages"

rory's greeting was in french! fans went crazy bc she sounded SO good and her pronounciation was good too

after that she says, "renjun took english from me" in english and playfully glared at the older boy who laughed.

she turned to the fans and said, "but um, wendy-unnie taught me that so .. if it sounds bad it's all her fault." she claps as the other boys laugh

when they were talking about how they felt, rory said "i watched superm and wayv's concerts so i was excited because i knew we'd hear from the fans just like they were here with us in person. they were really loud, too" and laughs

when renjun told them to scream, she hit him lightly and said "yah, don't you remember what i just said? some fans it's 3am there!"

"oh dont scream then," renjun laughed, making her laugh before she went back to waving at the fans as they waved their lightsticks

when the fans appeared behind them, her eyes widened and she immediately ran to the screen, waving in all directions

she noticed when she got close to a fan's screen, they'd start waving their hand/lighstick even harder and it made her laugh

"rory, come back!" jaemin laughed, tugging her with him back to where the other 5 were

"wow, pretty grass" rory mocked mark as she stared at the lightsticks where the audience were supposed to be and on the screens

haechan had to hide a laugh

then there was we go up performance

woo fun

then stronger! she loves that song is2g

okay for the next vcr

she was in a school uniform standing in between jeno and jaemin

"you guys suck," rory laughed, watching the boys try to succeed

when renjun comes over and succeeds in under one minute and one hand, she gasped in shock lightly before watching him walk away coolly and put his head back down on the desk

jaemin nudged her as she laughed, "you guys are just losers!"

and then it ends on her walking over to renjun and bending down to face him and tapping him on the shoulder

he jumps from how close she is and she laughs, grinning at him, "that was cool" before going back over to the boys and he watches her

next video of the vcr oo

she gets hit in the head by the basketball(she's after chenle) and luckily saves it before it falls to the ground and throws it towards the basket, renjun jumping up to hit it in

why is she always getting hit in the head rip rory's head

next performance is dunk shot!!!

she hated the outfits tho jfc

she was wearing white loose shorts that ended midthigh and a pink button up over a white t-shirt

yeah super plain im so sorry rory that the stylists did you dirty like that

(to be fair the boys looked bad too like what was that matching .. there was NONE)

NEXT IS CHEWING GUM!!

AND THERE WERE HOVERBOARDS

SHE MISSED THE HOVERBOARDS SO MUCH

she hyped up jisung so loud during his solo dance

and had a huge ass smile on her face during it

she was in the middle of renjun and chenle at the bottom

AND THEY LEFT A SPACE FOR MARK IN BETWEEN JAEMIN AND JISUNG SHE ALMOST CRIED

"i think chenle changed the most" rory laughed, talking about the difference from now and almost four years ago when they debuted

"you changed a lot, too" chenle poked her and she huffed out a laugh, choosing not to respond to him and shook her head

when it was time for the interactions, she had to hide her wince because since she watched wayv and superm's, she was worried about how it would go because some fans' wifi connections were bad(so were sm's but anyways--)

oh luckily the first fan spoke korean !!

"hi!" she waved excitedly at the fan

when the fan said her name, she quietly repeated it to herself but it was still heard from the mic

"there's a song called 7 days in your album. what do you guys mean to each other?"

rory's mouth went dry at that question as she rubbed her hands together, looking at the boys silently as they ahhed and oohed

she smiled slightly as she saw how big their smiles got at the question

chenle said that the members were his family. they're literally siblings

she laughed at that

hyuck said that the members were apart of himself and that he grew up with all of them

jisung said bc they're older than him, they're like his younger siblings

rory had to look away in order to not laugh at his answer LMFAO

she couldnt contain how big her smile got when jaemin said that he couldn't live without them

she literally almost cried from tears of laughter from jeno's answer "onion"

renjun said that the members are youth to him

and him bringing up the stupid bottle to his face . i s2g she quickly yanked that from him so quick while laughing

and then finally it was her turn

"um, thank you for the question, siyoung!" she clapped slightly before continuing. "to me, the members are .. my childhood" she nodded slightly as she spoke. "we all grew up together so each of them have a piece of my childhood that i dont want to leave"

renjun pulls her into a side hug as jeno says "cute~"

wolfies(rory's stans) cried

when the fan said she'd stick with nct dream seven days a week, she laughed from the sudden overwhelming feeling at her words and bowed towards the fan, keeping her eyes to the ground so the camera wouldn't catch her teary eyes

too bad the camera did once she looked back up

"nct dream have 8 members--" when haechan said that, rory smiled big and nodded her head

"infinity" rory cheered, the members following behind

the next caller was up!

"ooh, poland" rory smiled

the fans question was "what are your biggest dreams" which she translated for them

rory's answer was "i have no doubt that nct dream will stay together forever so ... i my biggest dream is nctzens staying with us forever. even when we all grow up and have our own lives, i hope nctzens will some day think of nct dream and smile"

jaemin literally walked over and pinched her cheek, cooing at how cute she was

rory rolled her eyes playfully but let him

ah yes to this day he's still the only one she'll allow to give her skinship in public

rip other boys

she felt so sad when the third caller's connection was bad

"ah ... difficult technicalities"

she put a thumbs down

anyways next was don't need your love!!!

she LOVES this song so much guys its unreal

her place at the start is right in between renjun and jisung again lmao

shes leaning against chenle and jaemin

she loves hearing the boys' english btw

also in this version she has more lines but im not gonna tell which ones that's too much work

and next is we young!!

watching the part when they take a pic .. made me cry so it made rory very nostalgic

rory's wearing a professional suit but like . with a skirt i forgot what its called rip

she's standing in between hyuck and jeno

when jaemin laughs she laughs

she has that pic in her phone case btw

along with an ot8 pic

when they're talking abt the 50 years later OO im gonna . cry again

"so we can see how we change"

"um, we're gonna look older" rory laughed

btw grandma rory literally still looks good as hell sorry i dont make the rules

rory: "chenle would look like steve jobs but like .. chinese"

chenle was so offended bye

rory: "jisung if you grow a mustache i will never forgive you"

"wHY DOES IT MATTER?????"

"bc you'd look stupid i cant be seen with someone looking stupid"

the other pic where renjun jumps .. her face is literally so genuinely shocked in that pic LMAO she didnt expect that

NEXT IS BEST FRIENDS OH MY GODD I LOVED IT SO DID SHE

SHE JUST WISHED MARK WAS THERE .. AND HE KINDA WAS

btw she was wearing a black blazer but it was shorter .. and another black skirt with a white crop top underneath rip

OKAY HYERI MADE NCTZENS CRY SO HARD

so theyre uneven rn right?

so instead of her being a third wheel(not really)

when it's her part, she's backstage and as she's doing her part, she reached into an open closet and .. pulls out a cutout board of mark :((

yeah she cried too when she thought of it and luckily sm let her!!

at the end of her part towards the end of the song, she smiles and says, "right, mark-oppa?" and forms half a heart up to the camera

(taeyong later sends her a video of mark reacting to her parts and when she does the heart he puts half a heart up next to hers <3)

next is candle light! they dont really have a choreo to this one either

anyway candle light wouldnt have been her first choice bc she'd prefer to perform dear dream .. BUT ANYWAY

next is PUZZLE PIECE and 7 DAYS!!

the camera catches her and jisung doing their little handshake . so cute

she then hugs chenle so he wouldnt feel left out

end posing of puzzle piece, she's in between chenle and jisung AGAIN SLDJDJL

they form a heart with her doing the bottom and chenle and jisung doing the top/sides

when they read the comments after performing jeno reads one that says "rory is so talented, her vocals are so good"

and then hyuck read "rory's parts in best friends was so cute"

she blushes so cute

when they talk abt the album

rory says in english, "thank you for supporting us and we hope you guys enjoyed listening to the album as much as we enjoyed making it .. think of it as our gift to you for always loving us!!" cute baby. and then gives a little finger heart

special guest is mark, jungwoo, and doyoung!!

she expected mark but was surprised about jungwoo and doyoung

she couldnt stop smiling the whole time because literally all she had to do was see 127 and smile immediately like they dont even got to do anything

the technical difficulties .. rory said in english again "i think you need to get your wifi checked, mark"

"no mark-oppa?" he teased and she laughed

when they were complimenting them, jungwoo said that mark really enjoyed rory's parts in best friends and she full out giggled from nervousness, blushing from embarrassment

doyoung complimented her vocals and rap and shes never been so proud of herself

compliments from 127? her greatest achievement

jungwoo then said she was so cute wow more blushing

she found the challenge boring and wouldve preferred if 127 picked the damn challenge themselves bc then it wouldve been funnier and more fun but alas .. sm >:(

she picked puzzle piece tho

THE FUCKING NEXT VCR .. so emotional when she watched over it

she literally just watched her and her friends grow up in literal seconds

there's a clip of her from chewing gum on mark's back while he's riding the hoverboard

.. also somehow they got a clip of her hugging jaemin when he came back sigh

emotional manipulation!! she was kinda pissed that was in there bc it was supposed to be private but what can she do .. it's sm

there's a video of her chasing jeno during we young era while on the mv set

and another one of renjun literally dragging her on the ground because she wouldnt let go of his legs in mfal era

in mfal era she's seen running over chenle when he's out of their little cars

its funny he almost fell if jeno didnt catch him LMAO

but its ok dont fret he was in the grass

mfal era where hyuck tries to make a basket but fails and she steals the ball from him and makes it in .. he pouted FOREVER after that

the video of them in chewing gum era and then goes to ridin' era ..

her clip is her smiling shyly at the camera WITH HER CUTE PIGTAILS OH MYGODDD SO SOFT SO BABY

and then it goes to her in ridin' era with her leaning against the car and a lollipop in her mouth, staring dead straight at the camera somehow intimidatingly

n then ofc the music changes and the videos go more recent

theres clips of her behind the scenes in we young, go, dnyl, and boom

also some of her at that dream show concert

the ridin' stage was prerecorded but anyway she's wearing the same outfit she does in the mv

she saw a clip of the car cg and she yelled at the members jokingly saying it almost ran her over

wearing same outfit for quiet down which was live

they had one more song after :( she was really sad and she made sure nctzens knew that

"i wish we could perform more songs for you guys but .. only one more :(" and then sighed really loudly

"i wish you guys were here in person as well but your health is way more important and until then .. well, hopefully we can see each other again in the future! i miss seeing all your pretty faces" she then pouted as the other members oohed loudly and she laughed

after the other members continue she then reminds them all to "wash their hands and wear their masks over their noses if they have to go out"

when renjun says bonjour her eyes widen and she says "wow, so you stole my english and now my french?" she jokingly raises her hand to hit him but all he does is laughs and grabs her hand to 'stop her'

last is boom!

they shouldve performed dear dream or mfal but i guess booms good too not like they havent had to hear that song for 9 months

anyways

at the end she sneakily gives the camera a finger heart

[malereader-inserts]

The Art of a Psychopath

Fandom: Riverdale Pairing: Core Four & Psycho!Reader Summary: One in a hundred children are psychopaths. Word Count: 2,426 Request: “Could you do a psycho!reader with Riverdale maybe? I love your work btw 💜“ Warning: Gory, Blood, Suicide mentions, Psycho Reader - Honestly I’ve surprised myself when writing this.

Sweet little (Y/n).

He was a fresh breath from all the bullshit that was going on in Riverdale. Sweet innocent summer boy who wouldn’t have thought about the drug raids around Riverdale, wouldn’t have touched G&G, be associated to the farm.

He was almost too good to be true. 

Sweet little (Y/n).

Not so little. Not so sweet.

It is no accident that it is the reptile, the snake, that symbolizes evil in our myths. For these creatures do not require love to raise their young as mammals do. As such they do not evolve an ability to feel love, only to survive. Likewise, the psychopath does not feel love, they are an evolutionary throw-back to our reptilian brains, an accident of genetics.

Psychopaths can run charities as shields for the activities they truly enjoy – causing others pain and emotional distress.  They take a perverse pleasure in attaining positions of public trust and respect, they are charming and socially intelligent. They don't play by the same rule book as the rest of society and so they win with ease. No morals mean no restraints.

You found it amusing at first, you could play the whole town like a fiddle. Lean back whilst the farm played the bad guys.

It was the talk of the town, how members of the cult were the only ones that clapped at the end of the musical - you weren’t for theatrical works. Students, people you considered to be closed with, were talking about it as well as their parents. 

You tapped your fingers against the desk, your eyes staring into Evelyn. When she turns to look at you, you simply smirk and waved. She shivered under your stare as she hastily walks away with Kevin.

She could feel tension with you, some dark presence.

“Isn’t your dad going to do something about it, Jug?” You asked, yawning and running your hair back, “Ominous clapping at a school production, bit weird.”

“I don’t know but we need to stop them before something gets worst.”

And that gave you a push.

So, the next time the farm was the talk of the town it was completely for a different reason.

“There’s a bigger problem than the Gargoyle King,” You hear from Jughead, “The farm was trashed, didn’t you hear?”

“They killed Polly’s babies - used their blood as a warning,” Betty lets out a shaky breath as Jughead holds her close, “The farm is under investigation.”

“What did the message say?” You asked, curious, holding back a wicked smile - you found it glorious.

“Well, dad says it said ‘All Men Should Die,’ dad doesn’t know if they mean the farm or the whole town.”

“That’s sickening, who in the right mind would do something to innocent babes?”

The core four shared a look, talks of curfew was starting, a bigger threat was arising in Riverdale. Still, you were seen as the little innocent boy, some kid who was too curious and yet so oblivious. You were just getting started, you were in the background, no one saw the shift in your eyes. 

How those pretty eyes shifted so menacing.

Murders continue to happen around Riverdale. A murder of Lodge’s current butler. Blood smear on the walls, the head of the butler on a pole as the body was sitting upright. Then, an innocent serpent, hanging out dead of a smashed window. In came the hanging of a civilian in Veronica’s speakeasy. 

“Five murders all around Riverdale. This is even worse than my dad.” Betty breathes out, reading news from her phone.

“Even, my dad is getting concern - he wants me to shut down the speakeasy,” Veronica huffed.

“Yeah, dad doesn’t want me to hang around after school anymore,” Archie nodded, sitting in the middle of the room.

You sat by the vending machine, the farm had been awfully quiet and Kevin had come back to Betty - begging for forgiveness. Reggie was sat net to Veronica as Josie placed herself on the armchair that Archie was sitting on.

“What if we knew this person?” Josie asked hushed whispered, “Do you think we could be next?”

It was a good question, you thought to yourself, and yes, they could be next.

You sat on the edge of the stage of the speakeasy. Your hands stained with red, your white shirt covered in splatters. You had cuts up your arms, evidence of rope burns on your wrist. 

You clenched your jaw, as you stare at the floor. Gazing up as you hear footsteps coming down the stairs from the entryway. You smirked when you settled a gaze at the core four.

“So, you’ve decided to meet me.” 

“Why is there blood on your hands?”

Your dead eyes flickered towards Veronica, she jumped to be on the receiving side of the glare as you scoffed.

“Don’t ask stupid questions, V,” You used her nickname against her, your voice was unsettling - low and drained of emotions. “Why do you think there’s blood?”

“There was a murder, found by the police station,” Jughead explained, “tied up and gagged - eyes gouged out and organs carved out.”

“Hmh, when you put it that way, it sounds vile,” you hummed, “Shame, he was a screamer - didn’t last long. The babies kept quieter than that bloke.”

“You killed my-” 

“I did you a favour, Betty,” You interrupted, “This town is boring, I need entertainment, who gives a shit about the farm? Gives me an excuse to torment that girl, what’s her name? Eve? Ava? Evan?”

“Evelyn.”

“Wish I could care enough to know the name,” You ignored Betty’s reply, “She’ll kill herself soon, it’s a matter of time. I’ve been egging her on, you know, daddykins is too worked up by the death of the babies that she was evidently no one.”

“Are you insane?” Archie asked you giggled, a shiver ran down their spine as you fixed your stare to him.

“Do you want me to answer that?” You snorted,  “So, why have I gather you here today?”

You stood up, tilting your head to each side, a pop of your bones releasing tension. You let out a harsh breath, you watched how Jughead stood in front of Betty, her arms snaking over his shoulders.

“No particular reason, you know? You four seem to be always in everyone's business, so why don’t I just speed things up for you?” You continue to talk, “Have you checked in with the parents?”

“If you touch my dad-”

“Jughead,” You sighed, feign offence, “Your dad? You think so low of me, why not JB?”

“If you lay a hand on her, I will-”

“Do what? Your little pocket knife won’t kill me, I’m far more experienced in this area than all four of you,” You blinked slowly, “Rat me out, more people will get hurt, try to kill me then there will be no point in running. Running won’t matter. I’ll hunt you down if I have to. You see, what doesn’t kill me might make me kill you.”

“Why?” Archie asked he could feel his heart beating so loudly.

You send him a wicked smile, “Because I want you to suffer, suffer in silence - you can’t say anything because you’re afraid. I want you,” You step forward, “to be nervous when you see me, I want you,” Another step, “to be so afraid that you’re constantly looking over your shoulder.”

“You’ll fall.”

“And when I do, I'm bringing this wretched town with me.”

Such a pretty face with a dark soul.

The town had been on edge lately, no murders lately and the core four had been sick to their stomachs. Watching you fake your smiles, fake your laughter. The more they look the more they noticed how fake you have been, your body language was convincing - open arms, soft eyes and relaxed shoulders.

“Don’t you find me charming, Betty, dear?” You asked, leaning against the table with a smile, she stops typing on her laptop.

“Of course,” She mumbles as you rose your eyebrow, she cleared her throat and spoke louder, “Of course.”

The edges of your lips quirked upwards. She cringed how you thought yourself to be so important, you had a big ego.

“I’m doing you a favour, Bets, didn’t you hear? Farmgirl tried to kill herself last night.” You grabbed a nearby chair and firmly put it next to her, sitting down, “Aren’t you happy?”

“You told her to do it-”

“Yeah, well, not exactly. You just string up a few words and it’s her pretty little mind that does it for her.” You shrugged, ignoring how Betty’s hand shook as you turned her laptop, “Writing about me again? I liked the last entry of me, you make me sound very evil, very convincing. Even I was afraid of myself.”

“Do you not care?” She asked, watching how you flicker your eyes to her before lingering for a moment and sat straighter.

“Care? Why would I care? A girl just tried to commit suicide with no strings attached to me.”

“But, it’s all your doing.”

You laughed, “Me? Possibly, but who is the one who’s been actively trying to take down the Farm? Not me, that’s all you.”

Betty’s eyes widen, your words were strung up so perfectly. Perhaps it was her fault, but the moment she zoned back in and saw you grin like a madman, she had realised that you were teasing her - how easy you could manipulate someone to think in a way to your desire, what you had exactly done to Evelyn.

“Now, I’m tired of you,” You whine, abruptly stood up, “My senses are dancing for another cold-hearted murder.”

“My hands slipped.”

You sat on the bleachers, a knife in hand as you stare at the bodies that lay dead on the gym floor. After school hours as the core four found you sitting there. Once again, finding you smeared in blood. Founding that your arms were heavily coated, splatters of blood were on your face. They watch you swallow before your eyes flickered up at them.

You usually made the murder as messy as possible but very coordinated, most of the time people like you like to keep things clean. But, you found that tiresome, you wanted to mock the dead’s family, how the victims had no dignity when you murdered them. But, the five bodies in front of you were just laziness, you admit, you could do better.

“I told you not to rat me out,” You drawled out, lack of remorse in your voice sent shivers down their spine.

The four had noticed how there were people behind you, their wrist tied behind their back and their legs tied tightly to the metal seating that sat. A hood to cover them, you took no notice of them, they weren’t struggling - they’re good, they’re doing exactly what you asked them to.

“So, as I promised, I hurt more people,” You shrugged your shoulders, playing with the blade in your hand, far much bigger and sharper than the one that Jughead owned, “I’m waiting if you’re wondering.”

“For want, you sick bastard?” Veronica sneered as you grinned wildly, your wrist flicked back as you opened your arms and you tiled your head. 

“I appreciate the compliment, V, perhaps you could compliment your way out of death.” You chuckled, as you clean the knife with your shirt, “I’m waiting for the rest of the gang to join us, we’re playing a game. Hangman or my shared responsibility game of murder!”

“What?”

The core four share a look, as your eyes widen and shook your head in a way to ask them what they don’t understand. 

“I have four, unwilling, participants, behind me. I’m still playing with the thought If I should hang them now and every guess wrong I cut of their limbs or I should set a time, say thirty seconds - if you guess the word in that time frame, they live, if not. A choice from their parent to cut a limb and another thirty seconds is added on, we continue till you save them or as a group project we murder them.”

The gym doors burst open as the core four parents came rushing to their side. You waved with the knife holding hand. The rest of the parents standing behind the four and their parents. You chuckled darkly, low and rough as you watched the reactions of them.

“Let’s see what’s left in you for me to break,” You challenged, your eyes darken as you immorally grinned, “Shall we see whose life is on the line today?”

“You’re not going to get away with this (Y/n),” Hiram announced as you licked your lips, “You’ll be sentenced to death with all these murders-”

“I’ve murdered ten people within this two-month period,” You spoke, stepping up the bleachers to reach your victims, “Would you believe me that I was the one behind Jason’s murder? How I was the one to convince his dad to shoot him? I was the one to push Clifford Blossom to murder his son?”

“Jason was innocent!” Penelope screeched, you roll your eyes.

“I strung up Clifford Blossom, like a suicide, easy-” You lengthened out, “And I got away with it.”

“You heartless-” Tom boldly spoke, as you raised an eyebrow - tutting him and you shook your head

“Heartless? That implies I had a heart to begin with, ain’t that right Kev?” You unsheathed him from his hood, a gag around his mouth to stop him from talking. 

Tom’s eyes widen, his heart tightening to see his child trembling. You patted him on the shoulder, Kevin flinched in your touch, the shiny blade glistening too close for liking. You marched with pride down the bleacher. Freeing Reggie, Josie and Cheryl from their hoods.

“Not so bold when it’s your kids on the line?” You teased, you poked. You held your blade up, admiring it, “Shall we start the game? Your choice, Archie, because if someone dies - it’s your fault we played that game.”

You raised an eyebrow, grinning wildly, you were excited. Watching everyone shift uncomfortably under your power. 

“If you don’t pick, you’re ruining my fun and decreasing their chances of survival.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because innocence died screaming and I want to ruin you, break you, I want to demolish any good of your heart. I want too, that living is just as hard with the guilt on your shoulders.”

[swanandapirate]

anonymous swan (1/1)

It was @captainwiley’s birthday a couple of days ago and to celebrate the joyful day the world gained such a wonderful and crazy person, I’ve written a fic. This is inspired by how @captainwiley and @artandteaandstuff got introduced to each other but with our lovely ship instead (the road is a bit bumpier because have you met Emma and Killian?) ♥

summary: A Google Docs AU where Emma and Killian both get asked to beta-read something of David’s and start anonymously bickering about every conceivable grammatical and lexical and any other feature of the English language in the Google Docs Comment section but what happens after David decides to intervene?

Ohhh intrigueeee.

rating: T for some swearing

~10,000 words

ff.net / ao3

Major love to @ofshipsandswans for listening to me ramble ♥

(Let’s pretend that once Docs assigns you an animal it stays the same. Sorry for the mistakes, btw. Selina is not only amazing but also my beta)

She sat sunken in the soft leather couch, tucked in a corner with a blanket hiding everything from the neck down. Soft music sounded through the room, drifting to every nook chasing away the quiet, the eerie feeling that occasionally lingered in an empty apartment. Emma placed her palm on her face, fingers sliding into her hair as she tiredly rubbed her eyes. It wasn’t even nine yet, school hadn’t been particularly demanding as her early morning class got canceled and she got to sleep in, and still, exhaustion seemed to follow her every move and step. It didn’t help that the days were getting shorter, daylight becoming scarcer, any sign of warmth vanishing into clouds of air.

As tempting as it might be, she wasn’t going to go to bed at nine pm on a Friday. She just couldn’t. That was not an option. She was twenty-one, not seventy-one, for crying out loud. Though she did fit the description with her warm blanket, mug of hot chocolate with a dash of cinnamon, and an episode of that soap opera her best friend and roomie Mary Margaret insisted on recording and that Emma secretly watched when she was alone in their apartment.

Mary Margaret was out on a date with Emma’s brother David, who basically had become a second roommate to Emma. She didn’t mind, however. She loved her brother dearly, ever since they met in middle school, they’d been two peas in a pod and after David’s mom—their mom— decided to adopt Emma, their bond only became stronger. Mary Margaret was thrown into the mix when Emma befriended her in high school and when she introduced them, it was—according to her brother and Mary Margaret, Emma was more skeptical about it all— love at first sight.

It was best that she stayed up until they returned. Emma knew Mary Margaret: dimmed lights and a shut bedroom door would lead to a discussion because she was concerned about Emma’s welfare and social life and so on. And if there was anything Emma could live without, it was the concerned mom speech. She already got her fair share of those from her actual mom, she didn’t need them from her sister-in-law as well.

The lock of the door clicked as the key was turned and Emma hastily grabbed the remote control to stop the episode. She threw the blanket off her and grabbed one of her books. When David and Mary Margaret walked in, slightly giggly and drunk on some expensive Italian wine, she seemed less the spitting image of a socially deprived person and more of that of an intellectual seeking diversion. Not that they would notice anyway, so focused on each other.

“Hey Ems,” her brother greeted her, wide smile on his face.

Oh, he was drunk. He absolutely never called her Ems.

“Hi, David.” Emma looked up, trying to keep herself from laughing. “Wow, it seemed like you two had a great night.”

“We did,” Mary Margaret replied. “Your brother is such a gentleman, Emma. He makes me swoon.” The way Mary Margaret stretched out the word made Emma cave, her laugh filling the apartment.

“Good that he does, Mary Margaret.” She put the book back down, wiping a tear caused by her moment of amusement away, before contently sighing. “Well, I am pretty tired so I’m going to turn in. Night, guys.”

“Night, Emma. We love you,” they said in sync. The alcohol clearly did not blur their supposed true love bond.

Emma snickered. “Love you too, lovebirds.”

The last thing she saw before she closed the door was her brother caressing Mary Margaret’s face while they lovingly gazed at each other and the last thing Emma thought before falling asleep was how she yearned for that kind of love as well.

-/-

“Morning,” David groaned as he emerged from his and Mary Margaret’s room, shutting the door quietly, most likely to grant his girlfriend a few additional moments of sleep.

Emma sipped her coffee with an amused smile while jumping off the stool next to their breakfast counter and grabbing an extra mug to provide David with a necessary kick of energy.

“Morning to you, too. How’s the hangover?”

David flashed her a grateful smile as he accepted Emma’s kind gesture and wrapped his hands around the warm mug.

“Bearable, actually. Mary Margaret forced me to chug something that seemed like a gallon of water so I’m sure that, once I properly wake up, I’ll be as fit as a fiddle again.”

“Good.” She wriggled back onto the chair and continued to munch on the Pop Tart she had chosen as breakfast. “I wasn’t looking forward to spending my Saturday with two grumpy zombies.”

Emma could see the effects of the coffee on David as his gaze became more open, more attentive and as the corners of his lips subtly began to rise.

“How is my lovely sister doing this morning, by the way,” he inquired after a moment, his cup almost empty already.

Narrowing her eyes, Emma took a sip again, watching David over the rim of her mug and trying to figure out why it suddenly seemed as if he was attempting to coax her into doing something she would not like. She knew that tone, had heard it far too often over the years.

After clearing her mouth, she decided to go for the direct approach. It was far too early to beat around the bush. “What do you want and/or need?” She asked, eyebrows shooting upwards.

“You remember that dissertation I’m writing to get my degree?”

She did remember what he was talking about since he had been fretting over the ten-thousand-word paper for months now and the deadline kept on creeping closer. It was important to her brother, if he got his criminology major, the chances of him getting hired as a police officer—a lifelong dream of his— would increase considerably. So, she had endured every freak out session and every lecture about the exact subject he had chosen because that was what siblings did. Once the time came for Emma to write hers, in social studies this time, she knew David would do the same for her.

“Yeah, it’s difficult to forget.” Emma nodded. “But what does that have to do with me?”

She stood up to clear her plate, halting by the trash can to clear some of the remaining crumbs and depositing it in the sink. Turning on her heel, she faced her brother again.

“I need you to work your magic.” David had an apologetic look upon him as he shrugged, his police-themed PJ’s moving along.

“Which is?” She encouraged him to be more specific, to tell her exactly what she needed to do to help him.

“Read it over, give me some feedback, correct the errors that are most definitely in there?” he spoke, his voice rising as if, besides the work he had written, he was now also second-guessing his request to her.

Emma didn’t consider herself a nitpicker, but she had an eye for details and an affinity towards the English language fed by countless stories read and countless tales originating from the depths of her mind. It was a mere hobby, nothing more than an escape when things got too much to handle and people became too demanding that had originated when she was still a foster kid. That did not change Emma’s devotion or attention to detail, however; if anything, it enhanced it.

She wasn’t a nitpicker but she was the kind of person that noticed when commas stood in the wrong place or when the author should have used whom. Numerous of David’s high school assignments had to pass Emma’s watchful gaze first before getting the green light to be handed in and Emma couldn’t understand why her brother was so hesitant about asking her help now. She loved to help him, time and time again.

“David,” she said, soft and reassuring. “Of course, I’ll do it, you’re my brother. I’ll happily correct whatever mistakes I find and give some constructive feedback.”

A joyful smile broke the surface of David’s worried expression. He approached, arms open to embrace her in a hug. Emma wanted to comment on how this was all a bit too much for a simple read-through but as she felt his hand cup the back of her head, she reconsidered, basking in the warm feeling and memories.

-/-

She had to search for the right moment to tackle David’s text. Late in the evening hardly ever worked because her mind was often too clouded with the information it was bombarded with throughout the day, her eyes too tired after staring at textbooks and screens for over six hours, and her fingers fast to make a mistake as they were slow to take commands after writing down seventeen pages of notes. Emma doubted either of those elements would ameliorate the text, if not even worsen.

About four days after David had asked her, Emma finally sat behind the small wooden desk in the corner of her room, opening her laptop and shoving the chair closer. She scoured their Messenger chat to find the link to a Google Docs he had sent her, Emma claiming it would be easier to comment and adjust things on there and David following her advice.

She drank from her mug of coffee, slightly burning her tongue and rubbing it to the edges of her teeth to get rid of the feeling. Softly humming along to her Spotify playlist, Emma saw the link transform into a site and the site slowly loading and supplying a so far six-thousand seven-hundred-word-essay. She could do this, this was what she did best.

As she began to read the introduction to get a general view of what criminological theory she most definitely would not understand the essay was about, she noticed something. Footprints. Steps of someone else who had taken the path she was about to embark on. The words flashed by as she rapidly scrolled down to see if the entire document had already been scrutinized by someone else. And indeed, it had. This “anonymous python” had consistently left feedback on what her brother had written, the blue boxes appearing every paragraph or so.

anonymous python: Effect is the noun, affect the verb

anonymous python: Maybe change this word to another one. You use it thrice in two sentences.

At the end of David’s every line, Emma’s eyes dashed to the margin to see what the other proofreader thought, if they had noticed the same things she had before adding her own. She considered every comment the anonymous python had made, nodding her head in agreement with the logical and just ones, and frowning while reading those that were pure nonsense. Before she knew, she was pressing the reply button to refute whatever claim this Python was making.

anonymous python: You should add a comma here, Dave. It will structure your sentence a bit more.

anonymous swan: Please ignore the anonymous python, David. A comma is useless here, put an em-dash instead.

After checking about a third of the document and losing herself in countering any- and everything that Python had said, Emma looked up at the arrows of her clock, awfully close to the time she was expected in class. In a rush, she locked her computer, chugged the remains of her coffee—a drop missing her mouth and running down her chin before her hand hastily wiped it away— stood up, snatched her bag from her bed and dashed away to her class.

She made it with one minute to spare.

-/-

The weariness engulfing her from head to toe, Emma collapsed on her bed, an unceremonious thud in her flannel sheets. The mattress needed to process the shock, the sudden additional weight and softly bobbed as a ship might’ve on the water. Her room hadn’t quite warmed up yet, so, to give her body the warmth it yearned for, she crawled under the covers. A sigh left her lips as she settled in her own little cocoon of warmth and peace. Not feeling up to do anything else, she was planning a nice evening of scrolling through every social media app known to mankind. Emma struggled to retrieve her phone out of her jeans’ pocket without letting the cold air hit her skin, wriggling around in her sheets and turning from left to right.

A small blinking light caught her attention and she paused the fight against her sheets and pocket. Her eyes turned into slits to be able to determine the source, which was her laptop, still standing on her desk. She forgot to turn it off, right. Just before she could take the decision to ignore it, to keep it like this until the next time she needed it, her brother’s voice appeared in her mind telling her that it was bad for her computer. He wasn’t even here right now and still, he was lecturing her. Grunting, Emma reluctantly lifted her sheets and let the shivers attack her body. Three steps were all it took to reach her desk. Her fingers hit the right combination of keys to unlock the device and she began the close all the tabs she had accumulated during her last browsing session. As she moved her mouse to the red box that would close David’s paper, a sentence caught her interest.

See new changes made by anonymous.

It certainly wasn’t David, or it would’ve said that he made the changes and she didn’t change anything since she last saved everything. It had to be them. The anonymous python. With a strange feeling, a mix of excitement and apprehension, swirling inside of her, Emma looked for the alterations that had been made while she was away.

anonymous python: Excuse me? I do have a degree in English literature, I think I know when a comma is necessary, thank you very much.

“Oh, we’re being snobby, are we?”

Emma snorted and rolled her eyes. So, Python was that kind of person. All indignant and offended when someone knew better and pointed out their mistakes. Also known as Emma’s least favorite kind of person.

anonymous swan: Well, they clearly failed to teach you the most basic of punctuation.

She was already sitting at her computer, reading the document, and the adrenaline had given her new energy, so she might as well continue to do so instead of mindlessly scrolling through social media and watching cat videos. That way she could claim to be productive even if she didn’t actually do anything for school.

Suddenly a blue box popped up on the top of her screen with the white depiction of a snake in it, signaling that the anonymous python had returned.

Shit.

In a surge of panic, Emma shut the page down. Eyes wide and heart beating way faster than it ought to, she stared at her desktop image, hoping that they hadn’t seen her. It was one thing to anonymously bruise someone’s ego, a whole other thing to be in the same online room at the same time with that person, both painfully aware of what had been said.

It was time for a food break—or at least, that was what Emma told herself. She went in search of something to eat and came across a little message from Mary Margaret.

Good evening, Emma. You probably forgot but my archery class is tonight so I won’t be home ‘till late and David is staying at his own place. There’s leftover spaghetti in the fridge for you to devour. Enjoy and see you tonight.

-MM

Times like these made Emma really appreciate her friend and her caring nature. Mary Margaret was sweet, so innocently and selflessly sweet. Emma had told Mary Margaret numerous times that she could also just send a text, seeing that it was indeed the twenty-first century but Mary Margaret persisted and unknowingly brought a smile to Emma’s face every time she found a yellow post-it stuck to the refrigerator, or their table, or her bedroom door.

Emma removed the spaghetti, placed it on a plate and stuck it into the microwave, drumming her fingers against the counter as she waited for her serving of warm food. The seconds ticked away before the machine made a releasing sound while announcing her food was ready.

Plate in hand, she returned to her room and, more importantly, her computer. Taking a deep breath and first a bite of the still too warm food, Emma unlocked her computer again, bracing herself for the response of her online…— of somebody.

Oddly enough, they hadn’t reacted to her obvious jab, so Emma felt her nerves settle, only to be replaced by raging fire as she saw what they had reacted on. Which was almost every comment of hers.

anonymous python: Wrong. Your formulation is even worse than Dave’s original one.

anonymous python: A semicolon? In this sentence? I think not.

Emma was fuming. The audacity of this person. She spent the next half hour alternating between arguing on every comment they made, proving why exactly she was right and angrily chewing on her food. Reading and beta-ing were what she was good at. She didn’t need some know-it-all pointing out all of her mistakes when they were, in fact, not. There was a reason David specifically asked for her help.

(She was ignoring the fact that David had clearly asked someone else as well.)

With more force than was necessary— and healthy for her computer— she shut her screen, in dire need of something to distract her, to lead her away from her place of absolute rage and vindication. It was Python’s right to comment on her remarks as she did the same on theirs but the big difference was that hers were correct and fair criticisms while theirs were just a whole load of crap set out to drive her up the wall.

How very childish.

Continuing to revise David’s paper wasn’t in the cards right now, so she left her desk and decided she’d watch some more of that soap opera. It was the perfect opportunity seeing that Mary Margaret wasn’t getting home until late. As the title track played, Emma chose to be the bigger person and to not get carried away in this feud that had somehow unleashed. She was a responsible and smart adult and was better than this.

-/-

“Son of a bitch,” Emma yelled, fingers typing at inhuman speed. “I’ll show you just how fucking American I am.”

-/-

Emma woke up to the jingling sound of a notification and groaned, burrowing her head deeper into her pillow. She’d created this rule for herself that once she woke up, she could not go back to sleep so as her hand sloppily hunted for her phone, she prayed to Zeus that the time would be some ungodly hour so she could go back to sleep.

Zeus disappointed her.

As he often did.

Tapping her code, Emma saw what had caused her phone to chime and take over the role of her alarm clock.

David Nolan created this group chat. You, David Nolan and Killian Jones are a part of it.

Why would her brother create a group chat when they already had one? And who was this Killian Jones?

It was most likely by accident, a butt-dial sort of incident, though Emma failed to see how it was possible to add two random people who had never interacted to a group. His butt must’ve been oddly specific. Mental images flashed by her closed eyelids, turning her expression into a grimace. Thinking about her brother’s butt was a very bad idea. She should probably stop and focus on the overall situation. David hadn’t sent any additional messages which almost confirmed Emma’s suspicion of it being an accident.

Emma Nolan: ?

Emma Nolan: What’s this?

The white bubble appeared instantaneously and Emma awaited what her brother had to say.

David Nolan: A request to the both of you to stop bickering in the comment section of my paper. Your like little children.

The two of them? Was this mysterious Killian Jones the anonymous python that plagued David’s essay? She reread the message to assure she wasn’t imagining things but that was the message that his text contained. And a mistake.

Killian Jones: Dave, *you’re

Emma Nolan: *you’re

They’d responded at the exact same time and his message was all the confirmation she required. Oh, he was it, alright. Python felt the insistent need to call David Dave on every other comment and it was yet another thing about him that annoyed her and here he–Killian Jones–was using the exact same nickname with the exact same casual air that made Emma roll her eyes every single time. Why did people feel the need to nickname someone else and then only use their nickname? Dave this, Dave that. Emma was quite frankly annoyed. Even more than she already was.

David Nolan: You got my point, so quit it.

David Nolan: Though I am eternally grateful to you both for doing this. Just stop bickering.

The moment Killian had seen the message, Emma could feel him staring at her, assessing her. Not in the creepy way of course, but he wasn’t replying, nor was she, neither of them willing to acknowledge each other now they knew who exactly was hiding behind those pseudonyms. It felt like an online stare down to see who would crack first.

Even though she wanted to be strong, to show this Killian Jones just how stubborn she could be, her brother was still online, awaiting an answer, and what he was asking her—them— was only fair. Emma sighed and typed out a short answer before pressing send.

Emma Nolan: Okay.

Killian Jones: Fine.

-/-

“ Mary Margaret?” Emma said, her right hand holding a wooden spoon as she stirred a pot filled with vegetables and made sure their dinner wouldn’t burn.

“Yes?” her friend answered, walking around their dinner table and stretching her arms to set the plate and glass she was holding on the other side.

“Do you know a Killian Jones?” Her eyes focused on the orange of the carrots and the green of the broccoli.

“Why?”

Because he was incredibly annoying and a smartass and because Emma had discovered that he was also breathtakingly gorgeous after clicking on his Facebook profile. But she still hated him, let that be clear.

Mary Margaret inspected her work, quickly checking off a list of things they would need for dinner and when she concluded everything was present, she rearranged her dark pixie cut and looked up to Emma, who avoided her gaze and went on with stirring with the utmost concentration.

“Doesn’t matter, just answer the question, please,” she muttered.

There was a silence but Emma didn’t dare to turn around to see what was taking Mary Margaret so long before answering. She was just about certain what kind of look Mary Margaret’s expression would bear.

“I know him,” Mary Margaret finally gave in. “He’s one of David’s good friends. Killian is very nice, slightly full of himself but he has a heart of gold.”

Even though Mary Margaret appeared to be convinced of her view on Killian Jones, Emma couldn’t accept it. Mary Margaret saw the good in everyone even when there wasn’t any good to be found. She would give a speech about how everyone was redeemable and that one only needed to hope, so her opinion wasn’t reliable.

“I think you’re depreciating how full he is of himself because he seems pretty egocentric to me.”

And even that was an understatement.

Emma lifted her eyebrow, having found her confidence again and finally facing her friend.

“Why are you asking me this if you’ve met him?” Mary Margaret’s fair skin creased as she frowned.

Extinguishing the fire, Emma removed the vegetables and placed them on the table, turning around to grab the other components of their dinner.

“We haven’t met in real life,” she explained, “We’ve only interacted via Google Docs.”

“And it did not go well?” Mary Margaret assumed correctly.

Thinking back to what had been said, she shook her head, blonde locks slightly swaying along. “Not well” was an understatement too.

“To summarize: we fought incessantly and David made us promise we would call a truce.”

They both settled in their opposite chairs, Emma serving herself and getting ready to eat until she noticed that Mary Margaret hadn’t taken any food yet and was instead staring at her with a confused look.

“I can’t say that this doesn’t surprise me,” she spoke, drawing her eyebrows together anew. “I always thought you two would hit it off. Maybe you should you get to know each other a bit better, you do have some things in common.”

Getting to know him better was just about the last thing Emma wanted to do. It could only end up being a disaster.

“Well, it’s never going to happen. I hate Killian Jones.”

She visibly ended the discussion by taking a large bite of her food, overacting the whole thing to make her message clears but that didn’t stop Mary Margaret from making one last comment that did absolutely nothing to reassure her.

“If you say so, Emma.”

-/-

anonymous python: For goodness’ sake, Swan, he used the wrong tense here. How did you not see that?

anonymous swan: It’s creative license, Jones. It can work. Also, we’re not supposed to bicker and it’s Emma.

anonymous python: We aren’t bickering if you just agree that creative license in a dissertation is bollocks, Swan.

anonymous swan: EMMA. And no can do, sir. I suppose we are bickering.

-/-

anonymous swan: Jones, I am begging you. Please stop changing everything to British spelling. We’re in America. Adjust.

anonymous python: Normally I prefer to do more enjoyable activities with a woman begging me, but you’ve left me no choice. Care to show me?

David Nolan: Jones, stop hitting on my sister. And what did I tell you about bickering?

anonymous python: We’re just having a bit of fun, David.

David Nolan: Then have fun somewhere else than my dissertation.

anonymous python: You heard him, Swan. Let’s have fun somewhere else. Drinks on me tonight, The Merry Men, 9 pm.

David Nolan: No, you’re not doing that.

anonymous python: Don’t fret, Dave. You can join too.

-/-

She shouldn’t actually go, should she? He must’ve been joking, daring her to do something only to not show up to make fun of her. But why would he invite David as well? He wouldn’t do that to his friend, would he? Even though Emma did not hold him in any high regard, he did seem like a good friend to David. So, his proposal must’ve been genuine.

That didn’t help with sorting out her thoughts, it only gave her more questions, more doubts and fears. One thing, however, was blatantly clear.

Killian Jones confused her.

And not in a good way.

(Or so she told herself.)

-/-

The neon letters of the bar flickered against the inky night, a lighthouse in the dark to guide her ashore. She hadn’t figured out yet if it was a trap leading her to the cliffs or not.

Emma inhaled, the cold air almost painfully filling her lungs and shut her eyes. She hadn’t entered, hadn’t met him for real, hadn’t gotten drunk and she was already regretting this.

A decision had to be made. Either to enter or to go home. The internal debate with herself couldn’t last the entire evening or she would freeze. Wrapping her red leather jacket a bit tighter around herself, she shivered. Go inside or go home. There was a warm bar right in front of her and if she chose to go home, she would have to wait for a cab in the cold.

In the end, the prospect of feeling her fingers again won as Emma pushed the heavy wooden door and entered the bar. The heat warmed her skin and she knew she had made the right choice.

Her eyes roamed the room as she searched for her brother’s sandy colored hair, but to no avail.

“And here I thought you wouldn’t show.” Emma was startled by the voice suddenly appearing to her right. And by the accent. It didn’t make it difficult to guess who it belonged to despite the fact they had never spoken. She felt her heart speed up as she faced the source. “Swan.” He smirked, a cheeky and cocky thing that told Emma she had made the wrong choice. “Pleased to finally meet you.”

His hair was a chaos of black, his eyes a sea of blue. And if the dim bar light did not mislead her, his beard a haze of red. No amount of Facebook profile pictures could’ve prepared Emma for this.

“You know my name is Emma.” She stared at him with a raised eyebrow, the picture of not amused and unimpressed. Or so she hoped.

Jones laughed, a resonant thing, while pushing up the sleeves of his light blue shirt which totally did not make him ten times more attractive.

“I do, but I like Swan.” He shrugged. “It suits you.”

“And why is that?” she said, the suspicion coloring her voice.

Their eyes met and even though Emma wanted to look away, she couldn’t; the connection was too strong to sever. He didn’t move either, or blink, or answer the question she’d asked him.

“Feisty and beautiful.” was his reply after a minute or so. Perhaps it was more a couple of seconds. She had no idea. It was like the hard drive of her brain had been deleted and she’d forgotten how to do the most basic of things. Like breathing. Emma took a deep breath through her nose as she shook herself out of the trance. “I must say that your profile picture does not do you justice,” Jones continued.

Emma is surprised her eyes don’t roll out of her skull but the heat rises to her cheeks, nevertheless.

“Wow.” Emma scoffed. “It’s a good thing that you’re buying because I’m going to need a lot of alcohol to handle this.” Her hand drew a circle around his silhouette in the air.

“Say no more,” he smirked and led her to two empty bar chairs.

-/-

“Jane Austen? That’s your favorite author?” she almost shouted in disbelief. Emma had to stop herself from laughing. “Is it because you see yourself as a Mr. Knightley? I hate to break it to you, you’re not. At most a Mr. Elton.”

“I beg your pardon?” He looked genuinely affronted but Emma didn’t know if it was because she was mocking his choice of favorite author or because she was comparing him to one of the worst characters in Emma. “What’s wrong with Jane Austen, she quite frankly wrote terrific books. Who’s your favorite author, may I ask?” he challenged her.

It didn’t take Emma long to come up with a name.

“Hemingway,” she said before taking a swig from her bottle of beer and contently nodding as she thought about it again.

Jones tilted his head and quietly hummed as he considered her answer.

“Very good author,” he finally reacted and Emma was about to start beaming with pride when he continued to speak, “but definitely not worthy of the honor of being your favorite. You need to pick someone who deserves it, with whom you would love to be friends. I for one would love to be friends with Jane Austen. Hemingway… not so much.”

“What?” She tried to find some sign of ridicule or humor but found none. He was being completely honest. And she did not agree in the slightest. “That’s bullshit. I don’t need to like Hemingway as a person to like him as an author.”

“But who he is as a person is reflected in his books. Trust me, I have a degree in literature.”

“Ugh, this again,” she complained and rolled her eyes, a very common occurrence when she was in the company of Killian Jones, it would seem.

“It’s the truth. Oh no!” he suddenly shouted.

Emma almost fell off her bar stool, her hand flying up to her chest in shock and barely missing her bottle of beer on the counter. She looked around, eyes frantically searching for something amiss before they landed on Jones again who sat calmly on his stool, amusedly watching her.

“What?”

“We’re bickering, Swan,” he announced. “David would disapprove.”

Emma clenched her jaw in anger while she attempted to get her heartbeat back to normal.

“You just scared the shit out of me. Where is David by the way?

Jones raised his shoulders, showing that he did not know either what was keeping her brother. Bent on finding out why he hadn’t shown up in the last hour, she fished her phone out of pocket and dialed David’s number. The bar and the area surrounding it kept on getting busier, so as the dial tone rung in Emma’s ears, she left Jones there and went in search of a place where she would be able to hear what David’s most likely lame excuse for running late would be. The continuous ring stopped with a rustle, telling her he had finally picked up.

“Hello?” he said.

“Hey, it’s me. Where are you?” She settled against a brick wall in some hallway not frequented by other people.

“Um.” Emma narrowed her eyes as David struggled to get a uniform answer out. This was suspicious. “I can’t make it.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, sorry, Emma. I have to go.”

And abruptly she was met with the end of the call and silence. Nothing in that call seemed like her brother. The last-minute cancelling—could you even call it that if he was supposed to be here an hour ago— the general vagueness, the abrupt end of the call. Odd. Very odd.

Thinking about it had her frowning as she walked back to the spots Jones and she occupied earlier and that he was still protecting against predators

“Is everything okay?” His eyes showed concern for her.

“Yeah,” Emma reassured him, smiling to get rid of the scowl on her face. “David is not coming.”

Grabbing her deserted bottle of probably lukewarm beer, Emma climbed back onto the stool.

“I don’t really mind if I’m being honest. I’m quite enjoying myself with the present company.”

Were they sitting closer than before? They must be. Emma wasn’t able to discern his distinctive smell before, nor could she see the small scar on his right cheek or how long his eyelashes were. It almost managed to take her breath away.

“I should probably go home,” she whispered.

“Come on, Swan, don’t let a man drink alone.” She felt his gaze trace her face as he pleaded with her, both verbally and physically.

They stared at one another again and for a split second, Emma was certain they were going to kiss. He was going to lean in or she was and their lips would meet and she’d be kissing Killian Jones. The other people around them would disappear as they focused on each other and how their tongues would interact and time would stop as they pulled and pushed, fighting for control and the upper hand. She would moan, he would groan, the feeling so satisfying and it would definitely be mind-blowing. She would instantly regret it.

“I have to go,” she said weakly. “I have an early class tomorrow.”

It was a shit excuse and they both knew it.

-/-

“So?” A chirpy voice behind Emma spoke. At this hour, there was only one person in this apartment that scattered chirpiness: Mary Margaret. “How was your date with Killian?”

How she reminded Emma of how her mom behaved when she went on her first date. Way too nosy and excited about the whole ordeal.

“It wasn’t a date,” Emma reminded her friend. “David was supposed to show up too but he bailed on me.”

Which still confused her. Her brother, who had gone to great lengths to avoid that Jones spent time with her, was suddenly okay with leaving them alone at night, with alcohol involved? It seemed awfully out of character for David. He considered himself her savior, the big brother that had to keep all harm away from his little sister. Killian Jones was far from being harmless and David was aware of that.

“I know.”

“You know?” Emma turned her head, suspiciously eyeing her sister-in-law. If there was one person that could make David not act like himself…

“I might be the reason why?” Mary Margaret grimaced and confirmed Emma’s suspicion.

What the hell?

“Mary Margaret!” came out as a shout. Emma didn’t even try to hide her displeasure.

Of course, she meddled. After her comment from before about how she thought they should get to know each other, Emma could not be surprised that she made sure that they did. She couldn’t be surprised but she could be disgruntled.

“Sorry.” Her hands went up as a defense mechanism. She didn’t seem sorry at all, making it all so much worse. “But, how was it?”

Emma let her change the subject because deep down she’d been wanting to discuss it with someone. She hadn’t rightly figured out what exactly it was she wanted to discuss but she knew she needed to verbalize it, even if it was only an attempt to. Killian Jones did things to her, things she couldn’t wrap her mind around, things that were all over the place as if they swung from left to right, from one opposite to the other and she was stuck watching it all take place.

“He’s … urgh.” It was both a sigh and a grunt at the same time and the best thing she could think of to describe her evening.

“Emma Nolan at loss for words, I didn’t think I would live to see this day.

“I’m not at loss for words I can give you a million words to describe Killian Jones. Aggravating for instance. What else?” She bit her lip in thought, trying to prove she hadn’t lost any of her magic powers. “Oh!” She raised her finger a bit too excitedly as another word came to mind. “He’s also pedantic, conceited and most of the time very…”

“Distracting?” Mary Margaret prompted with a look of compassion.

Emma let her shoulders sag, her whole body following as she dropped herself on their couch. It took a lot of energy to pretend. “Very,” she faintly admitted, hair strewn across the leather and eyes glued to the ceiling.

She felt her legs being lifted as Mary Margaret made room for her to sit on the couch too.

“Emma, there is nothing wrong with asking him to hang out again,” she assured her, a squeeze following meant to emphasize her words but Emma shook her head disagreeing. Mary Margaret couldn’t know that for certain, she lived in this brightly colored fairytale world where everything went great and everyone was happy and got their Happily Ever After. Emma didn’t believe in all of that. This thing with Jones wouldn’t lead to that if they—she— acted on it. She didn’t know where it would lead her and that was why she wouldn’t dare to take the plunge. Staying safely ashore was far safer than risking to drown.

“And grant him the opportunity to gloat at every given moment?” She sat back up, trying to shake off the conflicting feeling and immersing herself back into her earlier mindset. The mindset from when Jones was just still anonymous python and she couldn’t stand the sight of him. Maybe Mary Margaret would believe the act she was putting on. “No, thank you. I need to stay as far away from Killian Jones as possible.”

-/-

“Swan?” Emma froze, her hand still reaching out for the box of hot chocolate mix and her eyes shutting as she winced while hearing the nickname only one person in the whole world called her. Just her luck that that one person was also the one she was avoiding with might and main. But apparently, she couldn’t even go to the supermarket in peace. Maybe if she didn’t move, continued to stand there with her hand in the air, he wouldn’t approach her? Perhaps he would just walk by with an acknowledging nod and she would go about her day without having to face Killian Jones after she very obviously stood him up two weeks ago. Who was she kidding, the universe wasn’t kind enough to grant her that gesture. “What a lovely coincidence.”

Taking a breath, she turned around, a neutral expression on her features instead of the alarmed one they bore.

“Jones,” she curtly addressed him.

He was wearing a dark burgundy sweater, a pair of dark jeans and a warm coat over it to protect him from the outside temperatures; his hair was still a controlled mess and his cheeks slightly rosy due to the cold but what caught Emma’s attention the most was the smile that did not waver from his face.

“I’m happy I’m running into you.”

Emma had noticed that. She needed to be strong, however, to not get distracted by the way his eyes crinkled.

“Why exactly is that?” Her brow skeptically furrowed.

He moved his shopping basket to his left arm to take a step closer to her. Her body wanted to back away but the rack with hot chocolate mixes was in the way. The distance between them had declined so much that, because of their height difference, Emma was now forced to look up to look him in the eye.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you something but I didn’t want to do it via Messenger.”

There was a foreboding silence as they watched each other. He wouldn’t dare. She had just gone through two weeks of agony and he wasn’t about to reset her whole process by saying what she thought he was going to say. He couldn’t.

“I wrote an essay for an academic publication-” Emma felt her chest deflate as she let the air out of her lungs in relief. He wasn’t. She mentally thanked Zeus. “-and I was wondering if you could take a look at it?”

“Take a look?” Emma repeated harshly. “Why?” She didn’t give him any time to reply and answered her own question, “To boost your ego? You know what, I think I’m gonna pass. Hey, I have an idea. Maybe you should ask one of your flings, I’m certain they’d love to have the scoop of reading the essay of the prodigal Killian Jones.” To finish her statement, she added a sly smirk— though it was more of a sneer.

They bantered and jabbed, all with the same air of sarcasm and mockery, this was what they did. But why did he appear so defeated, then? So sad? He wasn’t supposed to; he was to supposed to counter with his equally clever remark, another battle in their never-ending war.

“Emma, please, would you read it,” he begged. It wasn’t the way he said it but what that caught her off guard. He’d never called her Emma before. Never, not even once. He purposely and stubbornly refused to. So, this was dead serious. “I’m begging you. I’ll do anything in return. I just need a second set of eyes.”

The desperation drenched his words and Emma could feel her resolution of staying detached fall apart, piece by piece.

“Okay,” she said, before thinking about what she was doing. Her heart clenched at the sight of his distressing disposition and wanted to banish it once and for all. She was pretty sure it would do everything in its power never to see that look again. “You can send me the file. I have to go now but I’ll take a look tonight.”

“Thank you so much, Swan.” He managed to smile a small smile. “You’ve earned my eternal gratitude.

She had no idea what to with that.

Not even five minutes later, her phone chirped.

Killian Jones has sent you a friendship request.

Sighing, Emma clicked accept. It was just a Facebook friendship, she was aware, but still, it was more. She’d agreed to help like a friend would. They suddenly became friends instead of fluctuating in the grey zone of enemies-but-not-really. It felt weird to enter this new territory. To have Killian Jones as a friend while she spent so much time being annoyed by him and far too much time with him residing in the back of her mind.

Killian Jones: Thanks again for doing this, Swan.

Emma Nolan: No problem. So, what do you want me to do precisely? Spelling, grammar, anything else?

Killian Jones: Well, spelling and grammar should be on point, but it can’t hurt to double check. It’s mainly the message, however. Do you get what I’m saying? Am I not repeating myself? Is there a clear structure? etc. I’ve read it so many times now that I’m second guessing every word and phrasing.

Emma Nolan: I can do that. I’ll read it as soon as I can.

Killian Jones: Be kind, Swan.

Emma Nolan: Eh. I’ll see how good this is before making any promises.

-/-

It wasn’t just good, it was incredible. Written with passion and intelligence. He incorporated humor in an academic essay and managed to get away with it. He drew her in from the very first sentence and kept her attention for the whole thirteen pages, the speed with which she was reading only increasing so she could see what else he had written. Fuck, he was talented. And she now had to admit it to him.

anonymous swan: I would add em-dashes here just to clarify the structure of your sentence.

anonymous swan: Good metaphor, I’d go even further with it. Compare more to it, the reader won’t mind one bit

anonymous swan: I thought you said creative license in academic essays was “bollocks”? Someone isn’t being consistent.

Killian Jones: I was expecting you to be more critical

Emma Nolan: So was I, but there was nothing to be critical about. It was really good, surprisingly enough.

Killian Jones: You think so?

Emma Nolan: I do. Well done, Jones.

-/-

Killian Jones: Swan! Guess what!

Emma Nolan: What?

Killian Jones: Because of my essay, I got nominated for the Newcomer of the Year award!!

Emma Nolan: Wow, Impressive! Congratulations!

Killian Jones: Thank you! Apparently, they attempted to reach out to me as soon as it got published, but they got my contact information wrong. The award ceremony is tonight and I thought I’d ask you to come along as a thank you.

Emma Nolan: Jones, I’ve already told you that I did absolutely nothing, stop trying to thank me. Emma Nolan: Besides, fancy award ceremonies and I don’t mix. I’m going to skip. But have fun!

-/-

“Have you heard the news?”

Emma startled as her brother barged into her room without knocking, without so much as a word to warn her of his entrance. In confusion, she took out her earbud, the white pod still blasting her playlist of study music, and silently asked him what he was doing with wide eyes and raised eyebrows.

“Have you heard?” he repeated, his voice insisting.

Slamming her book shut and pulling out her other earbud, aware of how she would not be able to do any studying when he was interrogating her in her room’s door opening, she turned to him, begrudgingly giving him her full and prompt attention.

“Heard what, David?” The annoyance was obvious in how she almost spit the words out.

“Killian’s essay got nominated for some prize.”

“I know. Good for him. I already congratulated him.” She failed to see why David had to kick down her door and announce it, interrupting her sacred reversion time. She was finally being productive.

“That’s all?” he asked, disappointed about something Emma couldn’t figure out.

What more could he want?

“Yeah,” she stretched out the word, watching him. “I was invited to come along but I passed. What else do you want me to say?

“Emma!” She was definitely missing something to understand this whole situation. “He asked you out and you said no!”

David provided her with the missing information, but she was wrong, it did not help whatsoever to understand.

“What? I said he didn’t need to thank me with some fancy dinner.” Her voice rose in pitch as she slowly began to comprehend what was going on and tried to defend herself. She was innocent.

“Knowing Killian, he took it as a rejection.”

“No, he didn’t,” Emma was convincing herself more than David at this point. “What are you talking about?”

David grabbed his phone, ceremoniously cleared his throat and started reading, “5:21 pm: “Mate, do you think it’s a good idea to ask your sister to join me? But like on an official date,”” he horrendously copied Jones’ typical lilt. “And then just now, 7:57 pm: “Dave, I don’t know what to do anymore. I’ve tried so many times, but I think she’s just not interested. I should give up. Anyways, I have to go. I have a ceremony to attend.””

Her brother was awaiting a reaction but Emma was right there with him, no idea how or what she should react. All she knew was that she didn’t want him to give up. So, all this time spent talking and bickering, that was him trying?

“What happened to him being this suave ladies’ man?”

“Do you really believe that’s who he is? Or even was?” His blue eyes were solemn as he questioned her opinion of his friend. She could see it there, the close bond the two of them had, the way David wanted to protect Killian. Perhaps the reason he never introduced Emma to him wasn’t because he wanted to protect her, but because he wanted to secure his best friend’s fragile heart.

“No,” she answered, head and eyes cast downwards in shame. “Okay, but what do you want me to do about it?”

The look he gave her didn’t leave a lot to the imagination and if it wasn’t quite clear yet, his arms crossing in front of his chest did tell her what he wanted her to do.

“When did you become such a fan of Jones and me together?”

His stern gaze and posture softened again as he thought of an answer which led Emma to think that the answer would be something she wasn’t ready for yet.

“Since I saw how much you’ve both changed since you met one another.” He stepped closer and went to sit on a corner of her desk. “Mary Margaret had to open my eyes but once seen, it could not be unseen. I didn’t completely realize how much you two were talking.”

“About your dissertation,” Emma clarified.

David looked down at her, not a trace of pressure or implication. Only a simple question with no underlying meaning; he was giving her the freedom to answer as she pleased. “Are you sure about that?”

They weren’t only talking about his dissertation. Every conversation might’ve started that way but they slowly but surely drifted to another topic, time and time again. She’d gotten to know a lot about him over the past few weeks she’d considered him a friend, and he about her, more than she cared to admit.

She shut her eyelids and shook her head. Once she reopened them, David sympathetically watched her. The hairs on her body stood upright with the realization that she wanted to try too. Finally, she had gotten ready to risk it, to give him a chance. But Killian told David he was done trying. Fuck.

“Now go.” David shook her out of her contemplation.

“What?” Emma replied in confusion.

“To the ceremony.” David grabbed her arms and helping her out of her chair. “You might still make it on time.”

She had only just come to the realization that she liked him and she already supposed to go and tell him? Oh no, she could not do that. Emma needed at least another couple of days or so to accept it all, and then visit him on her own terms, and then maybe bring up the topic. This was going way too fast.

“David, I can’t just barge in!”

What would it look like? Her swinging open the doors of a black and tie event in her sweatpants and oversized sweater, hair a mess—and not the good kind like Jones’— out of breath and sweating, disrupting some important person holding a speech and all eyes flying over to her just to say that she liked Killian Jones enough to want to date him. Emma’s worst nightmare, that was what it looked like.

“Yes, you can!” he disagreed, pushing her out of the room.

“Why are we yelling?” Mary Margaret appeared in the hallway and joined the conversation.

Before Emma could turn around and answer her question, placating Mary Margaret and downplaying everything to avoid her interference, David took the opportunity to recruit her onto his side.

“Emma is going to Killian’s ceremony to tell him she likes him.”

Waving her hands, she attempted to transfer the message that that wasn’t what they were doing. Everyone needed to calm the fuck down. David needed to stop pushing her, both physically and emotionally; Mary Margaret needed to stop looking at her with that sparkle of hope in her green eyes; and Emma needed the space to breathe and not freak out about everyone knowing she liked Jones.

“Oh my god!” Mary Margaret joined the yelling and simultaneously did so with Emma.

“No, I’m not!”

Her head was starting to hurt and to relieve the pain, Emma began to rub her temples with the tips of her fingers.

Mary Margaret came closer and tenderly placed her hands on both of Emma’s shoulders.

“Emma, you should,” she advised, bringing the yelling to an end with her soft voice. “It would be so very romantic.”

David came to stand right next to her, nodding and echoing what his girlfriend had said, yet again a reappearance of their trademarked true love bond.

“Why are you two like this?” Emma inquired as a last refusal, no idea what she was supposed to do right now. She could feel those two sets of eyes staring at her and pulling her over that line, convincing her, regardless how hard she might be against the idea.

“Emma.” She looked up at her brother and sister-in-law, who were standing awfully close to her in a tiny hallway. “Do you like Killian?”

“Yes.”

Mary Margaret smirked, an unsettling sight because she was not the type of person that smirked. Emma knew that it was decided. They were going.

“Then put on that pretty dress in your closet—you know that soft pink one— and go to the ceremony. I’ll drive.”

Emma supposed it was time to do some grand romantic gesture of her own. Ugh.

-/-

She slipped into the dark room, her dress swishing against her bare legs, and softly closed the door behind her. Scanning the room, she went in search of him and after some squinting, she could spot him in the front row. He looked an awful lot like the day she ran into him at the supermarket, nervous and afraid, with as only difference the suit he was wearing instead of his woolly sweater.

“To end our evening, we would like to announce our Newcomer of the Year,” the slightly balding man on the stage announced. Emma smiled, she had made it just in time. “The winner of this prize is a young, up-and-coming author. After recently having graduated in the studies of English Literature–”

And never shutting up about the fact that he did, Emma thought.

“–our laureate received acclaim for his dissertation and he managed to prove again with his recently written essay that this was all due to his talent and dedication. We are very pleased to announce that this year’s winner is Mr. Killian Jones.”

She clapped and whooped as she saw him walk towards the stage with a brilliant smile, pride swelling and spreading in her chest. He truly deserved this.

Killian reached the microphone and accepted the little statue, giving the host a handshake and looking at the bronze prize in awe.

“Thank you very much. I cannot properly express what it means to have your support. Writing and reading have been passions of mine ever since I was a young lad and to take this path was, therefore, a logical option I’ve not once regretted. Me standing here today would not be possible without my brother and mother who read countless stories until their voices went hoarse, without the amazing friends I have, and without the incredible people who read and gave feedback when the doubt grew too large and to whom I’m eternally grateful. So, thank you. I will treasure this moment forever.”

His speech was met with loud applause and Killian left the stage again, still shaking his head in disbelief. She was about to surprise him again. Waiting in a corner of the room until the mass of people wanting to congratulate him had dispersed and he was alone again, Emma left the shadows and walked over to Killian, who was admiring his prize yet again.

“I believe congratulations are in order. Newcomer of the Year, well done.”

Killian’s eyes left the trophy and moved to her, wide and blinking to see if this was real.

“Swan,” he breathed. “You’re here.”

She shrugged. “I decided that I might try one of these fancy award ceremonies.” Jones beamed as she leaned in. “I particularly liked your speech. Tell me, are there a lot of incredible people that read your text? Or was it just me?”

“Just you, Swan. You are more than enough.”

Fuck these stupid fancy award ceremonies for not being an appropriate place to attack him with her mouth.

Five Years Later

“Are you nervous?” she asked, running her hands through his dark locks, making them look just right. After taking a small step back and nodding approvingly, her hand slid down, settling on his cheek and caressing the soft skin there.

“Why would I be nervous?” His blue eyes looked up and betrayed that his confidence was all just an act.

Which Emma already knew, of course. She knew how he reacted to publishing his own work, to letting people he didn’t know and trust read the things he had worked on for weeks, months and even years sometimes.

“Because I know you and you’re publishing something that’s a bit bigger than just an essay in a magazine this time.” Emma’s eyebrows rose and Killian let out a sigh.

“Yeah,” he finally admitted, covering her hand with his own. “I’m bloody nervous.”

A smile crept on her face and she curled her free arm around his, pulling him closer to her to whisper a confession in his ear.

“I was waiting until you would say that.”

“Were you?” he questioned, tilting his head and lifting one expressive eyebrow.

Moving her head up and down, Emma confirmed. “So I could do this–” Her lips gently brushed his, an innocent thing, but it wasn’t about passion right now. It was about calming him and his nerves down and kissing her almost always seemed to have that effect. “– and tell you that your book is amazing and that everyone is going to love it. It’s the best thing you’ve ever written, Killian. And it can’t hurt that you had the world’s best beta-reader who also happens to be your lovely wife.” She winked, earning a laugh from Killian. “I’ve finally picked a favorite author that deserves it and that I love ” The words carried the memory of their very first date— first according to Killian, Emma wasn’t really convinced of that— and managed to eradicate the last remnants of stress inside of Killian as his hand stopped trembling and his eyes only contained love.

“You’re brilliant, you know that, right?” He cradled her cheeks before letting their foreheads touch.

“And you’ll do great, you know that, right?” she whispered back with closed eyes, reveling in the moment.

“I love you, Swan.”

She felt his lips on hers again and kissed back, the sensation still making her feel lightheaded as it had when they first kissed on the parking lot of the venue Killian had won his first award.

“Go knock them dead.”

He winked one final time at her before walking out on stage, a thunderous applause welcoming him, and Emma left the backstage to join the audience.

“Hello everyone, welcome and thank you for being at this reading,” Killian greeted his fans. “I’ll be reading the first couple of chapters and afterwards, you can get your copy signed if you’d like.”

The book on the stand was opened and Killian began to read.

“This book—and all of its em-dashes— is dedicated to the anonymous swan.”

A/N: This fic—and all of its em-dashes—  is dedicated to the notorious nonnie

[thorne93]

No Matter What (Part 8)

Prompt: Imagine you’re an Avenger and you meet Bucky for the first time during Civil War

Word Count: 2548

Warning: Language, fighting, violence, angst

Notes: This will follow Cap America: Civil War…. I envisioned a younger reader who’s like 19-24 years old, btw. Thanks to my beta @like-a-bag-of-potatoes

Forever Tags: @amarvelouswritings @cocosierra94 @essie1876 @magpiegirl80 @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @harleyquinnandscarletwitch @iamwarrenspeace @marvel-imagines-yes-please @superwholocked527 @myparadise1982sand @missinstantgratification @thejulesworld @rda1989 @marvelloushamilton @munlis  @bubblyanarocks3 @thefridgeismybestie @random-fluffy-pink-unicorn @hardcollectionworldtrash @igiveupicantthinkofausername @kaliforniacoastalteens @feelmyroarrrr @kaeling @ijustwanttobepartofyourworld

Sebastian Stan Tag: @nedthegay @lostinspace33 @alwayshave-faith @elleatrixlestrange @buenostardissherlock  @lenawiinchester @the-red-world-of-jess-chibi @memory-of-a-goldfish @mellsstark

Bucky Barnes: @nedthegay @lostinspace33 @alwayshave-faith @elleatrixlestrange @ultrarebelheart @lenawiinchester

No Matter What: @void-imaginations @devil-may-cry-11-blog @james-heaven-barnes @mrs-lancelot

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bucky must’ve cracked his head because Steve pulled him out and he was unconscious.

“We have to go,” Steve said with urgency as an unconscious Bucky hung on him. Within a moment, Sam was right beside you two.

“He needs CPR,” you stated as you saw Bucky wasn’t breathing.

“You do that, I need to find an escape plan,” Steve said as he started to look around. He walked forward into the parking garage, you and Sam right behind him.

For a split second, you panicked.

Me? Give him mouth to mouth? What?!

Steve laid him on the ground and began to look around for a car to grab. You tried to calm yourself as you shook from fear and adrenaline and anxiety.

You remembered Bucky’s life depended on yours and all of the other shit vanished away from your mind. You opened his mouth slightly, covered his nose, placed your mouth on his (and tried desperately not to get swept up in the fact that your mouth was on his) and breathed in. You let go, moved to chest compressions and then pulled him onto his side, hoping the water would drain out. When it didn’t, you started to panic slightly again.

You repeated the action and finally, he coughed the water up, but ultimately, he lost consciousness again. At least he was breathing now…

Steve and Sam threw him into the back of a VW Bug and all of you drove off.

“What the hell? What kind of a getaway car is this?” you demanded as you squeezed in the back with Bucky’s massive form. There was no way to properly sit in there with him so you just let his torso fall onto your lap, hoping that he didn’t wake up and strangle the life out of you.

“Older cars are easier to hotwire, and don’t have tracking,” Steve reminded.

“But...it’s so ugly,” you sneered.

“We need to go off the grid and get Bucky somewhere we can restrain him,” Steve stated, ignoring your remark.

“Good luck,” you scoffed.

Sam mentioned that he saw a factory on the way in and to give that a shot. He gave Steve directions to the factory while you stared down at the sleeping form in your lap. He looked rather peaceful when he wasn’t murder strutting everywhere. So far your only interaction with Bucky was fighting him, defending him, and saving his life. What a great first impression.

Steve drove into a large open door of the factory, and got out. It looked vacant and abandoned. You all scanned the areas for anything you could use to keep him restrained. You found a large industrial vice.

“Hey, could we put him in this?” you called out as you pointed to it in a room off the main area. The other two jogged over and the nodded. At that, they pulled the still unconscious Bucky from the car, placed his arm carefully in the vice and lowered it, then tightened it. This way, if he woke up and went on another murder rampage, he would have to want to kill you all really badly to want to break free.

Sam and Steve watched outside for anyone who may have tailed you all while you sat and traced the patterns of Bucky. It seems like all you did was stare at him. From the moment you met him, to when he was fighting, to when he was being questioned, to when he turned Winter Soldier, to him sleeping on your lap...Constantly observing him. You had yet to trade more than a handful of words with him, and yet you were completely and utterly captivated by him.

In a way, it seemed he was too. He could’ve choked you, strangled you, hit you, smacked you, kicked you -- anything -- back at the Task Force base, and he didn’t. He just looked at you before his attention was turned elsewhere. Even in his apartment, he stopped that officer from hurting you. Sure, one could think that was simply for selfish reasons. But he could’ve thrown you at the officer, as he had done with Steve, but instead, he told you to move so he could hit him, and so that you weren’t harmed.

It was mesmerizing to follow all the lines of his face...his jaw...his hair...his arms….his legs...all of him. You could stare at him for hours and wonder things and think all sorts of things about him. What he must be like now. How he was different from the Bucky from Brooklyn that Steve grew up with.

After awhile, his eyelids fluttered and he groaned.

“Steve,” you called, your eyes still stuck on his.

As soon as the two re-entered the room, the remarkably handsome man raised his head and in a rasp, said, “Steve.”

“Which Bucky am I talking to?” Steve demanded as he crossed his arms. His question made you tense. You so badly wanted the real Bucky to be in the room with you.

“Your mom's name was Sarah. You used to wear newspapers in your shoes.”

“Can’t read that in a museum,” Steve stated matter-of-factly and he knew his friend was back. At this, you breathed a sigh of relief.

“Just like that, we're suppose to be cool?” Sam questioned.

“Sam,” you chided lightly.

“What did I do?” Bucky asked.

“Enough,” Steve responded, not wanting to melee his friend with even more horrors for him to remember.

“Oh, God, I knew this would happen. Everything HYDRA put inside me is still there. All he had to do was say the goddamn words,” he growled, clearly pissed off. You felt so much sorrow and pity for him. He had no control over his own mind. How awful it must be to know that at any moment, someone can say some words and you’re reactivated to be a killer that you never wanted to be.

“Who was he?” Steve asked.

“I don’t know,” Bucky answered.

“People are dead. The bombing, the setup. The doctor did all that just to get 10 minutes with you. I need you to do better than ‘I don't know.’,” Steve demanded.

After a moment, Bucky thought, and then he told all of you about Siberia and how there were more Winter Soldiers. Questions and answers soared back and forth about who they are, what they can do...Steve and Sam spoke quietly among themselves…

“Did I hurt you?” Bucky suddenly asked in a quiet voice as his piercing eyes landed on yours.

“What? Me? No. You...You actually stopped when you went to attack me,” you informed with a nod.

“That’s good. I’m glad some part of me didn’t go completely fucking stupid,” he said with a lace of anger in his tone. “Could you let me out of this thing though?” he asked as he gestured to his arm.

“Oh, shit, right, sorry,” you said as you jumped up and began spinning the handle to let the vice grip off him. “This is the first time you and I have spoken a full conversation,” you noted in a soft voice.

He smiled an iota and gave a little laugh through his nose. “Yeah, I suppose it is. I’m sorry about...well everything before.” He pulled his arm out and stretched it.

“Hey, it’s all part of being an Avenger,” you noted.

“Is part of that saving my life?” he asked with a twinkle in his eye.

“Hmm?” you questioned, unsure what he was talking about.

“You gave me mouth to mouth. I woke up for about half a second, but I saw you. Thank you,” he said, so full of emotion. “For saving my life.”

You blushed as you looked away.

“It’s no big deal. I mean, you’re my mission. I have to keep you safe, right? No matter what.”

“You know my name, what’s yours?” Bucky asked sweetly.

You hesitated a moment, realizing that he never had heard your name. “It’s Y/N...Y/F/N.”

Bucky nodded before Steve and Sam turned to tell you the game plan.

“I know a guy who might be able to help us,” Sam said. “I met him once but he’s got some skill.”

“Okay, what’s the game plan, where are we going?” you asked.

“If these Winter Soldiers are as bad as Bucky says they are, we need to get to Siberia,” Steve stated. “Which means we need to get to an airport.”

“How are we going to get through security at an airport?” you questioned.

“We don’t,” he informed. “I’m gonna call Clint. He can get something setup at the airport for us, and he can get the other guy Sam knows.”

“What about Wanda?” you questioned.

“He’d have to try to go through Vision,” Steve reminded.

“I know,” you said. “But Steve...it’s not right to keep her locked up there. How long is Tony going to keep her there? Clint needs to pick her up. She can help us.”

“Okay, I’ll make the call to him and make a call to Sharon. She might be willing to break the law for us one more time. We need our gear.”

He pulled out his phone, called his contacts quickly and you four were back in the VW.

“Where are we going?” Bucky asked.

“To meet Sharon, a friend. She has our gear.”

The four of you piled into the small ass car again, you and Bucky practically in each other’s laps. After a few moments, you laced your fingers with his metal ones. He looked down at your and his hands and then back at you with a quizzical look.

“We’re with you. No matter what. I’m with all of you ‘till the end of the line,” you said with a grin. His eyes widened in response.

“I...used to say that to Steve,” he said quietly as his eyes darted to the driver. Steve and Sam seemed lost in their own world, talking, the radio playing softly in the background.

“Yeah, he told me.” You smiled. “It just sort of slipped out, and he told me you always told him that.”

“You’re really loyal to Steve, care if I ask why?”

You let a soft, sharp laugh escape you. “You know how loyal he is, how good of a person he is...He save my life. I owe him big time for everything he’s done for me. The least I can do is help him and his friends. Steve and I usually see eye to eye on everything, so I’ll always back him up.”

“That’s incredibly loyal and faithful of you,” he noted with a nudge to the shoulder and a smile. Finally, a real, true smile. A smile that made you go weak all over.

You couldn’t help but grin back. “Steve is loyal to his friends, for instance, you, obviously, deathly loyal. I feel, that the best I can do, is repay him in the same manner.”

“You’re a good person,” he noted with a grin.

“Thank you. I...try my best.”

“Your best is beyond amazing,” he breathed and for a moment, the world slipped away as it had done when he stopped back at the compound. What was it that when you two looked into each other's eyes, everything else just stopped? Your anxiety was quieted for a moment, people seemed to disappear, worry and fear subsided. It’s as if Bucky was some sort of magical being that could quiet your mind with a simple look.

The look was burning between you two, neither of you breaking eye contact. You felt as if you knew Bucky better than he knew himself. You had all of Steve’s stories, you read everything on him from the Hydra files that were released, and now you’d fought with him and saved his life. You were certainly bonded in some way.

You wanted the look to go further, of course you did. You wanted to feel your lips on his again, but this time it would be fun if he was conscious. But...in the back of an ugly VW bug with your best friends in the front seat as you all were on the run trying to stop an evil dude from destroying the world, didn’t seem like the best time.

As if the fates heard your call, Steve stopped the car and said, “We’re here.”

Of fucking course we are, you scowled internally as you and Bucky were forced to look ahead. Steve got out to meet Sharon. They started talking but you couldn’t hear it.

“Can you move your seat up?” Bucky asked to Sam.

Without looking back, Sam deadpanned, “No.”

You smiled at Sam and rolled your eyes. He was probably pretty upset with Bucky because every time he’s around him, they fight, to no fault of Bucky’s.

“That’s okay, Bucky, you can swap me seats,” you offered. “My legs are shorter.”

“You don’t have to do that,” he said gently.

“You’re right. I also didn't have to save your life or nearly die protecting it, but it’s what I do,” you noted whimsically with humor and a grin. “Here, you slide over here and I’ll climb over there,” you instructed, pointing to each side.

“Okay,” he said as he started to scoot over and you very carefully lifted your butt up and tried to slide over him, but in the world’s tiniest car, your lap grazed over his and it sent a chill of arousal through you that you tried to stifle. “This is harder than I thought it would be,” he noted with a slight hint of humor.

“Yeah, brilliant idea of mine,” you said sarcastically as your legs were getting tangled.

“What the hell are you two doing back there?” Sam asked as he turned around, and saw you in Bucky’s lap, legs going everywhere. “The hell are you doing?” he asked again now that he saw it.

“You wouldn’t move your seat,” Bucky reminded.

Sam rolled his eyes and faced forward as the two of you let out peals of laughter. His laughter sounded like it was made specifically for you. It gave you the most comforting and happy feelings you’d ever felt before. Somehow, amidst all the shit going on, you two were able to laugh. Maybe it was the fact that you needed something as silly as this to laugh at. Maybe your mind needed a break from your worrying and tense shoulders.

Eventually, you were able to scoot off of his lap, your legs laying across his lap, until you pulled them down behind Sam’s seat. You tried to fix your hair as it had gotten disarrayed in the swap. By now, Steve had thrown the stuff in the trunk and you all were off again.

“Okay, Clint is meeting us at the airport soon, but he won’t land for another eight hours,” Steve stated.

“We need to find a place to lay low,” Sam said.

“I know. We’ll find a hotel right next to the airport and catch some sleep there.” None of us have slept in over a day. We can’t think or fight on no sleep.”

That sounded like heaven, you just prayed you’d be able to sleep when you got there.

[anoutlandishidea]

I survived.

Warning: The following post is full of personal opinions and life experiences. If you’d like to scroll thru your dash without the disruptions of another person’s drama, please feel free to do so. The sentence structure, formatting, and grammar of said post below will probably be atrocious. There will be unnecessary gifs. There will be slight rampant exaggeration. There might not even be a point to this post other than my unhealthy need to scream into the void.

Lets start with a little context.

I have three jobs: I nanny for a family three days a week, I nanny-sub*, and I’m a self-employed portrait photographer. I also act whenever I can, but I don’t seem to ever get paid for that.

*I am employed by a nanny service who offers short term (ie, one day) nannies that cover for a nanny who is sick, care for a child who cannot go to their regular childcare provider for a number of reasons, or many other random scenarios. It’s very much like substitute teaching. It’s an on-call position and there’s usually only a day or two notice, sometimes only hours. I tell them when I’m available and they text me jobs. It works well.

Most of the time.

I very rarely know what I’m headed into before I get there, other than the address and ages of the kids, so its completely go-with-the-flow and run with whatever the parents throw at me, which is never dull. The clients are a wide range of income levels and housing situations, but the majority are upper class.

Things usually go bad or get awkward for three reasons: 1. The kids are little monsters. (Or are ill. I don’t do well with bodily fluids other than boogers and drool. Those kind of come with the territory) 2. The house is uncomfortable. (There was one carpet that was so stained you couldn’t even see what color it originally was and it smelled so bad and the kid wanted me to sit on it to play with him. I died. It was my first day. I halfway think they send all the newbies there to test them out.) 3. The parents are still at home. (Sometimes they’re just working from home, and that’s only kind of awkward because they stay out of your way for the most part. Sometimes they’re very much at home and its awkward as all get out.)

Yesterday was due to #3.

When it’s just you and the kids, you can kind of create your own atmosphere and set your own boundaries around the guidelines the parents gave you. When they’re there too, there are no boundaries and its a free for all.

Another point to mention, is that its always 5+ hours at a time. You’re stuck there for the day.

Day before yesterday, I get a text for a job. 5yr old and an 18mo old, 8am-4pm.

Not bad.

I get the contact info and give the mom a call. She explains that her wife is doing chemo and the baby is really attached to her, so they need someone to watch him while she rests. Oh, and by the way, they have family staying with them, so the 5yr old will mostly be hanging with them and their three kids and I’d only need to help help her out with her lunch. The mom I talked to would be at work.

Odd scenario, but ok.

I get there and everyone is in a panic, which is discomforting in and of itself, but they’re all speaking a foreign language. (I’ve worked with a few families who have a different culture/speak a different language than me, and I enjoy it, but) I’m really sensitive to lots of people talking loudly at once, so this was obstacle number one.

The mom I spoke to on the phone (lets call her Mom #1, who is very American, btw) wanders by after a bit and is like “oh, by the way, we got broken into and robbed last night, so that’s what everyone is crazy about right now.”

What?!This family cannot catch a break. Mom #2 is doing chemo and now you’ve had a robbery?! Man. Glad I’m hear to help out a bit.

But... there are five, very capable adults here besides the two moms? Who all have a relationship with this toddler? The toddler who has separation anxiety?

So, yes, lets call in a complete stranger. GREAT idea.

ANYWAY.

Mom #1 brings me upstairs to where Toddler has a death grip on Mom #2. They introduce me to him and the 5yro, who promptly throws her ipad to the floor because she “has no one to play with.” (The cousin sitting next to her is obviously not enough? Or the two others who are still sleeping?)

Mom #2 hands Toddler off to Mom #1 while she explains where everything is, but a code red meltdown has now been triggered in both children.

Lots of screaming. Lots of unhappy children. The horde of cousins are still talking at full volume too.

After much deliberation they decide to put the Toddler in the stroller and send me off on a walk. This seemed like a decent idea. I’d worked with enough toddlers to know that he’d calm down pretty soon once he couldn’t see Mom #2 anymore.

Small problem.

It’d been raining all morning.

But it “wasn’t raining” then.

So, I set off down the driveway with a screaming Toddler. He settled down pretty quickly, as expected, and I felt very much like I dodged a bullet as I strolled thru a nice park with a now sleeping Toddler.

Until it began to rain again.

And by rain, I mean POUR.

Oh, and it was all of 60*. They had sent me and the kid out with a gauzy blanket to cover him, but I snagged a thicker blanket out of my car on the way past as I grabbed my rain coat. You know, “just in case.”

So, I’m standing there, trying to figure out if he’s warm enough and when the torrential rain was going to end.

Cue the first vague text post.

They offered to come pick us up in the car... but I’m like I’d kind of rather be here? In the rain?

It let up pretty soon and I wandered around the park, pushing the stroller. I walked four miles... in a tiny park.

Then he started to wake up and I headed back, not entirely sure what kind of mood he’d be in.

Mom #1′s like “oh, hey, I’m not going to work because I have to deal with all of this robbery stuff” and I’m low key trying to figure out a way to get out of this.

But instead, I feed the Toddler a snack.

His sister and the cousins are completely engaged watching Sing and after he’s done eating he wanders over there too. I don’t blame the kid. It looked fun. (But before she went to watch the movie Sister wandered over and stole half his food?!)

Except, Mom #2 wanders over and is like “since they’re all watching the movie, can you help my mom with the peas?”, so I sit down next to the Grandma and start shelling peas... because I’m a white farm kid from the Midwest and that’s what you do with peas. I had quite the pile going.

Then one of the cousin adults wanders over and tells me in very broken English (but very nicely and politely!) that I’m doing it wrong. I was just supposed to snap the ends off, whatever they’re cooking uses the pods too.

Well, that would have been nice to know.

And that’s when the cops showed up.

NO JOKE.

Cue the next vague text post.

I had a moment of panic before I realized they were there because of the robbery and not because I was getting a parking ticket. (this actually happened to me at a sub job once, except they just left it on my car)

More chaos in a foreign language erupts and I’m hastily shoved out the door to bring the kid to the library. They hand me the diaper bag and put his car seat in the car and my only instructions were to “go to XYZ Library and come back when he gets fussy.”

Its noon. I’m done at four. I have diapers and the kid has snacks. Could I play my cards right and stay at the library all day?

We play until the kid is practically asleep on the floor playing with a truck.

BUT COMPLETELY HAPPY, GOSH DARN IT.

So I text them and they tell me to come back.

Cue the all caps text post.

So I get him in the car and give him a couple goldfish because he hadn’t really eaten lunch and would most likely fall asleep in a matter of minutes.

And he does.

So I pull up to the house and I’m like “he’s asleep, imma just sit here in the car with him.”

So I did.

But then both moms and the 5yro have to leave to go do something for an hour?

And the kid wakes up again before they get back?

So now I’m back in the house with the extended family (who? don’t? speak? English?) and a screaming Toddler who is hungry but won’t eat anything from either me or the mom of the cousin kids. They sang him all sorts of adorable children’s songs in their language. They played play dough. Cousin Mom finally got him to eat some fruit cuz his cousin’s were eating it too... you know, must not be shady if they’re eating it to?

IDK toddler logic sometimes. We should have tried that first.

Cue final text post.

Then the Moms come back and they’re like we still have 15 minutes of your time left, go play outside.

Which on paper makes sense? With any other kid it wouldn’t have been a problem?

Except now they’re moving him away from the cousins who FINALLY had him distracted and content and handing him over to me to go wander about the yard aimlessly for 15 minutes? And he can see his mom inside and he’s outside?

Yeah. That didn’t go well.

So in the end.... they didn’t really do anything bad or ask me to do something that was out line? My day just royally sucked?

Thank you to those who commented/messaged to check in with me. You are appreciated and loved.

Also, I never figured out what language they were speaking? Behind The Name says Mom #2′s name has Arabic and Turkish origins... so I’m going with one of those or something related. Its a beautiful language, whatever it was.

[knightofbalance-13]

https://sokumotanaka.tumblr.com/post/165337672499/knightofbalance-13-one-of-my-pet-peeves-about

Oh-hohoho!

You wanna go? I have literally lost all my patience for your bullshit. So don’t blame me when you get the asswhooping of a life time

He literally tried the “I will explain how these people shouldn’t speak for x minority groups by trying to speak for them.”

Um..where?

Was it here?

What’s worse is that I KNOW people in these groups who disagree with RWDE and, in fact, find RWDE speaking for them offensive. But if they try speaking out, all they get in response is “you don’t count.”

Because I never said that. I knew EVERYONE in the groups nor was I speaking on all their behalfs. Just the people I know.

Or was it here?

The only person you have the right to speak for on this planet is yourself.

Which outright contradicts what you said. So that’s misrepresenting the facts.

And the icing in this dumbass sundae is he also used the.

Manipulative language.

“I know minorities so I can speak for them.”

Look above and apply that here: Misrepresenting the facts in misquoting: “I know people in these groups and they share my opinion so this is obviously not a unanimous thing.”

He decided to double down on the “I don’t know what I’m talking about but I’m gonna do it anyway.”

Like lying about the facts right in front of you and misrepresenting what is blatant.

Also: misrepresenting the facts and manipulative language.

He’s right guys, the many minorities who think this white guy who can’t write racism should stop and at least have someone who either experienced it or learned about it should stop.“

And what about the many minorities saying that he can write racism and telling you to shut up? Oops, looks like you proved my point above correct.

Listen to the one black guy he knows who has no respect for his own race and thinks little of them, who is still suspect to be him BTW.

Proof? because I can prove you’re a racist (https://sokumotanaka.tumblr.com/post/162638286479/sourcedumal-historicalmenandotherdumbshit / https://sokumotanaka.tumblr.com/post/162418155909/damanixjanay-gamsee-today-this-white-girl / https://sokumotanaka.tumblr.com/post/161148592944/somebody-in-my-tv-watching-class-did-a  / https://sokumotanaka.tumblr.com/post/157854485089/locker-room-bitch-commander-homosexual

Yeah, come listen to the racist who calls a black person who doesn’t agree with him “disrespectful towards black people” IE reinforcing the mindset that you

And what about @rainbowloliofjustice who also agrees with me? She’s black: you gonna disregard her race too because she doesn’t agree with me?

The dozens and counting LGBT people who spoke up so have no say, listen to job who’s in the small minority who has assured people, belittled victims and used the "I’m a harassment victim so it’s okay!” Card.

... A. Has nothing to do with the situation at hand so Ad Hominin: That’s four times you’ve used a logical fallacy.

B. And the dozens of LGBT people who’ve told you to shut uop and stop calling queerbaiting? Yeah, I never said you were inaldiated: only that you only get to speak for yourself.

C. STOP USING MY NAME!

He’s so right guys!

This is one of the dumbest post he ever made.

I’m not the one who got outed as a racist with proof, used four logical fallacies and proved my opponent’s point.

I’m pretty sure he’s pointing at a mirror at this point.

[borisbubbles]

5. LITHUANIA

Fusedmarc - “Rain of Revolution” 39th place

YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAAAAAAAAAH

 Donny Demontell sang it last year, but right now i’m feeling it. i’ve been waiting for this night. FINALLY I can express my ardent adoration for this crimson cacaphony. <3

As I’m about to start however, I don’t exactly know how to approach this entry and do it justice, exactly? “Rain of Revolution” isn’t really a song, as much as it is a never-ending sequence of tiny nuggets of unintended comedy gold woven into a trainwreck. You really have to be INTO this religious experience to appreciate it, like most entries in this genre (RENDEZ-VOUS ♥ QUIEN MANEJA MI BARCA ♥)

God, do I love this though. Everything, and I do mean everything about this makes me smile, chuckle, laugh, feel fuzzy on the inside etc. Likewise, this write-up will probably end up as a barrage of these funny moments, intertwined with longer paragraphs of text. Be prepared.

HERE ARE *ALL* THE GOODIES ON FUSEDMARC

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LIFE A ROLLACOASTA SPEENING ME ARAWD

WEE BEH GEDDIN FASTA WHEN IZ UPSAID DAWN

*screen slightly veers to the left*

(and then she does her little “TA-DAA” mannerism afterwards as if she’s Houdini and magically twisted Earth into and out of a titled axis <3 GODDESS)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have listened to this honkfest an unhealthy amount of times and I still have no clue how “Rain of Revolution”... happened? lol. I mean, I can guess (wodka, lots and lots of weed and probably all the shrooms from the One Hundred Acre Wood as well) but Denisas and Viktorija have such a poor grasp on the English language (as with well, everything else in life, really. Tards <3) that they really couldn’t explain it any deeper than “iz about LAV yes. LAV far yoo end ODDERS *crazy eyes*”  <3 It’s like a weird fusion of The Raspberry Reich‘s “THE REVOLUTION IS MY BOYFRIEND” mantra with Asshai’i shadowbinder realness. <3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAAAAAAAAAH (revolution)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Frankly, who cares *what* this song is about? “Rain of Revolution” was hilarious even BEFORE its performance began. Shouts to that random woman screaming “THANK YOU” in Ukranian before they start lmfao <3 (I bet it’s the *same* Lithuanian frump who freaked out during Naviband <3)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They also taught me that when you’re in doubt about your styling choses, dress like Little My and put chopsticks in your hair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Omg remember how a *literally* second-rate Aminata song was the fave to win Eurovizija until the juries, like I would eventually, decided that “Rain of Revolution” is fucking hilarious, pushed for its win and succeeded? <3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 FEEL DA REIGN OV REVALOOSHEN

(lmao @ her head tilt after this mome btw <3 “DID YOU? ARE YOU FEELING REVOLUTIONIZED, PUNK??” -- Dirty Vikki)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I spoke about passion before, but what about passion so intense it merges with your bad English and causes you to slrrrrrrrr yrrrr wrrrrrds in an incoherent rambletangle of syllables as the energy ELECTRIFIES your into a shorter circuit?

Sample dialogue: “MKIN ASTA MKIN ASTA. MKIN ASTA ENDLED DALUV SHYFRU MMMMMMMMMMIIIIIIIII”

Sample miming:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

omg remember that “Rain of Revolution” basically has all the makings of a Nill Points Last Placer the likes of “Sarkim Sevgi Üstüne” or “Nuku Pommiin”? Yet in a year which had FOUR of them, fusedmarc not only weren’t one of them, they somehow collected a whopping 42 points making them the highest scoring Second Last Placer ever ♥ DEITIES  ♥

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DANCE

TO THE

RHYTHM OOOOOOOF

~YOSOUL~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

omg remember how this received AS MANY jury points as Estonia and Latvia did COMBINED <3 so much ownage it BURNS BURNS BURNS like Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Omg imagine if the Lithuanian diasporia/professional juries had pulled through just hard enough for a 10th place and qualification. It didn’t happen, but the sheer IDEA of hearing “and the next final is... LITHUANIA O__O LA LITHUANIE O_O_OO__O” and watching everyone melt -like the nazi’s in “Raiders Of The Lost Ark”- into puddles of goo due to the consternation still leads to tears of laughter rolling down my face <3  (not that I don’t LOVE their role as a willing cushion for Naviband, which is just as good, if not better)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LOOKING FOR DA RAISIN... HAMSTER ON DA ROAD....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Omg remember how the Ukranian broadcaster designed every act (which is why they were so basic lol) EXCEPT FOR LITHUANIA’S because Fusedmarc were terrified that Ukraine wouldn’t be able to GET THEIR VISION ACROSS (ROTFLMAOI’MDYING <333333) So they designed everything themselves and this not only caused “Rain of Revolution” to be even MORE weird than normal, but also fall apart at its seams during the live show. <3 <3 <3  Remember that random camera crew lol?

and here’s the thing in motion

(”NOTHING TO SEE HERE, JUST PASSING THROUGH”)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Incidentally, I also post on an rtv message board about Eurovision and the posters there have grown to love Fusedmarc SO much that they put them above SALVADOR in the post-season popularity poll LMFAO. (fairly high too, they were 17th overall) So much ownage <3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At some point, Viktorija also did this (I'm not sure if this is in fact my fave ESC2017 moment, actually?)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fittingly, the hilarious beginnings of fusedmarc (however many there were. the composition, that they beat Aisté, the screaming woman in the audience and the thunderclap which introduced the screaming woman on the stage all count as one each) and raging intensity of the live performance call for a lowkey amusing end. Viktorija closes the performance by waving the mic over the flabbergasted audience to capture their uproarious screams of disbelief, unaware, like always, that this actually ISN’T a good sign lmao <3

(btw i love how those impractically long be-nailed fingers can’t even close around a wee microphone <3)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In sum, BEST LITHUANIAN ENTRY EVER!!!!! *throws heart-shaped confetti everywhere*

Decade Rank: 43/324

THE 2017 RANKING SO FAR:

-ADORE- 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Lithuania (43/324) 6. Hungary (47/324) -LOVE- 7. Moldova (55/324) 8. Italy (61/324) 9. the Netherlands (63/324) 10. United Kingdom (67/324) 11. Finland (68/324) 12. Estonia (71/324) 13. Azerbaijan (84/324) 14. Latvia (87/324) 15. Israel (93/324)

-LIKE- 16. Bulgaria (100/324) 17. Portugal (105/324) 18. Croatia (115/324) 19. Austria (119/324) 20. France (138/324) 21. Poland (154/324) 22. Armenia (158/324) 23. Romania (164/324)

-OKAY- 24. Iceland (174/324) 25. Ukraine (190/324) 26. San Marino (203/324) 27. Albania (217/324) 28. Denmark (228/324) 29. Spain (237/324) 30. Cyprus (240/324) -DISLIKE- 31. Germany (258/324) 32. Montenegro (263/324) 33. Sweden (270/324) 34. Serbia (275/324) 35. Australia (280/324) 36. Switzerland (286/324) 37. Czech Republic (288/324) 38. Malta (291/324) -HATE- 39. Georgia (301/324) 40. Greece (303/324) 41. Slovenia (307/324) 42. Ireland (312/324)