#yeah you goof it's just muscle memory

[wrenhavenriver]

[takes1]

asahi x reader nsfw

mutual masturbation or riding/gridning or first time

asahi x reader grinding

my god i fckng love asahi !!! UUUGHHH he's so!! perfect. i will NEVER pass an asahi request, NEVER

warnings. nsfw, minors DNI

details. mutual pining! / skipped!talking phase / mutual lust! / asahi has a crush on you / forced proximity / asahi is hung / lap sitting / beach setting / implied mutual virginity / flirting? / suggestive touching / asahi is a very soft top / 2.9k words / reply to be added to part 2 tomorrow :)

links. masterlist. more haikyuu. my ao3. requests OPEN. part two here.

"You sure you're okay back there, (Y/n)?" Asahi called to you from the front seat.

Nishinoya's negligent driving up towards the hotel was nothing short of dangerous, especially with no seatbelt, but you had a good amount of things to hold onto.

"Yeah!"

What was that thing about guys using your name more often when they like you? Was that true? You pulled out your phone with the intention of looking it up.

The golf cart hit a big stone in the trail and you quickly stored your it back to the safety of your pocket.

It could wait for tonight, when you were getting off in your empty hotel room to cropped team pictures and the day's memories of him all sweaty and covered in sand-- and much more likely to believe the delusional assertion that he wanted you back.

It was a decent drive to the porte-cochère* where your objective sat.

You were happy to discover that the red cooler you were all after was 1) where Tanaka left it, 2) still in the shade, and 3) that there was still a fair amount of ice in it so the team could have their drinks cold.

The stifling heat of the day served as a brutal reminder that this little beach trip -courtesy of Coach Ukai's elbow rubbing with some sponsors- was for practice and training, not mindless fun or goofing off. Karasuno, unsurprisingly, had been balancing both quite well in spite of the heat.

When the team realized they left the cooler back up the winding, gravel trail towards the hotel, your little group formed only because you knew exactly where it was, Nishinoya was frightfully obsessed with wanting to drive a golf cart, and Coach Ukai voluntold Asahi to go because he would be needed for 'extra muscle.'

You looked back towards the front of the vehicle, scanning the width of his tan shoulders under his tank. The cart pulled up onto some smooth concrete at last and you tore your eyes away.

Despite your gratefulness for his presence, you thought that last part was silly. The thing would be heavy enough with ice and water to keep the whole team hydrated until lunch- but with two people and a dash of determination you had no doubt you could get it up.

Just as you and Nishinoya climbed out, Asahi was already grabbing both ends and hauling the giant thing up by himself.

His biceps firmed, bulged and swelled under the tension- he was all shiny with sunscreen and sweat. The image went straight to the vault. You kept your entranced expression under your hand and shuffled out of the way when he carefully placed the heavy thing across the backseat. The cart sagged so far under the weight, you thought the rear bumper might actually scrape the ground.

There was nothing to be done though, since that was the only space for it.

"Show off!" Nishinoya laughed. Even he had to get a piece of that- he grabbed his buddy's meaty arm, then punched it playfully.

You pretended not to look. But in the process, your downcast eyes found there was no room for all of you to ride back.

"There aren't enough seats," You said quietly.

Nishinoya bit the inside of his cheek, eyes scanning the structure of the cart for a quick few seconds. He was playing people-tetris in his head for a good minute, patting the cooler like that might shrink it.

"You can sit on my lap!" He grinned at you.

You froze at the suggestion- thankfully Asahi was quicker on the uptake.

"Yuu, you're driving. You wouldn't be able to see."

"Oh, yeah..." He tapped on the cooler for a second, keys swinging on his finger, "Well, just sit on Asahi's lap!"

There was no hiding the reaction. It was almost like getting slapped, the way you anticipated the proposition. Asahi watched it all happen on your face, but looked away when you glanced up at him.

He put an oversized hand to the back of his burning neck with a gentle, nervous smile, "Only if you're okay with it."

And there you were, climbing into the cart over him while Nishinoya secured the cooler with two crisscrossed bungee cords in the back. It was just that damn simple, when it was all said and done.

He was warm and gentle. His thighs were strong and far more comfortable than the hard plastic backseat you rode in on the way here.

You sat on him at a bit of an angle at first, so it was less awkward, but that didn't seem to work.

A noise of surprise forced itself from you when he shifted and grabbed your waist. It forced your whole body to swing in one big motion. Your hands flew to the roof stabilize yourself.

"Sorry-! Sorry," He mumbled, a little distracted, avoiding your gaze as he made himself more comfortable.

"Am I too heavy?" Was a sigh that just flew out of your mouth. That was a little much, and probably not the case at all, but you were so glad you asked when he looked at you like you were insane.

His laugh was almost enough to distract you from his arms pulling your full weight onto his lap. His casual strength was so hot.

"Of course not."

Your throat closed up, skin tingly under his touch, as you struggled to find how to orient your legs.

Nishinoya was climbing into the driver's seat, flipping through keys.

"Is- this- okay? Can I put my hands-," He set his palm back down lighter, lower on your thigh, but kept one forearm tight like a bar around your hips, "Here?"

A thumb prodding against your hip bone, right at the hem of your shorts, made you realize how big his fingers really were.

"Yeah! Yeah, that's totally f-ine," Your voice cracked so hard that it caused a full body flinch.

He didn't notice thanks to the volume of the engine starting up.

A careful, slow, "Cool."

Sat with your spine stock-straight, cautious not to touch him more than you had to, your head was nearly hitting the roof at every bump in the road. And the road was made of bumps.

Asahi could only take watching you struggle with your neck bent for so long. 

He leaned forward, chest pressed against your back, and muttered so Nishinoya couldn't hear, "You don't have to sit like that, if it's uncomfortable."

You grimaced at the chills it sent down your spine and managed to somehow silence your yelp.

There was no way you could speak coherently enough to argue, so you let yourself lean against him.

"That better?" He wouldn't stop trying to talk to you. It was like he thought it would make this less of a thing.

But every time he spoke you could feel it resonate, low and gravelly, through your whole body.

You said, "Yeah," But no sound came out. You heard him grin.

"Yuu, you missed the turn-," Asahi informed, calm and a little distracted.

"Shit!"

Instead of stopping, reversing, and safely going back the other way, he decided to cut the wheel at full speed.

There was no time to digest the situation, or say anything, especially not over Nishinoya's delighted scream: "SKRRRRR!!!"

Asahi braced hard enough for the both of you, one hand on the roof, one still forcing you into his lap, until the passenger side of the cart slammed back down hard onto the gravel, and you were travelling in the correct direction again.

Neither of you said anything over Nishinoya's giddy laughter for a good minute.

"I'm gonna kill you tonight, Noya- I really am," You swallowed your fear back down and shuddered.

Asahi felt your whole body freeze, your hands trembling against the safety of his burly arms. It was a lot of things all at once and despite his best efforts, he wasn't helping you calm back down.

"No need for all that," He laughed a little at your deadpan admission, brushing right along the side of your neck, his fingers squeezing a little into your flesh, "I got ya."

Your tummy was right back to turning, swirling, with an angry swarm of butterflies.

You felt like if you opened your mouth, even a little bit, even to just agree, you might confess all of your dirty thoughts here and now.

You couldn't have been more grateful to be wearing shorts. Or else you would've been dripping all over him. The thought alone made your legs flex uncontrollably, and you could've sworn you felt him give a sigh against the back of your head.

After all the rocking around, he had to adjust again. You were brimming, hardly able to keep it together, as he pulled you back onto what you could tell now was his hard-on. The final blow was when he fixed your legs back open, one firm and heavy, further towards your inner thigh this time.

Fuck, he didn't sigh- he groaned. It was just so quiet it sounded like a sigh.

Morbid curiosity got the best of you. You turned your head real slow to look at him. You found a cloudy, near pornographic focus in his eyes, souring your body from over your shoulder.

It was a step under a jumpscare. It sucked the courage right out of you. Thank god he was holding onto you so tight, because you were about as firm as a cup of Jell-O after that.

You stared forward at the road, heartbeat racking through you like a drum. You weren't sure if you could meet his gaze ever again.

"EEERRRRRRRRR!!!!"

Nishinoya had to vocalize his foot slamming against the brake. It was not needed; the screech of those poor rental tires was loud enough.

When the cart finally lurched to a stop next to the sand, and all the safety of so much noise was gone, Asahi cleared his throat. It was a queue to get up, really, but you didn't want to stand.

In fact, you didn't think you could. Not only was Nishinoya's driving that nauseating, but the tension in your stomach made it feel like you'd break in half if you moved off of him.

But, of course, Tanaka's shameless wolf whistle shocked the both of you straight upright. Asahi slid his hands off with one last-ditch squeeze at your hips.

You stumbled out, knees shaky enough to invite help from the rest of the team, whom were already anxiously waiting for the arrival of the refreshments. Your knuckles were white gripping on the side of the cart.

"Woah- You okay?"

Hinata reached out to help you but you flinched away. A slew of 'yeah's left your mouth, uncool and unsubtle in every way.

You shivered at the wind. "I just- I get carsick?"

He snorted at the odd way you spoke, "Are you sure?"

"Yes," You muttered, lame and defeated.

In the wake of your metaphorical blue balls, the beach was the worst place to sober up. You weren't into anyone else, but skin was still skin. There wasn't an ugly person on the team. Everybody was shiny with sunscreen and it smelled like sweat at every turn. You felt like a degenerate.

"Noya shouldn't be allowed to drive. Let alone a top-heavy vehicle..." Asahi grimaced, his rumbly voice once again no aid to you.

He also struggled to get out of the cart and stand upright on the sand, already surrounded with guys trying to access cooler.

Hinata blocked the view and enthusiastically filled you in on how difficult it was to jump in sand, how he planned on getting over it, and everything else you missed while you were gone.

Your sensitive ears couldn't help but pick up Daichi's voice, giggly, asking Asahi if he needed a minute before the practice game, and Suga, laughing and telling him to 'get that shit under control.'

You went to check your phone for the time to subtly tell Hinata to stop talking and see how much practice time had gotten cut into with this little endeavor.

But when you felt for it, nothing was there.

Dread washed through you. You stood stock-still. You told Hinata to 'Hold on' and checked the back of the cart, where you last had it, and found nothing.

The team was already heading down the big sandy hill to continue their game, sharing the hefty load of the cooler.

"You good?" Nishinoya asked just before he was about to leave.

There was a minute drop in his voice, like he was insinuating something, but you answered quickly and honestly.

"No, I- I think I left my phone up there."

His suggestive facade faded fast, "Oh, shit, uhh-,"

He jogged to the side of the cart and began searching. Sure, he messed around a lot, but he was a great friend. You followed suit after making sure it was in none of your pockets again.

He was flipping up cushions and crawling around on the floorboard before a voice behind you made you jump.

"Didja lose the keys, or something?" Asahi asked him. He was staring at you, though, until you returned it. Only then did he watch his friend.

Nishinoya held the keys up and jiggled them in a 'Fuck you, I'm not that irresponsible' manner.

"(Y/n) left her phone somewhere."

Your face was a little warm at how stupid it sounded when it was coming from somebody else. You weren't usually forgetful, especially over something like your phone. Asahi's presence must've clouded some critical thinking skills for just long enough to misplace it.

"It's probably up where we found the cooler," Asahi suggested when there was clearly no phone in the golf cart, "I can drive us up there, no big deal."

You rubbed some stress out of your face and groaned at how ridiculous this all was. Leaving this, leaving that.

"And what if it's not?" You muttered, mostly to yourself. You started spiraling at the idea of never finding it again, arms crossed as you stared with contempt at the musty little golf cart.

Asahi placed his hand over your head, onto the roof. The cart gave hard on one side under his weight. He spoke closer to your ear as he leaned down to toss a water bottle into the seat, "Let's not worry about that, yet."

It was enough to convince you not to argue, at least. You were torn between thinking about all his signals and the obvious problem at hand.

The drive there was very quiet.

Nishinoya decided to stay back because he wanted to play a game pretty badly, and finding a phone didn't take three people.

Asahi didn't try to pry when he saw how upset you were. The only thing he said to you was to drink some water because it was so hot.

You couldn't just pay for a new one. Your parents would be pissed. It was hard enough justifying this trip when you weren't on the team, anyway. If you lost your phone, or if it was broken because Nishinoya decided he wanted to Tokyo Drift a fucking golf cart over it? Your life was over.

What if you had to quit the club and get a job? You would never have the excuse to talk to Asahi again.

When you finally made it back to the hotel, you jumped out before he could even roll to a stop in order to start searching.

He took his time parking it while you retraced the very few steps you had taken earlier.

You were so desperate that you started searching where you knew for a fact you had never been, before. The ignition switched off from a distance, and tears were starting to prick your eyes.

"I've got it," He called.

You jumped right up.

"Thank god! Where did you find it?" You sprinted to him and swiped it from his hand, a mixture of relief and excitement taking over your movements. After checking its condition to make sure it was okay, you spared a glance up to him, a big grin across your face.

It fell just a bit when you found a kind of... reservation all over him, one that seemed out of place for such good news shared between friends.

He was different. He didn't share in your celebration at all.

"My pocket."

It didn't hit you right away. You laughed, somehow convinced that it had gotten there in an honest mix-up, but searched his face when he didn't laugh, too.

"Uhh," You put it back in your shorts, frankly unable to figure him out, and joked to clear the air a little, "You- you didn't feel it in your pocket earlier?"

The thought that it was intentional was so out of left field that when you briefly considered it, you shook it off right away. There was no motivation for him to take it. Maybe Nishinoya would, or Suga trying to be friendly or funny. Asahi didn't play jokes or tease like that.

"I did," He said, quiet. He was looking to the side, watching the ocean from here.

It was far. The beach, the net, were all far away. You realized he had parked the cart so that it wouldn't be in the way if somebody was checking in.

The puzzle pieces were clicking together, one by one, just before he said the final clue for you, "I told Daichi don't wait up for us."

Shit- he got you alone on purpose.

♕VIP♕

@integers @yuchacco

*reply to be added to the taglist *part two will be out TOMORROW- i had to split this because of ungodly word count

(i learned this word today woo!) *porte-cochère: a covered entrance large enough for vehicles to pass through, typically opening into a courtyard.

my masterlist. requests open.

[lythpomme]

steve harrington blurbo

gn!reader (i believe), friends to lovers, snowstorm happenings, steve the serial dater (...)

unedited, dialogue heavy. just needed to write something and get it out to bring me back into the groove. (IVE NEVER WRITTEN A KISS SCENE GOODBYE) i do apo;logize if the ending is rushed! ~1.3k

the crackle and warmth of the fire relax your muscles, allowing you to sink further into mrs harrington's plush carpet. you hear steve’s gentle footsteps down the stairs. you stare up at the popcorn ceiling, shadows of the fire entertaining you with a dance. mussed chestnut hair makes its way into your peripheral, steve tilts his head in question, “don’t tell me you caught a cold too.”

you close your eyes as you shake your head, “nah, i wore my jacket and scarf the whole day. she doing okay?”

the ‘she’ in question being robin, fast asleep in steve’s bed. a thermos of chicken noodle soup and ibuprofen on his bedside table. steve nods, and sits next to you, knees pulled up to his chest. he rests his forearms on them, “yeah, out like a light as soon as her head his the pillow. i was lucky enough to be able to put a blanket over her body,” he scoffs, not so much annoyed as he is amused, “like fuckin’ dead weight, i swear.”

you laugh softly in response, nudging his foot with your elbow, “y’check her pulse?”

steve rolls his eyes, teasingly poking the dip of your waist. touch gentle and playful, never harsh or rough. a beat passes as you both relish in the comforting heat coming from the hearth. crackles of firewood fill the living room. the glow of moonlight against snow brings the memories of the day back to you. sprinting out of family video to close shop early due to the weather. sledding with the party, making snowmen with el and will, robin sacrificing her scarf and toque for them. defending said snowmen from max and lucas, competing in an ‘all-out snowball war’ as declared by mike. eddie running away from hopper, who was bringing joyce’s infamous apple cider.

a smile rests on your face, genuine content filling up your heart. steve pokes you with his socked foot, “whatcha smilin’ about?”

“the snowstorm, gave us a chance to goof around with the party again.”

“oh, yeah. best day ever. finally scored a date with michelle too.”

you open your eyes, “oh right.”

the fire crackles and steve continues, “i mean, her taste in movies is kinda meh. but that’s just a little bump in the road, yanno? if she’s the one.”

you sigh and sit up to face steve, and you really get to see him now. face half-illuminated by the orange glow of the fire, cozied up in a random wool sweater. honey-coloured eyes viridescent in the moonlight. “you know, you really don't need to be concerned with finding ‘the one’ so fast.” his brows furrow in response— you continue, “its just that, you’re so hyper-focused on finding love that you aren’t able to see it's all around you.”

steve sighs softly in frustration, “you know that’s not—”

“no, i know. but i mean, in general. you keep looking for the type of love that’ll complete you, or make you feel complete. you’re draining yourself.”

the golden glow against his face flickers, the fire crackles as if it’s telling you to feed it. steve blinks, he diverts his gaze from you. gently, you grasp his forearm, “i love you steve.” his head raises, his eyes lock onto yours. mossy brown shines in golden light, filled with hope. his breath hitches, you clear your throat, “uh, we love you. robin, the kids, hopper and joyce… everyone.”

steve’s eyes stay locked onto yours, “by ‘here’ you mean…”

you run your hands through your hair, bringing a knee up to rest your forearm against it. you sigh, slightly annoyed, “no, steve. not nancy.’

“wha— no, no. not nancy, definitely not.”

you grasp onto his arms once again, “listen, steve. one day, you’re gonna meet someone. not now, maybe tomorrow, but definitely in the future. you’re not gonna expect it. maybe it’ll be long past the time of family video, where the water has taken us to different paths. but you will, “you gulp down the knot in your throat, “find someone. and they’re going to be so, so lucky to have you as their life long partner.”

steve shakes his head, a loose spitcurl falling in front of his forehead, “no, no…” he breathes out your name in amusement, like he’s been searching for sunglasses that were on top of his head, “i don’t mean nancy.”

you quirk your head to the side, unnoticeably so, but steve sees you and continues, “you’re right. i’ve been putting my all into trying to find something that’ll fill the… i-don’t-know, hole in my heart, or whatever. but i— i think i know now.”

you furrow your brows in confusion, looking off to the side before meeting steve’s eyes once again, “what?”

the boy in front of you takes a deep breath, “there’s always been this person, in the back of my mind, that i’ve always told myself is untouchable.”

immediately, you shake your head. you know where he’s going with this, “no. no, steve i’m not going to be—”

as you stand up, steve follows you. breathing out your name in exasperation, he grasps your hand, “they’ve always been out of reach, someone i knew i could never have.” you stop, but don’t meet his gaze. he tilts his head to try to catch yours, “earlier, do you mean that?”

you look everywhere but his eyes, stammering, “i- i don’t know what you mean. i mean, you know what i mean. what i meant….”

steve smiles, his nose scrunches, “you love me, right?”

you miss it, eyes glued to the floor. you shrug, “yeah, uh, that’s what i said…”

the fire glows onto your face now. it flickers and it crackles, the boy in front of you holds onto both of your hands. “in the same way robin does?”

you shrug, turning away to hide the tears that well in your eyes. immediately, steve is concerned, gently cupping your cheek to meet your eyes.

“heyheyhey, its fine if you do. i’m sorry, i read this whole thing wrong.”

finally, you look up at him, eyebrows furrowed and eyes widened in complete confusion, “wait, what?”

it’s steve’s turn to be confused, his eyes flicker to the side and back to you. “you’re the person i’m talking about.”

your eyebrows shoot up in realization, your mouth drops in a silent ‘oh’. he continues, “sorry, sorry— i made this so awk—”

“i do! love you, i mean. in that way.”

steve’s expression softens, he cups both of your cheeks. the fire glows against his back, encapsulating the two of you in your own bubble. it crackles and you smile, grasping onto his wrists. he leans closer to you, “like, love-love me?” you nod, steve grins. he asks, “can i kiss you?”

you feel blood rush into your cheeks, your heart beats out of your chest. “yeah.” you whisper.

he leans in, you close your eyes. his lips slot perfectly against yours, you don’t care that they’re slightly chapped because it’s steve. the steve you went to high school with, who got roped into your babysitting gig. the steve you’ve always admired from afar. its awkward at first, but you find your rhythm. you move your hands to the nape of his neck and gently grasp at his hair. he cradles your cheek with the utmost softness, as if you would shatter. the warmth of his palm engulfs your neck. he breaks away hesitantly, leaning his forehead against yours, “i’ve always wanted to do that. i… i knew that if i ever had you that i’d screw it all up again.”

you shake your head, “no, never. you are scored on my heart, harrington. you’ve had me since day 1.”

he laughs, and his nose scrunches in that particular way that you love. “no way. asshole and all?”

you peck his lips, “unfortunately.”

he leans in and kisses you silly.

<3

its 12am and i have school tomorrow pls like and reblog if u enjoyed tho! and comment im always looking to grow and improve!

do not repost my work at all! i do not condone putting it into ai either! this is my work!

[seecarrun]

“Are you awake?” Ash’s whispered voice cuts through the darkness.

“No,” Misty answers simply.

He snorts, his sleeping bag rustling on the floor under her as he gets more comfortable, Pikachu letting out a sleepy little ‘chu’ of annoyance at the disturbance. “Darn. I thought we could gossip.”

It’s Misty’s turn to snort as she adjusts her position as well, subconsciously snuggling into Ash’s bed. “Since when do you gossip?”

“Since people keep telling me things I wanna gossip about,” he laughs, and Misty bites her lip to contain her grin. What a goof.

“Okay, I’m awake,” she says begrudgingly. “Whatcha got?”

Ash’s sleeping bag rustles again. “Brock has a date this weekend,” he tells her like it’s bursting out of him.

“Shut up,” she snaps in disbelief, and Ash breaks into laughter. “No way! Are you serious? With who?”

“Some girl in one of his lectures I guess. I don’t think he expected her to actually say yes, because he called me all panicked about it.”

Misty chuckles. “He called you? He must have been panicked.”

“I know,” Ash agrees with a laugh. “I think he forgot he knows way more romantically competent people and just went with muscle memory.”

“Well, good for him,” she declares proudly. “Let’s hope he doesn’t blow it.”

Ash hums in agreement, falling silent for a few moments before forcefully clearing his throat. “You know, there’s some other gossip I’ve heard.”

Misty adjusts herself to get more comfortable and smirks into the darkness. “Why do people keep telling you things?” she teases, but she only gets a half-hearted chuckle in response. “Okay, what’s the gossip?”

“Well,” Ash begins, a bit awkwardly. “I actually heard that someone likes me,” he says. “Like, like likes me.”

“Oh, yeah,” she answers flippantly, a little bummed it’s not something new she didn’t already know. “That Kalosian friend of yours. Serena, right? The one that kissed you.”

She hears Ash startle in his sleeping bag. “How did you know about that?” he demands.

“You think you’re the only one who gossips?” she asks, grinning, and she can practically hear him pouting.

“Whatever,” he grumbles. “Not her though. We talked about that whole thing, and she explained it was just something she had to get out of her system so she could move on.”

Well, that is certainly brand new information, Misty thinks, her interest piqued once again. Honestly, she kind of admires the other girl; Arceus knows she doesn’t have the guts to do something like that. “So, who likes you, then?”

Ash hesitates for a moment before sighing. “They wouldn’t say,” he admits, then adds, “But they said you know.”

Misty’s eyes widen as the dots connect, suddenly very, very grateful Ash can’t see her from his spot on the floor.

Shit.

[deblklesb]

[I Want You So Bad — Ellie x Reader, Pt. 1]

[AFAB!reader, friends to lovers, fluff MDNI] (part 2 here)

Summary: Ellie likes you so much, and it's crazy how you don't even notice it.

a/n: omg i finally did it!!!! it took me too long, so sorry anon, but it's finally here!! its a two part thing, I'll post part2 soon! hope you enjoy it, please let me know if you do!

cw: fluff and pining. as always i don't want minors interacting.

not proof read | reblogs are highly appreciated

It's a painfully hot day in Jackson, Ellie is wondering how Shimmer is doing down in the barn and contemplating about going there to spend some time with her beloved horse. The sun gives everything an extra glimmer and the roads hold small puddles of fata morganas, amusing her as always - astronomy it's her main target of curiosity but physics it's there too.

While she fixes her shoelaces and checks her pockets for the keys, she also looks at the small handmade candy wrapped in a simple paper, standing on the bench next to her door. The grocery brings back delightful memories of when you runned up to her with the cutest smile, a hand in her direction.

"Ellie, I made this candy from a recipe I found in one of those books, took some for you", you had no idea how that gesture reached the Williams girl right into the heart.

"Oh, thanks…!" She looked down at the brownish treat. It seemed to be so tasteful and you were known amongst your friends to be a very talented cook.

"So, are you coming to the Tipsy Bison tonight?" You put your hands in your back pockets. Ellie could only see a part of your tattoo coming out of your short sleeve, wondering what the entirety of it would look like.

"Uh, yeah, I guess. If I can finish all my tasks", she would definitely drop them if that meant to see you.

"Okay, cool! See ya later, then", and just like that you left with a small wave and a sweet smile.

Inside, Ellie beat herself up for not asking something like "oh do you want me there?" to slightly make a move and test the waters. You would always leave her speechless, lagging, absolutely fumbling on her words to even put a goof full sentence out.

On this incredibly hot day, she thinks it's finally the time to maybe taste your candy. She hasn't done it yet because… Maybe because she was holding onto the mere fact that you thought about her and went out of your way to give her some handmade candy. It was such a sweet act, it made her daydream for days and literally kick her feet when laying on her bed that night, thinking about your pretty eyes and cute lips.

Deciding to save for that night, she finally heads out to the hot weather and bright sun. The sunglasses she found on a supply run unfortunately were broken, she could make good use of them now.

It didn't take long to reach the barns, the shadow of the roof presenting a hope to cool down. The horses seemed to not mind the heat that much, and today was bathing day.

"Morning, Els", Pedro, a 15 year-old boy waved at her. She smiled back, finally facing Shimmer on her usual spot. But the horse wasn't alone.

In the barn, a brush in hand, stands you. Mindlessly stroking Shimmer's fur in circles, your back is not fully out since you're still with a tank on but Ellie can finally see the rest of your tattoo; it's a big tiger, an image mostly on your back with just a paw sticking on your front, under the clavicle - the part Ellie could always see. Today, it moves as your muscles do the same and you murmur a random melody, eyes careful to put the attention on the horse's fur.

The brunette has to take a deep breath before proceeding into the barn, trying to pull out that chill, laid back facade to hide the way you make her almost melt into a puddle.

"Hey, see you got up early today" She has you stopping on your tracks to look over your shoulder, immediately smiling fondly when seeing her.

"Yeah, I got the bathing job today so I didn't want to leave it until later", dirt falls from Shimmer's fur as you brush it. She's not the dirtiest one usually, but after some runs between the last bath and this one a significant amount of dirt is coming off. "Where have you been putting her to, by the way?"

"Oh, we found an old ranch somewhere west and I decided to let her run around a bit. It made a big cloud of dirt around her", Ellie chuckles as she gets closer from the horse, patting her neck. "This big girl enjoyed herself very much"

"Well, that's good, though", you go back into looking straight to your front, oblivious to how Ellie's gaze falls on your tranquil figure.

She captures the bridge of your nose and your adorable cheeks, the ones she just wanna kiss all the time so badly. Your hair, away from your face today, your attractive lips and the prettiest eyes she has ever seen. With your back to the barn's door, you almost glow in front of the light coming from outside. Like a divine vision, straight out of a fantasy book, demanding to be worshiped by the auburn haired girl. She feels her chest tightening and that feeling spreading to her arms and stomach, like it always does when she's around you; a visceral need to touch you in any possible way.

Shimmer ruffs and bumps her snout into Ellie's face, almost like she's calling her back to Earth.

"Easy", Ellie chuckles again, now trying to hide the last moment. From who? She doesn't know, there's just you, her and the horses here, but she feels so exposed whenever she's around you.

"It might sound crazy, but I do believe these horses have personality", you suddenly comment, turning to grab a comb.

"Right?! Oh, Jesse keeps saying I am crazy, that they're just horses, but I do feel this too! One time Shimmer laughed when she saw me fall. Like, a horse laugh, but I swear it was a laugh", and just like that, Ellie's loosening up.

Your laugh fills the space as you stand next to Shimmer to comb her black tail. Now facing your back again, Ellie takes in how your back muscles press your dark tank top and how your waist seems to call her hands to grab it, hold you from behind close to her chest. The desire to have your scent consuming her mind is so strong, she thinks she might actually pass out.

This is getting so out of hand.

"So", she clears her throat, looking around for another comb to work on Shimmer's mane. "Are you going to be here all day?"

"Tipsy Bison at six", you don't even care to look back at her, focused on the tail.

"Do you ever sleep?"

"Yeah, very well, actually", you chuckle. "Tomorrow I have nothing in the morning, so I can compensate"

"Oh… I thought we could, y'know…", she's trying to collect the millions of thoughts running around her mind at the same time, trying to not fuck this up. "Have a sleepover one of those nights… When you're free, I mean… But we don't have to if you don't want it- it was just an idea"

"It's a great idea!" The way you smile, turning to look at her, has her heart clenching. It's so genuine and sweet, just like you always do whenever you see her coming around and go compliment her. Do you even know the way she loses balance at each one of those acts? "The last sleepover was so long ago. We should call Dina and Jesse too"

"Yeah, absolutely", she rests her head on Shimmer's neck when you turn your attention to the tail again, cursing silently.

The rest of Shimmer's bath was calm, you both kept talking about whatever. At one point, when Ellie was rinsing the horse's back legs, Shimmer just threw her tail on the girl's face, making you laugh out loud and the auburn haired girl look stunned.

In the end you both got out a little cooled down due to splashes of water, past midday after bathing all horses. It was easier with two people, after all.

"So, I guess I'll let you get going to change and go to work…"

"Aren't you coming to the Bison tonight?"

"Oh, yeah, I guess I'll pass by", she tried to sound chill and nonchalant, not revealing how she always planned to go there as long as she wasn't patrolling.

"Okay, see you there then!" And you fucking leaned to kiss her on the cheek, smiling while you waved goodbye and turned in your street, leaving Ellie dumbfounded.

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

If a stare could create holes, Jesse and Dina would cause trypophobia in anyone. Ellie was sitting across from them on the table, holding a beer bottle so tightly that it could break at any giving moment. Standing next to the table was you, listening to their shitty excuses about not being able to attend to the sleepover, oblivious to their real intentions.

"Oh, I get it, it's fine. Guess it'll be just me and Ellie then", you shrug, smiling to the auburn haired girl. She smiles back immediately under your gaze. "We'll, I have to go back to behind the counter, go talk to me if y'all need anything"

And she stares at your back while you walk away, always looking so fine while handling the objects behind the long wooden table.

"You're welcome, by the way", it's Jesse who says it, smirking.

"I'd beat the shit out of you if we weren't in public", she groans, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, come on! It will be nice having her all by yourself for a night, uh? Then you can silently pin over her while pretending to pay attention to some random ass movie", Dina is looking up like she's pondering the scenario.

"Shut up", her hands start to sweat with anticipation, all the possibilities running through her mind.

What you'll be wearing, what you both will watch, if you are going to sleep next to her, if she'll be able to hold you close absolutely in a friendly way, if you'll laugh and have a good time with her. Ellie thinks about the tragedies implicated in being alone with you for the whole night, how embarrassing it can be, how she'll combust just by looking at you so closely, yet, so far.

"Stop overthinking. Just wear those flannels, she likes it"

"No, she does not!" Her face warms up, because of the alcohol, of course.

"She already complimented you ten times about that shirt", Jesse points out.

It was true, though. And each and every time, Ellie almost melted into a puddle in front of your chaste gaze. If you only knew what ran through her mind when she looked at you…

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

This was messy, and Ellie didn't know what to do anymore.

At some point of the night, you decided to play a game and Ellie just agreed - because what could go wrong? Not going far from the known route, you opted for a Q&A game in which each one asked a question and the other one had to answer it or respond with another question. It would be nice and silly, if the given situation wasn't hard enough for Ellie.

You were sitting in front of her, legs crossed on the couch, in a tank top and the smallest shorts Ellie has ever seen you on - which was cool, it was okay, she could manage that because she was already used to holding her shit together next to you. But everytime you moved around, for some reason, that night, she just wanted to pull you close once and for all. An inexplicable energy was emerging from the whole situation and she couldn't grasp it properly, but it made her restless.

Her hands tingle whenever you lightly hold her arm or her leg, she starts to wonder why you were so touchy generally, but tonight more than ever. An indescribable feeling comes from her guts each time you laugh and lean on. She might as well be going crazy.

So, it was already hard enough. But then you asked her if she was currently into some girl around town and that was the first time Ellie responded with another question.

"Why do you wanna know?" It sounded like she was caught off guard, and that bought your attention.

"I was just curious… But your answer makes me think that you actually are", you smirk, playful.

"I didn't say I was"

"Didn't say you weren't either", damn you for being clever.

"But that doesn't mean anything…" The auburn haired girl looked away, resting her arm on the back of the couch.

"Is it Dana?"

"No" Dana was another woman that regularly worked on the Tipsy Bison. She was pretty and polite, but Ellie wasn't interested in her - not with you around. And she was so desperate to direct the conversation somewhere else that she missed the way your voice changed.

"So there is someone, it's just not Dana?"

"Why are you so interested?"

Why were you so interested? It was because of the game, right? Your only concern now was the fact that Ellie didn't answer your initial question, so you had to dig to the bottom of this topic. That sudden sting on your stomach when thinking about Ellie pining over Dana was just the prospect of your close friend having a crush on your coworker and not telling you. Absolutely.

It probably had nothing to do with the way you were weirdly infatuated by Ellie tonight, with her hair on a bun and a halfway buttoned up flannel - with nothing but a top underneath it. Or how she seemed to glow under the warm light of her room and her presence brought the biggest comfort you've ever felt in weeks. Or how her lips seemed so attractive right now, calling for your sight when she nervously bit the bottom one. Little scars were splared around her face amongst the freckles, gifts from a bunch of branches that accidentally crashed into her face once, during a patrol.

"Because… I'm your friend and I would like to know when you're interested in someone. I mean, we tell this type of stuff to each other, right?"

Not all the stuff, Ellie thought.

"Yeah, I guess. Well, you actually have never told me something like that"

"That, my beloved, is because I have nothing to tell. You know it, I'm not interested in anybody as for now"

"Or for any other time on this town"

"Ouch!" You chuckled, lightly punching her shoulder. "You're not getting away from this topic. I'll name every woman our age and you'll tell me when it's the one"

The auburn haired girl tried very hard not to express any compromising expressions, especially after the list ended and you didn't say your own name.

You couldn't think of any other person that fit into the category, and that was odd. Because if there was someone, then it should be one of those.

"Oh, you're lying!"

"I'm not!"

"You just said 'no' to every single name"

"That's the reality of the situation"

"But there is someone?!"

"You said that, not me", she shrugged.

"Alright", you seemed resigned, looking away from her green eyes. "If you don't want to tell me, that's fine"

A sting got it right into Ellie's chest. She liked you too much to let you be this way, but at the same time she didn't want to tell you. The amount of terrible things that could happen; losing you and your friendship was at the top of this list, and it was bad enough.

"It's not it, I swear", Ellie collected all the strength to softly hold your face; now she was doing it as your friend who didn't want to see you sad. She turned it so you could face her, stare at her eyes full of vivid green. "I swear, you didn't say the name"

"Okay", you sigh, trying to understand what was that feeling on your stomach that grew while her fingers still supported your chin.

"Now… Wanna watch another movie?" Her thumb caressed your face with tenderness, inside she hoped this made you less uneasy.

"Yeah", it got cold when she retracted her hands to reach for the DVD options you both picked for tonight. "You can chose it now"

[dividers by @cafekitsune]

[lgcbk]

⸻ WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

At the mention of a private 1-on-1 , Byeongkwan's first thought was - Oh shit.

His second thought? What did I do now?! And the third thought? ...Can this guy be bribed? Hence, strolling into the empty practice room with a few Choco pies and a plastered on grin that did little to conceal his unease. There's really nothing in this world some sweets and a smile can't fix now is there?

To his surprise, the mood is light and he's met with a warm smile instead of a look of disappointment. Relax, it's just performance review.

So, what do you think your strengths are now?

"Aren't they obvious?" he asks, with a cheeky grin. "I just mean... Obviously rapping. I think that's my strongest skill. Over the past year I feel like I've finally come into my own style wise. When I first started it was something I felt I just kind of... did? I wasn't the best singer - probably still not - so, rapping just made sense. I've always loved doing it when I was younger, goofing off, you know... But I think I've proven myself in a way. Not just to the coaches, but to myself. I listen to some of the songs I was working on in the beginning of the year compared to now and sometimes I almost feel like a different person completely," he chuckles, giving his head a light shake. "I think I feel the same with dancing. I've been taking more classes since Spring Boys' activities have slowed. You know, I even took a workshop class one weekend with some friends just for fun to try out some different styles... Compared to last year when I was still struggling to keep up with evaluations now it's like... my body just gets it in a way? Muscle memory or something like that... It's been kind of cool, I guess," he adds with a nonchalant shrug, drumming his fingers on his knees in thought. "The most important one is probably performing, right? It's what we're all here for isn't it? I've gotten a lot of practice with that this year. I'm... I'm really grateful for that. There's nothing like being on stage and even now it's all I can really think about. I wouldn't consider myself the strongest performer out there, but I have a lot of fun with it and just... want to put on a good show for whoever's watching out there. The support makes me want to work even harder at it, to get to that top tier level, you know?"

What about three skills that you would like to work on starting 2024?

He huffs, puffing his cheeks a bit. "It is almost 2024 isn't it... Well, I think the biggest one is definitely composing. I've been pretty consistent this year with making it a habit - I've got like... over 100 songs and demos in a back catalog on my laptop. But I think next year I seriously want to devote myself to it. I haven't really shared much of my work with the coaches but... getting real feedback, honing in on my own personal sound and style... I think that's where I want most of my focus to go. One of my goals is producing for a group one day - maybe even my own," he adds quickly, raising his eyebrows a bit before giving a corny wink. "But no, seriously... It's something I'm looking forward to, so... I want to make sure I'm making songs worth listening to by the time that day comes. And three, right? Well..." he trails off, rubbing his hands together in thought as he glances up at the ceiling. "Ah, modeling for sure. When I first signed I think I had these... preconceived notions about it? Sure, I'm hot or whatever but I'm talented too. I shouldn't waste all of my potential standing in front of a camera -" he waves a hand dismissively before glancing back at the coach with snort. "But that's not it. There's definitely a place for it - I mean, it seems fun. And if it's going to help me master my best angles for music video shoots I should probably take it seriously sometimes, yeah?" He frames his chin with his thumb and forefinger, cracking a goofy smirk. "...And maybe variety? I've been on two YouTube shows this year and they've been a blast... And LGC Spring Boys of course - Oh, you know I saw this pann article about me? Some netizen said I'm a bit 'too much' sometimes... I think I want to kind of... Learn some balance with that? I love making people laugh but..." he sighs, rolling his eyes playfully. "I guess it can be obnoxious sometimes..."

With that in mind, if you had the chance, what gigs would you be interested in pursuing?

"I hadn't really thought about it too much honestly? I guess my main focus has just been on debut, debut, debut, but..." He clicks his tongue. "You know I'd love to star on some variety shows if I could. Maybe something like Physical: 100 or Zombieverse? I can be a bit competitive when I want to be so something to really challenge myself seems like that would be cool... And c'mon, who doesn't want to say they lived through a zombie apocalypse? Oh, and there's always Singles Inferno - " he pauses, almost unable to keep a straight face as he looks back over at Youngjae. "Just a joke, I swear!" It was indeed, not a joke. "And like I said, more modeling would be up there. I guess getting into some CFs? I don't really know much about the commercial world or endorsements or anything outside of like... those beer commercials. Erdinger -" he puts on a smolder, leaning forward to point over at the coach playfully before sitting back in his seat. "I think I could pull off something funny like that... Or maybe something kind of badass, you know?"

And last thing - during your time here in legacy, what are some of the lessons that you've learned about yourself?

"Ah... Why does that feel like such a hard question?" he chuckles a bit awkwardly, prodding at the back of his neck. "I guess... It's hard to say just one thing? I feel like I've learned a lot about myself this year... As performer, as a trainee, as just... me? I can be really stubborn - and it's not always a bad thing. I think I've learned how to direct it where it serves me best. With practicing, improving my skills, not giving up whenever things start to feel overwhelming. I'm learning how to not let my emotions get the best of me - and I'm not always great at that but I'm getting better. I used to be pretty angry... really angry about a lot of things. And... I don't think it'll go away completely any time soon, but I know ways to handle it better now. I'm even... I'm even thinking about seeing some of the counselors here soon. I know things aren't going to get any easier the closer I get to debut and I want to make sure I'm prepared for that," he gives a definitive nod, gaze downturned in thought. "And... For a long time, I really considered my training as just... Something to do? I know that doesn't sound great at all... A lot of really talented people would probably give anything to be in my position, and this isn't something to be taken for granted. But at the time... It just felt like any day someone would figure out that I didn't belong here. I always kind of coasted on... just enough. Just enough to get by and fly under the radar. With school, with piano, everything... This year I really felt the push to do more... Be more. You all brought me here for a reason. Didn't give up on me for a reason. So, I shouldn't give up on myself no matter what. And I know regardless of what I do there will always be people that question why I'm here - even my own parents do sometimes - but I want to be able to know for myself that I'm not just biding time until someone realizes that I'm some imposter. That I stepped up and really deserve this and wherever this road leads... And I think that's clearer to me now than it ever has been."

He inhales and glances back up at the coach with a bashful grin. "Wow, you really got me rambling today, huh? If we're done now then... " He leans forward, taking one of the Choco pies he'd left on the table between them. "You won't mind if we take a snack break? You weren't going to eat all these by yourself, were you?"

[archived-kin]

arcade date with levi (with a twist)

note from kin: the twist is that, rather than just meeting up and going to an arcade for a date, you and levi are actually characters from two different games in the arcade that come to life at night and go on cute romantic hijinks together! (wreck-it-ralph au essentially)

you, simeon, and luke are from a battle game, levi and his brothers are from a side scrolling platformer, solomon is the tutorial dude in an experimental alchemy game, diavolo is the owner of the arcade, and barbatos is the janitor! your character’s costume is basically the same as caesar’s from jojo’s bizarre adventure, and you’re kind of the pseudo-leader of your game’s characters

fandom: obey me!

character(s): gn!reader, leviathan, luke, simeon, lucifer, solomon

pairing(s): levi/reader

warning(s): guns, non-descriptive injury

genre: fluff

“Lights out!”

You cheer and hop out of your character selection box, stretching out your cramped limbs, then sitting down with a huff. Beside you, Simeon falls out onto the floor in a tangled heap of cape.

“Thank goodness,” He sighs, turning around and lying flat on his back. “Is it just me, or were our patrons picking me far more than usual today…?”

Luke carefully slides out of his own box, landing neatly on his feet with a little flourish. “Yeah, normally [Name]’s the crowd favourite…”

“It’s all those new promotional posters, I bet,” You hum, pulling off your headband and fanning yourself with one hand. “Seems like Diavolo’s really been pushing the angel series lately.”

“I wouldn’t call it a series,” Simeon says, chuckling slightly as he undoes his fancy cape. “There’s only two of us, after all.”

“Well, you’re the only ones out of us who actually have a theme between them,” says another one of your fellow fighters, taking off his hat and twirling it around a finger. “Anyway - [Name], shouldn’t you be going off to meet that loverboy of yours soon?”

“Oh, right!” You jump to your feet, dusting off your pants. Then you pause, raising your hands to pat at your face. “Wait, do my triangles look okay?”

“Your triangles look fine,” Simeon sighs, reaching over and tapping fondly at the little patches of paint on your cheek. “They always do.”

“Alright!” You adjust your scarf and throw the ends over your shoulder, tying your headband around your wrist. “I’ll be off, then! You guys know the drill, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, boss,” calls one of the younger fighters, hunched over in front of his box and scratching restlessly at the tip of his nose. “Not like we haven’t been doing it every day.”

“Don’t get cheeky,” You scold, but give his pompadour an affectionate pat on your way past anyway. It feels almost concerningly solid beneath your touch. “I’ll be back before morning!”

Your fellow fighters give a collective murmur of assent that’s abruptly cut off as you open the network door and hop into a wire. You’ve gone on this path so many times that it’s practically muscle memory at this point - six sections ahead, then to the left twice, a right at the purple junction, and then another four sections forwards.

The Tale of the Seven Lords’s network door is already open when you jump out of the wire, and the first thing you see when you poke your head in is Lucifer polishing one of the transport tubes used to get between levels. He’s discarded the fancy coat that he has to wear all the time as part of his character costume, and you don’t blame him - you couldn’t imagine even just running for five minutes or so with that one, let alone jumping about and punching at things for about fifteen minutes at a time, often longer.

“Lovely evening, Lucifer,” You greet brightly. He pauses in his work for a moment, then turns to look at you.

You’ve never gotten the feeling that he particularly likes you, but you’ve been trying your best to stay on his good side - after all, one must need the eldest’s blessing to date one of their younger brother. And your efforts must have paid off, too, because the corner of his mouth actually lifts slightly when he sees you grinning at him around the side of the door.

“[Name],” He says with a nod. “Levi’s up on Level Six.”

“Right!” You skip inside and shut the door behind you. “Good day?”

“About as good as it can get, I suppose,” He sighs, and you silently cheer. Willing small talk - that’s progress! “Most of our players for today picked either Belphie or Satan, so I got to take a break of sorts.”

You’ll never understand why some of characters in this arcade dislike actually being played so much - after all, isn’t that your entire purpose? Still, if Lucifer’s happy about not being picked, you’ll be happy for him as well. “That’s good!”

“Indeed,” He says, allowing a rare proper smile. He pulls back from the transport tube. “Up you go, then. Levi’s been restless all day - excited, no doubt.”

“He’s so cute,” You coo, adjusting your headband around your wrist to make sure it doesn’t slip off. “We go on dates all the time, but he’s still just as enthusiastic every time.”

“As Asmo likes to say, I suppose that each date should be just as exciting as the first,” Lucifer says evenly as you hop up into the transport tube, taking care not to get the freshly-polished metal grubby. “At any rate… Levi seems to be happy. So I suppose you must be doing something right.”

“What a wonder, right?” You reply with a laugh, giving him an enthusiastic thumbs up. “I’ll have him back before first light. Promise.”

“If you say so,” He says dryly, and stands back as the transport tube sends you up.

Just as Lucifer said, Levi is bustling about on Level Six, accompanied by Belphie, who’s having a whale of a time snoozing on one of the platforms and letting his brother do all the work restocking the power-up bricks. Levi abruptly straightens up as soon as you pop out of the transport tube, as if he can sense your presence immediately, and turns to see you waving happily up at him.

His face immediately lights up, and he hops down from the brick he’s standing on with a goofy jump sound effect, landing beside you with a slightly wobbly grin. Slightly out of breath, he greets, “Hi.”

“Hi,” You repeat back to him, kissing his cheek. From up on his platform, Belphie makes an exaggerated retching noise.

Levi absent-mindedly chucks an inactive supersize star behind him at the sound, and it hits Belphie directly in the forehead with a high-pitched ping, sending him toppling backwards off the platform. Luckily, fall damage isn’t programmed into this game, so he lands on his back with nothing but his pride hurt.

“Ready to go?” You ask, disregarding the rather thunderous-looking brother behind your partner. Levi nods eagerly.

“Yeah! Belphie can take the rest of my bricks. He’s barely done anything so far.”

“It’s not my fault so many people picked me today,” Belphie groans, getting up and catching the rest of the power-ups that Levi tosses his way. “I’m tired…”

“You’re always tired,” Levi replies, shaking his head. “Get Beel to do it if you’re so desperate to sleep.”

“Maybe I will,” is Belphie’s final retort before you and Levi disappear back down the transport tube.

Passing Lucifer at Level One again, the two of you slip out through the network door and hop into the wires. Your destination today is the Suspect Sorceror’s abode - one of your regular date spots, and one of your particular favourites.

Despite the fact that the two of you see each other pretty much every day as soon as it’s lights out, there’s always a fresh kind of thrill to the prospect of spending time with Levi, no matter how much you do. It’s kind of like your heart grows wings every time you’re around him - you can’t help but feel all light and fluttery inside.

You’ve never felt this way about anyone - heck, you didn’t even know it was possible for you to feel like this! Every character in this arcade is programmed with a set personality that’s simply impossible to break away from. In some cases, some characters are reduced to such one-dimensional traits that they can only ever respond to anything with one of a predictable and very limited number of possible reactions.

Incidentally, your code has established you as a rather boisterous and confident person who doesn’t always think before they punch, while Levi’s has always dictated him as rather self-conscious and insecure, but passionate about his interests. Neither of you have ever been programmed with anything close to the sort of AI that would be required for you to develop your own feelings separate of your codes - and yet, somehow, you have.

You’ve never pretended to understand your own existence. You’ve not very smart, after all; where your programmers gave you excellent fighting spirit and leadership skills and an unwavering sense of determined justice, they seem to have forgotten to give you very many brain cells. Even so, you’re fully aware of the impossibility of the nature of yours and Levi’s relationship.

Still, your philosophy has always been that worrying about the little things never benefits anyone in the long run. Well, this might not be a little thing, but if there’s anything you’re good at, it’s goofing off to avoid getting too dismal.

You hop out of the wire as soon you’ve reach your destination, landing neatly on your feet with your arms spread wide in a rather flamboyant flourish. Levi scrambles to follow suit, but loses his balance on his way out and immediately starts heading directly for the floor; you quickly dart forward and catch him by the arms.

Levi’s panicked eyes dart up to meet your own, and before you’re even fully aware of what you’re doing, you deftly lift him into the air and give him a smooth twirl, then set him on solid ground once more. His knees immediately nearly give out beneath him, and you have to reach forward to catch him again before he takes a tumble.

“Wh-wh-wh—” Levi’s entire face is a bright, burning red. You’re pretty sure you can actually see smoke coming out of his ears. “You— huh?”

It’s just about the cutest thing you’ve ever seen; you can’t help but lean forward to plant a kiss on the very tip of his nose. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to have been the right move, because Levi immediately goes stock still, then abruptly slaps his hands to his face.

“You alright?” You ask, crouching down with him as he slowly sinks down to the ground, practically steaming. You can’t help but laugh, feeling a little bad for flustering him so much. “Caught you off-guard, huh? Sorry.”

Levi shakes his head silently, then finally pulls his hands away from his face. His blush has calmed somewhat - it had been so aggressive that it almost looked like a rash before, but now it’s more of a sort of reddish dust - and he’s looking you in the eyes again.

“Y-y-you can’t just do stuff like that out of nowhere,” He says finally, leaning forward and dropping his forehead on your shoulder. “I have to prepare myself first…”

“Aw, that’s no fun,” You wrap your arms around his shoulders and rock him back and forth slightly. “You'll get used to it eventually!”

“You’re going to give me a heart attack,” He mumbles into the sleeve of your jacket, though you do notice that he’s deliberately pressing himself closer to you. “Well, you would if I had a heart.”

“You’re so cute,” You chuckle, pressing another kiss to the crown of his head. “C’mon, we’ve still got a date to finish!”

You give Levi another five minutes or so to get his face back to its usual colour and calm himself down, and he’s pretty much back to normal by the time the two of you step hand-in-hand into Solomon’s little alchemy hut - you with a wide grin on your face and him with a slightly shaky smile. Unfortunately, it seems that date night isn’t going to be going smoothly today, because Solomon is currently being held at gun-point by a character you’ve never seen before.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” crows the strange little man, brandishing one of his two revolvers in yours and Levi’s direction. You instinctively step in front of your partner, steeling your fists in case you need to fight. “Two lovebirds, is it?”

“Evening,” Solomon greets, not looking in the least bit fazed by the barrel he’s currently staring down.

“Who's this?” You ask in reply.

Solomon sighs and leans forward on his counter, ignoring the threatening click of the gun that the little man has pointed at him. “He’s from that shoot-em-up game a couple consoles down. No idea why he’s decided to show up here.”

You wrinkle your nose, reaching behind you to give Levi a reassuring tap on the arm before stepping forward. The little man watches you cautiously, keeping one gun carefully trained directly on your head.

“Your bullets aren’t going to work on me,” You say matter-of-factly. “I haven’t been programmed to take damage when a bullet hits me.”

“Won’t work on you, eh?” He raises an eyebrow. “How about your beau over there?”

You narrow your eyes. “He isn’t any of your business.”

Of course, you know full well that Levi’s game features projectiles that he certainly takes damage from, and while you don’t know if that extends to bullets from this man’s guns, you don’t want to risk it. You, on the other hand, have only ever taken damage from the punches and kicks your fellow fighters throw at you - or the beams of light Simeon and Luke shoot for their respective ultimates.

The man grins, and you note that he’s missing one of his front teeth. “So you won’t mind if I just fire a little bit at him—”

Your arm shoots forward before you even fully register it, and the man careens backwards with a cry as your fist lands directly in his face. The gun he’d been raising to point at Levi clatters to the floor and lets out a shot into one of the walls; Solomon winces.

“You’re a real piece of work, aren’t you?” You scowl, striding forward and planting a foot on the little man’s stomach. He struggles under your boot’s heel, cursing. “First you spoil our date, and now you’re threatening my partner. You’re really starting to piss me off.”

“If you’re going to start a fight, take it outside,” Solomon intervenes, shaking his head. “I’ve got far too many glass bottles in here to risk letting you have a battle in here.”

“Doesn’t matter where I fight as long as I get a good punch in,” You smirk, folding your arms across your chest slightly and glaring down at the man as he scrabbles at your boot, attempting to wrench it off of him. “So, what’ll it be? Either you get your guns and scram, or we can brawl right here and now.”

The man responds by reaching to grab the gun he’d been aiming at Solomon earlier and firing a shot at your face. You jerk back in surprise, foot lifting, and he immediately scrambles out from beneath your foot, pointing up at you with a gleeful laugh.

“See how you like that!” He exclaims. “Not so cocky now, huh?”

You slowly reach up to press your fingers to where the bullet struck you, directly in the forehead. Solomon raises an eyebrow, while Levi calls out your name frantically, stepping forward with his hands outstretched.

You shake your head as the man laughs, holding up a hand to stop Levi. “Stay there. I’ve got this under control.”

“Huh?” The man’s grin fades as you pass your hand over the hole, only for it to be gone when your hand moves away. “What the—?”

“Didn’t I tell you?” You ask, looming over him as he frantically attempts to back away. He gulps, fumbling with his gun, but before he can try to fire another round, you knock the gun out of his hand with a swift punch. “Your bullets don’t work on me, pal.”

He turns as if to run, but your leg immediately darts out to trip him, and he tumbles forward onto the boards of Solomon’s hut with a muffled yell. This time you plant your foot directly on his neck, setting a single hand on your hip.

“I’m only going to say this once,” You begin, staring him dead in the eyes. “So listen up - got it?”

The man attempts to protest, but your heel only presses harder into his throat, and he has no choice but to give his gurgled assent. You smile, but it’s a menacing expression.

“This game is under my protection,” You say firmly. “You don’t come in here and start threatening to shoot up the place - and you most definitely don’t point the gun at my partner. Got it?”

He gurgles again. You nod in satisfaction. “Then we’re all in understanding here. Now scram.”

You lift your foot, and he immediately fumbles to get to his feet. You stay on your toes, prepared for him to attempt to go for his guns again, but he only gives you one last terrified look before turning and booking it out the door, tail between his legs.

You stare after him at the swinging door. The hut is silent for a moment more.

Finally, Levi says, eyes wide, “I think that was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.”

[gillytweed]

Y’all wanna hear about the baby superhero team my brain decided needed to exist?

Yeah you do!

So, I’ve been on a superhero kick lately, specifically DC characters cause I’m kinda tired of Marvel, and my brain decided “what’s the harm in making a superhero OC?” Turns out the answer to that is making an entire team, side characters, a whole world, and lore. 

So far, I have the team solidly figured out. Said team lives in a world where superheroes have been around for while (think Young Justice cartoon timeframe in the grand scheme of superhero timelines). People with superpowers aren’t uncommon, so of course a superhero profession surfaced. 

On the team, we have Witchboy, a “magic” user, Nightbolt, an unpowered archer/tech hero, Karma, Damage Enhancement ability, aka can take damage and send it back at their opponent even stronger, Ibis, presumably a teleporter, Frost, Iceman but spikier, and Saber, an unpowered sword user. 

Nightbolt, Frost and Saber are Legacy Heroes. Aka, they got into heroing through family or personal connections. Meanwhile, Witchboy, Karma and Ibis all have their own reasons for joining a superhero team. 

Putting stuff below the cut so I don’t get people shakin’ their canes at me. 

General Character profiles

Witchboy  Civilian name: Howl Melas (Not their birthname. They chose to have go by a different name for reasons) Ethnicity: Very White, with ancestry all over Europe. Basically a European smoothie Pronouns: They/Them Mentor: Mystic (Sometimes Nightwatcher)

Powers: If I have to choose an already existing hero, I’d say their powers are the most like Raven’s from Teen Titans at a glance. Their powers are based on something I call Kinetic Algorithms, which is basically intense mental visualization paired with specific movements/muscle memory to channel energy into different effects. A list of their basic abilities at their introduction would be short distance teleportation, force fields, levitation, and a basic force blast. 

Description: Civilian attire usually consists of a hoodie and workout pants, or dark jeans, T-shirt, light jacket and a beanie to hide their silver hair (it was originally brown, but turned silver as their abilities surfaced). Their Hero suit is black/dark indigo with silver trim, and resembles a sleeveless hoodie (with the hood having a bit more structure so it doesn’t flap everywhere and get in the way) and fitted pants. Both padded for basic protection. They also have fingerless glove/gauntlet sort of things that contain a small communicator and basic GPS system.

Personality: Comes off as dark and brooding, but in reality is having an internal anxiety attack. They want to do their best to help, but often gets tripped up by overthinking, thus they default to not doing anything so they don’t make things worse. 

Nightbolt Civilian Name: Edana “Eddie” Cochran Ethnicity: Scottish Pronouns: She/Her Mentor: Broadhead

Powers: Got none but kicks ass anyway. Her primary weapon is the bow and arrow, but she’s also proficient in hand to hand and a few other melee weapons. She’s also the tech wiz of the group, and the only one who’s passed the simulator to be allowed to pilot the dropship. A decent acrobat as well.

Description: Civilian attire is usually jeans, and one of those leather jackets that are also a hoodie sort of deal. Her hair is red, and cut short into an undercut. Her Hero suit is black with red accents. It’s similar to Witchboy’s in that it’s also sleeveless, but it’s more of an armoured vest. No hood, as she prefers a domino mask. 

Personality: Easily the leader of the team, as she’s the most mature, despite not being the oldest. Being a Legacy Hero, she’s very aware of how her performance reflects on her mentor, so she does her best at all times, even when it’s clearly leading to burn out. 

Karma Civilian Name: Ethnicity: Not sure yet, but def white passing Pronouns: She/Her Mentor: Peacebringer (sorta)

Powers: Damage Empowerment. She takes damage then amplifies it and sends it back several times stronger. 

Description: Loves muscle T’s and booty shorts, cause when you worked for the muscles she’s got, you deserve to show them off. Has long blond hair that’s usually pulled up into a ponytail. Hero suit is basically full body armour, as she needs to get hit to hit back. Colours are blue and a yellowish gold. 

Personality: A Himbo, but with Street Smarts. At first comes off as cocky, flirtatious, and extremely self confident almost to the point of arrogance, she’s actually quiet sweet and thoughtful when it comes to her friends. She will also drop kick you into the sun if you’re a dick. Shares a braincell with Saber. 

Ibis Civilian Name: Kymani “Ky” Lukman Ethnicity: African Egyptian Pronouns: He/Him Mentor: Phase

Powers: Supposedly a teleporter :p

Description: The most handsome black man y’all have ever seen. Too bad for y’all he’s an aroace king and loves it. Civilian attire is nice Henley's and jeans. His Hero suit is black with gold accents that resemble ancient Egyptian jewelry, like the Usekh collar and the gold cuff like bracelets. 

Personality: This dudes just vibing. Probably the only one of the group who can process his emotions in a healthy manner. He’s calm, relaxed, and usually unbothered with what’s happening around him. This can turn into apathy in some cases, however. 

Frost Civilian Name: Andri Bylur Ethnicity: Nordic descent, primarily Sweden and Norway Pronouns: He/They Mentor: Cryon

Powers: Is basically Iceman but spikier. Can create, manipulate and cover himself in ice. Has the ability to consciously regulate his temperature as well.

Description: Looks like an extremely average dude with brown hair. Usually wears tshirts and plaid with jeans. His Hero suit is rarely seen, as it’s basically a thermal suit to aid in temperature regulation when he covers himself in ice. When covered in ice, they appear to be wearing spikey armour of some kind. In time the design becomes smoother and more streamlined as they get a better handle on their abilites. 

Personality: Probably the most empathetic of the group, they took on the responsibility of getting more in depth medical training, so they’re the team medic that never runs out of icepacks. Best friends with Ibis, they’re usually decently calm, but their overwhelming ability to care can bite them in the ass sometimes. 

Saber Civilian name: Chenzi “Shenzi” Young Ethnicity: Chinese  Pronouns: She/They Mentor: Dynasty

Powers: Got none but is very good with anything sharp. Primary weapon is a sword, but also proficient in hand to hand, and essentially any bladed weapon. Like Nightbolt, is also a decent acrobat. 

Description: Gets cold easily, so often wears oversized hoodies and sweatpants (is often told to put on “real” pants when going out in public). Hero suit resembles a lighter, more fitted, and streamlined interpretation of heavy Tang Dynasty era armour. Colours are primarily red and white. 

Personality: A gremlin but in a lovable way. She’s convinced she and Karma are the only ones with a sense of humour. Would be a prankster if it didn’t take so much work, so instead goofs off with Karma. Is actually very intelligent and good at what they do, they just manage their stress through shenanigans and can’t focus to save their life (ADHD for the win folks). Shares a braincell with Karma.

[mdawritings]

Wanna Be Yours: Ch. 10

I.X

Masterlist

Warnings: None. But it is a long chapter.

Song(s): "killer + the sound" by Phoebe Bridgers & "illicit affairs" by Taylor Swift

"Just a reminder! Your final exam will be this Monday, proctored in this room, by me," Hotch paces at the front of the classroom, but your mind is elsewhere. You watch him, a smile growing on your face as he lectures the whole class. It’s finally your birthday, and Hotch set aside some time late in the day to spend with you. He also mentioned a small surprise and though you’re not usually one to get excited about gifts or surprises, you can’t wait to see what he has planned.

"Miss Y/L/N. Focus," Hotch calls out your name and you sit up straighter, attempting to suppress the grin on your face. "I won’t turn away anyone who shows up late for the exam, but you won’t be given the full time. Do I make myself clear? This exam starts at 11:00 sharp. I can promise you will need the full three hours to complete the whole thing. So I mean it. Don’t be late."

"That seems pretty relaxed for Professor Hard-Ass," Charlie leans forward to mumble into your ear and you bite your lip, suppressing a laugh. You want to tell him to thank you, since you’re the one who convinced Hotch that turning people away is cruel. At least let them try to finish the exam. A 50% is better than an actual zero.

Hotch shoots both you and Charlie a side glance which quickly shuts you up. You struggle to stifle small giggles and see Katie shaking her head off to the side, "You’re both children."

"You can’t be mean to me on my birthday," You protest under your breath, hoping Hotch doesn’t see you two goofing off. It’s your birthday and the last day of classes, he can ease up on you. He can cut the hard-ass, bullshit act for one class. It’s established that you’re not his favorite. Well, at least that’s what the class has been thoroughly convinced is the truth. You know, or at least you hope, the truth is the opposite. The semester has been a whirlwind from start to finish. Although you’re not quite at the end of it, you’ve been fundamentally changed since it started.

"Yeah? Watch me," Katie taunts, "Can’t let you get a big ego, Einstein."

"Assholes," You mutter under your breath, faking anger at your friends, but the large smile never leaves your face.

"I wish you all the best of luck. It was a pleasure to have all of you in this class," Hotch nods, putting down the chalk from the board where he’s written his contact information, "Reach out to me if you require anything like a recommendation letter. No promises I’ll do it though." He teases and flashes a cheeky smile to the whole class, "Class dismissed."

As you start to pack up your stuff, your attention flits over to Hotch a few times as a swarm of students begin to crowd around his desk, already shoving cover letters and resumes and job applications in his face. You shoot him a small apologetic look and mouth a ‘sorry’ before Katie and Charlie hook their arms in yours, pulling you to the door.

"We have a million things to do before the party tonight," Katie starts to ramble off the list of things she has planned. Katie, quite dissimilar to you, loves birthdays and planning parties.

"Party?" You glance at her, "I thought we were going to drink a little and then go out to a bar."

"When have we ever showed up to a bar sober?" Charlie rolls his eyes, "Alcohol is expensive. You’ll buy yourself a shot or something small for the significance. And you can buy the alcohol for the pre-party."

"I’m sorry, are you trying to get my stomach pumped tonight?" You laugh and before you even have a second to breathe Charlie pipes in with a ‘yes.’ to which Katie replies with a soft punch to his arm.

"So what time can we get together to organize everything?" Katie gives you a small knowing look, suspecting that you’ll probably disappear for an hour or two to see Hotch.

"Oh god, please don’t tell me you’re spending your birthday studying," Charlie lets out a strained groan, "It’s bad enough I have to meet with Professor Hard-Ass for missing one too many lectures."

"How is that my fault in any way at all?" You roll your eyes and turn back to Katie, "Let’s all meet at our apartment at like 7:30 pm? Gives us time to run errands, pick up liquor, eat some dinner, get ready and then start the party at 10."

"That works perfectly for me," Katie smiles, wrapping an arm tightly around your shoulders. "My little baby is all grown up," She mocks in a dramatic, teary, weepy tone and pretends to wipe tears from her eyes.

"I hate you all," You shake your head as your best friends drag you off to get lunch.

———————

You pull your knees up to your chest and thumb through the pages of the novel you’re currently reading. It’s not your favorite thing you’ve ever read, but it’s managing to maintain your attention for the time being. You’re sitting on the floor a few doors down from Hotch’s office, as you wait for him to get back from his last class of the day. You’ve managed to go all semester without drawing any suspicion or attention, the only person who’s seen through your guise of secrecy is Katie, but you know she would never tell or do anything to possibly endanger you or ruin this.

You hear his deep voice from the down the hall, your eyes shooting up as soon as it rings out. You attempt to play it off, but you can’t peel our eyes off of him. You already saw him this morning, but just the time you’ve spent waiting to see him again this afternoon has made you forget just how good he looks today.

His black polo shirt strains a little against his arm muscles as he carries his books and papers under his arm, a student trailing behind him as he walks down the hall towards his office. You can see the frustration written all over his face as the girl nags him over and over again. He manages to push past the hordes of people in the hallways, the girl occasionally getting lost in the swarms and needing to run to catch up to him.

You start to stand up from the floor but pause when you see her follow him all the way to his office door. "Listen, the grades you receive are final. End of discussion. You could’ve submitted any paper for a regrade, but that deadline was the end of classes. Which for your seminar, was yesterday."

"But—" She starts to speak up. You see him roll his eyes and turn his back on her, digging around in his pocket for his keys and unlocking the office door. He opens it and begins to step in, the girl eager to follow him. He whirls in place and blocks her from following him inside.

"Miss Hunter," His voice is steely and you slowly make your way to the office, still standing a good distance away as you watch the situation unfold in front of you. "I have made the rules abundantly clear. Now I have meetings with a few students who have actually managed to garner my respect. So please, stop wasting my time."

There’s a moment of silence. The girl tugs her bottom lip between her teeth, and you can tell she’s struggling not to cry in front of Hotch, and his harsh focus is unwavering. He just stares her down, waiting for her to leave. After a few seconds, her attempts to fight tears fail and she turns her back on him, rushing away down the hall before disappearing into the bathroom. You watch and turn back, Hotch finally taking note of you standing in the hallway. He shakes his head, rubbing his forehead with his thumb and forefinger. The worry lines in his face leave creases in his skin even after he’s unfurrowed his brow.

You seem to have forgotten how cruel he can be. Every snide remark, snippy comment, insult he’s thrown at you, it’s clear that they’re part of this whole ruse. You try not to think too hard about the comments, but you wonder just how many of them he means or how many are all part of the act. His tongue is biting. He’s impatient and stubborn. He doesn’t play into social niceties. He sees no need to make others feel comfortable.

Hotch nods his head at you and walks back into his office, expecting you to come follow him. You push the interaction to the back of your mind before rushing to follow Hotch. You step into the doorway and see him, one hand on his hip, the other placed firmly on the edge of his desk. His eyes running over the papers he’s just placed down on the surface.

His head looks up, the corners of his mouth pulling at the sight of you. You barely pay attention to anything but him. You give the door a push to close it and drop your stuff onto one of the chairs, rushing to him with a wide smile.

You press your lips to his, kissing him slow but needy. You grip his shirt in your hands, attempting to press as close to him as possible.

His mouth is hot and heavy on yours but he pulls away for a second, those enchanting eyes of his sweeping over every inch of your body, "Happy birthday, pretty girl," He mumbles, one arm wrapped around your back, holding you close to him, the other hand reaching up to push the hair out of your face so he can really look at you.

He pauses. His eyes stay focused on you for awhile, memorizing the details of your face as if it's the first time he’s seeing it, or like it’ll be the last time he sees it. He studies the curve of your lips as if the memory of you will be all he gets.

He soon breaks the pseudo staring contest, pushing his chair out of the way and lifting you up onto his desk, so he can stand between your legs. You arch your back, pressing your plush breasts against his firm chest. You feel his muscles shift and flex under his shirt. He leans in closer to you, one hand tangled into your hair, the other placed firm on the desk next to your body.

His mouth is so warm against yours. You lose yourself in him. Nothing and no one manages to make you feel the way he does. He’s started a fire within you and every moment spent with him, every look, every touch, every smile is tinder for the flames. The fire of the two of you sucks the oxygen out of the room. You’re breathless around him. Who knew suffocating could feel so good?

There’s something innately beautiful about Aaron Hotchner. He’s sexy, he’s confident, but above all there’s something simply enchantingly beautiful about him. He does everything with such purpose, such ease, but those moments of beauty: the tug at the corners of his lips when you talk to him, the shine in his eyes when he gets to discussing something he’s passionate about. There’s no other way to describe him besides utterly beautiful. At least, that’s how you see him.

You wrap a hand around his bicep, gripping it tightly as his mouth travels down from your mouth to your neck, nipping at the skin. Your head falls back, your own mouth gaping open, soft whines erupting from your swollen lips. "I thought you said you were bad at giving gifts." You tease breathlessly. Aaron pulls away from your neck, looking at you with those warm, intelligent eyes, his lips equally plump. The confusion spreads across his features, "You." You mutter and cup his cheeks, "This. You’re enough of a gift. This time with you." You say softly.

An unreadable expression reaches Aaron’s face. As much as you try to understand the man, he remains mysterious and closed off to you. You worry that you’ve said something to offend him, or scare him away. It’s no secret you enjoy spending time with him. It’s no secret you care about him. You assume that much is clear to him. But then again, for as intelligent and perceptive as he seems to be, you wouldn’t be surprised if your admission comes as a shock to him.

Aaron’s hands move to trail up your bare thighs and up under your skirt, fingers hooking in the waistband of your lacy underwear. "I better make it a worthwhile gift then," He leans in, close enough that you think he will kiss you, but instead he rests his forehead against yours, his lips ghosting over your own. You lean forward to press your lips to his. You want to regain the feeling, the tingles it sends down your spine as his hands roam your body.

He evades your kiss, pulling away and bending down as he pulls your underwear all the way down your legs, tossing it off to the side. You smile and laugh at the action, glancing over at how your underwear has landed, draped across the arm of the chair in the corner.

"Something funny?" He grabs your chin, pulling your attention away from your discarded undergarment and back to him. His tone is serious, but the corners of his mouth are upturned in a slight grin.

"No, nothing at all," You tease and push him back into his chair, taking the opportunity to straddle his waist, grinding against him tauntingly.

"What’s this?" He raises his brows at the shift in power dynamic, but it’s clear he’s not complaining from the way his large hands rest just at the bottom of your ribcage, thumbs circling the skin just to the side of your breasts. The little gesture, the feeling of his fingers so close to where you want yet not quite touching you exactly there, drives you crazy. You lean forward, your hair falling in your face as you kiss him.

"Taking what I want," You moan against his skin. He peels the sweater from your body, your black tank top hugging tightly to every curve. He balls the sweater and tosses it over your shoulder onto the floor.

This time, you can’t suppress the loud laugh, "You going to do that with every article of clothing?"

"I just might," He taunts and pushes your hair out of your face with both hands once again, wanting to see your face. As he kisses you, you reach for his belt undoing it and unzipping his jeans, "You’re in a rush. Don’t you want to savor your birthday gift?"

You roll your eyes, "I’m pretty sure since it’s my birthday, I get to decide what I want." You smirk and plunge a hand deep into his briefs, pulling his hardening cock out of his pants. You take his hot flesh in your hands, pumping it a few times, trailing your fingertips over his tip, eliciting an absolutely sinful groan from him.

He throws his head back, and you watch with pride as the man begins to come undone in front of you. You watch as his neck tenses, his jaw clenching as you continue to pleasure him. His chest rises and falls rapidly. You stop your motions, pulling your skirt up a little, just enough for him to plunge deep into you. You sink onto him with a long and loud groan, gripping his shoulders for support. Your skirt falls down around the two of you, seemingly shielding your actions from the world.

Your actions are agonizingly slow, wanting to savor every moment with him, wanting this feeling to last forever. The pure bliss you feel as his head dips, pushing the collar of your tank top down enough to free your breasts. He sucks a nipple into his mouth, sucking harshly and lightly biting, just the way he knows sends your head into a haze. His hands rest on your hips, but they’re not gripping them, he’s letting you take it at your pace.

You’re so caught up in the lustful trance that you almost miss it. A knock at the door.

"Professor Hotchner?" A familiar voice calls from the other side.

You freeze. "Charlie?" You whisper at Hotch.

"Shit," He curses under his breath. "I’ve double booked myself." He shakes his head, trying to swiftly get you off his lap. "I’ll be with you in one minute!" He calls through the door, glancing down at his watch with a small groan.

Hotch tucks himself back into his pants, struggling to zip them up and tuck his shirt in in a timely manner. You scramble to do the same, readjusting your tank top and scooping your sweater from the ground. You run your fingers through your hair and wipe your mouth, knowing that you must look like a flustered, overheated mess.

Hotch gives you a small sideways glance before sitting at his desk more properly before nodding. "Come in." Just as the door opens and Charlie steps in, you realize you’ve forgotten something vitally important: your underwear. It’s too late. He’s already in the office and you have no idea how you can smoothly pluck your black lace panties from the chair without drawing his attention.

"Einstein?" He glances at you confused.

Your mouth falls open but you can’t seem to come up with anything to say, "Charlie." You smile. You glance at Hotch, "Sorry Professor, I didn’t realize you had meetings today." You stare at him a little too long, hoping he can suddenly read your mind in which you’re screaming at him about the underwear hanging off of the chair.

"Why didn’t you mention your meeting earlier?" Charlie asks you but Hotch clears his throat slightly, saving you from needing to come up with a reasonable answer.

"It was a last minute request on my part," Hotch covers for you two, "I apologize for running over time with Miss Y/L/N and into our meeting time."

"No, no I’ll just wait outside," Charlie turns to leave the office and your heart sinks into your stomach.

"No!" You call out a little too forcefully. But it’s too late. The black lace panties catch his eye.

"On second thought I’ll just…" Charlie turns to look at you, tightening his grip on the strap of his bag, glancing between both you and Hotch, "I’ll just leave you two…" He shakes his head and turns, getting out of the office as fast as possible. You groan frustratedly and look over at Hotch as you rush out after Charlie.

"Charlie wait!" You call out, garnering attention from the few students in the hallway. You catch up to him and grab his hand, "Please."

He turns to you, letting out a sickeningly sinister and bitter laugh, "I am such an idiot. I don’t know how I never saw it."

"Please let me explain myself," You beg him, pulling his hand into yours, but he’s quick to yank it away.

"You just had to be the person to get an A in his class, huh? You couldn’t handle the possibility of being anything less than the best." You wrap your arms around yourself as he shakes his head.

"No… that’s not what this is about." You argue back with him, hoping he’ll understand, the same way Katie seemed to.

"Is this how kid genius got to law school at 20? By sleeping your way to the top?" He lowers his voice so that anyone else in the hallway can’t hear you, but his words are just as venomous and biting.

He takes a few steps towards you, pointing back towards Hotch’s office, "He’s using you. You know that, right? He doesn’t love you. He doesn’t care about you. I can’t believe you’d be so fucking naive, so, so… so stupid."

You open your mouth to speak, but Hotch cuts you off, coming up behind the two of you, "I understand you’ll be discreet about what you saw, Mr. Miller."

Charlie’s eyes narrow at Hotch, his chest puffing up in anger. "And if I’m not?"

"You’ll find that it will greatly benefit you and your success in my class if you are." Hotch’s focus on Charlie is unwavering and the harsh demeanor that seems to be so natural and comfortable for Hotch returns. His voice is hushed, "Now I suggest you turn around and forget what you saw, or take this conversation somewhere more private, for everyone’s sake."

Charlie goes silent. His gaze shifts to you. You can’t read what his face is saying but it’s a mixture of disbelief, anger, and what seems to be disappointment. With a small scoff and shake of his head, Charlie turns and disappears down the hallway.

You take a step forward, hoping to go after him and explain yourself, explain everything, including your feelings for Hotch. You want him to know you haven’t done it to get ahead in life but because you genuinely enjoy spending time with Hotch. That you genuinely enjoy his company, but Hotch reaches and grabs your wrist, pulling you with him.

"You have to let me go after him! I have to talk to him. He could ruin your career," You let out frantically as Hotch pulls you by the arm back into his office, "Or my reputation."

"He won’t," Hotch gives you a small tug, causing you to catch your feet on the rug and trip a little as you get through the doorway of his office. He’s careful to move around you to close and lock the door firmly. He turns to you before turning back to the door, jiggling the handle a few times to test the lock, ensuring that there will be no more unwanted interruptions.

"Aaron, you can’t just give him a good grade to shut him up," You argue, "That’s- that’s immoral, that’s wrong." You bite your lip.

"And what we’ve been doing isn’t?" He rubs his face with both hands.

You have no response to that because he’s right. What the two of you have been doing for the past semester is immoral and unethical on every possible level. "How do you know he won’t report you anyway?"

"Because he cares about you," Hotch clarifies, but you find yourself lost. You’re not sure how that means Charlie will definitely keep his mouth shut, "He knows that reporting this will hurt you just as much as me, and the last thing he wants to do is hurt you. He’s in love with you, isn’t that obvious?"

You shake your head, still not entirely convinced that Hotch’s bribery will work on Charlie. "Aaron… You might lose your job. I can’t be the reason that you—" He places a soft slow kiss on your lips. "You know I hate when you kiss me just to shut me up."

He gives a warm smile, "Don’t worry about it. It’ll be okay, I promise." He rubs his thumb over your cheek comfortingly, "I have something to take your mind off it, off of him." He moves away from you, walking around his desk and opening the bottom drawer. He pulls out something but quickly hides it behind his back.

"Something for me?" You grin and try to look around his back to see what it is.

"It is your birthday, isn’t it?" Hotch holds out a small parcel, wrapped with brown paper, tied up with a small string, "I’m not uh— I’m not great at wrapping things. Or giving gifts." You take the package from him, the warm sensation of happiness spreading throughout your entire body.

"No matter what it is, I’ll love it because you gave it to me," You undo the string, and start to tear at the corner. You open the package delicately, as just the gesture of the wrapped parcel is enough for you. You didn’t expect anything from Hotch. Actually, you just expected birthday sex.

You peel back the paper and smile, feeling waves of emotion wash over you as you pull the nice, leather bound book from the wrapping. "You remembered?" You look up at him and a small sheepish grin spreads across Hotch’s face.

"Open it." He nods.

You look down at the book, running your fingers over the gold lettering on the cover that reads "The Great Gatsby." You open the cover flipping through the pages to see them all full of annotations, highlights and small notes. "Are these your annotations?"

He nods, shoving his hands into his pockets, "I gave it a second chance. Tried to look past my initial perception of it. Tried to see it through your eyes."

"And?" You struggle to tear your eyes away from the pages, looking for your favorite quotations, trying to read his notes alongside them.

"And I loved it." He reaches a hand and turns to the front page for you, where he’s written a small note. The note is barely legible in his scrawl, but to you it’s perfectly clear.

Y/N,

The beauty of life is in the grays. Thanks for being the gray in mine.

— A.H.

Your heart swells at the message and you close the book pressing it firmly to your chest. "This is… the best birthday gift I’ve ever gotten." You reassure him. "I wish I could celebrate with you all day."

He places his forefinger under your chin, tilting it up to place one last soft kiss to your lips, "Go. Have fun with your friends. Stay safe, okay?"

"I will," Your eyes stay on his. There’s so much you want to say to him. So much you want to ask him. You want to reveal everything to him. You want to tell him how much he means to you. You want to share how he’s changed your life. You want to tell him you don’t want to spend time with anyone but him. You want to tell him that you’re falling for him. But you stop yourself. You don’t want to rush it all out here standing in his office. You want to tell him in the right moment.

You’ve exposed so much of yourself to him, but to bear your soul in such a rushed manner in his office feels inappropriate and ill-timed. "I’ll see you again this weekend, yeah?" You ask him.

This time, you can tell he’s the one who wants to say more. There’s something bubbling under the surface that he wants to let out to you. You hope that what he is holding inside is the same as what you’re holding back. He hesitates a little before finally nodding.

You don’t want to pull away from him. You don’t want to move out of his grip, out of his warmth, it feels too much like a goodbye. You manage to pull away and grab your bag from the floor, keeping the book close to your heart as you turn and leave his office.

———————

You scan the room for what feels like the hundredth time within an hour, looking for the familiar face in the crowd of people.

"He’ll show up. I’m sure he will," Katie throws her arm around your shoulders, handing you another shot.

"No, K, I don’t think he will," You look around your crowded apartment, filled mostly with faces that you barely recognize from your classes, but there’s one person in particular who has yet to make an appearance: Charlie. You told Katie what had happened, and she was definitely shocked at Hotch’s reaction to the situation, but she hid it well enough, wrapping her arms tightly around your body to comfort you.

"He was so angry, so disappointed in me," You sigh and take a long sip of your beer, "He was so hurt."

"I understand his desire to protect you, I really do, I feel the same way," She nods and settles into the couch right next to you, "But at the end of the day, you are responsible for your own decisions and no one else has a right to tell you what you should and shouldn’t be doing with your life."

"I know," You rub your face, "But I don’t want to make decisions that hurt my best friends."

You worry that this signifies the loss of a friendship. The loss of one of the most important people in your life. A loss that you can withstand if Hotch remains in your life but even that is up in the air. You find yourself wondering whether you’ll be forced to choose: a continued relationship with Hotch, if you can even call it a relationship, or your friendship with Charlie.

"Please, don’t let stupid Charlie ruin what should be a super fun night," Katie pulls you up from your seat, reaching for a shot of her own, "To us, to our friendship, and to kid genius no longer being a kid." She teases and clinks her glass against yours, downing her shot. You mimic her actions, the alcohol sliding down a little bit too easily now that you’re indulging your sorrows.

The small get-together at your apartment only lasts a little while longer, just long enough to get everyone plenty tipsy before you all head out to a bar. You play drinking games and a few of your friends indulge you by taking shots with you, sharing drinks, pouring you drinks. Despite the fact that you’re entirely surrounded by people, you feel devoid of love tonight. Katie is pouring over you, hugging you, teasing, attempting to lighten your quickly souring mood, but Charlie probably isn’t coming at all and you can’t invite the person you want most to spend your birthday with.

Within another hour, the whole group has managed to get you drunk enough to forget about the pain in your chest everytime you think about Charlie. They drag you out of your apartment and you all start the long walk in the cold to the best bar in the city.

You look around the neighborhood, recognizing it as Hotch’s, and the pain in your heart comes back harder than ever. You wonder what he’s doing right now. You can picture him perfectly: hunched over his desk, scribbling away some illegible comments on a student’s paper. You can see yourself perched on the edge of his desk, telling him off for grading every student so harshly.

He would roll his eyes but place a comforting hand on your thigh, leaving it there while he works, occasionally squeezing lightly or rubbing circles into the skin. You flash the bouncer your real ID earning a round of cheers from your group of friends and a small smile from the big muscle man at the door, "Congrats kid." He teases, letting you all slip into the crowded bar.

"First round is on me! Everyone make sure Einstein doesn’t have to pay a dime for her own drinks tonight!" Katie cheers as she drags you to the bar for more drinks.

Everytime your mind wanders to either man, Hotch or Charlie, you finish a drink, take a shot, order a new one. Anything to distract you. You check your phone every few minutes, finally deciding to send Charlie a single text.

We’re at the bar now. If you decide to show up. Please come.

You get no response. You decide to pretend he probably hasn’t seen it. He’s asleep or studying. He’s busy. Something came up. That’s why he’s blown off your birthday. He’s one of your best friends. He’ll show.

Along with desperately checking your phone for a reply from Charlie, some part of you is hoping, praying, even, that Aaron will surprise you. You hope that he’ll come walking through the door, walk up to the bar, and buy you a birthday drink. He’ll ignore the fact that most of his students are present and do it for you, because it would make you happy. However, you know that he can’t. He can’t risk it.

So you keep drinking. A lot. You end up drinking a lot.

——

Hotch finishes off his comments on another student’s suboptimal essay, writing a large B in dark green ink at the top of the page before circling it. He rubs his hand over his forehead tiredly. As much as he attempts to direct all his focus on the work in front of him, he can’t stop thinking about you. It seems to be a common problem recently. You invade his every waking thought, hell, you’ve even seemed to invade his dreams as of late.

Everything reminds him of you. He looks over the collection of novels on the walls of his home office, wondering what your opinions of his favorite titles are. He wonders what books would draw your attention. He can picture you in here perfectly, telling him that he should be focused on his work when he can’t take his eyes off of you. You would tell him to focus but do just about a million things that he finds all together way too charming and endearing to ignore.

Your scent invades his mind. It’s utterly intoxicating. The way he can tell when you’ve freshly showered, your shampoo smelling of lavender and vanilla. He thinks about the way his fingers feel all tangled up in that hair of yours.

He thinks of how soft your skin is, in contrast with his rough calloused hands. He thinks about how beautiful you look when you’re focused on something. He wishes you were here with him. He wishes he could give you the birthday you deserve.

He wouldn’t let you leave his clutches all night. He’d keep you tangled up in the sheets of his bed, moaning, laughing, talking, smiling, whatever you wanted to do, he’d do it with you.

It’s a troubling position he’s in. He can’t say he’s ever felt this way about anyone before. He’s been a solitary man most of his life. He had friends throughout schooling, but he always much preferred his own company. He’s never wanted to be around someone as much as you.

You seem to comprehend exactly how his mind works. He questions whether you can truly read minds because you always manage to say exactly the right thing at the right time. He knows he’s gotten himself in too deep. He realized when he found himself speeding through the pages of the Great Gatsby, a novel he had never been fond of, purely because he was picturing the way your face would light up when he handed it to you.

He knows he’s getting too emotionally involved. It’s not a sustainable relationship.

His phone vibrates on the desk next to him and when he picks it up, he’s shocked to see your name on the screen. "Y/N?" He picks up, expecting a drunk dial.

"Professor Hotchner— Aaron," Katie’s voice rings through the phone, "I need… you need to come pick her up." Her words are slurred together.

"Kaitlin?" He asks confused, "Katie," He corrects himself, "Is she okay? What’s wrong?" He stands up grabbing his keys and wallet, shoving them into the pocket of his joggers, rushing to slip his sneakers on.

"She’s had too much to drink and I don’t think I can get her home myself." Katie sighs out and Hotch can faintly hear your voice on the other end, slurring and yelling something about letting Katie take your phone.

"What bar? I’ll be there as fast as I can," Hotch takes note of the address, which, thankfully, is just two blocks away from his apartment. "Get her water. Get her outside into the fresh air. If she gets really bad, don’t hesitate to call 911." He hangs up the phone. What he really wants to do is scold Katie for letting you drink so wildly. Just because it’s your 21st birthday, doesn’t mean that you need to drink yourself to death. At the same time, he feels the deep sting of guilt, knowing that your strained relationship with Charlie probably encouraged more drinking than usual.

He makes his walking pace brisk, rushing the two blocks to get to you. He feels responsible for letting this happen to you. It’s not as if he could’ve been at the bar with you, it would’ve drawn an intense amount of scrutiny and suspicion, but he could've made plans with you, told you to ditch your friends for him.

As soon as Katie catches sight of him from down the street, she struggles to hold you up, trying to walk you over to him, "I’m sorry to call you, I hope I didn’t wake you up, Professor, I just didn’t know who else to call for help. Everyone else is equally drunk and normally I’d trust Charlie with her but—" She glances down at you, as you clutch at her shoulders for support, eyelids half closed, "He isn’t here to help."

"Fuck Charlie. I mean I don’t want to fuck Charlie, I mean like fuck him for not coming," You slur slightly and Katie hoists you up, holding you out for Hotch to help keep you steady.

"No I’m glad you called," Hotch replies with a nod. Katie’s focus lingers on him for a while and he can sense the judgment behind her eyes. She wants to say something to him. The drinking has lowered her inhibitions and he’s sure that as your best friend she probably has a few choice words for him. But right now, he can't take the time to listen to her or even argue with her. Right now, he just wants to get you to his home and get you to safety.

"Take care of her, okay?" Katie finally lets out before digging around in her purse for a pen and grabbing Hotch’s hand. She scribbles her number, a little messily due to her elevated blood alcohol level but legible enough, "Call me if anything happens to her."

Hotch nods, "I will." He turns all his attention onto you and starts to walk you back towards his apartment, knowing that the 5 minutes it took him to jog to the bar will turn into a 10 minute endeavor, carrying you to his apartment.

"I’m sorry, Aaron," You mumble into his shoulder, "I shouldn’t have drank so much I just…"

Hotch shushes you softly, rubbing his hands on your upper arm as he holds your trembling shoulders. "You should’ve brought a jacket." Your foot catches on the pavement, and for a second, it looks as if your face is going to collide with the sidewalk, but Hotch’s grip is so tight that he keeps you from falling.

"Didn’t go with the outfit." You laugh and weakly gesture over your body with your hand.

Seeing you like this, it stirs something inside him. Anger and frustration build like wildfire deep in the pit of his stomach. How could you act so irresponsibly? How could your friends be so careless with you? If he was out with you on your birthday, you never would’ve gotten so dangerously drunk.

"My apartment isn’t far from here, remember?" He’s practically holding up your entire body weight at this point.

"I remember," You nod, "Charlie, he didn’t come."

"I know." He slows down your walking pace as you struggle to keep up, your feet dragging along the ground, "Katie told me."

"Katie is mad at you, you know?" You regain a bit of your balance and strength, walking on your own, but hardly walking in a straight line. "I’m not mad at you. She’s just worried about me. I guess Charlie is worried about me, but he sure has a silly way of showing it, right?"

"It’s important to have people that care about you like they do," He’s choosing his words diplomatically, knowing that he can’t let on how much he’s been thinking about you, how much it angers him to see you so dangerously drunk. He’s not sure why he’s so careful of his words choice, as if you will remember his exact wording tomorrow.

After an eternity of practically carrying you for two blocks, you reach the steps of Hotch’s apartment. The steps are a complete other task. In which Hotch is tempted multiple times to simply pick you up entirely and carry you upstairs, but he worries that will just make you sick and the last thing he wants to do is clean your vomit off of his apartment building’s staircase.

"I’m sorry you have to take care of me," You whine, holding onto his shirt as he helps you into his apartment. "But I’m 21!"

"I know," Hotch’s heart races as you stumble along in your heels. It’s terrifying to see you like this. He realizes just how fragile you are, how easily you can slip through his fingers.

It should make him want to sink his fingers into you, dig his heels into the ground, hold you close and never let you go, but he’s motivated to do the opposite. He wants to run and hide from you. If he sinks himself too deep into you, he can never get out and if he loses you once he’s in too deep, what will happen when you get hurt? What happens when he’s the one to hurt you?

He’ll inevitably disappoint you. He knows you expect a lot from him. He can see it in the way you look at him, with those warm, intelligent eyes, so full of adoration.

"You think you can get yourself up the stairs to bed while I get you water?" Hotch walks you carefully to the bottom of the stairs. You nod, reaching for the wall next to the stairs, to help balance.

Hotch watches you with a close eye, making sure that you make it all the way up before going to the kitchen. He reaches up into the cabinet for a glass and some ibuprofen that you will inevitably need by tomorrow.

He puts both down on the counter, taking a minute to place both palms on the surface firmly, taking a deep, steadying breath. It’s almost the end of the semester. After Monday, he’s no longer your professor. That should be a relief. He doesn’t have to feel this internal conflict. The morality of his actions has never concerned him before. That was before you.

When he’s with you, he’s more conscious of the imbalance of power. He’s aware of what it looks like from the outside. The way Charlie looked at the two of you today was confirmation of that. Confirmation of the perception that he used to never care so much about until he met you. Reducing you to just another student fling feels wrong. But that’s what you are, right? There's been no confession of feelings, no grand gestures, no romantic dates or picture-perfect movie moments.

Despite the lack of relationship structure, everything with you feels different. It feels so intensely genuine. That’s the only way Hotch knows how to describe it to himself. Being with you makes him feel alive.

But if being with you is living, why does he feel this growing dread in the pit of the stomach as he walks up the stairs? He steps into his bedroom expecting to see you draped across his bed or struggling with the zipper on your dress, but he doesn’t see you anywhere, "Einstein?" He calls and then he sees the light coming from under the bathroom door and the distinct sounds of you sick in the bathroom.

He pushes open the door to see your arms on the toilet, your face hovering over the bowl. He lets out a small breath, bending down to your level so he can pull your hair out of your face. He pulls the hair tie off your wrist and messily ties your hair into the best ponytail he can manage. You groan in pain and he rubs your back gently. "Shh, you’re okay. I’ve got you," He presses a small kiss to your temple.

"I don’t want to have to choose," You let out a strangled cry and a small hiccup, lying your head on your forearms on the seat of the toilet. Hotch’s heart sinks at your words, "I can’t choose between falling for you and keeping my friendships."

"You won’t have to," He gets to his feet, reaching for a washcloth and dampening it in the sink. He bends back down to your level, gently lifting your head from your forearms, wiping your face and mouth, "Let’s get you up off the floor, okay?"

"Make the world stop spinning, please," You hold your arms up so he can lift you off the floor.

He sits you down on the edge of the bed, bending down to unzip your heels, placing them on the floor.

"He didn’t come. He’s my best friend and he didn’t come to my birthday," You chew at the skin on your lip, holding back tears, not wanting to turn into a weepy drunk. Especially in front of Hotch. He reaches around unzipping your dress, helping you out of it.

"I’m sorry," The apology is soft but Hotch knows it's partially his fault Charlie never showed. You’re right, you shouldn’t have to choose between him and your friends. He can already tell the way you’re pushing them away for time with him.

He helps pull one of his shirts over your head and pulls back the covers for you to crawl into his bed. "Please hold me," You mutter softly, "At least until the room stops spinning." Looking down at you, the way your eyes are threatening to spill over with tears, the mascara smudged, your hair tied back messily, pieces falling out of the ponytail, you look so helpless, so pure, so innocent and loving. He can’t stop himself from nodding and sitting next to you on the bed. He puts his arm behind your head, wrapping it around your shoulders.

"I don’t want to lose him to keep you," You lay your head against Hotch’s chest, gripping at his shirt tightly. Your tears fall against his dark green shirt, leaving small wet splotches. "I can’t let you go." You sniffle and shut your eyes in an attempt to get some rest and ease the sick feeling in your stomach.

"You won’t lose him." He shushes and gently plays with the ends of your hair, wrapping his other arm around the front of you, holding you tight against him. Your sniffles start to die down as you drift off to sleep, Hotch listening closely to your steady breathing.

He knows he’s not being fair with you. Every affair, every relationship he’s had, has been so simple, so uncomplicated. The semester is coming to an end soon and he knows exactly what he has to do. But sitting here staring down at you, the way your face is scrunched up in your sleep. He doesn’t want to let you go. It’s not just your body, it’s not the sex. It’s your biting wit, your intelligence, your humor.

It’s not how you look. It’s not the way that he knows your body better than he knows himself. It’s your heart and mind that captivate him. He’s so used to being and feeling alone, but you always make sure he never feels that way. It’s not in the obvious things. It’s in the subtleties. It’s in the small smiles you give him in passing. It’s in the way you always ask him about his day. It’s in your reassuring eye contact. When he speaks, he knows you’re listening. And you’re not just listening when he’s teaching or tutoring or sharing new information, you’re listening when he talks about himself.

Like today in his office. There was a palpable difference in the energy between you two. He knows that gift was personal, but he wanted to give it to you, and the way your face lit up when he did, tells him it was worth it. He wants to be selfish and hold onto you forever. He wants to spend every minute with you, but he knows that the more he draws you to him, the more he draws you away from your friends, from the world, from everything you want to achieve in life.

And that’s why, staring down at your sleeping form, he knows this must end.

Chapter 11: I.XI →

[youreacowgirllikeme]

Friday: Sparks

note: wrapping it up today with part five of ‘A week with Chris’. This was so much fun, thanks to everyone who followed along :) enjoy the fluff

(you can find the other parts here)

words: 1.6 k (this is definitely not drabble-sized anymore but I couldn’t help myself)

warnings: swearing

(Thursday, 7:11 pm)

Hey there, here are the pictures I took today, I figured you’d want them. CC

(attached: 23 images)

(Thursday, 7:13)

I almost forgot, meet me at 47-01 111th Street (that’s in Queens) tomorrow at 11 am. CC

(Thursday, 7:38)

By the way, I had a wonderful time today. Have a good night, Y/N. Chris

+++

(Friday)

On the subway ride to Queens, you re-read the messages Chris had sent you last night. The fact that he wrote you another one just to tell you that he enjoyed spending time with you made you immensely happy, and you could see the reflection of your silly grin in the subway window.

You were nervous about today, even more so than the times before. You felt like something had shifted between the two of you in the park yesterday, and you weren’t sure in which direction you were moving with Chris. There was an undeniable spark between the two of you, but he was still very much your boss.

The speaker announced the arrival at your destination, and with a sight, you got up from your seat. You would just roll with it, you thought, and deal with things as they developed.

+++

Like the days before, Chris was already there and waiting for you.

“Morning.” You greeted him. “No coffee today?”

“It’s already 11, I assumed by now you’d be awake enough to tackle today without caffeine.” He replied with a smirk.

“That totally depends on your plans. Spill, what are we doing today?”

“This is my favorite place in the whole city.” Chris said. “The New York City Science Hall, it’s something like an interactive museum, they have exhibitions rooms and a cinema, it’s great.”

“Sounds fun, I’m in.”

+++

“Chris, why are there so many children in here?”

You looked around the entrance hall of the museum with a puzzled look on your face, surrounded by what looked like an entire elementary school, all babbling and laughing. They were creating such an immense amount of background noise that you had to raise your voice to talk to Chris.

“Oh, a lot of the stuff here is intended for children, to teach them about science.” He replied with a grin “But it’s fun for everyone. Lighten up a bit, Y/N.”

“But why exactly is this your favorite spot in town?” you asked, eying the noisy kids around you warily.

Chris face got serious.

“My father used to take me here when I was a child. I grew up in the neighborhood down the street, and some of my best memories are from here, especially with him.”

You felt a pang of guilt in your chest at hearing how quiet Chris voice had become.

Of course you were aware about his father and how much he meant to him, and now you felt like a fool for talking about the place with that kind of disregard. Pulling yourself together, you gave Chris your most convincing smile and linked his arm with yours.

“Let’s make some new memories then. Come on, old man, I want to learn something.”

+++

“Ouch, god damnit.” you cursed, holding your hand in pain. You were trying to light a fire the stone-age way in one of the interactive exhibit rooms, and a spark had burnt your finger.

“Excuse me, ma’am, could you watch your language, there are children present.” one of the guards called your way, and you got beet red when a lot of small heads turned to you.

Chris snickered beside you. “Yes, Y/N, watch your mouth around the kids.” He whispered.

“Shut up, Cuomo. There shouldn’t even be kids here, this is super dangerous. Also I wouldn’t joke if I were you. You look ridiculous.” He really did, his massive frame was crouched in front of small the fireplace, looking even larger between all the children, and there were smashes of ash all over his shirt.

“You’re only jealous that my fire is already burning.” He grinned. You only flipped him the bird in return.

+++

Despite your earlier skepticism, you were having a great time. After several futile attempts of lighting a fire, you dragged Chris to see movie about space in the museums 3D cinema. You sat close enough for your knees to touch occasionally, and at some point, you were deliberately brushing your leg against his, smiling to yourself when he didn’t move away.

At first, you had been embarrassed about revealing your childish, overly excited side to Chris, but he showed zero judgement, acting silly and goofing around with you in a way you never thought was possible for such a serious person. The hours flew by while you were doing every activity the museum had to offer, and it was already late afternoon by the time you made your way towards the exit.

“Look, Chris, they have a photo booth.”

“Dear God, not again.” Chris groaned beside you, but you had already grabbed his sleeve and dragged him towards the box, basically pushing him inside.

“This won’t work.” You complained. “Its way to narrow in here, and you are too big.”

“Easy.” Chris grinned, sitting down on the small bench and pulled you to sit on his knee. Your mind was going into overdrive at being so close to him, and when he said “Smile!” and the flash announced the first picture being taken, you were still looking slightly bewildered.

“Quick, pose!” Chris whispered, and you just stuck out your tongue at the camera.

Suddenly, a huge arm got wrapped around you, pulling you close to the body beside you. You and Chris were basically cheek to cheek now, and you could feel your face burning up.

A sudden surge of boldness went through you, and you turned your head, pressing your lips to Chris cheek just as the last picture was taken.

Instantly, you became embarrassed, why had you done this? You bolted out of the booth, muttering “I need to use the toilet, be right back.”

In the restroom, you splashed cold water on your face until the flush disappeared, then braced yourself to face Chris again. He was standing next to the booth, holding the pictures you had just taken.

“We look cute.” He grinned, and you felt incredibly relieved about the lack of awkwardness. Appaerently, he didn’t mind the peck on the cheek.

“We really do.” You replied, and your heart sped up as he gave you a brilliant smile.

“So, to round up your perfect Cuomo week, I have another surprise planed. My car is just around the corner, let’s go.”

+++

Chris drove you back to Manhattan and parked his car in the garage of a huge apartment building on the Upper West Side. Your mind was reeling, was he taking you to his place?

You were too nervous to ask, riding the elevator with Chris in silence. You went all the way up, almost to the top floor.

“This one’s mine.” Chris announced as you stopped in front of a door at the end of the hallway.

You entered the apartment, and your jaw almost hit the floor.

“This is where you live?”

It was gorgeous, a huge, open space, illuminated by the golden light of the setting sun. The floorlenght windows offered an amazing view of the Manhattan skyline.

“Wow, I’m definitely jealous.” You joked, still a bit overwhelmed by the place.

“Uhm, if you’d like to, the terrace is a pretty good place to watch the sunset.” Chris said, rubbing his neck almost as if he was nervous.

“I love sunsets.” You said, following Chris to the glass door that led to the outdoor space. He was right, the view was amazing, beams of orange light reflected by the countless glass facades around you.

Chris cleared his throat next to you, and you teared your eyes away from the sky to look at him.

“This week has been great, Y/N, I’m really glad you agreed to doing all this stuff with me, and I really hope you enjoyed it as much as I did .” His voice was oddly emotional, his eyes never leaving yours.

“I had the best time, Chris, and I can’t thank you enough for all the effort and time you put into everything. I loved every moment.” you replied, returning his look with a soft smile.

Slowly, his hand reached out, brushing against your arm before cupping your cheek. You held your breath, unable to move a muscle, your heart beating incredibly fast.

Like in slow motion, he lowered his head, his face coming closer and closer until his lips finally settled onto yours. It was a feather light touch, almost shy in a way you hadn’t expected from your usually brusque boss.

You returned the kiss, softly moving your lips against his, you hand reaching out to intertwine your fingers with his.

“This was so fucking cheesy.” You whispered after breaking the kiss, trying to calm your racing pulse a bit.

“Yeah, but it worked, didn’t it?” Chris replied with a small chuckle.

“I wanted to do this since Tuesday.” He continued, voice more serious now.

“That’s funny, me too.” you responded, still sounding slightly breathy. Your heart was almost jumping out of your chest, was this really happening?

“We should do it again then.” Chris murmured, leaning down to capture your lips once more.

The sun had disappeared behind the horizon, the chilly air making you shiver.

“You’re cold.” Chris noted, wrapping his arm around you. “Let’s get you inside. I’m making dinner.”

You snuggled up to him, thinking that maybe you should write a thank-you note to the CNN bosses for giving you the week off.

The end (I think)

[cgmayra]

My first GoChi prompt~

Dragon ball AU - Chichi x Goku

Prompt:

Besides just being a delinquent example to our sons sometimes... I feel Goku really does say some of the most kindest things.

Well, you wouldn’t believe me unless I gave you an example, right? Haha! Guessed right!

It all started on a sunny day when Goku and I went on a drive~

Chichi’s lips are flapping at the wind pressure blasting her back against the passenger’s seat as Goku wildly drives in odd zig-zags that look dangerously close to causing a serious accident.

“Goku! Other way! No, that way!” - “Which way was the lake, Chichi? All this turning is making me dizzy! Haha!” - “You blockhead, watch out for the trees!”

Goku smiled and closed his eyes, exercising his arm in a happy-go-lucky expression as he rotated it to the side of him. “No worries, Chichi! I’ll just knock it out of the way if it comes too close.”

“You’re the one coming close and we will not be punching our neighbors trees!” She gripped the sides of the car, wondering why on earth she spent the last of their savings on getting a car that could retract it’s top down.

In all honesty, she thought that with her boys getting so big, and with Goku consistently wrecking things... she just wanted something less expensive so if he broke it, she wouldn’t worry too much about the cost of fixing it.

“Oh, oh!” she had slacken back down in her seat with a sigh at her poor, grandmother nerves now before excitedly standing up in the car and removing her seatbelt, pointing cheerily to the lakeside. “That’s it! That’s where they saw the giant fish!”

“Ohh, really?” Goku leaned his head to see over her better. “Wow..! I can’t believe our fights created such big craters! And after all so long, they’ve turned into giant lakesides!”

Chichi beamed a grin to him, but kept back her shaky comment with a bead of sweat dripping down her face. “Heh...heheh... yeah... world-destructive battles are just great on a planet that can survive practically extinction.” she muttered to herself, but still leaned her head out as Goku pulled over but braked too hard and she went flying out.

“Ah! Chichi!” He flew out of the car, basically teleporting, and caught a leg as her face still planted against the ground. “Are you okay..?” He pulled her up as she looked a bit exhausted by the endeavor of ever having a ‘nice quiet drive’ with her family.

“I’m fine~” she groaned out, but Goku politely hoisted her up on his shoulder, steadying her there. “Sorry, Chichi. I guess even though I don’t crash anymore, I still gotta work on my aim. Adjusting my power is getting a bit tougher recently with all the special training I’ve been doing. It makes it harder to see and spend time with you too.” He tilted his head with yet another kind smile.

Chichi looked down, some dirt still on her face, but smiling at his sincerity with love.

Don’t think that’s the best he can do, now! My Goku has gotten a lot more sweeter over the years too~ I remember when he first came back from being dead, it was late in the night and I was worried about so many things… Goku didn’t hesitate to give me a sign of his affections though… although I would have rather flowers but giant snapping dragons with ribbons on them were a decent second to say the least!

Well, my memory can be faulty at times. But there’s been many times I’ve felt like the strongest man in the world’s wife! Let’s continue with some of his more, charminger, moments~

Goku set Chichi down as she started setting up a picnic, looking over at him as she spread out the blanket and wondering what he was thinking about, seeing him grip his belt and look out over the water with a serious expression all of a sudden…

He wasn’t one to really contemplate that hard, at least, unless something was seriously wrong. Pricking at her heart strings, she wondered if there was something he wasn’t telling her again… Maybe another giant battle was coming… or maybe he was just hungry?

“If you stare at the lake too long, you’ll never find those fish.” Chichi teased, sitting elegantly on her knees and with her hands in her lap. “Hehe~ You can’t watch a clock either, we’ll bring plenty back for the family dinner! Ah~ It’s been so long since I’ve cooked for everyone! I’m thrilled that unnaturally alien fish have been growing here so we can clean the environment but also have a lovely meal with the family!” She wasn’t expecting that turnout, but if it meant more time to be a ‘normal’ family, she was willing to prepare at whatever cost to make it happen!

Goku just lowered his head, still thinking…

‘Now that is strange,’ Chichi pouted her lips and blinked a few times in confusion, ‘Normally, I can read him pretty well.’ she tilted her head, “Goku? Is something wrong?”

“Emm… Nothing’s wrong, Chichi, just thinking.” Goku looked back at her and gave her yet another open-mouthed, goofy grin. He put his hand behind his head, laughing, “Just thinking about the lake and the sky, is all!”

“Oh? That sounds rather admiring of you.” She wasn’t quite aware that he took time to enjoy the nature and scenery around him. “What’s so special about it? Doesn’t it look just like any lake and sky?”

“...Well… It probably will sound stupid.” He raised his head up, and she knew this was going to be riot. Whatever it was, she giggled sweetly and nodded to him.

“Alright, you big lug, tell me what’s so stupid.” She encouraged, with her own flavor of sweetness. She eyed him tenderly as he looked back at her, and looking into each one of her eyes, lowered his raised hand and itched his nose, as though playing demure.

“Ah, it’s nothing. Really, Chichi.”

“Oh, don’t start that!” Chichi patted the ground by the blanket. “I don’t care what anyone says, you’re not a fool who can’t have his own opinions and thoughts! Even if you aren’t very well educated, you still know the most important lesson in life!”

Her ‘matter-of-factly’ spoken words intrigued him, as he came to hover over to her and then plopped down quite swiftly. His action made wind whirl up and she had to adjust her hair and keep herself seated--”Oh!” she caught herself from being gusted away, but continued to smile like a doting wife.

“But, Chichi… you call me dumb sometimes.” He mentioned innocently.

“I call you a dumb sweetheart.” She stuck her nose up in the air, as though defiant.

“H-how’s that any different?” He looked nervous saying that, but she pinched his cheek and watched him flail a bit in her grasp. “A-ah-wah! Chichi, that hurts!”

“Because I’m your wife, that’s why!” she released her cruel hold on him and then scooted closer to him, cuddling up and leaning on his large, muscled chest. “Now then~” She went back to being her own personal brand of affectionate. “What’s so great about the sky and sea that it takes your attention away from your adorable wife?” she cooed.

“Uhh… the fact that it reminds me of you, I guess.” He relaxed and leaned back, letting her lean on him and holding them both up with his arms keeping them from both falling back. “The sea reflects the sky… or does the sky reflect the blue of the sea?” he wondered, “The lake is so small, kinda like an eyeball.” He then looked down at Chichi, seeing her intently listening to him, her eyes looking up to him. “If I’m the sky, then I can see my reflection in your eyes, Chichi.” He commented, but then looked away as her eyes began to twinkle as though he had swept her off her feet. “But then… doesn’t that mean I reflect you in me? The sky has clouds, which are parts of the sea. Does that mean… even though I don’t know if you can see me in you, that there’s still a piece of you that’s always with me?”

“Oh, Goku!!!~” Chichi charged into him in a tight embrace, almost pushing him back if it weren’t for how his arm was like a steel beam, and wouldn’t knock him over no matter how hard she tried.

“W-woah, Chichi! Are you mad?” he kept one hand extended out and away from her, mostly due to surprise and confusion.

“No, you silly idiot!” she had tears in her eyes, “I just love you so much, you goof!” she tried to hold back her tears but he just blinked down at her.

Then, a smile slowly swept over his face and he sat up, sitting indian-style and embracing her tenderly back, careful to not hold her too tightly.

“I love you too, Chichi.”

And now, you’re all jealous of how good My Goku is!~<3 Well, admit it! He’s the best husband in the world! We did end up catching some giant and ugly alien invading fish, but they and their eggs sure did taste good at our family dinner~

Goku once told me he had thought back to the first day we met… okay, fine, I gave him a friendly knock on the head for him to think harder about that time, and he finally told me how he really was glad he met someone like me. I asked if he had met any other girl he may have married if she had been more adamant about it like I was… I was,... ehem, going through a bit of a phase--but Goku has always held me close, and said the same thing.

“No matter what, I love you, Chichi.”

Now here’s your tissues, cause that’s what love is, people!!! And none of you are ever taking my Goku, or our beautiful family, away from me~

Goku and his family pose for a group picture, and right before the flash and while Goku was leaning down over Chichi’s shoulder to throw up a ‘peace sign’ and grin widely, Chichi jumped up and kissed his cheek.

His face was priceless, a look of innocent surprise, which she framed in her kitchen. Now, whenever she cooks, she opens the window and looks out over the sky… she always gets sad if there aren’t any clouds… but remembers how Goku sees the world… that in her eyes, he’ll always be there, smiling back and saying, “I love you, Chichi.”

[clean-bands-dirty-stories]

The Talk - J.M.

A/n: So we’re only doing make readers now huh? HECK YEAH! This app needs more anyway. Keep in mind I DO non-binary and female readers, so you can ask for those too!

Request: “Hi 👋🏻 could I request a vera stone son reader x Jack Morton flirts with him but gets nervous when he see’s his mom aka the best grand magus ever. And maybe Vera sits jack down for the if you hurt my son they will never find your body talk. Thank you and your amazing and I love you ❤️” by anonymous

Word Count: 2600+

Masterlist

Vera Stone would swear to Pluto and back that she had no favorites, but everyone knew that was a lie. She had a soft spot for Jack Morton, and Y/n Stone, her son, had been the makings of her heart his entire life. Of course. What mother didn't favor her son over everyone else?

Unfortunately, Jack was having a hard time. After he'd gotten his memories taken, he had made friends with Y/n. His interest in Y/n had driven him away from Gabrielle and though they were playing friends, it was never a dating situation. When he got his memories back, things got a lot more complicated because Y/n wasn't just  part of the Order- he was the son of the Grand Magus. Things got progressively worse as Praxis became a problem and the whole world nearly ended. Again.

When Hamish was kidnapped, so was Y/n as they'd been together at the time. And though they'd gotten Hamish back rather quickly, the same wasn't true for Y/n. He was in the hands of Praxis and they weren't letting up on why they still had him. It wasn't until Salvador finally exposed what spell she wanted in exchange for Y/n that it really became what she meant by leverage. The problem was, even though her mom instincts were screaming, Vera knew she couldn't give these people this spell.

Then Vera did something really stupid.

She shot Salvador and killed her.

Alyssa had been at odds since her girlfriend had been sucked into the demon realm and her magic had been iffy. After Vera tore her down for not having magic and then it was exposed WHY she didn't, she felt betrayed. Vera had been bending backwards to protect Jack, Hamish, and Randall, but easily wrote Alyssa off for something that was Vera's fault. Not to mention she obviously had no care for Lilith. In her mind, Vera was worse than Edward Coventry and she wouldn't see reason. She didn't give her a chance to explain or fix her mistakes. In fact, the second Vera got the chance to do either, Alyssa disappeared with Praxis. Which left her on the side of those who were holding Y/n hostage.

During that time, Alyssa talked to Y/n a lot. The boy seemed fine with listening, watching her carefully as Alyssa went on and on about all of the mistakes of his mother and all those who had come before her. She had endless proofs as to how the Order was corrupt by power and selfishness, and Y/n stayed silent because... well she was right. In a way. Also he knew that arguing that people made mistakes wasn't going to get anywhere with her. Not to mention the book was magically enchanted to corrupt those in leadership... but he didn't talk about that.

It was when Alyssa began talking bad about the wolves that Y/n struggled to keep quiet.

"He's so self righteous and puffed up. Like he knows everything and does nothing wrong. Always has the right drink. Ever think he does it just because he's a drunk?" Alyssa would begin, rolling her eyes.

"He's trying his best," Y/n would reply immediately. It was the first time Alyssa had gotten him to speak. The first time anyone had. "And despite all the shit that would probably throw anyone else off, he's still a good leader and does what's right mot of the time. He's loyal and smart and hard working."

It was later when Alyssa tried the tactic again. She ranted about Gabrielle and Edward and the necromancer twins they'd dealt with a while back. She went on about names Y/n didn't know, and even his own mother. But the second she mentioned, "God he's never serious! He constantly goofs around and flirts and is a total idiot. He lets his emotions guide him and it makes him sloppy. If he used just a shred of logic he might actually get somewhere. Like his whole hatred of the Order even though they were the only ones with the resources to help them find Lilith. Even when some of us were really trying, he still refused to cooperate."

"To be fair," Y/n snapped. "We have a record of betrayal, power plays, and selfishness, as you've so generously bestowed upon me for the last while. He actually cares a lot and that's why he's so emotionally driven. Because he cares. Not enough people these days care. Not enough people these days FEEL and express and dare to stay upbeat in a world that takes anyone with a smile and seeks to destroy them with a deep rage. Like happiness is a sin or something."

The violent reaction to Alyssa insulting the Knights was unexpected. She never made herself talk badly about Lilith - she loved her after all, and talking bad about the possibly dead when that person was your whole world... terrible idea. She did however crack the case when she mentioned Jack to Y/n. "He has this hero complex that makes him so... annoying. He isn't the center of every problem. Not everything is about him. He doesn't have to save everyone. Not everything is Jack's Mission or something, you know? Maybe he should get over himself just a little."

"Shut the fuck up." Y/n's head was hanging forward, eyes on his lap. Before, he usually went on rants and berated Alyssa for talking badly about the wolves. What was it about Jack that made him not even be able to look at her? Was it that because his mother had trained him to never show weakness to the enemy, he was trying to cover up an especially touchy topic? Was it simply that he agreed with Alyssa enough that he had nothing more to say? Or perhaps he was nervous to expose something if he talked too much about Jack.

Whatever the reason was, Y/n had never acted like this before. He'd always been the professional, withdrawn kind of person. He was his mother's right hand. He kept to himself and rarely talked, if ever. He was quiet. A wallflower. People often wondered if he was capable of emotions at all, the same way they wondered about Vera. Except that he never got to the point that he was cracked enough to expose himself. Even when his mother faltered in her place of leadership to keep the Order and herself and everyone she cared about together at the same time, Y/n still held strong.

What was it about Jack Morton that he was always the weak spot in everyone's armor, no matter how tough or thick or well taken care of it was? He seemed to find cracks like a hungry dog hunting for food. It was kind of impressive actually.

Alyssa prodded at this weakness a lot. She mentioned Jack a lot. Every time Alyssa and Jack crossed paths, Alyssa would tell Y/n every detail of it. Force him to look at her as she said it. It was never a cruelty though. She could tell that he liked to hear it, and her act was from a point of curiosity only.

Then Salvador died and Alyssa rose to leadership. She tried people out to see if the fur would take to anyone, but it never did. Until...

Finally Vera broke. With the Tartarus Blasts threatening to coalesce into an Apocalypse Blast and wipe everyone out, on top of Alyssa taunting how close to making Y/n she was, Vera couldn't hold out anymore. So she brought him along to the exchange. Y/n came in, uninhibited and willing, but stayed by Alyssa's side. No one could place what exactly was wrong. He still nodded to his mother and seemed to be perfectly himself. He even rolled his eyes when Alyssa went on about her purpose, and got visibly angry when Vera told her what the spell actually did and Alyssa ignored her.

Yet, Y/n didn't act out against Alyssa either. He seemed to even be protective of her. Perhaps they were... dating? Or he had some feelings for her. Vera couldn't imagine Alyssa getting over Lilith like that but perhaps Alyssa had changed even more than Vera had thought.

It wasn't until Alyssa turned on Vera to kill her that Y/n made a move against her. "We made a deal," he reminded her. "Are you about to break your end?"

Exhaling sharply through her nose, Alyssa looked away. "She deserves to die."

"No she doesn't," Y/n snapped. It was the first time he'd defended his mother to Alyssa. It was the first time he could. "She made a mistake, but she's a good leader and she has a dream that a lot of people believe in." Y/n grabbed her shoulders. "I know you've been through a lot, Lys. I know you've been hurt by every single person you trusted or looked up to or anything along those lines. Betrayed. Left behind. Let down. I know how much pain you're in. You know I do." She sighed a little softer. "I also know that killing my mother will give you no peace, and you know it too."

Alyssa looked at him for a long time. "What, no speech about it's not who I am?"

Y/n chuckled at that. "It's not my right to tell you who you are. Only you can do that. But I'm telling you, revenge is a slippery slope, and we have a deal. Making an enemy of me will be bad for you now and in the future, if you somehow manage to escape. I can be an ally, and I would like to be. Not to mention that whatever you're looking for, you will not find in this."

For some reason, Alyssa believed what he was saying. Her lips curved in a frown. "Promise me you won't leave me, Y/n. Or betray me."

At that, the boy hesitated. "You know I want to stay."

She nodded. "I know that. But, we can be friends?"

Y/n smiled. "Anytime you need me, Lys. You know where to find me. We'll find Lilith, and we'll bring her home, and-"

It was that time that Jack Morton decided to join the party. He quickly caught them up on Lilith being back, but the whole demon situation going on with her. But he also told Alyssa she had to run. "I know how much you want to see her, Alyssa, but Midnight is coming here to kill you. He took over Gabrielle- what are you doing, Y/n?"

Alyssa had not moved a muscle. She didn't even seem worried. Y/n was removing his clothes, and that seemed to put her at ease. "Hello to you too, Jack." Y/n chuckled. "I would like to update you on how Alyssa and I here became friends." He pulled off the shirt he had after shedding the flannel he'd been unbuttoning, and kicked off his shoes. "She was looking for a champion. I needed to be able to get her out of here without killing people I cared about. We negotiated and then we talked and now we're super cool."

Jack's eyes went wide as Vera gasped. "You're-?"

"Yes," Y/n confirmed. He closed his eyes and felt the change take him. His body grew and widened until he was a wold. A werewolf. Alpha, of all of them.

"You're going to fight Midnight?" Jack demanded. "You could kill Gabrielle!"

"No," Alyssa corrected him, though she didn't know what had happened since she'd been gone that Jack cared about Gabrielle being alive or not. "Watch."

The doors busted open and there stood Midnight. The eyes of the two wolves locked and the temperature of the room rose about ten degrees. Jack groaned and clutched his hand over his heart. He shifted right there, whimpering on the ground. Midnight held, for a second. Another second. Yet another. Then he broke and looked away and Y/n stood tall and howled. Jack breathed in relief and Midnight took running off.

Alyssa was safe.

Both boys morphed back into humans. "I don't know who he'll go after, but everyone we care about should be safe, so no worries." He looked at Alyssa. "Go." She nodded and took off, alive and well. Jack cleared his throat, a wide smirk on his face. "What?" Y/n asked, eyebrows knitting in intrigue.

"You're whole take over there," Jack mused. "It was super hot actually."

Vera cleared her throat and it was then both boys realized they were naked and blushing, in front of Vera Stone who was Y/n's mother. Gross and awkward to say the least. "Sorry," Y/n dismissed. Vera glared Jack down and he seemed to become suddenly awkward and tense. "Mom, we're gonna head back to the Den to catch everyone up on the situation and check up on Lilith."

"And get dressed," Jack added in a rush. Y/n tried not to laugh at him.

"I'll be back later," Y/n told her.

That was new. His whole life, Y/n had always been second at the very best. Usually he was even further down the list, fine with living in the shadows because it allowed him to learn and live while dodging most stressors and dramas. He always relinquished dominance to his partner in a project, or the other person in the scenario, or his mother. Confident leadership was a good look on him. As much as his comment had bothered Vera, this role fit her son well and she couldn't say she wasn't proud. "Sounds good to me."

"Will you be okay?" Y/n asked gently. She hesitated then nodded and he returned it before looking at Jack. The boys both sobered before shifting back into wolves and booking it to the Den.

After everything settled and they started to get over shock and try and figure out what to do next, Jack took a second to pull Y/n aside. "What is it, Morton?" Y/n sighed.

"I'm just... I wanted you to know that I'm really glad you're back. Safe. I've been worried sick about you and with everything else going on- I mean I guess my worry is nothing against you being the one captured, but- Look I just-"

"I get it," Y/n reassured. He had a small smile on his face. "You know, bonding with Alpha helped me finally understand the power of being just a little vulnerable. Maybe we can figure this out... sometime? I doubt there will be a good time because it seems we're always facing some shit or another, but maybe we can get coffee some time around all the chaos?"

Jack smiled. "I would like that."

"Cool. See you tomorrow morning at 8am. Don't be late, Morton." With that, Y/n walked away.

"I won't!" He called after the boy.

The familiar sound of Vera clearing her throat sounded and Jack felt himself freeze and stiffly turn to face her. "Hey!" The word was long and high pitched in his mouth. Awkward and full of tension. He was never as afraid of her killing him as he was now.

"Let me get one thing straight," Vera snapped, pointing at him. "That is my son." That alone hit home. Jack knew better than most what having a son meant to Vera after she'd lost her daughter. "He has been through hell and I have had to do things I hate myself for to bring him home safe. I let loose self destruction incarnate to bring him home safely. Do not think for even a second that because I have some soft spot for you, that I will not be willing to gut you with my bare hands and teeth if you hurt him. My non-magic, non-werewolf, fingernails will carve you a new face. Is that clear?" Jack could only manage a nod. “Good." She stood straight. "Don't be late, Morton. My son cares a lot about punctuality." And with that she left.

Despite everything, Jack managed to find humor in the situation. No matter how much Vera Stone scared him, Y/n scared him more. He made Jack feel things that terrified him. Things he hadn't even begun to touch until since Alyssa. Things that had been warped and ruined for him because of Gabrielle. Things that he was now wanting for the second time in his entire life. Vera was scary, but Y/n? Y/n was terrifying.

Like mother like son I suppose.

[bgharison]

Nincompoop -- an H50 Fix-it coda 10.22

Prompt from @rijariz

So I really want Danny to say "I told you not to make me come looking for you, you stubborn Ass. But before we go back I have some conditions. No exes, no mysteries, and no more 3 letter agencies please!!!"

Thanks for the prompt!!  This was written kind of quickly, un-beta’d, and I might polish it later, but I hope it does service to your wonderful idea.  I ended up splitting up Danny’s dialogue, but I think it worked.  :-)  

***

“Danny,” Steve sighed, closing his eyes and gripping the phone tight.  “It’s good to hear your voice.”

“I almost didn’t answer; I didn’t recognize this number,” Danny said.  “Not that I mind -- texting is fun and all, but yeah, it’s . . . it’s good to hear your voice, too.  This your new number?  The team will want --”

“I’m calling from a payphone.  It’s -- “ he stopped.  “I started thinking, maybe I shouldn’t keep in touch.”

Danny was silent.  Steve could feel the hurt and betrayal from thousands of miles away.

“We still don’t know if the threat is over, there could be more . . . I can’t do this, Danny, I can’t keep putting people I love in danger.”

“Steven.  Don’t do this.  You plunge yourself into that hole of guilt . . . you go too deep, there’s no coming back.”

Now Steve fell silent.  He had promised to come back, but maybe it was safer if he didn’t.

“Steve?  Steven!”

“I love you, Danny.  Take good care of Eddie for me.”  He hung up the phone before he could change his mind; before his emotions betrayed him.

Danny slowly thumbed the call off his phone screen, then pulled up another contact and pressed call.

“Yeah, Catherine?  I’m gonna need Steve’s location.  It’s time to bring our boy home.”

*******

Danny pulled the scarf up around his neck, hunched against the wind and a few determined pellets of freezing rain, as he made his way to the rental car building.  The inconveniences of flying in to a small airport, he supposed.  

The Jeep he’d requested was fueled up and ready for him.  He tossed his bag into the passenger seat as he climbed in, wincing a bit.  He hadn’t been back to driving for very long, and the flight had already stiffened his healing muscles.  At least the bruising was completely gone.  It had been weeks before Tani could look at him without tears.  

The freezing rain quickly gave over to snow, making the drive even more peaceful.  He thought nothing of the conditions.  Montana snow was still easier than Jersey ice.  

He wasn’t surprised to see Steve on the porch as he pulled up to Joe’s ranch.  He wondered if there was ever -- would ever -- be a time that Steve wasn’t hyper-aware of his surroundings.  He wondered the same for himself, now, as he pulled himself carefully, stiffly, out of the driver’s seat. 

"I told you not to make me come looking for you, you stubborn ass."

“I wouldn’t have thought you’d look for me here,” Steve said, pulling a blanket tighter around his shoulders.  

“Yeah, for someone who needed to get away from memories . . . you picked a weird place for that,” Danny said.  He studied Steve, taking in his appearance.  His cheeks looked a bit pinched under  his thick, soft beard, but his beard was trimmed, his eyes clear.  Danny had seen worse.  He snorted as he took in Steve’s bare feet.

“Must be slipping if you could track me,” Steve said.  “Or was it a lucky guess?”

“You gonna let me come in, or you gonna get frostbite on your toes?”

Steve smiled at him then, genuine and full of affection.  Danny felt relief wash over him.  

“Get in here, Danno.”  Steve held his arms open, and in a few steps, Danny felt himself wrapped tight, cocooned with Steve in the warmth of the blanket.

******

“I can’t believe you low-jacked me,” Steve said, but he was grinning.  

“Catherine said she’d tag the one thing you’d never ditch.”

“My Sig?”

“The picture of Grace and Charlie, actually,” Danny said.  He raised his eyes to look into Steve’s.

Steve’s breath caught.  “I love them.  That’s why I can’t come back, Danny.  She knew, she knew exactly how to get to me, how to hurt me the most -- I almost lost you.  What if it’s not over?  Hell, what if someone else I took down decides to come after me?  What if they go after the kids?”  He stood up abruptly and walked to the fireplace.  Resting his hand on the mantel, he turned his back to Danny.

Steve flinched when Danny rested a hand on his back.  “Turn around and look at me,” Danny said softly.

Steve turned, reluctantly, and even with his head ducked down, Danny could see tears threatening to well over.

“Steve.  You remember the last time I got shot?  Did that have anything to do with you?”

Steve shook his head.

“No.  That was one of my old cases.  That guy could have decided to go after the kids.  Thank God he didn’t.  But Petterson did, remember?  He took Gracie.  You’re not the only one who’s made enemies in their line of work, Steven.  I have, too.  Your dad did.  Your mom.  And Joe.  But you have something they didn’t, Steve, you have a family.  An ohana.  You taught me that -- you gave me that.  And now, instead of turning to that family for comfort -- comfort we all needed -- you ran.”

“I’m exhausted, Danny, like never before.  I thought, getting away, getting some space, would . . . and then I almost lost you, because of a vendetta against me and I thought -- I wanted to get as far away as I could, before anyone else got hurt.  I didn’t want to risk hurting the team any more by staying.”

“You hurt us by leaving,” Danny said softly.  “You hurt me, leaving.”

“Danny, I’m so sorry,” Steve said.  “I should have been there for you.”

“Did leaving help?  Has some space and distance helped you, Steve?”

Steve shook his head, the tears finally spilling over.  “No,” he rasped.  “God, no.”

Danny pulled him into his arms, Steve tucking his face into his uninjured shoulder.  Danny could feel a few hot tears splash onto his neck.

“You needed a vacation and instead chose an exile,” Danny said, rubbing Steve’s back.  “Nincompoop.”

Steve chuckled and held Danny tighter.

“I’m pretty sure we’re both exhausted,” Danny said.  “Come on, let’s get some rest.  Then we’ll talk.”

It seemed the most natural thing in the world to follow Steve down the hall and into the bedroom he was using.  Steve shucked off his jeans and pulled on a pair of soft, faded flannel pants.

“My bag’s still in the Jeep,” Danny said, but he was already unbuttoning his jeans and flannel shirt.  Steve reached into a drawer and pulled out a similar pair of flannel pants and tossed them to Danny.  It was easy enough for him to shed his jeans, but he winced as he tried to ease his arms out of his shirt.

“Let me help,” Steve murmured.  He gently, carefully slipped the shirt off Danny’s broad shoulders and tossed it aside.  His fingers traced carefully over Danny’s black t-shirt, where he knew the bullet wound was, feeling the small bandage still present.  “It’s healing?”

“Yeah, Steve.  It’s healing just fine.”  Danny pulled on the flannel pants, shooting a glare at Steve’s smirk when he rolled the hem up.  “Shut up and gimme some socks, would’ja?”

The bed was soft, the fluffy quilts just the right weight, and Steve’s shoulder the perfect fit.  This was different than sharing the bed in DC.  There was no hesitancy, no caution.  DC had been about efficiency and Steve’s raw anguish.  This . . . this was mutual exhaustion and mutual comfort. 

“I shouldn’t have left,” Steve said, rubbing his fingers absently over Danny’s bicep.  “You were already living in my house, this should have happened a while ago.”

“Well.  Technically, nothing’s happened yet,” Danny said.  He thought they were on the same page, done with fighting this thing between them, but what if --

His thought was cut off by Steve leaning up and over, pressing his lips to Danny’s in a soft, sweet, lingering kiss.

“There.  Now, technically something has happened.”

“Can I hope for more to happen?” Danny asked.  He couldn’t keep the grin off his face if he tried, but Steve looked solemn.

“If you can forgive me,” he said quietly.  “And if you can’t, I’ll understand.”

“Goof,” Danny said, wrapping his hand around the back of Steve’s neck and pulling him down for a kiss, one that was not quite as soft, or sweet.  “Steve.  I do forgive you.  Yeah, it hurt but . . . I know you were trying to do what  you needed to do, to protect us.  But next time, listen, hunh?  When you get wrapped up inside your head and feel like you need to run, listen when I ask you to stay, yeah?”

*****

Danny woke slowly, the smell of coffee and bacon drifting in from the kitchen.  He sat up in bed, stretching out his stiff shoulder, and stopped in surprise at the sight of Steve’s bag, open and mostly packed at the end of the bed.  He slipped out of bed and padded toward the kitchen, careful not to trip on the too-long pajama pants.

“Babe?”

Steve grinned and poured a second mug of coffee, holding it out to Danny.

Danny accepted it and took a grateful sip.  “Your bag is almost packed.”

“Good work, detective.”

“You thinking of running away some more?”

“Thinking of running home,” Steve said slowly. “With you.  For good -- no running; not me, not you.”

Danny pretended to think it over. “Okay.  But before we go back I have some conditions.”

“Okay,” Steve said cautiously.

“No exes, no mysteries and no more 3 letter agencies please!!!"

“Danny, you have to know, Catherine wasn’t --” Steve started earnestly.

Danny held up a hand to interrupt him.  “Babe, I know.  I, ah, might have been the one to suggest Catherine get you through the first leg of your little expedition.  She told me, it’s not that way between the two of you . . . explained it when we were talking about putting that locator on you.  I don’t just mean Catherine.  No more Lyns, or Ambers, or Brookes . . . no more half-assed attempts to convince ourselves that there’s anyone else for us but each other.”

Steve nodded enthusiastically.

“And for the love of God, Steven -- I don’t care who comes with an envelope or a message from the beyond -- no more.  Stop letting your past hurt you.  You’re not responsible for the choices of your parents.  You don’t owe them anything.  You don’t owe the CIA or the NSA or any other alphabet a damn thing.”  Danny didn’t try to keep the anger out of his voice.

“The Navy?” Steve asked quietly.

Danny heart skipped a beat.  “You’d give it up?”

“For you.”

“Babe.  Asking you not to love the Navy, to cut yourself off from your fellow sailors . . . God, your brothers . . . no.  No way.  But no crazy stunts!  No more jumping in with Junior on crazy missions!”

“I’ll ask you first, I promise,” Steve said, grinning.

“Ask -- first --  no, no, Steven, that is not --”  Danny stopped, narrowing his eyes at Steve.  “You’re joking.”

Steve shrugged.  “Mostly.”  He turned back to the stove and cracked some eggs into a skillet.

“So?”  Danny asked.  Steve looked back at him over his shoulder.

“So, what?”

“So, do you agree to my conditions?”

“Yes, Danny,” Steve said, rolling his eyes.  “Yes, I agree to your terms, I accept your conditions, nag, nag -- here.  Eat your breakfast.  We need to get to the airport, catch the next plane out.”

Danny took a bite of perfect scrambled eggs and moaned softly.  Steve raised his eyebrows and gave him a heated glance.

“I never even got my bag out of the car,” Danny said.

“Well, that’s gonna make packing real easy for you, buddy.”

“Or . . . you did, at one point, want to get away.  Get some space.  Clear your head.”  Danny gestured around the ranch house, the wide porch, and the peaceful scenery around them.  “You could still do that.”

Steve put his plate down across from Danny’s with a thunk.  “I thought you wanted me to come home.”

“Oh, I do.  Absolutely.  But . . . we’re here already.  We both could use some time away, some time to rest, and heal . . . together.  Don’t you think?”

Steve nodded, a slow smile spreading across his face.  “Yeah.  Yeah, that sounds nice, Danny.”

Danny grinned back at him.  “And, you know, we can see if . . . maybe that something more we mentioned will happen.”

Steve stood up quickly.

“Ste -- where you going?” Danny waved his fork at Steve’s still full plate.

“I’m getting your bag out of the car and calling Catherine to say thank you,” Steve said.

“Nincompoop!” Danny called after him.

“Your nincompoop,” Steve yelled back over his shoulder.

Danny shook his head in resignation.  Steve still didn’t have socks on.

[kiliinstinct]

Have You Missed Me? // Nalu One-Shot

Inspired By the Recent Artwork by @fainttwinkling!! (Click Here For Image) One look and the emotions and situation between Natsu and Lucy just spoke to me, I had to write it out! Warning: Adult Content - You read that Right. Avert ye gaze if you’re a younglin’. Pairing: Obviously Nalu. Apologies for any spelling errors, I wrote this rather quickly and didn’t really take much time to edit. 

-- Tag List --

@pbfanart @cobblepottantrum @yuldragneel @bearpluscat @millennial-star-gazer @caandleworks @kaycha1989 @furidojasutin @eragonsoul @just-another-dream-girl @whatdidyasayiamdaydreaming @hanahathefluffydragon   @softscream @dlshieldss @ctay21 @acidrain1698 @lovelyluce @clockworkassassino @celestialwolf24 @unwei @jem-hamster-chan @melissa827 @meilynalu @littlejinxed @moonlitstargazerforever @trollka21

----

‘Have you missed me?’

Such a simple question with a loaded answer. 

A day had turned to a week. A week into a month. A month…. Into three. Too long, far too long. It was taking its toll on him. An obvious toll that everyone could see. It started subtly. His smile stopped reaching his eyes one day- the cackling laugh that erupted so often grew quiet: subdued. At one point, he didn’t respond to Gray or even Gajeel goading him to a fight. 

It was worrisome, but they all knew better than to force him. Natsu tried to live through every day as if nothing were wrong, but the longer Lucy stayed away, the harder it became. Jobs were easy. He went on one or two daily, even joined up with Erza, Gray and Wendy for a few that lasted a couple of days or more, but none would last as long as the one Lucy had been on and there was only so many days Natsu could pretend it wasn’t eating at him the longer she was away. They’d never been apart for so long, not since she’d joined the Guild- it was … an empty feeling he didn’t want to name. 

Natsu had taken to sleeping in her apartment on Strawberry Street. It wasn’t beyond the ordinary; the days spent staying at her place tripled the moment their relationship became official, but his days after she left had begun at his own home with happy. It had changed with time- the small house became devoid of sound as he and Happy moved their nights to the comfort of Lucy’s empty bed. 

The comforter smelled like her- a smell that couldn’t leave after so many washes or days away-  it eased his nights and made it easier, though they were full of nightmares. Had the job gone wrong? Was she okay? Countless nights finding her again and again, only for her to disappear in a multitude of ways: wounded, fading, dying, waving goodbye- versions were endless. He never spoke of them, but every guild member knew something was wrong when he came to the Hall, tired and dazed, falling asleep with his face smushed in the Fire Chicken placed before him. 

“- maybe you should get some more sleep.” Erza said, frowning pulling at her face while her arms crossed. “Making a mess is usual, but this is becoming ridiculous.”

“I’m fine.” He grumbled, face planted to the table, little specks of the earlier dish still covering a bit of his nose and chin. He’d wipe them off later. Natsu may have been pushing Erza’s button’s with that response, but even Gray tapped the wood next to him, chiming in with an opinion before the redhead could continue.

“Dude, serious,” He mumbled, scratched the back of his head, somewhat uncomfortable. “Usually I’d call you an idiot, but even I’m starting to feel bad. Either quit sulking or go back to bed!”

Natsu lifted a hand to give his fellow wizard a well-known hand signal that gave his opinion loud and clear. Gray smacked the hand and scoffed. “Fine. Suit yourself, you flamin’ idiot.”

“Is-.. is Natsu going to be okay?” 

“I said I’m fine!” Snapped Natsu, finally lifting his head to look towards Wendy, pulling a small grin. “Seriously guys, I know Lucy’s more than tough and will be back in no time, so can ya’ drop it?”

His answer came when Erza’s hand shot out, pinching his ear and forcing a loud yelp to escape him, “We’ll drop it as soon as you stop pathetically moping on the table,  and get some sleep!”

A grunt of pain, a few chuckles around the hall, and a wave to Happy was the end to his venture that day- effectively kicked out for rest. ‘Don’t you worry, Natsu!’ Happy had told him whilst he was shoved out the door, ‘I’ll hold the fort until you feel better and if Lucy comes back, I’ll even tell her where you’re at!’

Pfft, He thanked Happy with a pat to the Exceed’s head, but figured it wouldn’t matter. Lucy always liked to come home first and if that happened… well, he certainly wasn’t sleeping back at his place. Surrounded by so many memories somehow made his sleep even worse. Slinking through Lucy’s window, it was easy to flop onto the mattress, shuffle himself against the blanket and pillows and let his exhaustion over take him. Maybe once he rested, he could drag Happy off for fishing or another job….

Her scent was there again, overflowing his senses. Natsu’s tense muscles relaxed, sighing softly as the pillow and scarf effectively covered his tired eyes. He’d worry about shutting the window later (if he remembered)- for now he was more than content to slowly drift off. The ticking of a nearby clock reminded him vaguely of the emptiness in the apartment and he frowned, peeking one eye out into the dim light of her room. 

It wasn’t as fun without Lucy around…  he’d noticed it before, time and time again- the exhilaration he’d feel when they were doing things together: either playing a game, teasing or working- the world just seemed a little bit brighter. While his life was still bright, and his family there- somehow… things just felt…. 

“It’s all dusty.” He mumbled. With that word in the air, he sighed, allowing dark, tired eyes to slide shut, and waited for his tired body to give in. 

Lucy’s scent was overwhelming when he came to. 

It was everywhere, strong and musky- the sort of smell that followed her after a hard job or training. Usually she would shower immediately, claiming she felt gross and had to wash herself, but he never minded it. (It really wasn’t THAT bad of a smell- most wouldn’t even notice if they didn’t have the sort of nose he did.)  This was a scent he was used to, but as the sleep slowly seeped from him, Natsu realized it was far too strong and-

A rustling of hair  brushed his face, the mattress bent from added weight and the window clicking shut echoed through the room- Natsu’s eyes shot open, very much awake.

“-Lucy?!” The question held excitement, blood pumping through his ears as he hoped his senses hadn’t betrayed him- freezing in place when he was greeted with the family, brown eyes of his girlfriend. 

She had also frozen, slightly leaning over him still from her attempts to shut the window as quietly as possible. “Oh- sorry, did I wake you?” She questioned, voice low, as if her quiet whispers could lull him back to sleep. “You looked so tired, I didn’t want to-”

Lucy never had the chance to finish her sentence as Natsu’s body reacted, surging forward to grab her- the force sent them both tumbling off the bed and crashing to the floor.  Her screech was sudden and it rang in his ears, but he didn’t care- he was more concerned with ensuring he wasn’t having another one of his many vivid dreams. She felt real enough- her clothes were wrinkled from travel- her hair frizzed in weird places and her keys jangled at her hip. 

Her body directly beneath his, hips straddling by his own legs and breath panting into his ear as she struggled to adjust to his sudden weight, gave Natsu all the proof he needed: His Lucy was home. 

“Weirdo,” Natsu said, head lifting to beam at her- the dimples in his smile meeting his eyes for what felt the first time in weeks, “You’ve been workin’ forever and you're worried about ME bein’ tired?”

Lucy’s answering smile looked winded and she simpered, “- it was only a few months, not forever, you goof. I came back just fine!.”

“Yeah, yeah you sure did,” He rasped back, lips surging down to silence her. He didn’t want to talk, not just yet. Natsu’s relieved laughter passed from his mouth to hers, lips molding over her own, coaxing them open to dip his tongue in to meet her own- it wasn’t tentative or searching. It was fast, desperate almost. The taste of her, the feel of her breath against his face, the way she squirmed and looked for a position for her arms as their kiss grew more frenzied…

It spoke the words he didn’t know how to say. I’ve missed you. I’ve missed you so damn much… !

Lucy hadn’t been prepared, gasping for much needed air when Natsu finally relented, pecking her mouth over and over in between laughter and their whispered names. He couldn’t get enough. Wouldn’t get enough. Not just yet. Rough fingers move along the curve of her hips, finding the skin her shirt couldn’t cover- he grasped her, feeling the rise in temperature, the hitch of her breath as his hot mouth descended upon her jaw before moving back up again. What seemed rushed, turned slow as he took in air and pulled back to admire the flush and swell of Lucy’s lips. How he’d missed that dazed look on her eyes.

“Natsu what are you-” Another interrupted, but a welcomed one. Lucy bit back her words, cheeks growing redder as Natsu tenderly moved to press a soft kiss to her nose, her eyelids and even her forehead, before moving back to her lips. The rough movement that started took a more sensuous turn as he pressed their heads together, dark eyes simmering in the dark.  The sun had been high when he’d fallen asleep, but now, he subconsciously realized their only source of light was a gentle glow from the moon. 

Though he was far more interested in the light he held within his very arms. “You are never takin’ a job that long ever again.” He said- voice serious, but eyes gleaming as he sat up, pulling her with him to brush their hips together- allowing her fingers, now shaking with her own anticipation and need, to slide his scarf off slowly before zipping down his coat to brush off his shoulders. She gave him a look he knew all too well and he  backpedaled, “At least not without me you aren’t.”

What started as a reprimand turned to a giggle as Lucy’s slim fingers finally pushed off the fabric of Natsu’s clothes and met with his heated skin, “Have you missed me, Natsu?” She asked. No answer was needed- they both knew it either way and her laughter was muffled by his impatient hands suddenly pulling at her shirt, lifting it over her arms and tossing it aside. In no time, his own hands found skin once more,  trailing up and down her Lucy’s ribs before grasping the swell of her breasts, squeezing in a silent tempo while his mouth covered hers. 

The slow, languid push and pull of their tongues was met with soft sighs and more murmurs- her legs positioned over his, pelvis and hips pressing atop his own and his hands, still impatient for more touch, grasped her thigh to push her closer against him and explored the expanse of her back. Lucy whimpered when he pulled away, teeth nipping her lip before descending downward, brows furrowed as he placed nips and open mouthed kisses over her neck and shoulder. 

More. He needed more. 

Lucy tilted her head back, giving Natsu more room to move, arms moving over his shoulder, hips shifting  as he continued to suck against her skin leaving a trail of marks. There were many words at the tip of her tongue, all wanting to be released, but she held them back. Not yet, not now- he needed this, inhaling sharply when his teeth and tongue met the tip of her nipples, she admitted in lustful whispers her own need. 

‘I missed you. I missed Happy.. I missed Gray, Erza and Wendy…’

Another rough suck and her hips gyrated against his, heat pooling in her stomach, twisting and coiling as nails dragged down his shoulders. 

‘But most importantly…’

Another press against each other, their bottoms still in the way and Natsu growled, impatient, frustrated-  Lucy whined in response as his hands quickly moved to push her skirt up, thin, lace panties pushed aside for his fingers to move and test her. She was already prepared for him- already waiting, needing- wanting-

Natsu’s impatience grew, but he ignored the tightness of his pants, grunting in satisfaction when the pads of his fingers found the sensitive bud, hidden from everyone, but him. He circled his finger,  gave pressure and stimulation- marveling at the slowly building sounds that escaped Lucy’s mouth. She’d always been noisy- breathy and more than willing to tell him just what she liked through hushed whispers against his ear. 

‘I missed you-!’

It if had been any other day, any other night- they may have taken their time. Natsu would have  eventually moved her to the bed and consumed every inch of her wish his mouth and she may have traced the contours of every muscle he possessed with her tongue before swallowing him down for great release. This was not that night. A heavy need consumed every move, every motion- Natsu’s hand continued to press and play against her, eventually testing her wetness by dipping two fingers inside, thrusting in and out.

While she crooned, urging him on, hips moving against his own in a tempo searching for a release she hadn’t reached since the last she had seen him, Natsu continued his crusade against her skin: his teeth marked her with more love bites and when one breast received enough attention to ache when he pulled away, he moved to the other, suckling and pulling forth more sounds from her mouth as he helped build her need higher and higher. He timed it with the thrusts of his fingers and pressing of his thumb, but Natsu wasn’t the only one. 

Lucy needed more- far more than what she was given, mind altered by the steady build he was giving her inflamed body. Fingers quickly unclasped the belt as his waist, weaved around his own hands to push the hem of his pants down- finally grasping the hardness she desperately wanted to replace his fingers.

He was hard, painfully so- his movements paused when she gripped him, pumping her hand up and down while their eyes finally met with the other. A silent conversation passed between them- heavy breathing mixed between the two in the heavy air, and his hand finally slid away from her- giving opening for the swell of his head to touch against her, teasing as her hips moved to angle herself. “N-Natsu,” Lucy rasped, free hand moved to caress his face, tongue peeking out to swipe at her swollen lips, “We can take our time later, please just- “ She whined again when his hands gripped her hips in response, “Just do it!” 

Fingers flexed against her and Natsu helped with the very thing she wanted. Pressing her hips down against him, he slipped inside her, groaning from the sensation. They were together, working as one, taking only a few moments to adjust before their hips were moving together in a well-practiced rhythm that would send them higher and higher to a point they both desperately needed. 

They kissed, mouths moving sloppily together, unable to keep up with their frantic pace.  Natsu was already pent up, but he groaned in his attempts to hold back the pleasure. Not yet, not so soon, Lucy’s insides gripped him with every thrust and her mouth mimicking his own moments before, sucked the skin of his neck, licked the sweat as her own gasps and mewls echoed into the room.  “D-damn that feels so good, Lucy!”

He howled his praises and the work of his hands served their purpose, Lucy’s pleasure was already meeting the precipice she sought. Her movements stuttered and she grit her teeth, biting his skin when wave after wave of pleasure washed through her, crying out his name, Natsu finally allowed his own release- giving in to the conjoined pleasure, surging roughly inside her with every spurt of his orgasm. . 

It felt like mere seconds and an eternity had passed, panting against the other with sweaty foreheads pressed together. Lucy shuddered in the aftermath, slouching against Natsu as he held her. It was a few minutes longer before they both put together the crumpled clothes on their hips- their position on the floor and lost clothing littered around them. 

Natsu laughed first. A low, tired chuckle soon followed by Lucy's lips slowly meeting again between giggles. With weary limbs, they eventually moved to Lucy’s bed, sliding under the blankets as they kicked away the rest of their clothes. They would worry about the clean up later. 

Silence fell between them. A peaceful calm that comes between two people when they’ve finally come home: relief and contentedness filling them as Natsu pulled Lucy close against him, arms encircling her hips as she snuggled close. He pressed soft kisses against the back of her ear, and she giggled at each one, hands moved to encircle with his fingers. Despite his overdue rest through the day, Natsu felt all the worries and nerves he’d hidden beneath the surface, slide away, covering him with a different kind of exhaustion. 

It wasn’t until Lucy’s own breathing began to even, closing in on sleep, that he chose to finally answer the question she’d gave him. Another soft kiss before he nuzzled his face into her hair. 

“I missed ya way too damn much.” He admitted, practically purring into Lucy’s golden tresses. She snorted, the closest to a laugh she could come while her limbs were so tired, but squeezed his hand in response. “- how did the job go?”

Her sleepy reply came with a tilt of her head, pride swimming in her eyes, “The client was happy he requested my help and I have a new key to show for it.” Before he could ask further, she tilted herself enough to kiss the tip of his nose and fell back against her own pillows. “- talk more later, sleep now.”

Her tired plea and yawn pulled forth another laugh from Natsu, but he didn’t fight it. 

They had plenty of time to catch up. For now, he’d keep her all to himself.

[nightingiall]

hey jess hope you've been keeping well! ❤️ just wondering if you'll ever do a niall pov of part vi of hitc when they were at the party bc i'd really like to know what went on in his head throughout the myriad of events that happened :)

story page // wattpad

The first person Niall sees as he walks through the door is a tipsy-looking Harry Styles. 

“Niall, mate!” he exclaims as he sees him, voice loud over the raucous music, hair a mess of slightly damp curls as he sends Niall a lopsided grin. “Take a shot with me!” 

And, well, how can he say no to free liquor? Especially when it’s the expensive kind that goes down easy and smooth, spreading a slinky sort of heat through his tummy when it settles in him. 

The Shack parties are probably his favorite parts of working at Hightstown, with great alcohol and interesting people all in the same place. Today, though, he doesn’t care for either of those things, eyes instead searching for a beautiful girl who he could not, for the life of him, stop thinking about. He could not stop thinking of curious, vulnerable brown eyes and a smile that made all the work to crack it worth the effort. He sees her everywhere, all the time—in his dreams and curled in odd corners of his flat with Spike and in everyone at this party—heart sinking when the ghost of her disappears into his imagination. 

If he makes his disappointment obvious at the absence of Rory Bhatt, then Harry doesn’t seem to notice, instead yammering on about Leslie or Gigi or—well, Niall doesn’t know, he’s not paying attention. He’s saved from being outed as a terrible listener by Alejandra, who makes her way over to them to ask if they want to play drunk Jenga. Harry declines but Niall allows Alejandra to drag him to the makeshift gameroom, if only for a distraction. At least if he’s immersed in a party game he won’t be thinking about a certain brown-eyed beauty all the time.

It works, but only for a few moments. 

Niall is invested in the game for a while, his competitive side rearing its head for the first few rounds. But once it’s clear that Leslie is going to be the clear champ, her alcohol tolerance putting all of theirs to shame, he simmers down a bit, instead joking around with Callie and stealthily pouring excess beer into Shane’s cup with Alejandra when he’s not paying attention. Sure, it’s a distraction, but with the cloud of competition disappearing into wisps in his mind, he finds his eyes often wandering towards the door, searching, heart surging whenever he catches a glimpse of long, dark hair. 

It’s never the person he’s looking for, though. 

“Niall,” someone murmurs into his ear. It’s Callie. Cheeks flushed, eyes bleary, and stray hairs sticking up slightly in the humidity that’s leaked into the house, it’s clear that she’s well on her way to being tipsy. Perhaps she’s already there. Her hand is on his shoulder and she’s leaning in close to him. So close that he instinctively takes a step away. She doesn’t seem to notice. “Heard you almost beat Leslie at beer pong the other night. Everyone’s talking about it.” 

He laughs but even to his ears it sounds a bit stiff, unnerved from how close she’s standing. “Yeah?” Beside him, Alejandra nudges him to take his turn, and he pokes at a block, releasing it easily from the tower. Take a whiskey shot, it reads. So he does. Deep brown, luscious, expensive whiskey. It’s clear that someone’s tapped into some rich person’s reserve to grab it. Distantly, he thinks that the color reminds him of Rory’s eyes. 

“Yeah.” Callie’s still talking. “We take beer pong very serious around here.” She sends him a sweet smile, deep pink lips framing bleached-white, perfectly straight teeth. Callie is tipsy, and still no one can deny that she’s beautiful. Blue eyes, blonde hair, and clearly interested in him. Her hand lingers on his shoulder, her smile a second too long. She’s beautiful and interested, yes, but Niall’s mind is stuck on someone else. 

He’s mid-laugh when he sees her. This time, it’s unmistakably her. Those eyes, hypnotizing, but for once, his gaze is pulled away from them because she’s smiling. At him. Big and bright and blinding and so beautiful that he nearly forgets there was a time that she made him work so hard to get one out of her. She’s smiling and she’s walking towards him and Niall feels any semblance of self-control slip away, slinking down his body and landing in his knees, which go impossibly weak whenever she’s around. 

“Rors!” The nickname is leaving his mouth before he can even think about it. He distantly registers that it’s loud, impossibly so over the ruckus of the party, feels other people’s gazes on him as he finds himself moving towards her, bringing her in for a hug, a moth to her flame. But he doesn’t care. Clearly he’s never known subtlety when it comes to Rory Bhatt. “You made it.” 

She smells like the color yellow. It’s something he first noticed about her. She had been standing near the pool and he was struck by the etherealness she exuded. Long, graceful limbs, the hem of her white dress catching in the breeze, flowing gently. She’d been wearing sunglasses but she took them off when he walked up to introduce himself. To this day he doesn’t know how he had the balls to do it. He thinks he smiled and held out his hand, but he can’t remember. He’d been too distracted by those big brown eyes. Guarded and questioning, catching the sunlight and sparkling. 

A gust of air flitted past them and it carried her scent up to him, and it is this that he remembers most. Not the feeling of her hand or whatever she said to him. But that, the quick glitter in her eyes and her sunshine yellow scent. Sure, one cannot smell sunshine, but something Niall’s chemistry professor from college—back when he dabbled in the sciences—said one day stuck out to him in that moment, that at the center of our galaxy, in a cloud of dust and gas, scientists found a chemical responsible for the flavor of rum and raspberries, that space probably smelled like a fancy brunch, sweet and tart. The next day, when Niall and his friends went out and bought rum and raspberries and got drunk in the middle of the day on the floor of someone’s apartment, they joked that the place smelled like sunshine. 

That was what Rory Bhatt smelled like. 

He registers the scent now, as he presses his nose to her hair when she hugs him back. Sunshine and lemons and Rory. Niall tries not to come across as a freak and hopes to every power on earth that she doesn’t notice him taking in the way she smells, but he can’t help it. He’s not yet tipsy but he thinks he can get drunk off of this alone, the way Rory smells, the warmth of her body seeping into his, the way those brown eyes catch the light when she smiles up at him. It’s intoxicating. He’s so fucked. 

Hopefully she doesn’t notice how completely out of his mind he is for her at the moment, but he doesn’t do much to help his case, mindlessly tangling their fingers together and dragging her towards the drunk jenga game. He thinks he banters with her and everyone else at the table but all he can really focus on is the fact that she squeezed his fingers when their hands were laced together. It’s stupid, of course, to hyperfixate on this one gesture. But the muscles in his hands replay the memory of her touch over and over again. The rest of him is just running on autopilot. 

Alejandra draws a King’s Cup block from the tower and everyone cheers because at least they weren’t that unlucky. Niall can’t help himself when he bends into Rory, his hand on her waist. “Lucky we didn’t get that one, eh?” he says, but it’s just an excuse to catch a whiff of her scent again. It’s all great until she turns towards him and he realizes that he’s made a mistake. He’s leaned in too close. Her lips are mere inches from his. All of his nerve endings feel magnetized and they’re jumping around within him, craving a connection with her skin. He’ll kiss her if he doesn’t find some self-control. He knows he will. So he desperately forces words out of him so he won’t do something that will ruin this precarious balance they’ve managed to strike. “Don’t think you’d survive a King’s Cup anyway.”

It works. Rory wrinkles her nose at him as she swats a hand against his chest, rolling her eyes. And it’s so cute that he’s surprised his brain is still functioning from it all. “I can handle my alcohol, thank you very much,” she retorts with a little huff. “And besides, you’re the one who’s already had way more to drink than I have.”

She’s not wrong. He can feel it now, the steady thrum of alcohol bubbling through him. It’s making him reckless. He can’t afford to be reckless. 

And still, he is. Callie topples over the jenga tower and Niall seizes this opportunity to tug Rory away. He’s been aching for a moment alone with her. It’s selfish, of course. Any time she gives him a minute of her time he wants more. Just earlier today they had all been goofing around in the pool and she’d swam up to him when he was taking in the sunset, and she jumped on his back to scare him. It’s hours later and he’s still wondering how on earth her scent still broke through the film of chlorine that had settled on both their skins. 

They end up on the patio, and when Niall closes the sliding door behind them, shutting out the loudness emanating from within, he’s finally able to take her in. As they settle together on a lounger, he has every intention of telling her how he really feels. 

I cannot stop thinking about you, do you know that?, he wants to say. It’s right there on the tip of his tongue and it nearly comes tumbling out before he catches the look on her face. It’s that concentrated expression she gets when she’s focusing hard on something, like when she’s perched on the lifeguard chair drawing or when she’s pouring out food for Spike in his bowl. She does that a lot, gets lost in her thoughts, daydreams. So he asks.

“What’re you thinking so hard about? You’re quieter than usual.” His voice is a whisper despite no one else being around. It’s just the two of them and the sounds of the night, crickets singing and leaves blowing together in the breeze. 

He can see the exact moment she’s back with him, her eyes coming into focus. The slightest of pinks bloom high on her cheeks and Niall would bet anything that the skin there is surging with warmth. He’s not thinking when he reaches out, passing off the graze of his knuckles against her cheekbones for brushing away the hair that’s blown into her face. He’s right. Searing heat meets his skin. It sends jolts of electricity right through him. Rory lets out a quiet laugh, a lingering smile on her face as she glances down at their hands, which have somehow intertwined without his knowledge. 

I’d move mountains for that laugh, he almost tells her. I’m so completely in love with your smile that I see it in my dreams. 

For the life of him he can’t get his fingers to stop brushing her hair back. It’s a tantalizing softness against his skin. Reckless. He’s so busy watching the movement of her features that he nearly forgets that she hasn’t answered his question. She’s gone and gotten lost in her head again. This time, he’s the one who laughs. “Rory. Where are you, love? It’s like you’ve always got your head in the clouds.”

She’s full-on blushing now, her shoulders quirking up to her ears as though she wishes to hide it. Niall suddenly can’t remember what they’re even talking about. He’s reeling, the mere sight of a blush sending his mind into overdrive. Something else nearly spills from his lips. What can I do to make your cheeks go red like that again? 

“Sorry,�� Rory says, smiling wryly. “I guess I just daydream a lot.” Her eyes meet his again and suddenly, finally, he realizes that perhaps she wants to tell him something. There’s a sort of nervousness swirling in the dark brown that has anticipation building in his chest. He inadvertently leans forward, silently telling her he’s listening. 

“It’s okay. It’s cute.” He all but blurts the words out and it’s all he can do not to smack his hand against his forehead. It’s a good thing he doesn’t, because it means that he’d have had to let go of her hand. And he’d have missed the color rising to the tops of her cheeks again. His heart surges in his chest. “Besides, I probably talk too much anyway.”

Rory is looking at him like she’s never looked at him before. It’s intense and all-consuming at the same time. She holds the entire world of secrets in those deep brown eyes and he’ll do anything to get her to open up to him. Tell me, his fingers say as they squeeze hers, because suddenly, this feels important. Suddenly, he’s thinking that maybe they’re on the same page after all. 

She takes a breath. He’s hyperfocused on her. For a moment, the world falls away from them. The crickets stop singing. The wind is still. For a moment, it’s him, and her, and his beating heart, and her unspoken words. A moment. Rory opens her mouth. A moment. She’s finally speaking. 

“I guess I was just trying to figure out how to tell you that I—”

A moment, broken.

The sliding door crashes open behind them, the crickets start chirping again, the light summer breeze is loud in Niall’s ears. His heart is a heavy thump, thump thump in his chest, so out of order that it feels like it’s jumping around inside of him, stopping only when it feels as though it’s lodged up in his throat. 

A breath wooshes out of him as he turns to face the interference. His brain registers two things, both at the same time. One, it’s Shane and Zafar that are tumbling out of the door, laughing loudly about a fight happening inside. Two, his hands are cold, the skin trembling from the absence of Rory when she snatches hers away, startled by this interruption. 

What was she going to tell him? Irritation crawls through him at their moment being shattered, but he forces himself to laugh along to the dramatic reenactment currently being performed by Shane and Zafar. 

It all goes to shit from there. He’s sucked into the chaos of the boys. More people infiltrate the patio, the summer air now carrying the sounds of overlapping conversations when not only minutes ago it was a silent bubble for him and Rory. 

She’s no longer sitting next to him when he glances over, instead pulled into her own conversation with her friends, and Niall has to work so hard not to let his frustration show. It’s not anyone’s fault, he tells himself, that the only reason he’s at this party was the chance that Rory would show up. It’s his own fault. Earlier, at the pool, he should’ve just invited her over to his place so they could lounge around with Spike and drink red wine, like they always did on their nights off. 

Instead he’s here, silently simmering under the surface. 

It’s happening before he even realizes what is happening. 

Someone screeches, and it’s so loud that most people shift towards the sound, curious of the source. Niall turns around to realize it’s Callie. She’s holding up an empty wine bottle, face lit up like she’s had an idea. It’s only when Niall looks closely that he realizes she’s so drunk that she’s dangerously close to falling off her chair. “Let’s play spin the bottle!” she declares—or slurs, really. 

Someone beside Niall grumbles. “What are we in middle school? We’re too old to be playing spin the bottle.” He laughs at that under his breath, because leave it to Gigi to be this blunt about her displeasure on something. Beside her, Niall spots Rory, her face closed-off and stoic, a stark contrast to the softness of her features earlier as she smiled at him. He frowns. All he wants is to be alone with her again. 

Shane ends up initiating spin the bottle. He’s loud and cocky about it, not hiding his intention for the bottle to point at Alejandra, whom he’s openly had a crush on forever. This ignites everyone. Gigi and Zafar pipe in with some smack talk, a crowd has drawn up to watch the scene, and laughter swirls through the air as the moment draws on. 

It backfires on Shane, of course. The bottle does not land at Alejandra, but at Harry, much to everyone’s amusement. Shane tries to back away, face bright red from embarrassment, but he’s teased relentlessly by the rest of them, and it’s only when Alejandra says something like, “Guys always want to watch the girls make out with each other in this game but never want to hold up their end of the bargain unless it’s convenient to them,” that they all egg him on harder until he has no choice but to cave and give Harry a peck on the cheek. 

Niall laughs so hard at it all that tears spring to his eyes. He’s wiping them away when Rory catches his gaze. She’s grinning now, eyes glittering in amusement, and Niall just wants to capture the brightness of her face and save it in his pocket forever. A breeze floats by and sends her hair flying into soft wisps that frame her face and god he aches to reach out and tuck the strands behind her ear. Maybe he’ll just grab her after this and ask if she wants to get away from here, if she wants to head back to his. They can goof around with Spike and laugh about this on his couch. He can sit a safe distance away so he’s not tempted to kiss the smile right off her face. 

He doesn’t get too far with that thought because Callie is piping up again, declaring that it’s her turn, clearly not understanding that it was all a joke and Shane was just taking the piss. His mind is still on big brown eyes when Callie spins the bottle, and he’s still trying to blink away the image of being alone with Rory when he realizes that the bottle has landed on him. 

His heart is in his throat again. He’s sure that his apprehension is showing on his face but Callie doesn’t seem to care. She’s grinning wildly, clearly intending to do as the bottle decreed and kiss him, and he quickly tries to think of something to stop her, a nervous laugh leaving his lips as he says, “Uhh, Callie. I wasn’t actually playing.”

But she’s already standing in front of him. “You know the rules of the game, Niall,” she purrs, voice low, and Niall’s desperately looking around for help now. He tries to meet Rory’s eyes but she’s not looking at him. Callie’s leaning into him now and he doesn’t know why, for the life of him, he can’t get the word no out of his stupid mouth. “We’ve never made out before. It’ll be fun.”

It’s Gigi who speaks up for him, her voice edged with irritation. “Jesus, Callie, he said he’s not playing. What ever happened to consent around here?”

But it’s too late. Callie’s hands are on his shoulders and he tries to lean away from her, a hint for her to back off, but either she doesn’t notice or doesn’t care, because she continues to edge closer until the damn chair is stopping Niall from moving back any further and she’s too close to his face. Fuck, fuck, fuck, is all that’s going on in his mind because he’s too caught off guard to joke the situation off and he’s starting to think he’s going to have to physically move her off him to stop her. 

There’s a moment where Niall feels like time stops and he’s able to quickly glance around at the faces surrounding him. There’s Callie of course, in front of him with her lips pulled up into a smirk, eyes half closed. There’s Harry a ways behind her, face contorted as he cringes. Beside Niall is Zafar, who appears to be amused and uncomfortable at the same time, as does Shane. On the other side is Gigi, who looks like she’s two seconds away from getting up and yanking Callie away herself, Alejandra, who is frowning, and Rory. 

It’s when his eyes land on her that it’s like time speeds up again. He’s only able to catch those eyes, dark coffee brown, widened as she watches them, and then Callie is leaning close enough to obscure his view. 

Two things happen then. Callie’s too close. She’s one second away from kissing him when Niall makes a split second decision to jolt away, turning his face and shifting slightly so that her lips never land anywhere on him. At the same time, Leslie, bless her heart, loudly bursts through the glass sliding doors, yelling about the beer pong tournament, and Niall, blissfully, is saved. 

Callie is not happy. She makes an annoyed sound when she peels herself off him and Niall has to restrain himself from using the opportunity to put as much distance between them as possible by making a run for it. “We’re playing spin the bottle,” she grits out at Leslie, who, for her part, simply snorts. 

“What? Why? Haven’t you all made out with each other already?” That breaks the tension. Everyone laughs and starts to head back inside for beer pong. Niall rises too, but his eyes are on Rory. As opposed to moments ago when she was watching him, now, she won’t meet his gaze. He feels something dense and heavy flood into him at the sight of Alejandra rubbing Rory’s shoulders; it settles at the pit of his stomach and weighs him down. Alejandra whispers something to her and Gigi as they get up too, but when they all pass each other, Rory pointedly ignores him. 

Niall walks inside and tries to calm down but he really just wants to scream and flip over all the stupid beer pong tables. What just happened? Things had been looking promising. He and Rory had a moment alone, she was going to tell him something that seemed important, and then everything just spiraled out of control. Niall is kicking himself for not being able to outwardly tell Callie to back off, for not being able to reach for Rory and tell her that all he really wants is to get out of there and spend time with her. 

But she’s engrossed in a conversation with her friends now and he’s pulled into beer pong. Leslie, the reigning beer pong champ for who knows how many summers, has already set everything up and picked out pairings, and Niall’s at a table with a bloke named Jayden. They’re familiar with one another so they make small talk as they begin but Niall can still feel the overwhelming irritation that’s lodged into his muscles. It’s making him dizzy with an annoyance that threatens to bubble into anger. He’s just landing the ball into one of Jayden’s cups when he spots Rory heading towards him. 

His heart is in his throat again, and this time for a different reason. Rory’s got that look on her face once more, the intense, concentrated one. But when she notices him watching her it melts away, replaced with a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. She steps close to him, that sunshine scent of hers seemingly stronger now. With this and his residual embarrassment of earlier, Niall thinks he might go crazy. “Good luck,” she tells him, voice so low that it’s clear she only means for him to hear. 

But she’s barely looking at him. 

And she’s starting to walk away. 

Shit. He scrambles for something to say to keep her here with him but comes up short, and in a moment of desperation, he reaches out to grab her wrist before she gets too far. Distantly, he registers a ping pong ball knocking lightly against his stomach from Jayden missing his shot. He doesn’t care. “Rory.” He hopes his voice doesn’t give away how frantic he is. He feels like he needs to explain even though he didn’t do anything. “The thing that just happened—”

And they’re being interrupted. Again. Niall is going to rip his hair out. He’s about to tell whoever it is to fuck off when he realizes that it’s someone he knows. Johnny Torres. 

Niall lets go of Rory, fingers finding the ping pong ball instead. As he’s taking the shot, he hears Johnny say to Rory, “Haven’t seen you in a while, babe,” and his entire body goes so numb that he has no idea how he lands the ball in a cup. Jayden fishes it out and drinks, seemingly unbothered with whatever’s happening on Niall’s end, engrossed in a conversation with one of his own friends. 

Every single one of Niall’s nerve endings are on edge. He doesn’t know what to do or say. All he can focus on is Johnny’s hand around Rory’s wrist and think about how he heard the two of them have—or had?—a fling or something of the sort. He’s suddenly insecure. Maybe he misunderstood the look in Rory’s eyes earlier. Maybe she doesn’t feel the same way as he does and was about to tell him so. Maybe he’s been too obvious this whole time and she’s uncomfortable with it. 

Niall thinks he might hurl. 

Johnny asks Rory if she wants to watch him play at another table and Rory starts to tell him that she’s in the middle of a conversation and Niall starts to panic. What is he even going to say to her? 

“The thing that just happened…” That’s where he left off. How can he explain himself now? He might say too much. He might push her away. He can’t—he can’t think. 

So he takes a deep breath and lands another shot. “It’s alright, Rors,” he hears himself say, interrupting her mid sentence as he turns and sends her a smile. He needs to let her go for the time being. There’s too much going on and it’s making him crazy and he needs time to just think. “I’ll catch up with you later, yeah?”

She’s whisked away by Johnny to an adjacent table and Niall has to tear his eyes away to keep from staring. Jayden lands a ball into one of Niall’s cups and he quickly takes the drink, desperate for some sort of distraction from the events of the past twenty minutes. The beer is cheap and watered down and it goes down easy, but it has no immediate effect on him. Which doesn’t help because his eyes flit over to where Rory and Johnny is and he’s met with the sight of Johnny brushing away that strand of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. 

Before he even realizes it, he’s tossing the ball so hard that it knocks over a cup on Jayden’s side, beer spilling everywhere. “I’m so sorry!” he gasps when Jayden yelps. “I definitely did not mean to do that.” Niall passes Jayden some paper towels for the table. Thankfully, no beer spilled onto his clothes. 

“It’s all good,” Jayden says, wiping the table quickly and tossing out the now wet paper towels. He jerks his head towards Rory and Johnny, a knowing look in his glasses covered eyes. “Girl troubles?” 

Niall glances over again only to see Johnny’s hand on the small of Rory’s back. He’s holding her so close that their faces are inches apart, and Niall has to avert his eyes to avoid seeing something he doesn’t want to see. “No, we’re just friends,” he says to Jayden, but heat is spreading through his body so fast that he’s sure he’s red all over. He’s startled by the furious wave of emotions that crashes through him. Never has he felt this way before, a spiderweb of feelings over someone who is not even his. And he doesn’t like it. 

Jayden sends him a perceptive smirk, clearly noticing the flush on Niall’s face, and Niall grabs another cup to drink from even though Jayden hasn’t even tossed the ball yet. “Doesn’t look that way,” he shrugs, clearly amused. “You keep looking over at her with this sad look on your face.” 

Niall is shocked by this assessment, not having considered that sadness may be a facet of his tangled emotions. He’s upset, sure. But he has to remind himself that he and Rory are just friends and he respects that. Wanted that, even. He’d love for their relationship to be something more, but the summer is almost ending, and he would never want to be someone who hurts her because of any uncertainty that will come when it does. 

Jayden takes a shot and misses. “Don’t know if this helps,” he says nonchalantly, “but she keeps looking at you too.” 

Niall doesn’t know why but this is what makes him smile, even if it may mean nothing, even if it could be wishful thinking on his part that he is on Rory’s mind just like she is on his. 

Niall ends up winning that round of beer pong. He and Jayden part with a handshake and a few laughs, with Jayden giving Niall extra details about the fight that happened earlier. Finally, Niall is at ease. He doesn’t know what had gotten into him earlier but he doesn’t like that version of himself and resolves to keep his head down to avoid running into anymore mishaps. 

Apparently that isn’t possible. Because for the next round, he’s paired with none other than Johnny Torres. Niall sighs to himself because Johnny’s actually a really cool guy. Even if Johnny and Rory were a thing, it shouldn’t get Niall all riled up. After all, Rory has warmed up to him enough to call him a friend, a far cry from the beginning of the summer when she was guarded and distant towards him, and that was all he ever wanted anyway. To be her friend and make her smile. 

He and Johnny shake hands, wish each other good luck, and get started. Niall’s about to take his shot when something catches his eye. It’s Rory, of course. She’s standing on the other side of the room and she’s looking right at him. Their eyes connect and she smiles at him. It’s soft and beautiful and his skin is overheating again but it’s for a different reason now. She sends him a thumbs-up and a silent look that tells him good luck, and something else too, but he can’t quite figure out what. 

Niall smiles back at her, the world falling away for a moment before he remembers he’s supposed to be playing a game. When he tosses the ball, it lands directly into a cup that’s notoriously difficult to land. Cheers erupt around him. It’s clear that the rest of the partygoers are now invested in this tournament and have chosen favorites. Niall doesn’t care, though. Because when his eyes search for Rory again, he finds that she’s still watching him. He’s so thrilled by this that he sends her a playful wink. Her smile grows and he feels his heart give an excited flutter. 

“Ohhh,” Johnny is drawing out, drinking from the cup Niall landed the ball in. “I get it now.”

Niall quirks a brow at him, the beginnings of a laugh in his throat. “Get what?” 

Johnny smirks. “You and Rory. You’re into each other. That’s why she was being all weird when I interrupted you two.” 

Niall is blushing again and he wishes he’d stop doing that. Weird things happen to him whenever Rory is the topic of conversation and everyone else always picks up on it. “We’re just friends.” 

This time, Johnny laughs. He takes a shot and lands it in an outer cup. “Yeah. Sure you are.” 

Niall gulps down his beer. “What does that mean?” 

Johnny shrugs, the look in his eyes mirroring the one Niall saw in Jayden’s, knowing and slightly amused. “The way you guys just looked at each other? Looked like a bit more than friendship to me.” Niall somehow lands another shot and Johnny fishes the ball out to drink from the cup. “But we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” 

For some reason, this is what breaks the wall of tension between them and they both start laughing. “Okay, fine,” Niall says. Johnny tosses the ball and misses. “I like her.” 

“Then you should tell her.” Johnny sounds so matter-of-fact that Niall nearly agrees with him. He stops himself, instead landing the ball into another one of Johnny’s cups. 

“I dunno.” Niall is the one shrugging this time. “I don’t want to ruin anything. It took basically the entire summer for us to even become friends.” 

Johnny laughs. There’s a bigger crowd drawing around them now. “For what it’s worth,” he starts, keeping it vague just in case they had eavesdroppers, “I seriously doubt that being honest about your feelings will ruin anything. I know her. And I think if you tell her, you won’t be disappointed by her reaction.” 

There are too many people around to continue this conversation now so they steer towards a different topic, but Niall can’t help but let Johnny’s words wash over him. He runs the risk of compromising this friendship he’s managed to cultivate with Rory, but what if she does feel the same way? Should he tell her?

He mulls this over for the rest of the night. Even when he wins against Johnny Torres. Even when he continues to play against Leslie. Even when he ends up winning the whole tournament and the house is erupting with cheers of his name, he’s only thinking of Rory. 

So when he turns around when it’s all over and spots her there, looking at him, smiling, he smiles too. I like you a lot, Rory Bhatt, he thinks he might say to her. It almost feels right. Because she’s watching him, eyes glittering, like he’s the only person in the room. It’s like they’re magnetically attracted to one another. People are clapping him on the back, congratulating him on dethroning the reigning beer pong champ, but his feet continue pulling him towards Rory. 

She looks beautiful. There’s a glow on her face, that strand of hair falling over her forehead, and she’s smiling at him so widely that it makes his knees weak. He’s close enough now to see a soft pink flush on her cheeks and he so badly wants to press his hands to it, to pull her close, to maybe kiss her, taste her lips, which are slightly red and shining with lip gloss. 

Maybe he’s had too much to drink. 

Anyway, he’s not able to get close enough to do anything because Callie’s stepping in front of him, throwing her arms around him in a hug and screaming about his win. He’s taken aback by her presence but tries to play it off, hugging her back. “Let’s celebrate later,” she says. She’s clearly still drunk because she tries to wink at him but both of her eyes go all weird. “You know where to find me.”

She’s off after that, wobbling away, and he doesn’t care enough to watch her go because Rory is thankfully still standing there. 

“Hey,” he says to her, closing the distance between them in three steps. She’s still clinging to that sunshine scent but she smells a bit like whiskey too. 

She had been looking at Callie but when she turns to him at the sound of his voice, she smiles. “Hi.” Her cheeks are even pinker up close and she’s grinning at him and he nearly blurts out how cute he thinks she is. “Congrats on being the first person to ever beat Leslie at beer pong.”

Niall laughs and Rory smiles wider. He loves that smile. He’ll do anything for it. He’ll even make a fool of himself for it. 

She sounds like she’s had too much to drink and he jokes about it, his heart lighting up when she giggles. It makes him feel like champagne bubbles are popping through his veins. That word is flashing in his mind again. Reckless. Because he’s selfish and he’s trying to figure out a way to steal more time with her. Because she’s here and she’s laughing and she’s looking at him like she wants to kiss him too. Is he imagining that?

“Wanna come back to mine and say hello to Spike?” he asks. He wants to make her laugh again. 

“Mmmm.” She’s still grinning. “I was just about to head back to my place. Hanna from the kitchens gave me a slice of chocolate cake that is calling my name.”

Niall’s heart stutters. He tries again. “Okay. I can walk you back.” 

Rory shrugs, and he finds himself stepping closer when someone bumps into her. “No, it’s fine,” she says, “I don’t wanna pull you away from all the fun. This is like…your moment.” Her smile falters for a moment but she fixes it back quickly. “And it looks like there are others who really want you to stay.”

Niall’s heart sinks. No, he thinks, please let me have more time with you. What can he say to make this better? He’s usually careless with his words but he tries to choose them carefully now, clearing his throat and trying to sound nonchalant. “Don’t really care about others, to be honest. I’d like to walk you home. If you’ll let me.”

Those must have been the right words, because all of her features are softening now. Coffee brown eyes and raspberry red lips. She smells like sunshine. “Yeah, okay,” she says, and it takes everything in him not to cheer out loud. 

They finally get outside after being stopped a few times and the night air is so refreshing on Niall’s skin. It clears his mind of the fog of events from tonight and he’s glad for it. They’re both drunk and stumbling into one another. At one point they are overcome with giggles and Rory is dragging him through their laughter because she really wants her chocolate cake. 

“Ugh. You’re so cute.” It slips out of his mouth before he can even think to stop it and he glances frantically over at Rory to make sure she’s not going to run away from his bluntness or something. He’s surprised to find that he’s inadvertently made her blush, a deep red color that spreads all the way to her ears. He can’t help the way he smiles at the sight. 

“Jesus, Niall,” she huffs, absentmindedly tucking her hair back. Niall has to resist the urge to reach out and run his fingers through it, the memory of its softness tingling against his skin. “You can’t just say things like that. And besides, after tonight, you’re the one everyone’s gonna be talking about.” He must look at her questioningly because she continues. “You’re like a hotshot now. Beer pong champ and a Shack boy? All the girls are gonna be falling at your feet. If they weren’t already, that is.”

She’s grinning at him and waggling her brows but Niall can’t find it in himself to be playful about this. Still, he forces out a laugh. “Not really, no.” 

Rory lets out a scoff, flipping her hair back. “Nonsense. Have you seen yourself?” This time Niall’s the one blushing. “I mean, Callie was basically drooling over you tonight. And she’s picky.”

He nearly groans. Why does the Callie thing keep following him around tonight? He knows Rory’s joking but he really doesn’t want to keep talking about her. 

“I dunno. I just kind of mind my own business. I’m not interested in the messiness of it all…the whole ‘Shack boy’ thing.” They’re close to Rory’s place now and this conversation feels like it’s taking a turn. And not in a good way. He tries to think of something to get them back on track, to get them laughing at nothing like they just were. But then Rory is talking again. 

“Why didn’t you do it?” She’s slurring again, and he thinks she might be changing the subject. 

“Do what?” 

She stalls for a moment, a tension seeping into the air, and it’s only then that he looks at her again. She appears to be thinking hard about something, the corner of her mouth pulled downwards. “Why didn’t you stay back? Like, Callie was clearly into you. She even invited you to—” She huffs. “Why didn’t you—”

“Jesus Rory.” He’s exasperated now because he really doesn’t like this conversation. How does she still not get it? He wants to spend time with her, not anyone else. Going to this party really was a terrible idea on his part. “I didn’t want to do anything with Callie.”

“I mean, I’m not judging you. It’s a party and that’s a thing. That happens. At parties. I think.” She’s drunk and she’s rambling and Niall wants to pull his hair out in frustration because how can he convince her that nothing is as she’s thinking at all. 

They’ve stopped walking because he’s annoyed now. All night he’s wanted to be with her. All night he’s been trying to spend time with her. How can she not see it when everyone else—complete strangers—have mentioned it to him. “Are you fuckin’ serious right now?” He doesn’t mean to sound so upset but he is. He's drunk and really fucking upset. “You’re taking the piss, aren’t you?”

Rory looks confused and he suddenly feels bad. “What? I don’t know—”

Jesus. She can’t be serious. He’s really going to have to spell this out for her. Rory and her big brown eyes and her sunshine smell. He’s so weak for her and she’s acting like she can’t see it. “Rory, there is no way you have no idea what I’m talking about. You can’t possibly be that oblivious.” She is, apparently, because she looks at him blankly and asks what he’s going on about. He thinks he groans her name out because what? Jayden mentioned it. Johnny mentioned it. Everyone at this goddamn resort has somehow figured out that he’s hopelessly in love with her and yet Rory is still the last to know. “Callie wasn’t the one I wanted to make out with!” he finally blurts out.

He looks at her to see if she’s pieced it together yet but she just stares at him. Her blush is back too. “Then…who—” 

“You!” The word echoes around them. The trees, the grass, the lampposts, all of them throw his voice back at the both of them. “You, Rory. This whole summer it’s been—” And, god, he can’t take it anymore. She’s inches away and watching him like she’s surprised and he’s suddenly so desperate to get her to believe that it’s true and he likes her and he wants to spend all his time with her and he can’t get her out of his stupid head. 

He’s desperate and he wants so much and she’s here and she smells like sunshine and he’s suddenly reaching for her and crashing his lips against hers because he doesn’t know what else to fucking do. Rory leans back like she’s falling and his arms find her waist to hold her against him and her body does this thing like it’s melting into him and holy shit, he’s kissing Rory Bhatt. 

And she’s kissing him back. Her head tilts, hands pulling him closer, throat releasing a sound that drains all the blood out of his head and he suddenly can’t even remember his own name. Her soft hair is tangled into his fingers, her lips tasting like fucking raspberry and rum and he nearly laughs because she smells like the sun and she tastes like it too.

She’s kissing him back and it’s frantic movements and heated touches and his skin is burning up like he’s Icarus and he’s gotten too close to the sun. She moans into his mouth again and he thinks he might faint. 

But then her hands trail from his neck to his shoulders to his chest, pressing slightly like she’s going to push him away, and suddenly his wits come back to him and he’s falling from the sky and crashing back to earth. 

Shit, he’s thinking. Shit shit shit. He’s drunk and he kissed her. She’s drunk and he kissed her. He wasn’t thinking. He got so caught up in trying to tell her how he feels that he took it too far. She’s going to think he took advantage of her because she’s had too much to drink and how could he be so fucking stupid!

“I’m sorry,” he rasps out, scrubbing his hands over his heated skin which burns from the memory of her touch and her lips and her warmth. “I shouldn’t have—I should’ve asked—”

“What?” Rory asks, but he can’t look at her. He’s too ashamed of himself. They were finally friends and he’s gone and ruined it because he’s drunk and impulsive and stupid. 

“I didn’t wanna ruin anything and now I’ve gone and—” Fuck fuck fuck, how can he fix this? His brain is in shambles. All he can think of is Rory and sunshine and raspberry lip gloss. He’s fucked everything up. He can’t fix this. “Goodnight, Rory.” It’s all he can say before he starts to back away, resisting the urge to just run. He’s stupid and she’s going to hate him forever. 

He walks and walks and doesn’t dare look back. He walks and the summer wind screams in his ears. You’re so stupid you’re so stupid. He walks and his thighs are burning but he doesn’t stop until he gets to his place. 

It’s only until he gets the door closed behind them that he hears how hard he’s breathing, feels the shame prickling against his cheeks. He can still feel Rory’s hands on him and his knees finally give out, his back sliding down the door as he presses overheated fingers to his eyes. 

She told him, too. He can still remember the look on her face when she did, sad and helpless and regretful. She told him about the bloke who broke her heart, who betrayed her, who took advantage of her. He had been so angry for her. And now look at him. What better is he? How could he do that knowing what she’d been through? 

She was drunk and he kissed her without thinking. 

Something is crawling along his feet and he moves his hands away from his eyes only to find that it’s Spike. He’s purring softly, tilting his head at him, and Niall reaches out to pull him close. Spike nuzzles into his shirt and purrs again, louder this time, and Niall wonders if it’s because he can smell Rory on him. 

“I really fucked up, Spikey,” he mumbles quietly into the soft fur. “She’s gonna hate me.” 

Spike licks his temple, letting out a soft mewl, and Niall sighs as he slumps back against the door. 

He doesn’t know how he’s going to fix this. 

[sinner-as-saint]

Call An Avenger

requested! I couldn’t tell if anon wanted fluff or smut so I wrote a bit of both. 

Run-through: Y/N is a new member of the Avengers cast. And while doing a fun, playful interview promoting the new movie, things get saucy.

Themes: language, fluff, slight smut

   “Alright Y/n, you’ve been set with Sebastian and Chris for the next one, starting in 10 minutes. They need to set up your mike so, hurry up a little bit would you, darling?” Linda said, typing furiously on the screen of her phone.

Linda was your assistant, and also one of your best friends.

You were currently the most talked about person in Hollywood. You were a successful singer, who also acted in some hit movies. And soon, another one would be added to your list because you were the newest addition to the Marvel family, quite a significant one actually.

Your recent movie was an Avengers one, and acting alongside some of the biggest actors in the industry, caused a lot of pressure but you were somewhat handling it like a pro.

You and the Avengers cast were travelling around the world, attending conventions, meet and greets, doing interviews and talk shows – promoting the movie. And so far you were having fun, and you actually grew close to quite a lot of them.

The closest friends you had so far were Scarlett, RDJ himself, Tom and Chadwick. However, you couldn’t help but feel a sort of tension whenever you were around Sebastian or Chris Evans. Of course, you were fan of them way before you guys did a movie together but there was definitely something wonderful in the air whenever one of them was around.

One of the traits of your character in the movie is that, she can be quite flirty and seductive to get to her enemies or to lure them into her traps, so you had to be physically close to both the actors during shooting and you couldn’t help but feel certain sparks in certain places whenever one of them touched you, or looked you in the eyes.

The feeling was weird to you, you had never been one to imagine yourself with more than one partner. Yet here you were, dreaming and crushing on two very good looking guys who were good friends to each other and to you, and who were way out of your league.

“Y/N! Seriously honey, hurry up!” Linda yelled, pushing you into in front of the camera, into a chair. Right in between probably two of the most gorgeous beings you had ever seen.

“Hello guys!” you chirped, setting down so one of the people working could set up you mike at the back of your dress.

“Hey y/n!” Sebastian said, giving you a slight wave, a gorgeous smile and a mini heart attack.

“Oh hey there y/n!” Chris said, giving you a warm smile, and another mini heart attack.

As you sat down, you realized that the chairs were placed really close to each other, to a point where when you sat down, your arms were each touching a muscular bicep of each men.

And there is was again, the sparks, the wonderful feeling in the air along with their addicting cologne mixed together.

 A couple of minutes later of you guys just catching up and having a casual conversation, your interviewer walked in, smiling at all of you.

You thought he was rather cute, a little bit nervous but cute nonetheless.

“Hi guys! My name’s Joe. Okay, I know we don’t have much time because of your crazy busy schedule, but I have just a few questions and a fun game for you guys. So, you ready?” he asked, a very charming smile on his face.

“Yeah! Let’s go!” said Chris, sipping his coffee.

“Sure, bud!” Sebastian said, adjusting himself in his seat.

“Yeah, let’s do it!” you cheered.

“Okay, first question goes to the lovely Y/N who is making my heart race by how gorgeous she looks right now, right so, being so young and a new member of the Marvel family, how excited were you when you found out that RDJ himself wanted you to play this character?” Joe asked.

You smiled at him before answering.

“I mean, being a hardcore Marvel fan for so long now, I have to say I thought I was losing my mind when RDJ’s people called my team to talk about it. I was absolutely thrilled and nervous at the same time. I mean, I had just wrapped up a world tour and instead of taking a break and working on new music, I had to shoot for a least five months which was no joke, but I got to meet the people I had idolized for so long now, plus, I made some great friends so, yeah I wouldn’t change it for the world,” you smiled, trying your best at answering carefully.

“Well, I’m sure all the fangirls and fanboys will absolutely love you in this! Now, Chris, it is said that you, Sebastian and Y/N are quite the pranksters on set. What would you say was your best prank till now, as a trio?” Joe asked, and while Chris answered the question, you and Sebastian just looked at each other and absolutely died laughing as you remembered clearly which one it was.

“Oh my god! So, once Ruffalo mentioned that he has this weird phobia of someone chasing him with poo on a stick, right? And we all thought it was all bluff so, we decided to test it out…” he trailed off laughing out loud, slapping his left boob. Classic Chris.

“And he legitimately freaked out! We all thought he was acting but turns out, Ruffalo really does have a phobia of people chasing him with shit on a stick!” Sebastian told the remaining story, laughing as well while Chris recovered from his laughter fit.

“Plus, it wasn’t poo at all, it was, I believe something we stole from one of the makeup trailers, oh Mark,” you added, shaking your head at the memory.

 Joe asked a couple of more questions before moving on to the game he had planned.

 “Alright, so this is an easy, fun game called “Call an Avenger”, and I’m gonna give you guys certain everyday life scenarios and you have to tell me which Avenger you’ll call to help you out in that situation, okay?” Joe explained, and the three of you nodded.

“Right, you’re stuck on a deserted island,” he asked.

“Iron Man,” the lot of you answered, at the same time and then looked at each other and smiled.

“That’s true, Tony Stark would get you the hell out of there, safe and sound. He might even adopt you later to be honest,” you added and the two men agreed.

“Okay, what if you’re trapped in an elevator,” Joe said.

“Oh,” you all said and went into deep thought.

“I mean, I’ll go with Iron Man again, he’ll definitely know what to do,” Chris said, sipping his coffee again.

“Uh, think I’ll go with Ant Man, I mean, he could shrink down and do his thing, right? I’ll say Ant Man,” Sebastian replied.

“Oh I’ll go with Winter Soldier, Bucky it is for me. I mean, c’mon, that metal arm and those muscles could get me out of there rather quickly,” you answered and Sebastian looked at you with a shine in his eyes and a big smile on his face. And if you didn’t have a crush on the man, you wouldn’t notice how he slowly, but certainly, inched closer to you.

“That’s fair, okay next, you need to make an ex jealous,” Joe wiggled his eyebrows, smirking.

“Y/C/N,” the two men said, simultaneously.

“Chris, I mean, Cap,” you corrected yourself quickly, then you realized that they both had chosen your character.

“Ooh, drama!” Joe added, as the three of you started playfully bickering.

 “Wait, what? Why not me?” Sebastian complained.

“Wow! I mean I can’t say that I didn’t like that, and why Seb can’t say Black Widow or something, man c’mon, why can’t I have Y/C/N all to myself?” Chris said, laughing. A warm feeling took over you when he said the last part and you tried your best not to show it.

“And I can’t say I’m not offended! What, now Bucky isn’t good enough for you babygirl?” Sebastian teased, smiling. But his smile soon faded as he slowly realized what he had just said. And you tried your best not to smile like a crazy person while he tried his best to cover up.

You noticed Joe’s head shot up as soon as Sebastian referred to you as ‘babygirl’.

“He is Seb, it’s just that, I believe Cap is more cut out for that job,” you explained, placing a hand on his knee gently and smiling up at him.

Your team would most definitely review the interview before it airs so you were sure that Linda would force them to cut that part out or else she’d have their heads.

“Okay okay, don’t argue Avengers, we still need you. Alright next, you badly need a date for an event,” Joe asked again.

“Thor,” you replied, with a smirk.

“Wow, that was quick,” Chris pointed out.

“Yeah, like you didn’t even give us a second thought,” Seb argued further.

You laughed.

“I mean, I had to go with my favorite Chris so, yeah,” you replied, sarcasm dripping from your words.

Chris dramatically placed a hand on his heart, faking that he was actually hurt by your words while Sebastian said something along the lines of ‘at least there’s no other Sebastian in the cast’.

“Ooh, shots fired, I mean you’re out here breaking hearts y/n!” Joe said, laughing along with you.

“Yeah, I thought I was your favorite Chris, what the hell?” Chris placed a hand on your shoulder and shook his head in disbelief.

“And I thought you loved me! We kiss in the trailer Y/N! What about that?” Sebastian added.

It was true. You did share a kiss, briefly, in the trailer. And your fans went crazy. There was all these ship names going around, edits and fan accounts based on people who hoped that you and him end up together. Then there were those you preferred you and Chris together after a video of you both goofing around on set got out.

 “Oh my God, Joe! What have you started?” you pleaded.

 After a few more rounds, Joe said goodbye and the three of you walked away.

 “Y/N c’mon, you need to change for the next one,” Linda yelled from across the room and you rushed into the changing room, leaving behind the two men. Or so you thought.

 The changing room was quite spacious, with full length mirrors, a set of clothes hanging on the side, a dresser table with a bunch of makeup laid in front of it.

You closed the door and wasted no time in getting out of the navy blue bodycon dress you initially wore, leaving you in just your lacy, black matching set of underwear. Leaving your dress on the floor, you walked over to the clothes that were hanging, and tried selecting one to wear for your next interview. But that was until you noticed something in the mirror. Two people standing behind you, unmoving.

Your eyes widened as you turned around, your hands trying to hide as much of your body as they could, but the two men smirked at the sight of you.

“Aww c’mon now, nothing we haven’t seen, doll. We’ve worked out together before, haven’t we?” Chris cooed, walking towards you slowly.

“What the hell? If anyone finds us here, we w-,”

“They won’t, doll. We made sure of that, now where were we?” Sebastian answered, walking towards you as well.

By then, you were blushing. Hard. And your heart was pounding inside your chest.

They moved towards you to the point where your back hit the wall and they stood right in front of you. Through the wall, you could hear Linda barking orders at other people.

“Seriously, is this because of something I said earlier, and do you always do this? Together?” you asked, surprised at your own question.

They smirked.

“No, but it’s worth a try though isn’t it? I mean, we feel the sparks too,” Chris said, leaning closer to you, “but you’ll have to be quiet, yeah, baby?” his hands reached around you and worked on unhooking your bra, his lips leaving light kisses along your jaw and his beard tickling your skin.

Meanwhile, Sebastian knelt down and managed to get you out of your underwear, his lips kissing your inner thighs as you tried your best to hold back a loud moan just by looking at him in between your legs.

“Remember babygirl, be quiet. We don’t wanna get caught now, do we?” Seb said as his mouth left deep red marks up along your inner thighs.

Well, you thought, this was a one-time thing right? So, it was totally worth the try.