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#I ignored this drawing cause I couldn’t figure out the shading but whatever
fantasygayng · 3 years
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November 1, 2020
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eremiie · 3 years
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Fic where y/n has a threesome with Levi and eren😗
can you finish these papers?
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❥ 8k words | nsfw | levi x reader x eren
❥ you have some work to finish but you also have somewhere to be, so what’s the harm in handing it off to eren? only, eren ends up needing help with your work, and both eren and levi decide to help you out.
❥ content: threesome, double penetration (vaginal/anal), choking, lowkey cuckolding but not really, slight praise kink, semi-public sex
❥ note: i actually made one back in december so i will simply give that to you now, enjoy <3
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"eren!" you called for the brunette, watching his body turn around just before he rounded the corner of the complex, a small smile gracing his face at your figure. you ran up to him, his arms wrapping around your small frame before you could topple over him.
"hey, slow down." the fabric of his button up crinkled the stack of papers in your hand in the slightest before you picked yourself up. he took it upon himself to draw you in closer engaging you in a brief hug before letting you go, causing you to smile at the small gesture. "why are you running?"
"oh, i wanted to catch you before you went to the cubicles." you bit your bottom lip, slightly embarrassed at the fact that you in fact we're running around an office complex to catch him. "i needed you to sign off these papers, and then finish up the rest for me, some of them aren't in my field but i was given them anyways." you held up the papers to your chest and dropped them, eren's eyes following. he took in your appearance; you were wearing a blazer one piece, as if it was a skirt and a blazer warped into one in the bright shade of white, the fabric coming down to a little more than above your knee. trailing down your legs you had a medium handbag in your left hand in a black color that matched your heels.
you were so gorgeous, is what he thought to himself. you never failed to dress to impress at your job, and he never failed to miss greeting you in the morning's when you would come into the building, your normal routine was you and him making coffee together, and on the days you were late he'd make yours for you, cold brew with caramel flavored creamer and a teaspoon of sugar every time. he liked you, but he didn't realize it until one day armin pointed it out to him.
you were seated with him at a meeting, and eren couldn't stop staring at you, the only person seeming to realize being armin, the intelligent coworker of yours that you seemed to only see time to time, and mikasa who was very observant in general; especially with eren.
"you like her!" armin squealed at eren after the meeting during your break. mikasa didn't fail to give a disapproving look at eren, during the ordeal.
"you do. but i'm not surprised. you don't even know her. you only like her for her looks, eren." she added on to armin's comment, eren furrowing his eyebrows at his coworker.
"i don't like her, i just think she's nice guys, and i actually have talked to her, multiple times, so i don't just like her for her looks, mikasa." he crossed his arms and mentally waved the two off. "you don't even know if we talk or not, you're in the complex over." his irritation was clear and he was beginning to walk off, mikasa hesitant to follow.
"eren if you like her that's okay! i'm all for it, and if you want a," armin nudged eren's shoulder playfully with a joyful smile. "wingman i can help you out."
eren grimaced at armin and pushed his arm down with a shake of his head. "armin stop, i don't need a wingman, i don't like her, and i don't need you trying to watch who i talk to mikasa." eren's voice raised in the slightest causing mikasa to step forward in front of armin. she looked down at her watch on her wrist and looked back up to eren with a motherly expression. "break is over in five minutes. let's go."
eren muttered something inaudible under his breath but let mikasa push him forward by the small of his back with armin trailing behind so they could leave the small break area.
so yes, he did like you, and only realized and admitted it to himself after that day, yet he would never admit it to his friends. mikasa would constantly be on his ass about every little thing and armin would try to gain intel on the relationship in retrospect. seeing you genuinely made his heart warm, and he was never afraid to be more than touchy with you, yet he didn't know exactly what move to make.
"yeah, i can do that. do you need them by a specific time?" he grabbed the papers from your hand, letting his brush against your dainty fingers for a slight moment, and he loved the way you grinned at him.
"no, no take your time, bring them by whenever. i have something to do anyways so please, take your time." he nodded his head at you.
"no additional information i need to know? nobody specific to give these to or anything?"
you didn't really think about your response, just wanting to get the papers off your chest. "nope, it's all in the papers, do whatever you want or whatever it says, you're the man."
he chuckled and held the papers up to confirm to you that he'll get everything done for you, despite his own workload. "alright, see you later then?"
"yes, of course, i'll see you later, eren, thank you so much!" and you were off as quick as you met up with him, heading over to the elevator, him watching you leave.
eren couldn't stop smiling to himself on his way to his own office, it was on the same floor as yours, yet the two of you weren't walking together. he assumed like you told him, you had something important to do and that's why you left some of your papers off to him, as the two of you were in the same business field in general compared to others like armin, mikasa, who were in the building next door.
finally, eren was sat at his desk skimming through the papers you gave him. he made two piles, one of papers he simply needed to sign off and transmit to someone above him, most likely the line manager, maybe the director or counselor, and another with work you actually left him to complete for you. mostly phone calls, documents to file and appointments to schedule. he sighed to himself and decided to just sign off the papers to pass on quickly, maybe he'd even be able to stop by your office on the way back to let you know he did some of the work and spark up a conversation.
meanwhile, you were making your own way to another office. you knocked on the door a few times, a small smirk on your face already.
"come in." the voice like silk answered and you wasted no time opening the wooden door.
"levi, hello." you hummed with the same grin you gave eren, just earlier. you closed the door behind you and watched levi study you briefly, rolling his chair out from underneath his desk. his eyes glanced from his desk to you and then back to his desk, getting up and grabbing miscellaneous items, going over to place them on a shelf so it was clearer. "always the clean freak." you scoffed stepping closer until you were right in-front of the plain desk, your fingertips brushing the surface that you've been fucked over countless times. you bent down and placed your purse onto the floor beside his desk. "did you miss me?"
levi went back to sitting down, giving you a one over, taking in your appearance as well. if you were to say so yourself, you were proud of your attire as well, it was giving you a confidence boost, and you got compliments when you wore it almost every time, not to say you wore it a lot.
"heichou? why are you ignoring me?" your voice was flirty. he still hadn't spoke a word to you, yet you knew he was fine with you being here, more than fine. you weren't genuinely being a nuisance, you just wanted to rile him up a bit. you and levi were always like this, not many people spoke to him, as a matter of fact you can't recall much people being willingly enough to talk to him. he was more threatening then the manager, erwin. yet your curiosity didn't fail you when you took a shot at him. both you and hange didn't let his sly remarks, or his little choice of words scare you away, or the death glare he'd shoot in your directions make you shy away from him, and maybe he enjoyed that a little bit.
but the difference between you and hange was your relation to him. an amazing friend you were to him, he even willingly gave you his number when you asked. you nor him were one hundred percent positive on how the situation came to be but you could remember (and you were sure he could too) the first time it happened.
after the first time, every once in a while you and levi would participate in sultry endeavors. you had him wrapped around your finger and you might've been the first girl to at that, although he had you wrapped around his too. not to mention the couple times the two of you didn't fail to fuck at work, levi always feeling more guilty than you after. it was a way to relieve stress for the two of you, and even if you wanted to, you doubt levi would allow you to get any closer to him than you were, not that it bothered you. he was like an onion, lots of hard layers to try and cut through, even after being so close with each other. you never asked why either, his feelings seeming to deep to dive in, and a little much for your carefree self to handle.
"the nicknames not working either?" you strode over and slowly placed yourself in his lap, making sure there were no signs of rejection or anything that would indicate he wasn't in the mood. your legs now were swung over either side of him and your head was leveled with his. "can i?" small fingers brushed up the side of his face, and he involuntarily stiffened in the slightest, even after so many sessions.
he locked his eyes with you and let you lean in to connect both of your lips, a sweet taste of his earlier tea still on his tongue, and only then did he finally place his hands on your lower back, bringing you forward and letting your hips meet his fervently. you tasted of coffee and it blended in perfectly with the herbal taste of his mouth that you swallowed up. moving your hands from his face to his neck, your arms hung over the back of the chair. you pulled back to catch your breath.
"so you're just playing hard to get today?" you smirked, placing your hands over levi's own hands. "do you want to make this quick? i'm not really busy today but how about you?"
finally, levi spoke to you for the first time that evening; "just a meeting with erwin near the end of the work day, in a couple hours."
"you couldn't go a couple hours if we wanted to." your playful remark didn't go unnoticed, and neither did the way he pinched your sides harshly, a yelp coming from your mouth as he picked you up and sat you on his desk.
"only because your shitty ass would be passed out after a few rounds." his eyes gleamed slightly at your charming expression after his joke that made you laugh. you threw your hands back around his neck and pulled him in for another kiss, happy with the way he kissed you more excitingly this time. your tongues and lips danced in a hungry manner and he could feel the happiness radiating off of you. after all it has been a while since you last got to have time with the man.
you trailed your kisses downwards, letting them meet his sharp jawline and then even further until you pecked his adam's apple, it bobbing under your warm lips, and then further once again until they were met with his collarbone. his hand flew to your hair as you continued your administrations, biting and sucking at the thin skin surrounding his collarbone, him holding back his groans, although you could imagine his expression; eyebrows pinched together and his mouth hanging open in the slightest.
deciding to help him out a bit, his suit jacket was thrown off his shoulders onto his chair earning a hard glare from you and you quickly unbuttoned the rest of his white button up until his chest was revealed, giving you the opportunity to run your fingers around it. "hm, pretty."
his smell was distinctive, his signature cologne which you remember asking him the name for but you couldn't recall. it was a french name, something along the lines of 'de chanel', but your mind was becoming foggy and you didn't have time to remember the name at the moment.
"slow down." levi's muttered. "take off that thing." a look of amusement crossd your face, your upper lip perking up and your eyebrows raising. you slowly began to unbutton your buttons one after the other, fully aware you didn't have a bra on underneath your selected outfit; of course not for any particular reason. you just thought it looked simply better without it.
"what? the blazer dress?" and levi held his stern look with you, clearly he could care less about what the piece was called, and he helped you unbutton the remaining buttons letting it fall from your front and rest on your shoulders. he admired your figure, letting his hands ghost over you soft breasts before running his hand down your abdomen and resting them on your hips. his fingers dipped under the band of your underwear, the material nothing special, probably a cotton blend, then he let the pads of his index fingers rub against your hips before pulling them down and folding them to place on his chair. you rolled your eyes. "was folding them really necessary?"
"be lucky i'm even about to bend you over this desk and not making you clean up the mess you're gonna make."
you held your hands up in mock defense, eyelids raising in fake surprise at his comeback, but soon after your eyelids rose in real shock at the feeling of one of his fingers entering you, slowly becoming two. doing it yourself never hit as much as his fingers felt, they fit so effortlessly and made you feel squeamish. you lifted your head up in the slightest to watch him pump the digits in and out your cunt slowly, and clearly on purpose.
you laid back down completely groaning in response at the way his fingers seemed to itch at every right spot inside of you, yet it wasn't enough when you knew that you could have more, that you were going to get more out of him. you lifted your legs up as far back as you could without scooting your upper body off of the desk. you were laying the opposite way the desk was turned so your head hung off slightly, but you didn't mind with the sensation surrounding you.
"fuck, can you go faster maybe?"
"be patient, brat." levi spit back at you quickly, causing you to roll your eyes, but he didn't take that as an answer, curling his slender fingers up until they hit a soft spot, you sucking in a breath. you spread your legs a little more and began to grind down on levi's hands as much as possible to try and create more friction between the two of you, specifically for your own pleasure. you wondered if he was enjoying watching you sprawled out on his desk like this.
of course he was.
you didn't even realize how much he was enjoying it until you opened your eyes to watch the way his bottom lip was trapped between his teeth, and the way his freehand was palming at his self. he was watching you such a lewd expression that you would never catch any other time, and it only grew when you fluttered your eyes at him and let out another moan to draw him in more. in fact, he was so caught up in the moment that his brain was on autopilot, whenever someone knocked on his door his response was always for them to 'come in', and that's how the next moment played out; his brain moving on its own while his fingers were working inside of you.
"sir?" a low voice startled you, but not so much levi as he was so caught up in the moment.
"come in." he said, just like he said to you when you first walked in, but he realized his mistake soon after, yet it was too late. "wait,"
the door was already opening, and heavy footsteps entered the office. "sir, i have pap-"
green eyes locked with yours first thing, and the way your face was contorted in pure pleasure and how your eyes were framed on his sent shivers as well as shock down his spine. surprisingly, you weren't as embarrassed as you thought you were supposed to be because it was him, although you were in an awkward position and levi was clearly flustered and angered at the same time.
"eren..." you mumbled, he appeared upside down from the way your head was looking off the desk, eren in front of you but a distance away.
eren stood there an unreadable expression on his face, but you could see anger through his movements, translated through the way he gripped the papers in his hand a little harder than usual, the paper folding under his hands. or maybe by the way his left eyebrows would twitch, hm, or maybe the slight glare that you couldn't tell who it was directed at.
levi on the other hands anger was way more evident, his face red from either the activity at hand or at how flustered he was. his fingers were stilled in you but they were still curved and rested against your g-spot a little harshly while his other hand stabilized him on the table. "jaeger,"
"i had some papers to drop by." he slightly cut levi off, which wasn't usual... why wasn't he leaving as soon as he witnessed what was going on? as a matter of fact, you were slightly worried on why you were the calmest one in the room although it was you who was upside down on with your tits hanging out and a finger between your lips.
"get out." levi hissed, nails digging into his palm as his fist sat on his desk, beside your phone. but that wasn't the only thing painful, not to mention his dick straining against his dress pants.
eren attempted swallowinh down his slight irritation and frustration, instead letting his gaze flicker down back to your body. he struggled with watching your chest heave up and down, clearly aching for this to be over so levi could keep going. the way the white fabric of your dress was draped across your shoulders yet revealing of everything in between, and the faint scent of sex lingered in the room. your finger playing with your lip and your legs spread open for... levi, was simply a sight.
he wished that was him.
he couldn't be mad at his line manager, he was the one who dictated how well he was doing to the actual boss, he was the head of the branch that you and eren were under.
"why are you still standing there brat? get out." levi's eyes were dark yet he refused to make eye contact with eren, who huffed in a breath and turned towards the door.
he thought for a minute.
"i'll tell."
you and levi's eyes slightly widened, you raising your eyebrow at his sudden demeanor. his voice was a bit lower and he was still facing the door, a bit spacey if you asked yourself.
"ere-"
"let me join."
you snickered in amusement. of course you'd be the one taking the biggest toll but if you were being honest it didn't bother you that much. you liked the thrill and anticipation of the possibility of being caught, and eren was cute, always a sweetheart to you and looking out for you and your work. he was the reason you could divide your work load. why not reward him? in all honesty, if he were to make a move on you independently you probably wouldn't have been one to say no. levi on the other hand...
"i'll tell erwin that you're in here fucking a staff member." this was light for eren, he really wanted to yell at levi for being the one to have you a mess under him, and wanted to be angry at you because you were allowing it to happen, his jealousy was definitely getting the best of him, and he was sure levi would probably beat his ass later for even making the proposition. he felt like a little kid, and felt even worse for the subtle blackmail. it felt stupid to even be asking for such a request, i mean he would never really tell, he just wanted to get a feel of you, feel you around him any which way.
"eren." levi's head lowered further. "i'm going to kill you."
eren's lips creeped up into a small smile. he took that as acceptance and he closed the door, this time locking it for levi and walking forward towards the desk. his smile was slightly reciprocated by you, feeling excitement rush through your body. sure you've been with a lot of people and were slightly know for being an overly friendly person, but a threesome? never.
despite levi's stiff form, still still fingers, and the annoyance seeping off of him eren wasted no time unbuckling his belt in front of your face. the hem of his black button up falling out of his pants as they dropped to the floor, his boxers going along with them.
"doesn't really matter to me if i can feel her pretty lips around my mouth."
oh, how bold of him.
you clenched. yup, yes you did, and you were sure levi felt it, your walls fluttering around his fingers at eren's choice of words. he was hung right in your face and you strained your neck a little bit to push back on the table so you could get a better position for him. he looked down at you still seemingly irritated but a little excited. he caressed his fingers under your jaw, his thumb pulling down on your bottom lip.
"can you open up for me, please?"
your smile was evident now. levi wasn't very vocal during sex as far as you knew, so the exchange and opposition in personalities was a new experience for you. levi began to move his fingers again as you hummed in response  and opened your mouth for eren. he slipped his dick into your mouth flawlessly and the angle helped your throat open up much more, not that you had trouble with that anyways.
eren's groans were so pretty, the feeling of your mouth circling him was heaven sent and he had to support himself with the table while he settled in your heat. "fuck," he moaned out while trying to reach the back of your throat only for a split second before letting you do your thing.
"you're gonna have to shut the fuck up. i'm not getting caught because of your shitty ass." levi's pumps were slower now, and you continued your grinding to get him to speed up while trying to cater to eren who was too in bliss to even care about levi's remark.
"mm," was eren's response and it made you laugh around him sending small vibrations up his cock, causing him to gasp and his hand to fly back up to your jaw, massaging your chin unconsciously. you were having slight trouble breathing and all you could see from your angle was the floor and the inside of eren's thighs, his skin a pretty tan, but in all you decided to close your eyes to enhance your pleasure and eren's.
levi began to quicken his pace in a rough manner, adding a third finger and continuing his administration's, using his freehand to fumble with his own pants and belt until they collapsed from around his waist while he abused the sweet spot inside of you. more moans continued to spill from you and eren began his own pace inside your mouth simultaneously while levi pushed to make you cum.
eren's free hand snaked from your jawline to your throat and he essentially used it as leverage while he slipped in and out your mouth, almost slipping out completely then pushing as far as he could every time. spit dribbled down the side of your face from your position and his assault and you silently prayed it didn't get in your eye. "this shit feels so good," eren groaned, his eyes closed as he basked in the pleasure you were giving him, using you as he pleased. "this is what i was missing out on? this is what he got to do?" he rambled on and levi glared at him while his words barely processed in your head as you focused on trying to breathe.
"shut up, you're gonna turn me off." levi continued to go faster and you could feel the warm sensation building up in your lower stomach, your legs aching from their position, continuously open as far as they can go so you could feel his nimble fingers inside you as deep as possible. you knew your legs would be cramped and feel like jelly later.
a whimper elicited from you while eren used your throat, and eren laughed at levi, yet he couldn't tell if he was being serious or not.
your legs were beginning to shake and you used your free hand to rub your clit but levi's hand grabbed your wrist before you could help yourself to an orgasm. "no. you really think i'd let you get off that fast?" you whined but it was slightly covered by the gags eliciting from your throat as eren got rougher, hand closing in around your neck and you could feel his fingertips tightening around it. he also seemed to relish in the feeling of your throat bulging the deeper he went, causing a mantra of curses to leave his own throat.
once you calmed down a little on levi's end he continued to go faster again, this time your wrist to your side pinned by his hand. he was doing it on purpose, hitting that sacred spot inside of you repeatedly while watching your actions to determine whether or not you were close, by the way your legs would push further out, or the way you would arch your back, or even the feeling of you tightening around him in anticipation for something bigger, then he would pull out and relished in the whine that would leave your mouth every time.
"ev... ah..." his name sounded so distorted coming from your mouth when you had eren filling your mouth up.
"he can't hear you like that, sweetheart." eren taunts, pulling out and and rubbing the head of his dick against your swollen lips. "what is it?"
"i can't, i need to cum." you pleaded, raising your head up so that you could see levi's fingers inside of you preparing to get you close to your high for the umpteenth time. eren stared in admiration at you and at your begging expression.
"tch, help him finish first so i can fuck you." levi was relaxing now that he was in too deep, and you could tell. he seemed to be enjoying putting you right on the edge, or maybe he was punishing you for eren's arrival, but that was in no way your fault. you sighed impatiently and laid your head back down so eren could slip back in.
"you want me to make this quick for you?" eren's hand was on your cheek now with a look you'd give to a crying newborn baby, almost as if he was in awe, maybe pity, or maybe he was patronizing you. you weren't used to being so submissive to one, let alone two people, so you were surprised at how rapidly your responded, a fast nod to the head. "'m gonna use that pretty throat of yours for a few more minutes, alright?" another hum in response to eren and you closed your eyes again in anticipation, deciding to ignore the spit and lewd noises while levi added a fourth finger but went pretty slow.
eren pushed into your throat again and stayed as deep as possible for a couple seconds. "shit," he furrowed his eyebrows before pulling out and then repeating the process. "i'm close, i'm so fucking close." you helped push eren over the edge by attempting to swirl your tongue around his dick and hollowing your cheeks. the last time he pulled out you chased him, your lips puckering around his head and sucking. he went in once more and you licked up a specific vein that lined the side of his cock and then he spilled in your mouth. "oh, fuck, fuck!"
you sat up as he pulled back and propped yourself up on your elbows, forcing yourself to swallow his seed, as you were at work and didn't want too much of a mess to clean up. plus levi would've probably killed you, already seeming upset. although, levi kept to his word, he clicked his tongue and pumped his fingers in and out of you hard and fast again to build that pressure back up, letting go of your wrist to rub at your clit and not forgetting the spot that made your eyes rolls back and your stomach curdle until you yourself were coming as well with a too loud moan, that you prayed the others in the building didn't hear. "levi!" you called out, his name leaving your lips flawlessly causing his lips to part with a sigh and your juices coating his fingers. he pulled his fingers out from you and your and eren were both mesmerized by the amount of slick that gave his fingers a shine.
although the site in front of him was beautiful, eren was jealous that that wasn't his name coming from your lips like that.
and levi was irritated he was still untouched.
"my turn." levi grumbled, as you sat up your chest heaving up and down. you were sure you looked a mess, dry saliva and cum all over your face, and your throat left dry and abused, not to mention you didn't even want to know what your hair looked like. you lifted yourself off the counter and threw the dress blazer that was under you onto the floor, and swore you saw levi twitch, probably contemplating whether or not to ruin the moment by folding it or something.
"awe, heichou was being patient. that's a first." you joked, and eren came around and sat up onto levi's desk in your previous spot letting you lean back onto him while he was trying to catch his own breath after such an intense orgasm. he was slightly confused by the nickname but it gave him the impression that this has clearly been going on for a long time. "so what do you want me to do, boss?"
with another click of his tongue levi opted to show you instead of tell you. you turned around as levi lined himself up while you stood facing eren for support as he sat in front of you stroking himself and deciding to just watch for now, still surprised he was even getting to have an experience with you.
"then i'm gonna fuck you." you gasped as you felt levi rub against your folds and then enter you bottoming out at once. he's been inside you so many times yet every time still felt somewhat new and refreshing. he fit so perfectly inside of you like a glove and you loved the way it felt every time. you sighed in relief when you felt him buried to the hilt and eren's hand tightened around himself at the noises coming from you. he was studying your expressions well, knowing that he'd embed in his mind the noises and faces you were making for later.
eren brought his hands up to your face and pulled you in for a kiss to swallow up your sounds. "you know you did so good?" he praised you using his thumbs to rub your ears before kissing down to your neck. "that's the best head i've gotten in a while."
your mouth dropped open and you let out the quietest "eren," as he pulled you closer and levi fucked you harder; he wanted to hear 'levi' not 'eren'. eren relished in this though and sucked at your neck, sandwiching you between the two boys, you using eren to hold onto, and levi drilling you.
"yeah, i like when you say my name like that." you couldn't help but notice how expressive he was, and you loved it. his lips formed those words against your skin and you grasped onto his black button up to hold yourself up some more. eren let go of your face now having a free hand to go back to stroking himself. he watched as your eyes fluttered and struggled to stay open, and levi loved the way instead of your eyes, your cunt fluttered around him. his grip on your hips was strong and his fingertips were going to leave some type of imprint in your skin. the sound of skin slapping against each other was so apparent and a turn on for eren.
"hey," eren let go of himself and connected your lips once more before leaning in towards your ear. "you think you can take two people?" his voice was low, almost like a whisper but loud enough that levi heard it too, causing him to stutter in his movements at the thought and you to have a mini double take as well.
"oh fuck," you sighed resting your elbows on eren's knees while your chin rested against his shirt and you opened your eyes to look up at him.
"if you can't let me know, no pressure." his smile was warm, too much like the same grin he gave you earlier when you handed him those papers. one of his hands pat the top of your head before raking the rest through your locks and then tugging on your ponytail slightly. "i'm just curious to know how much you can take. you've been such a slut today... i didn't know you were like this." your head was jerked to look more up at him causing a strain on your neck and you let out a small mewl in response.
levi looked up at you trying to determine what your response meant while eren caressed your jaw again, something he seemed to really enjoy. it made it feel more intimate for him and gave him the slightest hope that he could have a little more of you another time.
"how?" you mumbled against him. eren's hands cascaded down your back until his ring finger prodded at your hole causing it to clench slightly making him chuckle.
"well i'll be here," and then his hand groped your ass before bringing it back up and kissing you once more. "and he'll be there."
"i... i can try?" your audible response was more of a question and it was mainly the result of the way eren stared down at you. gosh were his eyes absolutely gorgeous, the closer you were to him the better they were to look at even through the blur of your eyes from the sensations around you. emerald green rimmed by a jade with flecks of the ocean littering his eyes. as a matter of fact his whole face was gorgeous, his brown hair swept back into a half assed bun with strands of hair sticking to his forehead was still attractive to you somehow even though it looked like he didn't try at all.
"hm, sir?" eren looked up, his 'sir' coming off as more mockingly and levi's infamous glare wasn't afraid to look at eren again. "it's what she wants."
"are you sure this isn't for your own fucking fantasy?" you assumed levi's comment was a joke but his tone was too serious to tell, so eren brushed it off as well as you. "come here." levi pulled out and hesitantly sat back in his own chair. "get on top of me." you obliged and crawled into his lap, lining the two of you up again and having him bury into you all the way again.
"you don't have... anything, right? to help her?" eren asked reluctantly but he wanted to assure no harm would be done to you. levi shook his head and gave eren a look that screamed 'why would i carry lube at work?' yet it was a stupid look considering he was in the process of fucking his coworker at work as well.
eren came up behind you rubbing your shoulders and neck chastely, speaking again in a low tone; "we're gonna take this slow." he turned your head towards him as you leaned more against levi so eren could get a better angle and kissed you softly before collecting precum from his tip and smearing it on your entrance then letting his spit beside it before slipping one finger into you. you tensed up in the slightest and pulled away from eren's lips. eren could feel the added pressure from you and pouted. "you have to relax or this won't work." you were sure his response was trying to be reassuring but it came off as more angry.
"okay," you relaxed your body and levi pulled you closer to him not even recognizing the fact that he pecked you a kiss instead. "someone's jealous." you joked as eren slipped a second finger beside the first, levi tensing up himself at the strange feeling of eren's fingers being felt through the thin tissue that separated your two holes. you stiffened yourself in the slightest at being pushed to your limit. levi grumbled something inaudible and peered down at the site, slightly intrigued but doing a good job at hiding the fact.
"can i add a third one?" eren asked after you were more calm. he spit again so it wasn't dry. you hesitated for a minute before nodding your head and anticipating the new stretch. you weren't gonna lie, it slightly burned but it was a good burn, a sexual pain. eren slipped in his third finger even slower than the first two and marveled at the way you were taking up so much, rubbing your back encouragingly and pecking various upper body parts to keep you calm while levi himself was struggling with the added pressure, just holding you in his lap and trying not to thrust into you.
slowly eren pumped his fingers and he ached for it to be his dick instead. maybe another time he'd be able to get you by yourself and get to fuck you properly, he could only hope.
"i think i can do another one." your tone was shy as you cradled against levi's chest, quite flustered.
"oh? okay." eren responded before repeating his process of spitting and adding another finger slowly so you could adjust. one thing eren and levi could agree on was how well you were doing. his fingers pumped inside you again and you groaned at the newfound feeling, lip quivering and eyes getting teary. this time, without much hesitance after you adjusted again eren removed his fingers and placed his tip at your entrance turning you to face him. "you're so fucking good," eren brought your lips to his again before he slid into you slowly, swallowing all your gasps and he could've sworn he could've heard one elicit from levi at the pressure that was building up. he didn't begin to move until you gave him the okay and he spit hastily once more and began moving slowly, levi's pace much faster.
you felt overwhelmed but in a good way, the thrill was running through your body and your adrenaline was pumping, cheeks warm and body hot, and you could feel tears pricking at your eyes. "this... feels so fucking... good!" you struggled to get you words out but they heard you. in response eren grabbed your breast, rolling your nipple in between his warm fingers and placing his forehead against the top of your head.
"yeah, it does, this is amazing, ____, you're amazing, fuck." you could've sworn that was the first time eren had said your name all night and you loved the way it rolled off of his tongue so well, it made your heart flutter how he said it so passionately and rich while he fucked you.
levi still was adamant on not making much noise but you could tell he was feeling it too by the way his grip on your lower back was impeccably tight, and the soft curses under his breath. normally you'd be asking the other party to go faster but you didn't want to push yourself too much and relished in the pleasure given currently. you were gonna come soon anyways with an added push later.
"you're taking us so well, shit," eren cursed eyes squeezed so tightly he was seeing stars in his vision while he palmed at your breast, seemingly for his own leverage not really your own, and you probably would've laughed at this if you weren't so in the moment yourself.
"eren, levi," you panted bouncing down onto both of them hoping your efforts were working with them. "please, i'm gonna come,"
ugh, there names again went straight to both of their heads, especially eren, his hand snaking up to your neck from your boob and  choking you slightly before going to your jaw and slipping his thumb into your mouth, holding it open. "are you asking permission?" eren asked while levi followed in eren's footsteps unconsciously and this time actually choked you, his hand wrapping around your neck and bringing you closer to him, yet his eyes were closed.
"i..." you couldn't even respond to eren's question, too much going on and quicker than you could even process or realize you came squeezing both of them tight, but levi could feel it straight on and stopped for a second in efforts not to come yet. he would never admit it but the feeling was perfectly strange in the weirdest way. as long as levi's lower stomach didn't rub against your clit the oversensitivity didn't bother you too much.
"you what? speak up." eren patronized you knowing you couldn't speak well with his thumb in your mouth or a hand around your throat, nevertheless filled both ways with two dicks.
levi loosened his grip and you sucked in as much air as possible and whined. "please, can i come?"
yes, you definitely needed someone like eren in your sex life.
he took his hand out your mouth and used his wet thumb to rub circles around your clit until that same pressure built up earlier and toppled you over the edge, you coming for the third time that day, holding in your screams as you twitched on both of their dicks squeezing them tight. "lev-, ere-," you breathed heavy and collapsed on levi again while both of them quickened their pace, eren coming first for the second time and spilling into you causing levi to let out a loud groan and reciprocate.
levi pushed forwards causing you to fall back into eren who took you into his arms and turned you around so no cum got on levi's desk. while he caught his breath he used the arm that wasn't holding you up to spread your left cheek and watch you push out both of their fluid, eren biting his lip and sighing. "you did really good." he murmured in your ear while levi fixed himself up right away. talk about post-sex guilt, or maybe that was his cleanly side acting up.
usually after sex the two of you would get dressed together and you would help him clean his office but this was too much, you were tired and needed to help yourself.
levi clearly felt disgusted with himself, and you found it amusing even through your haze. "i have some cleaning to do, get your shit together and get out." was the nicest way for him put it. you didn't take this as rude considering you knew levi personally, and as did eren yet he still was slightly offended. levi pulled out a box off tissues from the shelf which he placed them on and handed it to you. "get yourself a little cleaned up with these, get your clothes on, and you too jaeger."
you rolled your eyes yet you and eren obliged while levi febreezed the room before getting started on his cleaning.
"good thing i don't have calls today. we're on break now so i'm making myself another cup of coffee to get through this last hour." you spoke mainly to yourself but still the two heard as you placed your phone back into your purse which you picked up after spraying yourself (and eren) with perfume and fixing yourself up, face cleaned up and all.
"we don't talk about this, ever. this isn't happening again, and if i even hear you utter a word about it, it's gonna be your neck, brats." levi muttered while wiping off his desk profusely. "get out." he huffed, wanting to take a hot shower, then again all three of you couldn't wait to get home and do just that.
                                  ✽ ✽ ✽
"so..." eren sipped from his coffee as did you, him deciding to follow you during the last ten minutes of your break.
"so? don't make this awkward, eren." you half joked with a small smile. "levi said not to talk about it!" you repeated levi's words mockingly, of course you cared less what levi thought.
"i just feel like this makes us closer." he chirped at your playful tone. "we should hang out or something sometime and i wanna know you and... everything." eren seemed bolder with his words after your adventure.
"you blackmailing me and levi into having sex with you counts as us getting closer?" it seemed as if eren became a little more sullen with another one of his infamous irritated looks, causing you to chuckle. "i'm just joking, eren. you have my number if you need it."
eren's eyes lit up and he smiled with a small huff of accomplishment. "alright cool..." his gaze darted towards the clock in the corner of the room. "breaks over so i'll see you, _____." there was your name again.
he began to walk off desperately wanting to leave you with a hug or a kiss but he was back into his awkward complex, nevertheless he did not know what terms the two of you stood on after that.
"did you ever finish those papers?" you asked curiously looking towards eren before he could round the corner. eren gave you an apologetic look shaking his head until his brain sparked. he smirked and looked back at you with those same aqua eyes.
"i finished in something else instead." and you swore you saw his eyes darken before he turned that stupid sharp corner and disappeared for good.
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peachsayshi · 3 years
Text
Chapter 2 - Bare
Gojo Satoru x Female Reader
Tags: Friends with Benefits, Smut, Vaginal Fingering, Nipple Play, Naked Female/Clothed Male, Foreplay on Kitchen Counter, Dirty Talk
Summary: Gojo is aware that you still aren't comfortable with the boundaries of your new arrangement but when you show up at his apartment wearing a skirt that he absolutely adores on you, the sorcerer finds it hard to resist his urges and does his best to persuade you into using him as much as he enjoys using you.
A/N: ~ in which Gojo is just a plain, old tease ~
- - - 
How can such a flimsy piece of fabric incapacitate the great sorcerer?
You showed up tonight wearing a black skirt that Gojo secretly adored on you. He loved the way it cinched around your waist and flared out delicately, cutting off just a few inches above your mid-thigh. He could not understand what it was about the skirt that turned him on so much but every time he saw you in this particular piece of clothing, the man found himself unable to stop his imagination from going. He had a hard time resisting his urges and usually would take care of himself on his own after seeing you. He would picture you on your knees, your skirt bunched up at the waist as he would thrust from behind…
Pay attention, he grumbled to himself.
He didn’t mean to ignore you but you’ve been a complete distraction since you walked through his door. He was trying his best to listen to you talk about your day as you sauntered around his kitchen but was busy staring at your hips swaying from side to side. Thankfully he was wearing his shades so you couldn’t tell that his mind was wandering.
Two weeks had passed since you came over to his place with your proposition but nothing went beyond heated make out sessions. Gojo knew you still weren’t quite used to this little arrangement. Which is why despite the two of you planning on seeing each other to "grab drinks", he would usually let you ramble about whatever was on your mind for thirty minutes before the two of you actually got down to any of the fun stuff.
“ Gojo , are  you listening to me? ”
Your question snapped him out of it. He angled his head down towards you, noticing that you were standing right in front of him.
“Of course I was listening!” he replied defensively.
You raised your brows, your face unamused by his response.
“Oh, really? Then what did I just ask you?”
He froze, realizing you caught him in his lie. Raising his arms up in defeat he scoffed before admitting, “okay, I wasn’t listening but it’s not my fault you talk so much.”
“ You are saying that I talk a lot? You ?”
“Yes I am”
“Well, I guess your bad habits are just rubbing off on me.”
“My bad habits?!”
“Seriously, that mouth of yours never stops running. You’re like a broken radio. The volume doesn’t work and no matter how hard you try, you can't switch over to another station to listen to something better,” you teased with a smile.
“Is that right?”
Gojo halted your little bantering session by abruptly reaching for your waist to pull you close to him. He spun you around so your back was pressed against his kitchen island before leaning down and bringing his lips to your ear.
“Is my voice really that annoying?” he whispered. “Because you didn’t seem to think so the other night when I was doing this…”
He sensed the shift in your body language, your heart skipping a beat at his question and the way you tensed up against his frame. He had to admit, he thoroughly enjoyed teasing you, this was different from the casual flirting he was used to because nothing is holding him back from having his way with you now.
He laughed against your ear, “not so chatty now are we?”
Picking you up by your legs, Gojo lifted you onto the countertop with ease.
“No blindfold today?” you asked, finally finding your words as your pretty eyes stared directly into his own while you both faced one another.
“These count,” he replied, referring to his sunglasses.
Gojo’s eyes trailed from your neck to naval until it reached the band of your skirt. His hands were gripping onto your waist, that hungry blue gaze filled with nothing but need. He noticed your stare fixated on his lips but he wasn’t going to give in by kissing you just yet, he wanted to continue figuring you out, surveying all the different places he could touch you just to hear you call out his name.
“Can I take this off?” he asked, his index finger tapping against your top.
You nodded your head politely and he smiled.
This side of you amused him. Despite your reservations, you’ve been quite bold about your needs and he couldn’t help but admire this newfound confidence you had, totally flattered that you were willing to show it off for him.
He tossed your top over his shoulder, his fingers trailing up your spine until it reached for the band of your bra.
“How about this?”
You bit your bottom lip, your hands dancing up his chest until it reached for the collar of his black tee.
“Maybe if you actually paid attention to what I was saying, I might be more willing…” You pushed him away, clearly having fun with him but inhaled when you felt his other hand move up across your stomach to cup your left breast.
“I didn’t invite you over to talk,” he answered calmly. “If that’s the case then we can reschedule this for another time...”
You pursed your lips, tempting him even further for a kiss but he saw that expression on your face that indicated you had no interest in stopping. You tugged at the clasp in front of your chest before telling him, “this is where the hook is.”
The smirk on his face spread into a wolfish grin as he eagerly unfastened your bra. He hummed with pleasure, dropping your undergarments to the side, tilting his head to get proper look at you and noticing the way he tightened against his pants soaking in the image before him.
“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes!” he complimented. “Lay down for me...”
You lowered yourself on your forearms against the marble counter watching as Gojo adjusted his stance before hovering his long torso above yours.
“Get comfortable, I don’t plan on rushing anything.”
Your face was a little flushed and you hesitated underneath him, fully aware of him absorbing your half naked state. You allowed yourself to lay flat on your back against the countertop, lifting slightly when the cold surface touched your skin. Gojo planted a kiss on your neck, nipping at it before brushing down your collarbone. You shivered feeling his breath against you, his hands kneading your breasts as he placed another kiss between them. The pads of his thumbs began to rub your nipples, causing them to perk up at his touch. Your mouth parted with a sigh and you closed your eyes, finally allowing your body to relax. He lips replaced his thumb as he enclosed his mouth over your hardened nipple and he flicked his tongue earning a satisfied exhale in response.
Gojo’s senses worked differently as everything for him was heightened on another scale.The scent of your perfume intoxicated him, the sound of your heartbeat racing like music to his ears, the vibrations that ran up his arm every time he touched you was like a trigger to his system and you tasted so sweet . He truly appreciated his power for granting him the ability to experience the moment playing out before him.
“ Satoru…” you moaned, your back arching off the counter as you felt him gently bite your sensitive nub. Your hand reached for his hair, your fingers tangling themselves between his white locks.
He bit down a little harder a second time, alternating between his tongue and teeth and causing you to pant before finally releasing you from his mouth.
“Yes?” he purred, noticing the way your legs spread underneath him.
He guided himself to your mouth, finally satisfying your craving by kissing you softly.
Freeing his hair from your grasp, you trailed your fingers along his jaw as you parted your lips, allowing his tongue to slide into your mouth. Gojo continued roaming his hands along your body, gliding down your side before reaching for your leg. He stroked your inner thigh, caressing your soft skin before making his way up to your core, feeling the heat radiate off of you. He groaned into your mouth while palming your underwear with his hand, suddenly very conscious of just how wet you were for him.
Gojo broke free from your kiss, allowing you both to catch your breath for a second as he pressed his forehead against yours.
“Whatever time you wasted on small talk, I’m going to compensate for by getting you off so many times you’ll have no idea what to do with yourself when I’m through with you...”
You parted your lips to protest but whimpered instead as his fingers began working your wet cunt over the fabric of your underwear. He moved in slow circular motions, a light pressure at first but increasing with intensity as he gradually picked up the pace.
“ Fuck ,” you whined, catching your bottom lip between your teeth.
You were wriggling underneath him, your body rising and falling with every move he made. He returned to playfully suck on your nipples, pleasuring you with ease.
“ Touch me …” you begged, “ Please… ”
Your words were enough to convince him. The man tugged at the cotton fabric you were wearing before motioning his finger over your swollen clit. You were driving his patience with how wet you were getting but he was forcing himself to control his urges.
He dragged his middle finger along your slit before inserting it inside you. Naturally, your hips rolled with his movement and he slowly pulled out before pushing back in again with a little more force.
“ Ohhh , that feels good...”
Gojo couldn’t hide his own enjoyment. This was better than anything he had ever imagined about you. He was about to release years of pent up frustration on you. All those times you two spent alone together where he would draw his attention on your lips or think about what you were wearing underneath your clothes  and wonder how well you would take his dick if given the opportunity....
He had a revelation of how much he actually wanted you. His fantasies solely focused around you and regardless of who he was with, you were still the object of his desires.
The one person he was desperate to fuck.
Gojo pushed his finger all the way in, his thumb pressing down on your clit as he rubbed with speed. Your body shivered again, your moans growing louder as you clung onto his sleeve for support, feeling yourself coming undone beneath him. He felt you tense around him, your body contracting before finally releasing as the first wave of pleasure traveled through you.
He pulled his finger out, keeping your legs spread for him as he stood upright and watching you with approval. Your first orgasm illuminated your gorgeous face but he had no intention of giving you a break just yet. He proceeded to hook his fingers around your underwear, prompting you to lift your hips up as he stripped you of the fabric.
“That’s one…” he stated, ensuring you knew he was keeping his word.
He noticed you reach for the zipper of your skirt, ready to strip off the last article of clothing you had on.
He grabbed your wrists, pinning both your hands down by your sides before reaching for his glasses and dragging it down slightly along his nose so you only caught a glimpse of those blue eyes looking at you.
" The skirt stays on, ” he demanded before pushing back his frames and releasing you from his grip.
"As you wish...”
“Now then,” he continued, returning his attention onto your legs. He lifted your skirt higher until he granted himself a full view of your bare pussy. Licking his lips with anticipation, he lowered himself down before looking up at you with a teasing smile. “Let me show you exactly what this mouth of mine can do...”
- CHAPTER 3: CALL - 
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petersasteria · 3 years
Text
good 4 u || harry holland
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sour masterlist || harry || sour taglist
1,589 words sorry for the shit ending ?? bc i didnt know how to end it lmao italics are flashbacks
* * * *
“Babe, you didn’t have to spoil me.” You chuckled.
“You deserve it, love. You deserve the world.” Harry looked at you lovingly before pressing a sweet kiss on your lips.
-
“I really want to be a professional photographer and filmmaker, you know?” Harry told you one day. Both of you were lying wide awake in bed, staring at the ceiling. Both of you couldn’t sleep, so you talked about random things.
“I believe in you, Harry. I believe in you more than anyone or anything. You can do just that. I support you.” You smiled as you turned your head to face him. He looked at you and grinned, “So, you think I’m really going to be those things?”
“Yeah. Why not? You’re an amazing photographer and filmmaker. Believe in yourself, Harry. My faith in you will be nothing if you don’t believe in yourself. Trust me.” You told him.
“That’s true. You’re right.” Harry said before yawning.
“I’m always right.” You curled up against him and rested your head on his chest. He chuckled and kissed the top of your head.
-
“Harry, where are you? I’ve been waiting out here for an hour now.” You said through the phone. Harry said he’d pick you up from your university, but he wasn’t there yet. Then it began to rain heavily, causing you to run to the nearest shade. You were cold, wet, and impatient.
“I’ll be there in a while. See you later!” Harry hung up.
After thirty minutes, Harry finally arrived. You quickly got in and sighed in relief when you realized the whole car was warm.
“What took you so long?” You asked him.
“My car’s acting up. I hate this old piece of shit.” Harry grumbled as he tried to start the car. After five tries, it finally worked.
“You need a new car.” You laughed.
“Yeah, I do.” He chuckled.
-
“I hope I’m not interrupting your sleepover or whatever.” Harry said quietly through the phone. You were at your friend, Elouise’s slumber party because it was her birthday.
“No, you’re not. We’re just watching a movie and I’ve seen this movie a bunch of times.” You assured him. You walked out of the living room and went to the kitchen. You sat on the bar stool and asked, “What’s up?”
“Mum and dad are just being mean, that’s all.” Harry sighed.
“I know you’re about to cry, so just let it out. Talk to me.” You said softly. Harry started sobbing and telling you about his fight with his parents.
“Y/N/N, I got offered an apprenticeship in Dublin. That’s the biggest opportunity I’ve ever received and they’re stopping me. It’s like they don’t want me to succeed, but when Tom wants something done, they let him. It’s so fucking tiring. I never asked them for anything and the one time I do, they say shit. It’s unfair.” He sobbed and your heart broke for him.
“I feel you. I legit feel the same way, but we just have to prove them wrong, yeah? You’ll make it big and what they say won’t matter as much anymore. They love you and they just want what’s best for you, but sometimes they don’t exactly know what’s best for you. It’s weird, I swear. Just prove them wrong. You’ll get another opportunity again and when you get that, it’ll be bigger than that apprenticeship in Dublin.” You told him with a small smile on your face.
“You get me so well.” Harry smiled as he wiped his tears. “I’ll just go to sleep now. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
-
You couldn’t take it anymore. Harry’s face seemed to be everywhere you went, haunting you. After being together for two and a half years, Harry broke up with you because of reasons only he seemed to know. After he broke up with you, you spent the whole week just crying. You didn’t understand, but life was really cruel.
Three weeks later, word got out that Harry was dating some model and that surprised you. It surprised you because he moved on really quick and he looked really happy and healthy. He looked better compared to when he was dating you. You were proud of him, but it made you wonder why Harry chose to make himself better for this girl and not for you when you were together. It seemed unfair.
Unfortunately, you were still friends with Sam. You were Sam’s favorite and he actually preferred you instead of Harry’s new girlfriend. Wanting to hang out with you, You and Sam met up at the mall and just shop or walk around. You couldn’t really hang out at Sam’s house because of Harry and his girlfriend.
“She’s nice, but I’m on your side.” Sam said as he ate his ice cream. You laughed and shook your head. Sam looked at you and said, “I’m serious! She’s trying to make me her best friend or something. Like, she’s trying really hard.”
“Then try to be her friend. Maybe you guys might click and then you’ll replace me like how Harry replaced me.” You said. You were aware it was petty and pathetic, but you couldn’t help it. This time, it was Sam who laughed.
“You know, I overheard him the other day. He told her that she’s the only person who gets him and I’m just sitting there all confused because he said the same thing to you. In fact, it’s like he forgot all about you.” Sam said as he animatedly spoke with his hands. He seemed really annoyed.
“Okay, then.” You chuckled. “You seem annoyed.”
“Yeah because I thought both of you were it for each other.” He said with a sad smile. You returned it, but didn’t say anything.
At the end of the day, it was time for both of you to go home. Sam groaned in frustration as he texted while walking. “What?” You asked, turning your head to look at him.
Both of you stopped walking when you reached the mall’s exit. Sam was typing furiously as you looked at him in confusion. “What’s wrong?” You asked.
He looked at you and sighed, “Tom can’t pick me up.”
“I thought you drove here?” You asked and he shook his head. “What happened to your car?”
“My parents borrowed it because their car is in the shop, getting fixed. Tom can’t pick me up because he has to use his car to go to an event that he forgot about. I’d call for an Uber or something, but I literally have zero money on me. So, I have no choice but to ask Harry.” Sam said, biting his lip.
“Well, shit.” Was all you said as Sam looked at you with guilt all over his face. He quickly sent a text to Harry and he smiled a bit when he immediately got a reply.
“He’s coming soon.” Sam told you. You snorted. You vividly remember Harry’s slow and beat up car. Sam was talking to you, but you weren’t really paying attention. Your mind went to all those times you spent in Harry’s old car and all the places you’ve been. Those were moments you’ll never forget.
“Y/N, my ride’s here.”
You were pulled from your thoughts as soon as Harry said that. You looked at the direction that Sam was looking at and you were surprised to see a beautiful, new car. It was charcoal grey and the windows were so clean, you could see the inside. Harry was driving and his new girlfriend was sitting on the passenger seat.
“Oh shit. I didn’t know she was coming.” Sam turned to you. “I’m so sorry, Y/N/N. If I had known he was taking her, I wouldn’t-”
“It’s okay. I’m mature and civil. I can handle it. Besides, I can’t avoid them forever. It was bound to happen.” You gave him a small smile.
Harry stopped in front of you both and he rolled his window down. His sunglasses were resting on top of his head and he looked really fresh.
“Are you getting in or not?” He asked Sam, completely ignoring you.
“Hello to you too.” Sam rolled his eyes and crossed his arms as he took a few steps to the door of his backseat. “Y/N, do you need a ride?”
You shook your head, “No, thanks. I’ll call an Uber.” You turned to face Harry, who was already looking at you. “Your photography is improving.” You said.
“Thanks.”
“Nice car, too. I’m glad you replaced the busted ol’ thing.” You chuckled awkwardly.
“Yeah, I figured I should buy myself a new car. The old one wasn’t doing it for me. I need to upgrade, y’know?”
You held back a snappy reply because it wouldn’t do you any good. Plus, you didn’t want to draw attention to yourself. You wanted to ask him if he broke up with you because he needed a girlfriend upgrade, but you kept it to yourself.
“Yeah, that’s nice. Good for you, though… and congrats, I guess.” You gave him a tight-lipped smile and he returned it. Sam got in the car and rolled his window down. “I’ll text you, okay?” Sam said and you just nodded. Harry drove away and you stood there, watching.
You wished you could not care like Harry and you wished you could move on just as quick, but you couldn’t. No matter how hard you tried, you were still stuck on him. It sucked.
* * * *
𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓: @celestialholland @alinastarkrovs @piscesparker @prancerrparkerr @spideyspeaches @givebuckyhisplumsnow @blueleatherbag @theonly1outof-a-billion @hollandbroz-n-haz @starlight-starks @webmeupspiderdaddy @studiesinspanish
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lightsovermonaco · 3 years
Text
His Good Sweater: Chapter 5
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Masterlist
Shoutout to @acollectionofficsandshit for being my sounding board and beta reader! She's the absolute best a girl could ask for, thanks my love!
Word Count: 3.0k
Recommended song: "The Heart is a Muscle" by Gang of Youths
You woke before the sun, Pierre's bare chest pressed to your back and an arm slung over your middle. You wiggle in his grasp, trying to be sneaky as you turn to face him but ultimately waking him. You run a finger over his lips as they curve upwards before biting lightly. You draw back and he laughs quietly.
"Morning," You whisper, head throbbing slightly. "I feel like I got hit by a train."
"Knocking back four or five shots in a few hours will do that to you." Pierre stretches, arching his back and exposing his neck. The slight mark you left the night before had darkened into a true, unmissable bruise. The reminder of it sent a thrill down your spine, and you couldn't resist ghosting your lips over the hurt.
He sighs, cupping your chin and bringing your mouth up to his. The kiss is lazy, both of you still too ensnared by sleep to put any heat into it. 
You stayed tangled in him until Yuki called to remind Pierre they had to be at the airport by eight. You helped him pack as slowly as you could manage, a stone settling in your gut. When the time came, Pierre hadn’t wanted to leave, only relenting when Yuki called again to say the jet was waiting on him. 
The longing wasn't something that normally hit you this hard when Pierre left. It was new, the edges raw and unhealed when you poked at it. Everything on campus Tuesday reminded you of him, from the sunlight hitting the lab table to the rare cloudless blue of the London sky. 
Just when you���d gotten over the sting of his absence, the news broke. Charles sent you the link to the article, simply captioned, 'You will want to read this.'
Gasly snogs mystery girl in London bar, the headline read. And fuck, that was a grainy picture of you standing between his legs, fingers tangled in his hair. You scroll through the article, heart in your throat, praying you weren’t called out by name.
By some small miracle, whoever had taken the photos hadn’t gotten one of your face. Against your better judgement, you checked the comments.
That was where your name came up. Fans had connected the dots. Your hair had been up that night, but it was the exact same shade as the picture. Your instagram had been filled with photosets of London for months, and Pierre had flown out early before Silverstone. Clearly he had been meeting someone. Anyone with half a brain could figure out that you were the one in the photos, even if the article didn't mention you directly.
The first DM didn’t come for a few hours. It was nasty, the user hurling cruel words at you that struck your chest like tiny knives. Plenty more followed, threats and names alike. 
Gold digger.
Does she really think she deserves him?
He could do so much better.
You couldn’t bear attending classes. You sent Pierre the link to the damning article and stayed in your apartment and sobbed. The fans- if they could even be called such a thing- pulled no punches. Every DM and comment struck home, until you eventually had to turn your phone off and curl up in bed, defeated.
People are cruel, you thought, wiping the tears that streak down your cheeks. 
You kept your phone off for a few hours before you gathered the courage to check it again. You immediately uninstall any and all social media, unwilling to let it affect you further than it already had. But messages pour in, most from Pierre and a few from your brother.
Hell yeah! Was all your brother sent, along with a screenshot of the article. Your mouth twists, the memory of the comments washing over you again.
Pierre’s messages were the ones that broke you. There were close to a dozen of them, accompanied by missed calls and panicked voicemails. 
“Are you okay? Please pick up the phone, my love, I need to hear that you’re okay. I love you. Please call me back.”
The last message, time stamped from a half hour earlier, simply said, “I’m getting on a plane.”
A fresh sob wracks your body. You press a hand to your mouth, trying to silence it. God, he was so pure hearted. You knew the comments would hurt him just as much as they hurt you, if not more. He would blame himself, when in reality, it had been a mutual mistake. Either one of you should have recognized the risks of your actions. But you couldn't let him risk his career for it. You could make it through… somehow.
I’m okay, you type, hating that you had to lie. You don’t need to come to London.
I’m already in the air, He informs you, and you curse softly. He would have hell to pay upon returning to Austria, even if he had somehow convinced Tost to let him leave at the last minute.
I'll be there soon
The flight from Vienna to Heathrow was about two and a half hours, which meant you had that long to pull yourself together. You didn’t want Pierre to see you broken. You shower and change into slightly less ragged sweatpants and an oversized shirt. You grab your laptop, quickly emailing your professors to apologize for missing lecture unannounced and informing them you wouldn’t be there the rest of the week either. You'd need time to sort out your head before facing your peers.
Pierre’s knock came far too quickly. You’d barely assembled your face into a mask of resolve before the door opened. Whatever semblance of control you'd managed to construct came crashing down at the sight of him. He looks just as distraught as you, eyes red and cheeks flushed.
Before he says a word, he gathers you in his arms, tucking your head to his chest. Your lip wobbles, and when he whispers “I’m so sorry,” the tears fall in earnest. For less than a week, you’d been on top of the world with Pierre by your side. You’d gotten to enjoy the idea of being his girlfriend for six days before reality stepped in and ruined it.
You clutch at his shirt, fighting hard to piece yourself back together. Now that he was there, the dam had burst and no amount of willpower could keep the sobs back. 
Pierre sweeps you up, one arm under your knees and the other keeping you tight to him as he carries you to your bedroom. He climbs into bed, shoes and all, and keeps you in his lap as he strokes your hair. He sniffles, softly enough that you know he's trying to be strong for you.  The realization that he's crying too just makes it hurt that much more.
"I'm sorry," He whispers again and again, as if the two syllables were the only ones he remembered. You can't find your voice to tell him you don't blame him or how much his presence means. 
Instead, you press your face into the soft cotton of his sweater. He doesn't move except to stroke a calloused hand over your hair. You let his presence wash over you until your breathing turns more even and your fingers stop trembling. 
"H-how were you able to leave Austria?" Your voice shakes, but you tilt your head up to face him. He quickly wipes away the wetness on his cheeks with a sleeve.
"I just left. The only one I told was Yuki. He said he'd cover for me. I saw the comments and I couldn't think straight. I didn't want you to believe them." The look he turns on you is an apology. "When I called and it didn't even ring, I had to get to you."
"I don't think you'll be welcomed back with open arms," You point out, and he presses a tender kiss to your brow.
"They can be pissed at me all they want. I don't care. I needed to be here." You wouldn't admit it, but he was right. The fact that he'd risked everything to comfort you helped you ignore what those users had said. Nothing could ever erase the words, but Pierre’s presence dulled their impact.
“I already petitioned for the article to be removed,” Pierre says softly. “Don’t know if it’ll amount to anything, but it’s worth a shot.”
You nod and wipe your nose on your sleeve. “It’s so much worse than I imagined.” Pierre’s cheek comes to a rest atop your head, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on your arm. “I get that I’m not the only one that loves you. But it’s like they don’t remember that I’m human.”
“People are bold when they're speaking to a screen instead of another person.” 
"It was so much easier before anyone knew," You say, words dipped in longing. Rumors had never swirled when you had kept your distance, you'd made sure of it. But now that the secret was out… Would your life be spent dodging threats and dealing with negativity?
He pauses, thumb stilling. “Do you… Do you want it to go back to the way things were before? When we were... friends?"
Your head whips around. “What?”
“It isn’t fair that you have to go through this because of me,” He explains. “I hate the fact that I’m the one causing you pain. The way you’re being treated is only because I live in the spotlight.”
“It’s not your fault,” You assert, placing a hand on his stubbled cheek. “Please don’t blame yourself.”
“Maybe it would be easier if we-”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” You say sternly. You force him to look at you, his eyes storming like the sea. “We’ll figure it out. Our emotions got the best of us last week. We just have to be more careful, keep this behind closed doors. We don’t need to flaunt it, right? Just tell the press that you want to keep your private life private, and I’ll take a break from social media. We can figure it out.”
Pierre nodded in agreement. His voice is scratchy, like he had swallowed gravel. “Alright.”
“It’s us against the world,” You tell him, “And I couldn’t ask for a better teammate.” Your lips ghost against his in an attempt to reassure him. He returns the kiss, firmer and more confident. Your hand slips to the nape of his neck, drawing him in as your tongue glides against his lower lip. 
Last week, you’d fucked. But tonight, the sex was something else entirely. It was soft sighs and languid kisses, whispered words of adoration and promises of endless love. Above all, it was an affirmation. Pierre loved you; heart, mind, and soul. In every sense of the word. He would let nothing come between you and himself. Not his career, jealous fans, or the thousands of miles that may sometimes separate you.
Pierre offered you his heart, and you accepted it without question.
**********
The few precious hours Pierre managed to give you were enough to keep you afloat the rest of the week. The break from seemingly endless lectures helped to reset your mind and give you time to focus on yourself.
Pierre called as often as he could, and texted when he couldn’t. You filled him in on the little things you did to keep busy, like how you spent all of Sunday rearranging your tiny apartment so that your bed was as close to his in Austria as you could get it. Monday night, you fell asleep on Facetime with him as you tried and failed to write a term paper for your architectural history class. 
Pierre’s visit and subsequent calls had made you feel invincible. But the moment you walk into the lecture hall on Tuesday, everyone’s eyes are on you: the first test of your newly minted confidence. Chin held high, you meet a few of their stares and take your usual seat at the front. The moment you start to question yourself, if you're ready to face the scrutiny, your phone buzzes with a text from Pierre.
Ignore them. Remember that I love you. I’ll call you tonight.
Once again, he somehow knew exactly what you needed to hear. It amazed you that a handful of carefully selected words could grant you so much strength. But it was proof that Pierre recognized and accepted your fears and was willing to help you work through them. 
You take a breath, letting the whispers of your classmates fade until they were nothing more than a faint hum. You turn your focus on the professor as she enters, falling into your usual cadence. Easy. You could ignore the gossip until they got tired of it and left you alone. Their fascination couldn’t last more than a few days. 
You made it through the rest of your classes and walked home without incident. No one ran up to you and demanded you explain your relationship with Pierre. Your worst fears had been abated. The stress of it rolls off your shoulders when you make it to your apartment. It was already 7 o’clock, but Pierre hadn’t called yet. Seeing as Austria was an hour ahead, you weren’t sure he would hold to his earlier promise.
Your stomach growls, and you leave your bag next to your bed before heading to the kitchen. Dinner was a box of macaroni and cheese, simple but delicious. You couldn’t stop yourself from glancing at your phone every few minutes, hoping to see Pierre’s name on the screen. 
Coming to terms with the fact that you probably wouldn't be getting a call, you settle into your favorite chair and crack open your laptop. Term papers didn't write themselves, and you still had a few thousand words to write. You lost yourself in theories and articles for a few hours before your phone breaks your concentration.
You awake?
A smile splits your face. Yeah. Working on this never ending term paper.
I'll leave you to it. Love you, sleep tight.
You laugh quietly. You agree with his 'school first' mentality most of the time, but there were exceptions to every rule. You call him, heart stuttering when he answers.
"You're supposed to be writing."
"Well, nice to hear your voice too," You say playfully. "It was boring me anyway. Who wants to read twenty pages comparing Roman and Greek columns anyway?"
"I'm pretty sure your professor does," He says with a laugh that warms your bones. If only he were standing in front of you so you could feel his chest rumble beneath your fingertips. Wanting to see his face, you switch to a video call.
"I was wondering how long that would take," He teases, smile wide and welcoming. 
"I miss you," You say softly, padding to your bed. You'd accomplished enough that you could push off writing more until tomorrow. "I wish I could come to Japan this weekend."
"Me too, my love," He responds, voice tinged with longing. "It's one of the more challenging circuits on the calendar. And you've always wanted to visit Tokyo."
You weren't surprised that he remembered that silly dream of yours. "Send me something that reminds me of you." You flick off the lights before climbing under the covers, pulling them up to your chin. "Something cute and sweet."
"I fly out tomorrow night to meet Charles. I should have some extra time to do some window shopping."
"You and Charles going on a date?" You tease, propping your head on a hand. Now that you were cozy, it was hard to keep your eyes open.
He shakes his head. "He's been… helping me with the press. Tackling it all."
"Oh." The mood sours. You decide not to dwell on it, turning to humor instead. "Give him a kiss for me as a thank you."
"He would love that," Pierre laughs. Comfortable silence blankets you, broken only by Pierre humming softly. It was a song you recognize as one of his favorites; it must have been stuck in his head.
"What time do I have to wake up on Sunday?" You mumble, struggling to stay awake while he was unknowingly serenading you.
"Do you want to watch the prerace stuff?" Papers shuffle softly on the other end as he figures it out for you. "If you do, probably like 3:30. If not, the race would be at five your time, so maybe 4:30."
"That's early. You're lucky I love you enough to sacrifice my beauty sleep."
He didn't hesitate before responding. "Luckily you don't need sleep to be beautiful."
Your mouth curls in a sleepy smile. "When you say things like that, I hate the distance between us even more."
Pierre scrubs a hand over his face. "I don't have a break for another month or so."
"I know."
Silence falls again, both of you lost in your own heads.
"You should sleep," He says finally, and you nod. Your first class was only 6 hours from now. "I'll sing to you if you promise to close your eyes and try to sleep."
Despite your best efforts, you yawn. You often called him for a song when you couldn't sleep and the time difference permitted it. Just hearing his voice was soothing enough, but a song? It was heaven. "Shouldn't be hard to do." Sleep came within minutes, Pierre's soft song your lullaby.
Tagging: @flashcal @sunshinesewis
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mintseesaw · 4 years
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northeast monsoon
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pairing: god!jungkook x goddess!reader genre: fantasy, smut, slight angst, soulmate!au word count: 3.7k warnings: mature content, unprotected sex, brief mentions of the character’s health conditions, cursed!reader, son of the deity jungkook // 18+ summary: Jungkook, not out of ordinary, decided to celebrate his 24th birthday in his favorite place on earth, the closest place to heaven—on a mountain summit. However, even before he reaches the highest peak of the mountain range, he was trapped, enthralled, and coincidentally found his true nature.
note: the idea occurred to me earlier while i was at work yesterday used jk’s birthday as an excuse to pursue it and ignore my 36433 wips and drabble requests; short, steamy and a literal filth bc it’s unedited
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Jungkook was lost.
His birthday seems to carry the bad luck today. His very first misfortune in his two year experience of mountain hiking. The moment he stepped foot on the soil of mountain range marks the start of a weird feeling sitting at the pit of his something. That he refused to acknowledge  because nothing bad happened to him before.
When they visited the homes of the natives on the foothill of the mountain to pay respect as inhabitants of the ancestral domain, the chieftain’s storytelling of the mountain’s cursed guardian sounded incredulous. He didn’t take it seriously nor think of it as a warning. He didn’t understand why the indigenous leader felt the need to tell them a folklore causing a delay on their activity.
Amongst the group of civilian trekkers, he was the only one who skipped the supposed ritual of spitting to the soiled ground and drawing a cross on foot on the same spot before entering the premises passed the small village. It was said to reverse the effect of any potential supernatural force against them.
Approximately 45 minutes after they started their trail onto the summit, he caught a swarm of fireflies flocking on a trunk of a humongous tree, seemingly in its hundred years of existence or more. But it wasn’t the insects that prompted him to stop and admire the view. It was the rare glow surrounding the tree that did. In his great fascination, he even loudly shared his discovery to the group. Their disinterest to the majestic tree dismayed him. Are they blind or something? It’s not everyday that they get to admire such beauty. For a solid few minutes, he was left dazed, stunned to see a tree before his eyes just like the one he had seen recently in a fantasy drama where there existed witchcraft and wizardry.
He’s not dreaming, is he?
When he finally snapped out of his reverie, the group was no longer in sight, leaving him there standing alone. At least, there’s a trace of footprints he could use to follow their tracks.
In silence, Jungkook couldn’t help but think back of the past, and the last bit memory he remembers when he woke up in a hospital bed with no recollection of his identity.
Four years ago, he was met with a major car accident with its impact resulting to hundreds of stitches in his chest, the only hideous scar he obtained after he was said to be hospitalized for a month. He not only developed a heart condition but was also diagnosed with a retrograde amnesia. He believes that his inability to recall his past memory marked the start of his vivid dreams occurring every night. Still, he was lucky enough to have his body remain in the best condition despite the lasting emotional and physiological damages it left him.
The endless dreams of mountains and forests led him to discover his fondness in scenery and the constant sense of emptiness becoming difficult to ignore. His newly found obsession with nature was enough to convince himself to start trekking, particularly mountains. Strange enough, he found the solitary in mountain peaks, of the scenery, and the cold climate in summits.  He found a temporary peace in the closest place to heaven from the constant ache that each of his bizarre dreams left his heart bruising.
It was not only his dreams that he finds peculiar. Although his mother had reminded him numerous times that it was his adolescent self who developed a liking to tattoos, he didn’t know what occurred to him in his teens to consider inking his body with unrecognizable symbols that even with a brief searching in google couldn't provide him what the underlying significance each mark carries.
Few minutes later, he found himself stopping at the same spot where he had taken his time admiring the tree. He didn’t know how it happened when he was only following the remnants of the collective footpath on the ground. If he perceived the situation odd, he didn’t acknowledge it until the third time he came back on the same spot, same view.
The fact that he’s always has this great sense of remembering directions whether it be in the road or in mountains, makes the situation even weirder. For the nth time, he took a glance at his wristwatch. A groan resonated through the eerie silence in the midst of the forest. He’s been walking in circles for almost two hours now.
The group might have been halfway through the summit at this point. The trail takes about 4-5 hours and he’s far behind them now. With a heavy heart, he decided to return back to the foothill.
The sun is at its highest peak above the sky, amplifying the dryness of his mouth from the heat of noon. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to drink the remaining content in his flask.
The gust of wind brought by the monsoon is somehow mixing up his sense of direction. Some may find it strange, but he could feel the presence of wind oddly stronger than other human beings. Out of the ordinary, he could sense where the wind came from just by the mere blow of breeze passed his skin. Right now, he couldn’t put his extraordinary ability into good use because even with his attempt to go back down, he keeps returning to the same location.
Jungkook is lost. Somewhat, he’s trapped.
Now more than ever, he’s almost convinced some being invisible to the naked eye is playing him around. Jungkook lowered his rucksack on the ground, and started pacing back and forth as he tried to figure out how he’ll reverse the imaginary spell.
Even with the time passing by, the fireflies remained there, swimming around the trunk like they own it. If he’s trapped, someone or something might be responsible for this. Whether or not these stupid supernatural creatures are true, he needs to get out of here.
His foot stopped mid-step and fixated his glare at the old tree. What else would prove the peculiarity of the situation other than the mythical personified before his eyes.
“Come on, take back whatever spell you’ve casted on me. I’m not gonna destroy your home. This is an order, you devious creature.” Jungkook reprimands sarcastically as if the poor, ginormous tree can understand him in the human language.
There was nothing significantly remarkable about it if not only for the fairy dust-like glimmers surrounding it.
However, to his surprise, he suddenly hears the rustles of the leaves and cracks of branches echo through the stillness in the air as they pliantly bend over. He could feel the shiver run through his spine as he gathered what was happening to the tree. It is bending, its crown slightly crouched in front of him as if it was bowing down.
Jungkook staggers back in utter astonishment.
What the fuck is this sorcery? Is he dreaming?
He blinks furiously, trying to deduce the realness of the scene in front of him.
Soon after, he felt another surge of force-like brush of the wind against his skin, kindling tingles and goosebumps to appear on his skin. Dust swirls like a whirlpool in the air as weightless dead leaves harshly dance above the ground before they fall back down. To make things more incredulously mad, out of nowhere, a blinding form comes into sight near the trunk.
As its gleam dies down, the next thing his eyes have captured is the most enchanting being he has ever seen in his life.
A goddess.
She leans forward, her shimmering palm rubbing up and down on the rough texture of the trunk, as if the bewitching creature is consoling the seemingly submissive native species. Whether or not the goddess is upraising its spirit, he couldn’t be sure.
In quiet amazement, he watches the beauty just a few meters away from him while his presence remains hidden. Long silky hair in beautiful waves flowing with its end touching her lower back. It’s shade resembles that of the dead leaves with seemingly fresh petals and leaves decorated as accessories on her hair. Almost brandishing her as a forest goddess. With her side facing his front, Jungkook could clearly see the swell of her breasts with her thick locks keeping her peaks hidden like an enthusing mystery.
As if abiding by whatever the goddess had said, the crouched tree slowly returns back to its natural form. And just as the goddess turns her back at him, ready to vanish into the thin air, he scurried forward.
“Wait!” Jungkook shouts, hurriedly calling their attention despite hardly recovering from the peculiarity of the scene in front of him.
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You only responded with a side glance, just enough to see him in your peripheral vision.
Jungkook took it as his cue to garner more of your attention, “You’re a goddess?” He says with his tone clearly filled in awe.
As if his naive question took you by surprise, you whirled around. When you did, it was like there was an invisible electrifying sensation that struck him the moment your eyes landed on him. The tremor of sparks immediately radiating in his body.
She’s such an exquisite sight, Jungkook gawked. Cting you as his example, none of the illustrations he’d seen on the internet had given justice just how beautiful goddesses are in real life. In real life! 
When you spoke for the first time since you appeared in his vision, he was quickly snapped out of daze.
“You can see me? How… you mortals do not have the ability to see us.” You say breathlessly, bewildered to have met the eyes of a mortal for the first time since time immemorial. No living mortal can and will see you, unless you have opted to be seen.
Jungkook’s mouth parted. You said no affirmation. Yet, the way you addressed him as a mortal only meant one thing.
“You’re really a goddess!” He exclaims, still stunned.
“Go back to the land. The fairies will guide you the way.” You said with a simple directness, having no intention to unravel the mystery of his identity and why he seemed to carry power in him. Just as you uttered those words, the fairies appeared from the crown of the tree.
“No, wait! I’m not gonna leave until you answer my questions.”
Your head shook and with firm persistence, you say, “I am no guardian of a mortal like you. Leave the mountain before another fairy casts a spell on you. If that happens, you will never return to your home.”
Jungkook held his arms out. “I’m not here to harm anyone or anything.”
As the wind continues to swirl around the two of you, the long locks of your hair resting over your chest continue to sway pliantly in the wind’s direction.
At some point, Jungkook caught a vaguely familiar mark decorated on your skin just below your shoulder blade. On the same spot of one of his marks which mirrors yours.
“I am the guardian of this shelter and supernatural beings that live here. I cannot fill your curiosity nor have the power to keep you safe against them.”
Jungkook could perfectly hear you, but his focus had zeroed in to your shoulder. To see the exact resemblance of his mark on yours is a different story. You’re wrong, definitely wrong because you are the answer to his dreams.
Jungkook suddenly peels off his waterproof jacket while dragging his feet toward your direction.
The swell of your breasts entice him almost too painfully that his cock twitches from the mere sight of your glowing skin in complete nudity. As if they were inviting his palms to touch them. And even with your orbs glinting with subtle surprise, your face remained expressionless.
Why, he finds it fascinating. You have bewitched him!
Your confusion only lasted for a couple seconds until the last layer of fabric was taken off of his upper body. But it was replaced by a thunder striking discovery, gasping as your eyes landed on the flesh-colored, slit-like scar on his chest similar to that of the Deity’s symbol. Lightning bolt.
Jungkook met your eyes, thinking you’ve already recognized the identical marking on his skin.
When he parts his mouth to speak, you beat him to it.
“You’re not a mortal.” You revealed, still astounded.
“W-What?” Jungkook stopped in his tracks.
It couldn’t possibly be. The children of the Supreme Deity are no mortals. The God of the sea, the Ruler of the stars and moon, the Owner of the soon, the twin Gods of love and beauty, the Prince of the earth and the deity’s successor, and the missing guardian of the wind have no mortal blood. That you’re certain of. But the missing god... does it mean he’s the missing guardian of the wind?
Your gaze sifts through the generous amount of inks on his arms where the secrets of his power lie beneath the layer of the markings. The God of love have revealed this to you once several years when you dared question the reason why his body is decorated of inks, unlike other gods you have seen.
When your eyes shifted upward to his shoulder blade, you felt your heart tightens in an almost unbearable grip for the first time since the Deity has cursed you.
“Soulmate,” you reveal for the second time.
Jungkook’s eyes went round. “S-Soulmate?” He stutters.
You reach out and touch the ink of your bond on his skin. And just like that, Jungkook visibly shudders at the minimal contact.
Your eyes glossy from moisture. “I’ve been waiting for you.” You confessed.
He took one bold step forward, cupping your elegant face in his palms.
“Heavens, you’re so beautiful. How could I possibly believe that I’m rewarded with a soulmate like you? Tell me, I’m not dreaming.” He says with wonder glinting in his eyes.
He inches his face closer until your noses are touching. “If I only knew you’re waiting for me, I should’ve come here sooner when I began having those weird dreams. Fuck, let me kiss you, princess.” He groans, unable to wrap his head around with the revelation. He still has yet to ask what you meant when you said he’s not a mortal, but right now, he doesn’t care what his true identity is.
He needs to taste you.
And so he did, capturing your mouth in a flash, and taking your breath away as he pushes his tongue into the caverns of your mouth.
“So sweet,” he murmurs against your mouth. “You taste so sweet, princess.”
But the moment was cut short as he felt a searing pain in his chest. He jerks back as his body contorts in agony.
Jungkook hisses as the pain all too quickly rushes in his blood, the sensation numbing his entire body. With his eyes clenched tightly shut, he failed to witness the glow beginning to exude from each ink on his arms, the most vibrant glimmer coming from the mark on his chest that symbolizes his birthright.
His power is trying to rouse back through his mortal senses. Your glimmering fingers cautiously graze the bond on his skin, exploring the effect of your touch to him. 
The tingles that radiate through his veins left him whimpering and wanting more, more of it to distract him from the unbearable ache.
“Please touch me…” He writhes, sharply drawing a breath in and out.
You lower your head and let your mouth touch the bond. A ripple of tingles slither through him almost instantly, involuntarily making him shiver from the newfound sensation. He could feel the rush of blood going straight to his cock inside his pants. He needs more.
As if you heard his silent pleas, your tongue darts out of your mouth, swirling around the spot to soothe his aches. Jungkook’s hands curl over your back, closing the distance between your bodies, leaving no way for him to not feel your breasts on his chest. In daze, he looked heavenward, mouth parted back as gasps proceeded to stumble out of his mouth deliriously. With the pain drowned by the pleasure that your sensual licks carry, he tears your mouth off of his skin just to crash his mouth to yours in a searing kiss.
He lets his instincts rule him out, and there’s one thing he wants more than anything else than to permanently mark your body his, to seal the bond that will eternally link your souls together.
“I need you so much, Princess. Tell me you want this, too. Otherwise I’ll leave and will never bother you, again.” He says in a whisper against the corner of your mouth.
The harmless threat of his words stirs alarm in you, giving him the answer he wants to hear almost instantaneously. “I’m yours, please have me. Do as you wish to my body.”
He groans, loving the way you call him yours. “Jungkook,” he whispers against the plump skin of your glowing cheek, “Say it. Say my name, Princess.” He demands softly.
“Jungkook,” you utter breathlessly.
His chest vibrated as the growl rang through the emptiness of the forest. “Fuck, you’re so perfect, my goddess.”
Jungkook sweeps you off in his arms, and with a few, calculated steps, he laid you over his thrown jacket on the ground. Another groan tears out of him just as he parted your legs, with your bare, leaking center exposed right before his hooded eyes.
Unceremoniously, he braced himself on top of you, sucking the raven mark on your skin. His fully aroused member is freed with a pop of his button and a one forceful pull of the waistband of his trousers.
He wasted no more passing second and impulsively align the red tip of his mad cock on your entrance. With a calculated thrust of his hips, he sinks his member to your warm tightness, releasing a heavy sigh in relief as the heat of your hole equally envelops all throughout his body despite the chills brought by the gust of the wind.
Jungkook catches one of your peaks with his mouth as you get lost to the heat of the intimacy. He didn’t know if goddesses such as his enchanting soulmate can conceive like mortals do or if there are other methods to reproduce but it’s never a waste of his fluid to try and test the theory. After all, if your words bear truth, he may not be a human like what he actually thought he was.
Your heavenly mewls coax him to penetrate in you deeper, until your cries have intensified and your body writhes helplessly beneath him.
With each roll of his hips colliding against your pelvis, your delightful cries have become more profound, unrestrained, enough to flare warmth right straight to his abdomen. Jungkook rests his forehead just below your temple, murmuring sweet confessions to you, the owner of his soul and inevitably soon, his heart.
He guided your legs around his waist, giving him the access to ruthlessly pound into you deeper. And then something snaps out from him.
All the gentleness of his movements have evolved into something more carnal—feral, manifesting the strength of his true nature.
God of the wind, son of the Supreme Deity. The longer his body connects with your immortal form, the luminescence emitting on his skin becoming more vivid.
“Jungkook!” Another scream tears out of you. Tears cascading from your eyes from both pain and pleasure.
With his godly powers spurring during the intimate joining of your bodies, his strength turns more powerful that no human would possibly ever survive from. You could never match the godliness of a deity’s son, but your supernatural strength was able to neutralize the surge of his energy and entwines the intensity with yours.
The God of the wind continues to rock you closer and closer to the end, with the thought of his future with you, you carrying his children, you and no one else.
He senses the buildup tension in your stomach with your head tossing restlessly from side to side.
And in a suck of your bond with his mouth and a flick of your bud in your center, you exploded so powerfully around his cock. Jungkook chases his end while the rush of your euphoria continues to spark in your veins, giving your body an exceptional glow.
He reaches the peak of pleasure with an animalistic growl reverberating on his chest, locking your hips immobile to make sure your walls greedily take in every drop of his cum. He’d want to breed you with his children.
“My sweet goddess, you’re amazing.” He praises, nuzzling on the thick, wavy locks of your hair.
Jungkook didn’t miss the squeeze of your palm on his waist. He let your wandering hands trace the length of his body. But he pulls away when you spoke.
“Will you leave me after this?” There is sadness hinted at the tone of your voice.
He tilted your chin up with his fingers, studying your features. “Of course not, how can you say that?”
You smile weakly, the grief dancing in your eyes making his chest tightens. “I’m not as powerful as you are. You are the son of the deity, you can… reject our bond and choose any goddess as you wish. Whereas, I only have one eternal soulmate and that’s you. But…”
Even with the truth unraveling right before him, he could only focus on your grief. Why is someone as perfect as you hold so much moroseness in your heart?
“But?”
“This mountain is my world. I’m eternally cursed to guard this shelter.” Your lips quiver in fear. His thumb grazes your lower lip as his arm tightens over your back. The tale told by the chieftain crosses his mind. The cursed guardian is you.
“Oh princess, do you think anything else will convince me to live without you in my life? I’ll be wherever you need me to be. Goddess or not, I will never let you out of my sight forever.” He vows, sealing the promise of eternity with a power-clashing kiss.
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evarcana · 3 years
Text
Taking it out on you
Ev attends the court meeting only to learn that sometimes the second impressions are just as bad as the first ones.
characters: Ev Panopolis, consul Valerius and brief appearance of Volta
words: ~3k
warnings: alcohol (as expected)
notes: On some point I gave up on the idea of Ev being the apprentice, as she just does not have this "MC energy". So this is an introduction to her story, because there is no better way to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of this blog than to remember that a very long time ago I used to write fanfiction.
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It has been almost a month already. Almost a month since she came to Vesuvia, almost a month since she was told that her services were not required here. The thought makes Ev frown, but she keeps a quick pace, the sound of her impatient steps on the marble floor echoing through the palace corridor.
It is just before eleven o’clock, and the last of crisp morning sun pours over the rich mauve of lustrous silk drapes and the gold leaf of intricately carved murals, drawing out the warm scent of orange blossom and beeswax from the polished panels of precious wood. Vesuvian palace is exactly what she was promised - a great wonder, and yet Ev doubts it could give any lesser impression while the backdrop to its striking opulence is the city torn apart by disease and grief.
There are no servants or visitors in sight, and Ev’s only company in this seemingly endless corridor are paintings on the walls, depicting what she can only guess are some of the proud moments of Vesuvian history - people and places so foreign to her.
She does simple math in her head: two months and two days ago she was marching down the corridor of a very different palace, eager to be on time for the meeting with Crown Princess Nafizah despite the quite literal last minute notice, and not knowing yet that she was about to hear details of this so-called diplomatic mission.
Back then it sounded straightforward enough. Prakra couldn’t ignore the news of Count Lucio's tragic death, not least because that meant Princess Nadia, the youngest daughter of the Prakran royal family, was left widowed and with the daunting task of handling the red plague epidemic in Vesuvia all on her own. Any ruler could do with an extra pair of hands and any country could benefit from the alliance with Prakra, especially in times of crisis like this. And it would have stayed straightforward if only the discovery of Countess Nadia’s mysterious illness and the unexpected, unreasonable, outrageous hostility of Vesuvian court did not bring this crisis to the whole new, now personal, level.
In theory, Ev did not have to deal with any of that. She could use the excuse that it was only appropriate to deliver such unsettling news about Nadia in person, go back and forget everything that happened in this palace like one of those unpleasantly bizarre dreams you get after a night of drinking. But Vesuvia was still the city Prakra cared about, Nadia’s city, and as far as Ev knew none of the people who came to be in charge of it were appointed by her. Prakran diplomatic presence was perhaps the only way to look after Nadia’s interests until she woke up. Even if Ev had no actual power over the court, returning to Prakra without accomplishing at least something felt like a failure, and failure has never been an option for Ev. With that in mind, she pressed the seal with enough force to imprint Prakran royal crest on the desk and not just on the drop of red wax marking the envelope, and stayed.
Now, after a month of living in the city, she has learned to see that there is more to her new role than just misfortunes. Her relocation allowance is generous, her new place is nicer than what she had in Prakra and she is getting rather used to the convenience of the wine shop next door. Even if parts of it are foreign and unwelcoming, Ev feels at ease in Vesuvia. The tension in her body relaxes, and she thinks maybe this palace can eventually get used to her too, but the thought faints away as soon as she sees the salon door. Ev presses a pile of papers closer to her chest and tells herself that she can think about everything else another time - the court meeting is about to start.
She pushes the door open but immediately freezes on the spot stricken by the gagging wave of nausea - nails dirty with soil and blood, sickly sweet buttercream pastries and rustle of feathers covered in mud. It is no more than a faint impression but even through the fogged mind Ev recognises the feeling - it is vestige, the afterimage of magic. She has felt it before, many times and in many different forms but never has it made her feel physically sick. What is even more unusual is that such a revolting sensation is coming from the palace quarters. One would expect tingles of bubbles from the charmed fountains of never ending sparkling wine or at least the impression of whispers, premium tea, treacle and bitter ambition from the walls which have been magically given ears, and not... whatever this is. Ev draws a deep breath, pushing down into her diaphragm and looks around the room. The salon is not set up for the court meeting, instead there is a tray of food and stacks of empty plates towering on almost every flat surface. Her eyes stop on greasy remains looking terribly out of place on the delicate porcelain plate and she unconsciously covers her mouth. Maybe she is mistaken after all - it is the strange smell of food and not some kind of creepy magic, and, more importantly, maybe this is not the salon she was looking for.
Before Ev gets a chance to mentally blame the chamberlain for giving her the wrong directions, a tiny figure appears from behind the chair. The white cornette is instantly recognisable and Ev is about to ask procurator Volta whether she is here for the court meeting too when she sees that behind the commotion of dark robes Volta is frantically trying to push the whole roast rack of lamb down her mouth. Dear gods. Somewhat unsurprisingly, one of the bones appears to be stuck. Clearly having not expected to have an audience, the procurator widens her eyes at Ev in a mixture of terror and shame. Unable to speak, after a few incoherent squeaks, she throws her tiny hands in the air helplessly, spattering herself with gravy and gestures to the open French doors leading to the balcony. Without giving it too much thought, Ev gives Volta a quick nod and takes an opportunity to escape the awkwardness of the scene.
Wrapped in the soft shade of the balcony, consul Valerius is casually leaning back in the chair, with the usual glass of wine in his hand. Even before she reaches the doors, Ev sets her eyes on his face. The consul is looking away, his face carved and unmovable, the tight knot of dark eyebrows making him look ireful and disgruntled, like one of those statues of stern gods she saw growing up in Zadith. Her next step lands much quieter and then, there steps in, Ev stops and stands very still wondering what thoughts could possibly bring this storm to Valerius’s face. Sun would suit him much more, she thinks, her eyes curiously trailing down the golden glints of his hair.
A loud snort catches Ev off guard and she realises that Valerius is now facing her, looking considerably more displeased than before, no doubt because of her. That’s more like it. How could she forget that this man is the very cause of her problems.
“Could I please have some of your time, consul?” she asks, heading straight towards him. Greetings seem excessive, they didn’t necessarily part on friendly terms last time.
“I didn't expect to see you here again.”
Ev allows herself a smirk. “I know.” I am not here to do what you expect from me. She stops inches away from his chair looking down at him, apparently enjoying the close proximity which, considering their formal relationship and the consul’s well known bad temper, could be regarded as both highly inappropriate and potentially reckless. But Valerius only turns away, more interested in his drink than in her.
“I have been studying the treasury records,” she continues, searching his face for any kind of reaction. His lips curl up in a sneer as he takes a sip of wine, but his eyes are still firmly fixed on the horizon. Ev follows his gaze expecting to see some radical change to the surrounding landscape, but there is only faint outline of the city roofs behind the lush green of the palace's vast grounds, - no columns of smoke, no ominous looking storm clouds gathering in the distance, nothing that could possibly be more interesting than her. Whatever. “Your tax system - ,” she hands Valerius neatly arranged papers, which he completely ignores,“- it is not working.”
“Vesuvian tax system remained largely unchanged for the last two generations, this is how these matters are handled traditionally,” says Valerius, once again denying Ev courtesy of eye contact.
Ev’s mouth twists at the sound of the last words. Too worried the conservative mindset might be contagious, she quickly withdraws her hand and takes a step back.
“I trust you understand that sometimes one should focus on what works, and not what is traditional,” she says, doing her best to disguise the growing irritation. “You don’t attract nearly as much foreign trade as you used to.”
What comes next is a very profound, uncomfortable silence. Ev sighs.
“Consul, you had plague in the city, people died,” her voice is louder now, “lots of people died”, and the irritation is obvious. “And Vesuvia cannot exist without its people. Somebody needs to bring food from the farmlands, make clothes, teach children, attend to the sick. Yes, in the past you could always import whatever you did not have but now people are scared to come because of the plague. You -”, she pauses in anticipation noticing Valerius shifting in his seat, but he only reaches for the bottle to top up his glass, “- you need to do something to make it attractive for them again. Lower the customs, lift the taxes for people whose skills you need, sell empty real estate cheap. There is plenty all around the city!”
Deep down Ev knows that none of these is going to work long term, but she doesn't care - she wants to do something and she wants to do it now.
Yet, nothing changes. She is still standing there, and he is still looking away. Ev would prefer him to disagree, start arguing with her - anything really, as long as it breaks this silence.
“Fine! If you don’t feel like changing this traditional system of yours, even temporarily, at least fix your mistakes.” Ev starts chaotically flipping through the papers searching for the one she needs, which would be a much easier task, if she was less flurried and if Valerius offered her a seat. She wonders whether he is now watching her, sneering at her struggle. “Your approved accounts, here,” this time she brusquely puts the paper in front of Valerius’s face blocking his view, “your numbers do not even add up! ”
For a split second she sees something on his face - a twitch, a flick of rage, and thinks that she has gone too far. But his question comes out in a calm, almost disinterested tone: “What makes you think that somebody like you is even qualified to check the city’s budget approved by the esteemed procurator Volta?”
A moment passes before Ev is able to break from staring at Valerius in disbelief. She glances to the salon where, judging by the sound, Volta has freed her mouth only to move to the next dish. Seriously? Perhaps she should be impressed that he managed to say it with the straight face.
And then there is a chilling sensation at the pit of Ev’s stomach. She asks herself what is going on here? What is this city under the reign of a person who questions everything and everyone except the obvious mistake in the accounts? And what is she - ? Angry, she reminds herself, is what she is, and throws a look at Valerius, who is taking another sip from his glass as in triumph. You don’t need to be qualified, you just need to have common sense. And you, Valerius, either don’t have it or you were not even bothered to look at what your court approves.
She pictures him lazily drinking wine, legs on the desk, his shirt unbuttoned, while completely ignoring his state duties. The image is irritating and yet not entirely unpleasant.
“We both know that I come from a family of alchemists and merchants. Trust me, I know how to count,” she says with a smile. It sounded right in her head, a ridiculous answer to the ridiculous question.
“I thought that during our last meeting you said that you had nothing to do with your witchcraft family.” A perfectly raised eyebrow, and that infuriating smirk.
Ev opens her mouth in protest but gives up quickly. Those were her exact words after all, save for the witchcraft part.
She begins to pace around the balcony avoiding looking at Valerius as much as possible. The consul clearly has a way of getting on her nerves, and she needs all her concentration if she wants to explain what exactly will happen to this goddamn city if they carry on with this approved budget.
“Think about the consequences for the people if this mistake is not corrected!” she shouts, her voice much louder than she would like it to be, and quickly turns to Valerius expecting a blowback. But the pale eyes are looking down, studying something on the floor, or on the edge of the fabric of her long sleeve, she really can’t tell. Oh gods, he is not even paying attention.
***
Valerius has firmly decided that he is not going to pay any attention.
The time of plague was exhausting: the palace suddenly full of people of all kinds and intentions promising to find a cure, pleas for help on the streets which he could not escape even behind the doors of the most expensive carriages, the count who was growing more desperate everyday and the white smoke of the Lazaret carried by the sea breeze towards the city, the memory of which still haunts him. And now there is the Satrinavas’ new pet here having an audacity to talk about his city’s problems - the problems which, out of all people, he should know the most about, he is the consul after all, and a Vesuvian.
Vesuvia he inherited is haggard and sad, and on top of that an enormous responsibility. The last thing he needs is a stranger questioning his authority, as if the incompetent court and the city demanding their beloved countess back have not been tiresome enough. Valerius lets out a short, barely audible sigh. He just wants this farce to be over so he can go back to thinking.
But the witch is not planning to stop, if anything she seems to be enjoying it. Look at her. Absorbed by herself and her ludicrous ideas, she is loud and talks too much with her hands. Her dress keeps slipping down the shoulder draping around the soft curve of a half barred breast every time she does one of these unnecessary, overconfident gestures. Valerius has absolutely no idea whether this is deliberate or she is simply unaware of the indecency which keeps drawing his eyes.
He tries to distract himself by taking a drink of wine only to discover that his glass, just like the air around him, is full of this loud perfume of hers. Harsh cinnamon, incense and patchouli, very much alike their owner, have no concept of the personal space ruining the perfect balance of his red. The wine is not helping. He catches himself looking at the shoulder again. In fact, absolutely useless. He sets his unfinished glass aside on the small table. Valerius has had enough.
***
“Enough!” Valerius shouts. His voice is suddenly deep and rather forceful and Ev hates that it has the desired effect on her. She stops and looks at him. “You were not invited to the court meeting.” The consul’s face looks awfully angry now.
Ev narrows her eyes. “And what exactly are you doing at your court meeting?”
“That should not be a concern of the Prakran subject”, Valerius says, his words dripping with poison, “or whoever you are.”
“I am a diplomatic emissary -,” she does not get a chance to finish.
“Leave!”
Ev wants to scream and protest, but even she knows better than to yell at somebody who outranked her. She draws a breath. One, two, three. All right.
“I only came to give you the papers”, she says coldly, her eyes still locked on his, and leans forward to place the documents on the table. “But I am taking this away, one should work without the distraction of wine.”
With these words Ev snatches the glass from the table, turns away and heads toward the exit as fast as she can without breaking into running. She does not want to look like she is scared that Valerius will grab her by the arm. If anything she is slightly disappointed that he doesn’t.
“My regards to the court,” she raises her hand and waves the glass in the air without looking back. Behind her there is a sound of paper being torn apart.
***
Ev only slows down when she reaches the main staircase.
Suddenly feeling very tired, she leans against the handrail. Again, what is she doing here? Why did she need to turn up in person when she could send a letter? Ev closes her eyes and rubs her fingers together as if feeling for answers in the whorls of her own skin, and remembers about the glass in her hand. Another bad decision. It would have been wiser to take the bottle.
She raises the glass to her lips and breathes in the wine. It’s pleasant. Perhaps she would prefer its company to the boring palace affairs too. Ev twists the glass in her hand, eying the smooth rim before drawing one long sip. It leaves a blush mark of her lips firmly planted on the surface which she studies for a few seconds. “You better be as angry as I am now”, she says to the dark liquid at the bottom of the glass.
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ashidominasimp · 3 years
Text
I saw this idea on my dash a while back, and I had to write something abt it. So: Kirishima doing Bakugou's eyeliner.
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Bakugou wore eyeliner under his mask, to hide the skin that showed whenever it shifted. He wasn't particularly good at it, and frankly he didn't care. It didn't have to look good, it just had to do its job. However, despite his flippancy towards the practice, application was almost always an intentionally private affair, one that took place in a bathroom stall or changing room, with a handheld compact mirror.
The act made him vulnerable, for some reason, and he hated that feeling, as those who knew him were all too well aware of. So he, well... he hid. He hated the openness that creeped to him, the stealing away of sheltered safety. It was the same feeling that was currently threatening to crawl up his spine as he made his way out of the bathroom, eyeliner and pride in hand.
He’d tried to put the eyeliner on as usual, but an intense session of quirk training the day prior had left his arms shaky and unstable. As much as he loathed asking for help, he supposed it was better than a liner pen in the eye.
He sauntered out of the bathroom towards Kirishima, trying to look as confident as ever, in spite of the uncertainty he felt at what he was about to do. Kirishima, oblivious to Bakugou's inner conflict, was in the midst of the unnecessarily tricky process of securing his sleeves to his shoulder guards. Why he wore that stupid shit, Bakugou will never understand why hide those beautiful arms?
As he approached, Bakugou couldn't help but notice the way his muscles looked when twisted in the manner he was. He was reaching back to hook the clasp near his shoulder blade, causing the tight, corded muscle of his abs and lats to stretch taut. Bakugou quietly noted the image in front of him, filing it away for later fantasizing consideration.
"Oi, shitty hair!" Kirishima looked up at the sound of his nickname, securing the last clasp and shutting his locker door.
"Hey, man, what's up?" Kirishima’s voice, as steady as ever, helped to calm some of Bakugou’s nerves.
“I… I need your help,” The words were whispered, Bakugou’s eyes flicking to the side to avoid Krishima’s. When he looked back, Kirishima’s already radiant smile had brightened even further.
“Of course, man, whatever you need!” Kiri knew Bakugou well enough, now, to know how rare such a request was.
Bakugou sighed, taking a moment to figure how to voice what he needed without sounding utterly stupid, before quickly coming to the conclusion that no such solution was possible. He figured the best course of action would be to just say it outright, rip the bandaid off and get it over with.
“I need you to do my eyeliner,” he said, as deadpan as possible, holding up the pencil fisted in his hand. He could feel the heat rising into his cheeks, but he chose to ignore the sensation, a decision helped by the fact Kirishima was clearly suffering from the same effect. His cheeks seemed to be trying to compete with his hair for the brightest shade of red (adorable).
To his credit, Kirishima had little other reaction to the request, he didn’t question a thing before reaching out to take the pencil from his hand. He placed a hand on Bakugou’s shoulder to direct him to a nearby bench. He placed his fingers under Bakugou’s chin, gently tilting him up to look the standing red-head in the eye. Kirishima’s fingers, so soft on his face, felt like fire, warm and comforting, dangerous and enticing, and Bakugou was suddenly all at once very regretful and very glad for his decision to ask Kiri for help. It took every bit of self-control he had to keep his face grumpily impassive.
“Just so you know, man, I haven’t done this in years. It’ll probably look like shit,” he laughed.
Bakugou was grunting in dismissive acknowledgment before he had time to fully process just what Kirishima was implying. I haven’t done this in years. Oh?
“You’ve done this before?”
Kirishima hesitated and flushed slightly, like he had been hoping Bakugou wouldn’t pick up on it.
“Uh, yeah, I wore eyeliner for a while in my second year of junior high.” He placed his hand on Bakugou’s cheekbone, thumbing his eyelid closed and beginning to draw on the liner. “Mina calls it my ‘emo phase’. I guess she’s not wrong.” His tone was light-hearted and clearly embarrassed, a nervous smile splayed across his face that Bakugou just barely caught through his squinted eyes. It was an emotion Bakugou had rarely seen in him. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it.
The next few minutes passed in silence, in which Kiri switched his hand to Bakugou’s brow-bone on the opposite side of his face to complete his work. In the dip in their conversation, the sounds of the world around them faded back in. He hadn’t even realized they had faded out, but he was suddenly very aware that he and Kirishima were still very much in the middle of the boys locker room, and that there were 12 extras who now knew about this particular quirk of his daily routine.
He could hear the murmurs and questioning hums, knowing there were probably more than a few pairs of eyes on them. It should’ve pissed him off, he should be screaming at them to mind their own goddamn business. Somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to care. The hands on his face and the warm breath against his forehead stubbornly shoved any anger from his being.
Kiri finished the eyeliner and Bakugou pulled his mask from his back pocket. He reached up to fasten it, but firm, calloused hands stopped him. Kiri pulled the mask from him, reaching out to attach it himself. He tied the knot in the back, and rested his hands around Bakugou’s neck. Bakugou is quite sure any and all motor and mental functions have been stolen from him in the wake of this sudden intimacy.
It’s over all too soon when Kirishima pulls away, stepping back and heading towards the door.
“C’mon, man, we’re gonna be late!”
Bakugou, as quickly as possible (which, frankly, isn’t very quick in his current state), reassembles himself before marching out after his friend.
Edit: This is now posted on ao3 and currently has three chapters :)
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angelicmichael · 3 years
Text
Willow
Michael Langdon x reader
Summary: Reader, who is a witch (not tied to the og coven) is best friends with Michael. They decide to spend Valentines day together in outpost three. Based on this post, and the 'willow' music video by Taylor Swift.
Words: 3.0k+
Warnings: mentions of rituals/covens (its vague tho), slow burn, light angst, mutual pining, gross fluff, plot heavy and VERY descriptive I'm sorry dhdhd, valentines day fic, mentions of food, friends to lovers
A/N: yall rlly liked my last Michael blurb so I made this kinda similar!! Also the idea of witch! Reader not being tied to the og coven is NOT my idea, others have done it before - I just did it cause it made sense w the music video this fic is based off of ✌🏻. This is mostly me self indulging ngl so if the fic doesnt make sense that's why haha. The v beginning is like Sojourn! Era and then the rest of the fic is somewhere between fire & reign and outpost era. this fic is rlly just me trying to say happy early mf valentines day !! 💖💖 okay bye
February 14th was always a day you dreaded; The idea and concept of a whole fucking holiday being dedicated to just love.. really put a bitter taste in your mouth. In your opinion, it was just a reason for couples to show a disgusting amount of PDA and get away with it.
However; due to a incredibly corny and cliché situation you found yourself in; you now were seeing the incoming holiday in a different light. When you thought of the holiday.. You first thought of Michael. Michael Langdon.
Meeting Michael at all was a complete accident - You met months ago in fall; on a dark cloudy night. Every detail from that evening was etched and woven into your mind as if it had just happened yesterday; and you could only hope that it would remain that way forever. After all; that was the night when you had met your favorite person. You even remembered the weather.. The bitterness of the cold wind making it seem as if it was seconds from storming.
You were part of a small coven which was meeting due to a full moon, it was a rather mundane and basic ritual you were preforming. One of which you had preformed more times you could even count on your fingers.. However; what made that ritual special is that your coven happened to be recruiting.
Full black outfits, including thin, long cloaks is what everyone wore to the occasion.. After everything was over and done with; you went to leave - the bitter coldness of the night urging you to leave rather quickly.
However; something.. almost a invisible force made you stop walking away from the crowd and made you physically stop. You slowly stopped walking; and turned around. You sharply gasped when you saw a figure directly in front of you - wearing a dark ensemble that matched yours nearly identically.
Immediately you grew weary. A sharp, nauseated feeling started to manifest inside of you.
"Were you following me"? You spoke with your voice raised, your hands which previously fell loosely at your side were starting to curl into fists.
You could feel yourself getting defensive. You quickly flicked your eyes over at the other coven members - making sure you weren't causing a scene; not wanting to draw attention to the situation until it grew necessary.
"Yes, but.. look. I just wanted to talk to you.. away from the others". The boy stated.
You bit your lip to suppress a groan. You rolled your eyes, not really caring that he could see how bothered you were.
"Fine. But c'mon, make it quick". You said, not trying to hide the irritation in your voice.
You turned around and walked a few feet away from the crowd, not looking back but merely expecting him to follow you. You were expecting he was just another newbie with dumb questions, or needed clarification on something.
You turned to talk to him, and that's when you noticed something you about him you seemed to overlook earlier - his beauty. You were completely taken aback and breath taken. Light blue eyes met your gaze as you stared blankly at him; momentarily stunned. He looked beyond ethereal; his pale cheeks flushed a light pink from the cold and his blonde hair looked as if it could be spun from gold. It was almost like he could sense how you were suddenly taken aback.. A smug smirk played on his lips; if you didn't know any better you would say he almost seemed cocky.
"There's something about you that's different from the others. I could sense it". He stated.
"How"? You stuttered.
You watched as he took a couple steps toward you and in one quick swoop, pushed the hood of his cloak fully back. He got even closer but you didn't dare move. You watched him curiously as he turned to the side, pushing his blonde locks of hair out of the way to show you something behind his ear.. Your blood instantly went cold once you saw three sixes; however you weren't scared. In fact you were really the first person that Michael met that didn't practically faint when they saw his mark. Looking back; you supposed that's why you and Michael bonded so quickly and became so close.
It didn't take long for him after that to confine in you that people either avoided him or became obsessed once they knew; both reactions ultimately stemming from fear. You were the first person to look past that and to just see him as a actual human being - not just a vessel for some fucked up prophecy to play out.
Even though Michael's beauty was undeniable to you; the relationship you two had was strictly platonic.. and in the past that was never something that bothered you. You supposed that he was tired of people throwing themselves at his feet and what he really needed more than anything was a friend - so you chose to be that for him, not daring to try and test the boundaries your relationship had.
However; the boundaries were seemingly starting to come down naturally - because your relationship wasnt entirely platonic anymore. Things between you two weren't exactly black and white as they used to be; a great example of this, was how you two were planning on spending Valentines Day together.
You and Michael agreed to spend it as friends. Neither of you had a date and spending Valentines alone when you had Michael seemed redundant.. and honestly just boring. Instead of making Valentines day an all day event; it started for you two as a 'date' at 6 pm.
In order to avoid having to confront putting a label on your.. situationship, the venue for your lavish Valentines date was at a more.. private venue. He only gave you a address and instructions, you didn't really know what exactly to expect but you knew you weren't going to his house. It was somewhere new.
It was nearly six pm, the sun had just set - leaving the sky a shade somewhere between navy blue and pure black. The air was cold on your skin as you stepped out of the car, wondering where the hell you even were.
The area you found yourself in was completely bare and void of any trees, the only object or building you saw was a giant, black, metal structure. The instructions Michael gave you had told you about this but.. seeing it in person was merely jarring, oddly unsettling. You approached it, trying to ignore the nerves and anxiety you could feel creeping in.
You couldn't help but wonder what the hell this place was and why out of all the places you two could have a 'date', it would have to be here?
As you stood in front of an elevator - stepping in, you felt very reluctant to do so. It definitely felt a bit weird that Michael wanted to meet you in such a secluded place but.. he was your best friend. He would never hurt you.. especially on valentines day.. Right?
The doors opened and you slowly stepped out, immediately taken back. You were now in a oval room, with a long hallway stretching out. You first quickly scanned your surroundings for Michael but, he wasnt here. Not in your line of vision anyway. You nearly forgot you were here for Michael at all for a second. The interior was breathtaking; resembling a old, Victorian style mansion. Even though you were still utterly confused; Michaels reasoning for choosing this venue was starting to become more clear to you.
It was the cozy, romantic vibe the 'house' seemed to radiate. The dim lighting also amplified this affect; seemingly giving everything in sight a subtle golden glow, otherwise everything remained relatively dark. You walked through the building; down hallways, looking for any sounds of life at all. Your witchy senses didn't always work on Michael, so you didn't even bother to try to use those. He was right about how you were powerful but, his powers still outshone yours unfortunately.
You finally heard something, something faint; soft music playing distantly in the background. You followed it swiftly, the music getting louder and louder until you found him - in what appeared to be the library.
The room was immense; books were lined on shelves that bordered the room. Couches, along with a decent sized fireplace and chandelier - and of course a record player, also resided in the library. Playing a tune that sounded similar but you couldn't quite remember what it was.. whatever it was, it sounded old and romantic - maybe from the 50s.
"Your not very good at hiding, you know. The music was a dead giveaway". You commented playfully.
Michael greeted you with a smirk, obviously holding back laughter. He stood up from one of the couches; approaching you. He looked incredibly handsome in the normal black ensemble he was wore but tonight he sported a long black coat. Making you fondly nostalgic of the night you two met.
He got dangerously close to you, almost in your face but you weren't intimidated. Plus, you knew he wasnt trying to actually intimidate you. Michael being the way he was; you knew he wouldn't have asked you to spend Valentines with him if he didn't tolerate you in some way.
"Its a good thing I wasnt trying to hide then, is it"? He spoke; his eyes pierced into yours.
The direct eye contact was starting to get unnerving and so was the.. apparent tension. You took a step back, looking away and laughing awkwardly - trying to remind yourself you two were strictly friends. Best friends, in fact. Nothing more.. and nothing less.
"So.. what even is this place? You don't own this or something.. do you"? You asked, slyly changing the topic.
"Actually I do. It's being saved for something I have in the works; but nothing's official yet. I wanted to get your opinion though.. what do you think"? Michael asked.
Even though you absolutely loved, whatever the hell this place even was, something.. felt off. Perhaps it was the fact it was completely secluded and private. Too private. You knew Michael was into some weird shit with the Satanists but; you figured he would atleast tell you by now if he was planning on something big with them.. Something that would require a huge fucking mansion underground.
"This place is beautiful, Michael. But what is it for"?
"Your too eager for your own good, (y/n). You will know in due time, I promise; but for now.. come sit with me".
He gently grabbed your wrist and guided you over to one of the bare, black couches; you followed - sitting next to him.
The hours continuing were filled with incredibly cheesy gestures that you only rolled your eyes at, and teased him for. The first being a few small, pink flowers he had conjured up and then tucked into your hair. At first you really thought nothing of it, they were just pretty flowers. However; you knew due to Michael's nature that he didn't just so happen to come across those flowers, he summoned them purposefully - specifically for you.. You didn't bother to try and hide how flustered this made you.
"Those are beautiful; what are they"? You asked, gesturing to the flowers.
"Thought you'd never ask. Wild roses. They hold many meanings; most agree they represent both love, suffering, beauty.. life. They're even said to protect the living from the dead".
You couldn't help but to laugh at his explanation.
"Will they protect me from you? You know your not exactly human yourself". You teased.
The corner of Michael's lips slid into a slow smile, one that you couldn't quite decipher whether it was an ironic or genuine gesture.
You nearly jumped at how quickly one of Michael's hands suddenly slid up into your hair; seemingly picking out one of the petals that had fallen from one of the flowers - he retracted his hand, holding onto the petal.
"No. Your going to need something stronger than that to keep me away". He said playfully, before crushing the already wilted petal in his hand - letting it fall carelessly to ground.
You could only roll your eyes.
Next came the food and well.. you were beyond impressed. Your not certain exactly how he managed to get your favorite food down who knows how many feet underground, but.. he did. And it was perfect.
You were both pretty quiet during that time; Michael didn't really have a reason to be but you couldn't help but to get lost within your thoughts. Sure; you two were best friends but.. that didn't necessarily warrant him to do all of this for you. Was it possible that he felt.. something else, like you did?
You couldn't help but to shut that thought down as quick as it came; that had to just be you projecting. There was no way in hell he could love you back..
Wait.. love?
It was like a involuntary reflex the way you suddenly jolted up and backed away from the table. Even though it was just a thought, the fact you just admitted to yourself that you loved him.. What the fuck did that even mean?
Michael looked startled at well, you could tell by the color of his knuckles that he now had a death grip on his silverware. His icy, blue eyes matched yours with a startled gaze.. As if he was trying to contemplate your next move or to get a good read on you. You were more than well acquainted with Michael's powers by now; you knew how he had the ability to read minds and that's partially why you found yourself, slowly at first, starting to take steps away from him. Wanting desperately to get the fuck away from him. You knew that if Michael even suspected what you were thinking or how you felt, that your friendship could possibly be over. That would be it, he would want absolutely nothing to do with you. You would be no better than the dozens of women and even men that threw themselves at Michael; Maybe even worse.
You made it down a random hallway until you found yourself physically colliding into him - fucking transmutation.
You felt a sudden urge to just turn around to try and escape again but you knew he wouldn't let you. Instead you let yourself be captive, you let him hold you. Gently encasing you into a hug. It was painful how hard you were trying to hold back your tears - blindly running away was already embarrassing enough, letting him see you cry would be too much.. Too much for one night, anyways. You felt him let go of you - stepping back a little bit in order to make eye contact with you.
"What has gotten into you-" He started.
"Michael- I'm so sorry but I just need to go. We can talk about this tomorrow but for now I just really need to be alone-"
You tried to turn around in order to make another (more calm) attempt at leaving but you felt something grab at your wrist, yet again. His grasp, along with his hand were achingly soft. You hated how much you enjoyed him making physical contact with you - even if it was something just as docile as this. You also couldn't help but to hate the spark of electricity you felt when his skin touched yours - and you couldn't help but to wonder whether he felt it too.
"No. I need to know what I did wrong. I'm not letting us end today like this". Michael said, his voice was strained with emotion.
His words were spoken urgently, his voice unsteady and even threatening to break.. That's when you knew you completely fucked up. He totally misinterpreted your actions.. the sudden realization hit you, piercing your heart like a knife.
"No, your right. Can we sit"? You asked.
He let go of your wrist coldly, sauntering out of the hallway you two were in. You would be lying if you were to admit that his sudden cold actions didn't hurt you; it definitely stung but you couldn't help to feel in this moment that you kind of deserved it.
The walk over was quiet and even a bit awkward. When you two sat; he looked at you expectedly.. waiting for you to talk first and explain your sudden, impulsive actions.
"It wasnt you.. that's not why I tried to leave at all, Michael. You did everything right. I mean that's really the 'problem', even though calling it a problem still isn't the right word but.." You paused before carrying on.
"What you did tonight for me was perfect, and I'm so thankful for that, truly. But I just feel like I'm starting to interpret your actions in a different way than in which you mean them and that's not fair to you. I know you just want a friend-" Your words continuously came out faster the longer you spoke, you were completely rambling at this point but Michael stopped you.
"Hey, stop". He said softly.
You felt as if you were dreaming when you saw him start to move closer to you.. it happened so quickly it almost felt fake. Michael gently pushed you back onto the couch, so that you were basically laying down flat on your back. You pulled him back with you so that he was on top, your hands automatically going to his shoulders.. feeling the sudden urge to yank his black top off and to feel his skin under your palms. The feeling was tempting; you could feel how hot his skin was even with his shirt on. You assumed your hands were cold by the way Michael shivered and even groaned when you touched him, that had to be the only logical explanation for him acting like that..
The manner in which he bent down, his lips getting closer and closer to yours was nothing but diabolic. He stopped until the point where his lips were just ghosting above yours - maybe only really a mere centimeter away from touching. It felt entirely far too tempting to just - barely tilt your head forward and stop whatever game your friend Langdon was trying to play, but.. you didnt. In reality; the teasing was far too delicious for you to want it to end so soon.
"Who said I just wanted to be friends"? He whispered.
You could taste his breath as he spoke, you felt trapped.. But if you were to be honest with yourself, you wouldn't rather spend Valentines Day any other way than in this manner.. Trapped with your absolute favorite person, with nothing else in the world to do but to get lost in each other.
His lips roughly collided with yours with such passion that you really haven't ever felt before. It threw you off guard for a moment, but you figured there was no sense in shying from it. You had been craving to be loved by him for so long; craving for him to touch you like this and now that it was finally happening.. you only relaxed and embraced the feeling.
Time slipped away from you far too quickly but after all; time didn't really feel real at all when you were underground in a bunker. No windows or clocks to help ground you back into reality..
You knew it was atleast passed midnight now; hours had passed and you two were now residing in one of the random rooms that you had come to learn was of 'Outpost Three'. It was apparent how careful he was with his words when he told you about the place; almost like he didn't want to tell you too much. He told you most of everything, like the cooperative and how this building was for some type of event that would be taking place in the summer but you didn't probe farther. You knew he would tell you in all due time.
You two were lying on a random, spare bed. It was luxurious and dangerously soft, but if you were honest - the sheets almost seemed scratchy in comparison to Michaels bare skin. Your head wasnt on a pillow but instead on Michael's bare chest, his rhythmic heart beat nearly lulling you to sleep. Almost putting you in some type of odd trance.
You both watched the movie that was playing on his laptop; propped up on a few sparse pillows at the end of the bed. Although you really weren't trying to keep up with what was happening or what the actors were even saying. Instead, you chose to be fully present with Michael, almost entranced in his presence. You two weren't talking but, just being surrounded by him - feeling his fingers lazily playing with your hair was heaven to you.
You still felt as if you were in a dream. After all in what timeline would you ever be so lucky to call someone like Michael, yours?? Even though you two weren't exactly official, you really didn't mind at this moment. Labels only seemed to really complicate things and in your opinion; you felt more than privileged to just sit here entangled with Michael, and to escape the rest of reality for a while.
Taglist: @mina672 @michaellangdonstanaccount @langdonsexual @jimmason @blakewaterxx @dark-mei-rose @9layerdevilfoodcake @prophecy-is-inevitable @matildaofoz @beautyiswithinchaos @frenchlangdon
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His Hoodie | Raul Mendes
"Raul is still insecure when it comes to asking his girlfriend about some stuff, like cuddles and wearing his clothes, and he's pretty sure he's sneaky about it, until he isn't”
Hello my loves, this was supposed to be a blurb or something like it, but I can't seem to be able to write something short and I accidentally turned this into a one shot. This is just me being 100% sure Raul's baby and shy about relationships, with the push from one and only @sinceweremutual, who's just as obsessed with Raul as me. Hope you like it!
*Word Count: 4.5k+.
*Warnings: maybe a few curse words, and I guess that's it. Just overwhelmingly fluff. 
*Posted: July 13th, 2020.
                                                     -*-
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Raul Mendes is a very busy guy. Even though Shawn’s the rockstar that’s constantly traveling around the world and stuff, he still manages to get involved in a serious relationship. Raul’s never been the type to be open about his feelings, so in his entire life he’s had one girlfriend that he took home to meet his parents. And with work things only got worse. Being a pediatric surgeon meant waking up in unholy hours to go to shifts or because he’s being called in on an emergency. So to say relationships were not his forte or priority was the most accurate thing ever. Sure, he had his flings here and there, always a very attentive person, but still was a bit afraid of having someone and not being present enough or having to put his job first. So when he told his parents he was going out with someone was a big thing.
First of all, Raul’s really private about his love life, even with his parents, just opens up with his brothers, specially Peter who’s a very great listener and great with advice. And the second reason everyone was a bit surprised is that since he always claimed he didn’t have time to be with someone, suddenly he was going out on dates a few times a week and even took her dog to the doctor when she was busy with work. And obviously, everyone was over the moon when he decided to bring her home for dinner, and it was pretty clear why he was so fond of her. And to say everyone adored Y/N was and understatement. They both had met in a art supply store a few months ago. And even though it was a bit cliche, every time someone asked both of them how you two met, a grin threatened to show on his face and his arm skipped a beat.
He was in a rush, just trying to find the color he needed to finish a painting, which was his favorite hobby to slow down from his intense work, and she was completely lost looking around like she had no idea where she was. Normally he wouldn’t even notice, but something about her in a pretty sunflower printed summer dress, jean jacket and white converse caught his attention. He felt almost itchy to offer you some help, but he didn’t work here and he didn’t want to come out as a creep, so he ignored his need to talk to her and went on through the walls of paint to find the perfect blue shade, until he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He turned around only to face her heavenly features and a blush raising in her cheeks.
“Hi, I’m sorry to bother you, but I can’t seem to find someone to help and I just wanted to know where can I find watercolor brushes, do you happen to know where they are?” The girl in the pretty dress offered him a sweet smile.
“Oh, it’s okay, you’re not a bother, what kind of watercolor brushes you’re looking for?”
“Oh God, there are types of those?!” she sounded pretty much defeated, letting out a sigh and he couldn’t hold back a chuckle.
“What do you have in mind to paint with those?”
“It’s not even for me! I can’t draw a basic heart shape for dear life, I’m here to buy the supplies for someone, but he forgot to mention the details about it and I don’t know anything about art rather than history and which work I find pretty or not”
“It’s all about practice, honey” the pet name slipped of his tongue before he could hold back but she didn’t seem alarmed or weirded out by it, just blushed a bit harder and shook her head.
“I can guarantee you I’m a lost cause”
“I doubt that, but about the supplies, did he give you a list or something?”
“Oh, yeah!” she replied reaching into the inner pocket of her jacket for a little piece of paper with a delicate handwriting on it “I wrote it down in here”
“I think I might be able to help if you want” Raul offered doing a once over the little list.
“Oh please, this would be perfect”
“Okay, so what did your pick up already?”
“Hm, a few types of paper and some pencils” she gave him her little basket “Here!”
“Oh, okay, so we have to find the brushes and the paint” he said and she nodded, following him around the store like a lost puppy “here are the paints he requested, we just have to find the shades”
And with that they started going through the little numbers on the little containers and talk about random stuff. Raul never had so much fun looking through shades of paint with anyone before. She was just funny and pleasant to talk with, not to mention effortlessly beautiful.
“Now the brushes?”
“Yeah, they’re over here, I’d recommend this ones here for the sort of thing you told he’s trying to do, maybe from this sizes” Raul said picking them up.
“Oh, fine”
“Anything else?”
“I guess this is it! Thank you so much, I’d probably have spent the whole day trying to figure this whole thing out alone”
“It’s my pleasure to help, no need to thank me, next time you know where the stuff are”
“Trust me, there won’t be next time, Nick can come here by himself, if it weren’t for you I’d be screwed”
“Well, at least your boyfriend won’t be needing to come back so soon with everything you’re taking”
“Nick’s not my boyfriend” she said chuckling “he’s just a lazy ass friend and I needed to come here to pick up some stuff for work”
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable”
“No, you didn’t do it at all, I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name”
“Raul”
“Oh, well, thank you, Raul, I’m Y/N”
“It’s a beautiful name” Raul said and she smiled at him, blushing lightly.
“Thank you, I’m sorry for bothering you, do you need any help?”
“It’s okay, and you don’t need to help me, only if you want to”
“I do! What do you need?” she offered as he picked up her basket from the floor and guided her to where he was previously.
“I was looking for a particular shade of blue but I can’t seem to find, and I tried mixing some shades to get to them but I can’t”
“Oh, do you have a picture of it?” she asked looking at the huge wall of oil paint.
He unlocked his phone and offered to her “This one”
“I think I saw it earlier, it caught my eye as soon as I walked in here” she said walking in the opposite direction and crouching down “here”
As Raul got a bit closer he noticed it was the perfect shade and he couldn’t hold back a smile “It’s exactly it! Thank you!”
“You’re welcome” she grabbed her stuff with a smile “it was nice meeting you, Raul”
“It was nice meeting you too, Y/N” he said and she waved at him, turning around to pay for her stuff as he stood there contemplating on asking her out, but before he could think about it better.
“Hey, Raul?” she called from where she stood at the cashier counter and he turned to face her “are you busy right now? There’s a new coffee shop down the block and I was wondering if you’d like to go with me”
Right now it didn’t matter the painting he was eager to go home to finish, all he wanted to do was sit down with her at a table and drink coffee until he couldn’t take it anymore.
So he just smiled at her and said “Sure”
And since then they’ve been inseparable.
So it’s no surprise when called her on a Friday to invite her to come over, they had plans to go out and catch a movie but he was too tired and she was thankful, her day at work was insane and all she needed was to relax a bit. And even though she hadn’t spent the night at his place many times before and she’d probably get all jittery about it, she was too tired to care. So when she arrived with a bottle of whine to the smell of homemade pasta mixed with Raul’s signature cologne, she was almost certain she was in heaven. He told her to just walk in and lock the door behind her, so she did, placing her stuff neatly near the door alongside with his and her boots.
She knew the place well enough to find him in the kitchen, listening to a random song as he hummed along facing the stove where he was preparing something. Staring was bad, but she couldn’t help it when he was looking all soft. It was the first time she’s ever seen him wearing a hoodie and she was so grateful it was starting to get a bit colder, specially during the night, so she would have such a blessed vision. Y/N placed the bottle on the counter, clearing her throat softly to let him know she was already there, which made him look over his shoulder with a soft smile playing on his gorgeous lips.
“Hey, pretty girl” he greeted turning off the stove and turning to face her, opening his arms for her, to which she gladly walked into.
She buried her face on the soft material of his hoodie as she mumbled a soft “hi” in response.
“Tired?” he asked and Y/N just nodded, so he placed a kiss to her hair and hummed “food’s almost ready, want to wait for it on the living room? You can pick the movie” and with that she nodded, reluctantly unwrapping herself from him and basically dragging herself to his fluffy rug.
Raul only chuckled in response.
“There’s a bottle of whine somewhere in the kitchen I just brought” she told him from where she was sitting on the floor by his coffee table.
“Thanks, babe” was his only response as he couldn’t hold back his smile.
Raul could get used to this whole kinda domestic atmosphere. Y/N coming home from work a bit later than him, tired and stressed, so he would cook her dinner and cuddle on his living room while watching a movie and drinking some whine or whatever. And maybe, they could switch places and when he’s feeling a bit overwhelmed and stressed, she could run him a bath and rub his back. But he couldn’t think about it now. It was too soon and he didn’t know if she would want that. This was the first time they would actually spend some time at home together that wasn’t between his  sheets (or hers), and breakfast in the morning. He’s not allowing himself to get all fucked up for someone and having his heart broken, he’s seen this movie before and he didn’t like it.
But all his insecurities died when he found her sitting on the floor by his coffee table, her legs close to her chest and she was staring at the screen, waiting patiently for him to start the movie, knowing he’s seen it a billion times and wouldn’t mind sitting down in the middle of it. He just felt like wrapping her in his arms and tucking her into his chest, but he didn’t, instead he set the plates and glasses down as he plopped down beside her. She then leaned forward and pressed play, and as the screen started to gain some life, she turned to him and pressed and soft kiss at the corner of his mouth.
“Thank you, this is just what I needed”
“Yeah, I needed this too” he said trying to fight his smile.
“Tough day?”
“A bit, but now it’s okay” he said and she just nodded, quickly changing the subject, and he was happy she just got him and that sometimes he didn’t need or want to talk about it, and respected it.
“This is amazing! Is it your mom’s recipe?”
“Nonna’s actually” he replied and she smiled at him.
“Well, it’s fantastic”
And from that, they just fell into easy conversation. They both could feel the stress literally lifting off their bones and melting away in each other’s presence. And it was always like this, simple and easy, they could read each other like a book and always fulfill their needs easily. So when they’re done with dinner, she picked up their stuff, under his protest and took to the kitchen, putting it on his dishwasher, claiming he did all the work cooking it was the least she could do. And when she was back, the sat back down on the floor since they were too comfortable before to move to the couch.
Raul’s always been a fan of cuddling, one of his “biggest” secret. He’d never initiate it, afraid the other person would reject it or him and Y/N never showed any signs she was a cuddle bug either, which is way they never really cuddled. So when she was slowly inching closer to him and leaning on his side, he was surprised, but in a good way. Raul let his arm casually drop on her shoulder and she leaned in further into his chest, until she was basically almost on top of him, with their limbs tangled under the coffee table and he wasn’t upset with it at all. He started drawing little patterns on her back and in return she placed a kiss on his chest, nuzzling her face there a bit.
So when he felt she was falling asleep towards the end of the movie, he decided to coax her to bed, and it wasn’t as easy as he thought. She whined a bit whenever he attempted to move, only calming down when he told her he was taking them to bed so they could lay down together. After that she seemed to be more aware and a bit embarrassed by her previous clingy state, so she just nodded and got up, getting her stuff by the door and following him to his bed. They both followed their nightly routine normally and laid down. He tempted reaching a hand to hold hers, and she turned on her side to face him as he did the same, lacing their pinkies together over the duvet.
“I’m sorry” she whispered, afraid to disturb their peaceful bubble.
“About what?”
“Leaning so much into you, never asked you if you minded, I guess I was just tired and didn’t really think about invading your personal space”
“Hey, hey, hey” he said gently squeezing their laced fingers “I didn’t mind at all, I actually liked it, I like being close, I just thought you didn’t so I never tried it”
“Oh really? I’m sorry, I actually really like cuddling, it’s just I was afraid it would upset you so I never did, it’s just that today you were looking extra soft and cute, I guess my exhausted brain didn’t care and just went for it”
“Well- I’m glad it did” Raul said placing a kiss on the back of her hand and she automatically shuffled closer to him, which made him place a hand on her waist, pulling her a bit closer to him.
“I think it was the hoodie”
“The hoodie did it for you?” Raul asked with a smirk and she giggled, her eyes looking a lot smaller from exhaustion.
“Oh, shut up” she said with a roll of the eyes as she reached to play of the curls at the back of his head, something she found out he liked very much “but yeah, it’s just- you’re always looking like a runaway model or an actor from a movie, so seeing you so cozy and soft just-“
“Did it for you?” he offered with a boyish glint on his honey orbes.
“Yes, Raul, it did it for me” she said holding back a giggle as she rolled her eyes “Happy?”
“Very much” he said rolling over her making her squeal “you’re cute”
“You’re cuter” she said with a lazy grin on her lips and he leaned down to press a soft kiss to it.
“You need to rest” he said after pulling away, but before he could lay back, she wrapped her arms around his neck keeping him in place.
“Can we-?”
“Cuddle?” he finished her sentence and she nodded sheepishly “of course we can, baby”
“Thank you” she mumbled as he laid back and pulled her to his chest.
“No need to thank me, you’re doing me a favor”
“Trust me, I’m not” she said with a yawn.
“Time to go to sleep, Y/N, doctor’s order”
“You’re way too bossy, Doc” she said nuzzling her face on his chest “but I’m to tired to argue back, so goodnight, Raul”
“Goodnight, pretty girl”
                                                    -*-
Since the first time she saw him in a hoodie and actually made her cuddle him for the first time as well, she noticed he were it a lot more often. Sure, it was getting colder, but he wasn’t being discreet about it. And since that day he couldn’t stop himself from picturing Y/N in his hoodie on a lazy Friday night, a face mask, some movie playing on the background as she painted both of their nails. But he just didn’t know how to bring it up and not make a fool of himself. She never made a move about asking to use his clothes or whatever. Sure, she always complimented him on his style and he knew a few particular pieces that got certain reactions from her, but she never told him she’d like to wear them.
So he was having a bit of a dilemma. Should he ask her to use his hoodie or just get over it?
He decided for the later, just pretend he didn’t want to come home to find her laying on his couch drowning on his clothes and blankets. But after a few days he gave up, he had what he thought to be a brilliant idea. Raul was going to put one of his hoodies on her wardrobe without her knowing, and if she found it and decided to wear, it was a sign she would be okay with it, and since she wasn’t going to know he was the one who placed it there, he wouldn’t be feeling like he was being pushy. And that’s what he did.
He went to her house on a Tuesday to watch their show and was discreet enough to just throw it on her top drawer and come back to the living room as if nothing happened while she was cooking them something. And since she didn’t say anything about it or tried to return it he felt a bit better, so that could mean two things -she didn’t find it or she didn’t mind. And they’re both kinda great and he was a bit relieved. That until he was heading home Saturday evening for their lazy night date or whatever Y/N called it. So when his phone rang and her name appeared on the screen he didn’t think much of it.
“Hi, pretty girl, are you there already? I’m sorry if I’m a bit late, there was this kid that really needed help”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you”
“No, I’m already done, I’m leaving now”
“Oh, okay, I still at home, just got here, I’m picking up some stuff, what do you want me to bring?”
“You don’t need to bring anything, baby, we can order something or I can go grab whatever you want”
“Okay, so I’m just going to pack my stuff and I’ll meet you there, is that alright?”
“That’s perfect” Raul said already smiling like the love sick puppy he’s becoming, climbing on his car.
“Oh, by the way, you’re a sneaky little thing, aren’t you?”
“What do you mean?” he let out a nervous chuckle to mask the high pitched voice he almost let out.
“I’ll talk to you at your place, drive safely, Sherlock, bye now!”
“Wait, Y/N!” he tried but she already hung up and he could literally feel his face burning.
                                                     -*-
Raul’s never felt so nervous about Y/N before. The drive to his place was relatively short and he spent the whole ride chewing on his lower lip, tapping the steering wheel and regretting every life decision he’s ever made. He knew there was no need to feel like this, she clearly wasn’t upset and sounded playful on the phone, but he was really embarrassed. He should have just asked her, he knew she wouldn’t find it weird, but he was too insecure to do so and now he has to deal with this. He got up to his apartment and did his routine to take a quick shower and change into something comfy completely robotically, mind still a hundred miles per second. And when he heard his doorbell he basically ran to the door, tripping at everything on his way there.
He opened the door ready to apologize and completely breathless, but when his eyes met her frame adorned on his hoodie he swear his heart just stopped. She giggled at his reaction and stood on her tippy toes to press a single kiss to his lips. He stepped back to let her in still in shock as she walked into his apartment. He could clearly hear her voice cheerfully telling about something, but he didn’t register a single word, mind still racing but this time he didn’t even know what to say or do. She must have noticed him standing awkwardly beside the still opened door, so she walked back to him and placed a gentle hand on his cheek.
“Are you okay, Raul?” her voice sounder a bit more worried and her brows were turned into a frown “what’s wrong?”
“I’m- I’m sorry” was all he could mumble out and the frown on her face o my deepened.
“About what, baby?”
“The hoodie, I- I shouldn’t have tried to give it to you without asking if you minded, and I’m sorry I suck at communicating, and I-“ he started and he felt the blush raising on his cheeks.
“Hey, stop it” she said letting her stuff fall on the floor trying to cup his cheeks in both of her hands “Baby, stop apologizing, I’m not mad at you at all, I found it really sweet actually”
“You did?”
“Of course, Raul! You told me you were not the best with relationships when we first started dating and Peter told me sometimes you get really insecure and I know what I was getting myself into from the beginning and turned out you’re not bad at it at all!”
“No?”
“No, honey, the fact that you care enough about how I’d feel if you asked me to wear this is the sweetest thing, it means you don’t want to push anything on me and that you care, and that’s great”
“It is?”
“Mhmm” Y/N hummed starting to caress his cheek “just so you know, this feels very comfortable and I wouldn’t mind wearing at all, I actually like it”
“Good to know” he said wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer.
“That is my boy” she said and he laughed, pressing a kiss to her forehead “I’m sorry if I scared you or anything, didn’t mean to frighten you”
“It’s okay, I should’ve known you’d be okay with this”
“Next time just tell me, okay? I don’t bite”
“I can prove the opposite”
“Oh shut up for a sec, will you?” she tried to sound mad, but the smile on her voice told otherwise “but I’m serious when I tell you to just talk to me”
“I know, I’ll try, I guess I’m just scared to lose you or be an idiot”
“You won’t, I really really care about you”
“And I’m in love with you”
“What?!”
“Yeah” he said smiling sheepishly with a blush creeping up his cheeks.
“I kinda am in love with you too” she replied as he pressed their lips together in a gentle kiss.
And with that, he was sure everything fell into place and his heart calmed down a bit. He had his girlfriend on his arms and that was an angel for understanding him like she does. But before he could deepen the kiss she pulled back.
“Okay, now that we’re fine, can you please shut the door? Don’t want your neighbors knowing everything about us just yet” she said giggling and Raul laughed, closing the door with a click, still holding her close like she could just disappear.
“Sorry, thought Mr. Jones had the right to know the ins and outs of our relationship”
“Hmm... maybe other day, we should ask him for dinner first” Y/N said winking at him playfully and leaning down to grab her bad “now, how about we order a pizza and try the new face mask I bought, I could even paint our nails, I’ll let you apply the glittery nail polish on mine if you want”
“Oh, that’d be nice, I-“ he started out completely in shock she knew what he’d like to do.
“Peter told me” she informed him with a sheepish smile and he shook his head with a chuckle.
“I’m so going to murder him, you two have to stop talking about me” Raul didn’t mean it at all, he couldn’t be happier that she got along so well with his family “I don’t want him telling you all my secrets”
“Oh, so I wasn’t supposed to see all your baby pics and first photoshoot as a teen looking all cute with braces? I mean, Peter gave me the album, I thought we could look through it tonight together”
“You have to be kidding me, give me it”
“No! You’re not going to let me see it!”
“Of course! Why would I let you see any of those horrid pictures?!”
“Well” Y/N said holding her bad closer to her chest “you’d have to catch me first” and with that she bolted towards his room as he followed her quickly, only to pick her up and toss her on the bed, climbing on top of her in a matter of seconds, her stuff long forgotten on the floor somewhere in the apartment.
“How old are you? Five?” he chuckled a little out of breath
“You chased after me, you’re not much better, sir”
“I was trying to protect my dignity”
“What dignity?”
“Shut up” he said laughing.
“Make me”
“Don’t tease me”
“I’d never do th-“ she was cut off by his lips meeting hers a bit more urgently than before, their tongues soon meeting, only to caress each other as her hands took purchase of his curls. And Raul’s never been more thankful for sneaking his hoodie in her closet.
                                                     -*-
*Please reblog or like this post if you liked it so I’ll know.
*I’m sorry if there are any spelling mistakes.
*Please do not repost this without giving me the credit, this is a completely original piece and I do not give permission to copy this!
*Hope you guys enjoyed it!
*xoxo
-🌙
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Amethyst and Emerald Eyes
Arthur's used to his friends dragging him to creepy places. Doesn't mean he likes it, but he's learned how to handle it. 
  The cave Vivi's found this time is... something else, though. There's no evidence of previous human occupation – it's untouched, and yet something with it is wrong. Everything is stained purple, even the mist drifting from the entrance, and the rock face towers above them like a yawning mouth. It feels dangerous, like something is warning them to leave. 
  None of the others notice it. Vivi bounces out excitedly, Mystery close at her heels. Kay strolls up to the entrance unfazed, his flashlight clicking idly on and off. 
  “What are you waiting for?” he calls after a moment, not even turning around. 
  “I- I don’t… there’s s-s-something… wrong with this place.” 
  “Oh, don’t start that again. Do you want to be here, or not?” He starts walking again. 
  Arthur can’t just leave them alone, what if someone gets hurt? But… his skin itches as he drags himself closer to the cave, scars aching and growing tense. He doesn’t want to be here, he wants to leave– 
  –but everyone else is going inside, and he can’t leave without them. 
  He forces himself to keep moving. 
---
Lewis is pulled from his slumber by the feeling of an unfamiliar presence in the cave. The gemstones around him flare to life as he wakes, their glow turning the rock above him to pink-tinted stars. 
He sighs, and rises through the cavern, drifting towards the intruders. He just has to get them to leave, and then he can go back to sleep. 
  On the lower path are two – people? A twenty-something girl and her dog, it seems at first glance, but… the dog burns with raw power when he gets close, and the girl is blue and cold, driving him back seemingly without noticing. He shivers and floats away, turning his attention to the other points of life he senses. 
  There’s two on the upper path as well  – young men, a little older than he was when… he shakes his head to dispel the sudden, uncomfortable familiarity. They’re both carrying flashlights. One’s tinged in shades of green, strolling ahead, perfectly calm, and the other, done in gold… Lewis can already feel the fear radiating off him, if it wasn’t obvious from the way he’s hunched in on himself with a white-knuckle grip on the flashlight. He’s almost stopped in the crossroads, the other walking off without him. 
  “If you want to leave, hurry up so we can get this over with,” says the first one. His voice is as relaxed as the rest of him, but there’s a dangerous undercurrent to it. 
  As soon as Lewis brushes near him, he can feel his thoughts. It takes a moment to process, and then he's sickened to his core. 
  Sucker has no idea what's coming, the mind whispers, he's gonna walk right into it. Goddamn I can't wait, I'm finally gonna be rid of this leech. If only he'd just hurry up, you'd think he'd want to get this over with, just a little closer you scrawny bastard so I can grab you by that stupid hair and kick you into those rocks- 
  He tears himself away from the thoughts in a panic. This visitor to his cave – he's planning a murder. He has to stop this. 
  First, he thinks to possess the would-be killer. To do what, he isn’t exactly sure – just stop them, whatever comes after, he’ll figure out as he goes. So he gathers all his power, a swirling, glowing purple smoke, and reaches out. 
  …only to find the murderer’s mind impenetrable. Like smooth glass against his nonexistent hand, any attempt he makes to get through into this person’s head falls against an unmoving barrier. He's too strong - dammit, why did this have to be the person he finally fails against? Why now?
  The gold one approaches closer behind them, finally finding his footing, and prompting a renewed urgency in Lewis. 
  “’s fucking fr-freezing in here,” he comments, oblivious to the looming danger. 
  “Really? I’m not cold at all,” Green responds with hardly a glance over his shoulder. 
  “Of course you’re not cold,” Lewis hisses, “you’re surrounded by a fire spirit.” 
  Gold jumps, attention snapping to the vague area Lewis is currently occupying. “Th- d-did you hear that?” 
  Did he... hear him? How?
  He’s a medium, Lewis realizes suddenly, the fact clicking into place. No wonder he’s afraid – he knows they’re not alone here. Green, clearly, has no such ability and no such concerns, and has defaulted to flat-out ignoring his companion as he presses on. 
  He ought to pay more attention. Frustration slips in alongside worry as he thinks about it further. He wanders into dangerous, likely-haunted places, disregards the person who might actually warn him about the danger, and then has the- the audacity to call him a leech? 
  Gold is approaching panic now, with the wide-eyed stare of a trapped animal, but he keeps following Green anyway. He wants nothing more than to help him, to at least stop what’s coming, most of all he doesn’t want to watch this- 
  -an idea forms as he drifts, aimless and despondent, after the two visitors. He may not have been able to reach Green, but maybe there’s something else he can do. But- what if something goes wrong- 
  But then he realizes they’ve reached the end of the road. The cliff opens out before them. It’s now or never. 
  As he was expecting, it’s almost unnervingly easy to slip into Gold’s mind. All he has to do is visualize himself reaching down and taking his hand, and any defenses he has cave instantly and allow him inside. For a moment, Gold locks up, registering something wrong in his head – and then Lewis takes over and the body relaxes again.
  I'm sorry about the intrusion, but I’m not going to hurt you. I’m here to help, he whispers to Gold, feeling his panic build with his sudden loss of control. 
  All he gets in return is a frantic no no no please don’t please don’t hurt me, and he realizes he won’t be able to reassure him, not like this. He's already too afraid of him. 
  “Hey, c’mere,” says Green, lifting his head from where he’s looking over the cavern. “You can see Vi from here.” 
  They draw closer to Green, eventually settling behind him with not a foot between them. Lewis debates, for a moment, what to do; he’s still not quite sure, when he speaks. 
  “I know what you’re going to do.” 
  A slight, almost imperceptible jerky tilt of the head, Green just barely resisting snapping it around to stare at him. He hears his mouth open with a soft click, but it’s another beat before he speaks. “…what?” 
  He hadn’t realized how strange talking through a mouth would be, and the unfamiliarity adds to his nerves. “I… I can’t allow it.” 
  Green scoffs at that, standing up again and turning around to face them, speaking as he does. “And what are you going to do about it? Go run and cry to Vivi, so you can make yourself look even worse for her? You're certainly not going to do anything by yourself. I mean-" A light, sarcastic laugh. "You probably don't even want to. So why not just save us both the trouble?"
  And then he shifts his weight, and it’s barely the beginning of a movement but it’s still all too easy for Lewis to predict what comes next. 
  Gold is stronger than he was expecting, and Green isn’t ready for the blow. And overconfidence had him standing too close to the edge, and the single step he takes back in response is one step too many. All of a sudden, he’s falling. 
  Lewis is all too familiar with this drop, but he still nearly forgets what’s coming next. The crunch of bone and muscle tearing apart echoes through the cave, followed by a scream – coming not from the dead man, he realizes, but someone else. The other person he’d seen on the lower path. 
  He takes a couple steps back from the ledge – away from that gruesome sight. He’s starting to regret this decision, to second-guess himself – but the only alternative he can see is Gold dying, and he… he can still feel Gold, innocent and frightened, alongside him in this mind. There’s no way Green deserves to live over him. Not someone who’d murder – from the looks of things, someone who considered him a friend. 
  I can go now. He tries to reach out to the soul. I'm sorry again about the intrusion, I just couldn't watch him kill you.
  The response he gets makes him flinch - a wave of terror that would have been a wail if they were physical, wordless and honest panic. Does he still not understand? 
  A sound from behind makes him spin around. It’s coupled with a flash of power that makes him take a step back. He recognizes the dog, but… it’s not a dog anymore. It’s massive, and the way it’s standing is obviously hostile. 
  He holds up his hands. “Hold on, I’m not- I’m trying to help-“ 
  “Silence, monster!” it snarls, stepping forward. “Not one more word! I already know what you are.” 
  “Wait-“ 
  The distance between them is closed in an instant. A weight slams down on his – Gold’s – chest, and he feels something snap under the force, closely followed by sharp stabs when claws bite into flesh. The sensation is familiar, and he’s not sure if it’s that or the sheer force that keeps him from breathing. 
  Teeth bite into the arm he’d first reached through, and he isn’t sure if it’s him or Gold that’s screaming. 
  All at once he’s yanked out of the body, and his spectral form flickers, mingling with the blood in the air. He reins in his fire before it can do any damage, staring in horror at the scene before him. This – he didn’t want this – why – who are these people? 
  A shout echoes from behind the monster, echoing and unintelligible, and it starts and looks back. Suddenly it’s gone, replaced with the small dog from before. 
  Lewis is torn between running and staying – his instincts are screaming at him to get away from that thing – but Gold’s rapidly losing blood, and if he dies here too, it’ll be his fault, and… and then he’s just caused two deaths. 
  Then the blue girl from before appears. The dog doesn’t say anything, just stays close and watches silently. It takes her a moment to process – and then she’s moving, pulling off a scarf and working to bandage the wound. 
  He isn’t sure even that will be enough. He can feel Gold’s life fading, and his bright colors are dimming to near-grey. 
  He didn’t want this. He spares another glance to the not-dog, who seems too preoccupied with reassuring Blue to notice him now – reassuring her and not the person he’s very nearly killed. Blue, at least, doesn’t seem to know what happened. She’s reacting as if some outside force has caused all of this. 
  Then they’re leaving the cave, and he’s expecting to be left drifting there. But something pulls him along after them, staying just a few feet from Gold. 
  He stays tethered to that dimming golden light as they speed away from his decades-long home in the cave.
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oldguardhc · 3 years
Text
Old Guard hc #56
Prompt number: 17 - “Give me a minute or an hour”
Fandom: The Old Guard
Rating: PG-13
Warnings/Tags: joe x nicky, fluff
AN: @flamingbluepanda encouraged me to write a Psych AU for this prompt
Joe cranes his neck to get a better look at the body. The puncture wounds are interesting, each one spaced at least four inches apart, all at differing angles, both in entrance and position meaning whatever killed this man wasn’t just a random attack. If they were closer, Joe would have thought they were bite marks and maybe they are, but the last time he checked, there were no animals in the ocean or on land with a bite-radius that large and teeth spaced that far apart. At least, there’s nothing alive today that has a 34-inch bite-radius.
“You getting something, Mr. Kaysani?” Chief Freeman asks.
Can it be? The bite marks are looking to be more of a match the longer he stares at them. “I’m…getting something,” Joe says, snatching the yellow pad and a pen from Andy and ignoring the small huff of irritation she lets out.
He starts with a brief outline, it’s been a while since he’s drawn one of these and he has to use small strokes to get the head right.
“Wait, I think this is a boating accident,” Andy says, and Joe briefly looks up to see her point at the body. “Head trauma from…from falling off the boat. Hit a motor maybe?”
The eyes are tricky. Should they be looking straight or at the viewer? Joe decides the viewer for a more startling effect.
“The wounds on his back, they were caused by a…by an industrial crab trap. Yes, a crab trap. Or a whale. A lonely whale that got lost from its pod and traveled East, West. Saw our floating guy from below, thought it was a seal and…you know, had a little chomp.”
The teeth are definitely not his best work. The teeth to mouth ratio are way off and they’re definitely not as uniform in real life like he drew them. It’ll have to do for now. He adds a little shading to the drawing, giving it a more realistic appearance.  
“A whale?” Booker slowly asks, when it seems like Andy is finally done with her explanation.
“What’s your guy got?” Nicky immediately shoots back, coming to his partner’s defense.
Joe can practically hear Booker’s smug look, “Watch and learn, Genova. Watch and learn.”
“Alright Kaysani, show me what you got,” Chief Freeman says.
Joe blows on paper and holds the pad to his chest, hiding his drawing from a peaking Andy. “First of all, I would like to say that this is not my best work. It’s a very rough sketch, the shading isn’t finished, the torso is a little plump and the teeth are…they’re not completely accurate. If I had more time, I would’ve definitely given them more shape, more individual characteristics. If I had my druthers, I'd have done this in charcoal.” Booker gives him an understanding nod and Joe would high-five him if he was standing right next to him, “You know what I’m talking about! Almost nothing beats a good charcoal drawing-“
“Mr. Kaysani!” Chief Freeman interrupts, crossing her arms and tapping her feet. “The verdict?”
Joe dips his head in apology, “Yes! Look, the key was in the puncture wounds,” Joe says, using his pen to point at said wounds. “They’re very unique puncture wounds. So unique in fact, that I was able to draw a semi-accurate profile of our attacker.” Chief Freeman gives him the look that says ‘Well? Get on with it’ and Joe turns the pad around and smirks at Andy.
Both Andy and Chief Freeman do a double-take and lean forward to get a better look. He resists the urge to flinch. It’s really not his best work and it shows. After a second of intense scrutiny, Chief Freeman shakes her head with a slight scoff and stalks off.
“Chief? Where are you going?” Joe calls out, still holding his drawing up. The culprit is right here! Well, not here here but here on paper. She’s halfway up the beach already and doesn’t even turn around to acknowledge he spoke. Great.
“Nice work, Kaysani,” Andy says, snatching her pen and pad back, a pleased look on her face, and runs to catch up to the Chief.
“A dinosaur?” Booker asks, mouth downturned, fingers working the buttons in his sleeves to roll them back down to a more professional length. No, we were supposed to get fish tacos after this. “Jesus, Joe. You couldn’t have shot for something in the last million years?”
Joe places his hands on his friend’s chest and steps in his way, “Give me a minute, or an hour to prove it was a Tyrannosaurus rex.” Booker shakes his head, the disappointed look doing funny things to Joe’s stomach, pats Joe on the shoulder, and steps around him to leave.
Great, just great. Even his best friend didn’t believe him. Joe rubs his temples, he can feel a faint throb and he hopes that it’s just a regular throb and not a foreshadow for a migraine.  
“I thought the drawing was pretty good.”
Joe drops his hand and turns around. Nicky has that faint smile on his lips that Joe’s still trying to figure out if it means he likes Joe or likes likes Joe. He’s already made it obvious on multiple occasions how he feels about Nicky.
With Nicky’s looking at him like that, it’s so easy to smile. “Thanks!” And because no one else is here to witness his humiliation, he makes his smile a little more flirty. “You know, I can always use a live model.”
Nicky cocks an eyebrow at him, the faint smile still there, maybe even a little wider if Joe’s not delusional. “I’m going to go calm Andy.”
“Don’t die, I’d hate to miss your pretty face.” A light blush creeps up Nicky’s neck as he nods and jogs back up the beach.
Joe doesn’t stare at Nicky’s ass. He doesn’t, because that would be rude and Nicky is more than a beautiful body.
It’s a good thing the only witness is a dead body.
Joe turns back to the dead body. “Definitely not a boating accident.”
Joe slumps against the growing mound of dirt. He’s exhausted. He feels like he completed an Iron Man and climbed Mount Everest twenty times. Who knew being shot at could be so draining? To make matters worse, the throb from this morning was a foreshadow. His eyeballs are going to explode any second now with how strong his head is pounding. He digs his knuckle into the valley between his eyes until it hurts, it’s a different hurt than the one going on behind his eyes though, that it feels strangely good.
Joe sighs, at least one good thing happened today; he was right about the body. It’s a real shame he doesn’t have ‘Use a 20-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex model built by a 9-year-old Booker to solve a murder case’ on his bingo card. He would’ve been the only one to mark it down.
A bottle of water is placed on his lap and Joe opens his eyes, a ‘thanks, Booker’ on his tongue. Except, it’s not Booker standing above him, it’s Nicky.
Joe musters up the best smile he can despite feeling like death has crawled its way inside him through his eyes. “What are you doing here?”
“Your head’s been hurting all day,” Nicky says, crouching down, a small frown on his face. He pulls two packets out of his pocket and holds them out to Joe. One’s red and the other’s green. “I didn’t know if it was a regular headache or a migraine, so, I got both.”
Joe stares at the two packets. Nicky bought him medicine. Nicky saw that he was hurting and brought him something to feel better. Joe swallows the lump in his throat, reaches out for the red packet. “Thank you,” Joe says, brushing his fingers with Nicky’s.
The corners of Nicky’s lips tick upwards, “No problem.”
Joe tears the packet open and dumps both pills in his hands before tossing them into his mouth. Nicky has the bottle of water open and held out for him and Joe takes it with a grateful nod. Even though he swallows the pills on the first gulp, he finishes the whole bottle. Only when he’s done, does he remember that Booker might want some too.
“I gave him a bottle too,” Nicky says and that’s a sign, right? That has to be a sign of how amazing they would be together. “The pharmacist said those pills should work in 15 minutes.” Joe nods, he’s intimately familiar with the wonders of Excedrin. He would’ve taken one around lunch if they hadn’t been following another lead at the time.
“Thank you,” Joe repeats, closing his eyes again even though he wants nothing more than to stare into Nicky’s gorgeous blue eyes. He hears and then feels Nicky settle beside him, no doubt getting his suit all dirty, and he’s doing that for Joe.
“Is there anything else I can do?”
Joe shakes his head, “You’ve helped a lot already. We just have to wait now.” Joe resumes his earlier ministrations, digging into that spot that hurt but was a better hurt than the one inside.
Cold fingers slide over his own, “Don’t press too hard, you’ll hurt yourself,” Nicky chides.  
Joe grabs Nicky’s wrist and guides those cold fingers until they’re covering his eyes. Relief instantly hits and Joe presses those cold fingers harder against his eyes.
“Should’ve gotten an ice pack,” Nicky mutters to himself.
“S’fine, your hands are working.”
They sit in silence as they wait for the pills to kick in. Every few minutes, Nicky switches hands and Joe doesn’t even have to hold his wrist anymore. He knows how hard to press and it’s nice. It’s really nice. He can almost ignore Booker digging in the background and the occasional splash of dirt that rains down on both of them.
“Never thought my poor circulation would come in handy,” Nicky jokes when the migraine finally subsides.
Joe grins and reaches out to press a kiss to both palms. “They were lovely.”
“Please tell me I’m not going to have to listen to you two flirt the entire night,” Booker calls out from the hole. “I don’t want you two ruining my discovery.”
Excuse me?  
“Your discovery?” Joe asks, crawling over the mound to look down at Booker. He’s made an impressive amount of progress. Probably only six more feet before they hit the skull.
Booker stabs the shovel into the dirt, both of his hands coming up to rest on his waist. “I’m digging, so yes, my discovery.”
Joe makes an outraged sound, “I found the right hole!”
“It wasn’t a hole! I’m making it a hole!” To prove his point, Booker picks up the shovel and tosses the next scoop at Joe.
Joe should’ve seen that one coming.
“Alright, I’m going to go home. Have fun digging, boys,” Nicky says and when Joe turns around, he’s brushing dirt off himself. “I’ll see you later?”
Joe nods his head probably a little too enthusiastically, “Definitely. Thank you again for the pills. I’d still be dying if you hadn’t have come back.”
Nicky smiles, the small one, and one day Joe’s going to see if he can get him to grin ear-to-ear, lips stretched so wide his cheeks will hurt. But not today. Today, he’s going to make history by being the first Psychic Paleontologist.
Nicky dips his head again and yeah, Joe hates to see him go but he sure as hell loves to watch him leave.
That ass is definitely better than a charcoal drawing.
A new spray of dirt rains down on him and that’s it.
It’s a shame no one is there to hear Booker’s loud yelp as Joe tackles him to the floor. Oh well, it’ll live rent-free in Joe’s mind forever.
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ladylynse · 3 years
Text
A second part of the ATLA role reversal AU, this one focusing on Sokka training Aang as a thank you to @cakercanart for donating to my ko-fi. You can also find this chapter on FFN and the AO3.
How can someone who isn’t a bender teach water bending?
Atonement (Part I): Sokka wants to make up for his past actions, to join the Gaang, and Azula is having none of it.
-|-
“Ignore them,” Sokka said as Aang looked over his shoulder at the fire bender siblings again; at least the earth bender had gone off…somewhere. He’d lost her quickly in the trees, though she’d picked her way through them without any trouble. “Concentrate on replicating these forms.” Sokka moved his hands in the same fluid motions as before. They were still working on the simplest forms, as Aang had been too distracted to make any progress. He wasn’t just sloppy; he was wrong, and Sokka didn’t need the still bowl of water set between them to know that he wasn’t getting it.
They hadn’t been sitting cross-legged opposite each other for very long, however. Sokka’s legs weren’t aching for movement yet, and it was cool enough in the shade provided by the trees overhead. He could stay like this for hours if he had to.
Aang was already fidgeting, though Sokka knew perfectly well he could sit still if he had to.
The air bender would put on a show of concentrating, even going so far as to stick out his tongue between his teeth and screw up his face, but he seemed to be more focused on the faces he was making than on the forms he was supposed to be replicating.
“Bending is about more than just forms!” hollered Azula from where she sat against a tree not ten feet away.
Not that Sokka possibly had any idea why Aang couldn’t concentrate.
“You need to feel it, and you can’t! Which is why Aang needs a real water bending teacher!”
It certainly couldn’t have anything to do with the judgemental stares and accompanying heckling.
“You might be more successful if you moved to the stream,” observed Zuko. “Perhaps, if he’s immersed in the element—”
“That would just make it more dangerous to the rest of us,” Sokka snapped, finally acknowledging the two of them. “Besides, I highly doubt your method of teaching fire bending had you throwing him into an inferno.”
“Well, they did,” Aang said, sounding entirely too cheerful about that memory, “but not before they thought I was ready. Toph’s the one who nearly ran me over with a boulder.”
He was grinning.
Sokka had no idea how he could be grinning.
Years of searching for the Avatar had formed a solid idea in his mind of who the Avatar was—which had promptly shattered once he’d found the kid. Because Aang was a kid, younger than both Sokka and Katara. Besides, even when they’d been Aang’s age, they hadn’t acted it, at least not in public. It wouldn’t have been proper. Aang? More often than not, Aang did act his age—unless you counted the years he’d been in stasis as part of his age. Sokka had seen him act that age, too, and it was far more disconcerting, but that was more in line with what he’d expected from the Avatar.
This Avatar, however, had quickly gotten bored of Sokka sketching out the forms in the forest detritus with a stick and had instead started drawing stick figures of all of them. Flattered as Sokka had been to be included in the group so easily, he was not impressed that Aang had apparently stopped paying attention to him almost immediately. That was the primary reason he’d emptied his waterskin into a bowl and started demonstrating the simplest forms for Aang. He seemed to learn better by doing than anything else.
Unfortunately, that was when Azula and Zuko had decided to join them, each picking a tree to recline against while offering unwanted commentary.
While Zuko’s suggestion of the stream wasn’t a bad idea, per se, as it was one Sokka had considered himself, it was clear enough that Zuko hadn’t thought the suggestion through. Water might not be as obviously dangerous as fire, but it was still dangerous. They should know that as well as he did. He hadn’t been sure if Aang would have an infinity for water, and someone with a great deal of power and very little control was not—
“Look, look, I’m doing it!”
Sokka blinked.
A tiny waterspout had formed over the bowl.
“That’s air bending,” he said, causing Aang to let it collapse with a huff. “Twisting your own element around the water doesn’t make it water bending.”
“But I know what water benders can do,” Aang complained, “and they don’t just—” He made a crude slicing motion with one hand.
The water in the bowl didn’t react, all its ripples merely remnants from the earlier disturbance.
“Water flows,” Sokka said. “Like air. You still need fluidity in your motions.”
“Can’t you teach me more complex forms? That’s probably why I can’t get this. Because it’s too simple. I mean, if it is like air bending, then I should be able to get my whole body into it, right, and that’ll make it work better.”
Sokka let out a slow breath through his teeth and kept his voice low in a futile attempt to give the fire benders less fuel for their inevitable criticism. “Is that how you learned the other elements? By jumping right in over your head?”
“Well, no, but—”
“You can’t do that here, either. There might be similarities, but you can’t treat water bending like air bending. They’re not the same.”
“You just said they’re like each other!”
“You really did,” called Azula. “We all heard that, non bender boy.”
“Having more similarities to air than to earth doesn’t mean water isn’t its own element,” Sokka said with a glare in Azula’s direction. He hesitated for a moment, looked at Aang’s crestfallen face, and made his decision.
“What are you doing?” Aang asked as he stood and flung the contents of the bowl in the general direction of the fire benders. He was rewarded with twin squawks of surprise, but they were far enough away to just get a spray rather than anything satisfyingly substantially wet.
“Come with me,” Sokka said. He tucked the bowl back into his pack and strode toward the clearing where they’d camped last night. It was near the stream but not near enough to give Zuko any gloating rights. “I want you to show me how air benders move.”
“You know how I move,” Aang said as he hopped up to follow. Unfortunately, Sokka saw the fire benders rise as well. “I mean. We have fought. A lot. It’s not like you haven’t seen me air bend.”
“Humour me.”
Aang shrugged but skipped ahead without protest, guessing their destination when Sokka didn’t call out to correct his direction. For someone carrying so much responsibility on their shoulders, he could appear remarkably carefree. Sokka envied that, though he wasn’t about to admit it. He liked joking around, but he rarely had an opportunity to do that anymore. Katara didn’t mind it much in private, whatever she pretended, but it was heavily frowned upon in public. Even now, Sokka wasn’t convinced the Fire siblings could take a joke from him, Azula especially, and in the years since he’d been off searching for the Avatar in an attempt to crush the threat before it came to crush them, well….
He hadn’t had the opportunity to be himself for a while.
Aang, it seemed, had never stopped being himself.
Before they even got to the clearing, Aang had formed a spinning bubble of air and was bouncing off the last of the trees. As Sokka reached the edge and dropped his pack, Aang used one of Toph’s stone tents like a ramp and shot off the top before letting the ball of air dissipate. Using his momentum, he spun like a leaf and sent a powerful rush of wind towards Sokka that nearly knocked him off his feet. The acrobatics continued, Aang being very careful not to disturb Appa further after the bison lowed a sleepy protest at being blasted by the wind.
Predictably, Aang finished with a flourish, alighting on the tip of Toph’s tent and giving an exaggerated bow.
“Yeah, you’re making great strides at teaching him water bending, aren’t you?” Azula said from his left. Zuko snorted but thankfully didn’t comment.
“He needs to see the differences for himself.”
“And how are you going to show him those differences when you can’t bend?”
“Azula—”
“Watch,” Sokka said sharply, not caring that he cut off Zuko’s defence. That wouldn’t silence Azula. This…. This might not silence her, either, but it might at least earn him enough of her silence to give him a chance to teach Aang something.
Sokka stepped into the clearing and flowed.
He’d grown up surrounded by water in all her forms. He knew her scalding touch as well as her frigid bite. He knew how she could rage and how she could laugh. He knew what it was like to be completely at her mercy, and he knew how to steer her towards the end he wanted.
He had never danced with her like his younger sister had danced with her, but he knew the motions that the masters used to sculpt her into their weapons. What he was doing now was far less impressive than it would be if he were working with water, but his audience was made up of benders; they would have some sense of the power and intent behind his actions, even if their elements were different.
Besides, whatever Azula believed, he knew the mindset that was needed for water bending.
Too gentle a touch, and she would gleefully overwhelm and swallow you, trying to drown you in her depths. Too harsh and demanding, and she would balk and become as immovable as the ice shelf itself. Working with water required a partnership like the sea had with the moon. If you were careless, you’d exhaust yourself over something that should be simple, and any attempt to force a form would fail miserably. If you didn’t trust her, didn’t trust yourself, you were as likely to find your trap falling flat as you were to be caught in it.
He wasn’t sure how to convey to Aang that working with water would require him to surrender himself to the current so that he could learn to guide himself along and work with it rather than fighting it every step of the way, as he seemed to be doing now. If nothing else, this demonstration of the difference in styles should drive home Sokka’s point that water bending, while fluid, was hardly the same as air.
Anyway, Aang had asked to see some more advanced forms, even if Sokka wasn’t moving slowly enough for him to learn any of them.
They could float leaf boats on the stream after this, and he could try to explain about the currents then.
He finally stopped opposite Aang, breathing a mite heavier than he ought to be, even though it had been years since he’d run through this entire sequence.
Once it had become clear that he wasn’t a bender, his practice of the forms—even under the guise of exercise—had been frowned upon. His time was much better spent learning other things, military tactics included, and practicing moves and training muscles as he would ultimately use them in battle. He was not his sister. He didn’t need to have every step of the water bending forms perfect. His talents lay elsewhere.
Katara had excelled under her tutelage, and Sokka had been kept busy enough with his own classes, so he hadn’t been able to watch Katara train as often as he would have liked. He’d learned more from watching her and the other masters in action. He knew the breadth of their skills—he needed to know as much to know how best to use them—but while he knew the rain could be stilled and turned into sharpened daggers, for instance, he did not know the exact combination of forms required to do that. He could guess, based on the breakdown of the motions he knew and how the water reacted, but he could not do that for every outcome. Besides, there was far too much flexibility of the potential motions involved for him to have any certainty, as more than one combination could have the desired effect.
Ultimately, Aang would have to learn from experimentation—and, if Sokka managed to teach him anything, intuition. Water was a very intuitive element, as Aang would realize once he stopped trying to force it to move the way he wanted it to. Like a river took the path of least resistance, the simplest combination of forms was more effective and efficient than a complicated set that led to the same end. Aang would fight better if he learned to bend water even half as intuitively as he did air, and he’d need that to face Katara.
Aang grinned down at him. “That was awesome!” he said as he jumped lightly to the ground. Sokka could hear Azula muttering that she wasn’t impressed, but she wasn’t saying that louder, which had to mean she was, at least a little bit. “Are you going to show me how to do that now?”
Sokka picked up his pack and reached for his waterskin, only remembering it was empty once he held it. “Let’s head to the stream for now.”
“So you are taking my suggestion?” Zuko murmured, a smirk on his face. Sokka rolled his eyes and held up the empty waterskin.
It was snatched out of his hand a split second later by a chittering Momo, who had it halfway up a tree before Sokka could blink.
“It’s empty,” he said as the winged lemur uncapped it and held it over its mouth, waiting for the last drops to fall.
“What do water benders do when they run out of water?” Aang asked as Momo frowned at the waterskin and threw it down at them. Sokka ducked, but it still took him in the head. He scowled, and Momo dashed back the way they’d come, presumably to steal someone else’s waterskin. “What if what they had is used up and there isn’t any water nearby? If they’re somewhere really dry and they had to drink the last of their water or something like that?”
Sokka rubbed the top of his head with one hand and slipped the waterskin back into his pack with the other. Any anger he might have felt towards Momo drained away at Aang’s question, as it reminded him of the fact that he hadn’t seen all the horrors of which the Water Tribe was capable. He must think blood bending was the worst of it, and blood bending was terrifying, but it wasn’t the only thing water benders could do.
“If you’re lucky,” Zuko said before Sokka could decide how to answer the question, “they’ll pull a weapon and fight like any other non bender.”
“If you’re not,” Azula said tersely, “and they’re skilled enough, they’ll take it from you. Or another living thing, if they want to torture you first. Unless they’re entirely alone in the middle of a desert, they’re not without water.”
“Oh. That’s….” Aang trailed off and looked at Sokka, maybe hoping he’d say the Fire siblings were wrong, but he couldn’t.
Chances were, they’d seen what was left behind after a water bender had done that. Sokka certainly had, and even he didn’t like it.
Instead, he picked up his pace and started telling Aang about the currents, trying to relate them to the element of air and hoping that would snap Aang out of it, but Aang’s troubled expression made it clear he wasn’t listening.
No doubt, he was thinking about how water was the lifeblood of all the living things around them, and if Sokka couldn’t distract him, he’d think too much on the sickening feeling of seeing it drained—or worse, doing the draining—and that would only make him more reluctant to learn how to wield water as a weapon.
But maybe that was the trouble.
Sokka was trying to show him how water could be used as a weapon, but it wasn’t only a weapon. It could shield as easily as slice. He admittedly didn’t know the intricacies of it, but it could heal as well as hurt. And it could bring delight as readily as destruction; upon learning to control multiple droplets, the youngest water benders—Katara included, when she’d first found her bending—would invariably decide to throw up a spray of water into the sunlight to create a rainbow, and peals of joy were always the result.
He missed those days.
“None of the elements are one-sided,” Sokka said, touching Aang’s arm briefly to make sure he had his attention. “None of them are inherently good or bad.” Yes, a water bender could pull water from any living thing—but an air bender was no different. Aang could pull Sokka’s breath from his body if he wanted to. He wouldn’t, but he could. Sokka wasn’t going to say that, though, because Aang would be horrified by the suggestion, and he wouldn’t win any favours from the fire benders for thinking of the possibility. “What you intend to do when you bend will influence the outcome as much as anything. You balance them all as the Avatar, but there’s a balance within each of them as well.”
“I’m trying not to hurt people,” Aang insisted, perhaps thinking that Sokka was implying that he was doing more harm than good with his bending. “I don’t want to. I just…. I know there have been some accidents, but I’ve been trying.”
Sokka glanced at Azula and Zuko, raising his eyebrows just a hair, as he would hardly call the amount of destruction the group had left behind accidental. It was one of the reasons they’d been relatively easy to find and follow, at least off the start. It might not happen as frequently as it once had, but it certainly still happened.
Zuko looked away, but Azula met his gaze steadily.
At least, she did until he tripped over a tree root and found himself spitting rotting leaves out of his mouth, and then she laughed at him along with the others.
Sokka picked a twig out of his hair and stood to brush off his clothes. Leaves and burrs and dirt and— He paused, plucked up a mostly-intact leaf, and straightened up. The others were giving him questioning looks as he tried to balance the leaf on the edge of the stick, and they erupted into the giggles and snorts when he was unsuccessful. Repeatedly. He wound up laughing too much to get manage it, and they were still chuckling when they reached the stream, but he pulled out his boomerang to make his point anyway.
He dropped his pack and sat down on the edge of the stream. They followed suit, Aang jumping to the opposite bank first while Azula and Zuko stayed on this one with him. He balanced the twig on the side of the boomerang, with much more success than he’d had with the leaf. And then, even as they were asking him what he was doing, he scrapped the edge of the twig along the boomerang just enough to scar the bark, and then snapped a bit off the end and tried to balance it again. It wouldn’t balance in the same spot it had before, as he’d known it wouldn’t, so he adjusted it accordingly.
“See?” he said, even though it was clear from the looks he was getting that none of them understood what he was trying to do. “It wouldn’t balance where it did before. It’s changed, and I needed to move it so it would balance again. People are like this twig. Everyone is different, and sometimes they change so that they’re different from who they used to be. They have to find their own balance.”
Azula snorted. “You couldn’t think of a better way to try to explain that?”
“I don’t hear you coming up with any grand suggestions here.”
“You’d need to make sense before I could try.”
“Or you could listen to him and let him finish explaining things before you interrupt,” Zuko pointed out as Sokka tossed the twig to the current and put his boomerang away.
Azula made a face, somehow managing to look incredulous while scowling at her brother. “He did finish. He just finished poorly.”
“It wasn’t that bad of an explanation,” Aang started, but Azula cut off the rest of his feeble defence, assuring him that it was.
“You two hanging around isn’t helping either of us concentrate,” Sokka retorted. “Why didn’t you go with Toph?”
“Because we can’t break into that new earth bent bunker she sensed and see if there are any supplies left.”
“You could’ve helped her carry stuff!”
“What, you think I can’t carry stuff by myself?”
Sokka blinked. “How long has she been standing behind me?”
“Long enough that I’m surprised you didn’t notice, Twiggy.”
Sokka winced, and not just because there was a heavy thud behind him. He turned to see a slab of stone heaped with a mishmash of materials sitting on the bank behind Toph. He couldn’t make out much, but from what he did see, there wasn’t any food, which was unfortunate but understandable. The rope might not be any good, but she’d found it, and if they looked over what else she’d found, some of it might be salvageable. Anything was better than nothing, really. They were sorely unprepared to face his sister at the moment.
“How goes the water bending?” she continued as she sat down beside him. “Swimmingly?”
“More like glacial,” Sokka admitted. He cupped his hands and drank from the stream, wondering if they should try a few more forms or if they should skip straight to the leaf boats.
“Have you tried throwing Aang into the water?”
“Hey!”
“I suggested that, but he didn’t like the idea,” Zuko said, nodding at Sokka.
“We could really do without the audience,” Sokka said, hoping Toph would take the hint.
Judging by the smirk that spread across her face as she shifted position, she knew exactly what the hint was supposed to be and deliberately ignored it. “Too bad you’ve got one, then.”
Sokka sighed. “On your feet, Aang. I’ll show you one of the first things every water bender learns.”
“What, how to make an ice dagger to stick through someone’s heart? I think Aang can do without learning that.”
Sokka spun on Azula. “I just told you guys that none of the elements are inherently bad. That includes water and water benders!”
“She didn’t mean it,” Aang said. “Right?”
Azula shrugged, but when Zuko elbowed her, she muttered an apology.
Sokka ignored them and turned back to Aang, demonstrating the form and explaining how it called up the water as a simple globe to start, though it could be refined to multiple droplets with practice if so desired.
While Aang was frowning at him, Sokka demonstrated how non benders did it—and splashed him.
Judging by the way Toph had cracked up as he’d knelt to scoop up the water, she’d known exactly what he’d been about to do.
She splashed him before Aang had the chance to retaliate.
The ensuing water fight quickly involved all of them. No one was bending at first, but Toph was the first to cheat, shielding herself with the ground, and the others followed suit. It didn’t take long before all of them were soaked and laughing.
At some point in the midst of it all, Aang let out a shout that had them stop in place, slowly dripping as they watched him juggle a wobbly ball of water.
Maybe immersing him in the element hadn’t been a bad idea after all.
It was just a start, but a start was all Sokka had needed. He could help Aang get this. He could help the Avatar—and, ultimately, he could help the Water Tribe.
Even if it did mean going against Katara.
(see more fics)
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tuanhood · 4 years
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delta
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pairing: professional frat!jackson wang x reader
genre: lot of fluff, pining from afar, professional frat
warnings: none
word count: 3,700+
summary: when you joined your school’s co-ed professional frat all you had wanted was to get valuable business connections and resources that could help you in your future career. you really didn’t think you would end up with a huge fat crush on mr. popular. 
a/n: soooo this one is a little different because I know everyone always writes fics about jackson being the guy who throws the party or the kinda party boy type so I wanted to do something less expected and lil more soft. also this is unedited and lowkey a mess but :) yeehaw a post.
lambda | alpha | gamma | kappa | theta | sigma
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You weren’t sure whether to scream or cry.
All you knew was that you wanted Jackson Wang. Badly.
Most of the girls that tended to crowd around him simply fell at his feet for his ridiculously good looks – which you had to agree was true – but you wanted more than just that. You wanted everything that Jackson was and is. His looks, his sense of humor, his kindness and his brain. You had been addicted to him since you joined Delta Sigma Pi at the beginning of the school year and you had to do something before you overdosed.
It hadn’t been your intentions to fall so head over heels for someone who you had mostly admired from afar and talked to in passing, but you really couldn’t help it. You had become a part of Delta Sigma Pi only for the possible connections it could bring you in your future. If you had wanted to join something more social you would have rushed a sorority like some of the girls in your dorm Freshman year. 
In fact, you were pretty against everything the Greek system stood for and advertised, but when you had heard of co-ed professional fraternities that aimed to help students make connections in their chosen profession and encourage advancement, you changed your mind. Instead of an organization that prided itself on binge drinking and toxic behavior, you joined Deltasig – a business fraternity for male and female students that centered on “professional” activities and fundamentals.
Of course, there were still “social” gatherings amongst the conferences, workshops and service activities that filled most of the members’ schedules. The social events were never really your thing – you’d much rather focus on advancing your future then drunk on a dance floor and squished in between two of the brothers you took a startup workshop with. You started to avoid and skip that aspect of Deltasig until you had taken notice of Jackson.
To be completely honest you had noticed Jackson long before you started getting little butterflies in your stomach every time you were in a room with him, but it wasn’t until two months into the school year that things changed.
You had shown up rather early to one of the weekly meetings – finishing class an hour before and not wanting to go all the way back home, then back up to campus. You had settled down at one of the tables and decided to take out your sketchbook to kill some time, not expecting anyone else to show up until at most thirty minutes before the meeting start time. With your hectic schedule this year and a heavy class load, it wasn’t often anymore that you could find time to work on your clothing sketches. It was your dream to have your own fashion label and company – an avenue where you could be creative through designing and also be a ball busting career woman with her own business to run. You hoped joining Deltasig would help you there.
It wasn’t until you had finished the shading of a winter coat that you realized you weren’t alone.
“Nice design.”
The deep voice had startled you – so much so that your pencil had fallen from your grasp and made its way to nearly the other side of the room. “Shit. Sorry about that,” you looked up from the table to be met with probably the brownest eyes you had ever seen. Your minimal encounters with Jackson before hadn’t prepared you for this up-close moment where all you could focus on was every little detail on his perfect face, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Immediately, you positioned your eyes down and back to the sketchbook not wanting to creep him out at how much you apparently now loved staring at him.
“Totally fine,” you mumbled, still not daring to look back at him. You had heard so many girl – not just in Deltasig but all over campus talking about how mesmerizing Jackson Wang was. Legend has it that once you make direct eye contact with him, you’re placed under an unbreakable spell and become his forever. That kind of talk had always made you laugh. How could a human being – just a person has the capabilities to make another human being feel that way? Maybe it was because you had never been into the social partying thing or really ever had time to date due to your focus on designing clothes, but you couldn’t understand it. That was until that day.
More silence had settled between you and Jackson. You figured that by the way you were reacting, he probably thought you were rude. Somehow in your mind you had comprehended that maybe Jackson hating your guys would actually help you. If he didn’t like you then he would ultimately spend less time around you, therefore you would no longer have to feel whatever it was you were feeling as a result to being around him for less than two minutes.
“Let me get your pencil for you,” it was like you couldn’t make use of your body properly. As soon as he said it, you found your head whipping up to look at him go to the spot where your long-forgotten drawing utensil had landed. Your brain had repeatedly said “no look away” as Jackson leaned down to grab it, but your head remained stagnant in its place, eyes fixated on his back and the way his shoulder muscles moved.
Luckily you found yourself snapping out of the Wang induced trance as he stood up and turned back to return the pencil. To you it felt like you were being obvious and acting like a complete lunatic, but to sweet clueless Jackson he thought nothing strange of it.
“Here ya go. Sorry again,” Jackson smiled as he placed the pencil down on the table near the sketchbook, “you’re really good by the way. Is fashion design the reason why you joined?”
As much as you had wanted to respond to him, your mouth felt dry and your stomach churned in anxiety, afraid of saying the wrong thing. Instead, you nodded in response and despite your clear hesitations in conversing with him, Jackson smiled once again, “well that’s awesome. We’re really happy to have you in the frat Y/N.”
That was the last thing he had said to you before heading to his seat to also wait for other members to show up and start the meeting. The fact that Jackson Wang had knew your name made you want to blush and hide under a rock all in the same moment.
Ever since then you tried to push down your feelings for Jackson. You had heard crazy things about him – that he was very much into the small “social” part of Deltasig and even partook in a partying life outside of the org. That life wasn’t necessarily for you and that gave you more reasons to shove your daily fantasies of you and Jackson married with two children and successful companies out of your mind.
Despite all that talk of the kind of life Jackson led, you couldn’t ignore the way he acted at meetings and frat events. The way he would always encourage whoever had the floor to share an idea or concern, the way he would make sure to laugh twice as hard at someone’s joke if no one thought it was funny and especially the way he carried himself during workshops. He went from kind and alluring goofball to professional businessman. You loved a man with duality.
Then you started going to the Deltasig mixers and no longer could you ignore your feelings. It was all downhill from there.
They weren’t the average frat party where hundreds of people would show up and overall chaos would occur. Instead, the parties were more on the scale of just friends getting together to have a good time. Discovering that notion made you feel more open and comfortable in this kind of setting and you told yourself that was the reason you started going. Not because Jackson would always be in attendance.
You tried to be the average partygoer, but every time you would find your eyes drifting over to Jackson who was always in the middle of telling a story, dramatically using his arms to emphasize certain points. The smile he would get on his face when the person he was talking to would nod and laugh along made you feel even more sucked in. You weren’t even apart of the conversation but you felt Jackson’s charisma and just overall goodness in every part of you.
Then at a certain point during the party – every single time – you swear you could sense Jackson looking at you. You never look to see if you’re right and you’re unsure of what scares you more – being wrong or being right.
And now as you stood here, at probably the seventh Deltasig social you had been to, you once again watched the countless other girls in your frat fawn over Jackson. The girls obsessing over him and trying to get his attention wasn’t a new thing, after all this was the seventh time you were experiencing it. Only this time it was getting to you a lot more than before.
It was mostly being caused from the fifth – or was it the sixth? – “special” mixed drink Mark had made you in the kitchen.
“I don’t know I just throw in whatever sounds like it would be good,” he had said.
That had been good enough for you.
“Let me know if you decide to go for the MBA, my dad’s on the board of admissions at Northwestern and could totally help. Anything for that extra edge, right?”
It’s difficult to ignore how loud Hana is trying to sell her connections to Jackson. As if that’s what’s going to make him interested in her. Why would you want to be with a guy if all he liked about you was the fact your dad could write him a cushy letter of recommendation? She’s not the first however, and she’s certainly not the last.
Jackson smiled at her and you can’t help but smile in return from across the backyard. You’ve identified practically every different type of Jackson Wang smile and based off the way his mouth stretches across his face along with his eyes fixated downwards, it’s the “I’m smiling just to be nice” smile. It makes you satisfied.
“I’m good for now, but I’ll definitely let you know if anything changes. Thanks Hana, you’ve always been so helpful.” It amazed you how he could be so genuine with everyone about nearly everything. It certainly didn’t fit the picture of the Jackson who apparently always parties. But what did you know?
Hana smiled once more at Jackson before she cut her losses and headed back into house. You waited to see who the next contestant would be to try their tricks on Jackson. You watched and watched, looking at Jackson and surveying his every move. It wasn’t long before you realized that you had been staring at Jackson for an unfathomable amount of time – a clear sign that the alcohol had hit you. You didn’t drink ever and it felt like the effects of Mark’s special mixed drinks had come all at once.
“Y/N are you okay?”
It felt like you were getting lost in trance after trance, as though you couldn’t focus on one thing entirely. Your thoughts were so scattered you didn’t even notice Jackson’s approach.
“Y/N?”
Since you had started coming to the Deltasig socials you had never directly spoken to Jackson. Sure, during meetings and workshops there would be a word or two that would be exchanged between the two of you, but never a real conversation. Those were also under more professional circumstances and even though this was still a “professional frat” event, it didn’t have the same implications.
Blinking, you snapped out of your daze and looked at Jackson on your side, “y-yeah. I’m fine… just- why does it seem like I’m not okay?” Rather than the teasing tone you wanted to convey; you came off as genuinely concerned for yourself. Which was… good?
He sipped from the red cup he was holding and you feel yourself lose focus once again – this time on his pink heart shaped lips. “You were just kind of staring at me… for like a long time.”
Sober you would be embarrassed, but drunk you smiled at his words. Despite staring – something that was weird – Jackson still made you feel comfortable, like it wasn’t a strange thing to do.
“Oh yeah sorry. I was just enjoying the view,” you almost want to bite your tongue at how candid you are, but you figured that the Jackson that everyone knows and loves would just smile and shrug it off like he always does.
Instead you ended up being surprised, “oh really… and what view is that?”
You swear that the alcohol is playing with your mind, because even if Jackson is saying that to you, then it certainly can’t be in the tone that you think it is. It was hard to distinguish what was real and what was in your head.
“Just you,” drunk you is very surprising, but you kind of liked her.
You tried to read Jackson’s face, but for once you couldn’t. Instead of one of the smiles you had memorized and etched into your brain, you were taken aback to be met with Jackson’s blank face. For someone who was always smiling, it made you feel like you had whiplash at his out of character demeanor. “Y/N… I think you’re drunk.”
You were drunk? Okay yes… maybe you were, but after spending the party staring at Jackson and all of these months watching is every move it was clear that you were drunk on more than just alcohol. You’ve been drunk for months and right now was the tipping point.
“No. YOU’RE drunk.” You couldn’t believe that out of all the things you could say in response, you had chosen the one where you accuse him of being drunk. Jackson furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and looked down at the cup in his hand, “that would be impossible considering the fact that I don’t drink.”
Now you were the one left confused. After all the things you had heard surrounding Jackson, him not drinking didn’t really match with that, “are you sure?”
A smile stretched across his face and he lets out a little laugh. Your heart warms when you realized it’s one of his better smiles – his “that’s so funny, please tell me more” smile. If you had to spend the rest of your life seeing that smile, you’d never have a reason to be upset ever again.
“I’m sure I don’t drink alcohol.”
Your eyes widened at his reveal, “what? You don’t drink? The Jackson Wang? Party animal?”
It’s then you notice that most everyone else has left the backyard to go inside. The table that had once been full of drinks and surrounded by groups of people was suddenly cleared and deserted. You could still make out a hum coming from inside the house where people were still continuing the kickback, but from the empty backyard you suddenly felt so removed from it all.
Jackson takes a step closer to you, and frowns. At this point your mind is too hazy to analyze what kind of frown it is. Whether it’s a genuine frown or one of Jackson’s pouty frowns he wears when he gets teased by his friends, “Party animal? Where’s that coming from?”
You shrugged, “it’s just what I’ve heard… ya know through the grapevine.”
“Well I’m definitely not a party animal, so let’s clear that up now.”
“I just thought since everyone always-” you began, but he abruptly cut you off seeming a bit annoyed – something you hadn’t seen from him before, “Well not everyone knows what I’m actually like. They just make assumptions, I guess… I didn’t think you were like that though.”
The way he says the last part isn’t out of anger or annoyance, instead he sounds disappointed which makes you feel even worse. You grow quiet, your head beginning to hurt – unsure if it’s from Jackson’s reaction or the alcohol, you crouch down to the ground and place your head in your hands.
Jackson crouches down beside you out of concern and you’re barely able to make out his question of whether you’re okay or not. All you hear is an annoying ringing sound and Jackson and the yard in front of you begins to spin.
“I’m never drinking again,” you mumbled mostly to yourself, but you hear Jackson chuckle.
You feel yourself freeze and the ringing go away when Jackson reaches forward to tuck a strand of hair behind your hair, “you probably shouldn’t have had any of Mark’s drinks. They’re known to be lethal.”
“How did you know I had Mark’s drinks?”
This time it’s Jackson’s turn to freeze, his cheeks heating up, “just… took notice I guess.”
Jackson Wang had noticed you? You knew that he was attentive, the caring kind of guy who always looked after his friends, but this was different. It made the world stop spinning and your headache magically disappear as if you had been granted some sort of clarity.
You felt words on the tip of your tongue that could embarrass yourself further in front of Jackson. So much so that it could drive you to drop out of Deltasig and kiss your hopes and dreams of making connections in the business world goodbye. But the haze of the alcohol and Jackson’s big brown eyes right in front of you provoked you to let the words out.
“I always notice you Jackson.”
As soon as the words are out in the open, you look down at the ground not wanting to meet Jackson’s gaze, just as you had the day, he caught you drawing in your sketchbook. The silence that looms between the two of you feels heavy as it’s not often that Jackson’s left speechless. Even in awkward situations he always has something to say or a way to break the tension. You had seen it countless times before with all of the groupies in the frat that hang around him, so why now did he have nothing left to say?
You cleared your throat, “anyways… maybe I should get going since I’m drunk and all…” Despite your words you made no effort to get up off the ground, instead you felt yourself nervously tug at the grass around your feet still waiting for a word from Jackson.
Finally, after what felt like forever you felt like you could breathe.
“Is it the same way that I notice you?”
You know what he means, you know exactly what he means and it makes your heart stop. Your fingers leave the newest tuft of grass that you’ve pulled out of the ground and look back to Jackson. You’ve never seen him look so small and shy before; the alcohol makes you want to wrap your arms around him. Nodding at his question, you see a smile appear on his face. A smile that you haven’t seen before, one that you haven’t memorized and analyzed.
He licks his lips, “Y/N… I’ve never really been interested in parties or these stupid socials… I only really started going because I thought you would be there. I wanted to come up to you so many times, but… I just chickened out. I know we don’t know each other that well, but ever since you joined Deltasig I can’t get you out of my head. I only joined the frat to keep in mind what’s really important to me – my future – and I never thought much about making friends or,” he paused, “dating… It just wasn’t on my mind. But then I met you and I don’t know what it is… whenever I’m in a room with you I can’t stop looking at you. Ugh, that probably sounds psychotic, doesn’t it?”
You’re hanging on every word of his confession and soon find yourself laughing when he reaches the end. This entire time you had thought Jackson was this super cool, unattainable guy who paid you no mind. That he was the kind of person who was nice to everyone and had an aura to him that caused him to be labeled as one of the members of Deltasig that loved to party. But that was all wrong… Apparently, he was just like you.
“Are you laughing because you find me creepy or is it because of the alcohol?”
When you finally catch your breath, you fan yourself feeling hot from your intoxicated state and the laughter that had consumed you, “actually neither. I’m laughing because I’ve felt the exact same way.”
His face lights up and you once again catch a glimpse of that new smile. It makes you position yourself closer to him, leaning in until you can feel his breath and he can hear your heartbeat.
Just as you lick your lips and are about to close your eyes, you feel him move his hand forward to brush your hair out of your face for the second time of the night. Jackson looks at you with such a fondness that he almost convinces you that you’re a fragile doll that needs to be protected.
“I really really want to kiss you… but not while you’re drunk.” His words make sense, but they cause you to pout. You wanted his lips on yours as soon as humanly possible.
Jackson looks at you shyly once again, “can I walk you home instead?”
You felt like this was the beginning of something, the beginning of something so big and so important that never seemed fathomable before. All you had really wanted was for Jackson to look at you the same way you looked at him. It was a simple request that you never thought would be fulfilled, but with your new favorite smile etched on Jackson’s face, you felt a new kind of electricity run through your body.
“I would love that.”
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witchy-mel · 3 years
Text
The Note
[A/N: This is a Russell x Petey "one-shot" fanfic. I put one-shot in quotes because I low-key kinda ship them and this is basically just my interpretation of how their relationship would... begin(if that makes sense lol). I won't be necessarily adding on to this, but if my school work doesn't take over me, I might make different situations of this ship(or just draw it idk). FYI: I'm going to be using Petey's full first name when he's not being referred to in quotes just in case you're wondering why he's referred to so formally lol(idk why i did it this way, but it's just better for me than to just use 'Petey' all the time).]
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It was 3:30 pm on a Thursday. Classes were over for the day. Kids were racing out of classroom doors, hurrying to meet with friends to talk about weekend plans and whatnot. Something Peter wished he was doing right now. Unfortunately for him, he was walking down the halls with Derby Harrington. They were talking about their part of the class project they got assigned to in English. Luckily, they got the easiest part. All they had to do was a six-slide PowerPoint report summary of the current novel the class was reading, Romeo and Juliet. Every one else was assigned a skit or some sort of visual representation, and Peter was glad he wouldn't have to experience another episode of 5th grade. But his luck didn't last long because he got paired up with Derby. If he had a list of Preps that he couldn't stand, Derby would be at the very top. His snobbish behavior irritated him and he was going to have to deal with it for two weeks. He couldn't switch partners either because Mr. Galloway had already picked these groups in advance so he was just going to have to deal with it. Hopefully, he won't drive him crazy before the end of the week.
They had stopped by Peter's locker so that he could put away his stuff and grab his book. "So, we'll do three slides each, then, " Peter said while neatly stacking his things into his locker. The golden-haired boy leaned on a locker next to Peters, examining his manicured nails with one leg crossed over the other. "Let's keep this simple, okay. Harringtons are very busy people, y'know." Derby said, who was now examining the nails on his right hand. 'Yeah, because buying yachts and spending daddy's money is soooo time-consuming,' Peter thought while rolling his eyes. Ignoring Derby's statement, they proceeded to talk about how they would set-up the project. While they were discussing their plans, the hallway next to them was emptying faster than when one of the bullies would chuck a stink bomb in the cafeteria, making the already horrid smell of the lunchroom even more unbearable.
Kids were darting left and right, frantically trying to avoid the person that was coming their way. Cheerful conversations were replaced with gasps and footsteps tapping against the floor. It was Russell and he was heading straight towards Peter's locker. His head hung low, his face dull and ominous. His power-walk made him look even more threatening. It wouldn't take him long to get there. "... and make sure to be prepared the day before the due date. We don't-" Derby was cut short after he took a glance up from his hand, seeing Russell storming towards them. He quickly fled into the bathroom that was close to the lockers.
Peter, on the other hand, was still rummaging through his locker. He was looking for his book for the project. He could have sworn he had put it on the top shelf. He had already toned out Derby earlier, which was for him, but it was a little too quiet. "Sorry, what were you saying?" Peter asked as he closed his locker, pretending as if he was listening. He'd imagined Derby would be standing there with his arms crossed with an impatient look on his face. Strange enough, he had completely disappeared. "Derby...?" Peter called out while he looking around, but no response. He just shrugged it off; more time to work then. He decided to use a copy online until he can find his.
He turned from his locker and was greeted by Russell looming over him. His tan skin slowly faded into a sickly white as he locked eyes with the taller and significantly larger pupil. His face was red, and his eyebrows were burrowed. Was he mad? But why at him? He greeted him nervously, "Uh...h-hey Russell," his voice small and shaky. Russell suddenly slammed his giant hand against Peter's locker, trapping the petite boy in between himself and it. The noise of the metal clashing together made Peter jolt and hiccup a gasp. There were so many thoughts were racing through his head. 'What is happening?' 'Did I do something wrong?' ‘Is he going to shove me in the locker?' ‘What does he want from me?’ Russell had begun to raise his tightly balled fist. Peter just flinched beneath him and waited for whatever was to come. A minute passed before he realized that he was still in one piece and wasn't smooshed into someone's messy locker. Peter slowly opened his right eye to see if it was just some prank to scare him. Well, that's what he hoped. To his surprise, he saw a little, white, wrinkled envelope resting in Russell's large palm. "For...Petey," Russell said, who was now looking away from the smaller boy, his face slightly flushed. Peter carefully took the envelope out of his hand. "Ah- t-thank you," he said, with a fearful grin. Russell removed his hand from the rusty green locker and shoved them into his dirty, jean pockets then walked away from Peter, leaving him lost for words.
Peter watched as Russell walked away until he disappeared behind the hallway walls. After grasping what had just happened, he slammed his body into the locker and slid down to the tiled floor. A sigh of relief escaping his lungs. He looked at the envelope in his hand He turned it around in his hand. 'What could be in this?' he thought as he studied the envelope. Knowing Russell, surprises from him either left you injured or eternally traumatized. "Is he gone?" asked a voice coming from the right of him. He turned his head towards the bathroom to discover the once obnoxious and over-confident prep cowering behind the boys' restroom wall. It was kind of funny. He couldn't blame him, but still. "Yeah," Peter answered back. He was trying to hold back laughter. "Good. Speak of this to anyone, and I'll have daddy sue you." Derby threatened while he brushed off his Aquaberry vest and recomposed himself. Peter quickly cleared his throat and put on a straight face. “Well, now that that's over, I'll be seeing you tomorrow in English, so be prepared.” He then proceeded to walk down the hall towards the main doors. Peter decided it was his time to leave as well and because he was getting sore from sitting on the hard floor for so long. He pushed himself up and headed for the boys' dorm.
When Peter entered the dorm, it was quieter than usual. It was practically empty. Well, it would be if Gary and Jimmy weren't sitting on the couch watching some cartoon on the tv that he didn't care to recognize. ‘Just great…’, he thought. If they spotted or heard him, especially Gary, they'd probably hassle him about the letter. He had to figure out a way to get past them quietly. Then it came to him. As ridiculous, and probably unsanitary, as it was, he got down on all fours and started crawling to his room. Since he was small enough, it would be easier for him to sneak past. Successfully making it past the entrance to the living area, he now had to make the final stretch. As soon as he was far enough from the doors, he tiptoed the rest of the way to his room. When he got to the door, he slowly turned the doorknob and opened the door wide enough so that he could quickly slip in. He slid through and gently closed the door.
The duo continued watching tv in the living room, but Peter's plan didn't necessarily go as planned. Unfortunately, the main doors weren't as quiet as he was. "He does know that we heard him come through the front door, right?" Gary asked before taking another sip of Beam Cola. "Just let him have his fun," Jimmy replied, still focused on the tv. There was a moment of silence until Gary placed the can on the floor next to him and leaped over their couch, "I'm gonna see what he's doing," Gary said. He shoved his hands into his pants pockets and headed towards Peter's room. Jimmy sighed, then t switched off the tv.
Safe and sound he hoped. Peter plopped straight onto his bed. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the envelope. He examined it a bit closer than when he was in the school halls. It was sealed with a barely sticky, small, pink heart sticker, and on the back was a note that read 'For Peter' written in three different shades of red in colored pencils. He lifted the sticker from the paper and pulled out the neatly folded piece of notebook paper stored inside. But before he could even read it, it was snatched out of his hands. "What'cha got here, femme boy? A love letter? Let me guess... it's for Beatrice, isn't it?" Gary teased, "Or wait, maybe it's for one of the jocks. I know how much you love to watch them during football practice in those tight pants." Gary pestered, causing Peter's face to go red. He didn't even hear him come in. He knew he should've locked the door! He had to get that letter back before he read it. "Hey, give that back!" he cried, stretching his arms up to grab the piece of paper Gary was taunting him with but was failing to reach it. "And it's not mine; someone gave it to me," Peter explained, still stretching for the paper. He knew he shouldn't have said that, knowing it would only make this worst. "Ooh~, a secret admirer, huh~?" asked Gary, seeming even more interested, "It can't be any of the girls. Hm...maybe one of the nerds or, better yet, one of those idiotic bullies! That seems right up your alley." Gary insulted. A sly, toothy smirk painting his face. Peter had stopped reaching for the paper bowed his head, tightly balling his fists up in his lap, almost digging his nails into his palms. His vision became blurry, and his face was hot.
"Cut it out already, would ya? Geez." Jimmy instructed while propped up on the door frame, his arms folded. "What? I was just playing around," Gary shrugged. Peter quickly snatched the paper out of Gary's hand, secretly wishing it would have given him a paper cut. "You're such a jerk, you know that?" Peter snapped back, clearing his watery eyes. "Aw~ did I hwurt da baby's feewlings? Here let me kiss it better." He extended his arms, attempting to hug the smaller boy but was restricted by a hand pushing on his chest. "Shut up..." Peter responded irritated, dodging eye contact.
"Well, when you two are done making out, I would like to know what's going on here," Jimmy said impatiently. "Little Petey here got a love letter," Gary said, pushing himself away from Peter. Jimmy raised an eyebrow, "A love letter? From who?" This was the part that Peter didn't want to happen. He knew if they found out, they'd probably, no DEFINITELY, laugh at him. Especially Gary. That's why he wanted to get to his room unnoticed. But he couldn't just sit there in silence, wishing he could turn back the time. He took a deep breath and spoke, "...it's…from Russell..." the boy softly answered.
"Russell?!" the duo exclaimed, jaws practically dropping to the ground. "So I was right! Haha, that's hilarious!" Gary laughed as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world. Jimmy elbowed him in the arm, almost causing Gary to fall. The taller boy glared back at Jimmy while rubbing his arm. "What does the letter say?" Jimmy asked. Peter uncrumpled the paper from when he snatched it out of Gary's hands so that he could read it. The handwriting was really neat, but the grammar was close to illegible. He tried his best to decode the message. "Meet Russell at...Old Bullworth Vale Garden tomorrow... at 4:00 pm." ‘4:00?’ 'What does he want to meet up for?' Peter thought about the incident that went down at the lockers and it sent shivers down his spine thinking about it.
"Ooo~ little Petey's going on his first date." "Would you cut it out already?" Petey shot back. He was growing tired of Gary's little comments. That combined with the thoughts of Russell potentially trapping him a port-a-potty only gave him a headache, and Gary wasn't making it any better. "Could you guys just go…please?" He said while rubbing his forehead. This was stressing him out. The two said their goodbyes and left Peter to drown in his thoughts. He could hear them arguing outside his door, but he wasn't paying much attention. He was still thinking about the note. He laid down on his bed and stared up at the broken ceiling fan. He thought to himself, 'Why did I read it?' 'What if I just threw it away? Then what?'. Peter didn't have time to worry about the ‘what-ifs’. He had a project to do. He groaned and rolled out of his bed. Sitting at his desk, he opened up his laptop and began working. Hoping that this would keep his mind off of it.
It was the next day at school. The day was nearly over, and Peter felt as though he had made no progress at all. All his day his mind was fogged up with recurring thoughts. His thoughts had shortly came to a stop because a faint voice was coming into tune through his right ear "…ey. Hey! Snap out of it!" It was Derby who was snapping his fingers, trying to pull the dazed boy out of his trance. "Hm? Oh, sorry, I got a little distracted..." Peter explained. "A little?! You've been "distracted" almost during the entire class! This is the third time I had to wake you back up!" Derby responded sharply. "I said I was sorry, alright? I just have a lot on my mind right now..." Peter explained. “Ha! What exactly could poor people even think about? Now is not the time for jokes, Kowalski.” Peter stared him down, now even more annoyed. He wished he was daydreaming again. Derby rolled his eyes and sighed. "Whatever, let's just get back to work," Derby instructed. They continued to work on their separate slides, Peter trying his best to keep his head out of the clouds.
*RING* The sound of the last school bell. To Peter, it sounded like the final gong before disaster struck. He stopped by his locker to put his stuff away before heading to the dorm. When he got to the dorm he headed straight to his room. He entered his room and sat on his bed. He sat there for a while. He scanned the wall in front of him until his eyes landed on the clock. A couple more minutes until it was time to meet up with Russell. He stood up and walked to the mirror behind the bed. He stared at his reflection. He looked drowsy. He hardly got any sleep last night. It was because of the note. That stupid note kept him in and out of sleep. Even when he was doing his work, that couldn't take his mind off of it either. And this was all because of a piece of paper. More so the person who wrote on that flimsy piece of paper. He slapped his face a bit to wake him up a bit and bring the color back to it. He contemplated whether he should change his clothes or not, but he decided that was unnecessary. It's not like he was going on a date or anything, despite what Gary said, so he just took off his vest and fixed up his shirt collar. He looked back at the clock. It was about time. He looked in the mirror and gave himself a reassuring nod. He headed out his room and straight to Old Bullworth Vale Garden. At least he would've been if he didn't have an unexpected visitor.
Gary was standing in front of him, his hand raised to knock on the door. Great, another person he didn't want to see today. They stared at each other for a while. “Look. I have somewhere to be, so if you have something important to say, hurry up.” the smaller boy explained. “Rushing to see your new boyfriend, huh?” Gary teased. Unsurprisingly, he only came to annoy him. Peter tried to walk past him, but Gary quickly blocked his path again. Peter sighed, “What?” he asked impatiently. “Look, I'm sorry, ok. For yesterday.” “You really think I'd fall for that? I know Jimmy told you to do this.” “Well, yeah. But if I didn't, then you'd ignore me for the rest of the week. Then teasing you won't be as fun. So…apology accepted?” Gary asked with a crooked smile. Peter shook his head. “I'll think about it.” He responded firmly. He pushed past Gary and continued on his way.
Well, here he was. No turning back now. He scanned the park looking for Russell, but he couldn't see him anywhere. Fortunately, he brought the note with him. Peter pulled the note out of his back pocket and unfolded it. He re-read it to see if there were any directions. Nothing on the front. He flipped it over to the backside. In blue-colored pencil was a message in the middle of the paper that read: 'Meet by soda machine' He stuffed the paper back into his pocket and treaded up the long stone path. When he reached the stone wall before the picnic area, he paused for a bit. There he was. He was sitting on the far left of the stone bench, staring out into the distance. He puffed out his chest then walked over to him. "Hey, Russell!" Peter greeted with a tiny wave, trying not to sound scared. Russell spun his head around and directed his vision to the smiling boy. Hi, Petey..." the red-head replied meekly, his cheeks a little flushed. "Mind if I sit here?" Peter asked, pointing at the vacant spot on the bench. Russell shook his head which allowed Peter to pop-a-squat right next to him.
"Sooo, what did you want to talk about?" Peter asked. Russell was nervously twiddling his thumbs, avoiding eye contact with the smaller boy. He never felt this anxious about someone, especially someone who he deemed as weaker than him. And that was nearly everyone! But for some reason, Peter was different. "Well...," he started, slowly, "Russell has been feeling weird. Towards you…" "Weird? What do you mean?" Peter asked curiously. "Whenever I see you...Russell get a weird feeling in my stomach, and heart goes fast," he answered. He could feel his cheeks getting hotter. It took Peter a while to realize what he meant. When he did, his eyes widened. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Wait, are you saying that you like me?" Russell nodded, his cheeks becoming darker by the second. "For how long?" "A while," Russell responded shyly. Peter was still shocked about the unexpected confession. He didn't know whether to feel relieved that Russell wasn't going to make him walk home smelling like the boys' gym locker room or surprised that Russell had admired him.
He never considered Russell to be his type, not that he had one, but he's pretty sure not many people's types are destructive bullies. But he had to admit when Russell wasn't threatening other students for their lunch money, he was kind of… cute, when he was like this, in one way or another. That's one thing he never thought he would think about Russell."It's okay if you don't like-" Russell began before being cut off by Peter, "N-no, it's fine. I don't mind..." he said while rubbing the back of his neck. A little splash of maroon now tinting his cheeks. Russell was surprised by the response a bit, but it shortly turned into a soft smile.
It was starting to get late, and Peter didn't want one of the prefects reporting him for being out after curfew to Dr. Crabblesnitch. "Well, if that's all you wanted to talk about, I should be getting back to the dorms." He explained. "Russell give you ride back," Russell offered. Thinking about it now, Peter didn't have any way to get back to the dorms, and he didn't like walking around at night. "Oh, okay. Thanks." Peter followed behind Russell towards the entrance gates to retrieve his bike. He stepped onto the spokes and tightly wrapped his arms around the bigger boy's waist. "Ready?" Russell asked. "Yeah," Peter replied. Russell raised his foot off the ground and started pedaling.
Russell was biking slowly just in case he went over any bumps, Peter wouldn't go flying off. The smaller boy was resting his head on his back and his arms wrapped around him gave his butterflies in his stomach, but the good kind. Peter was able to take in the scenery from the beach. The sunset made the town look so peaceful, especially the beach. With little speckles of the sunlight bouncing off the water, it was as if the sea were a peach that contained all of outer space. The scent of Russell's cologne and the view made Peter feel calm. He involuntarily nestled himself closer into his back which caused the redhead's heart to beat faster it could nearly pop out of his chest. He smiled to himself as he continued pedaling towards the school purposely going a bit slower so that the moment would last longer.
They arrived back at the school not long after. Russell parked his bike near the first step of the boys' dorm. Walking up the stairs, Peter stopped at the highest step and Russell two steps behind him so that they were at eye level. Or at least where Peter wasn't bending his neck to see not even half of his face. “Thanks for giving me a ride back.” the tiny boy praised with a gentle smile. “You're welcome," Russell replied sheepishly, blushing. There was small silence between them. The whooshing of the lukewarm early autumn wind filling in for some of the white noise. Before anyone could say anything to break it, Russell planted a little peck on Peter's forehead before walking back down the stairs to his bike. Russell waved back at Peter before getting on his bike and hitching it back home. Peter watched as Russell rode out to the courtyard as they waved at each other. When he was completely out of sight, he slightly touched his forehead and smiled to himself before entering the boys' dorm.
As soon as he got to his room, he fell onto his bed. He took one of his pillows and covered his blushed face in case someone walked in him. Little giggles passing through the pillowcase. He rolled around joyfully, completely messing up his bedsheets. The excitement letting loose throughout his body. He finally had calmed down after a session of frolicking all over his bed. He had almost forgotten to finish the rest of his slides. Now that his mind wasn't as cluttered as before, it would be easier for him to work. But considering what had just happened, he'd probably be distracted thinking about that now. He headed to his desk so he could get started, but before he even sat down, he noticed a book on top of his laptop. There was a piece of paper attached to it with clear tape. He picked it up and sat at his desk chair. Pulling the paper off revealed the cover of the book. Romeo and Juliet. He took a look at the note the was stuck to it. It read:
['Hey femme boy. I stole your girly book. I realized that I didn't want any of your girliness or any of you rubbing off on me, so I decided to return it. Be grateful.'
Sincerely,
You're BFF Gary Smith ;) ]
'So that's where it was huh?' Peter thought. He tongued the inside of his cheek before releasing a slightly annoyed laugh. At least he got his book back. That's all that really mattered. He'll get him back later, but for now, he had work to do. He flipped open his laptop and continued his previous work.
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That's the end! I'm not really good at writing(even tho my strong suit is English/Literature 👀), so I hope that this was at least a little bit enjoyable/entertaining and not too cringy😅
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falseroar · 3 years
Text
Dog Days Part 24: Three Shots Fired
((Marvin provides a distraction so Abe and Jackie can get into the studio undetected, Abe to find Wilford, Jackie to find his friends. This plan turns out to be terrible on every level.
Warning: Shooting/someone shown getting shot, no gore/details. I promise this warning will only show up one more time in this series. This is also probably the longest part in the series so far.
And here are links to the masterlist for the series and to Part 23.))
Any hopes Abe had of getting any answers out of Marvin or this other guy in the red hoodie on the drive to the studio were crushed, because once the magician was sure he knew where to go, he didn’t have another word to say to the hunter. In fact, as Abe pulled out onto the street and started driving, he asked again, “How do you two know Wilford? And why do you think he’s at this TV studio?” only to be met with silence.
Abe slowed at the red light and glanced in the rearview mirror, where he saw the two of them clearly talking in the backseat, but in the driver’s seat he couldn’t hear a single word of it. Apparently, they couldn’t hear him either, or were too busy arguing to notice.
Great. As if this whole situation wasn’t suspicious enough. Marvin might as well have held up a giant sign saying they were keeping something from him, and knowing that the magician could throw the whole “hired to stalk one of his friends for a shady client” thing back into his face didn’t make it any better.
“Why are we taking him?” Jackie asked, his eyes darting toward the hunter in the front seat. “Wasn’t the whole plan to keep him away from Y/N until we figured out what his deal is?”
“I think his deal is that he’s just an idiot,” Marvin answered. He had tossed up the silence spell as soon as the car started moving, because he suspected Jackie wouldn’t be able to keep from saying something. “And we need to get there as fast as we can, without drawing too much attention. We don’t know what we’re walking into, here.”
“Which is why we shouldn’t be bringing him! I can get there faster on my own, and don’t you have some kind of teleportation spell?”
“Sure, and we can set off every alarm in the place and never make it inside to find the others. You think a place like that doesn’t have security of their own?” Marvin asked. “Why isn’t Chase picking up his phone?!”
“I don’t know, it just keeps going straight to voicemail, and JJ’s not answering any of my texts either,” Jackie said, glancing down at his phone again. “I thought going to the studio was supposed to be safe!”
“How were we supposed to know the Colonel would be there?” Marvin rubbed his eyes, causing his shades to rise up before falling back into place on his nose. “I should have brought my mask, I just didn’t think…But if they’re stuck on a tour, then maybe they haven’t had a chance to run into him yet, if he even is there. From the way the hunter talks, it’s not like he hangs around anywhere for very long.”
“Even if we do get them out before they run into the Colonel, we still have to deal with him,” Jackie said, tilting his head in the direction of the front of the car. “I don’t trust him, and a public building where we already know one murderer might be walking around isn’t exactly the place I want to find out whether I’m right or not. He doesn’t know about Y/N, does he?”
“Of course not! But it’s not like we can hide them from him if he’s…hm.” Marvin paused, and despite his covered eyes, Jackie could see the gears turning in his mind before he said. “Then again, maybe he can be useful.”
Marvin heard Jackie’s noise at the suggestion and turned toward him as he continued, “No, listen. We can’t just go in there, guns blazing, but I also don’t think we’re going to get anywhere at the front desk without just being told to wait for the tour to end. I can give you two an opening to get in, and something to help you track down the others.”
Marvin reached into his chest pocket and pulled out a gold coin, before a twist of his fingers revealed him to be holding two coins.
“One for you, one for the hunter. I enchant them both with basic location spells, but while yours leads you to the others, his is focused on the Colonel, on Wilford. You can get them out of there, while he can have it out with Wilford like he wants without ever knowing Y/N’s there.”
And if he happened to take care of one of the men responsible for what happened to you in the process, then Marvin was completely fine with that.
“And if they’re all in the same place?” Jackie asked.
Marvin shrugged. “Then it’s already a disaster and you’ll just have to do the best you can until I can follow behind. Teleporting out will be a lot easier than getting in. Either way, we’re not going to have a repeat of what happened to Y/N the last time those two were together. Deal?”
Jackie hesitated and then nodded, determination settling in as he said, “Deal.”
Marvin snapped his fingers, dispelling the silence before he said, “Abe.”
“Oh, am I allowed to join in now?” Abe asked sarcastically. “Or are you just checking in to make sure your driver hasn’t made a wrong turn?”
Marvin chose to ignore that and explained to Abe about the coins, or at least what the one he was going to get would do.
“It’ll be kind of like a hot or cold thing,” Marvin said. “Coin gets warmer the closer you are to the person you’re looking for, as long as you’re focused on them. Not very sophisticated and doesn’t work when they’re too far away, but it’s fast to create and should work for this.”
“And what will you be doing?” Abe asked as he took the next turn. They were getting close to the studio now, and he still had no reason to trust either of these guys. “While I’m playing hot or cold with a chocolate coin?”
“This isn’t—” Marvin paused to sniff the coin to be sure and continued, “It’s not chocolate! And I’ll be providing the distraction, while Jackie will be…Look, we have friends in there we’d rather keep safe. You do your thing, and we’ll take care of ours. Deal?”
Abe frowned. One hell of a coincidence, their friends being in the studio where Wilford supposedly might be. Then again, Marvin had seemed genuinely surprised to learn the Colonel and Wilford were one and the same person, and the truth spell back in the coffee shop made it feel like that kind of thing would be hard to fake.
“Wait, the truth spell,” Abe said, glancing over his shoulder at the magician. “Did you get rid of that before we left?”
“Keep your eyes on the road,” Marvin said quickly, and slowly breathed out when the car returned to its lane before he answered, “It wasn’t designed to last long. Should be fine, as long as no troubled couples got into the booth right after we left…Nothing that a little therapy couldn’t work out, anyways. And if you don’t want to do this, that’s fine. Just drop us off outside the studio and keep driving.”
It would certainly make things easier, to the point Marvin was almost a little disappointed when Abe shook his head and said, “No, if there’s even a chance that man’s there, then I’m going in. You two do whatever you need to, and we’ll stay out of each other’s way.”
Marvin nodded and settled back into his seat, where he focused his attention on the two coins that he held in either palm. It was a simple spell, but he did need to concentrate if he wanted to have them ready by the time they reached the studio.
Still driving, Abe could feel the stare of the other man on the back of his head, and when he glanced into the mirror, he could see Jackie’s icy glare, his mouth turned down as if watching someone who just kicked a dog winding up to push a little old lady over in the middle of the street. Who was this guy, and why was he looking at Abe like that? Usually, the hunter could figure out what he had done or said to get that kind of hate directed his way, but as far as he knew the two of them hadn’t so much as shared a word yet. He would have blamed it on whatever Marvin told them about their conversation behind that spell of his, but he was pretty sure Jackie had been ready to throw hands the second he stepped out of the coffee shop.
Except there was that red hoodie of his, and with a sinking sensation Abe remembered the photos he showed Google, accusing him of being the red blur just barely caught on film. A blur that showed up outside of the clinic, very much like the man wearing red Abe thought he saw when he was talking to Jackson. Add in that the magician had thought he was responsible for what happened to the Host, and the doctor knowing he was being watched, and…
Marvin’s idea to split up was looking better and better by the second.
Abe found a parking spot on the street and heard, as he got out of the car, Jackie murmur to Marvin, “There’s his car. They’re still here.”
The magician nodded, looking grimly determined as he tossed Abe and Jackie their coins. “Keep these in your hand, and once you’re in the building, just focus on who you’re looking for. It works best if you have a clear image of one person in mind, which shouldn’t be a problem for you, hunter. Jackie, you’ll probably want to focus on Chase since you’ve known him the longest.”
Abe glanced down at the coin, taking in the ornate carving and what looked like an eye on one side and a bird of some kind on the other. “What kind of coin is this?”
Marvin shrugged. “Fairy gold, I think? The cheap kind that’s given to mortals to get rid of them and disappears after an hour or two.”
He paused at their expressions and added, “You know, get rid of in a general sense. Not, like, specifically, in this case.”
Jackie looked at his coin again and said, “This kind of looks like a doubloon, you know, the kind you’d find in pirates’ treasure?”
“Could be that too. You meet all kinds in the Other Realms, and they all kind of suck at cards, which…” Marvin patted himself down, muttering under his breath about everyone telling him to leave his working stuff at home and make a good impression, until he pulled out a pack of cards. “Right! Let me go in first, looks like there’s just a receptionist, so once she’s distracted you two can slip right in to the elevators.”
“Oh god,” Jackie murmured, realization dawning as he recognized the cards. “You’re not going to try to do that trick again, are you?”
“…The pick my card one, or the one that involves the flash powder?” Marvin asked.
“They’re both terrible! You can use real magic, why do you—”
“Shush, and watch a professional,” Marvin said, pressing a finger to Jackie’s lips before turning and walking through the glass doors of the studio.
“Oh no,” Jackie muttered again as the magician sauntered up to the front desk and leaned casually against it, flipping his hair out of his face before he started talking. From here, they could only see the young woman’s surprise turn into a bemused smile as Marvin began laying out the cards on the counter. “He’s flirting.”
“Is he that bad at it?” Abe asked.
“I don’t know, it just makes it that much sadder when he—” Jackie stopped with a sigh as the entire deck of cards scattered up into the air and began slowly drifting down, only for the first card to hit the floor with a flash and a bang that made the poor receptionist shriek, not helped when Marvin pulled her under the desk as the rest of the cards began to go off as they hit the ground. “Come on, before security gets here!”
Jackie grabbed Abe’s arm and ran inside, easily dodging the drifting cards but leaving the hunter to try and keep up on his own. By the time they reached the elevators, out of sight of the front desk, Abe was swearing and beating out a small flame on one of his sleeves.
“What the hell kind of distraction was that? Is he trying to let the whole building know we’re here?” Abe asked, but Jackie wasn’t listening.
“Still got your coin? Great, you can take one of the elevators, I’ll take the stairs,” Jackie said, pushing him inside of the opening doors after having already hit the call button.
“Wait, how am I supposed to use the coin in here?” Abe asked. “I don’t know which floor—”
But this was the perfect opportunity to ditch the hunter, and Jackie’s answer was to reach inside and run a hand over the buttons, lighting up as many as he could in one go before stepping out of the way of the closing doors. “Focus, and get out when the coin turns warm. From there it’s on you, so good luck with that, hunter.”
Jackie had to admit, it felt good to see the indignation on Abe’s face before the doors slid shut, but he didn’t have a lot of time to enjoy it. From the sound of it, the last of the cards were drifting down, and when he darted into the stairwell, he looked back in time to see Marvin backing toward the front doors, his hands held up in defense as his apologies were drowned out by the receptionist’s review of his performance.
He locked eyes with the magician and raised his phone, Marvin giving a subtle nod of understanding before Jackie began running up the stairs. On his side, Marvin had the phones he had retrieved from the bin behind the desk while the receptionist had been distracted, both of which he recognized as Chase’s and Jameson’s. Said receptionist who was now pulling off her shoe in a way that suggested he should probably go now.
Once outside and with maybe a block or two between him and the very angry young lady, Marvin could stop and take a breath before considering how he would get himself into the building if they needed an out.
“Should’ve brought the mask,” he muttered, already aware of the cracks forming in his shades as the spells built into them began to wear thin. Once those were gone, any hope of being “subtle” about this (not that there was much of one to begin with) went out the window. “Or the dagger, or the marbles, or the wind-up mouse, but no, it might look bad, Marvin.”
But the “I told you so” would have to wait until later, when he had the right audience for it. For now, Marvin made his way back toward the studio, careful to keep his distance as he watched the security guards trying to calm down the receptionist.
As he watched, they leaned over the counter and pulled up something on the computer. Marvin hissed, realizing that they must have cameras around here, just as one of the guards picked up a nearby phone and called someone before nodding to the other guard who went in the direction of the elevators.
Great. Hopefully Jackie and Abe were still moving, but Marvin couldn’t exactly wait around for a call. He squinted, and had to move closer to get the details from the guard standing at the desk, but once he was sure he reached up and rubbed the charm hanging from his left ear between his thumb and index finger until the illusion spell in it took hold.
Marvin opened the lobby door and walked in, passing by the receptionist and guard without slowing down or making eye contact. The guard glanced at him and then turned his attention back to the receptionist, who was saying something about how “that thing” creeped her out, sure in his own mind that he had just seen one of the other guards walk by. Not enough to answer if someone asked who exactly he had seen, just someone in the right kind of uniform with a face more or less like someone he had seen around probably.
The point was to act confident and keep moving, not to give anyone the chance to think about him twice or ask him any questions. To look like he knew where he was going, although when Marvin stepped into the elevator, he knew that couldn’t be farther from the truth. As soon as the doors closed, he pulled out his phone and sent a message to Jackie, hoping that he had managed to get somewhere in those few minutes.
Only to freeze when he heard the sound of gunshots somewhere in the building above.
Jackie had moved quickly, only pausing at the door of each floor to give enough time to make sure the coin hadn’t grown any warmer before running up the next flight of stairs. Keeping his focus on Chase was a lot harder than he expected it to be, with everything else going on, and he was starting to wonder if he was doing this right when he felt the heat start to spread out from the coin. He ran up to the next floor to be sure, only for the coin to immediately grow colder once he was just five steps away.
Jackie went back down and pushed open the door, listening for any sound or sign of anyone else, but the hallways were empty. He had lost count of the floors a while ago, but a sign across from the elevator proclaimed this floor to be part of Studio 5, whatever that meant. He glanced back at the elevator as it dinged open, but there was no sign of the hunter inside before it continued its way up, so it looked like Abe had either found where Wilford was hiding at or had been caught.
Either option worked for Jackie, really, and he trained his focus back on Chase as he kept close to the walls. By the time he reached the room with the recording light lit up above it and the glass window that looked into the small studio, the coin was practically burning in his hand, but the second he looked in and his concentration broke, it went as cold as the chill at the back of his mind.
Jameson and Chase were sitting at a table, arguing with two identical twins with a set of microphones between them, but there was no sign of you or anyone else in the room, not even when he leaned to get a better look at the corner near the door. Desperately, he knocked on the window, too thick for them to hear even when he shouted their names, and then yanked open the door.
Ignoring the protests of the other two men, Jackie asked, “Where’s Y/N?” and the coin in his hand became freezing cold.
---
When Abe stepped out of the elevator, a large sign pointed him in the direction of Studio 3, but the coin in his hand led him in the opposite direction until he finally found himself standing outside of a door with a star on it. The paint used to write the name “Wilford Warfstache” on it still looked fresh.
The hunter pocketed the hot coin and pulled out his gun. Still loaded with the five silver bullets, he turned off the safety and took a breath before knocking on the door.
“Come in,” came an all too familiar singsong voice inside.
It was all the invitation Abe needed.
He slammed the door open and raised his gun as he said, “Don’t move!”
“Hm? Well, I wasn’t really planning on it, but now I kind of want to,” answered the man sprawled out on a couch on the opposite side of a room that was such an eyesore of colors that Abe thought he could be forgiven for not immediately being able to pick Wilford out of the madness. The couch itself was a vibrant pink to match his mustache, as was the dressing table and mirror and the low end table between the two of them, the walls a bright cheery yellow, and the round rug that covered most of the floor was a spiral of pink and yellow. In the corner there was a yellow wardrobe with a carefully painted pink mustache on its front. Did this room used to belong to a clown or something?”
“Oh, the decorations? Do you like them? I picked them out myself,” Wilford said, leaning forward only to tilt his head when Abe made an incoherent shout. “You sure are jumpy, uh…Hold on, I know this one, it’s…Dave?”
Wilford pointed at Abe, his eyebrows raised and waiting for some kind of confirmation that didn’t come.
“Okay, not Dave. It’s never Dave, is it? Bim? No, Bim’s the other guy, the fluffy one…Steve? Dave?”
Wilford rattled off names, but Abe could only stare at him in disbelief before he had to shut him up.
“You know who I am! You shot me in the chest!”
“Now, that could be quite a lot of people,” Wilford said.
“You killed my partner, you killed my friend, you—” Abe sputtered, not sure why he was even doing this even as he exclaimed, “You killed so many people!”
“Well, yes, but you see—” Wilford bounced up onto his feet, only to pause and halfway raise his hands when Abe raised his gun again. Something about seeing the hunter ready to pull the trigger must have stirred something in his memory, because his eyes suddenly lit up and he said, “Abe! Abe. How have you been? I was just talking about you earlier with…who was it?”
“How have I—How do you think I’ve been?!” Abe moved into the room, using the heel of his foot to slam the door behind him. Not that it mattered, because he had no intention of letting anyone stop him now. “I’ve been looking for you, ever since that party. Ever since you…Ever since you destroyed everything!”
“Now, that seems like a bit of an exaggeration,” Wilford protested.
“An exaggeration? You killed your best friend, because of you the woman you loved and her brother, your other best friend, are both dead too, you tried to kill me, you killed Y/N—and then you think you can just walk away from all that, like nothing even happened?!” Abe’s grip was tightening on the gun, his finger close to pulling the trigger as tears began to sting the corner of his eyes, but he wanted to hear him say it, wanted to hear him admit to what he had done after all these years. Even if Abe was the only one to hear it, he needed this.
“I’m not sure you have the full story here,” Wilford started, only to pause when Abe pulled the trigger and nothing happened.
“That was just a warning,” Abe muttered as he pulled back the hammer on the gun. Internally though, he was cursing the luck that the one chamber that was empty happened to be the first one when he had a perfect shot lined up. “You really should stop talking.”
“Well, which is it that you want, for me to stop talking or to answer you? I’m getting some mixed signals here! And while it’s true that, in a sense, I may have done some terrible things, I never actually—”
Wilford ducked and pulled out his own gun when the hunter’s second attempt missed, but he just gestured wildly with it as he said, “Yes, I have one of those too, but if you would just listen to me, I think you might want to hear what I have to say!”
His eyes darted to the left as he considered his words and added, “Possibly. I’m starting to think you might just want to shoot me.”
“Really? What would you give that idea?” Abe asked sarcastically as he cocked the hammer again and aimed at Wilford’s face, determined that he wouldn’t waste this third chance. “You’re right. I don’t want excuses. I don’t want to hear what you have to say. I just want you dead.”
He pulled the trigger, but at the last possible second someone grabbed his wrist and threw off his aim. Abe hadn’t heard the door open behind him, partially because firing a gun in this small a space had temporarily wrecked his hearing, but he did hear his name being shouted as the last person he ever expected to see again stepped between him and Wilford.
“Abe! Stop! Just stop!”
“…Y/N?”
You were out of breath, but he sounded as breathless as you as the forgotten gun slipped out of his hand and hit the ground. At the noise, he suddenly realized how very close he came to shooting you when you did that. When you stopped the hunter from shooting him, but why? How could you do something so stupid, so reckless, so, so—
“What…? How…?” Abe struggled for words, his anger and concern fighting it out with confusion taking a chair to both of them, but you just shook your head.
“You need to hide, Google—” You froze, aware of the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps, and after a quick look around the room pushed Abe into a nearby wardrobe and shut the door on him, hissing, “Keep quiet!”
Abe started to protest, but he heard you turn and lean up against the wardrobe door just as the door to the dressing room opened and a voice he recognized spoke.
“Gunshots have been fired in this room,” Google said, staring around before focusing on you in the corner, and then turning back to Wilford when he shrugged and answered.
“It happens. Why, just earlier I—” Wilford gestured with his gun and Abe had to bite his fist to keep from crying out when he heard the shot and the silence before he said, “Sorry about that, Googs.”
“It’s…fine,” Google said, although his tone suggested otherwise. Outside the wardrobe, you and Wilford watched as the magitek unit wiped the splash left by the wax bullet off of his cheek with a noise of disgust before he said, “I am looking for unauthorized intruders in the building. One is currently unidentified, while the other matches my files for a hunter by the name of Abe Lincoln.”
That made Abe pause. Why would a TV studio have a record on him? Wasn’t like he had ever been here before, and from the little he knew of DE Studios they were more likely to hire the monster than a hunter. He wanted nothing more than to push open the wardrobe door just a crack, just enough to see what color shirt this Google unit was wearing, but you were leaning so hard against it that he couldn’t even hope for some fresh air to counter the smell of mothballs in Wilford’s catastrophe of a closet. What was the large fuzzy thing against his leg? It didn’t just move, did it?”
“Good for you,” Wilford answered cheerfully. “It’s good to have a hobby.”
“Looking for intruders is not…” Google paused and then decided to ask you instead, “Have you seen either of these men? They must be dealt with using the full extent of my abilities to handle such pests.”
“I don’t think that’s true,” you pointed out.
“…But it is the ideal option, and therefore the most logical one to take,” Google answered, making you wonder what was included in his definition of “ideal.” “I will repeat the question, have you seen these men?”
“Sorry, Google, I think you’ll have to look somewhere else.”
Google considered you for a moment before saying, “Based on my records, this would be the ideal location to find the intruder, although it is possible that he managed to get himself lost. Humans have a tendency to need…direction.”
“Nah, getting lost is half the fun, Google,” Wilford said. “You should try it some time. Right now, even.”
“I am incapable of getting lost, and such distractions are unnecessary at this time,” Google answered. “I am going to continue my search now.”
“Good luck,” Wilford called after him before he shut the door and remarked to you, “You know, sometimes I think that guy is a little—”
He paused as Abe fell out of the wardrobe, wildly kicking back what turned out to be, in the light, a large, pink afro. The hunter froze, unable to explain why that had seemed so much scarier in the wardrobe, but then he had more important things to worry about than his pride when his eyes refocused on you and the questions he just couldn’t begin to wrap his mind around yet.
“Y/N. You’re…”
Here. Alive. Real.
And shaking, your arms wrapped around your chest but not quite able to hide the tremors running up and down your body.
“Are you okay?” Abe asked, his mind immediately jumping to the worst. When he fired before, he hadn’t…? But there’d be a sign, they couldn’t hide it if the bullet had…For a moment, Abe thought he was going to be sick himself.
“There’s too much…Just, just give me a second,” you said, taking a step back and clenching your eyes shut. If you could just shut it all out for a second, just have a chance to catch your breath for once in what felt like forever, but you couldn’t do it. After seeing what had become of Damien and Celine, of having all of that rage and anger turn into fear and adrenaline as you raced down the stairs, following the sounds of gunshots while being terrified what you might find, running in to find Abe and Wilford with guns drawn, reliving the worst moment of your life again even if it didn’t turn out like that, it was no wonder you felt like your chest was trying to cave in along with the rest of the world. The corners of your eyes were burning, but more terrifying was the feeling that at any second…Why was it so hard to even breathe?
Abe stared, but then it wasn’t like he could take his eyes off of you. He could see the lines of your face, your shoulders and spine, shifting back and forth like you were trying to hold yourself in place. Like you were trying not to transform right here and now. More than that, you looked—afraid? Sad?
Alone.
Abe became aware of Wilford wildly gesturing to get his attention before making a gesture, and the hunter felt a brief surge of the same rage that had taken him just minutes before. What the hell did he think he was doing? Wilford shook his head and gestured again, before finally resorting to mouthing the words as large as possible without making a sound. Even then, Abe hesitated, unsure if it was because he didn’t want to take that kind of advice from him, or because he wanted so much to do it that it was almost terrifying.
Either way, it didn’t take long to give in and move closer to you.
You flinched backwards out of reflex, but Abe said, “It’s just me, Y/N. It’s just…”
He struggled for what to say before just pulling you into a hug. Something he’d never got the chance to do before it all went wrong. You pressed your face into his chest, focusing on the smell you wouldn’t have ever thought you’d miss in that life. Holding you, Abe could feel you slowly relax, the tension not quite disappearing but fading enough that you could sigh and speak again.
“I missed you, Abe.”
“I missed you too, Partner.”
“Oh, this is just lovely, isn’t it?” Wilford said, and Abe rocked back on his heels as he joined in the hug, his arms wrapping around the both of you. “Look at us, together again!”
“Where’s my gun?” Abe growled, already looking down to see where he had dropped it.
“Don’t,” you said, and Abe could hear the exhaustion in your voice. “Please, Abe, not now. You need to know what really happened that weekend, and I promise I’ll try to…”
You sighed, head already hurting at the idea of trying to explain everything that happened. Your chest ached again, but you could feel the strength leaving your body like it had the night before last when you changed back, as if staying human was too much of an effort on top of everything else.
But you just had to make it a little longer, that’s all.
“But we need to get out of here,” you continued. Google was still roaming the halls, and Dark… You grimaced at the thought and felt the fangs in your mouth for a moment before they receded back into your regular teeth. “Please.”
Abe hesitated. Wilford was right here, he could end this all right now, but you were clearly not okay. His mind went back to when he left you in that hallway, told you to leave while he went running after the Colonel. He had often thought about that moment, remembered the look on your face, your grief at losing your friend combined with the confusion and the pain from your own injuries, and what he would have done differently if he had been given the chance.
He just didn’t think it would be this hard, to say, “Okay. We’ll go.” To pick up his gun and holster it, to keep an arm around you for support. To walk away and leave Wilford there, smiling and waving as though seeing off a couple of old friends.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep Googs busy for you,” Wilford said, and Abe felt the back of his neck itch with the desire to turn around and finish what he started. “I’ll make sure your name is added to the guest list, Abe, so feel free to come back any time!”
Abe made a noise at that but tried to hold back what he wanted to say for your sake. He had every intention of coming back here and settling this, once he was sure you were safe this time.
Wilford watched the two of you make your way down the hall, still waving until he stopped as if just noticing something was wrong. He rolled his shoulder back and then prodded it, his fingers finding the small hole in his shirt and then, with a bit of work, pulling out a used silver bullet.
“Huh.” Somewhere in the back of his mind, he had a vague thought that, if you hadn’t intervened and this bullet had hit where Abe had been aiming, it would have been very bad. There was also something familiar about that whole business, an old face reappearing in his dressing room…But that thought quickly passed and he tossed the misshapen piece of silver over his shoulder with a shrug before turning his mind back to what he was supposed to be doing.
Or he would have, if that little distraction hadn’t made him forget. All thought of you and the hunter had disappeared as soon as the two of you were out of sight, so he swayed on his feet for a moment in the hallway, mind blank. If it were really important, he was sure it would figure itself out on its own without him. Most things usually did.
“Wilford Motherloving Warfstache! What have I told you about shooting in the building?!”
Right. Kathryn, his producer. His very angry producer, judging by the look on her face. Wilford inhaled, an excuse ready on his lips, before he dove back into his dressing room and shut the door with the faint hope that maybe she’d just keep walking on. Maybe she was yelling at someone else who also just happened to be named Wilford Motherloving Warfstache too, in which case, rude, Wilford was pretty sure he had this name first.
Either way, keeping Google busy was something that would only occur to him days later, when he would decide the best way to do that was spill a martini down Google’s pants. Not exactly helpful to you, but the Jims would have a field day catching that moment on film.
For now, Abe walked you to the elevators and pressed the down arrow, although he wasn’t sure what the plan would be once you reached the lobby. Just walk out and hope no one was too worried about people getting out of here, although if they had already spotted him on the cameras…
“No, we need to go up,” you protested, pushing the up arrow. “To Studio…5, I think?”
You rubbed your eyes, trying to push back the headache forming behind them, and shook your head when Abe said, “No, we don’t. We need to get out of here, remember?”
“My friends—” you started, only for the stair well door to crash open as Jackie, followed closely by Jameson and Chase, came spilling out and froze at the sight of you and Abe. “Have really good timing? Jackie, what are you—”
You were cut off as Jameson pulled you into a hug and then stepped back to look you up and down before signing, “Are you okay? We heard shooting!”
“Wait, you know them?” Abe asked.
“We came as fast as we could,” Jackie said to you, but he was glaring at Abe, who could already tell this guy was going to be a problem. “What the hell happened?”
“You didn’t actually shoot anyone, did you?” Chase asked, eyeing the gun at Abe’s side.
“No,” Abe answered, probably sounding a little more defensive than he meant to.
“Long story,” you muttered. “But we should get out of here first.”
“Security’s looking for us,” Abe added. Well, him in particular, but Jackie had also been caught on camera even if they hadn’t IDed him yet. “They checked the cameras fast, too fast for one person they know walked back out again. Probably because the magician’s distraction was a little…”
“Much, yeah,” Jackie admitted. That card trick of Marvin’s had given them the space to get in, but something forgettable like asking the receptionist for directions would have also done the trick without alerting every security guard in the building. “Something to work on for next time, but how do we get out of here?”
“Well, the three of us have guest passes,” Chase pointed out. “It’s just the two of you we have to worry about.”
Jackie had a suggestion ready for that, and Abe saw it coming, but he was interrupted by the elevator doors finally sliding open to reveal it was already occupied. At first most of the group tensed, thinking it was one of the security guards until he spoke.
“Oh, hi,” Marvin said, looking around and taking them all in with a quick count. “Well, this is easier than I thought it would be. Get in, we can’t just hang around here all day.”
Abe exhaled slowly, his eyes narrowing into a glare that Jackie matched, and Marvin rolled his eyes as they all got in.
“Not my fault someone decided to start shooting,” Marvin remarked as he pressed the doors close button on the elevator over and over again until they slid shut. “Everyone is going to be swarming up here any second thanks to you, which should actually make it a little easier to walk out.”
Jackie said, “For you, maybe. Hunter and I don’t exactly have badges or illusions to help us blend in.”
“Like I was going to say, that’s easy,” Chase said. “They just saw you on the cameras, right? At a distance, probably not that great quality video, so all they’re working on is ‘guy in a hoodie’ and ‘bald guy with a black jacket.’ Just take those off, let us hold them, and JJ, let the angry guy borrow your hat. We keep our heads down on the way out and run if we have to.”
Jackie and Abe both hesitated, but Jameson shrugged and pulled off his hat. “He has a point.”
But you shook your head, eyes shut tight as you leaned against the elevator wall and wished it didn’t shake so much, that there was a window or some kind of vent or fresh air of any kind with this many people around you.
“Google said he had a file on Abe, so they know what his face looks like.”
Jackie gave the hunter an accusing stare as he asked, “There a reason this place has a file on you? Maybe something you should have told us before we came in here?”
“How should I know?!” Abe asked, before the realization hit. “Wait, this Google, what color is his shirt?”
“It’s…blue,” Chase answered, with an agreeing nod from Jameson. “But why does that matter?”
Because if it was the red one, then at least Abe would know why they knew him. It would make things a whole lot simpler, if he knew someone here was behind that loose end.
“They have a file on Abe for the same reason Wilford’s here and I’m on the guest list,” you answered, shaking the VIP badge hanging around your neck. “The studio manager, the one in charge of everything here, is Damien and Celine, or whatever’s left of them.”
Marvin slammed his hand on the emergency stop button, causing the elevator to immediately halt and everyone to stumble and catch themselves and each other while an alarm overhead began to go off.
“What are you doing?!” Abe said, his hand on your arm while Jameson was steadying you on the other side. “What happened to just walking out?!”
“New plan,” Marvin answered as he dropped to his hand and knees with a piece of chalk in hand. He drew a large symbol in the center of the elevator floor before scuttling around to draw a circle within the space the elevator provided, which meant pushing each of them out of the way in turn. “We are not taking any more chances, so teleport spell. Easier when we’re not moving. Now get in the circle, all of you, and try not to step on the chalk.”
“Didn’t you say this place would have something to stop people from doing this?” Jackie asked.
“To stop people from teleporting in, probably. Getting out though, why would anyone care about that?” Marvin looked at you, and when you met his stare through his sunglasses he asked, “Do you really think they’d let us leave?”
You sighed. After your talk with Dark, you weren’t sure of anything, and the scream of the alarm wasn’t making it any easier to think. “I don’t know.”
Marvin glanced at Jackie, who reluctantly nodded. Better not to risk it, if they could, not after what the twins did to you last time.
Once he was sure they were all in, Marvin stepped into the center of the circle and focused his energy. Around them, the chalk lit up with a brilliant blue light, reflecting off of the shiny walls of the elevator and giving them all a sickly color. To you, it was just a bright, colorless light that suddenly changed at the same second you heard Marvin’s breath catch.
The light in the elevator turned red before the circle suddenly drew in around the magician, whose head went back before he collapsed on the ground, flashes of red running up and down his body before they disappeared, taking the teleportation circle he had drawn with them.
“Marvin!”
The shout came from all sides, Jameson dropping to his knees first to look the magician over before looking up at the rest of you.
“He’s still breathing. I don’t know what he’s trying to say, though.”
There was a steady stream of words flowing from the magician’s mouth which to everyone else may have sounded like another one of his spells. You on the other hand could clearly hear that it sounded like every swear word Marvin knew, spoken as fast as possible under his breath, although you could only guess that was the case considering he had left English behind a while ago for German and had taken a detour into what now sounded like Gaelic. He was clearly in pain, but also not too injured from whatever just happened.
Jackie knelt to check his vitals, only to have to steady Jameson as the elevator floor suddenly jolted. The alarm stopped, and you all became aware of the elevator moving downward again just before the doors slid open to reveal the hallway to the lobby, along with Google and three armed guards who were all aiming into the elevator.
There was a moment of silence before Google said, “Intruders located. Lethal force suggested.”
His eyes changed as he stepped forward toward Abe or Marvin and Jackie on the ground you weren’t sure, and you could feel the hum of his machinery whirring up to do something before you blocked his path.
“Back off,” you growled, and it was a literal growl as you could feel the wolf taking over, as your features started to blur and shift. You felt the metal under his skin as you pushed him back out of the elevator, could smell the fear on the three all too human guards, could hear the others behind you holding their breath in shock as the fur began to show, as your teeth and claws came out. “You—”
Whatever you were about to say was cut off as one of the guards panicked and fired his gun, the blast of noise hurting far more than the punch of it hitting your stomach. It knocked the breath out of you, and for a moment everything seemed to slow.
Abe.
Out of reflex or instinct, your hand reached back and grabbed Abe’s wrist, stopping him before he could grab his gun and make himself a target. Your grip was too tight at first, and you tried to relax, to give him and the others behind you some signal that you were okay, even as underneath the ringing you could hear Jackie leaping to his feet and the panic of the others. Your mind felt like it was running too fast and too slow at the same time, but you felt strangely calm.
It was just a regular bullet, after all.
None of them managed to move faster than Google though, who without hesitation reached over and twisted the guard’s wrist with a sickening sound that was followed by his gun hitting the ground and a whimper of pain.
“Shooting VIPs is strictly forbidden,” Google said.
VIPs. The adrenaline racing through your system hit that word and stumbled across an idea that was completely ridiculous and stupid, mostly because you had a faint hope it might actually work.
“Google,” you said, drawing the magitek unit’s attention to you. It hurt, talking, each word a reminder of the sting in your stomach that was too slowly fading. “VIPs are allowed to bring guests, right? Is there a limit on how many I can have?”
Google considered the question while the other two guards just stared and exchanged looks, both very aware of their coworker lying in pain on the ground and the problem of this clearly non-human person who was still talking despite being doubled over a gunshot wound. “No, there is currently no limit in the policy. A concerning oversight that should be corrected.”
“But until then, there isn’t one. Which means—” You stopped to hiss slightly, your grip tightening on Abe’s wrist until the next surge of pain dimmed a little to continue, “—that as of now, everyone in that elevator is a guest of mine, understand? And if they’re guests, then that means they can’t be intruders.”
You could feel the fur start to settle and disappear, the claws and fangs slowly begin to retract. Too late to undo what they had all seen, but you couldn’t think about that right now. Even if a small part of you was wondering why Abe hadn’t pulled away yet, or if that flash of anger and what you could be would be enough to change how the others looked at you.
“Your logic appears to be…correct,” Google said, but his expression said he was still trying to find the hole in it. “But they do not have visitor passes.”
You hesitated, but Chase stepped forward and said, “That’s right, which you told us means they should be escorted out of the building, right? And since we’re already on our way out…”
“Understood,” Google said, sounding almost disappointed that he wasn’t able to break a few more bones. “Follow me.”
One of the security guards stepped forward and said, “Hold on, you can’t just—”
He paused, his eyes going to somewhere in the elevator behind you, and he swallowed and looked back at the other guard still standing who muttered back, “I’m not paid enough for this.”
Besides, it would be easier to blame Google than try to get involved at this point, or that seemed to be the guards’ point of view as they helped their third comrade up to his feet and out of the way.
Jackie picked up Marvin, who protested in a slurred voice, and you let go of Abe’s wrist only to find the hunter slipping his arm around you, his hand enveloping yours over the wound underneath.
“Lean on me,” he murmured under his breath as Jameson moved to support you on your other side.
“I’m fine,” you muttered, even though that was an absolute lie. “It wasn’t silver.”
It was Abe’s turn for his grip to tighten, holding you closer as the strange group followed the magitek unit across the lobby floor. He didn’t want to think about what he had just seen, the shot that was an echo of what his imagination brought to mind every time it went back to that night.
“At least until they’re not watching,” Abe pleaded, aware of the guards still in the lobby, the receptionist behind her desk. Aware that they had already seen you in your in between state, the fur and the fangs and something else he hadn’t really seen in you before now: anger.
You leaned against him, too tired to argue, in too much pain to pretend you weren’t, and asked, “Does it really matter anymore?”
Abe glanced over your head at Jameson, whose expression reflected what he was already thinking. You could hear Chase somewhere behind you, apologizing in a low voice to the guards before Jackie hissed at him to hurry up, just as you could hear the ticking of Jameson’s pocket watch that felt slightly out of sync with the steady noise coming from Google as he stopped at the glass doors of the studio and turned back to face your group.
“I am required to thank you for your time here at Dark Entertainment Studios,” he said, his eyes running over the six of you before focusing on you in particular. “I have also been asked to issue you your permanent VIP card for future visits, as well as a message from the studio manager.”
You stared at him in silence before taking the laminated card and the folded piece of paper, unable to think of anything to say before Abe and Jameson walked you out with the other three just behind.
Outside, you blinked in the sunlight and found it did nothing to get rid of the spots appearing on the edges of your vision, and let Abe and Jameson lead you in the direction of the parking lot while your aching, weary mind could only focus on the note Google had handed you.
Think about what I said, Y/N. And know that you’re always welcome here.
No training required.
-Dark
You recognized the handwriting, which made it sting that much more as you remembered notes in Damien’s handwriting, passed to you in crowded lecture halls or left on your desk at work early in the morning or after a rough full moon. A fresh little reminder that the man you thought you knew, that man…
You wanted to be furious, angry, to let all those feelings he left you with come spilling out of your head so they would just leave you alone, but as you stared at the note you just felt so tired, so done with it all. You just wanted to close your eyes and forget it all, for a little while at least…
Abe pulled your hand down, his concerned face swimming in your vision as his mouth moved, saying words that seemed out of sync with what you heard before it disappeared entirely with the rest of the world.
Abe had been arguing with Jackie about which car to take you to when he felt the shudder run up and down your body. Jameson stopped on your other side and looked at Abe, his eyes filled with panic, but neither of them could say or do anything to get through to you in time to keep you conscious or to stop you from crashing to the sidewalk in the shape of the wolf.
((End of Part 24. Thank you for reading. I’m sorry to end it there, and I had hoped to have the next part ready soon, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. So just to be clear in the mean time, the turning back into the wolf thing isn’t going to be nearly as long-lasting as it was in the beginning, and Marvin is (mostly) fine. He just really, really sucks at flirting and rescue operations, so that’s something for him to work on before the end of the story.
I may try to get the rest of the story written before I start posting again, but we’ll see. Technically, we’re getting near the end, but there’s a lot left to happen and I haven’t exactly been very good at sticking to an outline, even if I like where the detours have gone (this whole studio section was supposed to be completely different, for example). For now though, it’s going to be another break until the next part is posted.
Scratch that, Part 25: Catching Up is now up.
Tagging: @silver-owl413 @skyewardlight @withjust-a-bite @blackaquokat @catgirlwarrior @neverisadork @luna1350 @oh-so-creepy @weirdfoxalley @95fangirl @lilalovesinternet-l @thepoolofthedead @a-bit-dapper @randomartdudette @geekymushroom @cactipresident @hotcocoachia @purple-anxiety-blog @shyinspiredartist @avispate @missksketch @autumnrambles @authorracheljoy @liafoxyfox @hidinginmybochard ))
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