#anyway as my sister is now my roommate in the old house we rent Charmed (early seasons) hits different and holds up better than i expected!

[late-to-the-party-81]

Whatta Man

AN: Well folks, I've beaten my own record for length of a one-shot. I could have posted this as a mini-series, but didn't want to tease y'all.

This is full of filth and I am not sorry in the slightest. This is a no-powers AU.

Mood board by me, dividers by @firefly-graphics and beta'd by my dream team.

Master list here

Pairing: CamBoy Sam x Fem Room-mate reader, Nat x Steve (Background)

Word count: 11k

CW: Fluff, Angst and SMUT!!! (inc both male and female masturbation, the former described in a lot of detail)

MINORS DNI

Do not copy/transfer/transform this work. If you see it posted anywhere but here or on my AO3 (Late_to_the_party_81) it has been taken without my consent.

“You want me to do what?”

Your voice rose to a high squeak as you processed what Nat had just asked. Your roommate at least had the decency to hide her face behind her hands, and peek at you from between her fingers.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, but Steve’s place is rented, and I own this apartment. It just makes more sense for him to move in with me than the other way around.”

You weren’t angry with her; far from it. You were pleased that her relationship with Steve had progressed to the next level and they were moving in together, but the fact that it meant that you had to move out had your head in a spin. You’d moved in with her two years ago when her younger sister, Yelena, had left to go to college and you were desperate to get out of your parent’s house.

You twisted your sweater sleeves around your hands as you tried to process everything.

“So, erm, I suppose I ought to start looking for somewhere else?”

You really didn’t want to have to move back in with your parents; you and your mom were too alike to be able to get on for longer than a few days.

“Well… about that. Steve and Sam have still got 9 months left on their lease, so Sam will be looking for someone to share with. Gives you a bit more breathing room and would make moving much easier.”

Nat’s suggestion made sense. You didn’t know Steve’s roommate Sam that well; he tended to keep to himself, but you’d never heard any complaints from Steve about him. Could you move in with a man you barely knew, even if his friends and yours could vouch for him? Well, when the other option was your parents, the answer was a resounding “Yes!”.

“Let’s hang out, the four of us. If I feel that Sam is someone I can live with for the short term, then we can set up a moving date.”

Nat squealed and threw herself at you, wrapping her arms around you and knocking you back on the sofa cushions. She peppered kisses all over your face, leaving red lipstick marks.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

You couldn’t help but laugh at her over-enthusiastic gratitude. And anyway, how bad could living with Sam be?

Bad, that’s what it was.

Okay, maybe you were being a bit over dramatic, but compared to what you were used to with Nat, living with Sam was, well, lonely.

With Nat, you ate meals together, watched films, and binged box sets together. You went out shopping, and whilst you know those trips would still continue, they were currently on hiatus as Nat and Steve were presumably christening every single surface in the apartment. That was an image you really wished you weren’t having.

You'd obviously seen a lot of Sam on the day that you moved in. He’d smiled genuinely at you, thanking you again for saving him from the horror of posting for a roommate, and you’d answered in kind. Then he used the impressive muscles that he (unfortunately) kept covered up under a t-shirt to move your boxes from the hallway into Steve's old, and now your new, room.

“I, um, made Steve bleach and vacuum before he left.”

You’d chuckled at that, and he’d continued to smile. He was a very charming man, and you’d have been blind not to notice how physically attractive he was. However, since that day, you’d barely run into him. He left the house early every weekday morning for a run, a routine that he’d had before he’d met Steve, and which he and Steve had continued together. You had no idea if Steve was still joining Sam or not.

By the time he came back, you were on your way out to work. In a sweet gesture, he always seemed to come back with a coffee for you, and as you weren’t a morning person, it was greatly appreciated. You knew he had a day job, some kind of cycling delivery person, and you guessed that was one of the ways he stayed in such excellent shape. He also had some other kind of job, something computer based that he did a couple of evenings a week, including Friday evenings. He glossed over it, saying it was rather mundane and boring, but paid the bills.

Three weeks in and you’d only shared a handful of meals together and two movies. Oh well, it was a different dynamic, and it would take time to find your feet. You vowed to make more of an effort, and that would start tonight. You went grocery shopping on your way home from work, picking up the ingredients you would need to make your signature dish: sausage and red wine casserole with creamed potatoes, a selection of greens and a baked cheesecake, New York style of course.

You were just testing the cheesecake with a skewer when the door opened, heralding Sam’s return.

“Hey Roomie, what’s smelling so good?”

You’d planned to answer eloquently but you were momentarily struck dumb. Sam’s cycling gear, white and red in colour, was skin tight, showing off his muscular frame. The skin that wasn’t covered had a slight sweaty sheen to it, evidence of Sam’s hard work. His protective eye goggles were pushed up on his head, and the cords of his earphones dangled over his chest as he removed them. Jesus Christ, you could see his nipples through his shirt, it was that tight…

“I… um…”

Your brain finally rebooted, and you managed to process his question, plastering a smile on your face as you answered.

“Sausage casserole and cheesecake. I was thinking, you know, we haven’t had much time to hang out; maybe it would be nice to eat together tonight. I’m not sure what your and Steve’s routine was, but Nat and I would eat together fairly regularly.” You looked away from him to slide the cheesecake back in the oven, glad that it gave you a moment to compose yourself. Your appreciation of his attractiveness could not be allowed to morph into a crush. That would not be good.

“Sounds good, Squishmallow.” You turned back to face him and rolled your eyes.

“Really, Sam? Just cos I have a few…”

He chuckled at you, the sound deep and melodious and somehow making your core vibrate with want. Shit.

“A few? Girl, you got more of those things than Toys 'R' Us.”

You stuck your tongue out at him, gesticulating with the spoon you’d been using to stir the casserole.

“Hey… they’re cute and nice to cuddle.”

He leant over the kitchen counter, grabbed a fork and pinched a piece of sausage out of the pot on the burner.

“You need to get out more, Squishy. I’m gonna go have a shower. Looking forward to dinner. A guy could get used to this, you know.”

He sauntered away towards his room, and you couldn’t keep your eyes off his ass as he walked away. Maybe spending more time together wasn’t going to be the best idea…

The front door closed with a bang, galvanising you into action in your bedroom, where you had been laying, post shower, tired from work.

“Squishy? I’ve got the take-out.”

You pulled on your sleep shorts and shirt and walked into the living room.

“Stop calling me that, Sam.”

“Nope! Now it looks like you haven’t picked a film for us to watch, so you forfeit.”

He placed the bag of take-out on the coffee table and flopped down, full-length, onto the sofa, grabbing the remote and starting to flick through the channels. You picked up one of the cushions and smacked him with it.

“Hey, no fair!”

“Way fair! But if you make me a cup of coffee, I may relent.”

A disgruntled snort was your reply, but you still moved to the kitchenette and put the kettle on the stove for your tea and turned on the coffee machine for Sam.

“Don’t pick anything too scary, Sam. You know I’m a wuss.”

“Don’t worry, baby. I’ll protect you.”

You were glad he was facing away from you so he didn’t see the shudder that ran through your body at the use of the pet name.

Over the last month, after the dinner that you’d made, you and Sam had been spending more time together. Whilst it was never going to be the same as living with Nat (you missed having someone to review your outfits with), you and Sam had settled into something… well, nice.

A couple of times a week you’d take turns to either making or picking up dinner, and when your schedules allowed, you’d watch a film together. It was Thursday today, and tomorrow night you were heading on out with some of the girls at work, and Sam had his evening job.

Finishing the drinks, you carried the mugs through. To celebrate having had you as a roommate for a month, Sam had brought you a mug, covered in pictures of squishmallows. In response, you’d bought him a bike mug with double entendre statements across it, which had made him laugh.

You placed the mugs down next to the takeout bag and then motioned for him to move his legs so you could sit on the sofa.

“So, what are we watching?” You questioned him as you unpacked the white cardboard containers from the bag. “And did you get my noodles?”

“Yes, oh Mallow dictator, I got your precious noodles! What about a classic? Fifth Element? Or the Mummy?”

“Ooh, the Mummy! I’ve not seen it in ages.”

With your noodle box in hand, you tucked your legs up under you and watched as Sam selected the film.

“Question for you, Sammy. Rachel Weisz, Brendan Fraser or Oded Fehr?”

Sam caught you in an amused glare and let out a huff.

“What kind of question is that? The answer to that question is always ‘yes’, but you forgot about Patricia Valazquez.”

“Gold body paint!” You chanted together before collapsing into giggles.

“Correct. Any other answer and I would have had to disavow you as my roommate.”

As the opening credits began to roll, you cosied down next to Sam to enjoy the misadventures of Evie, Rick and Jonathan with Ardeth rolling his eyes at them every chance he got.

Lights flashed and the bass-line thumped as you made your way across the night club towards the ladies room. Friday night and you were out with your girls. God, you’d needed this; it had been too long, and whilst Sam was great to hang out with, you couldn’t have a good gossip with him in the same way. You hoped work wasn’t too onerous for him tonight. You were glad you didn’t have to do a tele-marketing job from home to make ends meet; your office job might not be the most exciting, but it paid enough and was good and steady.

There were about eight of you out from work, and it had been a riotous evening so far. You were all well lubricated with wine, vodka and gin and had now come to the club to dance off your drunken energy. You and your friend, Sophie, finally found your way through the cavernous space to the washroom, and after doing the necessary, you both fixed your make-up before heading back to the rest of the group. You found them at your table, all giggling and half leaning over each other to look at the phone that Helen, one of the others, was holding.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

Cassie lifted her head, grinning.

“Helen was showing us this Camboy feed she discovered, and -phew-ee- is this guy hot! Come on, Hel; show her.”

The group shuffled around in the booth as Helen rewound the video and passed it across so you and Sophie could watch. The video started with the camera pointing at a backdrop, a light orange colour, which you thought was a strange choice until the man walked into frame. His face wasn’t in the shot, but the background showed off his skin tone to perfection. He wore a white shirt, sleeves rolled up and the buttons straining against his broad chest. Tan leather pistol holders were visible across his shoulders, with matching bracers on his lower arms and brown pants held up with a leather belt.

“Wooooo, he’s doing a Rick O’Connell cosplay.”

Sophie let out an appreciative whistle. Something niggled at the back of your mind, but you couldn’t drag your eyes away as the man swayed and rolled his hips to the camera in time to the music he had on in the background. He slowly unbuttoned his shirt, dragging it out from where it was tucked into his trousers, the fabric fluttering. One broad hand slid down his front, drawing attention to his pecs and abdominals. He slid the holsters off his shoulders so that the shirt could follow. It stopped briefly when it was half off so he could flex his biceps and show how the fabric tightened around them.

You shuffled in your seat. He hadn’t even got to the good part yet, and you were already involuntarily clenching your thighs together for some relief against the pulsing inside your underwear. Next the guy, USFalcon, according to his handle, slowly unbuckled his belt, pulling it slowly from the loops, before folding it in half and snapping it together, making a cracking noise. The sound made a dart of electricity zing straight to your clit.

“Fuck; imagine this guy tying you up with that belt!” It was like Sophie was vocalising your inner thoughts.

With the belt discarded, he ran his thumbs around the waist band of the pants, teasing his viewers as his fingers ghosted over the button, a button that was starting to show the strain against the now obvious bulge under the fabric.

“Come on. Come on.”

It took a moment for you to realise that it was you talking under your breath. Christ, it was obviously far too long since you’d last gotten laid if you were getting this wound up watching some anonymous guy do a strip tease on the internet.

Your attention was brought back to the screen as he finally, finally, popped the button and lowered the zip. The pants clung to his thick thighs, and he pushed them down to reveal a pair of somewhat anachronistic white boxer briefs, but at this point you didn’t care. The stretch cotton showed more than it revealed; it might have well been painted on. God, it reminded you of Sam and his cycling gear.

“Fucking Christ!”

Helen leant over to you. “Wait until he takes them off…”

You didn’t have to wait that much longer though. He teased himself and the viewers first, his hands running over his body again, including his clothed cock. When a small wet patch appeared on his underwear you swore you almost came in your own panties. You wanted to lean inside the screen and suck on the fabric. Then he pushed them down and off, letting his cock bob unimpeded for a few seconds in front of the camera.

Fuck, you’d never felt this level of desire before, and you could feel your cheeks heat. USFalcon’s cock could only be described as beautiful; slightly longer than average, but the girth! Just thinking about it had you clenching, imagining being split apart on it. The tip of it was cut and weeping salty pearls.

You felt a finger on your chin and your eyes darted to the side. Helen pressed under your jaw, closing your slack mouth. “Girl, you’re drooling. Do you and USFalcon need some alone time?”

“I’m telling you now; this guy has a new fan!”

“I can tell.”

You returned your attention as USFalcon drizzled some lube over his gorgeous cock before wrapping his hand round it. He slowly moved his hand up and down his length, coating it in the slippery fluid. His movements then became firmer and faster, his spare hand trailing over his body, teasing his dark, pebbled nipples. You wished you had earbuds in, so you could hear the sounds he was making, but you already knew you were going to watch this again when you got home; you were dying to get your hand inside your panties.

You could almost imagine the breathy moans coming from him as he worked his cock. You could see his defined abdominals clenching, his heavy balls twitching. You crossed your legs under the table, squeezing your own thighs together as you watched him cum, ropes of his white spend running down his cock and fingers as he worked himself through his orgasm.

You slumped back in the booth.

“Damn!”

You heard everyone around you chuckling at your outburst. Someone, you weren’t sure who, placed a shot down in front of you, and you knocked it back, shuddering as the alcohol burned your throat.

You slammed the glass down on the table.

“Okay, ladies. Time to dance! I’ve got some frustrations to work out.”

You all laughed some more, before heading across the rather sticky floor to continue partying until the small hours. When you finally got home you were too drunk and tired to make good on your promise to yourself to watch the video again, but if you happened to have an interesting dream where USFalcon, dressed as Rick O'Connell, but with Sam’s face rescued you, dressed like Evie, from evil mummies - well that was no-one’s business but your own.

“I’m never drinking again…”

Your pathetic moan fell from your lips as you wrapped your pillow around your head in an attempt to keep your brain from running out of your ears.

There was a series of soft taps on your door, but to your hungover senses it sounded like a series of gunshots. You hunkered down under your bedding, squeezing your eyes tight, letting out a pathetic moan.

You heard your door open and a soft chuckle made its way across to you.

“Feeling a bit delicate, Squishy?”

“Fuck off, Wilson.”

Another chuckle and then your sensitive ears heard him making his way across the room. A clunk and a rattle sounded on your bedside table before your mattress dipped, indicating he was now sitting on it. You pulled back the covers enough so Samuel could see part of your face and you opened one eye.

“Loving the panda-eye. You too drunk to take off your make-up last night?”

“What do you think?”

You glared at him the best you could with one unfocused eye.

“I’m surprised you didn’t wake the whole building when you came in last night. I think you were shouting that you were Evie, and you were wondering where Rick was. I don’t think you should watch The Mummy again anytime soon…”

You groaned in embarrassment and pulled the blanket back over your head.

“Anyway, I’ll leave you to suffer. I brought you some water and some meds. Let me know if you need anything. I don’t have a delivery shift today, so I’ll be around.”

You mumbled out a thanks and heard him leave, pulling the door gently closed behind him. You shuffled yourself out of your cocoon enough to take the painkillers, nausea rushing through you as you sat up enough to not choke on them.

“Fuck..”

You collapsed back down, the world still spinning and you closed your eyes, passing out again in a matter of minutes.

🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍☕️🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍

It was late afternoon when you woke up again. There was another glass of water, a glass of apple juice and a wrapped sandwich on the table beside you. Bless Sam, you thought. After sitting up and eating your snack, with more hunger than you thought you had, you realised that you were also feeling better than you had any right to.

Dragging yourself out of bed, you made your way to your en-suite, grimacing when you saw your dishevelled state in the mirror. Not only did you have an amazing panda-eye going on, one of your false eyelashes had moved itself to adhere to your eyebrow. You peeled it off with a hiss, wincing as it took a couple of hairs with it.

You turned on the shower as you peeled off the t-shirt you’d somehow made your way into last night and your underwear. As you waited for the water to warm, you giggled to yourself remembering the video you’d watched and how it had made you feel.

Making your way under the scalding spray, you relished in the feeling of the water cascading over your body. You scrubbed away the sweat and the dirt of the night before and as you did you ran over what you remembered of USFalcon’s video. The snippets you recalled made you warm and tingly all over. You exited the shower and secured your towel around you, returning to your bed. You wrinkled your nose as it got a waft of sour alcohol sweat; you’d need to change your sheets before going back to bed later, but it would wait for now. You grabbed your tablet and typed in the address of the internet site that hosted USFalcon’s videos.

In order to view them, you’d have to sign up. You tapped your finger against your lips as you pondered an anonymous username that suited you. Inspiration struck and you typed it in, popped in your card details and smiled as you made it through the entry portal. It seemed that this guy had been posting videos one to two times a week for the past eight months. That was a lot of material.

You grinned to yourself. This should keep you occupied for a while. You scrolled up and down. The video you’d watched last night was his latest, streamed live and then posted earlier on in the evening. Getting comfortable on your bed, you connected your earbuds and pressed play.

It was as good as you remembered, and it wasn’t long until your fingers were working feverishly over your clit. Your cunt clenched around nothing as you watched that strong hand working up and down the cock of your dreams. With your earbuds in, you could now hear the sounds this man made, and they were delicious. Small grunts accompanied the movement of his hand until he came with a long moan. You bit your own lip as you came, not wanting Sam to be aware of what you were up to, because that would just be utterly embarrassing.

Yes, you thought. You were going to have great fun watching this guy’s videos. You wondered what sort of ‘show’ he would do next. You checked his schedule and saw that he was due to post again on Monday. Until then, you’d just have to manage with his back-catalogue…

Sunday you hung out with Nat, meeting her for brunch, although you just stuck to orange juice, your hangover having only just left you.

She asked how you were getting along with Sam. You admitted he was good fun, although not a patch on her, but that you were adjusting. You didn’t mention how he was distractingly attractive, because you didn’t want her trying to take the mickey or set you up. Nor did you mention your new wank bank material, you didn’t want her to think you were pathetic, lusting over some anonymous guy you were never going to meet.

In return you quizzed her about whether she and Steve were out of the honeymoon phase. Her coy smile and the way her cheeks pinked showed they weren’t, and you cackled so loudly other patrons stared at your table. After stuffing your faces with English muffins, smoked salmon and eggs multiple ways and earning the disapproval of the maître d', you said goodbye with a lingering hug and a promise to meet up again soon.

When you got home Sam was lounging on the sofa, watching football. You hadn’t seen him yesterday afternoon after your ‘self-care’ session, or this morning when you’d headed out to meet Nat.

“Hey Sam, whatcha doin’?”

You lifted up his legs, sat down on the sofa and placed his socked feet back on your lap.

“Chillin’. Watching the Saints whup the Falcons.”

If he felt you start at the word falcon, he didn’t show it.

“Like, the Saint’s are my boys, but really, the Falcons fucking suck this season, and it just makes it boring for everyone.”

He decreased the TV volume and turned all his attention on you.

“Have a good catch-up with Nat? Steve texted me and we went for a run while you two stuffed your faces.”

“Yes, it was great! She and Steve are still sickenly in love…”

Sam snorted. “Don’t I fucking know it. He needs another topic of conversation…”

“But we did agree that we should all meet up to do something together. What are your plans for next Saturday?”

“Nothin’ at all, Squish.”

“How about a day out on Coney Island? I haven't been there in ages.” You barely waited for his answer before you were texting Nat to set up the plans. You didn’t notice Sam looking at you as if he were trying to observe the very depths of your soul.

“There we go”, you announced. “All organised. They’ll come here at 10am and then we can all catch the train together.”

“I have to say, you’re looking a lot better today than you did yesterday.”

You dipped your head, embarrassed. “Um, yeah, not my finest hour. Thanks for not taking the piss too much and bringing me that snack.”

Sam shifted, swinging his legs off your lap and turning so he was sitting next to you, bringing you into a side hug.

“No problem. I gotta look after my Squishy, otherwise how will I get awesome food cooked for me? And anyway, I thought you might need energy for whatever you were gonna get up to once you woke properly. Was I right?”

You peered at him, slightly confused. What was he getting at? A jolt of panic shot through you; had he heard you ‘entertaining’ yourself?

“I…um…well it gave me the energy to have a shower, change the sheets and go back to bed, so…um…yes, you were right…”

He looked back at you and for a moment you were lost in the depths of his eyes. Then, without warning, he got up, heading over to the kitchen and putting the kettle on.

“Tea?” He asked as he got your mugs down from the cupboard? “I’m gonna make a coffee then I got some prep work I gotta do before work tomorrow evening.”

“What about the game?” You turned to look at the screen, only to see that the match had come to end, the Falcons having suffered the most embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Saints. For some reason you were a bit sad, part of you had been rooting for the team. Get a grip, just because they have the same name as your current obsession…

Sam placed your mug on the coffee table, and then to your surprise dropped a kiss to the top of your head. “See you in a bit, Squish. You doing dinner or am I?”

“I’ll do meatloaf - if you go out and get some red wine. We’re all out.” You answered without thinking, head still reeling over the soft kiss.

“Sure thing, later.”

He closed his door firmly, and you sat there, somewhat dazed at the moment of domesticity between you. Fuck. You needed a boyfriend, or at least a good dicking down; you were starting to get housewife fantasies over your roommate…

Monday afternoon and you knew you had to get a handle on yourself. You knew you had a tendency to hyper-fixate on new things, but you’d spent nearly all day preoccupied about USFalcon’s stream this evening. You’d treated yourself to watching another of his old ones last night; from Halloween, where he’d been wearing a white leather harness with wings attached and a white, shiny thong. He made dressing as an angel so sinful.

But tonight, as you were going to watch live, you could tip him in real-time, send messages about what he was doing and what you liked. Yeah, other folk were going to be doing that too, but it still felt more intimate.

There had been something though, as you’d watched last night. Some kind of niggling feeling. It teased at your brain like a familiar smell, or a word that was on the tip of your tongue but you couldn’t quite get out. Familiar and unknown all at the same time. You tried not to worry; your brain liked to play tricks on you on a regular basis and you knew it would come to you eventually.

When you got home, Sam was in his room, his cycling shoes with the cleats discarded in the vicinity of the shoe rack. You tutted your yourself and straightened them, mainly so you didn’t cut yourself on the sharp metal. It was 6pm and the live stream was due to start at 8.30pm. At least you wouldn’t have to come up with an excuse to abandon Sam; his evening job started at 8pm so he wouldn’t be around to walk in on you. You knocked on his door though.

“Sam, I’m back!”

He opened his door slightly, sticking his head through the gap. He looked a bit stressed, which wasn’t normal for him.

“Hey, Squish… I ordered for pizza, if that’s okay? I’m right in the middle of something important, so when it gets here can you just pop mine outside my door? Might be able to talk later if you’re still up when my shift finishes.”

You had to admit you were taken aback. This wasn’t the normal Sam you knew, but then again, work kicked everyone’s ass on occasion so you decided to cut him some slack.

“Um, yeah. Sure thing. Have a good shift, and you know, if you ever wanna vent, you know where I am.”

He grinned, and your stomach flipped.

“You gonna be my Mallowy therapist now?”

You stuck out your tongue in reply and made your way down the hall to your room, all to the sound of his deep chuckle and click of his room door closing.

An hour later and you’d had your shower and dressed yourself in a comfy sleep set. You’d make a drink whilst waiting for the pizza to arrive.

You took your mug off the draining board and dried it with a dish cloth before deciding to make Sam a drink to go with his pizza as well.

The kettle was squealing as the doorbell rang so you quickly turned the stove off before going to answer the door. Luckily, Sam had paid when he’d ordered and you took the boxes from the delivery guy with a smile before kicking the door closed. You made the drinks and went and knocked on Sam’s door.

“Pizza’s here!”

You shouted through the closed door. Your ears picked up some shuffling sounds and a strange scraping and then a somewhat muffled response.

“Ah, just leave it outside the door. I’m just a bit tied up for a moment.”

“Want me to bring it in?”

You swore you heard a strangled squeak, before his muffled voice sounded again.

“No, no, that’s okay. Outside is fine…”

He really was acting strange this evening.

“Well, okay then. Have… um… have a good shift.”

You placed his pizza and mug of coffee outside his door, collected your own from the kitchen, and retreated to your room. As you ate, you set up your laptop, your good headphones, and your favourite toys and lube from your bottom drawer. As the clock approached 8.30, you cleared away your pizza box and mug, washed your hands, and then returned to your bed, laying out a towel.

You clicked on USFalcon’s page and a video window popped up with a countdown timer. You whipped off your pyjama shirt and shimmied out of your shorts, comfortable on your bed in just your underwear. The countdown hit zero and the video faded in to show the familiar backdrop and what looked like a velvet draped high backed chair. Music started to play, something exotic and evocative.

When USFalcon’s distinctive body sashayed into the frame your mouth dropped. His skin, so delicious looking normally, was covered in a layer of gold body paint, stylised black geometric patterns gracing his arms, chest and thighs, some kind of furred cloth covering his groin.

His head was in shot this time, but he had a mask covering his eyes, with a fine gauze attached to it, reminiscent of belly dancers, so that all his features were hidden. Then it hit you- apart from his mask and veil, he’d recreated another outfit from The Mummy; this time Anaksunamun.

The part of your brain that housed the niggling feeling started up again. You watch the Mummy with Sam and then you discover a sexy cam boy cos-playing the characters? What were the chances? No, it must be just a coincidence; with Brendan Fraser back in the public consciousness there had been a resurgence in interest in the film. That must be it.

A shake of USFalcon’s hips made you return your attention to the screen. He was putting on a little dance swaying to the music and rolling his hips. Fuck, you could wash laundry on his abs, should you feel so inclined!

He ghosted his palms across his nipples making the dark nubs pebble up, and all you could think about was biting them. His thumbs danced delicately around the thin cord holding up his furry ‘thong’, drawing attention to the gold metal cuffs around his wrists and the rings on his fingers. You could imagine how the cold metal would feel against your skin; taking hold of your arms, stroking up your thighs, wrapping around your throat…

You slid your hand down across your stomach and into your panties, finding your pussy already dripping. You started to slowly circle your clit as you turned your attention back to the screen. The thong dropped away, and you sucked in a breath; the gold body paint and black line work extended down that beautiful cock. The lighting in the room made it shine and you couldn’t hold back your own moan as you took it all in. You leant across to the laptop and clicked the button to send a tip.

He didn’t immediately take hold of himself, but slowly shimmied around in a circle, showing off his tight buttocks and the design that extended over them. He definitely got points for maximum effort and dedication to his fans. When he finished his turn he backed up, seating himself on the edge of the chair, legs wide apart. Reaching briefly out of frame, he pulled his hand back to show a small gold ewer. He tipped it up, a drizzle of oil spilling out into his palm. He placed his hand between his splayed legs and you swore your heart stopped as he started to circle around the furled muscle of his hole, smearing the oil over his flesh. He leant back in the chair, abs tensing, cock bobbing as he let out a salacious moan as his finger pressed in.

“Fuuuuck…”

Your own finger pressed into your wet pussy, your rhythm matching his. His free hand rubbed across his chest, the black lines of paint smearing as he squeezed his pec and plucked at his nipple. You copied that action too. When he added a second finger, you did as well, the coil of desire inside you tightening. He trailed his hand down his body, across his abs, until he took hold of his cock. He looked so debauched, head thrown back, fingers pressed tight inside him, body paint smeared across his chest and now his engorged length. Your own hand moved to your clit.

Another punched out moan came from him as he pressed a third finger into himself, an answering whine falling from your own lips. His hips rolled on the chair as he fisted himself in time with the thrust of his fingers. His sounds were so restrained; you wished he would let himself go, let himself fully vocalise his pleasure. You imagined how he would sound, in tandem with you, your cries merging together in an erotic symphony as you worked yourselves together towards your peaks, eyes locked…

You couldn’t stifle the sound that came from you as your orgasm crashed over you, your cunt clenching on your fingers, your hips snapping up as each wave of pleasure rolled through your body. As you sagged back into your pillows you realised that USFalcon was still somehow going. The man had stamina!

Wiping your hands on the towel, you deposited another tip on his account. You couldn’t be certain, but you were sure his head turned to the side briefly, as if he was watching his computer screen. He twisted the wrist between his thighs, that deep grunt signally he was nearing his own end. You imagined he was having to bite down on his lip as the hand on his cock stuttered once, twice and then he was cumming, the sticky fluid destroying the rest of the body paint on his cock.

He lay replete for a few moments, probably gathering his thoughts before he withdrew his fingers from his body and sat up. He stared into the camera and there was something about his eyes, the way they felt familiar, and as though he was staring straight at you. He got up from the chair, sauntering towards the camera, before moving behind it. His body paint was smeared from sweat and from being rubbed against the velvet covering the chair, and he looked like sex personified.

As the screen faded to black he must have nudged the camera a bit, as a different bit of the room came into focus for a moment. You froze, hand reaching out to close down the browser window. You felt the blood drain from your face.

No…

I couldn’t be…

Your eyes must have been deceiving you…

You didn’t just see the handle of a very distinctive mug in the edge of the shot.

You couldn’t rewind to check; you’d have to wait until USFalcon uploaded the video to his archive page. Then you’d be able to freeze frame that point, that’s if he didn’t edit it out. You got up, went to the bathroom, and washed yourself up before returning to your room and tidying your bed. Navigating to the archive, you pressed the refresh button, but the latest video didn’t appear. To be fair, he was probably still recovering himself.

Leaving your room you snuck down the corridor on tiptoes. Pausing outside Sam’s door, you pressed your ear against the wood. You could hear some kind of music, but it was so faint you couldn’t make it out. Should you knock? But if you were wrong, and he was working, you’d be disturbing him.

You carried on down the hall to the kitchen, grabbing yourself a glass of water and quietly returning to your room. It was getting on for 9.30pm by now, and you had to be up early for work.

Flopping down on your bed, you grabbed your book and tried to read, breaking off to refresh the web page every few minutes. You picked up your phone, pondering, before sending off a text. You placed down your phone and worried the tip of your thumb with your mouth. An insistent buzzing a few moments later had you snatching it back up.

You peered at the screen, willing it to give up some more information of its own accord. Was he just being his usual friendly and cheeky self, or did he mean anything specific with that comment? You were confused and anxious.

You tapped refresh again to no avail, going back to your book and reading the same paragraph over and over. Eventually you threw it to the side in frustration. You went and cleaned your teeth and face and on your return were finally rewarded. The video was loaded.

You clicked on it, muting the sound and moving the scroll bar along to the last minute. You tried not to focus on the sight of his cock and his hands working himself, your brain telling you to feel embarrassed, not horny, as you watched him come. You tried to focus on the parts of his body you might recognise. The hands maybe?

When you rewatched him gaze into the camera, you were almost 100% certain, there was no mistaking those eyes. Then he got up and the camera jolted and you paused the video. And there it was.

Not a figment of your imagination.

You almost felt as though your throat was going to close up. The black bicycle shaped handle, attached to a grey mug.

There were too many coincidences now for it to just be your imagination. Sam’s second job wasn’t in tele-sales or something like that.

He was a Camboy.

He was your Camboy.

You’d been getting off on watching your roommate - the roommate you might have a teensy crush on - well, getting off too.

Oh fuck.

Did he know you were subscribed? Is that why he made the comment? How were you going to look him in the eye now?

🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍☕️🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍

You managed to get out of the apartment without seeing Sam on Tuesday morning. You heard him go out for his run and threw yourself into gear, making sure you got ready and out, onto the bus at the local stop before he returned. Your colleagues knew something was up, even if your earlier than usual appearance in the office wasn’t a massive clue. They kept needling you but you weren’t talking.

You weren’t sure how you managed not to give yourself away when Helen and Sophie started talking about USFalcon’s latest stream when you all went out to get lunch.

“Well, he obviously enjoys doing it all. Just look at all the time and research he put into his outfit and staging.”

“I wonder if he has a partner and what they think about it.”

“If I was his girl, I’d find it hot and jump him as soon as he finished streaming.”

“I might even ask to join in!”

The pair fell about cackling, no longer noticing how reserved you were.

You spent the rest of the afternoon thinking. Sam was putting himself out there; he was doing this because he wanted to and in the expectation that he’d be seen. You weren’t doing anything wrong in enjoying the material that he was putting out into the public domain. You were a grown woman with a healthy libido and you had nothing to be ashamed of.

Was it awkward?

Okay, a bit. And now you knew it was him you weren’t going to watch again, cos that would just be weird, right?

You still managed to avoid him during the evening, not entirely on purpose. Your mom rang you to catch up and was in one of her chatty moods. The only time you saw Sam was when he knocked on your door to deliver your tub of chow mein. You smiled at him, too distracted by your mom telling you all the details of your second cousin’s latest job venture disaster to remember to act awkward as he passed you the white box, your chopsticks, and your Squishmallow mug full of tea.

You woke on Wednesday morning determined to act more normal with Sam. He was your friend and your roommate and didn’t deserve this cold shoulder treatment from you just because you’d discovered his secret. You greeted him at the door as usual as he came in from his run with your coffee and you were heading out to get your regular bus.

“Hey, Squish, didn’t really see you yesterday. You alright?”

“Yeah, sorry about that. I had a load of work on, and then my mom needed to tell me all the gossip from back home. Wanna eat tonight?”

“You cooking?”

He smiled at you, broad and bright, and your stomach flipped. The attraction you’d had for him, that you’d brushed off as just a healthy response to being so close to an attractive man, increased in magnitude. You ducked your head away, trying not to imagine hearing his moans close up, feeling his skin against yours.

“Um, yeah. Thinking something simple like steak and fries?”

“Sounds great. I’ll pick up a tub of ice cream on the way home from that place you like.”

“Thanks, Sam. I’ll see you later; gotta scoot for the bus.”

You were still somewhat reserved throughout your evening together. There were some awkward silences when you’d get lost in your thoughts, staring at him, or you’d get too close to him in the small space of the kitchen and just freeze, feeling the heat crawl up your cheeks.

After the meal, when you both went to eat your ice cream whilst sat on the sofa, you kept to your end, legs tucked up, instead of one of your lazy sprawls where you and Sam would end up with your legs tangled together, or you pressed up against his side, using him like a pillow.

Every so often you thought you caught him watching you, a small smile on his face. He couldn’t know you were one of his subscribers, because surely he would’ve mentioned it by now?

As it got late, you got up from the sofa and went to make yourself a bedtime drink. When you walked back past him, towards your bedroom, he reached out his hand and took hold of yours.

“You okay, Squish?”

He thumb rubbed over your knuckles, and he tipped his head back to look up at you from his seat on the couch.

God, why did he have to be so handsome?

“Yeah, um… just tired I guess. Got a lot on my mind.”

“You still up for movie night tomorrow? Thought we could get Indian for a change?”

“Sounds great, Sam. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Sweet dreams, Squishmallow.”

He slowly let go, almost as if he were reluctant to stop touching you, and as you made your way to your room you swore you could feel the prickle of his gaze on your back.

You bumped the front door closed with your hip, hands holding the carrier bag containing your feast. Meandering your way across the lounge, you placed the bags on the coffee table and started to unpack the various tubs.

“Sam! Can you get the plates and cutlery from the kitchen?” You shouted through to him, knowing he’d ducked into his room when he’d gotten home to get showered and changed.

“Sure thing, Squish.”

You yelped, standing up straight and spinning on the spot as his reply unexpectedly came from closer than you expected. A lot closer. In fact he was right behind you, or rather now, right in front of you. Your nose was almost touching the dip in his collarbone and you were suddenly aware of several things.

Firstly, his skin was still slightly damp from his shower, a few small droplets clinging to him. Secondly, you knew this because he was shirtless. You’d never been this close to him shirtless before, hence why you hadn’t recognised him in that first video, but still, there was no way this beautiful body could belong to anyone else. Thirdly, whatever shower gel he used had a scent in it that was doing things to you. You wanted to breathe him in, rub your face over his chest, scenting him like an animal. Then fourth, and finally, you were aware of the throbbing between your legs, the pulsing of your clit in time with your heartbeat.

“I… um… you…”

He took a step back, a coy smile forming on his lips.

“You alright? You look a bit….warm.”

He turned, going to get the bits from the kitchen, and you just gaped at his back like a fish. He had a pair of grey sweatpants on, hanging low on his hips, showing off his muscles and clinging to his ass. All you could see in your mind’s eye was him touching himself, his abs clenching, makeup smearing…

Get it together, woman.

You shook your head to snap yourself out of your thoughts and finished opening all the containers before withdrawing to your corner of the couch, feet tucked up under you. As Sam returned from the kitchen, he tapped against your knees with his hand.

“You can’t eat like that.”

You unfolded with a sigh and then started slightly when he sat down right next to you, his thigh pressed up against yours. He placed a plate in your lap and leant across to grab the first foil container, dishing out some of the fragrant food to you before placing the remainder on his plate. Next, he grabbed the remote, quickly flicking to the right streaming service with ease.

“I thought we could continue our appreciation of Brendan Fraser and watch George of the Jungle, whaddya think, Squishy?”

With a mouthful of fish pakora, all you could do was nod.

As you ate and watched the antics of fish out of water, George, you found yourself starting to relax, the awkwardness melting away. Full of food and plates abandoned to the coffee table, you didn’t really notice Sam putting his arm around your shoulder, pulling you to relax against him. When he laughed along with the film, you could feel the rumble in his chest under your head and your hand where they rested on him. As that awareness came to you, you also realised how smooth his skin was under your fingers and your cheek.

“Which outfit looks sexier? The billowy white shirt and black pants combo, or the leopard-skin loincloth?”

Sam’s question jerked you out of your reverie and you turned your head to look up at him. Which you quickly realised was a mistake. Your faces were close together, his eyes looking directly into yours.

“Um… I think an argument could be made for either. Cos you know, there’s um… something quite erotic about someone being partially covered, you’re… err… teased by what you can’t see. But then the loincloth, yeah, that’s also … umm… good.”

“Girl, are you just constantly horny on main?”

His teasing lightened the air of tension.

“You started it, Wilson!”

You poked him in the chest, and he tightened his arms around you, resting his head against yours. He shifted his body and you settled closer, allowing yourself the indulgence.

“Watch the film, Mallow-girl.”

You tried not to notice how his thumb brushed back and forth across your arm.

You weren’t going to watch. Nope. You’d only logged on so you could cancel your subscription.

Liar.

It was just a total coincidence that you hadn’t had time to do so until five minutes before his Friday night stream was due to start. Total coincidence.

Liar.

Maybe you’d just wait long enough for it to start and send him a last tip, then you’d unsubscribe.

Pants on fire.

Whatever remaining fragment of good intention you’d had went out of the window when the stream started. The background music was ambient jungle sounds, and when his body moved into shot you didn’t know whether to cuss him out or melt into a puddle, because now you knew why he’d asked you about George’s outfits last night.

Framed without his head in view, he wore a billowy white shirt and tight, black dress pants, that were already straining. He circled his hips as he slowly undid the buttons on the bottom half of the shirt. He ran his hands up and down his body and round his waist in an imitation of a lover's touch. The shirt fluttered to the floor as he continued to caress himself, teasing his nipples into stiffened peaks.

You couldn’t draw your eyes away now. You’d touched that chest, albeit innocently. You knew how warm his skin was, how soft, yet also firm, it felt.

His hips swayed from side to side as he unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, quickly shoving them down his thighs to reveal a straining leopard print thong underneath. You felt like you were gonna have heart failure.

He turned sideways to the camera, bending back slightly, hips thrust forwards, as he drizzled oil over his pecs, and slowly started to oil up his body. His hand slid inside the thong, cupping and caressing himself, but then pulled back out without really revealing anything.

He then turned his back to the camera, and once again, swinging his hips, showed off his firm, high buttocks as his fingers slid under the thin waistband of the thong. He teased the camera by pulling it down slightly, then back up, before bending forward to show his back, shoulders and back of his head, and pulling the scrap of fabric down. Fuck, you wanted to eat his ass; it looked fucking delicious.

Turning back to the side, the oiled front of his body shining under the lights, he reached off screen, hand returning holding a masturbation sleeve. He must’ve already prepped it because he slid it over his cock with a moan, and started to thrust his hips up, fucking himself into the lubed, textured silicone. The sleeve was opaque, and you got a thrill from watching him move through it, the tip of his cock every so often making its way out of the end.

Sam USFalcon moaned and grunted as he jerked himself. You watched his hips snap, and imagined he was fucking up into you, that it wasn’t a sex toy wrapped around cock, but your pussy, clenching down on him and soaking him with your arousal.

You hadn’t even really registered what you were doing until you realised that your own orgasm was almost upon you, that you had one hand down your shorts and the other up your top.

The idea of watching him knowing who he was, gave you a thrill. Knowing that he was just a few feet down the corridor, working himself…

You cried out as you came, curses falling from your lips as you watched him reach his own peak, the snapping of his hips losing rhythm and that delicious restrained noise falling from his lips.

You were breathing hard as you watched him move off camera, the screen fading to black.

This is wrong.

The voice in your head nagged at you, and you knew you shouldn’t, couldn’t do this again.

You already had inappropriate feelings for your roommate, and there was something so voyeuristic about watching him like this that it made you feel like a Peeping Tom. Before you could change your mind, you reached out and pressed the unsubscribe button. You slid off your bed and into the bathroom, feeling so down, despite the post orgasm endorphins.

You washed your hands and splashed cold water onto your face and walked back through to your room. You’d barely sat back down on the bed before there was a loud thumping on your door.

“Squishy, open up. I gotta talk to you.”

Your heart plummeted.

“Go away, Sam, I’m not feeling good. Just wanna be left alone.”

“Open the goddamn door, MarshmallowSquishy99.”

Fuck fuck fuckity fuck.

So he did know. Time to face the music. You crossed the room, drew in a deep breath and straightened shoulders, before opening the door. Sam stood there, wearing a mid-thigh length red silk robe, haphazardly tied at the front. His eyes pinned you like a butterfly to a board.

“You really thought I wouldn’t recognise your username?”

“I didn’t know it was you when I first signed up. I saw a video when I was out with the girls drunk and signing up was a hungover, bad decision.”

He took a small step forward, making you instinctively step back further into your room.

“Such a bad idea that you watched my live stream on Monday and tipped me, twice.”

“It was only at the end I worked out it was you.”

He stepped closer again and raised an eyebrow, questioningly.

“You… you knocked your camera at the end, part of your mug, the one I bought you, ended up in frame for a split second.”

“And you noticed that? But you didn’t unsubscribe then did you? No, you decided to act odd all week, watch me when you thought I wasn’t looking, then watch this latest stream - which I did for you, by the way - and then unsubscribe. A little rude, don’t you think?”

“Rude? Now hang on a minute, I… what do you mean for me?”

The sound of the door closing made you realise that he’d backed you fully into your room. Your legs bumped into your bed, and you sat down on it, with a squeak.

“Well, baby, you inspired last week’s video, and when you signed up on Sunday night I couldn’t believe it. You made me want to get the one on Monday just right.”

He leant over you, hands on the mattress, each side of your hips, caging you in and making you lean back.

“The two tips made me think that you really liked it. So I decided that I would do tonight’s stream just for you, pick something you liked, then what do you do? Unsubscribe on me. Makes me feel a little unwanted, to tell you the truth.”

“It’s not like that, Sam. I meant to unsubscribe as soon as I realised it was you, and then I thought that was silly and… I didn’t mean to watch tonight, but it started and… “

He lifted a finger and dragged it down the side of your face, and you shivered under his touch.

“So you liked what you saw then? I’m glad. I like you, Squishy, and I’m hoping that, maybe, you like me too. We have fun together, and now you’ve seen me naked and kept watching, so it can’t be all bad.”

His voice was soft and low and thick with lust.

“Tell me, did you like what you saw? Did it turn you on? I imagined it was you with me so many times, and fuck, when I realised you were watching…”

His face was so close to yours, his voice hypnotic. Your eyes fluttered closed and your breath was ragged in your throat. His hand was resting on your shoulder, thumb stroking your neck.

“Come on, sweetheart, tell the truth now…”

Your voice came out, barely louder than a whisper.

“Yes..”

“That’s not a proper answer.”

“I liked it. Okay?”

“Did you touch yourself? Did you cum, watching me?”

His hand trailed down, off your shoulder, across your collarbone and down towards your breast.

Your back arched, pressing yourself up into his hand, and a whine escaped you. He pressed forwards, forcing you to lie down on the bed, his body covering yours. Your hands came up, fisting into the red silk.

“Sam…”

“Yes, Squish?”

“Shut the fuck up and just kiss me, please.”

“Whatever you want…”

His lips were soft on yours, so warm and gentle and right. Your hands slid under the silk, and ran over his skin, letting yourself explore everywhere you could reach.

His tongue begged entry to your mouth, and you granted it, sucking on the intruding muscle and scraping your teeth along it, enjoying the hiss he let out. You came out of your lust-addled stupor then, your desire turning passionate and primal.

Your hands fought briefly with the knot holding his robe closed before you pushed it over his shoulders, fully baring his body to you. You shimmied out of your shorts, and his hands pulled your top over your head. There were no words, just sounds of pleasure as you explored each other with mouths and lips and fingers.

You playfully tussled for dominance with him as you tried to kiss down his body towards his cock.

“I swear to god, Sam, I will end this here and now if you don’t let me do this…”

He laughed, taking hold of your hips and turning you around, before lifting you, settling your core over his face and diving right in. His cock twitched in front of your face, a rivulet of pre-cum running down it, as he took his first taste of you. It danced again as he heard you moan and felt you grind down on his face.

It took you a moment, but then you had his cock in hand and were licking the salty drop off the side of it. His moan vibrated into your pussy as you took him in your mouth, hot and silky and hard.

Sam deployed every trick, using his tongue and fingers on your sopping pussy until you had to abandon your own task, just letting his cock lie heavy in your mouth and muffling your cries as you came.

He gave you no respite, flipping you onto your back on the mattress and turning himself to align with you, lips pressed to yours, your fingers entwined as your hands lay up by your head.

“You need me to get a condom, Squish?”

His cock pressed up against your stomach, wet from saliva and pre-cum.

“No, please, Sam. ‘M on the pill, ‘n trust you.”

One of his hands left yours for a moment as he guided himself into you. Your legs wrapped around his waist, pulling him closer, and his hand came back to yours, you foreheads pressed together as he slowly pushed inside you. Your breath stuttered out of your lungs as he filled you, a feeling just as right as that first kiss.

“You’re so perfect, baby. Fuck, feels so much better than I could imagine.”

“It’ll feel even better when you start to move, Wilson.”

“Oh, so this is how it’s gonna be? You gonna be bossy in bed?”

“Hey, I’ve been dreaming about this dicking down for a week. Can you blame me after you’ve been flaunting the goods?”

“Well I’m about to rock your world, baby girl. You’ve seen the moves, now get ready to feel them.” He punctuated his words with a couple of small thrusts of his hips and your muscles clenched down on him.

“Big words, Sammy, little action.”

He shut you up with a deep kiss, and then started to move. You clung onto his shoulders, nails digging into the muscles. Then Sam did something you didn’t expect; he made noises. Not the small grunts and moans from his videos, no, but loud, salacious sounds of pleasure, peppered with curses and praise.

“Fuck, baby, that’s it. Squeezing me so tight. I ain’t ever gonna leave this pussy, I swear.”

His hips snapped up, and you saw stars, the feeling almost overwhelming you. Carefully, he moved your legs, one at a time, up from his waist and onto his shoulders, almost folding you in two as he drove into your weeping hole.

“Oh God, Sam…yes, fuck, yes.”

“Touch yourself. Touch yourself for me; make yourself cum around this dick.”

He changed the angle of his hips, as you slid your hand down between your bodies. His cock grazed over that sensitive spot inside you, and you drew tight circles over your clit, causing your eyes to roll back in your head, your mouth slack, each of his thrusts punching a moan out of you.

Now there was just the sound of skin on skin and the sighs and groans that went with it. Sam kissed at your neck as you clung onto him with one hand, grounding yourself to him as you chased your pleasure.

“Come on baby. Come on; cum for me. Cum for me; fuck.”

“Sam, I… I… oh fuck. Fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck.”

You crashed over the precipice, your body shaking under him. In response, Sam moaned into your neck, his hips snapping up a few more times before you felt him twitch inside you, filling you with his cum.

Somehow Sam managed to roll the pair of you so you were lying half on top of him, still joined for a while until your body let him go. He pressed kisses to your forehead and brow, stroking his hand up and down your back, both of you just enjoying the afterglow and being held by the other. Eventually, though, Sam broke the silence.

“Squish…”

“Mmmm.”

“We gotta clean up. I’m actually still a bit oily.”

“Like you oily…”

“Perv. And you gotta go to the bathroom. Whilst I very much like the idea of you leaking me through the night, the reality is never as pleasant. Also, we’re the wrong way round on the bed and it feels weird. Let’s wash up, and then, if it’s okay with you, I’ll come back here, okay?”

You turned yourself in his arms, cupping his cheek and kissing him sweetly.

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍☕️🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍

“Why aren’t they answering? We organised to meet them here at 10 and it’s already quarter past.”

“Have you still got your spare key? Open the door. What if there’s a problem?”

Steve huffed at Nat and dragged the key out of his pocket, opening the door to his old apartment.

“Guys, where are you?”

Nat strode through the living room into the quiet apartment. She stopped by Sam’s room, the door uncustomarily ajar and stuck her head in. She turned to Steve, grinning.

“He’s not in there and his equipment is all still out.”

The pair tip-toed down the hall to Steve’s old room, and pressed their ears to the door, making out the sounds of two people sleeping. Steve turned to look at Nat.

“Took them long enough. Do you think she found out or he told her?”

“Well I’m guessing she found out after her big-mouthed co-worker Helen discovered his page.”

“How did she find it?”

Nat smiled at Steve mischievously.

“Oh, you sweet summer child.”

Then she dragged him out of the apartment, shutting the door behind them.

🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍☕️🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍

Tag list: @christywantspizza @jobean12-blog @tinnedowl @bucky-bucky-bucky-bucky @tuiccim @beelicious-barnes @yarnforbrains @sidepartskinnyjeans @maladaptivexxdaydreaming @krissy25 @bodeckersdiamonddoll @turbolisedcomet @goldylions

#late to the party 81 #late writes #roommate!au #camboy!Sam Wilson #sam wilson #sam wilson x reader #sam wilson fic #sam wilson x y/n #sam wilson x female reader #sam wilson fanfiction #feeling tropeful #thotful prank #april fools

[fanficimagery]

A Baby Spark

Imagine it being almost two years since you've seen your family. You've been through some changes since you've been gone and you're surprised at how well your family just seems to roll with the punches. Then again your little sister is exactly how you remember her either.

Words: 8.7K Author's Note: I'm a weakass bitch who loves a good crossover. Hopefully I did these two fandoms some justice. I'm warning you right now there's a little violence in here.

Pacing in front of the couch out back in the studio, Julie opens her mouth to say something but snaps it shut and shakes her head as she mumbles to herself. For about ten minutes now she's been like this and Luke, Reggie, and Alex can only stare at her with dread slowly creeping in.

"Is she having a breakdown or something?" Reggie asks quietly, eyes following her back and forth. "I've never seen her like this."

"I don't know, but I'm starting to feel queasy," Alex says.

Luke rolls his eyes. "It's Julie. It's nothing bad," he says. "We all know she works herself up over nothing."

"Okay!" All three boys startle, jumping in their seats and practically clinging to one another. When they realize what they've done, they quickly let go and attempt to act cool. "So my sister is coming down for a visit and dad thinks we should ease her into the secret of you guys being ghosts."

"Your sister?" Alex wonders, intrigued. "She finally got in touch?"

"Yeah." Julie slowly smiles. "She, uh, she sounded weird on the phone. Really emotional. But she said she's ready to be home for a bit."

"Well you said you haven't seen each other face to face in almost two years," Reggie says. "It's understandable that she'd be emotional."

"True." Julie shrugs. "Anyway, you guys need to remember no vanishing into thin air or appearing from thin air while in the same room as her. We can't have her asking questions until we're ready to tell her."

"I think we can handle that." Luke nods, looking at the boys. "At least I'm pretty sure we can."

Alex nudges him, scoffing. "Of course we can."

"Okay. Good. Because she's going to be here any minute now."

"WHAT?!"

"I thought we had more time!"

"Aw man," Reggie whines. "What do I wear?"

          - - - - - - - - - - 

You pull up to your childhood home about twenty minutes after the sun has set, excited to see your family and the boys who had reintroduced your baby sister to music after your mom had passed. You'd been keeping up with her via social media and was shocked to see her performing with holograms. Something about the holograms didn't quite add up, but you didn't question it seeing as your sister was thriving with her newfound friendships.

You've barely shut the door to your rented vehicle when the front door swings open, and your baby brother and baby sister are barreling down the porch. You laugh at their enthusiasm, opening your arms wide and bracing yourself for the impact. The moment they hit you, you bring your arms down around them. "Oh my god. You guys have grown so much!"

"Well that's what happens when you don't visit. We grow up."

"Carlos!" Julie quickly reprimands him. She then glances up at you, chuckling nervously. "He didn't mean that."

"Of course he did," you muse. "He's a Molina. And it's not like he's wrong."

But your sister isn't having it. "You had valid excuses- school and then you were really sick that one time. It's okay."

Sick, you mentally scoff, if only it were that simple.

"Right. Well I'm home now and I plan to visit whenever I can in the future," you say. Carlos and Julie beam at you. "So come on. I'm starving and I really want to see dad and meet these phantoms."

Carlos releases you and immediately turns to run back inside, and Julie latches onto your arm as she walks side-by-side with you. The closer you get to the porch, the more a faint scent on the air tickles your nose. Then once on the porch, it's a little bit stronger and it has you tensing.

Julie notices as she continues to walk, only to be pulled back from where she's still connected to you. "What's wrong?"

Staring off the side where you know the gate is for the backyard, your nostrils slightly flare, but at the sound of Julie's voice you close your eyes and shake your head to clear it. "Nothing. I'm fine," you mumble. "I just- I thought I smelled burning wire or something." Looking forward and then towards your sister, you chuckle. "My roommate started a fire a couple weeks back. It's made me paranoid ever since."

The lie comes a little too easily and you feel guilty. But then Julie snorts, you breathe a little easier, and then the two of you make the rest of the way inside the house. The smell of home makes your shoulders sag and feel like a weight's been lifted off of you. You glance around the living room, smiling softly at various touches you knew your mother added and the fact that your dad's kept them as reminders of the love of his life. There are three familiar, yet unfamiliar at the same time, faces sitting together on the couch. They stare at you, hesitant expressions on their faces until you smile and wave at them. The boy in a leather jacket is the first to smile back, waving, followed by the blonde and the shaggy haired brunette.

"That's Reggie, Alex, and Luke," Julie introduces them to you. "Guys, this is my older sister Y/N."

"Hey guys, it's nice to finally meet you face to face."

"Likewise," Alex says. "Julie's told us so much about you."

"Aw." You let go of Julie's arm just to wrap it around her head, she immediately struggling to get out of the headlock you put her in. You laugh, tugging on her curls. "You talk about me? Am I the cool older sister? You love me that much?" You tease her.

"Get. Off." Julie tries to shove you off, but the two of you just end up falling to the floor.

"Alright. Girl fight!" Reggie cheers. "I got money on the older Molina."

"I don't know," Alex muses. "Jules can be pretty feisty."

"Pft. No way." Carlos scoffs. "Y/N has this in the bag."

"How are you so freakishly strong?" Julie complains. "Did you start working out or something?"

"Or something," you laugh.

There's a sigh that has you looking up instantly. "You would think that my college-aged daughter would be adult enough to not wrestle her younger siblings on the floor."

"Dad!" Immediately you abandon your sister, flicking her forehead once for good measure, before launching yourself at your dad. "You're lookin' healthy, old man. The younger crotch goblins keeping you in line?"

"Hey!"

The boys laugh at Julie and Carlos' simultaneous shouts, and you wink at them before squeezing your dad a little bit longer. "How was the drive, mija?"

"It was fine," you say. "Long. And now I'm just ready to chow down."

"You have perfect timing then. The stew is ready, but now we're just waiting on Reggie's rolls to come out of the oven."

You dramatically gasp as you look towards the boy in question. "Not only is he cute, but he bakes too? Julie, you better husband that one up."

Two out of the three boys laugh as the other one frowns, and Julie rolls her eyes. "Shut up." Then looking out towards the group, she says, "Someone come help me set the table."

Your dad and Carlos head into the kitchen behind Julie, and you walk over towards the couch to sit on the armrest nearest Luke. Putting a hand on his shoulder, you squeeze. "Don't frown, biceps. I totally ship you and my sister. The two of you just ooze chemistry and I find it utterly adorable."

Alex groans. "Please don't say ooze again."

"Ooze," you deadpan. You look Alex in the eye. "Ooze. Ooze."

His nose wrinkles. "So you're the evil Molina. I know who Carlos takes after now."

All four of you chuckle and fall into a comfortable silence. However, as you sit there, you realize something odd. Everyone, human or not, has a scent. But these three boys next to you? There's no hint of B.O or cologne. Nothing. You frown as you stare at each one, at how human they appear to be, but before you can notice anything else your dad's calling out.

"Dinner's ready!"

You quickly paste on a smile as Luke and Reggie rush towards the kitchen. Alex sighs. "I would say sorry on their behalf, but then I'd be saying sorry the entire duration you're here because it's just how they are."

"I get it," you chuckle softly. "I have a friend like that. Stiles. He's- he's a lot to handle sometimes."

Dinner is quite the affair and you can't help but be in awe with how these three boys have brought life back into your home. When your mom passed, it was like the life was sucked out of everyone. There were no smiles, there was no laughing, and everyone seemed to lose interest in something. You almost didn't go back to school, instead choosing to look after Julie and Carlos, but from one day to the next it was like your dad snapped out of his grief and started looking after the kids again. So you went back to school, kept up with your schoolwork, got.. sick, and finally had enough strength to visit your family. You wanted it to be a happy family reunion, so you'll be damned if three charming boys took advantage of your family.

The following day is spent with just your family and a brief visit made by Flynn, but throughout the entire day you can't help but notice something is off. Every now and then it feels like the temperature drops or you have an overwhelming feeling of being watched or you catch Julie mumbling towards nothing but thin air. Your little sister acts highly suspicious, but she plays it off every time you call attention to it.

On your third day home, however, your family's been out grocery shopping when you decide to visit your mom's studio. It's the first time you've gone out back since you've been home, so of course the scent that first put you on edge hits you full force. Annoyance immediately sets in and you follow the musky scent which leads you to the studio. Hearing voices inside makes you freeze and you tilt your head to get a better listen.

The three voices are Luke, Reggie, and Alex, and while that should be weird since no one is home.. it's not the oddest thing. The oddest thing is that while you can hear them talking and the hum of their amps, that's all you hear. No heartbeats.

Pulling open the door, all three boys look like deer caught in headlights. "Hey, boys." You quirk an eyebrow at them, walking in and taking a little pleasure in watching them squirm. "Whatcha up to out here?"

"Oh, um," Alex stammers, "R-Ray lets us practice out here whenever we want."

"Mhm." You glance at Reggie, his demeanor entirely too soft to threaten. Instead you glance at Luke and realize he'll be the one revving for a fight if you go after the other two. So you set your sights on him. "I'm sure my mom would have adored you boys." Walking around Luke, you step close and trail a finger along the strap of his guitar. "Well at least she would have adored whatever it is you boys are." The boys all seem to cease breathing and quick as lightning you grab a fistful of Luke's shirt and bring his face close to yours. "So tell me, Luke, what are you?"

His eyes blow wide. "W-What? I'm a d-dude. Human!"

"Wrong answer." Eyes flash gold and you can feel the teeth in your mouth shifting. Luke seems to lose what little color he had left in his cheeks. "You have no scent. You have no heartbeat! So tell me what you are."

Luke gapes at you until all of a sudden he completely vanishes out of your grip. You growl, eyes darting all over the place.

"What am I? What the hell are you?!"

You whirl around, snarling, and startling all three boys. All three are gaping, staring wide-eyed as they take in the full picture of what you are. Of what you had to become. "Why are you messing with my family?"

You're so caught up with the boys that you're not listening to your senses and completely miss the fact that your family has gotten home. You're caught off guard as Julie walks through the studio door and you take a step back as Julie's erratic heart nearly makes you whine.

"I- what?" She mutters. You exhale shakily and you can feel your face shifting back to normal. "Y/N?"

"I can explain," you tell her softly. She stares at you, fear wafting off of her and making your nose itch. "But first your boys need to come clean. They're not exactly what they look like." All four- FOUR!- suddenly fidget nervously and your eyes narrow. "But you already knew that, didn't you?"

She numbly nods her head. "Yes. Dad and Carlos too. B-But it's nothing as crazy as whatever is going on with you." She gulps. "Which, by the way, what- what even are you?"

You sigh, backing up until you're plopping down onto an armchair. You gesture to the couch across from you and watch as the three boys keep themselves between you and Julie until they're all on the couch. "Remember when I was sick? And the doctor said I had a fifty-fifty chance of surviving?"

She frowns. "Yeah. But what-"

"He was lying to you. I didn't have a fifty-fifty chance. I was going to die. No ifs, ands, or buts about it."

"How would you know that?"

"Because my roommate could smell death on me," you say. Julie, Luke, Reggie, and Alex all blink at you. "The thing you need to know, Jules, is that pretty much every supernatural creature we grew up reading about is real."

Alex gulps. "Witches?" You nod.

"Vampires?" Luke starts to grin. You nod again.

"Werewolves?" Reggie wonders, awe already filling his features.

You glance at him and flash your eyes. "What do you think I am?" You muse. His eyes widen, but then a smile breaks out and you breathe a little easier. At least he won't be running from you. "Anyway, she literally smelled me rotting from the inside out. So when she really grew concerned, she went to one of her alphas and told him what was going on with me."

"Wait. One of her alphas?"

"Yeah." You shrug. "It's a whole pack, the Hale-McCall pack. There's two alphas within the ranks and instead of protecting one little town they decided to spread out. Scott protects Beacon Hills since that's where he lives and Derek came down south to expand our territory. We're kind of all spread out in California with two ally packs further up north."

"Okay so this is all interesting, but how does that explain how or why you changed?" Julie asks.

"Oh. Right." You sigh. "Well Cora- my roommate- didn't want me to die. She came to me and asked me that if there was a cure of sorts, a way that only granted me a fifty-fifty chance of survival rather than a hundred percent death, if I would take it. I asked for more of an explanation and she showed me what she was while explaining more about the supernatural world. So I said I wanted the cure. And then I met her brother Derek."

"Who and what is Derek?" Your sister asks.

"A werewolf. An alpha werewolf to be exact," you tell your audience. "Only the bite of an alpha werewolf can turn someone, but at that it's only a fifty-fifty chance. So I took it since it was more of a chance than I originally had and I became a beta werewolf."

"Is this why you stayed away?"

"I had to. Turning isn't as simple as it sounds. I had to learn control and I had to learn to protect myself. I might be stronger and faster and not entirely human, but there are people out there who train to kill people like me. It wasn't safe for any of us if I were to come so soon after becoming a werewolf."

Julie nervously shifts. "And it's safe now?"

"Yeah. We have some friends in the Hunter community, and Scott and Derek have been working hard to mend bridges between everyone. Since Derek approves of my control, he said it was okay for me to come."

Luke huffs. "You call this control? You attacked me."

"Can you blame me?" You raise an eyebrow at him. "I came home to find three individuals with no scent or no heartbeat practically living with my family, and the scent of another werewolf around my childhood home where my very human family still lives. What was I supposed to do?"

"Wait, what?" Julie's eyes blow wide. "There's been a werewolf around us?"

"Yeah. And speaking of," you say, "since these three appear to not be the culprits, has there been anyone hanging around? Staring longingly or just giving off the creepiest of vibes? The scent was maybe a few days old, but it's definitely werewolf."

Your sister shivers and crosses her arms over her chest as if to hug herself. "Not that I noticed."

You glance at the boys and all three shake their heads. "Keep an eye out then. That's kind of suspicious." Everyone nods. You inhale and then exhale deeply, looking at each individual. But as no one says anything, you lightly clear your throat. "So is anyone going to tell me what you three are or..?"

"Oh!" Julie leans forward, smiling softly. "Ghosts."

"Ghosts?"

"Ghosts!" Reggie disappears from his spot on the couch and reappears at your side. You faintly startle, but he still sees it and chuckles. "We kind of kicked the bucket about twenty six years ago now."

Luke sighs. "Street dogs, man. We can never look at them the same way ever again."

You snort and then slap a hand over your mouth as you stare at the boys with wide eyes. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to laugh."

"Don't even worry about it," Alex says. "We've had some time to get over it and well now we have this cool gig with Julie so it's fine."

"Well either way I'm sorry you guys died, but I'm stoked you came into my family's life when you did."

The three boys beam, but Julie leans forward. "You know you have to tell dad, right? This is something dad needs to know."

"I know." You frown. "I just- how do I tell dad I'm not exactly human anymore?"

"Together." Julie smiles sadly at you. "We'll tell him together."

After calling an emergency family meeting the previous night, telling your dad and baby brother that werewolves existed was possibly the hardest thing you had to do. Out of the two of them, Carlos was most excited about all the new information you were offering up. But your dad, however, had a brief breakdown when you explained that you were literally going to die unless you had taken the bite from a werewolf. It had taken you almost ten minutes to calm him down, but you only made it a little bit worse when you told him there were rules now that the family knew the supernatural world existed.

Your dad and Carlos had tons of questions, and by the time dinner rolled around Ray just called in several pizzas so they could continue to grill you. Eventually things had settled and everyone went their separate ways to shower and get some sleep.

Then the day after that, you spend the day watching Julie and the boys rehearse because they got a last minute gig this coming Friday night. Even when they're goofing off they play amazingly and you praise them every moment you can. You're so caught up with your family and the boys that everything else is pushed to the back of your mind. And that's where it stays until after Julie and the Phantoms' performance three days later.

It's approaching midnight when you get home, you having rode with your family to and back from the club. It was the most fun you had in awhile, standing directly in front of the stage and screaming the lyrics back at your sister and Luke as they performed. And when you get home you and Julie are still singing along to one of her songs as you walk towards the front door, only to stumble to a halt when the scent of werewolf hits you full force.

"Mija, what's going on?"

"Shh!" You push Julie towards your dad and walk closer to the front door, eyes narrowing at the fact that it's cracked open when it should be locked. You put your nose close to the gap of the opened door and inhale deeply, eyes glowing gold in anger. There's a loud thump from inside and you whirl around to face your dad. He tenses as he eyes the fangs peeking from between your lips. "Get back in the car," you growl. "Do not get out until I come get you."

"Mija-"

"Do you understand?" You growl again, cutting him off. Your dad gulps and quickly nods, grabbing ahold of Carlos and Julie's hands to rush them away.

When you hear the car doors slam shut, the rummaging from inside your house stops. So before whoever is inside can flee, you brace yourself and walk inside. Slamming the door behind you, you open up your senses to tell you who or what is inside with you.

There's a warning growl from up above you and you snarl in response, not taking kindly to being warned off in your own home. Suddenly there are footsteps rushing towards the staircase and you lunge for them, bounding up the steps a few at a time. You meet the werewolf on the stairs, roaring at the sight of electric blue eyes glaring at you. He tries to leap over you, but you catch him by the ankle and tug him down with all your strength.

He's taller than you and more solid than you originally thought, so you mentally curse yourself when you can hear the staircase creak and crack as you fall down the stairs with him. Taking a boot to the gut, you swing out to claw him down his thigh. You draw first blood, but then the werewolf rounds on you with his teeth and claws bared. He lunges, catching you around the waist and slams your back down on the stairs. You grunt in pain, punching and clawing, but only earn a set of claws being dragged down the side of your face in return.

You hear him grunt, followed by a large crack, and your eyes fly open wide when you feel a thin pole from the wooden bannister be shoved into your gut. You roar out, completely shocked at this wolf's aggressiveness, and your saving grace comes in the form of three ghosts.

Alex, Luke, and Reggie pop in, startling the werewolf hovering above you. Their exclamations of pure joy quickly turn to ones of surprise and fear, and you use this brief reprieve to summon all your rage and push back. Once your feet are back beneath you, you shove the wolf back and against a wall. One hand goes around his throat and you use the other to shove your claws into his gut.

"What.. do you want.. with my family?" You ask, shoving your claws in deeper with each pause. The werewolf growls and easily overpowers you, shoving you back and fleeing through the back door.

When you get back to your feet, you attempt to run after him but Reggie rushes in front of you. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Where do you think you're going?!"

"Reg, get out of my way," you seethe.

"Nope. No way. In case you haven't noticed, you've been impaled!" His hands flail in the direction of your abdomen. "Shouldn't you like go to the hospital or something?"

"I'll heal." You grab the wooden pole protruding from your body, grasping it tightly and yanking it free.

Reggie gags and you let it drop, only to then be approached by Luke." Y/N, where's Jules? And Carlos and your dad?"

At the mention of your family, the haze of rage starts to fade. You breathe deeply, letting the aches and pain take over as your features shift back to normal. "They're in the car," you say. "Can you go get them? I need to check upstairs to see what that asshole was doing."

"For sure."

As Luke poofs away, you turn back towards the stairs and make your way up them. You follow the scent of werewolf and when you find where it leads your rage comes back ten-fold. Shoving your way in Julie's room, you snarl when you find the strange scent by her dresser, in her closet, and on her bed. You catch whiffs of his scent on random items and you tense when there's a shout of your name from downstairs.

Realizing it's only your dad, you give yourself a moment to make sure you have yourself under control before making your way downstairs. "I'm sorry about the staircase," you say. "I'll call someone in the morning to come estimate the damages and fix it." Everyone is oddly quiet and when you meet their gazes, you see half are on your face and the other are on your stomach. "Relax. It'll heal."

"Will it?" Ray asks. He walks forward, gently cupping your face and angling it so he can get a better look.

"Yeah. It's already stopped bleeding. Now all they gotta do is close up."

"Okay." Your dad gulps. "Did you- did you figure out what was going on?"

"Some rogue werewolf," you tell him. "Normally I wouldn't worry because it's normal for a werewolf to scope out another werewolf in their territory, but this one was only in Julie's room. He didn't go near mine. Something's up."

Luke wraps an arm around Julie's shoulder as she gasps and Ray worriedly glances at his daughter. Carlos steps up on Julie's other side, grabbing her hand and looking every bit determined to keep her safe.

"What can we do?" Luke asks.

"Well for starters," you sigh, "everyone can take a chill pill. Go change, go shower, and go to sleep. I'll clean up and I'll call in reinforcements. I hope you guys are ready to meet my alpha."

"Are you sure, mija?" Your dad asks.

"Yeah. I'm too amped up to do anything other than keep watch and my alpha is necessary since this rogue werewolf easily overpowered me. I'm still new to this whole supernatural business, so it's better if someone more experienced comes in."

Ray and Carlos hesitantly make their way towards the stairs, but as Julie moves she makes a lunge for you. Her arms wrap around you and yours her, and you rub the side of your jaw along her temple. "You're going to be okay," you mumble. "Trust me."

"I do."

Luke and Reggie readily follow your family upstairs, but Alex lingers. You look at him, smiling softly. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asks. "You literally had a pole sticking out of your stomach."

"I'm fine, Al." You lift up your shirt, showing him the barely there hole. "See? It's closing. The healing process is just a little slow for me because I'm a bitten werewolf, not born."

"Oh. Okay. Cool." His hands go into his pockets as he glances around the room nervously. "So do you want some company?"

"Sure." You chuckle softly. "But first, I have a call to make."

Alex follows you into the kitchen where you lean tiredly against the island counter, putting your phone down on the counter top as you look for a specific contact and then put your phone on speaker as to not be rude to your guest. It rings a couple of times before the line clicks open.

"Y/N? What's wrong?" Derek's gruff voice makes you smile and Alex's eyes widen.

"Why would you think something is wrong, Der?"

"Because you told us not to contact you until your two weeks with your family were up. You still have another week with them and you're calling me. In the middle of the night. So again I'll ask, what's wrong?"

You sigh and this time it's Alex's turn to grin at you. "So I might have a problem."

Derek groans. "What did you do this time?"

You open your mouth to play off the seriousness of the situation, but after the night you had you're just not feeling. So you snap your mouth shut and sigh once more. "When I first got here, I smelled a werewolf around the house," you say. "I didn't think anything of it because it was faint, but tonight I found the werewolf in my little sister's room. We fought and he fled. I have an uncomfortable feeling about this, Der."

A moment passes in silence before Derek says, "We're on the way."

"Okay, but before you come to the rescue there's something you need to know." He doesn't say anything, but the line is still connected so you know he's waiting. "So you know how we always said something was odd about my sister's holograms?"

"Yeah?"

"Well funnily enough, they're ghosts! But don't worry," you're quick to cut off an inevitable rant, "there's nothing fishy or any ulterior motives. These guys are good, pure, and goofy. Please don't start anything."

There's a heavy exhale and then, "We'll see."

"Bring food!" You're quick to toss in, grinning that you got that in before the call ended. Alex stares at you and you roll your eyes playfully at him. "Relax. It's going to be fine."

Derek and the others could have been there within a few hours, but they didn't want to be rude and show up while your family was sleeping. You texted back and forth with Cora after Derek spilled the ghost secret, and you laughed when she mentioned she was excited to meet them because your little sister's music was quite catchy.

When you hear your family starting to stir awake, you send off a quick text to Derek to let him know that it was okay for them to finally come over. And to bring food because there's not enough to feed three werewolves, three ghosts, and three humans in the house.

Carlos is the only one who looks well rested, Ray and Julie looking like they tossed and turned all night. Luke, Reggie, and Alex poof into the room and you tiredly nod at them.

"Did you get any sleep?" Your dad asks.

"Nah. I've been keeping watch and keeping in contact with the pack," you say. "Derek and Cora are on the way, and Scott said to let him know if we needed him. The rest of the pack would come if needed."

"Mhm. Is there anything we need to know about this Derek and Cora?"

You glance around at your family and ghosts, and sigh when they're waiting for some sort of answer. "Just that they had a really traumatic event happen when they were younger, so if they're not exactly warm in the beginning don't take it personal."

Reggie leans forward in his seat. "Mhm. How traumatic are we talking?"

"Like their entire family was trapped in their home and burned alive traumatic." Everyone's eyes widen and you wince. "Yeah. A bunch of other stuff happened, but it's confusing and not everything is black and white as you may think. I just rather not delve too deep into their personal business moments before you meet them."

After a few lingering moments, Carlos is the first to mention he's hungry. Your dad says he'll get started on breakfast, but you stop them before they can even make it to the kitchen. Then before you can explain why making food isn't necessary, the doorbell rings and everyone freezes.

"I'll, um, I'll just get that."

Hurrying to the door, you open it up and smile in relief at the sight of your two favorite Hales.

"We come bearing McDonald's," Cora says. "We also might have pissed off a long line of cars because we bought out all their sausage biscuits and hash browns."

You laugh. "And I bet you cackled as you drove off."

"She did," Derek deadpans.

You shake your head and then step out of the way, gesturing the two Hales inside. You shut the door behind them and when you turn around to follow them you find that you don't have to go far. Everyone is just standing around, staring at the two newcomers and you shake your head. "What are you all doing out here? Get into the kitchen! I want to eat."

Carlos steps forward, staring up at Derek and Cora with a curious expression. "So werewolves, huh? And you're the one who bit my sister?" Derek tenses, but nods nonetheless. "Well thanks for saving her, but now I'll never beat her in a wrestling match. Can someone biscuit me so I can eat my feelings?"

You snort just as Cora cracks a grin and she walks forward while gesturing for Carlos to follow her into the kitchen. Derek stays put and you step up to his side, nodding up at him before looking out. "So," you start, looking at everyone else, "I'd like you guys to meet alpha Derek Hale. Der, this is my dad, my sister Julie, Carlos followed after Cora, and then we have Alex, Reggie, and Luke."

Everyone gave some form of acknowledgement as they were introduced and Derek sticks his hand out for your dad. "It's nice to finally meet you, sir. I'm just sorry it's under these circumstances."

Ray grasps onto his hand and shakes it. "Ditto."

"Okay," you drawl. "Now that the awkward introductions are over with, can we eat?"

Everyone walks into the kitchen then, you nudging your sister and chuckling at her wariness. Then once in the kitchen, you introduce everyone to Cora as well. The food is passed out and it feels like you're smiling encouragingly at everyone because they're intimidated by Derek's mere presence.

When everyone appears to be done with their food, it's Derek who clears his throat. "So do you wanna know why there's a werewolf interested in Julie now or later?"

The table falls silent and it's Julie who finally addresses him. "Wait. You already know? Without snooping around?"

Derek looks at her and smiles kindly which sets your heart a flutter. You're not stupid, you're well aware just how attractive your alpha is, but you never let yourself cross that line. Cora, however, has no problems teasing you about it, nudging you and smirking. You glare at her and return your attention to Derek. "I do. I'm not surprised Y/N didn't pick up on it, but I am surprised my sister hasn't mentioned anything."

Cora stops her teasing them, brows furrowed as she looks at her brother. "What?"

Derek pushes back from the table and offers his hand for Julie. "I'm sorry this might be uncomfortable for you, but will you join us over here?" she quickly glances at you and your dad, and your dad nods at her. She gets up and joins Derek at his side, and he gently grabs her arm to hold between you and Cora. "Focus on Julie's scent. Who does she remind you of?"

Cora's more in tune with her senses, so it doesn't take her long to pick up on what her brother is suggesting. It takes you a minute and when her scent has fully engulfed you, your eyes fly open. "How did I miss that?"

"M-Miss what?" Your sister stammers, pulling her arm back.

Cora glances between Julie and her brother, and you shake your head. "It's impossible. Stiles is a.." you trail off and Derek quirks an eyebrow at you, grinning.

"Excuse me," Luke pipes up, "but who and what the hell is a Stiles?"

Derek and Cora snort, and your gaze darts between Luke, Reggie, Alex, and your sister.

"Mija, what's going on?" Ray asks.

You gulp as realization slowly settles in. Looking at Julie, you ask, "They used to be invisible, right?"

"Yeah."

"But then they were cursed by another ghost, almost jolted out of existence, and you pulled them to you at the Orpheum. You wanted them and they appeared, and then by some weird happenstance you didn't want them to go and the curse was lifted. You were finally able to touch and everyone could see them."

Julie frowns at you. "You knew this already. What does that have to do with-"

"You're a Spark."

"What?"

Ray glances between both his daughters. "What's a Spark and how bad is this?"

You're left blinking at your sister in awe, so Derek takes over once more. "A Spark is someone with magical abilities, sir. When trained properly, they're a force to be reckoned with. They're highly sought after because they're not as neutral as a pack Emissary and can offer a hell of a lot more protection than an Emissary."

"Mhm. And what's an Emissary?"

"It's someone who offers advice and keeps peace during pack meetings," you say. "They're limited in their knowledge and magical abilities, but a Spark.. a Spark is so much more."

"So that's why this werewolf was sniffing around the house?" Ray asks. "Because he could smell the magic coming off Julie?"

"Yes." Derek tells him honestly. You can hear Julie's heartbeat pick up speed and you're quick to stand and wrap her in a hug. "If he's an Omega, which I believe he is since no one else came back when he faced off against Y/N, I think he wants to grow his own pack."

"And having a Spark within his pack would look good when recruiting others," Cora says.

Ray sighs. "What do we do?"

"Honestly? Julie needs to harness her power and learn how to use it."

"What? No!"

"Dad." You look towards him, frowning. "Derek's right. Julie is full of untapped potential and you do not want the wrong person training her. We can help."

Your dad sighs some more, rubbing his hand down his face. Finally he looks at Julie. "What do you want to do, mija? This is your life we're talking about here."

Everyone seems to hold their breath as Julie glances at every person she's come to love. But before she can say anything, Cora speaks up. "Before any decisions are made, I think we need to make sure Julie is a Spark." She then looks at your little sister. "Would you be willing to complete a test? There's no pain, no questions, just simple concentration."

You sister shrugs. "I guess so."

Julie is still apprehensive as Cora exits the room, so you rub her arm up and down. "It's going to be okay." You smile reassuringly at her. "If you truly are what we think you are, I think you might enjoy this. I know Carlos will."

Your baby brother perks up and you grin at him. You're quick to clear away the trash and are done just as Cora re-enters the room. She drops a duffel bag atop the table and Derek opens it up, pulling on a pair of gloves before he removes a vial full of black powder.

"What's that?" Luke asks.

"Mountain ash." Derek explains. "Create a closed barrier with this and no supernatural creature can cross it."

"And the rest?" Reggie wonders, peeking into the bag. Several vials clink together and he's quick to back off.

"Wolfsbane," you tell him. "It's lethal to us, but if we're shot or nicked with a weapon that holds a certain strain of this stuff, we figure out which strain it is and burn the ash that we have on hand to press into our wounds. For some reason it counteracts the effects."

"But in order to see if Julie truly is a Spark," Derek says, pulling everyone's attention back to the main topic, "we need her to create a barrier of mountain ash around Cora."

Julie quickly glances at you and you give her a nod. She walks towards Derek and Cora, and Derek opens up the vial to pour a small mound of black ash in the center of her palm. Julie glances up at him in surprise and then at the space around Cora's feet. "That's all you're giving me?"

"That's all you get."

Julie glances at you again and the panic is clear in her eyes. "Relax," you say. She gulps. "Relax," you say again, softer. "Inhale and exhale, Jules." She does as you say and after a couple of deep breaths, you say, "Now close your eyes. Form a loose fist and believe that you have all the ash you need there in the center of your hand as it tips out while walking a circle around Cora."

Julie's eyes fly open as she scoffs. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." You grin. "Magic is all about belief. Now close your eyes and concentrate. You have to want to close this circle. Do it."

Again everyone seems to hold their breath as Julie closes her eyes and shakes herself out. She takes a few deep breaths, letting them out slowly. You can practically see the moment her mind clears, her expression going slack right before she tips her fist and the ash starts to fall. She walks in an unsteady circle, her brow furrowing halfway around. She unknowingly walks the entire circle, her eyes flying open as she groans. "This is dumb."

"Is it?" Cora wonders. She raises her hand and goes to touch Julie, but her hand hits an invisible wall that shimmers a faint blue before fading.

Julie glances down, her eyes widening before she looks at you. "It worked?"

"It worked," you assure her. Everyone seems to scramble up from their seats then, gathering around Julie and Cora. You snort as Carlos and Reggie easily put their hands inside the circle, but Cora has no such luck of reaching out of it. You raise your eyebrow at that. "Well at least we know mountain ash doesn't work on ghosts."

"Um, how do we get her out now?" Julie nervously wonders.

"You or any other human can just drag the toe of your shoe through it. It'll break the circle."

"Cool!" Carlos readily drags his socked toe through the ash and Cora laughs as she steps out of the circle.

"So what happens now?" Alex asks, glancing between his newfound family a bit nervously.

"Now we find her a mentor," Derek says. "And a pack because without one-" he says, cutting off your dad, "it'll just be a matter of time before another werewolf comes looking. Or something worse."

"We, uh, we know a Spark," you say, glancing at Derek who gives you a nod to continue. "Stiles. He's obnoxiously smart and powerful, and unfortunately he refuses to leave alpha McCall's side long term. But since we're basically in the same pack, he'll visit and help mentor Julie if we ask."

"What about a pack?" She frowns. "I don't want to join a bunch of strangers."

"Then join the Hale pack," Derek says after a beat. You and Cora look at him in surprise, but he only has eyes for your baby sister and dad. "We can locate further south so Julie doesn't have to leave anyone behind."

"Der, are you serious?" You shakily ask.

He glances at you and smirks. "Of course. We'll start house hunting if your sister agrees."

You glance at Julie and her eyes are wide. A moment passes and then she looks at you, a relieved smile taking over. "Yeah. Uh, yeah. I'll join if it's okay with my dad?"

Everyone looks at Ray. "Why do I get the feeling my grocery bill just got a whole lot higher?"

You, Cora, and Derek laugh. "Don't worry, dad. As alpha, it's Derek's job to provide for the pack."

Over the next couple of days, Derek and Ray spend a lot of time in Ray's office- the alpha filling in your dad about pack politics since Julie was still so young. Stiles has already been called, but he had a few things to take care of before he could make the trip down south. So until then, you, Derek, and Cora were going to be staying with your family. Derek took to searching for a new pack house while you and Cora happily told the younger generation about your favorite pack stories.

Julie, Ray, and Carlos have a chaperone everywhere they go, but surprisingly no one complains. You and Cora had to take a brief leave from school, citing family emergencies, and you spend the newfound time protecting your family.

Unfortunately, before Stiles can show up and lay protection wards around the house, the omega werewolf strikes again. Fortunately, however, your dad is with Carlos at one of his baseball games so they're not there to witness the brief brawl.

You and Cora are sitting on the back balcony, listening to Julie and the boys rehearse. Derek had gone for a quick jog around a few blocks, most likely scenting the area for anything out of the norm, and you were in charge of holding down the fort. But the comfort of your house and the fact that nothing had recently happened made you let your guard down, and the opposing werewolf was smart enough to stay down wind.

But then there's glass shattering, the music suddenly cuts out, and Julie's shout pierces through her still live microphone. Without second guessing yourselves, you and Cora get up and jump over the balcony railing. You both land in a crouch, faces immediately transformed, growling. You're quick to straighten up, running towards the studio and throwing open the door.

Julie is huddled into Alex's side with Reggie and Luke brandishing their guitars as weapons in front of them. The werewolf in question is nearly six feet tall with electric blue eyes and a lean build. He's more clean-cut than you remember, but it's the same wolf you saw inside your house. It's a quiet stare-off, but the moment your eyes track to the completely shattered bay windows at the back of the studio a snarl rips free.

"Walk towards us," Cora says. "Do not turn your back on him."

The moment Julie takes a step back, the other werewolf growls and shifts in agitation.

"Try it and you're dead," you seethe.

There's a moment of hesitation and then he's lunging. Cora lunges for the male werewolf while you lunge for your sister, you shoving her and Alex aside. Luke and Reggie are quick to poof out of the way, and then reappear at the couch where Alex and Julie are huddled together. The snarling of Cora and the other werewolf keeps you on edge, and you join your packmate in clawing and shoving, and making sure you do not damage your mom's beloved studio too much.

You and Cora receive a few blows and gashes of your own, but Julie's frantic heartbeat has the two of you fighting for her. You try to fight with all your might, but you know you're in trouble when you and Cora both show obvious signs of tiring whereas the male werewolf still looks as anxious as ever to get his hands on your sister.

A mistake on your part has the male werewolf taking the upper hand, he kicking Cora away and grabbing you by your throat. The sudden action startles you and your lack of air makes you panic. So instead of using your full strength to break his hold, you claw at the hand squeezing your throat.

"Stop. Stop!" Julie pleads.

But her cries fall on deaf ears and it takes the roar of an alpha to startle the male werewolf into dropping you. 

As you gasp for air and scramble towards your sister, you look towards the studio doors to see Derek standing there with glowing red eyes. Derek, half transformed, is completely more terrifying than either you or Cora, and even though you're part of Derek's pack you can't help the uptick of your heartbeat at the power radiating off him.

"The girl is under protection of the McCall-Hale pack," Derek growls. "In fact, this entire territory is now ours. You have until sunrise to be gone or I'll rip your throat out with my teeth if any of us ever see you again."

The werewolf has the audacity to growl at Derek, but you and Cora are quick to flank your alpha. The two of you growl threateningly behind his back and as the opposing werewolf glances between the three of you, he grunts and slowly backs away towards the window he'd thrown himself through.

The second he's gone, Derek leans towards Cora. "Follow him. Make sure he leaves." A growl rumbles from her chest to show she understands and a moment later she's disappearing out the same damaged window. Derek takes a deep breath and let's it out before looking over at your sister. "You okay?"

Reggie blinks and then huffs softly. "Well I think I ghost peed a little, but I'm fine."

"Same, dude," Luke nods. "That was intense."

Your werewolf features fade as you fail to contain your laugh, Alex then glancing over at his friends. "You guys are so lucky you can play instruments and sing."

Julie giggles and you step forward to lean against Derek's arm. "I'm pretty sure Der was talking to my sister."

"Oh."

"Oh."

"I'm fine," Julie says. "But he's not- he won't come back, will he?"

"Not unless he wants an alpha to rip him to shreds," you tell her.

"I'm gonna follow after Cora and make sure the rogue is gone. You good here?"

You glance up at Derek and nod. "Yeah. We're good." Derek smirks at you and you roll your eyes, nudging him to go. After a moment he jogs out of the studio, no doubt following Cora's scent. Someone clears their throat and you glance back at your far too amused sister. "What?"

"So.." she drawls, "care to explain what that just was?"

"What what was?" You ask.

Luke starts to smile. "You totally have a thing for the scary wolf." Alex and Reggie eagerly nod in agreement.

"What? I do not."

"You totally do," Julie says.

"Oh whatever." You roll your eyes, willing yourself not to blush or smile. You'd be damned if you let them in on that particular secret crush, even though you were pretty sure it was mutual. "We have more important things to discuss like fixing the window and informing dad of what went on without freaking him out."

Julie's smile slowly fades. "Are things always going to be intense like what we just saw?"

"I hate to break it to you, baby girl, but yes. Sometimes worse."

"Oh great."

"But you're going to be a total badass," you assure her as you walk towards her. You kneel in front of her, taking her hands in your own. "Stiles is the best and he will make sure you know everything to protect yourself and those close to you. And besides, you'll have three badass werewolves just a few blocks over. You won't be alone."

"Are you sure? I'm still kind of young. I don't want to put your pack in any danger."

You shake your head. "You won't. I don't mean to brag, but the Hale name carries some weight. Scott kind of made a name for himself as well, so when everyone finds out you're under our protection it'll be okay. Trust me, sis. It won't always be this scary."

"Well as long as you're positive."

"I am. Now come on." You let go of her hands and pat the tops of her thighs as you stand. "Let's go find something to eat and call Stiles. We'll see if he can speed up his trip out here."

#julie and the phantoms imagine #teen wolf imagine #jatp x reader #julie and the phantoms #teen wolf #julie molina #derek hale #cora hale #ray molina #luke patterson #alex mercer #reggie peters

[dragonsaregenderless]

QUEERPLATONIC

definition: a relationship that is not romantic or sexual but not quite platonic either. a queerplatonic relationship (or qpr) can include aspects of any of those three relationships, but does not have to.

“Roommate Wanted” said the flyers Mack’s mother had made them put up. It wasn’t even a true statement: Mack didn’t want a roommate. If they’d grown apart from their high school friends, it was because they were swamped with work. They weren’t socially isolated.

They put up the flyers along their favourite path in the park. It was off trail.

~*~*~

“Any news about the roommate?” Their mother asked during their weekly Sunday lunch.

“Not yet.” Not ever.

“That’s unfortunate.”

Mack nodded along with their mom. She looked so genuine that they almost felt bad. Their mother was only trying to help them, and Mack felt something like regret blossom in their stomach. They pushed it down. No one would ever find the flyers.

~*~*~

Someone had found the flyers.

He called Mack on Thursday, during their lunch break. “Hey, is this Mack Aaron?”

They swallowed their bite of burrito. “The one and only.”

“I’m Dmitri Nikolaev,” he said, “Is the roommate still wanted?”

Mack glanced a the time. Ten minutes till they had to get back to work. “It depends.”

~*~*~

Cool Catz Café was a small coffee shop on the corner of Mack’s street. The short distance, amazing espressos, and resident tabby cat meant that Mack spent an ungodly amount of time there. That Friday afternoon, though, they weren’t there to consume caffeine or pet Oliver, they were there to meet Dmitri.

They weren’t sure why they were doing this. It would have been easy to tell him they’d already found a roommate, or just ghost him, but here they were.

They told themselves it was to make their mother happy, and because splitting rent would make it easier to save up for top surgery. It wasn’t because, in the last bit of their conversation, Dmitri had charmed them. Not when they didn’t know him. He could be a serial killer.

Mack scanned the café. An old man sat by the window, across the shop from their corner booth, and a teenage barista fiddled on her phone at the counter. Neither looked like they would notice a murder. Mack really hoped Dmitri wasn’t a serial killer.

The door opened, letting in the cold February air and making the wind chimes that hung above the doorway. Mack looked up to see a man about their age. He had to stoop to pass through the door. Despite his height, he didn’t seem threatening. He was wrapped in winter clothes, a knit beanie on his head and pretty pink scarf over his nose, and his jacket was puffy and dark green. He walked straight over to Mack.

“Hi,” he said, flicking fluffy brown hair out of his eyes. Mack tugged self-consciously on their own tangled black hair. They were wearing an oversized brown sweater and winter boots that they’d had since they were seventeen. “Sorry for the wait, my sister’s dog needed to be taken to the vet.”

Mack blinked. ‘Puppy rescuer’ was exactly what Dmitri looked like.

“You are Mack Aaron, right?” he asked, the beginnings of a worried frown on his face.

They nodded. “Yeah.”

“Nice to meet you.” He said it like he meant it. He sat down across from Mack and began taking off his coat and many knit things. Under the jacket, he was wearing a fuzzy sweater, and under that a thick long-sleeved shirt. Mack stared. When Dmitri caught them, he smiled sheepishly. “I get cold easily.”

“So, the roommate thing?”

No shit, Sherlock. They chuckled.

~*~*~

Mack called their mother Saturday morning while they were organising their apartment--a once in a blue moon occurrence, special for their new roommate--to tell her they wouldn’t be able to have lunch with her that week.

“Why not, honey?” She sounded worried. “Is it about the roommate? I knew you weren’t too enthusiastic about the idea; we don’t have to do it.”

“It is about the roommate,” they started, “but not like that. They’re moving in tomorrow.”

“Oh,” their mom said, then brightened. “Oh! That’s lovely.”

They thought about Dmitri’s puppy rescuing and the way he acted like spending time with Mack was nice, not an awkward charity. They smiled. “Yeah. I think it is.”

~*~*~

The second bedroom was empty by the time Dmitri’s pickup rolled up on Sunday. Mack helped bring his boxes upstairs, and together the two set up his bed.

When it was done, Mack went to make something to eat (neither of them had eaten since lunch). They tried to look at the apartment through Dmitri’s eyes.

Even cleaner than ever, Mack collected enough knick-knacks that it was cluttered. The kitchen was more like a hallway with old, half-broken appliances, and the living and dining rooms were one and the same, the table on one side and the the couch and TV on the other. A balcony came off the living room side, but right now it was covered in snow.

Dmitri came into the kitchen. “Do you have anything I can use to hang this up?” he held up and ace flag.

Mack nodded and pulled open a drawer. No house was truly a home unless there was a drawer of miscellaneous crap in the kitchen. “Here you go.” they handed him a pack of thumbtacks. Dmitri looked uncertain. “It’s cool, the walls here are shit anyway.”

“Yeah, okay,” he said, but didn’t move to go hang it up.

Mack tipped their head to one side. Dmitri’s shoulders were hunched and they were biting their lip. “Are you… Are you out to anyone yet?”

Dmitri shook his head, hands clenched in the material of his flag.

“I’m an arospec genderfluid pansexual.”

He looked up.

Mack ran a hand through their hair; it got stuck on the way down. They yanked. “Fuck.” They smiled awkwardly at Dmitri. “What I’m failing to say is, it’s cool. You being ace doesn’t affect me at all, but if you need anything you can ask. Do you want help hanging up the flag?”

“Yes please,” he whispered.

“Let’s go, then.” Mack took the thumbtacks and started toward Dmitri’s room. They stopped by the entrance to the hallway and turned around. “By the way? That was a much better coming out than mine was.”

He laughed.

~*~*~

Over the next few weeks, Dmitri became part of Mack’s routine.

It was established that Dmitri made breakfast, because he woke up early for med school (the fact that was still in university was something Mack would never stop teasing him about).

It was established that when Mack went to get coffee at Cool Catz, they brought Dmitri a chocolate croissant, and that if they got off work early they took the subway to meet Dmitri when his classes were over. Mack showed him all their favourite Netflix shows, and Dmitri got them to read Percy Jackson (which was amazing). Mack left a few pamphlet about the asexual spectrum and the LGBT+ community on Dmitri’s bed, and he came with them to the weekly LGBT+ meetings they ran at the community center.

It was established that Dmitri’s favourite blanket was the fluffy pink one Mack had gotten for Hanukah, and Mack replaced the old, brown sweater with a green one of Dmitri’s. Mack was allowed to turn the heat as far down as they wanted as long as Dmitri was allowed to steal their warmth through cuddles.

It was established that Dmitri was the most important person in Mack life, and Mack in Dmitri’s.

It was established that having a roommate was not as bad as Mack had originally thought.

#it isn't a novel but i hope you still like it #qpr #qpp #aromantic #asexual #aspec #queerplatonic #quasiplatonic #quirkyplatonic #blayze writes

[is0gild]

Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Bonus Chapter 1

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 12,577

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER  | | NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

"Do you think Kristoff is cute?" Anna asked, elbows propped on the table and chin in both hands as she watched the man in question from across the food court.

"You kiddin'? The dude's a hunkasaurus. Total dreamboat," Lea replied distractedly, not looking up from his current task. He was seated atop a different table, this one behind me, his feet perched to either side of me on the armrests of my chair as he played with my hair, slowly braiding and unbraiding it only to rebraid it again. "Better snap him up quick. If you don't slice yourself off a piece of that beefcake, I might beatcha to it."

My sister blew out an amused pft through her teeth as she looked over at him. "Sure, like he'd even give you the time of day."

"Oh-ho, trust me. If I wanted that boy, I'd have him."

"Anna," I sighed, interjecting myself back into the conversation. "Focus, please."

She blinked owlishly back at me, clearly having already forgotten my question. Or quite possibly not even having heard it in the first place. "...on…?" she asked at last, dragging the word out uncertainly.

I exhaled softly. "About Mother and Father?"

Her eyes darted to the left as she squinted and tried, "As in… do they think Kristoff is cute?"

My eyelids drooped and I gave a flat, "No."

Today found me with not one visitor on my lunch break, but two. Lea came as little shock. Even though he had the day off, he'd lately taken to doing his homework here in the food court whenever I was on the clock. That way, he could spend my lunches with me, not to mention score free ice cream throughout the day. Anna, on the other hand, had been an unexpected surprise, but always a welcome one of course. However, it was quickly becoming apparent that it probably wasn't really me she'd come to see.

Not if the way she kept eyeing my coworker as he ran the ice cream counter was any indication.

It'd been a few weeks now since her rather explosive breakup with Hans. Given that she normally got over past boyfriends in under a day, maybe two tops, the fact that it'd taken her this long to quit moping over him said something. But it seemed at long last she was back to her old, perky self again and all but wearing a "cute, single and ready to mingle" sandwich board sign. And apparently it was Kristoff's lucky day, for it seemed my sister had set her mingle-crosshairs on him as her latest conquest.

I didn't know whether to congratulate the guy or tell him to run. My sister would eat him alive.

Anna was now staring at me expectantly, waiting for me to elaborate. I bit my bottom lip, looking down as my fingers absently began to trace the snowflake pattern of my stockings. "I just… I was wondering… how Mother and Father were doing, that's all."

I'd still yet to speak to them since the little blowout at their house the weekend of Grandfather's birthday. If they weren't going to contact me, I certainly wasn't going to make any effort to reach out to them either. Still, I couldn't deny that it weighed on me a bit. I'd mostly been trying to keep my mind off it, trying to distract myself by throwing all my attention and energy into rehearsals.

She frowned then puffed out a heavy breath, causing her lips to flap. "Ya know, I'm not sure really… Fine, I guess? The same? They're not really on speaking terms with me since they found out about me and Butthead."

If you couldn't guess, that was her oh so charming nickname for Hans now.

Not to mention the only name anyone was allowed to refer to him as in Anna's presence these days.

"Ah," I breathed, fingers fidgeting with the hem of my work skirt. "...I see."

Her lips pursed to one side. "Now that I think about it though… them and Grandpa haven't really been on speaking terms either lately. But no clue if that's so much as his choice or theirs."

"Oh? Huh…" my brow furrowed and my head tipped to one side.

What could it mean?

"You should talk to 'em, ya know," came Lea's low voice suddenly as he hunched down next to my ear.

A tiny scowl twisted my face as I glanced over at him. He quirked an eyebrow back at me from beneath my Ice Palace cap, which he was currently wearing backwards. I huffed and crossed my arms, "If they want to talk to me, they know where to find me."

He snorted and sat up straight once more, his fingers returning to gently combing through my hair, eliciting a tingle in my scalp that made me shiver. "Someone has to be the first one."

"Yeah. Them," I harrumphed.

Now he pressed his lips to the back of my head before his hand ruffled my bangs. "You can be so stubborn sometimes, ya know that?"

No comment.

"Right!" Anna was abruptly hopping up to her feet and pumping a fist as she set her determined eyes on Kristoff once more. "I'm gonna march up to that boy and work my magic! Prepare to have your socks knocked off, you big sexy manbeast!" She then smoothed a hand over her hair, tugged on the neckline of her dress to flash a little more cleavage, and took one confident step towards the Ice Palace.

That was as far as she got before, "Hold it!" A hand shot out to snag her elbow, stopping her in her tracks. "We need to talk to you."

Anna blinked down at the offending hand, then at its owner, Rayne. She'd just shown up with a grinning and waving Kairi at her side.

Where'd they come from? I hadn't even seen either of them approaching.

"...me?" Anna asked, pointing at herself as both eyebrows flew up her forehead.

My roomie nodded then turned her eyes towards me to clarify, "Both of you."

Huh. This now brought the count up to four people dropping by to see me on my lunch break today. Never before had I been in such high demand.

Had I become, dare I say it… popular?

Dear god, I hope not!

Rayne's gaze narrowed on Lea. "Beat it, Red. This doesn't concern you."

"You beat it!" Lea shot back as his arms hugged me from behind, pulling me back against his chest. He made a small hmph that I more felt than heard as he rested his chin atop my head, "This is my El Time. You're not allowed to cut in on it, you live with her."

She rolled her eyes. "You two have plans together tonight once her shift is over, right?"

"So?"

"So you can give up five minutes of your precious El Time for me and Kai here to have a quick chat with her. Now go on, shoo," she dismissed him with a bored flick of her wrist.

He grumbled, "Ugh, fine. Looks like the kiddos just punched in over at Pizza Planet, so guess I could go grace their sad existences with my glorious presence." Releasing me, he pulled my elastic band off his wrist so he could tie my hair back into its ponytail. Then he was nuzzling his face into my neck, planting a quick peck there before whispering in my ear, "Be back in a sec. You'll miss me, I know, but try to keep the tears in check, hm?"

In response, I turned my head to kiss him on the nose… followed by smothering his face with my hand and shoving him away. He sniggered, pushing himself off the table.

"Hope you're ready to have your ass curb stomped tomorrow, Organization scum," Kairi slyly smirked at him.

"Big talk coming from someone's who lost the last two years runnin' now, Princess twerp," he tugged down his left lower eyelid with his middle finger and razzed his tongue at her before turning and jogging off, still wearing my cap.

Eyes flicking back and forth between him and Kairi, Anna asked, "What was that about?"

"Laser tag," I grinned softly as my gaze followed Lea for a second before I reached back to tighten my ponytail and glanced at the rest of ladies once more. "It's practically all he's been talking about for the last week."

"Mm-hm," Kairi nodded as she and Rayne pulled up chairs to sit with us. "It's also what we want to talk to you about. We're here to recruit you two!"

My head rocked back slightly. Then my brows knit together as my eyes darted about. Uh, heh… no thanks! Checking my phone, I stood up quickly, "Er… would you look at the time? I'm due back from lunch! I should go cloc-"

"Sit!" Anna snagged my wrist and jerked me back down into my seat with a firm thud. "You still got at least another ten minutes, liar!"

"Snitch," I grumbled back.

Lifting her chin with a smug little smirk, she looked back at the other two. "Please, continue."

"You know Space Paranoids, right? The laser tag place here in the mall?" Rayne began, addressing Anna more so than me, seeing as how I already had some clue as to what was going on, thanks to Lea. "Well some years back, a buncha us rented the entire place out for like a whole day and it was a total blast. We all had so much fun that we decided to make it an annual thing. More and more kept joining every year and as people kept getting more and more competitive, it wasn't long before two official teams were formed. Lea's group calls themselves the Organization."

"Such a buncha dorks," Kairi shook her head with a snerk. Then she was pointing back and forth between her and Rayne, "Our team is way cooler. We're the Princesses."

Anna bit back a grin and cocked one eyebrow at my roommate. "The Princesses? Really?"

She closed her eyes and heaved a sigh, "Kai's idea. It stuck."

"Hey now. Princesses are cute and kick serious butt," Kairi cockily flipped her hair back over her shoulder.

"Anyway," Rayne chimed back in, "we thought this year those Organization losers were gonna have to forfeit because they were down two teammates that moved away recently. However, not only did those jerks manage to snag the mall security guards as replacements, but now we're down two people ourselves."

"Really? Who?" Anna eagerly leaned forward in her seat, thoroughly invested now.

"Me," she muttered, face twisting sourly as she gestured down to her belly. At five months along now, she was starting to look very much pregnant. She huffed indignantly, "Some people think it might not be safe for the baby."

By the tone of her voice, I was guessing "some people" included her husband.

"You are getting pretty big now, Ray-Ray," Anna snickered. "Maybe it's a good idea-"

"Shush!" she glared, striking up a finger in warning. "I get enough of that from Riku!"

Kairi spoke up once more, "Our other person who's out this time round is Ariel. She's got bronchitis."

I blinked. "Again?!"

"Again," she and Rayne groaned in unison. Kairi then beamed, clapping her hands together once, "That's where you two come in! Could ya please, please, pretty please help us outta this major jam here and top off our team? Whaddya say?"

"Sweet! Count us in!" Anna declared, excitedly balling her hands into fists in front of her chest.

"Correction. You can count her in," I touched Anna's shoulder, then placed a hand over my chest, "and me out."

Kairi's face fell, "But we need you!"

I snorted, "No you don't, I'm the last person you need. I've never played laser tag before. I've never even held a, uh… um…" I grimaced, floundering for the right word before saying lamely, "...laser… beam… shooter… thingie ever in my life!"

"You can just call it a gun, sweetie," Rayne cooed, reaching over to pat my hands.

"But that's the beauty of it! That doesn't matter! We don't need you to be good," Kairi argued before a tiny, wicked smile broke out across her face. "We just need you to take care of Lea."

My head tilted to the right as I frowned. "...Lea?"

Rayne nodded, "Yup! He's one of their best players, along with Xigbar and Saïx."

"Saïx?" I echoed, squinting at her. "You mean to tell me he's awake during the daytime for this?"

"There's three days a year that dude'll brave the sun, and our yearly laser tag game is one of those days. He takes it surprisingly seriously," Rayne explained solemnly.

Wrinkling my nose up at the ceiling, I inhaled and exhaled loudly. "I still don't understand how I'm supposed to help you with Lea, especially if he's as good as you say he is."

"Simple!" Kairi chirped. "You just need to keep him distracted! Mess with his head a lil. Throw him off his game just long enough for the rest of us to knock him outta the match early."

I furrowed my brow at her. "...and how exactly am I supposed to do that?"

"Isn't it obvious?" She gave me an impish wink. "Use your feminine wiles."

"My…?" A crease formed between my eyebrows now as I stared down at my lap. "...do I even have those?"

Kairi laughed, "Course you do! All girls have them."

"Yeah, even you, Sis!" Anna pinched my cheek. I shut one eye against it, swatting her hand away.

"Trust me, all Elsa has to do is exist around that boy and he's a total goner. He'll be eliminated so fast, he won't even know what hit him," Rayne muttered to Kairi, who nodded in agreement. Then my roomie was locking eyes with me once more, "So how 'bout it, sweetpea? Will you help us out?"

I shifted in my seat uncomfortably. "I… uh…"

Anna nudged her shoulder with mine, "C'mon, Sis, pleeeeeeeease? I'm super friggin' pumped, this sounds like so much fun!"

Clasping my hands between hers, Kairi pleaded, "Help us, Elsa-Wan Kenobi! You're our only hope!"

"Well, I… er…"

Then they did it.

I was the victim of a triple-decker puppy-dog-eyes pout.

Perhaps I could have withstood one, even if it was Anna's. And maybe, just maybe I could've even resisted the combined force of two. But three?

I defy anyone to say no to that.

Shoulders slumping, I gave a long drawn out sigh. "...what time tomorrow?"

All three of them threw up their hands and cheered. After they took a few seconds to settle back down, Kairi said, "Don't worry, we'll get all the deets to you soon! And remember, you're our ace in the hole. Our secret weapon!"

A tiny gulp. "I am?"

"Yup! So don't breathe a single word of this to Lea!"

And breathe a word I did not. Thus, the next day…

"What the…? Oh, hell no!"

At Lea's outburst, I glanced towards him as Kairi, Anna and I walked out into the Space Paranoids lobby. We'd just been freshly geared up with blasters, half-helmets and vests - and by vests, I meant small, impossible-to-hit (at least I thought so anyway) targets over our hearts held in place by glow-in-the-dark, suspender-like straps that latched back behind our shoulders where a second target was located. The helmets also had targets on them, as well as see-through plastic visors that covered our eyes.

The lobby seemed to be split by an invisible line, with what looked to be the Princesses grouped up together on one side and what I could only assume was the Organization on the other, given that Lea was standing with them as he glared daggers at Kairi from across the room. She merely shot him a cheeky smirk and called, "Problem, beanstalk?"

He marched over, crossing enemy lines to glare down his nose at the considerably shorter redhead. "Uh-uh. Nope. Not allowed. I call foul. Objection!"

She snorted, unconcerned as she checked her nails and shrugged. "Dunno what has your panties in such a twist, big guy. Care to enlighten me?"

He jabbed a finger in my direction while still directing his snarl at her, "Get her outta here. She's not part of this, find someone else."

Kairi scoffed, "There's nothing in the rules declaring girlfriends off limits. In fact, there are no rules."

"Well there should be! In fact, I'll draw some up right this damn second!" he huffed, tucking his blaster into the back of his pants before storming over to a counter, behind which a pasty-complexioned employee currently stood. Lea snatched a pen off the countertop before stomping back over to us, angrily jamming his hand into one of his pockets and fishing out something crumpled. Then he slammed it to the wall and attempted to smooth it (without much success), uncapped the pen with his teeth and began scrawling across it.

"Rule 1…" he enunciated as his pen furiously scribbled, "...no… girlfriends…" He paused, then amended, "or boyfriends…" Another pause, then he scribbled it all out and started over. "Rule 1… no… smooch-buddies…" he underlined those first two words three times before continuing," ...on opposite… teams. Period. That's it. That's all… the rules." His pen stabbed down hard with finality before he shoved the crinkled thing with his handwriting all over it in front of Kairi's face. "There. Rules. Happy?"

Kairi dully stared at what he was holding, unfazed. Then her eyelids drooped. "...that's a napkin."

Lea rolled his eyes, "So what? Doesn't make 'em any less ironclad!"

She gingerly took "the rules" from him, eyeing them with a thoughtful nod for a second. Then she looked him dead in the eye as she ripped them in two, forcing a horrified gasp out of him as the shredded halfs fluttered to the ground. "Sorry, I don't recognize your napkin rules. She's playing, so suck it up."

He narrowed his eyes down at her. "I'm onto you. I know what you're doing."

"Oh? What, pray tell, is it that I'm doing?" she asked all sugar-sweet like.

His face pinched and there was a low, annoyed growl in his throat. Then he pointed two fingers at his eyes, then at her, then back and forth a few more times. "I see you, villain!" he hissed before turning away from her to address me now, his face and tone softening. "...can I talk to you real quick? Please?"

I fidgeted with my gun, struggling to keep a straight face after the sheer ridiculousness of the tiny spat I'd just witnessed, especially with them both wearing their little cheap, plastic helmets the whole time and looking absolutely absurd. At my nod, he slipped his hand into mine and led me over to an empty corner of the lobby where we could chat with some small amount of privacy.

"If those girls pressured you into doing this, you can ignore 'em, ya know," he told me quietly, shooting the Princesses one final scowl out of the corner of his eye. "You don't hafta do this if you don't want to."

I bit back a grin. He actually kind of looked adorable right now, sulking like an overgrown child behind that silly eye-visor he was wearing. It was hard to take him seriously. "It's okay. Really. I'll admit, I was a bit nervous and hesitant at first, but this also sounds like it might be kind of fun. It's fine. I want to play."

"But I don't want you to," he frowned, his fingers reaching out to idly fiddle with the tip of my braid. I don't think he even realized he was doing it. "...some of the guys don't hold back, El. Once that starting buzzer blasts, all bets are off and it can get pretty rough in there. You could get seriously hurt."

I slowly shook my head, "But the other girls-"

"-have played this before and know what they're getting into. You don't," he insisted.

I made a small hmph in my throat as my stubbornness began to spark. "How bad could it be? Really?" Glancing back towards the Princesses, I pointed out one of them in particular. "What about her, right there? She's, what… ten? Eleven years old? If you got grade schoolers playing, I think I'll be fine."

"She's one of their scariest players. Seriously, they hop that kid up on a mega shit ton of sugar from the Wonderland candy store until she's stark raving mad, then set her loose to wreak unholy hell in the laser tag grounds."

Huh. On second glance, the little girl did look twitchy. Almost freakishly so.

Sighing, I looked back up at Lea once more. "Look, I told Kairi and the others I would play, and that's what I'm going to do. I'd feel bad backing out now as I doubt they'd be able to replace me at the last second like this. I can take care of myself, you know. I promise I'll be careful, but I am doing this," I brought a comforting hand up to stroke his cheek, my eyes crinkling slightly. "So suck it up."

He snorted, dragging a hand along the nape of his neck and puffing out a heavy breath. "Fine, I guess I can't stop ya. But know this," he hunched down to my eye-level, tapping me lightly on the nose, "if we cross paths in there, don't think I'll go easy on ya."

"Good," I grinned back. "Neither will I."

"Oh-ho, pretty sure of ourselves, are we?" he smiled, rubbing a finger over his chin now. "In that case, care to put a lil wager on this?"

I turned my head to one side, shooting him some side-eye. "...I'm listening."

"How 'bout… whoever is the last one standing between the two of us, wins. And if I win…" his eyes hooded as he ducked down next to my ear, his voice silky and low as he continued, "...you ravage me senseless tonight. Maybe while wearing that lil mini skirt I like ya in so much."

My face warmed. Flirting was a part of relationships that I still wasn't fully accustomed to just yet. Hans had never really done it and it's not like I could simply brush it off as Lea's empty teasing anymore. Clearing my throat, I just asked, "And if I win?"

He gave a soft chuckle, nipping at my earlobe. "Then I'm the one who ravages you senseless."

A tiny smirk tugged at my lips. "...maybe while you're the one wearing the mini skirt?"

Lea shot up straight, eyes wide. Then he laughed, "Deal!"

I stared at him blankly. "I was joking."

"I wasn't. Be careful whatcha wish for," he singsonged, wagging a finger in my face. I merely drooped my eyelids at him and he snerked. Then his hand was cupping the back of my head, pulling me in for a sound kiss to the lips and murmuring, "Good luck."

"You too," my arms hugged his neck as I gave him a light peck in return. "You're going to need it."

"You have way too much confidence for someone who's never played before," he snorted and I just shrugged. Then we reluctantly parted and started making our way back to our respective teams.

I glanced around as I walked, getting a better look at the lobby. It had a very retro futuristic feel to it, what with all its hard angular lines that glowed neon blue and red decorating the walls, ceiling and floor. Even that pale employee behind the counter was dressed head-to-toe to match the room. His nametag read TRON - I had to wonder if that was an actual real name or (more likely) just the name he was assigned while on the job. On the wall beyond the two teams were a pair of doors, one that was dark grey and blue like the colors of the Princesses' helmets, while the other was white and red like the Organization's. I could only assume each group would enter through their matching door once the game was about to start.

Opposite the room from there was a wall made entirely of thick glass, through which could be seen the front desk where customers came in to sign up and pay for laser tag rounds. That area had several flatscreens hanging on the walls showing live feeds of various sections of the laser tag arena for onlookers to observe the match in realtime, so the place was currently packed with a small mob of people who'd come to watch our little face-off. It seemed this annual event drew quite the crowd.

While I didn't recognize most of the faces, there were a few familiar ones here and there. Aqua, Ventus, and Terra grouped together on one side… Yuffie and Leon on another… and over next to Sora, I could even spot Naminé there with a sketchpad in hand. I think she was drawing us players all decked out in our gear. And was that… Vanitas, of all people, trying to cozy up next to her? She seemed oblivious to him. Rayne, on the other hand, most definitely was not. She shoved her baby bump in between the two of them, forcing Vanitas to stumble back a step as she plucked Naminé's art pad from her hands and smacked the goth lord across the face with it. She then handed it back to Naminé, who just went back to sketching as if nothing had happened. Then Rayne was smiling and waving at me through the glass as Riku stepped up behind her to slip his arms around her waist and rest his chin on her shoulder.

As I waved back and took my spot next to Anna with the rest of the girls, I heard a wry voice coming from the enemy team, "Trouble with the lil missus, Flamesilocks?"

"Bite me, Cyclops," Lea snapped as he rejoined his team, his sour mood apparently resurging.

"Heh. As if," that same smug voice shot back. It belonged to a tall man with a jagged scar on one cheek and an eyepatch that looked rather odd to say the least when paired with his helmet's visor. His long black and grey-streaked ponytail swished as he then bent low into a dramatic, mocking bow directed towards another guy with long silver hair who I recognized as the supervisor over at Cinema XIII. "If I may do the honors, oh illustrious leader?"

The man - presumably their team captain - said nothing, just gave an uninterested flick of his hand.

That was all the go-ahead Eyepatch needed. Raising his voice so both teams could hear, he called, "Alright, listen up, scrubs! For most of you, this ain't your first rodeo, but I'll give a quick rundown anyhow seeing as we have a few first-timers in the ranks today. Here's the short and skinny of it: This first round - as in the only round that really matters - is one shot, one kill. Meaning all it takes is one hit and," he smirked, dragging his thumb across his throat, "you're out. Luckily for you gals, friendly fire has been disabled. This is where we separate the real men from the thumb-suckers. And there are zero points this first match, so when all you pretty, pretty Princesses are KO'd-"

"When?" Kairi sneered, narrowing her eyes at him from across the room.

He flashed her a toothy grin. "You hard of hearing, Strawberry Shortcake? Must be all that glitter and unicorns jamming up your earholes. Yes, when all you ladies are down for the count," he jerked his thumb to his chest, "we win. And for any boohooers out there who wanna play by points and multiple lives, don't worry. All the matches after this one are wimp-friendly. But might I suggest instead of relying on those lame handicaps, you all just get good like me?" he puffed up his chest, planting one hand on his hip while twirling his blaster in the other.

Suddenly the target on his vest lit up red and started beeping loudly, indicating he'd been hit. His assailant - a chick on our team with long, wild, curly red hair - lowered her gun with a snort before roaring with laughter while several of the other girls joined in.

Eyepatch chuckled, "Nice potshot, Hotshot. Save it for the game."

I had to wonder if this guy was Xigbar - one of the Organization's three best players besides Lea and Saïx, or so I'd been told. He certainly seemed cocky enough, that was for sure. Then again, cocky didn't necessarily mean he was any good.

As I eyed the other Organization members, I spotted a few I recognized from around the mall. The team leader wasn't the only one from the movie theater - that kid with the emo haircut was there too. So was Larxene, the blonde chick sporting the funky hairdo. I'd finally had a chance to learn her name, seeing as how she was assistant director in the musical I'd joined. The director himself, Marluxia, was there too, as well as Demyx who was helping provide our play's music and who also worked at The Blue Sitar, if I was recalling correctly. Then there was Roxas and Xion, who were doing their best to perk up a still slightly pouty Lea. Saïx was near at hand to those three, although he seemed to be keeping to himself and concentrating… or more like… meditating? Maybe... honing for the upcoming match? Wow, he certainly did take this seriously!

Next in the lineup were the two mall security guards who I'd met that night I'd accidentally pushed The Anger Button on the soft serve/milkshake machine - their names were escaping me at the moment. And lastly, there were two blondes. The first one had a goatee and piercings and I believe I remembered seeing him working at the magic shop here at the mall. The other one wore his hair long and had a chilly expression. I don't think I'd noticed him around the mall ever. In any case, I suppose there was a chance one of them could be Xigbar too.

A siren blast suddenly blared out through the overheard speakers, making me jump as the team doors slid open. Whoops and hollers from the players filled the room as they all started shuffling into their corresponding doorways. Anna hooked her arm through mine, flashed me a grin and dragged me along to follow the others.

"Don't worry, big guy, we'll try to return her to you in one piece," Kairi gave Lea one last parting shot. In response, he merely flipped her the bird as he disappeared through his door and all the Princesses erupted into cackles.

Beyond the doorway was a long winding hallway that got darker and darker the deeper we went, the only light source now coming from those neon glowing lines above, below and all around us. The further in we got, the more it began to look like we had somehow found our way inside a ginormous computer from the 80s. Eventually it brought us to another big room that was decorated in nothing but blue lines - our team's HQ, if I had to take a guess. There were three more sealed doors that would probably lead out to the rest of the map once they opened up, with huge, light-up timers over each one counting down until the start of the match. We had less than five minutes.

Quick introductions were made - I actually knew a handful of the Princesses already. There was Snow White and Tiana, who were in the musical with me. Aurora, who I remembered from auditions. Belle from Friday night drinks at the 7th Heaven. Then some girls I recalled seeing around the mall and was just now getting to know their names: Cindy from The Glass Slipper, Jasmine from Cave of Wonders, and Rapunzel from Hair, Here, Everywhere - gosh, how was she not going to trip over all that hair of hers while she ran around playing laser tag?!

"And this," Kairi went on, gesturing towards the redhead who'd landed a hit on Xigbar earlier during his little speech, "is Merida from over at DunBroch Goods, the camping and sporting goods store. She's our best shot."

"You're damn right I am!" she declared proudly in a thick Scottish accent. "And I've been putting extra time in over at the archery range! All those scaffy dolts aren't gonna know what hit 'em!"

Next Kairi was nodding towards the little twitchy girl. "This here is Alice. She's Luxord's baby sister from over on the other team." I smiled and Anna began to wave, but Kairi grabbed her wrist and lowered it with a subtle shake of her head, whispering, "Try not to make eye contact."

Apparently lost in the sugar-rush sauce, Alice just gave another twitch.

"And last but most certainly not least, this is Kida from Atlantis Electronics," Kairi pointed to a girl with long white hair and a blue face tattoo who grinned big, "annnnnnd Moana from Heart of Te Fiti, the lil surf outlet we have here." The chick with a mane of frizzy black hair next to Kida wiggled her fingers in greeting.

"Right, that's everyone! Now, onto the plan of attack!" Kairi clapped her hands and rubbed them together with an evil gleam in her eyes. "Everyone knows their positions except for the newbies. Anna, stick close to Alice and Punzie."

"Got it!" my sister nodded before giving a tiny squeal and bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Ahhh! I'm so excited!"

Kairi then looked to me, "As for you, you're with Merida and me. We'll keep you safe until we can track down your boy toy. Then it's all up to you to do your stuff!"

My forehead wrinkled. "My… stuff?"

"Ya know," she waggled her eyebrows at me. "Work that groove thang, girlfriend!"

...first it was feminine wiles. Now apparently I also had a "groove thang?"

I was learning so much about myself within the past twenty-four hours.

"Once you got him good and distracted and all puddy in your sweet lil hands, Merida and I will be sure to put him six feet under," Kairi smirked, squeezing one eye shut as she aimed her blaster and mimed firing it, shouting, "Blam!" before blowing the imaginary smoke away from the barrel and beaming.

"Blue combatants prepare to enter the Grid in sixty seconds," a synthesized female voice announced over the sound system.

Kairi glanced up at it, then added, "Now! Real fast before the game starts, let's show you ladies how these bad boys work!"

In the scant time we had remaining, Anna and I were given a quick rundown on how to aim and reload our guns. Then we broke into smaller groups that stood ready at each of the three doors that would soon open. As my teammates started giggling and counting down the final seconds in a loud chant, I swallowed hard.

All that confidence I'd been flaunting to Lea earlier? Yeah, nothing but talk. Now that the time was finally upon us, icy anxiety began to flood my veins and my free hand came up to twist at my braid. On its own, playing laser tag for the first time was scary enough since I really had no idea what I was doing. But all this talk tossed around about feminine wiles and, er… groove thangs? Wasn't helping. I wasn't sure if I could pull off what the Princesses were asking me to do.

...Rayne had said me just existing around Lea would trip him up. Maybe that would be enough? Maybe-

Another siren blast startled me once again and those big metallic doors slid open. Alice let loose a blood curdling war cry that was surprisingly loud for one so small before charging off out of her door. Anna mimicked her with a bellow of her own as she and Rapunzel raced after her. "Come on!" Kairi snagged my elbow and I staggered into a run between her and Merida as we exited through our own doorway with Moana and Kida bringing up the rear.

The place was an absolute maze inside. We took so many turns that it wasn't long before I was utterly lost and couldn't have found my way back to HQ if I'd even tried. Each new section we entered looked exactly the same as the last. It was all just dim lighting and those glowing blue, red, and now orange lines. Part of me was beginning to wonder if we were just running around in circles.

I could hear muffled shouts and digital blasts echoing from beyond the walls surrounding us, coming from somewhere that sounded far away and making me wonder just how big this map really was. Regardless, each zip and every zap that reached my ears had me flinching and almost stumbling over my own two feet as I ran. I was getting more and more on edge with every passing second.

Alright, Elsa, deep breath. In and out. Nothing to worry about. This is easy. This is fun, in fact… or so I'm told, anyway... Just relax and have a good time. It's a new experience. We like new experiences, right? New experiences are great. New experiences can be liberating. New experiences-

"Watch our backs!" Moana suddenly yelled.

I jolted and started to spin around to look back at her, "Wha-?"

She shoved me out of the way, getting us both around a corner to use for cover just as the sound of laser fire reverberated down the hallway we'd just come from. Breathing heavily, Moana gave me a firm nod and a fierce grin. "You're welcome!"

I just stared wide-eyed back at her, panting to catch my breath after all the running. Then she was ducking low and darting across to the other side of the hall, laying down cover fire as she went.

"Damn," Kairi hissed as she and the other two girls pressed their backs against the wall next to me. "How'd they get around behind us so fast?!"

"Embrace the nothingness!" someone roared from the other end of the hall before several blasts went off.

Returning fire, Moana called over to us, "Sounds like its Xemnas! He has someone else with him, but I can't quite make out-"

More rapid laser zaps cut her words off, followed by someone else snarling, "Grovel before me!"

Wait… I knew that voice… but no, there was just no possible way it could actually be-

"Crap," Kairi hissed, face turning stark white. "Saïx."

I stand corrected. Apparently, it could be and in fact was him.

Talk about being a completely different person! It seemed laser tag turned Saïx from Dr Jekyll into Mr Hyde.

As the gun fight grew louder around me, my heart began to pound in my ears, my knees shook, and my mouth went dry. I felt totally paralyzed and had to keep reminding myself that this was fun. Just... oodles and oodles of fun!

Oh dear, I was hyperventilating a bit…

...hyperventilating from all the fun, of course!

Kida was suddenly in front of me. I think she'd sensed my anxiety, because she was gripping my shoulder tightly and giving me a warm reassuring smile. "All will be well, Elsa," she told me calmly, soothingly… right before her face twisted ferociously as she leaned around the corner and shot off her blaster several times while letting loose a banshee shriek, making me flinch. Then she pulled back to reload and look me in the eye again, face serene once more. "Be not afraid."

...right. Okay. I came, I saw, I experienced… I'm done. Where's the exit to this ride? I want off.

To Kairi and Merida, Kida said, "The three of you keep going, find the target! Merida and I will keep them busy here and get them off your backs. Go!"

"Roger! Let's get outta here!" Kairi snatched my wrist, pulling me along with her. Merida shot off a few final blasts down the hallway behind us to help the other Princesses before dashing after us. I took one last look back to see Kida and Moana locked in a heated laser battle with our opponents before I lost sight of them as we took a sharp turn down a new corridor.

We hadn't been running for long when a tiny, red vertical slash lit up in the upper right corner of my visor. Huh… so these things had some kind of display built into them? But what did it-

The overhead speakers let out a long, resounding beep followed by that female announcer voice again, "Red combatant derezzed."

"Yes! We drew first blood! Take that, Organization trash!" Kairi crowed happily.

Ah, so the display was showing me a sort of… death count? I guess? I don't even know. There was a lot going on and I was just struggling to stay sane and-

"Freeze!" a new voice abruptly shouted.

So I did.

I froze.

Because, I mean, that's what you're supposed to do when someone yells that at you, right?

Apparently not. At least, not when you're playing laser tag.

"What are you- ugh, get down here!" Kairi was suddenly yanking me to the ground where she and Merida had dove for cover behind a low barrier just as I heard more blaster shots going off, presumably aimed right where I had just been standing like a deer caught in the headlights. Shaking her head at me, Kairi sighed, "Never fall for that. It's the oldest trick in the laser tag book. Vexen tries it every. Damn. Year."

As enemy fire abruptly died down, presumably so they could reload, Merida sprung up to her feet and released a torrent of zaps from her gun, roaring, "Choke on my laser, ye gutless, lily-livered bawbags!"

"Yeah! What she said!" Kairi popped up from our hiding spot as well to blast off a barrage herself.

Not wanting to feel left out and just now remembering I was in fact holding a gun that I'd all but forgotten about since the match started, I squeezed my eyes shut, lifted said gun up above the barricade and pulled the trigger, blindly firing several shots into the fray and hoping for the best.

Woo, look at me. I'm helping.

As my two teammates ducked back down to reload, Merida shouted, "Don't think I didn't see ye skulking behind that pylon, ye namby-pamby, scone-guzzling twat! Best get running with your tail tucked between those toothpicks ye call legs cuz we got ye outnumbered three to two!"

"My my, that does sound pretty grim for us, doesn't it?" a male, distinctly British voice called back. "But maybe the odds are more in our favor than you realize. By my count, we're the ones who have you outmanned four to three."

Merida and Kairi exchanged a look. Then Kairi scoffed, "You're bluffing!"

"Maybe… then again, maybe not… do you really want to roll the dice and risk it?"

Now Kairi lowered her voice so only we could hear her, "Definitely bluffing. Merida, let's go see if we can sneak around and get the drop on 'em." She then glanced towards me. "Stay here. I'll call out when it's safe for you to follow."

I blanched. "But-"

"You'll be fine, trust me. Just stay down, keep your back to this barricade, point your gun that way," she nodded towards the corridor we'd come from, "and pull the trigger if anything so much as moves. The advantage is yours from this position. We'll make it quick, so just keep your head down and wait for my signal." And with that, the two of them slipped off into the shadows and I quickly lost sight of them.

So I did as I was told. I stayed on the ground, knees hugged to my chest as I aimed my blaster and waited. There was a slight tremor to my fingers. The sound of blood rushing in my ears made it hard to hear much else.

Gosh, this was really just… so much fun.

It felt like an absolute eternity, but it was probably only seconds before I heard the fighting break out from beyond the barrier I was using for cover. Sounded like the girls had found them, as their maniacal laughter mingled with the digital blasts filling the air. Then Kairi was yelling, "We got 'em on the run! C'mon, Elsa!"

Jerking at the sound of my name, I scrambled to stand only to catch my foot on something and crash back down to the floor hard.

Ow.

Elsa, Queen of Grace and Dexterity.

Picking myself back up and dusting off the knees of my leggings, I ran towards where I'd heard her voice coming from…

...only to find no one there.

The area was completely empty except for me.

Fudge, they'd probably gone chasing after Vexen and that British guy, thinking I was right behind them. Which I would have been if I hadn't tripped over my own two friggin' feet. Worst still, I had no clue where they'd gone and three different archways to choose from.

Now what, oh Nimble One?

...should I just wait here and hope they come back for me? That'd probably be the smartest call. Better than blindly picking a direction to run off in and getting myself even more lost.

Several far-off blasts from behind me made me wince.

...then again, I was standing out in the open and an easy target. Maybe it would be better to just select a path, start running, and hope the next person I came across would be one of my teammates. But now, how to choose which way to go?

Eeny… meeny… miny…

More laser fire went off from behind, this time closer and making my heart leap up into my throat.

Screw it, that one, just go!

I didn't even know which hallway I'd picked, I just took off and didn't look back. My feet propelled me forward, not hesitating whenever new forks in the road appeared. I'd just take a turn on impulse and keep going. A left here, a right there, and another right. Far too soon however, I was puffing for breath. I couldn't keep this pace up, I needed a break.

As I slowed to a walk, sweating and chest heaving, I held my gun up at the ready. I was jumpy as I crept along now, twitching at every distant hollar, laugh, or laser burst. Something rattled behind me and I gasped, spinning on my heel and jerking my blaster around to point at… nothing. I narrowed my eyes and kept my weapon aimed behind me as I started inching backwards, heart jackhammering and breathing shallow.

If anyone was back there, they certainly weren't going to get the jump on me! No sir! I was vigilant. My eyes were keen, like that of a hawk! No one was going to be sneaking up on me, nuh-uh, not today, not-

"Pssssst."

The sudden low noise in my ear sent a chill running up my spine, making me yelp and nearly drop my gun. My hands desperately fumbled it for a second before catching it at last and I whipped around to target-

"Lea?!" I squeaked out.

Quite valiantly, I might add.

He'd already leapt back to put some space between us with his own weapon trained on the target over my heart.

So there we were. Locked in a mortal standoff. Our fated clash to the death would soon be upon us. You could all but hear the-

"You're holding your gun backwards, ya know," he said flatly, eyelids drooping.

...so I was. Heh… oopsie. I hastily corrected it, almost dropping it again before managing to direct the barrel at Lea instead of myself.

Now where was I...? Ah, that's right!

So there we were. Locked in a mortal standoff. Our fated clash to the death would soon be upon us. You could all but hear that whistling tune that plays in cowboy movies right before a pair of desperados have a shootout. Only one of us would be walking away the victor here.

...was it wrong that I was starting to relax and feel comforted by Lea's presence?

Yes. Yes it was. He was the enemy! And I had a job to do! To be fair, that job had only just been to play decoy while somebody else took him out. But seeing as how I was the only one here, looks like I'd just been promoted to executioner.

But now, how to get that killing blow? It wasn't just as simple as shooting. I could see the way he was warily watching me. I knew the second I started to squeeze my trigger finger, Lea'd be dodging out of the line of fire and then it'd be curtains for me. I had to catch him off guard first, distract him somehow or-

Ah-ha! This was it! The moment we'd all been waiting for! It was my time to shine!

Alright, feminine wiles… go!

...aaaaaany time now.

Hmmm… nothing.

Alright, you're up, groove thang. Care to take a crack at it?

...I'll take your silence as a no.

Well, fudge. Now what?

...wait! Hold on… something was possibly stirring…

Yes, I think I might be feeling a feminine wile coming on!

Oh yeah. This was definitely it. Get ready, here it comes…

I clicked my tongue and winked at him.

Nailed it.

Lea blinked at me. Then he snerked and choked back a laugh, shaking his head, "What was that?"

I hesitated, shifting my feet awkwardly. "...my, uh... my feminine wiles?"

Now he spluttered, struggling to keep his gun pointed at me. "El. Sugar-darlin'. Honey-boo. I adore you, you know I do. I worship the very ground you walk on and think you're smart, gorgeous, perfect and God's gift to all mankind. But babe… you wouldn't know a feminine wile if one came right up to you and bit you on the nose."

My spine snapped straight and I blushed. "I would too! I… I have feminine wiles!"

"Uh-huh, sure ya do. By the way," he pointed at a spot behind me, "what's that?"

I rolled my eyes at him, "You really expect me to fall for-"

In the blink of an eye, he'd kicked my blaster out of my hands and sent it clattering to the ground.

Huh. Guess he didn't even need me to fall for it. Apparently it was enough for me to just be irked at him for thinking me so easily tricked.

Crud, he was way better at this whole distraction thing than I was.

"Say goodnight, babydoll," he smirked, aiming his weapon at the target on my chest once again. I held my breath, screwed my eyes shut, twisted my face into a grimace, balled my hands at my sides and waited. Any second now, my target would vibrate and beep, announcing I'd been hit and taken out.

...only nothing was happening.

Why was nothing happening?

Slowly, I creaked one eye open. Lea was still standing there, still with his gun pointed at me… but for some reason, he hadn't pulled the trigger yet. Gone was the smug look on his face, now replaced with a tiny, sour frown. He grit his teeth angrily, his blaster wavering slightly before he lowered it and growled, "Goddamnit!" Then he ducked down and snatched my gun up off the floor, holstering it into the waistband of his pants at his hip.

I cocked my head at him. "Lea? What are you-"

That's as far as I got before he was then picking me up by the waist and flopping me over his shoulder like a rag doll. With one hand maintaining a grip on my legs to keep me secure while still holding his weapon in the other, he took off running.

I grabbed at the back of his shirt to prop myself up and turned my head so I could yell at him, "Just what exactly do you think you're doing?!"

He didn't break stride, just kept speeding straight ahead. "What's it look like I'm doing? I'm taking you hostage!"

"But that's not how the game is played!" I snapped back, making a grab for a metal bar sticking out of one of the walls as we rushed past, my fingers latching on.

He stumbled and nearly toppled over backwards, but caught himself. "Shit! Leggo, you lil..." he pried my fingers free before taking off again. "And I can play the game however I damn well like! Deal with it!"

Huffing out a grumbling breath, I just hung my head and let myself be carried off to wherever it was that he was taking me.

Turned out to be the Organization's HQ. I mean, that was my best guess anyway by the look of it, considering how similar it was to the Princess's HQ. The only difference was there were nothing but glowing red lines decorating every surface in here instead of blue.

"Now what?" I heard a voice unhappily mutter. Sounded like Larxene but I couldn't see her to verify, not with ninety percent of my vision being filled up by Lea's upside down backside and the other ten percent taken up by a lovely view of the floor.

"Whaddya mean, now what? What are you guys still doing in here?" Lea asked as he slid me off his shoulder and unceremoniously plopped me down onto one of the benches that lined the inside of the HQ's walls. I started to stand back up, but Lea narrowed his eyes at me and held a finger up in front of my face, "Ah-Ah!"

I sighed through my nose but stayed put, crossing my arms and slouching down into my seat.

Now that I could see the rest of the room better, I was able to confirm that it was indeed Larxene who'd spoken, with Marluxia in here as well. Larxene quirked an eyebrow at me but apparently decided not to comment just yet, instead opting to answer Lea's question. "We're trying to drag this dumb loser off his lazy ass and get him out into the fight," she ground out through her teeth, pointing at-

Oh! Apparently Demyx was in here too! Almost didn't spot him cowering behind that column over there.

Lea groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Crap, this again? He does this every damn year! We seriously need to stop recruiting him!"

"That's what I keep saying!" Demyx piped up. Or rather, his voice did. The guy himself remained in hiding.

"Dude. Why do you bother signing up every year if you don't even wanna play?" Lea shook his head.

"Because Larxene always threatens to taze me until my nose lights up brighter than Rudolph's if I don't," he whimpered, just barely poking his head out now. Then he seemed to spot me for the first time. "Oh! Hey Elsa!" he waved cheerily.

"Hi Demyx," I mumbled, returning a halfhearted wave myself.

Larxene slammed the sole of her boot against the column, making him squeak and hide again. She snarled, "This fuckwit's actually a halfway decent player whenever we finally manage to chase the damn baby out of his hidey-hole and-"

"Lea! There you are!" Roxas suddenly came barreling in through one of the doors, his sneakers skidding to a stop as he doubled over, wheezing for breath. "We've been looking everywhere for you!"

Xion was hot on his heels, stumbling to a halt beside him and huffing, "You shouldn't have run off on your own like that! Why'd you come back- oh, hey there, Elsa!" she blinked at me in surprise, tilting her head slightly. "What are you doing here?"

Marluxia settled his cool gaze on me, "Yes… why indeed?"

Larxene pulled a face and spat, "Ugh, Firecracker! Please tell me you didn't sneak back here so you could make out with your little girlfriend! You seriously need to stop thinking below the belt all the time!"

"Agreed," Marluxia nodded with a frown. "You should learn to show some decorum. Xemnas will be most displeased when he finds out you were squandering precious game time to nurture your budding romance."

Shaking his head and rapidly waving his hands back and forth in front of him, Lea said, "Guys, guys, it's not- Ah!" he exclaimed the last syllable in warning to me as I tried to get up again to tiptoe off. Placing a hand on my shoulder and pushing me back down firmly into my seat, he addressed the others again, "It's not like that! I just-"

"We don't have time for this!" Xion cut in. "Why is half our team just chilling back here at the base? Get all your butts out there before everyone else gets slaughtered!"

Lea batted his hand through the air, "It's fine, Xigbar's out there! That psycho could take out the whole other team solo with one hand tied behind his back!"

As if on cue, two blue slashes suddenly lit up in the upper left corner of my visor opposite of the red one from earlier. Overhead, that synthesized female voice announced, "Blue combatant derezzed," twice, one for each mark.

"See?" Lea pointed up towards the speakers triumphantly.

"Wait…" Roxas's brow furrowed. "...those were the first two kills our team's gotten… meaning…" he was eyeing me now.

"Son of a… she's not dead yet?! Firecracker, you dumbass!" Larxene hissed, whipping her blaster up and aiming it at me.

Lea was quick to jump between her and me, his hands shooting up in a placating gesture, "Woah now, easy there!"

Not lowering her weapon, she yelled, "The hell do you think you're doing, bringing her back here alive?! Just shoot her already!"

"C'mon, give her a break, it's her first time playing!" Lea argued back. "I just wanna make sure she has a good time! She can't do that if she gets eliminated right out the damn gate."

Larxene made a noise of disgust in her throat. "You are seriously whipped, numbnuts. What'd she do to get you to fold like a wet paper towel, just bat her lashes and pout and go," she poked a finger into her cheek and mockingly cooed, "pwease don't shoot me, I'm just a poor, defenseless widdle girl!"

My shoulders tensed and I snapped, "I most certainly did not-"

"Butt out, Princess! This is Organization business," Larxene growled.

Roxas sniggered as he flumped down beside me on the bench, "Ignore her, she's just cranky."

"Yeah, we lurve you," Xion sat down on my other side, beaming and making a heart with her hands.

Lea was rubbing the back of his head with his gun. "Look, I just wanted her to have fun, is that so wrong?"

A scoff erupted from Larxene. "Yeah, sure, cuz getting taken hostage is so much fun!"

"More fun than being dead in the first five minutes!"

She was glaring down at his hip now, something having caught her eye there apparently. "Wait a minute, is that…? For fuck's sake, you brought her gun too, bonehead?! The hell is the matter with you, are you trying to get us all shot?!"

Rolling his eyes, Lea brushed it off, "Relax, I won't let her get her hands back on it. I just didn't want it to get lost or totally busted and for them to charge her with some bullshit replacement fee for the thing. And trust me: me taking her hostage is a good thing."

Larxene fixed him with a dull stare. "...I think your brain is what's lost or totally busted."

"No, hear me out!" He tossed a hand in my direction, "El is valuable to the Princesses and they know she hasn't been eliminated yet. Once they realize we got her prisoner, they're gonna make stupid moves trying to get her back. They'll be easy pickings!"

"It would seem to me that you're the one making stupid moves," Marluxia deadpanned.

Lea snapped his fingers and tapped his nose, "Exactly! That's why the Princesses'll want her back! To make sure she stays in the game and messing with my head! But if we keep her here and alive, then I'm less likely to screw up while the Princesses keep tripping all over themselves trynta to rescue her! It's a win-win!"

The silence stretched for a bit. Then Larxene sidestepped so she could point her blaster at me again, "I'm just gonna shoot her."

As Lea moved to block her again, Marluxia placed a hand on her weapon and gently pushed it down. "No, let's hold off. His plan, ridiculous as it may be, holds some merit. Let's see how it plays out."

Larxene wrinkled her nose and gaped. "You have got to be shitting me." However, Marluxia's stern look brooked no argument. Curling her lip with a tch, she grumbled, "Fine, whatever. But you!" She marched up to Lea, stabbing her finger into his chest several times, "This is your dumb idea, so your stupid ass gets to be the one to watch her!"

"Lea has so just earned himself a date with Larxene's taser after the match," Xion whispered with a giggle.

Roxas snerked under his breath as he looked to me, "Hope you like your boyfriends with enough electricity coursing through 'em to power a small toaster oven."

"What are you two twerps snickering about?!" Larxene turned her wrath on the pair of them now and they both yelped. "Get off your asses, get out there and bring me those Princesses' heads on pikes or don't come back all!" They leapt up to their feet and bolted out of there as if their lives depended on it. Which, let's face it… they very well might've.

Now Larxene's dark scowl zeroed in on the column that Demyx was using for cover as she snarled, "And you!" A terrified squeak could be heard from beyond the pillar. Muttering a long string of curse words, Larxene stomped over and disappeared behind it as well. Then there was a high-pitched scream before Demyx tore out of the base like a bat out of hell. Re-emerging and dusting her hands together, Larxene smirked with a satisfied sigh, "I do so love being part of a team. The feeling of encouraging and uplifting my fellow players can be so rewarding."

Retrieving her blaster from where she'd tucked it into the top of her pants, she glanced to Marluxia and jerked her chin towards one of the doorways. "Now let's go snuff out some Princesses!" However, as she was moving past Lea, she stopped to narrow her eyes at him. "...swear to god, Firecracker, if we lose because of your bullshit here, I'll-"

"Yeah, yeah, my head will be the one on a pike, I get it! Will ya just beat it already?" Lea lazily shooed her away with his gun.

She glowered but said nothing more, simply stepped outside the door and waited for Marluxia. As for Marluxia himself, he walked over to Lea and fixed him with a hard stare. "I trust when the proper time comes, you won't hesitate to pull the trigger," he told him, shooting a meaningful look my way out of the corner of his eye.

"Not for a heartbeat," Lea waved a dismissive hand. Marluxia squinted at him. "What, I won't! I hate losing just as much as you do, Mr Bubble Yum!"

If Marluxia felt reassured, he didn't show it. Regardless, he faced me now. "No hard feelings, of course. See you at rehearsal tomorrow."

"...looking forward to it," I muttered back as he slipped out the doorway to join Larxene, the two of them stealthily sprinting off.

Now that it was just down to the two of us, Lea glanced towards me with a tiny frown. Then he looked away and readied his weapon, poising it in front of him. He began patrolling from one HQ door to the next, keeping an eye out for any foolhardy, would-be rescuers.

The minutes slowly ticked by. Save for the occasional announcement whenever another player had been derezzed, the silence was absolute. Were this any other time, Lea would probably be cuddling up close to me and delightedly chatting my ear off. But not now. Not while there was a laser tag game to be won. Apparently, laser tag was very serious business. At least, if his expression and posture as he stood guard right now were any indicators, that is.

After a time, I released a low sigh. If anyone was trying to come save me, they were certainly taking their sweet time about it. I felt restless. My muscles were stiff from sitting still for so long. So, I gave a small stretch and began to rise to my feet.

In a flash, Lea had his gun's crosshairs centered on me. "Hey, hey, hey! Plop that cute lil butt of yours back down, Missy!" he ordered, gesturing the barrel of his blaster down towards where I'd been seated.

I hitched my chin. "The bench is hard and uncomfortable. Just let me stand and stretch my legs for a min-" I took a step forward and I winced, a soft hiss escaping me. "Ah, my ankle!"

He blinked, then his eyelids drooped. "Please, that lame ol' trick? Nice try, but I wasn't born yesterday."

"It's not a trick, I think I'm really hurt!" I huffed. Then setting my lips into a grim line, I gingerly tested putting some weight on it. "...you must have smacked it against something while you were manhandling me earlier and- ow!" My ankle gave out and I stumbled forward.

Lea instinctively moved to catch me, his arms wrapping around my waist while mine latched around his neck for support. But then his eyes were immediately suspicious and his empty hand clasped protectively over where he had my weapon holstered.

I rolled my eyes at him with a scoff. "You actually think I would go to this much trouble if I were only faking it? All just to get my stupid gun back? Seriously?"

He continued watching me skeptically, his hand remaining steadfast over my blaster. "...maybe, maybe not. Jury's still out."

"Damn it, Lea, this really hurts!" I snapped at him.

I felt his muscles relax somewhat as he puffed out a breath, bringing his free hand up to ruffle at his hair now. "Then why ya standing on it, dummy? Go on, sit back down."

"No," I turned my head to one side with a tiny hmph. "I told you already, that bench is uncomfortable."

"Whaddya expect, it's a bench. You'll live," he laughed incredulously. Then he was carefully shifting me around, mindful of my ankle as he took a seat himself to demonstrate. "See? Perfectly fine. Now c'mon El, please, if you would just-"

I finally sat back down.

Right on his lap.

I felt him tense beneath me. Then he was shaking his head with a chuckle as he brought up his hand to tweak my nose, "Cheeky."

Slipping my arms back around his neck once more, I drew in a deep breath before giving a pleased little exhale. "Ah, much more comfy."

"I would hope so," one corner of his lips twitched up. Then he was setting his gun down on the bench beside him and readjusting me in his lap a bit so he could more easily reach down, gently feeling my ankle. I flinched, sucking in a little breath. His eyebrows knit together, "Sorry… hm, doesn't seem to be any swelling, so probably isn't sprained or fractured. Guessing it just got banged pretty good. Probably only gonna leave a nasty bruise."

My eyes crinkled as I watched him. "...it's sweet."

"What's that?" he asked absently, still cautiously inspecting my ankle.

"The way you always take care of me." I leaned in closer to murmur into his ear, "It's sweet."

Lea stiffened, then cleared his throat as he straightened back up in his seat and laughed sheepishly. "What can I say? Gotta make sure my lady's taken care of!"

I gave him a warm smile before resting my head on his shoulder, my arms hugging more tightly around him as I sighed against his neck with a soft, "Hmmm."

He shivered and echoed a low, "Hm?"

"Nothing really." My fingers began to lightly toy with the hairs at the nape of his neck as my lips brushed along the side of his throat. "Just trying to think of how I might show you my gratitude later."

"...well, I might have a… few suggestions…" There was a gruffness to his voice now as I felt his thumb idly stroking along the curve of my hip.

"Mm, I'd love to hear them," I hummed a quiet laugh as I trailed my hand down his chest, avoiding the target strapped to it as I went. Then I lifted my head once more to meet his gaze while using my other hand to press a fingertip to his lips, silencing him before he could answer me. "But first… told ya."

His eyes hooded as he playfully nipped at my finger before ducking his head down to press kisses to my jawline as he whispered, "Told me what?"

"That I have feminine wiles."

His whole body went rigid. "Motherfu-"

Too late. I already had my gun back, barrel directly up against the target over his heart. I pulled the trigger and-

"Red combatant derezzed."

"Ha!" I dropped the blaster and shot up to my feet, hopping up and down in triumph on my fine, healthy, and one hundred percent pain-free ankles. Lea groaned and slumped down in his seat, thumping the back of his head against the wall a few times. His moping only made victory taste all the more sweet. Giggling, I lightly clapped my hands a few times before holding my palms together, pressing my fingertips to my huge grin.

My tiny victory party of one was interrupted however as someone else suddenly came charging inside the base. I turned and gasped as their feet came to a screeching stop, revealing the person to be none other than that weirdo with the eyepatch.

He took one look at me, both eyebrows shooting up his forehead. "What the…?" Then with a bemused smirk, he aimed his weapon at me, "Oh-ho no, not on my watch. As if!" He fired and, well… as you could probably guess…

"Blue combatant derezzed."

With a self-satisfied snerk, Eyepatch twirled his gun and took off running once more, disappearing out the door opposite the one he'd come in through.

...well then.

My stint as a legendary, professional laser tag assassin supreme may have been brief, but it had been undeniably glorious.

"That was a cheap, dirty underhanded trick ya pulled," Lea said, pulling my attention back to him as he stood up and removed his helmet, shaking out his crimson spikes. Then his lips stretched into a crooked smile, "One I completely saw through, by the way."

I arched an eyebrow at him, biting back a small grin. "Oh really?"

Tucking his helmet under his arm, he then reached out to undo mine as well. "Mm-hm! You were as transparent as a soap bubble."

"If I was being so obvious, why'd you play along then?" I challenged, crossing my arms.

"Rather, the question you should be asking is... why wouldn't I play along?" He ruffled my bangs before offering me my helmet with a wink. "Never have I more thoroughly enjoyed being proven so totally wrong."

I felt heat creeping up the back of my neck as I took it from him, averting my gaze with a dignified sniff. "I don't believe you. I don't think you saw through it at all."

He snorted, scratching a finger behind his ear. "Alright, ya got me. Can't blame a guy for trynta salvage what lil dignity he has left! But damn, El, you've been holding out on me. Where've you been hiding those lil moves of yours this whole time?"

Rocking on my heels a bit, I mulled over it for a second. Honestly, I'd even surprised myself a bit there. Only reason I hadn't been blushing furiously the whole time was because I wasn't really here to fraternize - it'd just been a means to an end. I'd had a job to do. Finally, I gave a tiny shrug, "Suppose I just needed the right incentive."

"That incentive being making me eat crow on this most holy of battlefields that is laser tag."

I smiled brightly. "Bingo."

He crinkled his eyes at me, then sighed and dragged a hand across the nape of his neck. "Shit, the rest of the team is gonna be out for my blood when they find out 'bout this. We're talking torches, pitchforks, the whole nine damn yards." However, he was next flashing me that dimple of his as he retrieved both our weapons, holding them together in one hand. "Still, was definitely worth it for this lil revelation. I'm telling ya, never woulda thought you had it in you, especially not while we were entertaining an audience no less."

"An audience?" I repeated, frowning. Then I slowly shook my head, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Did you forget?" A half grin tugged at his lips as he pointed up at a corner of the ceiling where one of the arena's cameras could be spotted. "Big Brother's watching."

Just about every last drop of blood drained out of my face.

Fudge, the cameras! All over this damn arena! Feeding a live stream of events as they unfolded here back to anyone watching in the store front! And there had been a lot of people there, meaning…

...every single one of them had just had a front row seat for watching me seduce my boyfriend.

Bolting behind Lea to hide from the camera, my arms clutched around his waist as I buried my now roasting face into his back.

Oh, what I wouldn't give for the cold, sweet embrace of death right about now.

Laughing softly, Lea patted his hand over mine, weaving our fingers together but not removing it from where I still had it clasped against his stomach. "C'mon, we're not s'posed to linger this long after getting KO'd. Let's find a way out. Your adoring fans await."

Remaining firmly latched onto him from behind, I staggered as he began to lead us towards the nearest exit. "I don't think I can face any of them ever again," I muffled into his back. "I am never going to live this down."

"Well, we can hole up in one of the equipment rooms between matches, but that'll only buy you a lil time. Sooner or later they'll hafta kick us out when this place closes up for the night." As he pushed open a door beneath a glowing green EXIT sign, he glanced back at me over his shoulder with a smirk. "But you got bigger problems to worry 'bout now, boo."

I glanced back up at him, gnawing on my bottom lip. "...what do you mean?"

"Now that I know you've got feminine wiles, I'm gonna expect you to start using 'em more."

Author's Notes: It's the face-off of the century, the battle you've all been waiting for… Organization XIII vs The Princesses of Hearts! Gosh, now I want fanart of all of them decked out in laser tag gear and glaring each other down! Could look hella badass! Anyhoo, I think this chapter might have been even more jam-packed with references than that 7th Heaven chapter xD I went with OG Org as you can tell cuz, one, they're my fave incarnation of the Org, and two, let's face it… old man Xehanort would probably break a hip playing laser tag xD And of course, all the official Princesses of Hearts made an appearance, plus a few extras, any of which would get my vote for being one of the mystery New 7 Hearts that were never revealed in KH3! Minor fun fact: If you didn't recognize them, Xemnas's and Saïx's lines were direct battle quotes from the video games. I would've liked to have done the same for Vexen, but I couldn't figure out how to make any of his battle quotes fit, so I took the lame, cheesy way out by just having him shout "Freeze!" xD As for which team won this first match… Princesses finally managed to break the Organization's winning streak, woo! Yeah, Lea barely survived the wrath of his fellow teammates after their crushing defeat xD  I was originally trying to figure out a way to fit this laser tag chapter into the main story, but decided in the end it would be more fun if Lea and Elsa were already a couple for it - certainly had more fun with the chapter's ending that way at least ;D

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to those of you who’ve liked, reblogged, and followed so far, seeing those lil notifications always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

See ya next week for the next bonus chapter, which will have a lil more substance than this one xD Your clue phrase this time is... hair dye. What could that possibly have to do with next chapter?! Stay tuned and find out!

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER  | | NEXT CHAPTER

#kingdom hearts #frozen #elsa #axel #fanfiction #lea #fanfic #kingdom hearts fanfiction #frozen fanfiction #kh fanfiction #kh fanfic #frozen fanfic #kingdom hearts fanfic #axelsa #fluff #romcom #slow burn #kh3 #my writing #ice cream and fire oven pizza #rare pair #crossover pairing #humor #snark #fake dating au

[marylorson-blog]

“Rolling Thunder”  excerpted from Signals: a performance memoir 

                                      Featured May 2020 on          Unfictional https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/unfictional

I wasn't a bastard but I still felt kind of illegitimate. Dad and Mom had eloped, three months after meeting. My sisters from Mom’s first marriage loved him like mad, but then one day Dad vanished, before I could form a single memory of him. 

I've always wondered why that day was the finale. How do you walk away from a beaming little two-year-old face, one that looks like you?   I was there, but unaware. I want the scene.   

My sisters say: Dad was great.  

Mom says: All you need to know is he walked away. 

Dad said: Mom kicked him out that day, that he crammed his suits and stereo into the Mustang  and rushed to the city for a meeting, paying a kid twenty bucks to guard the car, which was empty anyway when he came back out. 

Later, once I knew him, I asked: “Was there another woman?”  

His answer: “There must have been.”   

THEY BLAMED IT ALL ON ALCOHOL. 

Mom said: infidelity wasn't the only problem; unofficial-seeming “bill collectors” were showing up at the house.  

My sisters said: Dad made life fun, played the piano, adored Mom. But skillets and invectives would fly in the night...and then Dad went missing, with hundreds of thousands of some investor’s dollars. 

By the time my sisters were 8, 10 and 11, they had lost two fathers.    

Mom hadn’t worked since modeling before her first marriage. She borrowed tuition for a full-time secretarial course and sent me to stay with her brother, another charming alcoholic with money problems and a fed-up wife. Mom and the girls stayed behind, in the lovely house on Manor Lane. 

I rejoined them fifteen months and few blocks but a world away, in a garden apartment behind the Country Club. Mom kept the crystal chandelier and her gown from the Kennedy Inaugural, and a suite of heavy furniture that wasn’t made for small rooms. 

Sometime later, Dad called Mom for a friendly chat. He was glad to hear she was in love and admitted that he and his girlfriend had a baby. He asked her to sign some papers for a Tijuana divorce. Sure, Mom said, and I’ll take the trip too. She came back with castanets and a tan. I remember understanding that my parents would never get back together.

I had Dad's nose and hair and musicality, but couldn’t remember a thing about him. Mom said I was lucky I didn't know what I was missing. The older girls talked about their happy chapter with my dad all the time, but I’d wait alone out front for the Mustang that didn't come.  

One day, though, he showed, and this was my own first memory of Dad: Christmastime, Chinatown, and three wrapped presents: a Dancerina doll, a Polaroid Swinger, and a camel hair coat from Saks. The surviving Polaroids show a serious dad and a manically happy me.

Dad promised that now he was going to bring all his kids together regularly. He'd repeat this song on our scattershot dates over the years, but that visit WAS the beginning, of our intermittent, fond, indulgent, dishonest bond.  After that, I lived in obsessive anticipation of the next visit, never knowing when it would be. 

(Band in)

A Dancerina doll, a Polaroid Swinger, and a camel hair coat from Saks. Dad gave me these, and went back to wherever he went.

During Kindergarten: I roomed with Mom, but she was out most nights. The big girls had the other bedroom. I wasn’t allowed in, but from the other side of the door I’d smell and listen attentively. Incense, patchouli, cigarettes, maybe pot? Talking, laughing, singing Joni Mitchell, CSNY...yelling, hitting, screaming, cursing. I swear I could hear the brushing of their long tresses, the swinging of their unhindered double-D breasts...meanwhile people kept mistaking me for a boy.

“You have your father’s thin hair,” Mom complained, so she took me to the barber on the corner, who gave me a buzz cut... and rationalized it this way: “It don't matta if she looks bad now; it mattas what she looks like when she's 18.” Mom thought this was a riot. There was none of this “you're beautiful because you're you” bullshit with Mom. You either looked good, or you didn't. 

THERE IN THE CATHODE LIGHT, NOBODY BEAMED UP BRIGHT                      ENOUGH FOR HER TO LIKE  NOONE TO WALK BESIDE 

YEAH, YOU HARDLY KNEW US                                       

 THAT WAS JUST OUR LIFE/THAT WAS JUST OUR LIFE

Then, In first grade we moved to Carol Avenue, and I almost had another sister!

 Jeanne! Jeanne! Jeanne! Jeanne!....Jeanne!

We had a great time together.

MOM MET HER FATHER AT THE GIANT STEP

A PIANO BAR IN NEW ROCHELLE                                   

SHE'D GOT MY DEADBEAT DAD THE GIG, 

AND HE SHOWED  UP                                                           

WENT DOWN SO SHE COULD GRAB THE TIPS, 

AND LET ADMIRERS BUY HER DRINKS                                  

LED BY THE VERY HANDSOME ED DESONNE

Mom was passionate and needed a rescue; Ed DeSonne was a prosperous investment banker. Both were raising broods of four alone. Ed wasn’t divorced yet, but soon he and Mom got engaged, and we were going to be like the Brady Bunch, with martinis. In the meantime, he was paying the rent on our roomy townhouse on Carol Avenue...

YEAH, IT'S NEVER SIMPLE

BUT WE'LL GIVE IT A TRY; MAYBE BE ALRIGHT

Jeanne too was the youngest of four. She was fearless and funny, and once the parents were married, she would be my roommate. But until then, I had to spend a few more nights with one or another of my unwilling sisters.  One such Saturday, Knockout Diane was supposed to watch me while Shy Karen sister went to a party, but Diane sneaked out. Karen wailed, but Mom had plans with Ed, who arrived in a cloud of aftershave and tapped his shiny toe in the foyer. Mom appeared in glamorous good cheer and ordered me to kiss him. I didn't wanna. 

“Go ahead: give him a little kiss,” Mom said, and Ed reached out gamely, but I wound back and fired a fierce little first-grade kick right into his suited shin. 

Today we'd say I was “acting out.” But back then, everybody just yelled. Then the grownups... went out. And the television...went on.  And then: Ed DeSonne disappeared, changing the channel on a whole other level.

 ED, WE HARDLY KNEW YE…

In first grade you learn to add 2 plus 2. I overheard the word “funeral” and didn’t see Jeanne’s dad for a week; these factors equalled --to me-- that he was dead. When Mom announced it, the big girls wailed like the world was ending. But I just said: “I know.”

I wasn't glad Ed was dead, but I wasn't sad, either. I didn't know how much we lost.         

Mom told everyone the aneurysm happened while Ed was driving; years later she told me the rest of the story.  She also told me that, in her grief, she'd called MY DAD, as a friend, and that he'd sneaked away to be there with her at Ed's funeral.

In the instant it takes for a blood vessel to pop, Mom became bereft, unemployed, and homeless. And our family dispersed like seeds in the wind. 

Diane went to live with her father in the city. The rest of us were taken in by another divorcee with a sun-porch we shared for the nervous, chilly months it took Mom to save up a security deposit.  Karen cried endlessly,  Mom cooing in her ear and breaking Valiums in half.  Fightin’ Joni moved in with her best friend. I got caught standing on our hosts’ kitchen counter in my loafers, stealing cookies from their Charles Chips tin.

But worst of all, Jeanne was sent into foster care.   

I only saw her once again after that, but we’re Facebook friends now. 

While we were staying with the other family, Dad got tickets for the TV show "Wonderama", for me and our host's daughter, and she won the big prize! Our moms picked us up, tipsy on high heels, loading the prizes in the back of a Checker, ignoring candy-starved Moonies in white shirts and dark blazers who tried to sell us carnations.  

(BEAT, then energy back down)

Mom found an apartment. It was in Tuckahoe, so we switched schools. I was in 2nd grade; Joni, 7th; Karen, 9th. I got sent to the principal's office for wearing pants; he showed me a paddle, said next time he'd use it. But maybe it wasn't just the trousers. 

Men landed on the moon. “Evil Ways” was in heavy rotation. And “Spinning Wheel.” Our apartment sat at a dead end by a highway. At night the passing cars projected an abstract slide show on our bedroom wall. In the living room, Mom would light a candle and drink wine. The apartment often smelled of the burned bottom of a saucepan.

That Christmas Eve, Mom fell asleep and the candles burned all the way down, through the tablecloth, and into the nice oak table. I woke up when the fire department arrived. 

YEAH, WE HARDLY KNEW YOU//IT WAS JUST OUR LIFE/THAT WAS JUST OUR LIFE

Karen was 15 and wanted privacy; I was seven and wanted company. One day these opposing desires clashed at a bedroom door, both sides pushing until the big kid won, my middle finger slammed in the door jamb.

The top was hacked completely off. Mom raced me to New Rochelle Hospital, where the surgeon told her to retrieve the tip of my finger or I'd have a stump for the rest of my life. Meanwhile, back at the apartment, Karen tried to flush my finger, along with her shame and horror, down the toilet.

Thanks to low-rent plumbing, my fingertip didn't disappear, and the toilet water even kept it alive. Mom carried it in a baggie back to the surgeon, who successfully reattached it. (Now, there’s a parent's errand.) They kept me in the hospital for a week, because I was hyperactive and the doctor feared I'd bang the stitches open.

It's possible I was on painkillers, because when Dad appeared he was like a dream, swinging down the hall with his great suit and smiling blue eyes.  He'd stopped at the gift shop, and gotten me a dozen long stemmed American Beauty roses and a music box. When you opened it, a ballerina pirouetted to this song: 

OH, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNING/ OH, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY/I'VE GOT A BEAUTIFUL FEELING/EVERYTHING'S GOING MY WAY 

The roses died, of course. I kept that box, though, long after the ballerina broke off and the inside felt was smutty with lipgloss and melted JollyRanchers. Didn’t see Dad again for another 4 years..

#memoir #musical #70s culture