#because if I shared one from the first chapter you'd guess right away | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

auteurdelabre · 5 months

Text

Dare to Surrender (Series) Part 2

Pairing: Javier Pena x f!reader [no name/ physical description/no use of y/n]

Words: 5.9

A/N: This is porn with a dash of plot because my other story is angsty and stressin’ too many people out and I love me a good enemies to lovers story.

Its important for me to tell ya'll some important information that is relevant to this chapter. 1. Its possible to get pregnant from precum, and the pill is only 91% effective so ALWAYS WEAR A DAMN CONDOM IRL (unless you're tryin' for a baby) 2. If Javier Pena offers to go down on you, you fucking say yes and thank you. 3. Reviews make me write faster. (Can't explain it. Science, I guess.)

(Check the pinned post in profile for all my story masterlist!)

===============================

Dare to Surrender / Chapter 2

The week that follows is a busy one. You barely see Peña in the office and that's actually a really good thing because after everything is said and done you're kind of embarrassed to see him.

You'd both gone into the challenge as two people trying to prove a point. But right now all you can think is that all being said and done you went down a co-worker and nearly got caught.

There are other little embarrassments that go along with the first.

Like the fact that Peña convinced you to do it at all. Or that you thought sucking him off would quiet the unexplained desire to sleep with him (it hasn't). Or that when you went home that night you came twice in quick succession with your fingers between your legs and the memory of "pretty girl" hummed in that low, cracking voice of his.

So when he, you and Murphy are all gathered in the office at the same time later that next week you can't help but feel a little. . . Not quite yourself.

Murphy is at your desk with you, passing back notes and photos while Peña has sequestered himself at his desk, his spine and broad shoulders faced towards you.

Maybe you're not the only one with regrets.

You throw yourself into the work, hoping that if you just focus on something professional that everything else will fade away into the back of your mind.

"And the file follow up from last week?" You ask looking at Murphy. You forbid yourself from glancing towards Peña as you reference the file and the day you went down on him.

Steve shoots a look at Peña typing at his desk, jerking a thumb in his friend’s direction.

"You'll have to ask Peña. He took over for me that night."

You notice the way Javier is clearing his throat as he leans forward, pretending to focus on what he's writing. Since when was that true? Hadn't Javier been bragging about that "sure thing" date?

You don't bother questioning it. Murphy is obviously mistaken and you don't feel like arguing.

///

You go to have lunch, then head to the other agent’s office for a few hours to go over details of the latest raid with some of Carillo's men. You're deep in conversation with Ortiz about the satellite phone when a deep voice rumbles beside you.

You glance over to see a tall man with dirty blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He has a few days worth of stubble, but it really works for him.

"Files for the raid you requested," he tells Oritz before his eyes fall on you. He extends a hand to shake and you do so gently, praying you don’t blush.

"Agent Williams," he introduces himself, his light eyes trailing over your face. "You're the one working the Escobar case right? With Murphy and the... The one who goes to all the brothels?"

Reducing Javier to ‘the man who goes to all the brothels’ seems like an unfair maligning, but it's also not inaccurate.

"Yeah, Murphy and Peña," you nod.

"Any advancement on the case?"

"Nothing I'd share with an agent I just met," you say quickly. While not inaccurate, you wish you had said it more flirtatiously. But agent Williams doesn't seem to mind, in fact he's grinning.

"Understood," he chuckles before giving a small salute and striding from the desk.

You don't watch his muscled frame go, but upon later reflection heading back to your own office you kinda wish you had

///

"You know anything about agent Williams?" You ask Murphy later that day when it's just the two of you and your days after dwindling to a close. "Tall, blonde guy?'

Maybe his first fucking name? Why didn't you ask?

"I thought I was the tall, blonde guy," Murphy teases. You roll your eyes at him. "Why?"

"Oh, I was just with Ortiz and he was there and I'd never seen him before. Just wondered if you knew anything about him." You keep the cool edge to you tone and are gratified when Murphy just shrugs.

"Nope. Never heard of him."

Peña walks into the office just as Murphy is reaches for his jacket hanging on the back of his chair.

"Think we might be getting closer to intercepting his satellite phone," you tell Murphy, watching him pull on his jacket. "Gonna stay a bit longer and finish these up. Might be in a bit late tomorrow."

"You sure?" Murphy asks.

"Yeah yeah," you wave him off, your eyes fixed on the papers. "It's better when I'm in the zone to just finish stuff off."

"The zone?"

"Tennis term," you smirk. Murphy chuckles before turning his attention on Peña who has been unusually quiet today.

"You still coming for a beer?" Murphy asks him. Peña is still sitting at his desk, looking strangely stiff.

"Uh, actually not feeling so hot. Catch ya next time."

"Suit yourself."

Murphy heads out the door, whistling to himself (a habit he indulges in every time he leaves for the day) and you go back to your notes. You're so invested you barely remember Peña’s there until his low voice reaches out to you from across the room.

"How late you planning on working?"

You lift your gaze from the desk to see him facing you now, his typewriter in front of him. He's typing something, his fingers working lazily over the keys as he stares at you. You life one eyebrow curiously.

"I thought you weren't feeling well, Peña."

Peña doesn't reply to this. You tilt your head, appraising him as he looks back at whatever he’s typing.

"Murphy seems to think that you were here in the office the other night."

Javier hums a reply, his fingers typing slowly. But you don't miss the small pull at the corner of his mouth.

"But that couldn't have been you," you say affecting clear confusion. "Because you had a date that night, right? The sure thing?"

Javier gives a playful shrug of one shoulder. "Not completely... Real."

"You actually lied about having a date?"

"Yep."

"Why would you do that?"

"To hurry the bet along."

You gape at him and now he's just grinning over at you, tilting back in his chair.

"Worked didn't it?"

You shouldn't laugh but a sharp one escapes from you before you can suppress it, followed quickly by another one. The unflinching honesty from the sloe-eyed man across from you makes you laugh hard.

He chuckles back at you, his head tilting a bit as he watches you laugh. You lean back in your chair feeling strangely relaxed with Peña for the first time since you started working together.

This relaxation is immediately replaced with a coiled tension the second you watch him rise up from his desk and wander over to yours. His hip tilts there and you glance up to see his gaze is heated.

"Should we see who wins the bet now, osita?"

"Here?" You say looking at the empty office. "Right now?"

"Yeah."

His voice is honey over gravel. If you had any doubts about his sincerity, the look in his eyes and the bulge in his jeans have you convinced.

"But last time-"

"It's late. Barely anyone here and I'll lock the door."

He strides from your desk and does just that before you can reply. You watch his shoulders move as he does this, making it impossible not to appreciate how tight his shirt is. It’s straining over the shoulders. And now he’s leaning back against the door and staring at you with that same, flirtatious look he gets with the secretary’s.

"Well?"

Why not? Why not experience him?

So much of your life is spent on rules and regulations. So much on regret of missed opportunities. It’s not awkward between you two right now, so it stands to reason that things won’t be awkward after you fuck.

You tell yourself this as you come to a stand, your heart beating in your ears so loudly you think you must shout your next words at him.

"I don't know Peña," you tease, feeling strangely at ease as you pull yourself up onto the lip of your own desk. Your feet dangle over the edge. "You were pretty close to losing last time. You really wanna try again so soon?"

Javier smirks, his pelvis leading the way as he approaches you, coming to stand in between the v of your legs. You look up at him in a way you hope is seductive before slipping your palms down over the tops of your legs, your hands hooking the hem of your skirt and sliding up back up to your hips. Satisfied you lean back on your palms and spread your thighs just wide enough for him to see exactly what you want him to.

You don't miss how his dark eyes go there, inhaling gently at the sight of your panties. His broad palms fly to the top of your thighs, gliding up and along towards your hips. His dark eyes skip back to your face.

" I feel better prepared after last time.”

You say nothing to this and he moves his right hand under your skirt, tracing the seam of your cunt through the fabric. It feels good. Impossibly good considering he's barely touched you. But you will yourself not to move.

"You better be," you say with a voice much more confident then you actually feel. "I need an actual challenge otherwise when I win it won't feel like I really earned it."

Javier's eyes are glittering. Up this close you can see them twinkling before he smiles by way of reply.

His finger curls along the gusset of your damp panties, dragging them down your knees. Javier glances down, seeing the soaked cotton and smirking back up at you.

"Afraid you've given yourself away," Javier teases.

"Don't flatter yourself," you breathe shakily. "Been like that all day. There's a sexy new agent I met earlier today."

Javier laughs, actually laughs out loud at this. He shakes his head before his hands are on your knees. His foot hooks the wheel of your rolling chair, pulling it under him. There he settles between your legs, hands on your legs and looks to you.

"Lean back."

The smirk dies on your lips.

"No," you tell him abruptly, realizing exactly where this is going.

Payback.

You slam your knees together because you know that if Peña goes down on you it's game over. You'll lose. Because if the rumors from the embassy secretarial pools are to be believed, Javier Peña's tongue isn't just sharp, it's fucking talented.

He looks confused. "You sucked my cock."

"Uh huh."

"So, I get to taste your pussy," Javier demands, trying again to part your thighs for him. You keep your knees shut tightly, denying him.

"No."

"Fucking cheat," Javier says almost pouting, but there's a small lift at the corner of his mouth as if he can't believe you two are arguing about whether or not he gets to perform cunnilingus.

"I'm not cheating."

"How is that fair, then?"

"You didn't have to let me go down on you," you reason.

"But you did."

"You let me. I'm not letting you go down on me."

There's a beat in which Javier blinks up at you before he responds with a small shrug, as if this deviation means nothing.

"Fine."

He's standing again, towering over you still seated on the desk. He kicks the chair away, it rolls clattering into Murphy's desk. Then his hands are palm down on the table on either side of your thighs and he just stares at you. His eyes travel from your eyes to the curve of your mouth and then slope back to your eyes.

You feel your nipples tightening under your blouse just at the way he's looking at you. Why did he pick today to do this? You're so fucking horny today.

His eyes are closing and his mouth is pressing against yours until you jerk back, swallowing.

"No kissing."

Javier immediately looks put out. "Last time-"

"Was the first time," you finish for him. "Getting the kinks out. Kissing isn't necessary."

"All these fucking rules," Javier sighs, looking at your mouth. You take a moment to see he's still hard there in his jeans.

There's still hope. Your hand goes to his chest, sliding down the buttons of his shirt until you reach his belt buckle.

"C'mon now," you urge him. "Hurry up and lose."

Javier is annoyingly calm as you undo his belt and jeans. You reach inside to grip him, your mouth parting in response to his doing the same.

He feels good in your palm, warm and thick. You slide your hand over his shaft, disappointed to only see a twitch in his cheek in response. He's focusing on you right now, his eyes on your mouth and then back to your rapidly un-focusing eyes.

As you gently trace the head of his cock with your thumb he keeps your gaze locked with his. His eyes are like dark tunnels, pulling you in as he raises his fingers to your mouth. Without thinking your mouth parts further for him, eliciting a small crooked smirk from the agent across from you.

His fore and middle finger slip smoothly between your still parted mouth, slowly inching themselves over your tongue. There they rest, salty and heavy and waiting.

"Suck," he orders gently.

You want to refuse at first but realize that you've already denied him twice. You need to participate in some way otherwise you're being a spoilsport. And so you allow your tongue to travel along the thick slopes of his fingers before gently sucking.

"Mhmmm ... Just like that."

Javier watches your lips close around his fingers, sucking obediently as you stroke his cock and feels himself twitch in your grasp. But then he shifts, urging his fingers deeper into your mouth and you drop his cock, your hand flying to his shoulders for purchase.

You look good like that, Javier decides. You look impossibly fucking good sucking on his fingers while gazing at him with that dreamy, unfocused look.

It seems almost a shame to pull them from between your wet mouth, but he does, pushing them against your full lower lip before dragging them away.

///

You watch as his fingers coated in your saliva disappear under your skirt.

You jolt when those two fingers splay around your clit, building you up. Your hips urge themselves forward into his hand, the rest of you trying to stay stationary.

Without thinking Javier's mouth moves over yours and your rules about no kissing are forgotten. His mouth is lush against yours, and as his finger begins to curl inside you, his tongue slips into your mouth.

Fuck he kisses well.

Your head cranes backwards at the force of his kiss, overwhelming you as his finger begins to curl and coax slowly within you. When he adds a second slick finger to mimic the first and the kissing deepens you catch yourself.

You're entire sex is in Peña palm as his fingers fuck you. Your straining there, urging him to go faster, you're thighs spreading obscenely for him. His one free hand is balanced on the desk beside your hip.

Snap out of it!

"Quit it," you manage, breaking your mouth from his. "We said no kissing."

///

"You said no kissing," Javier corrects you, watching as you move back from him. He looks momentarily irritated before he takes in how flustered you look.

You were getting close.

A self satisfied smirk crosses his features. He hadn't even been trying all that hard but you'd been so responsive. And fuck he likes kissing you. Your lips are so plaint against his, so eager to open and taste him.

Peña moves his broad hands to your hips and he tilts you to the edge of the desk. You ask what he's doing but he ignores you, urging one of your knees to crook, your heel placed on the edge of your desk, opening yourself in to him.

You're so deliciously wet and Peña is still irritated that you won't let him taste you.

Yet.

He convinces himself of this. Not yet.

There will be a chance, a time that he will.

He can be patient.

///

Peña's cock is twitching eagerly and he lines himself up against your entrance.

He's so close, so fucking close to your cunt you feel yourself panting in eager yet frustrated anticipation when he just rests there, stroking himself slowly.

"You still want this?" he asks in a deep rumble. The sentence isn't even out of his mouth before you're nodding.

"Yes."

Peña hides the delighted smile from his features, worried if you see it you'll think he's laughing at you. He shifts closer, his hand guiding his cock to nudge at your entrance.

"Watch," he tells you softly.

You don't know why but you feel hypnotized into obeying him. He slips just the head of his cock inside, testing you, making sure you can take him.

You can. You can and you want more because you nod sharply, shifting your hips.

Greedy for my cock, he things with satisfaction. Good.

As you sit there, taking him into you inch by inch with your flushed cheeks and damp mouth, Javier stares at you. His eyes never leave your face.

His pants are hung low on his hips, the only part of him exposed is his cock. You too are fully dressed, your desperate pussy the only secret part he can see. His belt buckle makes the odd clinking noise, but other than that is just the sound of Bogotá traffic outside and the increasing whimpering and groaning from the two of you fucking in your office.

Your eyes are half lidded, watching as his thick cock pushes achingly slowly into your pussy, sheathing him to the brim before slowly dragging out glistening, leaving only the head for your pussy to flutter around.

You whimper when he does it again, your eyes shuttering but never closing. Javier's broad hand spans over your lower back, guiding your hips to his, urging you to take him deeper.

"Feel good?" Peña murmurs, smiling to himself. He feels your hand snake along his shoulder, holding his collar for purchase. "This cock making you feel good, pretty girl?"

He feels you tighten around him as the name slips from him. Pretty girl. You are pretty. What could be prettier than you exposed to him on your desk, taking his cock like you were made for it? But there’s something there in the blush at your cheekbones, the way you bite your lip when the nickname is spoken.

“Pretty girl,” he coos again, testing it. Again he feels your pussy twitch, pulling him deeper.

Bingo.

He sees the way you’re screwing your eyes shut, trying to turn off the arousal you’re feeling. Are you really that desperate for him to do your paperwork that you won’t allow yourself a chance to enjoy this?

"Stop fighting it," Javier murmurs, coming to kiss away lines of your furrowed brow as you internally battle yourself.

Javier knows that this isn't fucking. That this slow languid dance feels much more intimate than that. He can't help it though, his brain yells at him to move faster, to fuck you deeper, but he's completely enraptured with this moment. Wrapped up not only in how beautifully you take his him, but by the dueling emotions crossing your face as you do.

The first is the obvious frustration you feel at how good his length fills you. The sharp drag of your brows pronounced as you take him deeper.

Open desire is the second. It makes your jaw hang loose and your eyes flutter as you whimper.

"Beautiful," Javier murmurs without thinking.

///

He's called you osita and pretty girl. But never beautiful. Beautiful is what you say to someone when you like them or you want to seduce them.

You realize his strategy now. He's trying to seduce your mind as well as body. Have you convinced that he wants all of you.

Your eyes slide open, emboldened by this. Peña is staring at you with a dreamy look that makes your heart jump a moment. The look disappears when your hands curve around his ass, still covered in that tight pair of jeans.

You pull his cock deep into you, not wanting this slow dance of seduction. You begin to thrust your hips against him shallowly and you can see the fire licking the edges of his pupils.

His movements increase, hips circling and then hitting you deep. You make a small noise halfway between a groan and a whimper.

As if remembering himself Peña pulls back and out of you slowly. You watch as he reaches into his jeans pocket, pulling out the condom. You watch him rip the foil open with his teeth, sliding the rubber over his cock swiftly, all the while never looking away from you.

You realize something has to change. This is too easy, he's gonna win because part of Javier Pena’s seduction is just in how he looks. Not just his handsome face with his plump mouth and strong features, but that heated way his eyes pin you, making you squirm.

You gently push him by the shoulders, surprising him. He's about to say something when you slide off your desk and twist against him, bending over the desk.

"What are you-"

He stops talking when you raise your skirt to your waist, tilting and arching forward so that he see how you glisten for him. You stretch your arms to either side of the desk the width of your wingspan and grip the edges of the desk.

You arch again, presenting your wet and swollen cunt to him.

"It's yours for tonight and only tonight, Peña," you say with a pounding heart. "Fuck it how you want."

Your eyes are shut and the desk is so cool against your cheek. Already you feel some of the self control you'd lost returning to you. Without Javier's eyes burning into yours you can finally breathe.

///

Javier takes in the sight of you bent over your desk wearing nothing on your bottom half except your black high heels and tries his best to hold in a groan.

Fuck this is . . . a dream.

Something from a magazine he read as a teenager. A wanton woman begging to be fucked over a desk. This can’t be real.

You crane your neck when he doesn't touch you right away, worry covering your features.

"Did you want to stop?"

Your voice is so soft, so nervous. Javier can see the concern there in your wide eyes. Why does that turn him on?

"No," Javier shakes his head, coming to marvel at the smooth skin of your lower back as he pushes the skirt higher, the strength of your ass flexing back into his hands as he comes to grip handfuls of it, exposing more of you .

"Can't stop now," he assures you before he curls over you, watching your eyes close, your cheek pressed against the desk.

You're beautiful like that. Your body just there, serenely waiting for him. He gently nudges your feet a bit further apart to accommodate him.

His fingers dance along the back of your thighs before he grips himself, aligning himself with your dripping cunt and pressing forward.

At this angle it feels like pure fucking bliss. The kind of bliss that has you shuddering with every inch he gives you.

"Jesus;" you cry out, your hands firmly gripping the sides of the table after one particularly deep thrust where you’re convinced his cock kisses your cervix. Peña smirks down at you before his hand comes to loosely press along your lower back, holding you there in place.

"I told you I'd make you feel good," Javier tells you gently. "Come for me. Just give me the first one and I'll fuck you until you can't walk. Just surrender."

///

Surrender?

Like hell.

You are not losing this.

You are not going to give Javier Peña have yet another thing to hold over you. With that one word uttered from him you remember why you agreed to this in the first place.

"C'mon," he tells you through grunts above you. "Come for me right now and then let me fuck you properly. No rules."

No rules. Going down on you. Kissing you as he fucks you. Wouldn't that feel so good? Just letting Peña do this and just letting go? He could fill you so well.

You stop these traitorous thoughts with a growl.

You know how to win.

"I think you're gonna come, Peña" you whisper back, glancing up at him over your shoulder. "Take off the condom.”

Peña's eyes blow wide and you feel the stutter of his hips. "W-what?"

"Take off the condom," you repeat, turning your cheek back to press against the desk. "I wanna feel all of you."

You hold in a laugh as he physically moves away, pulling back and out from your cunt all flustered. He's sure he hasn't heard you right but he really hopes he has.

"You're not serious."

"I am."

You nod your cheek flush with the cool table. You arch your back, presenting your glistening folds to him once more.

Javier feels a whimper rip from him which he muffles as a cough. You're cheek is on the desk, your hips raised and your cunt fucking begging for him.

How can he refuse?

"I don't wanna be a dad," he ventures. "Not yet-"

"You honestly think I want to raise a kid with you?" you snarl, the veil of you act temporarily lifted as you glare at him in irritation. "I'm on the pill."

There are a few minutes of silence in which you wonder if you've gone too far.

And then you hear the sound of the condom being rolled off and disposed of and his hands are coming to land back on the small of your back, holding you in place.

You hold in a secret smile as you feel the head of his cock coming back to trail between the seam of your cunt once more.

"You're on the pill," Javier repeats in a trance as his hips thrust forward and his cock begins to fill you again.

You can't help but let out a small moan at the sensation. It feels pretty damn good. With the condom off you can feel every ridge of him, silken and warm.

His hand moves to the back of your neck, pinning you down and now his hips snap sharply against yours.

"I want to fuck me deep," you purr, your eyes twisting to meet his over your shoulder. "Can you do that Peña?"

You hear Javier murmur something in Spanish. It sounds ragged and desperate. You hold in a smirk.

"You gonna come in me, Peña?" You ask, your eyes glittering as you watch him falling apart. "Gonna fill me up?"

You part your legs further, arching so he can hit you deeper. Javier is panting at this, his hips slapping against yours obscenely and he's staring at you as if you're a stranger to him.

"You're fucking filthy. Letting me fuck you bare."

Peña goes to say something more acerbic but then you shift back against him, arching as he hits that sweet spot.

Fuck.

His lower belly tenses and his hips stutter. He needs to pace himself. You’re taking this bet seriously and so now he will too. And your cunt has already given away a valuable piece of information – you like when he talks.

His hips slow, pressing into you deeper and languidly. His hand comes back to cup your sex, his finger curling against your clit.

"Gonna make you see stars," he rasps against your jaw, curling over your body. "Gonna fuck you how you need, pretty girl.”

This isn't what you want. You need him fucking you hard and fast so he'll come. Right now his movements are slow and sensual, almost tender.

He tilts you up, the front of your thighs braced against the desk. One arm is over your chest, holding you to his front, his fingers along the base of your throat. His other fingers rub and curl around your throbbing clit as he fucks you deep and slow from behind.

You feel it. That deep shudder that starts in your core. The one that once it spreads will spell victory for Peña and a loss for you. You panic, throwing yourself forward.

He lets out a low groan as you curve on the desk, your head tilting as you look up into his face over your shoulder. He makes a soft choking noise when your eyes meet because you’re jerking there below him, your ass shaking enticingly wither every thrust he gives you.

"I need it faster," you moan slowly urging him deeper. "Please, baby?"

Baby.

Javier has never had you use a term of endearment for him before. Never heard you use a pet name for anyone, ever. You've told him you find them demeaning for both parties. So at the husky sound of it coming from you as he fucks you against the desk, with your eyes half lidded and stuck on him, he feels himself unravel completely.

His forehead drops between your shoulder blades and he lets out pained moan as he urges himself deeper.

"You want my come?" he groans savagely. "Gonna fill this sweet cunt right up."

Perfect.

"Gonna have me leaking out of you," Peña promises , pressing you harshly into the wood grain of the table with his hands as he pants and thrusts. "You want that? Huh? You want me marking you with my come?"

Oh shit. That was kinda hot.

"I bet you do," Javier continues, emboldened by your silence. "Bet you secretly love getting fucked like this on your desk. You pretend like you didn't want this but the way your cunt is gripping me tells me everything I need to know, pretty girl."

Uh oh.

His fingers have flown back to your clit and is teasing forth more pleasure there. The desk creaks as he ruts his hips against yours, tilting you to get you at the perfect angle. The sounds your bodies make each time they collide is obscene.

No. Fuck. Stop. Think of something. Paperwork or cocaine or Murphy’s legs in shorts-

But you can't. When you close your eyes all you can think of is Javier Peña. His dark eyes and his lean neck and his fucking shoulders in those shirts he wears. They're always strained in arms, showing off his biceps and fuck, does his ass have to look so good in those jeans?

Stop it. He's going to win.

“Gonna fuck you right, Osita," Javier groans raggedly. “So every time you sit at this desk you remember how good my cock felt filling you up."

Fuck he's right. Why didn't you think of that?

"And when you do, you're gonna get wet right there in the middle of work," Javier continues painting this scene with his deep baritone as he fucks you. "But don't worry. You come get me when you do and I'll make you feel good all over again."

You think that you're done for, your thighs already trembling when the overconfident Javier shows his hand.

"Call me baby again."

You're taking him deep, your jaw slackened when he says this. You're not sure you heard him right.

"Call me baby again," Javier repeats in a rough whisper when you don't reply. His thrusting increases in tempo. You hold in a secret smile.

Gotcha.

"Please baby," you breathe.

"Look at me when you say it."

You don't want to look at Javier right now. You're afraid if you see him unkempt and needy it’s going to be your undoing. But you steel yourself and acquiesce, willing yourself not to notice the flush on his cheeks or the way his dark hair is falling into his eyes.

"Please," you breathe raggedly, looking between his eyes instead of into them. "Please fill me up, baby. I need it."

"Where do you need it, pretty girl?" Javier asks between thrusts. Even though he knows your answer he wants to hear it.

"Inside," you say with a shiver. "Come inside. Deep.”

His hand is wrapped loosely on the back of your neck, holding you in place for purchase. His hips are starting to jerk unevenly and now the desk is starting to squeak with how fast he's sliding into you.

"Gonna come deep for you," Javier insists through clenched teeth. "'Cuz you take me so fucking well."

You moan lowly, feeling his hips snap against you, his fingers still dancing along your clit. You have to hold out longer than him. He just has to come first. You arch yourself back into him, feeling him bottom out inside you.

"Knew... Knew you wanted it this whole time," Peña is cunt drunk, his words have a slur as he tilts his head to better watch his cock thrusting in and out of your swollen pussy. "Knew I'd make you feel ... Feel so fucking good."

"So good," you coo as his thrusts become increasingly erratic. "Just surrender to it, come for me, baby."

He comes with a shuddering roar, his hands gripping your hips so harshly you can already feel the bruises starting. You feel him start to spill into you, painting you from the inside and you bite back the orgasm that's been teetering on the edge.

You need to win. But fuck you can't stop. Your hips jerk against him, his positioning cock going just at the right angle as he climaxes and then fuck, you do see stars.

You come but you do it silently, biting into your lower lip so harshly you draw blood. You rock your body slowly coming down from that high with a shudder. You feel boneless, sagging on the table, your eyes closed as you breathe.

He doesn’t know. He doesn’t know.

Javier’s forehead is between your shoulder blades and he's panting heavily. You can feel yourself full of him, wincing when he gently pulls out, placing a kiss to your spine. He pulls your skirt down, smoothing it over the swell of your ass.

"Well osita," he says with an amused rumble. "You seem more relaxed."

Don’t let him know.

"Course I am," you say victoriously. "I just won our bet."

"Did you?" Peña laughs faintly, zipping himself back up as he stares down at you. "Because last time I checked I just fucked you bareback and got you to call me baby. All in all feels like a victory to me."

"A pretty hollow one," you surmise as you pull away from him.

"You're really claiming that you won," Peña says in a voice of soft awe.

"You came, I didn't so I won," you say beaming. "Thanks for playing, sorry you lost. I'll be sure to leave my paperwork on your desk first thing."

You don't even give him time to reply.

You're already dressed and heading out the door.

#javier pena smut #javier pena x you #javier pena narcos #javier pena x reader #javier pena #javier pena fanfiction #smut #fanfiction #fanfic #dirty talk #coworkers #desk sex #enemies to lovers

82 notes · View notes

she-posts-nerdy-stuff · 6 months

Text

Welcome to my first ever fic! I have another one in the works as well but currently neither of them have a title because title's are hard, so for simplicity's sake this one is Kanej themed and when I share the other one I'll refer to it as Helnik themed.

Concept: Around ten years after the events of Crooked Kingdom, 25-year-old Captain Inej Ghafa frees Maya Olsen from a pleasure house in Ketterdam. Maya is looking for revenge against the man who out her in her position, a man who she knows nothing about except his name: Kaz Brekker.

Tags: @wraith--2 @lunarthecorvus @just2bubbly @real-fragments7

I've only tagged people who specifically said they'd like to read more, not everyone who expressed general interest, but if you'd like to be added to the list let me know! <3

Content Warnings: in more general terms I want to remind people to be aware of the nature of Kaz and Inej's experiences and relationship since even if I'm not directly addressing these things they tend to be implicit in any writing about them, but specifically to this chapter there's descriptions of blood/wounds, and implied sa references (not graphic).

Chapter One - Kaz

"Now listen," Kaz leaned back and ran a gloved hand through his hair, vaguely aware of the traces of blood he was leaving on his forehead, "this has been fun and all, but I promised my wife I'd be home in time for supper,"

He consulted his pocket watch and frowned.

"And I'm already running late,"

It was clear that the man tied to Kaz's chair had no idea what to say. Or maybe he just couldn't. His cheek was a bloody crater; his jaw tight at a painful looking angle. Kaz paused for a moment to survey his half-closed eyes, wondering if he'd done the job too well. But the man was still breathing his pathetic, shaky breaths, and his eyelids were quivering slightly. Kaz hit the chair leg with his crow's head cane, and the man shook back to life.

"Are we done here?"

The man nodded shakily, quivering as he leaned as far from Kaz as his chains would allow.

"Good. Then I'll see you next week, with the money," Kaz pulled a key from thin air and placed it on the man's knee, "Have fun getting out,"

He walked away, listening to the man attempt to call him back through a mouthful of blood right up until the door slammed shut. Kaz stretched, smiled, rolled his shoulders. That had gone well. He was late though - she wouldn't be happy. Speaking of which, Annika was leaning against the wall opposite him, picking at her nails with a knife. She must have news.

"Go check on him if he's not out in an hour. Cleanly, for now, but keep an eye on him. If he tries to run this week, put a bullet in his skull,"

"Why me?"

"You're in my line of sight. And on that, what are you doing here? Aren't you meant to be at the Crow Club?"

"Just came off a shift. Brought you a message,"

Kaz nodded.

"She's back?"

"And pissed at you," Annika confirmed, "She's coming to find you,"

Kaz was meant to go to her. If she'd decided to come to him, it could only mean one thing: he was in deeper shit than running late.

"Fine," he said, and marched upstairs.

" - something else!" Annika called after him.

Kaz turned.

"Yennefer Baars is dead,"

"Then it's a happy day for everyone. Except for me, because unlike other people's spouses when my wife suggests murder, she actually means it. Go to the dock's and rustle us up some attention, the Silver Six is quiet,"

And with that, ignoring Annika's brief mumble of protest, Kaz began to head up the stairs. Yennefer Baars was dead. So that's what Inej had been up to. She'd been gone for the last month, and as a rule they didn't tell each other what a job was until it was over - no sense in worrying each other over nothing. But that didn't mean they didn't guess at what the other was up to, and usually figure it out. Kaz knew that Inej wrote a goodbye note before every job she did and left it with a particular member of the Merchant Council and his risk-loving fiancé, to be passed on in case something went wrong. He only knew that because he did the same thing, and Jesper was a terrible liar. Inej was better at figuring out what he was up to than he was her, that was true, but usually he had some idea. This time he'd heard nothing, until today. Yennefer Baars, owner and proprietor of the Tulip Mill, the most successful pleasure house in Ketterdam since the Menagerie close, was dead. Kaz had to smile.

Even if he was next on Inej's list. What the hell had he done this time?

It was raining, but what else was new? Kaz opened the window and listened to the droplets flowing over the pane and hitting the sill like a waterfall. He couldn't hear Inej, but he wouldn't be able to. Definitely not over the wind and rain. He left the window open for her, and headed to the basin. He shed his gloves and began to wash the blood off before it dried. Running hot water. Years ago he'd added this, with the bathroom of their suite at the Geldrenner on this mind. It was such a luxury, back then. So normal now.

"Inej,"

He smiled to himself as he imagined the brief look of annoyance on her face at him greeting her just as she opened her mouth to do the same.

"Kaz,"

He turned to see her, and immediately Annika's message was unimportant. It was good to see her. She smiled.

"How are things, Kaz? I heard the Silver Six has been quiet,"

Of course she had.

"A little slower than usual, but the Crow Club's booming. I've got time to fix it before the profit's take a hit,"

Inej nodded. A moment passed in silence, before she said:

"Maya Olsen,"

"What of her?"

"You know her then?"

Kaz shrugged.

"One of Yen's girls, isn't she? The Tidemaker. Never met her, but she passes information to the Dregs. I have a few people watching her, making sure the information's good and trying to find out where she gets it. Why?"

"I met her tonight,"

"You mean when you killed Yennefer Baars?"

They looked at each other, dark eyes stone. And then both their hard expressions collapsed, and they smiled.

"It's good to be home, Kaz,"

He liked it when she said 'home'. Really, he knew, 'home' was Ravka. But the Suli travelled the country, never static, never anywhere long enough for that one solitary place to be the only singular point they'd always want to return to. That was too limiting for Inej; she existed to explore. To her, 'home' really meant 'family'. It had taken the last ten years to get here, but he'd come to like that word.

"But we do need to talk,"

Kaz sighed.

"Of course we do,"

Kaz cooked. Nothing special, just warm bread and soup, but Inej seemed to like it. They sat opposite each other at their little wooden table, eating and waiting for the other one to talk first. Kaz was stubborn, but Inej was infuriatingly patient when it came down to this sort of thing. Eventually, he broke the silence.

"Maya Olsen, then?"

"She's at the shelter - "

"I didn't ask where she was, I want to know - "

"Let me finish, Kaz,"

"You know I've killed people for less than interrupting me," he smirked

"And I've killed people for far more. Now be quiet, and listen to your wife,"

Kaz frowned and mumbled something about only agreeing to marriage for the tax break, but stopped interrupting her all the same.

"Maya's sixteen, I met her tonight at the Tulip Mill and took her to the shelter along with a couple of others, but they were the only ones I managed to get out," she paused and glanced away, just for a second, before picking up the thread of her story, "the other girls were both passed out - long story, I'll tell you later - I'm going to check on them in a couple of hours. But Maya was awake, so we talked and... Kaz there's no easy way to say this, but she wants to kill you,"

Kaz almost laughed. So this was why Inej had come to him, instead of waiting for him near the shelter. The had a second place there, unbeknownst to the gangs or anyone else, except the liberated kids - in case they needed Inej.

"Invite her to join the queue,"

"This is different, Kaz. This isn't some random act of aggression or some boy from a rival gang who wants to prove himself. She hasn't just picked you because you're Dirtyhands, she's picked you because you're... you,"

Kaz collected their empty bowls and began to head towards the sink, before Inej tutted and took them out of his hands, swapping them for his cane. He leant against it, and pretended the relief wasn't palpable. Somehow it was still a bad thing to rely on her.

"How does this kid even know about me? The information she was sharing wasn't specific to the gang, she didn't know who she was talking to. Just that he paid her to talk, and to not talk to anyone else. Did Yen find out about the extra income?"

"I don't think so, but Maya didn't say much about it,"

"So what information, in your extreme wisdom regarding matters of life and death, did you manage to gain?"

Inej looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Information isn't my specialty anymore, Kaz,"

"Yes it is,"

She laughed, and Kaz closed his eyes to listen to the sound, but it was only short.

"She blames you for her indenture,"

Shit. No wonder Inej was mad at him.

"What do I have to do with that?"

"Apparently there was no choice but to sell her indenture to a mercher, when her father was in debt. The mercher died and her contract changed hands, several times, before it ended up with Yen,"

The tap hummed as Inej washed the plates. Kaz shifted his weight against his cane.

"She blames the man her father was in debt to," she glanced at him over her shoulder, "No prizes for guessing who,"

This wasn't sounding too good.

"And just for that she wants to kill me? So do a thousand other unlucky sods, Inej, I'm not concerned,"

"You also killed her father,"

Damn it.

"So, she wants to kill me. That doesn't mean she gets to. Doesn't really mean she even tries. I've killed a lot of people's family members, but I'm still standing here. Did you...?"

"Tell her we're married? Yes, Kaz, I'm that much of an idiot,"

"Alright, alright. Still, you might as well. Talk her down, take her back home and find some relative or whatever to take her. That's what you do, right?"

Inej rolled her eyes. She was now perching on top of the half wall between the little kitchen and dining spaces.

"She can't go back. She's a Fjerdan grisha, she wouldn't be safe. And as for relatives - anyone she's got would either kick her out or not dare the risk of taking her. But that's not the problem, Kaz,"

"Right, and remind me why we're more worried about this murderous little problem than any of the others?"

"Because she's different to the others, Kaz. She... well, she reminded me of you,"

"Oh," said Kaz, freezing for a second before slowly returning his watch to his pocket, even though he hadn't checked the time yet, "Then I guess we have a problem,"

Problem was an understatement, and both of them knew it. There was every chance that he was completely and utterly fucked.

82 notes · View notes

heyidkyay · 8 months

Text

I guess I’ll take this pain, instead of your name |

Part Twenty-Eight - End

A/n: Ah finally 28 is here!! I'm sorry for the silence, had a lot going on recently, but this is the final part of the series! I can't believe it tbh, though I wouldn't mind writing a few extra scenes in the future just because I love these two a whole lot. But we'll seeee!

Just a warning, this is very similar to the flashback chapters on 24 and the scenes are as the years pass starting from before the time G and Birdie got together, it's ALL from G's POV which was so fucking difficult to write but hopefully I pulled it off. Either way, I hope you enjoy it and thank you to all the love everyone's shown this series, it means so much.

Summary: In life, things changed. The boys you'd once grown up with were men now, and famous ones at that. The type that toured the world and had millions of adoring fans.

The five of you shared a shit ton of history. But you also shared a lot of mixed emotions for one of them in particular, a certain drummer.

Masterlist

It was beaming. First proper hot day they’d had in months. Though in truth, it could’ve just as easily been years seeing as though every weather station was currently claiming a ‘hellish heatwave’ to have taken over the entire country.

It was bittersweet.

George was sat outside on the decking, just by the pool in Matty’s back garden with the rest of the band, Ross in a pair of boxers perched on the waters edge with Adam sporting a pair of bright yellow swim trunks right beside him. The two of them had been doing laps but had seemingly tired themselves out under the hot sun and were now kicking up a lazy wave in the shallow end.

“Oi.”

George glanced away from the duo to find a beer being shoved his way, he took the crisp bottle with a soundless nod just as Matty settled into the lounge chair next to him.

“You not getting in then?” The older boy asked him and George curled his lip just as he wrinkled his nose.

“Maybe. Too fucking hot to be arsed though.” He answered, sticky with sweat but enjoying the warmth the summer weather had to gift him.

Matty laughed under his breath and kicked his leg up to cross it over his knee. “Mum ordered food, if you’re hungry. Lou wanted pizza, so.”

George smiled in retort. He’d skipped breakfast that morning, knowing his presence would only lead to more problems now that his mum was home again, and had been hoping to grab something on the way over but hadn’t had the chance.

“Speak of the devil.” Matty chuckled after and George followed his gaze over to find his younger brother, Louis, scuttling out of the patio’s sliding glass door, water gun in hand and a leggy teenage girl just behind him.

“Get back here, Lou! You’re so dead!” The girl shouted, hair dripping wet and shirt dampened from where she’d obviously been the subject to one of Louis’s antics, but her words were counteracted by the dazzling grin she wore and the bright sheen she had to her eyes.

The younger boy she was chasing cackled loudly in return, face alive as he zoomed past George and Matty on the loungers in an attempt to escape her. But she was hot on his heels.

“Run, mate!” Matty called out unhelpfully, snorting when his little brother tried to make a song and dance out of it when he chose to go around the garden table a few times.

George chuckled quietly, watching the duo from where he was perched, though he could hardly keep his eyes off of the girl, focused on her expression, the way she moved so effortlessly. Matty seemed to notice it too.

“You’ve got it bad, man.”

George startled a tad at his voice but shook his head anyway as he waved Matty’s accusation off, not bothering to argue against it seeing as though his eyes were still trained on one thing.

Besides, it weren’t as though he hadn’t heard it all before, the lads loved to tease him for his apparent staring, the longing looks he threw her, but how could he help it? She was this blazing ball of fire, too fucking hot to reach out and touch, but enticing all the same.

God, he was such a fucking sap.

Matty was still laughing, either at him or the way his younger brother’s face had suddenly fallen in quick realisation, perhaps both, but George could hardly bring himself to care. It’s not like she ever noticed his attention anyway, barely even spared him a hello, let alone a second glance.

“Just talk to her, man. She won’t bite.” Matty told him, as though it was really that simple. But before George could think of a reply, a loud scream echoed out across the garden and he looked up just in time to spot the pair go catapulting into the pool, the girl’s arms wrapped around the younger boy’s shoulders as their bodies cut through the water. “Fucking hell.”

The pair of them were laughing when they reemerged, Louis spluttering whilst the girl just shook the hair out of her face, smile still frozen in place. George’s breath got caught in the back of his throat and his mind went a little fuzzy at the sight of it, witnessing how carefree and gorgeous she always seemed to appear, but especially then.

“You cheat! You can’t do that!” Louis laughed in argument, splashing about a bit. “It ain’t fair.”

The girl merely grinned in retort and reached out to mess the boy’s sodden hair up further, “Sure I can, Lou. An eye for an eye and all that! You wet me with your gun and I tossed you in the pool. Sounds fair enough to me.”

“She’s got you there, mate.” George heard Ross add from the side of the pool, and could hear the mirth that lined his mate’s voice. “Take it like a champ.”

“You get to say that, you’re already soaked!”

“Tell him, Lou!” Matty hollered with that mischievous smile he often favoured.

The girl waded in the water and threw a smirk at Matty, but her eyes lingered on George too for just a second. “You lot getting in or am I gonna have to drag you over too?”

Matty laughed and went to make a stand, but just as he did, he turned his back on the rest of them and shot a sly remark at George, who was still trying to get over the acknowledgment he’d just been given. “Bet you’d love that though, Georgie. Fucking flustered at the very thought, ain’t you?”

George scowled, though he could only watch on as Matty waltzed away, chuckles still bright. He huffed instead and dragged a pitiful hand across his face in hopes to get ahold of himself. But Matty was right, he could feel the warmth of the blush down the length of his back and felt like such a tit for always reacting to the tiniest of interactions she had to offer him.

“Come on, G! Getting old here!”

He swallowed heavily at the sound of her voice, but didn’t dare look up just yet. G. It was a first, that was for sure. Hadn’t really stuck around anywhere long enough to make many friends, let alone have a nickname surface. He only hoped it’d stick, especially if she was the one calling out for him.

“I’m coming!” He said after a quick breath and only then chanced a glance, surprised to find her wild eyes still set on him. She flashed him a pleased grin and- “Shit.” He murmured to himself, almost stilling in place at the realisation that hit him. He was so fucking gone, wasn’t he?

—

London was different to Wilmslow, George had decided. Busier. You could hear the noise of the city at night sneak in through the front bedroom window, and feel the shake of the trains that ran across the back of the lane all through the house. It was nice though, these differences. The City. The noise. Mostly because the quiet never had sat well with him.

“Oi, those carrots won’t cut themselves, you know.”

George found himself smiling at the sound of Dee’s voice and pulled his gaze away from the open back door to see her grinning back at him. She was currently cooking up a storm, spices scattered everywhere and water bubbling from a metal pot sat up on the hob, but she’d wanted to make her famous shepherd’s pie for her favourite niece during their stay, and somehow he’d gotten roped into helping.

Not that he’d ever say no, he’d grown fond of the two women that had welcomed him in with open arms far too quickly- but that was without mentioning the lighthearted threats that had been given if he dared even step a toe out of line with her. Or at least, he hoped they were lighthearted.

“Daydreamin’?”

He hummed in return and went back to his kitchen duties, skinning the orange vegetables and then dicing. “Something like that.”

Dee mimicked the sound with a faint titter of her own and he watched closely as she glanced back out the door and into the garden, seeing the scene he’d been so absorbed in.

Nana (“Can’t be callin’ me by nothing else, my darlin’, family’s family and you’re it now.” Is what she’d claimed from the very start, not drawing any attention to the hitched breath George had given in turn) was perched in a deck chair, one of those fabric ones with the silver metal legs and striped cloth backing, a shovel in one hand and a pot in the other. Cyril, who seemed content to laze about in the hazy summer heat, was sprawled out on the grass right beside her, drool dripping from his open jaw and eyes closed. Nana kept patting his belly every few minutes but he didn’t care to move from his slumber.

Birdie was right there with them as well, only she was knee deep in the flowerbeds, soil painting the skin up to her elbows and blackening the overalls she’d adorned earlier. The pink spade she’d picked out was lost somewhere to the left of her and she was squinting in the afternoon sun, attention drifting back and forth between the flowers they were planting and the seventy-three year old giving out orders. They appeared to be speaking about something or other now though, Birdie trying hard to keep her mouth from lifting into an embarrassed sort of smile whilst Nana merely chuckled away.

“How’s she really been?” Dee quizzed him, plopping the carrots he’d cut into another pot before tossing the steaming potatoes that had just been boiled. The question was oddly quiet for her, enough for George to notice at least, seeing as though the woman had been nothing but a rocket since the minute they’d met.

He wondered if she knew, albeit vaguely. But then shook the thought away, if either of these women knew anything that had been going on back home there’d surely be hell to pay. That he understood. Still, it wasn’t his secret to tell and Birdie had been adamant about it, even after hearing his incentives.

“She’s been alright, keeping busy in truth. Got exams soon.”

The red-haired woman hummed again, staring off into space for a moment before those piercing eyes of hers were drilled into his. He fought not to outwardly react.

“Doesn’t seem alright, what with her walking in all battered and bruised. Looks more smurf-like than human to me.”

George swallowed, stuck on what to say, and it wasn’t like he had something to preoccupy himself with now that the carrots were gone. He sighed softly. “She’s… alright- strong, really. Just a lot going on at school, you know? And her mum’s been busy.”

Dee’s tongue prodded the inside of her cheek at that but turned back to fork the mince she was frying. “Never did like her much. But especially after the funeral.” She revealed and looked almost as though she was gritting her teeth to get the words out. “Din’t come to the reception. Just left little Dove here with us and got on the first train home. Could understand, somewhat. Woman had lost a husband, hadn’t she? But then, I’d lost my brother. Mum, a son, and that little girl out there, well, she’d lost her dad. Her mum didn’t want much responsibility for her afterwards, hardly saw the arse-end of her in the long months after. A visit once in a blue moon and a phone call each Thursday. Honestly believed the kid would stay living here with us, until she swanned back in and swept her back up north.”

A silence settled in the breath Dee took then and George’s emotions warred within. He choked them back and swallowed them down to brew.

“Fought hard to keep her, din’t think the woman was capable of lookin’ after herself, let alone a kid. But,” Dee shrugged then, helplessly. “She’s her mum, ain’t she? Not much we could do about it. Lost touch a bit after that, she wanted distance, said we reminded her too much of him. Claimed our Dove couldn’t stomach the reminder either. So we listened. For her sake if nothing else. Killed my mum though.”

George swallowed thickly. “Can imagine. I don’t know how I’d act if I ever lost her.”

Dee seemed to pause at that, then turned to regard him slowly and with a very sweet smile, one George had never been gifted by an adult in his lifetime. It threw him.

“You’re a good sort, Georgie. Look after her well, don’t you?” Her noiseless chuckle surprised him but then she just shook her head, obviously not expecting an actual answer. He watched on as she inhaled slowly only to then throw the tea towel she’d been clinging onto over her shoulder, wiping the underneaths of her eyes. He didn't know what to say or how to make things better. “Start mashing those spuds for me, would ya doll? Just gonna nip to the loo.”

George could only nod, surprised by the whole event but especially upon seeing Dee suddenly so choked up. He didn’t have much time to dwell on it though, seeing as though Birdie came swanning into the kitchen just after her Aunt had disappeared.

The girl was smiling happily, happier than he’d seen her in a long while, ever even. It made him stop short, if only to take her in. The freckles on her cheeks that the sun had warmed and strengthened. The cheeky smile that dimpled the right corner of her mouth. The wrinkle in her nose that stood out amongst the gentle burn that dotted its bridge…

The twinkle in her eyes as she zeroed in on him.

“Where’s Aunt Dee?” The girl asked, picking up a pea-pod from off the counter and biting into it. George’s face wrinkled in amused anguish.

“Toilet.” He answered her, falling into one of the empty bar stools stood behind. “Finally decided to come help, have you then?”

She stepped closer and smirked up at him. “Nope.” The next bite she took made a massive crunching sound, her grin widened.

George rolled his eyes, before taking the chance to get another good look at her. If it weren’t for the fact that Nana was looming just beyond the door, he’d have kissed her.

The woman was a dainty thing, yes, but fucking terrifying too. And seeing as they’d yet to announce anything between them, let alone anyone else, he didn’t want to rock the boat too hard this early on. A few kisses were just a few kisses, right?

“What’s got you in a mard?” Birdie chuckled, reaching out a dirtied finger to poke at his cheek. He dipped away slightly from the offending hand but didn’t put up much of a fight, reckoned she could be covered in mouldy milk and he’d still want to snog her senseless.

“Nothing, just thinking.” He told her honestly.

She hummed and leaned in closer, pea-pod now gone and her hands tucked into the pockets of her overalls. She was trying to be intimidating, playful. He liked seeing her so alive.

“Try not to hurt yourself there.”

George chuckled, heart beating quicker now. “Always so mean.”

“Hm, maybe. But you like me for it.” She shot back confidently.

I do.

“Keep on wishing, B.”

She snorted, and it would’ve been an ugly sound on anyone else, but this was her. His Birdie.

“Oh, I will.” She half-sung, eyes really shimmering now beneath the long lashes they so often hid themselves behind.

George couldn’t find it in himself to look away, lost on her.

Then a hand was touching his and he felt something press into the palm of his. Her soil covered fingernails danced over the inside of his wrist for a single second just as she leant in to press her soft lips to his cheek.

A peck, a smile, and then she was gone it seemed.

George stared off after her, watched the way her hair fell loosely and how the light only seemed to carve a path for her through the dimly lit hallway. She disappeared round the bend and he took a breath before glancing down into his hand.

His mouth dried up at the sight of the old metal lighter which now sat there. And carved ever so carefully into the metal casing at the very bottom was a simple ‘B+G’.

—

“Move over.” Someone grunted somewhere to the right and George struggled against the urge to elbow his way into a more comfortable position. “Tossers.”

He huffed a bit at that but shuffled further left anyway, creating some more room for the giant twat sat on the other end of the backseat in hopes that it’d shut him up. Louis and Birdie were right there between them, Lou half on top of B, and B half on top of him.

Ross seemed to have gotten the better end of the stick in reality, even if his oversized limbs had been crammed into the back with them. Matty and Adam were more than alright though, happy as Larry sat in the front, fiddling with the radio.

“Will you lot shut up? Might miss it.” Matty snipped, batting away Hann’s hand when he tried to turn up the dial.

“Fuck off, Matty.” Ross shot right back, still sodding squirming. “How the fuck did you even manage to bag the front seat anyway? You’re about the size of my left toe.”

Louis snorted loudly at that, whilst Matty sent Ross a scathing look full of sarky laughter. “It’s my fucking car, that’s why, dickhead.”

Just as Ross drew in another breath to retaliate, Birdie swooped in to save the day, holding out an arm across Louis to signal for Ross to pack it in. “You’re both being annoying, just shut up and stop swearing, yeah? Otherwise we’ll never hear the sodding radio and Denise will have all our heads.”

“Mum says a lot worse.” Louis intoned then, which had them all snickering and Matty high-fiving his little brother whilst looking proud. George hit his head against the window when Birdie ducked slightly to avoid being hit, she winced at the sound it made.

“Sorry, babe.” She whispered and leant in closer to rub the top of his head gently with a soft laugh. No one else was appeared go be paying much attention to them though, all the focus honed in on the radio.

At first, both him and Hann had argued against getting in the car- could’ve just as easily gathered around the stereo in the kitchen for this- but Matt, Birdie and Ross had been dead set on hearing it in the car.

“It’s got to be in the car! We can’t not hear it in the car!” Matty had argued, and not just for the sake of it, only to have then been cut off by B and her rapid agreement, “Exactly! It’s a car song! People only ever listen to the radio when they’re drivin’!” Her accent was always stronger the more determined she got. “So we’re listening to it in the car whether you lot wanna or not, I don’t care if your balls get squished or your elbows don’t fit. We are.”

And that had been it. Enough said.

“You’re alright.” George chuckled under his breath, taking her hand in his and pulling them both down into his lap. She seemed content enough to cuddle further into his side at that and he couldn’t even bring himself to mind, thumbing her knuckles whilst he rested his chin atop her head.

“Oh shit, here it is! It’s coming on!”

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuuccck.”

“Shut the fuck up!!”

“Think I’m gonna shit myself.”

Birdie and Louis laughed at their many reactions and George could only cling on a little tighter to the hand that was keeping him grounded. Never had he felt so fucking sick with nerves.

“Shut up you lot, it’s on! It’s on!”

The car fell dead silent at Birdie’s interruption and they all seemed to lean forward in their seats simultaneously, as though it would give them a better chance at listening in.

“Yeah, and here’s a new one for you.” Huw Stephens’s voice rang out and George could barely believe that they were actually this close, “Just in, and from their recent EP titled Facedown, we’ve got the up and coming sound of The 1975 for you lovely ladies and gentlemen! Buzzing with this one boys, reckon the rest of you will be too. So here it is, this is BBC Radio 1 and up next is The City.”

The whole lot of them broke out into hollers and cheers when the intro played, the entire car bouncing on its wearing tires as they all started to prat about in their excitement. Ross close to shaking Hann’s chair out of its hinges, Louis jumping between the two front seats to turn the dial up even louder, Matty drumming loudly against the dash, Adam kicking his feet, and B, his beautiful B, screaming her heart out for them all as she laughed and clapped and started to sing as loudly as she possibly could alongside Matty’s voice that’d started playing through the speakers.

And all George could think was, fuck.

—

“You’ve gotta run faster!”

“I fucking am!”

“You’re not!” She laughed, the Californian sun warming every inch of her even as it begun to set, “Faster, G!”

“Please, none of that! Hear enough of it back in the bunks, thanks!” Came Matty’s witty quip, earning a few knowing laughs. George turned around to flip him off for it but Birdie appeared to have beaten him to it.

“Jealous much, Matthew?”

“Of G? ‘Course, darling!” Matty quipped as he moved across the sand to drape himself across her back, spliff caught between his fingers. “Should’ve jumped you way back when I had the chance.”

Birdie snorted and elbowed him lightly but didn’t force him away, “Meant of me, you twat. Figured if I hadn’t gotten there first, you might’ve tried your luck with G, Matt.”

“Oh how I wish!” Matty dramatised, sighing loudly as he casted a set of seductive eyes in George’s direction, “Always been gone on you though, our George. I never stood a chance.”

“Yeah, so piss off of her.” George told the curly haired idiot with a small smirk as he made his way back over, a bright orange kite still wrapped around his hand.

Matty took it as his chance to play the joker though and all but dived for him the second he got close enough, planting a sloppy kiss to the side of his face. George couldn’t help the unmanly sound that escaped him at the gesture and could only laugh along with the rest of them when he shoved the clingy lad off.

“Got me good, you prick.” He chuckled, swiping at his wet cheek.

“And that’s only the start of it, mate.” Matty winked, then made his way back over to where the rest of the band had sprawled about on the sand. “Just imagine it, G! I’d even let you top, you know. A proper giver me.”

Ross cackled at the face Georgemade and Hann rolled his eyes with a smile that couldn’t be helped when Matty dropped himself down beside him, though he took the offered joint with no fuss.

“Can just picture the utter chaos it’d cause.” Ross choked out, sighing happily as he kicked his legs out before him, grinning at the very thought.

“I’m alright, thanks.” George felt the need to mention as he wrapped an arm around Birdie’s waist, smiling when the girl melted into him, then let up on the string of the kite when her fingers asked for it.

It’d been her idea of course, the kites. Got three of them whilst they’d been stuck in sound check one morning and brought them back to the venue alongside a shit ton of food. They’d only remembered them a couple days later when everyone had decided to spend a free night out on the beach, just them drinking and enjoying what little time they had when not performing.

“Ah, well you’re the one who’ll be missing out, man!” Matty replied with a lazy smirk and George could only laugh, swaying slightly now as he rested his chin atop the girl’s sun-warmed hair.

“Reckon I’ve already got my hands quite full here, mate.”

“And what’s that meant to mean?” Birdie immediately questioned with a raised brow as she turned in his grip to better face him, “‘Cause I’m pretty sure it’s the other way round, mate.”

“Oh yeah?” George humoured her, he hadn’t even meant anything by it, loved her more than he did the air itself in fact, but it was always fun rilling her up a bit. “How so?”

“Well, you’re proper clingy for one.”

George hissed through his teeth as though wounded, whilst the others oohed.

“Got you there.” Hann snickered and the others appeared to agree. Was he really that bad?

“And two, you don’t think through half the shit you say sometimes.”

George raised a brow at that.

“Yeah, don’t fucking act like it ain’t true!” She argued with the tiny beginnings of a smile, “The amount of times I’ve had to talk you out of a corner. The lot of yous in fact.”

“Oi, this is rinse G hour, not us!” Matty frowned and threw a thumbs down at them. “TOMATO. TOMATO.”

With a snort, Birdie spun back towards the curly haired freak, “Did you just shout tomato?”

“Yeah,” Matty shrugged, nicking back the joint off Adam that had dwindled down to all but a nub, “Had none to throw, did I?”

Birdie looked towards the sky. “God save me.”

And just like that, the whole band started belting out a Sex Pistols classic in unison.

“God save the queen! She’s not a human being! And there’s no future! And England’s dreamin’!”

“Fucking idiots.” She sighed, but the attention soon diverged when a rowdy crowd started making themselves known a little further down the beach.

They all shared a look, knowing it’d be best to head back to the bus before they were soon spotted and mobbed, all groaning unhappily as they forced themselves up onto their feet. George started on the clear up, seeing as though he was already standing, Birdie following just behind him whilst the other boys gathered up the beer and whatever else they’d procured.

Starting the trek back to the bus, stationed just past the marina, George allowed the others to walk on ahead a bit and fell into step with B, wrapping an arm around her shoulders whilst they slowly followed behind.

“You know, you looked proper fit running up and down that beach.”

He chuckled at the sudden remark and let her wind an arm around his waist to better allow her body to mould into his. “Yeah, kite an’ all?”

He felt, more than heard her laugh, before she hummed. The vibration of it rippled across the skin just beneath her head. “Defo. Though you could’ve done without all these extra layers.” She replied, then tugged at the hem of his tee to further drill home her point.

“It’s autumn, B, fucking chilly too. You really expect me to go full Baywatch on the beach just to appease you, ey?”

“‘Course.” She answered and he could tell she was smirking by the wave in her tone. “You look good, should show it off more often.”

He didn’t have much of a reply to offer that. Though it wasn’t because she’d caught him off guard, per say, it was just that he still wasn’t used to the way she so openly complimented him, on everything he did, to each and every way he looked. He’d never had that before. But she gave it to him freely, without cost, without expectation.

“Stop flirting with me.” Is what he decided on when he couldn’t find it in himself to dampen the grin he was now sporting. She peered up at him, wearing a sly smile of her own.

“Why, does it get you all flustered?” She teased, obviously pleased with herself as she poked his ribs. He pinched her hip softly in retaliation and laughed when she wrinkled her nose up at him.

“No, I’m just resisting the urge to bend you over on this beach.”

But hey, just because her comments had him flushing like a teenage boy, didn’t mean that he couldn’t give it back twice as bad. Plus, he loved seeing her melt, the way her cheeks would tint that pretty pink colour and how she’d start to chew on her bottom lip simply to keep from smiling.

“You’ll pay for that when we’re back on the bus.”

“Promise?” He snarked back with another chuckle, tugging her in closer.

She hummed once more, fingers playing with the hand that fell from her shoulder now. “Have to keep it down though, don’t need Matty interrupting.”

George’s lip curled, “Nah, on second thought, I’ll just wait for a venue loo stall.”

He laughed happily when she elbowed his side. “Charming.”

—

It was mayhem. Proper, honest to God mayhem. And he’d no idea how things had gotten so out of hand, who half the people traipsing through his living room even were, but he was fucking happy if nothing else. Over the moon, even.

“Geee!”

George glanced to his left just in time to spot a drunken Matty stumbling his way on over, the man clung to his shoulders the first chance he got and grinned up at him. He reeked of beer and wine.

“So fucking pleased for you, mate. Did I mention that already? Just, proper buzzing for you.” The drunkard rambled, eyes squinted from the extremity of his smile.

George chuckled and wrapped an arm around the shorter lad, happy to accommodate his need for comfort as well as keep him upright. Matty was touchy on a good day, but when you’d got a good few drinks in him he was like a sloth to a tree branch.

“You did mention it, mate.” George replied and withheld his amusement when Matty frowned, “But I appreciate it. Really.”

The frown then etched itself into a smile at that, all fond and goofy as Matty wiggled even closer into his embrace, “Good. Fucking deserve it. You and her both, yeah?”

With a harsh sallow, George felt that tightness he’d been feeling in his chest as of late rise. “Thanks, mate.” He croaked out and then coughed to clear his throat.

Deserve. It was a difficult thing for him to come to terms with, deeming what he did and didn’t deserve. A struggle he’d been dealing with his whole life, and which had only tripled in recent years. The flat was something he’d earned, something both he and Birdie had talked about since they’d both been teenagers. An escape. But they’d already gone and done that, hadn’t they? Left Wilmslow behind, left everyone who didn’t matter behind. Did it make them better than? Safer now? George’s mind was always at war with his head, but as of late, as the band only grew, and as life continued on, it only seemed to get louder.

“Fuckin’ sickkk too!”

Matty’s drunken nonsense pulled him back from his scattered thoughts then and George smiled down at his mate. The flat was sick, they’d spent weeks searching for the right one, him and B, travelled all over London looking, and then they’d found this one. It wasn’t huge, nothing too fancy or grand, but it was home. And neither one of them had ever had much of that.

“Ross, tell him! Tell him it’s sick!” Matty shouted again, having just spotted Ross making his way through the crowd. The giant looked well on his way to pissed too, but seemed to be holding on quite well. George reckoned it was simply down to his height.

“It’s sick!” Ross easily repeated, grinning and letting Matty grab onto him too before the idiot saw someone else he knew and started walking away, calling out promises to find them again soon. Ross leaned in to him then and murmured, “What’s sick?”

George breathed a chuckle through his nose and just shook his head, Ross knew better than to prod any further.

“Flat is looking good by the way, mate. Dunno who half of these fuckers are though.” The bassist commented, glancing out around the room.

George could only agree, “Fuck if I do. Pretty sure Grimmy invited a couple dozen of his mates with him.”

Ross started nodding rapidly at that, raising his beer as he did. “Yeah, spotted that Harry Styles in your loo.”

“In my loo?”

“In your loo.”

“The fuck were you doing in my bathroom with Harry Styles, Ross?” George questioned his mate, bewildered now, but even with the state of him, George knew that Ross could make friends with just about anyone. Send the man into a den full of hungry hyenas and he’d walk out with a pal for life.

Ross simply shrugged, “He was coming out, I was going in, he liked my hair.”

George lifted his eyebrows and pursed his lips, as though that made any sense, “Oh right, yeah.”

Ross hummed then perked up again, “Here she is. The lady of the hour!”

Following the direction of the man’s gaze, George grinned and felt the rest of the room dampen down to a droning droll around him as Birdie walked on over, bottle of wine in tucked under her arm.

“Wahey! Would you look at that!” Ross greeted her cheerfully, roping the girl into a warm hug, “You’ve finally come to see me!”

“I saw you-“ She paused and hiccuped with a half-arsed glare, “-ages ago, you big knobhead.”

“Oof.” Ross sounded, clasping a hand over his hurt heart, “Alright, sorry! Just missed you is all, only had like five minutes with you by the door.”

Birdie pouted then, and George knew she was truly sloshed by the real tears he saw well in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Ro! I haven’t had the chance. There’s all these people here annoying me.” She waved her hand around aimlessly above her head, squinting as she did, before she then huffed. She turned towards George then, all but stepping on his toes to get in his space, not that he minded, “Did you know One Direction are here? In my flat?”

“Our flat.” George corrected with a tiny grin whilst she necked another few gulps of wine.

“What I said, ain’t it?” Birdie retorted, glancing about the room again. “Can you believe Zayn fucking Malik tried to give me a joint too? And I said-“ She hiccuped again then and George reached out to steady her slight;y, “-I told him, right, I said but you’re just a baby! And he laughed at me, G. Laughed! I almost told him that that one song of theirs was shit, but I didn’t. Felt bad for even thinking it. You know?”

Ross was snickering away to the left of them, obviously pleased with the state of their best mate, whilst George attempted to cajole the wine bottle from out under her arm.

“He’s the fit one, ain’t he?”

“They’re all bloody fit, Ross!” Birdie argued with the idiot whilst George sighed, wondering where on Earth he’d found the pair of them, “Got to be ‘cause all them girls love ‘em. Like you lot, I ‘spose.”

That startled quite the laugh out of Ross and he swayed nearer, “You ‘spose? I’m fucking hurt here, are you saying we’re not fit, B?”

She rolled her eyes as though she was annoyed with him for not understanding what she’d meant and groaned, “No, you are fit. Just not as fit as them, yeah?”

George snorted but had finally managed to snag the bottle loose, she frowned and went to take it back, though he seemed to be able to distract her with his next question, “Not fit enough am I, Birdie? Why d’ya not ask one of them to move in with you then?”

The crease between her brow deepened at his ask and her hands came up to wrap themselves around his neck, “‘Cause they’re babies! I’ve just said this, G. Aren’t you listenin’?”

“Think they’re only a couple years younger.” Ross countered but he put his hands up in surrender when Birdie retorted with, “Exactly. Babies, Ross! Tiny little goblin children.”

“Right, yeah. ‘Course.”

George sighed again, “Think it’s time for you to get to bed, B.”

“What? No!” The girl squawked and stumbled in his hold as she reeled backwards, “I’m fine, completeeeely fine! So fine, in fact, that I bet I could do a backflip. Right here. Right now.”

“You can’t do a backflip even when sober, sweetheart.”

“I can too.” She pouted, retracting her arms from around his neck even though he’d yet to relinquish his hold on her. He laughed at her adamancy on the subject though and determined that he’d have to remind her once she’d sobered up.

“Sure, B.” He soothed, carding a gentle hand through her messy hair and tucking a loose strand behind her ear.

“You’re really pretty though, G. Like so pretty I feel the need to bark or something. Like a dog would at a squirrel.”

Ross actually lost his footing upon hearing that and spat what little dregs of drink that remained in his mouth out onto their brand new floor. “Bark??” He questioned her, and even though George was just as baffled as he was, he had the fucking common sense not to quiz a drunken twat. No matter how lovely they were.

“Was that a bit much?” Birdie asked him, smiling dopily now as she started to deflate, leaning more heavily into George’s side. Ross made a face and George cut his eyes at the lad. But the girl didn’t seem to notice nor care and simply carried on, “Do you reckon Cillian Murphy would let me marry him? He was well fit in that movie, weren’t he? That one with all them dreams and Tom Hardy… Fuck, I’d fuck Tom hardy. Wouldn’t you, G?”

George pressed his lips together to keep himself from outwardly reacting, doubting that she’d be all that susceptible to being laughed at, then said, “Yeah Birdie, be mad not to.”

He’d expected Ross to find amusement in her words too but only found the man to be nodding along solemnly, George tightened his mouth to hold back an ugly snort.

“I know!” Birdie went on, and George was practically holding her up now, even as she hiccuped again. “Oh, but he’s not as fit as you, G. Especially when you start doing that thing with your-”

A hand was all too quick to muffle her admission then, and from the dying light in Ross’s eyes George was beyond thankful that he hadn’t given the prick the opportunity to lord something so incriminating over their heads for the rest of their sorry lives.

“Alright, lovely, time for bed, yeah?”

“Oi, she weren’t done, were you, B? What were you gonna say just then, sweetheart?” Ross tried and barely even reacted to the swift kick George gave his leg whilst Birdie pried his hand away from her mouth.

“I don’t remember. But if I do, I’ll call for you! Yeah?”

Ross nodded in quick succession and George took the chance to start leading his girlfriend away from the rest of the party.

He sighed in utter relief once they reached the last door at the very end of the hallway and shuffled them on through. Their bedroom was halfway through the unpacking stage at the moment, just the bed and a dresser had been put together, so he had to be extremely careful when trying to manoeuvre their way past the many boxes that littered the floor.

“Alright there, love?” George questioned after he’d gone and propped the girl down on the edge of the mattress, already making the effort to start peeling off her socks as well as the dress she’d picked out earlier that evening. She looked stunning in it, even now with her hair in disarray and a small stain marring the collar.

She hummed softly in response.

“Tired?” He asked.

“Tired.”

“Thought so,” George chuckled quietly, pulling back the covers so that she could climb in, “Had fun though, yeah?”

“So much.” She answered him, rubbing her eyes sleepily which only removed the mascara she’d popped on whilst getting ready and darkened the underneaths of them. “You?”

“You were there, weren’t you? So ‘course I did.”

“Sap.” She laughed, reaching out to run a hand through his unruly hair. “Love you.”

He smiled and released an airy breath, “Love you. Too much, I reckon.”

She grinned up at him and shuffled further under the duvet, George decided to grab a makeup wipe and help clear up her face, knowing she’d be all stroppy come morning when her skin was horrible and the pillowcases were stained.

“Stay still, you weirdo.” He scolded with a light chuckle when she started to wiggle about beneath his careful hand, “I’m just tryna get this eye shit off for you.”

“Oh.” She whispered, sleep lining every inch of her voice, eyes still wound shut as she hunched her shoulders up towards her ears. “Sorry.”

“No need to be sorry, love.”

“But you’re so lovely to me, G. Always.” She sighed, smiling softly.

“What you deserve, ain’t it?” He replied in the same hushed tone, and there was that word again.

“Hm. I’m glad I have you. And our home too.”

George could only smile as he popped the stained wipe into the little bin nearby.

“Me too, Birdie.” He admitted, sliding in beside the girl to wrap her up in his arms. He could hardly care less about the party still going on outside. He’d locked the door on their way in and Hann had yet to leave, so he was sure that things would soon sort themselves out. Besides, Ross knew where they’d wandered off to if anyone asked so there was nothing more to worry about.

Nothing at all.

—

He could hardly take it.

It was quiet. Eerily so. But his head was too fucking loud. Way too fucking loud.

He’d been spiralling as of late. He knew it. Could read the signs as easily as he could the morning paper, but it’d been a long while since the last. Before he’d left home even.

But he was. Spiralling.

He was free-falling. Had lost his footing somewhere on the curb outside and had yet to land, yet to catch his breath.

But everything was good.

Apart from the not eating. The not sleeping.

Everything had been good.

He was good. Things were good. Things were fine.

Fine. Fine. Fine.

Why was he spiralling again?

He wanted to scream. Throw his fist through a wall and leave it at that. Could feel the agitation he constantly felt cloud him like a cloak.

His foot started tapping away then, and his fingers soon followed. He itched for a drink, something to ease it all, so he stood from where he’d been holed up by his desk all day and stormed through the flat into the living room.

There was a bar cart of sorts set up there, between the sofa and the tele. A wheeled antique cabinet Birdie had seen on one of their evening escapades and reckoned it would serve well when hosting the alcoholics they called friends.

George paused by it for a split second before he flipped the doors open, rattling the bottles inside as another round of thoughts plagued his mind. Friends. Did he have any that weren’t hers?

He grunted and dragged one of the newer JD bottles out, the glass clinking against every other in his fidgety haste. He kicked it closed behind him and wandered his way out onto the small balcony, one of the many things that had sold them on the place all those years ago, and unscrewed the lid.

It was late evening now. Seven, eight-ish or so, at least that’s what he reckoned. The streetlights were lit on the narrow street below and it was just beginning to spit, he raised the bottle up towards the Heavens, toasting the weather’s sardonic humour, before he necked a few gulps.

He hated it. Hated everything as of late. The way he looked. How things sounded. When people would smile at him. Joke. Talk.

He felt trapped. Knotted up with baggage, his head the stone weighing him down. He felt scared. Terrified, even. And he couldn’t for the life of him make sense of any of it.

He sounded like a fucking prick. He knew that. But he didn’t much care, because what was the point in caring anyway? When they’d yet to even start on the next album they’d promised. Yet to even write another song. It was too much. All he ever felt was pressure. Coming at him from all sides. When he was in the studio. When he was at home.

No one could leave him the fuck alone.

“George?”

A voice called out distantly, he was quick to down another shot of the murky liquid and squeeze his eyes tightly shut to simply give himself a second of reprieve, before he stepped back through the balcony doors and into the warmth of the flat.

He grunted in reply after he’d tucked the bottle up onto a high shelf and switched on the tele, if only to make it seem like he hadn’t been stewing in his own head since he last seen her that morning.

“There you are, picked up takeaway on my way home. Figured you might not have eaten yet.” Birdie greeted as she waltzed through the living room, pecking his cheek before heading on over to the kitchen. He watched through the transom window as she placed a white carrier bag onto the counter then make a grab for the plates in one of the higher cabinets, coat already having been shucked off in the hallway and slippers on her feet. “You get much done today then?” She asked him, “Spoke with Matty on my lunch break, he’ll be in London again next week.”

George could only hum, eyes focused intently on the tele screen but not taking any of it in.

“You even watching that? Sound ain’t even turned on, you dafty.” She laughed from the other side of the wall. He heard her riffle through the drawers for something or other, but didn’t reply. “G, babe. You alright?”

“Fine.”

Fine. Fine. Fine.

He had to force himself to breath.

“Fine? Don’t sound it, love. What’s up?” She questioned further, having stopped what she was doing to wander back in.

He gritted his teeth. She only ever prodded. Poking and poking. More and more. Incessant. Never knew when to give the fuck up.

“I’m fine. Just said that, didn’t I?”

She paused, surprised by the bite behind his words. He swallowed heavily, the bitter twang of whiskey still stained his tongue, his teeth.

“Don’t have to be like that, G. Was just asking.” Was what she replied with after a long and silent minute had passed.

George could only scoff, throwing the tv remote he still clung to somewhere onto he sofa behind him. “Yeah, well don’t. I’ve said I’m fine. So leave it, will you?”

She made this face, the same one she always did when she was hurt, but not anything teary or sad, just angered. “This what I’ve got to look forward to each time I come home, then? You and these foul fucking moods you work yourself into. What, all ‘cause tours stopped and the album’s not coming along the way you hoped? Well, boo-fucking-hoo, George. That’s life. Not everything’s perfect. And you don’t get to sit there and take it all out on me, day in and day-fucking-out.”

“Just fuck off, Birdie. I don’t need your shit on top of everything else.” George snipped back and wasn’t fully prepared for the way she shot towards him, snatching up the tele remote to switch the whole thing off just so he’d look at her.

“Don’t call me that when you’re being the prick. I haven’t done a thing wrong, only asked after you.”

George rolled his eyes, already tired of it all. “Leave it out.”

He then huffed and went to grab the set of silver keys that had been left on the console.

She threw her hands up in the air, shoulders hunching. “What the fuck, G? Where’re you going now? You can’t just leave like this.”

“The fuck I can’t.” He snorted unkindly, shaking his head as he shoved the keys into his pocket and made his way back through the house to get to his studio.

“George.” He heard her call after him, but not too far behind. “At least tell me where you’re going so I know you’ll be safe. You’ve been drinking again so you can’t fucking drive. Call a cab or something, head to Hann’s.”

His fists were at his temple then, drilling themselves a hole there, if only to subside some of the torment he felt his mind swimming in. She was at the door a second later, looking lost and hurt, sad now, not angry.

“G, please.”

He didn’t know why but he just laughed a little to himself after having heard her plea, hands falling aimlessly to his sides as he shook his head once more. “I can’t fucking do this anymore.” He heard himself say.

She sighed, this heavy thing that weighed her down before it expanded out into the rest of the room, almost as if it wanted to suffocate not just her but him too. “Can’t do what?”

“This!” He said harshly, hardly even sparing her a glance as he begun to pack away his laptop, his mixing shit, and whatever else cluttered the desk. “I can’t do this anymore.”

“What’s that meant to mean?”

“I just can’t keep fucking pretending! Can’t-” He faltered and faffed his hand about in midair before throwing it downwards to shove a charger into a case, “Can’t carry on like I’m fine. Like everything’s fucking fine, all the fucking time. Like it’ll all work out. Like this is where I’m meant to be.”

A long stretch dragged out between them and all that could be heard was the traffic of the inner city from just outside their flat. He used to love it, but despised it in that second.

“I don’t… I don’t know what you want me to do, George. What you need to make things better.”

He was shaking now, trembling even. Noticed it as his hand faltered when going to pick up the hard-drive sat behind a frame she’d gifted him for his twentieth birthday, one that had sat proudly on his desk ever since he’d unwrapped it.

“I’m gonna go to LA for a bit.” He heard himself murmur whilst he dragged his gaze away from the smiling duo behind the glass. “Stay with Matty, work on the album, explore some of the options out there.”

“For how long?”

Her voice had never seemed so small.

“I don’t know.” He returned and forced himself to continue packing up, tucking his phone into his back pocket and breathing as much as his hollow lungs would allow. “Just, I don’t know, alright. Don’t wait for me, yeah? I’ll figure it out.”

A surprised albeit wet scoff bypassed her mouth then, “What’s that meant to mean? Are you ending things? Is that what this is?”

He squeezed his eyes shut again, if only to appease the swirling storm going on inside his head. His chest ached with the very motion and he fought not to spare her another look as he turned around to head down the hallway.

“George! You can’t just say shit like that and leave.” She shouted, though there were tears in her voice. “If you’re ending things with me, at least have the balls to tell me straight.”

“I don’t fucking know what I’m doing! Alright?” He shouted back at her, the pounding in his head, the whispers, growing in tenfold as he spun around on his heel to stare back the only girl he’d ever loved. “I feel trapped! And I fucking hate it! I don’t want to leave but what else is there? Stay here and drive myself fucking insane?”

She appeared to fold in on herself then, just looked back at him with eyes of dying wildfire and he had to live with the knowledge that he’d been the one to snuff them out.

“We were happy. And I love you. Isn’t that enough?”

The anger was long gone now, replaced only by a hot and heavy pit of grief. “But what if I’m not in love with you anymore?”

George watched her break into pieces, right there on the hallway floor before his very eyes. And he couldn’t even reach out to hold her together, to take back the cruel words.

“I love you.” He croaked, “But-”

“You’re just not sure if you’re in love with me.” She finished for him, wet tears hanging from her chin and drowning out what little flames she’d had left behind her eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

It was all he could think to say.

“Sorry.” She mimicked, “Why? Why now?”

He swallowed, but there was a rock stuck there at the very top of his windpipe. He couldn’t get the right words out. Felt as though all his organs were failing.

She shook beneath his hands and it was that reaction that had him realising that he’d crossed the floor to meet her. He was crying too he found, because when he stared into her eyes she was all blurred and disfigured.

She clung to the front of his t-shirt in that next second and he wound his hands around her wrists, not pulling them away, just holding.

“Please.”

And everything inside him shattered with that one word.

Splintered his entire being, in truth, and sent whatever was left of him ricocheting outwards. She’d gotten caught in the crossfire it seemed and he could only lean in a little closer to press his lips to her forehead whilst she sobbed all she had left to give into his shoulder.

—

Her head was rested against his arm and George did his very best not to move a single inch, even with the turbulence of the plane shaking them this way and that, in hopes not to wake her.

The doctor had given her the okay to fly and although the lot of them had been all too happy spending a couple of weeks hiding away in sunny Spain, working on the album and recovering, it was nice to finally be headed home.

The only thing that had him on edge though, was the life waiting there for them. What would happen once the plane finally landed and they were back on familiar ground? He questioned how long it would take for her to realise the massive mistake she’d made. If she would end things the same way he had.

Probably not, she was a lot of things but cruel had never been a word he’d use to describe her.

He glanced downwards then, towards her. She’d taken the window seat, of course, but thankfully he’d been left with an empty seat on the other side of him. The rest of the boys were stuck a little further up, Ross and Matty conked the fuck out, whilst Hann rewatched one of the many Lord of the Ring films.

She looked peaceful whenever she slept and it always seemed to settle some anxious stirring deep within him when he saw her like that. Reckoned it was only because he could be certain that she was fine, that nothing could harm her with him sat this close. Or at least that’s what he used to think. Couldn’t really claim that now though after he’d been the one to tear her to pieces.

George gripped the hand he held a little tighter with that thought, but not enough to wake her.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, we have begun our descent into London. The local time is 3:36. Please turn off all electronic devices and stow them away until we have arrived at the gate. For your safety and the safety of those around you, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened and keep the aisles clear until we are parked at the gate. Thank you for flying with us, we hope you have enjoyed your flight.’

He drew in a nervous breath at the overhead announcement, but gathered himself enough to then shift in his seat slightly. He knew that if he didn’t wake her now he’d only drag it out, hold out hope that they’d soon fly through a strange portal and into a whole other world instead of landing in Heathrow like planned.

“Hey, B.” George called softly, jostling the girl sat beside him ever so gently. She sniffed and then took a deep breath in before stretching herself outwards, “B, love. Wake up, we’re landing soon.”

“Hm?” She questioned sleepily, and George could only chuckle as she forced her head further into the darkness his shoulder had to offer.

“About to land, babe.” He repeated again, stroking the back of her head as she continued to rouse herself, “Reckon those pills worked a treat, you passed out twenty minutes in.”

“Praise modern medicine.” Is the reply Birdie gave him and he snorted in return, burying the sound in the top of her head.

“Feeling alright?”

She hummed into the muscle of his chest before pulling away to blink sleepily up at him. “Yeah, neck doesn’t even ache that much.”

“Reckon that’s ‘cause you used me as a pillow.”

With a wrinkle of her nose, the girl then smiled, “I’ll be sure to return the gesture in the cab back then.”

George’s thoughts seemed to still at that and the anxiety he’d been shoving way deep down rose up like the City of Atlantis thought to if Armageddon ever did occur. It must’ve shown on his face too, because Birdie was frowning the next time he glanced over at her.

“What’s up?” She asked him, voice still full of sleep, eyes still bleary.

He opened his mouth to wave her worries away, but found he couldn’t.

“G?” She prodded with a small but beautiful smile. “Go on, you can tell me.”

“I know.” He murmured, but still felt conflicted as his gaze dragged between her own. “I’m just. I-” He lost himself in his head again, each breath growing harsher.

“Me too.” He heard her admit.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She chuckled, smiling again but this time she took his hand in hers. George let it ground him. “It’ll be strange, but we’re together, yeah? Everything will work out.”

He was stuck there, frozen in place, thousands of miles up in the sky, and honest to God gone on this girl. How he’d managed to find her in the first place, he didn’t know, but to have lost her and then won her back also? Well, it gave him the answer to a question he’d been asking for years.

What did he deserve?

What did anyone deserve, really?

He didn’t truly know, but happiness felt like a pretty fair answer.

“I love you, you know that?”

She laughed at him, not unkindly, and he felt her squeeze his hand. “I do. And you’ll be pleased to know it’s very much reciprocated.”

George rolled his eyes, a smile tugging at his lips, “Oh, lovely that. Thanks.”

Birdie grinned as she chuckled, pulling him in close to gift him a quick kiss.

“Love you too, you ginormous sap!”

He could only laugh in retort, shaking his head before he dragged her back in for something a little more substantial.

George felt, more than saw, the grin he was sure matched his and found that he didn’t ever want to pull away again.

Epilogue>

77 notes · View notes

p1err0st4r · 2 months

Text

☆ | author's note : this song is driving me fucking nuts. I am absolutely hypnotized by this song. But guess what ? They made me think of a fic. Might be more chapters if im not lazy enough. :33

★ | warnings : MINORS DNI ; human!alastor ; f!reader ; body deformations ; a freak show ; mentions of sex ; mentions of sexually exploiting a minor; swearing.

❝ Treasured stage light. ❞ . chapter 1

Lights , confetti , chants and applause.

Was something you dreamed of yet never saw.

Some might have thought you were arrogant , a narcissist and a rat , who merely uses her actors so she'd contrast their stupidity and ugliness to be the highlight. The main act of the show !

They wouldn't be wrong , but , there would be so much more than that to it.

You slowly turned on the radio in your humble tent as you sat down in the bed. Gaze focused on your hand as you scrolled up enough for the signal to be sufficient and hearable.

❝ You have me right here , you know , babes? ❞

Though that attention didn't always work in your favor.

❝ You better get iut of here fast , you lowlife. ❞

You got up from the bed and shoved your leg in between the mans legs , pressing hard enough to gain a painful growl from him.

❝ jesus.. fine. You fiesty bitch.❞

You watched him leave. Finally some time to yourself.

Being an owner of a freak show , in nearly perfect condition made you a star , no doubt. But with the popularity come the fans , and with the fans come the simpy men you had to fuck because you still wanted to find someone special... someone you'd love.

But you wouldn't unless they were a star and unless they shared your animalisticly wild ambition.

As you listened to the radio every evening you wondered who is the man behind your favorite show... probably someone popular , you thought. Maybe.. just maybe someday you'd get your hands on the man.

In your dreams of course.

With a playful sway of your hips you stepped to your mirror and tried in one of your hats with a smile.

❝ oh i'll be a legend !! ❞

You exclaimed... a sudden giggle coming from the direction of your bed.

❝ who's there ?❞

You asked, stepping closer before a sudden tight grip flipped you over to face the "culprit". Oh it was just your little assistant !

Dominic was your first ever "collectible" though... you cherished him the most. Being only 13 years old he was a highly intellegent and was from a wealthy family. But sadly had a cobblers chest. At first his parents were just sceptical of it but when they realized he wasn't sexually appealing to women they just decided to sell him off like a slave.

But luckily , he went into your hands. Not someone elses.

You placed a hand on his head as you both laughed in unison.

❝ oh Dominic.. you always manage to excite me.❞

The boy basicslly jumped away from you before clearing his throat. What was all the excitment about ? You thought it was about one of his "inventions" again... of these silly children.

❝ Miss Y/N. Some mysterious man came to the main tent ! He says that he wants to interview you for his show! ❞

And now that. It caught you completely off-guard. Was your show great enough to finslly hit the news papers ? Anything at least..? Whole radio programs ?!?!

Oh this is what you call success.

❝ Ah... how great ! Now come , shoo , tell him i will be there in a few. ❞

You needed to make the best first impression ever in your life, so you took your sweet fucking time picking out a dress and getting all dolled up. Anything to look perfect.

You confidently walked to the place where everyone was gathered, eyes closed out of excitment, and as you stepped inside the formed arch surrounding the man in question your eyelids fluttered open and were met with an sbsolute wonder of a man.

Dark hair , tan skin , a great build.. oh you could just rip him apart and eat him.

❝ Salutations ! Miss Y/N i presume? ❞

You weakly hid your suprise , yet still kept your ground and spoke with confidence.

❝ Yes.. and you must be-❞

You got interrupted by a sudden strong handshake and a quick pull.

❝ Alastor ! Great to make buisness with you. I was on one of your shows and i couldn't help but wonder , what a star ! ❞

Your mind went blank.

"star"

And that familliar voice.

Oh no , probably just a coincidence.

❝ oh im truly flattered. But i hope you're here to bring up buisness.❞

❝ oh yes indeedy ! It is the msot important part , is it not ? I want to know the formuls to your success ! Or rather just... could you answer a few questions? ❞

You couldn't help yourself.

You led him to your private tent.

❝ anything for the gentleman you are !❞

As you lit up a cigarette you offered him one.

❝ Oh no thank you , miss. I don't smoke.❞

❝ hm ? A shame , truly. ❞

You sat in akward silence for a good 5 minutes and all that time you couldn't help but stare at the beatiful man. They were his eyes moved , his hands neatly folded in his lap , the way his leg swayed over the other.

❝ enjoying the view , miss Y/N ? Never thought it would be your habit to stare... ❞

Alastor slowly placed a sheet of paper with 28 questions on it.

❝ i will return to you in around.. 3 days. And i'll be counting on you giving me the answers to all of these. Detailed.❞

❝ ough , so demanding !❞

❝ might be true , but it is better for both of us , is it not ? ❞

You nodded. Of course it was !

This precious man was going to fall under your spell.

He slowly stood up and walked to the exit of your tent.

❝ i hope i'll see you again , miss Y/N.❞

34 notes · View notes

d1xonss · 5 months

Text

Desert Rose

Chapter 7 ~ Overthinking

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Rose

✧ Era : Season 1

✧ Word Count : 3.9k

In this chapter ~ Once the tension had died down, everyone full and content in the large space, Jenner leads the group to where they would be staying for the night. They were given the luxury of showers, beds, anything and everything the man had to offer for the time being. But Daryl seemed to fall into a bit of an awkward situation in the process. One that Rose seemed to find amusing.

After we all finished eating, scraping every crumb off of our plates and others drinking far too much, Jenner began to lead us down to where we would be staying. The hallways we walked through almost felt like a fever dream, the egg white colored walls and flickering fluorescent lights were starting to make my head spin as I felt like I had been here before. I knew I never had, but something about the look of it was making me grow uneasy.

"Most of the facility is powered down including housing so you'll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you'd like. There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might like, just don't plug in the video games, okay? Oh, and if you shower, go easy on the hot water." Jenner explained and listed before turning back to us with a nod, leaving us alone once more so we could get comfortable.

"Hot water?" Glenn asks excitedly.

"That's what the man said." T-Dog confirmed with a smile.

Upon hearing that luxury, everyone seemed to slit off and spread out into different directions to find a room suitable enough to stay in. I found myself venturing further down the hall until I hit the very last room on the left, opening the door with a loud squeak as I peeked my head inside.

Everything was clean and white as I flipped on the light, seeing a few cots already laid out along with a couch tucked in the corner along with another door to which I only assumed was the bathroom. I set my stuff down on one of the counters, but didn't fully unpack because I wanted to be cautious and stay on alert. Even though this place seemed safe, who knows what could happen? And even if it was safe for now, we couldn't stay here forever hiding away like this, pretending what was happening outside wasn't real.

I opened up my bag and dug around through the many things stacked up in there to try and find some clean clothes to sleep in, when I suddenly heard a few quiet knocks on the door behind me. My head turned back just in time to see Daryl standing there awkwardly as he slowly entered the space with his things, leaving me waiting patiently for him to say something.

"Hey uh..." he started before clearing his throat uncomfortably, scratching an itch on the back of his reddened neck, "There ain't any rooms left and um...I sure as hell don't want to stay with Shane, so...do ya mind if we...share a room?"

With the way he asked, it seemed like the most uncomfortable question in the world for him to voice out loud, but I also nearly laughed at the sight. Another rare sight of him being nervous about something like this was more than amusing, though I flashed him a reassuring smile as I nodded.

"Yeah, sure. I mean you offered to let me sleep in your tent last night, so...really, I would just be an asshole if I said no." I joked.

The man then smiled his first real smile at me, though it was small, it was there as he ducked his head again, "Yeah, I guess yer right... thanks."

I nodded in return before turning back to finally find some clothes, moving things around messily in my backpack. From just behind me I could hear him moving around and shuffling his feet, placing his things and weapons down on the floor with a thud before flopping himself down on the couch with an exhausted huff.

"Is it okay if I take a shower first?" I asked as I turned around to face him again, to which he simply nodded.

Walking into the bathroom and shutting the door behind me, I gasped a bit quietly to myself as my feet hit the cold tile floor below me. That, and also this bathroom was massive. I took my time scanning the place before setting my clothes off to the side on the counter, stripping myself of my old ones. My eyes glanced over towards the mirror to my right to see my reflection briefly, before averting my gaze away just as quickly as before with a breath.

Just in that split second, was more than enough to know that I looked like shit, part of me not wanting to dwell on it too much because I never liked looking at myself in the mirror anyways my whole life. Now even more so as I just barely could see my slightly beaten up face that was still healing from the blows Ed threw at me. Cuts and bruising marking my flesh. My hair was also a knotted mess while there were prominent tired circles under my eyes that were hard just too dark to ignore. It was safe to say I desperately needed this shower.

I then moved towards the large shower and leaned in through the glass door to turn on the water, running my hand underneath to check how warm it was before slowly stepping inside. To say the fresh water felt amazing would be an absolute understatement. The steam rose above me towards the ceiling as the hot water reddened my light skin. I really took advantage of all the shampoo and conditioner lined out in front of me because my hair felt disgusting and dirty, and not to mention a tangled mess. It felt amazing being able to run my fingers through it again, not even remembering the last time I was able to do that without them getting stuck a million times. Managing curly hair in the apocalypse was something I didn't wish upon anyone else. I then scrubbed all of the dirt and blood off of my entire body with a washcloth and some lavender scented soap, ravishing in the smell before rinsing all the bubbles off.

As much as I wanted to stay there forever, stay warm and clean under the shower head, I wanted Daryl to have some hot water too so I eventually managed to pull myself out. I quickly dried myself off with a white fluffy towel and put on underwear, some shorts, and a long sleeve shirt, before using the towel to ring out my hair one last time as it seemed to be dripping all over the floor. After brushing through it as best as I could, gathering my dirty clothes to put back with my stuff, I opened the door again to the room which sent the steam I created flying out of the smaller space. My eyes glanced around for a moment enough to see that Daryl wasn't in the room anymore, but I just shrugged and got my things situated before finding myself trailing out to the hallway to check out the rec room that Jenner had briefly mentioned.

When I walked into the giant lounge room, I saw immediately that the kids were already in there playing a board game on the table as they looked up to greet me, Carl asking excitedly if I could play a round with them. I couldn't bring myself to say no. How could I when they looked at me with a sparkle in their eyes, just wanting one more player as the rest of the adults were off doing their own thing. Sitting myself across from them, I ended up playing three different rounds of Clue to which Sophia was the most victorious. I didn't know how she did it, but she managed to crack the case every damn time.

Eventually though Carol trailed back into the room, ushering the kids as it was getting late and time for them to both start getting ready for bed. I smiled at the two of them as they told me goodnight, following the woman back out the door and towards their rooms for the night before another intense round could begin.

After they left, I found myself standing back up to walk around and explore the rest of the room that was filled with tons of bookshelves to go through. My eyes caught a particularly bigger one in the back lining up against the wall that instantly drew me in as I began to pick through them, glancing at each of the titles. I liked to think I wasn't really much of a reader, but things can get really boring after a while with not much to keep yourself occupied, so I thought I would take a peek and see which ones looked worth reading to me.

But after a just few minutes of having my back facing the entrance, the hairs on the back of my neck began to stand up as I felt a pair of eyes watching me. The feeling caused me to stop my movements for a moment, before slowly continuing as I paid it no mind, wanting to just get a handful of books before turning in myself for the night. I knew that the person was still there, lingering ever so slightly, but I didn't do anything or make an effort to turn and face them, simply because I wanted to see how long they would wait. How long they were willing to stay in place.

A few moments passed just like that before I heard their footsteps entering the room very quietly, however I could still hear them quite well no matter how silent they tried to be. I honestly couldn't tell if they were trying to sneak up on me or not, but they were doing a very terrible job if they were.

Though after having my fun, I finally turned around when I felt them inch closer, surprising myself when I saw Daryl who now stood frozen in shock, just merely a few feet away from me.

"Well, hey stranger." I said with a small smile as I started to flip through one of the hard cover books I held in my hands.

He seemed to relax a little bit upon hearing my voice and chuckled a little to himself, "Ya got good ears. I was wonderin how long it would take ya to notice I was here."

"Oh, I knew the whole time." I said casually, not taking my eyes off the pages.

Without even having to look up, I could sense that what I said shocked him because all he managed to say was, "Huh?"

A small laugh passed through my lips as I glanced up at him through my lashes, "You're not the only one who's got some pretty good instincts. I knew you were there the whole time." I shrugged.

He stood there silently for a few moments as if trying to figure out what to say next, growing uneasy at the fact that he had just been caught. "Well, um... I guess that's a good skill ta have when there are walkers watchin ya every five minutes."

"Yeah...or people." I smirked.

Now he was really embarrassed and it took everything in me not to laugh to myself at his starstruck expression. The apples of his cheeks and the tips of his ears turned a deep shade of red and he could no longer seem to make eye contact with me. He again settled with staring at the floor.

He coughed once to clear his throat before gesturing behind him with his thumb, "Right well um... m' gonna take a shower." he said before quickly leaving the room before I even had the chance to say anything else.

Once he left, this time I did find myself laughing to myself at what just happened. I had no idea why he was watching me or why he grew so nervous at just a five second conversation, but I wasn't planning to read too much into it. I was just happy I was slowly breaking him out of his shell, and I guess I was slowly breaking out of mine. Maybe it was a good thing for the both of us.

After a few minutes had passed, I took the books that seemed to be the most intriguing and headed back to our room, staying as quiet as I could in case anyone nearby was sleeping. Pushing the door open with my back, I moved through the dim room and sat myself down on the couch for a few minutes as I opened up one of the books in my hands to read through the first few chapters. The calming sound of the shower running in the background was nice to fill the silence, coming out more quiet and soothing behind the closed door.

Eventually the words on the pages weren't making much sense and I could feel my eyelids start to grow heavier with each passing second. With that, I closed the book and placed it beside me before turning over to try and finally get some sleep for the night.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~* THIRD PERSON POV ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

So much had just happened in the last few days and Daryl did not know how to process it. It was bad enough after everything that happened to his brother in Atlanta, but throwing a new and charming woman into the group, that alone was enough to make his head spin.

Ever since he saw Rose for the first time, he was immediately intrigued by her. Drawn towards her in a way he couldn't understand. He couldn't deny, she was very beautiful, but that wasn't the thing that seemed to pique his interest initially. It was the way she handled herself, the fact that she was skilled enough to know what to do in this new world, that's what instantly grabbed Daryl's attention. He then, and only then, slowly started to notice her beautiful features, and don't even get him started on when he heard her laugh for the first time.

However, soon after he saw her, he tried to ignore whatever feeling that was bubbling in the pit of his stomach whenever she was around and tried to move on. He told himself that it was stupid to have some feelings for this girl he barely even knows, but there was just something about her that made him more interested. He kept his distance at first because the last thing he needed was someone else to look out for, hell, he couldn't even look out for his own brother. But after seeing her almost get bit by a walker when the camp got attacked, that made something change inside him.

He wanted to protect her. He needed to protect her. Now, he knew that she could take care of herself. Clearly, because she took him down with ease the first time they met. But when she needed help, he wanted to have her back. When she needed someone to talk to, he wanted to be the one to listen. He also couldn't describe the sudden anger he felt when he saw what Ed did to her face. He was lucky that bastard died that night because if Daryl saw him the next day, he would've wished he was dead.

Though slowly but surely Daryl started to talk to her more to say, in his own way, that he would be there for her. He just hoped she knew that.

However, all he could feel right now was utter embarrassment. He didn't realize she was aware of his presence the whole time he was watching her, and now that she knew, she was probably creeped out. Hell, she had every right to be.

He was just walking past the rec room when he saw her standing there glancing at the plethora of books. Her damp curly hair hanging just behind her shoulders, the black long sleeve shirt that hugged her curves in all the right ways. He was just so fascinated by her that he physically couldn't pull his eyes away. He told himself that he should just stop being a wimp, and just go over to start a conversation.

But when he did finally get the courage to step in the room and talk to her, she turned around and looked him dead in the eye. Safe to say he lost all of his confidence right then and there. And the rest of the conversation obviously didn't really go as he planned.

So now there he stood in the shower, overthinking every step and breath he took around her. A million questions were swirling through his head. But the big question was, was she feeling the same way?

Little did he know,

She was.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ROSE POV *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

My eyes slowly opened the next morning with my head still slightly hurting, but I slowly pushed through it with a quiet sigh as I got up sleepily to head into the bathroom. The bright light made my eyes sting and my head pound, I almost wished I had sunglasses to wear as if somehow I was hungover. In hindsight, Jenner's warnings about drinking with a head injury were probably not to be taken lightly, clearly I could see that now.

Pushing my eyes to stay open, I brushed my teeth with a clean toothbrush I had found in one of the many drawers lined up in front of me, and changed my clothes into some black jeans and a green long sleeve. Wetting down my frizzy hair, I finally emerged again from the bathroom to see Daryl was still passed out cold on one of the cots a few feet away from me. My head tilted to the side in amusement at he snored softly, his mouth falling open the smallest bit as he dreamed. But then I quickly snapped out of it once I realized how creepy this seemed, leaving the room with hurried steps to see who else was up.

Hearing the somewhat loud chatter echoing down the hall, I followed it all the way until I hit the cafeteria we had eaten in just last night, seeing everyone sitting around the large table again having breakfast. I picked up a plate that was stacked up with the others and moved over towards T-Dog who was cooking some scrambled eggs, greeting him with a smile as he put some on my plate. I then moved over and found a space next to Glenn who had his head down on the table, moving the chair out quietly to sit next to him. Though he shushed harshly me with a raised hand the moment I placed myself next to him, shaking his head a little side to side.

My eyes narrowed at him before glancing up at everyone else in confusion, Lori catching my eye and laughing, "He's a little hungover." she said quietly.

"Huh." I nodded in understanding, glancing back at the man as his head raised up again to look at me, his eyes reddened to no return.

"Don't ever, ever, ever, let me drink again." he pleaded groggily with his hand on top of mine.

I nodded with raised brows as he stared at me expectantly, "Okay, okay, I won't." I promised with a small laugh.

Quiet conversations from the others continued to fill the room as everyone drank their coffee and tried to wake. For some reason being here made us all exhausted even though it was later in the morning, but I guess part of it was because of the amount of alcohol consumed last night.

I quickly managed to finish half my eggs before standing from my seat to get behind Glenn's chair and rub his shoulders to try and help soothe the pain in his head. He raised his head once more to look at me and smiled gratefully before putting it back down on the cool table with a groan.

My mind then only seemed to wander back to last night as I spaced out sleepily, remembering back to the moment where I made Daryl very embarrassed. We hadn't really seen each other since it happened because of how fast I fell asleep last night, but I knew he was surely over it by now considering it wasn't that big of a deal. Though I wondered what was going through his mind as he stood there looking at me for so long. But I caught myself before I let my mind run deeper than I would've liked.

I was pulled from my wandering thoughts when I saw the man himself walk in right on cue as if he could read my mind. He still looked pretty tired, dark circles still under his eyes as he grabbed some coffee from T-Dog before taking a seat slowly right across from Glenn. His eyes met mine almost immediately as he played with the cup of coffee in his hands, watching as I sent him a small smile in a silent greeting. A look of random relief passed through his eyes before he smiled back at me.

Rick then made himself known only seconds behind as he walked in the room groggily, muttering some type of greeting to us as he could barely keep his eyes open. His hands raised to run across head as he plopped down in a seat next to Lori with a deep sigh.

"Are you hungover?" Carl asked, "Mom said you would be." he pointed out without missing a beat.

"Well, mom is right." Rick responded.

Lori only shrugged, "Mom has that annoying habit." she chimed as she offered him a bottle of aspirin.

The group chuckled in amusement at her small comment, but I couldn't help but feel like the whole atmosphere of the room suddenly changed the moment someone else made their presence known. Shane walking in only seemed to put a damper on the mood as everyone coincidentally quieted down at the same time, seeing his hungover state. But to me he also seemed angry, noticing out of the corner of my eye, Lori shift uncomfortably in her seat the second he stepped foot in here. I found myself stopping in my movements the moment I caught sight of the side of his neck. Three giant scratches were prominent on the left side, still red and irritated.

"Why'd you stop?" Glenn suddenly asked in a quiet yet whiney voice.

I looked down and muttered, "Sorry." before continuing to rub his shoulders, trying to ignore whatever feeling was in the air now.

"Hey, what happened to your neck?" Rick asked, catching it just as quick as I did.

Shane looked up from the table and brushed it off with a scoff, "I don't know...must've done it in my sleep."

"That's weird, I've never seen you do that before." Rick replied with a furrowed brow.

"Yeah...it's not like me at all..." Shane said as he made dead eye contact with Lori from across the space.

I watched the whole interaction go down with semi wide eyes and was shocked to see that no one else really picked up on what was happening. Until I looked back over and made eye contact with Daryl, his face growing serious. He shook his head at me, assuring me he saw everything that I did.

But before anyone could comment on the subject, Jenner's voice greeted us next as he made his way into the cafeteria minutes later, grabbing a fresh cup of coffee, not even giving me a chance to process the tension I just witnessed.

Dale then hummed the moment he saw the man, swallowing his food quickly as he opened his mouth to speak, "Doc, I don't mean to question you so early in the morning but-"

"But you will anyway." Jenner finished, raising his eyebrow over his coffee mug.

"We didn't come here for the eggs." Andrea said.

The man paused, but nodded in understanding as he told all of us to follow him. And soon enough we were all getting out of our seats and making our way down to another room to hopefully have all of our questions answered.

~ Thanks for reading!

49 notes · View notes

eveandtheturtles · 11 months

Text

Through Fire and Smoke part 2

Ship: Bayverse!Leo X Named!Reader

Summary: Leo and you are going on a date. You find out more about him. More than you expected. Happens during chapters 8-10 of Started with a Kiss (my Donnie x OC fic).

A/N: Hope y'all excited for more Amelia and Leo lol. Everyone here is in an adult unless stated otherwise. First part is in my masterlist! Reader is a Firefighter. I didn't expect this chapter to be split into two but it did lol. The next part, should be the final part probably. There might be more. Here's some tags!

@madammuffins @m1dnyt3-w0lf @turtle-babe83 @thelaundrybitch @leosgirl82 @pheradream-15 @tinkabelle19 @scholastic-dragon @dilucsflame33 @sharpwindow

(if anyone wants to be removed lemme know)

After the little rescue you did for Leo you two kept in touch, especially since you set up a date. The text conversations you had with him were the highlight of your day. You found out he was a little bit of a geek from the way he talked about shows and even admitted to have a small collection of posters and action figures he shared with his younger brother, Donnie. He was charming but you loved teasing him the most. He had the best reaction to that. The no-nonsense exterior would crack a little revealing a more relaxed, pun-loving Leo. You enjoyed that guy

You didn't know what you expected from your date with the mysterious mutant turtle. Which meant some wild guessing on how to dress for it. Maybe something like Lady and the Tramp style? You imagined a date in back alley with two Chinese chefs serenading you over orange chicken. Ridiculous.

Then maybe a day before the date he revealed something you needed a moment to process.

[Smoked Turtle: Hey so I figured there's something I should have told you sooner]

You read the message and a sliver of anxiety creeped up at you. You quickly pushed it back and wrote back

[You're secretly a 6 foot tall turtle living in a sewer?]

[Smoked Turtle: -snort- very funny.]

[I'm here all week]

[Smoked Turtle: but seriously, you should know this before we go on a date]

[Fire away, sir.]

He started typing. The three dots blinked on your screen for a minute, two. Then they stopped. Then appeared again. Finally, he sent the message.

[Smoked Turtle: Im poly.]

The three dots were still on your screen.

[Smoked Turtle: I have a bf his name is Jake]

Ah. Well, you didn't exactly expect that. You thought he might tell you he's alien prince or dying or that he was raising a clutch of baby mutant turtles (was that even the correct term? You needed to google that).

[Well, thank you for telling me this. I'm guessing he knows about you planning on going on a date with me?]

[Smoked Turtle: Yeah. I told him about you and he didn't object. He knows I'm poly too and we had discussion about it and all.]

[Smoked Turtle: You can back out if this is uncomfortable for you.]

You thought for a moment. One of your coworkers were poly. You recalled her gushing about her partners but also complain about the issues she had. You weighted your own feelings.

[Thank you for telling me this.]

You paused because, wow that did put you in a spin.

[So, we're still up for 8pm tomorrow?]

[Smoked turtle: Yes. Do you have any questions?]

[Well, we're not serious yet, I'll just process through it and I'll shoot them your way when I have them. One girl at the station is also poly. So it's not as strange for me as you'd think.]

You couldn't tell over the text if he relaxed more or was still anxious so you switched the conversation to something lighter.

The next day you were bouncing a little checking the clock. Right on time, maybe even a few minutes early, Leo knocked on your window.

"Hi," you greeted him as he waited for you on the fire escapes.

"Hey." Leo smiled at you. "You look nice."

"Thanks!" You replied happily.

It was definitely a change of outfit for you. Nothing fancy, since you knew you were going to just grab Chinese but. And it was getting cold outside. So you picked your nicest sweater jacket and a long, light brown coat, jeans and pair of cute boots. To make it even nicer you added your favourite hoop earrings you normally couldn't wear.

"So how are we getting to the place, because I doubt we can take a walk or taxi?" You asked him, climbing through your window to him.

"You're right, we can't," he agreed. "You will experience the what we call Turtle Express." He offered you his hand and you took it looking at him curiously.

"Hope you're not too attached to your hairstyle," he added suddenly tightening the grip on your hand and pulling you against his chest.

"What?" Was all you managed to say before he jumped up.

Now you knew why it was called 'Turtle Express'. Leo was moving at what you perceived as almost the speed of light. You noticed you were yelling about halfway to your destination. You looked up at his face and there was just pure glee on it. Motherfucker. It looked good on him.

Finally, with a final jump down and a bit of a backflip (which you suspected he did totally on purpose) you two landed in front of a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. Leo set you down gently to the ground, holding you until your legs stopped shaking.

"You're kind of an ass, you know that?" You said and he grinned.

"Sorry, couldn't help it."

You shook your head amused. You also looked around. "Uh, Leo? Aren't you worried-"

"Hi Mrs. Chang!" Leo called to an elderly woman selling old books, magazines and CDs at the store next to the restaurant.

"Leonardo!" She called back. "Come, come," she waved her thing hand at him. "You can help!"

"Is Kevin not around?" He asked concerned.

"His mother's sick. Good boy went to help her," she informed him. "Said he will be here alter but you're here! You will help this poor old woman."

Leo nodded along. "Sorry, this will take a second," he said.

"I'll help too," you said, curious about this whole situation. You followed behind him.

Mrs. Chang looked at you, her sharp eyes eyeing you from head to toes. "Who's this?" She grinned at Leo. He quickly grabbed crates from the front and started carrying them inside. Clearly, done it before.

"I'm Amelia, nice to meet you, ma'am." You introduced yourself. You followed behind Leo.

Between you two closing up the store went super quickly. You also got front seat to witness the strength of the turtle, when he would easily grab four or five crates like they weighted nothing. Show-off. It was still a nice show.

"Tell your father, he is going to lose mahjong this week!" Mrs Chang told Leo as they were finishing up. "I feel good fortune in my bones."

Leo snorted. "I will Mrs Chang."

The old woman pulled him down a little.

"I like this girl! She's nicer than that boy," she said that you were sure was supposed to be a whisper but came more of a stage whisper.

"Okay, Mrs Chang. I'll text Kevin he doesn't need to come to help you." He smiled and straightened up.

"Good bye Mrs Chang!" You called and the two of you headed for the restaurant. "So what's that all about?"

"Ah... well... I'll tell you once we're inside." He opened the door for you, leading you inside.

The air was heavy with the smells from the kitchen and the steam from the cooking dishes. It smelled deliscious. There were some guests in it and it seemed all of them knew Leo. And his father apparently.

You both sat down at a free table and soon a waitress joined you.

"Hey Leo, what can I get for you two?" She asked.

"Hi Mei. For start I'll take a beer." He looked at you to see your choice.

You looked at the menu. It was a big laminated page. And it was all in Chinese. "Uh."

Leo chuckled and fliped it over. There. English. "Oh thanks," you briefly scanned what they had. "Yeah beer is good for start," you smiled.

"Okay, I'll be right back." The girl left you to decide on food.

"So~" you slowly started, "not that I mind and all but how come you can be out in the open here?"

"Oh, uh, well," Leo chuckled awkwardly, "there was a lot of trouble here happening. So we would drop by often to deal with it and people started talking among each other. One day we got a call from one of the shopkeepers we saved before. We rushed in ready to do our thing but then... turns out everyone got together to throw a party in hour honor." He looked over in the direction of the kitchen with a fond look. "They told us we don't have to hide here. So we drop by every now and then. My dad comes here to play Mahjong."

You nodded, feeling warmed up inside. It gave you faith in humanity that people would accept Leo and his family.

Mei returned briefly to bring you drinks and take your food order. The conversation started flowing. Leo asked you about your work at the Firestation and you had couple laughs from the stories about your coworkers but also the calls you had. You watched him being excited about the new comic books he got into. It was so cute and charming to see his face lit up and some of the weight you saw him carry just fall off.

Plus the food was deliscious. There were no musicians but you had a bit of a Lady & the Trump moment when you wanted to try his food and he placed some of his potion on your plate without a hesitation.

There were people coming in the restaurant, most of them were greeting Leo and he was waving back. Some would approach your table and chat with him. He introduced you to everyone who approached and engaged you into the conversation.

You were having fun. More than you had in a long time. Finally, it was getting dark and it was time to get you home. Your eyebrows raised when he offered to pay for everything.

Leo cleared his throat. "You know how we from time to time cooperate with organized crime, yeah? It pays enough to take a pretty girl on a date some time," he explained, once the two of you left the restaurant.

"I didn't know there was a third person here," you teased. You smirked and looked around as if looking for that 'pretty girl'. He snorted and shook his head.

You two started walking slowly.

"You're uhm," he shifted on his feet awkwardly. "You're more than pretty. You're beautiful."

You felt your cheeks flushed. "Thank you, you're not too bad yourself," you said and bit your bottom lip, feeling shy all of a sudden. The way Leo looked at you then looked away with a small smile, told you you managed to fluster him a little too.

"SO!" You exclaimed to chase that away. "When are we going to do this again?"

Leo did a double take at you. "You want to-?" His eyes were so large. He barely believed you said that.

"Yes, very much so," you reassured him. "You can text me later, we'll arange something." You bumped into his shoulder. Then you slipped your hand into his and making him go speechless. "Any other fun activities for today?"

"I- w- huh, uhm, yes!" Briefly he had a trouble finding his tongue but eventually he got there, grinning widely.

Next you knew, you were scooped up from the ground. Maybe one day you were going to get used to the turtle express.

A few hours later you were back at your place. You were a little tipsy but also giddy from the date.

"Thank you Leo," you told him, sitting on the window sill. "I had a lot of time today."

"Yeah, me too." He was leaning a bit inside, holding the window panel up. "Thanks for giving me a chance."

"You're ridiculous, why wouldn't I?" You said and maybe on impulse you leaned closer and kissed him. His lips had fascinating texture. Strange, alien but familiar enough you wanted more. He leaned into you. His hand wrapped around your waist and your arms wrapped around his neck. You nudged his lips with your tongue and he let you in. The weight of his hands sparked fire inside you. It's been too long. He felt so solid against you.

You worked around strong guys and by no means were you a delicate woman. Still something in the way he held you made you feel so prescious.

You traced with your deft, blunt nails slipped under his mask, tracing down the back of his skull. The growl you caused made you snap back to reality.

It was dangerously becoming more heated than you planned. You pulled back, flushed, out of breath.

"Text when you get home." You whispered against his mouth. Regretfully pulling back.

"Yeah," he said, his lips stroking yours, not sure if he wanted to let you go just yet.

You smiled, your hand sliding down his arm. Leo reluctantly slipped back outside. Neither of you remembered how and when he came into your flat. You watched him stand there for a moment. You waved at each other. He inched to the edge of the railing. Just before he jumped down he looked over his shoulder. A soft smile on his face was matching yours. When he disappeared you closed the window.

You needed a really cold shower.

#leonardo x reader #leo x reader #leo x you #tmnt 2016 #bayverse turtles #tmnt bayverse #tmnt #eve scribbles #tmnt 2014 #tmnt fanfiction #named reader

23 notes · View notes

ssahotstuff · 1 year

Text

Aaron Hotchner Playlist Collection 💕

Part 4

Part 3 can be found here

Warnings: cursing, violence, a lot of secrets come to light in this chapter.

Word count: 3.4k

You knew you hadn't seen the last of Thomas Mathis, and when he wound up placed behind your desk tapping your shoulder, you instantly wished Aaron wasn't in a meeting and could diffuse the situation. You didn't want to be the one to deal with him, but you had no choice.

"I'm leaving for lunch, but could I please ask you one question, and then I'll leave you alone," Spencer was standing protectively at your side, just to let you know he was there if you needed him.

"You've got to leave me alone after this. You're driving me insane."

He smiled wide before leaning in, Derek and Emily listening in too from their desks.

"Why did she leave you alive?"

You laughed back at him, because even you didn't have the answer for the question.

"Wouldn't we all love to know. You wasted your question, because I have no idea. Now make good on your end of the deal."

He walked away after, but then you were left to deal with Emily and Derek. Derek was already walking towards you, his eyebrow raised.

"What is he talking about?"

You looked between him and Emily before shaking your head, because you weren't ready. Not yet.

"I'll tell you another day."

When Aaron finally came back from his meeting, Derek was the first one in his office. You knew he'd tell him about the exchange and you'd deal with the consequences later; Aaron wouldn't be mad, but he'd be put in a position to lie if he wanted to spare your side of the story until you were ready. He could tell him how the two of you were connected, but he wouldn't. Aside from Spencer, you didn't think anyone else needed to know.

Derek stayed behind Aaron's closed office door for a while. You tried to focus on your reports but you were curious as to what Aaron was telling him; if he'd tell Derek the truth or not. Derek came back down the steps a few minutes later, a solemn look on his face. He quickly patted your shoulder, before he sat back down at his desk, burying his nose in his work. You were a little hurt that Aaron would share something so personal, but then again, he'd been there too. He also had a story to tell.

You sat at your desk working long after everyone else left, so long in fact that Aaron came looking for you. You didn't even hear his footsteps behind you, so you jumped when he put his hands on your shoulders from behind.

"Just me. You ready to go?" You had plans to come to his house after work, but you were dreading the conversation you needed to have about what he told Derek and why.

"I guess I let the time get away from me," you'd been distracted the majority of the day with the thoughts running rampant in your mind, your mother invading your most personal space. You did good to shut her out most days, but then there were memories that nearly left you unable to move.

He offered you his hand and you walked to his car together, deciding to just leave yours. As long as you were with him, you wouldn't need it anyway. He drove everywhere you needed him to go, all you had to do was ask.

"Let's get you home," he said as he climbed into the drivers seat, often referring to his house as your home too. It made you feel like a permanent fixture in his life, like he planned on keeping you around. You held his hand across the console but you stayed quiet, stuck in a mental prison that you couldn't seem to get out of.

"We'll grab your favorite for dinner," he pulled into the drive thru, ordering your favorite comfort meal and his before pulling to the window. It was then that he directed his attention towards you, because you'd have to wait for a few minutes.

"You've been quiet all day. Tell me what's going on," he pleaded, lacing his fingers through yours as you debated telling him the truth or not.

"Thomas Mathis said something today in front of Emily and Derek. Something I didn't want them knowing about right now."

You felt him go rigid, and you knew that he'd told Derek. You didn't even need to ask; he'd given himself away already.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said anything, baby, but I only told him part of it. Not that it makes it any better, but I wasn't thinking."

You sighed deeply, unsure of what to say. You wanted to be mad at him for so easily telling your secrets but you knew he'd never done it with the intent to be malicious. He was merely answering questions so you didn't have to.

"It's okay. I guess they were bound to find out anyway."

You were stuck in your head, trying hard to escape but to no avail. Things went by in a blur, dinner, getting ready for bed. He had already fallen asleep but every hair on your body stood up, you were on high alert for no reason other than being trapped in your mind. You tossed and turned and struggled to sleep, and soon enough his alarm was blaring, despite it being Saturday. He silenced it and rolled over, pulling you into him. He must've sensed that you were awake, because he was sitting halfway up to look at you.

"You look like you've been up all night," you nodded weakly back at him, exhausted, terrified. There was a dark cloud looming over you, an impending sense of doom and fear that you couldn't shake all night long.

"You're starting to worry me, sweetheart. What can I do?" He sat up all the way, bringing you to lay between his legs so your head could rest on his chest.

"So tired. Just hold me please."

You weren't sure when you dozed off, but when you woke up, you could hear the shower running, which meant Aaron wasn't far away. You were thankful to have gotten some rest, and you were feeling a tiny bit better. Aaron emerged from the shower, a towel secured around his waist as he looked back at you.

"I'm glad you were able to sleep. I hope I didn't wake you," you shook your head as he got dressed, watching a stray droplet of water glide down his chest in a way that made your throat tighten—it was innocent yet so erotic. You wanted to use your tongue to swipe it away.

"Was having a dream," it wasn't a particularly good one, but you left that part out for now.

"About Destiney Underwood," he finished, his t-shirt and jeans a nice change from his usual attire.

"Yes." You didn't try to hide it, you must've said her name in your sleep. Destiney was the first victim of your mothers, a friend from school in fact. She'd been someone you loved and trusted, and now she was gone.

"It's normal to feel like they were your responsibility but they weren't baby. You were a kid. You didn't do anything wrong," he promised you, coming to sit next to you on the bed.

"I thought if I took a job saving lives, it would make up for the ones that were lost because of me," your mother's only outlet for frustration had been you until she got the idea to use other girls your age instead, girls that reminded her of you. It made you queasy to think about, but the feeling was there to stay with no signs of exiting soon. You hoped Aaron didn't have too many big plans for the day, because you didn't feel like doing a lot.

"Your mother killed those girls. You were never to blame. You're the reason the killing stopped. It was because you wouldn't back down from her. Do you realize how incredibly brave that is? You tracked me down at 15 years old on a crime scene to tell me you thought it was your mother, and if I would've listened, things would've ended a lot differently."

You were labeled a troubled child because of the abuse you'd suffered. Teachers saw your bruises, but didn't say anything because of who your mother was—they were just as afraid as you. You were smart, achieving great things academically, but that was only so you'd be able to get out one day.

"That doesn't matter now, Aaron. I just get stuck in my head about it sometimes." He gave you a hug, but it was quickly interrupted by his phone ringing.

"We have a case, get dressed."

✨✨✨

"16 year old girl, Ashley Simmons. She's the second girl to be abducted, tortured and killed in a quiet suburb here in Virginia," JJ explained, and the case reminded you all too much of one you were more than familiar with. Aaron and Reid exchanged a brief glance with you before they directed their attention to JJ.

"It says there was DNA left at the crime scene? Hair that was a different color than the victims?" Reid asked, and JJ nodded, going to the next slide on the projector.

"We've got a rush on analyzing it but unless they're in the system, it's a long shot."

The first step was to talk to victims families, see if there was anything the girls had in common. You'd just climbed in the SUV with Aaron when he took your hand. Normally, he wouldn't be so touchy at work, but you weren't going to question it.

You spoke with Ashley's mother, who was still incredibly shaken up. You'd found out that Ashley was a popular, happy girl, with normal hobbies and friends. She was able to give names and contact information in case there was overlap between Ashley and the first victim, Carla Goins.

"I think the two of them were in church choir together," Ashley's mother told you, and after a quick call to Reid and Emily, who were with Carla's family, you began to make connections. It was too soon to tell if it was just because of it being a small town or if there was something more, but it was a start.

You were regrouping in the round table room when Garcia came in, a file in her hands.

"So DNA analysis on the hair was a positive match to a previous offender, Vivian Hall. She was convicted ten years ago, and she's serving life in prison."

You tried to keep your cool as Garcia explained the similarities in the cases, and how it might be a copy cat that got her hair online, in some creepy auction. Reid immediately looked to you, and you felt all the color drain from your face as you listened to her.

"Says here Vivian Hall has a daughter. Maybe she can give us more information about her mother," Emily offered, so you cleared your throat awkwardly and looked back at her.

"I don't know anything about the people she has contact with."

Emily's eyes went wide, and you felt every set of eyes in the room fall to you. You knew the day was coming, but you hadn't expected it to be so soon.

"You're the Suburban Nightmare survivor?" Emily gasped, and Aaron just stared at you, because he knew there was nothing he could say or do to get you out of it. They were involved completely now, so they had a right to know.

"I haven't seen her since the trial. She wasn't exactly the mother of the year," Rossi chuckled at your dry attempt to make light of the situation.

"We spoke about 5 years ago when I wrote my last book. She said she had no clue where you ended up. You didn't keep contact at all?"

You shook your head, knowing there was nothing about her to like, let alone enough of a bond for you to keep in contact with a murderer.

"I haven't spoken a word to her since the day she was arrested. She dropped me off at school that morning and by the end of the day, I was in states custody."

You let yourself take a moment as the room fell silent, terrified that there was someone out there with an obsession so massive that they'd hurt people in the name of your mother.

"Y/n and I will visit with Vivian, see who's been writing her. All of her mail is monitored, so that should give us an idea of where to start."

You knew better than to protest, his mind was made up. You were probably the only shot the team had at pulling together a list of suspects, if she was even willing to talk to you after all this time.

You followed him to the car and climbed in, and he waited until you were on the freeway to take your hand, his grip on you tight.

"I love you. I know this is going to be difficult but I'll be with you the entire time," he told you, letting you squeeze his hand; you were petrified to be seeing her after so long. Part of you wondered if she'd even recognize you.

"I love you Aaron. I'm okay. It'll be good for me. Maybe I'll get some closure."

He thought for a moment before clearing his throat, glancing at you briefly from the drivers seat.

"You know you can talk to me about anything. I'll listen, even if I don't know what to say. If you ever want to tell me."

You were already at the prison, taking a deep breath before walking inside with Aaron. You got clearance through the main entrance, sitting in a small waiting area until they brought Vivian into an interrogation room. You walked into the room, your head held high as you faced your demon, the reason for your nightmares.

"Look at you, managing not to fuck things up for once in your life?" It was a rhetorical question, meant only to make you feel like the smallest person in the room.

"Says the woman serving a life sentence," Aaron countered, already fed up with her feeble attempts to get under your skin.

"We just want to ask a couple of questions," Aaron flashed his credentials and she whistled, glaring straight at you.

"FBI, huh? You really did do big things." If you didn't know her any better, you would've thought she sounded sad, maybe she was. Upset that she missed out on her child growing up and starting a life of her own. She'd forever be a bad memory; your future children would ever know their grandmother.

"Tell us about the people who write you. Who'd you send your hair to?" She chuckled coyly, crossing her arms over her chest. She took a moment to admire Aaron, her eyes narrowing at him.

"You're taller than I remembered, Agent Hotchner," even in her red jumpsuit she thought she stood a chance with him; she was the biggest narcissist that you'd ever met. The entire world revolved around her and her wishes.

"Your hair, Vivian. Who'd you send it to?" He was in no mood for her games, getting straight to the point.

"Guy named Thomas M. He's been writing me for years," you and Aaron exchanged a look, knowing you already had a suspect. Aaron had a few more questions for her though.

"Did you know there were men out there willing to kill for you?"

She shrugged, her attention on you.

"You should read some of these letters, Thomas likes you a lot. He told me he met you." There it was again, that somber, remorseful tone, like she'd been jealous of Thomas for seeing you.

"We've met. I'm not a fan."

She tsked, still sizing you up. She was beginning to realize she didn't have any affect on you anymore, and she hated it.

"So, I'm guessing there won't be any regular visits from you after this."

You shook your head, standing to your feet. She wasn't going to tell you any more, but Thomas was a good place to start.

"I have no interest in seeing you, Vivian. You're where you belong."

He waited until you were in the car to pull you in for a hug, leaning over the console to wrap his strong arms around you. He held on tight for a moment, just letting you take everything in.

"I'm so proud of you, baby. I knew you could do it," he said surely, as if he didn't doubt you for a second. You were unsure of how you'd act around her but you weren't going to give her the satisfaction of seeing you crumple.

"I'm so glad it's over. So how do you want to work the Thomas angle? Should I set up a meeting and take him by surprise or do you want to see if he'll come in willingly? I don't think he's out unsub. It's too obvious," you explained, and he nodded in agreement, taking back off towards Quantico.

"Call Reid and see if Thomas is willing to come in. Odds are he sold the hair to our unsub and didn't even know it."

An hour later, Thomas was frantically pacing the interview room, waiting for Aaron to come in. You were watching through the two way glass, interested to see if he'd give any information up willingly.

"I swear I don't know about any killings," he started, but Aaron put his hand up to silence him.

"Sit down."

Thomas sat, his thumb drumming nervously against the table. Reid came in and stood at your side to watch.

"Do you feel a little better, after seeing your mom?"

You shrugged, watching Thomas for any signs of lying, any nervous tics. So far he seemed anxious but he appeared to be telling the truth. He said he sold the hair to a guy named John Fulton, who was from the DC area. Garcia was getting everything she could on him while Aaron talked to Thomas.

"I'm just glad she can't hurt anyone else."

A half an hour later, Aaron was done with Thomas, letting him go. He was a creep, but not the kind you were looking for. John Fulton however had an aggravated assault rap sheet a mile long, so Morgan and Reid were going to check out his place. It was getting late, so everyone was planning to regroup in the morning unless there was new development. You already knew what that meant for you: you'd be up all night, sat in Aaron's living room, a pot of coffee between the two of you as you worked to crack the case.

Reid and Morgan had came up empty with John Fulton's last known address; you and Aaron both knew your best bet would be catching him in the act, and once you had a profile, you could release it to the media and people could be on the lookout. You had his type narrowed down—girls in their teens, that physically resembled you in some way, similar hair and eye color amongst the victims. That had been the original victim pool as well.

You were in your pajamas, bouncing ideas off one another. You were fairly certain the unsub wasn't a woman but rather an obsessed male fan. You were on your computer, looking at sites that auctioned off memorabilia and mail from different serial killers. You quickly found an entire page dedicated to your mother, noting the same user name every time: JohnF. Now all you had to do was track him down. You set up a profile on the site and sent him an email saying you were Vivian's daughter and you wanted to meet up to chat, just to see if he would take the bait.

You had a response from him within an hour, wanting to meet at a coffee shop the following morning. You'd go alone, with Aaron and the rest of the team not far behind for backup. Aaron let everyone know what the course of action was for the next day and you crawled into bed hoping to get some sleep beforehand.

Master tags: @wheelsupkels periodtcevans @hausofwhores @criminallyobsessedcm @tojithesourcerkiller @fireworksinthesky @realdirectionx

#aaron hotchner #criminal minds #hotch #ssa aaron hotchner #ssa hotchner #aaron hotchner smut #hotchner #aaron hotchner x you #thomas gibson #aaron hotchner playlist collection

22 notes · View notes

seyaryminamoto · 1 year

Text

Leap of Faith: Sokkla Saturdays 2022

Day Eight: Academic Rivals

On FF.net//On AO3

And here's my second-to-last chapter for this year's Sokkla Saturdays! Hope you guys enjoy it!

The office's door swung open: Rector Benzhuo smiled and bowed his head in a display of respect towards the woman who strode through the threshold. He was tense in her presence, but he did his best not to show it as he rose to his feet to greet her properly.

"It's my pleasure to host you, Princess Azula," Benzhuo said.

"And mine to be in Ba Sing Se University today, Rector Benzhuo," Azula said, curtly. "I understand clearing your schedule was no easy feat?"

"It wasn't, no," Benzhuo said. Azula nodded.

"Then we'd best get started right away with the tour. We both have many things to do beyond being here, so…" Azula said, but Benzhuo shook his head.

"We do, but precisely because of how tight my schedule is, I've needed to merge two tours into one, if that's alright?" he said. Azula frowned.

"Two? I thought this was a rather unusual, exclusive service you'd be providing for me?" she asked. "You don't usually do this, do you?"

"I don't, no, but I'm afraid it's quite odd that two people would request a tour of the facilities of our grand, honored university at the same time," Benzhuo said, with an awkward smile. "I even thought that perhaps it was intentional. I do believe you're familiar with our university's other visitor?"

"Am I?" Azula raised an eyebrow slowly. "Well, I know plenty of people, so you'll have to be more specific. Who…?"

Heavy footsteps and breaths came rushing down the hall until they came to a heavy stop right by the door: Azula frowned, turning around warily… and her lips twisted into a grimace of distaste and displeasure upon realizing one of the worst-case scenarios appeared to be happening right now.

"I'm sorry, I'm not late, though! Got here right on time to…! Woah, shit, Azula?!"

His eloquence was accompanied by a grimace of his own. Her eyes bore into his with no remorse, bitterness plain upon her face as she regarded her brother's friend without a smidge of respect. He seemed to share her feelings, if only to a fault, going by how he inched away from her and glanced at the Rector as though to plead for help…

"Ah, see? You did know each other!" Benzhuo grinned brightly. "One tour is better than two, I say!"

It certainly would be better for the busy Rector… but not so much for the two people he'd promised to show the campus to, on that day: the man's words caused them to glare at each other reproachfully, most unwilling to spend any amount of time together, but knowing their respective missions required that they scouted Ba Sing Se university all the same…

They managed to feign civility while the Rector guided them through the campus, explaining the institution's layout as well as the university's internal organization. Both Azula and Sokka asked occasional questions, and glared at each other frequently, too, but they didn't ruin the experience by bickering bitterly… at least, not until the Rector brought them to the dining hall, where he asked them to wait while he ensured to order proper meals for the three of them.

"So… what the hell are you doing here?" Sokka said, point-blank. Azula glared at him across the table, arms folded over her chest.

"I ought to ask you the same question. Especially today…" Azula said, rolling her eyes.

"The Rector said it was the only available day he had for me, that's why I'm here now. If he'd told me it was a group tour, I would've made sure to reschedule. Which, I guess, you would've done, too," Sokka said, pouting. "Look, we don't have to make this a thing, do we? Let's just get through the day and go our separate ways without making a fuss."

"I've made no fusses, so I see no point to this warning of yours," Azula said, curtly. Sokka grimaced. "You're the one asking why I'm here without first venturing your own explanation of why you are, therefore…"

"Well, I'm here as a representative of the Southern Water Tribe, where I hope we can make important progress in education soon," Sokka huffed. "My dad sent me here so I could learn about what's necessary to start a university back home, so…"

"Huh. That's your intent, then?" Azula asked, raising an eyebrow. Sokka stared at her skeptically.

"What about it?" he said, harshly.

"I… suppose your father is a wise man. Wiser than Zuzu," Azula said, with a shrug. "I'm the one who had to insist to him that, if he's so keen on doing better in regards of education, we'd do best to learn from those who are already ahead of us in this respect. I'm here for reasons similar to yours, it seems."

"Huh… that's odd. But, uh, great then?" Sokka said, grimacing still. "Good luck building your own university."

"And good luck to you with yours…"

"Why do you say it like that?" Sokka huffed. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"Like… what?" she said. Sokka scoffed.

"Condescendingly. Like you think I can't do it or something. Is this another 'the Fire Nation's better than everyone else' superiority thing, or are you just particularly keen on underestimating me?" Sokka said, glaring at her. Azula smirked.

"It was simply a wish for good fortune… you, in your grand paranoia, have misconstrued it as something else entirely," Azula retorted.

"Oh, really?" Sokka said.

"You feel smarter, don't you? By acting like you can see right through me and my wicked purposes," Azula said, mockingly, her voice intentionally eerie. "I have no doubts I've estimated you perfectly, peasant. It's not much of a matter of Fire Nation superiority, no… but I, certainly, am better suited for this task than you are for yours."

"Oh, are you, now?" Sokka scoffed. "You think you're the only intellectual in the world, then?"

"Don't start," Azula sighed, shaking her head. "Your puny invasion plan…"

"So puny you had to move as many strings as you did to counter it…"

"And I countered it successfully. Therefore, I clearly outdid you."

"Only because I didn't know that you knew about the invasion," Sokka hissed. Azula rolled her eyes. "You know it's true. On equal standing? You would realize you're actually the one who can't keep up with me."

"Oh, I can't keep up?" Azula laughed, looking at him in disbelief. "Is that right?"

"Damn right, Princess," Sokka declared, raising his head proudly. "I beat you in the Boiling Rock because you didn't have enough information to figure out what was going on…"

"And I beat you and your gang of misfits in Ba Sing Se because you were blind and foolish, trusting you were going to meet your girlfriend when it was actually me, Mai and Ty Lee…"

"Ah, and the drill! Don't forget about the drill! It was my idea and my plan, I figured out how to break it…!"

"You had already infiltrated the drill, damn you: you could have very well made for the command cabin instead and attempted to stop the machine from there rather than by breaking the system elsewhere."

"I… huh?" Sokka blinked blankly. Azula smirked.

"Didn't occur to you, did it? Would have been much more effective, too. In fact… the command cabin was in a most indefensible position, raised right atop the drill. Had you and your friends actively damaged the foundation of the cabin, the drill would have been unable to continue operating, me and the rest of the commanding officers of the mission would have been in serious danger once the command cabin toppled down… so I'm afraid even your grand victories were not as impressive as you want to think they are."

"Y-you…" Sokka groaned, cheeks flushing. "You're just pissed off because you ended up covered in slurry."

"I…!" Azula scoffed, glaring at him: her reaction resulted in a smirk from him, and she composed herself quickly. "You mistake me for Ty Lee."

"Do I, really?" Sokka smirked. Azula rolled her eyes.

"How is it that you and I can't have a conversation for two minutes without winding up arguing about all this?" she asked. Sokka huffed.

"You're too stubborn, I guess…"

"You are!"

He couldn't hold back a soft chuckle as Azula glared at him pointedly. It was true that, in the years after the war, the two of them hadn't been on the best of terms. Whatever their respective reasons might be, theirs was a persistent rivalry that never failed to rear its head in that same bickering and butting of heads they were indulging in now.

"The past is not relevant to what we're here for now," Azula finished, glaring at him. "So your persistent attempts to prove yourself better than me will go nowhere, peasant."

"Only because you already know I'm better, right?" Sokka said, with a careless sing-song voice. Azula rolled her eyes.

"Your delusions are alarming," she said.

"So are yours. You do think you're better than me, so…"

"Do you need tangible evidence of such a simple fact?" Azula scoffed. Sokka raised his eyebrows skeptically. "Because oh… there's a way of going about it, if you're so desperate to gain even a smidge of my respect."

"Is there, now?" Sokka asked. Azula smirked dangerously, and she conveyed her idea to him.

About two minutes later, Rector Benzhuo returned with a careless grin. Two staff members from the kitchens had brought trays full of food for the two guests, and the Rector smiled as he took his seat at their table, too.

"I do hope you enjoy the meal," he said. Azula and Sokka stared at their trays for a moment, but neither one could focus on food properly – a rarity in the latter's case. "Is something the matter?"

"We have a few more questions," Azula said, with a slow smile. The Rector cleared his throat and nodded.

"Why, ask away!"

"How does someone go about enrolling in this school?" Sokka asked.

"How costly is tuition, too?" Azula said next. The Rector blinked blankly.

"Is enrollment in the university exclusive for Ba Sing Se residents?"

"Or Earth Kingdom citizens?"

"W-wait…! That's four questions all at once, and…!" the Rector swallowed hard, glancing between them "W-why would you like to know those things? I'm sure each of your nations has a different economy and you may charge your students whatever you…"

"Because we would very much like to spend one semester here to personally witness what university-level schooling is like," Azula said, smiling in an unpleasant way at the older man. The Rector's jaw dropped.

"In short… mind if we become students at your school, for a few months?" Sokka asked, with a grin not too different from Azula's.

The Rector instinctively wanted reject their request: something about the pair before him was unsettling now. His gut told him they might end up causing chaos, havoc of all sorts on his beautiful, pristine university… but his fear of the political consequences was stronger than his sense. If he refused, wouldn't that cause plenty of strife too, who knew if even a new war where the Fire Nation and Water Tribe might join forces to demand they were allowed to partake in Ba Sing Se's education and knowledge if they so pleased…? The Avatar might end up involved, too, and he didn't want to deal with that, not at all…

So, he smiled awkwardly… and he said yes.

...

"You… what?" Zuko said, staring at Azula in disbelief as she sat in his study, with a perfectly pleased grin. "You're going to enroll in Ba Sing Se University? You're… but why? Azula, you don't have to go that far to figure out whatever you wanted to figure out about education, do you?"

"I probably don't, but this is a better way to be thorough about the matter," Azula said, with a shrug. Zuko scoffed.

"You don't have some underlying purpose here, do you?"

"Oh, not this again…"

"Azula…"

"I'm hiding something? Well, I might be: it's not something that should worry you at all, though," Azula said, rolling her eyes. Zuko huffed.

"You know, I'd like to trust you, but you make it too damn hard sometimes," he shook his head, running his hands over his face. "What is going on? Until you tell me, I'm not going to ask Kuei for an extended permit for you to be in his city and without it…"

"They'll hunt me down and kill me. How nice of you, Zuzu," Azula huffed, rolling her eyes. "Your… friend."

"My friend?"

"The Water Tribe peasant," Azula hissed. Zuko blinked blankly.

"Which one?" he asked, slowly.

"The fool who constantly tries to earn my respect by losing it," Azula said, rolling her eyes. Zuko raised an eyebrow. "He's up to the same thing I was. We were… stuck doing the tour together. And one thing led to another…"

"Words that usually precede something very different than what I'm sure you're about to say…" Zuko said, grimacing. Azula scoffed.

"Get your head out of the gutter, brother: we challenged each other to prove our superiority."

"You… you did what?"

"I'll get better grades than him in one semester of studying in Ba Sing Se University," Azula said, simply. "In the process, I'll see the functioning of the university in-depth, up close, far closer than what I saw in this single visit. We'll both profit off this, and I'll finally ensure your irksome friend learns to stop pestering me. Understood?"

"I… I mean, objectively, I get it, but that's insane, Azula!" Zuko said, grimacing.

"Come on, Zuzu: you can start all the educational reforms you already had in mind, right?" Azula said, with a shrug. "I'm the one who said we had to go further with university-level education. Therefore… you have six months to proceed with your intended plans without me bothering you. Isn't it a dream come true for you?"

"Well… it's not a terrible idea," Zuko grunted – it was reassuring to have Azula advising him, admittedly, for she was sharp enough to catch everything that slipped past Zuko's immediate vision with any project he set out on. But admittedly, her advising, effective as it might be, always came with a set of mockery and dismissiveness Zuko frankly hadn't learned to deal with any more effectively in the present than he had in the past…

"If so, why not?" Azula said, with a dry grin. "Come on, just enjoy being free from me for six months. I'll be back to torment you before you know it, and in that time, I'll ensure to gather enough knowledge to build ourselves the best university in this planet. How about it?"

Zuko sighed. The whole matter of her competition with Sokka sounded rather stupid, in his opinion – as he had learned after a lifetime of knowing Azula, and over a decade of knowing Sokka, smart people were actually absurdly prone to clinging to the stupidest ideas. But if that was truly her sole underlying motive, rather than anything dangerous – and indeed, knowing his sister, she might be making this wild choice out of slighted pride and nothing more – then he had little to worry about, right?

"You… you'll stay in the Jasmine Dragon?" Zuko asked, raising an eyebrow. Azula scoffed.

"No," she said, pointedly. Zuko rolled his eyes. "There's dorms in the university, I have no reason to go elsewhere. That way, I can…"

"Find out what university dorms are like. Right," Zuko sighed. "Well, then… I'll finance part of your big expedition if I must. You have savings of your own, don't you?"

"I do… but what I need from you, primarily, is for you to handle the Earth King and his squeamishness," Azula said, with a dry grin. Zuko nodded. "You'll do it, then?"

"I'll try, at least. If he asks that I allow him to keep lots of soldiers watching you, though…" Zuko said, raising his eyebrows. Azula rolled her eyes.

"At least make them watch from a distance. The other students will be unnerved enough by my presence as it is," she said. Zuko sighed.

"I'll try. But be careful anyway. This… this isn't something to take lightly," Zuko said, shaking his head. "My sister, going to Ba Sing Se University…"

Azula smirked, nodding upon hearing Zuko uttering the words with disbelief. It was a strange feeling to return to schooling now… she had never thought she would, displeased by her education in the Royal Fire Academy for Girls as she had been. But this was something greater, a much better challenge she would take up proudly, proving herself to that irksome, disrespectful man who, in the face of her perfect scores in exams and schoolwork, would finally surrender and admit defeat, whether he wished to or not…

...

"You… want to enroll in Ba Sing Se University?" Hakoda said, staring at his son in confused disbelief. Sokka pouted.

"Look, I know it's not what you wanted me to do, you hoped I'd stay a while longer to help out with governing the tribe and everything, but…!"

"I do want that, but you're a grown man and you make your own choices," Hakoda sighed, though his disappointment was apparent. "Still… do you really think you need to do this? Are the inner workings of a university so difficult to grasp?"

"It's… well, a little more complicated than that," Sokka admitted, gritting his teeth. "You see…"

"Oh, no. It's a girl, isn't it?" Hakoda sighed. Sokka winced.

"I… w-well. I mean… wait, in what sense are you trying to…?"

"You and Suki called it quits years ago, so I suppose it's only natural that you'd find another girl in time, but if you met her in the university on a single visit… are you sure you need to spend a whole semester there to get to know her?" Hakoda asked, uneasy. "I'll understand if you feel a connection there, but…"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" Sokka exclaimed, waving his hands around to stop his father's rambling. "That's… not it. Not exactly. I mean, there is a girl, but that's not the kind of girl it is. And I didn't meet her just now, and she… hates me. And I don't like her one bit either. And I want to prove her wrong about me, and show her that I'm way cooler and smarter than she has ever thought I was, and…"

"Wait, what?" Hakoda blinked blankly. "A… girl you dislike? You're throwing off your plans for the next six months over… a girl you don't like? Sokka, that doesn't make any sense."

"It doesn't if you look at it that way!" Sokka squeaked, blushing. "Okay, Dad, it's… it's Azula."

"A… Azula. Zuko's sister, Azula?" Hakoda repeated, staring at Sokka in utmost confusion.

"She's up to the exact same thing I am," Sokka said, gravely. "And that means they're going to build their own university and pretend they're more advanced than everyone else by doing it, because they can't stand being outdone by the Earth Kingdom, worse yet if they're outdone by us, right? So…"

"So, you're going to compete with her regarding… who spreads education and preparation for professionals faster across your respective nations?" Hakoda asked. Sokka shrugged, with a sound of agreement with his father's words. "Well. Better to fight by building up your nations than tearing them down, I suppose… but this is still very strange, Sokka. I'm not going to tell you what to do with your life…"

"You're not, but you're going to judge me for it, if just a bit. Right?" Sokka sighed. Hakoda raised an eyebrow.

"I'm simply saying… I wouldn't spend six months of my life clashing with a girl I don't like," he said. Sokka's eyes widened. "I mean… perspective, my boy. Perspective."

"What does that…?" Sokka blinked blankly, as his father offered him a dry grin and continued to work on the trade statements he had been composing before Sokka entered his study.

His father wasn't telling him no, but he did tell him that chasing a girl for six months just out of a sense of rivalry was incoherent, right? So… did his father imply he should be chasing Azula for other reasons? The very notion was utterly perplexing. She was beautiful, of course, he wasn't blind, but… that didn't have to mean anything, did it? She hated him, after all. This entire matter was simply about proving himself better than she believed him to be… better than her, if possible. A semester spent doing that might be too long… but he would earn her respect and force her to earn his own, too – for that was a two-way street after all. At last, their strategic and intellectual capacities would be put to the test on equal standing… and they would determine who was superior indeed, for once and for all. That was what he'd return to Ba Sing Se shortly for… and any suspicions that he might have romantic feelings for Azula were utterly out of place. He would focus on studying, on professionally assessing that university, and on crafting his own plans to build the Water Tribe's own top-billed university… and one day, Fire Nation people would flock to them to learn from the scholars in the South Pole. One day, they would have no choice but to forsake their pride and accept they had been outdone…

And that day would arrive for Azula far sooner than it would for the rest of her nation, Sokka would see to that.

...

The first day of class found Azula sitting close to the front rows while Sokka picked a seat further back in the classroom. They shot each other sharp glares as he passed her by – because, of course, she had arrived earlier than everyone else – and they were determined to ignore each other for the remainder of the session. Once sitting back where he was, though, Sokka noticed the other students eyed Azula warily, mumbling among themselves. A few of them seemed to recognize him too, but not nearly as many as those who recognized Princess Azula, the one-time conqueror of Ba Sing Se…

A pang of worry took root in his chest at that. Worry that he shouldn't have been feeling, not at all – she had been the one who had suggested this after all, she was no fool, she had to know exactly what the risks would be. And yet he wondered if she had underestimated the Earth Kingdom citizens and their likely resentment towards the person who had claimed their city and stolen it from their nation's grasp…

"Settle down, settle down…" the history teacher said, stepping into the classroom and setting down his bags carelessly by the desk: the other students found their seats quickly, and with that, the class began.

The man's lesson wouldn't be too thorough on the first day, Sokka suspected as much, but he took notes quite eagerly all the same – Azula, he realized, was doing the same thing. Some students were simply talking among themselves, others were sleeping, a few were paying attention, and the teacher simply kept talking, explaining the timeline of Earth Kingdom history they would be learning about through the semester.

"… After Chin the Conqueror's failed full conquest of the Earth Kingdom, we'll move forward to the commoners' revolt against the 46th Earth King. Then we shall study the 47th Earth King's policies, such as the formation of the Dai Li, a force assembled by our monarch to protect the cultural heritage and interests of the city…"

Azula had stopped writing. Sokka only noticed it because so had he.

The two of them stared at the man who continued to drag his chalk across the blackboard, failing to notice the way his most attentive students had reacted to his latest words. He kept talking and he didn't stop doing so at all until the class's period ended – that he only had needed a couple of swigs of water from his bottle after talking non-stop for hours was certainly impressive.

The other students almost ran out of the classroom. The teacher, too, left it quickly. Sokka picked up his things, frowning as he glanced at Azula with uncertainty. He approached her slowly, though, stopping right beside her to find her frowning with irritation… and he confirmed, too, that she had stopped taking notes exactly where he had.

"Something wrong?" he asked. Azula winced, glancing up at him quickly before closing the notebook.

"Nothing you'd understand," she said, shaking her head. "I suppose I expected something else from a historian. But it shouldn't be too surprising that there's…"

"Revisionism?"

Azula froze as she stood up. She glanced at him in perplexity, and Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"It wasn't the forty-seventh Earth King who founded the Dai Li," Sokka started. "It was…"

"Avatar Kyoshi."

They spoke the name at the same time, and a strange flow of understanding rushed between them. Azula huffed, and Sokka huffed as he let out a soft laugh as she brought a hand to her forehead.

"It's not just me, then…" she said, shaking her head. "You knew that too, did you?"

"I read about it in Ba Sing Se's Palace," Sokka explained, with a shrug. "In a document in…"

"Long Feng's office," Azula finished. Sokka blinked blankly. "I… I went through those too. Well, the ones that were scattered carelessly, I wondered if there was anything of use in them when I took over the place and…"

"So, you picked up the ones I left lying about?" Sokka smiled. "That's kind of funny. So, in a way, it was I who taught you…!"

"Shut up," Azula huffed. Sokka snickered deviously. "But then… you knew about this too, right? Your girlfriend, she would have to know as well, wouldn't she?"

"Eh?" Sokka said, with a shrug. "To be perfectly honest, Kyoshi Island's a bit keen on worshipping Kyoshi, goes without saying, so… might be they didn't want to acknowledge their big hero's mistakes. Also? We're not together anymore, haven't been for a while, so… I probably shouldn't just send her a letter to ask her if this is true or not."

"Heh. That would be uncomfortable, I imagine," Azula said. Sokka shrugged but nodded. "Well, then. Thank you for confirming I'm not losing my mind, I suppose… I expected a place like this one would be unaffected by political alignments. I'm no stranger to revisionist history, of course, there's been no shortage of it in the Fire Nation, but still…"

"Well, I haven't had much of that problem in the Water Tribe, myself," Sokka said, with a proud smirk. Azula rolled her eyes and glared at him.

"Oh, really?" she said. "I bet Avatar Kuruk has some shady past no one knows anything about. It'd explain why he's so irrelevant and why nobody ever talks about him, huh?"

"Not like that affects me much, because he was from the north, not the south, so… ha," Sokka said, smirking proudly. Azula snorted, shaking her head. "For that matter, I bet Avatar Roku's got a lot of shadier stuff going on than…"

"That doesn't bother me in the slightest, actually," Azula said, with a dry grin. Sokka's smile waned quickly. "Roku made a fair share of mistakes and I'm not afraid of calling them out. Your point?"

"I… well, I wish you'd had that attitude with your other great-great-grandpa or however many generations there were," Sokka huffed. Azula sighed.

"I didn't always. I take more issue with his policies and choices nowadays," she said, simply. "The years didn't pass me by in vain… maybe they did with you, though. You still act and sound much like you did when you were an annoying teenage boy…"

"Hey! You don't sound or act much differently than you did back then either!" Sokka scoffed: Azula smirked as she made her way out of the classroom, and Sokka followed her, grumbling behind her. "Anyway, don't misunderstand, alright? I'm only talking to you about any of this because I noticed you reacted when he said what he said. So… we're still enemies."

"Always," Azula sighed dramatically. "I don't expect all our classes to deal disappointing blows like this one did, so… we'll carry on with our usual hostility then."

"Damn right," Sokka said, stubbornly. Azula smirked as she marched to her left. "Uh… where are you going?"

"Class?" Azula said, slowing down and glaring at him pointedly. "And I certainly hope your rambling won't keep me from arriving on time, so…"

"But the next class is over at the other building," Sokka said, pointing to the right. "Engineering is…"

"What?" Azula froze. "Engineering?"

"Well, yeah, that's the next…"

"I didn't sign up for any classes in the Engineering department," Azula said: her voice almost made it sound like the very notion of her joining any classes in that faculty was entirely out of place. Sokka's cheeks flushed.

"W-wait… what class do you have now, then?"

"Ancient art?" Azula said, with a shrug. Sokka's mouth twisted into a grimace. "Which… you, of course, didn't sign up for."

"No. I signed up for history, mechanical design, advanced calculus, geography and poetry," Sokka said. Azula huffed.

"Poetry? You?"

"What about it?!" Sokka squeaked, face flushed. Azula chuckled, shaking her head… though her amusement receded quickly.

"We… only share one class," she said, staring at him again. "I'm in history, ancient art, historical bending, traditional literature and introduction to anthropology."

"Wait, really?" Sokka blinked blankly. "Uh… huh. Then, our big challenge…"

"We probably should have discussed which classes we would take before jumping into this, huh?" Azula said, with a dry grin. Sokka huffed.

"We'll be able to measure our grades anyhow," Sokka said. "We can compare grades from different classes and…"

"And what if they're objectively of different difficulties?" Azula asked, skeptical. "It would give one of us an unfair advantage over the other to go about it this way. No… we'll focus on history only for our challenge, and that's final. The circumstances allow for nothing else… and, again, I won't be late because of you. Goodbye."

"Az-…!" Sokka started, but she had already stormed off. He groaned, shaking his head before turning to leave the building, on his way to his next class.

Their competition would be simpler, then, Sokka supposed… but a strange tingling feeling stuck with him once he entered the assigned classroom for mechanical design in the Engineering department. Some of the students looked at him with amazement, and gossip started right away… there were people who knew who he was, just as they knew who Azula was. But where he was a hero… she was a villain. He expected Azula would be alright, she could handle herself without a hitch on a battlefield and she knew how to navigate social, political waters far better than he did. And yet a needling, twitching discomfort settled in his gut…

The semester proceeded as smoothly as could be, if with odd tension between Sokka, Azula and the rest of the student body. Where both the outsiders had come to the university in hopes to both put their competition to rest and to understand the inner workings of such institutions, many of their classmates misunderstood their intent. A lot of them invited Sokka to parties, and he joined the first one for courtesy's sake only to conclude he was never doing that again – most these students were at least five years younger than him, and it seemed their idea of fun wasn't quite what he would have in mind, with far too much drink and too little food to go around. Azula, on the other hand, received no invitations anywhere. It didn't seem strange to Sokka that she would be a loner on campus, but he couldn't help the occasional pang of concern for her sake, no matter how expected this outcome had been. She sat on the first rows of their history class, and nobody would sit on any adjacent seats, giving her a wide berth and even shooting her furtive glares or giggling at who knew what devious jokes they made at her expenses. She was too perceptive not to notice this, Sokka knew… but she reacted to none of it, regardless.

But the months went by, their academic efforts and investigative duties paid off individually, and all seemed to proceed favorably for the two of them… until it was time for the final assignment in history class.

"It's a group assignment," the teacher announced, and both Azula and Sokka tensed up. "Make teams of two or three, tops. I don't want to grade that many essays, honestly… I thought more of you would have dropped out of class by now. Happens every year, so… uh, anyway: I will list the subjects on which you may write your essays, and I expect you to bring something new to the table with them. I don't want you to simply repeat what I told you through class: investigate deeper and offer me information that I didn't provide you here. Understood?"

Everyone nodded and the teacher proceeded to write a list of potential topics for the assignment on the blackboard: Sokka's eyebrow twitched upon glimpsing the foundation of the Dai Li among them. Oh, he was taking that one. He certainly had new information he could offer the teacher on that front…

"… Wait, but what about him?" he heard the whispers of a few students on his right. He didn't look at them, even if he focused on their voices.

"Well, I could partner up with him, you know?" said one guy. "Imagine getting to be friends with him, and then with the Avatar! Bet they throw bigger and better parties over at Republic City, haha…"

"But you said you'd be a team of three with us…!"

"And I want to be the one who asks him! Maybe he should be my partner rather than yours, you always said he's the more boring war hero out of them all, so…"

"I didn't say 'boring', I just meant… well, you know, he's not a bender, so…"

Sokka's eyebrow twitched even further by then. He was tempted to stomp up to the teacher and tell him he'd do his work alone…

A glance in his direction, however, revealed someone else was doing just that.

"Uh… how about we ask around to see if someone else doesn't have a team yet?" the teacher said to Azula, who had stood up and approached him as he wrote on the blackboard. "It always happens, I'm sure you can work with another student…"

She seemed moments away from retorting, from saying she didn't want to be part of any teams, let alone with people who clearly wanted nothing to do with her… but she didn't have the chance to do so.

For Sokka had stood up from his seat and approached the teacher, knowingly.

"Sooo… I was thinking about doing my essay on my own," he said: his voice startled Azula, who shot him a disbelieving glare. "Is that okay?"

"Ah! See? You two even know each other, as far as I'm aware…" the teacher smiled at Azula, who grimaced as she met Sokka's skeptical stare. "You can work together!"

"I… would rather not," Azula said, pointedly. Sokka huffed.

"So would I, but it's the teacher's orders, right?" Sokka said, with a shrug. "Sorry, but you're stuck with me now."

Azula eyed him warily: she had to suspect he had an ulterior motive in mind… he'd probably explain it eventually. But for now, she simply held her tongue for a moment before sighing in surrender.

"Fine," she said, stepping up to Sokka. "But if you purposefully sabotage the final essay just to mess with me…"

"I want to get good grades as much as you do," Sokka grunted, glaring pointedly at her. "This is a win-win situation for the two of us, so, you know, don't be such a grump: that's supposed to be your brother's job."

"I'm not…" Azula started, but she huffed again: Sokka smirked upon recognizing he had outdone her in this particular discussion. "This won't happen again, is all I'm saying."

"Evidently. It's the final assignment and we're only here for one semester, so…" Sokka said, with a shrug. Azula sighed and nodded.

They took their seats again, and the teacher asked each team about their preferences for the essay: it didn't surprise Sokka that both he and Azula would have the very same idea in mind. They requested the topic of the creation of the Dai Li, and they agreed to meet after class in order to write the essay – Azula told Sokka that she hadn't found many sources for what they knew to be true, but she had borrowed many books from the library and there was a convincing document in one of them that they could quote in their essay to justify their work's hypothesis.

It was sundown when they met again, and Azula had no choice but to lead Sokka to her dorm room: it was the all-girls dorm, and boys typically only visited them furtively. A lot of girls made unnecessary noise and fuss as Sokka walked past them, though many others simply gaped at Azula warily as she strode, head held high, towards the stairs.

"Considering you're always sitting at the front of the class, as if you were trying to be close to the door to get out at once? I'm surprised your dorm room isn't right by the front door too," Sokka said. Azula hummed – they had climbed five stories by then, and she kept going higher. "Why did you pick such a distant room if…?"

"I didn't: it was assigned to me. And actually? Wait here for a moment," Azula said: they reached the sixth story, and only one more set of stairs was left: Sokka frowned, for it looked like an old attic rather than another proper floor of regular dorm rooms.

"That's… that's where your room is?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged enigmatically as she stepped up the staircase… though she did it very carefully.

She probed each floorboard cautiously, moving in zigzags and even taking two steps at once. Maybe she was paranoid…

Or maybe she had every right to be, Sokka realized, when he gazed up at the ceiling to find a bucket full of some sleazy, black substance was dangling right above her head.

"Azula…!"

"Don't… break my focus," Azula said, curtly. Sokka winced. "It's not important. It's but another challenge, so…"

"Please tell me you're the one doing this to yourself and that it isn't the other girls in the dorm who…"

"Evidently, I wouldn't challenge myself not to trigger a bucket full of ink to fall on me just for my own amusement somehow," Azula said, bluntly. "It's embarrassingly wasteful… but I can repurpose some of it before it dries, provided I can take down the trap safely."

"Azula, has this been happening to you all semester?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged: she hugged the wall carefully now, after detecting something worrisome near the center of the stairs' floorboards.

"It's gotten more intense as time goes by, if you must know," she said. "But it's unimportant. They'll only succeed if I allow them to believe that their tantrums affect me on any level. My actions and choices, my triumphs and achievements, still torment them quite so constantly that they feel the need to take petty revenges such as these…"

She reached the end of the staircase and drew her hairpin out of her top-knot, causing her hair to cascade down her back as she slid the pin through the door she pushed open very cautiously and slowly. She focused again fully, ignoring Sokka's presence until she finally found something with her hairpin. The bucket swung slightly suddenly, but Azula pushed the door open regardless: she kept the bucket's rope taut with her hairpin at first, her full hand later on.

"Very well: feel free to climb up. And don't worry, I won't dump this on you, we can use some of that ink to write the essay," Azula said, simply. Sokka grimaced, and even if he did as she told him to, he climbed by hugging the wall just in case she changed her mind. "Anyway, their actions won't be a burden for me forever. This is insignificant in the face of what I accomplished…"

"Which was, admittedly, a pretty nasty thing to do to the Earth Kingdom?" Sokka said, with a dry grin, once he reached her. Azula shrugged as she began undoing the rope system that held the bucket in place.

"If you'll be preachy and moralistic about it, certainly. War is what it is, however," she said. "Had any of them been in my shoes, they would have sought to achieve the same thing I did. They're quite lucky that they get to purge their own souls and frustrations by taking them out on me, wouldn't you say?"

"Lucky?" Sokka repeated, watching as the bucket slid safely, lower, down to one of the steps. "Look, we've all done things we're not that proud of. Most these kids we're studying with were barely ten when you and I were out fighting wars. They don't understand what it really means to be in one…"

"And you'd disagree with the notion that they're quite lucky for that?" Azula asked. Sokka unfastened the rope, and the bucket was no longer a threat to either of them. "They're the first generation that gets to live freely from the military demands of their nation… though, to be frank, Ba Sing Se hardly had to struggle compared to the rest of the Earth Kingdom. All thanks to Long Feng and the Dai Li… which brings to mind that we should start discussing how we'll handle that rather than worrying about whoever set up this nonsense."

"Look… I get that you want to focus on work, but you really shouldn't be putting up with this," Sokka said, stepping through the room's threshold.

He joined Azula in the dark room – she was lighting her candles right now, shedding light on the old, damaged furniture, the decayed sheets, and even a few pots in which trickling droplets of water fell at a rhythm, giving away that there were leaks on the ceiling. Azula scoffed, eyeing him skeptically as he grimaced at the poor state of the room.

"If I outdo you in these circumstances, I will further prove myself in our foolish little contest," Azula said. "And you should be thriving in it, if anything. I was under the impression that you disliked me even more than the locals do, so…"

"Wait, now…" Sokka grimaced, running a hand over his hair. "I… I dislike them way more than I dislike you, actually."

"You… what?" Azula blinked blankly. Sokka smiled awkwardly. "The hero worship isn't all that agreeable with you, is it?"

"Heh. The conditional, bullshit hero worship?" Sokka said, rolling his eyes. "I'm not young enough to enjoy the stuff they enjoy anymore, to begin with… but to make matters worse, they think I'm the 'boring' war hero because I'm not a bender. I totally should be stoked about that, shouldn't I?"

Azula actually let out a wicked laugh upon hearing those words… one that Sokka might have taken offense to, if only he hadn't sensed something was different about that laughter, compared to the ones he had heard from her before.

"The boring one… that's something," she smiled. "And I'm sure you've attempted to tell them that your friends would have likely wound up dead within a month or less if you hadn't been there to do all the thinking for them…?"

"Actually, I haven't. Because they only say that shit when they're talking behind my back," Sokka smiled tensely. Azula sighed, shaking her head.

"Well, it's still true that they would have wound up dead, in my opinion, for whatever that's worth," Azula said. "I'm surprised you're not simply taking it upon yourself to change their minds about you, though. You're this keen on proving me wrong about you… why not do the same with them?"

"I… I guess it's personal with you," Sokka said, blinking blankly and eyeing her warily. Azula smirked.

"That's almost flattering to know. Anyway, that's enough about that: here's the book I meant."

She showed him the documents she had procured from the local libraries, and Sokka frowned as he started to study them. Azula started explaining her reasoning, and how what he was reading related to the common understanding of the subject… but after about a minute, Sokka huffed and shook his head.

"You know what? Maybe you really are too powerful for the likes of me," Sokka said: he shot a glare at the vases by the furniture, and Azula snorted at his words. "How the hell can you focus with that stupid dripping sound just going on and on and on…? We can at least get the rector to fix the ceiling, can't we?"

"Well, I don't see the need…"

"Come the hell on. You're even more likely to get annoyed by these things than I am," Sokka huffed, staring her down skeptically. Azula sighed.

"I… have had four months, give or take, to adapt to the circumstances," she said. "Therefore, I no longer pay attention to the noise. It's even… soothing. Therefore…"

"You're really leaning hard on the whole 'I'm not letting them get to me' angle, aren't you?" Sokka said, hands on his hips. "Look… come to my room. I don't have a roommate because I expressly requested to be alone after I saw how these people acted, so…"

"Oh?" Azula blinked blankly. "Did you have one and they disappointed you that badly?"

"Well… yeah," Sokka grimaced. "He was specifically a Toph fan. It started out more or less okay… then the conversation topics he brought up started to feel borderline creepy. So I told the rector to move me to another room, because I wasn't comfortable sharing rooms with some guy who kept asking me unsettling, intimate details about one of my best friends. I still have a second bed in that room, so… if you want to crash there altogether, you can do that too."

"That's, well… unnervingly generous of you," Azula said, staring at Sokka skeptically. "I thought you'd be scared that I might try to harm you while you're conscious, but you're willing to be around me while you're unconscious too? That's bold of you."

"Maybe it is, but… look, have they been assholes to you during class?" Sokka asked. Azula raised an eyebrow. "I know they're not exactly nice in History, but…"

"But are they worse in the others?" Azula said. "Well… it's more or less the same. I suppose the dorms are worse than classes, in general. Still… you're not seriously feeling sorry for me, are you? We're enemies, sworn, mortal enemies, so…"

"Right… but my victory will feel weak if I took it while you weren't in optimal conditions," Sokka said, stubbornly. "In fact, I'm sure you're going to say that it's not even valid because of the suboptimal conditions, so… all the more reason to at least give you a more relaxing environment to dwell in for the last weeks of the semester."

Azula eyed him with uncertainty, and Sokka waited for her to give him an answer. She opened her mouth, closed it again, did the same thing about five times… before huffing and folding her arms over her chest.

"I'll inspect your dwelling first, then. If you're too messy, I'm not going to stay there," Azula said, stubbornly. Sokka smiled.

"Fine. You be the judge, but we'll write the essay there anyway. This place is unnerving," he said.

They gathered Azula's stack of research documents and carried them – along with the ink bucket – all the way to the men's dorms. Most guys there shot Azula odd stares, a few even whistled mockingly as they passed, and some congratulated Sokka as he rolled his eyes and opened the door to his private room.

"I suppose every woman who comes into the men's dorms is a victim of that undignified treatment?" Azula asked, staring at Sokka skeptically. He sighed, shaking his head.

"I've heard them do it to other guys a few times so far. I kind of thought they'd be too scared to do it with you, since you're you, but… apparently not," Sokka said, letting out a deep breath. "Anyway… here it is. A bedroom without leaks."

Azula studied it intently, no doubt keen on finding flaws worth mocking Sokka over, all be it to tell him he was mismanaging his room, perhaps… she set the books on his desk, though, and shot him a judgmental stare from the corner of her eye.

"I suppose this is decent," she said. "But I'll still have to think on your offer. Putting up with those fools and their whistling sounds like a pain."

"Yeah, I guess it would be one," Sokka acknowledged, smiling as he set down the ink bucket carefully. "Anyway, let's get cracking. Want to do the honor of writing it yourself, or…?"

"We have to develop the structure first, so we'll see who has the better handwriting after we handle that," Azula said, taking his desk's chair while Sokka sat down by the edge of his bed. "You don't write an essay by sheer impulse and relentless motion. We'll think this through… especially considering we have to demonstrate something our professor is utterly unaware of, going by what our lessons suggest."

"Alright, alright. Let's see what your essay-writing system looks like," Sokka smirked, leaning back on his bed as he defied Azula with a jerk of his head.

Their work on the essay had to be handled along with the rest of their final exams: they met once every two days, further cementing and discussing their information on the subject, before they finally composed the essay together. It surprised Azula to find a perfectionist in her partner, one who seemed to second-guess his wording choices frequently, always seeking a better way to convey his thoughts. Before she knew it, she was giving him her opinion on his poetry assignments, while he offered her his own on a painting she had crafted, attempting to recreate a certain technique developed by Earth Kingdom artists from five centuries ago. And while she didn't move to his room permanently, Azula still wound up sleeping on the room's second bed a few times before the semester ended – rumors spread alarmingly quickly across the school about their apparently intimate connection, but much as Azula didn't acknowledge the vindictive practices of the spoiled girls in her dorms, Sokka didn't offer his attention to the spoiled boys in his, either.

The day of turning in the essay arrived indeed, and by then, genuine respect appeared to be brewing between them. Sokka turned in their work, one of the denser essays of the class, and he smiled complicitly at Azula as he returned to his seat. She nodded lightly in his direction as he passed beside her.

The results, then, were unveiled a week later: both Azula and Sokka were anxious as the professor left their essay for last, summoning the two of them to speak with him at his desk while the rest of the class was leaving…

"Look, your work was quite impressive," he said, smiling nervously at the two most dangerous students in his class. "There's no denying your prose is quite powerful, and you certainly investigated deeply, but… you may have been somewhat careless about your sources."

"Careless?" Azula said, raising her eyebrows.

"The primary author you chose is well-known for his embellishment of matters, I know I couldn't expect you to know this, but the lack of further evidence that Avatar Kyoshi had any connection to the Dai Li suggests that…"

"Wait, so you think we failed at your assignment?" Sokka asked, staring at the professor skeptically. "Are you trying to say that you don't believe in the power of proper historical investigations, by any chance?"

"I do believe in it, but I don't believe that's what happened here, if I may say so myself," the professor blurted out, eyeing them nervously. "I… can give you a passing grade, for your efforts were quite commendable, but the outcome is…"

"A passing grade?!" Sokka squealed. Azula scoffed, glaring at the man.

"That's unacceptable," she said. "We followed your every indication in order to investigate matters properly, didn't we? If the rest of the historians have been covering up Kyoshi's mistakes, that's on them, not us. We have evidence…"

"You have… circumstantial evidence, at best, but it may very well be a coincidence instead," said the professor.

"We…!" Sokka started, huffing before glaring at the man in a surprisingly threatening way. The professor winced, taking a step back before Sokka turned to Azula with a stern frown. "You know what? We do have evidence. Really strong evidence."

"We… wait," Azula held his gaze, raising an eyebrow as Sokka smiled dangerously. "You don't mean…"

"Professor! Do you mind joining us on a brief trip?" Sokka said, hands on his hips: his sudden change of mood was utterly unconvincing, for the teacher remained deeply daunted by the much taller, notoriously dangerous warrior in his room. "It shouldn't take us longer than a couple of hours…"

"I-I would rather not…"

"Don't be such a worrywart! Just join us, just join us…!"

It was clear that the professor expected them to drag him into an alley and threaten him with direct violence, so his unwillingness to join them decreased when Sokka and Azula marched together, with him standing between them, to the nearest train station in Ba Sing Se. The professor was genuinely surprised when they boarded a train leading deeper into the heart of the city…

His shock was stronger yet when they arrived in Ba Sing Se's Royal Palace.

"Hello there! You guys know me, I'm Sokka, friends with the King? With the Avatar?" Sokka spoke to the guards by the gates: they shot each other a wary glance before turning towards the warrior once more.

"You… we do know who you are. And we also know who she is," one said, pointing at Azula with a finger quite rudely. She raised a judgmental eyebrow, and they glared at her for it. "She is not welcome in the Palace."

"Uh, I figured you might say that, but she's with me, and so is this guy," Sokka said, gesturing at the trembling, dazed professor. "Look, we only need a moment with the King, once we have what we need, we'll leave. You can keep watch on us the whole time, I promise Azula's not going to do anything dangerous and I'm not going to eat all the contents of your kitchens… just let us through so we can fix a problem going on at the university, alright?"

"Ah… a problem?" said one of the guards. They exchanged a glance: that concept seemed to register as something noteworthy to bring to their king's attention.

"A problem at the university, then…" Azula recited quietly to Sokka, once they were escorted inside by a full squad of twenty guards. Sokka smiled awkwardly. "You do realize the King's bound to be quite alarmed by that wording of yours?"

"I do… but what choice do I have? They weren't going to take me seriously if I told them exactly what was going on," Sokka whispered back. Azula let out a soft chuckle.

"That's almost admirable of you. Keep this up and I might actually respect you before the day is out."

"You say that now, but I think you already do, Princess."

He smirked at her, and she smiled back as they marched through the familiar halls of Ba Sing Se's Palace. The professor seemed close to a nervous breakdown as they walked across the corridors, remarking on all his knowledge of the structure of the building, the date of certain ornaments and portraits, the gold mines from which the more luxurious adornments had likely been crafted…

Until the most luxurious of them all coaxed him to fall silent in utter reverence: Kuei sat on his throne, glaring at Azula nervously as the whole group entered the Throne Room.

"Hey there!" Sokka smiled: Bosco, the king's bear, groaned as a greeting, and Sokka chuckled as the creature marched up to him, asking for attention and affection. "And hi to you too, Bosco. Hope you've been doing well."

"Sokka… my friend. Why have you brought… Azula, my enemy, to my doorstep?" Kuei asked, his voice betraying his utter distrust of the woman. Azula rolled her eyes as Sokka smiled awkwardly.

"You did authorize her to study in your city…"

"Because Fire Lord Zuko requested it, and he agreed to fund further recovery programs across the Earth Kingdom in exchange for her studies," Kuei said, glaring at Azula, who grimaced upon hearing those words. "But that does not mean she was ever authorized to come to my Palace again. I would rather you return to the university at once…"

"We will go back, yeah," Sokka said, with a quick nod. "But… we need your help to sort something out."

"A… conflict between the two of you?" Kuei asked. "If so, I hereby declare you're correct, Sokka, and she is wrong…"

"Oh really? Without even knowing what's going on beforehand?" Azula scoffed, and Kuei immediately winced away from her when he heard her voice. Sokka smiled awkwardly and shook his head.

"Doesn't really work that way, King, because you see… Azula and I are in agreement," he said. Kuei gasped, as though the very notion of anyone agreeing with Azula were unthinkable. "It's our teacher from History class who thinks we're wrong and we're here to prove otherwise."

"U-uh… this is about a class?" Kuei raised an eyebrow, perplexed.

"Well, he's going to give us a passing grade if we don't prove we're not talking out of our asses, which is not fair!" Sokka squeaked, pouting. "So we're here to prove the truth! All I ask is to check some documents that were in Long Feng's office, and if they're still there, it'll only take a moment for us to find them, prove what we have to prove, and clear our names!"

Kuei blinked blankly. He stared at Sokka in utter perplexity, at Azula, whose arms were folded… and the professor, who had dropped face-first on the floor in a deep reverence, unwilling to so much as meet Kuei's gaze. The Earth King sighed before shrugging.

"I suppose, if what you're looking for isn't unreasonable… but you'll be the one looking, Sokka, not her," Kuei pouted. Azula rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time. "I don't want her reading any sensitive, important documents!"

"But it's fine if he does?" Azula asked. Kuei huffed.

"Yes, it is," he decided, and Azula rolled her eyes again.

"Well, whatever. That only means you have to put in extra work now, Sokka," Azula said, with a dry grin. Sokka sighed and shrugged.

"Considering that you transcribed the whole essay, I'd think this is a fair trade. I'm getting us our full marks, I promise," Sokka said, firmly. Azula actually smiled at his vow. "Wait here with the professor, I'll be back in a bit…"

"W-wait! You're leaving her here with me?!" Kuei squeaked. Azula sighed at his jumpiness and Sokka gestured at the Earth King with a hand.

"Join me personally and that way you'll be away from her. How about it?"

Kuei accepted Sokka's idea, although he ensured that Azula and the professor wouldn't be in the Throne Room, anyway. The two of them were to wait patiently near the Palace's entrance while Sokka rummaged through the office, trying to sort through documents, looking for a specific file that was likely as good as lost among Long Feng's formerly tidy bookshelves – many people, such as Sokka and Azula, had looked through these documents on occasion since Long Feng's fall from grace, and the result was a much messier bank of information than it used to be.

Three hours of boredom later, though, Azula heard the heavy footsteps of someone marching in their direction: one glace revealed Sokka was back… and to her relief, he had a stack of familiar papers, bound in a green leather cover, in his hands.

"It's here!" Sokka said, his voice hoarse, eyes almost out of orbit as he stomped up to the professor proudly. Azula smiled wildly, turning towards the still starstruck, and now shellshocked man, awaiting his reaction as Sokka offered him the document. "There you go. Proof… and proper evidence. Just as you wanted it."

"Good job finding it," Azula smiled. Sokka sighed.

"I don't know who went through that place recently, but everything's not where it was when I last visited that room," he said. "I'm going to assume it's not your doing…"

"Sokka, it's been over a decade since I took Ba Sing Se, and as is obvious, it's been in the Earth King's control for far longer than it was in mine. It's far more likely that he would be responsible for the mess, if there was one, right?" Azula said. Sokka shrugged.

"Well, I suppose…"

"Are you trying to imply I could be messy?" Azula said, glaring at him skeptically. Sokka snickered softly. "Seriously?"

"I don't know! How am I supposed to know? Could be you're just tidy nowadays, maybe you weren't back then…" he chuckled, and Azula rolled her eyes… though he caught sight of a smile once she turned her face away from him.

They fell silent then, though, watching as the professor read the document quickly. His eyes widened further with each page he read until…

"I… I see. I… I understand now," he said, with a nervous smile. Sokka and Azula grinned knowingly at him. "Goodness, well, this is… quite a shocker. I mean, I suppose there's areas where interpretation is valid, still, and…"

"And even if that's the case, what we wrote in that essay is still provable by official documents, no matter if most historians didn't acknowledge that," Sokka said, with a shrug. "Now, then… passing grade, or full marks?"

"I… yes, yes, of course. Full marks, indeed."

"YES!" Sokka threw a fist in the air before offering Azula a proud handshake – or rather, forearm shake, for he gripped her by the forearm when she was expecting him to clasp her hand. "We've pulled it off, Azula! Our reputations and names are cleared anew!"

"Well… we should give credit where credit's due, and it's certainly due now," Azula said, eyeing him skeptically. "I didn't do anything to clear either thing, after all. So… good work, Sokka, even if it kills my pride to say that it's just your doing, but still…"

"Heh. You praised me? Now that's something else…" he chuckled, and Azula smiled proudly still as she turned to their professor once more.

"I take it you can amend the final grade you gave us on the essay itself, can't you?" Azula said, pulling out the essay from her bag and offering it to the man… who continued to scan the ancient document in his hand, a worried grimace across his face. "Hello?"

"Uh, right. Right. I… I will, though we can take care of it in two days, if you'd like?" he said. "I'll be turning in the final grades for the class by then, so… let's handle it then, shall we?"

"Uh… okay, but are you alright?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. Azula's eyes narrowed.

"It's like he's uncomfortable, for some reason. Is it you don't like that we've disproven something you've been teaching for years?" she asked, nonchalantly. The professor tensed up, and she frowned upon confirming her guess had been spot-on.

"I… I have to think a lot about what this means. And how it… fits within what we know, what was written elsewhere," the man said.

"Well, sure, but this is a very important document that explicitly proves what we have told you," Sokka said, pointing at the green-bound document. "I get that it changes things, but it's history, right? Adapt to the changes and teach the truth now."

"I… cannot quite do that."

Both Azula and Sokka frowned: even the guards, still keeping an eye on the Princess, were perplexed by the man's declaration. He cleared his throat.

"This puts numerous historical accounts into question, you see? It's… it's a complicated situation you've put me in. I need to analyze this with the other scholars, and perhaps they'll agree with me that… that teaching history has enough complications as it is? The Earth Kingdom has many convoluted stages in its history already, saddled with so much internal strife and conflict, and Avatar Kyoshi is a great, heroic figure too, so…"

"So… wait. You're trying to say… you're not going to change anything?" Sokka asked. Azula's eyebrow twitched.

"You'll continue teaching this part of history exactly as you have so far, even if you know it's wrong?" she asked.

The professor's tense smile was a sufficient answer to their questions.

An hour later, Azula and Sokka fumed together in the Jasmine Dragon – it was the first time Azula visited the place ever since she had started attending classes in Ba Sing Se University, but Sokka hadn't known anywhere else where they might unwind after their frustrations over their professor's behavior. Iroh was uneasy over their presence too, aware that Azula was in the city since months ago even if they hadn't met once until today. He approached their table, clearing his throat as Sokka splayed carelessly on his chair, scowling, while Azula crouched over the table, holding her head up with a hand.

"This… is the gloomiest date I've ever seen," Iroh announced: both his customers raised stern glares at him, and he offered them a guilty smile. "Not at date?"

"If it is one, it's a date for mourning," Sokka grunted.

"Mourning… what?" Iroh raised a bushy eyebrow.

"Our respect for the local education system?" Sokka said. Azula huffed.

"I believed the Fire Nation was the one that constantly, actively attempted to rewrite history," she said. "All for the convenience of whoever was in charge at any point in time. I never imagined it'd disturb me this badly to find out other nations do it too."

"Water Tribe doesn't," Sokka huffed. "And I'll make sure it won't when I establish our university."

"I will do the same with the Fire Nation, even if it won't be easy… as shameful as our history may be, the Fire Nation University's history department won't be as self-congratulatory as Ba Sing Se's," Azula huffed, shaking her head.

"What an uphill battle you face," Iroh sighed, shaking his head. "I fear history cannot be fully objective, no matter if you attempt to make it so…"

"At the very least we can stop erasing inconvenient truths just on the basis of them being inconvenient for a political group or another," Azula growled, arms folded over the table. "Zuko has been adamant about not tampering with the truth in the Fire Nation anymore, and as far as I understand, everyone believes it's most noble of him to do so. Nobody is concerned over how the truth about our worst choices might affect the morale of Fire Nation people, so why should different rules apply to the Earth Kingdom?"

"Especially when we're talking about something from so long ago," Sokka huffed. "It's hardly like we're saying the current Earth King Kuei is at fault for the Dai Li's existence or something…"

"Perhaps you should change the subject," Iroh said, with a careless grin. "It sounds like you're both getting yourselves down even further, so how about a fresh batch of tea to…?"

"Sake," Sokka blurted out. Azula snorted as Iroh pouted. "Don't have any?"

"I… suppose I can find some," Iroh sighed. "One bottle only. There's no going overboard with drinks in the Jasmine Dragon, let alone for my niece and my son's friend."

"Fine, fine, whatever you say," Sokka sighed, nodding in Iroh's direction.

The near-empty teashop fell silent again as Iroh walked off, bringing back the bottle and giving them privacy anew afterwards. Both Azula and Sokka remained as moody as before… though their eyes met before long, and they sighed at the same time.

"I suppose at least we redeemed ourselves and didn't get a low score on that essay," Azula said.

"You mean, we shouldn't worry about what this means for the Earth Kingdom's education and only focus on what it means for us on a personal level?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. Azula shrugged.

"When no one around you seems to have any sense, selfishness is the better policy," she determined, sipping her drink – it wasn't to her tastes, but after a semester where nothing had been, it didn't seem like that bothered her much.

"Until you have enough power to change things on a larger scale?" Sokka said. Azula shrugged. "We'll have enough power in our own universities, once we set them up. And… we'll start doing that pretty soon, won't we?"

"We should," Azula agreed, glancing at Sokka almost wistfully. "I won't miss this place that much, but… admittedly, studies on this level are far more enjoyable than what I endured in the Royal Academy for Girls."

"Well, I'd never been in class like this before, myself," Sokka smiled awkwardly. "I adjusted quickly, but honestly, I learned everything from my parents back when I was little, then from my grandmother once I was slightly older. I've had a few mentorships here and there, like with the Mechanist…"

"Ah, the artificer of the train-tank," Azula said, with a weak smile.

"Suits you to speak of it so fondly," Sokka said, eyebrow twitching as Azula laughed. "Anyway, I'm just saying… I'd never had to face this kind of formal education before. But this wasn't that bad, just… sucked because of what happened today. But anyway, we've learned what we need to learn, right?"

"We have," Azula agreed.

"And in the process, maybe we've grown to respect each other a little?" Sokka asked, smirking as he raised his cup. Azula let out a dismissive laugh.

"A little, and that's as far as I'll go," she said, raising her own. "We're still mortal enemies forevermore."

"And I wouldn't want it any other way," Sokka chuckled. "I just want to say… you were a tough competitor, that's for sure. I look forward to finding out who won in our contest…"

"So do I," Azula said: she tapped Sokka's cup with his own, and they drained their contents quickly. "May the better student, and better future university founder, win?"

"May it be so," Sokka smirked.

Azula laughed softly as they spoke anew about the university, about the things they liked and disliked from their experience in Ba Sing Se, and even swapping old stories as if they were, instead of mortal enemies, old friends.

Once they returned to the university's campus, Azula didn't go back to Sokka's room: Sokka smiled wistfully at her as she waved at him from the entrance to the female dorms, and he ensured to enter his own dorms later – it was late, but the sounds of reckless partying gave away that some people were rather excitable about the upcoming end of the semester. Technically, Sokka should be looking forward to it too, even if a strange part of him felt lonesome upon knowing this competition between him and Azula would come to an end soon… a part of him he endeavored to ignore as best as possible, of course. This had already been a whim, the Water Tribe needed him, his father needed him. He had been here long enough, so he'd finish up and go home…

A week later, the final results for all classes were revealed.

Sokka and Azula stood side by side, frozen solid, at the History Faculty's board, where said results had been pinned for all students to see.

All their work, all their efforts, all their attempts to outdo each other had been pointless: they stared at each other in utter chagrin upon confirming their final grade had been the exact same number.

...

"Well. That was… something," Sokka said, sitting by a pond in campus with Azula. She snorted, shaking her head as she rested with an elbow on her flexed knee.

"A draw, then. We've tied for results… top of the class, so we can't really complain on that front," Azula said, with a shrug. "We have honored our respective families and cultures. That is good. That is… right. It's how it must be. You should be proud of your performance."

"And you should be proud of yours," Sokka said, eyeing her skeptically. "You kept up with me, after all. Genius of the Water Tribe?"

"And you with me, the genius of the Fire Nation."

"So, this is… good. It's the best result, right?"

"Yeah. This is… this is good. This works. It makes sense."

"Then we're in agreement."

"We are."

"So, we're doing another semester and settling this competition for once and for all?"

Azula froze in place. A ticklish, rushing sensation bloomed in her gut, reaching up across her body as she shot Sokka a smirk. He smiled back at her, shrugging.

"I'm just saying…"

"If you insist," she said, without even attempting to mask her deviousness. Sokka chuckled, shaking his head.

"Now, this time? We're going to settle it for sure. You'll pick half our classes, I'll pick the other half, and that way, with four or five different classes, we'll definitely get a much more comprehensive result than we did this time," Sokka said, beaming. Azula nodded sagely.

"Perfect. I'll just… let my brother know," she smirked. Sokka bit his lip.

"And I should tell my dad, too," Sokka swallowed hard. "That's… going to be something."

"Is he against this arrangement?" Azula asked. "You could very well tell him you're still getting to understand how to run an institution like this one…"

"I can and I will, but…" Sokka said, with an awkward smile. "He's got it into his head that I'm doing this because I, uh, am interested in… someone. Romantically."

"Oh?" Azula raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

"Well, it's what he thinks, but that's not what's going on," Sokka laughed, shaking his head. "He just thinks it makes no sense for me to spend six months here over a girl I don't like, so he says it's because I actually, uh…"

"Because you actually like another girl?" Azula finished. Sokka's eyes widened with nervousness as he glanced at her significantly. "What?"

"You're gonna make me say it outright, are you?" he asked. "Azula… he thinks I like you."

Her face flushed. Had she been drinking anything, she would have spat it right out, into the pond.

Instead, she just snorted, leaning forward and covering her mouth with a hand. Sokka smiled sadly, shrugging as she eyed him in disbelief again.

"I told him that's not it, but he doesn't think I'm as professional as I say I am," Sokka sighed. "Anyway, don't mind it much. Because, as you well know, you and I are…"

"Mortal enemies," Azula said, nodding and smirking at him. "But I suppose you could very well fall in love with your mortal enemy, huh?"

"I did no such thing!" Sokka squeaked. Azula chuckled deviously. "Oh, come on! I thought you'd find it funny, but don't use it against me…!"

"Oh, goodness, if you lose against me next semester it'll be because you're in love with me, of course! Letting me win because you're a gentleman, I see!"

"Shut up!" Sokka laughed too, as Azula hugged her belly, tilting sideways under the force of her laughter.

Their choice had been made, however: even if Hakoda and Zuko would be deeply confused, they would have to accept receiving reports and concepts from their respective relatives for now, and they'd only see the two students and future university founders a whole year after their academic journey had begun, from the looks of it.

Their second semester, then, was a lot less lonely than the first one: Azula wound up crashing at Sokka's room more often than not, down to scarcely using her attic room –as she seemed so unaffected by the ill-intended pranks of her fellow students, said pranks slowly drifted out of fashion and stopped happening altogether. The rest of the student body, it seemed, was slightly offput by their apparent closeness, and rumors abounded all across campus that, much like Hakoda believed, Azula and Sokka were actually dating.

The truth was, perhaps, slightly more surreal than that for the sworn mortal enemies: they were friends, even if competitive friends given to too much banter and teasing of each other. But there was no better term for it, even if they hadn't admitted it out loud: Azula joined Sokka in a physics class while he partook in painting with Azula. He chose to carry forward with poetry too, and Azula had enjoyed anthropology as well, therefore, those four classes, along with the next level of history, had become their subjects for their second semester.

Thus, Sokka gave Azula crash courses on many scientific notions she'd need to keep in mind for the physics class, while Azula ensured to teach Sokka the proper basics of painting. She was a far more ruthless teacher than him, of course, but at least his work showed more promise by the time their spring break ended than it had ever before. She, in turn, wasn't quite that keen on poetry, but Sokka encouraged her to try her luck with haiku, settling for simple compositions before trying anything more ambitious. Azula wasn't disappointed at all by Sokka's quick grasp of the basics of anthropology, thus, the two of them were as ready as they could hope to be by the time the semester began, and their progress through class was even smoother this time than before, as they were working together more often than not.

Whether in labs or in actual ruins – the anthropology department had chosen to authorize a brief expedition into the underground tunnels in Ba Sing Se for their class, and Azula was notoriously tense through it, no doubt recognizing the battlefield where she had clinched her victory over the Avatar long ago –, in their room or in the library, they were together more often than not. They even visited Iroh's teashop more often, unlike in their first semester, even if Azula spent most of such visits bickering with her uncle while Sokka laughed carelessly at their arguments. Though Sokka would take a more active role during their visits to the Jasmine Dragon from time to time…

"Now, now, please have some mercy on an old man!" Iroh laughed, a hand on his belly as Sokka smirked proudly: he had cleared the Pai Sho board from all of Iroh's tiles that game.

"Such butchery and violence," Azula said, shaking her head slowly. "The blood of Iroh's tiles spills down the board and all across the floor…"

"Want to turn that into a haiku?" Sokka taunted her. Azula chuckled and shrugged.

"Not a bad idea, admittedly. Now you'll have me thinking about how to compose that one for days," she said.

"Could turn it in for our next assignment, if you're quicker than that about it," Sokka smirked. "Or maybe you ought to get extra inspiration by beating Iroh yourself…"

"I am not interested," Azula said, bluntly. Sokka shook his head as Iroh breathed out in relief. "Pai Sho is… too simple."

"What? Simple?!" Iroh exclaimed, his relief fleeing quickly. "How could a member of my own family say something so horrible?"

"Feel free to disown me, the game won't be any less simple just because you do," Azula smirked, glancing at the Pai Sho board. "I'd rather put my mind to something more challenging than that."

"Maybe it's not the game but the opponents you've faced?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. Azula huffed. "I'm just saying…"

"You're not about to start pretending you and I would be on equal standing in this game, or are you?" Azula asked, skeptical. Sokka smirked.

"Well, I've beaten your uncle thrice in a row… I can't be that bad, can I?"

"Hmm… perhaps you could humble her," Iroh said, stroking his beard. Azula rolled her eyes at his wording. "If someone has the wits to do so, it may just be you, Sokka! Yes, yes, please do!"

"Humble me? Perhaps I should be the one to humble you first," Azula said, scowling at him. "Sokka… off that chair. I'll finish you second, but I'll embarrass my uncle first."

"Ooooh, this is getting serious!" Sokka snickered, rising from his seat and spreading an arm theatrically towards it. Iroh winced, paling quickly.

"I-I, uh… didn't quite mean it like…"

"Oh, you meant it alright, and I'll turn your words against you," Azula smirked, taking her seat and gathering her tiles. "Ready to be humbled, Uncle?"

"I… I will defend my honor as a Pai Sho master," Iroh said, though his voice trembled.

He had to prepare for a most challenging, dangerous duel against the deviously clever mind of his niece. She would give him no quarter, especially because of his foolish wording, but he would fight back. Her strategies and tactics couldn't possibly outdo his decades of experience, so he picked up his first tile, setting it on his strategic position on the board…

Within five minutes, Iroh's hung head gave away that his aspirations to outdo Azula had gone nowhere:

"I resign."

Sokka gasped, staring at the board in utmost astonishment. Azula smirked at him, shrugging carelessly.

"While I certainly enjoyed your figurative bloodbath, Sokka, for it was most wicked of you… victory is, ultimately, what matters," she said, turning her attention to the board again: Iroh had a lot of tiles left, but her choices had seen to the breaking of his possible defensive formations to fend off her initiatives. "How humbled are we feeling now, Uncle?"

"I will go to the kitchen to rethink my life. Good luck defeating her, Sokka," Iroh said, mournfully. Sokka chuckled as the old man rose to his feet, walking awkwardly as though he had actually received a physical beating.

"You really know how to silence someone, huh?" Sokka smiled, taking his seat across Azula as they gathered the tiles anew. "I wonder if you'll beat me just as easily…"

"I wonder if you'll beat me just as violently," Azula said, with a mischievous smirk. Sokka rolled his eyes, smiling at her too.

"Come on, it's a board game. Even if I was mean, it doesn't make me all that violent…"

"Oh, don't be modest now. You cleverly targeted the lesser tiles, the outliers, constantly giving Iroh the hope that, even if the first few tiles didn't offer him the right results, the next ones would do the trick… only to then annihilate everything on his side of the board," Azula smirked. "I admit, I'm quite impressed. It's… greedy, even."

"Next thing I know, you'll say we're more alike than you ever wanted to admit," Sokka smirked. Azula laughed, shaking her head as she made the first move.

"If anything… we're contradictory. Aren't you friends with the pacifist Avatar, who tries to win battles with the least casualties possible?" Azula asked. "Which means you probably had to adjust your strategies so you'd cause the least collateral damage. I assumed that's why your strategy to destroy the drill was as it was…"

"Hmm… I'd love to say you're right, but to be honest, the alternative you suggested that day didn't even cross my mind," Sokka laughed, making his own move, and Azula followed with hers.

"Maybe you were already that deeply caught up in the Avatar's morality system, even without your awareness," Azula suggested.

"Well… you'd think. But I've done some pretty harsh things, myself," Sokka said. "Can't pretend my hands are completely clean, no matter if I still believe my actions were necessary…"

"You were victorious. No need to regret your choices or the path that led you there," Azula said. Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"Sometimes you do need to. Victory attained by the wrong means is… well, not exactly honorable, I suppose. It'd be like flipping this board, I'd say?" Sokka said. Azula smiled.

"Unfortunately, war is not a controlled, restrained environment where that analogy would be accurate. Personal duels ruled by laws are one thing, all-out war is quite different," she said – Sokka made a tricky move, and she hesitated before making her own, next. "I made the choices I made for the sake of my father and my nation. That I can see that those choices were not correct now doesn't change the fact that I made them anyway. And I wouldn't have cared about right or wrong back then… only about victory. Only about securing the triumphs that would bring the Fire Nation further progress. Hence, we're contradictory: I wouldn't have shed a single tear if I had to annihilate everything in my path to secure victory, back in the day. Whereas you would have sought to attain victory with the least casualties…"

"Which begs the question of why we play Pai Sho by resorting to each other's default strategies, then," Sokka said, staring at Azula pointedly before displacing one of her tiles with his own. Azula smirked.

"Well… it's more efficient this way," she said, with a shrug: Sokka's eyes narrowed upon detecting that he was being trapped… and he made the right choice to cause Azula to snap her tongue. "How shrewd. Not tricked by bait so easily, are we?"

"You'll have to try harder than that," Sokka smiled. Azula chuckled as she proceeded to make her next move.

They continued to speak as they played, discussing their different perspectives further, laughing at their clever responses to each other's moves… until the state of the game became clear to them both. Azula raised her eyebrows, eyeing Sokka skeptically as he chuckled: Iroh, having returned to watch the outcome of their battle, hummed in amazement.

"A stalemate, then?" he said. "That is quite rare…"

"Oh, it's par for the course for the two of us," Azula said, staring at Sokka skeptically. He chuckled and shrugged in response to her assessment.

"And we've humbled ourselves and each other by remembering… that we, apparently, are evenly matched," he said. Azula smiled and shook her head.

"Don't say that, or else this semester will be a waste too. Aren't we trying to outdo each other this time as well?" she asked. Sokka smiled and nodded. "Then fight to the very end, will you?"

"As you wish, Princess," Sokka bowed his head, waving his hand in a pretentious flourish, and Azula chuckled at the sight of it…

Iroh blinked blankly as he stood between them, eyes drifting from one to the next. He whistled carelessly as he walked away, the sound causing both Azula and Sokka to ease up their laughter and camaraderie to watch Iroh with confusion.

"Why's he whistling?" Sokka blinked blankly. Azula huffed.

"I don't know, but he's annoying. We're done here, aren't we?" Azula said, pushing herself up to her feet. "It's getting late, and I have no intentions of waking up late tomorrow…"

"You never wake up late, to begin with," Sokka retorted, and Azula nodded sagely.

"I'd much rather keep it that way, mind you, so… off we go."

They weren't oblivious, not truly, to the misunderstandings their bond elicited from people. At this point, both were bored and tired of explaining they were, in fact, mortal enemies who had challenged each other to obtain better grades in school… and Iroh certainly didn't seem to understand that. As things were, the two roommates rather preferred to ignore outside opinions, focusing only on their competition.

The months drifted by and they helped each other constantly with their studies. They answered letters sent by their respective family, some exclusively professional, some concerned about them on a personal level – Zuko asked Azula, point-blank, if rumors about her apparent relationship with Sokka were just rumors, and she rolled her eyes before giving him the same answer she gave everyone. That they spent most their time together, took all the same classes, went shopping together, helped each other in lessons, and went on outings in the city with each other, didn't have to mean that…

… Well, once she thought of it that way, people's assumptions started to make more sense than she had been willing to give them credit for, so far.

"You know, if we stuck around for another semester, taking that bending class you liked wouldn't be outside the question," Sokka laughed one afternoon, merely a few weeks before that semester ended. They were sitting under a tree's shade, the afternoon light providing Azula with visuals she attempted to recreate in the final painting she wanted to deliver for class… but she couldn't seem to get the right shadow and light contrasts she was looking for. "Could be easier than painting…"

"I'd take both if you weren't so hung up on physics," Azula sighed, shaking her head.

"Well, I would've taken more mechanical design, actually, but that teacher went on sabbatical," Sokka pouted. "Anyway, it's good for you to learn physics…"

"And for you to learn how to paint," Azula said. "Which you did, considering you're already done with your project but I'm not with mine. So… unless you have a better tree to suggest to me, perhaps just take a nap while I finish this."

Sokka was about to rebuff her suggestion, perhaps to say something about not needing a nap at all… but his eyes narrowed when the spark of an idea struck him.

"Say… you want a good tree?" Sokka asked. Azula grunted. "Would you believe me if I said I know of one…?"

"Better than this one?" Azula said, skeptical. Sokka smiled awkwardly.

"I don't know if better, but… it might be more peaceful?" he said. "It's… it's in the Lower Ring. Zuko and Iroh wanted to visit it on the morning after we celebrated the war ended, so… I think I still know how to get there."

Azula's brow furrowed as she lowered her brush. She glanced at Sokka warily as he shrugged.

"If it's not a good idea I'll just shut up…"

"Lu Ten's memorial?" Azula asked. Sokka bit his lip and nodded.

"I don't know if it's painful for you, maybe you were close to him, I don't know, but…"

Azula frowned, falling in silence for a contemplative moment… then she breathed out and rose to her feet. Sokka raised his eyebrows, and Azula jerked her head towards him.

"Come on. We'd better hurry or we'll only get there by dusk."

Sokka smiled, clasping her hand and rising to his feet: he helped Azula gather her equipment and they set out together to the tree that had become Lu Ten's memorial location, long ago.

The sky was bright orange once they got there: Azula laid down under the tree briefly, catching the right glow of light, the contrast between greens and oranges before sitting up and working on the canvas, tweaking her previous work until she composed something far more suitable for her artistic vision. Sokka smiled as he watched her work – he took off, finding them some casual dinner, and they wound up eating it together under the tree after it was too late for Azula to keep working.

"Still… I think I'm on the right track now," Azula said, setting down the piece and sighing heavily. "I'll try to finish it tomorrow."

"Do you have a perfect picture in your mind of what you want it to look like?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged.

"Not entirely. Sometimes art is… a little freer than that," she said, dropping against the tree trunk. Sokka sat beside her, and he offered her the bag of gyoza he had bought earlier. "Thanks for buying."

"No problem. They're not as spicy as you'd like them, I bet, but they're not bad," Sokka said. Azula sighed.

"Nothing here is ever as spicy as I want it," she said. Sokka smirked.

"People are bound to misunderstand that, you know?" he said. "What kind of spice is missing in your life, Azula?"

"If you must know, Togarashi chili powder. Yuzu spice paste. Curry powder…"

"Ah, so all food, then?" Sokka said. "Well, good to know…"

"What? Expecting something else, were you?" Azula smirked. "Why, I seem to spend all my nights in the bedroom of a rather imposing, daunting warrior, don't I? That concept alone is spicy enough, isn't it?"

"Sure thing," Sokka chuckled, shaking his head. "I suppose we don't really help things, do we? Spending as much time together as we do these days…"

"Well, you can always ask me for a break, point-blank, you know?" Azula said, with a huff. "I won't be too upset about it, no. It's not like I'm emotionally invested in this mortal enmity of ours, no…"

"I don't believe you," Sokka smiled – to his amusement, so did she. "I don't… want a break, actually. And I mean… it'll be summer break soon. Which means… we're going home again."

"We are," Azula said. "We've been here too long as it is, haven't we? We have important duties to our respective nations, and we ought to fulfill them. That is why we're here, so…"

"Still… I'm going to miss this," Sokka sighed, rustling as he settled better against Lu Ten's tree. "I'm going to miss you."

"You… are?" Azula said, raising her eyebrows. Sokka smiled.

"How about I go visit you and check how your university's progress is going?" he asked. Azula huffed. "I could be there for about a week, no need for more…"

"Heh: you just want to steal my ideas, I know you do," Azula said, stubbornly. "If you go for that, then… I'll only agree to it as long as I can go for one week to your hometown as well, and steal plenty of ideas right back."

"And if I steal nothing?" Sokka smiled. Azula huffed.

"I wouldn't know if you will or won't until I see the progress of your work, so… if you intend to go, I will go see the Water Tribe afterwards anyway. It's not negotiable."

"In short… you're going to miss me too."

"I never said that."

"You don't have to."

They fell into silence then… and to Sokka's surprise, it was Azula who chose to break it, shortly after he resolved to say something and defuse the strange, charged, quiet moment they were sharing.

"You know… I did get along with Lu Ten."

"Did you?" Sokka asked. Azula nodded.

"He was… more mischievous than his father, in the right way. He was probably the most reasonable member of the Royal Family. Zuko and I clashed in every way possible, but… whenever we were around him, things would feel better. Different. He… brought out the best in us, I suppose. I can't help but wonder if he'll do that for me again in this painting… but maybe I don't deserve that, honestly."

"Why wouldn't you?" Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"Because I… I barely mourned him. Because I resented him for dying so easily, or at least, I assumed it was easy," Azula said, with a sad smile. "Because I was an idiot child who… who didn't really understand that I'd never have a chance to talk to him again, or spend time with him, or play games with him anymore. I'd never impress him with what I'd learned in school… I'd never show him what a great firebender I'd become. And instead of letting myself be sad for all those things, once I processed that reality, I just… I just forced myself to resent him for being weak, instead. That's what my father would have done, so… it was what I had to do, too. Worst of all is… he wouldn't have been disappointed with me even if he knew I acted like a brat. He would have likely laughed it off, held me… told me that it didn't matter. But it did. I… I never had come here before and I've lived in this city for a year, I invaded and conquered this place years ago and I still never visited his memorial hill because I… I didn't feel worthy."

"I'm sorry to hear that you felt that way," Sokka whispered, swallowing hard. "Did something change now, though? You could have said no, and we wouldn't have come here…"

"I'm not alone. I think that's what did it."

Sokka's eyes widened as Azula breathed out slowly, closing her eyes.

"I don't know what we're doing, Sokka. I don't know if… if we've been dating for a whole semester without our awareness," she admitted, with a chuckle. "But even if we weren't… you achieve the same thing Lu Ten did, somehow. It feels like you bring out the best in me… even if I doubt I can return the favor."

"You doubt it?" Sokka asked, staring at her in confusion. "You really think you're not doing the same for me?"

Azula blinked blankly, meeting his gaze as Sokka shifted on his seat, angling his body better towards her.

"From the minute we issued out this challenge to each other, I… I've been pushing past my boundaries in ways my sister would have never imagined possible for me," Sokka said, with a weak smile. "I've worked hard when I'd usually choose to be lazy because… because I really wanted to do this. I have no idea when I became the kind of crazy person who clears the board of a Pai Sho game rather than being the one who puts in the least effort to win… but I get the feeling it was around the same time as when I decided I wouldn't settle for a passing grade when I knew I deserved better."

Azula raised her eyebrows, gazing at him in surprised confusion. Sokka smiled fondly, shrugging at her.

"What I'm trying to say is… maybe you did that for him too," Sokka whispered, tapping the tree trunk gently. "Maybe Lu Ten was a perfectly common, ordinary guy… but having a cousin like you brought out the best in him, and he returned the favor. Which is kind of how I think things went between me and you, too. Whether you like it or not."

"Heh," Azula smiled, withdrawing her gaze slowly. "You're unnerving."

"You look way too happy for that to be the case…" Sokka huffed, poking her shoulder with a fingertip. Azula chuckled, shaking her head.

"You're unnerving because you can't stand winning anymore than you can stand losing, can you?" Azula said, smiling at him. "I… I just gave you a big opening. A chance to take advantage of my words and say… that maybe you should take all the credit for my success and growth as of late. What I said basically implied as much, and… nothing. You just had to go out of your way to level the playing field again and say I do the same thing for you. You just… you keep doing this, over and over again and I…"

"Azula…"

"I don't know… what you're doing to me," Azula admitted, swallowing hard. "A part of me just wants to… to ask if this means anything while another part of me just wants to believe it doesn't, because if it didn't and I thought it did, I would wind up disappointed and it would be no one's fault but mine, and…"

"You're rambling," Sokka smiled. Azula stopped talking, shooting him a reproachful glare. "And now you're looking cute. That's not fair."

"Cute? I'm not… ugh. Still unnerving," Azula huffed: her cheeks were tinged red, though in the darkening twilight, it wasn't easy for Sokka to notice it.

"Look… I don't think either of us set out to make such a mess of ourselves with this silly challenge of ours," Sokka said, biting his lip. "And I won't lie, my dad's immediate assumption that I was just… chasing a girl I liked was kind of wild for me to handle. I didn't see you that way back then, didn't think I would later on either, but… I guess there's some stupid part of me that feels stronger, emboldened, whenever you're around. I… I don't know if that happens to you too, but I guess I would have gotten bored from university in a matter of weeks if I hadn't been keeping an eye on you in history class the whole time…"

"And I kept feeling your eyes on me… so I refused to back down or falter because you would mock me if I did," Azula said, simply. Sokka chuckled.

"Would've tried for sure," he said. Azula's lips curled slightly. "But now…"

"Now we're allies. And mortal enemies, still," Azula declared. Sokka raised his eyebrows.

"Right. Not contradictory at all, huh?" he asked. Azula smiled and shrugged.

"I fear you and I embody quite a lot of contradictions," she said, gazing into his eyes as best she could in this darkness. "Two people who disliked each other profoundly, calling themselves each other's mortal enemies… only to wind up spending a year together and having some strange heart-to-heart in places like these? Admitting… to inspiring each other, of all things? It doesn't seem to make sense, does it?"

"Not to anyone but us, I'd say," Sokka whispered. Azula snorted.

"Speak for yourself. Makes no sense to me, either," she said. Sokka smiled and shook his head.

"You don't fool me. You haven't for a while now," he whispered.

His fingers rose to caress her cheek delicately, smoothly combing her hair as he leaned closer. Azula's breath trembled as she turned towards him, as her hand clasped his, and then she closed her eyes, feeling him so close, brow pressed to hers…

"Wait."

Sokka gritted his teeth, but he slowed down. Her lips were a breath away from his.

"We can't just… go for this now," Azula whispered. Sokka hummed, waiting to hear her out once she elaborated her thoughts. "Semester's almost done. So… if we do this, we'll get distracted. We'll…"

"We'll be too busy with each other to focus on studying?" Sokka asked. Azula bit her lip and nodded.

"And this could be a mess anyway, beyond that. This is our last semester, so… we're not bound to see much of each other afterwards. If we start this, whatever it is, now, then…"

"We'll be set up for failure in the future?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged. "Hmm… and what if it's a tie again?"

"What if…? Wait, you mean our average scores altogether?" Azula frowned. Sokka smiled.

"If that happens… then that means we'd have to go for one more semester, right? A third semester. We wouldn't have settled things… we wouldn't know who's superior at all," Sokka said: his fingers slid through hers, caressing her hand gently. "Our challenge wouldn't be complete yet…"

"And if it never is?" Azula asked, biting her lip. "If… if we finish our full careers, what then? How would we settle our perpetual stalemate then?"

"Then… you can come get a specialization in the Water Tribe's university once it's built," Sokka smiled. Azula hummed. "And I can do the same in the Fire Nation, when you've built it too. We could help each other establish each country's university too…"

"That's a strange connection to build…" Azula said, with a weak smile. "Cooperation, rather than competition?

"It kind of suits us, doesn't it?"

"I suppose it does. It's strange… but maybe it'll work. Maybe."

"But… this will happen only if the stalemate continues?" Sokka asked. Azula swallowed hard and nodded.

"Only if the stalemate continues."

He smiled. The temptation to kiss her was strong… but he withdrew, caressing her face gently with his free hand before sitting up against the tree.

"Well… I'll hope our results are the same, then. If you're willing to explore this… so am I," Sokka smiled. Azula blushed, but she said nothing in response this time.

Instead, she settled against the tree, dropping her head on Sokka's shoulder as their fingers intertwined. His own head fell smoothly atop hers: they closed their eyes to bask in the smooth peace of yet another moment of mutual acceptance and understanding… of standing – or sitting, as the case may be – on even ground, regardless of the world's attempts to persuade them that no such bond could be possible between them. Who knew, in the end, if the future could be brighter than this? Perhaps one of them would actually win their contest, and if they did, the other would have to step aside. These plans might fall through… and then distance might arise between them, as it often happened between school friends.

Neither one wanted that, though. They huddled together underneath that tree, comforted in each other's arms for the very first time. Their efforts to become each other's foils had turned them into each other's strength, instead… their stubbornness about their rivalry had brought forth a rather different feeling inside them, too. Whatever might come next, all they could hope for was that the six months they had spent together would extend, yet again, and for longer than just six more months…

...

Weeks later, they took notes of all their final grades once they were posted in each faculty's board. Then, they joined up underneath their tree in campus, quickly working to determine what their average score, altogether, had been. Sokka had done better at the classes he was prepared for… much as Azula had done better at the ones she had affinity with.

But ultimately, their scores were eerily similar even if not for the same classes. It was hard to ignore… and hard to disregard the thrilling tingles that rushed them as they finished the last calculations to discover…

"Same score?" Azula said, setting down her calculations next to his. Sokka bit his lip and smirked at her.

"Same score," he confirmed.

She had never been less keen on victory than she was that day.

His hand reached for her neck, and her arms wrapped around his: she nearly knocked him down with her enthusiasm, but Sokka managed to sit upright still as he embraced her tightly... as their lips joined in a deep, necessary, heartfelt kiss.

...

A month later, Hakoda was utterly unsurprised when his son returned home… and didn't do so alone. He offered him a dry grin when Sokka admitted that the relationship between him and Azula might no longer be strictly professional – though he insisted that they were, to this day, mortal enemies, and Azula seconded that promptly, shivering in her parka, unused to the cold weather.

They wouldn't return for the third semester right away – both had duties in their nations, and it was time for them to supervise the beginning of their respective universities. Still, Azula had agreed to come with Sokka to the South Pole first, accompanying him as he offered to show her a beautiful sight she might enjoy painting, seeing as lights were her favorite thing to depict in artworks.

"It's… not very comfortable painting while we're freezing," Azula admitted: Sokka chuckled upon hearing that, stepping up to her and wrapping his arms around her from behind. Her easel was firm on the snow, and her mittens didn't help matters with her grip on the paintbrush… but she smiled, nonetheless, as she let greens and purples blend with whites and blacks upon her canvas. "But this is… certainly an interesting experience."

"Can't help but wonder if we could harness the power of auroras somehow, for light's sake," Sokka whispered, kissing the side of her head. "It's going to be tricky to handle class properly during the south's winter months… at least, it will be for people who aren't used to the Water Tribe's weather. I wonder if I could set up some sort of… mirror system? To shine the aurora upon the classrooms, or so?"

"It would be interesting… but I'm not sure of how effective it would be," Azula admitted. "Auroras aren't constant, after all… what are they, to begin with?"

"I guess that's one more thing the Southern Water Tribe's university will have to figure out," Sokka smiled. Azula chuckled, nodding slowly. "But I suppose there's a few things that have natural light to them, huh? Sunlight, stars… the moon, though as far as I understand it, the moon reflects the sunlight that bounces off it. Auroras… could they be reflecting light somehow too? Or maybe they're… I don't know, kind of like rainbows?"

"Fire also gives out light. Fireflies, too," Azula said, with a shrug. "And… lightning, of course."

"None of which is ever as stable as the sun," Sokka said, biting his lip. "Torches, lanterns… they need oil, fuel to provide flames and light. So… huh. How about using that principle to develop a stable source of light? It could help the Water Tribe…"

"It could help both Tribes. Could even help the entire world, actually…" Azula reasoned, glancing over her shoulder at him. "You know… you could have as many disciplines as you want here, but you could build the Water Tribe University into the leading institution for scientific advancement and practical application of those advancements. The Fire Nation has technology, yes… but it's mostly for warfare."

"Doesn't mean it can't be repurposed for better ideas, though," Sokka said, raising an eyebrow.

"If so… you'll have to come by to borrow those ideas," Azula said, smiling as she set down her palette and turning in his arms. "At least, whichever ones you think could help here."

"And we'll make sure to share our advancements with you guys too, once they're done?" Sokka said, stroking Azula's hair and brushing it out of her face. "I suppose the only way to have a proper rivalry is by standing on the same level, huh? So instead of tearing each other down…"

"We build each other up?" Azula finished. Sokka smirked. "That's… a strange sort of balance, I suppose. I don't expect a lot of people will understand or appreciate it, but…"

"But it suits us," Sokka whispered, his brow against hers. "You'll help me figure out how to create a stable, steady source of lighting for the Water Tribe… and in return, I'll make a painting of you as you paint the Southern Lights. How about it?"

"Oh? It better be a good one," Azula smiled. Sokka chuckled and shrugged.

"If it's not, you'll just have to come by again and again so I can try a thousand times," he said. "Though… we'll go back to Ba Sing Se for the semester after this one anyway, right?"

"Well… I suppose it wouldn't hurt to finish our whole careers there, after all," Azula smiled. "But only if we continue to go evenly at everything. The minute you outdo me in our total scores, I'll skip town and you'll never hear from me again."

"What? Oh, please, it'll be me who won't be able to live with the shame if you ever defeat me…!"

Azula laughed, wrapping her arms around Sokka as he leaned in to kiss her deeply. Perhaps this challenge between them would never end… but the way it had changed in nature was delightfully agreeable for them. Their alliance on a professional level would bring great progress to the Water Tribe and the Fire Nation… and the personal partnership they shared would bring them the deep fulfillment they had never imagined they might find in each other.

And perhaps, yes, they were still rivals, still mortal enemies. But the year they had already spent together had proven that was no impediment for affection and love to bloom between them all the same.

#sokkla #sokka #azula #sokkla saturdays 2022 #sokklasaturdays #almost done for this year #Sokkla being nerds is always lots of fun #overachieving nerds who are constantly tied in every contest #it never fails to amuse me #it was fun to write that more extensively here <3

16 notes · View notes