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fijiangecko · 3 years

Text

The Gr8King

Camboy!Oikawa Tooru x Fem!Reader

+9k words

MDI, Explicit, Smut, Mutual Pining, Friends to Lovers

Read it on AO3 here

Finding an apartment for college was one of the hardest things you’d ever done. Searching endlessly through ads, you ciphered through countless creeps and dingy houses that were not up to code. Up until the second to last week of summer break, you had no where to stay, but a friend of yours from high school said that he knew a guy looking for a roommate within your price range.

Thanking him a million times, you met up with Tooru Oikawa the next day at a coffee shop and got acquainted. You found him charming, and something clicked between you two immediately, a spark if you would.

Two days after you met him, you were moving in. And very quickly after that you met his best friend; the three musketeers were together at last. Hajime, Tooru and yourself were always together and you all got along extremely well.

You were a middle ground between the two, somewhere between the lines of rude and flirtatious, but it made for some fun nights out. Hajime and yourself are even better friends than Tooru and you, but both of you agree that it’s because of the mutual “hatred”. He became your best friend in a matter of weeks, and people often assumed you were a couple. Every time, it was quickly denied as either of you stated that you would rather shoot yourselves than hook up with one another.

Fast forward almost a year later, and the three of you are sitting on the couch, watching some shit alien documentary Oikawa put on in the background.

“Do you think we should buy a bigger TV, Y/N-chan?” Tooru asks you while shoveling some noodles in his mouth.

“Dude, it’s fine. I mean if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it? Plus, I don’t have the kinda cash for that at the moment.” You stand up, stretching slightly while reaching out to Iwaizumi, seeing as his bowl is empty. “Unless you wanna pitch in?” Laughing softly, he places the bowl in your hand and shakes his head.

“No chance in hell I’m helping you losers buy a bigger television for your apartment.”

“Well that was uncalled for…” Oikawa quietly mumbles. “But! I think I’m just gonna buy a new one. You don’t have to worry about the money or anything. Think of it as our one year anniversary gift!” He wiggles his eyebrows and bumps his elbow into Iwa’s side as you roll your eyes and walk to the kitchen. You’re just glad that you make it to the sink before he can see the bright red on your face.

You weren’t sure when this started, but whenever Tooru teased you, a rush of blood would flow through your system. You’ve known each other for years at this point, and nothing like this has ever happened. You’ve noticed that he’s been building more muscle, almost like he’s glowing. You’re unsure, but not upset.

“How the fuck can you afford that? You’re at practice all the time, and you don’t have a job.” You turn around after washing the dishes, leaning into the counter as you speak.

The two men quickly share a glance before Oikawa speaks. “I have my ways.” The flirtatious tone in his voice lures you in, wanting for the subject to change, and you give in to the pretty boy's ways.

“Whatever Flattykawa.” He sticks out his lip and pouts as you insult him. “I’m gonna turn in for the night, I have an eight thirty lecture and I still have to meet with a TA beforehand.” A yawn escapes your mouth as Hajime stands up from the couch, making his way to you and wrapping his rather large arms around your frame. The man has always been a walking space heater, and you place your arms around him. He rubs his hands on your back before saying goodnight and walking back to the couch. Tooru is still pouting, head turned to look out of the window as he sees his best friend hug his crush. The slight twinge of jealousy lasts for a brief moment, going away as he whispers a brief goodnight to you as well.

A week or so has passed since that night, and things are still the same between yourself and Oikawa. He did end up buying a new t.v., and you got the “old” one for your room. Not only that, but he’s been receiving packages all the time. Almost everyday he gets something shipped to the apartment, and you can’t help but wonder where the fuck all of this money is coming from.

It’s none of your business Y/N. If Tooru’s rich, then there’s nothing you can say about that. He’s just a little luckier than you are, with money, talent and looks he’s practically got no issues… Your thoughts run on and on as you sit at the bar, distracted from the homework on your laptop screen. It’s roughly seven or eight at night on a Monday night, meaning Oikawa’s home since it’s his day off. He doesn’t like being bugged when doing work of any kind, and tends to stay in his room until he’s finished doing whatever it is he’s doing. It was an agreement you both made when you first moved in to learn each other's boundaries and respect privacy at all times.

Your phone dinged on the other side of the counter, and you quickly picked it up to look at the notification. At the same time, Tooru walks through his bedroom door and into the kitchen. His unruly hair was even more disheveled than usual, and his shirt was nowhere to be seen. It’s a rather common occurrence for him to be shirtless, but it’s been happening more and more. Unaware of your gaze, he continued looking for a snack like nothing mattered. You glanced at him quite a few times, admiring the light viel of sweat covering his chest and the soft breaths as he took a few deep inhales.

Not taking any chances of being caught, you went back to checking your phone and saw a text from the group chat you had with a couple of gal pals. They were asking about going to brunch tomorrow and you quickly responded that you were down to clown before placing the phone back on the counter.

“What’s up Tooru?” Your eyes settled back on his frame as he turned to you, a smile grazing his lips. He liked it when you called him by his first name. Not that he’d tell you, but he thought it was cute that you only called him that when you two were alone.

“Nothing much Y/N. Looking for something sweet to eat…”

“Hmm, if I recall you’re the one who ate the last of the rice krispy treats.” You cocked your eyebrow, smirking at his over exaggerated reaction.

“And?” He placed his hand over his heart, “Just because I ate one of your rice krispies treats, and it happened to be the last one doesn’t mean I don’t deserve something sweet.”

“Riiiight, so by one do you mean five? Because I did take the trash out of your room the other day, and there just so happened to be some more wrappers in your bin.”

“Y/N. I would never, and when I say this, I mean never eat all of your snacks. I can’t believe you would accuse me of such a thing.” Oikawa sassed you back, feigning innocence.

“Mhm.” You hopped out of your seat and walked to your room.

“Where are you going?” He calls out, a little dumbfounded that you up and left.

“Hold your panties dude, I’ll be back.” He crosses his arms and leans into the counter as he waits for a few seconds. He can hear your footsteps coming back to the kitchen only a minute or so later, and suddenly a chocolate bar comes flying at him. It hits him square in the chest, but he catches it as it falls.

His lips stretch out into a genuine smile, looking between you and the chocolate. “I love you Y/N,” Tooru says in a sing-song voice, but rips open the wrapper as he speaks. Once again, his words cause a sudden blush to cover your face and you practically run over to your laptop to use it as cover.

“Whatever Tooru.” He chuckles while getting something to drink, and you see that the group chat has popped off during your short encounter. Decisions had been made in a small amount of time, but now you have plans tomorrow.

“What’s got you so happy?” He says, mouth full.

“Oh, just going out with some friends tomorrow. Haven’t seen them in a while so it’ll be fun.” You don’t bother looking up as you type.

“So I won’t be getting a breakfast special?”

“Are you saying you like burnt toast and crispy eggs?” A soft laugh fills the space when Tooru throws the wrapper in the trash. He pads over to the living area and plops down onto the couch.

“Vegging out for the rest of the night?” You call from the kitchen, still engrossed in the group chat.

“I think so. I’m all caught up with everything and a new episode of that alien series came out yesterday.” A hum in affirmation leaves your lips before sitting down next to him.

The rest of the night is quiet as Tooru watches his show and you text your girlfriends, both of you content with being next to one another in comfortable silence.

“So Y/N”, one of the girls smacks her lips once she places her champagne glass on the table, “You and Oikawa together yet?”

A blush erupts over your skin, and wanting to hide you start to shield your face into your shoulder. “No,” you mumble while the girls laugh at your reaction. They’re some of the only people, mind Hajime, that know about your crush. It hasn’t been that long since you’ve developed these feelings, but it’s starting to have an affect on your dynamic with him.

“Well,” another one of your friends starts, “I think you should hop on it girl. He’s fine as fuck, and I can’t help but imagine what he can do with that body-”

“Alright!” Your best friend breaks up the conversation, seeing you get more uncomfortable by the moment. “We don’t need to talk about Oikawa’s anything right now, but I am curious about him buying new things for your guys’ apartment all the time.”

“I don’t know guys. I think he’s just rich, or something,” you shovel some of your food into your mouth, speaking in between bites. The girls look around at each other and shrug it off.

“Maybe he’s got a side business.”

“Or he’s a sugar baby!” They all laugh, minus you who takes the idea seriously.

Maybe he has a sugar mommy or daddy… I mean, he’s got the looks and personality… You pick at the food on your plate as they continue their conversation.

“I would kill to be a sugar baby,” one of them whined, “Then I could sit around and do whatever I wanted.”

“You mean you could sit around and watch porn,” your best friend interjects. Silence fills the space before another round of laughter erupts from the table.

“Okay, but hear me out…” Another girl whispers under the hollers that can be heard across the restaurant. “I started watching this camboy the other week and it’s really hot.”

“Oh, like the guys who jack off on stream?” They sip out of their champagne glasses.

“Yeah, but when you donate money you can request or get things out of it. The guy I’ve been watching has been doing stuff with some vibrators lately, and I can’t get enough.”

“So,” you look up at them all, placing your fork down, “there’s just this whole category of porn where people do what you want.” They all turn and nod, almost eagerly.

“Did you not know about this Y/N?”

“I mean,” you could feel the heat rise on your face again, “I’ve heard of people jacking off on streams, but I didn’t know it was that popular…” Some of them laugh softly at the notion, but others try to explain further.

“You know, you might like it. I can send you the guy's username I’ve been watching. He streams every Monday for sure, and a few other times during the week. I’ll just text you.” She winks and the rest of the morning is just catching up with everyone.

Over the course of the past few days, your curiosity grew about cam culture and what it entailed. It’s been over a year since your last relationship and it has taken a toll on your sex drive. You aren’t about one night stands or friends with benefits, so you just stick to watching, listening and reading porn when you need to get off, and as the days went by you needed the release.

Making sure your room was locked, you opened your phone and searched through the texts to find your friends suggestion.

“Gr8King”, you whisper to yourself while typing the name into the search bar. The livestream pops into frame and the man is fully clad in a slutty maid outfit, teasing his own nipples with his fingers while he speaks ever so softly into the mic. His head is above the screen, allowing you to only see his mid and lower body down to his calves. He’s lean and toned, and you can feel your own arousal growing at the sight. The notification tones going off every few seconds, hundreds of people donating and thousands watching as he moves a hand slowly down his torso, grabbing the hem of the skirt.

“Should we move on to something more,” he moves closer to the mic, breathing softly and talking in a deeper tone, “sensual?” The vibrations from his voice cause chills to run down your spine. You run a hand over your clothed sex, dying for friction while clenching your thighs.

The skirt comes off, falling to the ground and it leaves him bare on screen. He wasn’t wearing anything underneath it, and his cock is already getting hard. The tip is red, leaking with precum as he moves his hand up the shaft, rubbing the head with his thumb and smearing the liquid around.

Messages increase from the viewers, begging him to do something more, but he stays in his position. “I can’t do anything until the masters say I can,” he whines. Never in your life did you think that you would have a thing for guys in maid outfits, but what was left of the outfit and him calling the audience “master” fueled your curiosity.

That’s when you realize the small animations on screen. Based on the donations, there’s a vibrator going on and anytime someone donates they can change it, and if they exceed a certain amount they get called “master” for the night. More people donate, rapidly changing the speed and he bucks his hips into his fist, moaning breathlessly. “Not- not so much,” he releases his hand except for the pointer finger, running it with a feathery touch from the head to the base. A larger notification shows on screen, a “master” donating a rather large sum of money. Once again, the chat waits in anticipation to see what he’ll do next.

“Looks like master wants me to fuck my dirty little fleshlight while the vibrator gets turned up all the way.” He turns to find what’s necessary, and you stare at the screen, biting your lip.

Am I really enjoying this that much? Your eyes are glued to the screen, waiting in anticipation for what’s about to happen. He returns to the frame, toys in hand and resumes the broadcast.

“How could I deny my masters when they’ve given me so much? I need to be a good boy for them..” he purrs into the mic, teasing the head of his cock on the entrance of the clear fleshlight. The vibrator goes to max, and he shoves the toy down his length, moaning viciously.

Embarrassment floods your system as you listen to this random person whisper sinful things into your ear as he reaches his peak. It’s definitely foreign to you, but the throbbing between your legs makes you want to watch more.

Watching the “Gr8King’s” streams becomes almost routine over the next few weeks. You convince yourself that it’s healthy for you to jack off whenever he streams, but deep down you know it’s just an excuse to stare at some guy guy's body while he talks dirty. In fact, this past week you’ve found yourself wanting to donate for the first time, but you don’t have money to just throw around willy nilly so you just lurk.

The stream boots up, this week being just a normal show where he takes suggestions from any amount. You settle into bed, getting prepared for the night’s activities while listening to the voice call you pet names like “cutie”, “gorgeous” and countless others.

It was a stressful week full of work and school, so you decide to take the time now to really let loose and let him guide you to your climax. He talks about nothing in particular, but does as his audience wants while moaning and playing with himself, leaving you panting on your bed, waiting to release at the same time.

Taking all the time in the world, he edges himself multiple times. You can barely hear his words as you desperately try to keep up, but you can feel the knot grow even further in your lower body. After teasing for almost fifteen minutes, he starts to whimper, begging the audience for relief. The way he speaks into the mic is weirdly familiar, just a few phrases here and there catch you off guard, almost as if you know him. This feeling is quickly washed away from the growing knot in your stomach. The audience give into his pleas immediately and you feel the shock waves of pleasure wrack your body. The high washes over and you pant to regain composure. After lying on the bed for a few seconds, you lazily get up and wash up very quickly before hearing a short growl come from your stomach.

Making something quick, you watch some TikToks on the couch as you eat, too entranced by the memes to see Tooru walk out of his room. Once again, he is shirtless, but he spots you on the couch before entering the kitchen.

He slows his pace to admire your flushed skin and glow as you laugh. His heart beats quickly, and he targets the fridge. You can hear him in the next room over, but you don’t bother to call his name, figuring he would join you shortly.

A few moments later, you hear his bedroom door shut and you’re left alone. “What the fuck?” You check the date on your phone, making sure it’s Monday. He usually watches his alien show with me on Monday’s since we can hang out… With a frown, you turn on the t.v. The newest episode plays out as you mindlessly scroll, wondering what was wrong with him.

Two days later, you finish watching a stream, taking longer than usual to clean up and head back out to the living room, wanting to clean some before Hajime comes over. Much to your surprise, it’s being worked on by Tooru, who’s wearing a muscle tank top and some running shorts. He’s panting quietly as he bends to pick up various pieces of trash, but it leaves you stunned.

When did he get so buff? You peered at his abs and pecs through the large slits on the sides of his shirt, but he turns and catches you staring.

“What’s up, Y/N-chan?” He’s got a sly smirk plastered over his face. Your reaction is involuntary heat takes over your body. Without saying anything, you turn and go back to the safehaven of your room.

Tooru is also stunned over your movements, expecting some kind of sassy retort. Then his phone dings in his pocket. Still freaked out over what happened, he checks his messages and sees you’ve texted the group chat you both have with Iwaizumi.

[I think I’m sick, so you guys have fun tonight <3] His brow furrows; now he’s just confused.

“The fuck did you say to her man?” Hajime shoves a piece of sushi into his mouth, talking between chews. Tooru and himself sat at the counter, talking over some movie that all three of you were supposed to watch.

“I made a joke about her staring at me since I was wearing workout clothes, but I thought she was gonna just punch me or something.” He places the chopsticks down on his plate and tries to think. A light goes off in his head, Hajme can see that, but the look is quickly replaced with one of defeat.

“Imayormaynothavebeenavoidingherforthepastfewdays.” All at once, Oikawa speaks in a rushed and hushed sentence, hoping his best friend caught on.

“Excuse me: what.” There’s no playful tone in the air. Hajime popped that balloon and glares daggers into that thick skull of Oikawa’s.

“I,” he plays with his hands, “may or may not have been avoiding her over the past few days.” The first go around was quieter, but Iwa hears it more clearly, finally understanding what’s going on.

“You’re a fucking moron, you know that right?” Hajime places his utensils down, “I’m not going to get in between whatever’s going on here, but you both need to figure shit out. You can’t just avoid her all of the sudden. Not that she’s said anything to me, but she might be going through something and having one of her best friends just avoiding her out of the blue might not be the best thing for her.” Oikawa’s eyes widen at the words of wisdom. He makes a mental note for later, and the night goes on with the two men watching Godzilla for the 100th time.

Monday afternoon rolls around, and Tooru walks through the door of the apartment, finished with his classes. You’re making some tea to get some homework done, and he marches into the kitchen, raiding the pantry and fridge.

“You okay man?” Your brow pops up in concern. He didn’t have practice today, so why was he acting like this?

“Huh?” He turns with some food stuffed in his mouth. After swallowing, he answers, “Yeah, I’m good. Just wanted to talk with some friends on chat tonight so I wanted to eat quickly.” Hesitantly, you nod, returning to your laptop on the counter. What you couldn’t see was how his heart rate picked up after seeing you in the kitchen. He’s been wanting to confront you about his sudden absence in your life, but everytime he sees you he gets extremely nervous and bolts.

Tooru finishes up with whatever, and practically runs to his room, slamming the door. He scolds himself quietly behind the closed door for not saying anything to you.

Rude. You focus on homework for another thirty minutes or so and check the time, knowing that your weekly ritual is gonna be starting in the next fifteen minutes or so. Packing everything up, you move into the bedroom, checking the lock on the door for the thousandth time before settling down.

In minutes, “Gr8King” appears on screen, this time in a sports uniform. He starts out like normal, teasing the audience with his voice, running his hands along his body as countless people donate and chat in real time.

Just as he’s about to take his jersey off, a notification dings somewhere off camera and he tenses. “Excuse me cuties,” in a rush, he moves out of frame, slightly knocking his camera from it’s normal setup.

In the background, you spot a poster on a wall that’s eerily familiar. It’s light blue, with a man jumping high, arms reaching back as he prepares to attack. A net is settled before him as a volleyball is high in the air. There’s words in a foriegn language, except for the large letters at the bottom of the poster: “Argentina”.

This causes you to stop what you’re doing. You’re not entirely sure why, but the poster pokes and prods at the back of your mind. It’s a thorn you didn’t know you had.

Why does this guy have an Argentinian volleyball poster? The live stream continues in the background while your eyes haze over. Why does this bug you so much? It’s not like I know the dude, but he did seem familiar in a sense...

That’s the last piece. Everything falls into place as you hastily slam the laptop close. Your breaths are heavy as you finally understand. He’s not fucking rich, he’s a fucking camboy! Your fingers run themselves through your hair over and over as your brain tries to process what’s happening.

I’ve been watching Tooru fuck himself for weeks and had no idea. I was watching the guy I’m crushing over please himself for thousands of people, and he’s just down the hall. What the fuck. You try to stop fidgeting, but your anxiety starts to spike.

“Maybe it’s not him. Maybe this is just a weird fucking coincidence that some streamer has the same schedule as Tooru and the same volleyball poster,” legs pacing around the room, you try to rationalize the situation. Talking out loud helps you realize what’s happening, but you speak quietly to ensure he won’t be able to hear you. Your heart is hammering in its cage, the rapid beating making you dizzy.

Before making any hasty decisions, you walk out into the kitchen and grab a glass of water. “Maybe it’s just a coincidence…” You pull out your phone, turning the sound all the way down and go back to the stream. You don’t actively watch, bouncing your leg as you lean on the counter, and wait for it to end.

You realize it might be a while, and you creep through the hallway, wary of the floorboards that creak and press your face onto his door, listening as closely as possible. Very softly, you can hear moans and grunts, but no actual words. Maybe he’s just working out...

The stream is still playing on your phone, but you return to the kitchen. Not much later, it ends and you wait patiently, timing everything from when it ends. Preemptively, you fill an extra glass with water and set it down. Five minutes pass, and Tooru walks out of his room, sweaty and shirtless. He turns the corner, taking the glass with a small thanks before going to the living room.

The timing makes sense. If he’s the Gr8King than it would make a lot of sense...

[Hajime we need to talk] you type and send before returning to your room, avoiding Tooru. He notices your disappearance and frowns, debating on fetching you. He misses the time you two used to spend together, and he scolds himself further for not bringing it up.

Taking a deep breath, he tells himself to “man up” and sends, [hey, i'm here for you if you need me :)]. He presses his lips into a line before hitting send and placing the phone on the couch next to him.

“So what’s up? Not to be rude but you never wanna go to the juice bar…” Hajme laughs lightly, hiding how nervous he is to be meeting up with you.

“I need to ask you something,” you sip the green smoothie, smacking your lips in disgust at the flavor. “And I need you to be honest with me.” Making eye contact, you set the cup down on the table.

“Y/N you’re freaking me out,” he meets your eyes and clenches his jaw.

“Well,” the blush rises in your cheeks, “I always joke about where Oikawa gets his money,” Hajime tightens his grip on his own cup, but remains silent. “I thought it was weird that he got packages all the time when he was either at home or at practice. Then I realized when he was at home, he’d lock himself in his room.” Your face is bright red and you take a deep breath in. “A friend of mine suggested something to me a few weeks back, and when I looked into it I saw something I don’t think I should have.” You look up at the ceiling, avoiding Iwa’s strong gaze. You don’t say anything, trying to think of a way to ask in the least embarrassing way possible.

“What is it Y/N?” He speaks with a small voice.

“Istooruacamboy?” You whisper, still looking up. Hajime’s face also breaks out into a blush, but he chuckles at the events. His chuckles grow into full on laughter as he buckles over and you’re stunned into silence. This continues for a few minutes until he calms himself down, wiping a few tears from his eyes while he looks up to you.

“I can’t believe you found out by watching him.” Some would say it’s impossible, but your face turned two shades darker as you slap him on the chest.

“Fucking asshole! You fucking knew, didn’t you?!” You punch him in the bicep for good measure as you scold him. His laughter is brought back while sipping on the rest of his drink.

“He started after the first semester of school, just trying new things. He told me it was interesting to him, and I said I wanted no part. He hated working at that sports store, you know that, and when he started to get popular there was no going back.” You sit silently, letting him explain. “I hope you don’t think that he’s like, sex crazed or anything… He’s just doing it for the money as far as I know and he likes being able to work from home.” He smiles, acknowledging his friends work but finishes his drink in silence, waiting for a response.

“I don’t think any different of him,” you shake your head and begrudgingly take another sip. “I just- It’s hard for me to take in? I think? Like, I wanna be supportive for him, and I’d like to think that I am but that doesn’t change that I want to be more.” Hajmie nods in affirmation, already knowing that you have feelings for your mutual best friend.

“I'm gonna keep saying it, just tell him. Tooru’s a good guy, and you two deserve each other.” You bite your lip and keep silent. “But first you should tell him that you know about the cam stuff.” Iwa is nonchalant about it all, and grabs your cup, finishing off the drink.

You sit on the couch, bouncing your leg but keeping an eye on the package that sits on your lap. It was something for him, but you don’t open it. You just sit there, eye’s on the door, waiting for him to get home from practice.

This is a stupid fucking idea, I should just go back to my room. Your leg bounces faster, and the anxiety bubbles in your stomach. You have no idea what’s gonna happen when he steps through that door, but you were set on telling him tonight.

Just then, the sound of keys entering the lock draws you away from your thoughts, the handle jiggling slightly before it turns and Tooru steps through. He’s dressed in sweats and a tee, hair damp from a shower and a gym bag hanging from his shoulder. He kicks his shoes off and enters the living area, setting the bag down without noticing that you’re watching his every move. Moving into the kitchen, he still doesn’t acknowledge that you’re there as he grabs a glass of water and walks back down the hallway to his room.

“Tooru!” You don’t know what you’re doing, but you need to get this over with. He stops his movements, and pulls an earbud from his left, looking at you with concern.

“Yeah?” He’s unsure what’s causing your outburst, but then he notices the package sitting in your lap, hands softly grasping it to keep its place in your lap. A wave of panic settles down his spine as he slowly spins around and walks to the couch, taking a seat on the other side from you. His eyes are glued to the package, but he notices that it isn’t open.

“I have something I wanted to tell you,” you start softly, placing the cardboard box between you both. He gently sets the glass of water on the glass coffee table and folds his fingers together, settling them on his lap.

“And what’s that?” He’s still shaken, but looks into your eyes.

Your heart starts to pound. What if this is a mistake? He looks like he’s about to throw up. Shaking the doubt from your head, you take a deep breath and hold your gaze. “I know what you do.”

His head cocks to the side, taking in your words. “I’m sorry Y/N, but what does that mean?” He hopes you aren’t alluding to what he thinks you’re getting at.

Another deep breath and you start again, “I know why you spend so much time in your room.”

Tooru’s face flushes with color, the pink hue finding its way onto his skin and he laughs anxiously at your words. “I don’t think I follow.” He’s trying to change the subject, hellbent on finding a way out of this. “Are you saying you know that I masterbate Y/N?” He’s trying to tease you, hoping this conversation would stop and you would hand him his package and be on your way.

Cue your face turning red, but you huff in annoyance, throwing the box at him. “Yeah, if you mean that you’re streaming it.” He catches it and looks at you, eyes are blown wide, and he realizes this is the worst timeline to be alive in. You, on the other hand, are annoyed that you had to say it out loud and stand up, folding your arms and staring him down. “I don’t care, but I wish you would’ve said something to me. As your roommate and your best friend,” ouch, that hurt, “it would’ve been nice to know.”

With that, you march into the kitchen, looking for a way to cool off, but a pair of arms sneak around your waist as you rummage through the freezer.

“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything,” he mumbles into your hair. The close contact wasn’t abnormal, but it never felt like this. Your body heats up when his breath hits your skin, but you remain in your place. “I just- I didn’t know how you would react and Hajime kept telling me to talk to you about it, but I always get too nervous to bring it up.”

You spin around, his arms still on your hips, and watch his face carefully. He looks concerned still, but there’s a small pleading in his look. “And why were you nervous?”

Tooru’s face turns a shade darker, “It’s just weird, I guess. You’re one of the only girls in my life that I'm kinda serious about I didn’t wanna loose you if you thought that I just thought about sex all the time.”

Was that a confession? Your head starts to spin when he realizes what just happened.

“I MEAN, uh, you’re one of the only girls that I consider a big part of my life, you know?” He’s frantic and stumbling over his words, but you stay absolutely still. His grip on your hips loosens, he wants to run into his room but sticks it out to see what you do.

Instead, you surprise him by nuzzling yourself further into his neck. “You’re very important to me too, Tooru.” Your voice is soft, and muffled against his neck but he smiles into your head, living in the moment. He wraps his arms around your frame, squeezing you tight against his firm chest.

“I’m kinda serious about you too…” The statement was almost lost to the hum of the a.c. unit, but Tooru caught your words and he stiffened up. You stay exactly as you are, praying to whatever god is out there that this all works out in your favor.

It takes a few seconds for him to come back to earth, realizing how hot your face is against his skin, but once he regains consciousness he chuckles. The vibrations ripple through your body, as you both remain in one another's arms. Your first thought was that he was laughing at you, and the panic settles under your skin. He can feel you start to pull away, but tightens his grip on your body, effectively trapping you in this position.

“Iwa-chan’s right, we are idiots.” Everything is so confusing. Does he like me back? Is this a joke? What does Hajime have to do with any of this? Countless thoughts along these lines run through your head, and Tooru knows this. “We’ve both been pining over each other for months.”

His words process with high speeds as you pull back. He had loosened his grasp, but his hands remained on your sides as you both stared into each other's eyes. You search his for answers, while Tooru finds comfort in yours.

He laughs breathlessly once he can see your body relax, and he dips down to meet your lips. Tooru’s movements are fluid, moving both hands up to your jaw while tilting his head. You gasp once his soft lips meet yours. They taste like his dumb chapstick that he carries around everywhere.

Tooru takes it slow, moving at your pace while humming into the kiss. Pulling back after a few seconds, you lean forward to catch his lips before he detaches himself. Rubbing a thumb on your cheekbone, he flashes the most brilliant smile. In the year you’ve known him, this is the most genuine and beautiful thing you’ve ever seen him do, and you can see it in his eyes.

“Y/N,” his voice is ever so soft, gliding in the air from his lips to your ears. Tooru’s eyes hold nothing but adoration in them as you stare into each other's eyes. “I don’t want to be serious with anyone but you.”

The bright blush returns to your cheeks, the warmth between your two bodies rising exponentially. His thumb doesn’t stop moving across your cheekbones. He's in total bliss as nothing in the world could matter more than what was happening at this moment in your shared apartment.

You smile up at him and grab onto his hand that's stroking your face, and just hold it closer to your skin. After a light squeeze, you both shift positions to hug once more, Tooru's arms latching around your waist and yours around his neck.

"Thank you," he states, the world muffled from your hair as he has lodged himself in the crook of your neck.

"For what?" You mumble back, rubbing an arm up and down his neck.

A deep chuckle causes your body to rumble, and a soft breath cascades down your neck before he pressed feathery kisses behind your ear. They're lighter than air, but you can sense he's holding back a bit. "For not being upset with me, for putting up with me, for accepting me, for everything." His whispers are woven into your skin, goosebumps rising up and down your spine as he speaks.

You push yourself further into his chest, a silent affirmation that everything is okay and will be okay. He smiles as he continues to press his lips to your neck, humming in the silence.

After a few minutes more of embracing one another Tooru pulls away, hands grazing your hips as he stares deeply into your eyes. His chocolate iris’ swirl with several emotions as you take in the vulnerability. You have only known Tooru as the charming, flamboyant character he puts on around almost everyone else. Maybe once or twice in your year of living with him have you seen this side of him, in which he offers himself as he is, not as who he wants to be perceived as.

Tooru presses a quick kiss to your lips and puts some pressure on your hips, signalling he wants to move. You both relocate to the couch, where he traps you in his arms and lap.

“I’m curious,” you reposition to look up at him, but he chuckles at your wide and curious eyes. “How did you find out about my streams?” A teasing grin makes its way on to his lips and your brain short circuits.

“Uh.. about that…” You purse your lips, looking anywhere but him, embarrassed of the insinuation of your actions.

Tooru breath fans against your neck, his face dipping down into that crook once more while letting out a low laugh. Sparks fly between you two when his lips brush your ear. He whispers, “You’ve watched me, haven’t you?”

With lightning speed, you snap your face to match his, but he’s quick to recover the initial shock with a deep kiss. He cranes his neck to further the kiss, pulling at your bottom lip with his own. Still startled by his teasing, you give in easily to his antics and within seconds his tongue has entered your mouth.

A low growl escapes him all while you succumb to his movements. His hand snakes up your side, settling itself on your rib below your breast. Tooru rubs his thumb in that spot, but you are lost in his taste to feel his hand.

You start to move in sync with him, moving together and letting each other take the reigns. Oikawa adores your feisty spirit, and when it starts to show through your movements, it only excites him more. You explore his mouth with your tongue, and suck on his lower lip as he slowly moves his hand back down your sides to cup your ass.

Now that you’re in control of your actions, you feel his hand stop right above your butt, almost as if he’s asking permission, but you grab a hold of his wrist and shove it down. That hand lets go of his arm and down to the hem of his shirt. A few fingers make contact with his toned stomach, and he shivers at the cold sensation.

“Impatient much?” Tooru repositions you so you’re straddling him. You don’t break off the kiss and place your hands on either side of his face, the tips of his hair tickling your fingertips. His large hands grasp under your thighs as he hoists the both of you up and off of the couch. Hastily he moves down the hall and into your room, busting through the door and gently he places you down on the edge of your mattress.

You pull away, breathless and stare into his eyes once more. The tension in the room is thick, but warm and comforting. He smiles at the look in your eyes, knowing that you’re in no way anxious of what’s about to happen.

“Are you sure about this Y/N? We don’t have to do anything before the first date.” His smile is intoxicating, and he doesn’t want to pressure you in any way.

“I want you Tooru, I’m good,” this time you rub a thumb across his cheekbone in reassurance. Smiles on both of your faces, he dips back down to capture your lips and push you onto your back.

Your mattress is firm underneath you, the bed frame shifting under the weight of two people. The cold sheets scrunch under your back contrasting the warm embrace of Oikawa as he dips down on top of you, running a hand through your hair.

“Do you trust me?” He speaks while hovering over your body. You push yourself up to meet his lips, giving him a quick peck on the side of his mouth. “I’ll take that as a yes then.” You laugh and lay back down, pulling the front of his shirt to pull him down with you.

Tooru laughs into the kiss, pressing his chest into your own. All of his kisses are electrifying, the spark runs up and down your spine while you both like with one another.

You take the next step and tug at the hem of his shirt while wrapping your legs around his lower half. His skin raises in temperature but he follows suit, practically tearing the fabric off of himself. You watch Tooru get shirtless and fully take in his figure.

It's not like you haven't seen him like this, but this is the first time you've ever actually took a good, long look at Oikawa's figure (knowing it was him, at least). He works out regularly for volleyball and maintains a good diet, and it shows. His chest is firm when you place a hand on it, and his abs create a valley down his stomach.

As you feel him up and down, Tooru stares at your face as it scrunches curiously. "Like what you see cutie? It shouldn't be anything new."

You blush but smack his chest in retaliation. A low laugh escapes his lips, but he sneaks a hand to the bottom of your shirt, poking a few fingers into your stomach in a wordless question of what to do. You squirm in your position and he helps remove your shirt.

Arms cover your chest instantly as you realize you're wearing one of your older bras that isn't the most flattering thing on the planet.

Noticing the shift in tone, Tooru gently unfolds your arms. "None of that Y/N." You don't put up any resistance as he speaks sweet and salty worlds into your ear. His hands are coarse and rough, calloused from years of training but he untouched you with a softness, almost as if he was handling a dove.

He kisses your neck making his way down your chest while reaching underneath you, unclasping the bra and throwing it onto the floor.

With your breasts exposed, Oikawa pins your arms on either side and continues down your clavicle, down through the valley between your chest. You whimper when he suddenly takes one of your nipples into his mouth, gently biting and sucking of the soft bud.

Instinctually you squeeze your thighs together, but he stands between them and he hums into your breast, knowing you're starting to grow impatient. Tooru's other hand moves to the opposite breast, kneading it in his palm.

A soft moan escapes your lips and you roll your hips into his, shock waves of pleasure wrack your body while your cunt starts to throb.

Oikawa moves further down your stomach, reaching the button of your pants. He peers up at you, pupils dilated and hungry. You nod and lift your hips while he removes both the pants and panties you were wearing.

He stands at the edge of the bed, removing the rest of his clothes and let's his cock spring free. It's red at the tip, which reaches up to his abs from being hard.

Tooru’s hips meet yours, laying his long cock over your bare stomach while rubbing soft circles into your thighs. “Look at how deep I’m gonna be inside of you cutie.” A quiet whimper leaves your lips, wrapping your legs around his waist in a silent plea. His eyes burn into your skin.

“Tooru, please…” The desperation in your voice only spurs him on as he drinks you in, lying bare, begging for him. It’s everything he’s ever wanted, and his dick hardens further at the sound of your voice.

A switch flips in his brain once you swirl your hips, and a smirk pulls at his lips. He leans forward, pressing his body into your, getting dangerously close to your ear and fanning hot breath over your skin. Chills erupt from the sensation and make their way across your body, causing a whimper to involuntarily escape your mouth when his hot skin presses into your cold chest. “What do you want, Y/N?” Tooru’s voice is quiet, but the vibrations from his words have an effect on your body you thought wasn’t possible. He presses feathery kisses into the sweet skin on your neck, causing you to tilt your head.

“I want-” Your voice is breathless as you search for words. “I want you to-” Suddenly, he slips his dick in between your folds, slowly moving his hips up and down, getting himself ready with your slick. The electricity of his movements force a moan through your throat, Oikawa relishing in the sound of your voice as he uses his thumb moves to apply pressure on your clit.

Still breathing hot air onto your neck, he mumbles, “You want me to fuck you, is that it?” Your eyes shut as a thousand tiny confirmations leave your body, physical and not. He revels in the moment, realizing the control you both have over each other. He can’t help wanting more of you, all of you. Your aura is intoxicating, and Tooru feels drunk off of your presence.

“Please.” He continues grinding his length down your folds. “Just fuck me already.” Your voice is raspy, pleading for movement, connection, anything. Arms folding around his neck, you grind harder into his cock while he continues to rub the sensitive bud.

“So impatient.” His voice is dark, sultry and enticing. It draws you in, leaving you stunned and you can’t think straight anymore. “I bet you’ve wanted this. Watching me stream, you got to see all of me little cutie,” Tooru readjusts himself, placing the tip at your entrance, drawing circles with it. “Now I get to see all of you.”

He slowly pushes forward, letting his dick get sucked in to you as you cry out at the contact. Oikawa starts to lose himself at the feeling of your pussy when it twitches. His eyes never leave the sight of his cock disappearing into you.

You take a moment to breath as his hips lay flush with yours, but you take action and raise your hips. He hisses at the movement, not expecting you to set the pace so quickly.

Snapping out of it as you move your hips back, Tooru moans loudly and grabs one hip and leans over you, placing his other hand next to your face. His face gets inches in front of yours, matching your movements and leans in to take your lips once more.

His hips move back and forth, building up speed through both of you ravenous moans and whimpers. Through the sounds and movements, you feel his cock penetrate you with endless force, as if it fits perfectly inside of you.

You moan his name as Tooru pounds into you, scratching at his back from the waves of pleasure. Feeling you clench around him almost teasingly, the hand on your hip moves to your clit, and Oikawa starts to rub circles.

"Fuck Tooru!" You press your nails harder into his skin and he growls at the sensation. You can feel yourself getting close, the knot building larger with every second.

He pulls back from your lips and looks at your face. Your eyebrows are scrunched and your eyes are shut. The way his hips move is better than you could’ve imagined, even more sexual than his streams. Oikawa shifts his position to hit you deeper, his dick just barely hitting your cervix.

"I'm close," you mumble from bruised lips. He can’t hold himself back much longer and his thrusts become erratic. Tooru plants his lips on your ear, speaking a thousand words to you which you’re unable to hear. His thrusts and deep and fill you to the brim. The pleasure becomes too much for you to be able to focus and with one thrust you tense and the knot snaps.

He moans your name loudly when he feels your walls clench down on him. Swiftly, Tooru pulls out and finishes on your stomach, white ropes decorating your soft skin.

His head is still next to yours, but you’re both panting. It takes a few seconds for both of you to come back to your senses, but he prys himself up and off of you, looking down on his work. “You’re gorgeous Y/N, just fucking stunning.” He admires your glowing form while you stare at him, a smile adorning your features.

Oikawa moves first, placing another soft kiss to your lips before going to the bathroom for a warm towel. You lay in bed, just thinking about everything. How did I get here? You never thought that watching camboy porn would ever lead to you getting with the guy you’ve wanted for a while now, but if it works out then it works out you guess.

He returns a few moments later and cleans you up, throwing the rag with the rest of your clothes and climbs into the sheets, maneuvering you onto his chest where he cuddles you and runs a hand through your hair.

You close your eyes, breathing onto his bare chest and take in the beat of silence. You can’t see it, but Tooru looks down at you and smiles. You’re finally his. He can finally hold you in his arms and give you all the love he thinks you deserve. His heart swells at the notion, and makes a mental note to thank Iwaizumi later in general since he feels in a giving mood.

Oikawa feels your breath even out, your chest rising and falling in a slow pattern. Your senses are drifting from you, but you’re able to make out a few things before you pass out. Tooru places a kiss on the crown of your head, pressing his lips into your hair and he whispers something before you completely fall asleep.

“I love you Y/N.”

322 notes · View notes

sherrybaby14 · 4 years

Text

Still Feel Alive

Request: Perhaps for Geralt, you could have the reader be effected by an Incubus. I have no idea of the lore of the games and how that would play into this, but I can totally see Geralt killing the Incubus and then finding it's victim. Now he's gonna help them before the Incubus' venom kills them? Supernatural Sex Pollen Hoo!

Pairing: Geralt x reader

Warnings: Smut, dubcon (Cause of the incubus effects), Sex pollen-ish

Words: 3k

A/N: I did not follow The Witcher Incubus lore. Instead, I just made my own.

The rush of the evening dwindled. Now all that was left were a handful of regulars. You glanced around the room, table after table needed busing. You tucked your rag into your apron and grabbed the tub.

“He’s making you clean tables now?” Landid stood up from his chair. “Who will serve us our drinks?”

“Pour your own.” You shook your head as you rounded the bar into the dining room. “And I sent the rest of the wait staff home for the evening. We were slow.”

“You trust me to serve myself?” Landid’s eyes went wide with awe.

“Come now.” You laughed. “You are my best customer. If you stole you would never be allowed back. I imagine you would rather face death than that fate.”

“Right you are.” Landid shrugged and took a sip.

You put your bin on the first table and gathered all the dirty dishes then moved on to the next until the bin was overflowing. A groan left your lips as you carried the thing with both arms.

“Let me get the door at least.” Landid jumped up and rounded the bar. He pushed open the swing doors to the kitchen.

“Thank you.” You smiled at the man, trying not to roll your eyes. You could have handled the doors yourself.

You let out another groan as you set down the bin on the counter.

“You know he is in love with you.” The chef and owner walked over to you. “Why not give the man the attention he desires? He would make a proper husband.”

“Aye.” You started to empty the dishes into the basin of soapy water. “It is I who would not make a proper wife.”

“Why is that?” Your boss helped wash the dishes. “Poor love-sick Landid isn’t the only one. I have watched mand after man approach you, and you rebuff every single one. Is it a woman you are after?”

The right person, male or female or witch or wizard or dragon or werewolf will catch my eye someday.” You smiled at him. “And I will disappear without a trace..”

“Ha! A werewolf?” Your boss shook his head. “Landid never stood a chance.”

“I can close up.” You wiped your hands. “If you want to knock off early.”

“Let me finish up the kitchen.” He pushed at you. “Once it is clean back here, I will take you up on your offer.”

The rest of the night would be boring. You doubted a new soul would even walk through the door. Just Landid and his pals until they drank their fill. An easy night.

You walked back out into the bar and your heart almost jumped in your throat. A new person at the counter.

“Did I frighten you my lady?” The man wore a smile on his face, and what a face it was.

Beautiful, with sharp features and shoulder-length black hair. Slicked back away from his face. Eyes so brown they were almost black, and skin smoother than you thought possible.

“What can I get for you, Sir?” You cleared your throat and approached the customer.

“Toussiant Red.” His head tilted as his eyes studied your face.

That was the most expensive alcohol you sold. A glance of the man up and down told you he could afford it.

“Do you have it?” His voice was smooth, it made your ear vibrate.

“Uh.” Your head felt a bit fuzzy, you shook it and you turned toward the alcohol. “Yes.”

You went for the cabinet below and reached into the back. It felt like there was a weight on you, a shadow coming down. You stood up and grabbed a glass. The strange presence almost surrounding you, sending a chill to your bones.

It wasn’t welcome. Your body and mind tried to fight off the force.

“Strong.” The stranger’s voice almost sounded like music.

“Excuse me?” You turned to face him, unsure if he was reading your mind.

“The wine.” He nodded to the bottle. “It is a strong varietal.”

“Yes.” You gave a nervous laugh, feeling silly. “Not a frequent purchase here.”

“What is frequent here?” His lips turned into a twisted smile.

You blinked, feeling the slam of the shadow again. Something was not right. Had the dinner soured your stomach? Was illness coming on? It was spreading fast, bearing down on you.

“Are you alright?” Landid asked from the other end. “Is this man bothering you?”

Your attention turned to Landid. The distraction was an error. Your attention was not on battling off the sickness and you gasped as it crept in. Horror flooded your veins, but then in a moment it vanished and a clarity spread over you. In fact, you felt good.

“No.” Your voice was confident as you turned back to the stranger. “He is not bothering me.”

So handsome. So beautiful, even with the offputting grin. He rose from his seat and walked to the end of the bar, signaling for you to do that same.

When you met you looked up at him, his eyes dancing as they looked down at yours.

“Would you like to get out of here?” He tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. “With me?”

“Yes.” There was no other answer in the world as if ‘yes’ was the only one in existence.

“Come then.” He took your hand and wove your fingers together, kissing the top. “I have a horse waiting.”

“Hey!” Landid was following you. “Where are you going?”

You did not respond, because you did not care. The only this in the world that mattered was the stranger guiding you. Stranger was not the right word for him, no. He felt like home.

“Y/N.” Landid was outside. “What are you doing?”

“Here we are.” The man set you on a horse.

“Where are you taking her?” Landid yelled.

“I am no concern of yours.” You looked at Landid, the thoughts having no filter. “I do not and will never love you. Now fuck off.”

The words sounded cruel, nothing you would ever say to such a sweet man. But the voice was your own. Any misgivings vanished when your man swung his leg over the horse and secured his arm around your waist.

“You hear the lady.” He kicked the horse, turning away from the tavern. “Fuck off.”

With that, the animal took off and a smile spread on your face as you leaned into his chest, wanting nothing more than to melt into the stranger.

Geralt barely stepped inside when he knew this was the place with certainty.

“Irresponsible of her.” A man behind the bar was wiping it down. “We were just talking about running off. She said she would do it with the right person.”

“I am telling you. Something was wrong.” The younger man pleaded. “It was not her. Like he put some daze on her. They barely spoke and she runs off with him? Does that sound like her?”

“She is impulsive.” The elder man put his hands on the counter. “Looking for a first love.”

“Landid is correct.” A third man caught Geralt’s eye.

“Landid is a lovesick puppy.” The older one hadn’t noticed. “There are no magical monsters running off with women. She left with him willingly.”

“Then why is a Witcher standing here?” The third man pointed and all heads went to Geralt.

The color drained from the older man’s face.

“Witcher.” Landid stepped forward. “Please, a man enchanted my girlfriend. They went off on a horse. Headed north to the woods.”

“She is not your girlfriend.” Geralt turned to the exit. “And he was not a man.”

He noticed the tracks on the way in. The confirmation who they belonged to was the only information he was after.

“She will be soon.” Landid and the group followed him. “Let me help you. Assemble a search party.”

“You will slow me down.” Geralt turned his horse and climbed up.

“Will you bring her back safe?” The man looked up at him. “I love her.”

“If I can.” Something in Landid’s face struck sympathy.

“I know you feel no emotions, but my love for her. It is pure and strong and genuine.” Landid walked next to the horse.

Of course. Witchers felt no emotion. Hearing that made a fire of rage go off inside of him. The sympathy for Landid vanished.

“If she loved you, an Incubus’ power would not affect her.” Geralt grunted. “And if you loved her, you would have formed that search party when they left. Not thirty minutes later.”

Landid looked dumbstruck. Geralt kicked his horse and took off after the tracks. Being the only rider would give him an advantage. He hoped it was enough to close their distance and save the girl before the monster had his dinner.

This was not right. This was not you. Riding off into the forest with a beautiful stranger? Standing here, staring at nothing while he built a fire.

“There.” He set the pile of wood ablaze. “I wouldn’t want you to catch a cold.”

“Are you going to kill me?” There was no inflection in your voice.

“Oh my, you are a strong one.” He shook his head and took your hands.

It felt like something was vibrating against your insides, seething back into your mind. You whimpered, wanting to force it out, trying your hardest to not let it seep deeper.

“Here.” A finger was on your chin.

You wanted to pull away but were frozen, lips were on yours. Soft, plump, inviting. A tongue flickered out and you parted your mouth, inviting the thing inside. Rich, coppery liquid flooded your mouth.

You squealed and tried to pull away, but his hand went to the back of your head. He continued to kiss you, You didn’t want to swallow but there was no keeping him out.

Soon the vibrations merged, the coppery taste turning sweet. He was a fantastic kisser, the best you had ever had. Your body relaxed and you lifted your arms, grabbing a hold of his shirts with your fists, coaxing him to kiss you harder.

“There.” He pressed his forehead to yours. “Much better now?”

You let out a moan and pressed your lips to his again.

“You’re going to taste delicious.” His hands went to your skirts. He kissed at your neck as you helped him take off your clothes, the fabric too hot and heavy for your skin. “It’s been some time since I had a fighter. Never one I had to use my blood on.”

You stepped out of your bottoms and then took your shirt off, undoing the undergarments, the fire growing between your legs hotter than the flames next to you.

“So smart and aware.” It felt like you were floating as he laid you down on the forest floor. “Quite the find.”

“Please.” You brought your hands between your bodies and began to tug at his pants. “I need you.”

“And you shall have me, darling.” He went to his belt. “I will devour you.”

You through your head back as tingles spread down your body.

“NO!” You cried out as you sat up, the pressure from his body vanishing.

You heard a large groan and saw him across the clearing, next to a tree. Your vision began to blur and you blinked several times, swearing you saw horns.

“Witcher!” The horned creature seethed.

“What?” You looked to the other person, white-haired.

“You interrupted my meal.” Everything started to turn.

A sword was swung, slicing through the air. You watched as best you could. It looked like an angel fighting a devil.

“Ahh!” A cramp in your stomach formed. Hard. Tight. Burn.

You brought your hands between your legs, trying to add pressure, give some relief, but your parts were numb. It felt like nothing was helping as you pulsed with want.

Tears stung your eyes as another wave of pain came, your pussy clamping down on nothing, so empty, so painful.

The fighting continued on in the background, but your blood grew hotter and hotter inside your veins. It was turning into fire. Only one thing would smother the flames.

The two figures continued to grunt and scream as they battled each other. You tried to reach out for them, form words, ask for help, but right now your body only had one function, making you hotter and hotter.

A shriek erupted through the air. You tried to open your eyes to see the victor, but they were blurry. Everything was blurry.

“Did you drink its blood?” Hands touched your body, giving you a brief relief. “Answer me.”

“Made me.” You were sat up and parted your lids, the white-haired victor holding your shoulders as he kneeled on the ground. “Please. Help me?”

“Fuck.” His hand touched your forehead. “You’re burning up.”

“Please.” You collapsed forward, forming a ball against his chest. “It hurts. I need.”

Your hands found his cock and you stroked it over his tight pants. You didn’t know how, but you were certain this would ease you. The dampness between your thighs agreed.

“You smell so.” He tightened and tried to back you away. “Fuck.”

“Please. I’ll do anything you like. Just please?” Your shoulder shook as you sobbed. “It hurts.”

He was hard. Eager for you as well. You squeezed around his form with one hand while the other went to his belt.

His hand came to yours about to push you away, but he paused. You lifted your face to look at him. Being close to the man brought back a fraction of your strength. He was gorgeous with yellow eyes and fair skin.

You were successful and his cock sprang free from his pants. So hard for you. You moaned in satisfaction, pinching your eyes shut in the process. A step closer to your goal.

Your lips found his chest and you kissed down his shirt, the fabric softer than you expected. Your hands hit the ground and you backed away, staying on your kees as your tongue pulled away from his body, running down the top of his cock.

When you reached the tip you swirled around it, relaxing your jaw and swallowing him. The precum on the tip making you moan when it hit your tongue. The taste intoxicating. Your body responded with another wave of need.

“Your smell.” His hands were on your shoulders and he pushed you off of him. “I need more than your mouth.”

With that his hands went to your hip as he pushed you back, falling on top of you and catching you both with his other palm.

Your back hit the dirt and you spread your legs as he slid his hand to his cock. You looked up to see him coat himself in your juices, before pressing against your entrance.

“Mmmm.” You moaned as he pushed inside.

The sight of his cock disappearing inside of you so erotic. It looked like he was never going to finish as if more and more of him kept coming, but once he was fully satiated you let your head fall back.

In a second his lips were on yours. You ran your hands through his hair as he rocked his hips, filling you with thick, hard thrusts.

Every bit of cramp and pain you’d been feeling were replaced with pleasure. The needs of your body being satisfied in every way possible. Your exposed nerves that had betrayed your body now rewarded it with ecstasy.

You started to roll against him, lifting your body in rhythm with his thrusts.

“It has never felt like this.” You broke the kiss as you panted.

“I know.” The man kissed your shoulder as his hand found your breast.

You whimpered as he kneaded your chest, massaging and tugging at you until you were a stiff peak underneath him.

Your hands found the top of his shirt and you began to tug. Needing to feel his skin on yours. Confirmation this was not a dream.

He responded by lifting his body and stripping the fabric away. Your eyes flared at the sight of him. Gigantic and muscular. A true prize.

When he came back down your chests smashed together and your lips met again. You both went into a frenzy, kissing and slamming into each other.

A swirl began to form in your center. Dragging every but of energy and being into a ball. It grew and grew with each thrust. You tried to keep up, to move your body steady with his, but you were growing weak and useless as the ball got tighter and tighter.

Your lover responded by taking over. He didn’t slow, in fact, the opposite, he went faster and faster, doing all of the work for the two of you.

Just when you thought your mind was going to join the rest of yourself in your core the ball lit on fire. An intense vibration went off as pleasure spread everywhere, your vision blackening as you convulsed underneath him.

“Fuck.” He ground down hard and joined you in the release.

Your body collapsed and your head lulled to the side. Sleep came instantly. You were never before this satisfied.

When you woke in the morning you shoulder was sore. You let out a little moan as you moved, a heavy arm covering your waist.

Images on legs, arms, riding, fucking came to mind and your eyes popped open. There was a chirp of birds and a long-dormant fire.

You sat up and looked down at Geralt, having taken a pause during one of your many times last night to at least learn the Witcher’s name. The corners of your lips started to smile.

His eyes opened as he looked up at you. The same realization dawned on him as he sat up.

“Good morning.” You touched his shoulder.

“Morning.” He looked uncomfortable. “Incubus blood has an effect.”

“I figured that out.” You smiled at his awkwardness. “Thank you, for helping me.”

“Ah, Uhm.” He bit his lip.

“The proper response is ‘you’re welcome’.” You pressed on his shoulder, rolling him to his back and straddling him in the process.

“What are you doing?” He lifted his neck as you kissed your way down his chest.

“Showing you that my mouth would’ve been enough.” You licked your lips as a fire grew in his yellow eyes.

You were grateful for him saving your life in more ways than one the last night. You had every intention of repaying him every chance you were given.

#The witcher #the witcher fanfic #fanfic #geralt x reader #the witcher x reader #fanfiction #geralt fanfic

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daretosnoop · 3 years

Text

Chapter 4: Bad Girlfriend

Chapter 3

The chapter some of y’all have been wanting since this game came out. I hope the story is interesting so far.

Henry told Renee their plans, then brought Nancy upstairs to the guest room. It was a simple room, if a little bland for colour. Henry supposed his uncle had some notion of social etiquette given that many people would probably not take to his interior design choices. Renee entered soon with a bundle of clothes.

“Not sure what would fit you dear or what your preference is so I brought some of my clothes, Dr. Bruno’s clothes, and some random pieces stored over time”.

Nancy thanked her and both Renee and Henry went downstairs.

“I’ll make a little night snack for your sleepover,” Renee said as she headed for the kitchen. Henry followed her.

“Don’t trouble yourself. And it’s not a sleepover. We don’t have a choice given the weather”.

“You could have always dropped her home”.

“I, I can’t do that on rainy nights”.

Renee paused in powdering the beignets. She looked at Henry and nodded.

“Could have asked me. I don’t mind”.

Henry shrugged and Renee just smiled and returned to her beignets. She placed two on two plates and poured out a glass of cold milk.

“In the morning, y’all can have them with coffee”.

She then wished Henry good night and went out the kitchen towards the stairs. On the landing, she suddenly felt a chill run across her back and turned to see Nancy peering over the model cemetery.

“I’ve seen it too,” she suddenly called out.

Nancy whirled around, startled by the voice.

“Seen who?”

“The skeleton man”.

Nancy’s face became serious as she headed towards Renee.

“What have you seen?”

“I don’t even want to talk about it. All I know is that I saw it, that thing. Soon after seeing it, strange sounds came from my room”

“What did you do?”

Renee looked up proudly. “I found a solution in my book. Used my powers in hoodoo to put up a spell,” Renee placed a hand around her little pouch necklace. “It worked too. Those sounds stopped”.

“Did the skeleton man stop? Was it just the one time you saw him or did you see him repeatedly? Do you think there is a connection between the sound and the man? Did you tell Dr. Bolet? What did he say? Did he believe you?”

“Goodness child,” Renee laughed though it did not reach her eyes. “You sure are inquisitive”.

Nancy shrugged.

“Well, I admire your tenacity child, just be careful. There are powers far beyond mere mortals. The best we can, and should, do is protect ourselves and not dare challenge the powers”.

Renee said nothing to Nancy’s perplexed face. There really was nothing to tell the girl. She would either play it safe, or learn the hard way. She told Nancy of the food she placed out and bid her goodnight.

Nancy was surprised to see Henry in the kitchen. He had started on one of the beignets but his attention was clearly on his phone.

“Bad news?” Nancy asked, reading his face.

Henry started, blinked at her while he processed her question, then hummed and took another bite of the beignet.

I wonder if it’s that Summer person?

She started on a beignet and thought over her case. She’d called Bess soon after changing her clothes. Half-asleep Bess barely registered everything Nancy told her but somehow understood that Nancy was not coming home tonight. Nancy didn’t know when Henry was going to sleep, but she hopped it was soon. He was still a suspect and nighttime was always optimal for snooping.

“Find everything okay?” Henry asked.

Mouth still stuffed with food, Nancy nodded.

“Put my clothes to dry so I can wear them tomorrow. I plan on calling professor Hotchkiss and then going from there”.

With a beignet half in his mouth, Henry looked at her, eyes wide.

“You mean, you intend on continuing?”

“Duh”.

“What if I say no?”

“Then I guess I’ll have to go. I’ll go and forever lament this unsolved case to my friends,” Nancy waved her hands about, exaggerating the tragedy Henry’s refusal would cause her.

Henry’s lips twitched.

“You’re stubborn”.

Nancy gave him a cheeky smile.

“Good friends are”.

They chatted amicably on Nancy’s previous cases until the beignets finished. Henry immediately took the dishes and washed them. He then nodded at Nancy before heading towards the study.

“How long do you stay up?” Nancy asked.

Henry shrugged. “Depends on the work”.

Darn. Hate those answers.

With nothing better to do, Nancy bid Henry good night and went to her room. She fiddled with the number she had for professor Hotchkiss and thought over the night’s events. Not able to think of anything new, she searched up hoodoo, the Bolets, and New Orleans on her phone. Something sinister was afoot in this house.

At around 10:45 p.m. Nancy heard footsteps climb up the stairs and a door open. She waited a while longer, and when she was sure Henry was not planning on leaving his room, she quietly opened her door and walked down the stairs with her torch. Thankfully, the stairs did not creak. Nancy opened the door to the study and crept towards the desk. Looking around quickly and finding no one, Nancy sat on the chair and grinned.

She meticulously searched through all of Henry’s papers, but could find nothing relevant. She then looked through the desk drawers but only found a keychain with an eyeball. Strange, but again, not relevant. Henry had left his computer on the desk and of course, it was locked. Nancy thought over any possible passwords. Bolet didn’t work. Henry’s name didn’t work. Don’t tell me. She typed out Summer and logged in. There was nothing relevant on Henry’s laptop though Nancy did see an email from Dr. Buford’s medical clinic. It was an invoice for a paid bill. Myocardial Infraction. Dr. Bolet’s cause of death.

Nancy looked through the rest of Henry’s emails but found nothing of relevance their either. Not even in the junk and deleted folders. She fell back onto the chair and sighed. Then her eyes caught the rubbish bin beneath the desk and she reached out for it. She read each memo, card, and invite but found nothing of interest. She then picked up an envelope. It was from Milo Research and Technology, and addressed to Bruno Bolet. There was an address but no number. She put the envelope aside and continued to dig. There were some pieces of paper in intelligible handwriting, but Nancy did catch the word skull repeated so she put them with the envelope.

Finding nothing else, Nancy stood up and carried her clues back up the stairs. As she climbed she happened to look up and felt her heart freeze. There, by the flower vase, she could almost swear she was seeing Renee’s eyes watching her. But that was ridiculous. Renee was not there. Nancy took a deep breath and slowly let it out as she went back to her room.

After breakfast, Nancy went back to her French quarter hotel and was greeted by a frantic Bess.

“Nancy! Where were you?”

“Bess, I called and told you that I would be staying the night at Henry’s place”.

“You know I can’t remember anything told to me when I’m half asleep!”

Bess sighed loudly before looking behind Nancy at the man who was standing awkwardly at the front door. Following her gaze, Nancy introduced Bess to Henry and soon Bess had ushered him in for tea. As the trio sat around the table, Nancy filled Bess in with what had happened to her and what her plans were. Bess’s face fell when she learned that her friend was, again, bailing on her to pursue a case. She knew Nancy meant well, and to be honest, helping Nancy with a case was more fun than a traditional vacation, but Nancy had just gotten back from Alberta from another case. It would have been nice to have some time in the warmth before she whisked off again.

“Will you help me Bess?”

Nancy’s words broke Bess out of her thoughts. She wasn’t paying attention.

“Uh, help you with what?”

“Finding out some information. Just background research. Nothing dangerous”.

“Nancy,”

“Please?”

“Okay, okay. I’ll be on standby. The sooner you solve this, the sooner we can get back to our vacation”.

Bess turned to glare at Henry.

“You could have just told her no, you know”.

The man shrugged and Bess could tell from his face that he had tried, Nancy just didn’t listen. She never could catch hidden tones very well, but it was probably a good thing. She wouldn’t be a good detective if she was constantly hampered by emotional cues.

Nancy got up to pack her bags. Alone with Henry, Bess found herself not knowing what to say. The man was a complete stranger, even if he was dressed smartly, and even if he did carry himself with a certain grace. It was interesting to see that despite his outwardly appearance, Henry exhibited a lot of manners. He hardly made his presence known and it was only after Nancy left that Bess took a good look at Henry.

“So, how do you know Ned?”

“We’re classmates”.

Bess nodded and silence overfell both of them again.

“Do you like tea?” Bess asked.

“Yes. It’s nice”.

That’s it? Just nice? C’mon, give me more to work with! Henry was a walking enigma and it infuriated Bess.

“I’m sorry about Nancy. She can be,” Bess moved her hands to emphasize, “much”.

Henry snorted into his tea.

“But her intuition is always right, or close to it. Whatever it is your uncle’s hiding, she’ll figure it out. Don’t worry”.

“I’m not worried. I just don’t think there is anything worth finding out”.

“So you’re okay with letting possible treasure, a priceless artifact, go undetected?”

“Doesn’t really mean much to me?”

“What if it meant something to your family?”

“I’m the only living relative of my family, and since I know nothing about my family, the treasure or whatever uncle Bruno may be hiding might as well not exist”.

Bess didn’t know what to say to that, and they finished their tea in silence. Nancy came in and plopped in front of Bess.

“Bess. I need you to look into someone. His name is Gilbert Buford. Dr. Buford was Dr. Bolet’s heart doctor. Apparently they were also friends”.

“What do you want me to ask him?”

“Ask him what he knew about Dr. Bolet. If Dr. Bolet ever confided anything to anyone, his friend would probably know—right?”

“I suppose”.

Bess glanced towards Henry.

“Is it okay if I do this? Or am I breaking some law here?”

“Don’t think so. If you are, I guess you can just say that I’m asking you to do this”.

“Great!” Nancy beamed and all but dragged Henry outside.

Bess sighed and pulled out her phone to look up medical clinics, but stopped when she heard Nancy come back in. She wore a serious expression.

“Bess. I need you to do something else”.

Nancy handed her a piece of paper that said ‘Zeke’s’ on it.

“I need you to see if there is some store called Zeke. Then I need you to go in and ask if Henry Bolet or Renee Amande ever sold anything recently”.

Bess slowly lowered her phone.

“You, you suspect Henry and Renee?”

“You know the drill Bess, everyone’s a suspect”.

“But, for what?”

“For being the skeleton man. I’m following up on every lead I have. Couldn’t tell you earlier because,” Nancy nudged her head towards the door.

“How does this place relate to a skeleton man?”

“Don’t know yet, but I know it was burned recently. Renee mentioned she keeps the place spotless. She couldn’t possible have overlooked the fire place if it was burnt a while ago”.

“Alright”.

Nancy thanked Bess then headed out the door.

Henry drove them back to the Bolet manor and went towards his desk. Nancy pulled out her phone and dialed professor Hotchkiss. No one picked up, but Nancy was not surprised. Professor Hotchkiss was probably off doing research or some other wacky project. She left a message asking professor Hotchkiss to call back to discuss a book she recently wrote.

She had no other lead to follow and so went out to the gardens. Renee was not there and Nancy took her chance to snoop. There was a shovel on one wall and some other gardening tools hanging about. For the most part, it looked like a garden. Even the plants seemed common place. Finding nothing suspicious, Nancy turned to leave the garden and came face-to-face with Renee.

“Can I help you dear?”

“Oh, I was actually looking for you,” Nancy spoke placidly. She was a little startled by Renee’s sudden appearance, but quickly recovered when she saw the pouch necklace Renee always wore.

“I was going to ask you, what’s in that necklace”.

Renee closed her hand around the pouch and Nancy could have sworn she saw anger flash through her eyes.

“This is my connection to the forces of the universe. Their elemental powers course through me when I wear this”.

Nancy stared at her and Renee scoffed.

“Well, least you didn’t laugh. How else can I help you?”

“Well, what can you tell me about Dr. Bolet?”

“Recluse. Obsessive. Neither jolly nor morose, but there was always a soberness that clung to him. It’s as if he refused to let himself be happy. Not very picky either. So long as I left him alone and kept the house, he didn’t care about what I did in my free time”.

Renee gave a soft smile. “We had a great working relationship. It’s rare to have in the housekeeping business”.

“How did you come to work for Dr. Bolet?”

“Answered a paper advertisement,” Renee answered quickly.

“Did he ever talk about his family?”

“Very little”.

“What did he say?”

“That his parents died when he was in his thirties. He had a younger brother whom he adored. Loved his sister-in-law, and had no desire to get married”.

There was barely anything to work with, still, Nancy persisted.

“Dr. Bolet was alone his whole life? Even after his brother’s death”.

Renee pressed her lips into a thin line.

“From what I’ve come to understand, Dr. Bolet loved his brother and when he died, he essentially lost a part of himself. Whatever was left came out only through his eccentricities”.

There was nothing of use in anything Renee mentioned. She tried a different angle.

“Do you know how Dr. Bolet died?”

“Oh yes,” Renee’s eyes took on a far-away look. “I was. I was there when he died. I saw him fall, on the threshold”. Renee placed a hand on her shoulder and looked down. “I thought, maybe, he just stumbled. Maybe got knocked unconscious, but Dr. Buford was there and he said it was a heart attack”.

Nancy looked sharply at Renee.

“Dr. Buford was there on the night Dr. Bolet died?”

“Yes. I suppose he came to visit Dr. Bolet”.

“Does he regularly visit Dr. Bolet?”

“No. Usually Dr. Bolet visits, but I suppose given his age. It must have been easier for Dr. Buford to come. Or maybe he wanted something. Either way, he was there”.

“What was Dr. Bolet doing on the threshold?”

Renee scrunched her face and held a finger to her lips. She still did not look at Nancy.

“I don’t remember quite well, but I think he was reading something. A letter perhaps?”

Excitement rose through Nancy.

“Do you still have the letter? Can I see it?”

“Sorry dear. I don’t know where it’s gotten to”.

Renee gave Nancy a tight smile and pointed towards the plants. Nancy took her cue to leave Renee and head back into the manor. She went back to her room and searched up Gilbert Buford, New Orleans. There were three Gilbert Bufords, but only one had a medical clinic. Nancy dialed the number and waited for the receptionist. The receptionist told her that Dr. Buford was not working full-time anymore.

“He only comes in for urgent situations and requests”.

“Where can I find him outside of the clinic?”

“I’m not authorized to give you that information”.

Nancy was fed up of facing blockades that interrupted her investigation. It was as if the whole of New Orleans didn’t want the mystery that was Bruno Bolet to come apart. She decided to take a risk.

“I really need to talk to him,” she said, softening her voice to add grief. “You see, we had a mutual friend who recently died, and I-I just need to talk to him”.

“Need some consoling?” The nurse empathized.

“Yes! Exactly! I need, that”.

“Well, alright. I guess it’s okay given the circumstance. Dr. Buford generally spends his time in the French quarters. He lives nearby and frequents a Cajun truck stop at Rampart and Dumaine. Claims it’s the best gumbo New Orleans has. I’d contest him on that though. Nothing beats a fine gumbo than my own Bluefoot’s Gumbo”.

Rampart and Dumaine? Jackpot!

“Thank you so much”.

“No problem,” the receptionist replied. “And I hope you get the help you need for your friend”.

“Oh, yes. I will. Thanks. I feel better already.” Saying so, Nancy quickly hung up and called Bess.

“Bess, he’s in Rampart and Dumaine!”

“Who?” Bess asked, her voice laced with sleep.

“Gilbert Buford. I called his clinic. They said he spends his time nearby a Cajun food truck”.

“Hang on”. Bess muttered and Nancy could hear her wrestling out of the bed and walking around.

“I’m in the balcony now”.

“What do you see?”

“I see a food truck called ‘Granny’s Cajun Cooking’”

“And?”

“And no one else. It’s pretty busy right now, but no one is sitting around the food truck”.

Nancy sighed. “Must be too early in the day”.

“Or hot, it’s the middle of the afternoon. But I’ll keep any eye out, okay?”

Another dead end. It seemed that for every inch of progress Nancy made, there was a foot of backlash.

“Hey Nancy,” Bess’s voice called urgently. “You won’t believe what’s in front of our hotel. It’s the name, ‘Zeke’. It’s a curio shop!”

“Bess, you gotta get right down there and ask those questions!”

“I’m on it,” Bess replied with determination and hung up.

Nancy wandered around the gardens, looking for a clue that would help her understand the spider lock. Neither Renee nor Henry understood the lock, nor did they know if Bruno kept a pet spider. Renee eventually mentioned that she’d often see Dr. Bolet standing in certain spots around the garden. Sometimes he looked up to the sky, and other times, he was peering down. At times, he’d even bend over and inspect the base of the fountain that rested in the centre of the garden.

Carefully, Nancy crept around the fountain. The rain had made the soil muddy so she could not walk within the base. Thankfully, she did not need to. There was a hole surrounded by overlapping wires nestled into the soil ground. Nancy pulled out her phone to confirm her suspicion. The wire web before her matched the lock image on her phone. They’re keys, she realized. Musical keys. Each wire twanged a musical note. Looking at the image on her phone, she realized that the dashes extending out of each wire varied in number. So each dash must corroborate to a number—an order perhaps? But what would it release? She assumed it must be another key given that she was trying to open another locked door. Peering down into the hole, she saw a bronze key and the legs of a giant tarantula. Nancy could face anything, had faced everything, even certain death. She’d grown quite resilient in nature— but spiders, spiders were the one thing she just could not understand. I’d better get this right.

Carefully she pulled each wire in the order the lock indicated, and listened carefully to the note it played. She heard the mechanical sound of a platform being raised, and saw that the spider had backed off because the key was sitting upon a stand that was now rising to greet her. She nabbed the key and stuffed it into her front pocket. She turned around and saw Henry.

“What are you doing?” Henry asked.

“Oh you know,” Nancy shrugged then grinned. “Just testing theories out”.

Henry’s eyebrows quirked. “Discover anything, scientist?”

Nancy laughed. “Maybe,” she coyly answered.

Henry nodded but when he saw Nancy was not going to offer any more information, he let it go.

“Just going to take walk”.

“I’ll join you,” Nancy spoke suddenly.

“You will?”

It was a sudden decision, but Nancy did want to learn more about Henry. He might know more about his family, and Nancy wanted to know more about this Summer person. She might also be connected to this mystery—though, probably, very weakly connected.

They walked into the cemetery, Henry being a gentleman and opening the gate for Nancy.

“Thanks, but don’t bother. I’m your friend”.

“So I shouldn’t be nice to friends?” Henry countered.

“No, I meant. No need to be formal. Chill out a bit”.

“Yes, I suppose I could learn a bit about chilling out”. He gestured around the cemetery. “Think this is a good place to learn how?”

“Can’t be more chill than dead, can you?” Nancy teased and Henry laughed.

When they got to the Bolet mausoleum Nancy could sense Henry’s tension. One pain for another, I guess.

“So,” she started. “Tell me about Summer”.

Henry’s eyes snapped towards her, and without needing to look back, Nancy admitted that she overheard his conversation.

“Overheard?” Henry asked and Nancy knew what he was really asking.

“Well, you were loud enough. What was I to do? Cover my ears?”

Henry just sighed but didn’t say anything. Nancy tried a different angle.

“Friends help each other”.

“Why do you keep insisting we’re friends?”

“Because we are”

“People don’t just become friends in a day or because someone says so”.

“Then how do they become friends?”

Henry shrugged. “I dunno. Hang out a lot. Talk a lot. Eventually they come to rely on each other and feel safe and wanted around each other. They enjoy each other’s company”.

“Is that what you have with Summer?” Nancy asked softly.

Henry stopped walking and looked down. Nancy waited. She thought Henry would refuse to answer, or tell her to stop walking with him, or even cry, but slowly, Henry lifted his head and stared right at her.

“No”.

“So Summer’s not your friend?”

“No. She’s my girlfriend”.

“Your girlfriend can’t be your friend? Little ironic. It’s in the name”.

“It’s,” Henry scratched his ear. “It’s complicated. I like her, and I think she likes me back, but she can be so unpredictable it drives me nuts”.

“How so?”

“I never know what’s going to make her happy. Like just recently I— “Henry stopped and hesitated. “I always have to buy her things”.

Nancy’s mind began to whir.

“Have you tried talking to her about it?”

Henry nodded. “I did but she always gets very mad, and I’d rather not deal with her anger. Besides,” Henry pressed down hard on his lips. “I’m afraid if I don’t give her what she wants she’ll,” he pressed down harder and his lips disappeared into a thin line. “I’m afraid she’ll dump me”.

“What’s wrong with being dumped?”

Henry looked at her incredulously. “I couldn’t take it. She’s the only girlfriend I’ve ever had, and probably ever will have”.

Nancy did not understand Henry’s argument. “So you’d rather be unhappy with someone, then happy but alone”.

“I’m not unhappy when I’m with Summer,” Henry snapped.

“You just said you don’t consider her your friend,” Nancy argued, “and that you’re only staying with her out of fear”.

“What’s it to you?” Henry argued.

Shoot. Her inquisitive side had gotten her involved in emotional affairs again. Whoever said detective work required cold calculated minds was a god-damn liar. Henry must of have noticed the change in the air and quickly apologized for his behaviour.

Nancy rolled her eyes. “Look. I know I’m nosy. I probably shouldn’t have said anything. But I’m not that type of person. If something’s wrong, I usually try to figure it out, and seeing your behaviour, I feel you’re in the wrong relationship. I’m not going to tell you what to do, but if you don’t consider me as a friend, then consider this as advice from a stranger who’s sensing something’s wrong—you’re in a bad relationship. This Summer, she seems like someone who likes being provided for and taken care of”.

Henry crossed his arms against his chest. “And what’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing, if you’re okay with having such a relationship. But if you’re not, then what are you doing?” Nancy hesitated and carefully said her next words. “You’re going to make both of you unhappy, and eventually, one person is going to leave”.

“Oh, you’re a relationship detective now?” Henry spat.

“No,” Nancy said softly. She laced her fingers together in front of her. She could see the gates dividing the cemetery and garden. She walked ahead of Henry and opened the gate. Standing on the threshold, she looked back at Henry and smiled.

“I’m the bad girlfriend”.

#nancy drew #henry bolet #CRY #legend of the crystal skull

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electrickoushi · 3 years

Text

bakugo and todoroki’s super secret santa mission

a/n: happy holidays everyone. this was a fic I wrote for one of my friends for xmas. enjoy reading!

pairing: bakugo katsuki x todoroki shoto tags: fluff, pre-relationship, swearing (a normal amount for bakugo), tdbk in love! wc: 7.8k

Class 1-A's Secret Santa poses a large problem for Bakugo Katsuki. It’s such a large problem that he has to ask for stupid IcyHot's help in finding a present. In return, he helps Todoroki with his present search (and perhaps catches feelings in the process, but shh, we don't talk about that).

The mall was so crowded that Bakugo was having an awful time finding Todoroki. At this time of year, he easily blended in with the horrible, glittery candy cane decorations.

Bakugo found him standing near the children’s play structure. He looked like a lost puppy, spinning around in search of the familiar blonde spikes and scowl. He squinted his eyes at Bakugo and waved. A small smile spread on Todoroki’s face at the sight of his friend.

Bakugo rolled his eyes at his behavior but walked towards him. They were supposed to meet at the other play structure that was on the opposite side of the mall. Todoroki must have gotten them mixed up again.

“There you are. I’ve been texting you,” Bakugo yelled once he was in yelling distance.

Todoroki looked down at his phone in his left hand as if he forgot it was there. So that’s what the vibrations were? He just assumed it was Midoriya sending him pictures of his new video game.

34 texts and 3 missed calls.

Oops, my bad. “Didn’t we say to meet near the children’s play area?” Todoroki asked, blinking in confusion as he frowned and stood up. He put his phone in the pocket of his blue coat and unwound his scarf from his neck.

“Yeah, the one on the South side,” Bakugo sighed in annoyance. “It doesn’t matter though, just help me so I can get out of here.”

“Okay, help me with Kirishima first. I’m not sure what to get him.”

“I know, and I don’t know what to get ‘Miss I can literally create whatever the fuck I want.’ We’ve been over this. Lucky for you, I have an idea for Kirishima.”

Bakugo grabbed Todoroki’s arm and dragged him along, making sure to not lose him in the crowd of frantic shoppers. If he had to waste another twenty minutes looking for the candy cane boy, it may just end with the building in flames.

They headed in the direction that Bakugo came from. He specifically asked for them to meet at the South side play structure since it was near the store he wanted to show Todoroki, but that plan clearly didn’t work out. So they made a short trek to the opposite side of the mall.

It would have been fine if Todoroki didn’t look at the windows of every single shop they passed.

He was infatuated with almost every product displayed in the windows. It didn’t matter whether it was a speaker, a t-shirt, or a toy—he wanted it all. He could probably afford it all too, with that black credit card he carried that belonged to his father.

Bakugo eventually dropped his arm. They were out of the most congested parts of the mall. They should be fine.

Yet in a few minutes, when Bakugo turned around to check if his classmate was following him, he saw nothing but empty air.

It was a few minutes before Bakugo found the tall boy surrounded by little midgets.

“Come on Icyhot, we don’t have time for this,” Bakugo scoffed, finding him in a Build-A-Bear.

Todoroki turned around to see Bakugo behind him, arms crossed and seething.

“But I want one. They’re so cute and soft. Look.” Its head drooped forward as Todoroki held the unstuffed bear out to show his friend.

Bakugo thought it was kind of ugly. It looked really scratchy too. Out of all the finished models sitting on their shelves, Todoroki somehow managed to pick the most hideous one.

The entire idea of Build-A-Bear was kind of disturbing to him. You paid money to take what is essentially a corpse of a toy, pump some white stuffing into it, and then put a little mass-produced heart in it. Then you would wash it, with air? And give it clothing? Weren’t stuffed animals loved because you could pretend they were alive? How were you supposed to think it was alive when you literally stuffed its guts and organs back into its skin? In conclusion, Build-A-Bear was ruining the imaginations and childhoods of its customers.

Bakugo glowered at Todoroki until he dejectedly threw the unstuffed bear back into the bin and followed him out of the store. Bakugo was right; they didn’t have time for this. This shopping trip was meant to find presents for Kirishima and Momo.

“Just go pull an old one out of storage at your house or something. I’m sure you have a million,” said Bakugo as they walked to the store Bakugo wanted to go in all along.

“Oh, I’ve never had one. Did you?” Todoroki asked, Bakugo dropping his arm once he realized.

Fuck, how could he have forgotten again? Childhood was always a touchy subject for his classmate, he knew that. He didn’t mean to make such a careless comment. “Yeah, I, uh, just assumed every kid had one at some point. Sorry,” he mumbled.

Silence fell between them as they finally made it to the shop that hopefully held Kirishima’s present.

“Here,” Bakugo pointed to a pair of shoes in the window. “He would probably want these.”

“Those are ugly though,” Todoroki bluntly pointed out. They were a white pair of chunky Fila shoes.

Did you see the stuffed animal you were holding? “I agree, but anything is a step up from those red crocs he wears all the time,” sighed Bakugo.

He went into the relatively empty store and found a pair of the same shoes in a size 10, then shoved them into Todoroki’s arms. “There you go. Go buy them.”

Todoroki turned around and walked towards the counter.

A girl stood at the counter, clearly bored with her minimum wage job. When she looked up and noticed him, she immediately put on her best smile and fiddled with her hair. She made a weird face once she noticed his scar but wiped off the frown after a few seconds. “Are you ready to checkout?” she chirped.

Her voice was awful. Nasally and partially responsible for Bakugo’s oncoming headache. “Fucking ridiculous,” Bakugo scoffed under his breath. “He shouldn’t get special treatment because he’s pretty. Everything in the world should be based solely on firepower.”

Todoroki replied, “Yes I am.” Completely oblivious.

Bakugo could not understand how someone could be so dense. He was one of the top students in the class, probably the entire school. He always made good snap decisions when under pressure. He was a good fighter, with or without his quirk. He was powerful and smart and strong. So how could he not notice when someone was clearly trying to flirt with him?

Bakugo crossed his arms and pretended to be intensely looking at some shoe displayed on the shelf. He glanced over every so often to make sure that Todoroki wasn’t about to get swindled out of everything he owned. He wouldn't put it past the poor, innocent boy.

Todoroki smiled at her, thanking her for her help, and Bakugo actually felt the girl’s soul ascend.

He walked over to the register and tried his best not to glare at the pair. She was really getting on his nerves.

Shit, he forgot about the budget limit they set.

Todoroki pulled out the credit card from his wallet and handed it to the salesgirl who was rambling about some deal that was going on as she punched something on her screen. He stared at her blankly, zoning out and probably thinking about the next soba dish he could have if Bakugo had to guess.

Bakugo pushed Todoroki’s warm hand away, almost slapping the card out of it, and the girl visibly scowled at him. Wow, lady, don’t try so hard to hide your disdain. He glared at her.

“Bakugo, what’s wrong?”

“I forgot to look at their price.” He turned to the salesgirl who was clearly annoyed. Good, maybe she would finally take a hint. “We can’t buy these.” He grabbed Todoroki’s free hand and tried to pull him away, but Todoroki stood there.

“Wait, but Kirishima will like these. It’s fine, I will just get them customized if they don’t fit the budget requirements that were set.” He handed the card to the girl who immediately sent a bright smile his way despite her eyes being fixed on Bakugo. She was plotting ways to murder him, he could tell. It was the same look plastered on his face for the majority of the day.

Bakugo cursed out Todoroki’s back but let the purchase continue. It wasn’t his money that was being spent, so who cared. Todoroki egregiously disrespecting the budget was somehow so on-brand for him.

She checked them out and handed them the box with a receipt. “Bye! Good luck with your shopping,” she said to Todoroki, completely ignoring Bakugo.

Todoroki pulled away from the blonde’s hand to put his card away and grab the shoe box. Bakugo flinched, dropping his hand. He forgot that he took it to drag the taller boy out in the first place.

Once they were out of the store, Bakugo snatched the receipt from Todoroki. He was appalled at the price. “11,500 yen? Are you serious? They said to keep it around 2,000.”

“It’s fine. They probably won’t be able to tell,” Todoroki said in his usual serious tone.

Bakugo stood and stared, surprised at the boy��s ignorant thinking. Uraraka would pass away if she was here right now. “Are you joking?”

Todoroki frowned, “No, are you joking?”

“No, I’m not. I don’t care though. It’s your money.” Bakugo went to throw the receipt away when he saw handwritten numbers at the bottom.

She didn’t.

Bakugo studied it more closely.

She did.

“Todoroki, how the fuck do you get all these people falling in love with you? You literally just stand there and trip over your words and smile. It may be endearing sometimes, but that still doesn’t explain anything.”

Todoroki cocked his head and peered over the blonde’s shoulder. “What did she write?”

“It’s her phone number, dumbass.” He balled up the paper and threw it in the nearest trash can.

“Hey, what if I wanted that?” Todoroki stared down at the crumpled paper.

“Why would you ever want to talk to someone like her?”

“No, I meant the receipt.”

Un-fucking-believable. Bakugo walked away from headache reason number two and towards the mall map. If Half-and-Half couldn’t keep up with him, then it was his problem. It was too tiring, corralling the boy. He had been here for at least an hour by now, and he hadn’t even gotten his gift for Ponytail.

Someone’s hand brushed his side and he recoiled at the touch. He turned his head to find the red and white-haired boy standing beside him. When the hell did he get behind him?

Mint permeated the air around them as Todoroki stood near his friend. His soft, even breathing brushed against Bakugo’s ear as he searched for the perfect place. A pleasant sense of peacefulness washed over the blonde as he felt the heat of his classmate’s left side gently radiate off him.

Todoroki pressed his long finger against the virtual map. “There’s a customization store over here it looks like.”

Todoroki’s words pulled Bakugo out of his daze. He must have been getting tired or bored, waiting for the other boy to make up his mind. “Fine, we’ll go there.” Only because it was close. “But then we are getting Momo’s present and leaving.”

They worked their way to the customization store that was conveniently close by.

The interior decor was not awful and there was no one trying to flirt with Todoroki, so this was considered a good place in Bakugo’s book. Todoroki seemed almost overwhelmed with the bright colors and loud bass that vibrated through the floor. His eyes wandered around, taking in the funky colors bathed in the low lighting.

Bakugo seized the box of shoes from Todoroki’s arms. He would have to do it or they would get nowhere.

“Hey, can we get these customized?” he shouted over the music, marching up to the counter.

The man spun around. “Sure, dude, what do you want on ‘em?” Oh no, not a skater guy.

Skater guys were right below annoying sales girls on Bakugo’s list of “Things I hate but must tolerate occasionally.”

“Todoroki, come here. What do you want to put on them?” Bakugo glanced back to see if his classmate actually listened. The blonde was surprised to find the other’s face only a few inches away from his.

Bakugo shifted to the right to make room at the counter. Todoroki stared down at the shoes then up at the man who was waiting patiently for their answer. “I’m not sure,” he finally said.

“You insisted that they be customized but you didn’t even know what you wanted on them?” scoffed Bakugo. He was this close to leaving and finding Momo’s present on his own.

Todoroki shrugged, looking back and forth between the blonde and the friendly cashier.

“It’s all good, bro. Have a look around with your... friend here.” He nodded towards Bakugo who was currently muttering every insult he could think of at the red and white-haired boy. “We’re open until ten, you have all the time in the world.”

“Thank you, sir,” Todoroki said. He turned around, clutching the box of shoes to his chest and looking around at the various options offered in the store. It seemed like he was having trouble concentrating.

Bakugo whipped around again, “Can you turn the music down?”

The man nodded and adjusted the volume so that it was at a normal level. Todoroki sent Bakugo a grateful look.

“Sorry, little dude, business is slow around here so I gotta pass the time somehow.” He stepped out from behind the counter. “There are some common designs over on that wall. Colors are right next to them and fonts next to those. Prices are over here by the register. If you have any questions, just ask me.”

This man had the patience of a saint, Bakugo decided. If he was faced to help the clueless idiot that possessed Todoroki on a daily basis, he would have burnt down the place in an instant.

Todoroki smiled. “Thank you, sir!” He strode toward the colors and surveyed his options.

“Bakugo, what do you think about this?” he asked, looking up. Hair fell in his eyes. He squeezed them shut and shook his head to clear it out of the way. He blinked a few times before staring widely at his friend again, grey and blue eyes shining.

Bakugo blinked away his thoughts and walked over to where Todoroki was standing and pointing to a color. It was a deep red that was slightly darker than Shitty Hair’s shitty hair.

“If you match it with black, like his hero costume, but you also put some white on it, I think it’ll look really cool. I think I will also put ‘Red Riot’ on it. What do you think?” He looked at Bakugo for confirmation.

Bakugo couldn’t help but smile as he pictured his friend’s reaction. “Yeah, he’ll eat that shit up for sure.”

Todoroki nodded and went to survey the different fonts. They were displayed on a small tablet that was connected to the large flat screen hanging above them. He scrolled through hundreds of fonts, double-tapping them to place a star next to his favorites.

“I like this one. Or, wait, this one is nice. This one is sort of manly though.” Once again, Todoroki was overwhelmed with choices and in need of some guidance.

Bakugo nudged the boy over so he could have complete control over the tablet. “What about this one?”

Todoroki tilted his head up to see a font he must have missed: big block letters that looked like they were aggressively painted with bold strokes. He smiled the same brilliant smile that he flashed at the salesgirl and skater man. “I think it’s perfect.”

The pair returned to the counter and to the whistling man who was sorting t-shirts into their respective piles. He noticed they were coming back over, so he quickly folded the last shirt before turning around to face the register.

“Okay, sir, I think we have finally decided.” Todoroki recited the codes back to the man as he punched them into the tablet.

“Very cool choices, give me a few seconds for a rough sketch that you can review before OK-ing it.” He grabbed a stylus from a tin nestled in the corner and started to draw random lines. At least, they looked pretty random to the two. They were shocked at the final design.

With slight direction and input from the boys, the man had created the coolest design either of them had ever seen. They told him about the gears on Kirishima’s costume and he incorporated them on the sides of the wording. He also added flecks of white like Todoroki had previously suggested to Bakugo before when they were picking out colors, as well as other patterns and highlights.

The man tilted the tablet towards the students. “Do you like it? If not, I have another idea.”

“Wow, yeah, that’s amazing,” Bakugo uttered.

Todoroki was just as shell-shocked as the former. “That’s perfect. Thank you so much.” He handed the credit card to the man.

“I just need to warn you that it’s not cheap. It’s about 8,000 yen for that design.” He expected the boy to retract his card, but he kept his arm sticking out.

“Oh, that’s fine. Thanks, I appreciate it.”

The artist took the card from him and looked at the name on the back: Enji Todoroki. So that’s where all this money came from.

He swiped the card and handed it back to the boy, along with the receipt. “If you leave the shoes here, then you can collect them in about a week. Just call ahead and we will get them ready for easy pickup.”

Todoroki frowned. “Oh, I thought you were going to do it right now since you were so fast with the sketch.”

Bakugo rolled his eyes at the ignorant behavior, but the man just laughed. “That’s flattering if you think I could do that all on the shoe itself, but we send them, along with this sketch, to a professional place.”

Todoroki nodded in understanding and placed the shoes on the counter. “Okay, thank you. I will call you in a week.”

“No problem, see you then.” He wished them luck on the rest of their shopping as they left the store. Maybe Skater Guy wasn’t so bad, Bakugo thought, he was a really talented artist and didn’t even snap at Todoroki once.

They were met with loud holiday music and warm air once they entered the main part of the mall and walked toward the directory. The onslaught of frenetic shoppers barrelled past without a second thought and would have dragged Todoroki away if not for Bakugo grabbing onto his arm at the last second.

“Fucking finally. Now what the hell do I buy?” sighed Bakugo as he scanned the section labeled “Women’s Clothing.” If all else failed, he would just buy her a scarf or something.

Bakugo never wanted to be a part of the gift exchange in the first place. It took days of Deku hounding him, Kirishima begging him, and Sero straight-up bullying him to get him to put his name in the hat.

He knew he shouldn’t have succumbed to the peer pressure when Iida came to his desk and told him that he would have to give a gift to Momo. The Yaoyorozu Momo, Quirk: Creation; aka, she could create literally anything she wanted to, so why the fuck did Bakugo have to buy her something?

Unfortunately for him, Momo was really looking forward to the Secret Santa. She couldn’t help but gush about it to her girlfriend Jirou, who would do anything to make sure Momo had a wonderful Christmas, even if that meant harassing a certain spiky blonde gremlin.

Bakugo wasn’t scared of her, no, not at all. Just like how he was not somewhat fearful of Sero, the only person Bakugo had ever met who was immune to his snarky comments and mean words.

After pressuring Iida enough to force him to reveal Momo’s gift-giver, Jirou came over and threatened Bakugo, hissing and engaging in an arguing match with him. It ended with Bakugo promising that he would give her a nice gift. Deku was amazed at Jirou’s success.

That’s how he ended up here, at the mall, with the one and only infuriating Todoroki Shoto by his side.

“I don’t know,” Todoroki frowned, scanning the directory to find a suitable store.

“You, what?” Bakugo must have heard him wrong. He must have heard him wrong because if not, then what was he even doing here?

“I don’t know what to get Momo.”

“Are you fucking serious? I literally agreed to meet you here because you said you could help me. I just hauled my ass around this stupid mall trying to help you get a good gift, and in return, you tell me you don’t know what to get her? I cannot believe-”

Todoroki turned and walked away. He learned that’s what you are supposed to do from Midoriya’s guide he passed out to the class named Dealing with Bakugo Katsuki 101. There was a section that Midoriya entitled “Feral Bakugo.” This must have been what he meant.

Method #1: Just walk away.

Bakugo chased after him. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Half-and-Half Bastard? Don’t walk away from me when I’m fucking talking to you, you son of a-”

Mothers covered their children’s ears and glared at the blonde because of his open profanity. People walked around him, wanting to avoid the shit that was inevitable about to go down.

Todoroki sighed. He would have to move on to method two. He turned around and stared at Bakugo with a blank look on his face.

Method #2: Stare at him to make him uncomfortable or confused.

“Okay, what the shit? You’re kind of creeping me out.” Bakugo stopped growling and being an overall barbarian in public. Mission: accomplished.

Todoroki was about to speak when something caught his eye in the display case behind him. He walked past Bakugo to see what was sparkling.

Bakugo turned around as the boy ignored him. “What the hell are you looking at now?” he snarled, still angry that Todoroki was ignoring him.

Todoroki pressed his face up to the glass, close enough that his breath fogged the display case. “Do you think Momo will like these?”

Cute glass figurines sat on a bed of cotton strewn about to look like fake snow. Glitter was sprinkled along the shelf and vinyl clings of snowflakes were stuck to the window. Wooden carvings rested near the glass characters, along with other useless knick-knacks and baubles. Bakugo found the whole display tacky, but Todoroki seemed to be enchanted by it.

“Let’s look at them more closely.” Todoroki grabbed Bakugo’s hand and pulled him into the store, seeming to forget about his so-called “feral behavior” three seconds ago.

The store had the exact opposite vibe as the customization one. It looked to be a novelty gift store. It was totally decked out in Christmas decorations, with lights hanging everywhere and Christmas music blaring loudly.

Todoroki immediately found the glass figurines in a box. He handed it to Bakugo for closer inspection, cold hand briefly brushing against the warmer one.

“She can just make these herself. They’re just pure glass anyway.”

“Sure she can, but it’s the thought that counts. Also, I don’t think she would ever think to make them.” Momo would never use her quirk in such a self-indulgent way. The only time she ever manifested items was when it was for others.

He had a point. “You’re right,” Bakugo conceded, flipping the box over to see the price. 5,500 yen, ouch. “But it’s still over the price range.”

“She won’t know though.”

Once again, he had a point. Momo had never been good at guessing the price of an object, probably because she never had to pay attention to it. Unlike Kirishima who would be able to tell just how expensive his customized shoes were, Momo might not even think to consider the price.

At the end of the day, Bakugo had to admit that Todoroki was pretty good at this gift-giving thing, but he wouldn't be caught dead ever saying that aloud.

Bakugo agreed to buy the figures, satisfying the other boy. The cashier easily rang up the figurines and they were out of the store in ten minutes.

Now that both presents had been bought, Bakugo was in a much better mood. The anxiety that came with the possibility of Jirou murdering him in his sleep dissipated once he finally purchased the gift.

“Why did your present take so much longer?” Bakugo teased.

Todoroki shrugged. “I’m not sure. They usually say it’s harder to shop for girls, right?”

Todoroki clearly did not understand the jab.

Bakugo cleared his throat. “Right. Anyways, are you ready to go? I have to go buy a present for my mom, but you can leave. I won’t keep you hostage.”

“Oh, alright. Goodbye.” Todoroki nodded once, turned on his heel, and walked away.

Bakugo watched him walk away before sighing to himself. Now came was the hard part. What would Todoroki Shoto want for a Christmas present?

Todoroki walked towards the exit, peeking over his shoulder every couple of minutes to see if the blonde boy had left. Once Bakugo had walked away from the gift store, Todoroki turned around and weaved his way back through the crowd.

While Bakugo was scrutinizing the glass figures, Todoroki saw a small potted cactus he thought the blonde would really like. It didn’t require too much attention and was very prickly; Bakugo was one of these two things. It was only a small present, and despite the number of times that he tried to deny it, Bakugo was indeed Todoroki’s friend.

He double-checked his surroundings to make sure Bakugo had truly left before walking into the store.

“Back again, honey?” The old woman who helped check out Bakugo was still sitting at the counter.

“Yes, I am buying a present for my friend.”

She smiled and went back to looking at her magazine.

Todoroki turned around to find the succulent, which was actually a Christmas cactus. How fitting. He picked it up and inspected it similarly to how Bakugo inspected Momo’s present. Looking at it, it didn’t strike him in the same way as it did earlier. Bakugo wouldn’t hate it, but he wouldn't love it either. After a few months, he would just think it was a nuisance and kill it.

He set it back down and looked around the store again. Now that he didn’t have to be secretive about what he was doing, it was much easier to clearly check out all the products. Still, nothing was standing out to him as a great gift, so he waved goodbye to the nice lady and went on his way in search of the perfect present for Bakugo Katsuki.

Bakugo had no clue where to even start.

Clothes were always the go-to present, so he might as well start there. Maybe some great idea would strike him from above while he wandered aimlessly.

He ended up in a punk-goth-emo type section. “How the fuck did I…”

Skulls and chains in a sea of black surrounded him as he tried to find an escape. This must be where his mother bought his clothes as a child.

He found the small hallway that he must have walked through to get to this terrifyingly bleak place. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes to find a half-red half-white haired boy standing about thirty feet away.

I thought he was the only one who looked like that. Unless… Todoroki Shoto has fanboys? It wasn’t completely out of the question. A lot of 1-A students garnered fans ever since the Sports Festival.

The possible fanboy turned his head.

Oh shit, never mind that was literally Todoroki.

Bakugo didn’t want to turn around and get lost in the endless maze of black again, but he couldn’t stay in this brightly lit hallway.

Instead, he darted down the hallway as fast as humanly possible and dove behind a clothing rack. It rattled softly, but Todoroki didn’t notice. Bakugo released a sigh. He clearly wasn’t going to find anything worthwhile here, so he made it his main priority to get the hell out of here before he was spotted.

Every few seconds, he bolted from rack to rack, making sure that Mr. Candy Cane never saw him. Todoroki never seemed to notice as he went around the store picking out clothes and feeling different materials.

God bless Bakugo’s amazing espionage skills, or he would’ve had a large problem on his hands if he had to explain why he was shopping for his mother in the goth section.

Todoroki was still having no luck.

Nothing caught his eye in the ginormous clothing store. A few times, a metal rack would shake and Todoroki would go check the mysterious noise out. The first time it happened, he considered it a sign from the gift-giving gods that purposely lured him over. That was until he discovered it was filled with tasteless vests and button-ups that no one should ever wear, not even as a form of punishment.

He knew Bakugo would not have the patience for any puzzles. He also doubted Bakugo would appreciate the simplicity of children’s toys, so he was out of ideas.

Todorki flitted around the entire mall, going from store to store as he combed through the thousands of gifts. The last few stores were a shoe store, a bookstore, and a jewelry store.

If nothing else worked, Todoroki would just buy him a book. He was pretty sure Bakugo liked reading, and lots of books existed, which meant his odds of getting a book that his friend hadn’t read before were pretty good.

He left that as his last resort and instead entered the jewelry store. Thousands of sparkling crystals blinded him and he almost walked right out. But no, he would press on until he found the perfect gift.

He knew Bakugo wouldn’t like anything too sparkly. His brazen personality was more than enough to gather people’s attention.

Eventually, Todoroki found himself in a section filled with bracelets and rings that weren’t outfitted with diamonds. They were mostly leather or solid metal.

He sifted through the suggestions, spinning the little carousels around when an orange bead caught his eye. He pulled it off the hook. It was a simple bracelet with metallic black and orange beads. The colors reminded Todoroki of Bakugo’s hero costume.

He slipped it on his own wrist and found that it was slightly elastic. It wouldn’t fall off, but it wouldn’t get stuck, meaning it would be perfect to wear during class or meals or combat training. Todoroki wholeheartedly believed Bakugo would appreciate the versatility.

He took it off and went over to the nearest register. There was one person in front of him, so he just got in line and looked at his phone.

Despite Todoroki sending no responses to Midoriya, he still texted him with screenshots of his game. There were over a hundred messages now. He must have been very excited.

The man working at the counter called “next,” so Todoroki put his phone back in his pocket, making a mental note to look at them later.

He gave the bracelet to the man, and the man scanned it and placed it in a fancy silver box lined with black velvet. He grabbed a small plastic bag and slipped the box in, along with a receipt. He wished Todoroki a nice day and the boy replied with a small “thank you” before grabbing the bag and walking out of the store.

He peered down at the box. It was the first present he had ever bought by himself, and he was strangely proud.

He was almost at the exit when he looked up to find Bakugo in front of him with a startled look on his face.

Bakugo spoke first. “I thought you left.” He eyed the taller boy with curiosity.

Todoroki’s eyes widened once he realized the situation. Bakugo couldn’t know he bought him a surprise gift. It wouldn't be a surprise then.

“Oh, um well, I planned to. But then I, uh, I saw this store, and I was like my cat would really like this…” he trailed off.

“Your cat?”

“Y-yeah, you know. My cat, uh, he likes to, to wear fancy jewelry sometimes. You know, like, to dress up for fun.”

Rich people were so fucking weird. “What are you saying-”

Todoroki scratched his head and nervously laughed. “Okay, bye!” He flew out of the store clutching the small bag.

There was no way he was buying something for his cat.

No fucking way.

He must have been buying something for his mother or his sister. He couldn’t understand why Todoroki would be so flustered over something like that but to each their own.

He looked around the store. It was his last-ditch effort to find something that suited Todoroki. His classmate had quite the eye for stupid, useless things, and jewelry seemed to fit the description well enough.

A young woman came up to him. “Hello, sir, do you need help finding something?”

Not another saleswoman, please no. He couldn’t take any more. At least this one had a normal voice and a non-murderous look in her eye.

The humidity in the building had messed up his hair and all their hustling had made him start to sweat. He wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans, just itching to blow something up. He must have looked terribly disheveled because the woman asked if he was okay.

He wanted to snap at her until he remembered that a place like this demanded civility. Very unfortunate. Instead, he tried answering her in the most docile way possible. Maybe she would actually be of some use. “Yes, I’m fine. I’m just having difficulty in finding a present.”

“Understandable! I can help you if you would like?” The saleswoman's happy, airy tone returned once he assured her that he was okay.

“Oh, actually yes. Yes please, thank you. Do you have anything a teenage boy would like? Something cool, but still elegant in a way?”

“Oh, do you have a boyfriend you are shopping for?” she inquired, leading him to a specific area of the store.

“What? No!” he snapped.

A blush may or may not have graced his cheeks when he thought about Todoroki opening his present.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that. We have a collection over here though if you would be interested.” She could tell he was lying, either to her or himself. No straight, teenage male would be found dead in a jewelry store buying a present for his male friend. The red cheeks were also a dead giveaway.

“Yes, sorry. It’s just been a tiring day.” Bakugo didn’t mean to bark at the lady who was just trying to help him; it was just second nature at this point.

“I’m sure it has. Gift shopping can be hard, but that’s why I’m here.”

They made small talk while she showed off many different pieces. Various features and product advantages flew over his head as he tried to picture each bracelet on Todoroki’s wrist. He eventually settled on a leather cuff with a large metal adornment.

“If you want to fill that metal box with an engravement, that’s included if you buy it.”

Todoroki would definitely like this. His gut told him so, and it was never wrong.

“Okay, cool. I’ll get it engraved.”

They walked over to the engraving station in the corner of the shop. The woman unclasped the bracelet, placing the cuff flat on the table, and turned towards Bakugo. “What would you like it to say?”

“Oh, can I have a second?”

The woman nodded and smiled, but her eyes anxiously traveled from customer to customer.

The holiday season was always a great time for her paycheck, but she couldn’t really keep up with commissions if she was stuck helping the same customer. Children like him usually bought the first thing they saw, which is why she started with the most expensive items first. The fact that he took so long only further convinced her that he was shopping for a special someone.

Bakugo crossed his arms. He can’t fuck it up now. He’s spent hours in this dreadful building to find the perfect gift. Now it was in his grasp, and he could make it even more perfect if he thought of the right thing to write on it.

“You can always engrave it later, but I would recommend something like-”

“I got it! Put Katsuki on it in Kanji.”

The lady smiled at the blonde, ready for this exchange to be over so she could go help someone else. “Is that his name?”

“No, it’s mine.”

The woman gave him a strange look. “Sir, do you really-”

“You heard me, lady,” he growled. He was about to explode, literally and metaphorically. It had been hours since he last felt something explode beneath him, and he just wanted to feel the satisfying recoil when he used his quirk.

She scowled at him but did what he said. At the end of the day, he was just another customer that would fill her pockets.

She quickly rang him up and placed it in a box. Bakugo was slightly shocked at the price, but he couldn’t back out now. Also, it was engraved so there was no returning it. Also, he was very confident that Todoroki would really like it.

Bakugo walked out of the store after muttering thanks. His energy and wallet were exhausted and he was ready to go home.

He headed towards the exit when another store caught his eye.

One more stop couldn’t hurt.

Everyone was gathered in the common room on the first floor of their dorm building. The Christmas tree’s lights illuminated the room and all of the students were curled up near the fireplace. They had enjoyed a large dinner beforehand, munching on cookies and sipping on milk afterward.

Todoroki and Bakugo ended up sitting next to each other on the floor as they eagerly waited for Kirishima and Momo to open their presents.

Kirishima’s name was called next, and he searched for his package. Todoroki had wrapped it with red wrapping paper covered in cartoon ornaments and tied a large gold bow on top.

Kirishima grabbed the box and crawled back to his seat next to Denki. He shook it loudly and held his ear up to it. Denki rolled his eyes and told him just to open it. Kirishima elbowed the blonde before tearing open the paper. He lifted the lid to find the shoes Todoroki had customized for him.

“Holy shit! These are the coolest things I’ve ever seen!” He pulled them out of the tissue they were nestled in and held them up for the rest of the class to see. Everyone oohed and ahhed, stunned to see the fantastic gift.

“Your gift giver must have been Momo or Todoroki!” Mina noted as she wrote that down on her notes. She was trying to figure out who everyone’s Secret Santa was with Uraraka’s help.

“It doesn’t matter who it was, they’re so awesome. Thank you!” He grinned his little shark smile and stuffed them back into the box.

Todoroki side-eyed Bakugo and discreetly high fived him.

A few more people opened presents until Momo’s turn came around. Mina got hot pink roller skates, Shouji got a six-armed knit sweater, and Sato got a few new kitchen knives.

Momo grabbed her box, a smallish one wrapped in pink wrapping paper with baby pink stripes on it. Thankfully, she did not shake it like Kirishima or Bakugo would have to riot.

She gently tore the wrapping paper off and opened the brown box. The brown paper crinkled as she pulled the wrapped figurines out. Untying the strings, the paper opened to reveal three crystal animals that sparkled in the multicolored light.

“Thank you, whoever! They are very pretty,” she smiled at the whole room. Jirou curled into her girlfriend’s side, flipping the figurines over in her hand to look at them.

Uraraka muttered to Mina, “I have no clue…” Mina reluctantly placed a question mark next to Momo’s name.

Bakugo smirked to himself. There was no way in hell he would let himself be discovered.

The rest of the class opened their presents, and overall, everyone was very happy. People munched on desserts, drank hot cocoa, and talked and laughed with each other. Per Kirishima’s request, Bakugo had even power napped before the event so he wouldn’t have to leave early.

By the time midnight rolled around, almost everyone was gone. Almost everyone, meaning everyone except Todoroki and Bakugo.

Bakugo had brought the bracelet with him and hid it in his sweatshirt the entire night. No opportunity had presented itself, but then again, no one would just give you an opportunity. You just had to steal it for yourself.

Bakugo watched Todoroki’s figure as he fluffed all the pillows and folded the blankets.

The blonde almost spoke several times but hesitated each time. No, he was not chickening out. It just wasn’t the right time.

“Um, Bakugo,” Todoroki started. “I got you a present. I saw it and thought of you.”

Bakugo turned around to find a box that looked strikingly similar to the one in his pocket. He untied the ribbon and opened the lid. A bracelet with orange and black beads.

“It reminded me of your hero costume. The black and orange,” Todoroki admitted, abashed.

Bakugo slipped it on. It was very nice, stretchy, and easy to take on and off. He looked up at his classmate.

Todoroki’s heterochromatic eyes stared into his eyes, trying to gauge the blonde boy’s reaction.

Fuck, was he always this pretty? Bakugo wondered, his heart possibly skipping a beat.

“Bakugo?” Todoroki cocked his head to the left, white hair falling in his eyes.

Bakugo was suddenly very aware of how close the other boy had gotten.

“Yeah?” he breathed out, distracted by the mint scent that surrounded the two of them.

“Do you like it?” Todoroki shifted closer, inspecting the bracelet and how it looked on the blonde’s wrist. He picked up the smaller boy’s arm and turned it over in his hands, watching the light bounce off the wooden beads.

“Oh, yeah I do. I do,” Bakugo managed to stutter out. The alternating warm and cold touch sent jolts up his arm and through his body.

Todoroki smiled, dropping his arm to look at Bakugo who had a light blush on his cheeks. It was very cute according to Todoroki.

Bakugo had to sympathize with the salesgirl now. It really was a killer smile that he possessed.

Oh right, he almost forgot. He got too swept up in… everything. “I have a gift for you too. For helping me with Momo’s present and stuff.”

He tore his eyes away from the boy to go find the box he hid in his coat earlier. The bow got slightly crushed, so he tried fixing it as best as he could before turning it around to hand it to Todoroki.

He unwrapped the bow and pulled out a leather cuff with some sort of engraving. “Oh, wow, Bakugo, this is really nice.” He turned it over to read the engraving. “Wait, why does it say your name?”

“Kacchan, you did not just give Todoroki a bracelet with your name on it.”

Bakugo’s face went red at the sudden intrusion. “Shut the fuck up, Deku,” he growled. “Why are you even here?”

“Oh, I was trying to find Aizawa to give him this sweater for his cat. Also, I had colored pencils and a coloring book for Eri, but I couldn’t find them. I thought they might have come here but I guess not. I will take my leave now, so have fun you two!” He hopped off the couch and disappeared around the corner.

Todoroki and Bakugo stared at his retreating figure.

Todoroki poked the blonde. “So why is your name on it?”

“So you’ll always remember who gave it to you!”

“Oh.” Todoroki didn’t know how to feel about that. On one hand, it was kind of cute. On the other hand, it really just wasn’t.

Bakugo’s heart fell at the lackluster answer. “If you don’t like it, I can just take it back or something.” He definitely could not take it back.

“No, I love it.” He slipped it on his wrist and admired it.

Todoroki could stare at the bracelet all day and Bakugo could stare at him all day, but there was something else Bakugo wanted to give. “Uh, Todoroki, I also got you something else.”

Todoroki looked up with inquisitive eyes, folding his hands in his lap.

Bakugo stood up and grabbed Todoroki’s present that he had hidden under a pillow all night.

“I remember you said you never had one as a kid, and it seemed like you really wanted it.” He threw the teddy bear into the other boy’s arms while he trudged back over to their spot in the middle of the room near the fire.

Todoroki easily caught it and looked down to find the teddy bear he wanted from Build-A-Bear that day they went shopping together. He hugged it to his chest and found that it was soft. (It really wasn’t.)

Bakugo melted a bit at the sight as he smiled fondly at the boy. He was so innocent sometimes.

“Thank you,” he whispered, looking up at Bakugo.

“You’re welcome,” Bakugo whispered back.

All of a sudden a paper plane hit Bakugo on the side of his head, shattering the sweet atmosphere.

He growled and looked around for the culprit, but no one was there. Dammit. Grabbing the paper in his hand, he angrily snapped it open to find a message written in very familiar handwriting on it.

“Just kiss already <3”

Deku was about to get a fucking mouthful.

"And that is how you fly a paper airplane, Eri!” Midoriya smiled at the little girl.

He watched his friends around the corner, Bakugo growling over the paper airplane and Todoroki trying to read what it said while he held his new stuffed animal to his chest.

They would be just fine. More than fine. They would be happy. And that’s all Midoriya could ever ask for.

#elliewrites #fluff #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #bnha #mha #todoroki shoto #bakugo katsuki #todoroki x bakugo #todobaku #tdbk #bnha oneshot

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chilling-seavey · 3 years

Text

Heartbreak Hotel (d.s.) - Chapter Six

A/N I gotta get back in the game with this one! Wear My Ring Around Your Neck by Elvis came on shuffle and it inspired me back into this universe...

“You’re right.”

“Aren’t I always?” Jack smirked, watching Daniel sit down at the counter in the diner the next day with a nervous huff as he was busy polishing the cutlery and folding them into napkins.

“What’s he right about?” Zach asked.

“That I need to talk to that girl.”

“What about the guy that was with her?” Zach reminded him as if Daniel had forgotten, “He looked like he could give you a good knuckle sandwich if you looked at him the wrong way. I wouldn’t get involved.”

“I know. But he works at the car shop with me and he’s such a…such a…loser.”

“A loser?” Jack and Zach exchanged unbelieving glances before looking back to their best friend.

“Okay, well not a loser necessarily but he’s so passive about everything and an absolute jerk and I know he doesn’t treat her right. They literally cannot be soulmates if they’re that different. I don’t believe it.” Daniel explained quickly.

“Daniel.” Zach sighed lightly, tapping his fingers nervously against the countertop as he stared into space in thought. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not? What do I have to lose?” Daniel argued.

“Your face?” Zach retorted strongly.

Jack scoffed, setting the last cutlery roll to the side and he crossed his arms over his chest, “It’s not illegal to talk to someone. You can just casually spark up a conversation with her next time you see her and get to know her a bit and see where she stands with this boyfriend of hers.”

“Exactly!” Daniel agreed with a sigh, thankful for not feeling like he was on his own.

“But don’t go getting your hopes up.” Jack continued. “Because I have had my fair share of heartbreak sweep-up with three sisters, I don’t need to add you to the mix.”

Jack picked up the plastic bin of cutlery and walked off to set the vacant tables in preparation for new customers to be sat. The music from the jukebox played quietly through the diner and Daniel and Zach watched him for a few moments before looking back to each other as if wondering what they were supposed to do next.

“So what’s your plan?” Zach finally asked.

“I’m going to buy her fries or something when she comes in.” Daniel looked up at the menu on the boards above the counter. “I need proof that she’s my soulmate.”

“Stop jumping to the extremes, Daniel. Just talk to her first.” Zach rolled his eyes.

“Zach, I can feel it.” Daniel said seriously, staring right at his best friend. “I don’t know what I feel but I can feel it.”

“You’re goddamn delusional.” Zach shook his head.

“No, you may be onto something.” Jack said as he came back behind the front bar with the now empty bin. He tucked it under the counter. “Your soulmate is technically a biological part of you so it’s obvious that you may feel differently when around them.”

“You’re not seriously on his side about this ridiculousness!” Zach gaped.

“I mean, I don’t know,” Jack bit back a smirk, “I kinda wanna see Daniel get humiliated if nothing else.”

“Oh boy.” Daniel rolled his eyes at his friends.

As if on queue, the bell above the door rang and all three guys swung around to see the girl of the hour walking inside. She pulled her sunglasses off and tucked them in her bag on her arm before making her way over to the same seat at the end of the counter she was at the other day.

Jack gave Zach a shove over to her to take her order and the youngest friend cleared his throat and approached her.

“What can I get you?”

“Just a strawberry shake please.” she answered with a small smile.

Zach turned to make the order and sent Jack and Daniel a wide-eyed glare as if to get them to do something. Daniel then glared at Jack expectantly who looked back at him as if to say ‘what do you expect me to do’ and Daniel pointed up to the menu.

“Oh my God, Daniel. Use your words.” Jack whispered sharply, leaning over the counter so he could hear him.

“Send her a plate of fries, on me.” Daniel asked softly.

Jack only shook his head in disbelief and turned to the kitchen window. Seconds later, a plate of fries emerged and Daniel watched Jack walk coolly down to the other end of the counter with it. Zach turned to watch too, as if Jack and this plate of fries was the most interesting thing to grace the surface of the earth.

Jack set the plate in front of the girl and she glanced up at him in surprise. Jack sent her a small smile, “These are from my friend down there.”

She followed Jack’s finger to where he was pointing towards Daniel and Daniel flushed pink as he eyes landed on him, only managing to offer a half wave and a weird smile that even had Zach scoffing.

The girl looked back to Jack with a polite smile and pushed the plate back towards him, “No thank you.”

Jack nodded stiffly and took the plate back to Daniel, nearly tossing it in front of him with a clatter, “No luck with the fries. Now can you go talk to her like a normal human instead of trying to get an answer out of her taste buds?”

Daniel nodded, not giving himself a chance to think twice as he popped a fry in his mouth and then jumped up from the stool to make his way down towards her. He hesitated a moment as he approached her, staring at her light brown curls and nearly porcelain face dotted in soft freckles he never noticed before, her lashes falling against her rouged cheeks with each blink as if she moved in slow motion. When she looked up at him with bright green eyes, Daniel nearly forgot how to speak.

“H-Hi.” he sat himself down messily on the stood beside her, staring at her like he never wanted to look away.

“Hello.” she pulled a tight smile in his direction before looking back to her magazine.

Daniel looked back towards his friends. Jack gave him a thumbs up and Zach was staring at him by the milkshake machine, the light pink ice cream overflowing from the glass cup but he was too focused on Daniel to even notice.

Daniel looked back towards the girl and cleared his throat nervously, “May I join you?”

She glanced back at him and he shifted under her stare as she eyed him up and down for a moment, “I’m sorry, I have to go meet my boyfriend.”

Daniel clenched his jaw to keep from eternally cringing at her dry response and she turned to Zach behind the counter. She furrowed her eyebrows a moment when she saw the ice cream nearly running down his arm as he stared at them.

“May I have my milkshake to go please?” she asked politely.

Zach didn’t move. Jack elbowed him back to reality.

“Oh. Yeah.” Zach nodded and tossed the ruined glass into the dish bin before going to wash his hands and make her a new one to go.

Daniel kept his embarrassed stare on the countertop, wanting to disappear into the speckled surface with everything in him. The few seconds it took Zach to remake her a milkshake seemed torturous but finally he passed her the disposable cup topped with a messy swirl of whipped cream and a cherry and a white and pink striped straw. She thanked him softly and took out her wallet to fish out the payment. Daniel glanced at her again out of the corner of his eye, catching the glint of light that reflected off a silver ring hanging on a chain around her neck and seconds later she was turning and walking for the door.

Just as Daniel flopped face first onto the countertop with an embarrassed groan, she raised the straw to her red painted lips on her way out the door and he was hit with the familiar taste of strawberry milkshakes and whipped cream.

#🍓#daniel seavey #jack avery #zach herron #why dont we #why dont we music #soulmate au #soulmate!wdw #wdw #limelight #why dont we fanfic

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prongsies · 4 years

Text

Star-Crossed ⁕ Chapter 1

←Prologue | Master list

Mornings in The Burrow were something Thalia had always been used to – having spent majority of her summer holidays with the Weasley Family. However, used to it as she may be, her love for said mornings never falters. By 7AM she could hear Molly Weasley shuffling down the stairs, probably to start making breakfast for her largely-male-populated household.

Thalia, having just stretched to wake herself further, rose from the extra mattress they had laid on the floor, to exit the room and offer her services to Molly, whom she thought could use an extra pair of hands preparing breakfast.

“You can make the orange juice, dear” Molly suggested, gesturing towards the dining table where half a dozen oranges were placed neatly in a bowl beside a glass pitcher. She followed instantly, joyous that she was given a chance to help around the house on her visit.

She was squeezing the last orange when Fred and George stumbled into the dining room, hair sticking out in different directions with dark bags settling under their eyes due to the lack of sleep. They greeted their mother with a sleepy good morning as Fred sauntered beside Thalia to peck her cheek, a smile on his lips as he claimed the seat beside his brother.

“You’re up early” Thalia commented as she collected the remnants of the orange in her hands, tossing it into the garbage bin before running her hands under the faucet to wash it.

Fred looked up from his toast, ”Couldn’t sleep”

“Neither can we” Molly interjected with a scowl, ”with all the racket you two were causing. I’m surprised Thalia could sleep with all the noise”

“Pretty sure she’s used to it, mum” Fred answered sleepily, not really giving his full attention to the conversation.

“Or she’s gotten deaf” Added George, who was more invested into teasing his mother. Molly sent him a warning glare which shut him up instantaneously, but a smirk remained on his face as he winked at Thalia who was biting back a laugh.

“What do you boys have planned to wake up this early anyway?” Thalia asked, sealing the pitcher of orange juice she’s finished making. With a flick of her wand, she had it pour juice into George’s glass, then Fred’s, before setting it back down onto the table.

“Wanted to play Quidditch for a bit” Fred replied with a shrug.

“Heard Hufflepuff's gonna be tough competition this year-” added George.

“-Wanted to be prepared for what’s coming”

“I mean, as long as you get the bludger out of my way, we’re good” Joked Thalia as she pulled a chair to have her share of breakfast as well. ”I would’ve scored our winning goal against them if you lot just kept your eyes on the bludger”

“Fred here was a bit preoccupied that time, weren’t you Freddie?” Teased George, elbowing his brother’s side who simply rolled his eyes.

“Preoccupied at being a better beater than you, more like”

Thalia shared a laugh with Fred, reaching across the table to high-five him. George huffed in his seat before redirecting his attention to Ron, who tripped over a loose floorboard on his way to join them.

˚✧₊⁎⁺˳✧༚

“Watch where you’re going, Ronald!” warned Thalia with a squeal as Ron nearly collided with a tree in the attempt of catching the raggedy Quaffle Fred had thrown in his direction. The four were split into teams of two, with the twins separated, since Thalia feared their “telepathic communication” was too much of an advantage for them. They didn’t have a snitch or anything that fancy to actually play, they mostly just threw the ball around, trying to get it between the two trees opposing the garden, which served as their hoop.

Since Ron had failed to catch the Quaffle, Thalia was quick to dive down to retrieve it when Fred zoomed in in front of her, snatching it from the ground before she could. She rolled her eyes, show-off, before matching his speed, bumping into his shoulder teasingly.

“You’re too soft, Freddie – for a beater, that is” Thalia taunted, still bumping Fred’s shoulders to try and at least loosen the grip he had on his Quaffle.

“I don’t want to be too rough for you, sweetheart” Fred retorted, smirking at Thalia as her face turned a light shade of pink. She quickly composed herself, though, too quick that Fred didn’t even get the chance to make sure if Thalia did blush at his bold statement.

“You forget, Freddie” a twinkle played in her eyes as she stared back at Fred, who had started to slow down, enjoying the conversation too much. She leaned to whisper in his ear, suggestively “I like it rough”

Thalia pulled back before bumping into Fred again, harder – the way she would at an actual game - smiling when the Quaffle finally fell from his grasp. She zoomed down to catch it before Fred could make a move, gripping it into her chest as she flew past Ron, tossing the ball to George who easily scored it into Ron and Fred’s hoop.

“That’s cheating!” Fred shouted, flying towards Thalia who had already landed gracefully on the ground, motioning at George that she’d go inside.

“Not in my books,” Thalia responded, sticking her tongue out at him before sprinting back into the house with a laugh as Fred landed roughly on the floor, sprinting behind Thalia, leaving Ron and George still in the air.

When lunch time neared, Thalia offered to take the responsibility of cooking off Molly’s shoulders, even for just one meal. At first, the older woman seemed hesitant, not wanting to burden Thalia with cooking for such a big family. But Thalia insisted that she wanted to do it – that it was the least she could do for them since they’ve taken her in for the remainder of their summer holidays. So Molly agreed, smiling as she left Thalia fully responsible for the kitchen as she napped in their room upstairs.

Thalia prepared lasagna, more than enough to have leftovers on the table for anyone who wishes to have another bite. With Fred and George’s help, they set the table for everyone in the house, before calling for everyone to join them for lunch.

“Merlin, that was amazing, Lia!” exclaimed Ron as he collapsed onto one of the living room armchairs, a hand resting on his stomach as he closed his eyes.

They’ve just finished lunch, and Molly offered to just use magic to clean the dishes. She left to go outside in the garden, wanting to plant some seeds she had bought in Diagon Alley the last time she was there.

“It really was” Ginny echoed, collapsing onto the floor beside George who was already starting to drift off to sleep.

Fred, who sat beside Thalia on a loveseat, hummed in agreement as he swung an arm over Thalia’s waist, pulling her towards him in an embrace. “You smell like lasagna”

“Fred!” Thalia exclaimed, hitting his arm while he laughed on her shoulder, muffled by her sweater. She rolled her eyes at the boy, waiting for his laughter to die down. She sat there for a few minutes, waiting for Fred to continue teasing her. When none came, she looked down, surprised that he had already drifted off to sleep as well.

“I wasn’t informed we were having a slumber party in the living room” A voice joined them a few minutes later. Thalia, who had been reading a book Percy had left in the living room before leaving to go to the Ministry earlier in the day, looked up to see Charlie Weasley brandishing a smile as he looked at his siblings all peacefully sleeping in the living room.

“Hey, Charlie! I’m afraid they’re suffering from a bad case of food coma” Thalia explained, keeping her voice quiet as she peeled Fred’s arm away from her waist so she could stand up. Fred whined in protest when she left, patting the empty space beside him to look for her. When he realized she wasn’t in arm’s length, he returned to his peaceful slumber. “How’s Romania?”

“Pretty good” Charlie replied with a shrug, before opening his arms to accept the hug Thalia pulled him into. They returned to the sofa shortly after pulling away, with Fred immediately reattaching himself onto Thalia the moment he felt her presence.

Charlie looked at his brother in amusement, “Hey, before I forget!” He perked up, reaching into the inner pocket of his coat, “You remember Norbert, right? The dragon you helped Hagrid with?”

“Yeah” Thalia replied with a smile, remembering the baby dragon she had cradled in her arms around three years ago, when she snuck Harry, Ron, and Hermione to the Astronomy Tower in the middle of the night, just so they could save the life of the little Norwegian Ridgeback as it grew bigger by the day.

“Well, it turns out little Norbert is actually a Norberta”

“He’s a she?!” Thalia exclaimed, clapping her hands at the new information. Ginny, who has found comfort on the floor, groaned from the noise.

“And she’s growing a little bit too fast” Charlie said, quieter this time, producing a rather large dragon’s tooth, transformed into a rope necklace, from the pocket, “Her baby teeth have started falling off, snagged this before anyone else could”

“Wouldn’t you need that research?” Thalia asked curiously, accepting the tooth Charlie placed delicately onto her palm.

“One tooth wouldn’t hurt” Charlie shrugged, “Besides, a couple more Norwegian Ridgebacks have started arriving in the sanctuary – we’ll probably end up expecting baby Norbertas in the future too if she finds her mate”

“Really?”

Charlie nodded. His attention turned to his mother who entered the living room with a grin, standing up to have her pull him into her infamous Molly Weasley embrace.

“It's great to see you home!” Molly exclaimed, pulling away. “You look tired, dear. Have you eaten?”

“Not yet, mum” Charlie answered, looking back at Thalia as Molly led him into the dining room “What did you cook for lunch?”

“Oh, Thalia cooked!” Molly winked back at Thalia, “She made lasagna”

“That sounds amazing! I’m feeling pretty famished now just at the thought of it” The two disappeared into the kitchen, catching up on the events they’ve missed while Charlie was away.

Thalia smiled overhearing Molly narrate the time Fred and George managed to cover the entire kitchen with Toffee. She felt Fred pull her against him again, chuckling when he muttered, “I can give you a dragon tooth too, you know” before drifting off to sleep.

Master list | Chapter 2→

#fred weasley #fred weasley imagine #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley imagines #fred weasley x oc #harry potter #harry potter imagine #harry potter x reader #harry potter imagines #harry potter x oc

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kafeuka · 3 years

Text

[1/1] darling, it’s cold outside (we’ll be alright)

Before Jeongguk dies, he wanted to accomplish a lot of things. Most of his goals were unrealistic, things that could only happen in his dreams. He began writing a bucket list, and due to his indecisiveness, the lists were often crumpled and tossed into the bin.

Months ago, Jeongguk decided to keep the list short, simple and attainable.

Weeks ago, Jeongguk decided that he should start crossing off stuff from the list.

Tonight, Jeongguk decided that he would do it all at once.

And along the way, he met a vibrant man with bubblegum hair, clad in his signature black sparkling, glitter jacket.

(or: Jeongguk and Jimin went on a roadtrip to cross off everything on Jeongguk's bucket list)

read on AO3

Fingers picking on the loose thread of his jeans, feet incessantly tapping against the tiled floor, restless round eyes staring intently at the wall clock — one could tell that Jeongguk was feeling nervous and yet his parents paid him no mind.

Aside from the sounds of his parents chewing and cutleries clashing against ceramic bowls, the table was silent. It had been like that since Jeongguk could remember that at this point, it felt more normal than when any of them decided to start a conversation. He barely touched his food, too busy staring at the clock situated on the wall near the empty seat. As they were a family that respected traditions and rules, Junghyun’s seat had been left empty for nearly three years now. Father was always sat facing mother while Jeongguk would face Junghyun, but all he was seeing now was an unoccupied seat and beige-coloured wall.

Jeongguk was shaken from his reverie when he heard mother’s voice from his side. “Why aren’t you eating?”

“Ah...” he dumbly responded before he reached out for the chopsticks and pretended to pick up some radish. “I’ve had a big lunch and continued snacking earlier,” he lied.

Back when he was younger, he was taught that he should not lie. He never liked lying anyway, he hated the feeling of getting caught. These days, however, the lies would just roll out of his tongue rather smoothly; it was as easy as breathing.

He surmised that he was a professional liar as his mother did not question him and instead resumed eating her food.

One of the rules during dinner was to wait for everyone to finish eating before leaving the table and Jeongguk thought this had to be the longest he had ever waited — in fact it was probably even more excruciating than that one day on Thanksgiving. He blamed it on the nerves and the abundance of food his mother decided to cook today. Exhaling quietly, he decided to calm down by stuffing himself with the fried rice. After all, letting himself get too invested in counting the minutes only made the wait even longer.

As soon as both of his parents placed their eating utensils on the table, Jeongguk dashed towards the wet kitchen and abruptly washed the dishes, eager to get away from the suffocating silence.

After he was done, he would go straight to his bed room and stayed there for the remaining of the night. But not tonight. Tonight, Jeongguk had plans to do something else. Tonight, Jeongguk was finally going to do it.

Months ago, Jeongguk decided to keep the list short, simple and attainable.

Weeks ago, Jeongguk decided that he should start crossing off stuff from the list.

Tonight, Jeongguk decided that he would do it all at once.

Nearly everyone in Jeongguk’s group of friends were either the youngest or the middle child. More often than not, they would always complain how they were being treated unfairly because of the hierarchy. As Jeongguk grew older, he was expecting to have only hand-me-downs from Junghyun. After all, it was Junghyun’s crib he slept on and Junghyun’s outfits that he wore for the first few years of his life.

The hand-me-downs stopped when Jeongguk reached sixteen, because there were not any items of Junghyun that could be passed down to him. Wearing Junghyun’s shirts and playing Junghyun’s console brought uneasiness and guilt crawling underneath his skin.

But to cross off the first item on Jeongguk’s bucket list, he would need to borrow Junghyun’s car.

Junghyun’s car was not exactly something that stepped out of Jeongguk’s dream — it was an old 4x4 truck, painted in cherry red, that did not have a working air conditioner. In addition to the unbearable heat, it never failed to make a loud screeching noise whenever the engine was started. The truck was not much, but Jeongguk knew it was a gift from their father that Junghyun treasured the most.

The amount of times he had ridden the truck with Junghyun could be counted with just one hand, and he only enjoyed half the time they spent in the wretched truck.

When the clock struck ten thirty, Jeongguk tiptoed down the stairs and as subtle as he could, he grabbed Junghyun’s car keys from the key rack near the front door. Snatching the keys was effortless; Junghyun’s car keys had a small red electric guitar keychain attached to it and seeing as all the lights were turned off, his parents were probably already sleeping upstairs.

Starting up the car, however, was quite a challenge. He could still recall the secondhand embarrassment he felt whenever every time Junghyun started up the car in public, how everyone would turn their heads towards their direction because the engine made noises so loud that if the sky had hands, it would cover its ears. With a deep breath and unsteady hands, he carefully inserted the key into the keyway and silently prayed that the noise would not wake his parents up. He had no idea what he was supposed to say if they saw him in Junghyun’s car and he certainly could not afford to get caught. It was his only chance and it had to be tonight; any other day would not feel right.

Once he turned the key, the truck began to make loud noises that would easily be mistaken as high-pitched squeals but there was no doubt that anyone in the Jeon household would know if someone had started up Junghyun’s car. He counted until five under his breath, not bothering to wait for the truck to fully warm up before he shifted to the reverse gear to back up the car and drove as far from the house as he could.

“Wow,” he muttered under his breath, the adrenaline rushing through his veins. Unconsciously, his grip on the steering wheel was tightened as his heart pattered excitedly against his ribcage.

He let out a laugh, amazed and proud at himself for taking the very first step that he had been so scared of. With the window lowered and a gratified feeling he had not felt for years, he thought:

This must be what freedom tastes like.

Jeongguk always preferred the silence to the loud. Which was why he was questioning himself why he’d let his three AM shadow to write the bucket list that included going a strip club as a part of it.

A small part of him had always wondered what it was like to pay for a stranger to dance on him, to pretend that he was the only person in the world that mattered.

He had sat inside the truck for ten minutes, staring at the eye-catching neon lights of the club’s exterior, debating whether he should ditch this one goal or just went on with it. He was so close to driving away, to never come back and pretended it was never on the list but he knew tonight, the list would do all the decisions for him whether he liked it or not.

Based on his research, the club should be opened half an hour ago and yet when Jeongguk entered, he could count the amount of people there with one hand. The music was not as loud as he expected it to be — he can still hear the whistles from whom he assumed were the customers and the sounds of the bartender mixing up a drink.

He paid no attention to the other clients, deciding that it was better to focus on himself and his bucket list for tonight. Just as he seated himself, a man with only a bowtie and a tight, black shorts approached him with a lazy smile.

“What can I getcha tonight?”

“Uh...” Jungkook looked up to him, hoping he looked like he was not lost. He swallowed and the guy only raised an eyebrow, which made him more nervous and somehow his answer came out as a question. “Juice...?”

The guy’s face softened as he broke into a small laughter and Jeongguk could feel his face warmed up. Thankfully, he thought, at least the low lighting made it impossible to see his reddening face.

“Oh honey, I meant I can getcha a beer, we ain’t got no juice here, I can also have someone dance for ya.”

“In that case,” Jeongguk gulped before standing up from his seat. It was evident on his face that Bowtie was confused. “Please excuse me... I-I gotta go to the bathroom.”

“Suit yaself.”

Jeongguk wanted to run away. It was not for him; he knew it from the beginning but he could not bring himself to give up just like that. It was what Junghyun would have wanted. Instead of going straight back to the parking lot, he ran to the bathroom.

The bathroom was clean, the walls were painted purple with pictures of men doing inappropriate poses hung on it. Jeongguk washed his face, hoping that in some way it could wash away all his thoughts of being a chicken. He stared at his reflection on the mirror, berating himself for even thinking of backing away. He had only just started, and if he were to stop now, he will never forgive himself ever.

With new determination and fists shoved inside the pockets of his yellow jacket, he walked out of the bathroom, head held up high only for him to stop in his tracks when he saw a familiar face. Not far from the entrance of the bathroom, he saw a loyal customer from the jeans store he worked at. Jeongguk was good with faces, but this one was certainly unforgettable — pastel pink hair, rosy freckled cheeks and strawberry-tainted pillow lips. From where Jeongguk was standing, he could make out the usual glittered black jacket that he was always donning and the tight, ripped jeans that seemed painted on his legs.

The person in front of him was bigger and taller than he was, his muscles were prominent despite the white shirt covering them. Jeongguk caught a few words from their conversation — or, a better way to say it was an ‘argument’.

The Bigger one had his arms folded, trying to convince the Smaller to do something from the way he said, “You have to!”

The Smaller had his brows furrowed, lips frowning and eyes burning raging fire as he countered back, “No!”

Bigger said something before pointing a finger and prodding it on Smaller’s chest, seeming as if to threaten him, before leaving Smaller with his chest heaving and looking as if he was just told that his best friend had been sleeping with his partner.

Absentmindedly, Jeongguk walked over, suddenly filled with the urge to comfort him even though they never really interacted aside from “is this the size you’re looking for?”

“Rough night?”

“Piss off,” Smaller spat out, glaring at Jeongguk. He crossed his arms in irritation, turning away from Jeongguk.

Ouch. Jeongguk would be lying if he said that did not hurt.

“You don’t deserve that.” Jeongguk pressed his lips into a straight line before letting out a sigh, placing one hand on the back of his neck and murmuring, “Just like I don’t deserve that.”

Jeongguk saw the way Smaller’s eyes softened despite the frown on his lips.

Jeongguk did not know what came over him that made him say it, perhaps it was the small voice at the back of his head that reminded him that tonight was all about going out of his comfort zone, and that this would be counted as crossing off one item. Though he cringed when he recalled this back, he felt glad and overflowed with confidence as the words slipped out of his lips.

“I’m going on an adventure tonight. You’re welcome to join me if you’d like.”

Smaller’s eyes bulged and his mouth slightly parted open, shocked at the sudden invitation and if Jeongguk were to be honest, he would too if a stranger suddenly invited him to go for an adventure. The words were now out in the open, floating around mindlessly and Jeongguk did not wait for Smaller to catch them and give Jeongguk his answer. To mask his embarrassment, Jeongguk cleared his throat and hastily added, “It’s okay if you don’t want to. I-I’m gonna go now.”

Awkwardly, he lifted a hand as a farewell gesture before storming off.

“Oh my god,” he mumbled, fishing for the car key in his pocket. “What did I do that for?” he whispered to himself, horrified at the mess he created.

He was ready to leave, maybe lie down on the road and wait for an oncoming dumpster truck to run over him, and just as he found the key, he heard a voice screaming, “Wait!”

He turned to the source of the voice, to find Smaller was jogging towards his direction with his hand up. No longer did he had the frown on his face, and Jeongguk thought that he might have not made a mistake after all. Smaller halted, his chest heaving lightly before his lips stretched into a small smile that made Jeongguk’s heart fluttered.

“Does the offer still stand?”

Jeongguk could not help the grin that was taking over himself as he nodded.

“Great,” Smaller beamed. “I’m Jimin, by the way.”

“Jeongguk.”

“Jeongguk,” Jimin said, as if to taste the new name on his tongue. “Do you accept me as your companion for your adventure tonight?”

Jeongguk chuckled, shaking his head at the silliness he did not expect coming from Jimin.

“It would be my pleasure, Jimin-ssi.”

If, in an alternate universe where every thought you have will be written on your forehead, Jimin’s would probably be: ‘adventure, my ass.’

Five minutes into their so called ‘adventure’ and the Jimin seemed as if he was ready to jump out of the car and run back to the strip club. To say he was worried about boring Jimin would be an understatement, because he could not stop swallowing and glancing at Jimin’s direction. Jimin had his elbow on the windowsill, head resting against his fisted palms as the wind made his bubblegum hair dance.

Jeongguk cleared his throat, straightening his back against the worn-out leather seat. He ran through the questions in his mind, trying to pick the one that was appropriate or interesting.

“So, Jeongguk.” He heard Jimin spoke and all the questions in his mind dissipated. “Does going to a strip club counted as part of your adventure?”

Jeongguk nearly choked at the mention of the strip club. He could feel his ears burnt hot as he chewed the inside of his right cheek. Before he could answer, a soft laughter was emitted from Jimin. He turned to Jimin, who was slightly shaking his head that it made his feet relax, his grip on the steering wheel loosened and brought a chuckle out of Jeongguk’s lips.

“You can say that. Technically that’s not adventurous, as I chickened out and instead recruit you as a companion but yeah, it’s part of the adventure.”

Jeongguk could tell that Jimin had something he wanted to say, and from the look on the guy’s face, Jeongguk was not sure if he wanted to know.

“Say, Jimin,” Jeongguk spoke up as he checked his side mirror before pushing down the signal switch and shifting to the next lane. “Are you starving?”

“Very.”

“Great. ‘Cause on our next adventure, we’ll be eating the best donkasseu in the whole world.”

The trip to Yeoju Rest Stop was not as uncomfortable as Jeongguk thought it would be. In fact, at the mention of donkasseu, Jimin was piqued with interest and Jeongguk noted that being excited made Jimin more talkative, that all his worries about drowning in silence vanished in a blink of an eye.

Jimin argued that the best donkasseu in the world would have to at the restaurant near his home, and when Jeongguk voiced out that he never heard of it, Jimin was a tad bit offended that he promised to take Jeongguk there someday.

Once they have arrived, Jeongguk was surprised at how lively it was. Although it was nearing midnight, the place was filled with the chatter of the people and the smell of delicious food. Jeongguk stomach grumbled at the sight of the potato pancake, a favourite of his since he was younger.

Jimin could not help but let out a lot of ‘wow’s as they passed by each of the kiosks. The aunties and uncles behind the counters were greeting them cheerfully and they say words to entice them to buying their product. Jeongguk would have gotten everything if he could, but his main goal was the donkasseu.

It was the donkasseu or nothing.

Finally, when they reached the donkasseu kiosk, they halted right in front of it, staring at the menu. One of the waiters came out from the wet kitchen, bringing a tray of two donkasseu and two cans of cola, too busy trying to balance them to acknowledge Jimin and Jeongguk. Jeongguk’s mouth was watering by then, the smell of freshly cooked donkasseu filled his nostrils and all he could think about was stuffing himself with it.

“Holy crap,” Jimin mumbled as his eyes followed the waiter. “It smells so good.”

Jeongguk was in no state of mind to answer, afraid that a waterfall of his saliva would spill from his mouth if he did. He swallowed before walking towards the kiosk, hands on the counter. An auntie came out from the door, grinning from ear to ear when she saw them. Jeongguk thanked every deity to ever existed, because he did not know what he would do if someone hadn’t taken his order this instant.

Jangmi – from the nametag the auntie was wearing – had wrinkles around her kind, almond eyes as she smiled.

From Jeongguk’s observation when he was younger, every seller had different voices when they speak. He learnt this from his mother, who was a freelance baker. Jangmi had the same voice as his mother when she was attending a customer, though Jangmi’s was more towards pestering in a way, as she attempted to entice the both of them into getting two servings of fried prawns.

After one full minute of ensuring Jangmi that they were good with just the donkasseu, they sat on a table at the end, the both of them facing each other.

There was a rumbling sound coming from Jimin that made Jimin’s face turned into a scarlet hue while Jeongguk tried his hardest not to crack a smile.

“Sorry. The smell, god, everything just smells so good here.”

“Yeah. I didn’t know a rest stop could be this lively at night.”

“Really? I thought you’ve been here before.”

Jeongguk shook his head, lowering his gaze to stare at his fingers that were fumbling with the zipper of his jacket.

Jimin raised an eyebrow and leaned forward, sensing that there was some sort of story that brought Jeongguk here. Jeongguk bit his lower lip, before answering in a soft voice, “My brother was the one who told me about this place. He really, really, really loved it. He promised to take me someday.”

Though Jimin’s face had curiosity written all over it, he did not pry for more as his eyes followed the movement of a waiter carrying a bowl of jajangmyeon and tangsuyuk.

“Thanks, by the way.”

“For…?”

“For paying on my behalf,” Jimin answered with a shrug, hoping that it passed as nonchalant but the pink tint on his cheeks indicated otherwise.

Jeongguk chuckled, letting his head fall in an attempt to cover the smile that was trying to take over his face before replying, “No worries. It’s the least I can do after I drag you to my lame adventure.”

“It’s not lame! Well, maybe, okay, a little bit.”

“Hey!”

The food arrived just in time, and both boys devoured the donkasseu in silent. Junghyun did not lie when he said this was the best donkasseu in the world; it was crispy yet juicy, the meat tender and the sauce, oh god, it was to die for. Jeongguk was the one who emptied his plate first, leaning back against the plastic chair to calm himself. He felt sated, both his heart and stomach.

Jimin finished a few moments later, leaving the tomatoes on the side of his plate. He too, leaned back against his chair after grabbing a napkin to wipe the corner of his mouth.

“Man… I don’t think I will ever eat any other donkasseu ever again.”

“I second that.”

“This one just put the other donkasseu to shame.”

“Agreed.” After a while, Jeongguk added, “You don’t like tomatoes?”

“Eh. Not a big fan,” Jimin murmured, pushing one of the tomatoes with a fork.

“Me too. But there was sauce on them so I just ate them, and they’re pretty good actually.”

“So, where do we go next?”

“We’ll go where the list wants us to go.”

“You said something about a list. This isn’t just some random adventure, isn’t it?”

“To tell you the truth, they’re not even an adventure at all. Can eating at a random rest stop be called an adventure? I think it’s just me trying to convince myself that my life isn’t as boring as I make it out to be.”

“Hm. So, you’re saying that, these are just things that you wanted to do before you die?”

“You can say it like that, yeah.”

There was a moment of silent before Jimin erupted with laughter as he slapped his thigh, his body shaking due to the intensity of it that Jeongguk was scared he might accidentally open the door and roll out to the road.

Jimin calmed down no longer after that, but there was still mirth in his voice. “I can’t believe going to a strip club is part of your list.”

“Hey!” Jeongguk said rather defensively, glaring at Jimin for a second before focusing back on the road. The road was practically empty, but Jeongguk still had the need to becareful. “It was something that I needed to do, okay.” He was aware of how sulky he sounded. It was not his intention, but it came out that way.

“Oh shit… don’t tell me you have, like, three more days to live?”

From the corner of his eyes, Jeongguk could see Jimin was turning his whole body towards him and he fought the urge to roll his eyes because of how silly Jimin was being. He did not have to look to know that sympathy and shock was written all over Jimin’s face. Without meaning to, Jeongguk let out an exasperated groan. “No, Jimin, damn it. The list is just things I needed to do before today ends, okay.”

“Oh, okay then. That’s cool.” It had not even been five second of silence before Jimin spoke up again, “Wait, wait, wait, I have a question. What else are there in your list?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Aw, come on. I’m your companion now. I’d like to help. Isn’t that what companions are for?”

Jeongguk sighed. He contemplated in telling Jimin, seeing how much laughter came out of him when he knew going to a strip club was in his bucket list. He readied himself for another round of laughter from Jimin as he said, “Do something illegal, smoke—”

“Jeongguk, what the fuck.”

“What?” He threw Jimin a pointed look, daring the bubblegum-haired to make fun of him again. Instead, Jimin only throw both his hands up, as if to ensure him that he was not going to say mean things.

“Okay, go on.”

“Uh, sleep under the stars—”

“Jesus, just where do you think we can—”

“There’s a desert that Junghyun told me about, a few miles away from Yeoju Rest Stop.”

“Are we heading there now?”

“Yeah.”

“Dude, if we sleep now, how else can we cross off the other stuff?”

“Maybe we can take a short nap…?”

“Fuck, you know what, let’s do something illegal and smoke first. I know just what to do.”

The words on paper was written after he gave it some thought. Now that he was about to do it, he now knew clearly, he had not given it enough thought. He did not know why he thought doing something illegal was a great idea. When Jimin laid out the plan, it seemed as if it was very easy to accomplish. But sitting in the car, staring at the broken 24/7 LED sign on top of the wall, made his palms sweat and he could not stop biting his bottom lip.

The glass walls showed that the store was empty. At most, there would probably be another worker at the storage. He saw an old man behind the cash register, flipping through a newspaper. Who the heck read newspaper at one o’clock in the morning?

Jimin, on the other hand, seemed eager. Despite the dark, Jeongguk could see his eyes twinkling in mischief. Maybe it was Jeongguk’s brain telling him that it was overheating with just the thought of robbing a store, but Jimin’s eyes shone brighter than his glittery jacket.

“Are you ready for this?” Jimin whispered, grinning, his eyes not leaving the store.

His tone made Jeongguk wonder why Jimin was the excited one between the two of them. It should be Jeongguk. Jeongguk was the one with the list. He was the one who created the list. Jeongguk swallowed, tearing his eyes away from Jimin to stare at the man again. The man was too immersed in reading that he did not realize that they had been sitting in the car for ten minutes.

Jeongguk opened his mouth to speak, eyebrows furrowing as he turned to Jimin. “I don’t think we should—”

“Trust me.” Jimin’s voice dropped an octave, his gaze was burning with determination, yet the sparkles were still there. “There’s no CCTV here. See?” Jimin pointed at nothing in particular. “No TV. No cameras. It’s one of the oldest stores in the branch, I reckon they don’t even bother upgrading their security system.”

Perhaps it was how sure Jimin was, how confidence was literally oozing in every word he said and how for the first time tonight, Jeongguk saw the twinkles in his eyes and he did not want them to disappear, that Jeongguk felt assured and gave in. There was, however, one thing that concerned him.

“But the cigarettes,” Jeongguk murmured. “They’re on the shelves behind him.”

Jimin gave him a smile, one laced with mischief and promised trouble. Strangely enough, Jeongguk felt at ease though his foot was tapping against the floorboard, and without realizing, his lips curved upwards too, feeling his heart swell twice its size.

If someone had told Jeongguk that he would be robbing a store with a random guy he picked up at a strip club, Jeongguk would have thought they were out of their mind. Jeongguk only watched as Jimin strutted inside the convenience store as if he owned it. Jeongguk, on the other hand, had to shove his fists inside the pockets of his jacket in a weak attempt to stop them from shaking.

He hoped he did not look as nervous as he was feeling, because all he could hear were the sound of his heartbeat drumming vehemently in his ears. He went towards the coolers, reading all the names of the beverages to calm his nerves. After pondering for a while, he grabbed the six pack of beer, carefully holding it with both hands in fear he might accidentally drop them. From where he was, he peeked at Jimin, who was approaching the counter with swagger spilling all over the place with his hands holding a few snacks.

Jeongguk tensed when Jimin nonchalantly leaned against the counter, pointing one of the boxes of cigarettes behind the cashier. The man gave Jimin a disinterested look as he grabbed a box, and when Jimin shook his head no, the man sighed and took another one.

Jeongguk did not realize he was holding his breath until he heard himself exhale rather loudly, and it was only when Jimin turned to him, giving him a wink that he could finally breathe again.

That was the signal for Jeongguk to get ready to run. The thought of robbing the store so openly with the worker right in front of them had both anxiety and excitement thrumming through his veins.

He nodded as a response, holding the six-pack close to his chest. He swallowed thickly against the wave of nausea that was bubbling in his throat, and he was certain his cheeks were flushed with the thrill of doing something he should not. He was getting closer and closer to Jimin now, who was still pretending to choose the right brand.

Once he was only a few steps away from Jimin, Jimin asked for a lighter, earning another sigh from the man.

“This the right one?” the man asked, not bothering to hide the irritation in his voice.

“Yes, this’ll do. Perfect, perfect…” Jimin grinned.

“Great,” the man muttered, folding his newspaper from the counter. When he turned to place the newspaper behind him, Jimin whisper-screamed, “RUN!” and that was all it took for Jeongguk to scamper away, one hand holding the six-pack tightly while the other scrambled to take out the keys from his jacket.

By the time they have entered the car, it finally dawned on the man that they were gone. His fingers grew clumsy as he heard the man scream, terrible thoughts flooding into his mind as he failed to insert the key into the keyhole.

“Holy shit, Jeongguk! Fucking drive, fucking drive!!” Jimin yelled, slapping the headrest.

“STOP RIGHT THERE, FUCKERS!!”

Jimin’s yelling, combined with the man’s booming voice demanding them to stop, only made Jeongguk’s palm sweat. He bit his lower lip, eyes never leaving the man while his hand was desperately trying to put the key in. Jeongguk expected the man to step over the counter, but thankfully they were given time as the man struggled to lift the counter top.

“Fuck!!”

“OH MY GOD,” Jeongguk screamed in both frustration and relief, finally able to insert the key and without even thinking twice, he started the engine, shifted to first gear and reversed.

“HEY, STOP!!”

The man was finally out, shaking his fists towards them and that was enough motivation for Jeongguk to press the gas all the way to the floorboard, driving away as fast as he could. From the rear-view mirror, Jeongguk could see the man was screaming, both middle fingers up to their direction.

There was a moment of silence between the two of them.

“Fuck,” Jimin murmured, his eyes glued to the dark road ahead of them.

Jeongguk’s chest were heaving, lungs desperate for air. He could still feel the adrenaline in his veins and a fine sheen of sweat breaking out on his forehead. “Fuck,” Jeongguk muttered before a peal of laughter rose through his chest, escaping his lips before he could even try to hold it in.

Jimin also burst into a relieved laughter, his whole body vibrating with tiny tremors as he reached out to hold Jeongguk’s shoulder.

“Did you—” Jimin had to paused in between his laughter, lightly and repeatedly patting Jeongguk’s shoulder as if the gesture would help to squeeze the words out. “D-did you see his fa-face?”

“Jimin, don’t—” Jeongguk guffawed, nearly steering them to the other lane.

“I can’t believe he waddled instead of running, oh dear lord.”

They laughed and laughed and laughed to their heart’s content and nothing in particular, feeling as if they had the night in the palm of their hands. Jeongguk could not remember the last time he felt this way; free and happy, like birds gliding across the skies.

Some of the street lights were not working, and Jeongguk had to rely on the headlights and the moonlight to guide them there. They had been laughing their asses of on their way there, too busy recalling the look on the worker’s face and telling the stories of how they were sure they were not going to make it out alive.

When they arrived at the desert, Jeongguk drove a tad bit further than he intended before shifting the gear to neutral and pulling the handbrake up. Turning off the headlights and engine, both of them went out, with Jimin holding onto the snacks and Jeongguk the beers. Jeongguk placed the beers onto the bed floor of the truck before unlocking the tailgate and climbing inside, Jimin following him afterwards.

While there was only a landscape of sand ahead of them, above them were black skies painted with specks of sparkling silvers and strokes of velvet and violet. Except for the both of them, the desert was empty of life, and it almost made Jeongguk feel as if they were the only ones awake at this hour; that they were the only ones who witnessed the moon gradually retiring to her slumber.

Jeongguk sniffed, pulling his jacket closer to him as the cold air nipped on his neck.

He took out the beers, opened one and handed it to Jimin before opening one for himself. Jimin took the can with a murmur of ‘thanks’ as he placed the snacks before them. Jeongguk took a sip of his first beer, surprised at how bitter it was. He pulled away, staring at the can in disdain. Jimin let out a chuckle at Jeongguk’s expression as he took a sip himself.

“Blegh, this isn’t that good,” Jeongguk muttered.

“They’re alright.” Jimin shrugged as he leaned on both of his palms to get a better view of the night sky.

Jeongguk was never a fan of the dark, but here with Jimin and the winking stars, it gave him comfort. It was half-moon tonight, and while Jeongguk was able to view skies from his bedroom window, he knew nothing could ever beat the view he was witnessing right now. Here, everything was clear. No air pollution, no karaoke noises from the neighbours and no parents who stopped talking to you.

“I feel bad,” Jeongguk voiced out, shaking the can lightly before sipping on it. He was still not accustomed to the taste, but the thought of not finishing it made him frown. It was the least he could do. He hissed at the taste before adding, “For the cashier guy.”

Jimin chortled, slightly shaking his head. “Hey, it’s your list.”

“But still.”

“You wanna try smoking now?” Jimin asked, taking the cigarette box out of the pocket of his jeans to wave it to Jeongguk. Jeongguk took it, heart pounding against his chest as he held it. There was a dent in the corner and it felt light.

Reluctantly, he tore open the package and took one stick out of the box. He glanced at Jimin, who was staring at him expectantly with a lighter in his hands.

“Are you gonna do it with me?” Jeongguk did not like how his voice came out as a whisper, as if to indicate that he was scared of doing it alone.

Jimin gave a sardonic grin before grabbing the box from Jeongguk, pinching the filter before putting one stick in between his lips before he flicked on the lighter. Jeongguk’s eyes followed the way Jimin brought the lighter closer to him, the light from the fire illuminated on Jimin’s face and casted shadows over his cheeks. Jimin softly inhaled, and when he exhaled, Jeongguk saw there were smoke coming out from both his mouth and nose. Involuntarily, Jeongguk scrunched his nose at the smell of smoke.

“You’ve done this before, haven’t you?” Jeongguk muttered, suddenly feeling like a fool for assuming that Jimin had not.

“Back in high school, yeah. Mum died of cancer, so I swore to stop. Occasionally, I found myself breaking my own promise, but most of the time I’m doing all right.”

“Oh. Sorry. About your mum, I mean. And for making you do this again,” Jeongguk murmured, head hanging low as he rolled the cancer stick between his thumb and index finger. He contemplated in pretending smoking did not exist in the list, just like how he wanted every single thing in the paper to be crossed off without actually doing it.

“I’m not doing this for you, silly,” Jimin chuckled, taking another drag from the cigarette. When he exhaled, he stretched out his hand away from the floorboard to tap the ashes off of his cig. He said, “We’re in this weird adventure together.”

Jeongguk liked how that sound. Weird adventure. Together. Jimin made it sound like he genuinely meant it and Jeongguk liked the feeling the words gave him; warmth, as if he was embraced.

With awkward hands, Jeongguk lifted the stick to his lips, only for Jimin to stop him. “Hold on, darlin’, you gotta—” Jimin reached out, taking the cigarette from Jeongguk to squeeze the filter before handing it back.

“What do you do that for?” Jeongguk asked, eyes wide in confusion, lower lip jutting out slightly.

Jimin inhaled the smoke again, and when he exhaled, Jeongguk watched as the wisps of smoke left his lips as he smirked. “You’ll see.”

Biting his lower lip, Jeongguk fiddled with the cigarette before finally placing it between his lips, careful not to let his tongue touch the filter. His fingers were holding onto the lighter too tightly that if he held onto it for a second longer, he was sure it might break. He was a bit shaky as he flicked the lighter, he noticed, and he was pretty sure his eyes were crossed from staring at the tip of the cigarette too hard.

When the cigarette was finally lit up, his cheeks were sucked in as he inhaled the smoke greedily, his eyes widened a smidgen when he felt it entering his lungs and he pulled the stick away, coughing up the smoke. He heard Jimin giggle and felt his hand on his back, patting it softly.

“Greedy boy,” Jimin chuckled, shaking his head in amusement.

Jeongguk stared at the cigarette in between his thumb and index finger in bewilderment as he smacked his lips. He was surprised that it was not as bad as he expected it to be, in fact it had a cooling effect and tasted like… strawberry. He tried to blink the thought away, he was probably just hallucinating.

“It tastes weird,” he voiced it out, smacking his lips again. The bitterness of the beer, combined with the bittersweet taste of the cigarette, would not leave his tongue. “Like… strawberry? I don’t know.” He hoped he did not sound like a child when he said that.

Jimin grinned, flicking the ash. “Yeah. It’s the filter.”

“Oh,” he deadpanned. “I see.”

“You don’t have to smoke all the way, you know that, right? You’ve crossed off another item from your list.”

“Yeah,” he answered quietly, staring at the gray ashes that were forming at the tip of the stick. “Yeah,” he answered again, a bit louder this time as he mirrored Jimin’s action; tapping on the cigarette outside of the truck.

Jimin climbed down from the truck, breathing in the smoke rather harshly, not stopping as if it would be his last, and Jeongguk had counted until twenty when Jimin finally pulled the stick away and threw it to the ground. He raised his head to the night sky, and Jeongguk watched, mesmerized, as Jimin puffed out the smoke as if he was a dragon.

The whole thing was fascinating to watch, as if it was something that came out of a movie; Jimin, with his head up, lips slightly parted to let the smoke escape and there were abundant of stars twinkling above him on the jet-black firmament.

Jeongguk did not realize he was staring, utterly enthralled at the way Jimin was just being himself. He was only snapped out of his dreams when Jimin called out his name, hand reaching out for Jeongguk to hand his cig over.

Without hesitation, Jeongguk gave Jimin his cig, barely smoked and only a few millimeters short from its original size. Jimin did the same thing he did before, he threw the cigarette to the ground before stomping on the both of them with his black boots. Once he was done, he ran a finger through his bubblegum hair, gave Jeongguk a heart-stopping smile before stepping inside and sat down next to Jeongguk.

“Not bad, huh?”

“Not really. It doesn’t feel good either.”

“Yeah. Don’t ever do it again, though.”

Jeongguk cracked a smile. “I promise.”

“That’s a sweet boy.”

He knew the darkness helped conceal his face, but he turned his face away anyway, hoping that Jimin would not catch the blush that were making its way to his cheeks. A few minutes passed by with the both of them sitting in silence, staring at the sky in admiration, sipping warm beer and eating the snacks they acquired from the convenience store earlier. Jeongguk found that he hated the taste of cigarette on his tongue more than the beer, which lead him into stuffing himself with the snack to rid of the taste.

Jimin was munching on the potato crisp when he asked, “Was I a part of your list?”

Jeongguk nonchalantly shrugged as he bit a chocolate-covered biscuit stick. “Yeah, you can say that.”

“Huh. What was it, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Jeongguk took another bite of the peppero, humming and lightly tapping the it on his chin as if to appear in a deep thought. “It was… hm… make an impulsive decision.”

Jimin giggled before plopping a potato crisp in his mouth. “Really, Jeongguk?”

“Uhuh.” “Thought it’d be picking up a stripper or something.”

The confusion Jeongguk was feeling was probably evident on his face, because Jimin let out a laugh and explained, “Please don’t tell me you have no idea that I worked there.”

Jeongguk’s jaw dropped and he was lucky that he was holding the peppero tightly as his hand fell too. Jimin’s laugh only grew louder at Jeongguk’s reaction, enjoying the way Jeongguk was drowning from sea of confusion to shock in just a blink of an eye.

“Honestly, I only approached you because—” Jeongguk stammered, his eyes were still wide like a deer caught in a headlight, “b-because I recognized you as a,” he paused to swallow, “r-regular at the jeans store I worked at.”

“Ah! So that’s why I felt like I’ve seen you before!”

Jeongguk frowned. It would be a lie if he said he did not feel a twinge of pain when Jimin said that.

The concept of time was soon forgotten as they spent laughing and telling each other stories about each other. Jeongguk was getting gigglier, or maybe Jimin was just a natural comedian, his limbs were tingling and they felt light.

They shared their horrible experiences with customers, about the best jajjangmyeon they’ve ever eaten and their childhood stories. Jeongguk learnt that Jimin was a rebel in high school, but he always aced every exam so the teachers let him off easy. (“That fueled me to rebel even more, you know?”)

Compared to Jimin, Jeongguk’s life was a boring, straight line. Nevertheless, he enjoyed listening to Jimin talk animatedly about the troubles he caused years ago. The stories got them doubling over and it was a miracle that none of them had spurted out beer out of their nostrils yet. They calmed down after a while, enjoying the night and the stars in silence with beers and snacks in hand.

Though he was not fond of it, Jeongguk opened up a second can of beer just to have something to drink. His fingers clumsily grazed against the pop tab a few times before he could successfully get his index finger under the tab and lift the backside to open the can.

“Question!” Jimin suddenly yelled out with a slap on his thigh. “If we were going to sleep under the stars on this truck, why haven’t you brought pillows and blankets?”

Jeongguk thought about it for a moment before bursting into laughter, and he never thought of his laughter as contagious, but it coaxed a laughter out of Jimin too.

“Why didn’t I—” Jeongguk wheezed, body shaking uncontrollably that he had to put the can down. “Why didn’t I th-think about it!”

The laughter only stopped when Jeongguk felt droplets of water on his face. “Eh?” he questioned, lifting his head up in the sky as he felt more droplets hitting his cheeks.

“It’s raining!”

“Shit!” Jeongguk hissed, scrambling to his feet as he grabbed the snacks and the beers. He nearly stumbled as he jumped down to the ground. He heard Jimin giggle as he opened the backdoor, shoving the items in his arms inside.

“Jeongguk! Get out of there! Come dance in the rain!”

“Wh-what?” Jeongguk asked in disbelief. God, his tongue felt so weird now.

Jimin squealed as he climbed down the truck, twirling himself as the clouds began to cry even more. Jeongguk had his back against the truck, eyes trained on Jimin.

“Take my hand!” Jimin shouted despite the gentle sound of millions of little marbles hitting the truck.

Reluctantly, Jeongguk took Jimin’s hand and with a giggle, Jimin pulled him closer. They were dancing, holding each other’s hands as they jumped and skipped, ignoring the way their clothes were getting heavier and hair drenched due to the rain. Jeongguk felt like he was floating and Jimin was there, acting as an anchor to help him stay afloat.

He did not fight the grin that threatened to take over his face, he let the slow warmth spread from his chest to the tips of his fingers as the took the delight in Jimin’s crescent eyes and the happy noises that left his rosy lips. The butterflies in Jeongguk’s stomach were too busy lifting his heart up into his throat for him to be bothered by the rain droplets trickling down from his hair to face.

“We are gonna get sick!” Jimin squealed, spluttering the rain water that fell down to his face.

Jeongguk’s eyes lit up at the sight, before he let out a laughter. The sound of water thrumming on steel reminded Jeongguk of millions of hands clapping. As if they were clapping for him and Jimin. As if they were celebrating this moment, where Jeongguk finally overcame his fears. He raised his head to the crying sky, opening his mouth and let rain drip into it, tasting its tears.

Back in the truck, the both of them had taken their jackets off. The rain had eased off, but they were still tittering and guffawing in delight. Jeongguk sighed in contentment, limbs still tingling as he struggled to grab the keys from his drenched jeans. Everything felt so heavy, and the inside of the truck was wet for god’s sake, but that was not Jeongguk’s main concern.

“Jimin…” he murmured, resting his back against the seat. “I think… I think I’m drunk.”

“Oh god…” Jimin chuckled, running his fingers through his wet hair. There were drops that fell onto Jeongguk’s face as Jimin did that. Jeongguk’s reaction was to shake them away, resulting in droplets falling everywhere, which somehow made him feel nauseous.

“Can you— can you drive? I don’t, I don’t think—”

When was speaking this difficult?

“Sure, darlin’, gimme a sec yeah—”

What was supposed to be done in under a minute stretched into five as Jeongguk felt his lids were getting heavier by the second. He was startled awake when he felt Jimin shaking him from the side. He did not realize Jimin had gotten out of the car and open his door, waking him up so he could move to the passenger seat.

After a while, Jeongguk was finally on the passenger seat, his whole body turning to face Jimin, who was now holding onto the steering wheel.

“Okay, okay,” he heard Jimin breathed out, sounding as if he was attempting to calm himself. When the truck finally roared to life, Jeongguk’s lips tugged up into a lazy smile. Slightly shivering, he hugged himself as he let out a sigh.

“I need you to stay awake, okay?” Jimin asked, caressing Jeongguk’s drenched cheeks. Jeongguk nodded, though his eyes were closing as he leaned into Jimin’s hand. “Truth be told, I’ve never driven a stick before, so I need you to guide me, yeah? Can you do that for me, darlin’?”

“Yeah, yeah, any-anything, anything for you.” Jeongguk was mumbling breathlessly as his teeth chattered, losing the fight with himself to keep his eyes open.

“Good. So, what the heck should I do first?”

Jeongguk did not know being drunk could be… tedious. He should have known that movies lie all the time. He hated not being able to walk properly, hated the feeling that the world was spinning or he was spinning, he was not sure at this point. But if there was one thing he was certain, it was the fact that the truck kept on stalling when Jimin was driving.

Every time it lurched forward, Jeongguk was shoved awake to the cold reality. He knew if Junghyun was here, he would murder Jeongguk with his own hands for letting that happen to his baby.

The next time Jeongguk opened his eyes, Jimin was shaking him lightly as he kept on saying his name. Though reluctant, Jeongguk forced his eyes to open to find them parked. The first thing he registered was Jimin’s face – his hair was still wet from the rain, but his face was dry, his nose and cheeks tinted red. His face was luminated by bright purple lights coming from the motel sign above. He squinted and noticed it was still dark. He swore it felt like they were driving till sunrise.

“Uh… where—” God, his mouth tasted terrible. “Where are we?”

“Good, you’re finally up. I booked us a room. We need to clean ourselves up.”

“Room?”

“Yeah.”

With much difficulty, he managed to drag himself up the stairs with Jimin’s help. Not only his clothes were heavy, but his legs and eyes were refusing to cooperate with him. He wanted to jump from the first floor for being such an embarrassment, but hearing Jimin giggle every time he wobbled was worth the humiliation.

If Jeongguk could describe their room in one word, it would be: vomit.

The room Jimin booked them were far from luxurious. The walls were painted gray and above the queen-sized bed hung a mediocre painting of flowers in a vase. The curtains were a terrible shade of green, which reminded Jeongguk of camo pants and TV was small and bulky.

Jeongguk let out a sigh of relief at the sight of the bed, already planning to jump and lay there forever. Before he could, Jimin stopped him, shattering all dreams of molding one with the bed.

“You should take a shower. It’ll make you feel better.”

“But—”

“We wouldn’t want the bed to be wet, do we?”

Jeongguk grimaced. “But what about you? How are you gonna sit?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll wait for you. Go on, then.”

Usually, Jeongguk loved taking his sweet time in the shower. However, the thought of Jimin waiting while standing outside made guilt gnaw in his chest. He would have gone out after he shampooed his hair, but it took nearly ten minutes for the water to finally be warm. Jimin was right though, the warm shower did make him feel better. Jeongguk wanted to scream at the thought of not brushing his teeth but thankfully, there were a few necessities in the cabinet. A part of him regretted letting himself play under the rain because he did not have any spare clothes back in the truck. Muttering to himself about how careless he was being, he picked them up before pathetically wringing them and hung them on the drying rack. He was extra careful with the jacket, squeezing it gently in comparison to his shirt and underwear.

“Shit,” Jeongguk hissed when it dawned to him that there was only one robe provided. He stared at his misty reflection on the mirror, hair wet and cheeks rosy, and he felt like a bitch for already clad in the robe.

He glanced at the opened cabinet, and saw a white towel folded neatly at the corner. He breathed a sigh of relief before walking out of the bathroom, feeling fresh and warm. Jimin was standing by the bed, a remote in his hand while his eyes were glued to the TV. When Jeongguk walked out of the bathroom, he did not hide the excitement in his face.

“Oh, thank god,” Jimin breathed out before tossing the remote to the bed and dashed to the bathroom. Jeongguk chuckled when he noticed there was a dark spot near the bed where Jimin had stood.

He thought he would have gone to slumber the moment his head hit the pillow, but sleep did not come easy. With a sigh, he grabbed the remote and pressed the button, hoping to find a channel that would entertain him. In the end, he settled for a rerun of Spongebob Squarepants. It was either that or a horror movie, and he was not feeling horror movie at all.

Fifteen minutes into Spongebob, Jimin was finally out of the bathroom. And God, Jeongguk wished he was in a deep slumber right now, because Jimin was naked. Technically, he wasn’t as he wrapped a towel around his waist, but Jeongguk’s brain could not help but to scream ‘ALERT!’. It was obvious how gorgeous Jimin was, but with his pink hair dripping, cheeks coloured crimson and exposed skin coated with droplets, Jeongguk was suddenly embarrassed that he was fully naked underneath the bathrobe.

“That was refreshing,” Jimin grinned before cracking his neck and jumped to the bed.

Jeongguk found it hard to swallow as his throat was dry as hell. Jimin did not speak again after that, and Jeongguk was afraid his voice might break if he tried to. Hell, Jeongguk did not even dare to breathe when he found the courage to check if Jimin was sleeping. Just as he turned his head, Jimin mirrored his action before asking, his voice so soft that if they were not this close, Jeongguk would’ve thought he was imagining things, “Why tonight?”

Absentmindedly, Jeongguk pressed on the remote button, shutting the TV off.

“What?”

“You mentioned it’s the list of things you have to do before today ends. What’s so special about today?”

Jeongguk had to will his heartbeat to slow down as he stared into Jimin’s curious eyes. Jeongguk blinked, opening his mouth to speak but the words get caught in his throat. He was not sure if it was because the most gorgeous being to ever walk the Earth was staring at him intensely, or if it was because he could not bring himself to talk about this matter.

He blamed it on the beer. Maybe he was still drunk, only god knows.

Maybe he found it easier to talk to a stranger he had spent the entire night with.

Maybe it was the comfort he felt around said stranger, how Jimin’s eyes were nothing but curiosity, free of malice.

Or maybe it was the uncertainty of them not seeing each other again after the night ends. The thought made him swallow nervously, his heart shattering into tiny pieces of glasses.

“It’s the death anniversary of my brother.”

“Oh.” Was all Jimin could say.

Jeongguk turned away, his index finger picking on one of the buttons on the remote, but he did not put enough pressure to click on it. Despite how heavy his heart was, he felt a surge of relief flowing through his veins. There was not any regret at all, even though he knew he should have never kept it alone this long.

“Did he do all those things?”

“Yeah, he did.”

Surprised at the sudden warmth enveloping his hand, he glanced to see Jimin’s hand on top of his. He berated his heart for skipping a beat and his cheeks for suddenly feeling warmer than it was supposed to. He prayed to any god listening out there that Jimin would not notice the sudden pink hue visible on his cheeks.

Somehow, the gesture gave him courage to speak up more, to let out those thoughts that had been haunting him for the past three years ago.

“He did all these things, you know, living his life to the fullest. I do not understand it at first, why would he risk his life doing such things. Why he would still do it, though he knew our parents would disapprove of it. Of course, there were more things he did, I’m sure of it. It’s… no matter how much I think I know him, it’s impossible for me to know all of him.”

“Oh, Jeongguk,” Jimin murmured, shifting himself closer, hand never leaving Jeongguk’s.

Jeongguk did not realize how shaky his breathing was, how he tried so hard to blink the tears away until he spoke again, “It was a hit and run, Jimin. It was—” he swallowed before sniffing, “—, how could someone leave a person to bleed out just like that?”

“My sweet, sweet, darling,” Jimin whispered when Jeongguk began sobbing.

There was no room for embarrassment as his head was filled with memories of his late brother. He let Jimin’s hand gently push his head to rest on Jimin’s shoulder as Jimin’s arm wrapped around him. Jeongguk did not know it was possible to feel such tremendous pain even after years it happened. All the sadness he repressed for years finally spilled in front of a stranger he met just hours ago. A stranger who was willing to be there for him every step of their so-called adventure.

“I know it’s hard, darlin’, but you’re with me now, aren’t you?”

Jimin’s voice was gentle, soothing even, as he caressed Jeongguk’s hair. He felt droplets of water dripping to his cheek from Jimin’s hair, but he could not bring himself to care when his face was drenched with his own tears. He let them fall freely, down to his fisted hands, Jimin’s shoulder and chest.

“I will never let anything hurt you while I’m here.”

Jimin continued to whisper sweet reassurances in his ear, making him feel as if he was embraced with all the kindness and gentleness in the world. He eventually calmed down a few minutes after bawling his eyes out, impressed that he could show a weak side of him that he hated to another being. Moreover, a stranger.

“You alright, love?”

“A bit.”

“Let’s sleep, shall we? Only an hour after sunrise, but it’s not tomorrow until we close our eyes,” Jimin murmured against his head before planting a kiss.

The gesture was simple, yet it made Jeongguk’s heart swell twice its size. He did not know it was possible to be so far away from home, yet feel such comfort in the arms of a man he had just met.

“We’ll be shivering if we sleep like this,” Jimin huffed, and when Jeongguk felt Jimin’s hand leaving his ear, Jeongguk made a move to held Jimin tighter.

Jimin did not speak after that, understood completely that Jeongguk needed him here. With a smile, he gently rested his head against Jeongguk, his hand finding its way to caress Jeongguk’s clothed arm. Jeongguk was not sure how long they stayed like that, the only sound he could hear was Jimin softly humming, a lullaby he fell asleep to.

Before the sun rose, for the first time since his brother was gone, Jeongguk dreamt of Junghyun.

Jeongguk woke up to the sound of a loud whirring. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he blearily turned his body towards the source to find Jimin was crouching on the floor next to him with a hand dryer in his hand. Belatedly, he realized that he had been lying on a pillow, and wondered how Jimin was able to move him without waking him up.

“Ji…min?”

“Oh.” Jimin was facing him now as he turned the hand dryer off. Jeongguk noticed he was still naked from the torso up, but he was wearing his jeans now. “You’re awake.”

Jeongguk blinked, his lower lips jutting in annoyance as his eyes tried to adjust to the harsh sunlight. “What are you—”

“Drying our clothes,” Jimin answered with a grin as he waved the hand dryer.

Jeongguk glanced on the carpeted floor and grimaced when the memory of him letting Junghyun’s favourite jacket drenched in rain water came across his mind. Their clothes were not as wet as before, but even from where he was, Jeongguk could tell that they needed more than a motel hand dryer.

Jeongguk contemplated in sleeping again, but sleep refused to come to him no matter how hard he tried to close his eyes. With a sigh, he managed to drag his feet to the bathroom and take a warm shower to wake himself up.

The water stayed cold the whole freaking time. It was nearly driving Jeongguk crazy. When he went out of the bathroom, Jimin was already dressed in his shirt, but his glittered jacket was still on the floor. Jeongguk sat on the bed and watched Jimin desperately trying to dry his jacket.

“Your clothes are already dry, by the way.”

“Thanks. And, uh, sorry for the trouble.”

“No worries,” Jimin grinned. “Wouldn’t wanna wake you up.”

Jeongguk grabbed his clothes and went back inside of the bathroom to dress himself. Once he was done, he walked back to where he was and sat behind Jimin, who was on the floor. They sat in silence for another half and hour or so, with Jeongguk just staring outside of the window. The clouds gliding against the vast blue sky reminded him that it was a new day, that he was still here with a new friend beside him. When Jimin decided that they were all dry, he brought Jeongguk downstairs to grab breakfast.

Hearing the word ‘breakfast’ made Jeongguk think of scrambled eggs and warm toast, but instead, he was staring at the colourful packages of snacks inside the vending machine. It almost felt as if he was living a silly dream he had when he was a kid; to have candies for breakfast.

Jimin inserted a few coins before pressing the buttons, while Jeongguk was still deciding which one he wanted. Before he could even open up his mouth and point at the Kit Kat, Jimin had already picked up his snacks and shoved a Kit Kat against Jeongguk’s chest.

Dumbfounded, he stared at it, Jimin’s hand still on his chest before he took the chocolate and murmured a “thanks”.

“You think too much,” Jimin said as he unwrapped his candy bar.

“I can’t choose,” Jeongguk muttered, turning the Kit Kat around to investigate the expiration date. “I mean, there are a lot of options there! The Kinder Bueno seems like a good choice, but I’m not feeling cream, you know? Snickers too, but I don’t like peanut and nougat.”

Jimin chuckled, clearly endeared at how Jeongguk was ready to go on a debate mood over candy bars. “Well, you chose me out of all the people in the club to bring to your little adventure. I think that’s impressive and a wise choice.”

Jeongguk blinked, the sudden realization made him stop in his tracks while Jimin continued walking, too absorbed in his snack to notice Jeongguk was no longer beside him. He only stared at the back of Jimin’s head, the bubblegum floof bouncing slightly with every step he took.

Jimin was right. He was not thinking at all when he had invited Jimin, and he certainly did not have any remorse about his questionable choice, not even a twinge of regret even after he humiliated himself in front of Jimin.

When he realized Jeongguk was not where he was, Jimin turned around, Kit Kat in between his teeth to look back to Jeongguk.

“Shall we go now?”

“Have I mentioned that I haven’t driven a stick before?”

Jeongguk took a glance on Jimin for a second before focusing his eyes back on the road. There were more cars in the morning compared to the night before.

“Not until I was drunk, I think.”

Jimin laughed, a sweet sound that reminded him of gum drops.

“Well, to tell you the truth, I don’t have a license yet, so…”

“Jimin!” Jeongguk gasped. Alright, he took it back. Maybe he did have one regret.

“What? We’ve arrived safely, haven’t we? It’s not like I have never driven before! Besides, we’re all alright now, aren’t we?”

“Oh really?” Jeongguk’s voice was laced with sarcasm as he rolled his eyes. “I feel so safe now, thank you for the clarification!”

Jimin let out another laugh, and Jeongguk find the sound to be comforting. He could listen to Jimin’s laughter all day.

“Oh man, Jeongguk… really?” Jimin moaned when Jeongguk parked at the exact same spot during their first visit to the convenience store.

“I don’t wanna be thrown to jail when they find us.”

“Okay, fine,” Jimin huffed, uncrossing his arms rather petulantly. “But I’m not gonna pay.”

Jeongguk was grateful that they were not going to prison despite having to listen to the manager yelling at the both of them. While Jeongguk had his hung down in remorse, Jimin only stared at the man, as if to challenge him to yell even louder. Despite profusely bowing and apologizing, the manager still threatened to call the police on them – a proof that the cashier last night did not manage to get Jeongguk’s plate license and the cameras outside were, indeed, not working.

Jeongguk paid for – according to the manager – the “damage” they have caused, although nothing was broken at all. Jeongguk was certain that he had paid for more than he had stolen, but the only thing running in his mind was to get out of there quick.

“God, you’re such a sweet kid, you know that?” Jimin grumbled, the words coming out of his mouth was dripping with venom, as if being a sweet kid was a crime.

Jeongguk only shrugged nonchalantly at the compliment though the reddening of the tips of his ears contradict his attitude.

“At least, we won’t be fugitives for stealing chocolate sticks.”

At his comment, Jimin laughed.

“So, this is it, huh?”

Even without looking at Jimin, Jeongguk could hear the smile in his voice.

The sky was filled with soft lilac and coral hues as the sun was approaching the horizon. The colour of the ocean reminded Jeongguk of a painting; the tangerine was so vibrant, he could almost taste the sweetness.

They were back at their town, stopping at the beach to mark the end of their little adventure. Jeongguk was against standing on top of cars, but he made an exception this time. The both of them had their butts on the hood of the truck; Jeongguk’s legs were dangling while Jimin pulled his knees to his chest.

“This is it,” Jeongguk echoed back, hissing internally at how brittle his voice was. “But, hey, we can still be friends, can’t we?”

“’Course we can, darlin’,” Jimin chuckled.

Jeongguk smiled.

“Might be awhile ‘til we see each other again, though.”

Jeongguk would be lying if he said he did not feel a pang in his chest. “What do you mean?”

Looking at Jimin’s sideway during the sunset made his heart felt as if he was going on a rollercoaster ride; the way his lips pouted, the way the peach glow of the setting sun spilled across his feature, almost matching with the colour of his hair and how his eyes softened as they were fixed on the sky. Jeongguk would describe it as a spiritual experiment, though one could argue he was merely exaggerating.

“I’ll be away for a while. Studying abroad for a year for my next semester. I had to…” Jimin swallowed. “I had to choose somewhere far from here.”

Realization dawned on him that they did not know each other that well. Yeah, they shared stories and secrets, but what did he really know about Jimin?

“Oh.”

Jeongguk stopped moving his legs, his arms rigid next to him as he clutched on the edge of the truck’s hood and his lips were pressed tight.

They were not aware of it, but they were thinking of the same thing; that their adventure would just be a memory to both of them, that it was not certain if they could even be in each other’s presence after it ended.

Would Jeongguk have invited Jimin, wasted his time with a stranger, if he had known they were not going to be meeting each other again?

Would Jimin even talk to Jeongguk, consider to befriend Jeongguk, if they had never gone on their adventure?

Would they even remember each other after today?

If Jeongguk could frame and relive a memory, it would be this one. Just them sitting in silence, admiring the sunset across of them. For now, he let himself believe that the sun would not approach its resting place. For now, he let himself believe that there was only the both of them in this world; it was them against the cruel universe.

He was met with angry stare and a scolding of a lifetime when he arrived back home. Never in his life he would ever think he would get yelled at twice in the same day, but there he was, cowering with his head low while his mother’s voice raised by the second. His father only shook his head, his loud ‘tsk’-ed ringing inside Jeongguk’s ears. Though, he felt a wee bit thankful to his father for his futile attempt to calm his mother.

The bucket list cost him five months of being grounded, with the addition of his keys being taken from him. It also meant that he was not allowed to ride with his friends, making him the loser of the group whom still had his mother driving him to the university.

He entered the university on the same semester when Jimin was sent abroad. Jimin was not lying when he said he was a model student, when Jeongguk saw a few of photos of him holding gold medals in last year’s photobook.

After months of being grounded, the first place he drove to was the beach. Watching the sunset disappearing from the horizon brought back memories of Jimin, memories he found himself not being able to let go. He was on top of the hood of the truck that was finally his, witnessing how the colour of the sky was changing, never constant, and despite the solitude, he had never felt more comfortable alone.

He was still working at the jeans store, though only part time as he was finally in university.

During the summer, however, he decided to take the full-time shift, not wanting to be cooped all day inside his house. He was folding the jeans, muttering to himself at how some customers were being irresponsible for not putting back the jeans where it was, when he heard the bell chimed.

What followed next was a familiar saccharine voice. “Excuse me?”

Jeongguk froze in his spot, wondering whether if his ears were defying him. A part of him was convinced that he was wrong, not amused at himself for not being able to let a one-year-old memory go while a bigger part of him just knew that he was right, that he could still recognize that voice anywhere.

When Jeongguk faced the owner of the voice, his bubblegum hair was coloured black; the contrast made his skin paler than he remembered and cheeks still rosy as ever. Jimin’s lips stretched into a grin at the sight of Jeongguk’s eyes widening, and Jeongguk could see the sparkles in Jimin’s eyes, still brighter than the stars in the night sky.

“I’m looking for a companion for an adventure tonight,” he said, and Jeongguk felt laughter bubbling in his chest, making his way to his throat at the memories that were flooding back like tidal waves. “You’re welcome to join me if you’d like.”

Jeongguk let out a laugh; airy and soft. He was mortified at how he had invited Jimin a year ago, but the mortification was overshadowed by happiness that were engulfing his heart, threatening to squeeze it until it explodes.

Somewhere at the back of his consciousness, Jeongguk understood what a sight he was making now. He could not contain the excitement he was feeling, and he could only hope that Jimin could not hear how loud his heart was beating right now. Jimin’s smile only grew more pronounced, but at the same time remain just as affectionate.

“It would be my pleasure, Jimin-ssi.”

#kfk:oneshot #jikook fanfic #kookmin fanfic #jikook #kookmin #bts

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thatbookishasiangirl · 4 years

Text

Are We Still Dreaming?

“Elliot, wake up.”

I am drifting somewhere in between the vast, ever-expanding space of the waking world and deep, unrelenting slumber when I feel your lips press against the back of my neck, drawing me gently out of my sleep. My eyelashes flutter lightly as a smile pulls across my lips, my nose wrinkles and I draw the sheets over my eyes, murmuring under my breath that I need ten more minutes. Just ten more minutes. Every tender, careful touch igniting sparks of little fires across my skin. Another kiss on my shoulder and then the sharp, deliciously painful jolt that comes from a tiny nip of the teeth. I roll over and attempt to glare at you to convey my false annoyance, but I am aware that my expression is one of unabashed adoration.

“What do you want, Connor?” I ask.

You lean forward and press your lips to the tip of my nose. “It’s time to get to work,” you whisper.

“You’re a real pain in the ass, you know that?” I grumble, shoving half-heartedly at your chest. “Don’t you remember? The editor doesn’t need those revisions until next month. It’s May 2nd. I’ve got plenty of time.”

“I remember that you put things off, and you put things off, and you continue to put them off until there’s one weekend left and you’re up all night panicking because you haven’t even started yet.” I roll my eyes. “And you put yourself through all this unnecessary stress when it could have been avoided by simply getting a head start.”

I flop onto my back. The piss colored wallpaper above is peeling and flaking and the old ceiling fan rocks back and forth as it spins rapidly, threatening to come down on us both at any moment. Crushing us. Well, I think, to hell with it, if it happens it happens. I throw my arm over my eyes, knowing that you are right. Not wanting to admit it, this project is taking its toll. Everything happened so fast. On New Year’s Eve, completely and utterly shit faced, I stumbled down the street to the nearest mail bin and had shoved the thick manila envelope containing my thirty page novel proposal, addressed to my editor Lucy, and the very next morning I got an email from her declaring that this would be my most successful creation yet.

“You always do this,” you say, not unkindly.

“I know,” I grouse.

You wrap your fingers around my wrist and move it away from my face. You smile and brush a piece of stray hair off of my forehead. “You haven’t written something new since 2015. It’s been five years. The people are dying for your next bestseller.”

I inhale sharply and reach for your hand, interlocking our fingers. “Will you make me something to eat?” I ask.

“Avocado toast with crispy bacon?” you muse.

“You know me so well,” I say, bringing your hand to my lips and kissing each knuckle in turn, before I lift my other hand and cup the side of your face bringing your mouth to mine. “Do you really want me to get to work?” I murmur against your lips.

You laugh, your deep, beautiful laugh, reverberating through my whole body, sending chills down my spine. I could listen to your laugh forever. “Come off it,” you say, pushing my chest.

“Connor…” I whine.

“Elliot,” you say teasingly.

You push back the sheets, exposing us both to the cold, and you swing your legs over the side of the bed. There is a soft thud as your feet land on the floor and you stand there in nothing but your questionably tight black underwear and you stretch your arms over your head. You look over your shoulder and grin, showing each and every one of your frustratingly perfect teeth.

“What?” I say.

“Nothing,” you reply, shrugging with just one shoulder as you grab one of our pillows and throw it at me. I catch it in both hands. “It’s supposed to be nice out today,” you say. “Maybe you can work outside.”

I’m rolling my eyes again but by then your back is to me and you are walking out the door. For a moment I just lay there on my back, listening to the clatter of pots and pans as you move through our kitchen. I know you are right. With a deep sigh, I get out of bed. I walk to our shared dresser. It’s small, coming up to the chest of my tall body and there are visible signs of wear, like the peeling wood on the legs, but it was cheap and we didn’t have that much clothing anyway. I shrug on a dark gray hoodie with my alma mater’s logo across the chest and a pair of old baggy sweatpants.

You wolf whistle as I emerge from our bedroom. “Looking hot, babe,” you say.

I flip you off. “Do you think Stephen King writes in a suit and tie?” I question. “I would bet you real, actual physical money that he doesn’t.”

You turn towards me, smirking. “Let’s call him up and ask,” you say.

“Shut up,” I retort. “Don’t be a smartass”

“What was that expression again? Dress for the job you want?”

I raise an eyebrow. “The job I want is to be able to work from home dressed in whatever the fuck I want because no one is going to see me.”

“Oh, but I see you. Don’t you want to impress me?” When I glare at you in response, you chuckle and raise both of your hands. Your head quirks to the side in the subconscious, curious way it does from time to time. “In all seriousness, and for the record because I know you keep a record in the back of that brilliant head of yours, you would look good in anything. Hell, you could pull off a potato sack.”

“Shut up,” I say again.

“What, it’s true? Am I supposed to lie to you?” You place a hand over your heart with mock offense. “Because lying goes directly against my code of honor and if you’re asking me to lie, then that might be a deal breaker.”

“You’re full of shit,” I laugh.

And there’s your smile again. “Get to work!” you exclaim.

I press the side of my hand to my forehead and salute. “Yes, sir,” I say.

My laptop is resting where I left it last night, open and sitting on the couch in a sea of blankets, empty soda cans, and snack wrappers. It was the result of not hours of hard work, but procrastination fueled Netflix binging; a result of you not being there to force me to be productive. You had been out catching up with some old friends from college. I grab my laptop and my cell phone and walk out onto our balcony. We are lucky enough that our apartment has one. It’s small and there is barely enough room for the pair of fold out chairs we have, but it’s better than nothing. And hey, you’re right, it is nice out. The sky is blue and the air warm.

I open my laptop and go to the document. I stare at the screen. The text cursor blinks mockingly at me through the glass. All that vast white page. The blank space. The blank space that I need to fill. I take a deep breath and press my fingers onto the keyboard. I’ve been writing, or attempting to write, for about twenty minutes when you step out onto the balcony.

“Here you go,” you say, handing me my plate.

“Thanks.” I put the plate down at my feet and take your face in my hands, kissing you with intention.

You kiss back, but for not nearly long enough. “Work,” you say. “Eat and work. I know how you can get on an empty stomach. You can take a break in an hour.”

I nod in agreement. “Thanks again,” I say.

You walk back inside, leaving the sliding door open. I pick up a piece of bacon. It’s burnt. You burnt the bacon. It’s never happened before.

I take a bite and it crunches and crumbles in my mouth. Several arms lengths away there is another apartment complex and another shoebox balcony. Through the sliding glass door I see the elderly couple who have been living in Boston long before we moved in across the way. The woman is standing at the sink, hand washing dishes. Her motions are slow and careful. She stares determinedly down at her hands, as if the dishes and the water and suds are her lifeline. If she were to stop washing those dishes then everything would unspool; her fragile bones would collapse and her skin would cave in on itself. I watch as she lifts a vibrant green plate in her hands, moving it around clockwise as she scrubbs every inch of the round surface.

The old woman’s hands shake and her long silver hair falls over her face as she bends her head further over the sink. Her shoulders rise and fall and I realize that she is crying. The plate slips from her hands, splashing in the water filled sink, sending suds everywhere. Her husband appears soon after, hugging her from behind and rubbing his hands up and down her arms, whispering something into her ear. She spins around and collapses into his arms. I can hear her sobs through the glass and it’s entirely too much.

I place my computer on the floor and stand, stepping back into the apartment. You are rummaging through the cabinets and when I come back inside, you stand straight with our largest mixing bowl in your hands.

“How would you feel if I made some chocolate chip cookies?” you ask.

“Breakfast and now cookies,” I say. “You’re on a roll.”

You smile and shrug. “I watched some Chopped on my phone after you fell asleep. I’ve got the cooking bug.”

I can’t help myself. “I’m surprised you could stay awake after last night. I was beat,” I say, smirking and crossing my arms over my chest. The porcelain pale skin of your cheeks turns bright red and I know my words have had the intended effect. “I would love cookies.”

You duck your head for a moment, staring into the bowl, and god, you’re so cute when you’re embarrassed. “Great,” you say. “And you can have as many as you want.” You raise your head again. “But only after you’ve finished at least one chapter.”

I groan. “But the cookies will be cold by the time I’m done.”

“And they’ll still be perfectly edible.”

“Oh but, Connor,” I say and I walk closer to you until we are only a foot apart. “Don’t you know that the prime eating time for a chocolate chip cookie is exactly two minutes after they come out of the oven?”

You snort, but you are still smiling at me and I can tell that you want to throw that bowl aside and kiss me. More than kiss me. But you’re a good boyfriend. You won’t distract me no matter how much your fingers twitch with the overwhelming desire to reach out and touch me. I know that this is how you are feeling because I am feeling the exact same way. Our emotions, our desires, our every whims have always fallen perfectly in sync. I swear sometimes, that I can read your mind. I anticipate your needs and you anticipate mine. Your breath stutters when you are about to sneeze and I pass you a tissue just in time. I wake up from a long nap with an empty stomach and you’ve already prepared soup for me. In the middle of the night, when you are restless, you won’t say it, but I know you want me to hold you tighter. To tangle our limbs into a knot that cannot be easily pulled apart. I know your body better than my own. Where to touch you and how, to strike stars across your vision. You don’t need to speak for me to be sure of what you want.

I take the bowl from you and place it on the kitchen island. It is barely big enough to be called a kitchen island, though, but we make the best of it. When we eat at it, we have to stand so close that our shoulders brush which really isn’t something I am complaining about, but it certainly makes things like baking quite difficult. I cup your face in my hands and tilt my head up to kiss you. You’re not that much taller than me, but you’re tall enough that I have to make an effort; I am forced to stand on my toes and strain to reach your mouth.

“You’re procrastinating again, sweetheart,” you mumble against my lips, but your hands are curled in the front of my sweatshirt.

“You’re not complaining,” I point out.

I watch as you bite down on your bottom lip, teasing the pretty pink flesh between your teeth and I feel my own face grow hot. The air is still between us.

“You promised me,” you say, sounding quieter and smaller than you ever have before. I don’t like it. “We would treat today like a completely normal day.”

You have never been much of a crier. You hate crying. It makes you feel weak. Even at times when it would be perfectly reasonable to cry, you still never cry. Not even when you came out to your beloved parents, hand reaching for mine and clutching it nervously, and they both looked at you like you were lower than the scum in the New York City subway. But right now your eyes are watering and I can tell that you are trying to fight it and becoming frustrated that you are losing.

“This is normal,” I say softly.

You shake your head. “No. You’re never this…” you hesitate and I reach down and take your hand in mind, squeezing it reassuringly. “Loving.” And I can tell you regret it the moment you say it because your eyes go wide. “Shit. I didn’t mean it like that. I know you love me. I do. It’s just- I’m not complaining, I-”

“No, I get it,” I say. “And I’m sorry about that. I guess I was thinking maybe I could make it up to you.” I take a deep breath. “Please don’t make me go back out there. I don’t want to spend our last day together with my face in front of a screen, going crazy over a book I will never finish.”

“It really would have been a masterpiece,” you say, your voice wet with those yet unspilled tears.

“You give me too much credit,” I say.

“You don’t give yourself enough,” you counter.

You touch my face, your thumb stroking my cheek. “Will you tell me about it?” you ask. “We can go for a walk, just down by the park in the Boston Commons, and you can tell me everything.”

I swallow hard, and it feels like something is catching in my throat, making it difficult to breath, and for a brief moment I think I might expire early. “That sounds nice,” I say.

“And then I can take you out to dinner,” you say. “I hear they’re having an end of the world special at the Capital Grille.”

“Can we go dancing afterwards?” I ask. “It’s been so long since we’ve been dancing?”

You grin, even as a single drop of liquid salt escapes from one of your brilliant cerulean eyes and slides down your face. I reach my hand up on instinct and wipe it away before kissing your eyelid as it flutters closed. “I thought you hated dancing,” you say.

“I am incapable of hating anything so long as I am doing it with you,” I tell him.

You nod. “I’d like that.” You sniffle and repeat, “I’d like that.”

“Hey?” I say, gripping the back of your neck and squeezing lightly. “Just another day?”

You laugh and another tear falls. “Just another day,” you echo.

#lgbtq #prose #short story #writing #my writing

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adumbmoss · 5 years

Text

Strawberry Tequila

“I’m cleaning.”

Adam looked up from where he was hanging off the couch. Upside down, his legs hooked over the back of the couch. In his hands was a ball made of rubber bands. He pulled at one of the bands, letting it snap back against the ball. From his vantage point, he saw just the top of Bak’s head as she stood in the doorway. Her short hair pushed up from a headband wrapped around her forehead, and her nose wrinkled as she looked around the living room.

“Why?” Adam asked. He threw the ball up. It fell back down, hitting him in the stomach. He scrambled to catch it, barely snatching it up again before it rolled away.

“Because this place is disgusting,” Bak said. She bent down, picking up an old banana peel that was black and shriveled. “How do you live like this?”

“Easy. I live like this,” Adam said, throwing the ball again. It landed on his face this time, bouncing off his nose. “Ow!”

“Well, I’m not going to,” Bak said. “Where do you keep your soap?”

“Soap?”

“Do… do you not know what soap is?” Bak asked in apparent horror.

Adam righted himself, feeling a bit dizzy as the blood rushed back to his head. Now right-side up, he saw that Bak was wearing a muscle shirt and bleached jeans that still showed faint signs of blood. For the first time, he noticed the scars curved around her arm. They looked deep and old.

“Nah, I know what soap is,” Adam said. “I just don’t think we have any.”

“How do you wash your dishes?”

“Uhhh… ever hear of paper plates?”

Bak groaned, putting one hand on her hip and the other coming up to pinch the bridge of her nose, her eyes shut tight. “Christ… okay. I’m going to go ask the neighbors. Can you at least pick up the recyclables and put them in the bin?”

“Sure. Quick question,” Adam held up a finger, looking around at the mess of pizza boxes, soda cans, and miscellaneous socks and take-out packages. “What counts as recyclable?”

“You are the reason climate change exists,” Bak said, deadpan and already grabbing her wallet. “I’ll be back in a few.”

“Have fun!”

Bak walked out, slamming the door behind her. Turning back to the room, Adam starting grabbing trash.

She didn’t seem too bad. Better than Ralph at least. Not that it was hard to beat Ralph as a good roommate, but Adam’s standards of friendship weren’t exactly high. Not after what he’d been through. He’d take friends where he could get them.

Berry was a constant in his life. Every moment of every day for the past three years, Adam could feel Berry there. Another presence, watching along with him. He wasn’t always nice, and he wasn’t always happy, but he was there. Gauging the danger. Letting Adam figure things out. Like the ultimate helicopter parent, Berry watched as Adam fucked up with a laugh, but always with a few short words to help him out of the holes he dug.

It didn’t take long for Bak to come back with a container of blue liquid soap. She started picking up the few dishes Adam owned, taking the to the sink and began to wash. Adam, instantly abandoning the small pyramid of soda cans he was making, came up next to her. He pulled himself up onto the counter, swinging his legs out as Bak pointedly ignored him.

“So…” Adam said. “What are you?”

Bak didn’t look up, grabbing a plate and furiously scrubbing it. She looked human now, other than the golden eyes. No claws, no fangs. Just a girl. Still, there was hidden power in her muscled arms. There was a danger in the way she watched him. Adam hadn’t been around long, but he’d been around long enough to know the look in the eye of person scared enough to do anything to keep what they loved safe. “Kumiho. Well, half Kumiho.”

“Uh huh,” Adam said. “What is that?”

“Fox demon from Korea,” Bak gave him a side glance. She held out her hand, and Adam handed her a dirty cup. She began to clean it.

“Could you elaborate?”

“Yeah, I could.”

Adam waited. Bak silently continued to clean the dishes.

“I don’t think she’s going to tell you anything,” Berry said, a hint of laughter in his gruff voice.

Adam winced. Then, putting on a smile, he leaned over. Getting his head in her line of sight, she snarled at him. “Don’t like talking about yourself?”

“Not really,” Bak said. She held out her hand for another plate, which Adam handed to her. “This living situation is temporary. I… I lost control, and now I just need to figure things out before I leave again. This is not permanent.”

“Then why you cleaning my house?”

“Because it’s gross, and you’re obviously not going to.”

“But it’s my house.”

“It should be clean.”

“Okay, but you just said you’re not going to be living here long—"

“Just—!” Bak slammed her hands down onto the sink. Adam backed up for a moment as her eyes grew brighter, fading before he could blink. Her shoulders heaved, and her fingers clenched the edge of the sink. For a brief moment, she looked as though she was going to lose it. Then, taking in a deep breath, she relaxed. “Just let me do this, alright? Change the subject.”

“Someone has a secret,” Berry said, humorous curiosity piqued. Adam ignored him, propping one leg up on the counter. She didn’t want to talk about it, he wouldn’t talk about it. He wasn’t about to shut up though.

“Have you heard about the birds?”

Bak blinked, looking over. “Wh… what?”

“The birds. They’re not real.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh my fucking god,” Berry groaned.

Adam grinned. Anything that could make Berry get that exasperated was a good thing. As Bak picked up the last of the dishes, Adam gestured widely. “Okay, so birds may or may not have been replaced by the government with robots to spy on everybody.”

“I don’t think that’s correct,” Bak said. She for a second the corners of her mouth turned up before she rolled her eyes.

“Okay, but consider this,” Adam said. “The birds are robots.”

Adam was good at talking. Since waking up three years ago with nothing to own but a name, he’d found himself unable to shut up. Usually it was Berry he ended up talking to. Looking insane as he walked from city to city. Talking about whatever was on his mind. Talking about the new foods he tasted, or the colors of the sunrise peeking over the ridge. He’d talk about all the new things, and all the old things. Talking was the one thing that Adam had. It was what he could do when he was backed into a corner. Maybe he wasn’t good at it, and maybe he got annoying fast, but it was his. His voice belonged to him.

So Adam talked.

Bak listened.

They eventually moved on from the sink. Adam trailed after Bak as she walked about the apartment, picking up whatever she pointed at. They moved as a team. Bak doing most of the work, and Adam chatting her ear off. He switched topics as easily as the wind blew. Talking about old roommates and cities he had seen. He talked about the night he found a family of rats living in his closet, and he talked about the night he accidentally burnt down a port-a-potty. Bak was a good listener. Only interrupting to snort at the jokes, or to voice her disbelief as some wacky adventure Adam had found himself fallen into.

It took hours, but soon the apartment looked decently livable.

Collapsing onto the couch, Bak groaned. “Fuck, I cannot believe you didn’t know about those moldy nachos.”

“In my defense,” Adam said, sitting down next to her. “I thought it was a houseplant Ralph bought.”

Bak huffed out a tired laugh. For a moment it was quiet. Well, as quiet as it could get in an apartment with thin walls. In that moment, Adam felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time. He couldn’t really place the emotion. It wasn’t happy… but it wasn’t sad either. A longing for something he’d lost? But what had he lost?

Adam shoved it down. He was fine.

“Hey,” Bak said, rolling her head to look over at him. “You ever play imp cards?”

“No?”

A toothy grin spread across Bak’s face. “Perfect.”

She jumped to her feet, running to her room. Quickly returning, now with a jacket slung around her shoulders, she held a black card case. It was covered in swirly gold designs. The image of a sickly thin creature with a rounded stomach and bulging eyes sat crisscross at the center.

“Isn’t that Ralphs jacket?” Adam asked.

Bak shrugged, “He isn’t exactly here to claim it anymore.”

She sat back down next to Adam. Setting the cards top, she tapped the center twice. “Imp, we’d like to play.”

With a small burst of dull green light, the image was now gone. Instead, an actual imp with large eyes and plump stomach was sitting on the cover. Stick thin arms crossed, and glaring up at them.

“What do you wanna play?” the imp said in a high-pitched voice with a thick Irish accent.

Bak gave a side glance at Adam. “Do you have a preference?”

Adam scrambled through his three years of memories. “Uhhhhhhhhhhh…”

“Uno.”

“Uno?”

The gold swirls glowed in a flash before returning to normal. The imp crawled off the cards as Bak picked then up and started dealing them out. Clearing their voice, the imp squeaked, “Alright. Rules of Uno. First to discard all the cards wins. Match by color and number. Do not fucking cheat.”

“Uhhh,” Adam took his cards from Bak. “Do all card games come with a little dude?”

“Just the unnatural ones,” Bak said. She flipped over the first card on the stack, revealing a red four. “You go first.”

Adam laid down a yellow five. Before he could react, the imp launched itself at his hand. Tiny teeth sunk into his thumb. The imp jumped back as Adam yanked his hand back. “Ow! What the heck, man?”

“You played the wrong card,” Bak said, hiding a smile behind her hand.

“Play by the rules or face my wrath!” the imp jumped up and down, shrieking.

“Heh,” Berry chuckled. “I’ve missed these guys.”

Adam flipped off the imp, who screamed in rage. Laying down a yellow card, Bak then took her turn, and then his again. The game was fun, despite the anal imp who tolerated no cheating and no rule breaking. Even Bak managed to get bitten a few times. By the time the first round was over, Adam’s hand was covered in tiny bite marks. At some point, Adam jumped up to get a bottle of strawberry tequila he’d made a few nights before. The sweet alcohol burned. Soon both Bak and Adam felt its effects, making them giggle more and receive more bites as drunken mistakes were made.

“Again?” Bak asked, dealing out another hand as they finished the first game.

“Sure,” Adam said, taking another long drink. Berry hated strawberry tequila. Adam loved it.

They played again, and then again, and then again. Insults were traded, imps screamed, and laughs were had. That aching feeling in Adams chest grew, no matter how much he ignored it. The knowledge that something was missing. Something wasn’t where it should be.

But it didn’t matter, so Adam didn’t care.

As they played, Bak started to relax. She started smiling more, and her insults grew friendly. She even knocked her shoulder into Adams with a laugh when she laid down her fury of a draw four. It was nice. Bak was still terrifying, even as a normal person without the claws and fangs. Here, playing a game with him however, she felt real. Less like the monster he’d found in the woods, and more like another person. Another weirdo who didn’t quite fit the box.

Someone a little more like him, and a little less against his world.

“I’m out for the night,” Bak said, raking in her fifth win. She tapped the center of the box twice again, the imp disappearing. She took her cards back, standing with a small smile. “Thanks for uh, thanks for hanging out.”

“No problamo,” Adam said, popping out finger guns.

Bak rolled her eyes, walking back to her room. The door closed behind her with a quiet click.

“You know she isn’t staying,” Berry reminded him.

“Yeah, yeah,” Adam said, standing and stretching. “Let me enjoy something for once.”

“I’m just saying,” Berry said. “She isn’t… fuck, how can I say this without destroying your brain?”

“Just don’t say it,” Adam said, wincing at the memories of the painful white-noise that came whenever Berry tried to say certain things. “Just… just shush.”

“Fine,” Berry said with a gruff huff. There was a pause, and then Berry said quietly. “You still don’t remember anything?”

“Should I?”

“I just thought… it’s nothing,” Berry said, and Adam could practically feel him shaking his head in the back of his brain. “Night, kid.”

“Night, Berry.”

Berry retreated. Adam was left alone, staring at a dead TV as dogs barked down the street, sirens wailed from the distance, and somewhere above him the neighbors started having fun.

That ache he hated was back.

Adam picked up the bottle of strawberry tequila, staggering over to collapse on the kitchen floor and take another long drink. He could make all the feelings go away except the happy ones. All he wanted were the happy ones.

He was happy.

#adam moss #seung bak #extra content story

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hungline · 5 years

Text

whispering (i love you)

pairing: jihancheol genre: smut, angst, fluff, uni au, rated e warnings: explicit sexual content, dom/sub, aftercare, implied child abuse, implied sexual assault, mentions of violence words: 3377

summary: They’ve been whispering behind his back for a month now and Jeonghan doesn’t like the look in Seungcheol’s eyes.

⇢ day four of 31 days of halloween

“Okay, spill.”

Seungcheol opens his eyes, completely fucked out of his mind as he continues to swivel his hips. Jeonghan’s grip tightens on Seungcheol’s waist when he realizes that the elder is completely immersed in subspace.

His eyes are glassy, sweat dribbling down his face as he continues to move. Jeonghan feels his brow come together in concern.

“Cheol.”

No answer.

Jeonghan sits up and Seungcheol whines, not liking that he’d been stopped. But Jeonghan is anything if persistent.

He grabs the elder’s chin, forcing Seungcheol to look him in the face. The headboard is uncomfortable behind him, but Jeonghan considers that nothing if Seungcheol has slipped deep into subspace.

“Color?”

Seungcheol whines and bites his lip, eyes focusing on nothing. Jeonghan quickly settles Seungcheol on his thighs instead of his dick. They’re both painfully erect, but Jeonghan doesn’t want to do anything when the elder can’t consent to it.

“Cheol. Hey, what’s your color?”

“...yellow.”

Jeonghan curls around the elder, laying them flat on the mattress now. Seungcheol gasps a little, maybe a bit breathless, Jeonghan can’t tell.

He cards his fingers through the elder’s hair, pressing kisses into his skin, smiling to himself when Seungcheol begins to giggle.

Seungcheol’s cock brushes against Jeonghan’s thigh and he yelps, wanting to move his hips desperately. Jeonghan kisses his nose, the crease between his brows, the corner of his mouth before he nods and smiles at Seungcheol.

“Go ahead. You can do whatever you want to, baby,” Jeonghan whispers between them.

Seungcheol sighs gratefully and gyrates his hips. Jeonghan runs the fingers of one hand through Seungcheol’s dark hair while using the other to collect the beads of pre-come spilling from the head of Seungcheol’s dick and slicks it down the shaft, making the slide easier. Seungcheol’s hips kick pitifully, another whine caught in his throat and Jeonghan kisses him tenderly.

His idea of dishing information out of Seungcheol while they fucked has now flown right out the window. Jeonghan can’t really do anything but take care of the elder when he’s in this state. Getting information out of him right now would be cruel.

Plus, Seungcheol looks very cute right now.

The elder whimpers, bucking his hips frantically as he rubs his cock against Jeonghan’s thigh. There’s more of Seungcheol’s precome mixed into the mess forming on Jeonghan’s thigh and Jeonghan is strangely turned on even more by that fact.

"What a good boy," Jeonghan murmurs.

Seungcheol keens and kisses Jeonghan's chin, stumbling through his movements enough to make Jeonghan laugh quietly. Jeonghan presses open-mouthed kisses to Seungcheol's jaw and throat, groaning when Seungcheol does and burying his face into Seungcheol's sweaty hair on occasion. The elder continues to hump Jeonghan's thigh, eyes closed and jaw slacked in pleasure.

Maybe the paddle had been a bit too much for tonight, Jeonghan thinks, he'll have to throw it into their "later or never" pile now. Or maybe Jisoo can throw it there later if he comes home from work early. Jeonghan doesn't know, either way, they won't be using the paddle again for a very long time.

Seungcheol's breath hitches as his thighs begin to shake and Jeonghan takes it upon himself to stroke the elder. His hips have stilled now, legs trembling as Jeonghan helps him fall into his orgasm.

And fall he does, but Jeonghan is there to catch him and put him back together.

Seungcheol releases himself over Jeonghan's fist and watches as his come dribbles down to stain the milky skin of Jeonghan's thigh. Jeonghan kisses him once he's done, being careful not to touch Seungcheol with his come-covered hand.

Jeonghan holds Seungcheol for awhile then, humming to calm the elder and waits as he rises out of his headspace. He plans to get them both in the shower once Seungcheol can stand, but Jisoo arrives before then, staring at the paddle on the corner of the bed and the bright red of Seungcheol's ass pressed against Jeonghan's crotch.

"Yellow?" Jisoo mouths.

Jeonghan nods and almost laughs at the way the boy rolls his eyes before grabbing the paddle and disappearing into their closet. He emerges a few seconds later, paddle-less and climbs into bed, wrapping an arm underneath Seungcheol's torso. Jeonghan helps him heave the elder up and out bed, one of his arms thrown over both of their shoulders.

They make it to the shower with no incident and Jisoo strips out of his clothes before helping Jeonghan clean up Seungcheol. Seungcheol slumps between them, mumbling something that Jeonghan can't make out, but it looks like Jisoo can. His expression goes from concentrated to alarmed to anxious then forcibly calm when he realizes that Jeonghan is staring at them.

Lately, it seems like Jeonghan has been staring a lot.

He doesn't know what's going on, but it feels like Seungcheol and Jisoo are keeping something from him and he doesn't like it one bit.

"Okay, spill."

Jisoo hums something, ignoring Jeonghan. Jeonghan groans and follows after him, mindlessly wiping down the counter as he does.

"Shua," Jeonghan tries again.

But Jisoo continues to ignore him.

A new customer comes up to the register and Jeonghan plasters on his fakest smile before approaching and taking their order. Work drags on after that and despite the handjobs they give each other in the break closet when it's really slow, Jeonghan still feels that he gained nothing new from today.

When they get home and Seungcheol is in the kitchen unwrapping some takeout he ordered, Jeonghan's usual order is waiting on the counter along with his favorite side of fried rice to go with it. Seungcheol preens under the kisses Jeonghan and Jisoo give him to convey their thanks.

Jeonghan eats unbothered, watching the way Jisoo and Seungcheol exchange glances when they think he isn't looking. It's been going on for a month now and Jeonghan has had about enough of it by this point.

Still, he watches them.

He notices that there's less food on Seungcheol's plate this time and Jeonghan frowns, dropping a piece of chicken on the elder's plate at the same time that Jisoo does. They look up to meet one another's eye and grin, but then Jisoo's gaze flickers upward towards Seungcheol and Jeonghan looks away, a sour feeling rising from his stomach.

He manages to get through the rest of dinner before throwing himself across the couch and opens up Seungcheol's laptop to finish the essay he was working on earlier. Seungcheol and Jisoo continue to whisper at the counter, turned in their seats towards one another, knees bumping together occasionally. Jeonghan ignores it, focusing on his paper and drowns out the little giggle Seungcheol makes when Jisoo tries to hand feed him the rest of his dinner.

Seungcheol looks skinnier now that Jeonghan has been paying attention and he really doesn't like it. Seungcheol is fit and muscular, sure, but skinny he is not. He'll have to ask if the elder is trying out some ridiculous new diet or not.

Eventually, the two finish and wash up, throwing away the trash and stowing the bags their food came in to recycle for other things (usually their bathroom trash bin). Seungcheol traipses into the living room once they're done, two water bottles in hand.

He settles himself on the floor and leans back against the couch before holding up a water bottle for Jeonghan to take.

"Thanks," Jeonghan mutters, distracted with his paper.

Seungcheol smiles, that dopey cute smile of his that Jeonghan has never been able to say no to. "No prob, babe. Mind if I watch some Netflix?"

Jeonghan sighs and sits up, leaving enough room for Jisoo to slip underneath his feet and settle into the opposite side of the couch with Jeonghan's socked feet in his lap. "No. Go ahead, baby."

The elder's cheeks flush at the endearment, but he turns back to the tv anyway and puts on a show about aliens and how governments all over the world are trying to cover up any and all connections we have with them. Despite the fact that Jeonghan's paper is due in two days, he finds himself paying rapt attention to the tv, even tucking his feet in and making room for Seungcheol on the couch once they've gotten two episodes into the season.

Jisoo keeps complaining about how fake and fabricated all the "evidence" is, but Seungcheol silences him with a kiss that then turns into a steamy makeout session and Jeonghan averts his eyes, strangely feeling as if he's encroaching on something not meant for him to see.

It's weird and Jeonghan doesn't know why he's feeling this way, but maybe he does.

The signs are all there after all. The whispering, the shared glances, the panicked expressions when they know Jeonghan is in earshot. The quiet little moments they share that Jeonghan doesn't want to interrupt.

Maybe his time is really up with these two. For good this time.

And while it hurts to think it, he's at least happy that they'll still have each other.

He wonders how much time they'll give him to move out. He also wonders if he should quit his crappy job and try being a nanny or something instead since he doesn't really think he'd like to continue being Jisoo's coworker after it's all said and done. At least, not for a while anyway.

Either way, Jeonghan knows what's going to happen next when Seungcheol pauses the fifth episode and both he and Jisoo turn to face Jeonghan.

Seungcheol takes his laptop and makes sure that Jeonghan's paper is saved before he closes the lid and puts it on the coffee table. Jeonghan watches him do it, feeling kind of numb. Jisoo takes his hand and rubs a thumb over his knuckles, that sly smile of his offered up for Jeonghan to take.

Something in Jeonghan breaks when Seungcheol turns back to face them, a serious look in his eyes. The same look he had when Seokmin knocked on their door last year with no money, no clothes, a ripped shirt, the zipper on his pants broken, and bruises on his face and chest saying he couldn't go back home. Jeonghan starts to sweat when the look doesn't waver.

The same look Seungcheol had worn when Jihoon had a mental breakdown, broke most of the things in his dorm and almost dropped out of college until Seungcheol kicked down his door and wouldn't let anybody else in until Jihoon was crying into his chest and Seungcheol was rocking him to sleep.

A sense of dread falls down upon Jeonghan when Seungcheol's gaze flickers to meet Jisoo's before pinning Jeonghan to the couch again.

It's the exact same look Seungcheol had when Wonwoo got into a car accident a few months ago and they'd all panicked, thinking that he'd died on the spot. Thankfully, he hadn't, but the scar that runs down from the top of his ribcage to his mid-thigh is still pink and puckery and Wonwoo only ever lets Junhui touch it. And that's only sometimes.

Whatever the two are going to say to him, Jeonghan is sure he isn't going to like it.

"Cheonsa."

Jisoo speaks up first, his tone careful and measured and Jeonghan hates how his breath catches in his throat as he waits for the blow.

"There's something Cheol and I need to talk to you about."

Jeonghan's gaze flickers between the two, an unknown emotion clogging his throat that's keeping him from speaking. But he needs to speak. He needs to before they break his heart for good this time.

If Jeonghan we're being realistic, he probably should've seen this coming.

They've had fights and argued many times before and broken up four times, but they've always crawled back to one another, crying and helpless and honestly, really pathetic looking, but it's how they've coped. Jisoo and Seungcheol are gentle with Jeonghan, knowing when to push and when to not and they know not to let their hands wander near his backside after what happened two years ago. Jeonghan still feels like he's in recovery and he knows that it puts a damper on a lot of things between them, but it's never felt that way for Seungcheol and Jisoo who've always been willing to cater to his needs. They've always been very understanding and when Seungcheol went and paid him a visit with Soonyoung, Mingyu and Minghao backing him up, Jeonghan had felt that his past had finally been laid to rest.

Still, Jisoo fights and argues with everything he has just to prove that he's right, even when he's dead wrong because he's petty and Jeonghan is just as petty, if not more. Seungcheol plays peacemaker most of the time, but his patience usually wears beyond thin and when he's angry, Jisoo and Jeonghan know better than to bother him with their petty arguments.

They tiptoe around each other a lot and it probably isn't very healthy for any of them, but they are getting better. They fight less often, they take care of one another and they know not to push so much.

They even go to counseling, updating each other about their progress and celebrating any victories, big or small.

They're getting better.

So maybe that's why Jeonghan bursts into tears when Seungcheol clears his throat and prepares to speak.

"Hey." Seungcheol's voice is soft and low and Jeonghan clings to him, not wanting to let go. "Hey, sh. It's okay. We're sorry."

Jisoo cards his fingers through Jeonghan's long, long hair, twisting the ends of it around his fingertips in the way that he knows Jeonghan likes. "Cheonsa, hey. Why are you crying? We didn't even get to speak yet."

Jeonghan shakes his head and then buries it into Seungcheol's chest, letting the two of them pet and hold him. Murmuring quiet assurances into his hair, his skin, his very being. But the tears dry up fast and Jeonghan is left with a soggy t-shirt pressed up against his face and two pairs of hands trailing over his skin as if he's the only map they've ever known.

"I'm sorry," Jeonghan croaks, his voice muffled, but he knows that the two can hear him. "I'll have my things out by next week. Is that okay?"

There's a deadly silence lingering in the air now. Tension thick enough to cut with a knife and Jeonghan gulps, pulling himself out of Seungcheol's arms and putting distance between them.

"What?" It's Seungcheol who decides to break the silence.

Jeonghan shrugs. "You're breaking up with me again, aren't you?"

Jisoo and Seungcheol exchange looks of confusion and Jeonghan lets himself breathe a little.

"No. Where did you get that from?" Jisoo asks.

Jeonghan shrugs again, not willing to speak anymore. Jisoo sighs and draws closer, neatly folding Jeonghan into his lap and Jeonghan goes willingly, breathing easier when Seungcheol's hand slides up his shirt and comes to rest on the small on his back. Jisoo presses a kiss to the top of Jeonghan's head, smiling when Seungcheol leans in to do the very same.

Then the elder's lips are trailing downwards and he's pressing insistently against Jeonghan. Seungcheol's other hand now slips underneath Jisoo's shirt and trails up his spine, pausing only when he reaches Jisoo's shoulder blades. Jeonghan is too lost in kissing Seungcheol to really know what else is going on, but eventually, they stop kissing and Seungcheol smiles, as reassuring and strong as ever and much too soft for Jeonghan to ever think he was going to break up with him.

Jisoo is there then, pressing kisses to the corner of Jeonghan's mouth before pulling back and pushing Jeonghan's hair behind his ear.

"That wasn't why we wanted to talk to you," Jisoo says then, bringing Jeonghan back to the situation at hand.

"Then what was it?" He asks, because what else could he say? You two have been whispering behind my back and excluding me and I really thought this was goodbye for good? I'm so sorry?

"My parents are coming to visit. They want to stay with me for a week," Jisoo says.

Jeonghan feels the breath being knocked out of him. "What?"

Seungcheol grips Jeonghan's chin and forces them to see eye-to-eye. "I got the internship with the biology department, but I have to move to Germany for six months to complete it. I'm gonna do it."

A double whammy then.

"What?" Jeonghan doesn't know how he's able to speak without air. "How long?"

Jisoo bites his lips and holds up two fingers. "Two weeks for me. Um, after winter break for Cheol."

Seungcheol leans in and bumps his nose against Jeonghan's, making the long haired man draw in a deep breath. "Okay?"

"Okay."

"That's it?" Jisoo asks.

Jeonghan takes in another breath. "Yeah. That's it."

"Wow," Jisoo mouths, and thenー "Wait, did you really think we were going to break up with you?"

Jeonghan nods, eyes closed now as he takes another steady breath. Seungcheol pecks him on the lips and lets go of his face, pushing his hands back up his boyfriends' shirts.

"Would never break up with you, Cheonsa. Love you too much," Seungcheol says, pushing his face into Jeonghan's neck.

Jisoo laughs and then sighs, completely perplexed. "I really thought we'd have another fight about this."

Jeonghan shrugs and lets Seungcheol suck a hickey into his skin. "Nah. This is nothing compared to what I thought. And I love you too, Cheollie. You too, Shua."

"You're such an ass," Jisoo laments. "But I love you, the both of you. That's why I told my parents they could visit. I don't care what they think anymore."

"Well, well, well," Jeonghan smirks. "Look at our big boy all grown up now, Cheollie."

Seungcheol laughs, but says nothing, merely reaching up to trail his nose up and down Jisoo's throat now.

"Shut up, Hannie. I can't believe you thought we were gonna break up with you. As if."

"Then what was up with all the whispering and secret meetings? You know I saw you two at the coffee shop last week all huddled up and hunched over a notebook or something, writing stuff down and giggling like fools."

Jisoo bites his lip and exchanges a look with Seungcheol. Jeonghan snaps his fingers and points at them.

"That! That right there is what I'm talking about," Jeonghan exclaims.

Seungcheol laughs. "May as well tell him, Shua. You know I suck at keeping secrets."

Jisoo rolls his eyes and laughs as well. "Yeah, I know. I'm surprised you lasted this long. Good for you, baby. You set a new record."

Seungcheol blushes and smiles, pressing his face into Jisoo's neck again. Jisoo grins and sticks his tongue out at Jeonghan.

"If you really need to know, we were planning your birthday party which was supposed to be a surprise, but you're such a brat that you thought we were going to break up with you."

Jeonghan laughs now, beyond relieved. "Shut up and love me."

"Already do, Cheonsa," Jisoo replies, his mild irritation gone now.

Seungcheol emerges from Jisoo's neck to tangle his fingers into Jeonghan's hair and kisses him fiercely. "I love you too, Jeonghan. Love you lots. Now get me out of these damn pants. I've had a boner for the last hour."

Jeonghan laughs. "Aliens is what does it for you now?"

Jisoo presses a kiss to Seungcheol's collarbones, grinning with intent. "Well, I guess I know what our next roleplay scene will be."

Seungcheol blushes and ignores any more comments about aliens for the rest of the night, but when Jisoo is pushing his hips into Seungcheol with Jeonghan pressing into Jisoo in turn, he might or might not have called one of them his alien baby.

Jeonghan says it's weird but continues to fuck into Jisoo anyway.

For the time being, they're okay.

("We still need to talk about you moving to Germany, alien boy!" Jeonghan kicks at Seungcheol's thigh later when they're in bed, fucked out and blissed out.

"Don't call me that," Seungcheol whines.

Jisoo laughs and joins in when Jeonghan begins to yell "alien boy" at the top of his lungs.)

They're gonna be just fine.

#jihancheol #jeongcheol #jihan #cheolsoo #kwritersworldnet #k connect network #kwordsmiths #betareadernet #svt #smut #angst #fluff #p:ot3 #p:seungcheol/jeonghan/jisoo #f:w(ily)#s:31doh #m: fic

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canaryatlaw · 5 years

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okay I should write, but it’s officially been my birthday for 40 minutes!! So that’s fun. sadly I’ll have to entertain myself for most of the day, but I’ll probably sleep in and then maybe go out to some of the shops on main street (like Francesca’s) and do some shopping, and then later on I’m gonna go to Olive Garden with Jess and then to see Captain Marvel and then get ice cream for part 1 of birthday celebrations, part 2 will be on Saturday when we can go up to where they have the cheesecake factory and the fancy movie theatre where we will go to eat and see Shazam, so I’m excited for that. But anyway, today. I was in and out of sleep for a bit before getting up around 1ish. I spent a while just getting breakfast and checking things out on my computer. When I was done with that, I grabbed the receipt the dry cleaner’s had given me to get their phone number, the clothes were supposed to be ready by today but the receipt said “ready by 5 pm” on that day, so I wanted to call and make sure they were ready before I came down there, so I called and they said they were so I got ready and started walking there. It was like high 30′s today which is colder than the last few days at least so I grabbed my winter coat, but that was definitely a mistake as I started overheating very quickly. I made the walk down and stopped at the chase bank along the way to get cash since the dry cleaner’s had signs saying “cash payments are appreciated” and Chase is my bank so I get free ATM use, so I stopped in there and got some cash from the ATM before continuing on. The whole transaction was easy enough, I gave them the receipt and they brought the clothes out, I paid the amount specified and was good to go. Since I was now carrying a decent amount of clothing, I was gonna see if I could catch the bus back instead of walking the half a mile or so it is carrying the clothes, but this would depend how close the next bus was since it’d be pointless to wait for it for like 10 minutes. so I checked the bus tracker and it said the next one was only 3 minutes away, so I was pleased with that. the bus was kinda crowded and stopped at every stop along the way, but it was at least less physical exertion and knowing that my arms would’ve been killing me if I walked home. so I got home and put the clothes away, and then started my next task of dyeing my hair. I do dearly love my bright red hair, but I’m at the point where I can’t let something as stupid as hair color jeopardize my chance of getting a job, especially when I have *the* interview on Wednesday, so it had to go. I can’t even remember the last time I used a box kit on my own hair, but it got the job done. It was like a auburnish color, brown and red mix kind of. I was a little worried it wouldn’t quite turn out that color because the hair it was going on was so bright, but that didn’t end up being a problem. but yeah, I’ve done this enough to know how it works, so getting it in wasn’t an issue. it said to only wait 25 minutes before rinsing which seemed kind of short to me, but I kept to it pretty much. They said no shampoo for 24 hours, just rinse and use their conditioning thing, the same basic stuff, so that was no problem. Once I was done with that I set out to do my final planned task for the day, which was cleaning up the kitchen, mainly by taking out the trash and doing the dishes. The trash was WAY overdue to be taken out, to the point where there were some paper bags outside the trash bin also filled with trash. so I tried to pull the overstuffed bag out, only to find the bottom of it had ripped, and leaked god knows what all over the bottom of the trash bin. WELL CRAP. so I had to grab another trash bag and stretch it into the trash bin, then lower the first one into it and over it so it wouldn’t leak everywhere. it was....difficult lol. But I took that out along with the paper bags and the cardboard for recycling. I did my best to clean most of what I could out of the trash bin, but some of it I just couldn’t reach despite my best efforts, so I ended up just putting a new trash bag in and figured we’ll deal with it at some point in the future. From there I started doing the dishes, putting away the clean ones and washing through the dirty ones, then putting those away, so everything in the kitchen was handled. It was fairly close to 7 when Arrow was on at this point so I got some dinner and went to the den and turned the tv on for that, set to livetweet for the dctvpodcasts twitter account. Interesting episode, probably kept my attention more than most of the episodes so far this season, but that’s not saying very much I suppose. It was fairly obvious to me that Emiko was all in with the bad guys, not being coerced into it. I was NOT PREPARED for the reveal in the last flashback regarding the queen’s gambit, though I was a little confused as to who exactly was pulling the strings and who did the actual work there, was she working with Merlyn or what? weird. Otherwise in the plot, my lawyer brain had to jump to the obvious 4th amendment issues with Felicity’s proposed tracking system. not that they would care about silly little things like constitutional rights here. The whole subplot with Dinah and Laurel was?? weird?? normally I enjoy my girls interacting but this week was just kinda funky. I am of course looking forward to what next week will bring since it of course features the return of Sara which I am eagerly awaiting, so here’s hoping that will be a great episode. After Arrow was over I switched over to 9-1-1 which had just started, which was a pretty good episode. I swear this show makes me cry every damn week lol it plays on my emotions very well, but I very much enjoyed the plot with Howie the firefighter guy (still terrible with character names) and his journey as to how he got where he was and of course for it to end with him being stabbed and unconscious after encountering Maddie’s violent ex-husband who was coming to kidnap her. So I guess we’ll have to wait until next week to see how that plays out. After that I switched over to The Fix since that was airing then. It was a decent episode, I’m not totally in love with the show but it’s had some good moments. It’s VERY obvious they’re closely tracking the OJ case and what might have been if he had ended up in this situation (which is of course to be expected given that one of the writers/producers is the OJ prosecutor). It’s interesting for me to see the tactics the defense attorney was using and how they blew up in his face so badly this week, and seeing them play the secret tapes Jessica had made for the media to see and them cutting to his daughter when he had just promised to her that he had never hit Jessica and now she was finding out that was a huge lie....that was very well done. so I’m still on board for now, we’ll see where it goes from here. After that I just watched the news for a bit and then some Jimmy Kimmel before starting to get ready for bed, didn’t need to shower since I did so earlier when I was getting the hair dye out, so I took my pills and grabbed my computer to start writing this and now I am here. It’s 1:16 am and I am getting a bit sleepy, so I think I will end this here. Looking forward to birthday fun tomorrow. Goodnight peeps. I hope my birthday is a great day for you too.

#daily journal #March 2018 #Rachel watches Arrow #birthday

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pkmnsdarkqueen · 5 years

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How the other elites just are romantic mood ruiners.

Will (Cause he’s the worst offender):

Reading their mind: This is his worst offense as he will ask them probing questions, and then read to find if they’re BSing or not. Good on him for looking out for Karen, but invasion of privacy much?

Magic Tricks: He thinks he’s being cool to show off all the magic he can do. Really it’s mildly annoying especially when Karen just wants to have alone time with the person, and she knows that he’s just using his psychic abilities.

Acts like company isn’t over: Most of the elites don’t fully bachelor out the league since they want to respect that Karen is there. Will is the exception often leaving laundry around, or just chilling in boxers since he know Karen doesn’t care. EX: Karen and S/O planning a night out when Will just walks into the kitchen wearing his mask and boxers. Karen: “Will can you please get dressed ___ is here.” Will: “You can’t make me.” Karen: “I can start.” Will: “Fine I’ll go put on pants!” Karen: “And a shirt!” Will: “Ugh but Bruno doesn’t wear a shirt!” Karen: “That’s cause he rips all of them!”

Touchy: While Karen hates touch Will can get away with it generally since there is no one else that she trusts more than him. Sometimes this can look slightly flirty. EX: Karen and Will go from playfully poking each other to like slightly wrestling, or like she’s about to go on a date and like Will gives her this big bear hug but like with arms around her waist, Just wrapping his arms over her back while she’s sitting, and like they’ve fallen asleep spooning like poor S/O hasn’t even gotten a kiss yet and these two are looking like they’re married?!

General embarrassment of Karen, and slightly jealous nature: Will is like her brother, and a brother’s greatest skill is embarrassing their sibling. He enjoys this....alot. He also can get a little jealous if she and him haven’t had best friend time in awhile so it comes out weird. EX: Karen and S/O making a few cute conversations. Will: Cutting in. “You know I realized that Im like the only guy who’s ever see your boobs.” Karen: “....Yeah that’s cause I was injured and couldn’t reach my back. Got anything else to say, or should I start punching you now for that?”

After Karen tells the person about her past: He no longer holds back on referencing crimes they’ve committed before, telling stories about it, making jokes about it, or just openly referencing that some of those tendencies linger. EX: Karen and S/O are getting dinner ready when Will walks in like. Will: “Heeeey k bug, so I know you’re having dinner with S/O tonight but like after if you don’t have secondary plans I’m really wound up, and breaking things at the dump isn’t going to help this. I say we go find ourselves a bar fight, some petty criminal, or some way to throw hands. S/O you’re free to come if you want I guess to just stay in the corner where it’s safe, and I mean it wouldn’t be our first escort mission.”

After they find out about his psychic powers: Probably one of the more least annoying ones but if he wants something in a room where they’re trying to get some time away he’ll just float it over to himself which is questionably less subtle depending on what he’s trying to get. The worst is when she’s on a video call and he’s practicing making people float which means Karen ends up as the test dummy.

Koga:

Bad time to housewife: He does a majority of the chores in the league and he has a routine when he does them. Doesn’t matter what you’re doing in that room be in making out, having a serious conversation, or anything because he will not go off schedule and this room you’re in right now needs to be vacuumed. He also will sometimes forget other people are at the league too when he’s super focused on chores resulting in weird situations. EX: Karen and S/O say watching a movie when Koga with a basket of laundry and one of her bras in hand just flips the light on not realizing someone is there going. Koga: “Karen I keep telling you to please take your garments out whe-” He looks up pausing before putting the bra in the basket and moving the bin out of sight. Koga if the person stared: “I’ll continue this later when it is solely your company or at least a better mannered one.” glaring at S/O. Koga if the person quickly looked away and still is: “....hm...passible, Now please take your laundry out of the wash. You’re not the only person that has to use it. This will go in your bedroom.”

Stare of death: Koga is Karen’s adopted dad basically and as her parental figure judges the heck out of anyone that courts Karen. He of course respects that she’s an adult and trusts her judgement however that does not stop him from letting the S/O know that he disapproves of something with a glare of death or when asking a question gives zero facial reactions to let the person know if they answered ‘appropriately’ or not. Also social situations do not stop the stare of death meaning S/O could be having a lovely time with Karen maybe dancing but if that hand goes too low the stare is felt across the room.

Training Time! Sometimes he gets into these.’have to be ready for anything’ kicks while doing training. So he just starts doing surprise attacks at random on people in the league for training. The unfair part is that he’s a ninja and very good at this to the point even the elites can’t guess where he is or when he’s gonna strike most of the time. If you think one of them having a S/O over is going to stop this then you are wrong.

Protection in the bedroom, and another example of his routine: Personally he believes in the idea of waiting until after marriage to have sex, even though he didn’t, and despite the fact that Karen also prefers this he still tries to help her ‘be prepared just in case.’ EX: The two are cuddling on the living room sofa when he comes in with a news paper taking a seat and turning the lamp on. Karen: “.....hey...we were kind of still watching a movie...” Koga: Without even looking up. “Yes and it is 9:00 pm on a Sunday meaning it’s my time to read the paper like I do every night. Besides shouldn’t the gentleman/lady be going home for the night anyway?” Karen: “Actually they’re staying the night and could yo-” Koga if a male S/O: “Well then I’ll go move the condoms Will has to your bedroom after I finish reading-” Koga if a female S/O: “Hm, I suppose there will be no protection needed, just please wash the sheets in hot water.” Karen: “Oh my gosh Koga, no! There is a separate bed in my room!” Koga: “Temptations exist Karen.”

Preening her cause she won’t: Ok as ‘dad’ as he gets with judging the person he also does want Karen to find love, and be happy with someone. So if the S/O has shown genuine care for her, she cares alot about them, he hasn’t scared them away, and they’re respectable people he starts to fuss over Karen looking nice when she goes on a date. Such as stopping her as she goes out the door to pull off a stray thread, touch her hair up, or sometimes give fashion advice like lightly suggestion a change of style. Generally she listens, but also sometimes she’s not in the mood for him to mother her.

Bruno:

Just does not get hints to leave room Everyone knows someone like this who just doesn’t get the social queues to leave. Also Bruno is such a sweetheart so it feels kinda awful to tell the big lug to leave since he just wants to hang out. It usually just leads to awkward third wheeling that he never catches onto. If it gets bad enough Karen will let him know though.

Walking in Sometimes it’ll be for something quick which isn’t so bad, but other times a quick thing will turn into a long conversation since once again he can’t catch a hint. If he has the need to talk to Karen or her partner for whatever reason let it be ask a question, or tell them something he’ll just invade the space to do so. Seriously they could be having a romantic personal moment on the porch or under the stars in the backyard, and Bruno will just open the door to ask if he could use Karen’s shampoo since he can’t find his. Yeah he just sort or ruins the mood sometimes.

He can be loud Not only is the most prone to blast his music but he also wrestles his pokemon like Karen does with some of hers. Here’s the difference, he wrestles, and holds his own against a flipping onix. Once again he also is prone to walking around with music blasting. Once again romantics can get set off by Bruno just not realizing the room. EX: Karen and S/O snuggled in her bed just cuddling and talking before bed. Music starts to be heard outside, and then crashing. Like things are breaking crashing. S/O: “Is everything alright out there?!” Karen: “It’s just Bruno wrestling with onix again.” S/O: Visibly concerned. “.....Again? I hate to ask but in all seriousness is he....ok, like mentally?” Kare: “Bold of you to assume anyone I know is ‘ok mentally’. “

Chore tricking Bruno may lack social smarts, but in no way is he stupid. He’s as sly as the rest of league but in his own manner. His greatest tricks involve not doing his chores. While he’s crafted up some plans to have the others do his chores he has ways for people’s S/O’s to also get in on this. Usually he convinces them that something, like the dishes or another chore, is something that Karen is behind on and how much she’d probably appreciate it if someone did them for her. That’s the simplest, but he has other ways.

Unintentional work out One-uping He’s sincerely isn’t intentionally being that guy at a gym....but he is that guy. He just one ups people all of the time when it comes to physical things. You just benched 100 for the first time? Cool he just benched 200. You try flex your arm muscles? He’s gonna join in for fun, and accidentally rip his entire shirt due to the muscle on him. Again the worst part is how he fails to realize how deflating it is thinking he’s just joining in on the fun.

Lance:

Work Barging While Bruno barging in is annoying it doesn’t annoy Karen too much, Lance on the other hand barging in always kills the mood entirely because she’s always annoyed after he comes in. Why? Easy, Lance only invades to ask a work question. It’s always something that he says needs to be handled right now, or will only take a second, but it’s always something complicated and takes a minute. If she doesn’t do it then he just stands a bit off fidgeting while waiting for her to get a moment of time. He just can’t let things go.

Update interjections They can be watching a movie, sitting and having dinner all together, or playing a game, or anything else. If Lance remembers some fact, news story, or political topic that he recently got into he’ll just bring it up to start talking about it. Even if it has nothing to do with the topic or tone of the night he’ll bring it up and want to talk about it. Sometimes it leads to interesting conversation while other times it just carries into awkward silence.

The Walk of Focus Look he’s on a mission ok, so no he’s not going to notice two people making out on a couch who have now stopped since one of them is seeing her boss strut by muttering something while he’s flipping through papers. Seriously when Lance is focused on something he is glued right into it. Usually he won’t even notice other people in the room even turning lights on in the middle of a room folks are watching a movie in to get something. He’s simply in the zone, and nothing will shake him from it. The worst is if he comes in and sits down still working on whatever it is he’s doing. Sometimes he reacts to the first call of his name other times it takes a few calls.

Just saying the most awkward of things Arceus help him some days. He just sometimes doesn’t know what to say so just says the first thing that comes to his mind. He’s not trying to make the situation weird or awkward, but he just does. Then once he does he doesn’t know how to recover from it usually saying something much worse. EX: Karen: “Yeah S/O is gonna crash in my room to make things easy.” S/O: “We just wanted to let you know so that there weren’t any surprises when I was still here in the morning.” Lance: “Ah I wouldn’t be surprised, I mean separating you two is like separating magnets.” S/O: “I don’t think we’re that clingy...it’s just she as a spare bed so-” Lance: “I mean! What I meant to say is that I had better make sure to have loud music playing cause, you know, giving everyone privacy and all, uh haha-...” Karen: “Hey Lance, stop talking.” Lance: “Good call. Anyway I’ll be in my office.” Turns and just stiffly stomps out replaying how wrong that went.

He will get along with you Lance’s wording of it: As her boss I ought to get to know and get along with S/O to ensure that my colleagues relationship runs smoothly along with encourage her in it. Lance’s actual feelings: Karen is like my family and S/O may become a part of it so I need to make sure that we get along. How it comes across: He is trying waaaaay to hard to be friends with S/O. Like seriously he just approaches friendly but during actual conversation he seems to struggle with walk to talk about and starts defaulting to sports and weather, he doesn’t even watch many sports. If he can’t find a topic to relate on soon it just hurts to watch

#headcannons #johto elite 4

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pineapplekeith · 6 years

Text

House Cat - Pt. 10

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Pairing: Klance

Universe: Modern Earth/Fantasy

Rating: T (language/sensitive material)

Word Count: 3K+

Part: [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ] [ 10 ]

Summary: Werecats are hard to find outside of lab facilities now-a-days and Lance has had a suspicion that a small stray that comes by his house now and then is one when he noticed a new face around town around the same time. / Modern AU setting with werecats for fun and seriousness now and then. Klance heavy with Garrison Trio and maybe some more ships making an appearance later on.

A/N: So far, this has been well liked on AO3 and FF so I decided to post the full parts on here. Links to AO3 and FF are on my story blog @kal-i-ka-stories

-----

Me: Hey Mamá. I won’t be home for dinner tonight. Matt came home so I’m going to Pidge’s to study and to catch up. I’ll probably be back late or spend the night. I promise not to wake you and pops if I come back late.

Mamá: That’s good that Matt made it back home safe! Tell him I said hi and that he should come visit the twins before going back. Be safe if you come back home tonight. Love you honey!

Me: Will do! Love you too!

-----

Lance then put his phone away in his back pocket and turned away from his usual route home and headed in a different direction.

..::::..::::..::::..::::..

“Kid wake up!”

The sound of Val’s banging on the door made Keith jump awake. He looked around for a bit, not sure what was going on. Val banged on the door again, bringing Keith fully into reality.

“Are you alive in there? I need help opening.”

“Uh, yeah I’m up. Sorry, I’ll be down in a minute.” Keith responded as he pushed himself out of bed.

“You better or I’m keeping your tips.” Val yelled out as he started to walk back down to the shop.

Keith stared at the back door that led to the shop until he heard the door at the end of the stares close. He then let out a heavy sigh of relief and rubbed at his face so he could wake up some more. “What the hell is wrong with me?” Keith asked himself as he thought about his recent habits over the past few days. Like clockwork, Keith would usually would wake up as the sun rose and fall asleep once he hit his bed. But lately he would find himself lying in bed awake all night, and then sleep in every morning till Val or his alarm to leave woke him up. Keith ran his fingers through his hair as he let out another frustrated sigh. His frustration quickly turned to concern once he felt something on the sides of his head that should not be there.

“No. No. No. No. No.” Keith mumbled as he hurried over to the small bathroom in his apartment. He looked in the mirror and his gut instantly dropped. Poking out through his hair, there were a pair of black cat ears on each side of his head in place of his human ears. Hesitantly looking behind, Keith then saw a long cat’s tail poking out from his pants’ waistband and it made him drop his head in defeat. “This can’t be happening.”

Being in hybrid-form after maturity was rare for most werecats, but common for half-breeds. Researchers discovered that this was a biological warning signal within half-breeds that would go off before something were to happen to them internally. Illness, stress, or anything else big or small would cause for a half-bred werecat’s ears and tail to appear whether they wanted to or not.

Keith looked at himself in the mirror for a moment before taking in a deep breath to calm his frustration and focus on correcting the situation. Go away. Go away. Go away. Keith chanted to himself in his mind as he tried to focus on making his feline features disappear. This was something that Keith wasn’t sure on if it would work or not. Focusing on which form he wanted was easy to do when he wanted to be fully human or fully cat, but when a half-breed finds themselves in their mixed form, waiting for things to resolve themselves was always the solution that they were told would work. But Keith didn’t live in the lab anymore and waiting wasn’t going to work.

After his mind settled and he was sure that he was focused on what he wanted, Keith peeked into the mirror to see if he was back to how he should be. Black cat ears were still poking out through his hair. He groaned out of frustrated as he grabbed at his ears, tempted to rib them off his head himself. “I hate these things!”

“Kid get down here! I’m not taking the chairs down myself!” Val yelled up the shop stairwell, growing more annoyed with how late Keith was with coming down.

“Coming!” Keith yelled back, trying to figure out what he could do to hide his secret from everyone. He quickly changed out of his sweatpants and shirt and into clean clothes, making sure to make his tail trail down one of his pants’ legs. He then dug through his dresser, trying to find something he could use to cover his ears. He could just wear his usual jacket with the hood up, but Val would instantly tell him to pull it off once he saw it. Keith slammed one of the drawers closed after reaching the bottom of it and instantly opened the next one underneath. He didn’t own much clothing, just the basics necessities and a few things he randomly picked up while traveling from the lab or was given to from Val when he first moved in. Pushed back in the corner of the drawer, Keith finally found a grey colored beanie that could hopefully help him. He snatched it up and hurried back into the bathroom. The beanie was luckily from one of Val’s sons so it was stretched out and worn and hopefully he won’t have an issue with Keith wearing it while working.

Keith put the cap on and tried his best to tuck away his ears in a way that wouldn’t give him a headache or make it hard for him hear everything around him. He winced a bit as he pushed each of his ears back and pulled the beanie over them. Once he finished situating everything, he took a final look at himself in the mirror before deciding that it was all he had and he would have to hope that it worked.

He grabbed his jacket and hurried down to the shop, still trying to will his ears and tail away in the back of his mind as he headed down. He walked into the shop and saw that Val was already done prepping the bar area and was heating up the grill. He used the opportunity to sneak by and start to take the chairs off the tables and set up everything else in the shop.

“What’s with the hat kid?” Val asked, not skipping a beat with what he was doing.

Keith mentally cursed at himself, annoyed that it was brought up so soon. “I, uh, didn’t wash my hair last night.” He answered, hoping it was believable.

Val stayed quiet for bit, making Keith wait for a response. “Ok. Just don’t tell the customers and stay away from the grill today.”

“Yes sir.” Like you ever let anyone go near your grill. Keith thought to himself as he rolled his eyes and continued to focus on his work.

..::::..::::..::::..

“Hey kid, once you finish with that, go take out the trash.” Val ordered as he continued to sit and catch up with his regular customers before officially closing the shop.

Keith’s day seemed to continue go downhill since his frustrations that morning. Once the usual customers started to come in that morning, it was nonstop teasing from them about the beanie he had to wear. Val then got irritated with his phone constantly buzzing throughout the day and warned Keith that if he wouldn’t turn it off, he wasn’t going to be paid for the day. Now he was stuck doing all the dirty work in the store and closing by himself as punishment for being late.

He carried the dirty dishes that he collected from behind the bar and dropped them off by the wash station, pausing for a moment for a slight break from closing. The store has never been as busy as some of the other diners in the area and because of that Val never really cared for the trash to be taken out every night. But the next morning was trash pick-up, so taking out all the trash in the back was added to Keith’s already long list of closing chores. Deciding that the last bit of dishes could wait and his other closing task were already done, Keith went to go empty the trash cans in the back and clear the bags that have been sitting in the back waiting to be taken to the alley by the dumpster.

The smell of the trash usually wouldn’t bother him, but today was different. Throughout his whole shift, Keith’s senses were working in overdrive. His head was pounding from the mixture of sounds being louder than they were and his ears being pushed back. His stomach would turn whenever he took in a big breath of coffee, grease from the grill, or even when he got close to the fishermen that came in to the shop. The trash was no better, making him want to puke right into the bin when he walked up to it because of the over powerful smells from the bags that sat and waited to be taken out. Keith took in a deep breath before moving closer to the open trash bags so that he wouldn’t have to inhale the different smells as he tied up the bags. He quickly tied up all the trash bags in the bins, making it a bit easier for him to breathe when taking them out and adding them with the other bags piled up by the back door.

Keith looked at the different bags of trash by the door, thinking about if he should really take out the trash in his state or wait and take them out in the morning before it’s picked up. He reached up and touched the side of his head, feeling his feline ears under the beanie along with feeling his tail brush against his skin under one of his pants legs. Finishing his chore right then seemed to be the better option to do instead of waiting and hoping he turns back to normal in the morning. He pulled his shirt over his nose and grabbed some of the bags and headed outside.

His shirt was no help at all. Once Keith was out in the alley near the dumpster, he almost threw up in his shirt from all the smells hitting him. Not only was the smell of damp and moldy trash nauseating, the salt air and the smell fish coming from the docks was too much to handle. Keith dropped the trash bags halfway to the dumpster and backed away so he could gather himself.

“I really hate today,” Keith mumbled to himself as he tried to steady himself. Once he felt he was ready, Keith stood straight up, took a deep breath, covered his nose with his shirt again, and then went to finish what he started. His motions seemed to be done all at once as he threw the trash away. Right when he thought he was in the clear and finally able go inside and get the rest of the bags, Keith’s shirt slipped down right as the dumpster lid closed. Nausea instantly hit him and everything in his stomach ended up on the wall of the alley.

Keith’s throat burned and stung each time he coughed. His headache was turning into an intolerable migraine and it made him want to rip the beanie off his head and yell all his frustrations out to the world.

“Keith?” Someone called out from the end of the alley. Keith looked down the alley and his stomach turned again at the sight of one of the reasons for his horrible day. “Dude are you ok?” Lance asked as he started to walk in the alley to check on his friend.

Keith jumped back in defense mode when Lance got closer to him. He covered his nose with his shirt again and pinched it tighter than he did when taking out the trash. “What the hell?! You stink!” He snapped, reaching his limit with the day and feeling sick again.

Lance froze about five feet away, feeling a bit insulted. “Excuse me,” he asked as his irritation started to boil.

“You stink! When was the last time you showered?!”

“An hour ago, after gym class. Who the hell says something like to a friend that’s trying to check on another friend?! I just saw you puke and got worried but somehow you’re still a jerk even when you’re sick!”

“Showered an hour ago my ass! You smell worse than the trash!” Keith argued back, still focused on Lance’s overpowering smell.

That made Lance snap. He takes his personal hygiene very seriously. He even taught his sisters how to properly wash their faces and put together spa days with them. “I’ll have you know I leave gym class smelling nicer than anyone else in there! Not only do I bring my own body wash, I also make sure to put on deodorant and body spray before leaving! You need to have your senses checked because if you think I smell bad, something is seriously wrong with you!”

“Something is wrong with me idiot!” Keith yelled back without thinking.

..::::...::::..::::..

“Woah! That is a problem.” Lance said as he stared in awe at Keith’s ears.

“Yeah. They’ve been causing me trouble all day.” Keith admitted as he scratched at the slight pain that was still behind one of his ears.

The two were alone in the closed restaurant. The sun was starting to go down and was casting a glare on the windows from the outside, blocking people’s view of the inside. Val had left for the night to go on a short fishing trip with some of his regular customers, leaving Keith in charge of the building till he opened back up the day after he came back. Lance was sitting at the bar while Keith was finishing up the last of his closing chores.

“Well, the beanie did look pretty out of character for you. But not as much as that mask.” Lance said, making sure to point out the dust mask that Keith was wearing over his face now. “Seriously, I finished taking the trash out for you, so is that really necessary?”

“Yes, because you stink!” Keith answered quickly. After throwing up a second time from the smell of the garbage, Keith searched all over the back room for something to use to reduce the smell. Luckily, he found a dust mask that Val had left in the back from when he did renovations to the shop while Lance handled the rest of the trash for him. Keith kept it on while he finished his cleaning in the back, but realized that he still needed to keep it on around Lance.

Lance smelled his jacket, thinking that maybe Keith was smelling the scent of the dumpster on his clothes, but all he could smell was his body spray he put on after gym class. He even ran his fingers through his hair, thinking that maybe his hair smelled sweaty, but that wasn’t it either. “I don’t know what it is you’re smelling on me, but since you said that your senses are heightened maybe they’re just so strong they’re making you think that good smells are bad smells.”

Keith chose not to respond to Lance’s suggestion. He knew he was smelling a bad smell, or at least a smell he wasn’t used to. His senses would heighten whenever he was cat, but with his hybrid form, they’re much stronger and make it harder for him to pinpoint the sources exactly.

“So, does this kind of thing happen a lot?” Lance asked, the question practically killing him.

“No. This is only the second time this has happened to me.” Keith admitted as he put the mugs away under the coffee station. “It was years ago and I had a bad fever then.”

“Well, you were throwing up a lot so maybe you’re sick again?”

“I threw up because of the trash. The smell was so bad, I could taste it.” Keith complained, internally shivering as he remembered the experience.

“Then what do you think is wrong?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, a bit irritated from not knowing what to do. “All I can do is wait it out and see what’s wrong.” Keith put away the final mug and decided that talking about the elephant – or cat – in the room was annoying. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“I said I was coming over! Did you not read my text?!” Lance asked a bit offended. “Why would you respond if you didn’t read them?”

“Because you wouldn’t stop messaging me and the old man threatened to take today’s pay away.”

“His name’s Val.” Lance reminded him, something that was becoming normal between them the more they interacted. “Oh yeah, that reminds me! Do you know what an emoji is? Or at least an emoticon?”

“A what?”

“The weird symbols and squares I kept sending you. What kind of phone do you have anyway?” Lance asked as he leaned over and looked behind the bar for Keith’s phone, knowing that he usually kept it behind there when he was working.

“I don’t know. One that one of the old man’s kids had. Hs wife reactivated it and gave it to me when she found out I didn’t have a phone.” Keith explained as he went to carry the dish bin to the back.

“Val and Ellie!” Lance yelled as Keith walked through the back door. “And this really does look like one that their kids’ might have owned.” He said to himself after he found and picked up Keith’s phone which was an older version of the first few smart phones. “I don’t even think they make stuff for this model anymore.”

“What?” Keith asked as he peeked through the small window above the grill.

“I said your phone’s old!” Lance yelled as he turned the phone back on, a bit surprised that there was no passcode to get in but then remembered that passcodes were before the model’s time. His text messages that he sent to Keith started to pop up after a few moments. Lance then went into Keith’s text messaging app and saw that he only had three conversations saved – one that was mostly from Val saying when he planned to open the shop or not, another mostly from Keith to Rufus of when he planned to stop by his bar to eat. The last one was of Lance’s conversations with Keith, his number still not saved. When comparing the conversation with the others, it looked more casual with all of Lance’s broken messages and Keith’s few responses back. Lance quickly saved his number in the phone as Keith walked out of the back room, giving himself a nickname like he did with his contacts in his phone. “Anyway, emojis and emoticons are what those weird symbols and squares are. They’re like little faces to show the context of a person’s message. Some of them aren’t showing up on your phone because it’s a dinosaur.”

“It works, that’s all I need it to do.” Keith answered as he grabbed his beanie and the store keys Val left behind the counter.

“You don’t even have games on here.” Lance mentioned as he continued to snoop through the phone. “Or photos.”

“It’s a phone. I just need it to make calls and send messages.” Keith said as he went to the front of the store to pull the blinds down over the windows.

“Yeah but you have to live a little sometimes. What if you’re stuck on a bus or something and you’re bored?”

“I’ll probably take a nap.” Keith answered, not really getting Lance’s point.

“Spoken like a true cat.” Lance said as he finished his less that fun exploration through Keith’s phone. Lance opened Keith’s camera app and was a bit disheartened when he saw the poor quality of it. He turned around in his seat and pointed the camera at Keith. “Smile,” he said to get Keith’s attention as he walked back from the front, snapping a picture right when he looked up.

“What did you just do?”

“Took a picture of you,” Lance said as he saved the photo and sent it to himself.

“What the hell?! Why would you do that when I’m like this?”

Lance shrugged his shoulders. “Because I’m a teenager and that’s what we do. Besides I wouldn’t worry about other people seeing it. Your camera is really low quality so I’m sure if someone were to see it, they would think the ears were fake.”

“I don’t care! Don’t ever do that again!” Keith snatched his phone out of Lance’s hand and instantly deleted the photo.

“Ok, sorry dude.” Lance apologized as he held his hands up in defense.

Kieth let out a tired sigh and rubbed at his forehead. “Sorry, it really is no big deal. I’m just really hungry, being in this form takes a lot out of me.”

“Then why didn’t you eat during your shift? Doesn’t Val usually cook you something?”

“He does but I told him he didn’t have to today because you said you were bringing actual food over.”

“So you did read my text!” Lance shouted, feeling triumphant that Keith really did read his messages.

“I skimmed them. Where’s the food?”

Lance went quiet, falling hard from his high horse. “Uh, probably being cooked or eaten right now.”

Keith glared at Lance, irritated that he missed his chance on free homemade food. He then woke up his phone and started a new message. When he finished, he put his phone away in his pocket and put his beanie back on, tucking his ears to the side so that they wouldn’t make noticeable bumps on his head.

“You ok there buddy?” Lance asked, feeling a bit nervous.

“We’re going to Rufus’s and you’re paying.”

“What? Why? You’re the one with the job!”

“But this is your fault.” Keith said as he walked to the door. “Now come on, I’m hungry.”

Still fuming, Lance grabbed his bookbag and willing followed Keith out of the shop. Keith locked up the shop and the two started to walk down the street and towards the town’s square. The two continued to bicker as they walked, catching the attention of a shopper walking out of the nearby convenience store. The stranger focused on Keith as the two teens walked down the street, something about him peeking his interest. He then smirked as he let out a small chuckle.

“I knew I smelled a stray in the area,” he said to himself before turning and walking in the opposite direction.

A/N: Want to keep reading? Jump over to my [ AO3 ] or [ FF ]page and continue the fun with 3 more chapters! And please remember to reblog!

#house cat fic #klance fic #klance #keith kogane #lance mcclain #voltron legendary defender #voltron #vld #my story #mine

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orangebatsanctuary · 7 years

Photo

Inaho is finally 18 today! And he can marry Slaine now! Let’s congrats his wedding with:

DOLL by Yui Minatsuki

The brand new fantasy AU featuring female-Slaine and the formidable Inaho (in many meaning *lmao*). Prepare the pillow to squeeze for these romantic humor, yet so tender with purest heart. *tear brimming*

click ‘Keep reading’ below.

***Please wait a while for reading on OrangeBat-Sanctuary website, due to some technical problem occurred. I could only post on Tumblr at the moment, and soon the authors will post on AO3***

Happy Wedding *cough* I mean, Happy Reading!

Love,

Rosiel

DOLL by Yui Minatsuki

Disclaimer: I do not own Aldnoah Zero

Summary: Slaine needed money to free her father and tried to apply for a job in Inaho’s antique store.

Tags: (Inaho x Fem!Slaine) (Kind-of magical medieval era Alternate Universe)

The ad said, the store needed a person or a group of persons who were willing to do anything for money--no special ability or legal citizenship required. And he/she must not sue the shop owner if anything happened--even if it included the loss of limbs...or lives. Details would be told later.

......no sane person would come for that kind of blatantly suspicious ad, even though it was written beautifully and placed at the door of a looking-expensive antique shop at the busy street of Rhoden streets. Some school boys in their brown vest and plaid trousers laughed at it. Others were merely interested with pretty unique things that were displayed there. A woman wearing a frilly white ruffle gown looked at an engraved hand mirror displayed, but she didn't get in and continue walking as a man in dark green suit pulling her away. No one took the ad seriously.

......but here Slaine was, standing in front of the old wooden door of that antique shop, intending to apply for the job--whatever it might be.

'Cause she needed money, of course.

She checked her black--but turned a bit gray--shirt and trousers. They were old clothes, but clean and not a single wrinkle spotted. She checked her appearance. Looked like she hadn't cut her hair short enough; it couldn't be helped since she cut it by herself; but still she looked like a 22 years old young man, not a little woman (hopefully). She really wished no one in this city would recognize her--especially this store owner.

She took a deep breath, and stepped in.

The small bell that was hung on the doorsill rang. The interior of the shop was...how to say it... It was cramped, but it was organized...and....and....

.....inhuman......

Slaine couldn't understand why she felt like that, but it was....yeah, kinda eerie. Why? Perhaps because she hadn't seen anyone? Where was the shop owner? Or, where's the other shopkeeper? Hadn't it got--even one--yet?

"Is there anything that I can help you with?"

Slaine jumped. Astonished. She knocked a white vase from the stand beside her. Luckily she caught it right before it fell down. Checking the porcelain--no crack--she released her breath that she didn't realize she was holding, and looked up.

A young man, around 26....or younger? She couldn't guess. He dressed in white tuxedo. He had porcelain skin, dark brown hair and burgundy eyes that were.....were....

......like a doll’s....?

That 'person' flatly stated. "A bit clumsy but has a quick response. Not too bad." He knelt and looked at Slaine in the eyes. There was a long silence as all he did was staring. Just. Staring. Intently.

"Is there anything that I can help you?" He finally asked in a low tone, inched closer as if he wanted to catch even a minimum change of her movement.

Slaine tried not to look at him, but she couldn't; she felt she ever met those eyes before...but when? Perhaps it's just her feeling--she couldn't properly remember with that store owner being too close like this. Uh.... his eyes were like doll's, so perhaps she'd felt familiar to him because of it. "Uh.. I... I saw your ad out there and...and... "

"Do you really need money that much that you are willing to do anything?"

Slaine gulped, and nodded without a single doubt.

"I see. You aren't lying." The owner of the burgundy eyes tilted his head, smiled, and blinked once, other than that he didn't show any expression. "You can start working today. Follow me." He stood up and walked between the row of wooden cupboards which held many kinds of intricate ceramics works and colored glass music boxes and twinkling silver dishes. His steps were light, and even, and almost unheard.

Slaine couldn't shake the feeling that that shop owner was a living mannequin! But, oh well... She put the white ceramic back on its stand carefully and followed him through the wooden door to the room right behind the front store.

It was a room that's filled with dolls: Wooden dolls. Porcelain dolls. Marionettes. Fluffs. All kinds. Neatly sat in the racks or inside the glass cupboard. Some sat in the window sills and sofas. Some were sprawled on the floor, but still. They were spotlessly clean. Slaine felt her dusty boots were out of place, so she removed them and walked barefoot, hugging her shoes, following the shop owner who had already opened the glass door to a dim aisle.

They both walked along that corridor for some time. Slaine counted she had passed through four rooms left and right.

'Just how many rooms this store has? It doesn't look this big from the outside.' Slaine thought as she passed the room that--shown from the small glass window--was filled with gears, tanks and pipes....Her eyes caught a sight of bright-orange-things...But she had no time to look and think about it.

The shop owner turn left and opened the key to a bright room. That six-big-window room was filled with dresses--on mannequin, folded neatly, stacked on the floor, hanging in displays--all kind. There were kimonos, frilly gowns, tuxedos, fluffy costumes, etc. Slaine stared in awe.

"Choose one and wear it for today."

Slaine squealed a bit, almost dropping her shoes. That shop owner suddenly talked right beside her!

"Uh.... Um.... Is it up to me?"

"....as long as you choose it right. After that, throw away the clothes that you're wearing now. They are horrible. You shall just leave them on the trash bin."

"....easy for you to say... " Slaine grumbled; she only had two sets of clothes--while she wore this one the other one was being washed.

She moved to choose, but the eyes of the shop owner observed her closely--following even the small details of her movement. It was creepy! She grabbed at one knee-length big trousers and white short-sleeves baggy shirt and showed it to him.

"Those are not looking good together. Your taste is awful."

Red-faced, brows furrowed, Slaine folded those clothes and walked again. She was confused of what will 'look good' for a girl-playing-to-be boy like her. Long time she was just staring at the row and row of clothes...until she stumbled upon a frilly bloody-red dress with bat ornament on its big stripe-white ribbon on the chest.

That bat reminded her of his father. 'It's been three years... ' She stared at it, wishing that he would be just fine...

"I see. You like it. Take it then."

"Wh.. What? " Slaine took a step away from the brunet who was looking at him intently right beside her (since when?). "But... But I... "

"You like it, right?" The brunet took that red dress from the mannequin and shoved it to her hands. "My name is Kaizuka Inaho. Nice to meet you, Bat."

"B..Bat ?!?? I'm... I'm not Bat! My name is--" She stopped herself and looked away, "...my name is.... Gull. Just... Gull...and I'm a boy!" She carefully looked at the store owner, "....you....don't mind with....just that...right?"

Inaho tilted his head, looking intently at Slaine. "....you are......." He stopped himself, and smirked, "Interesting." He said with tone that revealed amusement. "Really interesting."

Slaine didn't know how to reply to his....compliment (?). Seriously everything in this store was 1000% creepy, particularly its owner, Slaine didn't like him at all but.... But...

She did also think that the store owner possessed some nostalgic aura... Why?

"What are you waiting for? Put that clothes on."

"H...Huh?" Slaine realized she had been staring off without doing anything but to stare at him, holding the dress. The store owner was looking at her. Intently.

"But.... But.... like I've just said, there's no way I should wear this girly dress as I'm a boy--"

"You lied."

Slaine froze. How could he knew? Did he...did he already recognize who she really was? If it was, then she had to run!

But all her thinking was stopped abruptly as Inaho put his hand on Slaine's chest, uttering, "boy doesn't have this kind of anatomy, these are--"

A punch landed on his face.

* * *

His left eye was swollen and his nose was bleeding. Good. At least he looked a bit like human now. Slaine thought as she tended to Inaho's wound. She'd rather run away, really, but that brunet had managed to lock the door of the dress room, and stated that she should work in this shop or else she would need to work thousand years in another place before she could pay the fine of having punched him in the face.

"I don't care even if I couldn't make it! I'll just work and do whatever I can. I don't need to work with someone like you."

".....but here you are on my sofa, and are tending to my wound. From now on, let's do our best together, Slaine Saazbaum Troyard."

"Sh... Shut up!" She angrily closed the first-aid box--flushed. Well, if this store owner was willing to accept her despite knowing her identity, why not? Still... "Don't....Don't call me with that name--"

"No one can hear us here. But if you insist, I'll call you Bat." Inaho put his head on Slaine's lap. "My head is a bit dizzy. Your punch was good, Bat."

"~~~~~~~" Slaine didn't know what to say. Really. This shop owner was insufferable! But, yeah, he's indeed the shop owner and she needed the job. How awesome.

"....I'm sorry for what has happened to your father."

Slaine went rigid, "....how could you know....? Do you come from the Land of the Red Sand?"

"No. I come from the Land of the Rising Sun, actually, but I'm a merchant; I've travelled everywhere."

"Hm."

"Why do you need money that much? I need to know this information as the measurement of how far you will be motivated to work for me."

'In other words to list all ammunition to make me do anything for him. Huh. Fine. Whatever.' ".....I need to pay a certain amount.... for my father's freedom."

"Your father.....the vampire count who was caught by the Red Sand Kingdom.... I don't think they will free him just for money."

"Just shut up I won't tell you more than this."

A stretching silence. Slaine looked aside, to the pile of the red dress, gazing at its bat ornament. Inaho was staring at her, observing, thinking...

Then he decided to say, "Three years ago...I was happen to sold Little Orange Soldiers to the emperor of Red Sand. They were machines; your Count Saazbaum could do little to harm them."

"That...those were ugly colored things that captured my father! How dare you!"

"As I said, I am a merchant. I sell things for living. Besides... " Inaho heartlessly poked at the bat ornament of the red dress. "Your father is the vampire Count Saazbaum; he has drunk blood and drained lives of many people. I really can't comprehend why a human like you call him 'father' and idolizes him so much." He tilted his head, staring intently at Slaine. "And if the battle record is true, you had let my Orange Soldiers went through the sewer although you were capable of drowning and destroying them at that time. Your father was caught as the result, and now you want to pay for his freedom. Such inconsistency. It's intriguing though. Why?"

Slaine felt it was hard to breathe properly.

......why....?

.......because he's the only one whom she could call 'father'.

Slaine hugged the bat ornament, pushed Inaho until he fell hard on the floor, broke the window, and ran away. She wished she could be far far away from that heartless shop owner.

Running along the reddish oak tree and brownish maple...her thought travelled through memories--remembering her vampire count father...

He understood her, and she understood him.

He was a human before, but he had done many forbidden experiments and changed himself into a vampire to gain immortality. Yes. He would need a long life to unveil the secret of life and death. He did all of that in hope that he could revive his dear Orlane who had died hundred years ago.

Count Saazbaum befriended her father, Dr. Troyard, for the experiment. Dr. Troyard died in an accident. Not that she care actually, since he had never tried to find her when she had gotten separated and lost when she was little, but Count Saazbaum looked for her and took her under his protection. The Count said he couldn't understand his friend's thought of why he left his daughter; he didn't think it's right; so he looked for and adopted her after his death. Besides...

He was reminded how it felt to be human when he took care of her.

He made a good father, indeed.

But Slaine also knew that he, very much, was a vampire. On one of his monstrous thirst he could finished off an entire village. That was....

.....but still. After all he had done. He was her father. Her scientist human father hardly ever cared for her. But this vampire was....

She stumbled upon the root of a big tree. She never knew this place had some kind of forest-like garden inside. Was it really a small building on the Rhoden street? It was crazily big!

Before she got up, a hand pointed a gun to her. It was that store owner. He stared at her; his face was as expressionless as a doll.

She sarcastically smiled. She bitterly thought that, a living doll like him would never understood--no use to talk about feelings to him. And she was really sure that he hated her--the human daughter of the vampire count.

She pointed at her forehead.

Kaizuka Inaho was quiet for a while. He then stepped closer, grabbed Slaine cheeks, and kissed her between her eyes.

"What...?" Fully flushed, Slaine forced the shop owner away. His kiss tasted human. "What are you doing? Are you crazy?"

"I'm taking the fine of strolling in my secret garden without my permission." He didn't show that it was a big deal, at all. "Let's go. You are starting to work today. Change your dress and help me deliver Mr.Zurek's good." He walked away, assuming that Slaine would follow him like a good, obedient, puppy.

Slaine hated him. She deeply hated him. But then, what could she do about it?

Yeah. She needed the job. Whatever it might be. However odd the employer was.

She got up and followed him.

* * *

Slaine was relieved that she didn't have to wear that frilly red dress.... she was wearing black suit now--posing as a puppet butler.

Why she should act as a living doll? She didn't know, and Inaho didn't answer to her question about that. He only said that her job was all depended on how well she acted as a wireless marionette. So she did that, although she really couldn't understand why.

Her acting skill was wonderful; since she'd gotten used to do it to survive in this harsh world. Entering the red-stoned castle... People there were all looking at her: from the foot guard until the Count Zurek himself.

"Look at that...."

"What a marvelous porcelain doll....and he’s moving!"

"I bet he is one of Mr.Kaizuka's newest inventions.... "

"......he made that machine so beautifully.... "

".....how much he costs.... I wanna have him!"

Slaine wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. But she kept her soulless smile and limited-movement. Yes. She was a doll now--a walking mannequin that displayed the rainbow crystal for Count Zurek in front of all the people in this castle.

Now after the crystal had been given, she had to wait in the garden--while Inaho had a lunch with the count and his court. That brunet was really cruel... She hadn't eaten anything since yesterday! Still, it couldn’t be helped. She was a doll now and a doll didn’t eat. She had to endure hunger for the money!

* * *

In the castle dining room…

"I never thought that you would allow... it…to work with you." The Count of the Land of Music and Book, Zuurek, said in a low voice, careful as not to be heard by any other people except the merchant. "You know who I mean... Your doll."

"I'm glad you realize it. I'm here to show it to you. I employ anyone who is willing to work hard. And it fulfills my criteria." Inaho flatly answered.

"I see... " Zurek sliced his steak and gulped it. "After you truly know about that you still take it under your wing. That's you, indeed. Have you told it about that?"

"......I won't let it know."

"....'cause if it knows, it won't work for you...?"

"Exactly. And I hope you would respect my selfish wish. I want it to be by my side." Inaho drank his wine.

"I see... I'll keep quiet."

"You have my thanks."

"It's me who shall thank you for the crystal."

Inaho nodded without saying anything as both of them stood, and shook hands.

* * *

Slaine kept her 'professional-doll' composure although the people around her, while she was waiting at the garden without Inaho around, were not that really nice.

They snickered, whispered, commenting about her inhuman composure--how they wished to own 'that doll' and 'play on the bed' with it etc. She tried not to care. She remembered people had done things far than that when they knew she was Slaine Troyard, the adoptive human daughter of a fallen Count vampire. Almost gang-raped. Nearly killed. Chased by an entire village with the people carrying stones... Days of hunger in the forest.... Groups of people hunted her, trying to catch her...perhaps to be sold as sex slave or pet? She didn't want to imagine further.

She had worked hard to conceal her identity and worked hard to save money secretly. Now Inaho displayed her throughout the palace like this... Wouldn't it be dangerous for him too if only others knew--particularly the count of the land he was living in--her true identity? She really didn't know what's going on in his head...

She was relieved when she saw Inaho walked to her. That brunet was expressionless, more like a doll than human. But she felt safer when he was near, and he was all she had now.

'No. Not in a romantic way--he is the shop owner and I'm his employee. That's all!' Slaine hastily thought as she followed him wordlessly to the stable.

They got in the carriage that had a mechanical six-legged horse pulling it. It was Inaho's. Slaine observed that the brunet was really good in making that kind of things aside that he was a merchant.

When they had been far from the castle, Inaho shoved an apple to Slaine's hands.

"This is... "

"Eat."

".....??"

"You haven't eaten at all since you came into my store."

Well, yeah, it's true. Still, what's with this sudden gift? Well... since she was hungry... She didn't question it further.

She ate it. It’s delicious, but she really didn't like how the brunet was observing her every movement now. That kinda drained the taste away....

".....let's pass you on as a doll... "

".....why?" 'It is you who look so convincing as a doll, flat expression and everything.' She thought.

"......that way I can make you wear pretty clothes; for sure that will increase my sales. Moreover, people can't disturb you since they will know you as my delicate property." He put another apple in Slaine's hand. "I'll make them pay an obnoxiously high fine if they ever touch you."

'Ah....he only thinks about money... ' Slaine bitterly thought. "Do as you wish." She airily said and ate her second apple--chose not to care much about how Inaho was watching her as if she was some kind of interesting specimens.

So long as he didn't hurt her, it's fine...

* * *

And so the masquerade had been set.

Slaine dressed up and acted like a doll, every day, and Inaho didn't give her any day off.

There were times when she was wearing tuxedo, or blue shirt, or red military uniform. There were also times when she was wearing frilly lolita gown or fluffy costumes. It all depended on what Inaho pointed at in the dress room every morning.

.....and Inaho made her clean the store, whenever that store owner felt like her to do it, in those costumes. Imagine how difficult it could be to clean while wearing a delicate dress! And she's the one who had to wash the dirty clothes, plus Inaho's dirty ones too. Just imagine the mountain of fabric....

But Slaine needed money. So she did her job without any protest, no matter whether actually she liked it or not......and no matter how strange things happening inside the household, she didn't ask much questions...

Such as, sometimes a heavy rain fell on the garden while on the street the sun shone bright. Another example: the store was inhumanly clean when she first came there. But when she started to get the responsibility to clean it...she realized that it took a whole one day just to clean one room of the store. How could the store owner clean his entire house before he got her as his only one versatile worker?

Was Inaho a sorcerer? But when Slaine cleaned up his bedroom she didn't find anything that looked like related to magic. And she never saw him waving a wand. Besides, wizard in this era was remained a few, and they choose to live in seclusion like in a mountain or forest or in the middle of cemetery... So perhaps no...

But then, how could those rooms be so clean back then? Machine? But if so, why he didn't use the machine again?

And the mystery was only going deeper.

One afternoon, after Slaine failed (again) to clean the front room thoroughly. Inaho stared at a speck of dust inside the displayed crystal cup, and monotonously said, "you forgot to clean this one too."

"....I'm truly sorry about that..."

"It's okay. It felt more human this way. I like it."

"Hhhuh?? "

"Lately the customer who comes is also a commoner. That's nice."

Slaine seriously thought that Inaho spoke same words but entirely different language to her.

Inaho also made her to sleep in that household. Or to be more exact, on one of the sofa in the dress room, in a costume he prepared every night. Forget holiday--it seemed like she had to work there 24 hours a day--even when she was sleeping; and her job was to be his doll. Oh wait, but he ordered her to act as human as she usually be when there's no customer around, so.... Really, Slaine couldn't understand Inaho's way of thinking!

She was not allowed at all to step out of the store without his permission, and she very rarely ever went outside--only when Inaho wanted to deliver good together with her. Although, she had to admit that she was being safer in the store, more than when she had to run and hide from people who hated her.

But it was a big problem when she had to deliver gold coins to the witch who had promised of giving her father's freedom.

"Where is the address of place you're going to? What is your purpose?" Inaho asked without raising his head from the accounting he did on his big black book in his wooden room at the middle of the garden.

’This town’s cemetary. To meet Femianne.’ There’s the answer but how could Slaine say that? She had to keep that as secret! "It's..... Um.... I can't tell you but I have to go…."

"I refuse to accept such a shady reason. Answer to my question honestly."

'He is playing difficult. Is the sale going down so much that his mood is bad now? But he said there's more customers around recently...I don't understand him!' Slaine took a deep breath, and said as politely as she could for now, "I am very sorry, Master, but I'm afraid I can't answer those questions. I can only say that I'll be back when morning comes."

"Then my answer is no. Get back to your room and sleep well. Good night."

"I understand. I apologize for intruding. Good night." Slaine bow down and closed the door.

She decided she would go out secretly.

Yeah, although....

The dress she was using now was really bothering her; first, she wore two layers of undergarments. Then, she wore frilly white gown with super ruffle skirt with layered upper sleeves. That dress had many flower ornaments attached, big white ribbon on the chest and two long pearly chains on her right and left waist. And she wore corset! And she wore big bright red ribbon on her hair. And she could not wear all those things by herself! She should not change her clothes if she didn't want him to know, so her biggest challenge would be: not to make that dress dirty. Well, she's kinda experienced in moving carefully in a delicate dress thanks to Inaho's order.

If that bad mood store owner knew that she disobeyed him, big possibility he would fire her.

But the worst case Slaine feared was that Inaho new the sorcerer who was helping her and told the Red Sand or the authorities of this land about it. There would be no chance for her to meet her father again. She didn't want that to happen.

Still.... She had to go tonight, at the full moon of the 13th month, to meet the witch of the death fists, Femianne. That witch had agreed to free Saazbaum if Slaine gave her a certain amount. She couldn't pay it all now; but she had to give money to her every that full moon, or else Femianne would broke their contract.

So here Slaine was, climbing the garden's stone wall outside the dress room, in that delicate dress, trying very hard not to ruin it. When she finally got through she was face to face with stretch of trees and bushes.

'Another garden? This place is definitely big.' Slaine walking around to look for the end of this garden, only with the help of the moonlight.

......the garden was so big.... It was like a forest, but strangely she hadn't found animals yet.

...It was so silent....only the sound of wind and rustling leaves...

....eerie.....

.....was this place still the part of the house in Rhoden Street on the Land of Music and Book? At this rate, she doubted it; she had been walking for so long...

Now she remembered: there's a magical door that could open the door to everywhere. There's possibility that one of the door in Inaho's house led to some place near the forest... The dress room had windows that connected to this 'garden', while the corridor before was so dark and windowless, so perhaps the 'anywhere door' was that door to the dress room. And probably it's connecting the Rhoden street house to eerie forest somewhere. Slaine felt so stupid that she had just realized it now...

....and so she was walking in this scary place she didn't know. And she couldn't find a way back to the tall cement fence--to the safety of Inaho's place. She practically was getting lost.

She heard a roar, and then slithering sound.

What creature was that?

'Calm down...calm down...calm down…' She tried to walk as fast as possible. But she was tripped, and fell down.

There came a roar again, this time closer. Slaine didn't care that her dress was dirty and torn here and there. Not anymore. She ran as fast as she could. No matter how many times she had to fall or being scrapped by the branches.

There's a heavy sliding sound behind her. It was closer and closer. Slaine looked back, hoping to see how far she was to whatever thing which had been pursuing her.

Big mistake.

She stumbled because of the uneven roots and fell on the slanting land, tumbling down. And before she knew it she was going free fall into the unknown darkness.

Luckily she could grab the nearest vine of some plants and she could stop her fall. Her hands were bleeding but she tightly clung to that thorny vine while her feet were trying to find crevasse between the stone to stepped onto.

She got it.

She tried to go up but her footing gave in. Not too long the vine Slaine's holding onto was snapped.

* * *

Inaho opened his big secret cupboard behind the bookcase in his room, and then he took out a camera. Tonight he would do that again.

People might call him creepy or stalker or whatever, he didn't care (as usual). He was just being honest to himself...doing things that he enjoyed.

Just like the night before, he's going to take photos of sleeping Slaine in a dress.

He liked Slaine. He had been since long time ago… He was first knew Slaine far before she was adopted by Count Saazbaum. It was twelve years after his 'birth'.

Have you ever heard of Pinocchio? Well, that puppet wasn't the only one. The fairy was also granted the wish of turning a doll into a living human child for other blessed people around the world. Inaho was made 27 years ago at the Land of the Rising Sun. Just like Pinocchio, he had to overcome many tribulations to gain a 'heart'. He had travelled across countries, land and seas...in the form of living marionette--a 50cm tall marionette, together with his human father and sister.

One day, on one of their journey, he was deceived and trapped, and sold to the circus….where he first met little Slaine there. She was around 7 years old--she'd gotten separated from her father in his scientific journey and she ended up in that place. He never heard of him looking for her.

They had planned to run away from the circus together....and yes, they could run....

But Slaine was caught again, and Inaho didn't help her that time as if only he had helped her, he could have not escaped.

He was still a doll that lacked of 'heart' back then.

He successfully came back home to his father and sister, but...

Years....and years......and years, he realized that he always thought of that pale blond girl--Slaine Troyard.

......he learnt guilt.

.......he learnt love.

He had become flesh and bone human eight years later. His magician father had passed away, and his sister had been married.

And he was still thinking of Slaine Troyard.

So he continued the journey to find her--as a merchant and as an inventor.

When he came to the Land of Music and Books, and sold Little Orange Soldiers to the Land of the Red Sand’s authorities, he finally found her.

Slaine was strong willed, kindhearted and pretty....all that he ever remembered about her.

But she had become the adoptive daughter of a vampire count... He was really worried of her being there just as that vampire's snack--a worry that turned into anger toward Count Saazbaum.

And he had chosen to only see her through the lenses of his inventions, as he concluded she would be really mad at him if she knew that he was 'that marionette'. He decided it would be best to meet her through their exchange of blows that time... So long as he could see her, it's enough...

But perhaps due to that, then things had gotten even worse.

One day Slaine decided to let his Orange machines got through. Usually she laid many traps on the castle--she was so excellent in that--he's kinda enjoying trying to get through her traps before...But then she let them go and her vampire father was caught, and Slaine had to run away--hide for her life.

.......more or less....he had hurt her......again.

That's when Inaho decided he would find her and take her home. He didn't mind if she would hate him for the rest of her life--he would certainly keep her on the safest place he could afford!

So he put an ad on his store to look for persons who could help him to find her. Still after around 100 men he had employed it was difficult to find that human daughter of the vampire.

......until his wanted little woman came into his store, by herself, dressed as a young man, looking for a job. He knew there's possibility for that--albeit very small one; since there's rumour that she was looking for a way to free her father through money, so she desperately needed job. But still...for Inaho, seeing Slaine walked in through his front door made he believed that miracles do happen.

And, Inaho had chosen to play safe, not telling her everything: that he was that marionette Slaine met at the circus. The feeling he had toward her all this time......and that it's impossible for her to safe Saazbaum as he had died in the prison. No one but the higher-up knew about that. His death was kept as a secret as not to angered other currently-hiding from(didn't care with)-the-world Vampire clans; he was died because of experiment for immortality held by the Red Sand. Karma surely dances...

Inaho quietly opened the door to the dress room. He looked at the rows of dresses in that moonlit room, and smirked. Had Slaine ever realized that all these dress had Inaho gathered for her? In the past, all he could do was imagining her in those costumes. Now, he really had her by his side; there's no greater joy than that.

But soon, he found out that no one was there.

Inaho ran out to the garden and walked along the wall, carefully looking for clue; the way Slaine behave when she was asking permission to go out was odd--now that he thought about it. She might be up to something...

He wished she didn't go outside the wall... He had bought this place from his father's wizard friend. It was deep inside the forest of Aukhayan, and connected to the Rhoden street through an anywhere door. He could operate the system of the door, but not the wall. If only he was able to do anything to it he would programmed it not to allow a certain someone going outside. There's big snake with black mane out there!

Inaho gritted his teeth as he saw a footprint on the soil near the base, and a bit of mud left at the top of that stone wall.

He ran back to his room, grabbed his back and brought everything that he would need to rescue someone who got lost in a jungle.

He decided if he found her he would be honest to her about everything!.....well, perhaps not all; it would depend on the situations. But, he's sure to tell her his feeling and make her sleeping in his room. He was not going to let her go. Never!

* * *

The castle was set in a blaze. The humanoid machine, Orange Soldier, marched through every corridor downstairs. The bloody bat beasts couldn't defeat them as they got no blood to be sucked. The traps around the castle had been malfunctioned.

Slaine ran to the vampire count room at the topmost tower in the west. This place had ended. And she's going to die together with the man she hated....but nevertheless still she loved the most--her vampire father.

When she arrived, Saazbaum was standing in front of a door made of glass. Behind it's clear lid Slaine could see enormous green field under starlit sky. It was anywhere door.

Slaine never knew her father had that. She realized he could easily run away using that...

But before she thought further that vampire grabbed her arm, opened the door, whispered that he wanted great grandchildren, shoved her to the prairie and closed it. Slaine tried to open it again, pushing it, slamming at it. But, even if her hands were bleeding because of it her father refused to open that door. The last memory of him for her was his sad smile.

The clear glass door then smashed into pieces from the other side.

Slaine jolted awake.

Pain shot through her right leg as she tried to move. She felt her lungs burning and it was hard to breathe. It seemed the fall had cost her some broken bones... She couldn't move that much. But still, she was lucky as there was a part of that cliff which was projected, so she had landed there instead of to the unknown darkness further down there.

She cried, but it wasn't because of the pain all over her body.

She missed her father.

Suddenly she heard a loud roar from above, and the sound of falling rubble. She struggled to lie face down and protect her head with her arms--luckily they were just wounded and not broken. Some stones hit her shoulders and waist. Slaine couldn't know how big they were, but their impact was painful.

.........she wished she should have just died.

But then she remembered her father. She gritted her teeth; she had to live to save him.

The falling debris stopped, but the roar continued on. Whatever creature there had stopped thinking of going down to get her--but it was still waiting up there.

What to do?

First thing first, she had to stop her bleeding. She tore her dirty rumpled worn-out sleeves and ruffled skirt to bandage her palms and lower left arm--as best as a wounded person could.

She found some fallen branches to support her right leg, but couldn't even manage to stand. What should she do?

The roar stopped. But Slaine couldn't make sure whether the creature was leaving or looking for another way to reach her. She must not assume she had been saved. What to do...?

She heard the cracking sound of twigs and fallen leaves under her body.

Well, perhaps she could make fire? Animals should be afraid of fire, and perhaps someone up there would find her. It would be difficult with her dampened-by-blood hands--she couldn't properly stop her bleeding, but she got no other choice.

Sounds of blast were heard. Thrice. And the creature roared again. The ground shook. Slaine could feel some rubble fell on her again although not much.

Was there someone? Or was it another creature? Slaine didn't know, but she had to try to scream for help. She took a deep breath, but before she voiced for help her chest felt burned and she coughed up blood. She lied down to calm her breath. She felt cold. She had just realized that the fallen leaves under her had been dampened by blood.

Slaine felt extremely sleepy and tired. She closed her eyes, intending to sleep a bit...just a bit...

"......!!!!!!!"

She heard a voice, was there someone calling?

".....laine.........! Slaine....!!"

It's Inaho's voice. Slaine tried to wake up, but she couldn't move at all. She couldn't scream either. What should she do?

She fought her drowsiness by trying to grab nearest twig and hit the stone on the ground with it--hoping to catch attention. Its sound wasn't loud enough. She tried to spot bigger things which she could be using. Or perhaps it would be better for her to try screaming again?

She took air as much as as possible, but in the end she coughed, and coughed, hard.

Then suddenly a bright orange--10cm diameter--robot landed in front of her. Lazy-looking eyes installed there were watching her in silence. Its propeller on top of it stopped, and it turned out to be in the form of stalk and leaves.

What an ugly new design; this one was far more childlike than the small humanoid-like orange-colored robot Slaine had known before, but she didn't hate it. Not at all. In fact for now she felt it was the cutest thing on this planet--just like its owner.

No way she would say that to him, though.

* * *

Showered by the moonlight, Inaho was carrying Slaine, bridal style. The orange robots were flying around them. He noted that his wanted woman didn't talk much. Was she asleep?

"....Slaine Troyard?"

"Hm."

Inaho smiled, and stopped saying anything. He focused on the path.

"....ry"

"Hm? What is it, Bat?"

"....'m sorry... I ruin your dress..."

Inaho looked at her: covered in dirt and dried blood. He had decided he would be honest....but he felt the difficulties now. "....it's... How should I say it... It's already yours."

"Haha... of course... I ve to....buy from you now....that it torn like this... "

"No. No..." He took a deep breath, 'I've been stalking you this whole time and buying those dress imagining you wearing them; so the dress was basically yours. Plus I like to secretly taking photos of you.... No. Choose other dictions!' ".....I give it to you. All the clothes in the dress room is yours."

"....really....?" It's hard to believe. Why? Oh, but Slaine was so drowsy now, she felt like to sleep more than asking any further question; she could ask it tomorrow, so she whispered, "Thank you...." and closed her eyes.

A stretching silence, and then, "Bat."

"Hn?"

"........I was a marionette."

"Hn. You look like a doll...really--"

"I am sorry for leaving you at the circus back then."

".........."

"I've been looking for you, you know."

"............."

"When I found out that you're with a vampire, I was really worried."

"....................."

"And then you're missing..... It's so hard looking for you. I was a doll before. I never knew that this kind of feeling could exist--it's stertorous, painful, particularly when you're not with me........But, it's beautiful and it makes me grateful--I'm grateful to have known you, Slaine Troyard. You may not be away from me again. Never. I won't allow you. You have to marry me. Bat, are you listening?"

Slaine nodded, but she couldn't say anything as she had been silently crying. Inaho hugged her, protectively.

It was a gentle night. Both of them were finally coming back to the place they could call home, together.

- end -

OMAKE

Slaine: Say…how do you keep this house clean before I came?

Inaho: *raise up the Orange robot*

Slaine: Oh, good, it can help me clean then.

Inaho: No.

Slaine:…..why?

Inaho: I like to see you cleaning.

Slaine: *threw the orange into Inaho’s face*

Thank you very much for reading this -^_^-

#ALDNOAH ZERO #az anthology #Yui Minatsuki #doll #Inaho x Fem!Slaine #inaho kaizuka #slaine troyard #orangebat #AZ #inasureanthology

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