#no iris’ or pupils for Mr Eye Of The Storm

[honkygay]

the more i redesign him the more Inhuman he becomes. gimme 2 years and Mike Crew will be Eldritch.

#honkygaydraws #tma #the magnus archives #mike crew #michael crew #mike crew monday #i redesigned him to have Glowy Insides Disorder #no iris’ or pupils for Mr Eye Of The Storm #yes im dabbling back into tma but im not finished yet so no spoilers for season 5 plss

[lunalover62578]

Separated but Together

Separated but Together

By Avery and mostly Kris (AKA @scaramarii)

Prologue

I wasn’t really there when my parents divorced. I just remember my mom yelling at my dad. I’m Amelia by the way. I’m twelve years old, and a witch in training. I know it sounds crazy, but let me tell you the whole story.

Chapter 1

We were friends for a while. Now we’re stuck together in a magical forest , but it’s not like we want to be. For you to figure out what happened to us, we have to go back a while.

It was mid-August, and school had only started a couple of weeks ago. I was very popular. Not for long though. I was getting ready for my first period class.

“Hey, Amelia! How are you doing,” she yelled across the hall. I hate when she does that. Emily was still my friend, but there were things about her that just ticked me off sometimes. The way she yells for me, she listens to me sometimes, and she breathes a little loud. 

“I’m good, but why do you have to yell?” I found it annoying how loud she was. 

“Why not?” she asked. 

“Whatever.”  And then, all of a sudden, the bell rang. 

“See you after homeroom, Amelia,” she said. 

“See you,” I said back. 

My homeroom teacher is Mrs. White, while Emily’s is Mr. John. I like Mrs. White. I mean, she’s nice and sweet. What’s not to like? She even baked us cookies once, which was super sweet. But Emily told me that Mr. John is mean and strict. She says that sometimes he will put people in detention for a whole month if they don’t follow the rules. It was brutal. I went to the classroom and the first thing I saw was a substitute teacher. It was Mrs. Johnson, one of the MEANEST substitutes I’ve ever had (I had her as a substitute in third period once). She made us stay quiet the whole time she was there, and if we dared to make a move or sound, she would slap a ruler down on her desk. It’s SO annoying, 

         We did attendance, and morning announcements, and then just sat there blankly, doing nothing. Then I got bored, so I passed a note to my other friend, Hazel. I wrote, “Psst, do you want to play hangman?” 

She passed me a note back saying, “No, and we should not be passing notes.” And I got a little annoyed at her for that. 

But suddenly, somebody came into the room. She looked really cool. She had white silverish hair, but it looked metallic. Her clothes were black, but the sleeves were see-through with metallic dots on the sleeves. She was wearing a black skirt, and black tights.

“Hello Mrs. Johnson. I am Mrs. Grace, and I am going to be your sub instead.” The whole class cheered. We were finally getting rid of our mean sub. 

“EXCUSE ME?” Mrs. Johnson looked livid. Hazel and I held back laughter.

“What? Do you think this is a joke? Frankly, you look like one.” Mrs. Grace had a smug smile on her face, though her storm gray eyes bore into Mrs. Johnson. “I imagine that your father thought that your mother cheated on him with an alien.”

Mrs. Johnson's face pinched in an odd way. 

“Really? You dare disrespect me?! You look like a teenager with that outfit! If I didn’t know any better, I would say you were sixteen!”

Mrs. Grace’s eyes darkened, so they looked less storm gray and more sea-during-a-hurricane blue. Weird. She suddenly whipped out a piece of paper that she shoved on the desk. As Mrs. Johnson read it, her face took on a look of shock and rage.

“Fine.” She stood up and stormed out of the classroom, slamming the door behind her. Mrs. Grace looked amused.

“Well then.” She spread her arms. “Are you not going to introduce yourselves? I saw that your other substitute had the attendance papers, and I sort of need those.” Her pupils glinted white and her iris’ flashed purple. I looked at Hazel and saw a look of confusion on her face.

“Did you see that?” I asked her.

“See what?” “Her eyes. They were-” suddenly, I was interrupted.

“Girls in the back, would you introduce yourselves first?” Mrs. Grace said after writing her name on the board.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Her eyes are normal. I’m sure of it.” She didn’t sound so sure.

“Whatever,” I whispered back.

After I introduced myself to her, Mrs. Grace looked surprised. When class ended, she said “Amelia? I’d like to see you for a moment.” I wondered what I’d done wrong. Was it what I had said about her eyes? Or did I miserably fail an assignment? I did that a lot.

“Yes ma’am?” I kept my head down.

“Look at me when you talk to me.” I looked up, and Mrs. Grace didn’t look mad or concerned. She looked amazed. “I take it you saw my eyes change? Don’t mention that to anyone else. Non-magic folk aren’t supposed to see that.”

I stared at her. “What?”

“I’m a witch. Not a teacher. That paper was just a trick. I’ll show you who I really am tonight. And I’ll show you who you are. Bring your friend Emily.”

I started to protest, but I remembered the times when I caused something weird to happen. And frankly it was a lot “Alright.”

Chapter 2

As I waited for midnight, I stared at the text I’d sent Emily. She hadn’t seemed to believe me until I sent her a picture of the note Mrs. Grace had sent me. The clock hit 12:00. I opened my window (my room was on the first floor) and jumped out. 

Emily was waiting outside, her red hair pulled up in a ponytail. She looked annoyed. She was wearing a black hoodie and black leggings, and had a backpack slung over her shoulder.

“What took you so long?”

I sighed. “My mom. I had to pretend to be asleep until she went to bed.” Emily rolled her eyes. “You’re not a kid anymore.” “Technically I am. We’re wasting time, let’s go.”

“Fine.” As we ran to the forest outside the town, I saw a purple light.

“That way,” I said, pointing towards the light.

“What? There’s nothing special about that way,” Emily complained as I dragged her along.

“Sometimes there is something special about things, normal people just never see it.”

Emily sighed.

As we approached the light, I saw Mrs. Grace’s silhouette approaching. Her eyes glittered like a snakes. She smiled thinly and creepily.

“Hello.” She looked pale in the moonlight

“Hi…” I said. Emily just stood there, mouth open wide, mesmerized by Mrs. Grace’s outfit and beauty 

“Amazed huh?” Mrs. Grace said, her smile looking creepier. She seemed to notice how she looked eerie with that smile, and stopped. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Emily said, still looking shocked.

“You know me as Mrs. Grace, but really, my name is Yoru.” Her gray eyes had a serious look to them.

“No way.” I stared at her in shock as Mrs. Grace- no, Yoru- tilted her head at Emily and I.

Yoru looked amused as Emily’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. “Woah.” 

Yoru smiled and laughed.  “You shouldn't be so surprised,” she said in a mysterious tone. 

“It’s not her fault,” I said defensively.  “She’s just surprised.”

Yoru tilted her head. “Alright then.” She waved her arms, and the clearing was filled with light in every color you could imagine. Then Yoru said, “So you wanted to learn how to use your powers. Right Amelia?”

I stared at her, wondering what she meant. “What?”

“You have powers,” Yoru said. 

I sat there feeling like I looked as amazed as Emily did. “No I don’t,” I said, trying to find any bit of information in Yoru’s expression. But her face held no answers.

“I’d better show you my powers,” she said, ignoring what I just said. She touched a crystal necklace I hadn’t seen before. Now right before my eyes, I saw it glowing, sparkling, and sparking magic. Then after moments of nothing the glittering stopped suddenly. 

“Come on! I got you tuned up yesterday!” Yoru glared at her necklace. She touched it again, and it lit up again. “There we go.” She waved her arms, and suddenly, colorful crystals sprouted from the ground. The wind picked up, blowing sparks across the clearing. The moon seemed brighter.

“Oh my gosh,” I said. Emily looked just as shocked as I felt.

“She- you- how-?” Emily didn’t seem to be able to say anything.

Yoru grinned, but it didn’t look creepy, like it had when Emily and I met up with her. “Magic.” She knelt down to pick up a small orange crystal that was shaped like a more angular water droplet. “Oh, that’s perfect.” She pulled out a string, turned the crystal into the necklace, and tossed it to me.

“What’s this for?” I tugged at the string, finding that it was slightly elastic.

“You’ll need it to control your magic.” Yoru snapped her fingers, and the gems disappeared, except for the necklace I was holding. “Well? Put it on. It’ll be easier to find out what magic you’re good at with it.”

I slipped the necklace around my neck. I felt an odd sensation in my fingers, like my hand had fallen asleep. I suddenly noticed a bunch of little glowing orbs, circling Yoru like a kettle of vultures. “What are those little things around you?”

Yoru gently picked one of the orbs up. “Oh, these? They’re like little light birds. The average human can’t see them. Your friend can’t see them either, but she’s a different story.”

“What does that mean?” Emily squinted at the witch, as if trying to see the light birds.

Yoru laughed. “You’re not a normal human, but you aren’t a witch either. If you want, I can bring you to the magic village so someone can explain it to you.”

Emily’s hands immediately went to her ears. They were incredibly pointy, which I guess I should’ve mentioned earlier, but I’d been busy dragging her out of a pit of- never mind. If I keep talking about that, I’ll just go on a side-tangent and forget what I’m talking about. “Does it have something to do with my ears?”

“Maybe.” Yoru pulled a phone out of thin air with a purple flash. She looked at the screen for a moment after unlocking it. “Huh. I must have taken longer to explain things than I thought.” She looked back up at Emily and I. “You two should go home now. Come back here tomorrow. I’ll try to explain more then. I’m sorry we couldn’t have more time to talk.”

Before I could even protest, Yoru drew a circle in the air, and in a swirl of crystal shards and purple light, she was gone. The gems and light also disappeared, putting Emily and I in an average dark clearing at midnight.

I looked at Emily. “She did not take that long to explain things.”

Emily shrugged. “Maybe she’s hiding something.” She pulled her hood over her head. “Anyway, I don’t wanna stay here for too long. This place is creepy. See you tomorrow?”

I nodded. “Bye Emily.” I watched as she pulled a flashlight out of her backpack, turned it on, and dashed out of the clearing. But I didn’t follow her. I wanted to stay, and try to do something magical, despite having no training whatsoever.

I tapped the jewel on my necklace. It glowed a vibrant red with yellow swirls. Sparks danced around the clearing. “Show us what you can do,” they seemed to be saying.

Feeling like I’d just drank my moms tea (she likes to put a lot of matcha powder in it for some reason), I waved my arms, copying what Yoru had done to create the gems. My fingers tingled, as if they’d fallen asleep.

All of a sudden, I was holding a ball of fire. It didn’t burn me. It just stayed in my hand, dancing around my fingers. I’d love to say I wasn’t afraid, but that would be a lie. I was panicking. I thought that it was going to burn down the clearing, burn me in the process.

Then the flames went out. I stumbled, realizing that I felt exhausted. The sparks were gone. Holy crap. I did not just do that. I shook my head. Maybe I’m dreaming. There’s no way this actually happened. I took a deep breath. Maybe..?

I closed my eyes and imagined my bedroom. After a few moments, the air shifted. I opened my eyes, and lo and behold, I was home.

I took the necklace off and set it on my nightstand. I closed my window, and went to sleep.

Chapter Three

When I woke up, I immediately checked my nightstand. Sure enough, the necklace was still there.

There was a knock at my door. I grabbed the necklace and shoved it under the bed. “Come in!” I kicked the pendant further away from where anyone could see it.

“Good morning Amelia!” A word about my mom. She’s probably the nicest person I know, aside from Hazel and Yoru. 

“Morning,” I replied, still thinking about what happened. My eyes darted around the room, and then I saw it. One of the little light birds was sitting on my windowsill. I tried to make it look like I didn’t see it, but clearly, I failed.

“Are you alright?” Mom looked at the windowsill, but she obviously didn’t see the light bird.

“Yeah, I’m just tired.”

My mother raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yep.”

“Alright.” Mom smiled gently. “Your friend Emily is waiting for you. She said something about wanting to talk to you on the way to school.” She left the room and closed my door.

I ran over to my window, and picked up the light bird. As I looked at it, I realized that it really did look like a bird. It looked up at me, and chirped. “Why are you here?” I whispered. “Where did you come from?”

The bird chirped again. This time it sounded like a question.

“Are you asking a question?”

Another chirp. It sounded like the bird was asking me what its name was.

“You want to know your name?”

“Chirp!” I took that as a yes.

“Ummm…” I thought for a moment. “Wisp?”

The bird shook its head.

“Ember?”

“Chirp!” Another yes.

“You want to be called Ember?” I let Ember fly onto my shoulder.

“Chirp.” Ember seemed to have an attitude.

After I waved Ember out of my room (he came back) and got dressed, I went into the living room, where Emily was sitting on the couch.

“Hey Amelia!” Her ears were covered, which I wasn’t used to seeing.

“Hi Emily.” I dashed into the kitchen, dropped a piece of bread into the toaster, ran back into the living room, and sat down next to her. “Why are your ears covered?”

Emily’s voice lowered. “I saw Yoru this morning. She told me that people who wanted to catch people like me were around, and that I needed to cover my ears to stay safe from them.”

My eyes widened. “You’re kidding.” But I knew she wasn’t. Emily liked to joke around, but she would never joke about something like that.

Emily shook her head. “Oh, and she wanted me to tell you-.” Before she could finish her sentence, the toaster dinged. I got up, grabbed my toast, and went back to talk to Emily.

“You were saying?”

“She wanted me to tell you that she can help you figure out how to use your magic.” I almost choked.

“About that, I kinda figured out how to use it.” I explained what happened after she left.

“Woah.” Emily tapped her fingers against her thigh. “So you’re telling me that you just managed to hold a fire without burning anything?”

“Yep.” I swallowed the rest of my toast. “Something tells me that I can do more.”

“Well duh. You-.” I covered Emily’s mouth because she was being too loud.

“Quiet! My mom’s in the house!” I stopped covering Emily’s mouth.

“Sorry,” she whispered.

“Girls! You need to go to school.” My mom poked her head around the corner, her dark brown hair falling around her face.

“Alright! Bye Mom!” I slung my backpack on my shoulder, and dragged Emily out of the house.

“Your mom’s nice.” Emily moved her hair so it would cover her ears again.

“She’s strict when it comes to sleep though.” I touched the ribbon in my hair.

Emily’s eyes widened. “Amelia?”

“Yeah?” 

“Your necklace just appeared.”

I looked down, and sure enough, my necklace was around my neck. The angular teardrop shaped jewel glittered cheerfully. “What the heck?” I didn’t take it off though. Instead, I slipped it under my shirt, in case the people hunting Emily went after me too.

Emily shrugged. “Let's just go.” She grabbed my wrist, and strode on.

As we approached the entrance to the school, Ember suddenly appeared on my shoulder. I scratched his chest feathers, and pulled a granola bar out of my backpack. Right after I unwrapped it, Ember's mandible unhinged, and he devoured the granola bar in one bite.

“Holy- what was that?!” Emily’s face was as white as a sheet.

“I forgot you couldn’t see him. Emily, say hi to Ember.”

“Squawk!” Ember pecked at the ribbon in my hair.

“It’s one of those light birds, isn’t it?”

Ember twittered indignantly.

“Can you even hear him?”

Emily shrugged. “Nope.”

“Good. People would probably think they were going crazy if they heard an invisible bird chirping.”

I pushed the doors open, and rushed to the lockers, Emily in pursuit.

“Hey Amelia, hey Emily!” Hazel was leaning against her locker, her hair done in a messy braid.

“What’s up Hazel?” Emily fiddled with her lock.

Ember chirped.

“Is there a bird in here?” Hazel tilted her head.

Dang it. Ember, be quiet.

“What do you mean?” I glanced at Ember. He looked proud of himself.

“I just heard a bird.” Hazel spread her hands. “Either I’m going crazy or there’s actually a bird.”

“Ummm…” Emily glanced at me. “I think you’re going crazy.”

Hazel raised an eyebrow. She touched her hair clip, which was a periwinkle rhombus with rounded edges. It changed to a pastel green. She looked straight at Ember.

“Knew it.” Hazel grinned. “I should’ve seen that coming.” She laughed.

“Wait, you have magic too?” I watched as Ember flitted over to Hazel, obviously curious as to why she could see him.

“Yep. I thought I was the only one in the school.” She let Ember hop onto her finger. “So, when did you figure it out?”

“Last night.”

Hazel looked impressed. “Dang. And you already have a light bird? I've been doing magic for two years, and I still don’t have one.”

“So should I just let you two miss homeroom because you’re geeking out over magic?” Emily snickered.

“Frick.” Hazel handed Ember back to me. “We’ll talk during homeroom, kay?”

“Okay.” Ember flew onto my shoulder. “Bye Emily!”

“See you later!”

Mrs. White was back today. She smiled as Hazel and I slid into class, just moments after the bell rang.

“Sorry we’re late!” Hazel pulled a pencil out of her purse, and adjusted a crooked piece of paper in her binder.

“It’s alright. Please take your seats.”

“Yes ma’am.” Hazel and I went to our seats, and Ember immediately hopped onto my desk.

“He’s so cute,” Hazel whispered. Ember chirped, clearly happy with the compliment.

“Yep.”

“I hope Mrs. Grace wasn’t too rough on you yesterday.” Mrs. White was already writing the names of people missing an assignment we’d done with her. “When I met her, she was a little… how do I say it? Scary?”

Scary. That wasn’t necessarily the right word to describe Yoru. Then again, it kind of was.

“She was great,” a kid in the front row said. “But there was someone who tried to be the substitute instead of her.”

Mrs. White raised an eyebrow. “Huh.”

Hazel and I glanced at each other.

I ripped a piece of paper out of my binder. “Do you think Yoru messed with Mrs. Whites memory?” I slid it over to Hazel.

“Yep,” she wrote.

“Dang. I wonder what else she can do.” I thought about that.

Mrs. White turned on the projector for morning announcements. “I need you all to be quiet. Morning announcements start soon.”

After homeroom, Hazel and I rushed over to the lockers to talk with Emily.

“I’m ditching,” Emily said. She grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulder. “You two wanna come along?”

Ember hopped onto Emily’s shoulder and tweeted.

“I think Ember wants to come along.” I held out my finger, and he pecked at it. “Ow. Ember, my finger is not food.”

Hazel snickered. “So, we’re going.” She swung her locker open, snatched her things out of it, packed up, and closed it. A little after that I asked “Hazel what type of magic are you?” “Oh yeah you're probably wondering about it now?” she sounded sad as she said it. 

“Well the thing is….” she continued “What?” I said eagerly “Well I don't really know. My parents who are both magic were both plant magic. But since I haven’t found my power yet. We're guessing I am plant magic” She said quietly. “Oh," I said quietly. SInce I realized this was a tough subject for her. What followed was some awkward silence.

 “So where do we wanna go?” Emily said, trying to change the subject. Not so very slyly

#writing #fantasy #original story #writers on tumblr #wip

[ace-in-a-shopping-cart]

Dance With Me Under the Stars

@yeah-im-a-fae-deal-with-it, I hope you enjoy this! I had a lot of fun making it and I hope I did the wishes justice. Happy Holidays!! (Much of the imagery was based on the song Volcano by The Vamps.)

@sanderssidesgiftxchange

Word Count: 3993

It was mid semester and Virgil had arrived late to class for the first time in his three years of college. He hurried in quietly, taking his usual seat and pulling his books out. Almost shamefully, he grabbed his homework and walked between the desks to put it on the teacher’s.

He must have had the worst luck in the world as, just then, she turned around. “Ah, Mr. Storm. I was wondering when you’d show up.” Her tone was kind, no note of malice anywhere.

Virgil nodded. “I forgot to set my alarm.” His voice was quiet, barely reaching past the professor.

She nodded with a smile that seemed genuine. “Go back to your seat, please. Just as discussed yesterday, you’ll be debating Mr. Croft in a few minutes.”

Virgil trudged back to his seat, slipping past the others to sit in his usual corner. Feeling eyes on him, he looked up to find Logan Croft, a double major in zoology and astronomy who was taking this class for fun, staring at him with an unreadable expression. Virgil ignored him, turning back to his notebook and doodling in the margins as he waited for the professor to finish taking attendance.

He got through half the page before he was being called up to debate, as per usual. He and Croft were only put against each other as examples or if the lecture finished early. This was mainly due to them both being stubborn in their ways and being able to debate things for hours. Thus, they were both called into her office the day before to confirm the topic and style of the debate.

There they stood, on opposite sides of the same plain. It was a familiar position for the pair during their debates. While many would have seen a peaceful place within that plain, maybe even a spot to build something, the two students only saw a battlefield with the fight yet to be fought, yet to be won. Their words danced across the plain, leaving wounds that didn’t mean a thing outside of that moment. A struggle for dominance raged before, as it always did, they came to be equals that saw eye to eye.

Their debate lasted for the first half of class before they came to some sort of agreement on their topic and sat down to listen to the teacher give a lecture on what just happened. After class, Croft caught up with Virgil on his way out. “That was a good debate today, Storm.” He said. The battlefield was back to a plain, nothing special about it.

Virgil looked at him briefly before just shrugging and walking up the stairs. He didn’t bother to look back or wonder why the student who usually avoided him unless it was during these debates was talking to him. He just knew he needed to get to class.

A day later, he was running to dance class and missed a step. Crashing down the stairs, he landed at the bottom in a haze of pain. He tried to move but found that his vision was blurry and his ankle was broken. Someone nearby gave a shout and he heard footsteps on the stairs. A hand landed on his shoulder and he flinched, coming face to face with the person who lived across the hall from him.

“Virgil, what happened?” Emile said, eyes looking concerned.

The dancer didn’t even lie to the psychology major he knew only in passing. “I fell.” He shook his head, trying to get his vision to focus on something, anything. “My ankle hurts.”

Emile nodded and moved to look at it. Gently pressing, he inspected the joint. Virgil hissed when he pressed on it and Emile sat back. “Yep, that’s broken.” Sighing, he moved to help Virgil to his feet, throwing the dancer’s arm over his shoulders. “I’ve got time before my next class so I’ll take you to the nurse before I go tell you’re dance teacher you won’t be able to make it today.”

Virgil shook his head, hobbling along beside him. “No, I’ll tell her later.”

Emile frowned. “You know Professor Kim is not going to be happy about this development. She was counting on you being there through the whole semester.”

Virgil just laughed, shaking his head. “Since when do you talk with her?”

“Since I came to drop off your lunch that day and she was the only one there. We struck up a conversation about you.”

Virgil nodded. “Fair.”

Emile pushed the door open and sat Virgil in the nurse's office before leaving with a wave, tossing an, “I’ll be back in a bit,” over his shoulder. Virgil waited for the nurse to come and diagnose him, soon being rolled out on a gurney on his way to the hospital to get a cast on his broken ankle. He’d also been told that he had a concussion but that wasn’t the main concern.

A few days later, debate class was back in session and Virgil was there in a cast, crutches by his side. Croft came in and eyed the crutches before setting his bag by his usual chair. He didn’t sit down as Virgil thought he would, rather coming over to stand by Virgil’s seat. He nodded his chin at the cast. “What happened there?”

Virgil was taken aback by the care in his voice, a voice that had previously remained so neutral while talking to him that it was borderline monotone. He shrugged as he continued to grab his books out of his bag. “I fell.”

Croft raised his eyebrows, looking about as convinced as he would if Virgil had just told him the sky was magenta. “You fell? Why don’t I buy that, Storm?”

Virgil shook his head. “I don’t know why you wouldn’t believe the truth, Croft.”

He huffed, his eyes melting into the concern that was evident in his voice. Opening his mouth, he seemed to be about to say something but thought better of it, going to sit down instead just as the professor walked in. She paused by his desk. “Professor Kim told me about the ankle. You don’t have to debate for the rest of the semester if you don’t feel up to it.”

Virgil shook his head. “Standing won’t be a problem as long as I have the crutches.”

She nodded. “Still, I’d like to let you rest for a bit.”

Virgil shrugged. “I’m fully capable of standing and debating but I’ll follow your lead on this.” She gave a final nod and moved to stand at the front of the room to begin class.

Thus, six weeks went by. Virgil did essays on dance and movement instead of performing the dances. Professor Kim insisted on recording the lessons so he’l still be able to do them when he’s recovered, which he was immensely grateful for. Debate class went similarly in that he wasn’t called up as often to debate Croft anymore. Instead, he wrote most of his debates as argumentive papers.

That summer, Virgil stayed on campus. He wasn’t taking a summer course, he was simply trying to follow the videos Professor Kim left for him. He lived nearby anyways so it made sense to keep using the studio on campus. That’s how he ended up running into Croft again on the stairs. 

“Oh,” the other student said, bag in hand as he was clearly trying to put his books back in it, “I didn’t expect you to be here.”

Virgil smiled, holding up the gym bag that had replaced his book bag. “The studio is allowing me to catch up on my dance lessons over the summer.” He paused. He and Croft had never been too cordial with each other, merely remaining civil. However, toward the end of the semester they'd come to some sort of academic truce. Now, they were just normal strangers, just two students. So, Virgil took a chance. “What about you? Why are you still here?”

Croft finally shoved the last book into his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. “I’m having to retake a class due  to low grades.” He shook his head. “I just can’t grasp the subject.”

“What is it?”

Croft sighed. “Psychology.”

Virgil nodded and, on a whim, gave an offer. “I passed Psych with flying colors if you want me to tutor you?”

That plain, that had once been a battlefield before lying dormant, became a meadow in that one moment. No longer a place for duels or violence, but peace and healing. Their once shaky truce seemed to settle, becoming something more permanent, as Croft smiled. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

They walked side by side as they discussed times and tactics for studying. They concluded that their only overlapping free time was directly after Virgil was finished with dance practice as that was when Croft got out of his classes and clubs but before Virgil had to go to Professor Kim’s office for office hours.

So, the very next day saw Virgil walking out of the shower room, towel he’d been drying his hair with still in hand, to see Croft leaning against the wall in the hall. “I wasn’t expecting you for another fifteen minutes or so.” Virgil said as he approached.

Croft looked up from the book in his hand. He briefly glanced at the page number before snapping it shut and picking up his bag. “Apologies, I like to be early.”

Virgil just waved his hand as they fell in step beside each other. “It’s fine. Next time, you don’t have to wait in the hall if I’m not in the shower, you can just sit in the room. As long as you’re quiet, you’ll be fine.”

Croft nodded. “Noted, thank you.”

They made it to the library and sat down, both pulling out books. When Croft gave Virgil a puzzled look, he laughed a bit. “I’ve brought my notes and blank copies of homework to use as practice problems. First, I want to gauge just how bad off you are.” he set down the cumulative final review. “Fill this out to the best of your ability.” Croft set to work, a serious expression on his face. Virgil didn’t want to twiddle his thumbs while waiting so he pulled out his phone and opened it to a new note, beginning to plan out his evening.

Once that was done, he looked up to see Croft with his tongue sticking out slightly, hair in his eyes, and eyes focused on the page. Strangely, there was something beautiful about the concentrated look on his face. Maybe it was the way the sunlight dramatized it and cast his eyes into shadows, making Virgil want to stare until he could see where the iris ended and the pupil began; maybe it was the way his hair framed his face in a way that made Virgil want to pull out a sketchbook.

Feeling self conscious at that thought, he looked back down at his phone and ignored the other student until he heard a pencil connect with the table. “Alright, Storm, I’m done.”

Virgil nodded and slid the page over to himself, quickly checking it against the answer sheet he’d made up. He gave Croft a grade, circled it, and slid it back. A sharp intake of breath came back as Virgil pulled a clean piece of paper closer to himself and began to write down what needed to be worked on.

“Is it really that bad?” Croft’s voice came from Virgil’s side.

He paused in his writing to look up at his former academic rival. He shrugged. “It could be worse. You don’t seem to be too bad off right now and we’re gonna try to get you to where you need to be as soon as possible.”

Croft nodded and away they went. The next few weeks were spent in a new routine. Croft would wait in the hall if Virgil was in the shower but most times Virgil had lost track of time and gone over, resulting in Croft sitting in the corner reviewing definitions. A few times, one of his clubs wouldn’t meet and he’d get out earlier than normal. Those were the times that Croft would sit in and make sure Virgil wasn’t putting too much strain on his ankle and was properly hydrating. Those were the times they’d strike up a bit of witty banter that reminded them of their debates but on a personal level that the debate class was lacking.

One step at a time, they came closer on that meadow until they were standing side by side, leaning on the other. As they grew closer, the meadow rose as if two tectonic plates were pushing it toward the sky. Over the course of that one season, the meadow had become a mountain of a friendship. Their banter began to spread outside of just those rare moments, becoming a constant part of their meetings, tutor sessions, and walks. 

It wasn’t long before the summer semester ended and they had a few weeks of vacation before the next semester. As the days shortened and the leaves turned colors, Virgil almost expected Croft to go on his way. After all, the agreement was done. Virgil had finished learning all the moves he’d needed and Croft had passed his classes with the usual flying colors. 

Still, tutor sessions turned into chats over coffee, dancing changed to walks in the park, but their late night talks on the way back to their apartment building stayed the same. Virgil enjoyed that constant, knowing that no matter what else happened that day, he could walk back to the apartment building with Croft. It was one such walk that it struck him. In all their time together, he’d gotten closer to Croft and no longer saw him as the academic rival they’d been at the start of the year. Instead, he saw him as a friend, or even more than that.

Just when Virgil was satisfied and comfortable with the balance they’d created together, fate tossed a spark gently onto the mountain. In that instance, the mountain turned into a volcano. In that one instant of time, Virgil had fallen for Logan Croft and he knew with absolute certainty that he wouldn’t have it any other way. He had no idea how he’d tell him, or even if he would tell him. After all, volcanoes can stay dormant for years before going extinct or erupting. Virgil could just wait and hope it was the former or deal with the latter.

The next few weeks were much the same as that with the exception that Virgil was noticing every little thing that Logan did. He noticed the way he leaned toward Virgil as they talked, the way his focus was entirely on the dancer during conversations. Logan was always walking on Virgil’s left side, the ankle he’d broken mid spring semester that acted up occasionally but especially on stairs. He noticed Logan holding doors for him or smiling at him for no particular reason.

All of this gave Virgil a spark of hope in his chest that had him wondering if Logan liked him back. That spark was almost crushed one afternoon. They had just gotten their coffee and started their usual round about the park when Logan spoke. “I might not be able to do the full rotation today, Storm. I’ve got a date with Roman later.”

Virgil felt like his chest had just been stomped on. “. . . A date?” He didn’t know how he kept his voice steady when his heart was breaking, getting closer and closer to shattering the more he thought about those two words.

Logan tilted his head to the sides. “Maybe ‘date’ is the wrong word for it. It’s more like a meet-up.”

Virgil nodded, pretending he hadn’t been holding his breath through that whole exchange. “Okay, when do you have to leave?”

“About half an hour.” He turned and smiled. “Plenty of time.”

Virgil smiled and walked ahead, turning to face Logan as he walked backwards. Logan shook his head. “That’s not the safest way to travel, you know.”

Virgil just shrugged. “There’s worse ways to travel.” He also got to see the rare grin that spread across the zoology major’s face, not that he would tell said student that.

Their walk in the park ended with them standing at the entrance. “I’ll see you later, Storm.” Logan said by way of parting.

“Wait! Later as in tomorrow or later as in-”

He laughed, something that was even more rare than his grin but something Virgil longed to hear more often. “Later today.” Virgil nodded, walking back to his apartment alone.

On a whim, he grabbed his gym bag, stuffing his dance shoes in it, and went to the studio. He scrolled through his playlist as he entered before just hitting shuffle and letting the music play as he got ready. He waited for the next song and took a second to identify it before throwing his hoodie off and moving to the center of the room. 

He went with the music, letting his body flow in whatever way it wanted. Incorporating all the moves he’d learned over the past few months into a cohesive whole that was both as graceful as saplings in the wind but as sharp as the flapping of cloth. He danced to forget his troubles and anxieties, letting them bleed into the movements. A faster song came on and he changed his movements to match, becoming sharper as he let himself get lost in the music, lost to the beat of his feet against the floor, the feeling of the air on his sweat, the feeling of dancing and being free and feeling on top of the world.

When the playlist ended and his muscles were screaming for him to rest, he collapsed onto the floor, panting for breath. When he felt like he could stand, he moved to check his phone clock and found that he’d spent the whole afternoon dancing. Quickly, he showered and made his way back to his apartment. He was still overheated after dancing for a few hours straight so he just had his hoodie slung over his arm, his gym bag over his other shoulder.

He got back to his apartment to see Logan with a fist raised to knock. Smiling, he moved around him and unlocked it. “Come on in.” He dropped his keys in the little bowl on the entrance way table. “I’ve just gotta put this stuff away but it won’t be long.”

Logan smiled, standing comfortably in the entryway. “Take your time, Storm, I’m not going anywhere.” 

For a brief moment, Virgil wondered what his first name would sound like in Logan’s voice. He didn’t dwell on it, instead he nodded, ducking into his bedroom to store his bag where it belonged. Taking a second to put on some extra deodorant and move his hair around so it looked semi-styled instead of the mess it was before, he took a deep breath. The scare of losing him that afternoon had made Virgil realize that he needed to act fast before he lost Logan for real.

So, he kept the hoodie across his arm as he went back out and picked up the keys again. “Ready to go?”

Logan nodded. “Quite.”

Virgil held the door open for him, locking it on his way out. They started down the path in relative silence, the only noise being the crunching of gravel beneath their feet and the sounds of life coming from nearby buildings. Virgil was hesitant to break the silence despite the feelings and words bubbling below his surface. Logan also seemed comfortable in the lack of conversation. They made it to a bench that was out of the way and sat on it to stargaze for a bit.

Virgil tilted his head back, resting it on the back of the bench. His eyes scanned the sky, resting on different stars and connecting them into constellations. After another while of silence, Logan shivered beside Virgil and the dancer turned his head, looking at the astronomy major. “Are you cold?” His voice broke the silence like a sheet of ice falling from a slope.

Logan shrugged. “A bit. I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

Virgil hummed and threw his hoodie over the other. “No use in you getting cold when this is right here.”

Logan didn’t react beyond tilting his head down just the slightest bit. He hummed, taking a breath before speaking. “Apologies again for having to end our afternoon walk early.”

Virgil waved his hand. “It’s fine. In fact, it actually gave me time to think.”

Logan looked over at him, eyes inquisitive behind his square black frames. “What about?”

Virgil took a deep steadying breath of the night air before he turned to face Logan just a bit more on the bench. “About you, actually. I realized something when you said you had a date with Roman.”

Logan nodded, his gaze sharpening as his attention seemed to hone in on Virgil. “Okay.”

Virgil fiddled with the rips in his jeans, suddenly anxious. “I realized that if I didn’t act now, someone else might be walking by your side in the park, laughing with a coffee in hand. Someone else might have the door you knock on late at night when you can’t sleep, be the person you debate with over the phone into the early hours of the morning.” He took another deep breath, not looking up at the wonderful human sitting in front of him, the one who deserved the world. “I realized that I love you and can’t stand the thought of another person getting to hold your hand and kiss you goodnight.” He turned his head so he was staring out into the night rather than at Logan. “There, I said it. I love you. I love you so much my chest aches.”

Logan hummed in a way that Virgil couldn’t interpret before there was the rustling of fabric and Logan was kneeling before Virgil, one hand hovering near the dancer’s cheek. “I’m glad you told me as it makes what I’m going to say much easier.” Virgil’s eyes widened slightly, fearing the next thing to come past Logan's lips.

“I love you too. Honestly, I think I’ve loved you since the start of the fall semester. The way you helped me study, putting things into ways I can understand and bending over backwards to do so. The care you take with everything you do, the grace in your every move, the fire and passion you put into your dancing, I love all of you.”

Virgil couldn’t believe what he was hearing but his nerves settled when Logan’s soft expression didn't change, didn’t turn to a sneer, he didn’t laugh or mock Virgil. Elated, he leaned forward but paused before he could connect their lips. Logan smiled at the quiet ask for consent and leaned in with him, closing the distance and bringing him into a kiss. His hovering hand settled on Virgil’s cheek as Virgil’s hand came up to cradle the back of Logan’s neck, neither wanting to let go.

When they pulled apart, they were both smiling. Logan pulled the hoodie tighter around his shoulders before standing, offering a hand to Virgil to stand as well. An idea came to him and Virgil put his hand in his pocket, pulling his phone out to play a few ballads. “Dance with me under the stars?”

Logan grinned, sliding his hands to be around Virgil’s neck. “I’d love nothing more.”

So, the two did just that, dancing the hour away under the midnight stars. In the arms of the one they loved, the same person who had been their greatest enemy at the start of the year, neither could ask for a better way to spend their time.

#college au #virgil sanders #logan sanders #analogical #roman sanders #ct emile #emile picani #angst with a happy ending #light angst #broken ankle #ace writes #I've had this ready to go for two months now and couldn't wait to post it

[unprofessional-bard]

Chapter 6 - Late Night Coffee

Losing My Religion Series Masterlist

Unprofessional Bard's Masterlist

Previous Chapter • Next Chapter

Pairing: Joel Miller x Female!Reader/OC

Warnings: The moment you all have been waiting for - smut: a heavy makeout session followed by fingering and vaginal sex... and fluff, of course, Joel being a big fool in love 😚

Summary: "If we do this, there's no going back." // "If we do this, I'm all yours."

Word Count: 4.928

Author's Note: I wanted to name this chapter after an erotic poem I read a few days ago but I came across Late Night Coffee by Michael Faudet so... yeah, I hope y'all like this part 😌 + For those of you who might be wondering about the date, this chapter takes place near the end of December, 2034.

Enjoy!

"Oh no..." Ellie sighed.

What happened after your first kiss with Joel wasn't entirely pleasant.

Walt, drunk, dropped bottle in his hand to the ground, a loud crash attracting all the attention toward him. Joel and you simultaneously turned your heads in his direction. The hurt and shock on his face felt like poison down your throat.

I won't deal with this, you frowned and, with a single motion, grabbed your crutches and walked out of the door.

"What the hell?" Ellie, more confused than ever, gave a look to Joel as if she was saying Go after her! He made sure to give Walt a displeased look before he stormed out after you.

"Dolly?" You heard Joel's footsteps get closer. It was snowing outside and the snowflakes were falling like they were slowed down. You sighed, looked down and stopped walking, letting him catch up to you. "Hey, what's wrong?"

He stood across you, hands gently holding the sides of your arms: "I can't- I don't want to deal with him."

"Don't mind him, let's just go inside hm?" Joel ran his hand slowly up and down to comfort you but it wasn't really working.

"I don't want to," You nodded, still refusing to look him in the eye. "Not after that, no... I just- I don't know what's wrong with him!"

"You wanna go home?" Joel offered. It was then when you finally looked up at him.

"...Yeah, I'd like that," You nodded. Just when Joel was about to go back and let Tommy know, he came out of the diner.

"What's goin' on?" Tommy looked at you worriedly. "Don't worry about Walt, Maria's taking care of him-"

"No, it's fine," You sighed. "I'm too tired anyways."

"You sure you don't wanna come back?" Tommy pointed at the diner over his shoulder with his thumb. "At least finish your drink?"

"I'll finish it at home, but thank you Tommy. I'll see you in the morning." You smiled and he returned it, beckoning Joel back to the diner so he could get your drinks. When he came back, he had two bottles in each hand.

"I don't think you're quite done for the night, Doll." Joel smirked, you grinned and sighed.

To say you were feeling awkward would definitely not be an understatement.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" You shook your head as you started heading towards your house. "I really don't understand why he's acting like this."

"Remember what I told you? The first time we had coffee?"

"That he's jealous?" You looked at him. "Psh, no way-"

"Well, you got a better explanation?" Joel asked, voice deep and calm.

You kept walking, dragging your crutches and cast in inches thick snow while Joel continued: "He's obviously jealous because you're with someone else now."

"...What if he's jealous of you?" You asked and giggled when Joel's composure broke and chuckled. "I'm just sayin'!"

"Don't tell me you're drunk already," Joel smiled.

"No... maybe... a little," You giggled, making him laugh and suddenly, Walt wasn't on your mind. The kiss you shared with Joel - you felt like there was more to come in the following hours.

You made it to your house and took off extra layers of clothing in your room while Joel placed the bottles on your kitchen counter. Your house was much warmer comparing to the weather outside, which made Joel sigh and take his jacket off as you made your way into the kitchen.

"Gonna keep me company, are you?" You teased and Joel nodded. "No, really, you should go back."

"And leave you alone to drink all o' these by yourself? In your dreams, Dolly." Joel smirked and followed you into the saloon through the kitchen. You managed to walk without the crutches at home and you were so glad that the cast was going to come off in two days.

You drank whatever was left of your beer in a long, fast gulp as soon as you sat down on the couch, making Joel chuckle: "Woah there..."

A few drops oozed from the corners of your mouth and rolled down your chin, making you smile. You were really nervous, you needed that, but you were already a little tipsy and relaxed because of it; you extended your legs toward him on the couch and said: "Not gonna lie, Joel, you're a pretty good kisser."

Joel seemed more relaxed as well, for he replied equally flirty: "That so?"

"M-hm," You nodded with a grin. Your heart was beating like crazy, truth be told, but you were also feeling bold.

"You're not so bad yourself," He shifted a little toward you, gently lifting your leg and placing it on the coffee table, while placing your other leg on his lap.

"Not so bad?" You mocked offense and gave him a look.

"I mean, we were interrupted," Joel traced his fingertips on your leg, not looking at you but a small smirk played on his lips. "Maybe if it had lasted a little longer, I could change my mind."

"You want another one?" You flashed your teeth at him, grin widening. Your cheeks felt like they were on fire when he bit his lip.

"I don't think I'm the only one who does," Joel leaned over to the table to take another sip of his drink. "Am I wrong, (Y/N)?"

Your breathing almost came to a stop when he said your name with that voice of his, deep and husky- seductive, even. You looked away and smiled, reaching for your second bottle when you felt his hand brush against your knee.

"You're not wrong, Mr. Miller," You sighed and leaned back. "It's just that, all those ladies out there- Esther, Tammy- they want to be in my place and get a taste. You know it, I know it... but you picked me?"

"I don't think the mistletoe was above them-"

"Fuck the mistletoe," You chortled. "It's not a must, you could've chosen not to kiss me, then give Ellie an earful and ruin the night for everyone - but you didn't."

"What do you want me to tell you?" Joel's voice was just above a whisper.

"I want you to tell me what you want." You leaned forward, looking him in the eyes.

Joel was definitely not expecting that request from you. Completely caught off guard, he took a moment to recollect himself, then leaned in a little closer and finally: "If we do this, there ain't no goin' back, Doll."

Your eyes slowly moved down to his lips, then back at his hazel orbs; looking deep into them, with a serious expression, you whispered: "If we do this, I'm all yours, Joel."

Joel's heart ached with ecstasy and thus he leaned forward, cupped your face in his big hands and latched his lips onto yours once more. Such a passion and lust filled kiss it was, it knocked the breath out of you. Your hands found themselves on his shoulders, pulling him in for more. He carefully lifted your leg up and placed it on the back of the couch and laid you down, settling between your legs and wrapping the said leg around his waist. His tongue found yours in a rush, making you sigh and moan quietly into his mouth. This was not only the first kiss you'd ever recieved from someone in years, but the best kiss you'd ever experienced in your history of kisses.

Your hands found their way to the back of his neck and shoulders, finally getting to touch them how you wanted to. He was radiating so much heat, you decided it was about time he took his shirt off, so you began unbuttoning. He was breathing heavily and his breaths were shallow, offering a small hint of groans.

"Joel," you sighed when his head dipped into the crook of your neck, peppering kisses on your collarbones and sucking light hickeys on your sensitive flesh. He grinded his manhood against your core, getting a soft moan out of you.

"Dolly, Dolly, Dolly..." He whispered like a prayer as he took his time between kisses. Once you were done with the last button, you pushed his shirt off his muscular arms, making him lean back. You opened your eyes to his naked body, which was even better than you could've ever fantasised: His chest was quite hairy, but not too much, it was scattered around his abdomen, but the line of hair which disappeared into his underwear was more than enough to widen your pupils. He threw the shirt onto the coffee table as your hands explored his chest - one going directly down to his navel while the other lingered on his waist and hip.

"I've wanted you for so long..." Joel brushed a strand of hair behind your ear and cupped your cheeks. "Do you want this?"

"Yes, Joel, yes," You pushed yourself up to feel his lips on yours once more. His hands slipped under your sweater and pulled it up and over your head. "I want you so bad-"

Joel didn't even mind where the sweater was thrown off to, what you just said awakened something deep within him and you were interrupted by a hungry kiss. His big hands grabbed your waist as he laid you down once more. You decided to push your luck and bit his lip, making him groan.

He pulled away, pupils dilated to the point that even with the light from the kitchen, you couldn't see his iris: "Wanna play rough, do you doll?"

You couldn't possibly have been more turned on, you thought, even though in the following minutes you were going to be proven awfully wrong.

"You let me know if anything hurts, 'kay?" Joel cupped your cheek once more, making you stare into his eyes as you nodded. He placed a final kiss on your lips and began kissing his way to your breasts. He pushed your bra down and let your breasts out of the cups, groaning at the sight of them. He quickly took a nipple in his mouth, making your face twist up in pleasure.

"Oh, my god- Joel-" You gasped, squirming under his body, running your fingers through his hair.

Giving equal amount of attention to both of your breasts -sucking on one and groping the other- had your panties soaking wet.

"Joel... bedroom," You moaned as he removed your bra.

"Yes ma'am," Joel chuckled, amused but turned on. You absolutely loved the way his bulge rubbed against your pussy - his cock ached with each stroke, he thought he could come just like that. He picked you up carefully and sat you on his lap, then got up and grabbed your thighs for support, biting and kissing your neck as he carried you to your bed. He slowly laid you down and started pulling your pants off as he placed kisses on your belly, moving down dangerously close to your womanhood.

"Can't believe it took us this long," Joel groaned as he threw your pants somewhere in the room.

"I intend to make it up for all that lost time- starting now," You chuckled, out of breath. "Think you can keep up, old man?"

"Old man?" Joel climbed on top of you after removing his own shoes and pants. "You ain't much younger than me."

"Are you fifty or are you fifty?" You giggled as he laid down beside you, hands lingering on the line of your underwear.

"I may be fifty," Joel chuckled, then slowly let his hand slither into your panties and between your folds. "But I'll treat you better than Walt- and anyone younger or older than me."

Your breath hitched when his calloused fingertips brushed against your clit, his confidence and promise of guaranteed satisfaction setting your body on fire. He moved his unoccupied hand under your head and placed his arm under your neck while you just laid there and let him rub you in all the right places. He was laying on the side of your fine leg, so he trapped it between his legs and had you opening yours wider, making you whine.

"Mhmm... You like that, doll?" Joel whispered against your ear and kissed your lips. The only thing you could do was moan as his fingers slipped further down to your entrance. It was too much- oh god it reallt was: His lips on yours, fingers on your clit while getting ready to stretch you for the first time in a long time, body naked and hot against you, him...

The feeling of his finger slipping inside you had you moaning into his mouth, so he took the advantage and his tongue met yours while you took his finger in.

"Ah, Joel," You grabbed his wrist: "So good, yes, keep going..."

After exploring your depths with a single digit for a while, he added a second and stretched you furthermore: "You alright, darlin'?"

"Yeah, yeah," You whispered and whined, eyes closed. The pain slowly turned into ecstatic pleasure as his thumb rubbed against your clit in the meanwhile. He stretched you good, your moans turned into high pitched whines with the sounds of your wetness and before you knew it, you were coming around his fingers.

"That's it, doll, that's it..." Joel groaned against your ear as he fingered you through your orgasm, his erection pressing against your leg, begging for the release and solace it had been waiting for for months.

"You good?" Joel grinned at your sweaty, boneless form after he removed his fingers from inside you.

"You're asking?" You sighed loudly, making him chuckle.

"I mean, if you're too tired-" Joel joked, but you shut him up by grabbing his erection, making him moan mid sentence.

"Who says I'm too tired?" You smirked. "We're not quite done yet... are we, cowboy?"

"Nope, we're not," Joel sighed, slightly surprised at your sudden move. "Turn to the right for me, doll."

You didn't waste a second and did as he asked, turning to your side, making sure to press your ass against his cock as you did, making him groan quietly. He pulled your panties down and ghosted a hand over your globe, giving it a squeeze and planting a kiss behind your ear in the meanwhile. He finally pulled his fully erect cock out of his boxers and teased your folds with the tip.

"Tell me to stop and I'll stop," Joel whispered as he lined himself up by your entrance. You nodded and gave his hand on your hip a reassuring squeeze. Joel slowly pushed in: The deeper he went, the more painful it became so you groaned out a quite Wait. You both groaned at the feeling as you adjusted to his size while he kissed the back of your neck and shoulders. He was quite big, but it turned you on more than it stressed you out.

"Okay," You whispered and let him go deeper. With a groan, Joel lightly snapped the rest of his length inside you, making you hiss.

"Sorry," Joel kissed the crook of your neck apologetically. He caressed the side of your body and continued placing hungry yet passionate kisses on your shoulders along with the back of your neck.

"Alright, let's see what you got..." You chuckled, eyes closed, sweat trickling down your- everywhere, same as him.

He slowly began rocking his hips forward, his cock filling you up and making your jaw drop at how big he was, gasps leaving your lips. You grabbed his hand on your hip and pulled it up to your breast, encouraging him to squeeze it and he gladly obliged. You loved this, you loved the pace and the sticky noises coming from your entrance. As if that weren't enough, Joel technically read your mind and kissed the side of your face with a whisper: "You want me to go faster, sugar?"

"Yes," You moaned and felt him driving his hips into you faster.

"You feel so good- oh Dolly, the things you do to me..." Joel groaned, slipping his other hand under your body and getting a hold of your other breast.

You smiled at his words: "You're the one to talk!"

He suddenly pulled out of you and pushed you down on your back, carefully parted your legs open and put them over his thighs; he leaned down and teased your clit with his tip once more, before burying himself deep inside of you. He covered his body with yours and held onto your shoulders with his arms under your shoulder blades, thrusting into you with the perfect pace and rhythm - it made you moan with each thrust, which seemed to draw him wild.

"Joel-" You whined into his ear, nails digging into his shoulders and back. "Don't stop... oh-"

Joel added more to his pace but his rhythm fell off track the faster he went. His shallow breathing, your hushed moans and skin slapping against skin being the only noises in the room added more to your pleasure and with a final, high pitched moan, you came around his cock.

"Oh Dolly-" Joel growled and pulled out of you, spilling his seed on your inner thighs. He collapsed to your side, breathing heavily.

For a minute or two, you just laid there and tried to catch your breath with him. You never thought you'd be sweating like this in the middle of winter.

"I need to clean myself up," You groaned and sat up on the bed, running a hand through your hair.

"Fill the tub," Joel grinned. "I'll be right there."

"The tub?" You asked him "What are you up to?"

"You'll see," Joel sat up and placed a soft kiss on your shoulder before putting on his boxer and going to the kitchen. You put on your panties and went to the bathroom, then started the water. Your tub was quite big and it took awhile to get it filled, but with him joining, you figured, you didn't need it to be filled completely. The man was almost the size of a small bear and you really didn't want to clean up the water spilling out of the tub as you were quite sleepy.

Around ten minutes later, a familiar scent reached your nose and Joel walked in with two mugs of coffee in hand: "Coffee? Really? It's almost midnight..."

"And we got a lot of 'making up' to do, remember?" Joel smirked, cheeks pink as he put the mugs on the counter.

You both got in and sat on opposite edges with your mugs in hand, simply enjoying each other's company. You silently thought on what to say as Joel admired your glowing face.

"For the longest time, I thought you weren't interested," You smiled. "I thought you and Esther-"

"Nope," Joel chuckled. "No, it was you. Always you... but I thought you still had eyes for Walt."

"Yeah, no... I had them on you. Can't believe it took us this long."

You both shared a laugh and after finishing your coffees, you helped each other clean up and got out, running back under the sheets as the cold began biting the moment you got out of the water.

You turned around in his arms on the bed and let the warmth envelop your body, but only a few moments later, you felt something digging into your rear: "Someone's ready for another round..."

"Ain't you?" Joel challenged once more, wrapping his arms tighter around you and placing kisses around your neck.

One thing you never complained about while living in Jackson was the heat. When it was cold outside, your house was always cozy in the perfect degree - never too hot or too cold, but right now you were overheated, which was why you woke up- woke up, but you couldn't really move, causing last night's images to fill your mind.

Joel was currently, probably unknowingly, spooning you. You were turned to the right and he had his arms around your waist. If you stood like that a little longer, you were going to suffocate.

You tried your best to move away with minimal movement but the moment your waist moved away from his grip, his fingers dug into your hip and pulled you back to him once more.

"Joel," you chuckled sleepily. "It's too hot."

He groaned and reluctantly let go of you, letting you roll around the bed and face him, lying on your belly and wrapped around the sheet. He looked so peaceful and relaxed, it made your heart explode.

"Good morning," you smiled, voice deep and eyelids low.

"Mornin' doll." Joel replied, eyes closed.

"Thank god it's our day off, huh?"

"Yeah..." he sighed contentedly. You smiled and moved to give him a kiss, but stopped abruptly. Did you really have Joel Miller lying naked on your bed right now or was this a dream? A trick?

"Are you gonna just stare at me or am I gonna get a kiss?"

Your heart almost melted away at the small smile formed on his lips and moved forward to give him a deep kiss.

"Woah Dolly," Joel sighed once you pulled away, finally opening his eyes. "You really want a repeat of last night now?"

"You say it as if it's such a bad thing," you said jokingly, then let him pull your body on top of his. "Looks like I'm not the only one who wants it."

Joel smirked and slid his hand lower to squeeze your rear, making you sigh in delight. In the meanwhile his other hand trailed up your spine to the back of your neck and settled in your hair. You leaned forward for another kiss and his tongue wasn't by any means slow to find your own, making you moan quietly. Just as you started rocking against his half erect cock, however, there was a knock on your door.

"Ah, what the hell?" You whined as Joel growled.

"Let me answer," Joel gently pushed you off him. "We won't be bothered then."

"You don't even know who it is!" You whisper yelled as he grabbed his pants from the ground and put it on. "What if it's Ellie or-"

"(Y/N), you awake?"

Walt.

Joel and your eyes locked for a solid second before he smirked and you hissed: "Joel, no-"

He chuckled and made his way into the room where his shirt was. You were hot on his heels, wrapping the blanket around yourself and stumbling into the room. Joel tossed you his shirt: "Wear this."

You were excited and anxious at the same time. Mostly, you really wanted to see Walt's reaction, but after this, there was no turning back.

"(Y/N)?" Walt knocked harsher as Joel made his way to the door, you stood back and leaned on a wall away from sight. You watched as the door opened and Joel, with his (half) naked glory, greeted a frozen Walt.

"It's not polite to wake a lady up on her day off like you do," Joel spoke. You could practically hear his smirk even though his back was turned to you.

"It's eleven thirty- What the hell are you doing here?" Walt asked in disbelief, his expression was priceless.

Her, Joel thought, biting his lip to stop himself from saying it out loud: "I might ask you the same thing."

"I, uh- well I thought, I mean figured- I just wanted to talk to her?"

"Well, I'll be out of your way then," Joel replied nonchalantly. "Dolly, there's someone who wants to see you darlin'."

"Darling?" Walt repeated his words in disappointment as you slowly walked over to where they were.

"Yes?" You looked innocently at Joel, who's breath silently hitched at how his shirt had fitted you - it ended mid-thigh and although he'd seen you naked just a moment ago, this sight really did things to him. "Oh, hey Walt."

"Hey, I uh..." Walt tried to speak but he was absolutely dumbfounded at the scene in front of him.

"Can we talk later if it isn't utterly important? I have some unfinished business that requires my immediate attention, so..."

"Uh no, I mean sure, yeah let's talk later." Walt spoke, voice quiet.

"Alright, see ya!" You faked a smile and waved before Joel shut the door.

"My god," you burst into laughter once the door was closed, Joel laughing heartily with you. "Joel Miller you're such an..."

"What?" He smirked as his arms found their way around your waist once more, his face inches away from yours. "I know a couple of words starting with a vowel... handsome and gentleman ain't it."

You playfully swatted his chest at the comment and giggled. It was then, you noticed, you looked like those old cartoons with heart eyes.

Oh shit, you mused, I think I'm in love with him.

"You wanna uh..." Joel smirked at you. "You wanna take this to the bedroom or...?"

"Eh, Walt kind of ruined the view." You smiled. "Let's have breakfast, it's almost noon." You winked and gave him a soft kiss before parting from him.

You pulled out a pan, smiling like a fool in love, and went to grab a few eggs, only to find out Joel had already gotten them.

"You're not doing this on your own, you know." Joel smiled and you both began cooking.

The way you worked together was as well as out on patrol. You two had different disciplines with different backgrounds, but you fit so well together - like puzzle pieces.

"These were called 'brunches', right?" Joel asked ironically as he nibbled on a piece of toast.

"Right," you smiled, then giggled at the memory from a few minutes ago.

"What's got you laughin'?" Joel smiled.

"Never in my life I thought Joel Miller would open the god damn door half naked on a cold, snowy ass December morning just to prove a point."

And points were proven of course: Things escalated quickly after that, a few of your neighbour's seeing Joel leave your house and the both of yours' improved moods made the thing between you two quite obvious. Tommy teased the most, especially Joel and Ellie was constantly in your hair about the situation.

The complicated part was Walt. You had learned the truth about his actions in a very brutal way.

It was only a few hours after you and Joel's night together when you reluctantly went to find Walt. He was already back from patrol and at the diner, his old but new patrol partner Bruce informed you. You went to the diner and saw him drinking with Cedric at the bar. You debated on whether you should go now or not, but since you were already here, you might as well get over with it. He was the one who wanted to talk, after all.

"If it isn't queen bee herself," Cedric noticed you approaching, offering you his seat so that you didn't have to stand with your crutches.

"Hey there Ced, Walt," You pushed Cedric down on his seat. "I won't take up your time, Walt and I have to talk."

You both went out and walked into an alley-like gap between two buildings. You weren't exactly pleased to deal with him at that moment as he appeared to be a little drunk: "Alright, what do you want to talk about? Spit it out."

"Woah there, you ain't gonna even ask me how I'm doing? I know you had a fun night." Walt spoke.

"I don't have time for your silliness right now," You got impatient. "And don't expect me to, after the shit you pulled off last night."

"Hey, it was an accident!" Walt spoke. "Maria gave me an earful because of it and I wanted to apologise but you never came back... Should'a known why."

"What do you want from me?!" You spread your arms and frowned at him.

"I love you (Y/N)!"

Your angry expression shared its place with a confused one: "What?"

"It's you, (Y/N), it was always you," Walt's voice wavered. "I never understood why I didn't like Joel but deep down I knew I was jealous of him because he had all of your attention then..."

You listened in horror to the things he said, processing them bit by bit: "I didn't want to take things further with Bonnie, but I had hoped you'd be jealous of us so I did. I thought I loved her but- I was a fool. I pushed you away further and lost you completely."

If it were possible, you'd have steam coming out of your nose. You were angry, upset, lost, heartbroken and mostly disappointed - all in the same time. After your night with Joel, you told him you'd be all his and you were true to your words. You didn't feel any sort of romantic interest towards Walt anymore, the butterflies in your stomach were no longer flying in frenzy because of him.

"Yes, you did," You spoke. "Don't you ever- ever come up to me with this shit again."

"But (Y/N)-"

"I had feelings for you," You lightly shook your head sideways. "But that was a long time ago. I don't- I have nothing for you left. If you try and intervene with my relationship- if you even try something with Joel?"

Walt took a step back, you could tell he was scared of you at that moment: "I'll make sure you regret 'loving' me in the first place."

#joel miller #joel x reader #joel smut #joel miller smut #joel miller x reader #joel miller imagine #tlou x reader #the last of us #tlou fanfic #the last of us fanfiction #the last of us x reader

[liahswriting]

Lovesick Six and a Murderous Robot Boyfriend

Relationship(s): Revenant/original female character, Wraith/original female character, Mirage/original female character, Bloodhound/original female character, Octane/original female character, Crypto/original female character, Loba/original female character

Words: 8,411

Warnings: None

Summary: The new girl is very pretty and she's got most of the men (and some of the women) pining for her. Problem is, she's got her eyes set on a certain simulacrum.

Pretty girls can fight. Pretty girls can be tough. Pretty girls can be scary and threatening. Just because Gia was pretty didn't mean she didn't belong in the Games. I mean, Loba was almost perfect in every physical way and yet she knew her way around a pistol. Che had a cute face and yet her teams almost always were Champion. And of course Elliott was downright the most handsome man in the Games and yet he could wipe a team if need be. Being attractive didn't mean you were weak. In fact, Gia being attractive gave her an advantage to the game. After all, how could a pretty girl like her be any trouble? You think you're safe because look how cute she is, what is she gonna do to you? And then all of a sudden you're eating dirt because she shoved a wingman up your ass and annihilated you.

Gia's origins are unknown to the rest of the Legends. She showed up one day unexpectedly and won Champion that same afternoon. Her kit and abilities brought a whole new playstyle to the Games: a playstyle that both terrified and intrigued the others. Her enhanced vision gave her every input she needed to weaken your team's defenses. She knew exactly whose health was hanging on by a thread, giving her the ultimate advantage to breaking your team apart and dwindling your numbers until you were way beyond outmatched. The Legends assumed she had some sort of black market enhancement done to her eyes given the fact that they were far from being normal. How she managed to slip through the Apex recruitment with her fiercely white irises was beyond everyone. I mean, come on! The girl's eyes were as white as snow all around! The only color to them was a very faint, needle-thin black line separating her sclera from her iris. Everything else was pure white. Even her pupil. Crypto was already walking on thin ice with his illegal body enhancements. The only reason no one actually paid much attention to it was simply because his modifications didn't directly impact his abilities in the arena. But Gia was a whole other story.

Typically, the Legends expect Silva to dive head first into a fire fight with his stim. Or perhaps they'll see Crypto's drone following them around. And on occasion a team will back out of a fight to heal up and end up running into another team holding a choke point with Wattson's electric fences. All of this was expected. And then Gia came along and now every Legend that wasn't on her team was afraid of her tactical EMP that disabled all enemy primary weapons. You could pin her team down and you think you're gonna win, and then all of a sudden your Devotion stops all functionality and now you have to rely on your Alternator with 20 shots left in the chamber.

As if that wasn't enough of a fright, instead of Makoa's air strike landing on your head or Bloodhound storming up behind you faster than humanly possible, Gia's big trick messed with your mind and your vision. In the blink of an eye, you are no longer able to discern who is teammate and who is enemy. And it's not as simple to just say "Wraith is not on my team. I need to shoot her" because the enemy Wraith you're staring down through a 4x-8x will suddenly appear as your friendly Pathfinder and your friendly Pathfinder will suddenly appear as the enemy Wraith. It was more likely to die via friendly fire than enemy fire when Gia's ultimate activated.

The only reprieve the other Legends got was finding out that she was insanely friendly. Thank god too because no one needed another Dr. Nox or another Revenant on their team. Gia was friendly with everyone she interacted with. Despite her scary demeanor, she got along rather excellently with the other Legends. And that's when most of the trouble started.

It all started off as friendly taunts. Elliott took the first step and made a move on her immediately. After all, she's beautiful, he's beautiful, it only made sense for the two of them to date. They could be the ultimate power couple. Their two beautiful faces displayed up high on the Champion banners. It was a dream. But she politely shut him down. Still, he tried again. And she laughed and played along. "My my, Mr. Witt. Aren't you the massive charmer!" This caught the attention of the daredevil himself and he attempted to get under Elliott's skin by literally sliding by them in the arena and dropping the biggest pickup line she's ever heard. "Aye, amiga. Thanks for brightening up the place with your beautiful face." and then he put a couple bullets in Witt's stomach. Silva's team went down immediately for that stunt and Elliott was able to be picked back up, but his idea worked. Elliott was obviously mad at the green-haired adrenaline junkie after the game for trying to steal "his girl" but it was all in good fun when she turned him down too. Bloodhound soon was seen at her side more often than not. He found her skills fascinating and her air of mystery perfectly matched his own. They had sort of an unspoken bond between them, connected solely on the fact that both of their lives were an enigma. Everyone asked her about herself but she never opened up. When it was just her and Bloodhound, neither one even dared to ask the other about their past. It was comforting being able to sit with someone and not have to worry about prying curiosities. Bloodhound attempted to flirt; there was lots of hand touches and close sitting. Yet she turned him down too.

After that it became an unofficial competition between the three of them to see who could win her over, which lead to a lot of showing off and friendly banter. Elliott would throw pickup line after pickup line at her. Silva did crazy stunts to impress her. Bloodhound brought her tea every morning. And yet nothing ever came of it. Gia would play along every now and again but at the end of the day she made it clear she was just playing. Still didn't stop the men from trying.

And then Loba joined the crowd. And boy oh boy was that a surprise. The chick was into chicks! "Did you clowns ever stop and think that maybe you don't have the right parts she's looking for?" Loba taunted them. But she was right, of course. None of the men asked Gia if she was even straight. But it was still all laughs and good times regardless if she ever found an interest in them. Loba had other ideas in mind. She was thoroughly convinced that Gia was full on gay, looking to get it on with another girl. And Loba believed she was just the girl to get her rocks off. Loba was much more blunt than the men ever were in their affection. That night while all the Legends were winding down with some drinks and enjoying the royalties they made from the recent Game, Loba approached Gia and asked her if she would like to join the seductive thief in a private area away from the loud crowd. When she agreed, the three men that had been pining for her started to believe Loba was right all along. Loba and Gia were gonna do it! Loba was gonna fuck the new girl before they were! As much as Elliott enjoyed the thoughts that put into his mind (and trust me, he enjoyed them a lot), he was upset that all of his attempts had been for naught.

Loba and Gia had disappeared for hours and the three men all huddle together in somber at their ultimate defeat. Elliott poured several rounds of drinks for them in solidarity and they cheered a farewell to their playful challenge. It was Gia 's friendly "What's wrong, boys?" that gathered their attention mid-mope. Silva was just about to tell her of their shallow depression when he spotted Loba stiffly walking up to the bar for another drink with a pout on her face. The thief looked just as pristine as when she and Gia disappeared. Not a single wrinkle in her clothes nor a thread of hair out of place in its braids. So she was wrong!

"Nada, bonita. We're all good here!" he happily told her and shot back what was left of his current drink. "Right, guys?" he nudged them with a big 'ole grin on his face. Neither of them picked up on his hints but they agreed with him anyway. She didn't buy it for one second and got another round for them to put a smile on their faces. A single, friendly peck to each of their cheeks is what really solidified their grins and she walked off, happy to have made them smile. When Loba approached them after Gia walked away, Silva was quick to ask the slumping woman what went on behind closed doors.

"I was wrong." she admitted pitifully. "She turned me down too."

"So the competition is back on?" Elliott questioned and all four of them agreed. And thus their antics continued: Elliott flirted, Silva showed off, Bloodhound gifted things, and Loba seduced. None of it worked in the slightest. But Gia would laugh it off and let her touches linger just that fraction of a second longer that made them all question their sanity. If they were teamed up with her, they'd give her the items she requested. If she was hungry, they got her food. If she was feeling unwell, they took care of her until she was better.

"Like lost puppies." Anita commented to the four of them as she watched them all practically drool at the sight of Gia on the complete opposite end of the room. She seemed unaware of their presence but they knew she knew they were there. She sat with Makoa and Pathfinder, all three of them happily chatting with each other without a care in the world. Makoa's big belly laughs rang in everyone's ears.

"She's totally into me, I can tell." Elliott stated matter-of-factly.

"As if." Loba retorted.

"Did'cha ever think that maybe she got someone already?" Che asked with a smirk. "Some of us got loved ones back home."

"I doubt it, amiga. She would've told us if she did." said Silva.

"Maybe she didn't want to tell you. Seems like she doesn't tell anyone anything about herself. For all you know, she could have a husband, or wife, and several kids back on her home planet." Anita commented. The latter part of her sentence fell on deaf ears as the four love-sick Legends stared in Gia's direction when she laughed at something either Pathfinder or Makoa said. Her laugh was like music to their ears. Anita rolled her eyes towards Che and the other simply shook her head.

"Look at her! She's absolutely gor-gor-gorg... pretty! We're totally comp-compat... made for each other!"

"If we're going off looks alone, surely there are better suitors than you." Loba told Elliott with a smirk.

"Hey now, that's quite rude!"

"Gia is a strong fighter. Our skills are equally matched. Perhaps she's not looking for a superficial partner at all."

"All of you are a hack." Crypto's voice surprised everyone. He stood just off to the side, watching them with a bored expression on his face. Hands in his pockets, as is his usual stance, he eyed all four of them down.

"Come on! Don't try and tell us you don't think she's muy caliente."

"She is very beautiful," Crypto agreed. "and you are very desperate."

"So you are not in any way attracted to her." Loba stated rather than asked. She leaned forward, chin on her knuckles, and pressed him.

"I never said that."

"So you think about her."

"I never said that either."

"Say what you want, but until she tells me to back off I'm not going anywhere."

"And neither am I!" Elliott responded rather quickly -and defensively.

"That makes three of us." said Silva.

"Four."

"Fine. Make it five."

"I can't believe this." Che grumbled.

Gia found Crypto unexpectedly by her side more and more. He was rather reserved and his attempts at flirting were down right embarrassing. She tried not to show pity for him. The poor guy probably hadn't ever touched a boob before. She assumed him like Elliot, Silva, Bloodhound, and Loba and went along with whatever he said. She never asked much from Crypto and he was thankful for that. He had no idea how to woo her. He knew absolutely nothing about her, but who was he to ask her about her past if he wasn't willing to exchange an equal value? She was pretty and she was talented, so he tried to play to those strengths. He complimented her when she dolled up and he praised her when her team won Champion. Very rarely was he ever paired up with her so he often admired her through his scopes. He assumed to himself that he could impress her if he won Champion, so he tried his best to wipe the floor with any enemy teams he came across. More often than not, her team would demolish his so he would side step her if he spotted her. However, whenever Caustic or Revenant were on his team, there was no room for niceties and they went in with guns blazing whether he liked it or not. Caustic would throw his gas traps at them, or Revenant would silence them, and then suddenly both teams were at war with each other.

Just last week, Revenant went charging in at Gia, Bloodhound, and Wattson. He silenced their abilities, giving Revenant an easy target on the blonde girl before she could even defend their position with her electric fences. Wattson went down like a sack of bricks. And then Wraith went charging in on Bloodhound. She managed to break the hunter's shields before Gia came to her teammate's rescue and knocked the voidwalker to the ground with a few well-placed 301 shots. Crypto attempted to help his team by going in with his drone and EMP-ing the two enemies still standing. With their abilities still silenced, Gia was unable to fight back at the same caliber and Revenant took his EVA and pulled the trigger three times in Gia's chest. She collapsed to the ground with her knockdown shield aimed directly at the robot.

"Nothing personal, girlie." he chuckled as he tried to show off and finish her. He got interrupted when Bloodhound came around the corner and shot his hopped-up Wingman into the simulacrum's skull. Revenant went down as well. That left Crypto versus Bloodhound. Crypto was still fully shielded as opposed to Bloodhound. However, Crypto was armed with a 45 while his opponent had a Wingman with a skull-piercer on it. Even if Crypto landed all of his shots, it would only take three from the hunter to fully knock him. And he did indeed get knocked. His gold knockdown shield was the only thing that kept his team from being spawned out of the arena and back onto the dropship. Bloodhound knows Crypto's entire team was down so he was not at all worried about being shot in the back as he picked up both Gia and Wattson. Gia didn't waste any time healing and instead finished off Revenant with a big fucking smile on her beautiful lips.

"It's not personal, Rev." she echoed back at him and followed it up with a knee thrusted into the simulacrum's throat and then a low roundhouse kick to the side of his skull. Revenant disappeared, his banner taking his place. Meanwhile, Bloodhound turned to Crypto and attempted to finish him off as well. The last thing Crypto saw was the hunter's battle axe being thrown at his head. And then he and Wraith were standing next to Revenant on the dropship while the on-ship medics came to tend to their wounds. Crypto ignored them, instead turning all of his focus towards the displays following the remaining teams in the arena. One monitor focused on the general rotation of the arena. Another showcased the team that killed his. Crypto's eyes followed Gia's face on the display. She was quick to heal up and then lead her team towards the ring.

The rest of the game was long-lived. Many teams put up a good fight with each other. Ultimately, the best team had to win and that team was of Lifeline, Octane, and Gibralter. Gia's team came second. As skilled as she was, going against Lifeline was a difficult feat. Especially when Gibralter's shield dome gave the team ample cover for a quick pick-up. Not to mention the fact that Silva was nearly resistant to pain and was able to recover without the use of meds once he was picked up. A good heal will almost always out fight heavy damage. Once all the teams made it back onto the ship, Crypto approached Gia. "Good fight." he simply said. She smiled at him and returned the sentiment with a peck to his cheek. Crypto felt his face grow hot and he heard a snicker beside him. He found Loba, Bloodhound, Silva, and Elliott watching him with dopey smiles. Loba crossed her arms and eyed him in a way that meant she told him so. He ignored them in favor of getting patched up the rest of the way by the ship medics.

"You may have won this time, little girl, but I'd watch my back if I were you." Revenant threatened Gia at the other end of the ship. He bent down to her level and stared right into her eyes. But she didn't shy away from the simulacrum's threatening advances.

"The only thing I'll be watching is a replay of me finishing you." she shot at him. He simply returned her remark with a deep, throaty sound and then he stalked off.

That night, Elliott threw a small after-party at his place. There were drinks aplenty, more food to go around than anyone could think of, and of course the Champion squad. All complete with Silva begging to do some party tricks and doing them anyway regardless of how Elliott responded. Not as if Elliott would say no to his friend anyway. Everyone came out to the party. Even Dr. Nox and Revenant who hardly ever show their faces when not in the arena. Still, they kept to themselves and only participated when coaxed. Well, at least Dr. Nox did. Revenant just stalked everyone as per usual.

Gia tried to make rounds with everyone but it was becoming difficult with five of the Legends begging for her attention. Silva wanted her to watch him light himself on fire. Which he did and she watched on like she promised. "One of these days you're gonna get yourself killed, love." she said to him as she patted down the last of the flames burning away at his shorts.

"As if Death could catch me, chica bonita."

"Promise me you'll live to see tomorrow so we can get lunch."

"Absolutamente!" he grinned from ear to ear and then she walked off to sit and talk with Anita and Che. "She wants me." he said to Elliot. The latter simply rolled his eyes.

"She only said that because she doesn't want to watch you kill yourself tonight."

"She so wants me."

Gia chatted with the two women. Gia congratulated Che on her win today and the medic praised her back with a statement of her skill. "A couple close calls." the woman had said and Gia nodded in agreement.

"A toast to our Champion!" Anita held her glass in the air and the other two women clinked theirs together and took a large gulp of their drinks.

"Let's hang out this week. Go do something fun. My treat, of course as a present for our lovely Champion here." Gia offered the two women.

"I'm in the mood for a nice massage!" chirped said Champion. "It hurts having to carry 'round these children all the time." This made the other two laugh heartedly.

"I swear, some of these kids want to get hurt." commented Anita.

"Sounds an awful lot like those five over there." Gia pointed to the group huddled together and watching her.

"They just tryna impress ya. Problem is they don't know when to quit it."

"I think it's cute."

"Do ya like any of them?" Che asked and Gia sat back and thought about it for a second.

"They're certainly cute. And it's funny watching them flirt. But it's all just fun and games."

"You seeing anybody? They won't stop unless you tell them you're taken." said Anita matter-of-factly. She took another gulp of her drink.

"They don't need to stop. It's nothing serious. No one's getting hurt and I've already told them no so it's not like I'm leading them on. Let them dream a little."

"As long as ya okay with it."

"I am." she responded. "I'm also hungry. Be right back." she told the women and got up to grab some food that was piled up on a table. There was so much food here but she wouldn't be surprised if it all got eaten anyway. There were some hungry Legends here and -she's not going to name names- some of them can absolutely pack it away. Silva didn't count, however, because his metabolism was way faster than normal so it's never a surprise to see the green-haired junkie go up for fourths or even fifths. Gia grabbed a plate and filled it with foods that appealed to her. Nothing fancy but just interesting enough to get doubles of. As she was making her way back to Che and Anita, she spotted Wraith sitting alone and moping. Gia detoured over there and took a seat opposite of the woman.

"You doing okay?" she asked, making Wraith look up at her and force a smile.

"Yeah, I'm good."

"You sure? I didn't hit you too hard out there today, did I?" Gia attempted to lighten to mood. It worked to a degree; Wraith cracked a more genuine smile and gave a short chuckle.

"You got some good shots on me but that was pure luck." she said. "Good game today, by the way."

"You too. Do you wanna talk about what's bothering you? I'm all ears."

"Thanks but I'll be fine. It's nothing serious."

"Come find me if you ever need a shoulder." Gia offered the woman and was gifted a nod with a bigger smile in response. Gia placed a gentle hand against Wraith's cheek. "Smile for me some more. You've got a beautiful smile." she said and then got up and walked away.

"You don't think Wraith's into Gia too, do you?" Elliott asked the group as they all watched the exchange happen between said women. His eyes followed Gia for a moment as she walked away and then focused on the other. Even though Wraith looked away from the room, he could see her blushing furiously. And she tentatively placed a hand against the same cheek Gia did. Oh, she definitely had it bad for her.

"I wouldn't be surprised. I've caught her staring at my ass on more than one occasion." Loba snorted.

"Gia and Wraith aren't seeing each other already, are they?" Crypto asked everyone as if they had any more answers on her love life than he did. As predicted, everyone else shrugged or didn't answer at all. Elliott went back to watching Wraith's behavior. Everything that just happened in the last 10 seconds told him that Wraith hadn't expected Gia to show her that type of affection. If she's blushing that bad from a single touch, then that means Wraith is crushing real hard. She didn't act like that was a normal occurrence between the two of them. As if she could read Elliot's mind, Wraith turned her attention to the group of five that had been watching her. Elliott waved his hand over to her, silently telling her to join them. Wraith did a double take, making sure he was in fact motioning to her and when she realized he was, she made her way over to them.

"Aye, you into Gia?" Silva got right to the point and put Wraith on the spot. She sputtered.

"What? No. What makes you think that?"

"You do not have to lie." Bloodhound calmed her. "She is the reason we're all here." he motioned to the group.

"She's just a friend!" Wraith was quick to defend. "I mean she's pretty and all but nothing would ever be between us."

"So you admit you're into her." Loba accused and Wraith went silent. She blushed again.

"I mean, she's nice. And pretty. And she smells good. But so what."

"Listen, no one's poking fun at you. We all like her." Elliott came to her rescue.

"Yeah and we've got a competition going to see who she likes more!" said Silva.

"Why?"

"Because it's fun! And because we can hit on her without pressuring her to return the favor."

"So she knows you've all placed bets on her?" Wraith assumed questionably making the others stiffen and look to each other.

"Well." Crypto started. "She doesn't know about the competition but she knows we all are attracted to her."

"Isn't that kind of, I don't know, scummy?"

"We're not placing actual bets on her." Loba defended.

"Yeah it's just all bragging rights at the end of the day if one of us wins her over." said Elliott casually.

"Aye, you can get in on this if you want, chica, but we're all just having fun."

Wraith hesitated for a moment to think it over. This was scummy, right? Holding Gia as a prize? Surely she wouldn't appreciate it. But then Wraith looked over to Gia sitting with Che and Anita and noticed how beautiful she looked when she had her hair down. Wraith quickly touched her cheek again.

"What are the rules to this... competition?"

"None really. Try to woo her and, if you do, congrats. You won." said Elliot.

"So, are you in or are you out?" Crypto questioned.

"I'm in."

To say Gia was leading the pack was a bit of an understatement. Everywhere she went, her little lovesick posse was not too far behind. And it seemed to be growing by the day. Given that there were now six of them, it was more likely she was paired up with at least one of them during the Games. And when they were paired up together, it was very obvious they were trying to impress her. If she was ever downed, Wraith would stop whatever she's doing to portal her to safety even if she herself wasn't in a safe position. If she was out of ammo, Elliott dropped several stacks of whatever she needed even if he needed it himself. If she gave an order, Silva would absolutely follow it even if he had already jump padded a mile away. If she wanted the Peacekeeper, Loba would steal it for her. If Crypto found a high-level shield, he'd let her have it. If the team got split, Bloodhound would always follow her in case she ran into another team. And if their third got pinned, well Bloodhound wasn't leaving Gia's side.

Everyone else was starting to notice it more and more and they'd approach her about it. "It doesn't bother me." she'd say. And maybe it truly doesn't. Maybe she likes the constant attention she gets from the lovesick six. It certainly didn't hinder her performance in the arena. However it was becoming a bit annoying not being able to spend much time with anyone else without the group being a hare's breath away. But still she played along, laughed at their jokes, swooned over their flirtatious remarks, cheered them on as they showed off.

The Games continued nonetheless and even more Legends showed up; first there was weapons-expert Ramya Parekh, and then there was scientist Mary Somers, and with Dr. Somers came a new arena. Both of whom were very quick to pick up on the weird dynamic between Gia and six of the other Legends. "They're quite infatuated with you, darling." Dr. Somers had commented on day one of her being there. "Eh, they're all a bit weird." Ramya said nonchalantly.

Also Revenant and Elliott got to take over the games for awhile -again. Everyone hated when Revenant got control of the Games and this time around he's decided to switch it up a little bit. Elliott, on the other hand, took the opportunity to impress Gia. "Look at me! I'm so good they wanted to bring me back! The fans love me!" he said. His pride was short lived because the Apex hosts gave the fans quite the show when new events dropped and Elliott, Silva, Wraith, Bloodhound, and Loba all got makeovers -among other Legends, Gia included. All of them took their new looks on stage in an attempt to make Gia swoon. And as good as they all looked, Gia barely had the time of day to compliment them because Apex was whisking her away left and right to show off her new look. The fans loved her and demanded her attention. There was even a huge party for all of the Legends and multiple press corporations to advertise the new events. It was all just so overwhelming. Gia hated being center stage and the constant swarms of people drained her energy rather quickly. Her only reprieve was when one of her six admirers took all of the attention away from her as they did some sort of stunt to make her smile. It was mostly Silva donning his Octane ego that got the press's attention because who doesn't love to watch a daredevil jump out of the window? Nevertheless, she appreciated the breath of fresh air when the cameras weren't on her. She took the opportunity to hide away near the buffet table.

"Ya doing alright?" Che had asked from beside her, grabbing food for herself.

"I'm fine. Just need a break from all of this."

"Still not used to being a fan favorite, are ya?"

"I'm surprised I'm a favorite at all, to be honest. I know a lot of people like to go for the shiny, new toy but I'm no longer shiny or new. Ramya and Dr. Somers should be getting all of the attention."

"Are ya kidding me? Ya one of the best there is! Ya win more games than ya lose. Of course ya a favorite!" Che attempted to cheer her up.

"You win a lot of games too, but it seems like everyone wants to surround me."

"Well, I have been here longer than ya have. Give it time and they'll move on. They like ya because ya don't tell them anything. It keeps them interested."

"I'm sure you're right. But for now I just need a breather. I'll catch you later, Che." Gia bid farewell and walked off into the shadows, away from prying eyes and camera flashes. The combat medic made her way back to the center of the press where Elliott and Silva were waiting to talk to her with concerned looks in their eyes.

"Is Gia alright?" Elliott questioned her, making a move to go follow the object of his desires. Che put a hand against his chest to stop him.

"She don't wanna be bothered right now. She wants to be alone. So leave her alone."

"Is she hurt or something?" Silva asked worriedly.

"Nah, she just needs some fresh air. But she made it very clear she didn't want anyone to accompany her. So make sure ya tell the others to leave her be tonight."

"Can you at least tell us where's she's going in case she need someone."

"If she wants ya, she'll let ya know." was Che's response and then she walked away, hoping those idiots wouldn't bother Gia. She had to give the dopey idiots some credit though because all six of them never left the party. Despite their infatuation with the white-eyed Legend, they respected her privacy and gave her space when she asked for it. The press took notice of Gia's absence and tried to dig into everyone else for her whereabouts but no one relented and the press was forced to focus on the remaining Legends at the party.

Once the whole shebang was over and the press had made their leave, the six were becoming slightly worried at Gia's continued AWOL. She hadn't talked to anyone since she told Che she was leaving. No messages or calls. Nothing. Surely she was fine, though. Gia could absolutely hold her own if god forbid something were to happen, so the Legends weren't worried about finding her all beaten up on the Docks. But they were worried that something was still wrong and didn't feel comfortable letting her be alone for this long. It's been hours since anyone has seen her.

"I'm gonna go look for her." Elliott finally said. He was obviously agitated in his boots. The others weren't looking so hot either and they all agreed to split up and look for her. Problem was, there were far too many places she could possibly be and she hadn't answered anyone's messages so there wasn't even a general location they could pinpoint her at. They all checked her place in the compound housing the Legends, they checked all over Olympus, they checked Malta. They checked everywhere they could think of, but there was no sign of her and now they were well into the wee hours of the morning. Everyone was seriously starting to worry.

There was one final place Elliott could think of where she might possibly be, so he ran there as fast as he could to check. If she wasn't there, then he was starting to think he'd need to put a missing person's report on her. Surely Apex would find her quickly; they can't let one of their best fighters disappear. Especially not after a night of reporters fawning over her. Elliott charged towards the dropship housed at the very edge of Olympus. Getting through the security was rather easy, simply because the security had been disabled which was a relatively good sign in Elliott's eyes. She had to be here. None of the Apex crew were working at this time, as far as he was concerned. He let himself aboard the aircraft and he nearly collapsed onto the floor when he did.

Holy fucking shit, Gia was here. And she was with Revenant. And she was very clearly naked! Both of them were asleep -or, well, she was asleep and he was shut down, Elliott guessed. Did the robot sleep at all? They were laying all cuddled up to each other on one of the many plush seating areas with a blanket wrapped loosely around them. Gia's entire upper half was exposed to the warm air of the ship, but her dignity was covered just enough by the fact that she had her chest pressed up against Revenant's. The simulacrum kept a metal arm laying over her as they both slept, almost as if he was protecting her. She stirred lightly in her sleep and he responded by pulling her closer. Yet neither one of them woke up.

Elliott wasn't sure if he could scream, cry, runaway, or do all three. He wasn't gonna lie, his heart broke knowing that she would choose a robot over him. Even if his flirts were nothing more than a game, the fact that he was beat by a fucking robot of all things stung. Why didn't she say anything? Probably because no one would have believed her. I mean, Revenant of all people? That thing hated everyone and everything. And he's been known to threaten her on occasion. Was it all part of a rouse to keep people from guessing? Did the simulacrum have some sort of reputation to uphold? Or was this some sort of spontaneous thing? Either way, Elliott had a hard time picking his jaw up off the floor.

He managed to sneak out of the ship without waking either one of them and he exited the hangar. What was he supposed to tell the others? He didn't even know how to comprehend it himself! But he had to say something. Everyone else was still out looking for her. He managed to message everyone else but his words were short. "I found her. She's alright. Everyone stop worrying." he told them. Any responses he got back from them were ignored as he tried to calm his racing mind while he made his way back to his place.

This has been one hell of a night.

Elliott called an emergency meeting with the others the next afternoon once everyone was able to catch some well-needed sleep. Both Gia and Revenant had reappeared some time in the early morning, though no one was able to catch them together. Her usual chipper mood didn't do anything to quell Elliot's confused thoughts and he had half a mind to just probe her for answers to the questions he wasn't sure he wanted to even ask. What was he supposed to ask her? "How long have you been fucking Revenant? Were you ever gonna tell us or were you trying to toy with us? Does he even have a dick?" He wasn't hurt by the fact that she was seeing someone. Elliott knew she wasn't interested in any of the six of them. She made it very clear her no actually meant no. But Revenant?!

"What's so important you needed to gather all of us?" Crypto had asked. Elliott was tongue-tied. He just had to rip it off like a band-aid, right? That's what they all say, right?

"We need to call the competition off. Leave Gia alone." he managed to say.

"What? Why?" Wraith questioned with genuine confusion.

"She's seeing someone."

"How do you know?" Silva asked.

"I found them together last night."

"Are you sure?" Bloodhound asked and Elliott nodded.

"Very sure."

"Who is it? Another Legend?" Loba wondered. All eyes were on Elliott, waiting for him to spill the beans. Who could've possibly stolen Gia's heart? No one ever saw anyone else fawning over her and no one ever saw her eyes lingering for too long on a certain someone. She treated everyone the same. Perhaps it wasn't another Legend. Did she have a lover that came to surprise her at the party? Did a husband or wife come to cheer her on in the new events?

"It's... It's Revenant, okay!" he spat out and quite literally everyone else had gasped in surprise.

"Are you trying to make some sort of sick joke? Because if you are, I will throttle you!" Loba threatened.

"I'm serious! I found them together last night and she was very clearly naked in his arms."

"I don't believe it!" cried Wraith. There is no way someone as sweet as Gia would ever find companionship in someone like Revenant. It just couldn't be possible.

"Believe what you want but I'm backing out of this dumb competition! I don't want Revenant to snap my neck!" shouted Elliott and he threw his hands up in defeat. With a heavy sigh, he dropped his head to the table in a loud thump. A look of understanding passed from Legend to Legend. Everyone knew Revenant's behavior. He was cold and he was unforgiving. If what Elliott claimed was true, then there's no telling what the simulacrum would do to them if he found out they were all trying to get into her pants.

"What do we say to Gia? She'll know something's up." Silva asked aloud to the group.

"You don't have to say anything." that god damn voice said, making everyone jump in their seat and whip their heads around to peer at Gia timidly idling in the doorway. Her white eyes were glossed over in pity, and that hurt all the more.

"Were you standing there the whole time?" Elliott asked her.

"I heard shouting. I came at the part where you said you found us together last night."

"Oh." was all he said back.

"Listen, guys," she started, moving into the room and closer to them. "I know how much fun you guys were having with this competition thing going on between all of you. And I'm sorry this was how you found out about me and Revenant."

"Have you been seeing him this whole time?" Loba almost seethed.

"Yes." she flat out said. No beating around the bush. "I promise I'm not dating him to spite you, Loba. I started dating him long before I even knew of your history with him. I didn't do this to hurt you. And I'm sorry if it does hurt you." she apologized.

"No one's hurt that you're seeing him." claimed Silva.

"Speak for yourself!" Loba interrupted.

"We're just confused is all, chica."

"Loba, truly I'm very sorry for hurting you. I'm sorry to all of you. I'm sorry if I ever lead any of you on, but I honestly thought I had made it very clear that this was just a game."

"You did. We heard you loud and clear, hermosa. We were just trying to have a little fun with you."

"I know. And I'm sorry if this put a stop to your competition. Believe me when I say I enjoyed the attention. I truly did not intend for any of you to get hurt or upset. If it's Revenant you're hesitant of, I can give you my absolute word he will not harm any of you."

"I guess I just want to know how it happened." said Wraith. Gia attempted a jovial smile in her direction.

"There's so much to me you guys don't even know. So much that even Revenant doesn't know. I know it may seem strange but I promise you that he and I are not very different."

"Does he even.... um.. have a... you know?" Elliott then hesitantly questioned much to everyone else's embarrassment. They all shouted at him in distaste. "Oh come on! I know I'm not the only one who's curious!" he defended himself. Gia took in a deep, shuttering breath.

"Well... um... yes, he does."

"That's just weird. That is so weird." shuttered Silva. "Dios mío, eso es asqueroso. Can we please talk about something else?" he mumbled into his palms.

"Look, to make a long story short, all I can say is I'm sorry. From the absolute bottom of my heart, I am sorry. Regardless of where we all go from here, I just want you to know that you've all made me feel pretty, you've made me feel important, and you've made me feel loved. And I can't ever thank you enough for that. I just hope you all understand that I truly do love you too. Even if it's not the same way that you love me. I truly do love you."

"As long as you're happy." Crypto replied to her. As sad as he was to say it, he meant it for her.

"I am. I really am."

"I guess that's the end of that. It's been a good game, guys." Elliott directed towards the other five. "We're just not what you're looking for, I guess."

"But you're what someone is looking for." she consoled. "Elliot, you are the most handsome man I have ever met in my entire life." Gia confessed to him. To solidify her statement, she pressed a warm kiss to his cheek. Then she turned to the green-haired man beside him. "Silva, my life would be so incredibly boring without you in it." and she pressed a kiss to his cheek as well. "Loba, next time you see me in the arena, I want you to just step on me with those boots." she giggled and kissed her cheek as well. Despite Loba's best efforts, she cracked a real smile. "Bloodhound, you're an incredibly skilled hunter and I wish I could match up to you." Gia tentatively lifted her hands towards his face, waiting to see if he'd stop her from removing his face mask. He didn't. So she lifted the material from his face and pressed a kiss to his cheek as well before putting it back in place. "Crypto, don't ever let anyone underestimate you." a kiss to his cheek. "And of course, Wraith. I meant what I said before; you have a beautiful smile. Show it off some more." a kiss to her cheek. "I love you guys. And I hope you don't think any less of me."

"Of course not." said Bloodhound which made Gia's heart flutter with glee. She bid a final farewell to all of them before making her departure, still unsure if they have forgiven her for her secrets. The room fell quiet for several moments as they all processed what just happened. In the blink of an eye, everything just crumbled. No one was angry. They all still loved Gia. But now things were a little different. The competition was officially off the table now and the six Legends were unsure of where to go from here.

"She totally loves me more." Silva cracked the silence.

"Are you kidding? She kissed me first!"

"She kissed me longer." claimed Bloodhound. And then a full blown argument started between all of them over who Gia had more affection for.

Everything sort of calmed down after Gia had finally come clean. The six Legends that had been following her for months had backed off and everyone took notice of it. Che asked Gia what had happened between all of them and Gia had confessed that she had been seeing someone behind everyone's back. Though she didn't name names. Che wanted details of course but didn't press when Gia refused to give them. Even Pathfinder could sense that there was some tension in the room but, bless his heart, he had no idea how to make everyone feel better. He tried though. "Everything will be okay, friend." he told her and then gave her one of his famous high fives.

It's not like Gia didn't try to mend things with them. She still tried to talk to them but conversations became awkward because no one knew what to say anymore. All the flirting stopped and everyone was too scared to sit too close to her in fear of Revenant's wrath. But she did try. It's just that her efforts went nowhere.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Gia and Revenant were seen together out in public for the very first time. They officially outed themselves as a couple. Everyone was just minding their own business when Gia had appeared, dragging Revenant behind her with her hand interlaced in his. She pulled him into everyone's view and everyone turned to stare at them with wide eyes. She paid them no mind, but Revenant glared at anyone he connected eyes with. She pulled him down to sit with her and he did without complaint. She cuddled into his side and he tossed an arm across her shoulders, allowing her to get as close as possible. Everyone was watching, but it was Elliott, Silva, Loba, Crypto, Bloodhound, and Wraith that seemed to be the most in shock. What had finally changed her mind about keeping their relationship quiet, they didn't know. Everyone was just as confused as they were and those who were aware of the six's admiration for Gia all turned towards them in either pity or curiosity. Yet no one said a word. It felt like all eyes were burning into them. But thank god they all turned away at some point.

Gia proceeded to show Revenant something on her device and they both watched intently. He even scooted her into his lap so he could place his chin on her shoulder and watch. His arms wrapped around her midsection protectively and she cracked a smile. She looked so tiny in his lap.

"I can't watch this." Loba said and stormed off. She still hadn't come to terms with the fact that the woman she desired was in love with the demon she wanted to murder.

"Does anyone else feel nauseous or is it just me?" Wraith asked, turning away from the loving couple.

"No, I feel it too." Elliott confessed.

"Aye."

"It may hurt now, but she is a grown woman who has made her decision and we must respect that. We'll get over it eventually." Bloodhound told the group.

"Just because we respect it doesn't mean it doesn't still hurt, compadre." retorted Silva.

"You think they'll stay together?" Crypto then asked and everyone looked back to Gia still cuddled in Revenant's metallic lap. Elliott watched carefully as every twitch of Revenant's fingers only seemed to hold her closer to his chest. His touched appeared to be gentle and Gia had made herself comfortable in his embrace. She smiled at her device and carefully ran her fingertips along the build of his arms. He must've made some sort of noise because she nudged her cheek against his metal face plating. When he turned to look at her, she looked back and pressed her forehead to his. They both closed their eyes and Elliott assumed that was their version of a kiss considering he didn't have any lips -or even a moveable jaw for that matter. And Elliott could tell that she was genuinely happy.

"Yeah. I think so."

#apex legends #revenant #mirage #elliot witt #octane #octavio silva #bloodhound #loba andrade #crypto #tae joon park #wraith #renee blasey #original female character #fanfiction #imagine

[originofjaehyun]

Interlude: No More Drama | Part 8 | Love Me Now

Interlude: No More Drama Masterlist

Word count: 4,985

Warnings: Angst, language

Part 8 | Love Me Now

“Now I realize those shining days, those days left alone being stuck in the dark you disappeared.”

Prev • Next

The clinking sound of the spoon touching your cup of tea can be heard. It was not the usual prototype of a cafe that you would come to. It’s even too grand to be called a cafe. Butlers are stationed nearby, and although their presence is to make sure you’re at ease, it does exactly the opposite.

You’re worried about your table manners, your speech, and the way you dress up. You’re choosing a nude-colored coat, pairing it with a black turtle neck to keep the theme neutral. You complete the look by wearing a minimal gold layered necklace over it, with few stacks of thin rings on your fingers.

The steps from oxford shoes snap you out of your daze. There, you saw how this tall man gracefully walks towards your direction. Two men can be seen walking next to his side, to which he dismisses when he’s about to reach you.

“Good afternoon, Ms. [Y/L/N]. I hope I didn’t take too much of your time.”

Mr. Jeong took his seat, immediately crossing his legs and clasping his hand together.

You straighten your back, trying hard not to look nervous, “No problem, uh, Sir. I already make sure I book my calendar for this so please be at ease.”

After what Jaehyun has told you about his father, you could not believe that man in his story is the same person as the one who’s sitting in front of you. Sure, he looks intimidating by his prideful aura, but he is the perfect epitome of a gentleman. A posture that is so perfect that it must be from years of keeping his manner on check.

Not long after, the butler brought his share of tea. He never ordered, so you wondered how the waiter would know his choice of drink. Perhaps he was a regular here, or his men ordered it for him.

The butler poured his tea, left immediately afterwards. You were about to take a sip of your tea because the silence kills you before he suddenly speaks up.

“So, how is your company running along? What was it called again?”

“The Paper Plane, Sir.”

“Ah yes, that one.” He took a sip while fixing his gaze on you.

You gulped, “It’s been doing well, Sir. Our project with NCT Corporation is on track so that’s great. Johnny has been nothing but wonderful, he’s been a great help.”

“What do you do again at your company?”

“I’m the creative director, Sir. I oversee the general artistic direction of a brand or company, making sure everyone has a shared vision of the direction things should be moving in.”

“I see,” He placed his cup back on its saucer, seemingly impassive about the topic. 

“So, Jaehyun.”

Your heart drops at the sudden change of topic. Although you want to remain calm, you can feel the anxiousness start to creep in and you unconsciously press your lips together. 

“How long have you been together?”

“Sorry sir?” You are taken aback by his sentence, clearly didn’t expect him to be so direct, skipping the unnecessary chit-chat. Furthermore, you’re not sure whether Jaehyun told him about your relationship. Presuming from the story Jaehyun has told you, it doesn’t seem like he did.

“Indeed, Jaehyun introduced you as our client,” He took a glance at his teacup, leaving it untouched as he diverted his pupils to you. “But I know you’ve been dating Jaehyun.”

You widen your eye, revealing more sclera. “Uhm…” unsure how to answer, especially in front of Jaehyun’s father domineer aura.

But you decided that you don’t want to lie.

“We’ve only been together for almost four months, Sir. But I’ve known him for seven months.”

“Ah, young love.” He twirls his spoon on his tea, “Must be great, I assume?”

You gulped nervously, not sure whether you answered correctly. 

“Jaehyun has been treating me well, Sir. Even though he is working hard at the office – which I heard from Johnny he’s always a stellar performer, he always make sure he spare some of his time for me. He’s gentle, and appreciates my opinions too.”

“I see,” He breaks your sentence, taking another sip. “Then, I take that as he would listen if you asked him to end it with him?”

You almost drop your spoon, “Sorry?”

“Jaehyun is an excellent young man, Ms. [Y/L/N]. He would face more challenges moving forward, and surely you’d rather be free with your creative field.” He holds his cup, putting a sarcastic tone especially at the word creative.

“Well, I think it’s up for Jaehyun to decide, Sir. He’s a full-grown man and I think he’s excellent at making his own decision.” You tried to keep your calm, debating with him.

“Ms. [Y/L/N],” He lets out a cold snicker. “I do not like to repeat my words.”

You hold your breath, surprised at the sudden change of personality. 

“Our Jaehyun already has his life crafted for him. His future is bright, and I know he would continue doing well. You lived in a world, completely opposite of his. It would be difficult for you to carry on with the relationship.”

“Thus my advice, Ms. [Y/L/N], since it’s only been a short while since you started seeing my son, I would suggest you would end it soon. It would make the parting more bearable.”

He clasped both of his hands, elbow on the table. He gives you a smile, and a dimple appears on his right cheek, probably where Jaehyun inherits his. However, his smile was monochromatic, dark and cold. 

“Sir, with all due respect,” You unconsciously formed a fist, clawing yourself for a grip. “Both of us can decide what’s the best for our own, and Jaehyun is more than capable of deciding his own path. He would be happier if he could walk on the path that he chose.”

“If.” He shrugs his back to his chair backrest. “My dear, you don’t know anything about his life. And believe me, it’s time for you to no longer be a part of it.”

You could no longer stay in the suffocating air, you rose from your seat. He remains unfazed, as if he knows you would react this way.

“Sir, I apologize if this may come off as rude.” Even at the tip of your patience, you tried to be polite to someone who shares the same blood with your lover. “But I’m a woman of my own decision and I love Jaehyun as much as he loves me. I think you just crossed the line by telling me that I’m unsuited to be a part of his life. I don’t even think you even asked Jaehyun about this. Please think more about your family’s happiness if you truly care.”

You grabbed your purse, storming outside without even trying to say goodbye to the rude man. You saw in glances that the butlers seem uncomfortable with your conversation, but you don’t give a damn. You don’t even care even to split your bill, that man probably has the fortune to purchase the entire building anyway. 

You took a march outside the tea salon, and after you judge you’re far enough, the walls that hold your tears finally break down like a broken dam. You squatted because you don’t want anyone to see the sight of you crying, even though you’re sure people would still take a peek at you crouching down, sobbing.

You cried because you feel insulted, not at the way he talks to you. He looked you down, and it hurts your pride. You built your career from the ground and you’re very proud of it. So for a father of the person whom you love refused to give his blessings to you merely because he sees you as unbefitting as his son’s partner is devastating.

“Hey, are you OK?”

You’ve heard that voice before. Although the overall tone of his voice was cheery, he tried his best to calm you down.

You look up at the owner of the voice, eyes are still wet from crying. As if the stars were trapped inside, his eyes were full of sparkles. The gaze that gives a spoiler of his innocence and purity. From the way he looks at you, you know behind his iris lies his kindness.

“Ah, you’re… Jaehyun’s brother?” You’re quick on your feet, standing up so he doesn’t have to stare down, ending your sentence awkwardly because you don’t know how to address him.

“Just call me Mark.” He said in a friendly tone, “Uhm, I realize you’re just from the tea shop, but would you like a warm cup of hot chocolate?”

You realize how awkward he is, his hand keeps scratching his non-itchy scalp. He probably never asked someone out, so he doesn’t know what to do. But you know he did so because he wished to calm you down.

“Hot chocolate sounds fantastic, Mark.”

--

The familiar sight of the cafe makes you comfortable. The smell of the fresh pastries and grounded coffee fits you better in comparison to the high-end tea setting just now. 

“Here,” Mark handed out a warm towel.

You stare at him confusedly, and he immediately answers your unspoken question, “Oh, it’s from the kitchen. One of my friends is the staff here. It’s fresh from the sterilizer, so it’s clean, don’t worry!”

Finally, the feeling of discomfort starts to fade at how genuine he is in trying to cheer you up. You took the towel out of his hand, “Thank you.”

You patted the towel over your swollen lids. Mark took his seat, fidgeting on the cup’s handle before he talked about the elephant in the room.

“So, uhm…”

“Was it my, uhm, father who did this?” He stutters as he is very careful about touching the sensitive subject. 

You paused, trying not to recall the bitter memory. But you see Mark glancing at you like a lost cheetah cub, and you don’t have the heart to ignore his question.

“Well, sort of, I guess. He’s not entirely on fault, I think.”

Though you know deep inside he is, you tried to keep your statement as democratic as possible, avoiding to hurt Mark’s feelings if you bad mouthed his father.

“It’s OK, you can be honest with me.” He leans forward so you can see his sincerity.

“Truthfully I saw when you talked to Father. Sorry, I overheard my father at home, he said he’s meeting you today. I realized he was talking about you, hyu…”

“I mean, elder brother’s girlfriend.”

“Just address him comfortably, Mark. I realize you forced yourself to call him that way. Also, it sounds overly polite.”

He lets out a warm chuckle, “Ah, you got me. Father asked me to call him that way, so I want to make sure I’m used to it.”

“Why do you have to force yourself? He is your brother, no family does that.”

Your statement causes the lines on his face to appear, forming especially near his cheekbones, showing how prominent they are.

“Anyway,” You swirl your cup, melting the marshmallow on top. ”Jaehyun never mentions that I am his girlfriend, how does he know?”

Mark almost choked on his share of chocolate. He cleared his throat, “Well, Father has his own connection…”

You furrows your brows, demanding him to elaborate his statement.

“Please don’t be offended? I think he did a background check on you. It’s just the way he does his thing, and I know it’s wrong and I oppose it.”

“Also, you did steal the show on that night. Not only are you linking arms with hyung, but you’re different from the rest of the wannabes on that event.”

You laughed, but it dies down instantly as the thought of their father investigating you makes you uneasy. “Well, he could’ve just met me and get to know me. That is some illegal shit he’s doing.”

He then asks you whether Jaehyun has told you anything about him. You did tell him the snippets of the story that Jaehyun has told you, telling him that you know the situation between them through Johnny initially.

You keep it nice and short before he proceeds to tell you a bit of Jaehyun’s childhood. About how Jaehyun always acted like the ideal older brother but you’re almost out of breath when you laugh at the story on how Jaehyun sulks because he wanted to eat his cereal with a cold milk, but they were out of it so he sobs while saying that all he wants is just some milk.

“Hey, bro. Sorry it took me a while to clean off the stain.” You are equally as surprised as him, who just skipped his way to where you and Mark is.

“What is she doing here?” Taeyong openly showed his hostility.

“You know him, Yong? Oh no, wait, yeah you told me she came with hyung during your class.”

“Mark just asked me for a cup of hot chocolate, to cheer me up.”

“Why?” He furrowed his brows, directing that question to Mark like he didn’t want to engage a conversation with you. 

“She met father, Yong. And I, uhm, happened to be there so I took her here.”

The explanation seems minimal but it seems enough for Taeyong to grasp the situation. “Hah! Let me guess, the meeting doesn’t go well, does it?”

You fidget with your fingers, not sure how to answer him. Mark took your place by giving his friend a nod.

“Well I guess it's bound to happen. The Jeongs are always overprotective with their old money business. Thank God you kept your mother’s last name.”

“Yong!” He rose from his seat, moving his palm to cover Taeyong’s mouth.

“Oh shit, his man could be around, doesn’t it?”

“No, no, no!”

You’re confused with his statement, especially when Mark became so alert at the sudden piece of information.

“What business, Mark?”

“Wait, she doesn’t know?”

Mark shook his head lightly, trying to keep his movement minimal so Taeyong aware that he just landed on a minefield. It was like a scene from a movie, where both of them slowly looked at your direction.

“Answer me.”

“He doesn’t have the obligations, though.” Taeyong tried to ask you to let this one off.

“Mark.”

“[Y/N], I’m sorry can you just pretend you didn’t hear it? I-”

“Mark, your father just insulted my career or basically just me as a human being for loving your older brother. I’m about to move in with him and I think I deserve to know the truth if there’s anything that he’s hiding.”

The way you demand makes Mark flinched, “But, if Jaehyun-hyung didn’t tell you then I don’t think I have the rights to do so.”

“Mark, please.” You beg, and you can feel your vision start to blur. The water that starts to collect on your tear duct instantly made Mark’s decision.

“Yong, can we borrow the classroom?”

Taeyong nods, and with that he swiftly walks to the classroom direction on the second floor. You and Mark followed right after.

“I’ll wait outside. There’s no more class today so take your time.” Taeyong said gently to Mark.

“Sure, I owe you bro.”

Mark then took a seat next to you. With no table in between, you can now see the frustration in his eyes. You know you don’t want to force him to tell you anything, but you’re just tired of this new information that keeps appearing with every breath you take.

You just want to know the truth.

He looked left and right, making sure there’s no extra pair of ears that could listen to your conversation except for Taeyong.

“[Y/N], I really don’t think I should tell you any of this...”

“Mark... Jeong? Wait, Taeyong did say that you kept your mother’s last name.”

“It’s Lee. Mark Lee.”

He is fidgeting with his fingers, vexed with the fact he has to be the one who deliver the news.

“Please, what I about to tell you is suppose to be a secret. And please, please I beg you don’t let this change the way you see hyung.”

You tilted your head to one side, confused with the sudden warning.

He then spoke softly, “My adoptive father, and grandfather. Well, mostly my grandfather... Uhm, I guess there’s no way he could build an empire like what we have right now without… a little bit of help.”

Lines appeared on your forehead you might get wrinkles as you frowns harder.

Mark looked down, took a deep breath before he looks at you, “The Jeongs have been doing underground business.”

He looked at you and immediately regretted that you have to hear it from him, and not Jaehyun. But there’s no way you letting him go after that piece of puzzle he just revealed.

“Grandfather knows in order to fulfil his dream to live with power, it would be nearly impossible to run just a property business. Long story short, he made connections with people from higher ups to do business behind the scene. Father, as the only child, has no option but to…”

“What business, Mark?” You demanded him to cut to the chase, frustrated because he keeps on concealing the truth.

Worries are stamped all over Mark’s face. He pressed his lips together, wishing that he could seal this information forever, but your eyes told him to unfold the truth.

“Gamblings, drugs, prostitutes.” 

You closed your eyes in disbelief. Breathing in trying to not let another tear fall.

“As a company, NCT Corp. is doing great now. Of course as the founder we’ll get a lot from there but once Father tasted how much it triples with his side business, Father just couldn’t stop.”

“Also, it’s even easier to do their business because Father is the founder of NCT Corp.. As a property company, he can easily conceal where the transaction happens. We are the biggest in our sector, and with Father’s connection, that he inherits from grandfather, boom, easy as a snap of a finger.”

“Hang on,” You push your palm to Mark’s direction, interjecting him. “Is Jaehyun the heir?”

He widens his eyes, “He is the next in line for NCT Corp..”

“Mark, you know I’m not talking about that.”

Mark constantly grips his jeans, visibly anxious. “I swear, [Y/N], Jaehyun-hyung don’t want this,”

Before Mark could continue his sentence, you quickly grabbed your purse, ready to leave.

“Wait, [Y/N], please!”

Mark holds your arm, begging you to stay.

“You’re not leaving hyung, will you?”

You squeezed your lips together, as the next sentence that you’re about to say feels like a thousand needles piercing your heart. 

“What is there left to make me stay, Mark?”

He rose from his seat in panic, “No, no! Please don’t, I beg you! This is all my fault, I shouldn’t have told you! I just ruined hyung’s happiness. Please don’t leave his side, you don’t know the look that he gave you that night. He truly cherishes you and he will continue to do so, I promise!”

He hold your arm, begging you to listen to his explanation.

“Jaehyun-hyung will try his best to protect you, I know that, so don’t leave him, [Y/N].”

You pull your hand, escaping it from Mark’s grip. “Your father,” No matter how much you tried to be collected, the droplets finally fell down from your eyes. “Done a background check on me. Insulted me to the bones, and he is a freaking mafia? Tell me, Mark, would it be wise for me to stay?”

He wanted to argue, but he couldn’t because he knows if he were in your shoes, he would probably do the same. He knows the thing that his own father would probably do, so he can’t really defend his own argument.

You gave Mark one last look before opening the sliding door, exiting and ignoring Taeyong who just called you rude.

—

Thank God you took a half day leave because the last thing you would’ve wanted is to deal with work. You finally reach home after sobbing inside the cab.

“Hello?”

There’s no way Doyoung would reject your call, so he answered after a few tones. 

“Doyoung, where are you?” You called him, meekly.

“Hey, are you alright?” He noticed that your voice is shaky, and he knows that you’ve been crying.

“I… don’t think I am.”

“Hey, hey, stay with me.”

“Who’s that? Your girlfriend?”

Another voice alerts you. You saw the clock, it’s past seven and it should be over his working hour.

“Doy, should I end the call? I wanted to call Hanbyul but she’s currently vacationing with Mingyu.”

“No it’s fine, I already clocked out but I planned to have dinner with Yuta – no, this is not my girlfriend. Remember her? The one I told you about before you got drunk?”

“Ah! I remember! The one who’s dating The Jeong, right? Man, she’s dating one powerful guy!”

“Wait, Yuta, you know Jaehyun?”

“Who doesn’t? It’s a wide-known fact. Nobody messes with The Jeong – even with all of their doings, they got the higher cops backing them up. My friend back in Osaka, he got connected to a yakuza group, you see, told me that they wouldn’t even dare to come for them. Taka’s yakuza group is pretty poweful, too.”

You can’t see Doyoung, but after eavesdropping their conversation, you can imagine how Doyoung’s face turned pale.

“Shit, [Y/N], is this what it's all about?”

You break down at how perfect he hits the target.

“Fuck, and you just move in too.”

“I can’t stay Doy. I’m fucking scared right now. I don’t feel safe.”

He sighed, “Shit. Yuta, I have to cancel our dinner.”

You can hear Yuta whined in disappointment, but you’re glad on how Doyoung always prioritizes you.

“Is Jaehyun at home?”

You struggle to reply to him, as you’re choking from your tears. 

“I was planning to drink tonight so I didn’t bring my car. I’ll go back home and pick you at your place. I’ll stay until Jaehyun’s home, then hopefully we can make peace with him.”

—

Strange.

Usually by now Jaehyun would see you in front of the TV, with any snack available from the pantry. You would watch a drama while waiting for him to return. Sure, it’s way past drama prime time, nevertheless you would always wait for Jaehyun no matter how late he’s coming home.

But all he heard was noises coming from the master bedroom.

“Babe?”

After he called for you, he noticed your movements become faster. He automatically looks up for you, only to find you just finished packing your stuff to your suitcase.

“Baby what’s going on?” He is confused with your action, colors start to wash out from his face.

“I…” You’re nervous because he caught you red handed, and Doyoung is probably still on his way. It’s partly your fault because you didn’t check your phone, which you left in your handbag in the living room. “I can’t stay, Jaehyun. I’m sorry.”

You quickly grabbed your suitcase, didn’t have time to check whether you left anything behind. You couldn’t care, when all that matters is the sight of Jaehyun’s puzzled face. It breaks your heart to see him, knowing that you love him so dearly but you have to leave.

He grabbed you before you could leave, “You can’t stay? What do you mean?” His voice was shaking, you can tell that he couldn’t catch the situation clearly.

“Please let me go, Jaehyun. It is as I said, I can’t stay here anymore.”

“Are you going back to your apartment? Did you leave anything important? I can drive you there.”

“No, Jaehyun.” You closed your eyes, fighting the tears that were about to come, “I can’t stay with you anymore. I’m sorry.”

You drag your suitcase, turning your back from him as you couldn’t bear to look at his face any longer, which is painted with disappointment.

He rushed out of the room, halted you by standing in front of you, “Don’t joke with me, [Y/N],” He finally drops the nicknames he gave to you, “This doesn’t make any sense. Why are you suddenly leaving? What did I do?”

You look at him in the eyes, to see how his eyes start to turn red. You know it’s not his fault, but you also know that it wouldn’t be wise to stay with him, when his family just screams danger.

But Jaehyun deserves to know.

“I met your father this afternoon,” His eyes instantly grew wider, “He told me that you and I live in a different world. He asked me to break it off with you.”

“Bullshit, [Y/N]!” He grabbed your arms. “You know I’m trying to win this battle with him. I promise I will, don’t worry about that fucker and stay. Stay with me.”

He tightly gripped you, tears welled up in his eyes though he did not cry. He’s angry, and you know it.

“Let me go, Jaehyun. Please.” You begged him, pushing the last bit of energy you had left. You’re tired of crying, and you feel like you could cry again anytime soon.

“No, I won’t. If I let you go, you’ll be gone forever. Don’t do this to me, [Y/N]. You’re precious to me and I will not let that goddamn father of mine ruin my only happiness.”

His sentence makes your defense collapse, teardrops left their trails in your cheeks, “Winning what battle exactly, Jaehyun?”

He looked at you confused, not sure which part that you don’t understand. You broke the silence, “When will you tell me that you are an heir to some fucking underground business?”

His jaw drops, clearly blown by the fact that now you know. “[Y/N], I swear to God I never meant to hide it from you,”

“This again Jaehyun? You keep hiding things from me! You tell me a lie, but not exactly. The truth, but not entirely! Which one is it?!”

The aftershock lingers, Jaehyun unable to speak back to you.

“Your family is doing illegal stuff, Jae. And you hid it from me! I can’t believe you asked me to live with you without telling me about this! What do you expect, me obliviously living in danger?”

“No, baby, of course not. Please listen to me, there’s a reason why I didn’t tell you.”

“No reason would be good enough, Jaehyun. Let me go.”

He blocks your way, desperate to make you stay.

“[Y/N]?”

Doyoung suddenly came in, relieving you. Jaehyun, on the other hand, is baffled with the fact he could enter your place.

“How did you come in?”

“I asked him to pick me up, Jae.”

He turned his attention to you, perplexed.

“Please, I have to leave. Let’s go, Doy.”

“You’re leaving me for another guy?” Again, Jaehyun took a grip at your upper arm, refusing to let you go. This time, his grip was tighter. Confusion and anger, as well as disappointment mixed together.

“Jaehyun, that hurts.”

“Answer me, [Y/N]!”

The sight of Jaehyun losing his calm shocked you, as well as Doyoung.

“Bro, let her go. Let’s talk about this…”

“You stay out of this!” 

Jaehyun reactively pushed Doyoung away, causing him to fall. He hit his back to the nearby coffee table, and that is enough to fill your eyes with rage.

“Jeong Jaehyun, you don’t fucking hurt my best friend!”

You immediately rushed yourself to Doyoung, checking whether he received any injuries. Although he hissed in pain, there are no visible cuts or wounds.

“Fuck,” Jaehyun murmurs, “[Y/N], I’m sorry, I didn’t meant to, I…”

“Don’t fucking apologize to me! Is this how you're going to treat people, being all violent? How are you different with your father, Jae?!”

As much as Jaehyun wants to deny it, he knows that your words are true. 

“We’re leaving, there’s nothing else we could talk about. We’re talking doesn’t change the fact that you are doing illegal business.”

You helped Doyoung to get up, before taking your suitcase and ignoring Jaehyun who just stood in his place.

Before you could leave, he took your hand again, taking every chance he got to change your mind.

“[Y/N], please.” 

And as if he just lost all of his hope, a single tear runs down his face. 

“I love you, and I know you love me too. I would do anything in power to protect you, I promise.”

You took a glance at your lover – the one that you have to leave soon. Your heart shattered when you saw the desperation in his eyes. 

“I beg you, [Y/N].” He entwined his fingers to yours, “You are the most wonderful thing that ever happened in my life. The day you come and fill my day with joy, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Please don’t look at me like that. Look at me like you did that time. Please come love me once again.”

You wish you could stay. How you wish you could return to his embrace, removing the trails of his tears.

Then it strikes you. How you staying means you have to live a life in constant fear. Knowing you have to come home to a person who his family sells women for pleasure.

You could not help but to shake your head. Telling Jaehyun that your decision is final.

“Jaehyun, I’m sorry.”

Your heart breaks into million pieces, for you to leave the love of your life behind.

You love him, so infinitely, and you never sought to hurt him.

But you know continuing your relationship will be a vain.

So you left, leaving Jaehyun there, staying rooted on the same spot.

A/N: I’m sorry...

#jaehyun scenarios #jaehyun angst #jaehyunxreader #jaehyun fic #mafia!au #jaehyun fluff #jaehyun #jaehyun scenario #fic jaehyun #angst jaehyun #interlude no more drama #nct scenario #inmd #love me now

[iam-kenough]

Will you ever notice me? (Arthur Morgan x Original Female Character)

Summary:  Dutch and his boys found a girl hidden inside wrecked shack near their camp. She introduces herself as Iris and starts leading outlaw life with Van der Linde gang, quickly developing feelings towards one, special cowboy. However there is big year gap between them and Arthur sees Iris just as a kid...And girl won’t take that!

Authors notes: It’s another chapter and you can find the rest of them following masterlist on my blog if you  want to read more of my  fanfiction. Hope you gonna enjoy it! Words count: 2242 Chapter 12 Iris was at her tent, undressing herself with nose was patched up and she still heard Mrs Grimshaw's harsh yelling in her head. Her shirt landed on the floor as it was ruined with crimson of blood. - What the fuck were you thinking today?! - Arthur stormed inside her tent, completely ignoring fact she's undressed, wearing only her lingerie. - Huh? - she tilted her head to the side, looking visibly surprised. - You could kill yourself, you idiot, twice times today! - So what? That's my job - she shrugged - I'm an outlaw just like you. - Are you out of your mind? - Arthur looked furious, his voice harsh as gravel and eyes stormy. Iris was trying to reckon if he ever was furious like that before, but she couldn't remember. Not towards herself, at least. - What would be better in situation when I had choice to fall down along with the train, jump on my horse like you said and probably break my spine or risk life and jump into the water? - I'm not only about it - he growled, throwing his hands in the air and gesticulating with them, showing frustration - You're not going anywhere else with us! - Excuse me? I am amazing with getting things done, especially when you think that all Dutch's plans are stupid and naive while I can fix all of them. I am not gonna stop - girl shaked her head in disbelief.

- That's the problem, you are amazing with pulling these out, 'cause you are crazy! - Arthur grabbed her arm and shook Iris like it was meant to wake up her.

- Even if, what's bad about it? - Iris tried to back off, but couldn't as his fingers were pinning into her forearm.

- How couldya've said that you have nothing to lose? - Arthur said suddenly with much more silent voice, slowly looking away.

- But I don't and you know it's true! - Iris laughed but there was no joy in it

- My life? I'm gonna be dead sooner or later, I'm not a town girl nor wife sitting at home, I'm an outlaw just like you, Mr Morgan. The only difference is when I'm gonna die.

- I-I...How can you say things like this? They sound so easy in your mouth it makes me afraid - Arthur was disbelieving Iris's words with ''hurt puppy'' eyes.

- I always thought you're never lying to yourself, but here we are. What I'm saying is true, all I have is group of people in this camp, but everyone is risking, anyone can die tommorrow, or in two weeks, you just don't know it! You can't hold me away from all this dirt and...I needed this money.

- Money?! You were caring about the money?! - Arthur was starting to boil once more.

- I need it if I'm gonna move some day soon - she said and it made him freeze.

He threw her look of kicked dog. - What? - Iris noticed his intentions right away - You were thinking I'm gonna stay forever? I'm in my twenties and all I have is this tent and nowhere to go, no one to look after or no one to hold me there, isn't it obvious? I can go to New York, or even freakin' Tahiti, maybe become a doctor to make my life less boring and miserable. But that was exactly what Arthur was thinking. He just realized that now there was no strings attached between them and that she was thinking about moving, mentioning it in the past, when they were still friends, talking every night in the light of oil lamp. Arthur Morgan was always thinking that he has time but there she was, proving he's wrong and also a fool.

- Iris, I still need you - he said but she didn't hear him. There was screams coming from outside. At first, Iris bursted out, thinking that's it's something horrible, tripping over her own legs. But it was very opposite. Everyone could see like John Marston in kneeling in front of Abigail Roberts, holding an engagement ring.

-Oh my god, John, yes! - Abigail yelled with visible shock and disbelief in her eyes. Normaly woman didn't like being in the centre but marring John properly was her deep hidden dream.

- It's time for me, to do somethin' proper out of us, Aby. I want to make you happy - John was speaking quietly and with gentle manner but everyone heard it as no one dared to breath or else.

Iris was looking at pair, sharing few tears of joy. It was simply beautiful, somethin' she wished for them deeply in her heart. It was also something she was dreaming about for herself for short period of time and was moved that they were so lucky to have it. It was little proof for herself, that she could have normal life someday, that she could leave this camp and finally that they are were family. Disfunctional one, but family. She noticed with corner of her eye that Arthur was looking at her. She wiped her face from tears quickly, walking away to hug Abigail and John just like everybody. This evening turned away differently than everyone expected. People catched every bottle of booze they had and gathered around the fire. Soon they were singing every song they knew, laughing, talking and dancing. John was the one who's wasted the most, obviously, he liked to drink when he was happy and today happines weren't the right word. It was more than overjoy. There was also Iris with bottle in her hand, who was joyful enough to yell the lyrics of one songs they both knew, dancing with John as they were tripping over each other, making Abigail laugh as she clapped in the rythm her friends wasn't minding anyway.

Arthur was watching Iris carefuly. She looked happy, joyful even but it seemed weird and unsetteling. And then something clicked inside Arthur's head. Iris was drinking everyday, chugging down on bottle of whiskey almost every evening and now she, with her fragile body, was enough strong to keep up with John without getting wasted. She had also having this hip-flask that she was drinking from time to time. All puzzles fitted right now. - You're an alcoholic - Arthur hissed, when he catched Iris from between others and  quickly dragged away, hiding they both in his tent. Man quickly pulled down flaps, giving this conversation needed privacy. Arthur didn't care much if it's uncomfortable for Iris, the way he just treated her - How many drinks did you have today, eh?

- Hmm...A bottle and still counting! - she said, giggling, completely clueless - Come on, don't be such sourpuss, Mr Morgan!

- You're an alcoholic! - he shouted again, much more agressively at her face and girl stopped smiling right away.

- F'course I am - she spoke slowly, like was supposed to explain something to child - My daddy was and I am too, that's no surprise. Now I think I kind of get him, whiskey's your best friend. It always listens to your heart and it lulles you to sleep so easily, when all you see is dirty ceiling of your tent. It makes you warm, just like you were in lover arms - she looked dreamily now, smiling a little - That's why I'm gonna drink till the day I'll fall asleep drunk and choke myself with my own vomit. Cheers to that! - she took big gulp from the bottle, few drops falling down girl’s chin.

- No! - he grabbed her arm, tearing the whiskey away from her hands and spilling it on the floor.

- Ey, I payed for that! And you're stupid to think I had only one or two - she laughed but she was furious and it sounded more like barking.

-Get yourself together, eh?! - Arthur placed empty bottle on the trunk with loud bang.

- What?! You saying something like this? - she looked almost amused. Almost if only it wasn't for fury and fire dancing in her pupils.

- Yes, me! I won't let you ruin your life!

- And who you are to judge me, eh?! Big scary boys who clinged onto me when he gets drunk, crying because his lovely Mary won't have him nor now, not even in ten years, 'cause she's a bitch who uses him to run errands for her!

- Excuse me? - he froze, not knowing what's going on. It was his thoughts but he wasn't reckoning saying them out loud ever, especially to Iris.

- Oooh, bullseye, you don't remember it! - girl looked like she was satisfied as hell with this discovery - You seriously belived when I said you just blanked out after puking on my new coat the other night! But no, there's much more to that and I'm gonna tell you a story - she was pacing, looking at him with fury.

Arthur didn't say a thing, nor moved. He was to shocked, but God, if he knew what's coming he would sit down already. - So I was sitting in your tent the other night and you weren't there, as always. I felt frivolous enough to take a look around, finding maybe something funny I could torture you within' a while, but oh, I was so shoked! A pile of letters, love letters under your cot. You left me for Mary Linton, just cutting our strings lose, not respecting me enough to tell that out loud. But that was expectable, I've never thought well enough about myself to expect being treated nicely. I wanted to search for ya, I wanted honesty from your mouth - she stopped for a moment, collecting her thoughts - and I got it when someone shoot me, robbed me and left me to die.

- Iris, I- - Arthur choked on words as they fought to leave his throat.

- No, no, that's not the best one I have for you today, loverboy - she hissed - Because when someone found me and drove me to the doctor in Saint Denis, I've been told I'm gonna live because someone took a bullet for me and it was our child. I was pregnant and I found out about it like this. And I will probably never gonna be pregnant again - she lifter her chemise and there it was, fresh scar, shiny and pink, running from belly button to left side - How do you like it, Arthur? Look at it closely! I know I look beautiful like that - Iris's voice was malicious, getting every small amout satisfaction from relieving secret that would hurt Arthur just like he did hurt her. No, it was only very bad dream. He's gonna wake up and laugh it off. Even his life wasn't this much miserable. But no, it wasn't any fantasy and girl stormed pass him, going to her tent. Arthur followed her and when he entered Iris's tent she already was grabbing another whiskey, hidden under her cot.

- Why you didn't tell me straight away?! - Arthur was finally able to spit anything from mouth but his throat was numb, big gulp growing inside.

- You haven't even notice me missing, nor wondering why I lie in my tent all day and Dutch doesn't say a thing. Why would I tell you anything? - Iris shrugged, her face hopeless. How could Arthur expect anything from her?

- So I could protect you! I'm barely speaking english, how can you expect me to read your mind? - Arthur's eyes looked wet and red but not even single tear fallen down his cheeks. Man was to proud for this.

- Protect me from what? You should protect me from yourself, 'cause you're the one who knocked me over and left - Iris shaked head, face forming into a frown.

- Protect you so you would never get shot, protect you so you wouldn't work like that. I was doin' that with Eliza- - Arthur really tried to justify his need of protection but they both knew he couldn't, not right now.

- The girl I am similar to, but lacking her soothin' temper, eh? Oh I know all your dirty little secrets, 'cause you gave me no reason to trust you and I was right, never taking your presence for granted, nor your words. Arthur, you were going in and out of this relationship like my heart was made of stone - she sobbed, curling up in the very corner of her bed, cuddling a bottle of booze.

- I need you! - man looked at Iris hopelessly, trying anything he could try to get them both back on tracks. But for now there weren’t any right words.

- You merely remember to notice me, back then and now, Arthur - girl waved him off, ignoring confession - but I get this...After all I'm just a kid who can't even kiss you the way you like being kissed. Why would you ever got back to me? - she cried in despair but he just left, leaving her to herself. For Arthur it wasn't leaving because he hated Iris, he just couldn't deal with emotions that were tearing him apart right now, puting pins into his heart and causing migraine, pain pulsing in man's temples. But girl was thinking amiss, taking it as Arthur's giving up.

- Glad that I still have you - she whispered after a moment of looking into direction Arthur went, opening a bottle and downing it at once, then falling on her back and going asleep in yesterday's clothes. They simply weren't meant for each other. 

#arthur morgan #arthur morgan x reader #arthur morgan x original femal character #arthur morgan x original character #arthur morgan x oc #red dead redemption 2 #red dead redemption fanfic #arthur morgan fanfiction #arthur morgan romance #arthur morgan smut #arthur morgan angst #rdr2 arthur #rdr2 #rdr2 fanfic #arthur morgan fluff

[deadpoetsimagines]

HIII LOVELY!!!! I was wondering if I could possibly get an imagine or head cannon with Pitts or Meeks where there’s a dance between schools and reader attempts to teach him how to dance with a partner to different music so he could pick up a girl but it ends up being really fluffy between them? 💖

 Heyyy, sweetie!!! Ok, so honestly I loved this idea and I hope I can execute it well, I’m gonna pick Pitts because I feel like there’s not a lot of stuff with him and he’s such a baby, gosh I love him

  - x -

 “Gosh, I don’t know how to do this” the tall and skinny figure sat down on the floor, exhaling.

“Oh, shut up, it’s just dancing!” you say, getting a hold of his arm and getting the boy up “Don’t be such a baby”

“The dance is in two days” he looked at you, with a somewhat desperate glint in his eyes. The only yes that reminded you of the sea, of long walks by the beach and everytime you looked at them you could swear you smelled the sea air and felt the wind on your cheeks. Their color couldn’t quite be described, you generally thought of them as aquamarine “I’m gonna make a fool of myself”

“You’re not” a gentle smile fills his view, his heart skipping a beat, only one “Here, hold my hand, I’ll try to teach you” a long and skinny hand touchs yours, a bit hesitantly, you could tell from the slight shaking  “Ok, so what song did you pick?”

“Hum, Stuck on the Puzzle” the boy lets go of your grip to head over to the stereo, looking through the songs.

“You picked an Alex Turner song for the dance?” you chuckle “Shouldn’t you pick a more, I don’t know, lively song?”

“It’s a romantic song, I thought it’d fit” he scratches the back of his head with a smirk, while looking to the side “Besides, I’ll bet I’ll be the only one that chose a song like this”

“And that’s good because?” you raise an eyebrow in a joking manner.

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.” he says, in a cocky way.

“Wow, Mr. Pitts quoting Robert Frost, who would’ve thought?” a tiny giggle escapes from your lips “Well, you’re definitely going to pick up a girl like that, all the girls love Robert Frost” you joke, but feel a faint sting in your chest as you let out the words.

“Yeah, for sure” he laughs and shifts his gaze to the old wooden floor, with a faint blush taking a hold of his cheeks.

“Either way… Shall we?” you notice his flushed look and move over to the stereo, pressing the replay button. 

 As the sound fills the whole room, you extend your hand, signaling Pitts to hold it. He does so, careful not to look directly into your eyes. His feet slowly get closer to yours, the way he walks with leaden steeps makes you a bit anxious, butterflies flap their wings rapidly inside your stomach and your heart flutters slightly. “Gosh, what is going on?” your gaze shifts down as well, as you try to surpress the enormous need you have of kissing the tall boy that now squeezes his hand around your waist. 

“I’m not the kind of foolWho’s gonna sit and sing to you about stars, girlBut last night I looked up into the dark half of the blueAnd they’d gone backwards” 

 The music controls your movements, swift and gentle. The sun shone down on the back of his head, filling his body with light. As you wrap your arms around his neck, you could feel the warmth dominate you, his scent intoxicating your nostrils. You could vaguely see the sun on the window behind him, it was almost sunset. 

“Something in your magnetism must have pissed them offForcing them to get an early nightI have been searching from the bottom to the topFor such a sight as the one I caught when I saw your…”

 He twirls you around, lightly, never letting go of your waist. The boy treated you with such care, it felt like you were the only thing that mattered at that moment, like nothing else existed, just the here and now.

“Fingers dimming the lights”

 His other hand proceeds to touch yours, intertwining fingers. You accidentaly place his hand on his chest, blushing deeply.

“Like you’re used to being told that you’re troubleAnd I spent all night…

Stuck on the puzzle”

 He spins you again, this time making you fall in his arms, tenderly. Your heart is beating like a thousand drums, it feels like your chest is just going to burst open right in front of him. And as your face heats up and the last line of the chorus plays you both finally make eye contact.

 His round, gorgeous eyes twinkled like shooting stars. At that moment his eyes did not remind you of the sea, they reminded of the deep outer space, the infinity, the universe. As you lost yourself in his beautiful blue iris, every little detail became apparent to you. The way his pupil increasingly grew wider and around it you could see a faint green ring, followed by a yellowish one. The way the veins inside his eyes were so visible, the way how everything seemed so perfect, like it was hand-drawn by God. It made you feel like heavenly bodies were spinning all around you, like you were running out of oxygen. 

 His coal-black eyelashes caressed his burgundy cheeks, his nose almost touching yours. You could feel his breath on your face and as he grew closer and the space between you felt tighter you closed your eyes, slightly touching lips with the boy.

 “Hey! What’s up-” the door storms open and you almost fall from Pitts’ arms with the scare. He holds you and gets you up and you then pull away slightly, standing an inch away from him.

 There’s an awkward moment of silence as you notice the whole dps is sitting at the doorway.

 “Were you guys, hum, you know?” Charlie says, chuckling.

 “Charlie!” Meeks elbows him “Shut up” he says through gritted teeth

 “She was just… Helping me for the dance” Pitts says, flustered.

 “Yeah, yeah, tell me another one, Don Juan” the blonde boy ignores Meeks’ commment and laughs “Let them be, let’s go” he says and pushes all the other boys behind before sticking his head out the door “Good luck, Pittsie!” he raises his thumb and leaves.

  A slightly embarassed laugh leaves Pitts’ lips, as he tries to ease the mood. 

 “They’re crazy” you giggle, cheeks still as red as a tomato

 “That’s why we love them” the corners of his lips slightly turn upwards as he notices you looking at him out of the corners of your eyes.

 “You’ve got a point” you caress your arm in an self-conscious manner and you both stay silent for a while, just taking it all in.

 “So…” the boy says, in a soft tone “Help me tomorrow as well?” he doesn’t drift his gaze from the floor. You let out a slight chuckle, a vague chuckle he doesn’t quite comprehend but is intrigued by.

 “Of course” you both make eye contact and smile, a truly genuine smile, the type that you can’t ever fake.

 I hope you like it! I had a lot of fun writing this, I tried my best still, I’m not the greatest at writing so akjgkg. Thank you for the request, I really really loved the idea

#dead poets society #request #anonymous #dead poets society imagine #gerard pitts

[kurtty-drabbles]

Gods and Men fighting as equals, as allies, not as friends. (That AU where Storm became Thor and Kurt joined the Warriors Three)

@djinmer4N/A: Uhm, Kitty is Jane Frost…Funny, cause in the comics Jane Frost is Lady Thor.

Storm, as Kitty recalls, is a woman worth to admire. And it seems the magical hammer of Thor agrees as it chooses Ororo to be the next Thor. As Storm gave up the leadership of the X-men to Scott and Jean, who in turn, aren´t surprised that Ororo is the new Thor. There is one rule for being the new Thor is that…you can’t stay on Earth for much longer as any Thor must return to Asgardian.

However, there absolutely nothing stating that Ororo can´t bring someone else to Asgardian and Storm already have someone in mind, Kitty Pryde, often comments that her researches are not working out and she needs a new perspective.

“So, here are we in Asgardian” Kitty tries to play lightly but the sheer amount of ostentation and raw power in this place is something Kitty be a bit cautious. It is a brave new world.

“Kitten, this is our new home for the time being” and she adds “ the real Thor is an adventure with the Avengers and won´t return for the time being…meanwhile, let me introduced to a few people” Ororo speaks much like it is Kitty´s first day in the school, and the woman can´t deny it is(far worse)

She meets each Asgardian such as Valkyrie and they all mention to be aware of Loki, the trickster, other than that it was a normal welcome(of course, there´s the xenophobia as a large group gaze upon Ororo and Kitty as they are beneath dirty, which Kitty would love to flip them off but Ororo as Thor has more authority here)

Then she meets the warrior three. A group of warriors that are usually in 3, hence the name.

“This is Rogue, the first new warrior of the warrior 3” Kitty smiles as Rogue shakes her gloved hand. Both women seem to find the name a bit silly, thank god.

“This is Rhane, the second new warrior” this name is too silly as Kitty is trying to not laugh and Rhane is failing at this miserable.

“And finally, this is Kurt Wagner, the new third warrior” Kitty´s eyes land on Kurt´s eyes, golden and without pupil or iris. The man takes Kitty´s hand and kissed. It was an odd experience.

“You seem to be really touchy-feely, Mr Wagner, I would be aware of that cause not everyone will like it” Kitty respond and if that reply seems to deject or shame Kurt it causes the opposite effect as the blue man seems to found Kitty an interesting person now.

Storm is the New Thor as Kitty is living in Asgardian with the warrior 3 and learning new things about the universe. Life is full of surprises.

#kurtty yet #storm as the new thor au #rogue #rhane sinclair #kurt wagner #kitty pryde

[crewhonk]

.breathe.

What if Nancy’s sister did answer the door? What if Billy had shown up an hour earlier? 

A/N; This is my first lil fic in years tbh. and its bad, and the writing is rough and dirty, but I needed to do something because I’m off for winter break and I have literally nothing to do. 

Warnings: Swearing, bad writing structure, the usual. 

Masterlist

~

Y/N Wheeler hated Hawkins. 

After the events last year transpired with the Party she had to get out of there, the small town suffocating her until she couldn’t breathe. The news of the small town festered and boiled until she wasn’t able to go to the store around the corner without a child pointing or eighth graders whispering together. So, she did what all young, hot, smart independent girls did in 1983— traveled to Africa and volunteered at least once in every country. Five days per country, hundreds of polaroids and minimal sleep made a girl a woman and she was finally home in Indiana now, and holy Jesus, she forgot how fucking cold it was in the Northern Hemisphere. It was a Friday night, and Y/N had a date with three wool blankets, two long sleeved sweaters, thick wool sweatpants, and three pairs of fuzzy socks. Her dad was passed out on the Lay-Z-Boy across from her, his hand resting in the popcorn bowl on his lap, and the music from her mom’s bathroom crooned softly through the house. 

Y/N was ripped out of her thoughts when the sharp tone of the doorbell caught her attention, followed swiftly by her mother shrieking for her father to get the door, probably assuming Y/N was sleeping off her jetlag. When her mother called out for the fourth time, Y/N growled and threw the blankets off of her, throwing a glare at her sleeping father and storming up the stairs and swinging the door open. Standing in front of her was a Greek God. Maybe even one of the actual models that inspired the romance novel covers that littered every shelf and table in the house. 

“Hi, can I uh— Can I help you with… something?” She rasped, eyes trained on his beautiful, smooth chest and focusing on his Virgin Mary pendant. 

“I didn’t realize Nancy had a sister.” He murmured, smirking and leaning against the door frame. Y/N looked up at him through her lashes and blushed when his tongue slid out and licked his teeth—almost predatorily. His eyes scanned the length of her body and she blushed when she realized she wasn’t quite dressed for some beautiful company.

Y/N went to tuck her hair behind her ear but realized it was totally useless as she had her hair tied in a bun on the top of her head. “Yeah, I um… I’m from Africa. I mean, I’m not from Africa but I was there for a while um- Volunteering. With kids. And el-elephants.”

“Elephants?” He asked, leaning in. She could smell cologne and nicotine on his clothes and she breathed in the scent, not realizing its been so long since she was even near a boy. He was so tall and so close that Y/N had to angle her chin up to see his eyes (which, by the way, were disgustingly blue and were thickly rimmed with hateful black lashes). 

“Yeah, elephants,” she said, wrapping her arms around her torso. “You’re here for Nance?” 

“No, uh. Not my type. I’m looking for my sister, and Mrs. Sinclair told me that this was the designated hangout place.” 

“Wait.” Y/N stopped him, losing her breath for an entirely different reason. Not again. Ahe thought, her heart rate increasing an even greater amount. “Have you been to any of the other kids’ houses?”

“All except for the Zombie Kids’. Byers.. Right?” He pondered, reaching out to hold her wrist.

At this, her eyes frosted over and her posture became rigid. Y/N tore her hand away from his reach and had to consciously tell herself to not bring her palm across his face.

 “That entire group has been through hell this past year. And unless you know exactly what happened, you have no right to make any judgments about those kids or anyone they associate with.” She growled stepping on the ridge of the door. Her sudden closeness forced him to take a step back in shock at the hard change in mood. “I’ll drive you to Jonathan’s house.” She grumbled shoving her feet into her boots and storming past the Adonis-Asshole. The drive to the ratty house was silent, and Y/N had her foot pressed to the floor. If her suspicions were correct, she didn’t need to worry about the Chief of Police pulling her over. 

“Hey, Doll, I don’t even drive this fast can you please—“ He was cut off by the sound of Madonna being blasted louder through the shitty speakers. Soon enough, they tore down the gravel driveway and skidded to a stop. Hoppers car was parked next to Steve Harrington’s and Jonathan’s. 

Without even glancing at the boy next to her, she opened the door and sprinted to the front door of the house and barged in. 

“Holy Jesus, what are you people doing?!” Y/N screamed when she noticed the collection of gun nozzles and slingshots pointed towards her. The Party immediately lowered their guns and Mike and Nancy rushed forward. “Again?” In response, they both nodded. Their big sister was the strongest person they knew, and during the War of the Demogorgon (as Dustin had later called it), Y/N had pushed both kids behind her and protected them for those few days until she was literally punched in the face by an other-worldly demon. 

“Billy?!” A tiny red-head yelled protectively blocking Lucas from the older boys eyesight. 

“Hargrove. You need to leave.” Steve Harrington said, a gleaming nail ridden bat swinging at his side. He came toe-to-toe with the Alpha male and pushed him away with his pointer finger.  

“When was the last time I listened to you, Harrington.” Billy glowered, pushing Steve back about two feet.

“Hey!” Hopper came forward and shoved the teen boys apart. “Not now.” 

Just as the chief grumbled his last word, a scream, unlike any other animal, was heard from the forest surrounding the Byers’ house. When Y/N was in Africa, the hyenas laughing throughout the night sent chills down her spine. The growling of the 13-foot crocodiles that followed her canoe down the Nile river raised goosebumps on her skin. But this— this feeling was completely different. This sound made ice slide down her spine and her limbs catch on fire. Without her realizing it, she and Billy were handed a rifle and a knife consecutively and were pushed into the circle.  

“What the fuck is going on?!” Billy yelled, knife trembling in his hand.  “Buddy,” Y/N whispered. “When there’s a lion stalking you. You shut up.” ‘There’s a lion?” “It’s a metaphor.” She replied “Analogy,” Lucas mumbled. “What did you say?” Billy said, whipping around to face him.

“It’s an analogy.” Dustin persisted, pushing Lucas behind his person.

“Shut up!” Nancy yelled, just as a figure was thrown through the front window. Billy fell back in surprise and shouted when his tailbone came into contact with the corner of the couch. The Thing that flew through the window wasn’t moving. 

“Is it dead?” someone whispered. Y/N’s senses seemed to stop functioning and her sight narrowed into tunnel vision. The slick skin of the creature seemed to glow softly as if it were apart of a Bowie music video Y/N would switch past on the TV. Just as Y/N thought she was going to vomit, a click from the door pulled the Party’s attention away from The Thing. 

The lock on the door was moving. The lock on the door was moving. On its own. “Woah.  Wait. That’s not how things are supposed to work. THAT IS NOT HOW THINGS ARE SUPPOSED TO WORK” Billy screamed, dropping his knife on the floor and putting his hands on his knees, brows furrowed in fear and confusion. 

“Dude. Calm. Down.” Y/N said, gripping Billy’s wrist tightly enough to leave bruises. His eyes flicked to the traveler, pupils dilated nearly the size of his iris. There was sweat on his upper lip, and his chin was wobbling slightly. “Breathe. Please. I can’t have you panicking what That Thing comes through the door. You need to not drop knives on peoples feet. Your life is about to change.” She murmured to him. “But right now, you need to breathe, man.” And with that, Billy’s breathing slowed down, the lock dropped, and life changed. 

#billy hargrove x reader #billy hargrove #billy #billy Hargrove x you #stranger things #stranger things 2 #stranger spoilers #st #stranger things x reader #stranger things x you #Nancy wheeler #Nancy wheeler x reader #Nancy wheeler x you #mike wheeler #jonathan byers #will byers #max mayfield #dustin henderson #lucas sinclair #steve harrington

[pirate-empress-story]

CH1 Just a smuggling run Part 1

Elizabeth stood on the wooden dock, her sun-lightened brunette hair tied back in a simple braid. She squinted at her ship, the fallen angel. Elizabeth is a medium height and a little on the plump side, but behind the small layer of blubber are thick muscles. Her blue eye glinted in the sunlight, her right eye hidden behind a black cloth eyepatch. She wore a soft, well-worn canvas shirt that billowed around her torso and arms, and nearly black pants that were loose enough for good mobility. Soft leather boots rose halfway up her calves and a leather belt held her sheathed sword.

There were many ships lined up in the harbor, each one slightly different. Most of the Fishing ships were at the east side of the harbor. They were small with no more than two masts, most of them had slots for paddles, and many of them were time worn and storm beaten. Not far from them were a strange, yet common ship. It looked impossible, looked at from above the ship looked like an eye, the iris was a large holding tank for rare fish, the pupil and whites of the eye were platforms for people to walk upon. The Ships were heavily enchanted, they were filled with water and yet they could float, the tanks were enchanted to not spill their contents, the sails enchanted to catch extra wind. Only rich fishmongers could afford these ships. After the Fish Eye ships were the various cargo ships, all haphazardly pulled into the dock. At the far right of the harbor were where the large military ships would be, if any actually bothered to go all the way out there. Only a single Starlian Military ship floated there, the soldiers that were assigned to it were probably loafing about the town, throwing around their faux prestigious titles and not actually caring about the laws they were supposed to enforce.

The ship that Elizabeth stood admiring was a rather small ship, and an older one as well. The three masts were small and triangular, in the style of the northern islands’ ships. The figure head was a muscular man wearing little more than a loincloth, he had two feathered wings that came out of his back conforming with the ship’s hull. The railing was elegant, hatches for cannons barely broke up the carved wood. The ship had been fixed up recently, it seemed to shimmer brightly in Elizabeth’s eyes, even though few things on it could make it glitter.

Almost all the preparations are finished, there’s not much time now. Elizabeth smiled to herself watching a small handful of people bustle around her.

“It is a nice ship Miss Argall.” A posh voice said behind her, Elizabeth didn’t need to turn, she knew the owner of the aristocratic tone. Erik Leifson, an old friend.

“A wonderful find indeed, and to think it was hidden in a damned cave on the north side of the island.” Elizabeth said over her shoulder.

Currently the two of them Stood on the main dock of the largest (and only) town on the Isle D’Makrel. D’Makrel is a small Island, perhaps 10 miles at its widest point. It was on the outer south eastern of the Starlian Archipelago. The island is known for fishing and textiles. Farms on the sloping hills of the island provide wool, cotton, and silk for weavers and seamstresses in the town. Of course, silk worms and Cotton plants aren’t native to the island, but the farmers have perfected the raising and care for both crops. Large schools of rare fish migrate past the island twice a year, making the fishermen rich with money from larger islands. Needless to say, D’Makrel is a wealthy, yet small island.

“Miss Argall, I think that it is time for us to finalize our agreement, now that you’re ready to set sail and my goods are on board.” The posh man said after a moment of silence. Elizabeth could hear him step over to a barrel that she had been using as a make-shift table.

Elizabeth turned, finally tearing her eyes away from the ship she now called hers. Erik was a tall man. Vibrant orange hair coifed attractively on his head, he kept it shorter around the sides, and long enough on top that his natural elegant wave caused his bangs to fall onto his forehead with a small twist. He had irritatingly pretty teal eyes, with long pretty eyelashes. His eyebrows were trimmed, and other that a light, attractive spackling of freckles no blemish could be found on his face. Today he was wearing a tan suit over a dark brown vest and white shirt with medium brown trousers. His skin was lightly sun-touched and it glimmered in the warm spring air. The monochrome of Erik’s suit only made the rest of his features more attractive, it pissed Elizabeth off. She’d known him since they were children and it pissed her off then too, this bastard had no right to be so pretty.

“Oh right, more paperwork, I thought I had John doing all this crap, he’s better at it.” She grumbled disdainfully.

“Mr. Argall had tried, but I insisted that it was a contract between you and me. He should not sign for you if he has nothing to do with the agreement.” Erik smirked, enjoying causing irritation to his childhood acquaintance.

Elizabeth looked over the scroll the man provided, “Count… right, I forgot your old man bit the dust last year. Sorry for your loss, but not too sorry, you got a county out of the deal.” Elizabeth said brashly.

“He should have died earlier than he did, his last few months he made stupid decisions that I’m still cleaning up. Selfish bastard.”

The Captain laughed heartily at the count’s response. “Cold hearted as ever Count Liefson.” She read through the agreement one last time. “Did you mark which barrel is going to the sea witch?” Elizabeth glanced up at her business partner.

“Yes, rather subtly too, there’s a small floating enchantment on it, once you get into the pi- HER territory, just drop it off the ship, then give the rest of the goods to my men in Galliea.” Erik corrected himself quickly.

“Very well, I’ve got my copy of the agreement here, and you’ve yours there. Now, anything else you need?” Elizabeth sorted out the paperwork on her barrel, passing some to her companion. “I hope the fact that you got the County doesn’t get those Starlian bastards all over my ass.”

“oh, it will, but not until you get into dock. So long as you don’t cause them trouble first.”

“You know as well as I that I’ve already got some enemies in the Realm.” Elizabeth retorted, “if they get a sniff of me it’ll be trouble”

“Oh, I’m aware what you and that minotaur got up to this past year.” Erik smirked, “we both know that could have been avoided with a small ceremony and a long peaceful life.”

Elizabeth snorted with irritation, rolling her eyes. “I’m sorry that I decided to become a pirate over being your adorable little wifey.” She mocked curtsying before lazing her head back to give a look of disgust at Erik.

“Pity too, you’d’ve made a wonderful trophy wife.” He mocked back, “I’d show you off to the king and he’d be envious of me for having such a strong woman to birth my children.”

“Boss! Trouble!” A woman with soft mocha brown fur. If people were shapes, she’d be a triangle, her broad shoulders tapered down into a thin waist. Thin is a relative term here, at the minotaur’s thinnest she was still as thick as a trunk. Gold rings glinted on her bovine ears, the clop of her hooves could be heard as they pounded the cobblestones while she jogged. She wore two large belts that crossed, ruffling the light tan fuzz on her chest. She wore simple white cloth pants with a large brass plate that rested over her navel.

“Whisper! What’s going on?” Elizabeth looked up into her crewmate’s disturbingly human eyes.

The minotaur’s contralto rumbled in her chest as she spoke, “Cale, he hired an academy mage, I-I don’t know why. I thought-I thought I’d tell you and inform… because.” The Bull-woman bent down and panted a moment.

“Don’t worry, I understand the situation. I asked Cale to hire a pair of magical hands so that I don’t have to be awake at all hours, constantly blowing wind in the sails.” Elizabeth smiled gently at her friend, “Erik, this is my good friend Thelly Whisperhooves; Whisper, this is Count Erik Liefson of Isle D’Makrel.” The captain introduced the two politely.

“Good to meet you Miss Thelly Whisperhooves.” Erik bowed a little, “I’ll be off now that everything is in order. I do apologize to leave in such a hurry, I do have places to be, however.” He dipped his head to the two women before spinning on his hill and walking away.

Author’s note: I know that this first part is really really short, but I just couldn’t wait to get it out

Archive

#Ch 1 #P1 #CH1 P1 #Pirate Empress #web novel #Beck Greyhawke #Beginning #Just a smuggling run #Elizabeth #Erik #Whisper #Minotaur #Sailing #Pirates