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mochegato · 4 years

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Covert Romance

Continuation of Covert Dating

Marinette nervously followed Jason up the narrow stairs, clutching his hand for reassurance. “Are you sure it’s okay for us to be up here?” she whispered anxiously despite there being nobody else in the stairwell to hear. She was positive they were breaking some kind of rule. There was no way random people were allowed to just jaunt on up to the roof of the Wayne Enterprises building. It was one of the most secure buildings in the city, hell, maybe the entire state.

The security officer at the front door had let them pass with little more than a nod to Jason and a smile, showing very little concern about them wandering around. But now they were almost on the roof and it seemed like there should be another level of security to get up there, like someone appearing out of nowhere to check ID’s and intentions. But there was nothing. Just her and Jason and Jason’s keycard granting them the run of the building.

“Yeah Princess, it’s fine,” he reassured her with a smile squeezing her hand. “There’s a reason I have a keycard. I’m allowed to go anywhere in the building I deem necessary. And I have deemed it very necessary for me to be up here right now with you.” He threw her a dashing smile that made her blush brightly as he let go of her hand to pull out his keycard again.

“Ready?” he asked putting the keycard back in his pocket after swiping it on the security pad.

“For what” she asked with a suspicious smile.

“It’s a surprise. Close your eyes and wait here for a second,” he said, excitement creeping into his voice. He had never brought someone up here before. The view from the roof meant a lot to him. It was one of his favorite spots in the world. Gotham looked magical from up here. Something about bringing her here made him feel exposed and he was eager to see how she reacted.

When Marinette closed her eyes, he pushed the door open and gently placed the box he had been carrying with their dinner on the ground before turning back to Marinette. “I’m going to bring you out now,” he said gently as he put one hand over her eyes and the other on the small of her back to guide her to a particular spot on the roof. “No peeking,” he warned gently. She could hear his cheeky grin in his voice.

As soon as she stepped onto the roof, she could feel the cool, crisp night air hit the exposed parts of her face, cooling her burning cheeks. She could barely register the sounds of the city over her racing heart as he led her out onto the roof. Her heart nearly stopped when she felt him step behind her almost touching his chest to her back and whispered, “Okay, open your eyes.”

She opened her eyes and gasped at the sight in front of her. “What do you think?” he asked eagerly. When she didn’t respond immediately he anxiously explained, “This is my favorite spot in the entire city. It is the best place to see all of Gotham lit up. From right here, you can see the neighborhood I grew up in, the waterfront, gargoyles… you can almost imagine something good could happen here. Like there’s hope for us all. ” he whispered with a shaky smile.

Her eyes opened exceptionally wide as she took in the view. “Jason, this is absolutely gorgeous. I’ve never seen Gotham this way. Oh my God, this is… I should have brought my sketchbook. Jason, this is amazing!” She finally tore her eyes from the city to turn and face Jason, her smile beaming. “Thank you for bringing me up here.”

Jason looked down at her, her exhilarated expression making his heart skip a beat. He let out the breath he had been holding since he removed his hand from her eyes. The city lights were reflected in her gorgeous blue eyes making them sparkle even more than they usually did. He smiled gently at her “I guess we’ll have to come back up here for our next date too, so you can bring your sketchbook with you.”

Marinette’s breath hitched as she noticed how very close they were to one another. She smiled shyly, “Second date huh?”

He raised his hand to move a strand of hair the wind was whipping around her face to tuck it behind her ear, before moving his hands to cradle her face and run his thumbs over her cheeks. God, he wanted to see that expression on her face every day, every moment. He wanted to be the one to make her look like that. “Or third… or fourth… two hundredth. However many you’ll let me have, I’ll take.” Sincerity shone in his eyes as he leaned down slowly. He gently lifted her chin, keeping eye contact the entire time to check for any signs of apprehension. Seeing none, he moved to within centimeters of her lips and whispered, “Is this okay?”

“Please,” she whispered back pushing up to meet his lips with her own, giving him a gentle kiss that was far too short for her. She pulled away and opened her eyes to look up at him. When their eyes met she saw the same desire she felt clouding his eyes. She quickly pushed up to give him a second, longer, hungrier kiss. His arms wound around her waist, pulling her body closer to him as hers found their way up to his neck and hair, pulling his face closer to her so she could deepen the kiss.

When they finally broke apart, breathing deeply, she smiled happily and twisted in his arms back toward the city, snuggling back against him. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and curled around her. She leaned her head back against his chest with a happy sigh, taking in the beauty of Gotham at night. She matched perfectly with his body, her head tucked snugly under his chin, like they were designed to fit together. His body molded around her like a comforting blanket, making her feel warm and secure. She wanted more of this, more of him. “I’ll give you as many dates as you want. As long as you’re there and kissing me like that, I’ll be happy.”

“Couldn’t be much of a date if I wasn’t there. Sounds incredibly boring for you. What would you do?” He questioned in mock concern.

“Probably pine after you. You’re right, I should just stick to dating you.” She said pretending to come to a resolution.

“It’s settled then,” he said nodding. He squeezed her tightly for a moment and said, “Come on, let’s eat. I’m starving.”

A few minutes later, the blanket Jason had borrowed from his favorite Italian restaurant had been spread out and the dishes they had ordered placed on it along with a couple bottles of wine and glasses the owner had also packed in the box for them. Joe had packed the box with everything they would need for an impromptu picnic and promised to tell his brothers, or anyone else asking about him, that he hadn’t seen or heard from Jason for a few days. He even promised to ask if he should contact them if Jason did turn up to further the illusion that he hadn’t seen them. Regardless of whether his brothers believed him or not, they wouldn’t get any information out of Joe to know if he went to another restaurant or got take out. Jason was going to have to do something extra special for Joe. This was exactly what they needed to escape from his family.

After dishing the food onto their plates and pouring the wine, Marinette broke the comfortable silence. “Oh wow! You were right. This is delicious.” He bowed slightly in acknowledgement instead of answering since his mouth was currently stuffed with food. “So… you said there was a reason you had a key to go everywhere in the building. What is that reason?”

“Oh… um…” he swallowed the mouthful he had just taken, “I’m head of security for the company.” He’d had his answer prepared. It was a plausible excuse, easy to believe with his expertise and familiarity with the building and employees.

“Really!? Oh my God! That must be insanely stressful. This is one of the most targeted businesses in Gotham,” she reeled back in shock. No wonder he was always keeping an eye out for suspicious activity and acting on it. She did it too, but that was because she had been Ladybug. Now it made so much sense that he would do the same. “I hope they give you lots of vacation days to burn off that pressure.” She took another bite of the pasta and furrowed her brow. “Is that how you have access to a private jet? They let you borrow it occasionally so you don’t go insane?”

“Not exactly but kinda, yeah. Mr. Wayne lets me take it if I need to for some reason. And my best friend’s dad is filthy fucking rich and has no problem using it to buy affection so... yeah. What about you though?”

“Well… I mean, I don’t really.”

Jason raised his eyebrow at her. “Your roommate said that was bullshit. Come on Mari, I want the whole and unabridged answer here,” he said urging her to continue.

She sighed. “Okay so, my best friend… you almost met him tonight, my roommate, Adrien? Yeah, he used to be really wealthy with a private jet or two, but his dad turned out to be a supervillain… oh, remember me talking about Hawkmoth? That was his Dad, Gabriel Agreste, so… not so many jets anymore.” Jason hadn’t expected that turn of events. That would explain why she was so hesitant to talk about it. Not a lot of people liked discussing their association with a supervillain. Odd that her roommate would mention it in front of strangers, but then again who was he to critique someone else’s coping mechanisms.

Jason was about to change the subject to a less dismal topic when Marinette swallowed her food and continued. “One of his other best friends is also rich. Her dad is the mayor of Paris and her mom is Style Queen. She likes me, Style Queen not the friend, although she doesn’t hate me anymore so… progress! Well… tolerates me, so… frenemies? Is it frenemies if only one person is doing it?” Marinette asked scrunching her face and cocking it to the side as if she was trying to figure out a puzzle before continuing to ramble on. “But, she would really only let me borrow the jet if she thought it would annoy Adrien… or my other friends… or her parents… or anyone who said she couldn’t. She really doesn’t like being told what she ‘can’ or ‘can’t’ do,” she rolled her eyes and grinned at Jason. “Can’t really blame her though. I’d do the same. Also, my uncle is a rock star and another friend is a pop star and another is a supermodel… actually, she doesn’t have her own private jet but she does have a lot of people willing to let her use theirs whenever she asks, no questions asked... Also, I have a few clients that would probably let me borrow a jet if I asked desperately enough.”

Jason stared at her slack jawed. His food was falling out of his open mouth unnoticed. “Holy fuck, Pixie!” he exclaimed when he could finally speak again.

“You wanted the whole answer! ‘Unabridged’ you said,” she protested, her cheeks bright red in embarrassment.

“And was that the whole answer?” he asked only half joking.

“I think… Oh, and I know a producer that probably has a few jets. It seems like the kind of thing he would do. Maybe a few others. My friends and I don’t really talk about things like that when we get together.” She shrugged.

“Damn, who the fuck are you, Marinette?” he asked in awe.

She smiled and looked down timidly, “Didn’t I tell you?” She looked back up with a scowl. “I am Batman” she growled out in a gruff voice.

Jason gave her a deadpan look and threw down his fork. “That’s it. I lost my appetite.” He mock pouted. “That's it, Princess. You've managed to do what none of my brothers or hundreds of hours of hours of gory horror movies managed to do. I completely lost my appetite”

She gave him a raucous laugh that he quickly matched. After the laughter had died out she looked back up at him with shining eyes and said playfully, “By the way, you can’t use ‘Princess’.”

“What?” he asked in confusion.

“You called me Princess a few times tonight. You can’t use that one. You’re going to have to stick to Pixie Pop or Cupcake or come up with some others.”

“Okay, but what’s the hang up with ‘Princess’? Bad memories? Someone who’s ass I need to kick?”

“No, no, nothing like that. It’s just that it’s Adrien’s nickname for me and he’s very protective of it. Not that he doesn’t have a lot of them for me, but that one means a lot to him.” She looked at Jason apologetically.

Jason nodded, “Got it. Princess has already been claimed. I can live with that.” He narrowed his eyes at her and pointed a warning finger at her before saying, “You can’t use Zombie or Buckethead. Those are already taken by my brothers.”

She laughed loudly. “Seriously?” He nodded solemnly in response. “Damn, those were the ones I was going to use too.” He squawked in response making her laugh even louder. Once their laughter had lightened she looked back out to the city and hummed. “So what do you think our friends and family are doing now? Do you think they are still looking for us?”

“I’m betting,” he started, taking another bite before continuing, “they went to the restaurant we picked up the food from, it’s a family favorite, tried to track our phones before seeing they were turned off, asked Alfred where we might have gone, and when he told them to back off, went to a coffee shop to regroup and plan.”

“Hmmm… That’s a lot of time with each other. I wonder which of your siblings Adrien is going to say he’s in love with when I get home.”

“That desperate, huh?” he joked.

“That much of a romantic,” she corrected. “When he falls, he does it quickly and with his whole heart.”

Jason hummed in response. That was something he could bond with Adrien over. He smiled gently at her as she looked peacefully out over the city with a gentle smile. She was the smartest, strongest, sweetest woman he had ever met. She was really too sweet for Gotham. She was definitely too sweet for Red Hood. Was he making a mistake bringing her into his life? He really, really liked her, maybe even loved her at this point, but his life was dangerous. He knew she had experience with danger after her years living in Paris while the Hawk guy was running around, but being with a vigilante was a different thing all together. How would she react the first time he came home with a gunshot wound or broken ribs? How would he react if someone took her to get to him? She wasn’t a hero like him. How would she protect herself? He shook his head to clear the negative thoughts out of his head. They had plenty of time to discuss that. Tonight, in this spot that promised so much hope, he was going to enjoy his date. “We should dance,” he said smiling lovingly at her as he stood up and walked a few feet away.

“There’s no music,” she laughed incredulously.

“Then we make our own,” he extended his hand to her.

Marinette stared at his hand for a moment before looking back in his sparkling eyes. The eyes she would follow anywhere. The eyes she fell in love with. She smirked at him, “You have some secret beatboxing skills you haven’t divulged yet? Because that would be amazing.”

He smiled gallantly down at her “No, but my humming would make Bocelli jealous.”

She laughed, “Oh that I have to hear.” She set down her plate and bounced up. Before she reached his hand, they heard a thump on the other side of the roof.

“Oh shit,” Jason sighed out in annoyance and he moved between Marinette and the noise, effectively hiding her behind him.

Marinette watched the side of the roof the noise had emanated from, steeling herself to fight. Batman emerging from the shadows had honestly never occurred to her, although it made sense. He was probably investigating why there were unauthorized people on the roof. “Why aren’t you suited up?” he growled at Jason.

“I’m not working tonight, Batman,” Jason said very deliberately, shooting him a warning look, “so I’m not in my uh… uniform.”

“Oh my God, it’s the real Batman. Did I… did I summon him?” Marinette whispered to Jason peeking out from behind him.

Batman glanced down at Marinette and looked back at Jason. Jason could feel the disappointment and raised eyebrow under the cowl.

“His son is the demon, not him.” He said quietly to her with a smirk. Turning back to Batman he said, “We’re here on a date B. Hiding from my family who couldn’t mind their own fucking business and decided to crash our date.” He said pointedly.

“You’re hiding from your family and you decided here was a good place to hide from them?”

“Hiding in plain sight. They would assume I’d take her to a restaurant for our date not here. And nobody else is expected to work for a while. I was hoping we’d be out of here before then.”

Marinette’s mind was reeling. Jason seemed unnaturally calm talking to the Batman. She supposed he might be familiar with him considering his position for Wayne Enterprises. But, they sounded like they know each other really, really well, more than just Jason working with him for security. Also, that didn’t explain Batman asking him about suiting up. That wasn’t a term you used with civilians. It was a term heroes used…. “Oh my God. You’re one of the bats! You’re one of Gotham’s heroes.”

“Vigilantes” Jason said

“Oh my GOD!!” Marinette exclaimed backing away. “One nice, normal guy, that’s all I asked for. Just one love interest that wasn’t a fucking superhero. Why is that too much to ask?”

“Vigilante. What do you mean just one? How many superheroes have you dated?”

“You know, it isn’t even just boyfriends. Just one friend that doesn't risk their life constantly.” She ran her hand down over her face, “ugh, Adrien is never going to let me hear the end of this.”

“Oh, I don't risk my life, I make others risk theirs…” he paused to consider what he had just said and furrowed his brow, “I just realized that makes it sound like I need to get rescued a lot. That's not what I meant. I meant the bad guys do…. You know what? I never said anything. This never happened.”

“Jason you almost got Robin killed last week. And you've literally died”

“What?! I mean join the club, but what?” Marinette shrieked at him.

“What do you mean join the club?!” Jason exclaimed toward her then turned back to Batman “and Damian was in danger because he got cocky and rushed in.”

“SECRETS Jason. Secret identities don’t do much if you tell them to everyone you take on a date.”

“It’s not like I’m Dick. This is the first date I’ve been on in a year,” Jason said rolling his eyes.

“Really?” Marinette asked softly.

“Yeah, I hadn’t met anyone I wanted to date in a while.” he shrugged more vulnerable than Marinette had ever seen him, like she was witnessing a part of him he rarely let people see. “And I didn’t tell her,” he defended, rounding back to Batman.

“Well she figured it out somehow,” he growled back at Jason.

“Me either,” she smiled gently up at Jason, then turned back to Batman. “Actually, it was you with the ‘why aren’t you in uniform’ and all the familiarity you had with him that gave it away,” she said significantly less gently to Batman.

Batman gave her his patented glare.

“What is that supposed to do? Intimidate me? It isn’t going to change what happened.” She stared back at him unimpressed with a raised brow. “I’ve been glared at by the best. I’m not going to lie, you’ve got a good glare but if you think your glare is better than Gabriel Agreste or Audrey Bourgeois or my Mom’s you’re delusional. I’ve stood up to all of them and their glares without flinching.” Aside to Jason she said “except my mom because she’s really scary when she wants to be.” Turning to face back to Batman, “I took Gabriel Agreste and his glare down. I can do the same to you.”

Jason stared at her mouth slightly agape. What, and he could not stress this enough, the FUCK was happening right now? His little, too sweet for Gotham girlfriend… girlfriend, right? She did agree to only date him so… He’d have to get confirmation on that. His too sweet for Gotham girlfriend was making Bruce her bitch. He was fighting hard against the urge to drag her back into the stairwell and push her up against the wall. No, focus. He needed to focus. Something about what she had said was off.

His mind started racing through what she said. She said she took Gabriel Agreste down. What did that mean… didn’t she say Gabriel Agreste was Hawkmoth? Ladybug took down Hawkmoth… Oh my God! That’s why she has a history with superheroes! “Holy Shit, you’re Ladybug!” He grinned widely. His sweet, kind, brilliant Pixie was a superhero who could protect herself! And, could backtalk Bruce like she was already a Wayne… He could make that happen actually…

Marinette looked up at Jason with a shocked expression “What?”

“You said you took down the Hawk guy. Ladybug took him down. You’re Ladybug. You’re a superhero! Wait... Adrien is the other one, right? The cat one you talked about? That's why you're so close. That’s why you two always had each other’s backs. Oh fuck. That means he was fighting his dad the whole time and didn’t know it. Oooh, B you really need to keep Selina away from him. She’ll adopt him… actually, you should stay away from him too. I already have one blonde, secret superhero child of a supervillain sibling. I don’t need another.”

“Secret identities, Jason. They're a thing for a reason” Marinette hissed at him.

He just smiled back at her annoyed face as he wrapped his arms around her, “I’m just so glad you’re a hero and can protect yourself.”

“SILENCE,” Batman yelled. “Who is Ladybug? Who is Hawk Guy? And, who is ‘The Cat One’.”

“I’ll brief you later,” Jason said grinning lovingly down at the woman in his arms. “Right now, I think I need to borrow the jet.”

Marinette opened her mouth to argue about secret identities but instead shook her head and sighed resting her head on his shoulder. “I’m not getting married without a white dress,” she said in resignation. “I’m a designer, I need an amazing wedding dress.”

Just then the door to the roof burst open and Dick, Tim, Stephanie, and Adrien rushed through, tripping over each other in their haste to get out on the roof.

“I knew it! I told you they would be here,” Tim said to the others in triumph before freezing when he saw Batman.

“Oh my God! It’s Batman. It’s the Batman. This is amazing,” Adrien gushed bouncing on the pads of his feet.

“It isn’t really that special, Blondie. He’s way over hyped.” Stephanie said rolling her eyes and shooting Batman a sardonic grin.

“So… what’s going on guys?” Dick asked cautiously.

“It’s all good. He can explain,” Jason said pointing to Batman and grabbing Marinette’s hand, guiding her toward the door.

“Hey, where do you guys think you are going?” Dick called out to them.

“We’re going to let the Bat explain everything. Also, just so we’re all on the same page, everyone up here is a hero or vigilante,” Jason grinned back at them like he hadn’t just thrown a grenade. “Have fun with that conversation. We’re taking this date on the road,” he said pulling Marinette through the door and closing it behind them. “Come on, let’s get going before they come around. Maybe we can be in Vegas before they recover. If you want to. If not we can date like proper people do and see where it goes.”

“I’m always up for a little chaos,” Marinette responded pressing a chaste kiss on his lips and grinning at the grumble he let out when she pulled away. When he leaned back toward her trying to recapture her lips she pushed him away gently with a finger on his lips. “We better move quickly then and if I start really kissing you again, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop,” she said giving him a seductive look. “My Uncle’s in Metropolis tonight. I can have his jet here within an hour but he’ll probably demand to be a witness. That gives us enough time to stop by my workshop and pick up the dress I just finished working on, which just happens to be white. Kismet,” she grinned, grabbing his hand as they ran down the stairs laughing deliriously.

Continued in Covert Wedding

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Did I write this entire fic just for the ‘I am Batman’ line? Yes, yes I did.

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genuary-fic-event · 3 years

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Harry Potter & Naruto Gen Fics

Almost all of my stories are gen so I picked out a few of my favourites to share! All stories are by FiresFromOurHearts (i.e. me).

Harry Potter

Graduation - Oliver Wood, Percy Weasley, and Penelope Clearwater have made it to graduation, somehow, against the odds. This is their last time at Hogwarts as students; this is the boat trip you leave on.

Tags: graduation, final year, last day, memories, Ravenclaw Gryffindor friendship, changes, change, growing up, final memory of Hogwarts, graduating.

the broken bones of our childhood - blaise thinks about love. about love being shovde down his throat, about a society that makes him think he wants that love, wants to grab it from the stars and let it huddle in his cupped hands. he’s young, fourteen maybe, when he reads aromantic for the first time. reads aromantic, reads asexual, reads queerplatonic relationships. and he thinks, oh, maybe this is it. maybe this is me. he thinks about society’s romance and thinks about friendship, thinks about platonic love, and thinks maybe this is right.

Tags: this could be angst but I don’t think so?, someone let me know about that please, Aromantic, Asexual Character, Asexuality, Aromantic Asexual character, growing up, sexuality crisis, kind of, more like discovery?, sexuality, love, friendship, Slytherin, Sexual Confusion, I don’t know what else to tag, society’s views of love, marriage, but a negative view of marriage, aromantic asexual Blaise Zabini, queerplatonic relationships, character study, I’m so so proud of this work so please give it a try, not really part of the series so can be read alone, don’t copy to another site

she unleashes the magic in her veins - Narcissa has sat alone in Malfoy Manor while her husband is in prison and her son is off on a suicide mission. She sits and she waits and she dares her hands not to shake. Soon, she grows sick of waiting. Narcissa had been a Black once and she still is; her marriage did not take that from her. Perhaps it is time that someone of the Black family shakes the foundations of the world once again.

Tags: BAMF women, BAMF Narcissa Black Malfoy, Slytherins being Slytherins, Mother-son relationship, mother’s love, love, Malfoy Manor, house elves, Number 12 Grimmauld Place, horcruxes

Never Been A Love Story (Quite Like This) - Charlie Weasley’s soulmates with Draco Malfoy. Over the years, things manage to work themselves out and they end up as friends. The real problem stems from the world around them saying they must be in love with one another since they’re soulmates. Charlie struggles with this. Luckily, Draco’s there to help out.

Tags: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, platonic soulmates, platonic male/male relationships, family, grief/mourning, comfort, second war with Voldemort, post-second war with Voldemort, smuggling, a few crimes, friendship, enemies to friends, to even better friends, romantic soulmates, kinda, dragons, I mean it is Charlie Weasley, asexual Charlie Weasley, Aromantic Charlie Weasley, Aromantic Asexual Charlie Weasley, POV Charlie Weasley, I guess, Charlie Weasley-centric, do not post to another site

Steady Feet (I’ve Stopped Running) - Or that story where Charlie Weasley tells his family he’s aromantic and asexual and nothing bad happens.

Tags: Aromantic Charlie Weasley, Asexual Charlie Weasley, aromantic asexual Charlie Weasley, Charlie Weasley-centric, dragons, of course, family, comfort, family feels, bisexual Bill Weasley, Pansexual Ginny Weasley, friendship, it’s in the background, familial love, coming out, self-love

United Within These Walls - Blaise Zabini might be a Slytherin. But he’d been a Hogwarts student first. They all had been. It’s time for houses to matter less and the one thing that brings them together - Hogwarts - to matter more.

Tags: Hogwarts seventh year, warnings for the Carrows, interrogation, torture, (kind of), resistance, students, Dumbledore’s Army, these tags sound bad, but it’s not too dark, Hogwarts inter-house unity

Warning: Warnings for the Carrows and the use of the crucio.

Naruto

Everybody Knows (the deal is rotten) - A story inspired by Orpheus and Eurydice, except there’s no romance and no real gods, except there are brothers and death and the Sharingan.

Tags (a number of tags in this one so just doing the main ones): Alternate Universe - canon divergence, inspired by Orpheus and Eurydice, eye-trauma, Uchiha Madara-centric, canonical character death, canon does not follow from that death though, questionable sanity, ghosts, potential mindfuck

Warning: Izuna’s technically dead? Or he dies and then comes back. Warning for eye trauma. Initial note mentions this in more detail.

follow your heart (it leads you home) - After a twelve-hour shift at the hospital, there are few things Rin wants to do. She will, however, listen to rumours from Obito, eat dinner, and then fall asleep as they both wait to see Kakashi. And Kakashi loves to see his partners when he comes home, especially when he’s been missing them. Meanwhile, Obito conspires so that everyone gets to be happy - himself included.

Tags: Alternate Universe - everybody lives/nobody dies, queerplatonic relationships, Nohara Rin lives, medic Nohara Rin, soft, comfort, no hurt, healthy relationships, these kids are so sweet and soft with each other and I love them, Rin & Obito & Kakashi QPR, Uchiha Obito lives, Good Uchiha Obito, feel-good, love, friendship/love, mistaken for dating, rumours, laughing at rumours

stay with me tonight (there’s so much wrong going on outside) - Sometimes you’re stressed and exhausted and burnt out. But you know what? Sasuke isn’t alone. He can relax and rely on Sakura and Naruto. Just take a break and breathe.

Tags: Queerplatonic relationships, alternate universe - Modern setting, roommates, movie night, softness, bad days, burnout, students, casual intimacy, love, friendship/love, hurt/comfort, more comfort than hurt, fluff, domestic fluff

Here’s To Us (Here’s To Love) - Team 7 is a little bit more lonely, their lives a little less harsh, and they are a team. They will remain a team, no matter what comes. (A short fic on Team 7’s friendship and love as it could’ve been. How their family began and how it continues on after everything.)

Tags: Team as family, Team 7 as family, team 7-centric, team 7 feels, found family, friendship/love, loneliness, comfort, hope, alternate universe - canon divergence, lonely team 7, love, friendship, I cannot tell you how much team 7 love each other, so so much love, gentle, soft, the interent quiet of the darkness at night

Naruto Series

The Overworked Hikaku Chronicles - The Overworked Hikaku Chronicles covers how Uchiha Hikaku accidentally saves the world, creates peace amongst the Uchiha and Senju Clans, deals with Konoha being founded like the normal person he is, and also stops being so overworked and tired with a (slightly forced) nap. It starts with crack and humour, grows to speak of self-care and ends gently and with love.

Notes: Since this isn’t a single work, there’s a number of tags. In total, there are ten works with a total of around 31k. There’s one work with a warning for near-death experience, and a number of the fics deal with burnout and stress, but also focussing on moving past that too. Tags commonly featured include: crack, crack treated seriously, fluff and humour, Uchiha Izuna lives, Warring States Period (Naruto), family, family feels, familial love.

The Sea Never Dies

Uzushiogakure is more than a ruin. Her people wander and they hide themselves away, refusing to be who they once were. Uzushio sees this and she refuses to let the world stay that way. Uzushiogakure may have fallen, but Uzushio is far from dead.

Meanwhile, Konoha kills off almost all of the Uchiha Clan, leaving two - Sasuke Uchiha and Toru Uchiha. Sasuke’s survival was meant to happen. Toru’s survival was due to luck, (and something more, something much, much bigger than luck).

The world is not safe or nice or good. It hasn’t been such for a while. That’s alright though. Toru can make things happen with his own two hands and his words. He can change his world, even if it isn’t the entire world. Toru doesn’t like the whole world that much anyway.

Notes: Like the previous series, this one has too many tags to tag individually. This series is still ongoing and is near the end, though, updating frequently. In total, there’s about 600k words at the moment (and an extra 70k of extra AUs and whatnot) so it is massive. I would argue it’s all about found family, love, hope, building a life out of the ashes, and learning to live for yourself/living on when nothing is left.

Common tags: Uzushiogakure, LGBTQ character, Alternate universe - canon divergence, friendship, queerplatonic relationship, found family, team as family, reincarnation, ANBU, world building, team building, BAMF women, women being awesome, BAMF team 7, friendship.

Warnings: This series lightly touches on PTSD (but still touches on it) and there are depications of the main characters near-death and actual death too, though these can be skipped. There are scenes of torture too, which aren’t explict but are warned about too. Further questions can be asked and I’ll be willing to answer. Overall, this series definitely isn’t dark however. (Oh, and some bad guys die, so character death too, I guess?)

Additional Notes: It’s a lot of words so I can totally understand not wanting to read it. So there are a few AUs that can be read without reading the main series. One is see hope rise with the tide and the other is Desert Oasis.

#fanfic #genuary #genuary 2021 #naruto #harry potter #submission

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nelllraiser · 4 years

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the kids are alright | adam, ariana, athena, blanche, connor, nell, orion, & winston

TIMING: a few days before the full moon. LOCATION: connor’s beach house. PARTIES: @walker-journal, @letsbenditlikebennett, @athenaquinn, @harlowhaunted, @connorspiracy, @nelllraiser, @3starsquinn, @danetobelieve SUMMARY: just a truly wholesome and youthful time.

Connor didn’t know what everyone liked, so he tried to get a little of everything; chips, dip, beers, spirits (no pun intended), and a few takeout menus scattered around in case they wanted to order. The house wasn’t huge by any means, but one thing he prided himself on was having a bloody good entertainment system, complete with several consoles and a massive telly. They’d have some fun. Watch some shit movies, play some Mario Party, forget that the world outside was shit, at least for a few hours. As the first knock at the door came, he headed over to answer it. “Hey, welcome. Come on in. Make yourself at home. Telly and consoles are obviously in here, but we have this bit of beach as well if we decide we want to take it outside.”

While Ariana wasn’t sure of who all would be in attendance tonight, she knew she hadn’t wanted to leave Athena back at the apartment. Especially with everything that had happened recently, she knew they could both use a fun evening. When she knocked on the door, she smiled brightly as Connor greeted them and introduced him to Athena. “I think I’ll skip testing my luck with the beach, I’m more interested in seeing how I can build a new entertainment system for ya anyway,” she turned to Athena and said, “This is my friend Athena. Athena, this is Connor. You may have seen some of his YouTube videos.” She held up a bag and added, “We brought some extra snacks, too.”

She wasn’t entirely sure that she was up for a party, but she also knew that she didn’t want to be all by herself with her thoughts. So when Ariana had offered to bring her along to the party, Athena had quickly agreed. “Hi.” She waved to Connor from where she was standing behind Ariana. “I don’t watch a lot of YouTube outside of some videos about baking, or science, or one of my sorority sisters has a vlog channel, so I’m subscribed to that… but still! Nice to meet you.” She grinned, and it still didn’t feel entirely comfortable, but she knew that she had to get back to the usual routine to some degree sooner or later. She nodded over at the bag Ariana was holding up, using that time to look around the house. Her fingers, bare except for one with a golden ring that Amanda had gotten her for her birthday, found her cross necklace and she twisted it around, a bit out of a nervous habit. “Thanks for letting me come, it looks like you have a really nice place.”

“Always love a good snack,” Connor teased. “That’s why Adam’s coming.” Pity that boy was so painfully heterosexual. “Hi, love,” he greeted as Ariana introduced Athena. “Nice to meet you. Nobody else is here yet, but come on in, have a drink, let Ariana check out my furniture…” He gave a little chuckle, helping himself to a beer.

Nell and Blanche had arrived in tandem, sporting their matching ‘burn your bra’ crop tops in a yin and yang color scheme with Nell in black, and one of her best friends in white. As she walked through the open front door, an amused grin cracked her lips as she saw Blanche and her hadn’t been the only ones to have a similar idea. “Well I’m glad we all got the memo,” she said with a nod towards Athena and Ariana’s complimentary jerseys, knowing full well there had been no such thing. Then she was raising a hand to wave a group greeting towards everyone, and presenting the plate she’d brought. “I brought these- they’re brownies obviously, but the kind that might make you astral project a couple planes over.” Probably stuffed with enough homegrown pot to get an elephant high, they were a staple when it came to party favors.

Orion had been to Connor’s on quite a few occasions now. Since the two had first met up at the old haunted house that Rio had grown up learning about, the two had hung fairly often while Rio helped film and edit videos every now and again. He was still clearly a beginner, but either Connor was desperate for the help or just enjoyed Rio’s company. He came hand in hand with Winston, overly excited for the night. Ever since his birthday, people seemed to walk on pins and needles around him and he didn’t know how to convince him that he was completely fine without potentially coming across as a sociopath. “Connor’s place is nice! He has a really cool set up for editing videos. Maybe you two can geek out about computer stuff together?” Rio grinned as the two made towards the front door.

Connor took a look at everyone’s outfits. “Well, if you brought bras to burn, I already mentioned we’ve got the beach for a little campfire,” he teased. “And Nell, maybe we let people settle in for a bit before getting high on brownies, yeah?” He gave her a playful grin. “But I like the way you think.” There was another ring from the doorbell, and he momentarily excused himself to go answer. It was Rio and his roommate. Holding hands. Cool. “Hey, you made it,” he greeted, smiling over at Rio. “Did you know we were supposed to coordinate? Everyone else has come dressed in pairs,” he teased, then looked to Winston. “Hi. Nice to meet ya. I’m Connor. Come on in.” He led them inside to the rest of the group. Now that almost everyone had arrived, he made sure everyone had a drink and knew where the snacks were, and where the bathroom was. “Just waiting for Adam then. For movies we’ve got pretty much anything that’s on Netflix, Prime, Hulu, or anything I can illegally download.”

Glancing around the room, Winston shot Nell and Blanche a knowing smile before keeping their hands tightly interlaced with Orion’s. Things seemed to have relatively blown over with Athena, the fact that she was here with Ariana was a separate matter. “Thanks for the invite, if I’d known we were supposed to coordinate I’d have joined in but I guess we’re always the last to hear about these fun facts…” Winston gave a gentle smile before continuing into the house. They were about to mention that they were pretty sure they could connect Connor’s place up to the database in their home, but they weren’t sure that they wanted to potentially share any info that was not entirely secure. “Adam’s coming too? This really is going to be a party.” Winston just hoped he wasn’t armed with assault rifles and grenades this time.

“Hey guys,” Blanche gave a wave. She hadn't expected Athena to be here, but then again, she also hadn't expected Rio either, especially after… everything. But she wasn't one to judge when people needed to blow off steam. “I would highly recommend the brownies. Once, you know, we’ve all settled in.” She nudged Nell playfully. “I have a 12 pack of beer too if anyone wants a drink.” She set it down on an end table, before curiously eyeing the TV. “Alright then, why don't we focus on picking a movie while we wait for Adam -” would he roll in with kegs like he did at Nic’s party? She fought back a snide internal comment, reminding herself that she promised to rewind for the evening, and honestly… she was so tired of being angry. Not just at Adam, but with everyone. “What genre are we feeling? Horror?” she asked, hopefully.

It seemed like she and Athena hadn’t been the only ones who showed up matching. Ariana waved to Blanche and Nell appreciating their crop tops. She stood up to grab some drinks for her and Athena though she was pretty sure she’d be skipping out on the brownies. She’d never tried them before and wasn’t sure a big group of people was the place to start. “I’ll take you up on one of those beers. Did you want one, Athena?” At the mention of horror movies, Ariana shrugged. “Sounds a little close to real life, but I’m down.”

She figured that her brother was going to be here. Athena gave a small, half-wave to Rio, though she didn’t look over at him for too long. They hadn’t been together since everything and she still wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do. The idea of the brownies wasn’t especially appealing, even if part of her wondered if Nell’s addition to it was a bit more magical than most. “Uh, sure.” She said, looking at Ariana. “If there’s cider I’d prefer that but beer can do.” She waved at Nell and Blanche. “Nice matching.” It didn’t hurt to at least appear pleasant, and she could only do so much to calm down her nerves - getting into an argument wasn’t going to help with any of that. “What horror films? I can’t say I’m super expert on that genre.” Ironically enough.

There was the sound of a large truck pulling up and a loud bawdy conversation on the street about someone being manscaped with a weedwacker, only for said someone to shout back an incoherent taunt about some physically impossible things Adam’s mother engaged in last night. More voices joined in the from the truck until it was unclear where mothers, weedwhackers, body hair, contortionist sex positions, chocolate fudge, and lighter fluid all fit into this. However all involved seemed to part even more cheerful than before and the car departed.

Sporting a letterman jacket and a red baseball cap with faint stains of a deeper scarlet, Adam burst in smelling faintly of lock-room soap and the lingering grass scent of the football field.

Still flush with post-practice endorphins, Adam vaulted over the back of the nearest free couch as if it were a track hurdle and crashed down into the open seat.

“Sup my bodacious bastards?”

"Horror is good by me. Blair Witch or something? Could always go with Scream. Classic slasher." Connor grabbed a cider for himself. He had bought enough so that nobody needed to bring their own, but it was a nice gesture. It wasn't long before Adam turned up. You really couldn't miss him. "Life of the party, I see," Connor greeted. "The loud-mouthed jock of my dreams,” he teased, his grin flashing all the way up to his eyes. “Want a beer mate? We were just deciding on a movie."

Nell abandoned her pot filled brownies on the coffee table, grabbing a few drinks after waving a welcome to Winston and Orion, and first offering one to Blanche with a “For you” before taking another. Then she plopped herself down on the same couch before also handing one to Adam should he want it. “And here you go, ‘bodacious’;” she said with a slight snort. Nell couldn’t pretend that she wasn’t a bit worried to have the two of them in the same place after Winn’s death, but maybe alcohol was another key factor in glossing all of that over for the moment being. She popped open the top of her own bottle with a household spell, realizing she’d forgotten a bottle opener before taking a swig of it. “I’m right here,” she joked at the mention of Blair Witch, even if she knew it was less about witches and more about general spookiness.

Swallowing a mouthful of beer, Winston watched Adam enter the room. This was not your classic set up, hunters, werewolves, exorcists, spellcasters and god knew what else. But they were their friends and Winston was doing their best to be more normal in their endeavours and their life. “Not everything is about you Nell sweetie,” Winston reached down and plucked a brownie from the plate, tentatively nibbling on it and smiling. Thank God they weren’t driving tonight. “I’ve heard that Midsommar is meant to be really good, Heritage too. Not sure if any of those appeal to you. They’re meant to be more nordic or something? I don’t know. I read something about them a while back.”

The place was full of familiar faces, and maybe for the first time Orion found himself at what could basically be considered a party surrounded completely by people that he considered friends. Or at least, friends plus one very odd addition in the first of his twin sister. She stuck close with Ariana. The pair still baffled Rio, seeing them together and matching was even more jarring. Coupled with Blanche and Nell wearing the same thing maybe Rio and the others really had missed some sort of memo. Athena’s small wave was maybe a step, but not much of one. Rio returned the wave, both of them turning their backs to each other as Rio made his way to the kitchen, pondering whether or not he was going to drink. He decided to go for it after a long moment’s hesitation and picked a cider, “It’s someone’s job to make sure I don’t get drunk. I have an embarrassingly small tolerance.” He said aloud to no one in particular, only sort of joking and then found his way to the couch where Adam had just leapt over, “A cult movie may be hitting a bit close to home, don’t you think?” Rio laughed, but shrugged the concern away, “It looks pretty though. I’m down for anything.”

Connor was pretty indifferent to any drama that might have existed between anyone in the group, so he didn’t pay any mind to Blanche’s reaction to Adam. "Yes, Nell, you're our White Crest witch, very different," Connor teased. Since everyone was here, it wouldn't do any harm to grab a brownie. He'd just have to pace himself. "Oh shit, if we're talking 'high brow' horror," he made little air quotes around the words, "Hereditary and Midsommar would be sick. Get Out, too. I just figured we'd probably want something we can get pissed and stoned to and not pay that much attention," he snickered. "Oh, there's also Happy Death Day and The Babysitter if we want newer Netflix shit." He shrugged, sipping his drink. “I’m not fussed though. Whatever anyone else wants to watch.”

It was good to see Adam in seemingly better spirits than the last time she saw him. Ariana still felt a twinge of guilt that her trust in others had nearly led to his death, but he was here now and they were all going to have a good time. “Hey, Adam,” she greeted with a wave as he swung over the couch. She looked back to Athena with a small smile and said, “Cider it is.” She made her way to the kitchen and chimed in, “I’m not sure Winston, I’m pretty sure Nell took a DNA test and she’s 100% that witch.” She grabbed a beer for herself and a cider for Athena. It dawned on her that she hadn’t seen any of the movies mentioned but she laughed a bit over the cult part. “I’ve seen like none of those, so I’m good with whatever.” She slid back into her seat by Athena and handed her a cider. “Here you go,” she said brightly. She knew Athena was still down over everything that happened and she wanted this to be a nice night for both of them. Hell, she was pretty sure everyone in this room needed a break from White Crest being White Crest and she wanted that for all of them.

She gave a small wave to Adam as he arrived. At least he seemed to be in relatively good spirits, which was something. “How’s it going Adam?” She raised an eyebrow. “This feels a little different than our usual sort of party, doesn’t it?” Athena nodded at Ariana’s comment, watching as she went over to grab the drinks. “One of my sisters is a sociology and film double major and wrote a paper about Get Out - she had us all watch it so I actually have seen that, but I can’t say I’m too familiar with the others.” She did know that if anything was too full of jump scares she might react poorly, but that was what fiddling with the hem of her shirt was for, wasn’t it? She accepted the cider from Ariana and took a sip. “Whatever everyone else wants to go with.” She couldn’t help but sigh when she noticed that her brother had the same drink as her, though only a small smile covered her lips.

Connor had a big grin on his face as they drank and chatted. It had been a while since he'd had a proper group of friends like this. He had friends, of course, but high school and college he'd still been coming into his own as a medium and starting up his YouTube channel. People thought he was kind of weird. In White Crest, he wasn't weird at all. He was probably one of the most normal. "Okay, we're gonna have to take votes on the movie," he snickered, smoking his vape. "Probably something on the less serious side of things, yeah? We've got enough shit going on. Happy Death Day or The Babysitter are both on Netflix." He got a feeling there was a little more going on with the ‘serious’ side of things than he knew about, but he didn’t want to stick his nose into other people’s business. This night was about relaxing, not rehashing the bad shit.

Adam had once been taught that he’d been born to stand apart from humanity, amongst but not a part of it. The preservation of mankind’s destiny required forsaking anything that’d inhibit neutrality or cause a Hunter to become entangled in disputes between human beings. Thus Adam had grown up play-acting, his life during the day just a pleasant cover identity for who he really was.

Now it was all he was.

This reversal tugged at Adam as he watched his friends banter and meander on the way to actually choosing a movie. All his life Adam had been told to focus, remain vigilant against the inevitable return of the old gods. Was that why he lost his powers? Focusing too much on enjoying humanity’s company instead of protecting it?

These and other thoughts whirled behind Adam’s grin as he accepted the beer. “Glad my beach body lives rent free in your head Con,” Adam replied with a wink to Connor at the mention of being the jock of his dreams.

“Dunno about Happy Death Day, I’ve had about enough dead chick drama for a while.”

Adam ‘thought’ for a moment, which is to say he took a few glugs of beer like a man dying of thirst in the desert and went with the first idea that popped up in his brain when the alcohol hit his system.

“Let’s do truth or dare while we decide? Bet that should be a trip with well...us”

Blanche had a hold on the remote, somewhat zoning out while people debated the choice in movie. She was doing that more, lately, but she had always been easily distracted. That was more because ghosts though. Only at the mention of Truth or Dare did Blanche snap out of it. Leaning against the armrest, she took a sip of her beer, glancing over at Adam. Considering it a moment, she put the remote down. “I'm down for a game of Truth or Dare,” she said, glancing around. Was this what all parties were like? She looked over at Nell, almost a little unsure for a second. “Sounds like fun?”

In all honesty, Nell much preferred the concept of Truth or Dare in comparison to a movie. At this rate with all the strangeness that made its home in White Crest, horror flicks were nearly laughable at times. Besides- Truth or Dare was probably something that demanded more attention, which was a welcome distraction from current stressors. And that was the whole point of this get together, wasn’t it? Giving Blanche a reassuring nod, Nell sat straighter on the couch as if readying herself for the game. “Let’s do it.” She took another draw of her drink before looking around the circle with a new and challenging glint in her eyes. “Who wants to go first?”

“Truth or Dare? That’s on Netflix as well,” Connor said, flicking through the horror suggestions until he found it. Only a few clicks in did he realise that wasn’t what Adam had been referring to. “Oh, did you mean the actual game?” He laughed, just switching to a music playlist in the background and folding his feet under him while he made himself comfy on the sofa. “Wait a minute, I’m down and everything, but someone’s gonna have to explain what rules we’re playing by. Everyone does ‘em different.”

Truth or dare sounded like the worst idea possible. Orion did not consider himself to be a very daring person by nature. But at the rate life had been going the last month, he wasn’t exactly keen on the idea of answering any truths either. Not that he was far bound to answer truthfully anyways... unless that was a thing in White Crest. Regardless, the result terrified him. But the Rio here tonight wanted to be the okay version of Rio. The one not bogged down by the death of his parents. So he took a long drink from the cider and wiped at his mouth, making the gesture overly dramatic to try to hide the soured look he gave from the taste of alcohol. “Me. I’ll go first. Dare me.” This was absolutely a bad idea, but Rio had gotten pretty good at those. “Oh. Rules?” Rio heard what Connor questioned, but had never played the game before. “Cool. Well explain the rules and then dare me.”

This was just about the last game that Athena wanted to play. Even if she chose truth, which she wasn’t planning to, she could still omit certain aspects of it. It came along with her training and she didn’t trust most people here enough to reveal any deep secrets. So dares it would be - and it seemed like her brother was following the same path. “I mean, different versions are different but you get asked truth or dare - if it’s truth, someone can ask you any question about anything,” she raised an eyebrow at him, “and if it’s dare then you have to do whatever they ask. There’s sometimes consequences for not completing either.” She took a sip of her drink. “But dare? Since you’re new at this, we can start easy. I dare you to drink the rest of your cider in under a minute.” She crossed her legs. “Whoever’s up next, I also choose dare.”

Orion was surprised that Athena had been the first one to dare him. She had even been pretty lenient, daring him to just finish his drink. Easier said than done to a complete lightweight who had no experience drinking, but as far as the things he could have been dared to do this felt like he was getting off easily. “Done.” He had seen the movies before, so Rio kneeled down on one knee and tipped the bottle against his mouth, chugging as fast as he could. The drink instantly turned bitter against his tongue and he thought it would never end. But if he could survive his birthday he could finish a cider. He finally finished the thing off with an explosive coughing followed by him falling back on his butt. “I’m totally not going to puke.” He wasn’t sure if he was telling everyone that or trying to convince himself not to.

Adam stood up from the couch and strode to the far side of the room, gingerly stepping over and around people so as to not crunch knees or beers. He took an empty solo cup and placed it on a piece of furniture. The footballer knelt next to the door and produced a small grip-exercise ball. He offered the little squishy ball to Athena with a grin..

“I dare you to close your eyes and try to throw this call in the cup. Take a shot each time you miss.”

Adam performed another one-handed vault over the back of the into his seat, but the alcohol and post-practice endorphins in his system caused the Hunter to land far more ignominiously in a heap of sinewy limbs and cushions.

“Truth”

“Easy-peasy.” Athena smirked, before standing up. She handed her cider to Ariana and grabbed the ball from Adam. “I’ve got this no problem.” She took the ball and closed her eyes, concentrating on the location of the solo cup before rolling her shoulders and giving a small toss, eyes flickering open as she heard it hit the inside. She turned around, walking by Adam before bending over to whisper in his ear. “I do have excellent reflexes, just to remind you.” She found her space back by Ariana again. “Feeling rather successful right now, I think.”

”Wow, nice!” Connor enthused as Athena hit the shot. “I’ve got a truth,” he blurted out, feeling the effects of his drink and Nell’s magic brownies, a pleasant tingling sensation overtaking his body. “Have you never done anything even the slightest bit gay? Because honestly, only the most heterosexual guy ever could have not understood those sword crossing comments,” he laughed at the memory. Ah, simpler times, when he didn’t know that half these people were murderers and there weren’t freshly resurrected evil spirits out to get them. Then again, Connor was starting to get the impression that stuff was common in White Crest. Best not get too comfortable. “And you can truth or dare me all you want. I’m not bothered, mate.”

Ariana watched somewhat in awe as Athena performed her dare. It was definitely impressive to watch and she couldn’t help the small grin on her face as Athena came back over to take her seat by her. “That was awesome,” she said as she gave Athena a small pat on the back. There was another dare to be dished out so she quickly chimed in, “Connor, I dare you to do a dance challenge as your next YouTube video. I’m thinking the In My Feelings Challenge.” She realized that meant it was her turn, so she added, “I pick dare for myself.”

“A Dance Challenge?” Connor snorted, waving his hand, affectionately dismissive. “That’s not my style, babe. Oh, I could definitely do it on TikTok though. You didn’t say which platform it had to be on.” He whipped out his phone, looking up a couple. “I can probably film it right now, since I’m tipsy, but you’ll have to hold my phone.” He looked up a few examples then got up, only a little wobbly on his feet. “I have no fucking idea how to do this shit,” he laughed, looking over to Ariana and handing her his phone. He’d watched a few versions of the thing he was trying to recreate. “Ready?”

Adam hadn’t been raised with particularly strong feelings on different sexualities other than that they existed. Really, Dad had been far more concerned that his sons knew the proper masculine values of honor, wilderness survival, coordinated squad tactics, and the domestic arts of building explosives from homemade materials rather than getting hung up on what dangly bits were going where.

“Uh,” Adam thought about Conner’s question. “Was never really wired that way, but after I pledged I was curious bout what I was missing,” the footballer acknowledged with a shameless ease. “Talked to some frat brothers who were all about that life, and they uh…showed me around…in the showers.”

“Was kinna funnish-awkward,” he admitted with a shrug, “but not really my speed…. not sure that lgeit counts as gay though. It was just educational, y’know?”

Nell saw her opportunity as it became Ariana’s turn for a dare, and leaned forward on the couch to set down her now empty bottle on the table, feeling a nice, warm buzz as the alcohol began to do its work. She hummed for a moment, as if taking her time to come up with a suitable enough dare for the girl. Ariana knew how to go big or go home— which admittedly was something the two of them had in common. “I dare you to....” Then the idea came to her. What was the most horrendous thing that White Crest had to offer? “Match with a mime on Tinder. Match with the mime- and have at least five back and forths of texts.” Then Nell sat back, satisfied with her work to say, “And I’ll take a dare.”

“Educational and gay,” Connor nodded. “Sorry I missed it.” He made sure Ariana was ready to record and then going into the routine. He pretty much nailed it. Although he was a little drunk, it was evident that the experience and intent behind the moves was there. “Did I forget to mention I did ballet and theatre for years?” He winked into the camera before grabbing it for Ari so he could edit and laugh. “Aw, that was sick. Sorry, what was that?” His expression changed when he heard what Nell’s dare was. “There are mimes on tinder?”

Ariana whooped and cheered into the camera as Connor finished showing off his moves. She tilted her head surprised by his revelation. “That explains the moves,” she said with a laugh, “Gotta respect a guy who knows ballet, right?” As Nell took the chance to dare her, she looked to her with a raised brow that was practically challenging her to do her worst. She burst out laughing at the thought of mimes on Tinder. “Oh god,” she said through laughs, “Blanche get over here and help me mime-ify my Tinder.” It was only a few back and forth messages. Hopefully, the profile update wouldn’t ruin future matches, but she found she was losing interest in it anyhow, especially with her current roommate. “I’m thinking more dramatic and artsy to go with the mime vibe?”

“Nell!” Blanche said, “That's cruel!” But she was laughing. She pushed herself to her feet, though, and carefully made her way to grab Ariana’s phone. “Artsy, got it.” A Connoisseur of Mime. Don't talk to me if you don't mime. And if you do mime… you know what to do ;-----). Blanche read over what she wrote, before she grinned, hanging the phone back to Ariana. “Happy swiping!” Which meant… Blanche turned to Nell, a mischievous smile on her face. “In order to get revenge for poor Ariana… I dare you to call the Stripe Club to inquire about employment opportunities and if you get an interview, you gotta go.” Blanche said proudly.

She paused, considering her own options. “Truth. For me, I mean.”

“There are definitely mimes on Tinder,” Nell confirmed with a grin, having seen some of them for herself during perusals of the app. “Maybe Ari will find her true love with a mime, who knows?” It was disturbing to say the least, though sometimes she’d match with a mime just to troll them for a while. After all— every mime was guilty by association. She should have expected the mimery to be turned back on her, but still pulled a revolted face at the thought of going anywhere near a mime establishment. “If I die- it’s your fault,” she pointed an accusing finger towards Blanche all while googling the number for the Stripe Club. She wasn’t sure who exactly it was that asked Blanche her truth while Nell began her job search at a mime strip club and Ariana commenced her swiping. Someone was leaning over to watch the dance video Connor had made, and another person was getting up to grab another drink from the fridge. The air was warm and bright as the night stretched onwards, and it seemed that against all odds the youth of White Crest had finally managed to find a single evening where they were allowed to exist only as themselves, and not the people the world forced them to be.

#wickedswriting #chatzy #the kids are alright #ch:adam #ch:ariana #ch:athena #ch:blanche #ch:connor #ch:orion #ch:winston

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artnerd1123 · 4 years

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A Familiar World

Letters To Nettles (Part 1) ——————————————

When moving in doesn’t go as planned, who better to talk to than your old mentor? After all, spilling tea is always a good way to start being pen pals.

The masterpost for AFW can be found here. The chapter post for AFW can be found here.

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Honestly, i’m really glad i found a way to give nettles a more active part in the story. She’s a real fun gal to write! Even if I’m just writing her writing for now sldkjfs

hope y’all enjoy the shenans between these two~

Nettles, You would not believe the shit that happened to me since I got here. Do you remember how we bought an apartment that had a roommate option? So I wouldn’t be by myself after I got settled? Well, whoever’s working the damn desk apparently got me a roommate way ahead of schedule. I’d just started getting my stuff moved in when this guy and his weird cat showed up. Turns out, he’s my roommate. And nobody told him I’d moved in. Or told me that he’d be showing up. So the place essentially charged me for a single room, promising a roommate later, and then threw a stranger at me and took my fucking money. I can’t even move anywhere else, because I don’t have enough money to do so, and apparently the other apartment buildings are all full up from questors or some shit. I’d probably be angrier if this guy my new roommate wasn’t so… nice? His name is Aiden. He managed to get me half my apartment charge back. Not enough to move, but it’s something. He keeps trying to be friendly with me though. I appreciate what he did, but I hardly know him! He doesn’t even seem that upset, either! He keeps trying to make jokes or buddy up and shit. Isn’t he mad about the whole thing? Does he not have issues with random strangers in his living space? At this point, I’m just hoping his cat doesn’t shed. Oh, that’s another weird thing. His cat. I don’t know if it’s actually a cat. I mean, it looks like one, but it’s got bluish purple fur, and it was dripping. As in little drops of some liquid were dripping off its ears and tail. I don’t think creatures that are so fluffy should be dripping like busted faucets. At least its dripping goop doesn’t get all over everything. Or, if it does, I think it can just reabsorb it. But hey, what do I know? Aiden might have some sort of little goopy monster cat for whatever reason. I hope not, but I don’t know. Anyways, hope things are better back at home the town. People can’t just walk into your woods without you knowing. Hopefully people aren’t being too horrible about the magic my disappearance this whole situation.

Signed, Journal Drapht

P.S. please write back ASAP. I need input on the situation.

————

Journal, First of all, that’s an incredibly eventful first day. I’m sorry to hear the front desk was so messy. I could’ve sworn the place was better run than that. Then again, things get crazy during questor season. That’s why all the other places were sold out. I got news that a new dungeon popped up near that town right after you left. Couldn’t get ahold of you until now, or I would’ve given you a heads up. Whoops. But hey, this whole situation could’ve been a lot worse. I’m glad your roommate talked some sense into the guy at the front desk. I would’ve come down and done it myself if he hadn’t. And probably taken some extra gold to boot. Nobody gets to pull that kinda bullshit on people. Especially not in a situation like yours. From getting your money back and the whole “trying to be positive” thing, Aiden seems like a nice enough fellow. Maybe try giving him a chance instead of wondering why he isn’t angry. He’s likely just as unhappy, but sees there’s no reason to stew. You’re both stuck in it now. Gotta make the most of it. I’d be doing the same thing. Also, I should’ve said three of you are stuck in it. That cat you mentioned sounds a lot like a familiar. You remember when I told you about those, right? Been awhile. If you forgot, they’re like anthropomorphic animal helpers or friends made of magic and some sort of inanimate object. Your roommate likely used some sort of liquid to make his. That, or the cat’s actually a baby monster. Questors keep those sometimes. I’d advise you to try and settle in for now. You need to get some solid ground under your feet. Having a place to unwind and clear your head helps a lot. Especially in your case. So, finish moving into your new room. Explore the town a bit. Definitely make sure you know where the marketplace and the healer’s is. I don’t need to tell you how important those are. Once you’ve managed that, then you can see about job searching or magic training. Don’t worry too much about things at the old town, ok? I’m fine. So are your siblings. You don’t need to worry about them though. Or anyone else, for that matter. I’ve got things handled here. You focus on getting adjusted.

Sincerely, Nettles

P.S. Kidding about the baby monster thing. Don’t go flipping your shit over a familiar in the apartment, please.

————

Nettles, I was seriously considering skipping town before I saw your P.S. Are you happy with yourself? FYI, I just managed to spot the cat again tonight. I caught a glimpse of them in the hall. I’m pretty sure they’re made of paint. I don’t know of any other liquids that’re that same shade. I might ask Aiden about it later. Big might. I still don’t like the guy. He has the room all the way down the hall. Every time he goes from there to the main room of the apartment, he has to pass my door. I don’t like it. Roommate aside, your advice helped. I started setting up my room. I feel better with more of my own things sitting around the space, even if it’s not done yet. I’m planning on trying to get a map of the town tomorrow, if I can. If not, I’ll just wander. I won’t go too far, don’t worry. Thanks again for the advice.

Signed, Journal Drapht

————

Journal, You’re welcome for the advice. I’d ruffle your hair if you were still in front of me. Get some sleep tonight, knucklehead. Also, there’s a piece of advice forgot about: try giving your roommate a chance. If he really bothers you that much, just keep an eye on him and update me. I’ll kick his ass if he turns out to be a bastard.

Love, Nettles

————

Nettles, Fair enough. I’ll try with all of the above. Thanks again.

Love, Journal Drapht

#afw chatper #afw #a familiar world #my story #arty writes #journal sherman drapht #nettles willoweep #i wrote these in like... 2 days lskdjfs #fastest i've ever got one of these done :0 #i think it's jus cuz they're short n dumb slkjdfds--#i love these two XD #they're fools #but they care a lot abt each other; n its v good ;w;#hope y'all enjoy!!!

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warmau · 6 years

Text

{Special} College!AU Kun

*tw: there is a lot of mention of alcohol in this one find college!nct (here) + hs!au dream (here)

major: aviation engineering

minor: n/a

sports: almost took a yoga class once, does that count?

clubs: was part of cooking club which shocked just about everyone - especially the culinary majors because why was an engineering major cooking better than them - people who actually wanted to be chefs so unfortunately he got banned,,,,,,,joined photography club instead

on the outside, kun is probably the most unremarkable college student on campus

he attends his classes, does his work, hangs out with his friends, and never really causes any kind of drama or ruckus

in a lot of ways he just ,,,,,,, sort of exists

and people only take notice when he’s in the background of things - like that time his roommate lucas broke the shared showers

and lucas, sopping wet in just his towel, was explaining to campus police that he “didnt break anything” the water just magically started overflowing

and kun had to step in, handing lucas a much needed pair of pants and tell the officer that the drains had been busted for weeks. it was only a matter of time till this happened

or when mark confessed he really had no idea how to write a resume and kun was like

“here, take my word document template including a bunch of fake things i embellished about you, but not really because you are a great person!”

mark with tears in his eyes: th-thanks bro

basically, kun is the unsung hero of his friends

he’s always got their back - and he’s always there to support him

but he’s never like in the limelight

on the outside only of course

the reality is, kun works outside of taking classes.

to everyone on campus it’s a night shift stocking a local store in the college town downtown

but in reality, kun works as a bartender

when he was a freshmen, he had found a online video of a bartender mixing drinks - but adding a magical flare to it

whether it was setting the drinks on fire

building pyramids out of glasses

or pouring drinks that swirled around and changed color

the video had fascinated kun, and he decided to see if he’d be any good at the job

turns out - he was

he had always liked being in the kitchen, working with food - working with drinks was pretty similar

each had its home ingredients, and each took its time to prepare

and with his job at the bar - he could be somebody else

he wasn’t just the college kid in the background

he could entertain, he could laugh, he could have fun and stop cleaning up his friends problems

instead he could make other young strangers happy with his drinks and his magic

the only problem was this kun,,,,,,,,,,was far removed from regular kun

and keeping the secret did make kun feel bad

from his friends to his fellow engineering peers

everyone just thought “oh he’s going to his job at the store! he’ll probably study there and get into no trouble - it’ll be bland!”

when in reality he was doing just the opposite

but at the same time,,,,kun felt like there was no way to connect the two. no one would believe he had this other,,,,,vibrant side

plus - he was juggling school and this job pretty well

his dream had always been to fly and fix planes when he was older

so he took up engineering

it came naturally and unlike a lot of people he did enjoy studying

but there was time for geeking out about plane parts in his classes

but also still putting on his bartenders vest and striking smile for his nightime shifts

to everyone around him, kun was always there to be that encouraging buddy

that person who had the answers when you needed them

because he himself never got into trouble

ten would always clap kun on the back and go, “you need to party more! let loose! but not too loose - remember what happened to johnny last saturday?”

and kun would just laugh and agree

all the while thinking that his friends just didn’t know

the closest anyone ever came to suspecting was when kun had a menu pulled up on his laptop of new drinks from the bar

and taeyong had went “what’s that?”

kun had broken into a cold sweat, trying to think up an excuse

only to sigh of relief when taeyong switched the tab aimlessly to a youtube video kun had been watching about pilot safety tips

you ,,,,,, only knew kun as the bartender from your favorite place to drink after a tough test or a shitty day on campus

that’s because you went to college in the part of the city that kun worked in

so to you - kun was an enigma

he was the striking smile and the crazy magic tricks

and the smooth talking, sociable bartender who every person literally fell in love with for their first hour at the bar

you didn’t know about the kun who was quiet and plain

and to be honest, if someone told you kun was the last person to be noticed at his campus

you’d think they were lying - or being plain rude

because no matter how many times you’d been to the bar, no matter how many other boys have been around you

have talked to you

tried to wind you out from your bad mood

the only person who ever made you feel better, aside from the drink in your hand was kun

and to be honest you didn’t even go there to drink anymore

you went there for the small talk with kun

even five minutes of just college kid banter with him was enough to make you forget your shitty professors and your three essays all due in the same week

but,,,,,,,,you’re pretty sure it’s the same for everyone else

kun’s job means he has to be nice to you

he has to be charming, inviting, and ever so handsome

that warm feeling you get in the pit of your stomach whenever he smiles or his hand brushes against yours

you’re sure he’s got that spell cast over everybody

afterall - how could anyone ignore someone like kun?

and what makes it all worse is the fact that your little fascination with him absolutely grows into a crush

when you’re seated at the bar, looking at the beer you ordered - thinking about how intro to nuclear biology turned out to be the WORSE choice for an elective

when someone slides in to the seat beside you

smug look on their face and all

“how are you doing tonight? you’re far too gorgeous to be looking so gloomy.”

the pick up line makes you almost roll your eyes

but you look up at the person and shake your head instead

“i like being gloomy, college was made for that.”

instead of warning them off - the person seems to think your sarcasm is an invite to stay and chat

then they think its an invite to order you a drink

even when you tell them your bottle is half full

kun comes over when the stranger waves their hand

he looks picturesque in his little satin vest, the bow-tie and big glimmering eyes

“a drink for this beautiful angel to my left~”

the say and you reach out before kun can turn around

“i,,,,,dont want it. thank you.”

kun’s expression doesn’t falter, he just nods and glides his way over to another customer

for a second,,,,you feel a little bit hurt

when you’d stopped him - you were hoping kun would read the pleading look in your eye

begging to somehow be saved from the awkward advances of a total random straner

but kun had a job to do, it’s not like he was going to be the knight in shining armor you wished he would be

“why’d you say no to a free drink?”

you look up at the stranger

“i know why you’re buying it for me, and im flattered - but im not interested.”

the once cheap kindness on their face twists into hurt pride

suddenly you’re not just annoyed,,,you’re a little worried as they lean in closer

but before they can whisper whatever it is that they’re thinking they pull back

yelping in pain, they look over to where a smiling kun on the otherside of the bar

has slammed a glass hard onto their hand

“ow! why they fuck did you put that shit on my hand!”

the stranger winces, pulling his red hand up to his chest protectively as kun lifts up the glass

kun’s smile never even changes

but his eyes are darker than usual, sparking with some kind of emotion you’ve never seen from him

“oh, oops. i must have not seen your hand. you should go to the bathroom and ice that.”

the stranger grumbles, throws some more curses you and kun’s way and then disappears into the crowd

you turn and kun tilts his head as you stare at him in shock

“you - you didn’t have to do th-”

kun shrugs

“what? it was a genuine mistake.”

but he winks an then goes back to taking orders

and you sit there, feeling the warmth in your stomach that you usually get around kun turn into a blossoming blush on the insides of your heart

it’s that incident that makes you fall head over heels

you think it’s a little juvenile, in love with the handsome bartender

but you’re in college you’re allowed to be a little juvenile - after all these are the last four years till you’re living in the adult world

but even still - you know kun just sees you as another regular

another college student with your woes, and you’re sure he has some of his own

you daydream that he must be some kind of cool major like music or philosophy

or something prestigious like pre-law or pre-med

how he must walk around on campus with an entire entourage of smitten students wanting him to notice them

how he probably dresses super stylish

how everyone only looks at him and is super duper jealous or in love -

that must be how kun is like at school

because that’s what he’s like here

can you imagine the shock when you end up on kun’s college campus - visiting with your club to give a presentation in the science dept

only to see kun

wearing plain black pants,,,,a button up flannel,,,,,a messenger bag you’re sure he’s had since middle school

and glasses

sitting in the corner of the quad - quietly

reading an,,,,,,,engineering textbook

surrounded by absolutely no one

passed by like he,,,,like he isn’t even there

you nearly triple take just to make sure it’s really really him

and one of your club members jokingly tells you to stop or you’ll swivel your head right off

i mean there’s no way right,,,there’s no way the bartender i know,,,,,is that boy sitting over there? so,,,,so unnoticeable,,,

after you leave - the only thing in your head is the image of kun hunched over his book like that

you keep trying to figure out an explanation

and as you’re sitting in your room you just think - why am i broading about it? i should just ask him.

the thought makes your heart stop,,,,but you decide that if anything ,,,, this all makes kun more approachable

more attainable

but you shake that thought off and when you find yourself on a friday evening at the bar again

watching kun pour shots that turn from a clear white into a misty, fragrant pink

you wonder how someone can just do a 180 and become someone completely new

you’re jealous - it must be a talent

kun’s shift comes to an end at three

and even though you think it’s a little corny that you waited - even a little creepy actually

you just can’t help but want to know

and when kun sees you, he doesn’t seem at all concerned or annoyed

instead he smiles and waves

“it’s so late, it’s dangerous going home now.”

he warns and you feel your stomach do a flip

his first sentence out of his mouth isn’t why are you here? what do you want? it’s the need to show worry and empathy,,,,like is he seriously just the best person on earth?

you smile weakly, “kun - can i ask you something?”

he nods slowly, looking at you with what seems the most pure gaze in the world

“i,,i saw you - a couple of days ago. you were reading a engineering textbook. is that your major?”

everything seems to drain right out of kun’s face

his smile vanishes like melting wax off a candle

and you instantly feel like this is it - that you could die of embarrassment and shame in this moment

when in a quiet voice he goes , “yes”

you don’t know what else to say - so you blurt out what you’re thinking

“do you not like it? you sound so sad,,,,,”

kun pulls suddenly at the bow-tie around his neck

“i like it alot. it’s just,,,,”

he stares dejectedly at the ground in the darkness of the night

“it’s just it doesn’t fit who i am here - right? it’s boring.”

you gape, unsure of what he really means

“you know me as the bartender here, as the happy and outgoing magician of drinks or whatever but in reality,,,that’s an illusion”

he shrugs

“im very plain. i like engineering. i like planes. and i dont really like to stand out. isn’t that funny?”

before your mind can tell you to pause, you reach out and grab kun’s cold hand

his wide eyes meet yours as you shake your head

“it’s not funny, and it’s not an illusion. this job is one part of you - but the other part of you is too. engineering is so interesting, it’s unexpected - but it’s cool and one day i would really like if you -”

your voice trembles - you’ve never really confessed to anyone before this

“i would really like if you told me more about it!”

kun doesn’t say anything for a bit

so much so that you panic, letting go of his hand and whispering a feeble apology

but then he steps closer to you

and you don’t know what he’s going to do next until he puts his hand slightly over your head

confused, you look up - noticing finally that it has started to rain

and kun is shielding you from it

“im fine you don’t ha-”

“it’s late, it’s raining, the right thing is to make sure you stay dry and take you home.”

you feel your entire body burn up in a blaze when kun says that

and you feel even more hot when he pulls you gently into his side as you walk down the street, you nervously giving him directions to your dorm

and when you finaly get there

the RA simply looks up from her phone with a shrug

and you turn to thank kun again

“i dont work wednesdays. would that be an ok day for you?”

he says and you blink

“wh-what do you mean?”

he grins, “you said you wanted me to tell you more, could i take you out on wednesday?”

you do meet kun that following wednesday

you sit in an obscure little cafe for lunch as kun pulls his textbook out of that beat up old messenger back

and opens it up to a page of a diagram and tells you

“it may bore you, but this is my favorite model for planes. there’s a lot of technical stuff, but it’s my fathers favorite too.”

you know kun is keeping everything short - always limiting himself from saying to much

in some weird way you can feel that he thinks he’ll only annoy you with it

but you lean in, holding your cup of tea excitedly with both hands and urge him with a smile to never skip over the technical stuff - you want to know everything

and kun isn’t used to all this attention on him

the suave and experienced bartender playboy you thought he was is nothing close to the reality

he still plays little magic tricks

pulling coins from behind your ear and making a napkin on the table float

but they’re nothing flashy, they’re nothing crazy

they’re,,,,,,,more natural - just like kun

and it’s the little things that you learn about him that make you realize that you might have had a crush on bartender kun

but you could really fall in love with the real kun

the way he moves so he walks closest to the road when he’s with you

how he puts your hand in his pocket as you’re on the way back and the ac in the bus is a little too high

how he swiftly catches the side of your hip when you almost trip on the stairs

and how he does it all without even thinking about it

helping and taking care of others is so,,,,,,,,in kun’s nature

and he does it without any expectation of recognition or praise

he’s the real definition of humbleness

so much so that

when you stare at him, eyes flicking between his lips - up and down for nearly a minute straight on your third little date

he has to ask, literal permission

“is it ok if i kiss you?”

“i thought the staring at your lips would give away the answer to that one.”

for a while you still cant believe you’re actually dating kun

but you start to put together that you’re not dating the kun you daydreamed about

although you still think he’s literally irresistible in his bartender uniform

and he looks more than charming at his night time job still

you’re dating the slightly wallflower-ish kun who much more than ever makes your heart dance and not just your stomach feel warm

but every last part of your being

you’ll still drop by, watch him do his job perfectly, watch everyone in the room fall in love just like you did

but kun never takes it beyond the bar

the only person whose hand he holds, the only person who he calls his wonder in his native min, the only person who gets to see him shed off all this dazzle and become comfortable

is you

and kun tells you that he remembers watching you get hit on by that stranger whose hand he almost nailed to the bar top

and how he’d sensed from the beginning that something was off and if he’d been more daring he would have dragged the dude out the door himself

which surprises you because,,,,,you thought that that moment was just kun being kun

that he’d done it for millions of other people in unwarranted situations and although kun admits that he’s casually saved a couple of people from awkward converstion

you had been the first person he,,,,,,had slammed a glass down on someones hand for

“no one else has ever really evoked that out of me,,” he says one afternoon as you’re sitting between him and a pile of books he’s dragged out of the library

you giggle and kun looks at you all cute and confused

while you tell him that it’s nothing, he’s just - full of surprises

kun and you dating does surprise the rest of nct

notably lucas whose like “bro you are my roommate,,,,how did i not know you were getting spicy with someone”

you: “did he just say spicy?”

kun, deadpan: “that’s just lucas.”

doyoung grabbing lucas by the year: “apologize to them for calling their young beautiful love spicy right now.”

sicheng in mandarin to kun: “but ,,,,, are you two spicy,,,,you know-”

jkjkjkjk

but after the initial shock wears off,,,,you become a natural part of the group

you sort of stay in the sidelines watching nct get up to no good

with kun at your side, shrugging it off and telling you that when you’re both needed to save someone - you’ll be there

but secretly, for kun, it’s finally such a relief to have someone there with him

even if he’d always been content with being the quiet, always comes to the rescue at the last minute kind of friend

there had still been times when he hadn’t even been able to bring his own problems to the table

but now, with you, he can do that

and you’re probably the only one in the world to ever see kun get stressed

so much so that when you tell taeyong you’re thinking of maybe getting kun something to distract him from all his worries

taeyong chokes on his rice and goes, “he-he’s worried about something?!!?”

(moral of the story is you teaching nct to pay attention to kun’s pains sometimes - mark apologizes profusely for almost an hour about not doing so)

but no really, finally for kun there’s someone who not to be a total cornball

but someone who puts him first - just like he puts everyone else

and to be honest it’s nice to be taken care of

also you’re cute. you’re cute when you’re taking care of him. or when you’re not taking care of him. or when you’re right in front of him. or when he’s getting distracted looking at your photo which he made his phone background in class. basically you’re very cute

kun tells everyone you’re very cute

there are many ways to say cute in different languages and kun might just learn all of them just so he can call you cute

also, aside from telling his friends about your relationship - you also end up taking them to the bar

to see kun in action

and although it kind of makes kun a little shy, all of nct nearly fall off their chairs when they see him get into the groove

johnny even claims, in a bit of a tipsy manner, that kun really is the coolest of all of them huh - taeyong you may have your perfect face but kun is really winning oh shit im going to fall dow-

ten, the designated driver thanking you and kun when you have to drag taeil down from atop the bar stage after the tenth time of singing “what is love?”

but anyway back to your relationship with kun

he really is such an attentive person, it’s just part of him to pick up on the little things

he knows your habits, he knows your likes and dislikes

you dont even have to tell him where to put his hand around you - he knows that you prefer your waist over your shoulders

he knows that you hate milk in your coffee

he knows that you’d much rather wear his green hoodie than the red button down jungwoo got him for christmas

he knows when you’re mad before you can even say anything, he knows you’re about to cry before the tears even fall

and you’re so amazed he soaks up all this information and remembers it about you

because it makes you feel completely and utterly loved

people who otherwise don’t know much about kun like to assume he’s kind of closed up

that he doesnt pay attention, that he’s off in his own world

but that’s not true - not at all

and even though kun always pulls you into his arms, nose settled in the crook of your neck

murmuring that there’s nothing in the world he wants then to be here alone with you

you sometimes want to pull him up and have the world realize who he is

how great he is

and how much you love him

also can i just say that he’s so sweet that when you first end up staying the night kun’s hand trembling on the buttons of your jeans

he looks up, eyes blown out and his hair a mess from making out just to go

“stop me now, i dont want to keep going because if i do i think i might really become addicted to you.”

LIKE HE LITERALLY SAYS THAT

and had it not been for you just really wanting him - you might have burst out into tears and hugged him close because he’s so cute

(you know after he was all shy like,,,was it ok,,,i haven’t done this much,,,,,if i can i will impro- *you shut him up with a lot of kisses*)

sometimes you’ll still swing by the bar for a drink on a bad day, but instead of it you swing by

and kun signals to the manager for his break

only to meet up with you out back

and ask you whats wrong, even though he knows what you actually want

which is to kiss his face

and he lets you

(has had to fix his bowtie a LOT more since he started dating you)

(also had to start carrying a comb with him because gosh darn it you keep messing up his hair)

you know that kun is good at making drinks, but when he cooks some of his home favorite meals

you take one bite

get up

and go over to smother him in more kisses

“you are husband material, you know this right?”

kun tilting his head with his chopsticks in his mouth: “i dont think i am.”

you getting up again to give him even more kisses: “god i love you”

kun doesn’t talk much when you guys hang out with his friends which is like totally normal

and you’re ok just cuddling into his side, watching the rest of nct make a fool of themselves

at the movies or at the park or wherever

but one day kun is like “guys wanna see my new magic trick?”

and everyone is like hell yeah

and youre like ? wonder what it is, he didn’t show me this one yet either

and then kun just goes

“right now ill show you guys my ENTIRE universe. wanna see it?”

and all of nct is like huh

and doyoung is like snorting like there’s no way to shrink the universe down or something like what are you going to pull out a tiny globe keychain out of your pocket-

kun pointing directly to you

“there it is. my entire universe.”

nct: dead:

you: literally going to faint

kun: thank you. no need for a standing ovation.

#i listened to what is love the whole time i was writing this and i dont know why? like it has nothing to do with the plot?#take on me by aha came on and i was like crying in the pitch blackness of my room going I DONT KNOW WHAT I HAVE TO SAY KUN ILL SAY IT ANYWAY #nct scenarios #nct u scenarios #kun scenarios #nct imagine #nct u imagine #kun imagines #kun #nct #kun au #nct au #nct u au #qian kun

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mrswalkers-blog · 5 years

Text

A Golden Cage

Chapter 5 - London

Book: The Royal Romance (AU)

This is the story of Emily, daughter of Drake and Riley. She just celebrated her 18th birthday. She is young, beautiful and full of energy.

Summary: We are going in the past, in Daniel’s memory of him and Emily. Daniel leaves for London. Emily keeps calling him every day, jeopardizing her relationship with a guy she is seeing. Will Daniel be able to tell her how he feels?

Warnings: 15+.

This series will be NSFW. It will have mentions of sexual abuse and violence. I will tag the chapters accordingly.

A/N: This series is getting absolutely no response. But I still cannot stop writing it. I know it is not scandalous, maybe seeming mundane. But it is close to my heart. And the story is still building.

Word Count: 1800+

Previous Chapters Link to previous chapters can be found in the master list on my blog page.

Daniel couldn’t get Emily out of his head. All he could think was the way she looked, laughed, her skin, her smell, her taste on his lips, the way she kissed, the way she clutched his shirt tight pulling him close, the way she felt tight against him.... his hand rubbed his length in the shower, savoring her memories. He stood in the shower, a hand against the wall in front of him, hot water running on his skin, one hand rubbing his own length. ‘Dan!’ he heard her moan in his head as the memory consumed him, he let out a breath he was holding as he found his release in the bathroom of his orphanage.

Each and every moment of the week that followed after their beautiful moments together, he thought about her, only about her. He was not sure why he was so obsessed with her, now more than he ever was, was it because of the way she felt that afternoon in his arms, or the fact that he was going away from her or because she hadn’t called him or visit him after that day, not even once. She had never stayed away from him for so long. Maybe she was mad at him for leaving. He thought about calling her, so many times. So many times he dialed her number from the phone in the orphanage office, only to cut it before it connected.

Today was the day he was leaving for London, at least for two years, or maybe forever. All he wanted to do was to talk to her one last time, to hear her beautiful voice or her giggle. He checked he had packed everything. All his belongings fit easily in a small bag. A few clothes, a few gifts from her, a wallet with money that wouldn't last a month and a newspaper cutting of him and her, all packed.

Everyone in the orphanage lined up to bid him farewell. He hugged his friends, old and new. It was always emotional when a kid left the orphanage, when adopted or when he became an adult. Today, everyone was feeling proud. None of their patrons ever left the country. Many hadn't even seen a plane up close. London was a magical a land their friend was flying to.

‘Where is your girlfriend?’ a little boy asked him, noticing the girl who visits almost every other day hadn't come to bid him goodbye. He forced a smile, he had been asking himself the same question since last week. He remained silent, unable to decide what to say to the little kid.

‘Did she brake up with you?’ another kid asked, with concern in his eyes. Emily was a princess to them. They all believed she loved Daniel. A beautiful Princess and Pauper story. They hoped they would have a happy ending. Daniel knew it was not possible. Life is not a fairytale.

‘She is not my girlfriend.’ he sighed and patted the kid’s cheek gently.

With a heavy heart, he left for the airport with Rachel. Rachel recited all the pieces of advice she had gathered for him. Be safe, Keep your passport safe, Study hard, Eat healthily, Don't drink too much, Don't do drugs. She went on and on the entire ride. Daniel kept nodding to her, while his mind raced back to Emily.

‘You didn't hear any of the advice I gave you, did you?’ she asked him as he got out of the cab. He chuckled and shook his head. He gave her a warm hug.

‘Can you repeat it for me?’ he said smiling to her.

‘Forget it. Just remember one thing. Get over her.’ she said looking in his eyes. She knew him. She knew it would be hard for him. But she knew it was what needs to be done. He silently nodded and started walking towards the gate. When suddenly his heart skipped a beat, hearing a familiar voice calling out to him.

‘Daniel!’ he saw Emily jumping out of a car, running towards him.

‘Were you honestly going without saying goodbye?’ she almost ran into him, giving him a hug that fumbled him a step back.

‘Sorry I was late, I was told you already left. Asked the driver to drive as fast as he could. Broke two signals on the way! Dad is going to kill me!’ she said in a single breath.

‘Hi,’ she looked at Rachel greeting her briefly.

‘Here, I got you a parting gift.’ she handed him a gift-wrapped box before Daniel or Rachel could speak.

‘What is it?’ he finally said as the surprise on his face changed into a smile.

‘It's a phone. It's about time you had one. Get a sim when you land. Call me. You have my number right? Or should I write it down for you?’ she said in a single breath.

‘I have it written somewhere.’ he said. He could recite her number in his sleep. But it was not the best time to bring it up.

‘Call me okay? Now go!’ she said giving him a quick hug and a quick peck on his cheek.

He saw tears forming in her eyes, while a bright smile adorned her face before he walked in the airport for a new beginning.

---

Daniel settled in his new life fairly well. He had a room he had to share with a roommate, Mike. He was a simple guy. Spent most of his day playing some games on his laptop. Not much of a social person. Although he did talk to him every once in a while.

He had almost no one to talk to. Except for Emily, who called almost every day. Talked for hours about her day and asked about his. Daniel entered his room, his phone glued to his ears, a smile on his lips as he talked to Emily.

‘Oh! you reached your room!’ she said as she heard the door close.’ Is Mike home?’

‘Yup,’ Daniel said looking at Mike who was wired to his laptop, ears covered with headphones that tuned out all outside noises.

‘Say my regards to him.’ Emily said.

Daniel gave a smile to Mike as he looked up from his laptop for a short second.

‘He is busy in his lappy again.’

‘I don't understand how you guys live like this. You should go out, meet girls, get laaaaid.’ she stretched the last word a bit making Daniel uncomfortable.

‘They don't have pretty girls here.’ he chuckled. Shook his head to get the image of her in his arms away.

‘In all of London!? Someone is being picky!’

‘London girls can't hold a candle to yo... Cordonian girls’, he corrected himself, ‘And besides, I am here to study, not looking for girls.’

‘You can do both! It’s Friday night! Go to a bar have some fun!’

‘Oh yes! that reminds me! Weren't you supposed to go on a Date tonight? What’s his name? Wes?’

‘Oops! I forgot about him!’ she squeaked,’ I am on the date! I told him I need to use the powder room. It's been eighteen minutes. He must think I am taking a dump! Gotta Go’ she hanged up the phone.

‘Was it your girlfriend?’ Mike asked looking at the wide grin on Daniel’s face.

‘She is not my girlfriend.’ He couldn't believe he was still correcting people.

‘She calls you every day. You constantly smile when you talk to her. You have turned down every girl who showed interest in you. People keep asking me if you were gay. I said you are in long distance.‘ he shrugged.

‘I am not. not gay. not in a relationship.’ Daniel informed him.

‘I don't buy it. I may be a geek, but I am not stupid.’

‘Thats true! as a matter of fact, she just told me that she is on a date, right now. With a guy named Wes. '

‘You mean she called you in the middle of a date?’

‘Ya so?’

‘Dude! how naive can you be? She definitely has a crush on you. And clearly you a crush on her too. Why don't you tell her?’

‘I cant. She is out of my league. She is almost a Princess and I am a poor orphan.’

‘So what?.’

‘You won't understand.’

‘Its your choice mate! but if you are not interested in her, stop leading her on.’

Daniel’s heart fluttered at the possibility of her interested in him. That’s what he wanted, a possibility with her. But he knew it would never end well. Their worlds were different. He didn't belong in hers and she didn't belong in his. Mike was right, Rachel was right, this needs to end now.

---

Next day, Saturday, Emily called in the morning. ‘Did you go to the bar last night?’ She would continue talking with him where they last left. As if she was right beside him.

‘No. How did your date go?’ he asked.

‘Wes said I didn't seem interested in him or something. Can you believe it?'

‘Emily, listen, I have to go for an interview. I have applied for a job. I will talk to you later.’ he lied. He had to.

‘Ya sure. Best of luck. Call me okay?’

But he didn’t. She texted him asking how his interview went. When will he be able to call her? But he replied in a word or two that he was busy and he will call her later. The later never came. He didn't call her and when she did, he just pretended to be at work or at college.

Emily called him every day, texted him. It pained to ignore her calls, her texts. Slowly her calls became less frequent and soon she stopped calling him.

If it hurt to ignore her calls, it hurt even more when she stopped calling. Daniel would keep looking at his phone. Hoping for a message or a call. He didn't know if he was happy that she moved on or heartbroken.

Time passed, but he still couldn't get Emily out of his head. After completing his graduation, he moved back to Cordonia. A part of him still wanted to see her, be with her, but he kept himself away from her.

He tried working few jobs but soon realized that a nine to five desk job was not for him. That is when he found that there were few job openings in Royal Guards. He joined the training program. He found the training relaxing him. He would train all day and fell asleep almost immediately when he reached his bed. It was much better than thinking about Emily every night.

After 10 weeks of extensive training, he was interviewed by Bastien. But when he realized, he was being appointed at Valtoria, he requested to appoint him at some other location. Bastien informed him that it was not his choice to make. By taking the training, he had already committed to serve for at least 1 year at the location he was appointed.

Bastien handed him his appointment letter. When he opened it, his eyes flew to the words

Emily Walker

Disclaimer: The characters belong to Pixelberry. I only own my Original Characters

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littleredroseonthevalley · 6 years

Text

Who Do I Want To Be?

Summary: After Emily discovers Alpha Theta Mu’s dirtiest secrets, Nathan considers self-esteem and self-improvement.

Rating: T - Content not suitable for children. Suitable for teens, 13 years and older, with minor suggestive adult themes.

Mentions of drug and alcohol abuse. Reader discretion is advised.

Words: 2582

Notes: A few years ago, I read this fanfiction on another fandom and it resonated deeply within me. Tonight (as in, two weeks ago, I’m writting from the past), with a few beers in me, I thought how well it would give an alternate ending to the whole Nathan Debacle in TJ.

Here’s the results of my drunk wonderings.

I would also like to anounce I’ll be posting the next chapter for An Opera on Separation, starting Friday. Keep tuned!

Who did I want to be?

Well, certainly not the person I was right now.

Usually, I felt pretty good about the way I am. There was nothing not to like, I was handsome, young, rich and charismatic. I wasn’t good, though, good in the way you hear on the phrase ‘good samaritan’.

I never thought it to be something bad, in fact, I took a deal of pride on it, but I then realized I was also not liked because of it. I wasn’t respected. Not like Emily was.

This is what all boils down to, right? The heart of my problem, Emily Harper, the girl who had made it impossible even to appreciate the person I currently was. I hated myself because of her.

What's worse was I couldn't even bring myself to drown my sorrows in the sweet high of the combination between drugs, alcohol and adrenaline I had been using for so long to fight the ennui.

The mere thought of it disgusted me.

On a second thought, that was what all boils down to, after all. If I wasn’t feeling bored about life itself, I wouldn’t have joined Alpha Theta Mu, and by not joining, I wouldn’t take part on that stupid ‘inner-circle challenge’ for the presidency. I wouldn’t have crashed into Tyler’s car and I wouldn’t even have met Emily in the first place.

Ennui it is.

So I had nothing better to do than sit there and look at some stupid picture of me and a trashy hunk of metal 99-percenters call a car. A blasted piece of damning evidence Beau and Kassidy held to my head that could single-handedly ruin my life.

In that moment, I think about how I managed to mess just about every good thing in my life up. I was perfectly happy with my life before she barged in, screwed up as it was. I feel like I could hate her for it, to hold her responsible for the loss of my peace of mind. To demand a derestrict return to the status quo.

However, the fact is, I didn't want that life back.

Somewhere between all of her concerns about her friends and family, I had started to feel guilty about how I had shut the people in my life out. I don't think I had spoken to either of my parents in at least two months.

Nathan, Snr and Lois Sterling were awful people, I can’t deny, but my father cares marginally about me.

He used to take interest on my academic life back in the day I attended preparatory academies, and he does still send emails asking me about my life. Even if I don’t respond to them.

He still talked to me during whatever meal we shared. Sure, most of the time it was just uncomfortable small talk about the weather or he was just informing me that he and my mother would be going away somewhere or another, but I realized he did care. Somewhat.

When Emily told me about her home life, that disgusting notion of ma-and-pa, dog and white picket fence, I admit I felt jealous. There wasn’t nothing wrong with that girl, I couldn’t identify anything that made her less of a porcelain doll, loved and adored by all, and more of a flawed human like the rest of us.

That rage fuelled my decision to destroy it all, to hit her and make her bleed, just to prove to the world that yes, Emily Harper was a human being like the rest of us. I wanted to see her cry.

That feeling, that reasoning, dictated every action I took so far that pertained her or any of her friends. Turns out, I was approaching the problem the wrong way. I wasn’t supposed to destroy it, I should feel inspired to make something out of myself. That was the beauty of it, that it was what other people saw in her, what I couldn’t see until just now.

So, we return to the million-dollar question: who did I want to be?

A guy who could muster up the courage to speak to his father for the first time in months, for one. I would also like to stop my destructive behaviour and find healthier ways to occupy my time. Well, no problem there for the moment, like I said, the mere thought of it seemed disgusting to me now.

I should probably work on getting myself some decent friends too, because I was pretty sure I hadn’t any left. If I ever had one. I only ever hung out with the Alphas. I had been doing that for a while, I guess.

Yet another thing that changed when I met Emily. She made me want so much more than what the likes of Beau offered, and helped me realize that I didn't belong with those people. I was so sick and tired of pretending to be as superficial as they were.

I’m not sure where was exactly my place, because I’m sure I also didn't belong with the majority of the students at Hartfeld. Most of Emily’s friends were her suitemates on her freshman year, and that propelled me to remember what kind of people were mine.

There was this football player, I remember well. The two of us weren’t friends, per se, but we were amicable. Perhaps because we recognized each other as horrible people? We did manipulate one of the girls that lived with us to assume all domestic work. Back in school I was no better, I had that Sex God thing going on for me and I took more advantage than I should.

So where did I belong?

As cliché as it may sound, I want to say with Emily. Because she was the only person I ever felt connected to. So connected I couldn't keep my hands off of her. Nothing was going to stop me from going after that girl.

Except I screwed it all up.

That's probably the thing I wanted to be most of all, someone worthy of Emily. Clearly, I wasn't. I just brought her into my messed up world and let her destroy herself in the process. I cannot believe I was that much of a jerk. What was I supposed to do about it now?

For starters, it might help if I, instead of just sitting there, whining about everything I did wrong, I just go out there and try to mend the burnt bridges. It wasn't going to magically fix everything but I owed myself to at least try.

Not about to lose the momentum of my decisiveness, and not to think about all the ways it could go horribly wrong, I marched haughtily across campus to her apartment building.

Shortly, I was standing in front of the number 20, sweating out of nerves like a kid on a spelling bee. Mustering up all of the courage I had left, I knocked three times, not more, not less on Emily's door.

I was secretly hoping Zack was the one to open the door and send me away before I could do any more damage than I had already done. He would probably rather kill me with a kitchen knife than let me talk to his beloved roommate.

My petty hopes were dashed when Emily opened the door herself. Or not, really, since as soon as she realized it was me, she then slammed it right back in my face.

I guess I should have expected her to do something like that. God knows I deserve it.

I just knocked on the door again, because what else was there to be done? I was going to argue my case, and I did it by saying, "Emily, please open the door. I'd like to apologize."

I was rather surprised she opened the door after that, I had expected her to ignore me much longer than that. Perhaps she would prefer to see me squirm, instead of just listening to it, or to avoid a scandal with her neighbours. Or even because she was afraid I would go public with that video of Beau’s.

Be as it may, she opened and she was about to speak. "Well, by all means, go for it." She bit at me.

Not that much of a good start, but at least we’re talking, right?

"I'm extremely sorry about what I did.” I said, throwing the best lost puppy look I could muster. “I'm sorry I led you on a stupid, rigged treasure hunt, I’m sorry for letting the Alphas do what they did to you…”

I could not finish my apology before she cut me off. "Speaking of that band of sociopaths of yours, why don't you just go back to them?" She said as she slammed the door in my face again.

She should not try to underestimate my intelligence, though, as this time however, I was prepared and my foot prevented the door from closing completely. Therefore, she had no choice but to look at me while I said, "I’m quitting Alpha Theta Mu." When she didn't respond, I added, "I'm sorry I got you into that mess. I'm sorry I crashed into Tyler, I’m sorry for all the things I did to your friends. I'm so unbelievably sorry for what you lost because of me."

She looked at me for a long time and finally she asked me in a low voice, as if she was afraid to hear the answer. "Why did you sleep with me? Why did you even date me? You could’ve distracted me with something else, with anything else. This was beyond cruel. I thought we were more than that."

Say what you want, but Emily Harper knew how to, and wasn’t afraid of, going straight for the neck. I could have said it was the Alphas, or because she was there for the taking or something else but I decided against that and told her the truth, knowing it probably wasn't going to do me any good.

"We were more than that.” I admit. “I've never had feelings for someone like I have for you. I swear.”

She looked at me in confusion and asked the inevitable question, why did I do it, then?

“I had heard of you before we met at that fundraiser. Everybody did, thanks to that ridiculous award Powell got you.” I couldn’t help but let some of my bitterness arise at that sentence. “You were perfect, Emily. You were loved and adored by all, and it annoyed me beyond anything I can say.”

She scoffed like she thought I was an idiot. I really was, so I guess I can’t fault her for it.

“I’m not perfect.” She said, pointing out the obvious. “I never thought so, and I never said so.”

I sighed. “Indeed, you never did, but everyone thought you were Jesus second coming. It was tiring, especially for someone like me. I wanted to be perfect, and above it all, I wanted to be loved. No one ever cared for me, you know? My parents are dicks, I never had friends like yours. I wanted your life for myself, and if I couldn’t get it, I would destroy it.

“The thing is,” I continued. “I came to find out there was a reason why you were so beloved, and why everybody just kind of stuck up with me to get something out of me. I am just a petty, spoiled monster with way too much time and money in my hands, while you… You might not be perfect, but you’re legitimately nice, you seemed to care about me. I guess I started to like that somewhere along the line. That’s why I slept with you.”

“I did care about you, Nathan.” She said, earnest. “Why didn’t you stopped it all? Why didn’t you just came clean instead of forcing me to find out on my own?”

"You were obviously never going to forgive me anyway.” I shrugged, trying to conceal the pain I felt over it. “It didn't really matter, anyways, I had already hit Tyler’s car, Ortega's record was already ruined, Davenport was already eliminated from her graduate program. I didn’t think it would do any good.”

"So why are you here then?" Emily points out.

"I'm here because I'm trying to be a better person.” I admitted, with my own dose of earnestness. “I just wanted to apologize for what I did to you. It wasn't right. I know peer pressure and jealousy are lame excuses but I don't know what else to say. I swear to you, that wasn't me. I am a better person than that. I just have to start living in the real world again. I'm sorry. I really am."

"Well, you were wrong.” She says, with a glint of something on her eye, I couldn’t tell if it was rage or sadness. Perhaps both. “You were wrong to think you shouldn’t have come clean. Have you ever considered that maybe there's a reason I kept all those secrets from my friends? Even when I could see they were suffering for it?”

“I just assumed it was because you didn’t want to tip Beau off, like I told you.” I said, trying to avoid looking into her eyes.

“No. I did it because I thought it was important to you, too. That I was protecting you.” She says, and I could almost feel the accusing finger on my chest. “I felt this pull towards you as if we had a deeper connection I couldn't run from. I wanted a relationship like that. I didn't care if I had to ruin my life for you, I did it without question. I ruined all my friends’ lives because I was protecting you."

"And you have no idea how much I regret that. If I could go back and change it, I would.” I said, meaning every word.

She sighed, deeply. "I believe you."

I smiled and raised my eyes to meet hers. "So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying our timing was bad.” Emily breathed out, weary. “We shouldn't have been together in the first place. Not like that. Neither of us were ready to have the relationship we should have had."

"So you forgive me?" I tentatively ask.

“No.” She says firmly, and my heart feels like it’s being twisted. “But I will give you the chance to earn it. You’ll go to the Dean’s office and say everything you’ve done and you’re going to accept whatever punishment he deems fit gracefully. You’ll also going to apologise to all my friends. Then, and only then, I’ll forgive you.”

I was probably grinning like a retard. I could do that, I certainly could, it was within my reach, and then Emily would forgive me.

"Good.” I nodded, smiling. “Because I love you. I'm going to do whatever it takes to win you back. We may not have been ready for it then, but we are now. I'm going to fight for you."

"You want to win me back? Be less of a dick this time.”

As she whispered those last words, she stepped onto the hallway and crashed her lips into mine. I definitely wasn't expecting that but having her in my arms again was the best feeling in the world.

I would never let her go again.

I kissed her as if she was the last breath I would ever breathe.

Taglist: @alicars; @boneandfur; @cora-nova; @choicesfannatalie; @emerald-bijou; @kennaxval; @liamxs-world; @lizeboredom; @mfackenthal; @moodygrip; @mrsdrakewalkerblog; @radiantrosemary; @topsyturvy-dream

#the junior #nathan sterling

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sanguine-fairy · 7 years

Text

Here’s To You

Pairing: Graytear

Word Count: 2102

Characters: Gray, Ultear, mention of Silver and Ur

A/N: Here is a little something I wrote up for the Graytear exchange for @crazyblueowl :) they had asked for a platonic, Harry Potter AU and this is what my crazy brain of mine came up with! I’m sorry there isn’t a lot of cool magic scenes in this, I just couldn’t shake this idea out of my head. It got a little angsty (I hope you don’t mind but their whole relationship revolves around angst tbh) I hope you enjoy it!

It was raining again. It was always raining this time of year, only adding to the melancholy mood that seemed to follow him wherever he goes. It had been present through today’s training, proving to make the act of being stealthy quite difficult, much to the chagrin of his instructors. It even followed him while he walked to the pub down the street from his apartment.

On any other night, Gray would have kept walking as he passed the tiny pub. He wasn’t much of a drinker, he hated the way the alcohol burned as though pouring pure gasoline down his throat, but tonight that burn was the only thing he was interested in.

Musty smoke greeted him as he entered the decrepit building and made his way to the bar. The old bartender nodded at him, a silent greeting, as he began to fill a glass with an amber liquid. This wasn’t the first time Gray had done this.

Sliding the glass his way, the bartender dismissed Gray’s attempts to pay him for the drink. With a quick thank you, Gray took the glass in his hands and closed his eyes. Once the moment of silence passed, Gray raised the whiskey neat.

“Here’s to you, mom and dad.” And with that, he swiftly swallowed the liquid.

The sun had set hours ago, leaving Gray to make the trek home in darkness. The dim street lamps barely provided enough light so with a whispered lumos, Gray lit the way with his wand. There was something about the soft glow of white light coming from the tip of his wand that comforted him, that made him forget about the emptiness this time of year brought.

The walk home was long and cold, the rain coming down in a constant stream. Gray couldn’t be bothered to accio his umbrella, he didn’t mind the rain. He felt as though the rain would somehow wash away the desolate mood that accompanied him, he hoped it would anyways. As he approached the apartment building, he was surprised to find the light on in the living room. His roommate, Ultear, wasn’t much of a night owl like he was. For as long as he could remember, even during their Hogwarts years, she’d go to bed early.

Gray took the steps in twos as he hurried to get inside. Thoughts dwelling on the worst, he rushed to make sure Ultear was okay. He burst through the front door to find the living room empty but impeccably clean, unlike the mess he left it in this afternoon. A soft scratching sound came from the kitchen so he followed the noise until he saw Ultear. She was on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor with a brush he didn’t even know they had.

The kitchen was sparkling clean and smelled of chemicals and lemons that caused his nose to wrinkle. Florescent colored bottles littered the counters, cleaners that Gray rarely sees. He had never used actual muggle cleaners before, why would he if he could clean a whole room with the flick of his wand?

“You know what time it is, don’t you?” Gray asked Ultear when she didn’t acknowledge his presence in the kitchen.

Ultear stopped scrubbing and blinked owlishly up at Gray like she was trying to blink herself out of a daze. She looked around the room as if she only just realized where she was.

“It’s late.” Was all she replied before she went back to scrubbing.

It pained Gray to see her like this. It happened every year, on the anniversary of their parents’ deaths. Ultear spends the day in an ultra-cleaning mode, preferring to clean by hand than by magic. Gray never questioned it, the same way Ultear never questioned where he went on the night of the anniversary. She cleaned as though she was trying to clean herself of the memories. Just like Gray tried to take the edge off of the memories using alcohol.

“You should go to bed, you’ll be tired in the morning.” They both knew she wouldn’t sleep much tonight, neither of them would, but she listened anyway.

Gray watched as she stood slowly, tossing the brush into the sink as she passed by it. She met his gaze and held it for a moment, mutual understanding passing between them before she gave him a curt nod and stalked off towards her bedroom. Through the years, they learned to give each other the space they needed to cope. If Ultear needed him, he’d know.

Gray filled a glass with water before retreating to his own bedroom. A sleepless night awaited him. Even ten years later he couldn’t get a restful night’s sleep on this night. He knew Ultear struggled as well. She didn’t like to show it, but he knew.

She had always been the stronger of the two, mentally and emotionally. She was level headed, calm and collected in stressful situations. Gray was jealous of how she always kept it together while it felt like he was constantly coming apart at the seams.

Ultear was… Ultear. They’ve been friends for as long as he could remember, their mothers being friends since their children. Ultear was his best friend, his sister in every way except blood. When their parents were killed, they lost everything other than each other. They stuck side by side through everything, protecting each other and themselves from the ugly world they were thrown into so suddenly.

They were only children when it happened. The ripe age of 8, three years before they received their Hogwarts letters, three years of orphanages.

Those three years were the hardest.

Voldemort and his death eaters were still at large. Death eaters were the ones responsible for their loss. Their village had been ransacked, a muggle village targeted during one of their mass “cleansings.” Their parents had fought tooth and nail to protect the two of them, forcing them to hide and not reveal themselves no matter what. Silver, Gray’s father was the only one out of the four parents that had magic, but it hadn’t been enough.

That fateful night they were dining at Ultear’s house for dinner like they frequently did, laughing around the table. Then the screaming started. Flashes of green light filled the night sky. Gray and Ultear had thought it was fireworks as they rushed excitedly to the window. Ur was the first to act, grabbing the children and leading them to a secret cupboard underneath the stairs.

“Swear to me you will not leave this cupboard. No matter what you hear, do not come out. It is very important that you stay as quiet as you can be. Promise me you two, can you do that?” Ur’s whisper was urgent, her eyes filled with loss.

Neither Gray or Ultear understood the urgency at the time, but they did as they were told. Their parents each hugged them, declaring their love as if it would be the last time. The panic didn’t set in until Ur shut them in with tears in her eyes. Ultear called out for her mother before Gray pulled her closer and hushed her. He had no idea what was happening but he knew they had to be quiet.

Gray played with Ultear’s hair to calm her as she hugged him, sobbing silently into his chest. A loud crash sounded beyond the cupboard door causing Ultear to hug him tighter. Stranger’s shouts intermingled with their parents’ as the crashing continued.

It felt like the commotion lasted for days, forever. The two of them were frozen in fear, trying but failing to not listen to the apparent wreckage happening outside the door. Gray had lost count of how many times the cracks in the door frame flashed green. As suddenly as it had started, it was quiet again. The muffled voices that had been present had gone silent. As badly as Gray wanted to open the door, he kept frozen in place like Ur had instructed. If it was okay to leave, Ur would’ve let them know, right?

Only Ur never got the chance to let them know it was okay. They had been cooped up in that cupboard for two days before someone opened that door. It was a stranger who had found them there. They would find out later, during their time at Hogwarts, that the stranger was an auror, an elite specialist officer who enforces the laws of magic and protects the world from death eaters.

The first year felt like a whirlwind, like life had kept moving forward while they were stuck frozen in that place, in that cupboard. Ultear had taken it the hardest. She cried. She cried more than Gray thought humanly possible. She cried enough for the both of them. Then one day she stopped crying. She steeled that part of her heart off and Gray was almost certain she never cried again, aside from on the anniversary of that day.

They spend the next few years living in a muggle orphanage. Coming from a muggle village, the auror hadn’t known that these two would have magic so he had left them in muggle care. They had to work for their food and board in that place, two eight-year-old children doing chores from sun up to sundown only pausing to eat. They were constantly finding themselves getting into trouble, weird phenomenon occurring around them with silverware floating in the air to items disappearing into thin air. The other children were afraid of them.

Ultear never once left Gray’s side.

It got easier once they got to Hogwarts. Despite being sorted into separate houses, Gray into Gryffindor and Ultear into Slytherin, they stuck together. Once they learned the nasty truth of what happened to their village and who had caused their pain, they studied together relentlessly to achieve their goal, becoming aurors and protecting the world from evil. It had been Ultear’s idea to become aurors, the hate she held in her heart for those that destroyed their village pushing her to find a way to fight back. Gray had willingly agreed.

Their burning desire to become aurors, to protect the world from situations like the one they lived, pushed them to the top of their classes, exceeding expectations on every N.E.W.T. they took. They didn’t let the fact that aurors weren’t in high demand deter them because they knew that a new generation of evil was sure to show its face. Peace never lasts forever.

After they graduated, head auror, Harry Potter himself, gratefully accepted Gray’s and Ultear’s applications and enrolled them in training immediately. They had found a flat in London and have been living there since. Training had been difficult for the both of them, pushing them to their limits. What one of them lacked, the other one exceeded in. They had each other’s backs even in combat.

Gray would be forever grateful for Ultear because if it wasn’t for her and her unwavering strength, he’s not sure he would be where he was.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been lying in bed lost in his thoughts before he heard the sounds. They were soft, he could barely hear them through the wall, but he recognized the sobs instantly. He got up quietly and made his way towards Ultear’s room. He didn’t bother knocking, she probably wouldn’t have responded if he did. Through the darkness he could see her curled up on her bed, face buried in a pillow, her shoulders shaking with each sob. He walked over to her and whispered her name.

Ultear responded by scooting over to make room for Gray on the bed. He sat down and leaned against the headboard, crossing his legs on the bed. Ultear rolled over and rearranged herself so her head rested on Gray’s chest. He reached a hand up and began to stroke her hair in comfort.

“I miss them.” Her whisper was barely audible.

“Me too.” He replied.

They sat in silence for a while, both of them stuck in their memories.

“They would be proud, you know,” Gray said, breaking the silence. “We’ve come a long way, we’ve achieved so much. Instead of letting it pull us down, we used it to push us to success. Our parents are watching us with smiles on their faces. They’re protecting us while we fight to protect the world from evil.” The words had come to him suddenly, an attempt to console Ultear and himself. He felt Ultear smile against his chest.

Things were going to be okay.

#graytear exchange #graytear #fairy tail #gray fullbuster #ultear milkovich #my writing #all the angst #and a kinda happy ending #idk how to write long fics i'm sorry #I'd love to come back and write more about their actual auror jobs tho

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