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spnae · 2 years

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Chapter 11 Dust Will Get Ya

***** ****** *****

Buffy collapsed onto Spike’s chest as she felt him pulse within her, pushing her over the edge once again. They kissed again as they both rode out the wave of ecstasy that crashed over them. A moment after it had passed Buffy rolled off of him, still staying close enough to feel his cool skin pressed to hers.

“I don’t think I could ever get tired of that. You are amazing, electrifying,” Spike murmured in her ear as he ran his fingers down her side.

“Agreed, I feel it too. I’ve never been with anyone who can make me feel the way you do.”

“High praise coming in after the Immortal from what I hear.”

“Don’t get me wrong, he was pretty amazing… But it’s different with you. Maybe it’s the difference being with someone you love, and have a history with. He knew how to please a woman, but you know how to please me, plus there’s that whole connection thing we have going on. If that makes any sense at all.”

Spike nuzzled her neck, “You don’t have to make me feel better you know. It’s not like it’s the first time I’ve had a woman who’d been with that wanker.”

“I’m not, I mean it. I think that’s why it was never really about the sex with him.”

“But it is with me?” He teased.

“We both know our first go around was ALL about the sex. Mind blowing, addictive, sadistic sex. This time our relationship is completely different. Now it’s about… well everything,” she responded as she turned towards him, “I can be myself no matter what the situation is with you now . I don’t have to hide anything. Whether we’re fighting demons, or doing laundry or training Slayers or having sex, it’s just us. I can totally be me. I can be strong and scared and vulnerable and silly and sad and everything else. And I seriously need that in my life, I need you.”

Spike smirked, “Guess that’s more than just a little something isn’t it?”

“It’s everything, I feel more connected to you now, than I’ve ever felt to any other person, ever.”

He pulled her closer to him, “I feel the same. I don’t really know how I became that guy for you, Love, but I’m glad I did,” he murmured.

“I think they call it ‘long-term character development’,” she teased him.

“Very funny. I just know it makes me happier than I deserve, just hearing you say it,” he kissed her forehead, “By the way, how are the ribs?”

“Alright, I think I’m pretty much healed up.”

“So what’s on for the rest of our night off?”

“I don’t know… not sleepy but I’m pretty sure I’m done with the main event tonight.”

“Seven your magic number then?”

“Tonight it is. How about TV?”

“Unfortunately that would require clothes, seeing as it’s downstairs. You know what? We should seriously see about getting a telly in here.”

“That sounds pretty permanent.”

Spike took her hand in his, “We already said we were planning on coming back, aren’t we?”

“Well yeah, but I was thinking…” she took a deep breath and sat up looking at him, “I’ve been really thinking about this and… if we’re going to do this. You know, make this a permanent kind of thing, do we really want to stay here in the castle?”

“I like the ‘we’, but what’s the deal Buffy? Where else would we go?”

Buffy turned to get up out of bed, “Come on, I want to show you something,” she went over to the window as he followed her. Buffy pointed to a large building about a hundred yards in the distance, “Have you been inside the stone building over there?”

“Wasn’t sure it was part of the property, hadn’t given it much thought really.”

“You’re afraid of trespassing?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, course not.”

“Well anyway, it is part of the property. I guess the council used to use it for out of town guests or trainees or something. It hasn’t been used in years and it’s in sort of rough shape now but way back in the 50’s or something it was converted into a duplex. I was thinking about renovating and updating it.”

“Watch it, the 50’s weren’t that long ago. Look, Love, you just went from 0-60. You’re talking about major commitment and money. Permanent digs, of the above ground variety you think we’re ready for that? Are you ready for that?”

“Not today. But I think I’m getting used to the idea. Besides, when I checked it out from the outside yesterday, it looked like there was a good sized basement. Maybe we could make that ‘the Spike cave’ or whatever. We could live in one half and maybe Willow or Xander would want to move into the other half.”

He looked at her a little surprised, “You really have been thinking about this a lot haven’t you? What does Giles think about all this?”

“I have a list of things I want to talk to Giles about.”

Spike nodded, “As choices go, it’s not a bad one. Commute is nice. Why don’t we check it out and see just how much work we’re looking at? Have a think on it.”

“That’s fair. But let me talk to Giles about it first and do a daytime walk-through. The electricity isn’t on in there and I don’t wanna go through floorboards if it’s worse than I think it is.”

“Not like we haven’t brought the house down around us before, Love,” he smirked.

The next day was Sunday. Most of the girls were outside, either on the grounds or out exploring. Weekends were mostly free time for them, unless they had something planned like the shopping trip. The level 3 and 4 girls were essentially allowed to do what they liked as long as they used the buddy system and were back by dark. Many of the older girls often spent their free time either walking into town or training. As they had just been on a group shopping trip the day before most of them were sticking close to the castle. The computer room had a few occupants and there were a couple of girls in the living room. Only Addison and Ursula hadn’t been seen or heard from since breakfast and everyone knew better than to go searching for them.

Buffy slept in late and took her time getting ready before heading out to find Giles up in his room. Giles opened the door with a book in his hand. There was music coming from the record player.

“Could you get any more cliche?”

“Oh hello, Buffy,” he said, moving aside to let her in, “Now you mention it, I was about to make a cup of tea.”

“And there it is… how were you going to make tea up here?”

“I’m trying out my new electric kettle. Would you like to join me?”

“Sure, hit me. I skipped breakfast.”

“Have a seat, just as easy to make two cups as it is to make one. What brings you this morning?”

“I wanted to talk to you about Spike.”

“What about him?” He asked as he prepared the tea.

“Well I actually wanted to talk to you about getting him put on the payroll. Since he got back he’s been working right along with me, even taking up the slack when I was hurt—“

“Buffy—“

“No Giles, he—”

“Buffy, please…”

She stopped, looking perturbed but accepted the cup of tea he offered her all the same.

Giles took a moment to settle down on the chair across from her with his own cup of tea, “As it would happen, I’ve already made the arrangements. The papers are all drawn up, he need only sign. I had planned on bringing it up to him tomorrow.”

“Wow, ok. I prepared this whole argument and everything…”

“Sorry to take the wind out of your sails. I rather figured if he was going to be sticking around long term, the subject would be coming up. I can hardly allow him to simply leach off of you especially when he is practically doing the same work you are. It simply wouldn’t be fair to either of you.”

“Thank you.”

“Not at all,” he said sipping his tea, “Is there anything else you wanted to discuss?”

“Yeah there is something else I want to talk to you about; that big old building on the property.”

“What, do you mean the Old Barracks?”

“Is that what they were? I guess that makes sense but why would they have been so far from the Keep?”

“Not exactly. It’s more of a nickname for the place. That building isn’t nearly as old as the castle. Although if I’m not mistaken, I believe it was built atop the foundation of an older building. I would have to pull out the old records to be sure but I believe the outer structure of ‘The Barracks’ had once been used to house supplies, like a stone warehouse of sorts.”

“No, that's okay, I don't really need a serious history lesson. I actually just wanted to talk to you about it. I thought you had mentioned it had been some sort of apartment building or duplex or something for the council right?”

“Yes it was. They used to house teachers and visiting Watchers in there. And later they used it as a sort of safe house I believe. The students stayed in the castle in the same rooms we keep the girls in. Although according to the records they only had two to a room. I never stayed here myself, of course.”

“So do you think it’s still in good shape?”

“Well I don’t know about ‘good’, but if you were thinking about moving there I imagine it will probably need more than a broom and a coat of paint. Don’t you like staying in the castle?”

“No, no, it’s nothing like that. We were just talking about eventually moving here permanently.”

“Really? Both of you? Together I mean…”

“Yeah, matter of fact we’ve been talking about it pretty much since we got here. Obviously we haven’t talked to Dawn about it yet. I don’t want to talk about that over the phone. She’s been doing really well in Rome and she likes it there so I’m not sure if she’s going to want to move.”

“Surely Dawn knows how important it would be to have you here at the main training facility.”

“See, that’s exactly how Spike and I feel, like we need to be here. It just makes more sense.”

Giles hesitated a moment then asked, “How does Dawn feel about you and Spike?”

“Fine, I guess. It was her idea for us to take this trip to come see you.”

“It was?”

“Yeah, I was originally planning on just heading back to Rome. Spike and I hadn’t really talked about ‘We’ or ‘Us’ too much before that.”

“Curious.”

“Dawn had a pretty good argument and I really thought it was past time I came back up here anyway. When Spike agreed it just seemed like a no-brainer.”

“While I’m certainly glad you’re here, it does seem curious doesn’t it?”

“I’m sure everything is fine. They would have said something if it wasn’t, right?”

“Oh yes I’m sure you’re right, it’s not as though we haven’t both spoken to them recently.”

“Yeah I mean I just emailed Willow and I talked to Dawn the other day,” Buffy assured him. She shrugged her shoulder and continued, “I’m just thinking, if we are going to move up here permanently, maybe we could renovate the old Council Barracks and turn it into someplace we can live. I sort of checked it out a little bit from the outside yesterday, it looks like there’s a good size basement but there was only so much I could see from the outside.”

“You’re quite right. It is a rather spacious building. When they renovated it they essentially just built it up inside the existing shell. It was turned into a duplex in the late 50’s. Would you be renovating both halves?”

“Well maybe not at first, but eventually. I was sort of thinking that either Willow or Xander might be interested.”

“Do you know how much longer you will be staying with us?”

“Maybe about another two weeks. You’re not getting sick of us already are you?”

“On the contrary, I rather missed having you around.”

“Aww, I missed you too,” she beamed at him. “So what do you think? Finish our tea and go check out the Old Barracks?”

“Fine idea. Allow me to get my shoes.”

****** ****** *******

Giles jiggled his keys in his hands as he attempted to unlock the door, “It would appear the lock is stuck. Would you mind?”

“Sure!” Buffy gave it a try and it gave way with only a little extra force.

The door opened up into a grand shared entryway, a chandelier hung heavy with cobwebs above them. The doors were placed on either side of a large built-in entry bench, wide enough for six people. It had cubby-holes above and below the massive bench and several coat-hooks on each side closest to the doors.

“Wow, get rid of the dust and the gross and this would be really nice.”

“Indeed, let’s hope the rest of the place has held up as well as this.”

“Ehhh I’m all for the bright side but. I noticed a couple of broken window panes from outside so I’m not ready to celebrate just yet. How long ago did they stop using this place?”

“Not long really, less than five years according to old utility bills. I also came across an old receipt for some roofing work that was done about ten years ago.”

“Let’s get a move on,” Buffy moved to the center, moving her arms like a girl on a game show, “What door will it be? Door number one or door number two? Which will you choose?”

Giles grinned, “Oh very well, door number one.”

“Predictable,” she tisked as Giles tried the door. His keys worked this time.

Giles opened the door and Buffy gasped as they walked into a large open living room and dining room.

“I say! This is definitely not what I expected to see from the outside.”

“Oh my God Giles, did you know it was this nice in here?”

“No I didn’t. I’m not sure if 'nice' is the word I’d use in its current condition but it does rather remind me of the training facility I was trained in. Much dirtier to be sure.”

“But can’t you just see it? Clean this place up… ok so it needs some work… but it could really be beautiful… again,” she spoke animatedly as she walked into the kitchen area. And found a dead bird in the kitchen sink, “Ok, so there are a few surprises,” she added, noting the broken windowpane over the breakfast nook at the back of the room.

The kitchen was off to the right. There was a breakfast nook towards the back and a pantry in the front with the kitchen in between, along the shared wall. The back door was located next to the breakfast nook and the half-bath. Two sets of stairs were situated along the back wall next to the bathroom. One going up to the bedrooms and the second set going down into the basement. It was clearly outdated but aside from what looked like a little water damage in the living room and the breakfast nook, a ton of dirt and dust everywhere, the corpse of some long dead animal in the toilet, and the bird; it really wasn’t that bad.

“Up or down?” Buffy asked Giles.

“Let’s take a look at the bedrooms first. We’ll check out the basement when we come back down.”

Buffy mounted the stairs paying close attention to the condition of the once highly polished wood. As far as she could tell most of the damage looked like it was on the surface. The upstairs was a different story.

“Oh now there’s the ‘Bates Motel’ vibe I’d been missing,” Buffy wrinkled her nose as the strong smell of mildew hit her.

At the top of the stairs there was a large closet with shelves and a laundry shoot. “Score! Always wanted one of those! Guess that means laundry is in the basement.”

Buffy craned her neck around, “Is it just me or is the layout up here kinda weird?” She asked as they examined what looked like two identical master suites. Each with two closets and a sizable bathroom.

“I imagine the idea was to create equal space for the instructors and anyone else who might have stayed here.”

“It’s like Hotel Creepy in here…”

Each of the bathrooms were a disaster. In one bathroom the toilet had cracked when snow and rain had apparently come in through a broken window and frozen over the winter. The other bathroom was going to need a new sink cabinet as this one was falling apart. It almost looked like something heavy had slammed into it. The carpeting in the two large bedrooms was beyond help. This was undoubtedly where the mildew smell was coming from. Buffy cringed, imagining what the flooring underneath probably looked like. She sighed.

“What do you think so far?” Giles asked.

“I definitely see potential. I’m just a little afraid of the cost.”

“I agree. However, I also think it would be a worthwhile investment. Depending on just how bad the rest of it is.”

“Seriously going to need some work done in here.”

“Let’s check the attic,” Giles said as he opened the door leading upwards.

The attic ceiling was higher than most attics. It was finished and the walls, not obscured by bookshelves, were wallpapered with a lurid green print that was peeling. It had been cleared out with the exception of an old sparing mat that something had borrowed into and made a nest in.

“Lots of storage… or maybe a second living room… more bedrooms… I don’t know…”

“Buffy, you do realize, a life with Spike…”

“Means no need for extra bedrooms. Yeah, I kinda figured that one out already. Being the Slayer doesn’t really leave room for that anyway, you know how that worked out for Robin and his mom. If it hadn’t been Spike it would have been someone or something else…”

“Things are different now.”

“I don’t know. I just think it really isn’t. I just can't help but wonder if this is the calm before the storm.”

“How do you mean?”

“Just that it’s been a year since we hit the world with a major flux of good magic, and it’s only been less than two months since the thing with Wolfram and Hart. That was supposed to be a major deal and from the sound of it, the LA front only delayed things. You should hear what Spike has to say about it. It’s not over. I’m just getting uneasy.”

“I have heard Spike’s story. It’s quite fascinating. As loath as I am to admit it, I’m inclined to agree with you, and him.”

Buffy kicked the edge of the mat and a cloud of dust came off of it, “Eww, let’s get out of here, check out the basement and see how bad the other half is. I’m thinking I might get the girls involved in the cleanup here.”

The two of them made their way back downstairs and down to the basement. The basement was, as the rest of the building, quite large. On the far end there was a full bath that was in surprisingly good shape except for some broken tiles. There was a utility room that included the laundry and where the laundry shoot came out. The walls were lined with shelves for storage but other than that, the basement was empty.

“So does it seem weird to you that there’s a full bath down here but not much of anything else except for the laundry?”

“If you’re asking me I’d say it’s strange to have the laundry in the basement. I’m used to it being in the kitchen… It is a bit strange. Unless perhaps they had planned on adding more bedrooms down here at some point… No, I can't imagine what they had been thinking. But I thought you preferred having the laundry in the basement?”

“I don't know about ‘preferred’, I mean it’s out of the way but it is kind of a pain in the butt to lug baskets up and down. Course the laundry chute will make the down a thing of the past. Dawn will love that,” she paused a moment to look around, “I mean don’t get me wrong this would kind of make the perfect place for Spike to hang out during the day. Not sure if I’d want my bedroom down here but we could definitely figure something out…. Anyway let’s go, I’m ready to take a look at the other side.”

“Right you are, lead the way.”

The two of them made their way back through the shared entryway and into the other side. The other half was a perfect mirror image of the first side. With the kitchen being on the shared wall on the left hand side, the dining area directly in front of the door and the living area to the right. On this side, rain had leaked in through the fireplace in the living room and ruined the carpeting which was still wet from the last heavy rain.

When Buffy went over to investigate, the floor seemed firm enough, “I’m really hoping this just happened,” Buffy pouted.

Giles took his glasses off to wipe, “Probably looking at roof damage with a mess like this. I’ll take a second look at that roofing receipt, they might be able to tell us something about it. On the bright side, so far we haven’t come across any dead animals.”

“Always a glass half-full kinda guy…” Buffy nodded as she started towards the stairs.

Buffy and Giles followed the same route they had taken through the first half of the building. Aside from a few more cracked window panes and some minor water damage, there wasn’t any really significant damage on this side and the walkthrough was rather uneventful. At least until they got to the basement.

When they got into the basement, Giles went ahead of Buffy. He had barely set foot on the basement floor when something came out and tackled him to the ground. Buffy jumped into action realizing it was a vampire right away. She kicked the vampire back towards the bathroom. The vampire regrouped quickly and punched her in the face.

“Watch it buddy! This is my house!”

The vampire looked at her with a curious grin, “Your house? I think you got the wrong place. This place has been empty for years, I found it, I can come and go as I please,” he answered, blocking a blow from Buffy and spinning around.

“You’ve definitely picked the wrong house,” she grunted as she blocked a blow and landed a few of her own, before flipping him over her shoulder, “Don’t you know who I am?”

“Rejected cheerleader?”

“I’ll show you, cheerleader,” Buffy flipped back kicking him as she did. She landed with a flourish, “Ready? Ok!“ she cried with false enthusiasm as the vampire charged her. Buffy jumped dodging him, she turned sharply kicking him in the face, “How’s that for a clue?”

He staggered back towards Giles a few paces, “How should I know?”

“Wow, you must be the new guy—“ she kicked him in the stomach, “Hi! I’m Buffy! Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Ring any bells?” She punctuated the question with another kick but the vampire dodged it. Buffy’s leg came down hard on one of the shelves, breaking it. And providing her with a weapon. Buffy rolled, grabbing a large splinter of wood as she did.

The vampire ran towards the back of the room, “Shit!” He yelled.

“Exit is the other way, Bozo,” she said as she threw the makeshift stake, hitting him squarely in the back.

As the dust settled, Buffy looked around with her hands on her hips, “Okay, now this is just weird. Where did he think he was going? Not to mention, something is seriously wonky here,” Buffy mused. She looked around until she caught Giles’s Eye. He had taken a seat on the stairway breathing heavily. “What’s a matter? Are you ok?”

“No, no. I’m all right. He only knocked the wind out of me.”

Buffy nodded and continued, “Everything. Every last little thing has been a perfect mirror image of the other side. Right down to the ugly tile in the bathrooms. So why on earth would they put the laundry/utility room over on that wall instead of on the right hand side of the bathroom to mirror next door? The laundry shoot still comes out in the same spot, why move the room?”

Giles pulled himself up with the banister to stand and took a few steps towards Buffy, “Check along that wall; those shelves there. Look for some sort of mechanism.”

Buffy ran her hand along the edge of the large shelf until she found a little lever. She switched it and the shelves swung out, revealing a stone passageway.

“Secret passage… this place really has everything but a pool, huh?”

“My word, it’s just like the tunnels in Mary King’s Close.”

“Why does every place I go have underground tunnels?”

“Look on the bright side, some parts of these tunnels are still used by regular people, even if they’re not supposed to. I bet this takes you clear into Edinburgh. Perhaps it even goes into some of the smaller towns closer to us as well.”

“I didn’t get the chance to explore them too much before Dawn and I left for Rome. Spike has been waiting to take me to some clubs down there.”

“Well this certainly would give him ample daytime access. We’ll have to check it out of course, make sure it’s structurally sound.”

“Safety in numbers. We were already planning on taking the girls through the underground. This is where we start.”

“A sound idea. Faith and I have taken some of the older girls and the girls who’ve already left into Mary King’s Close but this is much more convenient. Now, let’s close that up. If you’ve seen enough I think it’s time we get out of the dank. Get some lunch and perhaps we can start going over—“ Giles had taken two steps and slipped in the pile of ash the vampire had left on the smooth basement floor. It would have been funny if not for the sickening “crack” that reverberated off the walls. He had landed badly on his left leg with his right leg sticking straight out in front of him.

“Giles are you alright?”

He gasped, “No, I rather think not. It’s my leg. Fairly certain it’s broken.”

“Let’s get you up,” she added as she positioned herself to pull him up. Giles made an effort to shift his weight onto his good leg as Buffy pulled him up to stand.

She took a moment to help him balance on his good leg and wrapped an arm around his back to support him, “That’s enough adventure for you today.”

Giles gritted his teeth as she helped him up the basement stairs and out through the kitchen and dining room. They left the building only to pause long enough to secure the door.

“First thing we’re doing is putting in a stone walkway leading to the castle,” Giles gasped as they made their way across the grassy path separating the castle from the out building.

Buffy smiled, “Sure thing. A nice walkway, maybe a few flowers, a couple of shrubs. I’m going to leave you in your car while I go get Faith to drive you.”

“Right you are,” he grimaced as he allowed himself to be deposited into the passenger’s side of the vehicle.

She paused to take a look at the leg, the bone was bulging but not through the skin, “Don’t go anywhere!” Buffy ran back into the castle and was out in a matter of minutes with Faith hot on her heels. Faith opened the driver’s side door “What the hell did you do?”

“Slipped,” he tutted through gritted teeth.

Buffy cut in, “Well at least it was vampire related,” she grinned at Giles from over Faith’s shoulder.

“How very reassuring.”

“Yeah well, however it happened, let’s get you over to the hospital. Get that leg set,” Faith said dryly.

#buffy the vampire slayer #bound #buffy fanfic #buffy x spike #fanfic #spuffy #spike x buffy

2 notes · View notes

arcadejohn127-9 · 3 years

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How would the demon brothers [+ undatebles if you can no biggie tho if not] be with an MC who is plus sized and is super insecure about it? Like they try to get skinnier but can't and they get upset about it or get teased by other demons for being bigger. Side note: your writings are INCREDIBLE. Just like you 🤗💜🎆⭐

Thank you for the request and the compliment! You're too kind!

Oof weight lose and being bullied for my size is something I know abit too well, I always feel sad when I see plus sized people Insecure about their weight

I'm all for people wanting to lose weight to be healthy or just wanting change but when it stems from self hated and an unhealthy mindset - I just can't stand it

Demon brother's with a plus sized MC who's insecure

Warning: angst with fluff

Lucifer:

He isn't a man who's to shy away from being rude and blunt to people

He wouldn't date someone for pity or lie

When he learned you were trying to loose weight

He and the other brothers all treated it how Asmo's diets go, he tries and fails and everyone makes no real effort to not tempt him with food

When he found you crying in your bedroom however

"What's the matter? You're crying, what has upset you?"

"You." Was all you said, trying to calm yourself

He, of course, wanted to know what he did

He kept pestering you until you finally snapped at him

"You're treating my wants like it's a joke! I want to lose weight and none of you are being supportive of it! Why can't you just let me do something for myself?!"

He was taken back

He sat beside you, taking your hand in his

"Why do you want to lose weight? This plan has come rather unexpectedly."

"Because I'm too big! Everyone thinks so! No matter what I do all nothing works! Don't you think I'm ugly?"

"Since when did being big equate to being ugly? Are your height makes you ugly?"

"my height...? What does that-"

"Weight isn't something we can always change like our height, some people just can't change their physical appearance, it can only happen naturally and even then it may be a small amount gained or lost."

"I think I get what you mean."

"I hate admiting this but- I'm not good at this kind of thing but I think you look wonderful, if you really wish to go on a diet I'll support you but it needs to come from a healthy and non destructive mindset."

He poked. your forehead before kissing your hand

Mammon:

"Mammon? Don't you get embarassed when you're out with me."

"You are pretty embarassing sometimes."

He wasn't pay too much attention, not catching up on your tone

"Oh.....I see....maybe I shouldn't come out with you tonight."

You already didn't want to go out, the outfit Mammon got you - whilst it looked expensive - was tight on you

"HUH?! now what's this all about? You trying to quit on the great mammon?!"

"Well- I'm much bigger than the demons you hang around with, aren't you ashamed? They're way more attractive than-"

He rushed to your side, gripping your arms

"Don't even finish that sentence, ya hear?! Who told you - you didn't look fucking fantastic?! No one talks to my baby like that!"

"But it's true-"

"I swear on Goldie that isn't true! You are the most stunning jewel I've seen, I'm so lucky to be with someone that looks like you! You're personality is already top notch - your body is like a shiny bonus I don't think I deserve!"

He pulled you into a hug, holding you like you were the most valuable thing to him

"You're gorgeous, just tell me who's been bullying you and I'll make sure they know their place, I never want you to feel like that."

Levithan:

Levi was showing off this cast of anime style chatacters from the game he was playing

All of them were so thin and muscular

Everyone had the perfect curve and ideal bodies

"We should cosplay these characters! Don't worry, you don't need to know everything about them - I think you'd really pull off this one, you two already have the same personality."

You looked down at yourself and then back at the Character

You frowned, clutching your stomach

"Really....? But they're so- well look at me!"

He looked at you, raising a brow as he tried to find what you were getting at

"They're a warrior who saved the universe with a knife, it's not supposed to be realistic-"

"I'm talking about my shape, levithan! I'm fat! I'm disgusting! They're built like a god!"

"YOU'RE built like a god! There's plenty of Gods from your worlds stories that are shaped like you! What's the issue?"

"you didn't even deny I was disgusting, those demons were right-"

"What demons?! Are you seriously letting some normies tell you you're gross? What do they know? I'm the luckiest demon alive to be with you and those demons can choke on salt water - you point them out and I'll get my army on them!"

"you really think that? You wouldn't like more if I looked more like your smile chatacters?"

"Media is based of toxic media where they focus on only one type of beauty standard, it's a problem within the game world that they don't add plus sized chatacters."

"i- yeah I guess so....I didn't expect you to really care about that."

"of course I care!"

You both sat in silence, you were processing his words and leaned against his shoulder

"Do you still want to cosplay together?"

You paused before nodding

You both went through the game he's playing, whenever the overly vain chatacter came out levithan would argue with them

Claiming you to be the most gorgeous being in the world not them

Satan:

"I heard some rumours today, have demons been bothering you about your weight?"

You froze as Satan closed his book, shifting in the seat

You stepped back, avoiding eye contact, regretting coming to your room instead of helping mammon with some silly plan

"No...there's been no issue."

"Oh? Then why is there laxatives and diet guides in your school bag? You know I don't like it when you lie to me especially if it means you could be putting your body at risk."

You noticed your bag beside his feet

You immediately grew frustrated as you knew you were being called out

"Why did you go through my bag?! That's my own bussiness-"

"you said I could get my textbooks back, I found them in your bag - I'm sorry I went through your stuff but this isn't fine! You're going to force your body to push itself unnaturally."

"I just- i just want to get thinner, no matter how many times I try it doesn't work! I'm tired of seeing myself in the mirror and people telling me that you don't actually love me-"

"Some people just don't have it easy when it comes to weight lose, going on a diet isn't the best - I can go on cooking duty more often and make sure you have healthier meals."

He was at your side now, stroking your face

"Do you love me....? Truely?"

"of course I do, I've never loved anyone as much as I love you - you make me feel things I never thought i would, your size is the last of my concerns, I'm just scared you're going to hurt yourself."

You nodded, tearing up as you let him hold you closer

You tried to apologize but he silenced you, telling you that your emotions are valid

Asmodeus:

"Darling~! Let's take a bath together, I just got a new bath bomb and some soaps!"

He shook the mini basket filled with bath product's

"really...? Are you sure you want to do that, I'm not sure, I feel really bloated today-"

You were desperate to avoid getting naked Infront of him

Every once and a while he would ask to take a bath together, he respects your discomfort but wants to keep the offer open

"Oh, that's no issue~ we can have some tea Barbatos gave me, it's great for bloating!"

"why do you wanna see me naked so much? I'm not anything to see - wouldn't you be uncomfortable?"

"Uncomfortable? Why would I feel that?"

"In not the smallest person around-"

"Means you got more to love! I love your body!"

"But you're so gorgeous and slender, why would you ever love my body?"

He couldn't understand your feelings; confused on how you could see yourself in a negative light

"because I love you more than myself, I'm still the most special demon around but you're just something else, something I could never stop adoring!"

Beezlebub:

"Do you want to go eat with me? hell's kitchen is having a party."

Beel peered into your room, showing the hell's kitchen site

"I'm not sure about that, I've been trying to cut down on my eating."

"what? Why? Are you sick?"

He immediately got concerned, shuffling over to you

He placed the back of his hand on your forehead

"No- I'm not sick, I just think I should loose some weight."

"oh....then you can still go eat with me, I'll just eat more of your portions."

"you don't have any issue with me losing weight?"

Your insecurities started to chew at you

You weren't really sure what you wanted; you wanted him to be cruel and straight forward about hating your body

It would make your feelings feel more grounded

But you couldn't bare it if he didn't like your body

"It's your choice - should I be concerned?"

"no way! It would be for the best anyway, right? Atleast then I'll look better-"

"What does your weight have you to do with your looks? I think you look fine."

"you don't think I'm too big? Wouldn't you prefer someone more petite? I know you like small things-"

"I like you, I don't see any issue with your body."

It did feel a little ridiculous to think the avatar of gluttony would be bothered by your size but you still couldn't help but feel worried

He suddenly picked you up, kissing your cheek

"I can hold you in my arms just fine, your size will never stop me from liking you, I think you're beautiful."

Belphegor:

He was laying on your thigh's, watching a video comp of people falling over and getting hurt

"Should I loose weight?"

His phone was suddenly dropped on his stomach, staring up at with you surprise

"Why do you ask? Besides, it's not my decision to make - it's your body."

"yeah but wouldn't you prefer it if I was, ya know, thinner?"

He looked at you as if you just said something stupid

Adjusting his position snuggled against your thigh's

"Why would I prefer that? You wouldn't be as comfy."

"is that all you care about? If I'm comfy? Would you be upset if I did lose weight?"

"No, because I love cuddling you so I don't care about your size but I like you the way you are."

"it can't be that simple, there's no way you just like me when I look like this."

"I'm not sure why you're thinking of it like it's complicated maths, I like you- no I love you and very happy with the way you are."

You wanted to argue, trying to find a way to figure out how he's wrong

But you couldn't

"You're my favourite person in this house - don't tell Beel - I wouldn't trade you for the world."

#obey me #obey me shall we date #gamingclubpresident #obey me mammon #aracadejohn217 9 #obey me mc #obey me asmodeus #obey me beezlebub #obey me satan #obey me levithan #obey me luficer #obey me belphegor #obey me imagine #angst #cw: body image #cw: fatphobia #cw: angst #obey me x you #obey me x mc

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suganovakawa · 4 years

Note

i hope requests are still open, if not, you can just ignore this since u may be busy. i LOVE your s'mores headcanons with the karasuno boys, it's ! so ! cute ! may i request protective! captain as dads ( you could pick anyone you're comfortable with writing! ) and their only daughter started liking a boy ( bonus if it's the son of their old/current teamates if they played professional. ) thank you again if u ever decided to do this 💙

i’m slowly going to be going through requests again but THIS IS SO CUTE IM DYING PLS

this request is so old i know , i’m sorry for the wait anonnie pls forgive me fjjsnfmd

a loving father.

— kuroo, daichi, ushijima, oikawa, and bokuto’s only daughter ( separately ) falls for a boy.

gen masterlist.

taglist ( open ) ༉‧ @yams046 @janellion @avylee

— a/n : new layout! figured i’d try it, i always thought my previous layout was too tedious and spaced out, this new one is something more simple. enjoy!

— also, this is fem!reader!

tetsurou kuroo.

✧｡ the first time he hears of his babygirl catching the feels™ for someone, immediately he goes into protective dad mode

✧｡ in the past he had always joked about him being the only man his daughter needed in her life, and daddy’s little girl would always comply because kuroo def is one of the best dads around, don’t @ me

✧｡ but boy oh boy he’s ready to wage war once he hears about this boy, and he doesn’t even know who the guy is

✧｡ he wasn’t supposed to hear about his daughter’s crush, you and your daughter were having some girl talk, and you actually had to pry it out of her system or else she would’ve just kept it secret

✧｡ he was 100% eavesdropping on the two of you, he always feels so left out when it’s girl talk time— he’s tried convincing the both of you to let him in on the girl time, but all of his attempts have failed

✧｡ both you and your daughter hear a “WHAT?!?” from outside your bedroom door, and the two of you run out to see kuroo literally pressed against the door with a scowl on his face

✧｡ oh boy, your daughter’s really gonna get it now

✧｡ “tetsurou! you know better than to eavesdrop on us like that! you know that girl time is for us only! no boys allowed!” ofc, if y’all want a son...

✧｡ JDJDJFJFJ HE’S IN HYSTERICS

✧｡ we love a good drama queen, he’s sprawled on the floor, pretending to sob in his hands as your daughter is trying ( and failing ) to hide her embarrassment that her dad happened to listen in on what she wanted to keep secret

✧｡ “noooo our babygirl is growing up too quickly! what happened to me being the only man in her life, huh? she’s leaving the nest too quickly, stay with meeeee! be my little princess forever!”

✧｡ proceeds to become the embodiment of 🥺

✧｡ “dad, it’s just a crush...”

✧｡ “i had a crush on your mother back in the day, look at how we are now!”

✧｡ “tetsurou...”

✧｡ kuroo looks to you and takes you by your shoulders, his lip quivering as he points to your guys’ child “how are you so calm about this? this is our daughter we’re talking about here! take me a little more seriously, y/n!”

✧｡ you’re cracking up at the sight of kuroo, wiping tears from your eyes as you cross your arms, an evil glint shining in those eyes of yours

✧｡ “you’ll never guess who she does have a crush on, sweetheart.”

✧｡ “what?”

✧｡ your daughter is trying oh so hard to give you a signal of no no no no no no no no no mom please spare me but you’re just ignoring it, “go on, sweetie. tell your father who this special boy of yours is.”

✧｡ “... lev’s son...”

✧｡ RIP tetsurou kuroo, gone too soon.

daichi sawamura.

✧｡ now, daichi takes the news far better than how kuroo does, but you can tell he’s just a wee bit protective

✧｡ you can see it in the way he scrunches his nose every time your daughter brings up this boy— it’s subtle, but definitely noticeable

✧｡ he finds about his daughter’s crush while he picks her up from school, he spots her chatting up a storm with a classmate of hers

✧｡ “is that a friend of yours, sweetheart?” she’s in high spirits as daichi takes her home, which he’s happy with. he wants nothing more than to see his little bundle of joy happy as can be

✧｡ “silly daddy! that’s my boyfriend! he asked me out today while we were both at the swings, and i said yes!”

✧｡ JDJSJJF HE ALMOST SWERVED THE CAR BUT CAUGHT HIMSELF JUST IN TIME, KEEP DRIVING MR. SAWAMURA YOURE ALMOST HOME

✧｡ “b-boyfriend, you say?”

✧｡ “mhm! i’ve had a crush on him for a while, and he likes me back! so when he asked me to be his girlfriend, i said yes and we hugged!”

✧｡ by the looks of his face when he and your child came home, you knew exactly what had happened between your husband and your daughter on the way back— you were suppressing your laughter as much as possible, but a snicker escaped your lips as you greeted your daughter and let her inside

✧｡ “you knew about this, didn’t you, y/n?” daichi mumbled as he greeted you with a kiss on the forehead, clearly bothered by the news

✧｡ “she’d always fill me in on her adventures with her crush, telling me how she knows deep within her heart that they belong together.” you had turned to your daughter, who finished putting her bag down and you picked her up in her arms, “did he ask you out today, sweetie? were your predictions correct?”

✧｡ “yes! we’re dating now!” just hearing those words made daichi’s heart clench, but he had to just smile through the pain

✧｡ “that’s... lovely, sweetheart...” had he bothered to say anything more, he was going to pass out

✧｡ “wait, daddy doesn’t know who your boyfriend is, huh?” you smirked, causing daichi’s face to pale, “why don’t you tell him who your special someone is, dear?”

✧｡ your daughter grinned, “you know his dad, daddy! mr. nishinoya!”

✧｡ daichi proceeded to stare a wall blankly for the next half hour, repeating the words “oh my god, noya has a son” like a mantra.

✧｡ “mommy, what’s wrong with daddy?”

✧｡ “just give him some time, he’ll process it soon.”

wakatoshi ushijima.

✧｡ the first time he heard of his daughter having a crush on someone, it went completely over his head and thought nothing of it

✧｡ “daddy! i have a crush on that boy over there!”

✧｡ “oh. that’s nice, dear.”

✧｡ you were initially surprised when you heard his reaction, you weren’t expecting ushi to be so nonchalant— he was very overprotective of your only child, even if he didn’t show it

✧｡ turns out, he doesn’t know what a crush IS

✧｡ he thought it was just some childhood slang for classmate, and proceeded to carry on with his day— his daughter didn’t explain to him what having a crush meant, either

✧｡ oh sweet mother of jesus, you’ve married a complete dunce

✧｡ “toshi... you’re okay with her having a crush on a boy, right? you don’t mind?” you had to know for yourself, you asked ushijima about it when he came home from adlers practice; you let him wash up and both of you had put your child down for the night, you were busy making a late night meal for him since you know he can get hungry after working so hard

✧｡ “why wouldn’t i be okay with it? doesn’t she have many crushes?”

✧｡ you pressed your fingers against your temples and sighed loudly, shaking your head in disbelief. “do you even know what crushes are?”

✧｡ “classmates...?” seeing the shock on your face, he raised an eyebrow slightly, confused with your exasperation. “is it not youth slang for classmates?”

✧｡ “toshi— no. just, no.” you sat down in a chair next to him, and proceeded to explain that crushes are not slang for classmates, and to explain what your daughter was going through

✧｡ uh, i think you broke him

✧｡ after a whole five minutes of silence, all you got in return was “... oh. that’s what crushes are.”

✧｡ his face was completely blank, you weren’t sure if it was him realizing that he did not like that, or if he still was completely confused to his daughter having feelings for a boy

✧｡ “... well, i don’t see the harm in it.” you turned in surprise— his face was still stoic and unreadable, but he had shrugged slightly as it was your turn to raise an eyebrow, “a harmless crush on a boy isn’t too bad. and besides,” you could see a ghost of a smirk appear on his lips, “i had a crush on you, and we turned out like this.”

✧｡ sir that is illegal wtf go back to being a dunce

✧｡ you scoffed and hid your blush in your hands, rolling your eyes a bit, “do you even know who the boy is, toshi?”

✧｡ “am i supposed to know?”

✧｡ “ask your friend hoshiumi tomorrow at pracrice, i think he’ll be able to fill you in on it.”

✧｡ wakatoshi had many, many questions for his daughter the next evening when he came back from practice, oh boy.

tooru oikawa.

✧｡ honestly, i think tooru would take the news the best out of everyone here JFJSJJD probably because he’s so experienced in having people fawn and gawk over him, oops

✧｡ but obviously he’s still gonna be a little diva about it; after all, it’s HIS perfect princess we’re talking about here

✧｡ he came back home at the sight of your daughter daydreaming to you about her day at school, anyone with common sense could see how whipped and smitten over whoever this person was

✧｡ “we held hands during recess today! i almost didn’t want to wash my hands when we went inside today— hi daddy!”

✧｡ oikawa scooped her up in her arms and chuckled, ruffling her hair slightly, “hey there sweetheart, who did you hold hands with today?”

✧｡ the little girl blushed, lowering her voice shyly as she twiddled her thumbs, “it’s this boy in my class who i really like...”

✧｡ you couldn’t help but laugh at tooru’s initial reaction; his eyebrows flew upwards as his jaw parted slightly, processing the fact that his babygirl had developed a crush™ on a classmate

✧｡ tooru wasn’t too bothered by it, he was just in shock— immediately after he simply kissed her hair and smiled brightly at your daughter, “that’s real sweet, princess. anyone would be lucky to have someone as adorable as you liking them.”

✧｡ “you’re just saying that because i’m your daughter, daddy.”

✧｡ “no! i am just saying the truth!”

✧｡ he huffed, “besides, you better not get married so soon! you’re still MY baby, he can’t take you from me just yet! i’m still number one in your heart, right?”

✧｡ “tooru...”

✧｡ “y/n, how can you be so content with her having a crush already? she’ll be gone from us so soon from the power of love! not yet not yet, i’m not ready to say goodbye!”

✧｡ embodiment of 🥺, part two

✧｡ “of course you’re still number one daddy, i just like him a little bit, that’s all!” your daughter pouted a bit, causing the brunet to chuckle and kiss her forehead next

✧｡ “i’m joking, princess. having a crush is so adorable, i remember when your mom still had a crush on me.”

✧｡ “you had a crush on me first, tooru.”

✧｡ “BESIDES THE POINT, who’s the lucky guy?”

✧｡ you laughed at his question, your lips quivering as your suppressed your laugh but not fully, a hand covering your mouth but the laughter evidently there, tooru looked at you weirdly

✧｡ “what’s so funny?”

✧｡ you turned to your daughter, “tell him, sweetie.”

✧｡ a bright grin, followed by, “kyoutani!”

✧｡ holy mother of goodness oikawa almost dropped her from the name, a loud gasp filling the room as his face turned completely white

✧｡ “y/n, please tell me i heard her wrong. PLEASE TELL ME I DIDN’T JUST HEAR THAT.”

✧｡ “our daughter crushing on mad dog’s son? no, you heard that perfectly clear, darling.”

koutarou bokuto.

✧｡ bokuto will take it personally and will see to it that he will win this one-sided war for your daughter’s affection

✧｡ same way kuroo found out, he was def eavesdropping on you and your daughter’s girl time; there was no escaping him the moment he opened the door

✧｡ “b-but what do you mean you like a boy at your school?” emo mode is a go

✧｡ “i just like him, daddy! it’s not like i’m gonna marry him!” she paused, “... yet.”

✧｡ “Y/NNNNNNN OUR BABY IS GROWING UP SO QUICKLY DO SOMETHING!”

✧｡ “kou, it’s just a crush...”

✧｡ “do you not remember how it was when i had a crush on you?”

✧｡ you sighed, running a hand through his hair to calm him down— which worked, a little bit— “you, koutarou, are a special breed.” you kissed his forehead, sighing at how his hair depleted

✧｡ “you are still my princess! my babygirl! i should talk to this fellow, because i will not be second best to my daughter’s heart.” he huffed, puffing out his chest with pride

✧｡ she, on the other hand, is completely embarrassed by this, “daddy, no...”

✧｡ “what? why not?”

✧｡ “actually, you should let him do just that, sweetheart.” you crossed your arms and smiled, much to your daughter’s dismay. “i think akaashi will find entertainment in seeing this for himself.”

✧｡ “akaashi? what does he have to do with this?”

✧｡ too late, you’re already calling the other fukurodani alumni, chuckling as both bokuto and your daughter are giving you the same exact confused look— like father, like daughter

✧｡ “akaashi will be here in about 10 minutes. i told him to bring his child, here, too.”

✧｡ “baby, what are you talking about—”

✧｡ meanwhile, your daughter was in a frenzy, running around the house as she screamed about getting ready and looking nice for the guests— bokuto was still plopped one the floor, looking up at you like a lost puppy

✧｡ akaashi walks through the door with a grin on his lips, holding his son’s hand as you greeted both of them at the door, “akaashi! wonderful to have you here! your son is looking so handsome.”

✧｡ “akaashi? why are you here?” kou blinks in confusion, scratching the side of his head before he notices how his own daughter is reacting— she looks like she’s about to explode, hiding behind his leg with a whole face of blush

✧｡ “y/n said you wanted to talk to my son about something, so i figured why not? i’ve got a day off.” akaashi chuckled and waved to your daughter, who shyly waved back but hid again before the other guest in the house could get a good look at her

✧｡ “WAIT. YOUR SON IS—”

✧｡ you left the room, you were laughing so loudly— akaashi found this quite humorous as well; bokuto looked down at his daughter, clinging onto his leg and smiling softly to herself. she had gotten the courage to wave at akaashi’s son, who smiled brightly at her and blushed as well

✧｡ “... oh my god.” he felt like an idiot, yes— but akaashi’s kid being the lucky guy? “ARRANGE THE MARRIAGE!”

✧｡ “koutarou, NO.”

✧｡ “bokuto-san, no.”

✧｡ “DADDY, NOOOOOO!”

624 notes · View notes

ampintherain · 3 years

Text

I’m Yours:

Charlie Gillespie x Reader

Chapter VI

Y/N is Kenny Ortega’s ‘niece’ after going through a rough breakup, Kenny decides to fly her over to stay with him, will her broken heart mend?

(Female Reader, NO SMUT, Romance, Friendship, THIS IS MY FIRST EVER FANFIC/IMAGINE, I hope it’s good, Kenny is lifelong family friend so reader calls him Uncle Kenny. I’m British so the writing is going to be British so like ‘mum’ not ‘mom’ yanno?)

Warnings: swearing mostly

꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂

“I don’t need to” he said, causing my heart to flutter, the things this boy does to me.

Y/N

“Hey! you!” I heard the voice of a Canadian from behind me, I turned around and saw the smiling face of Charlie coming towards me, his torso lowered as he ran towards me with his arms open, I raised my eyebrow at his antics before I was lifted in the air and spinning around, I squealed at the sudden change and lightly tapped Charlie’s shoulder to put me down,

“Let go of me you weirdo” I laughed before Charlie let my feet hit the ground, he stared down at me with a cheesy grin plastered on his face, I rolled my eyes playfully and pushed Charlie towards the trailer, “you, Charles, have to get ready. Busy day today” I smiled, just as I opened up the door to costumes and pushing Charlie lightly,

“Okay beautiful, okay” he said, laughing at me as he closed the door behind him, I blushed at his kind words and turned around to see Madison and Jadah smiling at me,

“Girl, he totally likes you” Jadah stated just as I came up to them, I scoffed playfully and laughed at the statement, “he does! Everyone can see it but you” Madison nodded in agreement, pulling my arm and linking hers with mine, Jadah doing the same.

“He’s always around you Y/n, he always needs you nearby” Madison smiled, “it’s cute, it’s like he always wants to check up on you” she continued to tease, I rolled my eyes at the girl,

“You’re so funny” I drawled out sarcastically, walking with the girls to set, as we walked the girls continued to list the things that ‘obviously show’ that Charlie is ‘in love’ with me,

“He steals glances at you every single chance he gets. He is with you every single time we’re on a break” Jadah started, Madison nodding in agreement, I groaned, the list also contained this:

-I am the first person he goes to every single morning before shooting.

-He watches my Instagram and Snapchat stories repeatedly

-He has my post notifications on

-Madi and Jadah hear Owen and Jeremy tease him about me every day

-Charlie always fixes his hair and clothes every time I’m nearby

-He calls me and only me, beautiful, gorgeous, lovie.

“And and AND! Miss L/n, did you know that every time we’re in a scene and Kenny yells cut, the first thing Charlie does it come up to us and asks if you thought he looked good in the scene, or if you were impressed with his acting or if you thought-“

“Okay okay!” I sighed, cutting Madi off, “oh look, there’s Sav, I’m gonna go. See you guys later” I unlinked my arms with the two girls and ran over to Sav, calling her name,

“Oh hey sweetie” Sav smiled as she wrapped her arms around me, “oh look, there’s lover boy” she whispered in my ear before turning me around by my shoulders, I smiled as Charlie wandered over to us dressed as Luke,

“Ew what do you want Stink” I joked, as Charlie wandered over to us dressed as Luke, smiling,

“You” he answered simply, causing my heart to do a flip, I can’t seriously be falling for a guy this soon, really? I thought to myself, it’s not possible. I shouldn’t. Charlie quickly eased my thoughts as he engulfed me in a tight hug, “I want you” he whispered just within ear shot, “to stop calling me Stink” he pushed me away before running off to set towards Madi, Jeremy and Owen.

I watched as everyone started the scene, and since the girls had mentioned their list, that was all I could really think about. It was like my senses had heightened and I noticed everything that Charlie did. He really did steal glances at me, he really did adjust himself whenever he thought I was looking.

“Right guys, cut. 2 minute break, I’m just gonna check on the scene and see if there’s any adjustments needed for the scene” Uncle Kenny announced, and that was when I saw Charlie pull Jeremy and Owen to the side, they huddled together, I tilted my head to the side and saw Charlie look back over to me, I scrunched my nose at him playfully before beckoning him over, Charlie suddenly went wide eyed and ran his hands over his jeans, he bounced on his feet slightly before heading over to me,

“Uh hey, wassup?” Charlie asked, almost nervously, I smiled up at him and took a hold of his hand, his nerves eased slightly,

“Hey, you were really good” I assured, tugging lightly on his hand and smiling up at him, “you’re little grumpy face is so cute” I complimented honestly. I watched as the nerves washed away and Charlie beamed down at me, my hand still in his as I felt his thumb run lightly over mine.

“Really?” He questioned, I nodded enthusiastically and continued to smile at the sweet boy in front of me, he bounced on his feet and swung our hands slightly, “Thanks Lovie” he smiled,

“You’re most welcome” I replied, he booped me on the nose, causing me to scrunch my nose slightly,

“You’re cute” he tilted his head to the side, staring down at me with his gorgeous eyes, I could feel a blush slowly creep up on to my cheeks, I averted my gaze,

“You’re so silly” I laugh at him, trying to cover up the effect his words had on me, he smirks down at me and turns to look at the set behind him,

“I should get back, are you still gonna be here when I’m done?” He questioned, I looked at Charlie with an ‘are you serious’ look,

“Seriously Charles? Of course I am, I have to wait for Uncle Kenny” I laughed, he slowly nodded, mumbling ‘right’ repeatedly before chuckling and letting go of my hand and running over to the set.

꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂

“Hey” I heard a voice speak from above me, I looked up to see Marcus, one of the cast assistants smiling at me, “can I join you?” He questioned, pointing towards the seat in front of me,

“Oh sure Marcus, of course” I smiled slightly before looking back over to the set, watching my friends do what they did best, I glanced back over to Marcus to see him staring at me whilst drinking from his water bottle, “you okay?” I questioned cautiously, becoming slightly concerned at his prolonged eye contact,

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Just admiring your beauty” he winked at me, Marcus was around my age so it wasn’t weird, and it wasn’t like he was unattractive, in fact, he was the exact opposite. He had these piercing green eyes, floppy chocolate brown hair styled down the middle like Leo Dicaprio in Titanic, his nails were painted black, his face was dotted with freckles and he had a small nose ring... however, it still made me feel uncomfortable and I couldn’t really explain why.

꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂

Charlie

I glanced over to check up on Y/n, like I do every single day, I couldn’t stand not being near her, I hadn’t even known her that long and it was like she consumed every thought.

“Who’s that?” I questioned, tapping Jeremy on the shoulder lightly, pointing slightly over to Y/n sat facing some guy, they were chatting and I could tell that Y/n wasn’t feeling too comfortable by the way her laugh wasn’t as joyful as it usually is, and how she was shuffling in her seat.

“Oh, that’s Marcus, he’s Tori and Sacha’s cast assistant” Jeremy explained, “he’s like 21” he continued, I nodded and overheard Kenny call for a 30 minute break, that was enough for me to put on the blinkers and make my way over to Y/n.

I wrapped my arms around her from behind, my arms draping over her shoulders as I rested my chin lightly on the top of her head, I felt Y/n jump slightly as the sudden contact of my arms on her, she tensed slightly before I watched her glance down at the bracelets donning my wrists, her body lost all its tension and she traced her soft fingers over my exposed skin on my arms “Hey Lovie, we’re on a break for a half hour, wanna come grab lunch with me?” I asked, Y/n looked up at me and then over to Marcus,

“Uh yeah, you two go. Um it was nice talking to you” Marcus mumbled, getting up from his seat “I needed to get back to work anyway” he laughed shortly before heading over to Sacha’s trailer, Y/n stood up and smiled at me,

“Thank you... I was feeling kinda awkward” she giggled slightly, I tilted my head slightly as a signal for her to explain, I knew it was something more than what she was letting on, “my ex, he um dressed and looked similar to Marcus, kinda made me feel weird” she explained simply, I tugged her arm lightly and brought her into my arms, rubbing my hand up and down her back, I could feel her body shake slightly as small and quiet sobs left her body,

“Hey, hey” I whispered quietly, resting my chin atop her head once again, “he isn’t worth these tears beautiful girl, you deserve so much more” I soothed, Y/n sniffled slightly before removing her head from my chest, she wiped away her tears and looked up at me, her eyes glassy, she smiled weakly and nodded,

“I’m not even crying over him... it’s just, I don’t know...” she sighed in defeat, I waited for a few seconds before Y/n continued, “I just feel like maybe I don’t deserve to be loved, I was with him for so long and for half of it, he was with somebody else...” Y/n mumbled, fiddling with her t-shirt nervously,

“You” I began, taking her hands in mine to stop her fiddling, “my Lovie, you are more than deserving. You deserve the world and more, he just is too blind and stupid to see how amazing you are, you’re beautiful Y/n, so beautiful” I cupped her face in my hands as she looked down,

“But Quinn is everything I want to be, she’s so so beautiful, I don’t know why I thought Zac would just want me, always, y’know? Especially considering Quinn was always around... I was so stupid” Y/n sighs in defeat, I watched as she went to speak again, about to tell me more self-deprecating words but before she could I cut her off.

“Nope, don’t say anything else misses, I don’t want to hear you put yourself down anymore okay?” I stated as I took her hand and began to walk with her to catering, I walked slowly just in case, I didn’t want anyone in catering to hear this sensitive conversation with Y/n “Look Y/n, you’re incredible, I’ve never met this Quinn but I can guarantee you that your beauty goes above and beyond what Quinn has. Not only physically but your personality is the most beautiful thing. Zac was stupid to let you go but he’s done the rest of the world a favour because now us single guys have a chance at having you.” Y/n blushed slightly at my words before laughing and shaking her head,

“That’s not true” she stated, dropping her head, she continued to walk as I stopped in place, I pulled her back lightly, “it’s not Charlie...” she continued

“It’s one of the truest things I’ve ever said, look Y/n, you’re perfect, absolutely perfect, I have never met anyone as beautiful as you and I doubt that I ever would. Zac truly is the biggest doofus” Y/n giggled at my use of words, “he is! He’s an idiot for letting you go Angel, he truly has done the single guys a favour because we are always searching for a girl like you. A girl with a kind smile, joyful laugh, twinkling eyes. You are everything that anyone would want” Y/n looked up at me through her eyelashes as a tear slipped out, I quickly caught it with my thumb, wiping it away.

“Really?” Her voice cracked, half smiling up at me, “you really mean that?” I nodded happily,

“I really really mean that” I assured, “come on now Lovie, let’s go get some food” I changed the subject quickly in order to make Y/n feel a bit lighter in mood, I bent down and tapped my back,

“What are you doing?” She laughed.

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Y/N

“Get on” Charlie whined, I rolled my eyes and jumped on Charlie’s back, he adjusted my comfortably before walking further towards catering,

“So what’re we having this time?” I questioned, Charlie shrugged, “how about waffles with peanut butter, bananas and maple syrup?”

“Oh definitely! That sounds like the best, I’m gonna have some pringles with mine though” Charlie said as he placed me back down on the floor, we walked together through the catering hall before grabbing our food,

“Your obsession with putting pringles on things is disgusting” I joked, rolling my eyes. We both sat down at a table with Owen, Jeremy, Madison and Savannah. Jadah was still grabbing food with Sacha and Tori.

“Look at this Charlie, look, Y/n knows how far to go- this waffle looks amazing” Owen said, pointing down at my waffle, “I bet you it will taste great” I nodded and offered Owen a bite, he accepted happily and nodded approvingly, “see? Yep. Amazing... but this! This travesty in front of you. Too far” I laugh at Owen’s dramatics and continued to eat my waffle,

“Don’t knock it unless you try it O, this is amazing” Charlie said as he squashed the Pringles in his waffle and took a bite, i scrunched my face in disgust as Charlie munched happily.

“Nope... I’m with Owen on this one. It’s gross” I said,

“Charlie, you’re nasty” Madi joked, causing the table to laugh, “you need to be checked” she continued, Charlie rolled his eyes and continued to eat his concoction happily.

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“Hey Y/n/n” I heard Charlie call at the end of the day as I was walking towards my Uncle Kenny, I stopped in my tracks and turned around, smiling up at the bouncing boy,

“Hey Bub” I smiled, the new nickname causing Charlie to blush slightly and smile at me, “what’s up?” I questioned, Charlie began to shuffle on his feet nervously, “hey... Charlie... talk to me” I assured soothingly, Charlie took a deep breath and nodded

“Okay, so” he began, looking everywhere but me, “Iwaswonderingifmaybeyoupossiblywantedtogoutwithmetonightmaybe” Charlie said quickly, so quickly that I couldn’t pick up what he was trying to say,

“Huh?” I asked, tilting my head, “I didn’t catch a word of that Charlie” Charlie took another deep breath and finally brought his gaze to me, keeping eye contact, I watched as his pupils dilated causing me to tilt my head in confusion,

“Okay okay... right” Charlie mumbled, still looking at me, “I was wondering” he began as he fiddled with his fingers, I reached over and took a hold of his hand smiling, his nerves quickly dispersed as his eyes searched my face, “I was wondering if maybe... you would wanted to go out with me tonight...? It’s fine if you don’t want to, I get it like you’ve just gotten out of a relationship and you’re still hurting, I get it but” Charlie rambled, I giggled at his adorable state and shook my head,

“Charlie, I would love to go out with you tonight” I smiled, Charlie looked up at me and scrunched his eyebrows together,

“Really?” He asked, “you really want to?” I nodded and swung our hands together,

“I really really want to” I went up on to my toes and planted a light kiss to Charlie’s cheek,

“O-okay, right. I’ll pick you up at 8?” He questioned, I suddenly was glad that today was a half day shoot, it gave me enough time to prepare and possibly go shopping to get a new outfit,

“8 sounds perfect” I smiled, Charlie nodded and jumped lightly on his feet before pulling me in for a hug, leaving a light kiss on top of my head and suddenly running off to his trailer, waving goodbye to me.

“I told you he liked you!” Madi yelled from behind me, I span on my heels and half smiled at Savannah, Jadah and Madison all huddled together smiling widely at me,

“Okay okay” I gave in, “you three are geniuses, but can you please help me out? I have no idea what to wear...”

“Oh my god, shopping?” Savannah questioned, Tori came up from behind me, wrapping an arm over my shoulders,

“Hey girl,” Tori smiled, “I heard shopping” she joked, “what’s the occasion?”

“Well our lovely Y/n has got herself a date...” Jadah trailed off before rushing over to me along with Sav and Madi, they all cuddled me in and squealed with excitement,

“Wait wait... with who?” Tori questioned excitedly, “is he cute? Do we know him?” She continued, we all pulled away from our hug just as Charlie walked past with Owen and Jeremy, he glanced over at the small huddle of girls and smiled at me, my lips pursed in pursuit of trying to hide my smile as I glanced down at the floor, “no way! I knew it!” Tori whisper-yelled.

“Okay I get it, you all told me so” I laugh, “now can you please help me!” I begged, tugging on Tori’s arm, the girls laughed and nodded, I pulled out my phone and sent a text to Kenny telling him the situation and he quickly replied saying it was all okay and that he was going out for the evening with Mr Reyes anyway.

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“Okay so we’ve settled on this dress right? Have you got anything to wear with it?” Savannah questioned as she held up a burnt orange dress, I nodded,

“I just don’t have any shoes” I admitted, the four girls in front of me nodded, Madi took a sip from her smoothie before pointing over to a shop,

“Why don’t we try over there?” She asked once she had taken a sip of her drink,

“Yeah why not, let’s go” Jadah agreed, I quickly ran over to the counter with the dress for the date alongside some other clothes that I just wanted to buy because sometimes I just couldn’t help myself before going back over to the girls, Jadah took me by my hand and walking with me and the rest of the girls to the shop Madi had suggested. We looked throughout the shop, each girl picking up shoes and showing them to me for my approval.

By the end of the 3 hour shopping trip, each girl had bags upon bags of clothes, accessories, shoes and anything else that they wanted to buy, me included. “Well I’d say that was successful” Savannah commented, causing us all to erupt in short laughter, “it was fun having a girls day! We need to do it again” she continued,

“Oh for sure, this whole thing was very therapeutic” Tori agreed we continued to walk further towards a the parking lot before we all went our separate ways, Mr Reyes was picking up Jadah and Madison, Tori was driving Savannah back home and Uncle Kenny was picking me up.

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Charlie

“Owen! I haven’t even planned out this date properly, it kinda happened in the spur of the moment. Where do I take her?” I ranted as I paced through the living room,

“Charlie... I don’t think that Y/n is going to be the kind of girl that really cares about where you take her, I also think she’s the kinda girl who would want a date that isn’t classed as ‘basic’ you get what I mean?” Owen said in an attempt to calm me down,

“Okay okay... so what do I do? I’ll pick her up at 8 and then I could take her to a small diner in Vancouver and then we could go to a viewing point maybe? Dude I don’t know” I stressed, tugging at my hair,

“Charlie... that’s the best idea, that will work perfectly okay? Do that, I’m sure she’ll love it” Owen said, I nodded and huffed, still stressed out. “You really like her don’t you?” He questioned, I sighed and sat down next to my best friend,

“Yeah man... She’s had me since day one, I’ve been hooked. She’s just beautiful, she’s so perfect. She’s kind and caring and funny... I just want to show her what it’s like to be truly loved because Zac, her ex, treated her like shit” I explained, looking over at the clock on the wall,

“You better start getting ready dude” Owen spoke my inner thoughts as he patted my back and pushed me upwards off the couch, I nodded and walked over to my bathroom to start getting ready.

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Y/N

“You nervous Star?” Kenny asked as we entered the apartment,

“Can you tell?” I questioned back, he nodded slightly, “It’s been so long since I’ve been asked on a date, I hardly ever went on dates with Zac. I think in the entirety of our relationship, we went on like 7 dates” I explained, Kenny took me into his side and patted my head lightly,

“Well I know my Charlie, he’s going to give you the best date of your life okay? No need to be nervous, just think of it as two friends going out, everything will be fine okay?” Kenny assured and he swayed with me. I nodded and rested my head against his chest, “you, kiddo, need to start getting ready” he said as he lightly patted my upper arm, I nodded and carried my bags into my bedroom.

Once I got into my bedroom, I tipped up each bag and watched the contents fall onto the bed lightly, I rummaged through the pile of clothes and shoes before pulling out the burnt orange dress and some small heeled black boots. I placed those items further up my bed before putting everything else in it’s rightful place. As soon as I had finished putting everything away I pulled out my black turtle neck top and my black socks that went up to just below my knee, I placed those items on my bed alongside the dress and boots.

I quickly hopped into the shower, washing my hair and body and shaving over any growing hairs, I stayed in the shower for around 20 minutes longer than I should’ve due to listening to my music and performing a non-existent concert. I jumped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my body and rubbed my hair dry before brushing my teeth and putting on a face mask, I dried my hair with a hair dryer before curling it lightly, letting my hair flow freely once I had finished. I peeled off my face mask and wiped away any residue before applying some natural looking makeup and swiping some nude coloured lip stick across my lips, I set my makeup with some setting spray and placed some curling moose in my hair and hair sprayed it to keep the curls.

I applied some moisturiser to my body before spraying some deodorant and my favourite perfume, I stepped out of the shower and promptly got dressed, I searched for my black crossbody bag that was hidden somewhere in my wardrobe just as my phone chimed, I wandered over to my desk and picked up my phone to see the message from Charlie

>my favourite Canadian🇨🇦- Hey, I’m outside. No need to rush though okay? Come down when you’re ready Lovie ❤️

I smiled down at the text, although it was a small gesture but it was the first time he had sent me a heart and I couldn’t help but feel my heart race.

<I’ll be down in a second, just grabbing my bag ❤️

I rushed into my wardrobe and pulled out my bag before checking myself over in the mirror, Hm, I like it. I thought to myself as I twisted my body to look at the side and back of my outfit.

I rushed out of my bedroom, stuffing my keys, purse and phone in my bag, “you look beautiful Star” Uncle Kenny smiled at me,

“Thanks Uncle Kenny, I gotta go though, Charlie’s waiting for me” I said breathlessly due to the nerves kicking in again,

“Okay Munchkin, you have no need to worry or be nervous okay? Besides nerves are a good sign, it means you like him” Kenny said as he cuddled me in,

“I do like him, I really like him... I shouldn’t though should I? I mean Zac and I broke up not that long ago and I” Kenny promptly cut me off,

“You texted me 3 weeks before the break up with Zac saying that you were feeling off about the relationship, you convinced yourself it was a blip but you knew that you two were heading south. I see the way you look at Charlie and how he looks at you... and how you two look at each other. You liking him is not a bad thing okay? You can’t help what your heart feels so, you go and have fun. You got your keys?” Kenny asked, I nodded and pointed towards my bag, Uncle Kenny ushered me towards the door and waved me off as I rushed down the hall to the elevator.

“Hey” Charlie said as I left the main building, see Charlie stood outside of his car holding a sunflower, “you look beautiful... sunflowers are your favourite right?” Charlie questioned as he handed me the flower,

“Yes they are... and thank you, you look very handsome” I complimented, Charlie was wearing some brown boots, dark blue jeans with a plain white tee and brown courdory jacket. I twiddled the sunflower in my fingers, Charlie opened the passenger door for me and closed it after I had sat inside.

“You okay?” Charlie asked as he drove down the street,

“Uh yeah, just not really used to dates, I haven’t been on many” I admitted, Charlie’s jaw instagntly dropped,

“Wait... you serious?” He questioned “Zac’s such a loser man, if I was him, I’d be taking you out on dates every week” I smiled over at Charlie, “I’m serious”

“I know you are” I replied, “so where are we going?” I questioned, scrunching my nose, Charlie placed a single finger up to his lips, “it’s a secret is it?” Charlie laughed,

“Yes it is Lovie.” Charlie turned the music up and continued to drive for another 10 minutes until he pulled up into a parking lot. “We’re here” he said as he put the car into park, I unbuckled and went to open the door, “ah ah ah, what’re you doing?” He questioned,

“Opening the door...” I said obviously, Charlie tutted at me before ordering me to stay still as he hopped out of the car and opened my door for me, “oh you’re such a gentleman” I joked as I slipped out of my seat, Charlie took my hand in his instantly and intertwined our fingers- yeah Charlie and I had held hands before but never interlocked, this was another small detail that caused my heart rate to race. Charlie closed the door behind me with his spare hand as he moved our interlocked hands over my head so his arm was behind my neck, I readjusted my hand so it held his comfortably as we walked towards a cute diner that had a 50s style to it.

Charlie opened the diner door for me and walked us over to a spare booth, I slipped into the comfortable seat across from him, “this place is so cute” I smiled, looking around at the pink and dark mint green colours of the diner, I reached over and grabbed a menu and looked back up at Charlie, “what?” I questioned as I saw him staring at me,

“You’re just so beautiful” he sighed happily before he reached and took a hold of my hand again using his other to grab a menu and look through to figure out what he wanted.

“What can I get for you?” A waitress asked tapping her pad with her pencil lightly,

“Can I have the Neopolitan shake and the cheeseburger and fries please” I asked, the lady nodded and wrote down my order,

“And can I have the same but with a lemonade?” Charlie said, the waitress nodded and smiled at us before walking off and giving our orders to the chef. I looked over at Charlie as he ran his thumb over my knuckles before lifting my hand up and placing a kiss to my knuckles.

Our food came quite quickly and Charlie and I ate just as quickly, talking slightly in between. Uncle Kenny was right, it was like two friends just hanging out, however Charlie consistently added cute little moments, whether it was taking my hand in his or leaving a few kisses on each of my knuckles or dropping in compliments every now and then. Soon after we had finished, the waitress had come with the bill, “what’re you doing?” Charlie questioned as I reached into my purse,

“I’m paying for my half...” I said, Charlie shook his head and snatched my purse from my hands, “Charles!” I stated, reaching across in an attempt to get my purse back,

“Nope. No. I’m paying. I asked you out on this date, so I’m paying, the next date you can pay” Charlie said as he sent me a wink, I huffed and sat back in my seat, watching Charlie pay for our meal. “Now come on, the dates not over yet Angel” he smiled as he handed my purse back, I tilted my head in shock and slid out of the booth, Charlie tucked me into his side and we thanked our server before leaving the diner and getting back into the car.

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Charlie

I pulled up and parked my car at the viewing point before clambering out and walking over to Y/n’s side, I shook my hands in an attempt to calm my nerves “it’s okay Charlie, it’s been going well so far” I whispered to myself “everything’s fine” I continued before I opened the passenger door, I took ahold of Y/n’s hand and closed the door behind her, I brought us to the front of my car and sat on the hood, tapping the spot next to me for Y/n to sit.

“Wow” she said as she saw the lights of the city, “this is so beautiful” the girl next to me snuggled into my side voluntarily and I slowly wrapped my arm around her shoulders bringing her in closer, playing with the curled ends on her hair and that was how we stayed, sat in comfortable silence, her soft hair falling over my fingers as I twirled the curls, Y/n’s hand placed softly on my chest drawing faint pictures.

“Hey” I said quietly after 15 minutes of the comfortable silence, “are you cold?” I questioned as I felt the girl shiver in my arms,

“No no, I’m fine” she smiled and waved me off, I shrugged my jacket off regardless as I knew she was lying, I draped the jacket over her shoulders and watched as she slid her arms through the holes, wrapping the jacket around her torso tightly,

“You look good in my jacket” I said, playing with the collar before pulling her hair out of the back of the jacket that it was tucked within, Y/n blushed and lowered her head, her gaze focusing on the sleeves of my jacket, I tilted my head, this is is Charlie... I thought to myself, I sucked in a deep breath before slowly breathing out to try and calm my nerves, I lifted my hand and tilted her head up to look at me, I watched as her pupils dilated once they had focused on my face and smiled at her, “okay... I’ve been wanting to do this for weeks...” I trailed off causing the beautiful girl in front of me to become confused, her eyebrows knitting together slightly and she bit the inside of her cheek, twisting her mouth to the side.

“Do what?” She questioned, I didn’t reply, instead I cupped her face lightly in my hands and brought my face closer to hers, I felt Y/n close the gap as my eyes fluttered shut, I leant in closer and before I knew it my lips were on hers, they were softer than I ever imagined and they tasted a bit like the shake she had earlier, our lips moved in perfect harmony but before I knew it, we were both pulling away.

“Sorry... was that” I said before I was cut off by Y/n’s lips back on mine for a short but sweet kiss.

“It was perfect” she smiled, I nodded and pulled her in for one more kiss, quickly becoming addicted to the feeling it gave me.

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𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 💜

♡︎Taglist: @thesweetestsinner @ifilwtmfc @ashleyleblancx @chloepart03 @obxflowr @nocturnalherb16 @spn-marvel-nerd @jenfox25 @siennanoelle01 @sovereignparker @dpaccione @robbstarkmademedoit ♡︎

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breitzbachbea · 3 years

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📒💖

Emi, I'm kissing you on the mouth right now, you're so sexy. In general but also for taking the bait.

Put “📓” or some other version of a book emoji into my inbox and I’ll explain the plot of a fanfiction that I haven’t written but daydream about.

The Constantinople AU

This AU is from 2017 and came about because I watched a TED-ED video about Constantinople's walls, relistened to the Aladdin soundtrack and because I had earlier talked with a friend about how I had not really seen people make a genie a woman. I came back years later to explain it to my friend Jonah and add new stuff and this year I showed it to @amber-isnt-a-precious-stone to add even more things. It's one of my favourite AUs for sure.

Dramatis Personae:

- Herakles Karpuzi (APH Greece) as Son of the Roman emperor and heir to the throne - Sadık Adnan (APH Turkey) as Soldier in the Ottoman army and Imposter Prince - Dilan Taş (Human OC) as Jinn and Sadık's unsuccessful wingwoman - Athanasios Karpuzi (Human OC) as the Roman emperor and serial skirtchaser - Salvatore Vento (Human OC) as Advisor to the emperor and Fuckface McBadDad - Michele Vento (APH Sicily) as Herakles' childhood friend

The Happenings™:

- It's set in Constantinople in an alternate Universe, close to ours. It’s the late High Middle Age/Early Late Middle Age (depending on how you want to periodize. I am working with how the German Middle Ages are divided, which is arguably a very bad method for classifying Byzantine. But this is my silly Hetalia AU, not my term paper). Around 1300, I’d say.

- Athansios Karpuzi is the current Roman Emperor, which makes Herakles the heir to the throne. Athanasios is desperately trying to wed his son off to any available suitors to form new alliances, but two things keep getting into the way: 1. Herakles is thoroughly uninterested in playing along with Athanasios’ plans. He’s not a chess piece on his father’s board if he's got anything to say about it. 2. Salvatore Vento is Athanasios’ closest consultant and protests any marriage for whatever reason he can find. For the sole reason that he has been eyeing the throne for himself the entire time and wants to marry his own son, Michele, to Herakles.

- Like in my Hetalia AU "Like Father Like Son", Salvatore and Athanasios trust each other as far as they can throw one another. There is no genuine trust here at all, no sympathy, really, they just stick together because they know the other is useful. Have some assorted banter as result of this:

Salvatore: "Immortal what a name! What a title to bear! Although immoral would have fit you much better." [Athanasios’ etymology is “immortal”]

S: "Maybe you wouldn't have to struggle to find a suitable bride for your son if you stopped dragging every young woman within and from outside Constantinople to bed." Athanasios: "He's into guys too, problem solved." S: "Oh, yeah, me dumbass thought you needed stop whoring around, how silly of me."

A: "If he is into anything at all. But if I have another child, they might keep this empire going." S: "No legitimation to the lineage's claim to power like a gay loner and a bastard child." A: "Ah yes, I hired the man whose wife ran away with his son so he could berate me about family life. How I value your opinion, Salvatore." S: "She didn't run away." A: "No, she just hides and sends you people until she can get her divorce. I'm very inclined to give it to her."

S: "They're childhood friends! They'd make a great couple!" A: "All I can hear is what a great emperor you'd make, ruling on my corpse."

- So. Herakles is staunchly resisting any marriage to anyone and minding his business one day, walking along the great walls of Constantinople. He stops to look out into the surrounding area and suddenly, hears a noise. Confused, he looks down and sees someone scaling the wall. Sadık looks up and sees the most beautiful man he has ever seen … spotting him trying to get into the city.

- Sadık is part of the Ottoman Turks, who’re conquering the area around Constantinople these days. He’s some nobody in the army and thought he’d give it a shot and get into the city by himself to earn some fame (and money).

- Herakles is seriously impressed Sadık managed to actually almost scale the famously impenetrable walls of the city. Not impressed enough to actually let him in. So these two banter a bit, Sadık now distracted by this hunk in front of his nose. Herakles correctly assesses that he’s a Turk and says of himself that he’s the emperor’s son. Sadık: “Hey, hot stuff, if that’s true and it’s so impressive, why don’t you let me in as a reward?” Herakles: “Yes, of course. And then I’ll open the gates for the rest of your people, so that you can just walk in and take the city. What impossible thing do you want to happen next, a kiss on the mouth?” Sadık: “What’s so impossible about that?”

- Either way, Herakles threatens to sick the guards on him, which leads to a “Oh no you wouldn’t” - Herakles grins and definitely would, so Sadık has to retreat. (#Don’tSickTheGuardsOnMyAssYou’reSoSexyAhaha).

- He goes back to camp, having gained nothing but a crush. He gets in real trouble for rummaging around the booty, where he finds an oil lamp and WOULDN’T YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. Dilan, a Jinn, pops out and Sadık uses his first wish to get out of trouble. Once that is done and the two have a moment of peace, he's thinking about what to do next and his mind circles back to Herakles.

- Dilan: "Ah yes, they always want something with love ... so who struck you and what's the problem?" Sadık: "Well ... I don't really know if it's true but he said he was the son of the emperor. He certainly looked the part! And I didn't really want to wait for him to call the guards to confirm it." Dilan: "Wait ... so you want to get with the son of the Roman emperor?" Sadık: "If that handsome little shit didn't lie to me, then yes." Dilan: "Isn't that a little out of your ballpark?" Sadık: "What, is it out of yours? Can't help me in that case, magic lady?" Dilan: "Psht, don't make me laugh! I can make the impossible happen, just tell me what you need." Sadık: "I dunno ... I guess getting inside the city?" Dilan: "That's it? That's all you need? That's less than a no-brainer -" Sadık: "Oh yeah, if it's so easy then, save that second wish for later. I got past one of the walls already once, I'll figure that out without your magic." Dilan: "Alright, alright ... and what about the wooing of your sweetheart?" Sadık: "That we'll see to once we're there ..."

- Dilan and Sadık chitchat while they make it to Constantinople. Dilan spends some time in the lamp, because walking is boring, but she does tell him that she's pretty sick of being in there. So that's where Sadık learns about her wishing to be free. Dilan in turn learns that Sadık doesn't have such a rosy life either (especially because now he can't return to the army, after he basically deserted).

- So they get to Constantinople and decide to actually factcheck if they got the right guy - and if yes, some general information about the emperor's son. Luckily enough, a friendly trader/tradesman tells them a bit about the city and the imperial family. Dilan: "So, did you by any chance ever see the emperor's son?" Trader: "Oh, well, that's an odd question, isn't it? But since you don't seem to be from here, I can understand the curiosity. Well, let me think ... You often see him only from afar ... during a triumph where he had accompanied his father during the campaign I got to see him up close. What a regal figure there at the head of the troops!" Sadık is too lost in the vision of his crush all decked out in military gear on a horse. And then taking all that gear off and being a regal figure while he fucks Sadık into the sheets … Dilan: "Yeah, yeah, yadda yadda, we need something more concrete. Height, hairstyle, haircolour, what does the dude look like?" The trader/tradesman is a little baffled but does provide a description that lines up with who Sadık saw. So with that information, they start to wonder how to woo a future emperor.

- Luckily, now that the trader/tradesman thinks they're here for imperial gossip, he actually mentions the fact that Emperor Athanasios hopes for his son to follow his footsteps and is currently looking for a suitable match, so that Herakles can be of political use even while he's still in charge. So Dilan and Sadık get an idea how to get into the city and Herakles heart. Or his pants. Milestones are still up for negotiation.

- After the grand entrance happened, where Herakles definitely took offense at either "Heard your prince was a sight lovely to see" or "Heard your prince was hot, where is he?" because either question was accompanied by Sadık's flirty looks, Athanasios actually lets Sadık and Dilan into the palace. There he and Salvatore discuss the entire thing, aka if whoever Sadık pretends to be is a good match.

- While they talk political stuff and snark, because of course Salvatore is against it, Sadık continues to feel very smug in his new princely identity and makes flirty eyes at Herakles. Herakles is just like "ugh" and much more happily plays with his cats. Which tbh sounds like they're 16 or something, but they're not that much younger than in canon (I think they'd be 22 and 24 here).

- Hijinks ensue. Herakles tells his dad that he’s a Turkish soldier that tried to sneak into the city and Athanasios doesn’t believe him, thinking Herakles is now lying badly to not get married. Dilan and Sadık are developing a friendship that is best described as hoes being bros.

- Dilan: "Look, you like cats. Cats are furry. Hairy, if you will. You know who else is hairy? Sadık. He's juuust as hairy as a cat - shhhht, I'm wingmanning for you and it's working great, you can thank me later."

- At first, Dilan mostly employs her magic for some silly little things with Sadık to woo Herakles. It doesn't work very well. Herakles: "I know it's magic, that's not impressing me - Okay, it is kinda cool, but you're still a dick." Dilan: "But a dick with a cool sidekick, come ON! What else do you want me to do to make the nerd viable?!" Sadık: "You call that wingmanning?!"

- Once Dilan realizes dickbags Athanasios and Salvatore are, she also uses little magic tricks to continously make their lives worse. Ironically, this may be what finally endears her and Sadık to Herakles. (If you haven't noticed, he doesn't like his father very much and Athanasios doesn't care for him aside from being a political pawn).

- At one point, Michele shows up at court! Herakles is overjoyed to see his childhood friend, which he hadn’t seen in years! Sadık is absolutely not, because it looks like just when he and Herakles almost had something, this twat shows up and steals the show!

- Dilan: "Well, I can't make him not love this dude, but I could beat the dude up." Sadık: " ... keep that in mind."

- However, when Dilan goes to investigate what Michele is doing here (and wingwomanning again), this ensues: Dilan: "Hey brah, what's up, why so blue looking? Is it because your boo just told you you ain't his number one anymore?" Michele: "I, eh ... no ... May I ask who you are?" Dilan: "Just one of the servants of the insanely charming and powerful - and hairy - Prince who's here to marry the Prince. Yep, he's sooo gonna marry that guy." Dilan: "There was a whole musical number about it, you should have seen it, I was on top of my game." Michele: "Sure heard about it, you stirred up trouble here. Hope it helps ... I'm not saying that Herakles should marry someone his dad set in front of him, but it'd be nice if he found someone at last. He told me he was very lonely the last years ... I don't want to leave him behind just as lonely again." Dilan: "Yeah, it'd be - Leave him behind?"

- Dilan: "Good news! His loverboy is not here to stay! He wants to go to the west, he's just here because of his terrible dad!" Sadık: "Oh, that's good! Wait ... isn't his father that asshole of an advisor?" Dilan: "Yeah. Why." Sadık: "The guy who wanted to marry his son to Herakles since apparently forever?" Dilan: "Yeah, but his son is not going to marry him." Sadık: "I smell a trap 10 miles against the wind."

- There is no trap however. Herakles realizes that the crush on Michele is nothing but a childhood crush and has to be left in the past … and that he wants to move forward with Sadık. When he wants a conversation one-on-one, Dilan wants to make it a one-on-two, but Herakles asks her if she doesn’t want to keep Michele company in the gardens, it’s not gonna take long, an hour or two at most. Then she can also fetch Michele when they’re done, so that Herakles can say goodbye before he leaves for Sicily.

- Dilan thinks about it, finds it’s not a trap (and if it was, nothing she and her fists couldn’t solve) and goes in the garden. There she talks with Michele and makes the mistake to either show off her magic powers, tell Michele of TurGre’s meetugly (#Don’tSickTheGuardsOnMyAssYou’reSoSexyAhaha) or to be like: “Hey, do you wanna know a cool secret? Sadık isn’t a Prince, all of this is my doing. Pretty cool, eh?”

- Unfortunately, they’re not alone. Salvatore was searching for Michele in the gardens, to get his “fucking rotten brat of a son” to play along after all instead of disappearing once again. So he overhears this. Salvatore: "Oh, so Prince Sadık is not a Prince? That's a funny joke indeed and I'll laugh my ass off the hardest in the end."

- So just when Herakles and Sadık had time to talk about their feelings and confess and, also, you know, make out and fumble for good measure, they get interrupted. Literally when Herakles was finally stripped down to his tunic and Sadık slid his hand underneath it.

- Athanasios: "This is gonna be the last wall you breached, you little rat." Herakles: "Dad! Stop it!" Athanasios: "This man nearly ruined our dynasty. Arrest him." Salvatore: "Arrest the man indeed. Go and get the ex-emperor." Athanasios: "Ex-Prince. It's not the right time for your snark." Salvatore: "I'm not talking about that small fish. Guards - arrest this careless idiot who nearly ruined our city by letting a scammer into its walls! Clearly the emperor's been in on this and can't be trusted!" Athanasios: "You've lost your mind." Salvatore: "You've lost yours and it's actually the thing you'll miss the least when syphilis is going to eat away the last of your rotten brain in the dungeons. So get him! And that ottoman faker, too, just get the trash out of here."

- The scene ends rather dramatically, because I love the thought of Michele and Dilan rushing to their help, but they get held back. Dilan maybe gets restrained by some anti-magic stuff. And Dilan begs Sadık to use his last wish to help him. To solve this problem. But Sadık refuses, because he promised to use it to set her free. So Dilan is just livid and upset, distraught, yelling at him to let her do something while he gets taken to the dungeons.

- So now Salvatore’s in charge and setting his plans into motion. PR is of course the first thing that needs to be done, so there’s a speech to Constantinople’s masses: "But, as you know, I respect and regard the royal family, the entire dynasty, more than any of you! So I am not going to assume power, it'd be a crime against God himself who granted us this emperor, if I had removed him for anything but his unstable condition and his tragic mistake of almost letting his lineage being tainted! Not to mention that this would have been the end of our beloved empire, our city, suddenly overrun and ruled by those barbarians! No, of course I'll give my power to the true heir who was merely a victim to his father's incompetence. To prove I really mean it, I'm even going to give up my son to the Prince, to forever bind my loyality to the throne!"

- Michele: "I hold no more respect for you as father as I did when we left. I'm not going to play along your perverted plan." Salvatore: "Well Michele, if you don't respect me as father, then maybe you'll respect me as the Roman Emperor!"

- Meanwhile, in the dungeons, Athanasios and Sadık have some great chitchat. Sadık: "Guess that's some quality father and son in law bonding time, eh?” S:“Though I'm pretty sure your son would rather call me daddy than you." A: "Once this entire drama is over, I'll have you decapitated. Or just kick you back to your people and let them handle this." S: "Ah, but when I came here as a fake prince, your arms and gates were wide open. Should've listened to your son when he told you so."

- Here’s also some Salvatore content: Athanasios: "And now you strut around in my clothes. I'm surprised they even fit you fatass!" Salvatore: "Oh, the entire imprisonment is really getting to you, ain't it, emperor tightlips? Ah, I meant - ex-emperor tight lips. Now you've sunk low enough to insult me with such details. Is it because you have nothing else left now that you're off your high horse?" Salvatore: "I thought so. At least you're enough of a sound mind to not threaten me with 'once I get out of here' hot air. Because we both know you're not getting out of here in a lifetime anymore. And yes, I’m wearing your rags, since I’ve got no time to waste.” Salvatore to Sadık: "Actually, it's sad that you aren't going to be there to watch it. Although, I think a public execution would just spice the entire wedding festivities up, if I think about it."

- Ah yes. The wedding. Herakles: "You look great today, my love. Like a polished jewel." Michele: "Thanks. I'd never seen a man more handsome than you though. Truly, a prince with all his qualities seen right away." Both: -sigh- Ft. Dilan, who’s just watching the kids sadly and is trying to reassure them she got this, she’s gonna find a way, it’ll be fine!!!

- Herakles and Michele wonder why Sadık didn't use that wish. To which Dilan replies he said he'd free her with it, but she didn't believe he'd actually uphold that promise. And he shouldn't have because now she's useless and he's in trouble. (And Hera only falls more in love with Sadık, because being a good person is HELLA swoony.)

- Dilan also tries to cheer them up and I believe she can still do small magic tricks, she just can't get out of whatever shackles/confinement she is in. So when she isn't despairing or raging, she tries to cheer Herakles and Michele up with some silly little tricks. She shapeshifts into their fathers to make fun of them. Which leads them to an idea ...

- I have no idea what it is though. I only know that the grand final and resolution involves shapeshifting. If anyone who's better at plots wants to give me ideas, please do.

- However they manage to stop Salvatore's machinations, this is what follows: Salvatore gets thrown into the dungeons. Herakles decides to not let his father out and instead take the crown himself. He becomes emperor and marries Sadık. Sadık uses his last wish to set Dilan free. Michele goes to travel to Sicily, promising he’ll write letters to them and come visit some day (Dilan promises the same).

- The end of Salvatore and Athanasios rotting in jail together is SO satisfying to me, bc now that they are useless to each other, there is nothing left to do but be a pain in each other’s ass. They hate each other and they DESERVE EACH OTHER.

Sequel Bait:

- Before we get to the sequel bait, let me give you some prequel bait for a change. Here's a little "what if one of the many suitable matches for Herakles had been one of the Beilschmidt brothers" scenario. Plus free medieval history lesson:

- Now for the actual sequel: Three years come and go. Herakles and Sadık settle in their new rules as emperor and ... emperor's husband. (I don't know if Byzantine empresses were "put into office" in the same way the Emperor was. If someone is more knowledgeable about this than me, correct me).

- Their marriage is going swell, however both struggle in their new official roles. Herakles faces all the administrative problems and tough decisionmaking that comes with being a ruler, while Sadık struggles to be accepted by the people of Constantinople. Where Herakles tends to take care of the court, Sadık tries his hand at being a military leader.

- One morning, Sadık wakes up with Herakles in the room. Which should not be surprising, if it wasn't for the fact that Herakles had left the city yesterday. He's oddly nonchalant about it when Sadık asks him and also ... weirdly chipper? Eager? Kitschy in his flirting? He's at first flattered, but soon very confused by everything and wonders if either he hit his head real hard in his sleep or if Herakles fell off his horse when he tried to make it out of the city.

- Turns out none of it, because after some more eyelash fluttering, his "husband" goes POOF! and turns out to be Dilan, who's on the floor laughing. "You should have seen your stupid face! Really! Wait, I'll show you!"

- After Dilan is done shapeshifting into Sadık, absolutely overacting his reaction and argueing with him about it, they finally get to catch up. Turns out that Dilan was bored by travelling around the world and wanted to check in on her old buddy.

- She couldn't have chosen a more opportune time to do so. Once Herakles returns, he ... at first has a weird reunion with his husband. Sadık is kind of wary around him and starts to list his attitude and general personality traits/ticks as proof for ... something. Takes a while for Herakles to get the news that Dilan is back, too.

- Herakles is very relieved to hear that! He wanted to confide something in Sadık, because after he had returned to the city, someone had taken him aside. Natasa Simonides, an old and trusted courtly advisor, needed help. Recently, her husband Ibrahim disappeared and she's worried.

- Natasa also told Herakles a secret: Ibrahim is a Jinn, which is why his disappearance worries her even more. Herakles informs Sadık and asks Dilan if she knows anything, but she sadly hasn't heard anything either. - Before she can zip off and see if she can find Ibrahim, Herakles asks another favour of her - to educate Natasa's twins, Timothea Farah and Omar Veniam instead. Natasa thinks they may be able to find their father, but they don't know they're half-Jinn, so they'd need some guidance. Dilan happily agrees to be their teacher!

- My only more in-depth infos on Jinn and their children with humans comes from this Monstrum video by PBS Storied. I don't think Thea & Omar would need to be taught by anyone to be seers and how to be in communication with non-human spheres, but it makes for a better story.

- So Dilan is off to teach the kids while Sadık volunteers to go and search for Ibrahim. Herakles resumes his imperial role in the city.

- It's not really fun and as the people become more and more agitated with the status quo, more and more people "remember" that the old emperor is still around. Enough people are going "What's that kid knowing anyways?! All those highfangled ideas and useless reforms, for what?" that a select few decide to stage a coup by releasing Athanasios from the dungeons.

- Now, I still haven't decided if Salvatore also gets let out. The problem is that I really would begrudge him his freedom ... but I also begrudge Athanasios his freedom! It doesn't feel fair that one bastard gets to walk free and the other doesn't!

- Out in the field, Sadık isn't having much more luck. No Jinn in sight and the trouble he has with a few of the men that accompany him keeps him thinking about the acceptance problems again. He really wishes at one point that Herakles wasn't emperor at all. You can imagine how terrible he feels for these thoughts when news of the coup catches up to them. Be careful what you wish for and all that jazz. On top of that, he gets into trouble as well - betrayed by some of the men he had taken along. He gets stuck in some place like a cave or an abandoned house he was investigating ...

- Sadık finds a large sealed bottle and thinks 'Well, what's the worst that could happen?' He is greeted by a GIANT cloud of smoke instead of anything edible/drinkable. By the time the cloud is human-shaped, he already has a giant grin on his face. Sadık: "Hah! I have a sixth sense for this kind of stuff!" Jinn: "Greetings, mor-" Sadık: "Yeah, yeah, quick question, is your name Ibrahim? Or do you know one of your kind called Ibrahim who's been passing through recently?" Jinn: "My name is Ibrahim - " Sadık: "Great! You know a Greek lady called Natasa? I take that look as a yes. Okay, so first wish is to get us out of here, second wish we'll see, third is like freeing you from the whole servitude bit - You do the three wishes thing, right? Anyways, your wife and kids are wishing for dad to come home, so get us out of here, you'll get explanations on the way back."

- In the meantime, Dilan and her protégés, along with Natasa and Herakles, have been trying to figure out how to solve the problem at court. It doesn't help that the news of Sadık's troubles also reached them (I know the speed of spreading information may be historically hella inaccurate, but I need it for the drama). So Dilan is torn between helping her best bud and helping the rest at court. The Greeks cook up a plan and assure her that she should go and help Sadık, they've got this.

- The plan is to get Athanasios to do something incredibly stupid that would immediately turn the people against him. They exploit the fact that Athanasios likes to listen to words that fall from pretty lady's mouths. So Timothea flatters her eyelashes and promises to tell him something of a vision she had ... that the divine has something to tell him through her. (Don't worry for her, she may have to endure his fingers under her chin, which is infuriating and nauseous enough, but no more skin contact than this). Thea gets backed by her brother to lend it more credibility once Athanasios considers with his head and not his dick.

- And we can all appreciate that Dilan has been sent away, otherwise the scene would have been like this: Thea: "The spirits are talking to me about you ... " Dilan: "Mhm, mhm, indeed, I can hear them to. They're saying that you're a bitch!"

- Dilan in the meantime reaches Sadık, Ibrahim and those of his troop that haven't betrayed and abandoned him as soon as they heard of the coup. A little happy reunion before she immediately fills them in on what's happening.

- They come up with a plan themselves to finally get rid of Athanasios and the Simonides and Herakles have begun to sweat a little back home, because Athanasios mistake of listening to the twins' advice has bought them time, but not really solved the problem yet. Which is when Dilan and Ibrahim sweep in, concocting an illusion powerful enough to wrap up everyone in Constantinople and make Athanasios seem like the literal devil. Some mass-hallucination miracle bullshit, truly, to assert that he doesn't deserve the throne.

- Maybe for good measure, Athanasios disappears after the illusion is over. Dilan and Ibrahim have no idea where he went, they say with a smile.

- Another grand finale! The four lovers are reunited, Thea and Omar are overjoyed to have their dad back and he is overjoyed to have his kids back. When Dilan tells the Simonides twins that they did a great job, she's a good teacher after all haha!, Ibrahim and Natasa invite her to stay. Dilan says that they don't need her, surely, now that Ibrahim can teach them, but Ibrahim says he could use some help. Herakles also encourages her, saying that he'd love to have her at court - and Sadık also bullies her into staying. "What do you wanna do, see the world again? Didn't do much for your peanut brain the first time around, maybe hit the books together with Hera so that you'll be a passable teacher some day."

- Dilan and Omar also have evolved a crush on one another during this entire mess. That's what I'll leave you with - all well that ends well.

Also hey you! Thanks for reading all of this! Here's a little bonus content if you made it this far!

A wonderful fanart of Michele and Salvatore by my beloved friend C0FFINATED over on twitter!

Here's an amazing commission of the Greeks and Turks by @captkirkland ! I'm not sure if I'm allowed to repost the pictures myself on tumblr & you shoud reblog it from him anyways. Show him and his amazing art some love! From left to right it's Timothea, Herakles, Omar, then Dilan, Sadık and Havva (who's not featured in this AU, rip. Things would have worked to well with their brainpower).

Thanks for reading this! Hope you have a wonderful day!

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janeyseymour · 3 years

Text

The Puzzle Of Life

Life is a puzzle. And Jane Seymour is more than confused as to where her puzzle piece fits. As she finds, it fits somewhere, just perhaps maybe not where she thought it would. Life works in mysterious ways.

WC: 3273

Jane Seymour was more than confused as to where she fit into this crazy puzzle that she found herself in. Growing up was hard for the young lass- having been one of the younger siblings in a family of twelve and as shy and quiet as she was, it was quite difficult for her to fit in with her family. Even when she was put in front of Henry, the blonde knew that it was not where she fit into the puzzle of life. As queen, she did her best to appear queenly and fit into this picture perfect family that He wished to show to the public. Ultimately though, she knew she would never fit into the puzzle piece. If he had thrown away Catherine of Aragon’s puzzle piece that seemingly fit for twenty four years as well as Anne Boleyn’s piece after three years, he would surely throw hers away. She never gave him the chance, for she had gone and died- throwing away her own puzzle piece to his puzzle of life in the process.

Five-hundred and some years later, Jane Seymour- the former third wife of Henry VIII- was reincarnated. Five-hundred and some years later, the meek and mild woman found herself in a house with the five other wives of her beloved. Five-hundred and some years later, she was back to trying to make her puzzle piece fit into the craziness of the world- a world that was much different than the one she was used to. It was hard to do- the women in the house had already found their places and their spaces, and Jane was left to try to figure out where she fell into the puzzle. Catherine and Cathy had paired off, Anne and Kat paired off with Anna joining them and creating “the chaotic 3” as they loved to call themselves. Where was Jane to fit? Everyone else had found where their puzzle piece had fit, and the blonde was convinced she would never find where her piece fit. Why would she?

The woman secluded herself for some time after they had been brought back into this new century. Knowing she had a temper, she stayed away from the women who had someone forged a family without her, for she didn’t want to startle them and break any good that the five others had forged. Once, she lashed out and startled the entire house. Katherine Howard would not come near her for weeks apart from in the show when they had to interact. Even then, the third queen noticed the way the fifth would seemingly be relaxed with Catherine and Anne before getting to Jane. Once she stood before the third queen, something shifted in her, and she was stiff as a board and her roast fell flat amongst the audience.

Slowly, the woman began to get control over her temper- participating in meditation practices and the power of time together helped mend together the “broken” woman. She began to infiltrate herself into the family that they had created, but the feelings of being an outsider had only dissipated slightly.

Jane Seymour had found herself growing close with Katherine Howard, forming a bond that was about as close to a mother-daughter bond as she would find.

“Katherine, we have to leave for the show in about seven minutes. Please be outside in five,” Jane knocked on the door lightly, not wanting to startle the young queen who had only just begun to relax (as much as the fifth queen could) around her.

“Did Anne not tell you?” the pink queen opened the door to reveal herself still in pajamas, her nose and cheeks a dusty pink. “I’m not feeling well, so I’m staying home tonight. Have a good show though Jane.” The woman offered a meek smile before breaking into a fit of coughs that rattled her lungs. Unexpectedly, the teen pushed past the blonde at the door and made a dash for the bathroom. She threw herself at the toilet, only barely getting there before heaving into the bowl.

“Cathy?” Jane called for the woman who intimidated her the least. When she heard the blue queen pop out of her bedroom, she continued, “I’m calling out today. Someone’s got to take care of Katherine.” The blonde shocked herself at how much maternal energy was radiating from her at that moment, especially given that Katherine was throwing up- one of her biggest fears and triggers. Then and there though, it didn’t matter.

The third queen took a deep breath before following the fifth queen into the bathroom and kneeling down beside her.

“Let it all out darling, you’re okay,’ she offered sweet nothings as she tied the girls hair back.

“Y-you don’t have to-” the sick queen began heaving again. “S-stay. I’ll be okay.”

The third queen only continued gently rubbing the girl’s back before replying gently, “It’s okay love. Let someone take care of you for once.”

The other four queens would come home that night to see Katherine curled into Jane sleeping peacefully.

“Thank you for taking care of her,” Anne expressed her gratitude begrudgingly.

“Of course. It wasn’t a problem.” The silver monarch allowed herself to feel the warmth coming from the teen curled into her side. She could get used to taking care of someone like this.

And indeed she did. Jane found that her puzzle piece fit with Katherine’s. From that moment on, Katherine followed Jane around like a duckling, much to the annoyance of the second queen.

By extension, this meant that Jane Seymour would have to bury the hatchet with Anne Boleyn. Anne Boleyn, her predecessor and a woman who still occasionally shot glares at the woman for getting close with her cousin. The two would work it out in the end.

“Anne, can we please talk?” Jane knocked on the green door, tired of walking on eggshells around the green queen and ready to put any hard feelings to rest.

“What is there to talk about Seymour?” The second queen opened the door and leaned against the frame.

“May I come in?”

Anne thought for a second before standing to the side and allowing the silver queen to enter her room. Jane wasn't quite sure what to do with herself, so she stepped in a few paces before stopping and standing awkwardly.

“Stop doing that,” Anne commanded as she pushed past the other queen and flopped onto her bed ungracefully.

“I beg your pardon?” the silver queen replied, although there was no malice in her voice. She had come to talk to her predecessor in a civil manner, and was determined not to lose her temper no matter how the second queen acted towards her.

“Stop being so awkward,” the green queen demanded from her successor. “Stop walking on eggshells around me, and take a seat.” Anne watched in amusement as the third queen quickly scanned the room for a place to sit before settling herself on the ground in a ball.

“Sorry,” Jane dropped her eyes to the floor. The second queen watched her carefully for a few beats before realizing the third queen was not about to continue talking.

“Well, you came to me. What was it you wanted to talk about?” The woman began to take out her space buns.

“Oh,” The woman on the floor looked up bashfully. “That’s right. I just-” she paused to mull over how she wanted to word what she was about to say. “I think we need to bury the hatchet. For us, for Katherine, for the house. So, I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you this: I’m sorry for what happened in our past lives. To begin with, I never wanted to marry him in the first place. I was twenty-eight, and at that point quite old to have never been married before. I didn’t mind not having a man, but you know how it was back then. My father and brother pushed me towards him, trying to move up classes. And, I never in a million years thought that Henry courting me would end with you being- you know. If I had even thought that idea would cross his mind, I never would have been with him in the first place. I wholeheartedly thought he would divorce you like he did Catherine, but-”

“Catalina,” Anne interrupted.

“I don’t think I’ve quite made it to the point where she would want me to call her Catalina. Maybe back then, but certainly not now, but that’s besides the point,” Jane rushed out. Boleyn opened her mouth to rebut, but Jane continued on.

“I thought he would divorce you. When I found out he was going to execute you,” Jane paused to take a deep breath. “I tried so hard to stop him. I knew we had bad blood then, but I knew you were innocent. I did everything I could to try to convince him otherwise, but he wouldn’t hear it. The last time I tried, he threatened to take my head off too for treason.”

“Jane, I forgave you a long time ago for that whole...” The queen in green searched for the appropriate word as she crossed the room and settled next to the blonde. “...situation. I know you never would have done that to me. And please, seriously... know that it wasn’t your fault at all. It was all his fault.”

“Well,” Jane twiddled her thumbs nervously. “But I was the-”

Anne intervened, laying a steady hand over two shaking ones. “If it wasn’t you, it would have been someone else. I guarantee it.”

“Okay then,” the nervous woman sighed as she mustered up the courage to ask her next question. “If you’ve forgiven me, why are you still harsh towards me?”

“If I’m being honest Seymour, it’s what’s expected from us, right?”

“It- it doesn’t have to be that way. I’d like to make amends,” Jane whispered quietly.

“Well, that isn’t all,” the second monarch admitted. When the blonde’s head tilted in confusion, she continued, “Kat’s really taken a liking to you. I suppose I’m jealous. It’s silly, I know but-”

“I never meant to take her away from you. I can back off,” Jane was ready to relinquish the first bond that she had made within the household for the time being if it meant her predecessor and her could bury any hard feelings between the two.

“Now, I never said that,” the green queen chided gently. “I know it’s silly. And besides, I know that Kat needs someone who will reign her in when she’s getting a little wild. She needs someone to look after her, and-”

“You look after her just fine Anne,” the silver queen complimented.

“Well thank you, but, as I was saying before you so rudely interrupted me,” Anne giggled, a mischievous glint in her eye. “I look after her the best that I can, but she needs someone who has maternal energy. Let’s face it: I am not one to radiate that sort of energy. I’m like the cool older sister. You, on the other hand, exude mum energy.”

“I-”

“It’s not a bad thing. It’ll take some time for me to get used to Kat not following me around constantly, but you’re good for her.”

“Thank you,” Jane shot her a grateful smile.

“So, for Katherine’s sake, are we good?” Anne held out a hand.

“For Katherine’s sake.” The third queen took the second’s, shaking it before adding, “But for what it’s worth Anne, I do hope we’re good for our sake too.”

“I’m sure we will be Jane. I’m sure we will be.”

Over time, Jane began to extend her olive branches with the fourth and sixth queen as well. It was Anna who was next. There weren't any revolving issues that fell between the two women. Cleves was just an intimidating woman to the demure queen.

“Oi Seymour, you got a second?” the red queen asked as she knocked on the grey door.

Jane opened the door, somewhat surprised to see the fourth queen standing before her before smiling softly (albeit a nervous one), “Of course. You can come in if you’d like.” With the invitation, Anna stepped into the room and looked around.

“Take a seat if you wish,” the blonde gestured to her bed and then the desk chair, giving the woman in front of her options.

Once the two were settled, the red monarch spoke, “So you’ve made good with Howard, and now amends with Boleyn too?” Jane nodded. “That’s good,” she hummed.

“Yes, it’s quite nice,” the third queen agreed.

“So I guess I’m here to ask, are we good?” For the first time since they had been back, the confident Anna of Cleves looked nervous, refusing to make eye contact.

“I’d like to think we are, yes?” Jane was confused. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

“Oh, I’m not sure. You’ve just kept to yourself quite a bit until these last few weeks. I wanted to make sure we were good, you know?” the fourth queen stated, although there was no accusatory tone laced in her voice.- it was genuine.

“Yeah we’re okay. It’s just been hard adjusting to these new times. I know it’s been a while but-”

“Everyone has their own timeline. It’s cool Seymour. Really.”

“Thank you,” Jane sighed with relief. “I needed that.”

“No problem.” Anna stood up from her spot. “So we’re good? No hard feelings over anything?” She stuck her hand out awkwardly; the gesture resembled Anne’s.

“For sure,” Jane grabbed the hand quickly, a smirk appearing on her face.

She was well on her way to finding out where her puzzle piece fit.

Catherine Parr was a mystery to Jane Seymour. But the two had found their common ground- or their difference that would allow them to bond- as well.

“Catherine?” Jane knocked lightly on the blue door at the end of the hallway. The signature poof of hair with a pen stuck in it haphazardly made an appearance.

“Hey Jane, what can I do for you?” It was a surprise to see the third queen outside her door; she never went past the pink room- not an unpleasant surprise, but a surprise nonetheless.

“Uh, I’m- you know what? Nevermind, I can just ask Kat for help. I’m so sorry for interrupting your time.” The silver queen went to close the door, but the writer’s hand caught it quickly.

“It’s not an issue. How can I help you, for real?” Jane studied the woman’s face for a few seconds. There was no sense of impatience or lying to be detected; Catherine Parr was an earnest and honest woman.

Deciding to bite the bullet, the much less educated queen rushed out, “I’m having a bit of trouble with the changes in the script and I was wondering if you could help me, but now I realize it’s foolish to ask the writ-”

“I’d be more than happy to help Jane. I was actually just going over it myself. Would you care to come in?”

The script had been sorted out a long while ago, and the two had fallen into casual conversation.

“So, Anne tells me that you’ve made amends?”

“I have,” Jane smiled a bit proudly. “It’s nice to have... a friend.”

“She said the same.”

“Can I be real with you for a second?” the third queen asked candidly. At the gentle nod of the head from the sixth queen, she continued. “This whole ‘being reincarnated 500 years later’ thing is hard. I know the five of you have this sort of found family idea circulating, but I for the life of me... Well I fear that I’m not sure where my puzzle piece fits.”

“I understand that,” Cathy offered sympathetically. “It’s been really hard on all of us, especially when you consider the way the six of us have been put up against each other for centuries now.”

Jane couldn’t help but agree.

“But I think it’s really nice that we all have each other now. I’ve noticed that you’ve got quite a bond with Kat. And you’re civil with Anne and Anna now.”

“And you, I’d like to think,” the blonde added.

“Yes,” Catherine agreed. “And me.”

“So,” Jane hummed, trying to pick the conversation back up, for there had been a lull in it. “You married my brother?” Jane laughed lightly.

That left one queen left: Catherine of Aragon. Catherine of Aragon, who she had served under. The one who had left the castle and never came back.

A knock on the door wasn’t uncommon for the blonde anymore. The four queens she had made amends with often came to visit her throughout the night.

“Come in!” Jane beckoned. When the door opened, she was faced with the last woman she expected to be there: the golden queen. “Oh, hi Catherine. What can I do for you?” Her tone shifted immediately. There was no malice within her voice, but it certainly wasn’t as warm as it was when she thought it might have been one of the other queens.

“I wanted to have a quick chat Jane, if that’s alright,” the first queen seemed nervous. What for, the third queen couldn’t tell.

“Sure,” the silver queen moved over on her bed and patted the spot next to her.

“You’ve made nice with the other four queens. Why not me Jane? I thought we were okay,” Catherine admitted weakly as she lowered herself onto the bed.

Jane was stunned. The Catherine of Aragon, the elegant and poised queen of England, was sitting before her admitting that she was hurt by the blonde’s actions- or more accurately, lack thereof.

“Catherine, I never meant to upset you,” Jane sighed.

“Then, why haven’t you attempted to reach out to me? I mean, you’ve been good with Boleyn for a month now!” The first queen was clearly upset.

“Lina,” Jane whispered for the first time since they had been in England over 500 years ago. “I-”

“If it’s something that I did back then, I-”

“You couldn’t help what you did, but-” Jane bit her tongue. “But you left. And I’m terrified that if we grow close in this life, you might have to leave again.”

“Oh.” The golden monarch looked into the younger woman’s grey eyes with sadness. “Oh carino.” Catalina pulled the woman into a hug. “I’m not leaving. Ever. Not as long as I can help it.”

“Promise?” The third queen mumbled at her elder in an almost child-like tone.

“I promise you love. I’m not leaving. You are my family, and family doesn’t just leave.”

Since that day, Jane Seymour had found many things. The most important thing to note however, was that she did indeed find where her puzzle piece fit.

It did not fit into the tudor life that she had lived once before. It did not fit into the greyscale puzzle she had begun to create. No, her puzzle piece fit into this life- this wacky, silly, absurd puzzle of family with the other ex-wives of her past.

On many days, as the others would find, Jane Seymour’s puzzle piece completed their puzzle of life.

“So Jane,” Cathy laughed quietly as she leaned against the doorframe, the two watching the chaos that was unfolding in the house from a distance. “Think you found where your puzzle piece fits?”

“I think I did,” Jane smiled happily. “Wanna go finish today’s puzzle?”

“Let’s.” The writer offered a hand to the third queen, and together they joined in on the mayhem.

#six fanfic #six musical fanfiction #six the musical fanfic #six the musical fanfiction #six fanfiction #fanfic #six jane seymour #jane seymour six

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soapsilly · 4 years

Text

Not him - Tom Holland x Reader

Pairings: Tom Holland x reader; (slight Post Malone x reader)

Summary: (Y/N) and Tom got together on the set of Spider-Man. But the relationship doesn’t work out the way both of them had hoped for. What happens when (Y/N) gets over Tom faster than he would like? How will they act when they first see each other again in person on set for the new movie when neither of them can let go of their resentment?

Requests are open!

I guess, you could label this as Angst? Eventhough I don’t think it’s that angsty. I’m also terrible at writing summaries. Also, for the new love interest I chose Post Malone, because I needed a celebrity in the same age range as the main characters and also I’m kinda obsessed with him at the moment, so sorry if he’s not everyone’s type. However, this isn’t about him, so sorry if I didn’t exactly nail his personality.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Are you being serious?”, (Y/N) questioned her boyfriend. She couldn’t believe what she just heard.

“Here we go again”, Tom said rolling his eyes, “yes, I am serious”

(Y/N) chose to ignore that little dig at her but instead continued, “So, you’re seriously planning to move her in?”

“What am I supposed to do? Do you expect me to put her on the streets?”

“I expect you to at least talk to me about it!”

“I have known her for ages. There was no point in discussing it. She nedded a place to stay and I offered. End of story. She’s one of my closest childhood friends! Can we please not fight about this? Please? You’re leaving to shoot soon. You won’t even notice she’s here.”

"I don’t want to fight with you, love. But she’s a childhood friend that you told me you were in love with for the longest time! That I’m leaving makes it worse actually. Besides, you already spend the majority of your time with her. Do you really have to move her in now, too?”

It was true, Melanie was one of Tom’s oldest friends back in London. They grew up in the same neighbourhood and shared the same friend group. And he was crushing on her hard when he was younger.

“So you conveniently ignore that I hang out with all my old friends?”, Tom was getting more and more annoyed now. What was her problem?

“You can’t seriously expect me to spend all my time with you! I’m gone for so long at a time. Let me just spend some time with my people!”, Tom grew frustrated now.

“Your people... You spend all your free time with your people! And I’m at home going to bed alone almost every night. Why did you even ask me to come stay with you here, when you just leave me all the time?”, she was close to tears now. She felt lonely.

“I’m beginning to ask myself the same question. What has gotten into me?”

(Y/N) was quiet for a moment. That stung. The world knew Tom as that silly goofball, which he was - most of the time at least. But he could also be a proper bastard if he wanted to.

The girl took a deep breath.

“Listen, I understand that you want to help your friend but I just wished for you to talk to me first before you made that decision”, she continued much calmer now.

But Tom was having none of it. He was fired up now and annoyed by his girlfriend’s constant nagging.

“(Y/N)! How am I supposed to talk to you when you get so overly emotional all the time? You’re so fucking sensitive!”

“So you don’t talk to me at all? What kinda logic is that? Tom look at us. We’re fighting. Again. I can’t remember the last time we had a nice evening together. I can’t remember the last time we slept with each other...”

“You’re being dramatic. It hasn’t been that long”

“It has, too!”

“What do you want me to do? You’re smothering me! Of course I’d rather spend time with Mel. She’s not nagging me all the damn time!”

This was the first time he admitted to it.

Both of them stood still, facing each other.

“(Y/N)-”, Tom started but (Y/N) just held up her hand, effectively silencing him.

“Tom. Have you cheated on me with Melanie?”

“What? Of course not! (Y/N) I love you. Nobody else. I wouldn’t do that to you”, he tried to reassure her. Suddenly he felt bad for what he said.

“Have you thought about it? Even for just a second?”

“(Y/N), please...”, he pleaded with her.

“I’m leaving”

*******************************************************************************************

It’s been a few months since (Y/N) left Tom. He still felt bad for how their last fight ended and he was sure that if he hadn’t gotten so fired up, she’d still be there with him.

Tom asked her to stay, pleaded even, when she was picking up her stuff from all over his apartment. But after the logistics of separating where figured out neither of them talked to the other. (Y/N) made it clear to him, that she wasn’t interested in talking anymore. It was hard for him to accept and move on. He’d struggle to keep his mind off of his ex-lover. There were so many things that reminded him of her - so many things that he didn’t even realize before. The smell of coffee for example.

Eventhough, it was hard for Tom, his friends kept his mind occupied for long enough to relax a little and have some fun. None of them knew about the reason for their split. He told everybody it just didn’t work out between them. Only Harrison and his brothers knew the real reason of what happened. Only they saw him struggle.

The shooting for the next Spider-Man movie would start soon, so he’d be scheduled to give some interviews. All the tabloids were of course hoping Tom would give out secret details about the movie; that they’d be the first ones to report.

“Mornin’ Mate, how’re things today?” Harrison asked his friend, when they first arrived at the car that would get them to the interview place his management had organized.

“Actually, things are great, Haz! I think today is going to be good”, Tom answered truthfully. He was looking forward to today. There was no trace of any struggle on his face. No thoughts were spent on (Y/N) since Tom woke up this morning.

Harrison was glad. He wished for his best friend to move on and be happy again.

Tom was sitting in an empty room, lost in his thoughts after several hours of interviews, when a women in a grey blazer entered the room.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Holland”, she greeted him.

Tom was pulled back to reality.

“Good afternoon, pleasure to meet you. You can call me Tom by the way”, he greeted back.

The women continued to set up the interview. What followed were several different variations of the same questions he had already answered throughout the day.

While Tom enjoyed talking about his new movies, getting the same questions over and over again was getting a little boring. However, he had managed to not spoil a single thing about the movie, which he was immensely relieved about.

“So, the character of Felicia Hardy or maybe better known as Black Cat was introduced to the Spider-Man universe in the last movie. (F/N) (L/N) did an amazing job portraying her and the audience loved the new character”

Here we go again.

Tom already knew this was coming. Every interviewer so far asked about (Y/N) and him. But he was prepared.

“Yes, (Y/N) really is an amazing actress. I’m happy I was given the chance to work with her”

“So, you and Miss (L/N) started dating on set of the last movie but a few months ago you announced your split on social media. Last movie’s post credit scene suggested she’d be part of the new movie aswell. What do you expect returning on set, considering the current circumstances ?”, the woman continued.

Tom took a deep breath. He’s done this before.

“The split was amicable. When we realized the relationship wouldn’t work out, we mutually decided we’re better off as friends”

Lie.

“So you two are still in contact?”

“Yes, of course. We are both busy with our schedules but we both keep in contact regularly”

Lie.

“That’s amazing. So there won’t be any hard feelings on set”, she concluded.

“No, of course not. I’m really looking forward to seeing her again in person”

Somewhat the truth.

“You are one of the hottest singles on he market right now. We are dying to know: Is there anybody that has caught your eye yet? Seeing as lately (Y/N) has been seen getting cozy with rapper Post Malone..”

WTF??

Tom tried to not show his reaction to the newly found information. He awkwardly denied having his eye on anyone at the moment and they wrapped up the interview.

Tom was grateful that that was the last interview of the day. As soon as the lady left, he stormed over to Harrison, who was just as shocked as he was. He was already on his phone searching for evidence for the lady’s claims.

“Is it true?”, Tom asked his friend.

“Seems like it...”, Harrison showed the actor his phone. A picture of (Y/N) and Post Malone outside of a restaurant, holding hands lit up his phone screen.

Tom grabbed the phone and swiped further and further. There were a few more pictures of them together. Holding hands, snuggling - even one picture that showed them kissing.

For a second he felt a myriad of emotions cascading down upon him.

Shame. Anger. Sadness.

On one hand he felt embarrassed that he was mourning after their relationship while she was already out in the field dating around. On the other hand he felt angry. Did their relationship mean nothing to her? Was he not important to her?

And on a whole other hand he felt sad. He didn’t know what he expected but maybe there was still a little hope within him that they could get together again once the shooting would start.

But at the same time there was doubt lurking in the back of his mind. He always knew there was a discrepancy between him and her. While he was always more goofy and childlike, she was more grunge and edgy. Of course, it didn’t help that she was constantly fangirling over the musician.

“I love a man with a clear aesthetic” is what she used to say. And who had a clearer aesthetic than Post Malone? Next to him he felt like a slice of untoasted white bread.

“Tom?”, Harrison saw his friend spiraling.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”, Tom exclaimed.

Lashing out on the ones he loved seemed to be a recurring theme with him lately.

Harrison pulled up his his hands in surrender.

“Calm down, mate. I didn’t know either”

Tom left to wait in the car. He was awfully quiet for the remainder of the day.

So much for today being good...

*******************************************************************************************

It’s been a few weeks since Tom started shooting. As the main actor he had to be on set before anybody else did. (Y/N) arrived a few weeks later, Black Cat was not yet one of the main characters, so there was no need for (Y/N) to be there from the beginning.

Tom didn’t sleep well the night before (Y/N) was supposed to arrive. He has neither seen her nor talked to her since she left his apartment all those months ago. He was worried as to how to interact with her.

When Tom finally arrived on set, she was already there, chatting with Zendaya. The two of them hit it off immediately when they first met during the first movie.

When Zendaya saw Tom she grew quiet. Of course, she knew about their split but she didn’t know how he would react to seeing her for the first time after it. And she would’ve much preferred to not be present during their first meeting.

(Y/N) stopped mid-sentence and followed Zendaya’s gaze meeting Tom’s eyes, who was standing like a deer in the headlights. Eyes wide and his mouth slightly agape.

“Excuse me for a moment”, (Y/N) told her friend and made her way over to her ex-lover.

“Hello, Tom”

“Hey..”, Tom was unsure what to say.

“How’re ya? Everything good?”

She always did this. Asked how somebody was and already suggested the answer to go with.

“Yeah I’m good. And you? How’re you?”, he asked her back eventhough he already know what she was gonna answer. He just knew her like that.

“You know.. It is what it is”, she shrugged, but sent him a wink after that.

They chatted for a few more minutes about how excited she was to start shooting again, but never about anything deeper.

He didn’t ask her about her new relationship. She didn’t ask him about Melanie.

Then they parted again.

*******************************************************************************************

“You again?”, Peter in his Spider-Man suit swung onto the roof, where Felicia was tinkering around.

“Hello, Spider”, the Black Cat greeted him without looking up.

“You know? I’m actually kind of on a date right now, so maybe we could settle this quick and easy?”, Peter suggested, knowing that Michelle was waiting just at the other side of the street. When Karen notified him of an attempted break-in, he made up a quick excuse and left her standing.

The girl straightened up and started to circle Peter slowly.

“Is that your girl down there? She’s cute. I wouldn’t let her wait if I were you”, she pointed towards where Michelle was standing, looking around for Peter.

Peter furrowed his brows underneath his mask.

“Nice suit by the way”, she commented further. She only wore some black combat boots, a pair of pants, a crop top and a tighter top underneath. All black of course. The only thing that would ever even suggest she wasn’t just an ordinary girl were the black mask she was wearing and the devices on both of her wrists, that her claws and other similar gadgets were attached to.

“I, myself, prefer to not stand out as much. Not really a look you want to achieve... as a master thief, you know?”, she continued.

“You know? Someone once told me there’s usually not this much talking in a fight”, Peter told Felicia.

“Oh but we’re not fighting, silly”, she chuckled lowly. Something about her made Peter suspicious. What was she doing?

“Well, whatever it is what we are doing. I’m stopping you!”, Peter puffed his chest up.

“There’s no need, Spider. I already got what I want”, she showed him a stunning diamond collier dangling between her fingers, “do you think this suits me?”

She held the necklace up to her cleavage, batting her eyelashes.

Peter de-puffed his chest. He seriously began to ask himself what they were even doing.

“Listen, I can get you back to your dimension. Just give me the necklace and come with me, Felicia. I can get you back home”, Peter tried to reason with her.

The Black Cat began walking again but stopped right behind him.

“Oh but why? I like it here. How are we going to have our little rendezvous when I’m gone, Peter”, she leaned in behind him and all but whispered his name in his ear.

For a while he was silence.

“CUT!”, the director yelled, “Tom, you missed your line”.

“Everything okay?”, (Y/N) whispered.

But Tom was kinda shaken up. The Black Cat was less sexualized as she’d be in the comics. They were supposedd to be teenagers after all. But this was (Y/N). His (Y/N). He was okay acting with her but when she was so close to him that he could feel her breath tickling his ear, he froze up. His mind drew a blank and all he could do was stand there and wish that the ground would open up and swallow him whole.

“Five minute break, everybody”, the director announced.

As everybody scattered around, (Y/N) made her way over to her ex-lover.

“Hey.. Tom, are you okay?”

“Yes, of course I’m okay!”, Tom was exasperated, “Everybody misses their line once in a while! Why is this such a big deal?”. Tom pulled his maks off.

“Okay, chill! I was just trying to make sure you’re okay. You looked shaken up. No need for you to lash out at me”, (Y/N) bit back and turned around to leave.

“Wait!”, Tom rubbed his hands over his face, “I’m sorry. I’m just a little frustrated but I shouldn’t have taken it out on you”.

(Y/N) furrowed her brows but nodded quickly after. She was never one to hold grudges.

“I care about you, Tom”

For a moment they just stood there before (Y/N) clapped her hands.

“So, let’s get our shit together and kill this scene”

*******************************************************************************************

After weeks of working together this all felt like the first time all over again. Jacob would often joke that the “gang was back together” and at times it really felt like that.

“Do you remember when Tessa literally shredded your briefs?”, (Y/N) was wheezing at that point, tears rolling down her face, smudging her mascara.

“Yes and those were literally my last clean pair. Do you remember? I just came back from the press tour”, Tom continued.

All of them burst out laughing. It was their first free evening in a while and the group decided to spend it together with a few drinks and lots of food. Both Zendaya and Jacob feared that it might be awkward having Tom and (Y/N) there together but there was no trace of any bitterness or any other kind of hard feelings. They just felt like friends hanging out together.

“Wait, this reminds me... You left your mermaid blanket at my place”

“Hm, I’ll come get it next time I’m in London”

“I mean you’re of course always welcome to swing by but I really doubt you’d want that blanket, love. Tessa kind of claimed it as hers. There is so much drool on it... you better just get a new one”, Tom told the girl, eventhough he liked the idea of her back in his apartment.

“Well, she can keep it”, (Y/N) chuckled. She did notice his use of the word ‘love’ but she didn’t mind. It felt organic coming from him, he was British after all.

After that the conversations shifted and the boys strarted their own little talks about video games and whatnot. (Y/N) and Zendaya just caught up further, talking about their projects, giving interviews and photoshoots.

It was at that moment that the music in the background changed to Circles by Post Malone.

“Soooo.. Post Malone, huh?”, Zendaya wiggled her eyebrows at her friend.

(Y/N) shrugged and smiled sheepishly.

“What can I say?”, (Y/N) really didn’t know.

“Maybe start with how you two met?”, Zendaya suggested, grinning. She was thirsty for some gossip.

At the mention of the new topic Tom perked up but tried to stay low-key.

“I mean we followed each other on social media for a while at this point but never talked or anything. However, me and him attended the same event a few months back. I guess, we recognized one another and started vibing. I asked him about that one shirt he was wearing in the ‘Go Flex’ music video and he made sure to dig it out of his closet and gave it to me. After that we just kept talking”, she tried to be nonchalant but it was apparent to the others that she was a little flustered.

“Awww, that’s so cute”, Zendaya reacted.

(Y/N) broke out grinning.

“You guys don’t realize how crazy talented he is. So fun to be around and creative, too. I’ve never met anybody that extravagant but at the same time so down to earth. Our first date was at an Olive Garden. Can you imagine? We freaking drove there in a Rolce Royce”, if this were anything other than real life, the girl would’ve had heart-eyes by now.

Tom had heard enough. He stood up abruptly.

“Anybody want another drink? I’ll get enother round”, he offered. He didn’t want to make a scene. He just needed to get away for a moment.

When he returned the topic of conversation had changed, which Tom was thankful for.

“Virgin Colada for you”, he handed (Y/N) her drink.

“And for the rest of us... The grown up drinks”, he teased (Y/N), who in return stuck her tongue out at him.

The evening was too nice to ruin it now with hurt feelings. She seemed happy and as long as he could just ignore Post Malone even existed in his sphere, he’d be alright.

*******************************************************************************************

It was a nice morning on set. Tom and (Y/N) already had an early scene that was set during sunrise, which meant they had to get up earlier than (Y/N) would’ve liked.

They were given a short break but catching up on sleep would mean getting out of their costumes and messing up their hair and make up. So, not an option really.

“I don’t operate well when I’m tired”, (Y/N) whined as she and an Tom returned to where the trailers were standing.

“M’lady, may I invite you for a cup of coffee? It might lift your spirits”, Tom bowed down but looked up at the girl with a cheeky grin.

“You realize the coffee is free, right?”, (Y/N) deadpanned.

Tom shrugged and both burst out laughing, bickering on their way to the catering.

The others were already there, when they arrived. But they were not just on their own. Next to Zendaya stood a young man and a women, that seemed to be a little older than them.

“Morning, guys, how did your scene go?”, Jacob greeted the new arrivals.

“It’s been good. Too early though.. I mean if you ask me at least”, (Y/N) answered.

“How are you?”, Tom asked.

“Everything good?”, (Y/N) added.

“Can’t complain”, Zendaya answered, “let me introduce you to my family. This is my mom, Claire. And this is my brother, Austin”

Zendaya was grinning from ear to ear.

They were around the halfway point of shooting, which was usually when people liked their friends and family to come around and visit them.

(Y/N) mimicked her friend’s smile and greeted the visitors. It was nice meeting the family behind the actors and creators.

While Tom was greeting Zendaya’s family, (Y/N) turned towards her with her eyebrows raised.

“Girl, your brother is mighty fine”, she not so subtly murmured.

“It must be nice to have your family here”, Tom turned to Zendaya.

“Yes, of course. I’ve missed them so much”, she squeezed her mothers hand, “do you have any visits arranged?”

“Uh, no. Not yet. But I do have a little while to go still”, he answered.

“(Y/N), you must be excited for next week, right?”, Jacob asked the actress.

“Why? What happens next week?”, Tom was puzzled.

“Austin is visiting”, (Y/N) informed him.

The Brit raised his eyebrows.

“You’re kidding right?”, he was looking around, waiting for someone to tell him this was just an unfunny joke.

“No, why would I be?”, his ex-girlfriend inquired.

“Because this is low, (Y/N). Really low even”, Tom grunted, “I need to get out of here”.

With that he left the group standing and stormed away.

“I’m sorry, (Y/N). I didn’t mean to stirr anything up”, Jacob scrambled for an apology. He didn’t mean to ruin the mood.

“No. Don’t feel sorry, Jacob. I’m tired of walking on eggshells around him. We are adults. I’ve moved on and he should too. Just give him a little time to calm down”, she assured him.

Then she turned towards the buffet had had her breakfast.

The following week was a little strange. (Y/N) felt bad for Tom but she was so done with making apologies.

The both of them still worked fine together but other than that they were a little distanced. They still talked and they still hung out as a group but whatever progress the two of them have made so far was out of the window. The tension, however, did help their fighting scenes together.

(Y/N) was sad about losing Tom as a friend but she also realized she couldn’t expect them to still be friends after she broke up with him. Being civil was enough for her - at least for the moment.

*******************************************************************************************

(Y/N) was giddy on the morning Austin was suppsoed to arrive. She really did miss him and with the Tom situation going on, she felt especially estranged from everything.

The musician arrived just as (Y/N) had finished her final scene for the day. She was still in costume but that didn’t stop her from sprinting over to her new boyfriend and clinging onto him.

“Austin!”, she squealed.

He engulfed her in a hug, swallowing her body completely.

“I missed you”, he whispered into her neck.

“Ahem...”

(Y/N) heard someone clear their throat from behind her. When she turned around, she saw Zendaya, Jacob and Tom waiting impatiently. In Tom’s case, however, he just looked more annoyed at the public display of affection.

“Don’t you want to introduce us?”, Zendaya suggested. She, too, was excited to meet Post Malone, who was one of the most successful musicians at the moment.

“Yes, of course. Austin, those are Zendaya, Jacob and Tom. Guys, this is Austin”, she introduced everybody.

“Dude, it’s so dope to meet all y’all. Being on set of Spider-Man is so surreal”, Posty beamed. He was never one to be shy around new people.

“Hey, can I leave you here for a second? How about I go change and then we go have dinner?”, (Y/N) suggested.

“Fine by me”, her boyfriend shrugged and (Y/N) left them to go change.

When she returned they were still stood there talking about god knows what. Tom looked a little displeased but other than that there was no indicator for anything other than a friendly conversation.

Austin put his arm her shoulder when she reached them but didn’t stop his conversation until Zendaya ended her sentence.

“All good? We ready to leave?”, he turned towards her and pressed a kiss on the crown of her head, as he was way taller than the girl.

Tom pulled a face when he did that, but tried to get it together before anybody could notice.

“So, are you guys joining us?”, Austin asked the group.

“Can’t unfortunately”, Jacob answered for them.

“Still got some scenes that need to be shot today”, Tom added. This was probably the first time he was thankful for his busy schedule. He didn’t think he could stand seeing them together. Especially seeing how affectionate they were with each other. There was no use in denying it anymore. He was jealous. And why was that? Because he was still in love with (F/N) (L/N).

“Aww that’s too bad, man. But next time for sure, ye?”, the rapper answered before they all said their goodbyes and parted.

At night after dinner (Y/N) and Austin were lying in bed talking about everything that they have missed out on the other’s everyday lives. Music, shooting, friends and family...

“So, how have you been? You told me you’re worried it’d be weird interacting with your ex again but he seems pretty nice to me”, Post asked the girl.

She was tracing his exposed tattoos with her finger, something he really enjoyed. Austin wasn’t always the most confident in his looks but that didn’t matter to her.

“He is”, she finally answered, “he’s a great guy. Usually very sweet and caring.. I think maybe him and me could be friends again..”

“Wow. Seems like you miss him. Should I be worried?”, he looked down at her.

She was still concentrated on his tattoos on his chest, when he said that but looked up at him to answer.

“No. Of course n-”, she started to deny but that was already enough for him to flip them over and pepper her with kisses and tickles, making her squeal and flail around, trying to escape his grasp.

*******************************************************************************************

It’s been a few days since (Y/N)’s new boyfriend arrived and Tom hated to admit it, but Austin Post was actually a decent guy, that he would probably even like if it wasn’t for him being with his ex-girlfriend, that he was very much still in love with. Austin’s likeability made Tom dislike him even more though. It would be so much easier if he were just an overall unpleasant bloke.

“So, Austin, how long are you staying?”, Zendaya asked him over breakfast.

“Uh just a couple more days”, he answered with his mouth still half full.

“Ah that’s nice. So you’ll still be here when Melanie arrives”, Tom spoke up.

(Y/N) almost broke her neck whipping her head around at the mention of that name.

She slammed down her cutlery, stood up and gestured for Tom to follow her, which he did.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”, she yelled once she was out of earshot.

“What’s wrong with me?”, Tom whipped around.

The girl was surprised by his outburst.

“Don’t you think it’s a little class-less to literally fly out your new guy?”, his tone turned condescending.

“Goddamnit, Tom! Are we still not over that? Everybody is flying their loved ones out, why shouldn’t I?”, (Y/N) was getting fired up now.

“I could ask you the same question, (Y/N). I’m merely having a good friend of mine visit me. What’s the difference?”

“The difference is, Tom, that you flew her out out of spite. You had no intention to have her visit you, before you found out that Austin was going to come visit. We are broke up. Do you expect me to stay single forever?”

“Well, you got over me awfully fast, didn’t you Sweetheart?”, he spat the last part, not even denying her accusation. (Y/N) couldn’t help but notice how handsome he looked with his hair unkempt from ruffling it in his frustration, but she chose to ignore those feelings bubbling up inside of her.

“Well, you made it awfully easy for me, Sweetheart!”, she mimicked him.

“And why is that? Because I helped a friend? Your jealousy ruined this relationship,(Y/N)!”, Tom didn’t mean what he said but he was too hurt to care at the moment.

“Yes, of course. I ruined this relationship. It wasn’t the fact that you literally moved in another girl?”, (Y/N) was being unfair now. She didn’t have a problem with Melanie at all. She never made a move at Tom or gave (Y/N) any other reason to disklike her. She was actually a really sweet girl. But (Y/N) was too hurt to care at the moment.

“You’re seriously worried about me having cheated on you? He is fucking rapper! What do you think he does when he’s on tour?”, Tom threw up his hands.

“Austin hasn’t given me any reason to doubt him. He’s been nothing but amazing to me. That’s more that I could say for you”, she dug at him.

To say that this didn’t hurt would’ve been a lie. Tom was taken aback for a moment before he just muttered a ‘fine’ and left her standing.

From then on it was radio silence between the two of them. (Y/N) was looking forward to the end of shooting. When she broke up with Tom, she didn’t anticipate this all to blow up in their faces like this. She didn’t want to create a hostile environment for anybody. She knew for a fact that Zendaya and Jacob felt uncomfortable with the current situation. They felt like the victims of a bad divorce. And even Tom seemed to be more down than she had seen him in a while.

(Y/N) greeted Melanie when she arrived but other than that she kept to herself. She dreaded the day Austin had to leave again because that would mean she’d be alone with Tom and Melanie.

Tom was happy to have Mel with him again. (Y/N) wasn’t the only one that was feeling bad about the whole situation. Instead of connecting with her again, he had just driven her away further.

However, neither of them could let go of their resentment. Both of them were desperate to get some kind of reaction out of the other.

“Here, Mel. You really gotta try these! They taste amazing”, Tom held his spoon out for Melanie to try the tasty dessert. Them sharing food wasn’t something out of the ordinary for them but usually Tom wouldn’t spoon-feed his friends. At this moment, though, he tried to be as animated as possible to make sure (Y/N) noticed.

And she did notice. It took a lot from her to not give him the reaction he was gunning for. Instead she made it a point to get really cozy with her new boyfriend to show her ex that she wasn’t bothered at all.

“Babe, not that I don’t enjoy making out with you but I know you’re doing this to get back at Tom”, Austin murmured in his lover ear after they parted their kiss. His husky voice was sending goosebumps down her spine - not least because she knew he was right.

“You should talk to him”

*******************************************************************************************

”Tom, can we talk?”, it took (Y/N) a great deal of convincing herself to make her way over to him.

Tom was surprised, he didn’t expect her to ever speak to him again but complied.

They made their way over to her trailer and sat down inside of it. Neither of them said a word. (Y/N) didn’t know why she was feeling so nervous. It’s just Tom.

Get yourself together, damnit. Deep breath and go...

“Tom.. I’m sorry”, she already had thought exactly of what what she was going to say but at the moment drew a complete blank.

“What for?”, Tom was being huffy.

“Everything. You are right. I shouldn’t have just flown Austin out. I should have at least talked to you beforehand. I really didn’t mean to hurt you...”

“Me neither”, Tom softened up.

For a moment they just sat in silence, but for the first time since they started shooting it wasn’t uncomfortable at all.

“I miss you, you know”, he looked up from his lap and into her eyes. She was about to answer, when he silenced her.

“I miss you so damn much and I hate seeing you with him. He seems like a great dude but (Y/N) be honest with me... Do you really love him?”

(Y/N) was taken aback. She did not expect that sort of question now.

“I.. I do”, she answered truthfully. Tom’s face fell. How could he be so stupid and still hope there’d be a future for them that’s anything but friendly.

“But it’s not the same... I love him. He’s amazing but he’s not you”

She felt so terrible for saying that. Austin has been nothing but loving to her and they haven’t fought once in all that time that they were together but being around Tom again showed her that there was something missing.

Tom perked up, he couldn’t believe his ears but when he properly registered her words a show stopping grin found it’s way on his face.

“That’s amazing. I mean not for him obviously but.. you know what I mean", Tom was excited. They could start over again and be better than they were before.

He noticed that (Y/N) didn’t share the same excitement as him.

“Love, are you okay? Are you not happy?”, Tom scooted closer to her.

“No, I am. It’s just, we can’t just pick up where we left off, Tom. We.. we.. Austin wasn’t the problem that broke us up to begin with. We can’t ignore everything that has been going on”, sounded desperate. It’s true though. Just because she didn’t feel the same way for her new boyfriend as she felt for Tom, didn’t mean all their other problems were gone.

Tom craddled her face in his hands.

“Darling, it’s going to be okay. Look at me. We won’t do the same mistakes again, okay?”, Tom leaned his forehead against hers. (Y/N) was always a rather anxious person that needed to be calmed down frequently, when she was freaking out.

She took a deep breath and relaxed into his touch. It was nice to feel his skin against hers again.

“You okay?”, Tom asked.

She nodded and a small smile found it’s way on her face.

At this moment Tom couldn’t resist anymore. It’s been too long that he had felt her lips against his but just as he was about to lean in she pulled back.

“What are you doing? Tom, I’m still in a relationship... It wouldn’t be fair to Austin if we’d started foolin aroung behind his back. Let me at least talk to him before we properly make-up”

Tom did feel a little disappointed but understood what she was saying.

“Not even a little peck?”, he tried but shut up when (Y/N) shot him a warning look. One could try...

Both of them exited her trailer. While (Y/N) made her way over to where Post was waiting, Tom joined Melanie and his co-stars again. Tom’s good mood didn’t go unnoticed though.

“What got you all smiles?”, Zendaya teased.

“I may or may not have made up with (Y/N)”, Tom bragged in a sing-song voice.

“Wait what? When did that happen? Not that I’m not happy for you but last time I saw her she was making out with Post Malone”, Zendaya was thrown off by the newly found information and while Tom explained the situation (Y/N) had to break the news to Austin.

She didn’t want to have this conversation but she was confident that she was naking the right decision.

“Hey, Babe. Did you two talk it out?”, Austin looked up from his phone when his girl approached him.

“Austin? Can we talk?”, it was the second time today that she would have to use that phrase. She couldn’t but to think how cliche she sounded.

“Oh oh. That doesn’t sound good”, his smile faded, “you’re not breaking up with me, are you?”

There was no need for her to answer his question because as soon as she teared up he got his answer.

“Nononono. Don’t cry, please”, he tried to soothe her which made her feel even worse. Why was he being so nice to her?

“What happened, (Y/N)?”

“We talked”

“I figured that much”

Ouch..

“Well, I apologized and so did he. We kinda made up”

“There is probably no use trying to convince you otherwise, huh?”, Austin had already admitted defeat.

“Probably not”

“I never stood a chance, did I? It’s always been him...”, he huffed out a laugh. He sounded disappointed but he was coping.

“That’s not true. I think you are one of the most remarkable people I’ve ever had the fortune of meeting but ...”

“But I’m not him”, Austin ended her sentence for her.

“I’m so sorry. I really do love you but being on set with him again just brought back all those feelings”

Both were just sitting there for a moment.

“But we’re still friends right?”, Austin broke the silence, looking at the girl across from him.

(Y/N) blinked for a few times.

“Of course”, she was so perplexed. She didn’t expect him to not be pissed at her. He chuckled when he saw how confused the girl was. He wasn’t mad at her. She had feelings for someone else. That’s something out of her control. He did however still want to have her in his life - even if it’d be just as friends.

“C’mere”, he held out his arms and engulfed her in a massive bear hug.

“I don’t understand. You’re not angry?”

“No, how could I? We’re cool”, he reassured her, “but I can’t promise I won’t write a song ot two about you”

“Well, I can’t blame you”

They both had a laugh about it but then the atmosphere became a little more serious again.

“I should go”, Austin broke the silence.

“You don’t have to”

“No front, but, (Y/N), I really don’t want to see you with Tom. At least not at the moment”, he explained to her.

(Y/N) just nodded. She didn’t want to make things worse for him. While he took the news like a pro, she could still see that he was hurt. He was not about to fight a battle he already knew he couldn’t win but it really wasn’t a good feeling to be left for someone else either.

The two of them hugged it out for a little while longer and then Austin made his way to leave the set back to his hotel room to pack his bags and fly home.

He stopped to say goodbye to the others. Eventhough he would rather not see Tom at the moment, just leaving without a word would be rude. Also, he was not about to leave with his tail between his legs. He was Post Malone after all.

When he approached the others their conversation died down and Tom’s bright smile disappeared completely. There was no way for him to know how the rapper would react. But the latter decided to not say anything at all.

Austin said his goodbyes and turned to leave but before he left, he told Tom something only they could hear.

*******************************************************************************************

Back in her hotel room, (Y/N) tried to relax after the long day she just had. The last time she was this exhausted was ages ago.

At the moment, she was getting ready to take a shower and go snuggle up in bed to get some sleep before she had to leave to shoot the next morning.

Just as she was about to hop under the warm, relaxing water, there was a knock on her door. (Y/N) didn’t expect anybody this late but she had an idea who it could be.

“Hello, Tom”, she greeted her lover.

“Can I come in? Or am I interrupting something?”, the actor looked the girl up and down. He couldn’t help but have his eyes linger a little as he couldn’t help but notice she was only dressed in a towel at the moment.

“I was just about to have a shower but you’re welcome to come in and wait”, she told him.

As he closed the door behind him she turned around and added, “or you could join me of course”

She made it sound like an option but that opportunity was too good for Tom to pass up.

Being underneath the water with him just felt right. He was a little taller than her so the water from his hair dripped down on her face as they were standing chest to chest. He leaned down and his lips met hers. She started smiling into the kiss nefore they parted.

“I missed this”, Tom’s voice was husky.

She did too. She wasn’t a fool, there was still a lot to work through but at this very moment everything just felt right. His body against hers felt right. His lips on hers felt right. Them together... felt so right.

“I love you, Tom”

*******************************************************************************************

Epilogue

Both of them were cuddled in bed dressed in the white, fluffy bathrobes the hotel provided, talking about anything and everything with the occasional kiss in between.

“It’s two o’clock already. We should really go to sleep if we want to be able to function tomorrow”, she reminded her boyfriend.

“At this point, I am tempted to pull an all-nighter, love”, he winked at her.

“An all-nighter doing what exactly?”, (Y/N) teased her man.

“You know? Before Post left he told me to be good to you and I think that’s exactly what I will be doing tonight”

“I really don’t think that’s what he meant, babe”, she laughed.

“Close enough for me”, he murmured as he leaned down to kiss her once again but most definitely not for the last time that night.

#tom holland imagine #tom holland x reader #post malone imagine #post malone x reader #spiderman imagine

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thoughtsofanexcitedspacechild · 4 years

Text

Kataang: An In Depth Analysis

Hello again! I apologise for the inactivity. It’s been a busy month as far as school goes for me, so let’s just say I’m a lot busier solving chem equations and working on stuff for AP art. Don’t get me wrong though! These analysis and essay format posts are my favorite and I wish I could do them more often! Seriously, it’s the only thing that keeps me wanting to write! I’ve also decided that I’m going to make these little intro paragraphs separate to the actual essay, because while I’m at this, why not kill two birds with one stone and practice writing essays for my actual AP Lang. class? I mean I’m obviously not gonna turn them in or show them to my teacher, (unless this gets 1000 notes or more, in which case I’ll show this to her ;)) but this is a good way for me to work on formatting a thesis and developing arguments, all while doing and talking about something I love! Speaking of which, let’s dive right on into today’s topic; the much debated, and thoroughly analyzed ship: Kataang. (Buckle your seatbelts hotmen, because this is gonna be one hell of a sky bison ride) I got inspired by a creator on Tik Tok that I follow, Amanda Castrillo, to write this. Her username is @theamanda2d and I highly recommend you go check her out and give her a follow. A lot of the arguments in this are my own, but I also sourced a lot of information and arguments for Kataang from her series “a case for Kataang”, which I highly recommend you go watch. I’ll insert her quotes directly so you know exactly where her points are coming from as well as mention where I elaborated on a point she made but didn’t directly quote her. I’ll also be sourcing a lot of information from the show and including exact episodes and scenes that support my case. So without further ado, here is my *unofficial* case for Kataang.

In our lives, there’s usually one point at which most of us make a choice. That choice is to love someone. Yes, you heard me right. You make the choice to love someone. Of course, the feeling that most people know as love, but is really just sexual or romantic desires, tends to be confused with real love. Authentic love that comes from the choice to love someone. This kind of love persists through even through the darkest times. This kind of love truly does burn brightest in the dark.

It stems from a strong base of mutual understanding and friendship first, and doesn’t rely on a spark of passion to keep burning although it can fuel the flame that already burns strongly. There are many great examples of this kind of love, both in our own world and daily lives, but also in literature. One of the greatest examples of this, is the relationship explored between the fictional characters Aang and Katara from Avatar: the Last Airbender. (Oh, what? You don’t think Avatar is a legitimate form of literature? Pity, you must not have read my previous posts or even watched the show at all, because it IS.)

From the time I first watched the show, I was rooting for them to end up together. Right off the bat, Aang and Katara have this instant connection. Within the first episode, they already become friends, and not only that, they act as if they’ve been friends for years, almost like they were meant to meet each other. Aang finally getting together with Katara just feels right, but there’s more to their relationship than the feelings that Katara and Aang both experience and the feelings that we the audience feel seeing them together. Throughout the series we see them both make the choice to love each other, not only as lovers, but as friends too. Their relationship thrives, and we’re able to see them both grow as people and better themselves because of each other.

Firstly I want to address the counterargument that many people bring up and that is that Kataang, in and of itself, is one sided. Fans (often Zutara shippers. More in depth analysis on why this ship DOESN’T work out realistically to come) will argue that Kataang is forced and one sided, and that Katara doesn’t share Aang’s feelings. Although I can see where this is coming from from a first time viewer’s perspective, this argument can be extinguished by looking deeper at Katara’s actions and intentions towards Aang. We see them bond as friends very early on in the series, but the earliest hint at a romantic relationship actually shows up in season one episode four, when they go to Kiyoshi Island. Katara acts snarky and jealous when Aang gathers quite a fan club of little girls.

Nevertheless, when this fan club fails to stick around for Aang’s encounter with the unagi, Katara’s the one that’s there making sure he’s okay. (S1, Episode 4, The Warriors of Kiyoshi) This is ultimately foreshadowing for their relationship as a whole. Although his role as Avatar lands him many friends, and in this case fans, the only person that truly stays with him the whole time is Katara. She’s the one who shows up and has his best interests at heart. Most of her intentions are in fact platonic in this episode, but the hint of romance comes out when we see that Katara doesn’t like the idea of Aang with another girl.

After half way through season one, specifically the Fortune Teller episode, we do see that Katara does in fact have feelings for Aang, albeit complex ones. In this episode we see her pester Aunt Wu for information about her future husband and she’s informed that he’s a very powerful bender. She doesn’t consider Aang until Sokka mentions that it freaks him out how powerful of a bender Aang is while Aang protects and saves the village from it’s demise by an erupting volcano. Her hopes were set high on a muscley, extremely strong looking bender, and I’d like to imagine that before her realization, Katara was probably picturing someone more like Haru or even post redemption Zuko as her future husband. For the first time, that image is replaced by Aang, and she doesn’t mind it. (S1, Episode 14, The Fortune Teller) We see these new found feelings develop further in the Secret Tunnel episode, when Katara is finally forced to confront the romantic feelings that she’s pushed down while trying to sort them out. At this moment, Katara finally acknowledges her romantic feelings and attraction to Aang. (S2, Episode 2, The Cave of Two Lovers) The creators intentionally showed us the story of the two lovers for a reason. “Avatar is a very smart show,” says Amada Castrillo, Avatar fanatic and creator of the Tik Tok and youtube series “A Case for Kataang,” “and we’re never told or shown anything for no reason...A war was keeping them apart maybe not physically, but romantically.”

Later in the series during the season finale of season two we see her absolutely distraught when Aang nearly dies and she does everything in her power to save him. We see her almost break. Only when he wakes up does she feel better, and start to be happier again. She doesn’t care about anything else but making him feel better, and even when he does wake up, she still focuses mainly on healing him. Here we see Katara make the choice to love Aang both in sickness and in health. (S2, Episode 18, The Guru/The Crossroads of Destiny and S3, Episode 1, The Awakening) She of course would have done this for any member of team avatar, but the way in which she treats Aang when he’s nearly taken away from her points to the extreme love and affection that she carries for him every day. This happens multiple other times throughout the series, with many of the occurrences being in book three. When Zuko joins the Gaang, she flat out tells Zuko that if he were to hurt Aang, (not Sokka, not her, not Toph, but Aang specifically) she would personally see to his demise. (S3, Episode 11, The Western Air Temple, 23:30) (Some Points taken from, but not directly quoted from Amanda Castrillo’s “A case For Kataang Part Nine: Text and Subtext”) This is why the assumption that Kataang is one sided can be proven wrong.

Two other arguments stem from the previous argument, one being that Aang is a simp, and/or that Katara is a trophy. First of all, the later argument is easily disproved by the fact that Katara is not a prize to be won. “Katara is, and was never a prize for Aang,” says Castrillo, “And to say that she was, grossly mischaracterizes and undermines her as a character.” (Amanda Castrillo, (@theamanda2d) “A Case for Kataang: Chapter 2, Katara the trophy) Katara is shown multiple times throughout the series being able to speak up and defend herself without Aang’s, or anyone else’s help.

Aang, although viewed as a simp, is not. Yes he respects Katara, and all other women for that matter, but he doesn’t fawn over her. He allows her to defend and take care of herself. The definition of the word “simp” is the abbreviated term “simpleton”, meaning “a silly or foolish person.” Although Aang is silly at some points, he’s also not foolish. He’s a smart and capable individual that many fans fail to recognise as legitimate because of his innocence and softness. So no. Aang isn’t a simp that bases his entire self worth on his status with Katara.

Another point that must be acknowledged is the fact that Aang and Katara are actually complementary characters. Although many people would bring up the argument that Air and Water aren’t opposite elements, the type of bender they are doesn’t necessarily tend to point to the exact type of person they are. The creators aren’t dumb, and the characters in this franchise are so well developed, that there are many sub personalities in each type of bending, and all of them can be analyzed further than the type of element they bend. Judging a character solely by the element they can bend is like judging a person on the color of their skin or a book by it’s cover, and when diving deep into each of their personalities, we can see that their personalities are actually complementary. Katara is high strung and anxious while Aang is usually calm and collected. Aang is very good at regulating his emotions while Katara is not. This aspect extends further than their personalities as well. Katara grew up in a very family oriented and close family while Aang only had one parental figure in the form of Gyatzo and occasionally a few friends. Katara is also more grounded and a home body while if he could, Aang would probably continue to explore whatever corner of the earth that he could. (Some points taken, but not directly quoted from Amanda Castrillo (@theamanda2d), “A Case for Kataang: Chapter 10, Balance”)

Another thing that I found is that when looking at color theory, Aang’s signature orange toward the end of the series and Katara’s signature blue are actually complementary colors. I’d like to think that as Katara develops and explores her feelings for Aang, Aang’s color palette changes slightly. It goes from being red and yellow in the beginning when Katara didn’t know she had feelings quite yet, to eventually shifting to orange when we see her feelings start to fully become clear. I thought this was a super interesting detail and despite it being a bit far of a stretch, I think it must have been planned. If you consider the time when we see Katara start to develop feelings, it’s about the same time that Aang’s outfit choice shifts to orange. Of course, this piece of evidence is mostly based on my personal observation and knowledge of color theory, but it’s a detail that I personally found super compelling.

Kataang also works because of the extremely well executed communication and dialogue that happens between them. There are multiple different examples throughout the series and as their character’s develop, we’re able to see a beautifully efficient and respectful form of communication between them. We see Aang clearly express his feelings of anxiety to Katara, and in return, Katara is able to help him and offer advice on what he’s feeling. Katara also is able to confide in Aang in return and oftentimes he’s the one that she’s most comfortable being vulnerable in front of. We see her almost mother Aang alongside Sokka in the first season, but her relationship with him changes and shifts to one where both her and Aang feel comfortable and contribute and receive equal care from each other.

One issue in particular also comes to mind when talking about this ship, and that is the issue of boundaries. Counter arguments against Kataang often bring up one scene in particular, specifically in the Ember island players episode about halfway through when Katara confronts Aang on the balcony. (S3, episode 15, the Ember Island Players) Episode Aang is understandably upset with the way that he and specifically he and Katara’s relationship is portrayed in the play. He obviously has feelings for her and at that point we know that Katara also has feelings from a few episodes prior when they kiss before the invasion. That kiss was mutual, and she kissed him back, meaning that from that point on, both of their feelings towards each other are very clear. The night of the play on the balcony, Aang does cross a boundary that had been established. The kiss before the invasion made sense, and Katara didn’t do anything to stop him from doing it, and Aang had her consent in this case. Aang’s kiss on the balcony was a mistake, and in this case it was uncalled for, but many people misread Katara’s feelings of confusion. When Katara mentions being confused, she’s not saying she’s confused about her feelings for Aang. Since season one, we’ve seen her show multiple forms of affection towards Aang, and not only that, she was usually the one initiating the many hugs, cheek kisses, etc.

She’s not confused about how she feels about Aang. She’s confused about the timing and if it’s a good idea or not. (Some points taken from, but not directly quoted from, Amanda Castrillo (@theamanda2d) “A Case for Kataang Part 7: The Camelephant in the room)

Regarding the consent for the kiss, yes. That was Aang’s mistake. He’s human, and he did mess up there. But his intentions weren’t meant to harm anyone. He, like so many of us watching at home, read Katara’s confusion to be about him, and wanted to see what she really felt. Afterwards, he knows he messed up, and feels bad about it. “...[Aang’s] very self aware. He knows how he feels about Katara, and he’s said it multiple times...Aang is human. He f***s up. He says the wrong thing. He makes mistakes. And he was just as confused as Katara at this moment.” (Amanda Castrillo, (@theamanda2d) “A Case for Kataang Part Seven: The Camelephant in the room)

Lasty, I want to acknowledge the visual and audio parallels portrayed in the show and how they can effectively work towards supporting Kataang. If you observe the angles at which characters are shown as well as the framing, it visually sets up and can represent how two characters feel about one another. First let’s consider the framing of a scene from the very first episode after Katara breaks Aang out from the ice. Aang is lying down and katara is directly positioned above him. When he wakes up from being trapped in an iceberg for 100 years, her face is the first that he sees.

This positioning and framing is shown multiple more times throughout the series, establishing their strong connection. So is this one:

(For a better visual reference please see Amanda Castrillo’s video “A Case for Kataang Part Four: Parallels) “Its built up and set up for us time and time again. Their interactions aren’t framed like that for no reason. Scene framing matters.” (Amanda Castrillo, “A case for Kataang Part Four: Parallels.”

There’s also the fact of the score and what specific music points to what character or what mood the creators were trying to enforce with the music. Avatar’s score is genius and every song and note was hand crafted to set the tone for each scene and help explain what’s happening. (This is one of the many reasons Avatar would translate well to be a musical or even a ballet. Post/informal rant on this later to come.) There are many great examples, like how Azula is represented by a clash of chords, (To quote my previous post: “I love how Azula is just represented by a pair of clashing chords and when you hear it you know that she’s about to f*** s*** up.”) or that Aang has a lively flute melody that plays when he gets really happy/excited, but perhaps the best example of the use of music in the franchise is the use of the “Avatar’s Love Theme.” It’s my personal favorite song from the show, and it’s used extremely effectively and efficiently throughout the show to provide a very specific and recognisable feeling: romantic love. When you hear it play, Aang is ALWAYS with Katara. Go back and listen to the times where it plays, and it’s always when he and Katara share a special moment together. We only hear part of the melody for the majority of the series, but in the final episode, right towards the end when Aang and Katara are left alone on the balcony looking above the city by themselves, we hear it play again, and this time, we hear all of it. The kiss between them also happens right at the crescendo and peak of the music, emphasizing and establishing that Aang and Katara are officially canon. The music plays a huge part in this story, and all musical elements as well as visual point to Aang and Katara being a team, and not just that, but a romantic couple.

In conclusion, Aang and Katara are a couple that was meant to happen. Throughout the series, their love is shown through their undeniable chemistry, complementary characters and personality, and the visual and musical elements set up for us within the show. Aang and Katara love eachother very much, and although their feelings were often being confused by looming threats to their lives or tainted by the war they were both fighting, in the end they’re able to fully and completely allow themselves to love each other. Despite their romantic love, they are ultimately friends before they are lovers, and don’t rely on a spark of passion to be able to keep their love for one another burning. They love each other wholly and in so many different ways, and that my friends, is why Kataang works and will always work.

#avatar: tla #kataang #katara #aang #atla

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incorrect-ikevamp-quotes · 4 years

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Hello yes, could you elaborate on the Comte wedding event pleease. Crying and fangirling and dying are all acceptable. I missed it and I adore your rambles about Comte? Thank you either way.

!!! I’d be delighted to!! And awww, I’m so glad :D I love to write about him in any capacity, it makes me so happy to know people enjoy it when I do! Tysm for the full license to cry/fangirl/die because lbr it ain’t a Comte event if all three of those things don’t happen .Please don’t worry, I don’t mind talking abt it anyway! 💕💕💕

Okay my fellow Comte stans, you know the drill! I’ll be placing the details of the Wedding Story Event (jpn version) below the cut! Please don’t read if you want to wait for the official translation, and I hope you enjoy if you do take a peak! c:

AIGHT Y’ALL in fair Verona where we lay our scene-- This event begins on a lovely summer day with Comte and MC at a boutique picking out a wedding dress for their upcoming ceremony. As usual, she provides a bit of background as to how we got here. Comte doesn’t have a proposal event (as far as I know) like the other suitors because he actually proposes marriage in his MS. I won’t go too far into details just in case, but they essentially swear their love to each other in a church at night--just the two of them. (I’m not 100% sure, but I think this event takes place on the anniversary of the vow that they shared, what Comte called becoming “a vampire’s bride.” Yes it’s as hot as it sounds AND I LOVED IT). Now, despite their private promise to each other, Comte does specify that he fully intends to have a public wedding whenever she feels comfortable doing that. As such, this event is picking up from there.

With all the nitty gritty settled, it’s time to get to the fun bits. So Comte is weaving in and out of the dresses, trying to find the perfect one for his beloved. MC is equal parts exasperated but amused, and she notes that it reminds her so much of when she first debuted in high society (reference to the beginning of Comte’s MS). Back then, when she agreed to debut, he told her that he would immediately send word to his tailor to make the necessary preparations. It’s a kind of nostalgic moment; she remembers how thorough and excited he was (”I’ll be sure to show off your every charm”), and he’s effusing that energy in the boutique too. Eventually he settles on two of them and requests that they both be prepared, and MC sputters. She’s like Comte???? W H Y we only need one dress???? And he insists that, since it’s a special occasion, there’s no harm in it is there? He also goes on to say that it is in line with her culture’s tradition of “dyeing the bride in the husband’s colors.” MC shoots back that the tradition doesn’t entail several wedding dresses for the bride, but he pays the correction no mind. Y’all. I loved this part because it just emphasizes how much of a LIL SHIT he can be. Like he’s 100% harmless but I was like BOI IF U DON’T--I WILL KISS UR CUTE FACE. YOU STOP THAT.

I find it interesting especially because it remains in line with a trend about Comte that is so arresting for me, something that I find so endearing about him. I’ll note other places in the event I find it, but in this moment he is revealing something critical: for all of his capacity to play with the language and expectations that other people have/use, he only ever uses it for good. Here he’s purely being playful (with a stark note of respect and awareness); he has no intention of overwhelming her or undermining her cultural expectations of what a wedding means. Especially because MC, even in her monologue, isn’t truly upset--she honestly seems to find it adorable and funny more than anything. It’s also clear that Comte is working within her comfort zones. While he would buy the entire damn boutique if she let him, he settles on two because he knows it would stress her out otherwise (MC tends to be p pragmatic, not really about extravagance she is a mood).

And so they make their selection and exit the boutique, and they’re walking arm in arm back to the carriage. Comte laments narrowing it down to only two, but he’s happy they found something nice. MC thanks him for bringing her along, but he says it’s only natural--he wanted to pick out the dress the world would see together, he would never be happy with it otherwise. MC melts (WHO WOULDN’T) and says she’s really looking forward to wearing them, and he’s shook AF.

(OKAY BUT I NEED TO SCREAM ABOUT THIS. DOES HE UNDERSTAND HOW TOUCHED I AM. DOES HE KNOW. His route hammers home this idea that for Comte, being with someone absolutely means being on the same page. It means being there for each other yes--but it also means making sure the other person feels wanted and included. He could have so easily just picked his favorite and been like “yeah this is what we’re going with.” But not only does he not do that, he refuses the very idea of a ceremony without it. He wants this to mean something for both of them, and he’s more than willing to put in the time and effort to ascertain that. I’M FUCKING TENDER OKAY. HE CARES SO MUCH AND I SOB)

He asks her if there’s anything else that she really, really wants for their wedding, and she thinks it through. It’ll be a reasonably sized wedding, with the men of the mansion in attendance and most of their closer high society friends. They’ve picked out a dress, the venue is set, the people closest to her will be there...she really can’t think of anything else? So she asks him if he has anything he really wants to do for the wedding, and he replies in the negative too, saying that “My only ideal wedding can be one in which I can see you at your most happy." ARE YOU KIDDING ME--Before MC can recover from that, he goes on: "Even now, I'm enjoying the preparations, and I want to do whatever I can for you." MC feels like she can never win against his sweet affection, so she nearly kills him with her answering line: "It’s more than enough. More than anything, being able to swear our love together again--to renew our vow--is the best part of it all." Comte is visibly shocked and is quiet for moment (MAN DOWN!!!!!!!!! VAMPIRE DOWN GET THE DEFIBRILATORS!!!!! LEONARDO PUT THAT LIGHTNING ROD AWAY I SWEAR TO GOD--) before he just replies with a “Is that so :>>>” And translating this nearly killed me [At the sight of his gentle smile, I smile back.] IM GOING TO SCREAM THEY ARE JUST SO TENDER IM SOFTE????????????

As they’re walking, Comte asks MC to tell him about weddings in her time. What were they like? He wants a reference point. She goes on to describe how ceremonies really range from formal to more informal affairs, and gets to a little custom that’s apparently held in Japan. When a groom intends to marry a bride, he will go to the bride’s family to ask for their approval. Comte visibly seems concerned about it, and I’m pretty sure he feels bad denying her that experience; not only did he propose to her without knowing any of that, her family isn’t within range to be able to honor it properly now. Even so, he keeps listening and comments now and again with a great deal of interest, paying close attention. He asks, what happens if the groom is rejected by the family? MC goes on to say that it’s a kind of test of perseverance: the groom is expected to ask/prove himself until he gets an answer in the affirmative. Internally, she notes that such a thing rarely ever happens irl--it’s mostly dramatized in movies and TV shows. She used to dream of how thrilling it might be to have someone do that for her, but it was mostly just a silly little fancy, nothing she was obsessed over. Comte, being a literal fucking legend, senses this emotional shift in milliseconds, and starts musing about something. When she tries to ask what’s up, he’s like not to worry leave everything to me.

PLEASE CUE THE CIRCUS MUSIC. BECAUSE THIS IS ABSOLUTELY GOING TO TURN INTO A CLOWN FEST.

So it cuts to them back home and Comte is asking Sebastian to give MC’s hand in marriage. Sebastian is utterly bEWILDERED and is like “I mean I understand I’m probably the closest relative she has right now but also WHAT!? YOU’RE MY BOSS/LORD I’M YOUR BUTLER FOR CRYING OUT LOUD”. Comte 100% is undaunted by this very normal reaction and insists that class/status has no place in matters like this, and Sebastian and MC are desperately trying to stop him from bowing his head/kneeling. MC notes she never expected him to take it to heart, tells him "Comte, you really don't have to go that far, it's a custom not a duty--" (IT’S SO FUCKING FUNNY????? YOU CAN FEEL THEIR MOUNTING CONCERN AND I CAN’T BELIEVE COMTE WAS STRAIGHT UP JUST “i am not above begging” AND THEY’RE LIKE YOU SHOULD BE YOU SHOULD BE ABOVE BEGGING)

The circus only escalates when Leo comes in LAUGHING HIS ASS OFF "damn...bahahahhahahaaaaa now THIS oughtta be good/interesting." MC (and I simultaneously) start yelling at him and he replies "What? Comte's already ready and willing, why stop him?" For whatever reason, this gives Comte an idea (NEVER A GOOD SIGN) and he’s like you know what? That’s actually perfect, get everybody in here I’m gonna ask them for permission too :D

Several things I want to say about this. 1. COMTE LITERALLY DOES NOT EVEN REACT TO LEO’S MOCKING HE JUST “omg ur face was useful for smth for once this gives me an idea” 2. META TIME. First and foremost, I seriously can’t deal. This man knows MC has nothing because of her traveling through time, no friends or family--he’s always so, so aware of what she’s sacrificing to be with him. It is never outside of his thinking. Not only does this decision solidify her presence as a member of their family (I’m just so UGLY SOBBING about the fact that he does not consider them all ANYTHING LESS--THEY ARE HIS CHIRREN AND HE LOVES THEM AND I’M SOFT) this is also such a brilliant, strategic move on his part. Not only is he doing this to fulfill her younger wishes of having someone be so confident in their love for her that they would insist on it in front of her family/loved ones--his doing this also solidifies her presence as his wife within the mansion from here on. There can be no mistake; this is an unquestionable statement as to how her identity has shifted in meaning, a powerful allusion to his possessive streak. (and WE LOVE THAT FOR US HELL YEAH)

Furthermore, I continue to be fascinated by the way he keeps subverting traditional or expected forms of supplication. While many could see this as a yielding of his pride (and in some ways he undeniably is) this choice to acknowledge her culture’s customs yields much more valuable dividends for him. 1. MC--notorious for never betraying the things she wants, having trouble asking for anything--is have her dreams fulfilled even if they were just silly little fantasies from when she was young. He’s actively making her happy, and he gets to openly gush about how much he loves her (FOR HIM THIS IS THE DEFINITION OF A WIN-WIN YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND--) 2. This is a way for him to make amends and do proper respect to the marriage customs of her place/time, and that’s infinitely important to him. He’s trying to set a precedent; that even if he ever does make a mistake or neglect something (even if accidental) he will do his utmost to make it right, pride and money be DAMNED.

While it can be argued that he’s just being silly and over-the-top, when you look closely this is 100% a clever, very mindful approach to their future. While it may partially have been executed on an emotional/excited whim, he is also claiming MC as his own in the most clear and respectful way possible. And tbh that’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen

So, after Leo walks in on them everyone else starts filing in one at a time (OKAY YOU CAN’T CONVINCE ME THAT THEY WEREN’T ALL HUDDLED UP TO THE DOOR SQUIRMING TO HEAR WHAT WAS GOING ON AND AT SOME POINT LEO SAID “omfg i gotta see this dumbass bitch on his knees” AND BLEW THEIR COVER/MADE THEM EVEN MORE CURIOUS):

Jeanne: "It's so noisy in here."

Mozart: "What's going on?"

Comte: "Ah, excellent timing. I want to get permission from everyone."

Vincent: "?????? Did you do something wrong Comte?? What could you possibly need forgiveness for?"

Isaac: "A mistake made/wrongdoing by Comte?...Why am I dreading what it could be..."

Dazai: “Ah yes, yes I see, you are asking for a young lady's hand in marriage” (IM WHEEZING BC EVERYONE ELSE IS SO LOST AND HE'S JUST 100% ON THE BALL KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT'S GOING ON THE NARRATIVE DISSONANCE IM CRYING)

Theo: Young lady??? The hell are you going on about

So things are getting increasingly chaotic and MC is just [jfc this is getting out of hand, Comte they don’t even know what you’re asking them to do]. She tries to explain but falters, and Comte puts an arm around her--signals that he’ll give them the context. So he tells them "You all know that our wedding day is approaching. As such, I'm asking you all for your approval in taking MC as my bride. No matter what happens, I promise to make her happy forever--for every moment, every second of our time together. Please, forgive my taking her" (WHEN I TELL YOU MY HEAD WAS IN MY HANDS IDK HOW MC DIDN’T DIE ON THE SPOT S I R. SIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) MC: [...Comte...My heart melts at his confession, at his earnest plea. It feels like every single iota of our feelings are infused in every word he speaks, teeming with the love shared between us in overwhelming measure.]

For a little while silence falls until Napoleon speaks up, and honestly? It was so sweet ;-; I tear up every single time: “Forgiven. You know how much I dislike formalities anyway. And besides, who could say no to le Comte?” MC notes that everyone murmurs in agreement and a kind of warmth settles in the room. Arthur notes that MC will be a Comtesse very soon and MC just. I’m going to be a WHAT now (”C-c-comtesse??”). And it’s so FUCKING FUNNY YOU CAN FEEL THE RED EYE EDIT MEME ON COMTE WHEN HE GOES “Oh? Is there anything wrong with that? Everybody said yes, after all :>” MC internally accuses them of ganging up on her, but reveals that more than anything she’s a little overwhelmed by the outpouring of love in the best way:

MC: [Overwhelmed with feeling; touched, a little shy, embarrassed, but also full of joy--my eyes burn at the edges with tears] “I'm glad everyone approves c:”

Comte: Agreed :> your country/homeland has a nice custom. A v important step to inviting my loved one into my life as my wife :>>>>

So it then cuts to them in Comte’s room after the circus and MC thanks him for the sweet confession in front of everyone, tells him how happy it made her. He insists that it was only natural he would, and that it isn’t even enough.

Comte: “I am the one...your life, your time as a human being; I'll be taking all of it from you.”

MC: [...Comte? He took my hand with a very serious expression]

Comte: "As I said before, I will make you a vampire someday."

MC: “Don't call it that--a price. I want to live with you too!”

MC notes that while she hasn’t made the leap yet, she knows she’ll be ready for it soon enough.

Comte: “Thank you. But the last thing I want is to take things from you, I want to do everything I can to make you happy, to make you smile. Whether that means weddings, requests--anything in my power.”

COMTE REALLY SAID "she is entrusting me with her future and that means I have the responsibility of not only ascertaining her happiness, but proving my unwavering devotion to it" AND IM HOLLERING????? LADIES GET YOU A FUCKING MANS. MC finally begins to understand this, and she’s like OMFG is that why you went off so hard this afternoon???? And Comte’s like :>>>> guilty as charged, though I think I'm also just still excited about the wedding too, haha! They hug it out (YESSSSSSS LET ME H O L D) and MC asks him again if there’s anything he wants for the wedding too. Aight y’all I would be irresponsible if I didn’t warn you beforehand, get fucking tissues. I’m still upset abt his answer and I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL. He thinks about it for a bit, before kissing her forehead and saying “I suppose, can you pray for my happiness too? That's enough."

AIGHT IMMA GO BACK TO THE EVENT IN A SECOND BUT I GOTTA SAY. BITCH. BITCH ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME????? COMTE THAT ISN’T OPTIONAL THAT’S A GOD DAMN PREREQUISITE?????????????????? OFC WE WISH FOR YOUR HAPPINESS WHAT THE FUCK??????????????? THE A U D A C I T Y. I’VE NEVER BEEN MORE INSULTED IN ALL MY LIFE. OKAY RANT OVER.

MC is surprised but naturally agrees to it, having wanted that for him even without prompting. She continues to think on it, insisting that she wants to do something for him too. An idea sparks but it only says that she made preparations without telling him anything for now, preparing a tangible sign of her love for the wedding.

The premium end begin here. She’s getting dressed for the wedding, and she’s--as usual--in awe of his perfect selection of accessories/jewelry to go with the gown. She’s about to put on her shoes when she notices something odd, and there’s a knock at the door. Comte enters to ask if she’s ready, and they both freeze and stare at each other. They both sheepishly admit to being completely taken with the sight of the other, and they laugh about it together. Comte tries to ask if she’s ready again, and she assures him that she is--just that she found something unexpected in her shoes.

He explains that the coin is an English six pence. Sebastian told him that they are no longer made in her time, and Comte explains he acquired it about three hundred years ago in England when he was living there (he says that he kept it back then because he liked the design on it). He explains that there is a tradition, that the English would put a six pence in a bride’s left shoe in the hopes of wishing her good fortune and prosperity in her oncoming union. MC has her understandable and customary (JESUS I FORGET HOW OLD THIS MAN IS SOMETIMES) and he places a hand over hers that’s holding the coin when she starts staring at it.

Comte: "Hey, MC....Time goes by, and various things will continue to change. Among them, it is only vampires who survive without dying or changing."

MC: "Comte..."

Comte: "I used to think that made it--made us--empty. But...I don't think that's the case anymore. I'm proud of being able to keep this undying, unchanging love for you."

[He put the coin back in my left shoe, and offered them to me--gentle as though they were made of glass(Cinderella's)]

MC spends this exchange on the verge of tears, but keeps it together for the wedding. It depicts their loved ones all around them as they walk down the aisle, and skips to the end of the ceremony. The priest tells Comte he may now kiss the bride (WHEN I WAS TRANSLATING IT SAID “KISS YOUR BUSINESS” AND WHEN I TELL YOU I WHEEZED), but just as he’s about to lift her veil--she stops him in his tracks. He’s confused, and says her name, but she reassures him that she just wants to offer him a wedding gift before he lifts it. Hidden in her bouquet are two pins that she had made, and she pins them to his jacket. They were made from preserved flowers, encased in metal to render them undying/everlasting.

MC: [Me too...I want to wish for your happiness...]

MC: “For you, things might feel fleeting--like they just pass you by, are lost before you can grasp them. But even so, my feelings won't change; just like this preserved/undying flower and the life of a vampire--dedicated to [Comte's real name] in everlasting love."

COMTE.EXE HAS CURRENTLY SHUTDOWN. REBOOTING.

MC notes that his eyes get misty and he leans his forehead against hers.

MC: [Comte's real name]?

Comte: .................I want to hug you as tight as I possibly can, but I'd hate to ruin the flowers/your gift to me

BITCH WHEN I TELL YOU I SOBBED. WHEN I TELL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1. I CANT GET OVER THE FACT THAT HER GIFT IS NOT ONLY CANON BUT ITS LITERALLY ON HIS WEDDING SPRITE, HER LOVE IS A VISIBLE MANIFESTATION ON HIS PERSON ALWAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2. THE FACT THAT SHE ONLY ADMITS TO BEING THE HAPPIEST SHE CAN BE WHEN SHE SEES HIM SO HAPPY TOO. THIS IS SO MUCH. SO M U C H

And so Comte lifts her veil and kisses her gently uwu cover ur eyes chirren, the hall erupts in raucous applause and the crowd starts congratulating them!! Comte then encourages everyone to have fun, and the reception takes on the vibe of a kind of social gathering. MC notes that he seems to prefer this level of interaction, just relaxed and everyone chill, and she turns to tell him that it seems like it’ll be fun! Before she can finish her sentence, he kisses her fiercely before leaning back with a sigh, "It's still not enough, but I'll save the rest for later tonight." BITCH!!?!?!??!??!? HOW THE FUCK CAN ANYONE FOCUS ON A STUPID PARTY WHEN YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT, HELLO???????MC notes: [Everyone from the mansion that saw the kiss made fun of me endlessly, and I hid my face in my bouquet] SAVE HER. Once again, it skips to the end of the reception and they’re now in Comte’s room. (I will blink twice if I think you need tissues BLINKS TWICE)

Comte: "Yup, perfect." [He places the flower pins I gave him next to THE hourglass in the room, looking pleased HNGNNGNGNNGGNGN MY EYE HOLES ARE SUFFERING

MC: "I'm glad you liked the gift c:"

Comte: "It is proof of your unchanging love, of course I cherish it :>"

She’s just so happy to see him so delighted with it. He asks how she liked the ceremony, and she gushes about how much she loved it. He hugs her (AWWWWWWWWWWWW) and then he notes that while it was fun to celebrate, all he wants now is time with his wife (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA). He starts kissing her like the world is ending, and she says she needs to get changed--but he doesn’t care, says she’s fine as she is and that he wants her right now.

Aight usually I don’t get into epilogue territory, but honestly, this shit was JUST too good. Now this man made of magic asks MC if she’s wearing her bridal garter (you know, the one that usually comes with the whole bride ensemble in Western tradition). And she’s like ???? Uh, yeah, of course? Why... He says that he saw something interesting at a friend’s wedding reception once upon a time, and explains that the garter is usually removed and thrown to the bachelors (analogous to the bride’s throwing her bouquet, and whoever catches it will be the next to get married). PLEASE NOTE HE IS KISSING HER FOR LIKE 90% OF THIS IT’S AMAZING

MC: "So it's like the bouquet toss?"

Comte: "Yes. Now then, how did he remove the garter...?”

HE DUCKS DOWN AND SHE’S LIKE COMTE!?!?

Comte: “...Ah yes, the groom removes it with his teeth >:D”

And so this man HAS THE TIME OF HIS LIFE tugging it down slowly under her dress, caressing her legs and loving every part of her. MC’s face is on fire, and she’s torn between being turned on and embarrassed. Eventually he reappears after teasing her MERCILESSLY and admits that he didn’t do it at the reception because he didn’t want anyone else to see her reaction. Blushing, shy, desirous--all of these feelings are his to keep and enjoy. (I!!!!! LOVE!!!!!!!!!! HOW SUBTLY POSSESSIVE HE IS AAAAAAAAAA) MC notes internally that she feels the same way about him, how he only shows this intensely passionate side to her. Comte is uncharacteristically impatient and frenzied that night, and they both go at it.

It skips to midnight where the two are cuddling in the aftermath, just being cute and happy. Comte, the absolute MADLAD is already thinking about how to celebrate next year--and she just giggles at him (he’s a wackadoo but he’s her wackadoo LMFAO MOOD) and he laughs with her. They essentially swear to promise their love over and over in the future, and it just ends on that wholesome note :>>>

Also can I just. The fact that he lived for so long alone, but was always, always paying attention to all of these little things that are done with a person’s loved one ;-; that he would remember his friend doing that at his wedding and be like BROOOOO I WANNA DO THAT IF I EVER GET MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!! I just. It’s so heartbreaking and touching at the same time, I just want to hold him forever ;-; the fact that he doesn’t seem to worry as much about his own happiness, seems absolutely floored that MC would do anything in return. I JUST LOVE HIM WITH EVERYTHING INSIDE OF ME

THIS IS WHAT PEAK PERFORMANCE LOOKS LIKE

#asks #ikevamp #ikemen vampire #ikevamp spoilers #ikevamp comte #ikevamp saint germain #ikevamp wedding event #NOW I CAN REST IN PIECES O-<--<#today on: reasons why i would die for comte no.347 #will i ever stop? no #do i have a problem? probably #but i have a tumblr account and the ability to write and i am making that everyone else's problem fdkjlhgfdjkh #but i hope you enjoyed my rambles!!!#you're always welcome here friend! :D #tho yall story time #when he asked abt the garter i started SCREECHING bc i knew EXACTLY where it was going #in middle school i saw a guy do it once at a wedding but i didnt know what the sex^TM was so i didnt think anything of it #i was like haha weird wedding tradition go brrrr why is everyone whistling #and when i was reading i just immediately was sent back and i was like OMFG HE'S GONNA DO IT ISN'T HE THE WILD MAN #but honestly i cant get over how romantic comte is #he has no necessity to enact all these little rituals--i dont really know if he even believes in any kind of religion at all #(i dont think he does honestly but he never speaks to it directly)#but the thought of sharing that with her #of doing those things to make her happy and express his feelings #it makes me so very softe #i dont even believe in all of those wonderful things and yet he makes me want to humor that kind of belief #also idk why the cuts arent working properly on the tumbles i apologize in advance im trying to figure out why

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lushthemagicdragon · 3 years

Text

On Deadpool, WandaVision and Breaking the Fourth Wall

Hey pals, let’s talk about breaking the fourth wall / extrapolation of meta information in multiverse universes--say, the Marvel cinematic vs the xmen films vs the comics. Actually, let’s talk specifically about the Marvel multiverse.

I wrote you an essay, just go under the cut it’s shiny.

As a general rule, suspension of disbelief works better on paper than it does on video. Heroes was an excellent example of this problem. This was the first time TV show was made directly based on a comic book format, trying to emulate a comic book format. The ship sank when they tried to keep comic book pace, and to play by similar rules. Long story short, this is because the way our brains consume literature and comics is different from how we consume photographic media like movies or tv. Video, like photography, convinces the brain that it's depicting reality even when we logically know that it isn’t. Therefore, unless the rules of the video/TV world are well established as being different from our own, we apply to it our own real-world understandings of what is possible. We are able to follow the fantastic more willingly when we're imagining it (because we’re reading it) instead of seeing it with our senses.

Breaking the fourth wall and/or being self-referential is extremely tricky on video media because you're forcing the audience's brain to acknowledge that this is fiction, which can cause some cognitive dissonance if the goal of your show/movie is to create second world immersion. Sitcoms are good at breaking the fourth wall because, with laugh tracks, live studio audiences, and a general lack of real-world consequences, our brains understand that it isn’t real. Generally, they’re not trying to fool us into believing that they’re real. Still, if Chandler Bing suddenly turned around and made eye contact with the camera, that would be weird. It’s not established in that particular sitcom world that they understand that they’re fictional. Fresh Prince on the other hand, did that all the time.

But we’ll get back to Sitcoms, because WandaVision. As opposed to most sitcoms, most serious dramas and adventure-thrillers are trying to create a very different vibe. In order to function, you have to be fully engaged, and have to completely believe the second world you are currently in. Otherwise, the emotional experience falls short. Tonality must be consistent, whereas sitcoms can get away with having the odd emotional moment surrounded by a laugh track.

Marvel is very weird when it comes to second worlds and believable experiences, because Marvel films, tv, and comics are all existing in the same multiverse but with wildly different tones. If you try to wrap your head around all of it as one body, it can give you a headache. Which is why I find it so interesting whenever they try to be meta.

The MCU as we understand it is presented as a realistic second world. Yes, it's fun action adventure with magic and superheroes, but presented in a way that feels real, and rationalizes its reality. It explains with technobabble and sciencebabble everything that it's doing. It wants to feel real. There are a few examples of comedy in the MCU (AntMan, Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor Ragnorok), but their silliness can for the most part be explained away. With the latter two, they take place in space, with aliens, so our brains allow that as an explanation of wackiness outside our own reality. For Ant-Man, honestly I think it was a brilliant idea to make it a comedy because there was no way that film would have succeeded if they tried to make the audience take Ant-Man seriously on screen. I love Ant-Man, it’s a spectacularly made film. But I digress. Importantly, even though they’re funny and campy, they never lose their sense of realism, with emotional anchor points to keep them grounded. When these characters are in an ensemble, they lose their high camp aesthetic and become part of the realism whole.

Even when they say in the MCU, Oh look at this I am an action figure, I'm in comic books, it's presented as in-world realistic. These people are famous now, and they're real life superheroes, so obviously action figures and comic books are being produced about them. It all makes sense. Even the X-Men films, for as camp as they are, do this in their own realism bubble. I would argue the X-Men films actually do it better because you don't have to suspend as much disbelief to believe mutation as you do to believe in a super suit that shrinks people (I love you Small Rudd).

Things get weird when the fourth wall is broken, and the multiverse is acknowledged, because the marvel cinematics have done an excellent job of creating stable second worlds. The Deadpool films, the prime example of fourth wall breaking in Marvel films/tv, are excellent because they go whole hog into breaking the fourth wall and acknowledging how ridiculous it all is. But it works for two reasons.

1. Deadpool is the only person in the entire movie that acknowledges the fourth wall (I am pretty sure, it’s been a while since I’ve watched them but I am pretty sure). Because he alone is aware that he's a fictional character in a wider fictional universe, it's not weird when he references his actor being the green lantern or talks directly to the camera. It’s exactly what we expect from him. With Deadpool, we're in on the joke but no one else is. And that's funny.

2. The tone of the Deadpool films is always funny and stupid. Even when it gets serious, that becomes the joke. There is no cognitive dissonance because it's consistent. See: Sitcom Logic. If the tone is light, breaking the fourth wall doesn’t jarr quite so much.

3. Deadpool is never in the other films, and MOSTLY, the characters in Deadpool (beyond the odd brief cameo) aren't in the greater universe (I say mostly because of Colossus, but he was in one movie ages ago for like ten minutes it’s not the biggest deal). It's consistent, and it doesn't become confusing because it's contained in itself as a weird fourth wall bubble on the side of the greater universe. Anything that happens to characters in the Deadpool films will not carry over to the more serious timeline.

There is one place in which I would say that the Deadpool films miss the mark, and make a mess of things. By making that one joke where young 90s xmen from the newest film are behind a door and shut it before he turns around, a wrench is thrown in. The weirdness of the Deadpool films suddenly is an issue because the question is asked: Where do the Deadpool films sit in the timeline? The answer is that the Deadpool films don't fit anywhere in the established XMen Cinematic Timeline, and the big mistake was having a group of characters from an xmen film on screen at the same time even as a gag. In this moment, the Deadpool films are very suddenly part of the greater universe, rather than a sidecar referencing what’s going on inside. By doing this, Deadpool is not the only character breaking the fourth wall. Now the physical world is breaking the fourth wall. And our brains will try to make sense where they cannot make sense.

But anyway for the most part, Deadpool does an excellent job of it by being a weird little fourth wall meta bubble on the fringe of existence. Wandavision though, that gets weird in a different but also very fun way.

The reason why the first 3/4ths of WandaVision work in terms of being meta-referential and also occasionally breaking the fourth wall is because

1. genre and tone. It sets up from the beginning, this is a sitcom world, not gritty realism world. We get sitcom world, we know what to expect from sitcom world. We can laugh along with the laugh track when something odd or silly or referential happens, and accept it as truth, because a sitcom generally does not pretend to be reality.

2. Whenever the fourth wall breaks in a way that doesn't make sense, it's intentional. Wanda reacts accordingly. Something goes weird, she fixes it. When something goes weird for someone other than Wanda (Say, the Vision), the integrity of this sitcom world is called into question in an intentional way that tracks with what is actually going on in the gritty-realism world (acknowledging that we’re in a bubble within a bubble). This camp sitcom world breaks the fourth wall within itself, not to us. Billy talking to the screen isn't talking to us, he's talking to the imagined viewer in-world.

3. Most of the meta-references are either subtle enough to be Easter eggs (like the kick-ass reference) or exist solely as fun gaffs that have no consequences and are never acknowledged as being meta (the Halloween costumes). I say most, because there is one big meta-reference that I think was a mistake, and where it kind of starts to fall apart in my eyes.

As much as I adore Evan Peters’ Pietro, as extremely happy as I was to see him on this show, this particular meta-reference was done in a way that breaks the second world illusion, because they pointed a big red sign at a meta reference and then tried to explain it without breaking into the multiverse.

The thing about breaking the fourth wall and meta-referencing is that it has to be toungue in cheek to be sustainable. Our brains are accepting that this reference is for us, but to make it a serious part of the story requires an answer to the question: why? By explaining that actually, this fake Pietro was Ralph the whole time, a real person who exists in this gritty realism universe, the illusion of tongue in cheek is gone. Suddenly, there is a person who brings into question the entire structure of the second world. Because this second world does not have access to the multiverse (Into the Spiderverse is wholly its own thing), it doesn't make sense that this random guy who happened to be used to play Pietro looks exactly like Pietro from elsewhere in the multiverse. It stops being fun, and starts becoming confusing, and we start trying to find answers where there are none.

IMO, two ways to solve that problem. 1. never explain it. If you never explain it, it's just a weird meta reference for us that also exists in Wanda's fake-world that is in itself accessing the multiverse (see: the costumes), without touching the realism world outside the bubble.

2. What I'm now calling the Taika Waititi method. Give a nonsense explanation told with a straight face as a brush-off. Say, Wanda asks Agatha who this guy is, and she says something along the lines of, oh I don't know I just pulled some random Pietro out of the universe, I never met the guy I had to improvise.

Anyway I still give WandaVision an 8/10 and an A for effort. Pulling off multiple tones and multiple second worlds simultaneously without even explaining it away with the multiverse is fucking hard, and they did a pretty good job all things considered.

And if anyone is interested in wtf I'm talking about re: second worlds, I highly recommend Tolkien's essay On Fairy Stories which pretty much defines how fantastic fiction works.

#wandavision #deadpool #mcu #mcu meta #film theory #marvel cinematic #xmen cinematic #miri meta #miri writes #look ma i wrote something #wandavision spoilers #pietro maximoff #long live uncle pete #maximoff family values #wanda maximoff #wade wilson

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laurawritesandgames · 4 years

Text

Title: The Children We Never Had

Fandom: Beetlejuice (Musical)

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Beetlejuice/Barbara/Adam

Prompt: Hurt/Comfort

Content Warning: References to miscarriages and abortion

Summary: As Delia and Charles prepare to start their family together, Barbara reflects on her chance to have her own children. What once seemed so simple can become much more complicated when you’re a ghost....

Delia and Charles had just completed the first round of IVF treatments. Delia was fanatic about getting all toxins out of the house, so one Saturday the Maitlands, Beetlejuice and Lydia were helping Delia get rid of any plastic containers in the kitchen, to be replaced with glass containers.

“Why is there so much Tupperware?” Delia exclaimed.

“One of Mom’s friends sold Tupperware, and we had a few parties,” Lydia said. “Mom was sick for years. If she’d been able to keep up with the science, I doubt she would’ve kept them. She was nuts about the environment.” Lydia frowned thoughtfully. “Say, Delia, what exactly are your thoughts on vaccines?”

Barbara and Adam shared a look. They knew from the Maitland-Deetz’s biweekly parenting meetings that Delia had anti-vaxxer tendencies. She was, at least, open to a respectful discussion about vaccines. Give Charles a few conversations and she’d probably give in to science and reason—the newlyweds were crazy for each other.

Not that Lydia had any of that context.

“I’m just not convinced vaccines are necessary. I have some very interesting websites I can show you later, Lydia. There’s a lot of doubt about the so-called ‘science’ that Big Pharma doesn’t want you to see.”

Lydia’s lip curled in the disgust.

“Are you an idiot?!” Beetlejuice said. “I lived in a world without vaccines. It was shit!”

“I just don’t know if I’m willing to take that risk,” Delia said, with her polite, argument-deflecting smile. Adam’s parents had been masters at avoiding conflict, so Barbara knew what would happen next. She’d say something light or silly and try to get everyone focused on the kitchen again.

“I should draw a door and bring you to the Netherworld, Delia. Give you a tour of Diaper Town so you can see all the dead babies that’re there from before childhood vaccines were a thing.”

“Diaper Town?” Lydia asked.

“Eh, that’s not the real name—just what we called it. Where the dead babies go. Ugh! I had a shift in Diaper Town for a few decades. It was the worst.”

“I imagine they look like they did when they died,” Lydia said, thoughtfully.

“And they never age! That’s the only reason people hang around babies—because they eventually become not-babies.”

“What about miscarriages? Mom had a few before me. Is there going to be a clump of Deetz cells in the Netherworld?”

Barbara reached out for Adam’s hand and found it within seconds. (He’d been across the room a second ago. He must have teleported.) She clenched it. Hard.

Beetlejuice didn’t notice.

As a ghost, you were always cold. Barbara couldn’t get colder. She also couldn’t swallow to try to wet a dry mouth. Her hands wouldn’t grow cold and prickly with shock. Her emotions were completely disconnected from bodily sensations. She could feel Adam behind her and leaned back into him slightly. Not that he made her feel warmer. Nothing ever would.

If she’d been alive, she might’ve looked like Delia: her face pale as she forced a too-wide smile onto her face. “Let’s all talk about something else, shall we? I don’t want any bad vibes.” Her hand rested on her stomach. During one of their parenting meetings, she’d mentioned she only had a few eggs left. “Not—not right now.”

Lydia glared at her. “Seriously? Hearing about a dead woman’s fertility issues isn’t going to hurt your fetus.”

“The Deetus,” Beetlejuice added. “Deetz fetus. Get it?”

Lydia ignored him. “Bad vibes aren’t a thing!”

“We’ll agree to disagree on that one.” Delia hurried out of the kitchen. “Would anyone mind a smudging ceremony? Just to clear the air and usher in tranquility?”

Lydia followed with a shriek of rage. “’Smudging ceremony’? Are you from an Indigenous tribe, Delia? Because if you’re not, that’s major cultural appropriation!”

“Ooo, cultural appropriation! I know that one!” Beetlejuice said, delighted. When he’d first come back from the Netherworld, the Maitlands had held a few sensitivity seminars for him so he could stop getting into arguments with Lydia. Beetlejuice’s views were a weird mix of surprisingly progressive and incredibly archaic. “It’s a culture, not a costume!” He floated over to Barbara and Adam. “Did I do that right? Do I get a kiss?”

It took a lot of effort to focus on Beetlejuice right now. “Sorry,” Barbara said. “We’re not going to reward you for being a decent person. But thank you for trying.”

Beetlejuice huffed in disappointment.

Adam cleared his throat. Barbara glanced at him. Adam tilted his head slightly at Beetlejuice, raising his eyebrows questioningly. He was asking her for permission to tell Beetlejuice. After a moment’s thought, Barbara nodded. Beetlejuice liked to keep things light, but he was their boyfriend, after all. He should learn a bit more about Barbara and Adam.

“What happens to children who died before they were born?” Adam asked quietly.

Beetlejuice shrugged. “I dunno. I was born dead in one of the original versions of the musical, but it ain’t canon. There aren’t any fetuses floating around the Netherworld. Maybe they go someplace else?” He shrugged, spreading his hands. “I got nothing.”

Out of habit (not because she actually needed to breathe), Barbara sighed in relief. Thank God, was her first thought, despite having a pretty good idea that God didn’t exist. She let of of Adam’s hand, giving him a small smile.

“Why do you wanna know?” Beetlejuice asked.

Barbara shared another look with Adam before saying, “When I was 22, I got pregnant.” She cleared her throat. She hadn’t talked about this in years.

Beetlejuice didn’t like silences. Immediately, he said, “Quit pulling my leg. If you were pregnant, then where’s your—”

It took a few moments, but his eyes finally widened and his jaw dropped. “Oh. Ohhhh. I didn’t think…” His hands began flapping, then running up and down his sleeves and fiddling with his cuffs. “So we’re bringing in some of the movie backstory. Okay. Okay. Sure.”

“The what?” Adam asked.

“Nevermind. So you guys had a miscarriage.”

“An abortion, actually,” Barbara said.

Beetlejuice stopped bobbing faintly, freezing in mid-air. His voice rose in pitch as he said, “I saw the tags on this fic and I assumed you’d be hurt/comforting me! I’m the one with all the issues! Who the hell told you that you guys could have issues?!”

“What now?” Barbara said, forcing her tone to stay even.

“And also, our lives weren’t perfect,” Adam said. “I just want to remind you that both of my parents are dead. So…yeah. When we were alive, we had struggles and challenges like everybody else.”

Beetlejuice began coughing. He stuck his fingers in his mouth, eventually pulling out a foot and tossing it on the ground. (Barbara had learned not to ask whose foot.) “Um. Can I try again?”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Feel free.”

Beetlejuice opened and closed his mouth a few times, but didn’t say anything.

Adam said, “Just so you know, Bug, this isn’t something to share.” Beetlejuice was a compulsive oversharer; they’d learned to explicitly tell him what was appropriate and what wasn’t.

“It’s not because we’re ashamed,” Barbara said quickly. “It’s just our story to tell, that’s all.”

“Right! I can do that.” He focused on something in the middle distance. “Although maybe some people could really examine their need to inject complicated real-world issues into a stupid five-page fic for Beetlelands Week. Not every fandom and every fic can bear that weight! And some characters definitely aren’t designed to deal with shit like this! They’re awesome Deadpool-style badasses and not…not…whatever this needs!”

Barbara loved Beetlejuce, but he was getting on her last nerve. I didn’t think he’d completely disassociate like this. It’s only a goddamn abortion. He didn’t even have to deal with anything! “Well, I’m sorry my and Adam’s history is such an inconvenience for you. I’m going to go find something to do. If you want to talk when you’re not spiraling and doing whatever this is, come find me.”

Barbara teleported to their bedroom, the Deetzes’ former guest room, upstairs, and Adam teleported with her.

Tears wavered in his eyes. Startled, she held him, stroking his back.

“Sorry,” he murmured.

“No, don’t be.”

He sniffled a few times, wiping his tears away. Their ghostly bodies still remembered how to produce tears, and if Beetlejuice was any indication, that memory would stick with them for centuries. He whispered, “We would’ve had a child. If it weren’t for me—”

Adam had always felt needless guilt about mentioning the abortion first. She’d thought he’d gotten over it. “You didn’t force me. We had student loans, the recession had just hit the year before, we couldn’t find work, and most importantly? We weren’t ready. We were barely ready 10 years later, when we had a house and good jobs.”

He smiled sadly, wiping the tears from his eyes. “Sorry. I don’t know where this is coming from.” He stroked her cheek. “I’m here for you. Whatever you need.”

She blinked. “I’m…fine? I’ve been fine for 10 years.” She hadn’t been fine immediately before and after the abortion. There’d been lots of crying, praying, and long conversations, but that had been a long time ago. Gently, she asked, “I thought you were, too. Was I wrong?”

When did we really talk about it except immediately after? Barbara couldn’t recall.

Adam gave her that same distracted smile he used to give her after his parents’ funeral. He was a brave little soldier, marching forward. “You weren’t wrong. I’m fine.”

You didn’t push when you saw that smile. “I think I’m going to read something. Want to join me?”

“I wouldn’t mind working on the model a bit more. Call me if you need anything.”

“I will.” She kissed his cheek, and he went up to the attic to work on his model of Winter River.

She was choosing between Michelle Obama’s biography a polyamory how-to guide when a spider skittered underneath the door. The spider climbed up the wall then began spinning a web in the corner of the room at unnatural speed. Letters appeared in the web.

SORRY

I WAS A BAD BOYFRIEND

It’s a Charlotte’s Web homage, Barbara realized. She’d loved that book as a child. He remembered. “Apology accepted, Beetlejuice.”

He knocked on the door. Opening it revealed him reading from index cards. Delia, who was using her life coach skills to help Beetlejuice adjust to being part of the family, had encouraged him to write down important things.

“I should have reacted a lot better than I did,” Beetlejuice read. “You and Adam trusted me with with a part of your lives, and I should have liz—lizden? Shit, I’m bad at spelling.” He looked up from the cards, rocking back and forth on his feet. “Anyway, thanks for trusting me, baby. Sorry I was being a dick about it. You and Adam having an—an abortion had nothing to do with me or my feelings.”

Beetlejuice could talk about the filthiest sex acts and talk about rotting corpses without flinching, but now he was stumbling. Interesting. “Well, ‘we had an abortion’ might’ve been a lot to throw at you. We could’ve prepared you better.” She nodded him inside, and he floated in. She closed the door behind her. “I imagine abortions weren’t really talked about in your day.”

“Well, we thought ladies’ wombs wandered around their bodies, so…no.”

“Do you have any questions?”

“Um…are you okay?” He fidgeted. “You’re all…y’know, motherly and shit. Are you sad about having an abortion?”

“No. I mean, I don’t love that I needed it. Adam and I were a lot more careful making love after that, believe me. But Adam and my family had my back, and luckily I live in a state where I can access an abortion easily. I also found some forums, and chatting with people who’d also had abortions helped me feel less alone. Honestly, until Lydia brought up miscarriages today, I hadn’t thought about my abortion in years.” Feeling awkward, she chuckled. “Um, really glad I won’t have to deal with a clump of cells following me around in the Netherworld, though.”

She felt a twinge of guilt for not feeling guiltier. Her Good Christian Girl upbringing still reared its head now and then. But I did what was best for my family at the time. That’s all anyone can do. If I’d known Adam and I were going to die 10 years later, we might’ve done things differently, but how could we have known that?

“So, that’s my story. I was supported and very lucky. I’m not sad or guilty or anything.” She frowned. “Adam might be, though. He was strangely upset.” Did I do something wrong? Has he been suffering for years without me noticing? “He’s upstairs working on the model again.”

“I’ll cheer him up!” Beetlejuice said. He clapped his hands together. “It’s hurt/comfort. Time to be goddamn comforted, Adam.”

“I’d give him a few hours.” Adam was a brooder. There was a certain point where he just wouldn’t engage.

Beetlejuice chuckled, patting her smarmily on the head. “Your boring, married-couple rules don’t apply to me, Babs. I’mma shake things up and heal his wounded heart. You can come up and watch, if you want. Watch me win.”

Barbara made herself laugh as she tried to ignore her jealousy. Beetlejuice was just being his usual low-grade dickish self, but what if he was right? Maybe Adam will respond better to Beetlejuice than to me. I didn’t expect Adam to be this sad, after all. What else have I missed? “If you succeed, feel free to come back and give me a play-by-play of your victory.”

Beetlejuice poofed away, and Barbara picked up the how-to guide to polyamory. It couldn’t help to get a refresher.

If Beetlejuice made Adam feel better, then that was a win for everyone. She could ask him how he’d done it and learn from him. The entire point of dating Beetlejuice was to break out of their old patterns and add a little excitement to their afterlives.

Barbara was lying down on their bed, reading the first chapter when Beetlejuice teleported back in.

“You mighta been right,” he grumbled.

“It’s almost like I’ve been dating him since I was 16.”

“Of course you were high school sweethearts. You two are so cliché, I blocked that out.” Beetlejuice floated closer, whining, “Sexy raised his voice to me, Barbara!”

Barbara set the book down. “Oh, I’m sorry, Bug.” That was the Adam equivalent of full-blown shouting. (Adam had shouted at Beetlejuice before, of course, but that was when Beetlejuice had been a villain.)

“Me! The favourite!”

Barbara raised her eyebrows. “Maybe you should read this chapter with me about egalitarian polyamorous relationships—and how terms like ‘favourite’ are toxic.”

Beetlejuice floated away from her. “Mmm, nope, too many things to do.”

She’d expected that. It wasn’t clear when Beetlejuice had died, but it was definitely before therapy and couple’s counselling had become more mainstream. He didn’t have the same ability to talk about and reflect on his and other’s feelings that Barbara and Adam had. Usually, he just reacted to his own. Barbara wouldn’t have gotten into a relationship with Beetlejuice if she’d been unwilling to teach him.

“Lemme know when he’s ready to talk, okay?” the demon continued.

“Well, I don’t have a psychic link to him, but I’ll try…if you read this chapter with me.”

Beetlejuice crossed his arms over his chest, harrumphing. After a few moments, he shrugged, floated over to the bed, and curled up beside her.

If her eyes could water, they might have at the smell of rotting flesh. But Barbara quickly got used to the smell. “Let me guess—your clones poked around and didn’t find anything else interesting happening right now?”

“Ha! Busted! Delia, Lydia and Charles are still arguing about vaccines. Yap, yap, yap, yap, yap. Making out with you is way more fun.”

“We’re learning how to have a more equitable, communicative relationship. Not making out.”

“We’ll see, baby.”

They approached Adam later that afternoon.

He looked up from a figurine he was painting, expression guilty. “I’ll come down when it’s time for dinner, okay?” he said quietly. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Is there anything we can do for you now?” Barbara asked.

He looked between Barbara and Beetlejuice. His eyes were so haunted…. Barbara took a few steps forward.

“Adam?” she said softly.

“You said we weren’t ready,” he murmured roughly. “What if we would’ve been? We never even gave ourselves the chance….”

He showed her what he’d been working on: a little child figurine with her blonde hair. “There would’ve been part of you and me living now. Someone with your hair and my eyes, or your smile….”

Okay. We haven’t talked about the abortion in years, and now he’s making a model of what would have become our child. So, this is new. But I can handle this. I know him. I’ve got this.

Nevertheless, a tiny part of her really wanted to tag out and let Beetlejuice handle this one. Not that he would’ve done well—he was frozen except for his eyes, frantically flicking between her and Adam.

While Barbara thought of the most empathetic, respectful way to respond, Beetlejuice blurted out, “Someone’s got a case of the Shouldas.”

“Hmm?” Adam grunted, looking uninterested.

“You know, shoulda done this when I was alive. Shoulda done that. Every newlydead goes through it. Of course, usually they’re stuck in an endless void and not chilling in the living world with their sexy boyfriend.” Beetlejuice nodded to Barbara. “And your sexy wife.”

So he had learned something from that chapter they’d read together. Barbara gave him a small smile. “How do newlydeads usually get through it?” she asked.

“‘Get through’ is real optimistic, Babs. They just get crushed by overwhelming despair and hopelessness. It’s the Netherworld. Everything sucks there.”

Adam grunted again.

Beetlejuice rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I can’t really talk about ‘healing’ and shit….” He gestured frantically for Barbara to do something.

One thing about spending so much time with Beetlejuice was that you got used to out-of-the box thinking. It was time for a little experiment. Barbara didn’t give herself time to think, and dove right in.

“Congratulations, Maitlands.” She made air horn noises. The words ‘The Life We Never Had’ appeared in bright text above the model town. “Welcome to your life where you had your child!”

Adam and Beetlejuice both stared at her in stunned silence.

“This got so dark, so fast, but I kinda love it,” Beetlejuice commented.

“Well,” she said, “first of all, forget this house. We’d probably be living with your parents. They don’t even live in town.” She took a few moments to create a mental map, then gestured at the model. It grew larger, to the surrounding counties. Adam’s family farm was on the outskirts of this new map.

“And forget the CPA degree. No way we can afford that now. But your uncle Eddy has that plumbing business. He’d probably give you a job.” She manifested Eddy’s truck, making it drive through town. “I’d probably knit and sell things on Etsy…. Wait, it’s 2010. Does Etsy even exist?” Barbara couldn’t remember. “Or I’d sell them at the local farmer’s market. We probably still love our projects, even if we don’t have as much time for them now.”

Barbara could’ve gone darker. In this future, she would’ve been stuck in Adam’s parents’ home with no career prospects and a baby she wasn’t sure she wanted. If anything was a recipe for postpartum depression, that would’ve been. But she kept it light.

“Oh, jeez,” she realized, “I forgot all about names! What do you think of Aspen?” Barbara had always wanted a nature-themed name.

“It has the word ‘Ass’ in it,” Beetlejuice complained. “Do you want bullies to give your kid swirlies?”

“You’re not here, mister. You don’t get a say.”

“Hey, that’s right! We never meet if you don’t move into the house.” Beetlejuice frowned. “Truly, this is the darkest timeline.”

“What about River?” Adam said. “For our child.”

“River. That’s beautiful. Okay, so little River goes to school here.” She gestured to the school in town. “What do you think? Good grades?”

“Of course.”

“And then you guys commit crimes!” Beetlejuice interrupted.

Barbara raised her eyebrows.

“What? Boring people commit crimes all the time and become awesome. Weeds? Breaking Bad?”

“I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t.”

“Argh, fine, I was just getting bored of all this slice-of-life shit. Let’s spice things up!”

“Ooo, maybe we solve crimes? Like a cozy mystery set in rural Connecticut.”

“Committing them is way more fun, but I’ll take anything at this point. Your ideal lives are so boring! River’s gonna do meth just to feel alive!”

“They might fall in with a bad crowd in high school,” Barbara said.

“Thank you! A little conflict, please. It’s the essence of drama!”

“But we’d be there for them,” Adam said. “Hmm. Mom and Dad would still die, I suppose. I’d probably disappoint my Maitland ancestors and sell the farm.”

Barbara watched him intently. He wasn’t smiling, but he seemed a bit more engaged than he had been.

“We could move into one of the homes here,” she suggested, nodding to one of the small houses on the outside of town.

“That’s gonna really suck for you when the zombies attack,” Beetlejuice said.

Barbara kept making up their fake life, with Adam chiming in every now and then, both of them trying to ignore Beetlejuice’s input. They tried to give River a nice life, with a full-ride scholarship to NYU (which was, coincidentally, Lydia’s dream school), lots of friends, and a home that may not be full of money but was full of love.

Eventually, Adam smiled and shook his head. “Thanks for playing dolls with me, guys.”

Barbara hugged him from behind. “If you need time to mourn, take all the time you need. Beetlejuice and I are here for you.”

Adam wiped some tears from his eyes. “I think I do. Sorry, sweetie. Sometimes all the things we never got to do…they just hit me, hard. Even things I’d made peace with long ago. I spent so much of my life worrying….”

Barbara moved to stand beside him, kissing his cheek. If she could’ve made him feel warm, she would have.

Beetlejuice was spaced out, staring into the middle distance. Thinking of his own Shouldas, maybe? Nah. He never looks back unless he’s trapped in a traumatic memory about his mother. Probably wondering when we can make out again.

She nodded him over, and he blinked, coming back to the present. Hesitantly, he floated over and rested his chin on Adam’s head.

They were both still and silent, two things Beetlejuice hated, so it wasn’t surprising when a horde of centipedes skittered across the model, or a tiny King Kong grabbed a figurine and climbed up to the top of the town bell tower, roaring.

Lydia interrupted them when she she poked her head into the attic and told them dinner was ready. “And the leftovers will be stored in glass containers—if you leave us any leftovers, Beej. Delia cleared the cupboard of all plastics. Don’t worry about the baby, either. If Delia continues to believe tea tree oil can cure pneumonia or whatever, Dad and I will get the kid vaccinated when she’s not around.”

Barbara smiled at her chosen daughter. Beetlejuice was right; they weren’t stuck in the lonely void of the Netherworld. There was life and family just downstairs. “I’m glad. But I’m sure we’ll be able to convince her otherwise. We have nine months.”

“You’re more optimistic than I am, Barbara.”

Adam put the River figurine with the smattering of other children outside the grade school. “Let’s go,” he said quietly.

The three of them followed Lydia to the dinner table.

#beetlelandsweek2020 #beetlelands #goldenbeetle #beetlejuice the musical #beetlejuice #adam maitland #barbara maitland #beetlejuice x adam x barbara

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aspenflower17 · 4 years

Text

Finding You (Part Six of ??)

Heya! I finished part six (yay!) and it is ready to be read 😁 It’s weird to me I’m on part six already seeing as how that seems like a lot, but also not enough. If you’re new here, the link to Part One is below. I also have links at the bottom of each chapter to go to the next one. You can also find my new Master List on my blog as a pinned post. As always, if you would like to be added to the tags list, just ask in a comment down below, or you can send me a message, and likes, comments and reblogs are always welcome!

Also, for anyone wondering, IKEA was fun (as always), but the store actually reached max capacity.. 1,400 people... During a pandemic... The line was so long, it reached the back of the self-serve furniture area (the place where you can pick up all the heavy/big items), and was starting to wrap around. Note, our IKEA has the switchback thing that amusement parks have for rides... So the line was easily hour wait. Suffice to say, we didn’t end up buying anything.

Part One

The Peeps!: @simpingforsatan @naimena @hachimochi @wrathandgreed @magi-minminxiii @rensphilia

Word Count: 2030

Triggers/warnings: claustrophobia?... Maybe...?

I had my show in the Devildom. It was successful. He didn’t show up though.

Mc sighed, putting her journal down. As much as she hated to admit it, she was too upset to make much more of an entry for the day. It had been her first show in the Devildom, and it had been a huge success. She should be happy. No other show had ever been as successful. She wanted to be happy. She wasn’t though.

Mc got up to open her suitcase. She had made a secret compartment to carry the letter S had written to her. It had given her a lot of strength over the years and she almost considered it a good luck charm at this point. She reread the letter, laying down on the bed, though she knew it by heart at this point.

She knew she was probably projecting too much on S. Besides the letter, she had only spoken with him maybe half an hour. Why was she so caught up on him? She didn’t even know his real name. Yes, he had greatly impacted her life and his letter and words of comfort had been a constant companion, but what did she actually know about him?

A sharp rap at her door interrupted her search, “Mc? Can I come in?”

“Yeah.”

Luke entered her room, carrying a tray of tea.

“I figured you could use some tea after the day you’ve had.”

“Oh, thank you,” Mc smiled softly as Luke brought over a chair.

“Still upset?” Luke asked, pouring a cup for Mc.

“Hmmm?”

“Ever since the show you’ve seemed unhappy. Kind of depressed, like when you were a child.”

“Ah, well, I was a bit upset that my artist talk was interrupted so abruptly.”

“That turned out alright though, didn’t it?”

“Yeah. It’s just not the same,” Mc shrugged, taking the proffered tea.

“So, that’s seriously what’s bothering you?” Luke asked, his eyebrow arched, then, “You’ll have plenty more shows down here if Diavolo had anything to say about it.”

“You think so?”

Luke smiled and shook his head at Mc, “Of course, silly. Barbatos told me all about it when I was getting the tea.”

“Well, I’m glad. I like it here, even though most of my time so far has been spent in that gallery space.”

“Well, I don’t know how much Michael likes it down here. I kept telling him he needs to ask Diavolo about Lucifer, but he says it’d be improper.”

Mc snorted, “Well, we wouldn’t want to be improper now would we?”

“He’ll be so surprised when he finds out what Diavolo’s planning for next week.”

“Hmmm?”

“I can’t tell you about it yet. It’s not set in stone, so I don’t want to get your hopes up.”

“Luuuuke! Where are you?” Michael’s voice came drifting from down the stairs, “I can’t figure out how to turn on the light in here!”

Luke rubbed his temple, “I’ve explained it like three times… Hold on! I’ll be down in a second!” Luke kissed Mc on the cheek, “Get some sleep and cheer up Sis.”

“Thanks Luke,” Mc smiled up at him, “I do have the best big brother don’t I?”

Luke grinned happily, “Good night Mc.”

After he left, Mc’s smile faltered and then fell. Her thoughts returning to before he had come in, “I should probably find something to do to break me out of this. Sulking in my room isn’t going to get me anywhere. I do have a whole castle to explore, though I don’t know how much of it I’m allowed to explore… Surely they couldn’t get too mad about me checking out the library…” and with that, she put her letter back in it’s secret place and left her room.

The castle was quiet, the padding of her feet the only sound. I guess even demons sleep. Her knowledge of demons seemed woefully inadequate as opposed to the knowledge she had about anything else that interested her. There just hadn’t been much information to find in the Celestial Realm unless it was how to defeat a demon, or to break the influence they had over a human. Of course she’d also heard the stories about the Great Celestial War. Six angels, led by the Morningstar himself, had gone on a rampage, and had been cast out. Being a scholar, Mc had never found a reason why they had rebelled, though she had read a lot of theories, most of them mere speculation that cast angels in the purest light possible. These, of course, she hadn’t listened to too intent;y. She knew angels had a lot of secrets already, being privy to many of them; they weren’t entirely innocent in many respects. She suspected this was true of this instance as well.

The library proved to be hard to find in one night, but by the time Mc felt sleep start to pull her back to her room, she had the layout of the castle halls almost memorized. She had actually found it easy to do, easier than almost every other place she’d been in. Of course, she didn’t know everything about the castle. If this castle didn’t prove to have a lot of secret doors and passageways, she would be sorely disappointed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

The fog was so thick Mc felt like she could chew it. The ground beneath her feet was soft, but it didn’t feel like anything she knew. There was no sound, not even her breathing. Just a murky white everywhere. Mc couldn’t remember how she got here or what she was doing here, but she was searching. No time to think. No time to remember. She needed to find it. She had lost it. It hadn’t been on purpose, but it had happened. She would find it though. Surely she could find it. It was the most important thing. Cherished. Loved. So important.

The world was growing colder. Her hands were stinging and her feet were clumsy. She could still feel though. So cold. Too cold to move, yet she did. Nothing should be working right now. She should’ve collapsed long ago. How long ago? How long had she been here? Did it matter?

She hadn’t found the thing yet. What was it? If she found it, she’d be warm. It would keep her warm and safe. No more searching. She would never lose it again. She just needed to find it.

A dim light started to pulse slowly. Was that it? Was that what she had lost? No. Maybe it could help her find it. The light got brighter as she continued forward. What was it? Light was good though, right? Light was a marker. Light could help the lost. It illuminated. It could help her find it.

The light was now right in front of her. It was so bright! Almost blindingly so. The area around her started to heat up, her feet and hands throbbing with relief. Was this it? What she had been searching for? Something within her screamed to turn around, but the heat was so welcome, even if it hurt. Hurt worse than anything she knew. She would be safe here. If she had to keep searching, so be it. She just needed to rest a bit. She reached out to the light, her hand backlit against the light. She grabbed at the light, and was then falling.

Mc gasped, sitting up straight in bed. Where was the light? Where was she? After a couple moments, Mc remembered where she was. On a bed. In a guest room. In Lord Diavolo’s castle. In the Devildom.

Mc reached for the glass on the bedside table with shaking hands. Spilling a little on her blankets, she tried to shake off the claustrophobic feeling that lingered. She hadn’t had a dream about her first memory in a while. After she had become an angel she had learned about what happened to human souls after they passed. Some found their way straight to the Celestial Realm, blinking and waking up to the eternal light. Some were wanderers though. While many wandered just a little while, some wandered endlessly through the fog she had experienced. Though the angels didn’t know exactly what caused this, many of those who wandered a long time before finding their way to the Celestial Realm were sad in some way, as she was.

She had gone home that day and asked Simeon about it, and he had told her she had wandered the longest of any soul in the Celestial Realm. She had been very cold and it had taken a while for her to wake up. She had been a little horrified, and Simeon assured her it was nothing to be concerned or ashamed about. It was simply a fact and no one held it against her, least of all Luke or him. She had wanted to believe him so bad, but everyone treated her lasting loneliness as a bad thing, so she had been forced to hide it. Pretend she didn’t feel lonely. Pretend she was fine.

She fumbled for something to distract herself and found her DDD. She worked for a second and finally turned it on, the light actually hurting her eyes. They adjusted quickly though and she groaned as she saw it was nowhere near time to get up. The thought of falling asleep again was not an option so she decided to start scrolling though Devilgram. Apparently the app was rather old as far as in-vogue apps went, but Lord Diavolo had said he would never use a different social media app, so it persisted as the number one app. She still wasn’t really used to the layout, Luke having helped her set up her artist’s talk.

She went to the post and found a lot of comments and likes. She started reading them, smiling as people praised the ingenuity of her work, frowning slightly at those who were impressed “an angel could have such an eye for art”, and rolling her eyes at the comments that criticized her species, clearly just upset she was an angel.

As she continued reading however, she ran across a couple comments asking if anyone had more information about the demons who had caused quite the uproar during the artists talk. Confused, because everyone had been very respectful at the center, Mc opened the replies, and found a whole thread of people who were upset they had been pushed and otherwise knocked out of the way of one demon who had been running through the maze following another demon who had been flying. Many speculated they were the reason the artists' talk had been cut short, and some theorized they were running to the center to harm her. A couple people tried to cut through the noise, stating the demons in question were Mammon and Satan, both Avatars of Sin. Most of the comments about this said Mammon acting this way seemed normal, but they couldn’t understand why Satan would do something like that. It seemed so out of character, a lot of the replies to these comments said they were either liars or sorely mistaken thinking it was Satan.

Mc’s heart jolted a little bit, seeing Mammon’s name. She recognized it as one of the angels who had fallen, and the name Satan had been mentioned in some history accounts as having taken form from Lucifer’s anger, though the information on him had been scarce and some thought he was just a myth. After all, how could someone be born from an emotion?

So, he’s real after all. Not that I thought he wasn’t, or at least, I figured there was at least some truth to the stories. Oh, someone has a picture of them. Wait… Is that?

At that moment, the app shut down.

“No, no, no, no,” Mc said, clicking the app again. It couldn’t have been… Could it? Her screen changed, but nothing loaded. An error message then popped up on screen, saying the app could not load, and to try again later.

Mc sat stunned for a second before springing into action.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part Seven

#obey me!#OBEY ME #obey me! swd #obey me satan #obey me mc #obey me michael #obey me diavolo #obey me luke

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doc-pickles · 4 years

Text

i put a spell on you (because you’re mine)

story time: when i wrote my smut for taylor swift week i told lay aka @odd-birds-and-booksellers that i would never ever write it again and she insisted i would. it physically pains me to say this but she was right...

i wrote soulmate au smut and i’m not ashamed of it. well maybe a little. mostly i’m ashamed that this bad boy is what i put the most work into for our whole challenge. anyways enjoy.

tw// sexual content. that’s the whole fic.

Jo knows how silly she sounds, to hope that someone out there might be her soulmate, but there’s still a small part of her filled with hope that the tall tales people tell are somehow true.

As a doctor, Jo had taken more than her fair share of classes on anatomy and human sexuality, each one highlighting the fact that while soulmates haven’t been scientifically proven, there’s evidence to suggest otherwise. She feels almost childish buying into the belief that there’s someone out there that’s another half of her, she’s a scientist at heart and doesn’t let herself believe in such foolish ideas. However, she’d worked cases in her med school clinic and even in the Grey Sloan ER where people were overwhelmed with burning desire to… well you know.

Jo thinks she was in middle school when she’d first heard the whispers, that if you found your soulmate there was a way to know for sure that they were it. Your first touch, no matter how minute, would send you and your soulmate spinning with the desire to consummate your relationship. It was probably the craziest thing she’d ever heard of, but it crossed her mind every once in a while. There was an all too real possibility that the legends people told were true and that was something she didn’t know if she could live with. She’d already loved her fair share of men and if the soulmate legend was to be believed, she’d yet to find hers.

There was Chris, the sweetest and most understanding boy she’d ever met. Their long nights spent in the backseat of her car and the way he’d toted her around to his fancy high class events like she was a treasure had made her feel her first sense of belonging. However for all the times they’d touched, there had never been that overwhelming feeling that Jo had craved. Sometimes she felt bad about the ending she wrote for them, but she knew that wherever he was Chris was doing big important things and she couldn’t help but be proud of that.

Then there was Paul… While Jo was grateful not to have some eternal soul bond connecting her to him, she had still at some point been in love with him. Before they’d rushed off to the altar in his haste to legally tie her to him, Paul had been sweet and kind and really had made her fall in love. Of course things had gone down a path that Jo didn’t like to think about, but the sentiment of lost love was always there.

Since coming to Seattle though, Jo’s love life had consisted mainly of a random hookup here and there, her mind putting away the idea that soulmates really did exist. In fact, it wasn’t even something she thought of at all as she let random men claw their way down her back or grind their hips into her own. Stephanie had called her a one hit wonder, but that’s easy to say when you’re constantly getting amazing sex with a man who looks like Jackson Avery.

“Jo come on,” Leah called from the living room of the small apartment they shared. “I look hot and the longer we stay here, the harder I have to work to find a man who isn’t shit faced.”

Adjusting her headband once more, Jo stuffs her thin wallet into her bra and leaves her bedroom. Joe’s was holding a Halloween party and Leah and Jo were not going to miss out on the festivities. Jo eyed Leah’s firefighter costume that left little to the imagination, the blonde confident in her abilities to snag an actual firefighter during their night out with the ensemble.

“Look at you Wilson, you’re gonna be pulling them left and right out there,” Leah let out a low whistle as she took in Jo’s costume. “Naughty and nice indeed. Let’s get out there!”

Jo had opted for a simple angel costume, her figure hugging dress just barely covering her ass and the low cut neckline showing off her assets well. She knew Seattle was freezing in October, but if this dress got her laid she couldn’t complain much.

Tugging at the hem of her dress, Jo followed Leah’s lead out the door of their apartment and towards the Uber she’d called while Jo finished getting ready. She’d had a long week at work and all she wanted to do was get drunk and go home with a guy who would take care of the physical needs her body was desperately craving to fulfill.

“I heard a bunch of the fellows are coming out tonight, maybe you’ll get one of them to get into your pants,” Leah’s eyes were glued to her phone as she spoke. “Personally I’m hoping one of those hot EMTs rolls by. I would love to get a piece of that action.”

Jo’s eyes bulged at Leah’s suggestion, scoffing at her friend, “Jeez you don’t beat around the bush. Besides there’s not really any hot fellows that are on the market still.”

“Mmm Karev is,” Leah looked up from her phone, just in time to see Jo duck her head down. “And let me tell you, he is a fantastic lay.”

“Leah! Jesus!”

“I’m just saying, I’ve seen the guys you bring home and I’m sure none of them are completely satisfying your needs,” Leah shrugged, eyes looking out the window with a grin. “And we’re here! Thank god, I’m ready for shots.”

Jo rolls her eyes, following Leah out of the car and into the crowded bar. The throngs of people help Jo’s body to warm up a bit as her and Leah push through the crowds.

“Oh! Grab those barstools, I’ll go get us drinks,” Leah pointed to an empty table in the corner, motioning Jo towards it as she headed for the bar.

Jo settles herself into one of the seats, pulling her phone out to distract her until Leah comes back. She needs alcohol desperately, she needs to be drunk and she needs to get laid. Whatever else happens tonight doesn’t matter as long as those two things happen.

She’s pulled out of her thoughts by someone sitting in the seat next to her. Already annoyed with them, Jo turns to chew out whoever decided tonight was the night to mess with her, “Listen, I don’t know who you think- Oh.”

Sitting next to her was Alex Karev, dressed in casual street clothes and taking pulls off the beer in his hand. She hadn’t seen him all day, she’d been working in ortho with Torres, so he wasn’t an unwelcome sight.

“You gonna continue yelling at me Princess? Or maybe I should call you Angel tonight,” Alex grinned at Jo, flicking the halo atop her head as she rolled her eyes at him. “You come down here all alone?”

“No I came with Leah, she’s grabbing us drinks. She’s been gone forever though.”

“Yeah well she’s making out with some guy in the corner,” Alex’s eyes scanned the room and pointed the blonde out to Jo, who grimaced. “Doing that in public should be illegal.”

A laugh left Jo, taking in Alex as he surveyed the room. They’d worked together a lot lately, developing a close relationship that consisted of them joking during surgeries then coming to the bar for a few rounds of beers. He was funny, more charming than most gave him credit for, and he had a huge heart for the kids he worked with. It was easy for Jo to form a bond with him, something that Stephanie teased her about whenever she had the chance.

“Come on, I need a new beer and I’ll get you one too, only cause I feel bad that you got ditched,” Alex stood and gestured for Jo to follow him towards the bar. “So you trying to get laid tonight?”

“Oh my god! Alex!”

“Oh please, I’m not hitting on you. That dress just tells me everything I need to know. Besides, I’m sure any guy in this place would take you home,” Jo almost has to laugh at Alex’s commentary as they walk towards the bar. “Seriously, I’d be shocked if you didn’t get laid tonight. You look hot.”

A snappy comeback is on the tip of her tongue when Jo finds herself all but pushed towards Alex as a pair of stumbling idiots behind her attempt to find their footing. Alex’s hands reach out to steady her, falling to her bare arms as they lock eyes.

Holy shit.

The feeling coursing through Jo is unrecognizable and familiar all at once. Her eyes lock with Alex’s, noticing the dark look that’s taken over them as they hold each other’s stares. Her skin is burning where his hand is still laid across it, the sensation rippling out across her body and sending a chill down her spine. Despite not having a drop of alcohol tonight, Jo’s head is fuzzy and her senses fluctuate uneasily as she processes what’s just happened.

“ Oh fuck .”

The words leave Alex’s mouth and tug harshly at something deep within Jo’s core, her panties immediately soaking themselves at just the sound of his voice. What the hell was happening to her? Alex pulled his hand back from her arm, the absence turning wheels in her mind that told her to touch him again, to bring him closer and not to stop. She could tell from the way he was fidgeting that he felt the same intense feeling pulsing through his body that she did.

Was this it? Was this that all consuming feeling that people talked about? Her mind was screaming at her, telling her to press her lips to Alex’s to feel more of the electricity crackling through her veins. She couldn’t though, she realized as reality slapped her harshly across her face, there were so many reasons why she couldn’t shouldn’t do this but…

The feeling building inside of her comes to a startling peak as Alex leans close to her, his breath fanning across her neck as he wraps an arm around her waist. The fire inside of her reignites as Alex’s fingers brush against her bare skin again, the apex of her thighs burning at how close his body is to hers. She can barely comprehend what he’s saying, her mind clouded by a thick fog that threatens to consume her whole being, but the words he speaks drag her up as if she’d been drowning and he was a fresh breath of air, “Bathroom, now .”

Jo just nods, not trusting herself to speak as she watches Alex weave through the crowd of people and disappear behind the bathroom door. Her heart is hammering, her mind on another plane as her feet carry her down the same path she’d just watched Alex take.

She had a soulmate. Jo couldn’t believe it, she had found the person she would spend the rest of her life with and it was Alex Karev. She’d thought that he might be different, that he might be special in a way she wouldn’t dare to say out loud. But she had also thought she was wrong, their first interaction consisting of their gloved hands brushing against one another in a rush to grab trauma gowns. Then again in the NICU as they high fived each other nothing had happened. Still rounds of radio silence as Alex pressed his hand into back when they’d walked the halls, when she’d settled a hand comfortingly onto his shoulder after they’d lost a patient, and again when they’d worked in the OR and their hands had passed surgical tools back and forth.

Jo realizes then that her and Alex, for all the times they’d touched each other, had never touched each other’s bare skin. Her arm begins to burn at that thought, the spot that Alex had grabbed her tingling as if begging for his touch again. Her body was no longer her own, Jo thought, as it thrummed and yearned for Alex Karev of all people to touch her in places she wouldn’t dare to say out loud. She stops suddenly as she stands in front of the bathroom door, breath coming out in spurts as she stares at the wood. Once she walked in, her life would be changed forever. She contemplated not going, turning around and leaving the bar altogether, but the longing building in her core wouldn’t stop, an all consuming need to walk into whatever unknowns faced her if it meant Alex would be there too.

With a silent resolve, Jo pushed open the door, quickly shutting and locking it behind her. As soon as she turned around, she felt lips against her own that helped quell the burning need deep in her belly. She couldn’t help the low moan that left her, Alex using the movement as an opportunity to sneak his tongue into her mouth. His fingers were running up her legs, moving dangerously closer to the hem of her skirt as she pressed herself closer to his touch.

“You… I knew there was something about you,” Alex’s lips were trailing down her neck now, Jo’s skin flaming hot as his tongue darted out to cool the skin. “Should’ve known it was you.” The moan that leaves her as Alex’s tongue pulls down the strap of her dress and licks a path down to her breast is almost embarrassing in how desperate it sounds. It feels like she’s lost control of herself, her body reacting to Alex in ways she never would normally. Her fingers are running through his hair, eyes closing as she leans back against the wall in pleasure. She finds her free hand moving of its own will, snaking down Alex’s chest and under his shirt to claw at the skin there.

“ Alex . Off.”

She can’t get more words out than that, her fingers moving to try and push off his shirt in a daze. He takes the hint and pulls back to rip it off himself, his fingers then moving to quickly undo the clasp of her bra. Alex pushes her dress down quickly and throws her bra to the side, hands coming up to pinch her nipples in a way that makes her hold back a scream. Jo knows that with less clothing the air should feel cooler but her body instantly heats up as Alex’s bare chest meets her own, his lips colliding with hers again as her nails rake down his back.

She’s had sex before, she’s had phenomenal sex with different partners, but this… the connection she feels with Alex as their bodies melded together was unreal. They hadn’t even taken their pants off yet and Jo knew that this was by far the best sex she would ever have.

“Oh Jesus,” while trapped in her own mind, Jo hadn’t noticed Alex’s fingers moving lower and slipping under the thin lace of her panties. Now that she has though, she can’t ignore him or his fingers that are curling so easily into her and hitting her so deliciously that it feels as if he’d done it a thousand times before. “ Alex .”

“Say it again.”

His voice is rough and desperate against her lips, her head tilting back in pure ecstasy as his fingers continue to move inside of her.

“Oh god, Alex . Please don’t stop. Alex , Alex .”

His name sounds different on her tongue, the word rolling off so easily that she wants to say it again and again until her voice is hoarse and she has no more words left. His breath is hot against her neck, hitting in time with the fingers that are still stretching her and bringing her closer and closer to her breaking point. She’s close, she’s so close and she knows he can feel it, Alex’s lips trailing back down her neck to bite lightly at her breast.

“You’re gonna be the death of me,” his voice is a growl, teeth skating her skin as she whimpers. Jo can feel herself ready to fall over the edge, her body tensing in the best way as she digs her nails into Alex’s shoulder. “Come on baby, you’re so close. Come for me.” His voice sends her over the edge, the words falling from his lips sending her into ecstasy. Every nerve in her body is on fire as her orgasm washes over her, pleasure taking over every bit of sense she has. She can feel Alex’s hands wrapping around her waist, his lips trailing back up her neck and towards her mouth, but doesn’t fully register him until his lips are pressing against hers again. This kiss is less needy and desperate, but the passion between the two is still burning bright as Jo follows Alex’s call to wrap her legs around his waist.

She thinks he’s going to settle her onto the sink counter, but instead Alex drops her in front of it, flipping her around so her bare breasts are pushed against the cool marble as he bends her over. He doesn’t waste any time, quickly throwing her panties to the side and letting his hands wander her bare ass. She can hear his belt and pants clattering to the floor, eyes closing in eager anticipation of what’s to come.

“I feel bad for taking you in a bar bathroom for our first time,” Alex’s words are hot and heavy as he leans forward, his lips ghosting her ear as he runs his fingers through her folds once more. “But you’re so damn eager.” “I don’t care where, please just fuck me,” Jo’s voice is bordering a whine as Alex removes his fingers from her, leaving her wanting more as her chest pressed against the countertops harder. “ Alex, please.”

He’s silent for a moment, Jo’s about to turn around when his fingers squeeze her hips tightly as he sheaths himself inside her in one fell swoop. Her voice isn’t her own as she leans forward, a loud moan leaving her as Alex sets a pace that's altogether torturously slow and the exact thing she’d needed since his hand grasped her arm.

“God, you’re so good,” Alex’s voice is husky, a moan intermixed with the words as he lets one hand wander up Jo’s body. His pace picks up a bit, Jo’s own moans growing louder and more frantic as she grasps the sink tightly. “You feel so good wrapped around me.”

“ Alex ,” the word barely drips from her mouth as he continues his quickened pace, fingers tightening against her hip. High pitched moans punctuate her words as her body takes him with everything she has. “Mmm… wanna… see you… Alex .”

Alex doesn’t waste any time, releasing her hips and flipping her quickly around to face him. Jo’s legs are around him in a flash, his arms settle around her as she takes him once more, hips grinding down against his as she leans her forehead against his.

The pace they set is fervent, their bodies moving in tandem as their tongues battle each other. While her body is rolling through waves of ecstasy, Jo feels something deeper inside of her building. There’s a connection, a bond building between her and Alex as their bodies connect in the most intimate way. The urge she feels deep within her causes her to open her eyes, meeting Alex’s dark eyes that are already on her. The interaction alone causes Jo’s heart to skip a beat, her fingers coming back up to Alex’s face as she brought their faces closer.

“You… you’re everything. You’re so beautiful. God, I’m so glad it’s you,” the words leave Alex in a breathless whisper, but the sentiment behind them isn’t lost on Jo. The look in his eyes isn’t the raging lust that it had been when they’d locked eyes at the bar, instead there was a genuine longing and love behind it. “Come here.”

Alex brings her lips to his, one hand gripping tightly to her waist as his strokes went from hard and heavy to slow and intimate. With every languid thrust he makes, Jo’s body reacts in turn with a moan that drives her closer to her breaking point. She’s close, so damn close.

“ Alex , oh god,” Jo knows she sounds desperate, but the way Alex is moving is driving her crazy. As he bottoms out once more, she breaks their lips apart to take him in again. His eyes are closed, forehead resting against hers as he lets his own frenzied moans fill the air. He’s close, she can tell by the ragged breaths coming out between his moans as his fingers squeeze her hips and surely leave marks on the delicate skin. “Come with me, please Alex .”

His eyes pop open then, their gazes meeting as they both topple over the edge in unison. A carnal moan leaves Alex as he buries himself in her, teeth desperately nipping and biting at her neck once again. The feeling washing over Jo as her second orgasm overtakes her is indescribable, like her whole body is on fire in the best way. Her nails claw down Alex’s back, her mouth agape as she relishes in the feeling of him pulsing inside of her.

When they've both taken a minute to recover, a low laugh erupts from Alex, his lips still brushing against Jo’s neck. His fingers find her cheeks, eyes moving up to meet hers with a crooked grin that makes Jo melt a bit inside, “Hey there.”

“Hi,” Jo can’t think of anything else to say as she takes in Alex’s face. She’d looked at him hundreds of times before, but this felt different. It was as if she was staring at an entirely new person, which she almost was. This wasn't Alex Karev her boss, this was Alex Karev her soulmate. The man she’d spend her life with, the man who would father her children, the man whose last name she would take.

“You wanna get outta here? I really wanna take you home,” Alex’s words are soft and low, as if there’s a chance that Jo will say no to his request.

“Yes please, I can’t think of anything better,” she presses a light kiss to his lips, a grin overtaking both of them as she does so. “Mmm you’re gonna have to move if we wanna leave.”

Alex chuckles, finally untangling their limbs and beginning to gather up their clothes that they’d discarded around the small bathroom. He hands Jo her dress and bra, her cheeks heating with a blush as she watches him slip her lacy white panties into his pocket.

“Did you think maybe I needed those,” Jo’s voice was filled with amusement as she looked at Alex, who held the door open for her as they slipped out of the bathroom together. “You’re gonna let me walk through the bar with a dress this low and no panties?”

Alex slings his arm around Jo’s shoulder, pressing a kiss to her temple as he whispers in her ear as they make their way through the crowd, “I know the angel getup is just a costume, you’re pretty naughty on the inside.”

#alex karev #jo karev #jo wilson #jolex #jolex fic #jo x alex #jolex fanfic #greys anatomy #greys anatomy fanfic #nina writes #jolex halloween #nina is going to hell

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miss-tc-nova · 4 years

Text

Of Course I Do - Eraqus x Fem!Reader

I really needed to write me some Eraqus that was not angst, so tada. I wanted it to be more fluffy but I like it.

~~~~~

“Era?” I poke my head into the classroom, but the only person not there is the one I’m looking for. “Has anyone seen Eraqus?”

“Nah, he decided to shirk his studies today,” his best friend replies from a table.

My groan does not convey the stress well enough. A whistle rings out from the redhead. “Don’t you look fancy. Got big date plans or somethin’?”

Nervous hands smooth out the dress I picked for the occasion. “Kind of. We’re having dinner with his parents tonight.”

Little Vor tilts her head. “They invited you to their house?”

The way she says it sounds like I should be far more worried than I already am. “Yeah…Is it that bad?”

“Not really,” Xehanort explains, turning another page. “But they must actually be interested in you if they asked you to go over.”

“What do you mean?”

“Since they’re descendants of the founders of Scala, Era’s parents are sort of those upper-class people everyone is afraid to upset. They’re not really snobs but you really don’t wanna get on their bad side,” Bragi says. That I knew. “And Era’s never taken a girl home before.”

That doesn’t help me at all. “What?!”

“Relax,” Urd calls from her window seat. “That’s a good thing.”

Hermod speaks up from beside her, pointing out the window. “Also, I found him.”

I scurry closer to peer out and, sure enough, there’s my lazy Fleetfoot, napping in the shade of one of the ground’s large trees.

“I gotta go,” I mutter, rushing out of the room.

His friend’s words replay in my head and my anxiety just keeps climbing—there’s no way I’ll meet their expectations. When I met Eraqus, I had no idea who he or his family was, but when he casually just let it slip, I nearly had a panic attack. To make it worse, just last week, he informed me that his parents wanted us to visit, have dinner, and get to know me—pretty sure I did have a panic attack that time. I’m just a girl scraping by with a tiny shop and no real notable background stature and he’s the heir of a prestigious family; and now that family wants to meet me. I’ve been anxious all week, using nearly all my free time to manage my terror. Era’s been doing his best at reassurance but sometimes there’s no getting over the nerves until it’s over.

As I should’ve guessed, coming up on the tree, I find him snoozing away. However, instead of pestering him with my apprehensions, I take notice of the peaceful state he’s in. Not a care in the world mars his face and soft snores come with every even exhale.

A deep breath brings my panic under control. Kneeling beside my boyfriend, I let a careful caress glide through his wavy hair. The resulting sigh subdues my anxiety enough to allow a smile. While the thought of his family may bring me fear, Eraqus has always been my sweet, silly, sunshine boy. He may not have been able to soothe me, but he’s gone out of his way in his attempts to do so. I thought I was happy with my life, that day-to-day living couldn’t get much better than being my own boss, closing shop for the day, and enjoying a hot drink in a peaceful evening. Then I met Eraqus. He brought not only the companionship and affection everyone craves, but also a lively excitement I didn’t know I needed. I don’t suddenly have the life I had before, but there will be no going back.

Adoration compels me to press a kiss against his cheek. Those dark lashes flutter, showing me those gorgeous, granite eyes.

“Well good morning, sleeping beauty.”

I’m not sure he’s ever woken up from a nap faster. “Morning?! Mom’s gonna kill me!”

“Calm down,” I giggle, pushing a stray strand from his face. “It’s not even time to go yet. But you should probably get ready.”

More relaxed, he lets his gaze travel over my little evening dress. Heat rushes up my spine—part of me had been saying getting dressed up was too much but then another part screamed it would never be enough.

“Man, they’re never gonna believe we’re dating.” That heat is replaced with icy blood but Era smiles. “You’re way too pretty to be going out with me.” I let out tense sigh, covering my face. He chuckles, “What?”

The hand that lashes out to smack his shoulder only makes him laugh more. “Don’t say things like that! You know I’m freaking out about this!”

“Seriously, it’s not that big a deal. It’s just dinner.”

“With your parents,” I tack on.

“So what?”

“We’ve already had this discussion. You know what.”

Eraqus pushes off the grass, offering a hand to help me up. “You’re gonna be fine.”

“You don’t know that,” I retort, following towards the student dorms.

“Of course I do. It’s you after all.” He flashes that stupid grin he tries to use to get out of all our arguments.

“What does that even mean?!”

He suddenly turns back and I fail to stop before a finger boops my nose. “It means you’re gonna be fine.”

Stewing in annoyance and anxiety, I follow. In his room, I let my gaze wander to the bookshelf. “There’s not some secret custom thing I should be aware of is there?”

“Will you relax?” he laughs, digging through his closet. “They’re just like every other family.”

“Except they’re practically royalty.”

“No they’re not,” he calls before the door closes behind him.

Arms fold in a meager attempt to stifle the worry while I’m left to my own devices. There’s some contemplation to set off his alarm an hour early, but instead I examine the elaborate chess set on his desk.

When Eraqus finally returns, it’s sans shirt. Immediately blooming across my face is a blush I try to conceal by turning away. Clearly, I’m too late.

My gaze is force back by a warm hand. Oh, he knows he’s got me; granite gleams with joy while I try to keep my focus on his face. “What’s wrong, babe?”

“Put a shirt on. We need to get going,” I huff, hoping the thump in my ears isn’t as obvious to him.

“I’m sure they’re already expecting me to be late.” Goosebumps race across my skin and a shiver rattles my chest as the tip of his tongue glides along my jaw. “There’s plenty of time to show them just how much you mean to me.”

Gripped by his words is my desirous heart. Unfortunately, there’s no time. “If you give me a hickey before we meet your parents, I’m going to have to explain to them why you’re in the infirmary instead of having dinner with us,” I warn, willing my uncooperative shoulder to rise and force him away.

The smirk against my neck sends blaring sirens through my brain. That longing heart suddenly drops when he places firm grasps on my thighs. In the next second, the ground disappears and I find myself between the wall and my boyfriend. Cursing him in my head is a string of slander but my body is weak in doing exactly what he wants: clinging tightly to him.

“Aw, but don’t you love me anymore?” Despite that pouting query, there’s nothing but pure greed in that grin.

Not another thought goes into it. Fingers snag in ebony hair while my mouth comes crashing down on his. I never stood a chance against him—not when he does this. Everyday Eraqus can be a troublemaking goof that can be put in his place when necessary; but now and then, he brings out something akin to poisonous honey. It devours every ounce of self-control I have within seconds and drags me into moments of passion, just like this. However, every bit of this is by my choice, or so he’d like everyone to believe; I could ignore the deadly sweet, but he knows very well that I can’t. One taste of that desire ignites a hunger that becomes hard to satiate. It’s so easy to lose myself in a make out with Eraqus.

A soft click parts our lips. His gasps ghosts across my skin as we take a moment for much needed air. Everything I’d been fretting about is long forgotten while I’m here basking in this euphoria.

Looking into his eyes, I manage to murmur, “You know the answer to that.”

I can feel his smile. “Show me again.”

#eraqus #young eraqus #young master eraqus #eraqus x reader #young eraqus x reader #fem!reader

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sluttyten · 4 years

Text

you will be my always

Part I: you can call me monster || Part 2: you can be my angel

summary: forever doesn’t really seem like too much to ask for when you know you’re in love with the supernatural world (and it loves you back just as much)

words: 22,000

pairings: jungwoo x reader, lucas x reader, jungwoo x lucas, jungwoo x reader x lucas

In the last month and a half, many things had changed. The rival pack was run out of town, leaving behind a sizeable amount of wealth as well as a witch and two vampires that they’d been keeping as something similar to pets, so Kun claimed the other pack’s cash and brought the new kids to the vampires for safekeeping.

YangYang, the young witch, quickly found himself welcomed by Ten. The vampires Xiaojun and Hendery seemed to come as a package deal, and for the first few days they were in the house they didn’t leave each other’s side much until Ten finally pried them apart and got them to hang out with everyone. Hendery apparently fell in love with Ten and Johnny and let them adopt him. Xiaojun fell in with WinWin, and could often be found hanging out with the wolf the second he stepped into the house, much to Yuta’s annoyance.

And when the last month of winter chill sets in, even several of the vampires decide that the city is too cold to stay in. Yuta, Taeil, and Xiaojun pair up with WinWin for a trip to Paris to explore the catacombs like true Parisian vampires.

And then there’s the matter of Lucas.

Specifically, Lucas’s crush on your boyfriend, his slightly smaller (but growing) crush on you, and the fact that the three of you slept together to bring in the new year.

Nothing else has happened like that between the three of you. Sometimes you think about it, sometimes you and Jungwoo talk about it when you’re in bed together, and he never seems to be strongly leaning one way or the other on actually inviting Lucas back into bed, rather he seems content with just fantasizing about it with you, so you don’t push it. But there are times when you catch Lucas watching Jungwoo and times when you catch him looking at you and you’ll feel that flare of lust in your belly, remembering his hands and his kiss.

But you don’t push it, and things go back to normal, just the three of you hanging out as friends.

And you go to school and bury yourself in classwork to distract yourself from the inner conflict of the desire you feel.

“What are you thinking about?” A foot kicks yours under the table, and you jolt, snapping to attention in the middle of the coffee shop on the edge of your university’s campus.

Jaehyun sits across from you sipping at his coffee, raising his eyebrows at you. Ten sits beside him, his iced coffee long forgotten as he scribbles sigils and enchantments down in a notebook.

The three of you are waiting for YangYang who has class for another half hour before you all head back to the coven’s place together. Outside, snow whirls past the windows, and you don’t look forward to going back out there.

Jaehyun’s foot taps against yours again and you frown at him.

“Nothing, Jaehyun. Personal stuff.” You glance down at your phone, the background of which is Jungwoo and Lucas making silly faces at you behind the camera.

Ten doesn’t even look up from his notebook. “She’s thinking about fucking Jungwoo and Lucas. Again.”

You fight the urge to swear at him, and Ten grins at you.

“I’m right, aren’t I?” He finally puts the pen down and closes the notebook. “I don’t have to be a mind reader, everyone can feel the tension between the three of you, and once the pack told the rest of us about that menage a trois, it all made sense.”

You fold your arms across your chest and ignore the pair across the table and the way that they’re smiling at each other, so amused. After they continue trying to talk and you continue ignoring them, Jaehyun finally sits forward.

“We’re not judging you, if that’s what you think.” He says. “Plenty of people do that polygamy thing, and while it’s a bit odd for a human to be involved with a vampire and a werewolf, especially when human life spans are so short, that’s just…”

Ten harshly elbows Jaehyun and shakes his head.

“What?” Jaehyun looks between Ten and you. “This is kinda like something Taeyong and I talked about when we first got together. I told him how I didn’t want to be in a relationship where the only outcome could be one of us dying.”

“Seriously, Jaehyun?” Ten asks, then hisses, “You’re a werewolf. You live as long as you want or until something kills you. And you’re telling us, a human and a mortal witch, about that?”

“I didn’t know that werewolves live like that at the time.” Jaehyun mumbles and sips at his coffee.

You stare down at your fingers wrapped around your cup. This isn’t the first time you’ve heard parts of this. You and Ten already had a discussion about the issues of dating an immortal vampire when you have a human life span. And you hadn’t really thought about it again since then because you didn’t want to think about someday dying and just being another name in Jungwoo’s past. Now you learn that Lucas is essentially immortal too.

By the time YangYang shows up, bundled in a scarf and hat and coat and complaining about all the snow and cold, you’re still in a deep funk.

Ten jumps to his feet and shoves the notebook he was scrawling in earlier into YangYang’s arms and begins telling him about heating spells.

You follow and Jaehyun walks beside you, his head bowed against the cold wind, and when you reach the bus, he falls into the seat beside you.

“I’m sorry, Y/N. I didn’t mean to make you. . . Existential, I guess.” He gestures around with his hands. “It’s just that when I started dating Taeyong, I thought werewolves were just as mortal as humans. So I kinda know what you’re feeling and I know that you probably don’t want to talk about it, so tell me about something else. Anything to get your mind off of it.”

“Why don’t you talk to me? Tell me more about you and Taeyong.” You tell him, and you lean your head back against the bus seat. “How do a vampire and a werewolf meet and fall in love?”

You watch as a lazy smile drifts across Jaehyun’s lips. He fiddles a little with the strap of his backpack.

“I haven’t always been a part of Kun’s pack. I was a lone wolf for a while after I was turned, my first several full moons were hell. Like the first time, I thought I was dying. The next few times weren’t much better, and every time it happened when I was out, off campus for the night. I would start feeling strange so I would go somewhere to be alone, feeling like I was going to be sick or that I was dying because my heart was pounding and my skin felt like it was crawling, and within the hour the transformation would start and I would black out and not remember anything until I woke up naked somewhere hopefully within the city.

“Most of us really just look like stray dogs when we transform, only some of us actually look like wolves. But that’s not my point.” He shakes his hand and starts messing with a bracelet on his wrist, one that you notice has thin silver lines on it, similar to Jungwoo’s daylight ring. But before you can ask, Jaehyun starts talking again. “It was probably my seventh full moon and I was at this bar, this was actually around the time when you and I had class together. You know that bar that our professor was always talking about? It’s on 52nd Street?”

You vaguely recall the place. Your professor would tell the class stories about how he went to that particular bar to observe and talk with people, trying to understand the connections between their psyche and social interactions.

“I went there that night because he was offering me extra credit,” Jaehyun says. “It was the full moon, but I figured I could gather some info and be out of there before the moon had completely risen. Anyway, I was at the bar taking notes on people and I lost track of time, and before I knew it, I could feel the change beginning to set in. It’s like an ache in your bones, your skin burns a bit and itches. So I ran out of there and I didn’t make it far before I couldn’t go any further so I moved into this alley and I was hunched there trying not to make too much noise, and then suddenly there was a guy in front of me and he was handsome like out of this world handsome, you know?

“You’ve met Yongie. Of course you know how handsome he is. And he took one look at me, put his hand on my forehead, looked at the moon, and told me to get up. When I tried to argue since I knew I would be transforming within the hour, he just snapped at me that he was taking me to a friend, an alpha. I’m pretty sure my bones started snapping before we got to the den and I passed out from the pain, so Taeyong had to carry me the rest of the way. I was in and out of it after that. Of course, by the time we got to the den, most of the pack had already completed the transformations, so Taeyong did what vampires are good at, and he held me down while I transformed so I wouldn’t hurt myself and his strength and the chill of his skin grounded me and he sat with me after I transformed and I can still remember it. That was the first time I was a wolf and could remember everything.

“He pet me like I was just a dog and kept talking to me. We were in the main area of the den alone since everyone else was locked in their bedrooms. Like, you’ve seen Lucas’s cuffs chained to the wall? That’s not just some kinky bondage thing,” Jaehyun grins and you cover your face. “Some wolves experience different sorts of transformation, some are more violent than others, so they actually have to be chained down to keep from causing serious damage in the change. But that night I was fine and Taeyong stayed with me all night and in the morning he was still there until I’d turned back. He had to stay the rest of the day, and he introduced me to the pack and Kun took me in, and I’ve not left ever since. And Taeyong took a special interest in me, and honestly I had a very special interest in him too.”

“And you started dating shortly after that?” You ask.

Jaehyun shakes his head. “No, not right away. Like I said, I had… reservations about going into a relationship with a vampire. But then I had a break from school and there was something Kun wanted me to go fetch for the pack, since I was the newest member he wanted me to do it, but since I’m new I would need some sort of protection since I didn’t understand the ins and outs of supernatural life, and Taeyong volunteered to go with me and claimed he’d always wanted to go to the city Kun said I had to go to. So we made a Spring Break trip of it, although it was definitely not like the breaks you see in the movies.

“No sunshine, no beaches, no getting drunk.” Jaehyun shakes his head. “We took a flight that left late at night and arrived at night. I didn’t mind being on a nocturnal schedule, like most of the nighttime where we were was daytime here, so it didn’t mess terribly with my brain. And it was while we were on this trip that Tae even indicated that he was actually interested in me.” You notice Jaehyun blushing a little.

“He was thirsty one night, and you can’t really just let a thirsty vampire roam the streets of a strange, foreign city. He might run into a bad pack of wolves or crazy vampire hunters or any number of bad things. So I offered to let him drink from me, and I know you know how vampires can get when they’re drinking. Some of them get really, really horny. And I’m not saying that Taeyong is one of them, because if I did say that, he would kill me, but after he was done drinking that night he was so embarrassed.” And now Jaehyun’s ears burn bright red. “When I suggested it was alright that he was feeling that way, Taeyong got more embarrassed and he tried acting tough and not embarrassed, but he was and I loved it.

“So it wasn’t like a Spring Break with the sunshine and the beaches and getting drunk, but it did involve nudity and drinking of a different sort.” He grins and runs his hands over his hair then reaches down to fiddle with his bracelet again. “I kinda consider that whole trip to be our first date because it was when I realized that I really loved him, you know. Like I thought he was great before that and I really liked him and we were close, like good friends, but that trip was the big step, and while we were there, away from all of this, it really cemented these feelings and I knew that the way I felt about him was real.”

“And what’s this bracelet?” You tap his wrist where he’s still messing around with the jewelry.

Jaehyun looks down and twists it around a few times before he nods at Ten who’s sitting a few rows ahead of you two with his head bowed toward YangYang’s over the notebook. “This is a gift from Ten. Shortly after I found a home with the pack and learned about the vampires and ghosts and everything being real, I walked in on Ten doing a spell in the bathroom at school. I think he nearly shit himself when I walked in and he was standing there with his lightning running over his fingertips. I think he would’ve wiped my memory, which he has threatened to do since then for a different reason, but when I told him I was a werewolf he relaxed a bit. Then I brought him around the pack and when we were talking about the full moon coming up, Ten listened and then made us these. They ease the transformation and make it less painful and quicker.”

“Clever.” You touch the bracelet again, and you swear you can feel a static tingle under your fingers. “Do you think it’s kinda similar to the ring he gave Jungwoo?”

He shrugs. “He made almost a dozen of these bracelets, but he’s only made the one ring. If I had to say, I think this is a less complex magic than the ring. But you’d really have to ask the magician and his apprentice.” Again he casts a look at the two witches. “I do wish the ring were an easier spell for him to do. I would love to give Taeyong a ring like that.” Jaehyun pauses and then sighs in a sweet, lovesick kind of way. “Or any ring honestly, but don’t tell him I said that.”

You pretend to lock your lips shut, his secret safe within. “I’m sure if you asked Ten, he could work on it, especially with YangYang and Jisung’s help. They could pool enough power to get Taeyong a magical daylight wedding ring.”

Jaehyun smiles and you see the tips of his ears are turning red. “Can you imagine me married?” He laughs and his eyes are far-off, a smile etched on his face. “Me married to a daylight vampire? He could come to see me play a whole basketball game. He could see me graduate at the end of the semester. And, like I said don’t tell him this, but literally the day after our first date I was already picturing marrying him, which is so stupid but shit Taeyong looks handsome in a tux, and I think a spring wedding would be so nice with cherry blossoms and sunlight.”

You can picture it. Jaehyun and Taeyong holding hands at an outdoor ceremony, smiling and crying because they’re both emotional guys. You can picture them living a happy life, living an actual eternity together as they swear to do in their vows.

You feel a knot settling in your stomach at all of this talk. You want that too. You want to be happy and have an eternity with Jungwoo.

When at last the bus comes to the stop near the vampires’ mansion, you nearly leap over Jaehyun and hurry out of the bus, running toward the house. Snowflakes bite against your cheeks, and in the distance you see the sunset burning through a break in the snowstorm.

You burst through the front door of the house, and you’re halfway up the stairs when Jungwoo appears at the top, looking worried.

“What’s wrong? Why are you running?” His voice sounds panicked, and you’re certain that he’s heard the loud pounding of your heart and it’s made him worry. You climb the rest of the stairs and don’t waste a second before you loop your arms around his waist and press your cheek to his chest.

“I love you, Jungwoo.”

Swiftly, Jungwoo lifts you into his arms and carries you the rest of the way to his bedroom. You’ve barely crossed the threshold of his room when you notice that you’re not alone in there.

You pull your face from your boyfriend’s chest and look across the room to where Lucas is sitting in the chair in the corner. He looks up when you drop to the floor.

“Lucas.” You say his name in a tone similar to the one you’d just used with Jungwoo at the top of the stairs. Somewhat tired, somewhat sad, somewhat needy. As you cross the room toward him, Lucas glances behind you at Jungwoo, and you don’t care what that means, you reach the chair and you climb in and sit on his lap.

Lucas’s hands go immediately to your hips, securing your place in his lap.

“What are you doing?” He asks, and once again he’s glancing between you and Jungwoo, confusion and alarm bleeding into his tone.

It’s then that you realize, while you and Jungwoo have discussed the threesome and have discussed Lucas since that morning on the first of the year, Lucas has mostly been in the dark on the subject. For all he knows that was a completely one-off occasion that neither you nor Jungwoo wants to revisit even a mention of.

But now you’re sitting in his lap, and he doesn’t know what’s happening or what to do. And when you look back at Jungwoo, he sort of seems to be in the same position as Lucas: confused, unsure what to do. So you just say the first thing on your mind.

“Let’s get away. All three of us. Let’s go on a trip together and just relax and have fun and escape the cold.” Jaehyun’s words echo in your mind, the part of his story where getting away with Taeyong has helped them cement their feelings in the relationship. “I know the cold doesn’t bother either of you, but I’m tired of it.” You lean back a little and feel Lucas’s fingers twist in the back of your shirt.

His eyebrows meet in the middle as he frowns a little. “Where would we go? And why? Don’t you have school right now?”

“Forget about that. I want to get away for a while.” You turn to look at Jungwoo. “Please, Woo. You mentioned Taeil has an island once, right? We could go there for the ultimate relaxation.”

“You want to take a vampire to a tropical destination? Even a sunburn-proof vampire’s going to be a bit hesitant about that.” Lucas laughs a little, but you don’t hear a no coming from either one of the men in the room with you.

You reach out a hand to Jungwoo, and he messes a hand through his hair and glances out the nearby window. The curtains are thrown open to show off the grayness of the snowstorm outside.

“Jungwoo, come on. Think about it. You, me, a beach.” You slide back in Lucas’s lap until your back rests against his chest. “And Lucas.”

Lucas’s hands tighten on you, and Jungwoo turns his gaze to your corner of the room again. His eyes are a hungry shade hovering just between his calm black and the angry red, like a warm, molten treacle.

The room is silent for a moment, so quiet that you think you can hear snowflakes brushing against the window, the world holding its breath while Jungwoo stares at you seated in the lap of his secret desire.

“Alright,” Jungwoo sighs finally. “But I’ll have to ask if we can borrow his island. And how to get there. No guarantees, sunshine.”

You bound out of Lucas’s lap and jump into Jungwoo’s arms again, wrapping yourself around him as he holds you up and spins around a few times before he settles you down on the bed. And as you look around at the two of them, you notice that they’re both smiling too.

The plane touches down, and all you can see is the glimmer of turquoise water, the gleam of white sand beaches.

Beside you, Jungwoo shields his eyes against the light and pulls his hat lower over his face as Lucas leans across him, trying to get a glimpse out the window. He whistles appreciatively.

You’re not quite to your destination yet.

The instructions Jungwoo got from Taeil said that this flight was only the first part.

When Taeil claimed the island as his several hundred years before, he’d made certain it was private, far away from nearby civilization. It was where he’d napped while Doyoung and Jungwoo were off exploring the world, and Taeil hadn’t wanted to be disturbed by human explorers, and therefore chose an island safely out at sea, the most moderately sized one that he could find. Not so big that it would draw unwanted attention, but not so small that it would get swept away in a storm.

After he’d woken from his nap, he’d had a house built on the island and it was a fertile little place with a decently sized forest on it that flourished with life. All sorts of little creatures and vegetation that he was pretty sure was edible for humans.

So it sounded as close to paradise as you could find, but even as the plane touched down on the tarmac, you still had a long way to go.

“Where do we go after this?” You asked Jungwoo again, slipping your hand into his.

“Take a smaller plane to an island. Then an even smaller plane from there to another island. Then we rent a boat and follow the coordinates he gave me to Tai Ilisam as the locals call it.” He starts playing with your fingers as the other passengers on the plane begin climbing to their feet, crowding the center aisle even though no one will be getting off the plane for at least a few more minutes.

On Jungwoo’s other side Lucas says, “What locals? I thought you said it was private.”

“It is.” Jungwoo smiles. “The last island we’re flying into, those people have names for all the smaller islands around, but Taeil says that they avoid Tai Ilisam because it’s haunted by a violent spirit that wrecks ships and feeds off the survivors.”

“That doesn’t sound like the Taeil we know.” You lean into Jungwoo’s shoulder.

Jungwoo shakes his head. “That’s the Taeil that I first knew. He’s tried befriending the island people since that time, but the legend lives on and they think that Taeil’s the descendant of the only person to ever survive a shipwreck on Tai Ilisam. He also said they probably think he’s possessed, and when we come back they’ll treat us like we’re possessed too.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Lucas smirks. “Do we think gold eyes will make them feel like I’m possessed?” When he leans forward, hiding his face from the aisle, you and Jungwoo have a clear view of Lucas’s wolfishly golden eyes.

A few minutes later, the plane begins to empty, and the three of you follow the rest of the passengers out. The layover isn’t long, just barely enough time to navigate through the airport to where your next plane awaits. That flight isn’t long, and you nap with your head on Jungwoo’s shoulder while Lucas peers out the window at the ocean passing by below.

You’re still hazy with sleep as you leave that flight and make it to the next plane which is tiny and barely more than a mail plane heading to the small island before Tai Ilisam. It’s a rickety plane that jolts and shudders and creaks and beeps too much for your liking, so you spend the entire flight clinging to both Jungwoo and Lucas, figuring that if the plane goes down, the two supernatural men are your best bet at survival.

But the plane touches down safely, the pilot thanks you for flying, and reminds you that he’ll be back at the same time the following week unless it’s storming, and if you want a flight back to do it then.

And then the last leg of the journey finally begins.

As Jungwoo treks ahead of you, using the notes he’s got from Taeil to find his way to the docks to find a boat to rent for the week, Lucas slings his arm over your shoulders and walks with you.

You straggle a bit behind Jungwoo, distracted as you pass through this town’s island. It’s a decent size, and you can tell that they do get the occasional tourist and they probably are the supply hub for the surrounding smaller private islands like Taeil’s island.

Lucas convinces you to stop in the marketplace because there’s all kinds of delicious food, and as he’s feeling more human than wolf at the moment, his appetite is more human, so the pair of you buy fruit and vegetables and meat and pack it all in a cooler before hurrying along to find Jungwoo at the docks, which the locals kindly direct you toward.

Tai Ilisam, it turns out, is a two hour boat ride away, so you climb in the boat Jungwoo rented and set out across the sea.

And when you see the island come into view, you gasp. The sand is a beautiful pink, contrasting with the vibrant blue of the water and the green of the island’s vegetation, and through the trees at the edge of the beach, you see shining glass.

Jungwoo pulls the boat nicely up to a dock, and Lucas helps him tie it up.

“Why did Taeil build a place here if he can’t live in the sun?” You ask, jumping from the boat onto the dock and you run to the sand, kicking off your shoes because you want to feel the sand between your toes.

A moment later Jungwoo is right behind you, grabbing your hand and swinging you around, spinning you across the sand like it’s a dance floor.

“He knew that if he ever needed to get away, such as escape from the rare vampire hunters, this would be the perfect place.” He says as you spin to face him. Jungwoo squints from under the bill of his cap. “He figured no one would think to look for a vampire on this tiny island where the sun shines so brightly, without humans around to feed on.”

Jungwoo grins wickedly and tightens his arms around your waist and bends you backwards until his mouth presses to your throat.

You close your eyes and dig your fingers into Jungwoo’s arms, sigh at the feeling of his lips, the hint of his teeth. You so badly want him to bite you right then, have his venom coursing sweetly through your veins.

“But now I’ve lured a human here and I have no plans of letting you leave.” He attacks your throat with little kisses, peppering them up your jaw and your cheeks.

You laugh and wrap your arms around his neck, pulling yourself up as Jungwoo stands upright, and you stretch up on your toes and kiss him.

“Is this how it’s going to be all week?” Lucas stands a few feet off. Holding his suitcase in one hand, the cooler of food in the other, and your bag and Jungwoo’s are thrown over his shoulders. “Don’t tell me you invited me along to be a third wheel.”

Jungwoo turns to look at Lucas with a soft smile. “Jealousy is a good look, Lucas. I guess, there’s some stuff we all need to talk about.”

You detach yourself from Jungwoo and cross the sand between you and Lucas. You take your bag from him and Jungwoo takes his, and the three of you set off for the house just behind the cover of the trees.

Taeil’s island home isn’t elegant, it’s just a basic home built to withstand the strain of tropical existence. You’re not surprised to find that there’s only a single bedroom and a bare office, both windowless, and the windows of the house that look out onto the pink sand beach and the gorgeous ocean beyond are heavily curtained to not allow in any sunlight.

Lucas hesitates in the doorway of the bedroom, looking over his shoulder at the sofa in the large open main room. You can see the wheels turning in his head, and the moment he begins to turn to walk back to the sofa, you grab his hand and pull.

“You’re not sleeping out there. Don’t be ridiculous.”

The bed is massive, definitely big enough to comfortably fit Jungwoo, Lucas, and yourself. “You’re not third-wheeling with us.”

Jungwoo takes Lucas’s suitcase and sits it inside the bedroom, and then he steps closer and rakes his fingers through Lucas’s already wind-blown hair, messing it up even further. “I know we haven’t talked about that night. New Year’s Eve, I mean. We just kinda glossed it over, but she and I have talked about it a bit. And I’ve been thinking,” Jungwoo slips his fingers through Lucas’s belt loops. “I think it could be fun to see what else we can do.”

And right then you see it. A snap of a connection, a jolt of lust that glows within Lucas’s eyes, and you know that if you don’t separate them now, you won’t get to just relax totally peacefully on the island for this first night.

As great as sex is, especially when one or both of them is involved, you just want a quiet, enjoyable night. Cooking the food you’ve brought, watching the sunset, maybe going for a swim before dark or building a fire or stargazing.

And maybe it’s a bit selfish, but you don’t want them to mess around together without you. Because Jungwoo is your boyfriend.

“Let’s go check out the beach.” You insist. “I want to take pictures to send home. My mom will be so jealous when she sees this place.”

Distracted, not only by your plans of exploration, but also by the talk about your mother, Jungwoo let’s go of Lucas. “When do I get to meet her anyway? Does she even know we’re together?”

You hadn’t told Jungwoo much about your history before university. He knew bits and pieces from things you slipped into casual conversation, but he had yet to meet your parents or anyone that knew you before you came to the university. You rarely ever spoke about parents or siblings or grandparents, and Jungwoo didn’t push.

“She knows all about you. You’re all I talk about when I call her, you and Lucas, and some of the stuff we get into.” You smile and reach for both of the boys. “Now let’s go before it gets dark.”

Maybe in the interim time you’d forgotten the shape of Lucas’s body or the feel of his skin under your fingers, the broadness of his shoulders, the shift of muscle under skin. But now you’re all too aware of every bit of that.

You gasp and clutch at his arm.

“You’re so clumsy!” Lucas teases, wrapping his arm around you so that the next wave doesn’t knock you over entirely. “No wonder Jungwoo’s so protective about you, baby.”

Lucas holds tightly to you as another wave rolls past, and the pair of you struggle a few feet further into the sea.

The taste of salt tingles on your tongue and you look around, searching for the shape of Jungwoo, sunbathing on a rock a short distance from the shore. He’s got his eyes closed, his arms folded behind his head, and he’s totally naked except for the ring on his finger.

He’s your destination at the moment. And as Lucas swings you around in front of him, blocking you from another wave while his fingers simultaneously tickle down your sides causing you to shriek with laughter, you begin to wonder if he’s helping you on your journey or hindering you, but also, you don’t really mind.

You climb up his body, wrapping your legs around his waist, pressing your chest to his back, and your arms go firmly around his shoulders. Another wave crashes against you, washing over your lower half, and even Lucas stumbles a step forward.

Jungwoo doesn’t even look your way, too busy soaking in the precious sunlight he was denied for so long.

The rock he’s on isn’t nearly big enough for the three of you, but you climb on and sit beside him, carefully wringing out your hair onto his skin. You watch in amusement as Jungwoo opens an eye to look at you. His nipples perk up from the chill and you’re tempted to lean down and lick at his chest, taste the salt and sun on his skin.

Then a shadow stretches across the rock.

“Has anyone ever told you that you look like a god?” Jungwoo asks, shielding his eyes a little as he looks up at Lucas. The sun sits behind his head, gilding his hair, and water drips from his body and you feel your heart drop into your belly, pulsing and fluttering, so you squeeze your legs together.

“All the time.” Lucas grins. He doesn’t sit down, there’s not enough room, instead he continues standing there, looking godly and too hot for you. After another minute you have to look away from him, casting your gaze toward the shore and the house.

This is your first full day on Tai Ilisam. Last night was short and none of you lasted too long after arriving. You walked some length down the beach, Jungwoo gave you a piggyback ride back to the house, and then you made a quick dinner and fell asleep, exhausted from the day of travel.

You’re convinced that after you fell asleep your vampire and your werewolf companions masterminded a wicked plan to make you as frustrated as possible all day long.

From the moment you woke until this moment sitting here on the rock, it seems that they’ve been doing as much as possible to make you horny.

You woke in bed between the two of them. You were halfway on top of Jungwoo with your leg thrown over one of his, his thigh pressed against your center. Lucas was beside you and at some point in the night your hand had fallen into his lap, and at the moment when you woke, your hand was lightly holding his slightly hard cock.

You were certain they planned it.

And then when you got out of the bathroom you found them in the kitchen, both shirtless, Jungwoo standing closely behind Lucas to watch as the wolf prepared a breakfast. And then you’d watched as Jungwoo ate his breakfast fresh from Lucas’s throat, his lips sealed against Lucas’s skin.

Then the morning passed in a blur of boys’ bare skin and too much hands as they rubbed lotion on you to make sure you were protected from the sun, and each touch on your skin drove you a little more crazy.

But you didn’t come on this vacation just for sex in an exotic location, you wanted to have other fun and explore the island. Feel the sun on your skin and the sea all around you. So that’s what you were doing right now. But you’d be lying if you said that you didn’t want to fuck both of them right now and every moment since dawn.

You shiver when you feel the coolness of Jungwoo’s ring against your skin, and for once his fingers hold warmth without taking it from you first.

“What are you thinking about?” He asks. “We can hear your heartbeat.”

You press your hand to your chest and realize that your heart is pounding.

Jungwoo sits up, his posture perfect even in this relaxed paradise, even on this less than comfortable rock. His fingers move high on your thighs, stroking in what could be an absentminded manner except that you know it’s not.

“Race you to shore!” You call, avoiding answering his question as you climb quickly to your feet, and you dive off the rock, swimming as quickly as you can toward the pink beach. But even then, when you stand and wipe the sea water from your eyes, Jungwoo stands there in all his naked glory, and Lucas laughs beside him, shaking his hair like a wet dog might.

The longer you watch the way that they’re both acting with you, the more you realize that Jungwoo is the one pushing you, teasing you, trying to get you to the point where you’ll be so turned on you can’t deny it anymore.

So you wait.

You relax for a while on the beach, reading a book and sitting in one of the three comfy chairs Jungwoo helped you drag down from the house’s enclosed back porch.

Lucas and Jungwoo wrestle and fight out in the water, howling with laughter so loudly you’re certain they’ve scared off any of the island’s wildlife. Once you look up when you notice they’ve grown quiet and they’re both watching you while Jungwoo talks to Lucas and you feel heat flooding your belly, and you want to part your legs and give them a tease or puff out your chest or something that will tease them back the way you’ve felt all day, but they turn away and go back to what seems to be trying to catch fish with their bare hands. But you swear that the next time you catch them looking you’ll do something for a show.

You don’t have to wait long.

You hear one of them coming out of the water, slopping toward you, and it’s Lucas.

Jungwoo stands out in the water, watching the horizon, and Lucas sighs and collapses down into the chair beside you, props his feet up and closes his eyes.

“Jungwoo was telling me something interesting.” He rolls his head to the side to look at you.

“Like what?”

“Well we didn’t get to talk really last night, you know. You and I fell asleep pretty quick after dinner, so there wasn’t much to say, but Jungwoo was just saying that you seem to like revisiting our time together.” His crooked smile snags at your attention and you can’t look away. “He said that you guys have talked about it sometimes like when you’re in bed, about to have sex, even in the middle of sex. Is it true that you —“

You don’t let him finish whatever he was going to say. The book you were reading falls into the sand as you move from your chair into Lucas’s, swinging your leg over his and you settle down into his lap, put one hand to the joint of his neck and his shoulder, and you lean in until you’re just inches from his lips and you brush some of his damp hair back from his forehead.

Lucas looks up at you with wide, soft eyes and his lips part around a sigh. You shift your hips ever-so-slightly against him and do that several times until you can feel him responding.

“Do you think he can hear us from here?” You whisper, circling your hips and you brush your lips along Lucas’s cheekbone then touch them to his ear as you continue, “Or is he too focused on the sea?”

Lucas’s hands slide up to your hips. “He can’t hear.”

Still moving, grinding along Lucas’s length, you whisper, “Did he tell you the things he told me when we were in bed? About how after that night he’s thought about you? He told me he had a dream, and vampire dreams are rare, where he had his fingers inside you and your cock was dripping wet for him. You were whimpering and whining his name. He said he fingered you until you were begging for him to fuck you, but instead he let me ride him and cum as many times as I wanted while you watched.”

You feel his cock twitch under you. His breath comes out shakily. You climb off his lap, satisfied with what you’ve done, the tent in his shorts is obvious.

And you leave him there, just like that.

“Jungwoo!” You jog across the beach, into the water, and you wade out to Jungwoo, who turns around to greet you.

You stand out there in the ocean with him for a while longer. He points to shapes on the horizon that you can barely even see, he catches tiny fish and cups them in his hands, and when he dives down into the water, searching for a shell to give you, he comes back up by swimming right up to you and kissing your stomach as he surfaces, then lifting you up before he presents you with a beautifully intact sea shell.

You’re so wrapped up in each other, that you don’t notice when Lucas leaves the beach and returns to the house until you’re walking out of the water and your eyes fall on the empty chairs.

“Where did he go?” Jungwoo looks around, holding tightly to your hand. He scans the water and the surrounding trees, he tilts his head in a way that tells you that he’s listening, and then he nods at the house. “He’s in there. I can hear the shower running. I still wanted to go walk further around the island.” He pouts a little and you squeeze his hand.

“Do you think I could have upset him?” You tug on his fingers. “He was trying to tease me, I think, about you telling him that we’ve talked about him in bed, and I told him about that dream you had.”

Jungwoo’s eyes darken a bit. “Do you think Lucas would be upset by that? He’s made of sturdier stuff than that.”

“I may have been grinding on him and telling him about that, then I left him hard and went to you.” You duck your head and drag your toes through the sand. “But in my defence, the two of you have been trying to make me horny all day, and I was tired of it. I wanted to have some fun.”

“So we’ll have fun. Come on, sunshine.” He starts toward the house, and you follow, falling into step beside him. Jungwoo swings your hands comfortably, and when you reach the house he plucks the shell from your finger and sits it on a nearby table, then he turns to you and very seriously says, “If you want this, like if you really, really want to have the three of us together again, are you going to be happy and comfortable if I have sex with Lucas?”

“That’s… Is that happening now?” You glance toward the door of the bedroom where you can hear the water running.

Jungwoo touches your waist. “He knows how we both feel, why not do it now? And don’t think that I don’t want you involved, I definitely do. Us and Lucas though?” Jungwoo shakes his head and whistles, “We’d be hot.”

His smile is innocent enough, but the look in your boyfriend’s eyes is anything but. You’d be crazy to tell him no right now, not when you can see how much he wants this, and then there’s how much you want Lucas too, and you know that whatever makes both of them happy is going to make you happy as well.

Jungwoo’s hand sneaks down from your waist to your ass, and you swat at his hand, and he pulls it away, smiling wider. “Remember that day in the library at home when you wanted to baby me?” He leans in and bends down so he can press his lips to your throat. “When you were biting me and wanted to call me a slut. I bet we can get Lucas like that for us, angel.”

You shiver as his cool fingers run up your spine, and when they reach the tie of your swimsuit top, he tugs on it lightly and everything comes undone. Your top comes apart, sliding off your shoulders. The last vestiges of your reluctance to have your boyfriend fuck his best friend with you disappear. You’re entirely completely totally ready.

“Lucas is waiting,” you whisper as Jungwoo’s lips move over your throat again. His fangs scrape lightly over your jugular, and his hands wander down to your ass again, though this time you allow him to touch, to push your swimsuit bottoms down your legs, leaving you naked and slightly self-conscious.

Last time, it seemed like everything just happened quickly. It fell into place and worked and you didn’t have a minute to doubt what was happening, it was purely based on desires and lust. But now you have time to think.

With each step through the house, through the bedroom, into the bathroom, you think about the sand on your body, the way your fingers and toes are pruned from being in the water for so long. You think about the shape of your breasts, the slight prickle of your unshaven legs and your overall hair situation. Jungwoo’s never complained about it, but now you find yourself doubting everything. A tight knot grows tighter in your stomach and you cling to Jungwoo’s hand as you step through the bathroom door together.

Steam fills the bathroom, creating condensation on the mirror over the double vanity and the window that looks out into the dense forest occupying the interior of the island. Lucas stands in the shower under the hot water, his back to the pair of you. His shoulders are turning pink from the heat of the water, but it doesn’t seem to bother him at all, and he just lets it soak over his body.

You’re not sure if he even really knows that you and Jungwoo are there until the moment Jungwoo steps into the shower and presses his cool hands on Lucas’s shoulders.

The werewolf spins around quickly. He looks first at Jungwoo, his eyes, his lips, and he doesn’t shy away when Jungwoo takes another step closer. Then he looks at you, noticing all of your beautiful bare skin, the shape of you hazy through the steam, the way that you’re holding yourself.

Jungwoo presses his fingers to Lucas’s chin, drawing his eyes (which grow more golden by the second) back to Jungwoo’s mouth.

“Why did you leave us out there?” Jungwoo asks. “We weren’t quite finished playing and exploring. I wanted to see the rest of the island, but then you were gone.”

You step closer, into the shower itself, and you let the warm water wash over you, rinsing away the sand that clings stubbornly to your skin. Lucas looks at you for just a moment, and then Jungwoo’s lips are on his throat. You see a flash of white teeth, a glimpse of red swiped away by a pink tongue, and then Lucas’s big hands are on Jungwoo’s hips to pull him closer.

“Now we’re going to have to play and explore something else.” Jungwoo says, fixing his mouth onto Lucas’s throat again, but this time he doesn’t bite, he just kisses across Lucas’s pulse. “She told me that she told you about the dream and how hard you were hearing about it. Is that why you came in here, Xuxi?”

Lucas groans, and you watch as Jungwoo’s hand disappears between their bodies. Lucas’s head falls back against the wall of the shower, and Jungwoo reaches up to cup the back of his head, his lips still busy on Lucas’s throat. You watch Jungwoo’s arm moving, and you can only assume that he’s jerking Lucas off.

“Jungwoo.” Lucas’s moan reverberates off the walls of the shower, and his eyes close in pleasure. “God, please.”

“Shh.” Jungwoo bites down on his throat again and Lucas’s legs buckle a little bit. Jungwoo’s hands move so both of them hold Lucas’s hips, and you lean back against the cold tile, the contrast between it and the steamy heat of the shower is electric on your skin, made better by the visual in front of you as Jungwoo grinds their cocks together between their bodies.

Lucas whines and bucks.

Jungwoo’s pretty lips curve against Lucas’s throat, and he manhandles him, twisting them around with their feet making quiet splashing sounds on the shower floor. And suddenly it’s Lucas whose back is to you, and you make your move to join in.

You slide your hands over Lucas‘s waist, fingers splaying over his skin, and you press up against his back, your lips brushing his skin.

He moans again, leaning into your touch and Jungwoo’s, unsure of which one of you he should fall into more.

Jungwoo’s lips unlatch from his throat, and your hands range higher until your thumbs flick over his nipples. It’s so easy to make Lucas fall apart you’re learning. The last time there wasn’t really too much time to focus on him, so you don’t think he was so pliable for you two, but right now he’s like putty in your hands.

“Are you gonna cum for us, Xuxi?” Jungwoo asks. You look up just in time to see him licking his lips while staring Lucas straight in the eye. “When you cum then we’re going to bed and she and I are going to take you apart bit by bit. That’s what you want right?”

Lucas bites his lip and just rocks his hips to meet Jungwoo’s.

“Lucas.” You speak for the first time, your hand dropping down until you can wrap your fingers around both Lucas and Jungwoo’s erections. You drag your lips over his skin, a quick hint of teeth. “Cum for us.”

You drag your hand up and down their combined lengths, and Lucas moans loudly, a choked off and stuttering sound that is soon swallowed by Jungwoo. And Lucas cums over your hand, his load hot and huge, you keep touching them both until Jungwoo pushes your hand away and he steps back under the shower’s spray. He rakes his fingers through his hair, moving the damp locks away from his forehead.

You’ve all three got Lucas‘s cum on you, so you take a few minutes to shower off, and as the water begins to run cold, you bolt out to wrap in a towel and dry off. The boys linger for a few more moments as neither of them are much affected by the water temperature, and also because Jungwoo’s very distracted by Lucas’s ass, which Lucas has been slowly touching throughout this shower time.

By the time they step out of the shower, looking flushed and damp, you’re reclining on the bed, your towel wrapped around your body.

“She looks lovely,” Lucas says, draping his arms over Jungwoo’s shoulders from behind. “And she smells so good. Can you smell her?” He lifts his face and closes his eyes, breathing deeply. Your body tingles and you squeeze your legs together a little bit, trying to ignore the pulse of need that goes through you right then.

Jungwoo reaches up to untangle Lucas’s arms from his shoulders, and with his hold on the wolf’s wrists, he pulls him around in front of him. They stare at each other for a moment, and then Jungwoo presses forward and you watch in delight as your boyfriend pecks Lucas on the lips and tells him, “Do you want to taste her, pup?”

Lucas moans.

“Go have a taste then.” Jungwoo gives him a light push. “She loves to be eaten out, Xuxi. She especially loves when I bite her thighs and eat her out. Though your venom will make her feel a little different.”

Jungwoo strokes Lucas’s hair again, and then the younger drops down onto the edge of the bed and turns to look at you. His eyes gleam faintly golden, and when he opens his mouth you see his canines look a little sharper. Different than whenever Jungwoo’s fangs start to really show, but still the appearance of sharp teeth sends a vague thrill through you.

“You’ve never been bitten by me, have you?” Lucas asks. The mattress shifts as he crawls into the spot between your legs.

His fingertips drag gently up from your ankle to your knee and then higher still. You shiver and bite your lip, try not to whine as you shake your head in response to his question.

“I’ve heard that it feels different than a vampire bite, but still very good. I’m not taking anything from you, just giving you something good.” Lucas’s fingertips meet the edge of your towel, and he lifts that golden gaze to your eyes, checking to see if you’re good, and when he sees no sign of hesitance in your eyes, he continues.

With a flick of his wrist, the towel falls apart, exposing your body to him and to Jungwoo. Jungwoo takes a step forward, his eyes flashing, his fangs peek out. A low growl sounds from deep in Lucas’s throat and he dips his head to kiss your abdomen, just below your navel. You gasp and reach down, running your hand over the back of his head.

“Once Taeyong, Ten, and I were having a discussion about our sex lives,” Lucas says, sitting up once more. “And Taeyong told us that when Jaehyun bites him during sex it feels like he’s high. Ten was curious, so I bit him, and he said it was just euphoric and we weren’t even doing anything sexual. Just sitting there while it raced through his veins.”

“Wouldn’t a bite turn me?” You gasp as his fingers skate up your inner thigh, ranging dangerously close to your pussy. “That sounds amazing, but I don’t want to be a werewolf, thanks.”

Jungwoo slides up the bed, suddenly there beside you, cradling your head in his lap. “No, sunshine. The bite is only effective at the full moon.”

Lucas nods, and again he lowers his mouth to your skin, gently nipping at your thigh. “I wouldn’t risk turning you. I would never intentionally put you in harm’s way like that.” He nuzzles against your thigh, dragging his nose closer to your center, and he makes that possessive growling noise again. “Now, enough talking, right? You smell like heaven, and I just want a taste.”

“Please.” You touch his hair and shift your hips on the bed. “Bite me if you want to, I don’t mind.”

Lucas dives right in, thumbs pressing to the sensitive joint to part your thighs more for him, and he licks right over your entrance, lapping there for a moment before moving higher to pay attention to your desperate clit.

“Fuck, Lucas!” You moan reaching out for anything, and your hand lands on Jungwoo’s thigh, holding tight. He licks and sucks and slurps and Jungwoo just holds you while Lucas’s tongue takes you to ecstasy. When you feel a sharp prick on your thigh, you glance down and see his lips pressed to your skin, a faint gleam of teeth, and when he looks up at you his fangs are tipped with blood. You whimper and he drops his head back down, returning to your pussy.

Soon you feel his venom starting to take effect. You feel light and warm and not in the way that means your orgasm is approaching, but just better than that almost. You grow more vocal, moaning and swearing, even laughing a little too.

Jungwoo smiles down at you, stroking your cheek and your hair, touching your lips with his fingertips. You roll your hips against Lucas’s face, riding his tongue deep inside you. Jungwoo touches your chest, stroking lightly to stimulate the sensitive skin of your breasts, tracing circles around your nipples and tweaking the pert buds.

You feel your orgasm shredding through you, tearing you apart like beams of light, sparking and shooting across your closed eyelids. Lucas keeps licking at you, moaning and grinding his erection against the bed, savoring every drop you’re offering up to his eager tongue.

“Lucas.” Jungwoo calls his name in a voice so soft but commanding.

Lucas breaks away from his last few lingering licks, looking up at Jungwoo with his eyes glowing. “Yeah?”

“Come here.” Jungwoo crooks a finger at the wolf, and then Lucas is shooting up, leaning over you to meet Jungwoo in a messy kiss, sharing the taste of you from his tongue to Jungwoo’s. Their mouths collide with a slight crash and moans, but the flash of tongues and teeth and your cum on Lucas’s lips takes over.

You lay there beneath them, Lucas’s body halfway over yours, your head still in Jungwoo’s lap. As Lucas shifts up onto his knees, moving higher to better be able to kiss Jungwoo, his cock swings forward between his legs, just almost within reach of your mouth. Even though you’ve just cum, a powerful fire blazes in your gut, hungry and horny, you want more. It’s probably thanks to his venom you feel this way, but you don’t care. You just need.

Lucas moans when your forehead touches his abdomen, and when he feels your lips around his tip, he actually startles a bit. “Still a bit sensitive, angel. Careful.” He hisses, but he rocks forward slightly.

You keep your eyes open, looking up as the two of them resume making out. Jungwoo’s mouth skates to the side and Lucas groans, dropping his hands to your hair, pressing you to take more of his length until you’re just consumed by his scent, the spice and warmth that you’ve come to associate with Lucas.

Jungwoo tuts, a noise of displeasure as he pulls Lucas’s hand away from your hair. You back off, breathing in deeply, rub your cheek against Jungwoo’s thigh.

“Don’t touch, pup.” He holds Lucas’s wrists in his hand. Though you see Lucas struggling against his grip he doesn’t seem to be able to break his hold. “Lay back, Lucas.”

He does as Jungwoo commands, sinking back across the bed, never letting his gaze waver from you in Jungwoo’s lap or the beautiful man himself, the whole reason that you’ve both found yourselves here in this situation.

Jungwoo’s hands move to your tits, pushing them together, massaging them. You sigh and lift your chest into the delicate heat of his hands, spreading your legs just a little as the tingling between them reaches a new level.

“Please,” You whine. “I’ve been thinking about you both all day. Just wanna have you both.”

“And you’ve been so good.” Jungwoo leans over you, presses a kiss to your forehead. “You’re so wet, and you haven’t even touched yourself. Just had the one orgasm. Good girl. You just wanted to make our Xuxi feel good, didn’t you?”

Lucas moans, and when you tear your gaze away from Jungwoo to look at him, you see Lucas stroking his cock.

“I still just want to make him feel good. Look at him, Jungwoo. How could I not want to make him feel good?” You bite your lip and sit up. Jungwoo lets you move, holding you still against his chest.

“And what about you, sweetness?”

Jungwoo’s lips move over your bare shoulder, his tongue swiping lightly, and then you feel the prick of his fangs.

“This isn’t about me.” You sigh, rolling your head back against his shoulder. Lucas’s venom still trickles through you, and now as Jungwoo latches onto your shoulder, you feel his venom flushing through your veins as well. Your eyes flutter, body warming; you can feel your wetness dripping out of you onto the bedsheets.

Jungwoo sucks at your shoulder and Lucas’s fingers drift to your ankle, your calf, when he reaches your knee, Jungwoo pulls away from your skin and hisses, his fangs on full display and his eyes burning red.

Lucas withdraws, but that doesn’t matter because Jungwoo moves out from behind you, lithely pushing over Lucas, his hand on the wolf’s throat.

“Listen,” Jungwoo hisses. “You’re going to listen to us. She’s mine to touch now. I let you have your turn, but this right now isn’t about her. Not for you anyway.” He reaches down and cups Lucas’s balls in his hand. You shift forward to better see as Lucas whimpers, and that sound shoots straight to your belly. You remember Jungwoo’s words from earlier about getting Lucas to let you call him slut and bite him as you’d once tried to do to Jungwoo.

Seeing him now, like this beneath Jungwoo, all wide eyed and submissive, you fight the urge to coo at him and baby him. Still all you want is to make him feel good, but if you were to bite him and make him wait to cum….

Jungwoo dips forward and kisses Lucas again. And then you see Jungwoo’s hand on Lucas moving lower, and he presses a single finger inside Lucas’s tight opening.

“Ah, Jungwoo,” Lucas moans.

“You like that, pup?” Jungwoo asks, kissing Lucas’s jaw, and then he kisses right against the pulse point under his jaw. “You want to be stuffed full by my cock? God, in my dreams you’re always begging for it.”

“Fuck, yeah.” Lucas rolls his hips up. “Please, Jungwoo. I never thought— I always imagined—“

You slide down the bed, touch your hand to Lucas’s cheek, and turn his face toward you. “Be a good little slut for Jungwoo, Xuxi. Sweet boy, you look so desperate for him already, and he’s only got one finger inside you. Do you want more?”

Lucas nods and whines a little. You look at Jungwoo, and his eyes are aglow with lust, aroused even more as he watches you with Lucas like this.

Lucas brings your attention back to him when he whispers your name. “Kiss me,” he pleads.

You can’t deny him a thing. The warm manly smell of him fills your nose, and he tastes so sweet, kissing you with just as much passion and hunger as you pour into it.

Jungwoo’s hand moves up the back of your thigh, and when you feel him swat lazily against your ass, you moan into the kiss. Lucas groans and growls, breaking the kiss for just a second to swear at Jungwoo. You pull him back in, muffling your own pleased sound as Jungwoo’s fingers dip between your legs.

“You’re both so wet for me. Lu, dripping against your belly, and taking my fingers so well. And, sunshine, you’re soaked.” He slicks three fingers up between your legs, running them back and forth through your folds, against your clit. “Wish I could fuck you both at the same time.”

You wish he could too. You crave feeling your pussy filled. Lucas’s tongue brought you to a great orgasm, but it’s not as good as coming apart on a big cock. On Jungwoo’s cock.

“Listen.” Jungwoo says.

When neither you or Lucas moves to break the kiss, you receive a sharp smack on the bottom.

“Listen to me and look at me.” Jungwoo commands. As soon as he’s got both of your attentions, he continues, “I’m gonna work Lucas open so I can finally be inside you.” Lucas closes his eyes and hums, rolls his hips down against Jungwoo’s two fingers curled inside him, and then he opens his eyes again. Jungwoo smirks and then looks at you. “And just so you don’t feel left out, I want you to ride him. Give him the best orgasm we can.”

Jungwoo’s hand massages your ass again, and you moan, nod at him. “Yeah, Jungwoo.”

And then his fingers slide right inside your pussy, fingering you exactly the same as he fingers Lucas’s ass. Lucas makes the most beautiful helpless moans, and you watch as his cock jumps and leaks precum onto his abs, working himself down on Jungwoo’s fingers and moans your boyfriend’s name.

You caress Lucas’s cheek, lean close to kiss him, but then Jungwoo hooks his fingers inside you pressing right against your G-spot and swirling his thumb on your clit. “No, sunshine.”

Your thighs feel absolutely wet, and you clench around his fingers wishing you were fuller. You drop your head to Lucas’s chest, moaning and mouthing at his skin, and when Jungwoo’s shifts the way he’s touching you, you shift with him, throw a leg over Lucas’s waist and settle over him.

Jungwoo’s fingers leave you, and you press yourself down against Lucas, slide your wetness over his hard length. Your eyes flutter shut, lips brushing his throat as your breath sighs out, and then you feel the familiar cool touch of your boyfriend’s hand on your hip, on your ass.

“Sweet girl, you’re going to look so pretty with our Lucas inside you.” Jungwoo coos, and Lucas moans, bucking up against you. “And you’re going to cum so much inside her, won’t you. Gonna cum so hard with me inside you, right, Xuxi?”

The sweet sound of his whimpers turns you on even more.

And then you feel Jungwoo’s hand, slipping down over your wetness, and then Lucas’s tip glides up and down, guided by Jungwoo, before filling you in one smooth stroke.

“Oh, fuck, Lucas!” You moan, bouncing back to get him as deep as he can go, and even then you’re not surprised to find that there’s still more, which you feel Jungwoo taking care of, his fingers circled around Lucas’s cock, jerking up from his balls to your pussy. This is greater than the first time, hitting in different spots, and you’re so much more turned on this time.

A growl rumbles in his chest, a possessive sound as he rocks his hips up. “Feels so good. She’s so fucking wet, Jungwoo. So warm and soft, and she smells so good. Can you smell her?”

He touches your hair, lifting a section of it to his nose, inhaling deeply.

“Yes,” Jungwoo’s voice is soft but so dominant. He leans low, pressing his chest against your back, his nose touches your shoulder and a second later you feel his lips. “She always smells so sweet.”

You moan, and push yourself up, your hands planted on Lucas’s chest so you can look down at him. He attempts to follow you up, but you put a hand on his throat.

His eyes flash golden and he grins, tilting his chin up to give you better access to his throat. Your fingers look small against his throat, and though your know your human fingers are frail and powerless against his werewolf strength, you still feel powerful in this position.

“Sexy,” Jungwoo whispers, smacking a kiss to your shoulder.

And you feel that. Sexy. Powerful. Desired and loved and adored. In control.

When you start riding Lucas, slowly movements on his cock, rolling your hips and grinding down on him in teasing circles, his hands fly to your hips and hold on tight enough to bruise. His hands are so large, spanning enough distance that when he spreads out his fingers his thumb easily reaches your clit, rubbing it in time with your rolling hips, and you feel Jungwoo moving behind you, hear Lucas’s breaths—the sighs, moans, quiet whines and all those beautiful sounds—as Jungwoo continues touching him, getting him nice and ready for Jungwoo to finally fuck him.

You can’t wait for that bit. Ever since Jungwoo admitted to you the contents of his dream, you’d fantasized about it. The way he had described everything to you was in such vivid detail, and although now isn’t an exact replica of his dream, you’re beginning to notice similarities that Jungwoo has orchestrated.

When you reach a hand back, your hand finds Jungwoo erect and he hisses, and his mouth lays over your shoulder and his teeth scratch against your skin. He rolls his hips into your touch.

You wrap your fingers around him, jerk him slowly. His fangs dig in deeper until you feel the sharp searing heat, the burst of pleasure as he breaks skin and his venom floods into your veins.

You gasp, going still on Lucas’s cock, your fingers around his throat flexing subconsciously. Jungwoo wraps one arm around your waist and then a moment later, the other, holding you tightly as he presses up and drinks.

And then Lucas breaks your hold on his throat, twists your wrist and his canines dog into your wrist, his tongue lapping sweetly over the wounds, tasting you, feeding you more intoxicatingly euphoric venom.

Your orgasm is uncontrollable. You feel it as if it is forcibly ripped through you, one second just a relatively near possibility and then suddenly it’s crashing over you, a tidal wave of pleasure rendering you incapable of anything else.

Moans and cries of their names, of “oh god” and “sweet hell”. You feel as if your vagina is trying to suck Lucas in deeper, clenching and pulsing.

He sits up and looses his grip on your wrist in favor of nosing in beside Jungwoo. You feel their hair brushing your cheek, jaw, throat. Jungwoo lets out a sound like a growl and then a moan, and then there’s a wet sound and your body is just overwhelmed, vibrating from the pleasure. You’re grateful for Jungwoo’s arms around you, for the two of them squeezing your body between theirs otherwise you would likely collapse.

You whine, shrug your shoulder, and they both instantly fall away.

Lucas slumps back down to the bed, his eyes a golden glow and he licks his lips clean. Jungwoo’s arms loosen, fingers trailing down your body as he moves his attention again to Lucas.

Still fully seated on Lucas’s hard cock, you lay forward, your head on his shoulder. You turn your head, body buzzing and weak and still so enormously turned on. You nip at his throat, place a kiss there and lift your head to kiss his lips again.

He moans softly, cock twitching inside you, and you think nothing of it really. But when he groans and pulls back with a quiet yelp and a swear paired with Jungwoo’s name, you get an idea of what’s happening.

“Shh, baby,” You touch his cheek, kiss him softly. “Relax. You’re gonna feel so good.”

Lucas drops his head back, his eyes already going a little dazed. But when you circle your hips, clench a bit around his cock, he moans for you.

“Keep doing that, angel.” Jungwoo tells you, his hand laying flat on your tailbone. “He’s relaxing. Still so tight though, Lucas. Relax, pup. Haven’t you done this before?”

“Only a few times. It’s been a while.” Lucas grunts. You kiss him gently, just a peck. “Had to distract myself from you somehow. None of them were like you, though. None as big.”

“That’s what I like to hear.” Jungwoo moans and he pushes the rest of the way in. Lucas’s hips jump, fitting deep inside you again. “Feel so good, Xuxi. Just a bit more…”

Lucas throws his head back and a nervous yet delighted laugh breaks through him. He holds perfectly still other than the laughter, and you know he’s adjusting, and it only takes him a moment or two before he’s breathing normally again, biting his bottom lip and letting a soft moan slip out as he cautiously makes the first move, thrusting up into you, then dropping his hips back onto Jungwoo.

“Good?” You ask him, stroking his hair.

Lucas nods. “Good. I’ve done it before but none of them prepped me so good. This is like— oh shit!” He laughs out a moan again, reaching up to cover his mouth. “This is like something entirely new. That right there!” He moans and you feel him leaking precum inside you, a warm presence in your belly. “Oh, fuck, that’s it, Jungwoo!”

Jungwoo moans too, and it’s then that the rhythm of their thrusts pick up. You don’t move, don’t do anything more than press your lips down against Lucas’s and kiss him while your boyfriend fucks him up into you.

You swallow all of his moans, suck his tongue into your mouth, and Lucas hungrily chases your lips as you try to pull back for air.

These two make your breathless—your vampire, your werewolf—and yet you don’t think you can ever have enough of them. If they were to steal the very breath from your lungs, you wouldn’t mind as long as they were there with you.

Lucas’s cock twitches, blurting precum inside you, making your pussy an absolute mess of your cum and wetness and all.

And then he starts bucking his hips up recklessly, pushing back to meet Jungwoo’s thrusts. He whines and kisses you so hungrily and deeply, his breath hiccuping when your mouth isn’t on his.

When you look down at his face, his cheeks are flushed, his pupils are large dark circles lined thinly with gold. He looks so debauched and you love the sight, it brings back that urge from earlier, to tease him and make him crumble, you want him to feel submissive to you.

“Fuck, baby,” Jungwoo groans, slapping a hand against Lucas’s thigh as he drives his cock in deep, forcing Lucas deep inside you as well. “God, I can feel you getting close. You like this, pup?”

Lucas whines, and you can’t take anymore of it. You want to be the one to make him whine like that, to get him so undone.

“Are you gonna cum for us, Lucas? God, please I want to feel you cum for me. Cum inside me, baby.” You murmur the words right against his lips, raking a hand through his hair, the other with your fingertips pressing against his throat. You feel him swallow hard, his eyes almost look like they’re rolling with pleasure. And you have an idea of exactly what will take him over the edge.

You pull forward, keeping only the tip of him inside you, and you feel Jungwoo’s hand moving accordingly, jerking every inch of Lucas that isn’t inside you.

The smacking sound of Jungwoo’s hips against Lucas’s ass, the soft squelching sound of Lucas’s cock moving inside your wetness and Jungwoo moving inside of him, they all fade away as you lean in, your lips beside Lucas’s ear as you moan softly and beg quietly, “Fill me up, Lucas. Breed me.”

The guttural mix of a growl and moan that tears from his lips is unlike anything you’ve heard before.

Jungwoo’s hand flies over Lucas’s cock, you clench your pussy around his tip, and just like that he lets loose.

He lets loose a flood of cum, rocking up into your pussy, jets of his warm cum shoot deep inside you. Jungwoo keeps thrusting, keeps touching him, and pours out praises and sounds of his own. And it just keeps coming, hot and thick, and it’s that—Lucas orgasming inside you—that carries you into your own. Lucas growls and keeps fucking into you while throwing himself back onto Jungwoo, pushing more and more of his cum into you until you can’t take it anymore and it’s leaking out of you.

You hear Jungwoo’s moan as he cums at last, pulling out of Lucas quickly and his cums lays in stripes over your ass and Lucas’s abdomen, joining the mess already there.

You pull away and flop over onto your back with a whine as both of them turn their eyes on you, ready for more, but you wave your hand at them, at both of their still-erect dicks.

“Keep going. Have fun. I’m too sensitive and exhausted. I’ll just watch.” You close your eyes, suddenly so heavy you almost open them again. “Enjoy each other like you know you want to.”

They don’t wait for more.

You hear the crash of their bodies together, mouths and hips colliding, the air in the room feels electric, and they almost sound as if they’re growling at each other as they kiss. Teeth tear at each other, hands scratch over skin, and Jungwoo pushes into Lucas again, wild and powerful now that neither of them are worried about you between them.

Jungwoo’s hand goes to Lucas’s cock, flying fast and fucking into him just as quick.

The bed creaks, the headboard cracking against the wall. Lucas grabs Jungwoo by the back of the neck, and pulls him into a deep kiss as he cums apart again, shooting his load all over himself, and Jungwoo keeps going until Lucas is whimpering and twitching, muscles going loose and just truly letting go all over himself.

Jungwoo collapses forward, his forehead pressed to Lucas’s shoulder with a pleased sigh and a gentle kiss. He whispers something too quiet for you to make out, but Lucas’s fingers twitch at the small of Jungwoo’s back and he makes a happy hum.

Then Jungwoo’s looking at you, and your boyfriend looks so satisfied, so fucked out. He smiles and then all at once he’s beside you, gathering you into his arms and you feel so small and protected. He traces your cheeks and your nose and then pushes some of your hair back behind your ear.

“Hi, angel. How was that? Good?” He checks with you.

You nod. “So good. Loved it. I love you.”

When you feel Lucas shifting around, moving as if to leave the bed, you throw your arm over, slapping him in the chest. He stops moving.

“Stay.” You tell him. “Where do you think you’re going? Like, just to be clear this wasn’t just another one time thing. I don’t want it to be anyway. You both clearly enjoyed yourselves with each other. I enjoyed myself with both of you. Stay here, Lucas.”

“Was just gonna go clean up.” Lucas grins, gesturing down at his torso covered in all of your combined fluids. “But if you want to come cuddle me while I’m all a mess like this, then by all means…” He opens his arms.

Jungwoo snorts, tucks his face against your neck and reaches over to push at Lucas. “Go shower, Xuxi. We’ll be here when you get back.” He makes a happy noise when Lucas gets out of bed, his back facing the two of you. “God, I love his ass. I think you should give it a try sometime, sunshine.” He kisses your throat. “It’s so good.”

Your mind sparks at the thought of you taking Lucas apart with just your fingers in his ass, or maybe a strap on to fuck him with. You blush and stroke Jungwoo’s head, trying to push down your already rising arousal.

For now, you need just a short break.

The next few days are lost in a blur of sexual haze. You feel like you barely leave the bedroom, constantly tangled with Jungwoo and Lucas. Sometimes you’ll wake with Jungwoo’s head between your thighs, sometimes Lucas will tease you awake with his fingers or his mouth on your breasts. You’ve watched them roll around in bed, fucking and kissing with the sheer brutal strength of their supernatural abilities. You’ve had them both inside you, fucking you full until you’re sore and exhausted. Dozens of different positions, sometimes the three of you or only two or even just one of you touching yourselves while the other two just watch in satiated bliss.

By the time that you finally break free of the cloud of lust, you stumble into the bathroom while Lucas and Jungwoo stay cuddled together in bed. It’s not the first time you’ve come in here over the past few days, but it is the first time you’re unaccompanied, not distracted by wandering hands that pull you into the shower or onto the edge of the tub.

So now, without the distraction of the two men, you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror.

You look absolutely fucked. Your hair is a tangled mess, sticking out in odd directions, laying sort of flat in some places. Your eyes shine oddly and a faint headache throbs in the back of your head, beating in time with your heart, worsening when you glance at the bright sunlight coming through the bathroom window. And there are bruises and bite marks littered across your shoulders, throat, chest, and thighs. There’s even dried blood where your neck meets your shoulder. You touch it and find that the skin beneath is tender. Your throat burns and you sit down on the cool tile, close your eyes and try to rid yourself of the sudden nausea.

Lucas is the one who finds you like that.

“Are you okay?” He asks quietly, touching a warm hand to your forehead. “Baby?”

“I’m fine. I just got a good look at myself and I think it scared me.” You open your eyes and look up at him crouched beside you. “Is Jungwoo still asleep?”

He shakes his head. “He says he’s going out to catch us some fresh fish. Maybe some shark.”

You wrinkle your nose. “I’m not so sure about that.”

Lucas grins and laughs, reaches out to tuck some of your hair back into place. “Well we need to eat. You more than most. I’m sure we’ve taken it all out of you, that’s probably why you’re sitting here feeling unwell. You’ve barely eaten over the last few days.”

As if in reply, your stomach gargles hungrily.

“Come on. Upsy daisy.” Lucas helps you to your feet, and he goes to shower while you use the toilet and brush your teeth. By the time the pair of you emerge out onto the beach, Jungwoo’s walking back up the sand toward the house, dragging a small shark behind him.

“Good morning.” He calls out to you both. “I caught breakfast.”

You wished he was joking.

The boys start a fire, Lucas preps the shark and cooks it over the fire, and Jungwoo then watches while the pair of you eat. You’re not out there for long before you drag yourself back inside, tired and hot and still feeling a bit unwell.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Jungwoo asks a few hours later, crawling into the nest you’ve made on the sofa. His cool hands feel glorious on your skin. “If you’re sick, we should leave, get you home. Neither Xuxi or I has any medical expertise.”

You’re reluctant to agree with him. You don’t want to leave. This island is paradise, it is heaven. The perfect place for you to be at liberty to enjoy your two monsters, to be ravished and ravaged by them day or night without fear of being walked in on or judged by the rest of the coven and the pack.

In the end, it’s not your decision.

“Come on, angel.” Jungwoo speaks softly, and by the time you’re actually awake, he’s already got you lifted in his arms, his cheek against your forehead. You’re halfway down the beach, halfway to the boat where Lucas is already waiting, all of your luggage safely stowed inside.

“No,” you complain half-heartedly. “I’m fine. We don’t have to leave yet.”

But neither of them listen to you, and you understand because a moment after Lucas drives the boat away from the shore, you slip back asleep again.

You wake periodically. When the boat arrives at the dock of the small island where you had all set out from. You wake when Jungwoo passes you over to Lucas to hold in the back of the tiny shaky plane. They wake you to eat and drink something, keep you awake until you’re on the next plane and then for the next flight.

Each time you wake you’re cradled by one of them, and once when you open your eyes it’s night time and you’re on a larger plane, probably flying back home at last. All of the other passengers appear to be asleep, and you can hear Lucas’s heartbeat under your ear, feel Jungwoo’s fingers twisted with yours, and they’re having a quiet conversation over you.

“I’m worried.” Jungwoo’s saying, stroking the back of your hand. “Why is she still sleeping? Did we do something wrong?”

“No, nothing. It’s probably just a cold or something. We’ll figure it out. Don’t worry, Jungwoo.”

You drift off again only to be shaken awake to get off the plane, and as soon as you’re walking through the airport you start to feel yourself coming back, being more aware of everything than you’ve been since you woke up the previous morning now. Everything is so loud, and you start noticing all the people, some of them looking at you quite strangely.

Your head still aches and your mouth is dry. You pray you’ve not somehow contracted some strange disease from that island.

“We’ll get you home to Doyoung.” Jungwoo tells you. “He’ll know what to do.”

“Can we get something to eat? I’m starving.” You yawn, eyeing the food options as you pass through the airport.

Jungwoo runs a worried hand over your cheek. “Of course, sunshine. What are you hungry for?”

You squint at the places, reading menus and choices, but nothing seems appealing. “I’m not sure.” But there’s something that smells delicious and you look around for it, lifting your nose to inhale deeper. It smells sugary and nutty and your mouth waters. “This way.”

Lucas and Jungwoo follow as you start leading the way, following the delicious smell. Even when you notice that there are less of the shops over here, you follow the smell until you come to stand near an area where a woman stands alone in the doorway of a bathroom, digging through her purse with one hand.

“Baby, there’s nothing over here—“ Lucas says.

“Oh, shit.” Jungwoo swears.

At the same moment all three of you make the same realizations.

First, there are no more of the food stands in this area. And second, that woman is bleeding from a gash on her arm.

Jungwoo grabs at you, his hands not quite quick enough as you lunge, unable to hold yourself back at the sight and smell before you: sweet and nutty and warm, fresh blood.

You remember a time shortly after Jungwoo finally told you his story. A lazy afternoon at the coven’s house when you’d laid out in the sunlight on Jungwoo’s bedroom floor while he hid in the bed and watched you sun yourself like a cat.

He couldn’t take his eyes off of you, all of your bare skin exposed to the sunlight, dressed only in a bra and panties. And slowly, as the sun creeps across his bedroom, the shadows slinking closer and closer to your spot on the floor, Jungwoo moves as well. Soon he’s on the edge of the bed, then on the floor, inching forward as the light moves.

Soon he’s laying on the floor too, separated from you by only a few inches of sunlight, and he’s facing you, his deep eyes gazing right into yours. After a few minutes of this, Jungwoo breaks the silence to ask, “What are you thinking about?”

You don’t answer at first, holding that silence there as a safety cushion between your whirlwind of emotions and reality. But Jungwoo looks so curious, and his gaze draws the words right out of you.

“I don’t want to be just another name for you.” You turn your gaze up to the ceiling.

You feel Jungwoo’s fingers skating close to you, not touching you just yet, still held back by the sunlight. “What do you mean by that, angel?”

“You have a long past, Jungwoo.” You close your eyes, feel the gentle heat of the sun’s fading light. “Many, many names of people you’ve been with, people you’ve loved. I don’t want to someday just be another one of those.” You want to be his forever, but somehow you can’t make yourself say that.

His fingers close coolly around your wrist, and he tugs. Your body slides easily across the floor, brought in against Jungwoo’s chest and he wraps his arms around you in a hug.

“I love you. I genuinely love you the most of anyone that I have ever loved.” Jungwoo tells you. “The first moment I saw you, it was like I knew that I loved you, that I will love you entirely forever. Always.”

And though you always try to forget about it, to not think about Jungwoo’s life continuing for long after your own, right now the thought plagues you. “We don’t have always, though.”

Jungwoo holds you closer, absorbing the sun-heat of your skin into his own, and he stays quiet. What words could he possibly say then? Did you expect him to offer you eternal life, a bite that would make you like him? Is that even something that you would want—trading eternal life for blood-drinking and never again feeling the sun on your skin, never again being free as you are now? Or did you expect him to placate you with sweet words about you being his forever, never loving another after you?

“You smell so warm.” Jungwoo’s voice is scarcely more than a whisper. “Feel so soft. If I could have you like this forever, my angel, I would be the happiest monster to exist.”

But forever cannot be like this: a human and a vampire. Only a human and a vampire, then a ghost or a memory and the vampire who once held you.

From that moment on, in the back of your mind, you hold that wonder, that possibility or dream or hope that maybe someday Jungwoo would give you that bite to make a promise of forever come true.

When you wake hours or days later, your entire body aches. You feel as if your bones are bruised, your skin feels sensitive even though you’ve not even moved, and even when you just hear a quiet noise nearby you want to roll over and muffle your head under a pillow except the thought of actually moving to do so has your muscles throbbing. Even through your eyelids, you can tell the world is bright, glowing reddish but you are so reluctant to lift your heavy eyelids.

When you actually open your eyes, you’re surprised to see Ten sitting there in front of you. His eyes are closed and he’s holding your hand.

At first you think he’s asleep, but then you realize that his mouth is moving almost imperceptibly, chanting words under his breath. Your vision shimmers, barely-there golden lines zig zag and cross in beautiful whorls and patterns over your skin. He’s casting some kind of spell.

You soon notice Jisung and YangYang, the other two witches are sitting behind Ten, their brows drawn together in equal concentration.

“What’s going on?” You ask, and your voice comes out in a horrible rasp. “What happened?”

The door bangs open, and you turn to look, expecting Jungwoo. Your whole body flares with pain, and all you have time to see is a mass of dark brown hair, and then Lucas is over top of you, his face buried against your neck, his hands cradling your head.

He’s so warm, wrapping you in his body heat and that comfortable smell of ginger and cinnamon and now something citrusy as well. Despite the aches of your body, the protests of your muscles, you press into Lucas’s welcoming touch, your cheek against his hair.

“Xuxi,” you sigh, “What’s happened? Where’s Jungwoo?”

Distantly, you notice Ten letting go of your hand. Lucas goes still and sits up a bit so he can meet your eyes.

“Do you really not remember?”

“What?” You frown. Last thing you clearly remember was being on the airplane, getting off the plane was a bit fuzzy and most after that was just gone. “Tell me. Someone tell me?” You look over at the trio of witches. Jisung and YangYang avoid eye contact, looking everywhere and anywhere else.

Lucas’s fingers tenderly brush your throat. “We were a bit careless on the island, you know? Sometimes we let our instincts get the better of us.”

You feel his touch lightly trace down over your shoulder where he bit you deepest. You can still feel the slight scar tissue indentations from his teeth, but they’re healing.

“We perhaps bit you too much.” Lucas says. “And when you weren’t feeling well that last day, I think Jungwoo was just really worried about you, he wasn’t cautious or thinking much at all about how much of his venom was in your veins, nor the effect that it would have on you. Do you really not remember what happened in the airport when we landed back here?”

You reach up, grabbing at his wrist until Lucas pulls his hand away. “Where is Jungwoo? Stop avoiding the answers I’m asking for, and just tell me. What happened?”

“Jungwoo’s okay, don’t worry about that.” Lucas soothes you, stroking your hair placatingly. “He’s just hiding in the library because he’s worried and blaming himself.”

“Blaming himself for what?”

“You need to relax. Take it easy.” Ten waves his hands at you. Behind him YangYang and Jisung leave the room. “Lucas, stop being an ass. I’ll tell her.”

You level your gaze on Ten.

“You had so much vampire venom in your veins it’s a wonder you didn’t just spontaneously turn into a vampire.” He says. “You had a fair amount of werewolf venom too, and you’re lucky you’ve still got another three days until the full moon otherwise you’d be feeling a bit more, uh, canine-ish right about now. But judging by what they told us when they dragged you into the house, you only attacked once there was fresh blood in the open air around you.”

Suddenly you’re all too aware of how sensitive you are right now, how thirsty, how good Lucas smells to you, almost better than normal.

Your voice seems to abandon you as you rasp out, “Am I a vampire now?”

Both Ten and Lucas look at each other and then back at you. A knot of tension grows in your belly. In these few moments of silence your mind divides itself, exploring two different paths. One, you as a vampire, living your eternal life with Jungwoo and even with Lucas, bound to the night. Or two, a life where you’re still human, where you can live in the day time and see all the sunrises and sunsets, where you can enjoy simple pleasures like seeing yourself in the mirror or eating and drinking, feeling a cool breeze, or the heat of a blush spreading through you as your lover touches you.

In that moment, you’re not sure what you would like the answer to be.

“Well?” You prompt them both.

The bedroom door opens before they answer, and there stands Jungwoo. His expressions reads like a kicked puppy. Doyoung stands behind them, his face serious and revealing nothing, and he gently pushes Jungwoo through the door. Before the door closes behind him, Ten slips out as quick as he can, leaving with Doyoung so you can be alone with Jungwoo and Lucas again.

“Jungwoo!” You sigh, reaching for him, your heart aching to hold him close.

He falls into your arms, pushing you flat into the bed, his face tucked into the crook of your neck. He breathes in deeply.

“You’re not a vampire, angel. Fuck, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if you were, if it was my fault that you became a monster like me.” His words are muffled, cool against your skin. “Unforgivable.”

You bury your face against his shoulder as well, wrapping your limbs all around him. “I would forgive you, Jungwoo. I would even thank you.”

“Don’t say that.” He whines, and he pulls his face away, rolling over onto his back to stare up at the ceiling. “Shit, it’s all my fault. All of this. Every part of this was foolish, reckless, entirely careless with your humanity.”

Lucas sits there watching the pair of you, his attention more set on Jungwoo now.

You sit up, and the world wavers just a little bit, but you steady yourself with a hand on Jungwoo’s unmoving chest.

He stares up at you, eyes perfectly black. “What?”

“Jungwoo, you fool.” You tap your fingers over his unbeating heart. “How many times have I got to tell you, you’re not a monster. Lucas would agree with me I’m sure. You’re sweet and tender, radiant and kind. You are not a monster, and if I could be anything like you I would be grateful. If I could be a vampire as well, spend eternal life with you even if it means drinking Lucas’s blood every day and sitting inside from sun up until sun down, only having the stars and moon without the sun. Jungwoo, you would be my Sun in this dark, dark world.” You put your hands to his cheeks, and tell him, “I want forever with you, no matter the cost. Turn me, let me be like you.”

He whines, twisting his face away. You feel Lucas’s broad warm hands on your hips, pulling you back a bit, lifting you from Jungwoo’s lap and back into his own. Jungwoo covers his face with his arms, mumbling denials and something about curses and Twilight.

Lucas presses his lips against the side of your head. “You should have seen how panicked he was at the airport. We caught you before you could reach that woman. If you’d even so much as taken a drop of her blood, there would have been no turning back. We’re actually really lucky that drinking werewolf blood won’t turn you into a vampire, now that I think about it. And then you were clawing, scratching, trying to bite at us. Jungwoo calmed you down by using some vampire charming thingy he does. But then he panicked while I helped you out to the car, and as soon as we were back here he shouted at everyone, made them all come help. The witches have been here at your bedside ever since, casting spells to purge your system of all the venoms. Sorry about that.”

His lips are hot against your shoulder, and your skin is so sensitive that it almost tickles.

“You don’t need to apologize. Neither of you do. I’ve been around all of you for long enough that the idea of being a vampire or a werewolf or any of that stuff doesn’t bother me or freak me out. All of you manage just fine, you’ve shown me that not all of the monsters are monstrous. Even being a witch seems amazing, like from what I’ve seen, the intricacies of the spells is fascinating, and the little visible traces of spellwork really show how talented Ten is.”

Jungwoo sits up, cocks his head slightly to the side, and just stares at you.

You sigh. “Jungwoo, I’m sorry, but I think you need to accept by now that I have kind of completely surrounded myself in this supernatural community, and wanting to be a part of it myself is not abnormal. It’s probably super normal especially considering the relationship I’ve found myself in with two members of the community.”

Lucas, oddly at that moment, sniffs your shoulder. You flinch.

“What are you doing?” You try to twist around.

“Sunshine,” Jungwoo holds up his hand, his ring on his finger right before your eyes. “What does my ring look like to you, in detail.”

You frown at him. “That’s a stupid question and completely off topic, too. We’re talking about you turning me into a vampire.”

“Answer him.” Lucas’s voice drops low, rumbling through his chest against your back.

“It’s black.” You shrug. “A black ring. Why?”

Jungwoo ever so slightly relaxes, and Lucas releases his hold on your hips that you hadn’t realized was so tight before. Both of their reactions are suspicious, and neither of them answer you, so you continue.

“And, like, it’s got all those fine little silver lines on it.” You reach out quickly to grab Jungwoo’s hand, holding his ring up so it catches the light. “I guess those are like the physical manifestation of Ten’s spell, right? Because it looks really complicated, not as easy to look at as the bracelet’s you wolves wear.” You tap at Lucas’s wrist with your other hand, the finely wrought bracelet that matches the one Jaehyun and the others wear. “Or those sigils he’s drawn on the windows and doorways. And all of those are definitely neater than YangYang’s messy scrawl.”

Lucas’s hands on you suddenly move you off, flipping you over so you’re on your back again, both of the boys looking down at you.

“What was that for?” You groan, trying to quell the nausea suddenly blooming in your belly at that sudden motion. You squeeze your eyes shut until you feel Jungwoo’s hand on your cheek, his fingertips ranging up into your hair, fine points of coolness against your temple.

It’s Lucas who answers, his voice low and gentle, drawing your attention to his face as he says, “Are you a witch?”

“What?” You sit up so quickly that your vision flickers and you almost crack your forehead against Lucas’s. “No, I’m not a witch. Don’t you think I would know? That I would’ve said something before now?”

Jungwoo takes your hand then and lifts it to his lips, the tip of his nose against the back of your hand, and he breathes in deeply.

“I’m not a witch. Don’t be silly.” You pull your hand away.

“No,” Lucas laughs humorlessly. “You just see the marks left behind by magic spells. Not witchy at all.”

Jungwoo shakes his head, and then he lifts a hand to cradle your cheek, tuck a few strands of hair back from your face. “I knew there was something that drew us together that night.”

You shake your head in denial. “I’m not a witch. I would know. Ten’s told me before that witches would have manifested their powers by now. Maybe I’m just, like, I don’t know, sensitive to magic or something like that. And stop sniffing me!” You shrug away from Jungwoo and Licas, trying to slide off the bed, but as soon as you stand up the world wavers with big black spots across your vision.

“Woah, careful, babe.” Lucas’s arms wrap around you, drawing you back into bed. “Just lay here, okay?”

Jungwoo shifts around and you make yourself comfortable against him.

Lucas doesn’t join you, he just looks down at the pair of you, and when he turns to leave you whine loudly. “Don’t go! You’re not leaving me—not leaving us, Lucas. You’re part of this now, if that trip taught me anything it’s that I definitely want you both. So come cuddle.”

A happy, dopey grin tilts his lips. “Okay.”

“Ah, Wait.” Jungwoo holds up a finger. “Can you close the curtains first? And let’s watch a movie.” He touches your hair, petting it back from your face, and he asks, “What do you want to watch?”

You think for a moment, then you smile and look between the two of your boys. “Have either of you seen all of the Twilight movies?”

Jungwoo groans, cursing the series under his breath, but Lucas barks out a laugh and hops into motion.

After missing out on two weeks of classes, your return to campus is odd and full of excuses. You lie to all of your professors that you were actually in the hospital with an illness (featuring a manufactured Doctor’s note signed by Taeil who apparently at some point in his long life got his doctorate and is technically a certified physician), and you lie to all of your classmates and acquaintances in the same way.

It’s actually your roommates that are truly the issue.

When you walk in the door of your apartment, shivering and just craving a nice warm shower, you find both of the girls curled together under a blanket on the sofa eating ramen as they watch some reality show.

“Oh, look. She does still live here.” One of them says.

“Of course I do.” You kick your shoes off beside the door. “I told you I was going on a trip. We were gone for a bit longer than I expected.”

Both of them exchange a look. You spot a set of eyes rolling, and then the petulant, “Sure because you were around so much before you left on this trip? You’ve barely been around since November. It’s like you’re paying for a storage facility, not a place to stay. Why do you even still live here?”

Her words, although true, are like a punch to the gut. Both of your roommates stare at you with barely concealed dislike, and you’re not sure when their moods suddenly turned. You used to be such good friends with both of them, but now it seems that they’ve created a closer bond than you realized and now you’re shut out.

You turn to your room without another word, shutting the door perhaps a bit harder than necessary.

They have a point. You don’t really live here anymore. All your time is spent with Jungwoo and Lucas, you’ve spent most nights at the coven’s house, only coming home to change clothes or get a few hours away to concentrate on schoolwork.

You dump your books onto your bed, emptying out the bag you carry at school, and instead you stuff a few outfits, phone charger, your laptop, the necessary things, and then you leave without another word to your roommates.

By the time the bus drops you off in front of the house, the cold wind whips through the street, strengthening as a late winter storm blows in, already spitting tiny flecks of ice. The house is quiet as you step inside. The rooms are all dark, and you spot Doyoung’s coffin in the middle of the living room, the lid closed to show that he is actually napping right now. You climb the stairs, pass the quiet doorways of the other vampires, nearly jump out of your skin when you realize that Xiaojun is quietly hanging from a curtain rod over the window at the end of the hallway, nearly blending in with the curtains. He lifts a finger to his lips, but other than that remains completely still.

You keep walking, and at Jungwoo’s door, you pause. Inside you hear a rustle of movement, and there’s something else that makes you hesitate.

Maybe it’s the echo of your roommate’s voice asking you why you even live there, the tone of her voice making you feel so unwelcome in a place that up until a few months ago you had really and truly considered a home. But then you’d met Jungwoo, and it’s only now as you stand outside his doorway that the thought plagues you: what if he doesn’t want you there either.

An odd sound and sense of movement behind you startles you out of your thoughts. The floor creaking as if there are quick footsteps rushing down the hallway, an eerie giggling. You push through Jungwoo’s door without a second thought, just wanting to put something between you and whoever is playing in the halls.

“Oh, sorry.” You freeze at the sight before you.

Lucas is there.

Jungwoo is halfway on top of him, a leg slotted between Lucas’s thighs, their busy lips pressed together, and Lucas’s hand twisted in Jungwoo’s shirt. They break apart when you speak, though Lucas looks dazed and immediately moves forward again, trying to entice Jungwoo’s mouth back onto his.

“Don’t be sorry.” Jungwoo says, struggling to sit up a bit, and struggling even more to hide his fangs with his lips. “Xuxi, stop for a second.”

He presses Lucas flat with a palm against his chest, and Lucas whines and lifts his hips up against Jungwoo’s leg.

“Angel, everything okay?” Jungwoo reaches his other hand out to you. “You look sad.”

You don’t take his hand, instead you walk around to the other side of his bed and just crawl in, curl up on your side, and drag the blankets up to your chin. Both of the boys look at you, but you just shake your head. “It’s nothing. You can continue, I just wanna take a nap.”

Lucas snorts. “You want me to unleash my horniness with you taking a nap beside us? Come on, just tell us what’s wrong. Jungwoo’s right. You’re clearly upset.”

You sigh heavily into the blanket and close your eyes. You feel the heat of Lucas’s skin just a moment before he actually touches you, his hand covering yours on the blanket. And then you feel Jungwoo moving lightly, his body slinking over yours until he fits himself behind you, wrapping you safely in his arms. He whispers, “What’s the matter, sunshine?”

So you tell him. You tell him about the things your roommates said. You tell him about your feelings that you experienced standing right outside this door. You spill a lot of pent up things that you hadn’t known that you were really feeling until they all come pouring out.

And as soon as you’re done speaking, Jungwoo’s arms squeeze you slightly around the waist and he says, “Move in with me.”

“What?”

“Yeah,” Jungwoo touches his lips to your cheek. “Move in here with me. It’s honestly kind of silly that I haven’t suggested it before, but I thought you were still happy with your living situation, but if you’re not, then you should move in here. I mean, you’re here anyways, and when you’re not I wish you were.”

Lucas knots his fingers with yours. “If it weren’t so dangerous, I would say you could move in at the den.”

“Oh, right, because moving into a house full of vampires is such a safer idea.” You laugh. “Jungwoo, do you mean it? Do you want me to really move in here?”

“I always want you here. I have plenty of room, and I am in love with you, silly. Why wouldn’t I really want you to move in? I’d invite Lucas to move in too if I thought that he would say yes.”

Lucas’s hand slides from yours, moving behind you to touch Jungwoo. “Yeah, I love you lots, but I still want some sense of independence from both of you.” When you look over into his eyes, Lucas’s gaze is deep and penetrating, and he tells you, “I love you. I don’t actually know if I have said those words to you like this, but I want you to know that I am in love with you. With both of you.”

“Aww,” Jungwoo coos. “I love you two too.”

He rolls over, reaching to drag Lucas closer, crushing you between them. You whine and laugh and try and squirm your way free, and when you do both of your boys smile at you, all three of you doped up on love.

When you try to actually break away from them, Lucas wraps his arm around your waist, trying to rope you back in between them. You squirm some more and whine, and it’s only when you tell them that you just want to go take a bath that he finally lets you go.

“Go back to doing what you were doing.” You slip over Lucas’s body, head for the bathroom door. “I’ll be in here if you need anything.”

“Mm, I think we’ll be fine,” Lucas tells you, already drawing Jungwoo back over top of him.

Before you’ve closed the bathroom door behind you, you see their mouths collide again. Some part of you wishes you would’ve stayed to watch, but you know they need their privacy too sometimes. So you draw a nice steamy bath, and sink into the water knowing that someday very soon, you’ll be here with Jungwoo forever.

Moving out from your apartment took probably ten minutes. Your roommates were mildly startled when you opened the door to allow in an entourage of good-looking strong guys. Jungwoo, Lucas, Jaehyun, Taeyong, and Johnny were all there to help you move out.

You’d been packing for a few days, fitting all of your belongings into boxes, finding people to take the furniture you no longer needed since your boyfriend’s place came full furnished already. There wasn’t too much you really needed moved, but Jungwoo insisted that the quicker it was done, the better. Thus, the whole team of them assembled to make carrying your boxes and your bookshelf and things much faster.

It was fortunate your lease was up at the end of the month anyway. And as you found out when you told them that you would be leaving, it was even more fortunate considering they weren’t planning to stay either because they were hoping to move into a smaller place. Because they were dating (and you really weren’t sure when that development had occurred. Had you really been so blind to their lives?). So they wanted a one bedroom.

It all worked out.

Moving in took a little bit longer because your bookshelf didn’t want to fit up the staircase and the young vampires tried to help carry in boxes, but one of them busted open across the front lawn and you had to chase down the scattered clothes in the dark.

By the time it was all said and done, all the boxes and furniture you were keeping was stacked in Jungwoo’s room to be dealt with at a later time, you were hungry and the wolves were hungry, and the vampires all agreed that it was a good night to go out.

The Leaky Cauldron looked nearly the same as the last time you’d seen it. The only difference was the lack of a werewolf presence other than those wolves that had come with you. It seemed a more peaceable atmosphere, but nevertheless you clutched Jungwoo’s hand tightly as you walked inside, flashes of what had happened the last time you were here refused to leave your mind.

“Relax,” Jungwoo murmurs to you, wrapping his arm around your shoulders as you slide into your seat. “We’re safe here. There’s no one left that wishes us any harm.”

Lucas is on Jungwoo’s other side, and he nods as he hears what Jungwoo says. “And if anyone tries to pick a fight with either of you, I’d like to see them get through me.”

Jungwoo snorts a laugh and shoves at Lucas’s shoulder. “You’re ridiculous.”

They push back and forth a few times until Doyoung glares at them. Everyone places their orders: the vampires order pints of blood to taste, the wolves order their meat cooked rare, and you choose something to drink and something to eat that doesn’t seem so supernaturally-based.

Taeyong and Jaehyun sit across from you, and Jaehyun has his head resting on Taeyong’s shoulder, a wistful look in his eyes. That look reminds you of his story, the one he’d told you on the bus that day you’d decided to go away with Jungwoo and Lucas. It’s the look of a man absolutely smitten. A man who is so in love that he can think of nowhere better than being right there.

You watch them for a while, lost in the cuteness of the way they are with each other, the absolute comfort of the way they fit together. You wonder if you look like that with Jungwoo, with Lucas, all three of you together. You look at them, completely distracted from everything else in wonder of how their future is unlimited. Neither of them will age or wither. They’re both immortal as long as Jaehyun chooses to continue this way. They have absolutely forever.

And you want that.

You want so badly to be someone’s always.

Spring comes and goes. You get used to the pack and the coven changing around you. Sometimes they’re all there, sometimes a few of them will leave for weeks at a time to adventures around the planet. There are an odd few weeks toward the end of the spring semester when the whole coven clears out for a bit, leaving only Ten, Jaehyun, and Lucas behind to keep you any company.

Even Jungwoo leaves.

“They’ll be back.” Lucas tells you, wrapping you up in his arms, stroking his fingers down the length of your spine. You shiver closer to him. “They’ve done this before. It’s a vampire thing.”

You’re glad for his company, keeping you less than lonely in the sheets. You end up sleeping over at the pack’s den several nights. The coven’s mansion is too cold and dark and scary without the vampires occupying all of its silent rooms. The den is completely different: loud, bright, filled with laughter and the warm smells of food and alcohol.

Kun and Jaehyun cook while Lucas and the pups entertain you with games and stories. Mark and Jaemin are always eager to show off their songs they produce in their bedroom studio. Kun even tries to impress you with magic tricks.

And while it is great fun to be entertained by the werewolves who you definitely don’t spend as much time with as the vampires, your favorite entertainment comes in the form of Lucas. Late at night, his bedroom door shut soundly and the night view from his windows lays the city bare as he takes you apart on his fingers, his tongue, fucking you into a moaning mess.

Lucas is insatiable. You’re sure that if he actually fucked you to the point that you passed out from the pleasure, he would keep going. And this night is no different. He’s given you three orgasms already, with short breaks in between for you to suck his cock, but now he’s got you on your hands and knees, looking out at the city lights while he kneels behind you.

“So pretty.” Lucas trails his fingers between your legs, his fingertips gathering up your wetness. You shiver, needing him to just fill you up, give you that fourth orgasm, fill you up with his cum as well. “And you smell so good, baby.”

“Shut up.” You push back, but Lucas pulls his hand away. “Lucas, fuck, please. I know Jungwoo likes this teasing shit, but not me. Not now. I just wanna feel--”

He pushes forward, impaling you with his cock. Your words cut off with a loud moan, and Lucas curls his hand over your mouth, his fingers muffling your sounds as he pushes two of them into your mouth, hooking them against your cheek as he fills your pussy from behind. “Are you going to be loud for me? I love when you moan like this, so rarely do you do it when it’s just one of us.”

Lucas draws back and then snaps his hips forward, pulling his fingers from your mouth to smear the spit over your lips and cheek.

“Fuck,” You moan. “I like it when you’re rougher. Usually you and Jungwoo are only really rough when you’re together for me.”

“Thought you liked me sorta submissive?” He strokes your hair back and leans forward to kiss at your neck. “Thought you liked me best when I’m doing what you and Woo tell me?”

“I like you any way I can have you.” You grunt, sinking back into one of Lucas’s thrusts. “I want you any way for forever. We’ve got it good like this. You, me, Jungwoo.”

Lucas wraps his arms around your upper arms, tugs you up so you’re kneeling with your back against his chest. One hand slides around to grasp at one of your tits and he thrusts rapidly into you, snapping his hips forward, pulling you down onto him until you feel so incredibly full, like his cock is pushing into your guts, pulsing inside you.

“Sweet-smelling angel,” Lucas touches his lips to your ear, and you shiver in his arms, squealing in delight when his fingers drift lower to touch your clit. “Love the way you feel around me. I just wish Jungwoo could be here too, to see how good I’m making you feel. He’d reward me so good, wouldn’t he?”

You grind down on his cock, moaning for him. “He’d fuck you like you’re fucking me, bite you until you’re blissed out, and jerk you off until you’re cumming for him. God, Xuxi, I want you to cum. Love it when you cum in me.”

His hands go tight on you, touching you intensely, pulling that last orgasm from you like he’s taking it right from your soul.

Lucas swears, buries his face against your shoulder as he pulses inside you, spilling his load, and as his teeth prick against your shoulder, you swear it feels like his cock is swelling and filling you even more.

You collapse forward with a moan and Lucas follows, laying his hot, damp chest against your back, his cock still firm inside you. His lips and teeth still catch on your skin. Your eyes flutter shut, feeling his venom inside you now.

“Are you trying to turn me, Lucas?” You ask, reaching up to clasp his hand over your chest. “The full moon draws near, I can see it i all of you, the wolf overtaking the man you are.”

“I think Jungwoo would properly murder me if I turned you.” Lucas whispers, his nose drawing a line up your throat. “And I wouldn’t ever dare. I would love eternity with you. Me, you, and Jungwoo for forever sounds ideal. But making you a werewolf for that? Never. This is such a curse, and if I could give it up I would. That reminds me, you should go stay back at the mansion for a few nights, maybe Ten’ll stay with you?”

You squirm to get more comfortable in his arms. “Maybe. Maybe I’d like to see what you’re like as a dog. Bet you’re playful and cuddly. You seem like you’d want to play fetch and hump pillows.”

Lucas nips at your shoulder again. “Hush. Go to sleep. I can feel how sleepy you are.”

You graduate by some miracle at the end of the Spring. The coven returns just in time, and your boyfriends and the wolves and witches stand in the audience and cheer and howl and hoot when your name is called and you walk across the stage for your diploma.

The summer passes in a haze of work: you receive a promotion at your job, working new long hours that leave you exhausted by the time you leave. The summer also brings a brief break between Ten and Johnny; a misunderstanding led to a horrible argument that woke the whole house in the middle of the day, and Ten refused to speak to Johnny for nearly three weeks (but he complained to you about it nearly every day). They mended things once they spoke, and Ten swore he was never leaving Johnny again.

Autumn brought with it warm sweaters, hot drinks, and Jungwoo cradling you against his chest while Lucas napped across Jungwoo’s lap, tucked under his arm. Your one year anniversary comes, and the coven and wolves hold a wild party that lasts from dawn on the 31st until dawn on the first of November. You get ragingly drunk and sugar high, and your ridiculous boyfriends roleplay as doctors and you as the patient.

Winter arrives just the same, cold nights wrapped up warmly with your boys. Days bundled up in coats and scarves, grabbing lunch and coffee with Jungwoo, going ice skating with Lucas, Christmas shopping with the both of them.

A year passes quickly, and Christmas is slightly less wonderously momentous. Ten doesn’t perform any fantastic spells to make a vampire capable of walking in daylight. But, halfway through the evening when everyone’s sitting around opening gifts and playing games, a drunken Jaehyun pulls Taeyong down into his lap, takes his face between his hands and asks him, “Won’t you marry me?” And Taeyong surges forward to kiss him enthusiastically as a yes.

And then, everything is good for a little while until the peacefulness and fun of the year finally winds to a close on New Year’s Eve.

It happens on a night when the rest of the coven is gone. Johnny and Ten keep disappearing off to Ten’s place now that they’re back together, Taeyong and Jaehyun left for a vacation deep into the north where the nights are deep and hunting is fun. The others are out roaming, at the Leaky Cauldron, or over at the pack’s den. And tonight it’s just the three of you on the anniversary of when the three of you started, now cuddled up like this, binge-watching a show while you and Lucas try to explain a few things to Jungwoo who hasn’t ever seen any of the series before.

Jungwoo runs his fingers through your hair while you stroke your thumb along the back of Lucas’s neck. It’s all very comfortable and warm and you lay your head back on Jungwoo’s shoulder, nearly ready to fall asleep.

Lucas hums and reaches up, tapping the back of your hand. “This part. Have you seen this bit? I love it. Woo, watch closely and listen.”

“How am I supposed to listen when you keep talking, pup?” Jungwoo teases.

“Shh!” Lucas sits up, covering Jungwoo’s mouth with his hand and laughing. You miss whatever’s happening on the screen, too distracted by the way that Jungwoo gazes at Lucas, the way that Lucas slips his hand away to kiss Jungwoo. They kiss hungrily. The relaxed atmosphere of just a moment or two before is consumed by their passion.

You whine and lean up to kiss at Jungwoo’s throat, touch Lucas’s neck with your fingertips. He draws away, his lips on your cheek and throat until you turn your head and your lips meet his. Lucas’s lips are soft and warm, and he melts at your touch. You turn your head, and then you feel Jungwoo’s lips on the other side of your throat, a hint of teeth, the hot swipe of his tongue.

You could so easily fall into this, just let the lust fill you up, but you want more. You’ve been wanting more for so long, but every time you ask, Jungwoo tells you no. But you want it.

“Can I ask you for something?” You murmur, licking your lips when Lucas pulls back for a moment.

“Anything.”

“Whatever you want, angel.”

“Turn me, please.” You sigh, twisting your fingers in Jungwoo’s hair, tugging in an attempt to get his mouth to your throat. “Please. I love you. I want to be yours, both of yours, always. Make me like you.”

Jungwoo pulls back, trying to untangle your fingers, but you hold tight.

Lucas touches Jungwoo too, his fingers on your boyfriend’s cheek. “Just do it, Woo. She wants it. She wants us. She knows what she’s asking for.”

A long moment of hesitation as Jungwoo looks down at you, searching your eyes, but you just tilt your head back, exposing your throat to him. “Just a bite, Woo. And any human will do to fill me up on.” He touches your neck, looks back over at Lucas, then back down at you.

“This isn’t a joke. It’s irreversible.”

“I know.” You take hold of his hand. “And I don’t care. I’ll do whatever it takes to be with you forever. If it’s not this, then I’ll ask Lucas to turn me, I’ll go to Ten for a spell, I’ll search to the ends of the Earth for something. Anything.”

“You really think you’re living in that Twilight, don’t you?” Jungwoo asks. “A love triangle with a vampire and a werewolf, the need to become a vampire.” He tuts and shakes his head. “I really hope you don’t grow to hate me for this.”

Lucas sits back, watching as Jungwoo cradles the back of your neck, tilting your head to give him clear access to your throat. You shiver, a natural fear response as you feel his breath, feel the brush of his lips and his teeth, then the fangs. An ever so slight pinch and then sharper and a burn.

You gasp, your hands flying up to his shoulders.

Lucas takes hold of your hand.

The pressure at your throat increases, the hands on you are warm and tight. You close your eyes and let yourself sink into the feeling as everything gets fuzzy and hazy, close and muted, until it all just fades away....

It’s all very different when you wake. You feel it instantly.

You can feel the dry burn of your throat. You can hear the wind in the trees outside, cars on the road. Hearts beat nearby and someone moves across sheets. You can hear the young vampires giggling up in the attic, and the creaking of someone shifting down on the first floor. You can tell it’s still night time outside, the sun not yet above the horizon, and the new year has likely only just begun; you can hear hear celebrations, the crackle of fireworks somewhere in the city, and cheers in the houses nearest to the coven’s.

It worked. You know it did.

You can still taste the metallic burn of blood on the back of your tongue, tingling with something that you instantly recognize as magic, as Ten. It was his blood that completed your transformation, and you can hear him several rooms away, his heartbeat different from the heavy sounds of the few werewolves in the house.

And then something shifts, much closer, dragging your attention away from halfway across the house to right here in this bed that is so comfortable and familiar.

Heat radiates from just beside you, smelling of cinnamon, and without opening your eyes, you know it’s Lucas, looking down on you.

“Lucas.”

And then there are fingers nearing you, you can sense the shifting in the air. A familiar touch, still cool, though significantly less cold than they once were. So tender, loving. You hear the sound of Jungwoo’s shoulder brushing against Lucas’s, both of them leaning close to see you. His fingers trace the curve of your cheek.

“Jungwoo.”

You open your eyes to the world and see forever looking back down at you.

a/n: it’s been one year exactly since I posted part 2 of this so lol I’m sorry, but here it is! The third and final part of this series. It went several different ways than I was originally intending for it to be, but I think I’m pretty happy with this ending. As usual, if you liked it, please let me know, reblog it, like it, message me.

And happy New Year!

#jungwoo #nct #nct smut #jungwoo smut #luwoo smut

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