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shimii26 · 2 years

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Phoenix: The Recycler Addison

My name is Phoenix, I’m an eco-friendly Addison who specializes in utilizing the materials around me to create new products that Darkners will use to their fullest potential and reduce the space wasted by the data trash other Addisons seem to be so careless with.

Although my goal is to use my talents for the greater good of this Cyber City, I have to admit that sometimes my drive to succeed can lead me to be a little more than just proud of my work. Take for example, my lovely but kitschy work studio and gallery! I call it: Phoenix’s Recycled Fashion And Furniture! I just absolutely adore the fact that every piece of furniture and jewelry piece I sell was made by my own two hands! And it didn’t cost me a dime, I’d like to see any other Addison top with such a cheap price tag on their own shops. In any case, the one product I take the most absolute pride in, are my homemade sandwiches, perfect for a quick lunch, or a much filling snack when you need some quick energy during a busy shift! I can make them any flavor you’d like, you want cucumber and figs? You’ve got it. Gruyere and smoked ham? Gotcha. Cookies and ice cream? Not exactly a traditional sandwich, but I don’t judge, yes I can do that. But by far, my most appraised and demanded food product has to be my homemade egg salad sandwich, seasoned with the finest pixel salt, pepper, and paprika, creamy RAMmayo, and tangy mustardata. What’s the recipe? HA! Funny of you to ask, the recipe is not for sale. I don’t ever dare divulge my biggest trade secret!... Well, I guess I did divulge it once to… someone not that important to others anymore. To me, he was the most important creature, so important to my career choice, and vital to my source of satisfaction in my work. You see, business hasn’t been going that well since I had been caught rummaging through the upper class trash bins for materials, and my mental health hasn’t been very stable. But their reappearance into my life has helped me begin to recover from my own self doubts, and allowed me to re-experience the euphoric feeling just watching someone benefiting from my efforts…

You want to know who that someone is?... Well… You may have heard about the rumor of the one and only Addison in Cyber City history to live on the streets... Yes, he was the one who helped inspire me to show this world what I can do, my ideas, and my creativity… How did I come to meet him?... You see, he and I were nothing more than basic acquaintances for most of our time together, until we managed to reunite many years later, united by the one thing we shared commonality with… Lemme recall my history with him for you.

The story of my relationship with the peculiar Addison begins during my second year of Addison Career Training. Every Addison is required to go through a general line of college-like courses to help them choose a specialty that will help them succeed in life, and maintain a level of happiness required to pass off a friendly face to customers alike. It’s actually quite common for Addisons to experience depression, which is why it’s critical one chooses a specialty that they don’t mind performing for the remainder of their lives, it’s extremely difficult to change your profession as an Addison as it requires some serious data rewriting and paperwork. You only have 3 years to decide your profession, and at the time, I was already more than halfway through my studies, unsure of what I want to pursue. It almost dragged me down to a dark state of depression. I was quite lost as to where I wanted to go in life.

Nevertheless, the two of us were in a general business class together, learning how to approach customers, present advertisements, and strike bargains in order to keep our quotas up to snuff. The reason why we even sat next to each other in the first place was a mere fluke, as it was the last seat in the classroom, and he was the last Addison to enter the room. He was rather an unusual fellow, in all my life I have never seen an albino Addison, it was a very rare pigment to be programmed with, or lack thereof, and yet, there he sat like he wasn’t someone particularly special. He was correct to think that way though, despite his beautiful and bright appearance, he was more or less just another little cog in the everlasting chain of Addison economics. But our people knew better than that; when an albino Addison manifests into reality, it tends to spell trouble for those who get close to them. But I don’t believe in such nonsense, this was merely a rumor spread by more common colored Addisons, typically one would hear this kind of talk from primary colored individuals. Even with that expectation of greatness, succession, and mischieviousness going for him, he was actually quite closeted, almost like a silent pale phantom who lurked in the dark corner of the room. He barely spoke a word, never seeked out any kind of friendship with anyone outside of class, never partnered up in projects, never raised his hand to answer questions. In fact, he seemed to have already given up on his studies, similar to me I guess. I'd be surprised if he managed to write down one page of notes from a 60 slide powerpoint presentation. Every lesson he’d have this depressed far away look in his eyes, dark circles lining his pupils, staring at his notebook, his pencil halfway gripped in his hand. Always looked as though he was going to fall asleep in the middle of the lesson. He never knew this, but I secretly referred to him as “Sad Eyes''. If “routine” was an Addison, this guy would definitely be it. I soon began to pick up on his quirks, and his preferences. Almost every 10 minutes on the dot, he would yawn quietly to himself or huff in exhaustion. After some time I found this quite amusing even though he was clearly not in a good mood.

But the most intriguing behavior I’ve noticed from him is his snack preferences. This Addison was an avid fan of protein and savory flavors, quite an unusual preference in taste as most Addisons were fans of sweet treats and pastries. We weren’t allowed to have snacks during lessons as our professor deemed it a distraction, but once the bell rang for the end of the period, all bets were off, and most students would whip out their treats, especially since our class was the midpoint to lunchtime. I never had to look at the clock to know what time it was in class, I could tell just from his little routine quirks. For example, I knew when there was about 5 minutes left of the lesson, he had quite the appetite, and I could hear his stomach growling for his midmorning snack at the exact same time. His eyes would change expression to a more worried look at that point, I guess hunger made him quite uncomfortable, I suppose I can relate to that worry. Perhaps his stature took more of a toll on his energy than expected as he was also quite short for an Addison, most of us top the charts at around 6 foot, but he was a mere 4 foot 10, which even added more rarity to his existence. Having to work harder to even just walk around campus must make his body crave high amounts of protein, so he quickly became a fan of having hard boiled eggs for his snack; they were quick to pack, easy to carry, came in their own wrapper, and took no time to gobble down. These were things I could tell he and I valued at the same time; efficiency, time saving, and major satisfaction results. Afterall, at the end of his snack, he had nothing to throw away while every other Addison that had a snack had some form of wrapper or package to toss; they clearly don’t see the damage they’re causing to our city with their carelessness in packaging.

Most Addisons would often give him dirty looks whenever he ate hard boiled eggs after class, it wasn’t because of the way he was eating them, it was because he was eating eggs in the first place. Eggs to Addisons, even those that come from farm animals, are considered a bit taboo to eat as many Addisons have the ability to lay eggs, and we view that as a form of cannibalism. Some lay ones that can be eaten, others can lay ones that can be used as a weapon, but in this day and age, it’s rare to ever see an Addison use their eggs for anything other than tossing them out once laid. You only ever see Addisons stooping so low as to eat their own eggs or other’s eggs when they are going through hard times, which again, was very rare as there hasn’t been a completely unsuccessful Addison in history.

It infuriated me with every lesson to see that trash bin filled with stuff that will never see the LED light again, never be used to its full potential. I hated it so much, it just made me want to pull the trash out of the barrel myself and rub it in everyone’s face, yelling at them not to waste so much. But I know that’s something I can’t do…

Or can I?...

I don’t know what caused it, but after months of scowling at that trash barrel and seeing “Sad Eyes” growing more and more hopeless with each lesson passing us by, a feeling I can’t describe suddenly came over me. I’ve yet to know what the feeling is truly called, but rumor has it that it’s something called “determination”. But either way, one day, an idea struck my mind like lightning, an idea that would help change not only the amount of garbage being thrown out between each individual, but also help shift the stigma of the little Addison who sat next to me. I knew I’d be the only one to carry this idea out, as it was… controversial to say the least. Addisons are not known for recycling, as evidenced by the Trash Zone not far from Cyber City. For an Addison to try and make a product from literal garbage, let alone sell it successfully, was completely unheard of, it was also about being shiny and brand spanking new to attract customers, Lightners with real money like loud and proud products such as those, and rarely show interest in thrifting. I thought it would be best to start with something that I knew was in high demand in my class; something to eat. Almost everyone in my class liked to eat something once the lesson was over, this would be my ticket to insert my recycling ideas into the grape vine…

But what would they want to eat? Everyone seemed to have something different everyday, it was difficult to determine a pattern of preferred snacks… except for “Sad Eyes”, he was the only one with a pattern I could recognize. He loved protein, especially hard boiled eggs… Perhaps the food idea I have could even break a second stigma! Yes, I will make something that not even “Sad Eyes” can’t resist; egg sandwiches! They’ll hit all his requirements; high in protein, major savory flavor points, and no waste if I wrap them in something compostable! I had no time to waste, I can’t let this idea leave my mind!

After my classes that day, I quickly ran to the student kiosk and grabbed some ingredients for the sandwiches, as well as requested a spot where I could sell my new idea. Addisons that want to sell food products, condiments, or basic household gadgets could request a space to begin selling their stuff, sort of like a practice for when they start to sell their stuff out in Cyber City. Plus, it was a way to make some quick cash if needed. But cash I really wasn’t interested in, I was on a bigger mission. I bought everything I would need to make the sandwiches and quickly ran back to my dorm, setting all the ingredients down on my desk. Now it was time for the hard part; getting the ratios of every ingredient correct. I knew it would take me a few attempts, so I made myself small batches to taste test which combination would be the tastiest. Batch one was of course way too strong on the mustardata, I needed to dial it back a bit. Batch two was too liquidy, too much RAMayo to egg. Batch three was lacking a bit of salt and pepper… Batch four tasted…

Incredible!

I had done it, the ultimate recycled egg sandwich was complete! Suddenly I was like a racecar, making sandwich after sandwich, until they filled up the space on my desk. Once those were done, I set to work also preparing some homemade ketchup to go with them, made out of the veggies I picked up from the kiosk. I quickly wrapped them up in their compostable wrapper and set them in the fridge. One dozen sandwiches, ready to be bought and enjoyed!...

Now I had to get them back to the student kiosk.

I didn’t want anyone to recognize me and begin to badger me about my creation, so I wore a large hoodie on my way to the store. With the egg sandwiches in hand, I sneakily but casually strolled into the student kiosk store and placed them inside the fridge where I had reserved a spot for me to sell them. I had asked the owner of the store if I could keep my name off of the shelf of my sandwiches as I wanted to remain an anonymous seller, which they found peculiar, but obliged as they believed they understood my feelings. Once they were in, I quickly made my way out without any students noticing me. I’m not sure where it came from, but afterwards I gained such a rush, knowing that something I had prevented from going to waste was going to go to good use, nourishing whoever will give it a try. Perhaps I was secretly desiring “Sad Eyes” to give them a try, he does love his protein, and rightfully so. But at that time, I didn’t care who was going to eat them, as long as they were eaten and enjoyed. The next day I walked by the student kiosk and saw the sandwiches were still there. I guess for most, purchasing an anonymous maker’s sandwich was a turn off, I don’t blame them, especially being made of eggs, but I was just so hesitant to be judged. I wanted the art to speak for itself, and it did just that the next day…

- - -

(10:45) Business Tactics 103 Auditorium on Friday:

“Now that we’ve covered the basics of bargaining, let’s begin to discuss alternative ways to get customers interested in the prices of your products.” Our professor spoke, changing the powerpoint slide to the next lesson.

Urgh, just thinking about that class makes me want to fall asleep… I was growing bored of the lesson, so I subtly looked over at “Sad Eyes” and watched him, he was just as slumped and exhausted as ever, with only half a page of notes filled out while I probably was on my fifth page of notes. He was clearly in a bad mood today if he couldn’t even be bothered to fix his spelling mistakes, which there were quite a lot. It made me curious how this dude even managed to read his notes after class and study from them. I suppose he finds a way, he does get at least a D on his tests, all he needs really. His hand began to slowly trail down the paper and create a slanted line, he must’ve been starting to fall asleep since his head began to lower towards the desk too. I swear he would’ve been out like a light in the middle of class, if it hadn’t been for-

*Grrrooowrrll*

His head suddenly jerked up and his hand jolted forward, drawing another slanted line on his notes. His expression changed to a more worried look; five minutes till class is over. His stomach was on time as always, alarming him to have his midmorning snack soon. After his rude awakening, he began to scramble last minute notes in his notebook. I could tell his hunger was bothering him since he was aggressively scribbling notes down to help distract him from the sensation. I’m not sure why, but that day…

“Hey, are you feeling okay?” I whispered to him.

I was lying about knowing what was wrong with him, but he didn’t exactly know that. In fact, it must’ve triggered some kind of nervousness in him, because his cheeks suddenly flushed more red than they already were, and he stammered his answer.

“Wh-What? N-No, I’m okay, just tired…” he whispered back, a slight crack in his voice.

I may have made the mistake of talking to him, because afterwards he suddenly tensed up, his hand shook as he took down notes, and the other hand wrapped around his belly. His pupils were shrunk, staring intensely at the powerpoint, sweat beginning to bead down the side of his head. I never knew someone could be so embarrassed about their hunger, typically Addisons just laugh or brush it off. But it’s as if to him, I just broke the antisocial shield he had built around himself, and now he had all eyes and ears on him, despite the fact that I was the only one looking at him. Each minute that passed his stomach kept trying to alarm him to eat, and I could see him curling up quite hard to try and muffle the noise. However, it didn’t take long for five minutes to pass, the bell announcing the end of class began to run. He suddenly uncurled himself, looking up at the clock on the wall.

“That’s all for today’s lesson, be sure to review chapters 8-10 before class next week!” The professor instructed.

Most of the Addisons began to pack up and head for the door, others stuck around in their seats and pulled out their midmorning treat, of course, with trash to throw away. Spamton did the same as he quickly pulled his backpack up into his lap and frantically searched his back compartment. His teeth tensed and he took a sharp inhale, pulling out a familiar wrapper. Its familiarity struck my mind, and I almost couldn’t believe my eyes. It was the one of the egg salad sandwich packages I had placed in the student kiosk store days before! He quickly pulled one of the slices out of the packaging and wasted no time taking his first bite. My digital heart raced, curious and wondering what his reaction was going to be. Would he like them? Would he want to eat the whole thing? I thought I was going to start hyperventilating, I was so shocked that he actually bought one. It felt like forever waiting for his reaction…

. . .

His little pupils slowly lit up with life and sparkled, his mouth curled into a loving smile, and he let out a very soft and content “Mmmmm…” as his cheeks puffed from him chewing the sandwich. I had done it, not only was I able to recycle something that would’ve otherwise went to waste, but someone, especially “Sad Eyes”, actually enjoyed eating it! My mouth slowly fell open as I kept watching him eating my sandwich. He was savoring each little bite, tasting every inch of it, even going as far as to lick his lips when he got part of it around his mouth. Without my notice, another Addison approached the two of us.

“Hey, did you make that? It looks pretty good.” they asked “Sad Eyes”, pointing at the sandwich.

I suddenly snapped out of my tranced stare, and looked up at the Addison, they were quite the tall fellow, a nice golden yellow color, and hair pointed back. They seemed like a laid back Addison as their uniform was slightly untucked and their bowtie was undone. There was no doubt about it, something about my unique sandwich creation was intriguing to Addisons, and yet they don’t know why besides the taboo stigma. “Sad Eyes” perked up and gulped the mouthful quite loudly before answering.

“U-Uhhh… N-No, I didn’t make this, I bought it at the kiosk.” He replied.

“Oh, okay. What’s the name of it? I might give it a try.” They questioned.

“T-The name?... I don’t remember if it had a name…” he noted, looking at the wrapper for any kind of symbol or identification.

“Well that’s okay, I’m sure I’ll be able to find it when I check out the store later.” They shrugged, until they were suddenly interrupted by another Addison.

“Is that made of eggs!? You wanna eat THAT!? Don’t you know you’re gonna look like some kinda MONSTER eating that!?” they yelled two rows down.

It was a dark red colored Addison, a lot shorter than the tall golden Addison, but still much taller than “Sad Eyes”. I recognized him from my homec class, he was often the one to start trouble with the professors as he comes from a line of very rich and successful makeup marketing Addisons, so he thinks he’s hot shit. Nevertheless, it was clear the golden Addison wasn’t going to take that crap from him.

“Hey c’mon, don’t knock it till you try it.” The golden Addison defended and watched the red Addison strut away with disgust.

“Thanks for telling me where you got it.” They commented, picking up their backpack and slinging it over their shoulders as they left for the door.

“Sad Eyes” shrugged and went back to munching on the sandwich, finishing the first slice in just a matter of seconds. He picked up the second piece and decided to take out the pouch of homemade ketchup that was also in the packaging, squirting a bit of it on one of the corners. When he took the first bite of the second slice, he practically melted in his seat. The taste must’ve been euphoric for him as I saw his pupils almost roll to the back of his head, and he let out a louder “Mmmmm…” as he chewed. I couldn’t stop watching him, there was just something so precious about it. At this point, every other Addison had left the room, it was just us two and the professor, but neither of us had noticed, we were both fixated on the experience. Suddenly the professor took a ruler and cracked it on one of the nearby tables, scaring the absolute piss out of us out of our trance.

“HEY! You need to clear out, the next class is coming in 10 minutes!” the professor yelled.

I stood up and bowed my head.

“S-sorry sir, we were just heading out!” I apologized and packed my notes.

“Sad Eyes” quickly stuffed the remainder of his sandwich into his backpack water bottle pocket and hastily packed his notes as well. He stepped down from his chair and the two of us walked out of the room, a bit shaken up from being yelled at. I wasn’t sure why, but we both stayed on the same path for at least 8 minutes, at first not saying a word. It wasn’t much of a surprise given the fact that we’re both a bit socially anxious, but eventually he broke the ice and stopped dead in his tracks. I didn’t realize he had stalled and I kept walking.

“Were… Were you watching me eat?” he queried, looking far up since I towered him.

I stopped and paused, my fist clenching a bit. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Shit, he noticed. I wasn’t quite sure how to answer him. Do I lie? Do I tell him the truth? I don’t think he’d forgive me if I told him I made that sandwich… Why?...

. . .

The recipe is a bit hard for others to understand.

. . .

The longer I waited to answer him, the less he was going to believe me, so I had to give him an answer quickly. But which answer do I give him!?

“I WASN’T!” I responded with great projection.

I covered my mouth and my pupils shrunk, my cheeks burning red hot, I wouldn’t have been surprised if there was steam coming off of me. I looked back down at him, and his eyes were squinted, glaring deep into my eyes.

“Look, if you wanted to know where I got the sandwich, you just had to ask. I’m not good at picking up context cues.” he lectured, taking the sandwich out of his water bottle packet.

I lowered my hands from my mouth and slowly peeked over, watching him take a bite of the half eaten sandwich slice. He continued to walk along the path, licking his lips to clear the mess of a bite he took. He took another big bite not long after, I began to wonder if he had enough room to fit the rest of it. I mean, it was a pretty big sandwich, especially in his little hands. My heart fluttered a bit when he made quite a loud gulp, finishing the mouthful he had. It sounded as though he was beginning to struggle putting the rest down. He surprised me by tossing the rest of it into his mouth, chewing it for a bit, pausing for a moment… He was staring right at me, I quickly averted my gaze, hoping he wouldn’t notice. He turned away, another loud gulp, polishing off the rest of the egg sandwich.

“There wasn’t a name or brand on this sandwich, I can’t tell you who I bought it from, only that it was at the kiosk..” he explained.

It was at that point that the two of us heard a faint little rumble below his chest, followed by “Sad Eyes” covering his mouth with a fist to conceal a burp. He didn’t really try to muffle it though, I felt my eyebrows raise, suppose I didn’t expect him to forget any manners.

“Sorry, that snack was a bit filling.” he pardoned himself, wiping his sweater clean of any stray crumbs.

“O-Oh, it’s fine, I get it.” I replied back, trying not to blush again.

I was still in awe that not only he bought one of my sandwiches without knowing who made it, but even enjoyed it, AND finished the whole thing! At his size, I thought he was going to end up having to give up halfway through, but he seemed to have enough space in his stomach to fit the whole thing without needing to settle down. I guess when you have to work harder to get around, your body’s gonna want a lot to eat. Now, there was a bigger question looming over my head…

Would he buy another?

A business only works if there are returning customers, right? Hopefully he enjoyed the flavor and size enough to want to buy another, I don’t see why not based on what I’ve witnessed in the past 20 minutes. I won’t be able to tell until we have class again tomorrow.

“Hey, I gotta go, okay?” he told me as he turned toward the left fork of the walking path.

“Huh? O-Oh, sure. Have a good day, I guess…” I answered back, turning to the right fork.

He headed towards the auto shop garage, he must’ve had a class in mechanics. I had to make my way toward my environmental class, which was the building two blocks down from our business building. I soon cleared my head of everything that happened that day and pushed into my archives. It was time for me to get on with my day, and hopefully, look forward to seeing if my idea would be appreciated by more than just one…

- - -

(9:30) Business Tactics 103 Auditorium on Monday:

Everyone had already sat down by the time I got to class. I quickly got to my seat up in the farthest row before the professor walked in and he shut the door. As I unpacked my notebook and pen, I looked over to see “Sad Eyes” chair was empty, not even his backpack was there…

Oh no… Did that mean?

N-No, there’s no way my egg sandwich would’ve done that to him, right?... Surely he was just running late, not stuck in bed with a stomach ache, right!?... It has been 3 days, food poisoning doesn’t last that long, does it? I swear I could feel sweat beading down my neck from stress.

“Now then class, today we’re going to talk about how to negotiate business territory disputes; how to compromise who sells what when two Addisons sell similar products of interest. Who’d like to tell the class-'' the professor spoke, before suddenly being interrupted.

Everyone turned to the door being swung open, revealing “Sad Eyes” covered in sweat too and deeply out of breath.

“S-Sorry I-I’m l_late… My… a-alarm clock b-broke…” he panted.

“Mr. Spamton, you’re 5 minutes late to class. This’ll be your final unexcused absence for this semester, got it?” the professor explained.

“Y-Yes Mr. Wardly…” he nodded, slowly making his way up to the seat next to me.

The whole class gave him a scowling glare as he stepped up to the 8th row. He sat down in his seat with a sigh, his backpack slowly sliding off his shoulder and falling to the floor with a loud thud. He rummaged through his backpack and pulled out his notebook and pencil, it was clear it was shoved in there without much care as a few of the pages were folded awkwardly. My god, “Sad Eyes” reeked of panic and for some reason, wet dog. I guess he was running too late to take a shower, or even brush his teeth for that matter. He must’ve run at least a few blocks just to get here, even with his short height, that’s quite a distance for any Addison to fully run; we’re not exactly athletes, unless you count the ones who love selling sports gear and equipment.

“As I was saying, today we are going to discuss territory negotiation; many of you will have similar product interests and thus, will be competing for prime real estate.” the professor continued, switching to the first slides of the lesson.

Urgh, I knew this lesson was going to suck, I’ve barely decided on what I want to sell besides those sandwiches. Nevertheless, I took down the notes as usual. I glanced over at “Sad Eyes” after ten minutes and could see that he had barely written down a thing, his eyes were deeply drooped, and his mouth hung slightly open. He didn’t look quite right, and that's saying something. But even on days that he didn’t get enough sleep, he wouldn’t ever be this shut down. It didn’t occur to me what was wrong with him until something in his behavior routine changed.

*Groowwrrlrll*

His eyes shot open like snapped window shades, and his mouth quickly shut, turning into a concerned frown. He had skipped breakfast; no wonder why he was acting so differently. I felt bad for him, I knew hunger was like mental torture to him, and now he has to face it for the whole class. His hunger must’ve echoed in the auditorium because a couple of the Addisons that sat near us glared up with irritation. I acted as blasé as I could, trying not to attract any attention to us, but poor “Sad Eyes” looked like he was about to start crying. However, it looked like he got some sort of idea, as he slowly bent over and rummaged through his bag quietly. I could see something glittering in one of the pockets, it appeared to be some kind of wrapper. He slowly pulled it out and it was revealed to be a protein bar. I had thought, ‘Oh good, he had a breakfast backup’, but he was running the risk of being caught. Our professor hated when students ate in his class, he believed it to be a “distraction”. I betcha it was because the professors were supposed to remain “professional” when teaching, and the traditional staff viewed eating as unprofessional. “Sad Eyes” began to open the wrapper, careful not to make any noise… That’s when it happened.

*Grrgglrll*

The sudden announcement of hunger in his body caused him to jolt and rip the wrapper open with a loud crackle. The professor immediately stared at him. He slammed his ruler down on the table. Oh shit, he looked pissed.

“Mr. Spamton, are you eating in my class!?” the professor yelled.

“U-Uh…” “Sad Eyes” stuttered.

Without hesitation, our professor began to storm up the steps with a trash can, and suddenly “Sad Eyes” began to shove the bar into his mouth, chewing aggressively. But it was too late. His cheeks were clamped tight by Mr. Wardly’s firm grip. He flinched as the professor’s grasp was sharp and painful. A little yelp escaped his mouth, along with the protein bar he was trying to sneak. The professor let go once he was satisfied all of it was dumped in the trash bin.

“Owww, that hurt…” he whimpered and rubbed his cheeks.

“No exceptions, Mr. Spamton! One more interruption and you’ll be suspended from my class for a week, are we clear?” he scolded.

“Sad Eyes” swallowed hard and nodded, still cringing from the pain in his cheeks.

“Good… Now, let’s get back to the lesson.” the professor announced, stepping down to the main floor, setting the trash can down and changing the powerpoint slide.

I looked over at “Sad Eyes” and he had his head down on the desk, buried in his crossed arms. I guess he had given up any chance of paying attention in class today, I don’t blame him, it’s hard to pay attention on an empty stomach. Not only that, but he was starting to become a class outcast as his hunger was causing other students to be distracted. Every couple of minutes his stomach rumbled, and alternating staredowns and shushes from nearby Addisons would soon follow. I guess the professor had noticed too, but decided to ignore him and continue with the class since he’d already paused twice to deal with “Sad Eyes” accordingly. It was so hard to watch him in this saddened state, I needed to do something without interrupting class. But, would he accept my help, or end up getting too flustered and end up getting suspended?...

Only one way to find out…

I slowly shuffled my seat over to him, and gently placed my hand on his back. At first he didn’t notice, until I then began to rub his back up and down. His head peered out above his crossed arms, his face was covered in tears. He looked up at me and softly sniffled, I closed my eyes and nodded, hoping he would pick up on my attempt to comfort him. I guess he got the message and laid his head down on his arms, taking some deep breaths and slowly relaxing. I continued to rub his back, switching to big circles and pressing deeper. His eyelids began to droop, slowly succumbing to the thoughtful gesture. This seemed to have also calmed his hunger as well since his belly had gone quiet for most of the lesson, he was still clearly uncomfortable from the empty sensation, but at least he was able to compose himself and avoid class suspension. I didn’t even care that I was missing out on writing notes from today’s lesson, I could easily ask someone for the notes, Addisons aren’t really known to gate-keep information unless they want to charge you for their “services”. Time flew by for me since I was so focused on comforting him, but I’m sure it felt like forever for him. Finally the bell for the end of the class had rung.

“That’s it for today’s lesson, make sure to read up on chapters 12-14 for this week’s quiz!” the professor announced.

“Sad Eyes” shot up from his moping position, and immediately snatched his bag, rummaging through it. I quickly pulled my hand back, satisfied he was feeling a bit better, and began to pack my notes, when I saw what he pulled out…

I couldn’t believe it.

Another one of my egg sandwiches! He ripped the packaging off and grabbed one of the slices, taking a deep bite, and slightly moaning in flavorful pleasure. His pupils rolled to the back of his head, and he leaned forward to make sure he didn’t drop any bits onto the floor. It must’ve been so relieving to finally eat something after having to go through the morning without any food. I leaned back in my seat and smirked, it felt really good to know that I helped him in his time of need, especially with something I helped save from being wasted. He soon finished his first slice and moved onto the next, taking his time with this one. As the students who stayed behind to eat a snack began to pack up to leave, more took notice of what “Sad Eyes” was eating. Four of them approached our desk, two curiously staring while the other two had grimaces on their faces.

“Hey, what’s that you’re eating?” The yellow one asked, pointing at the sandwich.

“That’s not eggs, is it?” The pink one butted in, their nose scrunched up.

“Eggs? From where?” The orange one questioned, tilting their head.

“Where’d you get it from?” The blue one curiously asked, peering over the other three.

“Sad Eyes” looked a bit overwhelmed, stammering a bit before answering them.

“I uh… got it from the kiosk. It’s actually pretty good.” he replied, taking another bite.

Suddenly the four of them turned to me and asked at the same time.

“Do YOU like them too?”

My face went frighteningly blank with fear and I gave them a hesitant nod, which seemed to have been enough for them to step back and talk amongst themselves. From their body language, I could tell that most of them were now debating their next move.

“Alright, now I gotta know what it’s like.” The orange one announced.

“Are you serious!? You’re gonna look like a crazy person!” The pink one interjected.

“Hey, you don’t know, man!” The yellow one countered.

“Wonder who made it…” The blue one wondered before following them outside.

I was in complete awe, I didn’t think “Sad Eyes” just eating my egg sandwiches would begin to spark such curiosity so quickly! Now in just two days, five different Addisons wanted to know where he got it, and maybe tomorrow they might give them a try! I quickly packed my notes back into my backpack and began to head for the door towards the student kiosk. I would need more ingredients and inventory if this was going to be the case. Part of me did want to stay and watch him finish his food, but I knew I would gain more suspicion if I was caught staring at him. I’m… still shy about revealing that I was the one who made them. When I arrived at the kiosk, I noticed there was a bit of a crowd surrounding my sandwich spot. I kept a low profile and put my hoodie up, hoping no one would approach me and come asking questions. As I grabbed what I needed, I couldn’t help but overhear some of the murmured conversations amongst everyone standing there.

��Who do you think made it?” some of them asked.

“Do you think it’ll actually taste good?” others wondered.

“Well it’s gotta be good if even that white Addison is eating them!” one piped in, it was the orange Addison from before.

“I dunno man, I mean… Eggs? Isn’t that kinda wrong?” a smaller green Addison pointed out.

“Fuck it, I’m getting one.” a rather large purple Addison huffed, grabbing one sandwich.

Suddenly the crowd lost their minds with a few of them gagging and the other half going “ooooo”, while some gave the Addison a pat on the back for being their guinea pig. I watched as the purple one purchased the sandwich and opened up the wrapper, taking a rather large bite while the others stood around them and stared with longing. After a couple chews, the purple Addison turned to everyone and gave them a nod, which sent them into an even bigger frenzy. To my surprise, three more of them grabbed a sandwich and stood in line to purchase them! Had I truly done it? Had I just changed the stigma of our people?... it was still only a small group, and those outside of our school had no idea this change of perspective was going on. I had a long way to go to change the minds of everyone around me. I stood in line and waited my turn, and each Addison that bought a sandwich quickly opened them up and had a taste. Some left before I could hear what their thoughts about them were, but the ones I could hear definitely seemed excited about its taste. If I was going to do this, I needed to make sure I kept up with the demand, so I decided to go ahead and purchase double what I bought last time. Once everything was paid for, I headed back to my dorm and got to work, making sure to follow the ratio of ingredients exactly. There was a bit of a problem, I was on the last of the eggs, I would need more if I needed to make more batches…

But that wouldn’t be a problem…

I know exactly where to get more…

- - -

(10:45) Business Tactics 103 Auditorium on Thursday:

“Now class, let’s go over the summary of what we learned today about balancing costs and profits.” our professor lectured, switching to the next powerpoint.

Word had got around about the egg sandwiches, and it seemed like a fourth of the class had bought one today. I was so excited to see all my hard work pay off, and watch as that trash barrel be barely halfway filled. It was so hard to stay still in my seat, I was so tempted to get up and dance a jig, but I knew I’d both look like a fool, and probably be suspended by our professor. As I finished up the notes I needed for that day, I glanced over at “Sad Eyes” to see what he was up to in terms of his mood today. To my surprise, he had quite a bit of notes written down, he was even on his second page. In the months that we’ve sat together in class, I had never seen him make two pages of notes, but there it was. Perhaps he was just impatient and really looking forward to his midmorning snack, which resulted in his attention span increasing. All I could do was wait for his signal that class was almost over…

. . .

“What are you doin’?” “Sad Eyes” asked me with eyes squinted in suspicion.

Oh fuck. He noticed I was staring at him. What should I do?

“U-Uh, I- Y-you got a pencil I can borrow?” I stammered.

“You… have one, in your hand?” he pointed out.

Dammit. I could already feel my face beginning to burn hot with embarrassment. I had to think of something else.

“A-Actually uh, w-what time is it?” I questioned, barely even able to squeak out the words.

“Time? Uhh… it’s-”

*Grroowwrrlrll*

Five minutes left, on time like always. Oof, “Sad Eyes” didn’t look so good now. He stuttered his words as he told me it was 10:55, his hands shakily balled into fists, his teeth slowly clamped together, his shoulders hunched, and his eyes strained to stay open. His cheeks, usually rosy to begin with, flushed a deep hot red as sweat began to trickle down the side of his head. As much as I wanted to offer him some words of empathy, I felt my voice shut down, and I had no choice but to turn back and face the front of the class, leaving “Sad Eyes” to deal with his inner demons on his own. I made sure I wasn’t turned towards the front enough to where I couldn’t glance over at him, but enough to where it didn’t look like I was spying on him. I watched as he jolted back to facing forward, and scribbling down notes aggressively. His pupils had shrunk to tiny dots, and his legs were curled up under his chair towards his body. Yeesh, he looked like he had been thrown off a building. He was that tense. I struggled to keep my eyes off of him, but there was such a drive in me to want to just scoop him up and cuddle him until-

Wait… What am I thinking? Without realizing it at first, the bell had rung for the end of class.

“That’s it for today’s lesson, don’t forget we have our big quiz tomorrow, and I expect you all to be prepared!” our professor announced.

“Sad Eyes” quickly broke from his concentration and began to rummage through his bag, pulling out that familiar package. Suddenly I began to hear not just him opening up his sandwich, but others as well. There were three, no, five, no!... there were a dozen other students with the same egg sandwich as him! One at a time, they took their first bite, and there was a chorus of delicious smiles, chubby cheeks, and plenty of soft “mmmm”s from each and every one of them! I felt my little digital heart flutter with pure joy and pride, watching every Addison happily munch at something I created to not only nourish them, but to help our city from the wrath of pollution. As I began to pack up my things, I noticed the four Addisons that approached us the other day had stayed behind in class… TO EAT MY EGG SANDWICHES!?

“C’mon Click, take a bite, it’s good!” the yellow one teased, pushing a slice near the pink one’s mouth.

“Stop it Vid, I’m not eating it!” Click yelled, smacking Vid’s hand away.

“It’s better than you thought, right Banner?” the orange one asked the blue one.

“Definitely, Survey. You’re really missing out, Click.” Banner smirked, taking another bite.

“ALRIGHT! Alright, fine! I’ll try a bite just to shut you three up!” Click agreed, snatching the slice from the yellow one’s hand.

The five of us all watched with awe as Click reluctantly took a bite of the sandwich slice. He slowly took a few cautious chews before swallowing, his face crumpled with embarrassment.

“HA! Admit it, you like it, Click!” Vid shouted, pointing a finger in Click’s face.

“Okay okay, it tastes fine! Are you happy now!?” Click roared with humiliated rage as he stormed toward the exit.

“HEY, WAIT FOR US!” Vid yelled, grabbing his supplies in a hurry and running after him.

The other two Addisons calmly packed their stuff before following the two to the exit. I looked over at “Sad Eyes” to see if he had finished his snack, and he was on his last piece. God, his little chubby cheeks were so charming. I finished packing my supplies as well and sat back down next to him, giving him a bit of a smug grin.

“You’ve sure taken a shine to those egg sandwiches.” I told him.

“Heh heh, yeah, they’re just so good and so convenient! Plus it’s a big portion for the price, you get a good deal out of them.” he replied, shrugging.

“Seems like everyone else in the class noticed their value too, it’s a hit.” I chuckled, putting my backpack on. “C’mon, we should head out now.”

“Alright, I’ll walk with you.” he agreed, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and grabbing the rest of his snack.

The two of us headed for the door and outside to the rest of the campus. Falling leaves of multiple colors scattered at our feet. it was getting colder, winter must be close now, especially if our finals were approaching. It felt good to know that the two of us were just one exam away from our last year on campus. I looked over at “Sad Eyes” and he was just about finishing his snack, giving a fuzzy staticed hiccup. The two of us laughed as we headed back to our dorms, saying goodbye to each other before parting ways. We didn’t realize it at the time, but this became our own little routine for the rest of our time together in academy; go to class, watch “Sad Eyes” eat his snack, watch as more and more of the class switching to my egg sandwiches without knowing who made them, and us walking down the paths together. Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into the next year of our training. Sadly the two of us were never paired up in the same class again, but I could still see him walking down the road towards the mechanics, he must’ve wanted to pursue that as his chosen career. Meanwhile I had begun to attend some environmental courses to better learn how to utilize every material around me to my advantage, and turn our pollution problem around. It was not the most praising course to be taking, but I took pride in the path I chose. Though, it was nice to see that “Sad Eyes”’s influence with my sandwiches didn’t fade after the next year began, some of the Addisons in my classes were eating them for breakfast or snack. And of course, I always saw him with one, munching away on his way towards his dorm. Once the sales of the sandwiches leveled out to a reasonable estimation of quantity, I was able to better focus on my studies, I surely wasn’t going to be able to pursue my dreams if my grades were slacking. I guess you don’t really know how fast time passes when you’re working hard, because before I knew it…

- - -

Graduation Day.

Man, it felt good to finally be free of all those boring lessons. I’m sure “Sad Eyes” was also relieved to be away from some of those shitty professors, and could now pursue his career just like everyone else in our class. With my cap on my head, the tassel was turned, and I stood up to shake the hand of the dean and receive my diploma. A few moments later, “Sad Eyes” stepped onto the stage, and did the same, it was kinda cute getting to witness the dean kneeling down to even shake his hand at his height. There were faint murmurs of backtalk in the crowd of Addisons as he walked on stage. They talked behind his back when he arrived at the academy, and talked behind his back as he graduated, typical. Once the ceremony was over, all of us marched out of the auditorium with smiles and pride. As much as I wanted to stay behind and congratulate him myself, I had no time to waste. The minute after the ceremony, I had set up an appointment to meet up with an Addison that specializes in leasing building spaces. There was a certain space that I found in the paper that I just HAD to have to start my little recycling studio in! With my diploma in hand, I rushed down the streets of Cyber City and past all the traffic to the vacant building, where he was waiting for me, suit, tie and all. I probably looked like a fool running up to him in my cap and gown, but I had no time to change into my street clothes, or even something a bit more formal.

“Hey there Phoenix, glad you could make it on such short notice! I’m Seamus, nice to meet you.” Seamus greeted with a handshake.

“Hey Seamus, thanks for agreeing to meet with me, I was really hoping to put an offer down for the place as soon as I could see it with my own eyes.” I replied.

“Oh definitely! Are you familiar with the building’s features? Lemme show you around.” Seamus insisted, leading me inside.

My pupils grew wide as I scanned the area with much giddiness. It was everything I had hoped for and more, so much space to work in, so many lights to brighten the place up, and tons of storage room to organize my findings! It even had a little bar I could sell my sandwiches from! The place just screamed perfection, there was no doubt about it, I had to have it!

“So, what do you think? Wanna place an off-” Seamus asked before I had cut him off.

“I’ll take it!” I shouted, throwing a stack of dark dollars I had in my pocket.

“Heh heh heh, excellent. I’ll prepare the paperwork…” Seamus chuckled, slowly putting my money into his suit coat.

As much as I was aware of how quick Seamus was to ask an offer from me, I still had fallen for the oldest Addison trick in the book; sell with confidence. And that was it, I was now the proud renter of this building. God, I wanted to get to work so fast, I don’t care if I have to sleep in here to do so! During the next hour, I was rushing back and forth from my workshop to my dorm, grabbing all my belongings, and tossing them into one of the storage closets. Since I’m no longer a student at the academy, my stuff has to leave the dorm, and I am too lazy and excited to drive it back to my apartment. If I needed to sleep in my new closet in order to get my studio ready for business as soon as possible, then so be it! Soon all my belongings were in my new studio, and it was time to begin shaping my career!

This place needs a fun paint job, maybe some pink over there, and a tie dye turquoise wall over there, and I definitely need some string lights around the bar! I need some furniture too, maybe a couch over there, and some high stools by the windows so people can look outside and sit, and-

Wait… Where am I gonna get all the stuff?

I had to pause and consider where I was really going to start, I had just spent all the money I made from selling those sandwiches to get this place, and I’m back to square one in terms of ideas. I can’t afford any furniture or paint!...

Or can I?

My recycling intuition was kicking in. What was I thinking? I got a degree specializing in repurposing, use your creativity! Yeah, screw BUYING new furniture, I’ll make it myself! Where would be the best place for materials? Aha! Of course, the academy dumpster! All the rich family Addisons always threw out the belongings they didn’t want to commute home with them, there’s bound to be tons of good stuff for me to use! Locking up my studio, I ran back to the academy and wasted no time getting my hands dirty. Luckily when students are moving into dorms, they provide carts to help move larger possessions, so I took advantage of one and used it to tote everything I found in the bins. There was everything you could imagine; old lamps, chairs, pretty carpets, tons of string lights, paper decorations, cans of old paint, and even pallets of wood I could use to craft the furniture with! The upholstery on the chairs I could use to make the couches comfy, and really add some pop and color to my studio. With my new inventory, I rolled everything back to my studio, making sure no one caught me borrowing one of the carts. That whole night, I got to work assembling my new accents, painting the walls to my liking, and setting up the fridges and kitchen. In just a couple days, my place was sparkling gorgeous, filled with products to sell, and ready for business! Once I finished up the tiny details and gave the place a good sweep, I flipped the open sign for the first time, and waited for the crowds to come flooding in…

And waited…

. . .

Hrmm, maybe I should do some advertising.

- - -

“Phoenix’s Recycled Fashion and Furniture: The Only Place In Town That’s Honest About Selling You Pure Garbage!... No, that sucks, why would I tell them the stuff’s made of garbage before they even buy it?” I mumbled to myself, tossing another crumpled paper into the recycle bin.

It has been a few days since I first opened my new shop, and so far there hasn’t been a single customer. Perhaps it was because on the inside it looked like a fun place to peruse and partake, but on the outside, it just looked like some shitty warehouse that a drifter was sleeping in! I spent so much time making the inside and my products spiffy, but took no time to plan out where I was going to start roping in customers. How do other Addisons get their products in the public’s faces; billboards? Can’t afford one of those. Posters? I think I need a permit before putting those out. Free samples? I don’t exactly have furniture that can be given away like- wait. Free samples of my sandwiches, of course! Addisons love free food, well, mainly anything free for that matter, but especially food since that means they don’t have to eat or spend the money they earned to eat that day. I rushed over to my shop’s bar and pulled out a few of the sandwiches from the fridge, cutting them into little finger sammies. After arranging them nicely on a plate, I put on a cute little apron and stepped outside, holding the tray out for anyone that passed by to see. It didn’t take longer than 2 minutes for one Addison to grow curious enough to approach.

“Hey, what you got there?” they asked.

“These are my special sandwiches, care for a taste? They’re also on sale in a larger portion!” I explained to them, holding the tray closer to them.

“Ehh, why not? It’s free.” they shrugged, and took one piece off the tray and popped it into their mouth.

About two chews in, I could see their pupils dilate and their mouth sides curl up. It looked as though they had just tasted a bite of heaven.

“Whoa, you made these yourself?” they questioned, their face beaming with excitement.

“You bet! Only $4.99 for the whole thing!” I smiled, waving my hand toward my building’s door.

“Alright, I’ll take one!” they said, holding out five dark dollars and stepping inside.

I led them in and took out a whole sandwich from the fridge, handing it to them in exchange for the cash. My first ever sale! Once they received their food, they also began to look around at the furniture with such wide eyes and genuine interest. Other Addisons outside started to peer into my windows, wondering what the first Addison was doing in there. Slowly they entered one at a time, taking a good look at my products. Who knew the power of free stuff could drive in so many customers? By the end of that hour, more than half of them decided to purchase something, whether it be a sandwich, or one of the chairs I reupholstered the other day, I had made over $50. I couldn’t believe I had made this much money without spending a dime on any of the materials! Well, I guess I did have to buy the condiments for the sandwiches, and the electricity for the building, and the plumbing… but you get the idea. If I was going to keep up these sales, I would need some higher quality items. It was time to diversify my inventory!

- - -

And with that, we get to the point in the story where we are now… I had spent a few months making new kinds of sandwiches and finding higher end furniture and jewelry to restore. However, I got into a bit of trouble going through the Queen’s bins looking for some broken royal furniture, she recently had an eviction and I was hoping to find some of what they might have thrown out. I didn’t get so lucky, and was caught by the Swatchlings. Heh, word got around that I was dumpster diving, and now business has been a bit slower. Y’know, sometimes I do wonder what happened to “Sad Eyes”, I heard rumors that he wasn’t doing so hot either. I wish I could see him just one more-

*knock knock*

I turned my head toward the source of the knocking, and who do I see?... It was “Sad Eyes”! I was in shock, how did he know where to find me!? There’s no way I could be dreaming this, right!? I stepped over to my door and slowly opened it.

“...Spamton? Is… that you?” I confronted him.

Good lord, he looked like shit. Observing him from top to bottom, his hair was heavily dyed back and very greasy, with little bits of wrappers sticking out. He was wearing fogged up pink and yellow glasses, his eyes behind them just as sunken and dark as I remember. His cheeks were bony, yet still faintly rosy. His white sweater was stained with what I could only describe as dumpster juices, and his black coat had several popped seams, exposing his sweater's long sleeves through the holes. His body was rather thin underneath the puffy clothing, and his legs seemed to be struggling to hold himself up. He was also missing some pants, I wasn’t sure where he lost them, but it was clear they were missing for a long time, his legs were covered in filth. It was such a sad sight to see my old friend in. After a moment, he finally spoke.

“HEY THERE [loyal customer], FANCY [I see you] IN THESE [parts and services]!” he answered.

I gasped, kneeling down to his level.

“Spamton, wh-what happened to your voice? And… where have you been? You look terrible…” I asked.

He laughed maniacally, it took me aback a bit.

“I USED TO BE THE [talk of the town] THE [ultimate life form] UNTIL I WAS CUT FROM MY [Life Alert: Call Now!] AND KICKED OUT OF THE [Queen’s Gambit]! THEY THREW ME IN THE [lava] AS MY [life sentence] AND MY [$99.99 speaker] HAS BEEN [broke] EVER SINCE!” he replied.

“Oh my god, YOU were the one that was evicted? That’s awful… Do you have a new place to stay?” I wondered.

“MY [home sweet home] IS OVER BY THE [trash zone], IT’S NOT SO BAD ONCE YOU GET OVER THE [hopelessness]!” he smiled unnaturally.

“You’re staying in the trash? Spamton, that’s not good for you, you need to get back on your feet… But, I can’t afford to help you find a new home, I’m only making enough to support myself…” I told him with worry.

“DO YOU HAVE ANY [inventory] TO [nom nom]?” he requested, his arms stretched towards me.

“What did you say? It’s a bit hard to understand you.” I implored him, holding his face in my hands.

*Grrrggrrlll*

“Sad Eyes” looked down at his noisy belly and I checked my watch.10:55, hmph, just like old times, his stomach always knew when to signal him at the exact same time everyday. It should’ve occurred to me earlier that if he was living in the garbage, he wasn’t going to be eating regularly and therefore might be starving enough to look for free samples from stores around him. Just like years ago, his expression changed to a more worried look and his shoulders tensed. His glasses even took on a greyer and fuzzier appearance. He looked a lot more miserable about his hunger in this condition. But to my surprise, he quickly jerked his head back up and disturbingly smiled wide.

“SORRY FOR THAT [surround sound] I HAVEN’T [wined and dined] IN [9999999] DAYS! YOUR [homemade storefront site] CLAIMS TO HAVE [$3.99 lunchables] TO SELL. I’VE COME TO [brand new offer] YOU SOME [fabulous products] IN EXCHANGE FOR ONE [Chicken Little] SANDWICH!” he explained, rubbing his belly with one hand and reaching into his pocket and pulling out an old battery with the other hand.

I stared at the battery in his hand, god he looked pathetic trying to swindle me with literal garbage. Still, there was something slightly charming about it, he sure had some guts trying to make the trade a reality. I shook my head and chuckled.

“Spamton, y-you don’t need to offer me any… “products”, if you needed something to eat, you should’ve told me right away.” I told him, slowly taking the battery out of his hand and putting it on the counter.

I’ll have to remember to slip that battery back into his pocket…

I stood up and ran over to my storage fridge, and grabbed a tray of my premade egg sandwiches. When I turned around, I didn’t realize he had followed me over, and he immediately grabbed the sandwich off the tray and without even removing the wrapper, took a large bite out of it. I was a bit startled, his mouth looked like a snake unhinging its jaw to eat something way too big for him. In fact, other parts of his body looked like it was moving with hinges, bolts, and springs. There was something about him that no longer looked natural, almost like he was made of some sort of clothing material. It didn’t take me long to see that he had completely transformed from a corporeal Addison to some kind of puppet, complete with plushy fingers and stubs for feet. If he was hungry, then he must still be still intact like a normal Addison on the inside, I doubt puppets would need to eat if he had completely changed. He sat down against the bar to enjoy his sandwich, and I slowly slid down to sit next to him. My digital heart felt achy seeing him in such a sorry state.

“Jeez, you must’ve been starving… You can have as many as you need, I know you used to have quite the appetite back in the academy.” I told him, watching him finish the first slice with a chomp.

“THANKS FOR YOUR [generosity], I’LL MAKE SURE TO [stock up] FOR THE [impending doom] THAT IS [winter sale: buy now!]” he stuttered, grabbing another sandwich from the tray.

Something felt… Off. Very off. Normally it made my body tingle with joy to observe him eating my sandwiches, but today it didn’t feel quite right. I didn’t feel any vicarious pleasure, I felt majorly uncomfortable. Maybe it was just seeing him eat in such desperation, or maybe it was just hard to see him in this bodily condition. But in the back of my mind, I knew what was truly bothering me.

I had never told him the truth about what he was eating.

. . .

I think it’s time to tell him.

. . .

“Spamton, listen… There's something I need to tell you about those sandwiches you’ve been eating.” I mumbled, finding it difficult to confront him directly.

“HAHEAHEAHEAHA! WHAT DID YOU WANT TO [confess thy sins] about YOUR [protein packed snack]?” he asked, his head jerking to face me with an unnerving smile.

I took a deep breath.

“Spamton… the eggs in these sandwiches…” I hesitated.

“YES [Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney]?”

. . .

“Are from me.” I confessed.

. . .

“Sad Eyes”’s glasses slowly went grey and fuzzy again, and his head slowly looked toward the half eaten sandwich he was holding. Oh god, is he gonna be furious at me? Should I have buried the secret in my grave? Is he gonna get sick? Maybe I should apologize to-

“YOU MADE THESE [$4.99 easter eggs] YOURSELF?” he questioned, turning his head quickly to look at my eyes directly.

“U-Uh, y-yeah… Listen, I’m sorry that I never told you about-” I started, but I was cut off.

“THAT’S REALLY [cooldown commence], I WISH I COULD DO THAT WITH MY [PiPiS], BUT THEY’RE [danger: flammable]! IT WOULD’VE CERTAINLY [help wanted] WITH MY [act fast]!” he praised, smiling widely and taking another bite.

“What!? Y-You’re not mad they eggs are from me?” I asked, completely gobsmacked.

“NO. IN FACT, I WOULDN’T MIND [another one], ESPECIALLY KNOWING NOW THEY’RE [locally grown] AND [health facts]!”

“B-But, even with our society’s taboo against it… You don’t care how you’ll look eating it?”

“NO.”

Wow. Even after all the years of judgment he got as an Addison who defied societal expectations and was abandoned by the world and left to rot in the garbage, he still doesn’t care about what others think of him, even if it means… staying in the garbage forever… Man, his self esteem puts my self doubts about my business to shame.

“...I could really learn a thing or two about confidence from you, Spamton. You were a blue moon Addison, and yet walked your own path despite the pressure…”

I shifted a bit closer to him.

“Y’know, I don’t have enough to offer you a place to stay, but I could certainly use a hand around the shop if you need some work. I’d be willing to offer you free meals everyday and half of the tip jar as payment. Maybe overtime you could even earn enough to get back on your feet, what do you say?” I offered him.

“A [once in a lifetime opportunity]!? HOW COULD I [terminate] THAT OFFER!? YOU’VE GOT A [deal or no deal]!” he shouted, holding his hand out for a handshake.

I smiled and took his hand, he wasted no time taking his other hand and shaking my hand with both of his quite aggressively.

“Heh heh heh, glad to hear! Now, we should probably get you washed up before you start. I don’t exactly want you handling anything edible without being at least squeaky clean. I'm sure you’re looking forward to a nice warm shower and new clothes. Lemme check my storage shed and see if I have anything in your size.” I announced, heading towards the back of my boutique.

“[Hochi Mama]! [free samples], A [brand new] WARDROBE. AND A [promotion]!? THIS IS MY [Lucky Lottery] DAY!” he squealed, skipping behind me.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, ‘You gave a job to someone you barely knew from college and might rob you blind when you turn your back for one second and make off with your entire life savings!?’

Yes. Yes I did. Because he was, and still is, my best egg sandwich customer.

Now, would you care for an egg sandwich?

9 notes · View notes

rumblelibrary · 3 years

Note

*whispers* oh, hi!

can I request a little thing with Niki Lauda and his beautiful curls? Maybe Niki and the reader going on a roadtrip together and stoping somewhere for the night? 🥺👀

Bouncy Road Trip [Niki Lauda x Reader]

Words Count: 1.6k

Author’s note: It is my first time venturing into Niki’s mind, I hope I did him and your request right ❤️

“Well, it seems a bit late to think again” he remarked, as always his character would strike, even with you.

You chuckled, too used to his antics to really get mad about it.The two of you decided to go to the next race by car, something easy, a road trip to get there directly, enjoy the city, the food, have time to study the car and the track while others are still enjoying the whole set of parties and interviews that followed the race that just ended.

“You were happy to miss Hunt’s drunk hugs” you told him and he responded with a little shake of his shoulders, a parody of a shiver.You came to the idea that he enjoyed to play this rivalry thing way more than he admitted.

It was something that gave him an edge, something to joke about easily in order to keep his focus on the cars and the changes he wanted to do.You got into the car, you’d drive first because he was just out of the race and wasn’t up to do it again.You were hyped to do the road trip, to be together in such a small space, to be allowed to be so close for such a long time.

You put on your favourite radio station, settled comfortably your seat and wore your sunglasses.

Road trip mood: on.

The sad part was how Niki road trip mood was: nap.

He was rightfully tired after the race, after the nervous days that came before it, but you couldn’t help to feel a bit upset about it.It was typical Niki, reasonable priorities over feelings, he probably didn’t even suspect all those expectations you set up for such a small event.So you drove quality, enjoyed the music and the soft breeze, you looked at him from time to time as he snored lightly, his soft curls unruly moving over his face.

Focus, the road is ahead.

After a couple of hours you felt a warm hand cover yours changing the gear.

“If you want to kill this car you could just run into a tree and make it quicker” Niki grumbled sleepily straightening his posture cracking his neck from side to side.

“Where are we?” He asked as he picked the map rubbing his eyes with his hand as you pointed at it on the map and you smirked

“Good morning anyway sleepyhead” you said shaking your head lightly.Usual Niki.He studied the map silently picking a bottle of water you stacked on side to have a sip, his unruly curls bouncing lightly catching your eyes once more.

“You have seen the race, didn’t you?”You were surprised by the question “of course”

“Do you think he deserved it? Honest to God, I just need an honest opinion of somebody that is utterly deficient of keeping a car for good”

You let out a breathy chuckle staring ahead, it was a compliment and you knew it, it was just his way of complimenting you, to tell you that he knows you have no bias.

“I think he didn’t, but around the beginning he did got the best of your attention” you say after a moment “I mean, he provokes you always and your starts are always a bit off, you’re not in the right mind, I can see how you change along the race and then you show your true colours”

He listens and doesn’t add anything.Maybe you have offended him, maybe not, he rarely lets you know.“At the next gas station let’s stretch our legs a bit, I am hungry” he says and you nod quietly.

When at the station you went to the bathroom first as Niki brought a couple of sandwiches and some snack, along with more water.

“Liquorice, for real?” You ask him looking inside of the bag

“So you can avoid smoking and pestering the car and your lungs” he groans back as he ate quietly looking at you.You look at him as there’s no aggression from him, it is just Niki worrying for your health, in Niki’s way.He is still upset about coming second, again. It was starting to rub him in the wrong way.

“You know, I have seen there’s this exhibition in the local museum, we should see that, on a free afternoon while the mechanics apply the changes you like, I read that the museums here are open until 10 pm in summer”

He looks at you and nods slowly “Only if you play the guide”

“Sounds like a deal then” you smirk and he makes half of a smile, he is content.You move close to him as your hand moves toward those unruly curls that scream to be touched, but he stands up throwing the trash in the closest bin.

The second half of the drive before your stop at the motel is on Niki, but you can’t sleep. Sure you put on your sunglasses and got nuzzled on the passenger seat but you couldn’t look away from him, everything was perfect: from the relaxation of driving at a comfort speed to the engine singing for him, the smoothness of the drive made it feel unreal, like you weren’t even moving but you were only still. You moved up taking your book, you opened it up, it was a poetry book but one of your favourite female authors, you leaned your back comfortably as you started reading. Niki looked at you moving his beautiful long fingers over the radio lowering the volume.

“Read out loud”

You were surprised by such a request, but you did.He listened, he was passive but focused on those words letting those unroll over him.You could see his mind was feeling guilty, anger for losing soon turning into that quiet silence he pulled himself into, the guilty one.He had high standard for himself and for others, but on himself he was the hardest and, most of the times, the cruelest.

The sun was going down and you put the book away staring at him once more, you leaned in, his eyes showing that sad frustration and your hand moved on its own mean over an action you have been craving throughout the day slowly reaching for his head and digging your fingers into his hair. A soft breath of relaxation left his lips, your fingers trailing through the bottom of his head just above his neck and up again.

He rolls lightly his shoulders not commenting your action, but he is clearly enjoying it. So you keep going, you brush your fingers slow and nice, you pull the curls a bit only to make more room to your fingers, you move your hand up on his temple and slowly scratch on the side of his temple going back into the curls.He licks his lips lightly relaxing over your attentions. The radio is still low, nobody is letting out a sound.

“Fuck”

He curses as he yanks the wheel suddenly and you almost get thrown on the back of the car by the sudden motion.He almost missed the exit to go to your motel.You settle yourself back in place quietly, bend down to recollect your book that flew on the car floor.

Once he parked Niki was the first to leave the car to collect your bags, you leaned your back on the seat staring in front of you nibbling on the bottom of your lip. Maybe it wasn’t the right moment, you never knew with Niki. Maybe you fucked it up.

Once you settled into your room you got some room service, the tv was on some old 50’s film in black and white, Niki digging on some chicken salad finally in his comfortable night clothes and a night vest.You were used to the silences, you were used to share those with him, but sometimes it was gutting, you kept wondering if you messed up. If you did something wrong or what was the thing you did wrong. Your own insecurities eating you alive. Once he finished his dinner you showered putting on some night clothing and resting on the big bed beside him as you watched the movie.Then he slowly moved down resting his head on your lap.He looked up at you from that position, the blue light of the screen the only source of illumination.You stare back at his eyes moving your head on side with a little smirk, it looks like somebody enjoyed it back in the car.

But you don’t tease him, you learned not to, and you just go back to that process. He closes his eyes enjoying it. Your hands also enjoying to be back to unruly those wild curls he always tamed, the freedom to be able to do something so simple and so intimate.

“You know I need you right?” He says softly, not even opening one eye, you keep touching his curls, but this time you let him be the one without confirms.He opened his eyes as he slowly looked up at you raising onto his arms.

“You’re my soft side, you’re the art and the beauty and the poetry. I cannot be that, I am not that, but you are, and you, you do me good, you do me better, make me better”

You smile, because he never speaks up, but when he does, he just blows you away.You lean in for a well earned kiss, your hand slowly slipping behind his neck as he pushes you down on the bed.

Tags: @cazzyimagines @that-stupid-head-tilt-thing

Let me know if anybody wants to be added and I will 💕

#niki lauda fanfiction #niki lauda x reader #niki lauda rush #niki lauda headcanons #niki lauda rush 2013 #request

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flowerwrites06 · 3 years

Note

make-up sex with joon. needing angst, fluffy and smutty pls 🥺

here you goo nonnie bb 🥺 i got a little too excited with this drabble in terms of the angst but I’ve tried my best to keep a good flow gjgkerjg I hope you like it!

Pairing: Business man!Namjoon x Cafe owner!Y/N

Warnings: marital arguments, lots of career undermining stuff, stress, frustration, explicit smut

Your arguments were brief and mature on most days. Today wasn’t that day. Stresses of the day flooded and poisoned with impatience; silence between you thickened into unsaid tension. Namjoon fought with his associates day and night as their income thinned. Their business close to ruin. Your café began slowing down with customers. The both of you had enough sense to reassure yourselves that it was temporary and it would fade through time.

Namjoon came to an empty home from work which only emptied his aching chest. Rubbing his dried face, he pulled open the fridge and grabbed a beer bottle. Usually the cartons would last a good few months. Only two remained. He downed burning liquid, blazer lazily dropped onto dining chair.

The door opened to you letting out a deep breath. Your uniform soaked in your sweat, hair sticking to the back of your skin. Why did it have to be summer at such a time? You remembered when the warm gold rays touching your flesh was a blessing. Now it was just a nuisance.

“I brought some leftovers,” you said in a slight slur. The café had some sandwiches and milk tea left much to your relief since no one was at home to cook today. You popped the sandwiches in the microwave.

Namjoon grimaced at the food. “How long has that been in the café?”

You took off your hat, frowning at his comment. “I made it fresh in the morning.”

“Doesn’t smell fresh anymore,” he mumbled under his breath.

Anger flickered in your tired eyes. “Well, you can make your own food if you want.” Your voice tightened.

Namjoon took another chug, uncaring of his own frustrations. The alcohol was only lowering his ability to filter himself but he didn’t want to stop. “You’re the professional café owner here.”

“So I’m supposed to cook everything?” You glared at him.

“Do you expect me to cook after I come back from work?” Namjoon waved his hand to the buzzing microwave.

“I work as long as you do, Namjoon.”

The sound of his own name uttered from your lips made his stomach lurch. He couldn’t remember the last time you would call out a sweet nickname or a smile. “You’d think we’d have tons of money by now, wouldn’t you?”

“Why’re you bringing money into this?” You winced as Namjoon downed the last sips of his bottle. “Why do you always have to bring this up? You can do what you love and I can’t?”

“Now you’re just putting words in my mouth.” Namjoon threw the bottle in the rubbish bin.

You tightened your jaw. “If you don’t want the sandwich, you can order takeout.”

“I don’t want takeout.”

“Then make something on your own!” You took a deep breath, rubbing your temple as the microwave beeped. “I’m not going argue about this, okay?”

“I’m not arguing about it.” Namjoon shrugged. “I’m just saying other spouses are able to make time and cook for their partners.”

“You mean Miyoung?” Bitterness laced in your tone. If it wasn’t arguing about work and life balance, Namjoon only talked about a married woman who worked in his office. Kim Miyoung. Always cooking wonderful meals for her husband no matter how many work hours she had. What an angel.

“I didn’t say anything about her.”

“But you’re implying it.”

“So you’re just going to demonize for an implication?”

“I’m not demonizing you for anything!” You slammed the containers into the rubbish bin. Grabbing onto the edge of the counter, you took a deep breath. “You always mention her whenever you’re trying to belittle my work.”

“I wasn’t belittling your work!”

“What do you think you’re doing then?!”

“I’m saying that you can leave your dumb café for a few hours to cook!” Namjoon felt a wave of twisted relief saying it. He hated it. He hated that for a split second, it was the only thing that brought him some kind of catharsis.

“My dumb café is putting more money in our bank account while you jack off to Miyoung,” you seethed. Eyes glossed from burning tears of frustration. Namjoon used to be her safe haven after a stressful day at work. All of this words of encouragement pushed her up to build her business and now it was enough to leave just so she could make a few meals. “If you want meals for us then you can make them.”

Namjoon scoffed with a bitter smile. “You really think we’d be in this fancy apartment if I quit my job? I bet you wouldn’t care if I jacked off to Miyoung so long as you kept that expensive as fuck wedding ring.”

You pressed her trembling lips together. Whatever hunger that had been twisting at your stomach now numbed. Replaced with a sense of nausea and pain in your chest. “You want the ring back?” You pulled off the ring, the silver trying to latch onto your skin until it finally slid off almost reluctantly. You slammed it on the kitchen counter. “Take it.” Your voice cracked. “Buy yourself someone who make meals for you all day and night.”

Something teared inside him when he saw the ring pulled off of your finger. Namjoon stammered. “Don’t—” A cold wave of clarity burned with guilt squeezing in between his ribcages.

Exhaustion flooded over you. All you could think to do was turn your heel and rush up the stairs. Hot tears trailed down your cheeks only strengthening the headache that was already pulsating at your temples.

***

Namjoon made his way to the bedroom and found it empty. Whenever you needed your space, you would rest in the guest room until things cooled down. He had your wedding ring in his hand, the silver still warm from touching your skin. A small way to comfort him that this argument was something you could come back from.

Anger still seeped through his veins from the things you said but he took it too far. Comparing another person to you. Namjoon threw his head in frustration. He wanted to say something so badly at the moment that he couldn’t hold it in.

One rule they had was to never go to bed while they were angry. So Namjoon took a quick shower and got into comfortable clothes. He took a few breaths before gaining the courage to walk to the guest room.

He knocked on the door three times. “Can we talk?”

“Okay.”

Namjoon opened the door find you looking at your phone. Your hair was damp, body adorned with a large black t-shirt and some white socks. There was a bandage on her calf that he didn’t recognize. “How’d you get that?”

You looked down at the scar and immediately tried to cover it. “There was a loose screw thing in the storage room and I cut myself yesterday,” you replied simply.

Namjoon felt another squeeze in his chest. You would always tell him whenever you got hurt just to get cuddles or a kiss. He’d do the same too. The closeness they used to feel before. He was more desperate for it now than ever before. He sat down on the side of the bed, caressing the ring. “You’re a really hard worker and a great business owner. I’m sorry I said all those things. I don’t think about Miyoung like that. Everything’s just been so stressful, I didn’t know where else or how else to get it all out.”

“I’m sorry too. You contribute so much to our life, I shouldn’t undermined it. I just got a little threatened.” You chuckled nervously. “Can you forgive me?”

“Can you forgive me?”

You nodded, desperate to have this stupid tension be over.

“Will you let me take your hand in marriage again?” Namjoon grinned, reaching his hand out.

You accepted his hand, smiling down as he gently placed the ring on your finger. Sniffling, you climbed onto his lap and kissed him.

Namjoon hummed as the weight lifted off his body, melting into your touch and slipping his tongue through your teeth. Heat radiated from your form, your hips grinding at his crotch.

It’d been so long. The long untouched nerves came shivering back in such desperation that you whimpered against his lips. His crotch tightened and hardened at your every grind.

Namjoon latched onto your neck, unrelenting to breaking a single touch. “I can’t—wait long,” he whispered. So full and ready from the months to staying apart.

You didn’t need a second word before you lifted your hips. A sense of accomplishment ran through you when he jutted his hips. Pulling his boxers a few inches way down, Namjoon pushed your panties aside. His member rubbed against your sodden entrance. Without a single warning, you slid down.

The tightness hugged him, soaking him with warm nectar. You lifted up just enough to close on his tip before slamming down making Namjoon grip your thighs. He pushed up your T-shirt, digging his nails into your ass. You grinned in mischief, lifting and slamming down again. “I missed you, baby.”

“I missed you too, sweetheart,” he growled. “Fuck, I missed you too.” Namjoon guided your thrusts, pounding deep into you until he heard those pleasured cries. He was too heavy, too full. His lower belly, desperate moan passing his lips as he came undone. Warm liquid flooded inside you. “Dammit,” he whispered but it only made you giggle. “I’m so—”

“Sshh, I’m not done yet.” You quickened your thrusts. Hand between your legs, you rubbed between your glistening lips. Ivory nectar dripped out of you as Namjoon let out a string of whimpers from his sensitivity. You missed the way he winced when you pushed him over the edge. The familiar warm ball in your lower belly grew until you were full of its heat.

Then the beautiful explosion. A smile tugged at your lips, your walls pulsating around his length making him whine and tremble along to your rhythm. You let out another giggle as your body filled with bliss. “We should wait this long more often,” you teased.

“Never again.” Namjoon laughed breathlessly.

#drabbles #drabble game #namjoon imagines #bts imagines #Anonymous

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super-secret-sick-fics · 3 years

Note

ouu yes ive been so obsessed with them (osasuna) recently and there’s barely any fics for them in this department lol i wanted to see something like suna coming to school sick with the stomach flu or something and osamu taking him home to take care of him (i feel like it’s ooc for suna to go to go school if he’s not feeling well so it’d probably be one of those where it gets progressively worse throughout the day) sorry if this is too long haha

Okay!! Thank you for this request. Sorry it took so long. Honestly, I had a lot of fun with this and it ended up being so long, that I’m gonna post it in 2 parts!!

You can totally read either as a stand alone though. Part 2 should be up soon :)

Suna and I have the same birthday, so I actually kinda put a lot of myself into him in this one since we share a star sign lmao. I hope it’s not too ooc for either of them. It’s my first time writing sunaosa!

Sick at School: a SunaOsa fic

Pair: Sick Suna, Caretaker Osamu

Word Count: 3,024

Warnings: vomit & swearing & soft cuddles

Part 2 Here

_________________________________

Suna was confused.

There was a strange gnawing in his gut that wasn’t there when he woke up this morning. In fact, when he woke up this morning, he felt perfectly fine. Maybe he was a little more tired than usual, but he didn’t sleep all that well, so he brushed it off and got ready for school.

But now, he was sitting in class, his eyes burning as he tried to stay awake. It was only Monday and only the second class of the day, but he felt like he’d been at school for days already. On top of the grumbly feeling in his stomach, his brain was muddled, so paying attention to whatever his teacher was saying was taking every bit of energy he could scrounge up.

It didn’t make sense. He slept his eight hours (even if it wasn’t the best sleep), he ate a good breakfast, he was hydrated, there weren’t any tests or games coming up to make him anxious at all. So the unsteady, uncomfortable, unusual feelings he currently felt simply did not make a single bit of logical, rational sense.

And because they didn’t make sense—because there was no rational reason for him to feel that way—he ignored it.

Ignoring it proved to be more difficult than he anticipated as the fog in his brain solidified into a consistent pounding and the gnawing in his stomach started to feel more like his stomach acid was boiling. The sun shining on him through the window didn’t help any, and he started to feel rather warm. By his fourth class, occasional cramps rolled through his body, forcing him to tense every muscle in his body to keep from wincing.

When the teacher finally released them for lunch, Suna folded his arms on his desk and hid his face in the crook of his elbow, ready to take a nap. Within three seconds, he heard the chair in front of him scrape the ground, grating on his ears, and felt his desk shake as someone sat down. He adjusted his head and peeked over his arm to find Osamu staring down at him, his usual bored look gracing his features.

“Yer sick, Sunarin,” he deadpanned and took a bite of his sandwich. Suna blinked at him several times.

Sick? Was that why he felt so weird? But he wasn’t sick this morning. There was no way he would have come to school if he felt bad.

Still, it would explain why he slept poorly. It must be a fast acting bug.

“I guess so,” he mumbled and buried his face in his elbow again.

“Hmmm,” Osamu mumbled. They were quiet for a minute or two before Osamu spoke again.

“Wanna go to the infirmary?” he asked, his mouth full.

Suna looked up at him again and sighed before sitting up. The world spun around for a brief second and he closed his eyes until the feeling went away. When it righted itself once more, his stomach was hurting worse than before.

“How’d you know anyway?” he asked and rested his chin in his hand.

“You’ve been lookin’ bad all mornin’. Wasn’t hard to tell.” Osamu shrugged. His sandwich was gone and he started making his way through the onigiri he most likely made himself. The fact that Osamu could tell he wasn’t feeling well from across the room made Suna blush. Or maybe he had a fever?

“Plus,” Osamu continued, “Tsumu’s home right now with a pretty nasty stomach bug. Threw up all over his bed last night.” He scrunched up his nose cutely, probably remembering the disastrous scene from the night before. Atsumu was never good at being a sick person. Or an injured person. Or a person at all, really.

“Wouldn’t be all that surprising if ya caught it from him since ya slept over at our place last weekend.”

Suna nodded in agreement.

“What about you?” he asked. Osamu shrugged again.

“I’ll probably be spewin’ my guts out by Thursday. Usually how it goes. One of us catches something then the other is sick within the week. We’ve only been sick at the same time a handful o’ times.”

“Mmmm,” Suna nodded and put his head down once more. It was suddenly very difficult to hold his head up.

“Infirmary?” Osamu asked again. Suna shook his head.

“Can’t move,” he whined before he could stop himself. Osamu looked at him with wide eyes.

“W-well, I’ll help ya out, dumbass,” he stuttered and Suna returned the wide eyed look.

“Uh, sure. But finish your lunch first. I can wait. You should eat. Wake me up when you’re done,” he said and closed his eyes.

“Alright. Lemme know if we need to go sooner though…” Osamu said hesitantly and Suna tried to ignore the implication behind the phrase.

Just because Atsumu had a stomach bug didn’t mean that Suna did too. He wouldn’t throw up at school. The increasing nausea absolutely had to be related to the growing migraine that slammed away at his head. He definitely would not throw up at school.

Before he started overthinking himself into a downward spiral, Osamu placed a hand in his hair. Suna was tense at first, but then Osamu started gently scratching his scalp and he immediately relaxed. He was a little embarrassed, honestly. Not because this was unusual though.

Osamu knew it helped Suna with his frequent headaches, so Suna was sure he somehow knew about the incoming migraine. It was just that this was usually something Osamu did for him in much more private settings. He’d do it on the bus on the way back from away games, or in one of their rooms after school or during a sleepover. To be so affectionate in the middle of their classroom was unheard of and if Suna wasn’t feeling so poorly, he’d probably smack Osamu’s hand away.

“Ya got a slight fever there, Sunarin,” Osamu whispered gently.

“Mmmm.”

“Okay. I’ll let ya know when I’m done eatin’.”

“Mmmm.”

Within a few seconds, Suna felt himself drift off.

When he woke up again, it wasn’t because of Osamu.

A violent cramp rolled through his gut and he shot up in his seat, ignoring the startled looks of his classmates. The cramp passed quickly, but left behind a foreboding feeling of nausea so intense it left him paralyzed and glued to his seat.

A second later, he noticed that Osamu was nowhere to be found and his anxiety increased. The situation was becoming increasingly urgent and there was no way in hell he could move or speak without throwing up all over his desk.

His chest tightened and he swallowed back a gag. He needed help. He needed Osamu.

“Suna-kun?” a girl from his class touched his shoulder and he flinched. She withdrew her hand.

“O-osamu—“ he forced out and she nodded urgently and ran away and out the door. Less than a minute later, she came back, Osamu hot on her heels. She pointed to Suna and Osamu nodded before rushing over and stood in front of him.

“Sunarin?” he tried and Suna shook his head.

“Are ya gonna—“ Suna nodded before Osamu could finish his question. The eyes of all of his classmates burned Suna’s already flushed cheeks and as if to let everyone know what was going on, a gag forced itself through his body painfully and he leaned over his desk. He brought the back of his hand up to his mouth and whimpered.

“Can someone bring me a trash can, maybe?” Osamu snapped at their peers. The girl from before nodded and dashed to the corner of the room and dragged the trash can over to Suna’s desk.

Everyone froze again and stared with scared eyes at the situation unfolding. Suna shook with effort, trying to stop the inevitable. He really really didn’t want everyone to watch him throw up.

Thankfully, Osamu had his back.

“Leave?!” He shouted and everyone ran out of the room.

“I’ll bring the nurse, Osamu-kun,” the same girl said and Osamu nodded, but his eyes were focused only on Suna. They’d have to remember to thank that girl later.

“I’m sorry, Rintaro. I finished my lunch and you were sleepin’ so peaceful I thought I had time to go to the bathroom before I took ya to the infirmary,” Osamu apologized and cupped Suna’s face in his hands. His voice was much softer than a second ago. It was the voice reserved for those quiet nights that they spent chatting before they fell asleep. Or on the team bus early in the morning when everyone else was still too groggy to pay attention to them. And it comforted Suna in ways he couldn’t comprehend.

“I feel sick, S-samu,” Suna forced through gritted teeth. The swirling in his stomach grew more insistent by the second and he knew it was only a matter of time before he was leaning over the trash can.

“I know, Rin. I’m sorry. It’s okay. I’ve got ya,” Osamu smiled softly at him and brushed his hair back. He frowned when Suna unconsciously leaned into his cold hands.

“Fever got higher,” he mumbled. Suna gagged again.

“Alright, c‘mon,” he said and circled around the desk behind Suna. Osamu gently grabbed his trembling shoulders and positioned him over the trash can. People’s leftovers from lunch filled about half the bin and the smell of all the different foods made Suna dizzy.

“Rin, ya gotta relax,” Osamu sighed and forcefully rubbed between Suna’s shoulder blades.

“N-no,” Suna said stubbornly.

“Yer an idiot.”

“Y-yeah.”

“It’s gonna feel worse if ya don’t just let it happen,” Osamu tried. Suna shook his head.

“Alright well, be mad at me later, then,” Osamu muttered. Suna was about to turn and look at him questioningly, but Osamu wrapped a hand around Suna’s front and placed it on his stomach. Even the minimal contact forced a wretch that left Suna reeling.

“D-don’t,” he tried, but the request was punctuated by a painful hiccup.

“I’m sorry. Can’t do that,” Osamu responded before starting to rub up and down on Suna’s stomach quickly. The motion shook the contents nauseatingly and Suna couldn’t stop the watery burp that followed. He shook his head, eyes squeezed shut tightly.

Osamu didn’t relent. He started patting Suna’s back with the other hand, forcing belch after belch. The conflicting motions wreaked havoc on Suna’s already chaotic stomach.

They stayed like that for what felt like forever, before Suna grabbed Osamau’s wrist tightly.

“S-stop—hurrk. P-please, Samu. No m-mor—hic,” Suna begged. All of his limbs felt like they were about a thousand pounds and he shivered, cold despite the sun beating down on his back.

“It’s okay, Rin. I got ya,” Osamu muttered. He pried Suna’s sweaty hand off his wrist and replaced it with his hand. Suna squeezed hard when a wet belch jolted his body. His other hand grabbed the rim of the trash can in a white-knuckled grip. Osamu used his free hand to rub gently between Suna’s shoulder blades again.

Suna squeezed his eyes shut when he wretched. His throat felt tight and he tried to swallow the accumulating saliva in his mouth, only for it to come back up with a noisy gag. He opted to just drop his mouth open and let the spit fall into the trash can disgustingly.

“S-Samu—“ he tried but was interrupted by a guttural, wet, burp that left his head spinning. Two seconds later, he wretched and a weak stream vomit dribbled out of his mouth. It burned his throat and coated his mouth. The disgusting taste left him more nauseous than he thought possible and a belch gurgled in the back of his throat. He heaved, but nothing else came up.

“Ah, Rin, I’m so sorry. Please don’t cry,” Osamu shushed him. Suna didn’t even realize he was crying.

He continued heaving for what must have been an eternity before another painful gag jolted him forward and brought with it a torrent of pale vomit into the trash can. At least he didn’t have to see everyone’s discarded lunch anymore. Not that his new view was much prettier.

“There ya, go Sunarin,” Osamu soothed. Suna sputtered and coughed, trying to catch his breath. His body was relentless though, and before he felt like he had sufficient oxygen, he was lurching forward with more forceful vomit pouring out of his mouth.

Suna’s body didn’t let up. It was stuck in a seemingly endless cycle of gasping breaths abruptly interrupted by a fountain of vomit forcing its way out. Eventually, he was just left heaving over the trash can, his stomach trying but failing to expel whatever might be left. Anxiety crawled up his spine and the room spun. He wanted to breathe, he really did. He just couldn’t.

“Fuck, Rin, breathe. Please,” Osamu demanded and his voice shattered through Suna’s panic. He nodded and closed his eyes to try and collect himself. He inhaled through his nose and exhaled heavily through his mouth. A minute or two of that, and he was able to take in his surroundings again.

At some point, Osamu wrapped an arm around Suna’s chest because apparently, his own arms gave out at some point and hung limply at his sides. He spit the residual nastiness out of his mouth and squinted up at Osamu.

“Can we leave?” he asked plainly. Osamu stared at him owlishly and then chuckled.

“It’s the middle of the day Rin, I can’t just—“

“Please?” he all but begged and grabbed Osamu’s arm. Osamu hesitated for the briefest of seconds before relenting with a heavy breath.

“Yeah. Yeah, ‘course. Want me to call yer mom?” Osamu responded. He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped off Suna’s face. Suna shook his head.

“Is it too much to ask if I can stay with you? I don’t want to risk giving this to my little sister and grandma.” His voice was quieter than he wanted, but he was wiped out. He cleared his throat and spit in the trash can. He was fading fast. All he wanted was to curl up in bed and sleep whatever bug this was off.

“Yeah okay. I’ll ask my Ma. Shouldn’t be too much of an issue since Tsumu’s sick too.” Osamu pulled out his phone and massaged Suna’s scalp. It felt so good that he leaned over and buried his face in Osamu’s stomach. If he wasn’t careful, he’d fall asleep here. Hopefully Osamu’s mom would be okay with it and come quickly.

“Ma, can you come pick me and— no I’m not sick— well, if you’d just let me talk ya crazy—Ma I do have a good reason to be call— would ya stop talkin—yer damn right I’m being disrespectfu—Ma!” As Osamu argued with his mother over the phone (it was nothing new) Suna took inventory of his body.

There was no denying he was sick. That much was obvious. His head was pounding and his stomach still rolled and swirled uncomfortably. Shivers danced up and down his body, exacerbated by the sweat that coated his skin. He was sure that he had a fever. All of his limbs weighed him down and he didn’t think he had any sort of energy to move them. It was taking all he had to stay awake right now.

“Osamu-san!” The girl from before returned, the school nurse right behind her.

“Suna Rintaro, you poor boy. Caught that bug going around, I see,” he heard the nurse and pulled his face away from Osamu’s body. Blinking a few times to clear his blurry vision, he sniffed and stared at the old lady in front of him.

She stuck a thermometer in his mouth without saying a word and pulled a water bottle out from her coat pocket. While they were waiting for his temperature, Suna glanced at Osamu, who was now leaning against the desk behind Suna’s. His fingers pinched the bridge of his nose, his other still holding the phone to his ear as he continued listening to his mother rant.

Without thinking, Suna reached over and grabbed a hold of Samu’s shirt with one hand. Osamu looked down in surprise before his face softened and he put a hand on Suna’s shoulder.

The thermometer beeped and Suna winced.

“38.7,” the nurse read and pursed her lips. She pulled out some medicine from her lab coat and gave some to Suna. He grimaced. Even in his hazy state, he knew putting something in his stomach wouldn’t go over well.

“Suna-kun, you need to get that fever of your’s down. I know it’s not ideal, but please try.” Suna turned his head away. She sighed.

“Okay, but make sure you take something at home. Does someone need to call your mother?” Before Suna could answer, Osamu interrupted.

“I’ll take him ma’am,” he said, apparently off the phone with his mother.

“Osamu-kun, don’t you be thinking you can just skip out on school,” she warned.

“I would never,” Osamu charmed, “I think it’s the smartest move, ya see. Atsumu is at home with the same illness right now and so there’s no way I ain’t carrying the germs for it. Wouldn’t it be safest if I go home too? Before I infect anyone else. And I can take Sunarin with me.”

The nurse gave him a skeptical look, but then glanced over at Suna. She noticed his grip on Osamu’s shirt and the former’s hand firmly on Suna’s back. It must’ve made Suna look pretty pathetic because she relented almost immediately.

“Oh fine, fine. Does someone need to call your mom?”

“No, ma’am. Just got off the phone with her. She’ll be here soon. Said she’s got no problem taking Sunarin in ‘til he’s all better.” He squeezed Suna’s shoulder and Suna relaxed knowing he wasn’t at risk of infecting his little sister or aging grandmother. He sighed and smiled gratefully at Osamu.

It was comforting to know that Osamu was going to be looking after him. Because, if the swirling in his stomach told him anything, he was in for a really long night.

#my fic #haikyuu sickfic #sick suna #caretaker Osamu #tw vomit

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captainillogical · 4 years

Text

Home Ch.3

The domesticity of living with an alien who hasn’t quite had the chance at a normal life.

Distant Lands sequel.

Spinel/Reader

collab with my lovely wife @firstofficertightpants

Chapter Rating: Explicit

A/N: I’m sorry about the previous version guys, wasn’t my intention to write it that way, and thanks for all the feedback. Changed some things, added another thousand or so words, and re-wrote some dialogue. Thank you Star for all your help p:

This chapter is NSFW. I’m pretty sure one of the people that sent me shit was a minor, so I’d like to say this again, ya’ll. No minors.

"Why do 'ya seem a little out of breath? You run up the stairs?" Your girlfriend asks, raising an eyebrow.

"No reason," You lie, she doesn't need to know of whatever that was. It was probably nothing, anyway. You're just paranoid. "Met another human that lives a few floors down from us though."

"Another human lives here? Huh," She answers, interested. She's got half your boxes open, and has already stacked most of the books inside your bookcase in the living room. It's.. it's stacked like a fire hazard. You don't know what you were expecting. "Bismuth did say that more humans were starting to live in this area. Was he nice?"

"Yeah, he did ask me a lot of questions about you though."

She gives you a particular look. "Why'd he ask about me.."

"I might've mentioned I was living with my girlfriend." You say sheepishly.

"Aw jeez," She groans, wiping her face a bit dramatically with her gloved hand.

"Am I supposed to keep quiet about it?"

"No! No. I just haven't had the chance to tell any of our neighbors about it yet." She replies guiltily. She pushes a twintail over her shoulder, getting it out of the way as she digs into an open box.

"Spinel!" You hiss out.

"What! I've been busy!" She wails. "And also, two of the quartzes on this floor are such huge gossips that I've maybe avoided the conversation with them! They've pried SO much already about my past and it's kinda 'irritatin. I know once they figure out that you're livin' with me, they're gonna bombard me with even more questions."

"Ugh, okay, you get a pass today."

"Today," She repeats, deadpan. "I should get a pass whenever."

"Nah, you're not special enough." You chuckle, grabbing some of your books to restack them into something actually resembling a bookcase.

"I am to you," She pouts a little, which is really endearing.

"Ehhhhhhh," You start, sarcastically, until you feel a pinch on your ass and you cut off mid sentence to yelp. You whip your head around to glare at your girlfriend. "Spinel!"

"Deserved it." She grins, peering at you from the side. You contemplate throwing a book at her, but your stomach rumbles instead.

"Can you finish opening all of these boxes? I'm gonna make myself some food real quick," You say, finishing restacking that one shelf and walking into the kitchen. "I wanna be completely unpacked tonight if possible. I hate moving for this reason."

You hear her make an offended noise from the living room. "Was how I stacked these not good enough for you?!"

"I hate to break this to you, but like," You pause to open your fridge, rifling through what you bought earlier. "Pretty sure they were one bump away from being all over the floor."

"Looked fine to me."

"Have you ever had to organize anything, ever?" You take the ingredients out to make a sandwich, plopping the contents on the counter.

"..I think I'm more of the fun type, personally." She answers, and you hear her toss an empty box off to the side. You feel your phone buzz in your pocket, and opt to ignore it for a little bit while you feed yourself.

"Yeah? You think so?" You snicker, adding an extra slice of cheese to your ham sandwich. "I thought you were more of the 'village idiot' type."

She sputters, and you walk out of the kitchen with your sandwich in hand to see her glaring at you non-threateningly. "That's more of a you type."

"No way! You don't even have any proof." You take a bite out of your food in hand, watching her pull out some of your cute plushies that Steven has gifted you over the years. Sandwich is a bit dry.. shoulda put on more mayo. Oh well.

"Are 'ya fuckin' kidding me?" She stares at you, deadpan. Her left eye is twitching. "Why don't we revisit everything that happened on Golgotha? Hmmmmm?"

"Okay that's not completely fair," You take another bite, and chew it thoughtfully. "It's not like I asked for that to happen to me. It was all self preservation. Besides, it's not like you made it easy."

She opens her mouth to retort with something just as an arm comes out of your hair - she screams, making you drop your sandwich.

"W-WHAT IS THAT!?"

You grab the arm, and yank Steven out of the portal he's created through your hair. He tumbles to the floor, groaning and rubbing his butt.

"You could just, like, I don't know, knock?!" You hiss out at him, patting the side of your head. That was.. uh. That felt weird.

"Maybe you should read your texts sometime!" He groans, flopping on the floor, arms out. "My poor back.."

"My fucking sandwich," You sigh, feeling sad for what could've been your life had you been able to eat the rest of it. "You owe me another one."

"I'll make you twenty if you help me not embarrass myself in front of Connie's mom again."

"Deal." You grab his hand, helping lift him off the floor, and throw the rest of your destroyed sandwich into the garbage bin.

"Am I 'gonna get an explanation for that or are we ignoring it." Spinel says as she stares at the two of you like you've each grown another head.

"Oh, he can just do that now that he pink’d me.” You answer quite bluntly, and Steven opens his mouth in offense.

“Don’t call it that! But she’s technically right.” He gives you a tired look, and it makes you feel a little gleeful that you can still get this kind of reaction out of him whenever you want. “I can do it with Lars too, but he’s taken to threatening me whenever I do it now.”

“You interrupt him in the bathroom again?” You grin at him, and his cheeks color slightly.

“No!” He says all too quickly.

“Wait,” Spinel lowers her eyes to you, getting a strange expression on her face. She walks closer to you. “He can do that just whenever?”

“Yeah, I mean, I’m sure he’ll ask beforehand, but yes,” You reply to her, watching as she lifts a hand to your head. “What’re you-”

“-does that mean I can?” She jabs the side of your head with her gloved hand without waiting for an answer - you slap her hand away as Steven laughs.

“No,” You sigh, Spinel only looking a little put out. “Steven’s the only gem who can. That would be a nightmare otherwise.”

“Anyway, I also came over to give you an update.” Steven clears his throat.

“For what?” You ask, now concerned. “Couldn’t you have just texted?”

“What, so you can just not look at it or text me back?” He shoots a pointed look at you, and you only feel a little bit guilty. “No, I needed to change your schedule specifically to fit around two others, so your first lesson got moved up to a bigger slot. It’s tomorrow. I’m sorry for the short notice.”

You stare at him, unsure of what to say.

“If you’re not ready, I can have Pearl take over for the time being-”

“-No! No. It’s fine, I just needed to mentally adjust to it.” You shake your head vigorously, not wanting him to get the wrong idea. You feel the anxiety swirling in your gut, but you manage to push most of it down for now. “I’m basically done with all my prep for it, anyway.”

“Only if you’re sure, Y/N.” He looks at you like he’s waiting for your face to betray you of something, but you ignore it. “Because you can talk to me if you’re-”

“It’s fine, Steven.” You cut him off. “You worry too much. Besides, you’ve got bigger things on your plate. Y’know, like Mrs. Maheswaran’s divine judgement.”

“Ugggggghhh, thanks for the reminder.” He wipes his hand down his face dramatically. “She wants me to come over for dinner this weekend so she can talk to the two of us about something. I’m not even sure what.”

“Buddy, you know she’s gonna grill you about your future.” You reply, and peer into the open box to the left of you. It’s full of kitchen supplies.

“That’s guaranteed.” He sighs, grabbing some of the items from you and putting them away. Of course he’s helping without any kind of prompt. “I don’t mind it, but I’d like a single dinner with them where I’m not feeling like I’m putting on some kind of performance.”

Your anxiety is still at the forefront of your mind.

“It can’t be that bad.” Spinel turns to him, breaking down the empty box in her hand.

“You’ve never met Mrs. Maheswaran.” He retorts, placing your tea infusers into the silverware drawer and shutting it with a clank. “You have no idea what it feels like to talk to her. Sure she’s nice, but it’s like she’s always watching you under a little microscope..”

Spinel gives him some kind of snide response and snickers, and you hear Steven chuckle and holler out something in reply to that - but you had somehow tuned out the words as you opened the box to your bathroom supplies.

“Give me a few, I’m gonna put all these away real quick,” You manage to say to them before ducking into the bathroom, neither of them seeming to notice your brief change in mood as you leave the door three-quarters closed.

You can still hear them making jabs at each other while Steven talks to Spinel about all the pressure Connie’s mom has put him under the last few years, and you set your box down on the toilet.

Uggghhh, okay. You can deal with this. You have no idea why something as simple as moving a lesson up two days is fucking you up this much, but you’re gonna have to deal with it anyway. Why the fuck are you so nervous? You’ve dealt with worse. You have your lessons ready - they’re basic things anyway. It’s easy. Sure, there’s a big crowd for attendance which is a little unheard of, but maybe more gems want to befriend and understand humans than you had previously considered.

You grab your box of hair ties and scrunchies, and shove them under the sink. You don’t need extras right now. You can still feel the anxiety there, under your skin. You pick up your blow dryer and straightener, placing those down as well. Why did Steven seem like he was expecting you to back out?

Does he think you’re incapable of handling this? Is this some kind of test?

You pull out your phone to text Amethyst.

[21:42] Y/N: Quick question.

[21:42] Y/N: You think I’m capable of teaching those classes?

You set your phone down after hitting send, and grab all your soaps to put away as you wait for a reply. Spinel’s voice rings out from the living room, and you focus on the sound of it for the time being. You reach into the box again, and pull out all your hair dye supplies from a while ago.

Huh.

You turn the container of bleach around in your hand.

You stare at yourself in the mirror, and try not to wince at the reflection. You probably couldn’t.. right? You don’t think that your hair would take any kind of bleach or dye now. The utter irony is that you’ve experimented with every single other color for your hair before this, claiming you would never try pink to Steven.. and now it’s.. permanent.

Your phone buzzes on the counter. You pick it up.

[21:44] Amethyst: uhh.. yeah?

[21:44] Amethyst: the fuck you asking for?

Okay, well. Now you just seem paranoid.

[21:44] Y/N: No reason..

Your fingers are hovering over the keyboard, and as you’re figuring out what to continue to type, she shoots a text back nearly instantly.

[21:45] Amethyst: :/

You put your phone back into your pocket. You don’t really feel like asking what that face is for, because you think you know the answer.

You finish putting away the remnants of what was left in the box, and walk back out into the living room where Steven and Spinel are now talking about how he met Connie. You throw your empty box off to the side, and look at all the stuff you have left to unpack on the floor. It’s not much left, you’re well over two-thirds done at this point, and ohhhhhhhhhhh you forgot about your laundry.

You let the other two know that you’ll be back in a few - Spinel shoots you a look that you ignore, and you head downstairs.

Your mind wanders nervously the entire way down, and the laundry room is empty when you arrive to get your clothes. Amethyst texts you again, asking you if you're okay, and you shoot her a quick 'yup just peachy'. You get your dry clothes, placing them into your hamper, and you scurry back to your floor to avoid any weird confrontations.

When you get back inside, you manage to catch the tail end of a quiet mutter from Steven to Spinel before he quickly runs his sentence into something else, and at an increased volume to avoid suspicion. You opt to pretend you didn't notice, and you easily slide back into the conversation as the three of you finish what you had set out tonight to accomplish.

Steven ends up leaving the normal way after you and him have a heavy discussion laying on your living room floor about his dinner problem, and he gives you an especially hard hug after letting you know he'll drop by after your lesson tomorrow to see how it goes with lunch that he now owes you.

The door in front of you closes with a click, and you lock it for the night. Not that you're expecting anyone to barge in, but force of habit.

You're weirdly mentally exhausted.

"I think I'm gonna take a shower. I feel kinda gross." Is what you hear coming out of your mouth, and you move to grab fresh laundry out of your pile that you left on the couch.

“I’m gonna try to finally figure out how to work this TV, then.” She replies, and you make your way into the bathroom, shutting the door behind you.

You place your clean clothes on the toilet lid as you turn the shower on, letting the room fill up with steam as you take off your clothes and kick them into the corner to deal with later. You don't really wanna take a shower in silence, so you opt to put some music on in the background.

You pull the curtain back, steam rolling out and hitting you directly in the face as you step inside the tub. It's so scaldingly hot that you barely manage to hold back a scream as you adjust the temp and stand away from the stream.

After a couple seconds or so the water finally gets to a more reasonable temperature and you stand underneath it to let it soak you. It feels nice.

You look down to grab your shampoo, but instead see the gnarly scar on your stomach, and stop. You stare at it a while. The raised skin along the outer ring of where you basically got hole-punched feels weird. It's also a slightly darker pink than the rest of your skin, which you're still not really used to when you get a glimpse of yourself.

You remember the feeling of being pierced, and decide to stop thinking about this all together for now.

You grab the shampoo bottle and pour some into your hand, rubbing it into your scalp. You feel your muscles relax.

The door to the bathroom opens and closes, and all of a sudden you hear the shower curtain being pulled back.

"Do you MIND." You slap your arms around yourself self consciously, still having soap in your hair. You can't see shit but you know it's Spinel.

"Pfft, 'ya act like I've never seen you naked. Anyway, I just wanted to know how to turn on the TV? I can’t figure it out." She asks, letting the colder air of the bathroom in, and you can hear some water hitting the floor.

"Will you close the curtain," You reach out, grabbing the edge of the vinyl liner, just as Spinel opens it wider to step inside with you. "-what the fuck are you doing?"

"Oh, the water’s warm? This doesn’t feel too bad," You rinse the rest of your shampoo out, just to see her fully clothed half a foot from you, hand reaching out to touch the stream of water. Your heart is beating wildly - but you find yourself at ease with her presence in here, oddly enough. She’s watching you curiously.

"What, you can't figure the TV out yourself? And you thought I took cold showers, really?!" You scoff at her, unfazed at this point by her antics. "The fact that you're in here with clothes on kinda says everything about you."

"I can take 'em off." She says to you, like, duh Y/N, don't you even know me by now? You glare at her, which isn't hard since there's water being sprayed onto you and into your eyes, and she phases off her clothes, shoes and all in an instant. "Better?" She asks, like she’s doing you a favor.

"Gems don't need to take showers." You deadpan at her. "And weren't you trying to figure out the TV?"

"Just because I don't need to doesn't mean I can't. Also, I could help 'ya." She says cheekily, grinning a little.

"I don't need help bathing myself," You roll your eyes at her in jest, water starting to drench her hair. You think it’s really cute that she offers, but you’re sure she just wants a chance at messing around with you. Not that you’d really mind right now, and well.. you school your face into one that isn’t obvious to what you’re currently thinking about. You try not to focus too much on her gemstone in the middle of her chest, or her breasts, or those soft looking shoulders, or the rest of her naked expanse of skin - you need to stop before you get carried away. "..but I bet you would."

“Are ‘ya saying I can’t figure out something as simple as bathing? Something I’ve watched you do? Wow. I’m hurt, Y/N.” She feigns offense, looking around at the bottles of soap and shampoo products you have in here, picking them up and starting at the labels.

“Then try it.” You watch her eye a bar of soap, and then pick it up with her wet hands. It almost shoots out of her hands at you, and she barely manages to keep it within her grip hilariously enough.

“See, I know what I’m doing,” She says stubbornly, bringing the bar up to her nose to smell it. She rubs a bit of the suds off, wiping it on her palm curiously. All of a sudden, you get a really good idea.

“Yeah, and if you actually did, you’d know that that’s what I use to clean the inside of my mouth.” You raise your eyebrows at her, begging your own face to not betray you.

“Wait, really?!” Her eyes widen, giving you a slightly disturbed look. She peers at the soap, bringing it closer to her face. “I mean, it smells good and the shape is right..”

She licks it, and immediately gags. The look on her face of utter disgust is the best thing you’ve seen all week.

“AUUUUGH,” She wails, pushing her face into the water to scrape off the remaining soap, and the laugh that comes out of your mouth is so loud it echoes throughout the bathroom. “Y/N!”

“Gullible.” Is all you can say between laughs, and she musters a glare at you.

“I trusted you!”

“That was your mistake.” You retort with a grin. “I don’t eat soap. I’m surprised you believed that.”

“Never AGAIN.” She gags one more time, and you grab for your bottle of conditioner.

“Here, lemme show you.” You step outside of the constant stream of water, and trade places with Spinel. Once you’re done rubbing the conditioner into your own hair, you grab your shampoo for her. You look at her drenched in water, watching you closely. You won’t lie when it makes your heart flutter in your chest, and it feels a little like falling. “Can you take your hair down for this?”

“Oh, sure,” She makes quick work of undoing her hair, and yeah, you’re definitely staring at her now. You’re having a really hard time hiding it. Getting some shampoo in your hand, you have her step out of the water for a moment and start rubbing it into her scalp. She relaxes so much into your touch that you feel your heart start to beat a little faster. “Y/N?”

“Hm?” You answer.

“You seemed kind of off earlier.” She says, and you quickly rip your gaze from her. She definitely notices. “I could just.. tell.”

“It’s nothing, really.” You sigh, rubbing small circles into her scalp. You were kind of hoping she’d brush it off, but noooooo. She has to be observant.

She grabs your hands to still your motions momentarily, giving you a more serious look. “You wanna talk about it?”

“Nah, I’m just anxious about tomorrow, I’ll get over it.” You meet her eyes again, and hers waver between yours as if she’s searching for a different answer. Like she doesn’t really believe you, even though honestly, that’s all it really is. You feel a little something there in your chest when you realize that she’s only like this because she actually cares about you. “Don’t worry about me.” You insist, not really wanting to overthink the day you’ve got ahead of you.

“Want me to come to the lesson?" She offers as she drops your hands, tilting her head in question; a glob of shampoo suds run down the side of her neck. The sight is weirdly enticing.. or maybe you’re just a little pent up. Being here alone with her after what feels like forever, and naked on top of that has your brain thinking of things you probably shouldn’t be thinking of right now.

You’re only a little ashamed of yourself.

“Don’t you fucking dare, Spinel. You’ll just give me performance anxiety.” You resume massaging her scalp, managing to get some shampoo also into her ends. You briefly have a passing thought about not wanting to dry out her long strands, because split ends at this hair length fucking blow, and then you remember she’s a gem. That doesn’t even matter. You feel a little jealous that she doesn’t have to put these kinds of thoughts into her daily routine.

"I wouldn't do anything, promise. Maybe a comment or two, but that's it." She retorts as she brings her palms up in feign offense, and you push her gently back by her shoulders under the stream of water to rinse out her hair, careful to not get her eyes. She sighs as you run your fingers against her scalp, eyes nearly drooping she’s so relaxed. "This feels really nice.." She mumbles, and the way it has your heart feeling like someone’s dropped pop rocks into it..

"I know you have work to do tomorrow though, so don't shirk your duties.” You’re basically caressing her head at this point, and she’s totally leaning into it completely. You have a feeling if you dropped your hands from her head, it’d slam into a wall. “I'll ask Garnet to sit in since she offered."

"Y/N." She looks at you, water running down her hair and face, cascading over her small shoulders. The marks beneath her eyes are strikingly dark in this light, and her pink irises are locked onto yours. You're barely listening to the lofi song playing in the background as it's mainly drained out by the white noise of the shower. She's pretty, in a way that you probably think she's never considered before, and sometimes you wish you could say this out loud without feeling like you'd combust on the spot instead. She then opens her mouth almost hesitantly, like she's finding the proper words to say. "If 'ya need me, I can be there. But.. you're kind of the bravest person I know by a long shot, so.. I know you'll be okay. You've got this, doll."

You feel your face burning at the pet name and her words, and you find yourself avoiding her eyes again. You can’t even think of a reply, and feel like you might have a heart attack.

"Are you blushing?!" She grabs your forearms in glee, and you feel your face scowling just to cover up the fact that she can have this kind of effect on you. No one has this effect on you, and goddammit you’re not about to start showing it now.

"No, idiot. It's just hot in here.." You retort, and she leans right into your personal space, about an inch from your face. Your heartbeats feel so INCREDIBLY loud in your ears.

"Liar." Her grin gets wider, and you can see her canines right there at the edge of her lip. WHY is she so attractive?! This should be illegal. "I can keep talking 'ya up if that's what you need."

"Not necessary, or needed, really.." You trail off awkwardly, knowing your face is still beet red and pretending it’s from the heat of the shower.

"Did'ja know that you're also the funniest person I know? And the smartest? And the sexi-"

"-SPINEL." You cut her off with a choke, voice coming out all strangled.

"You've got 'ta be the most stubborn person alive, I swear." She lowers her eyes, gaze lingering on your lips. The way some of her water-logged hair clings to her skin has your eyes glued to her chest, and the gem that sits upon it.

"You should spend a few weeks hanging out with Pearl." You try to play it off cool, and you’re anything but.

"Why, when I'd rather spend it with you." She retorts with an eyeroll, and like, you know that the both of you have your affections laid out on the metaphorical table already, but you still find your face burning at her being so clear with it. “If it’s not compliments ‘ya want, I can be a distraction?” She asks, and then blinks several times rapidly in succession very comically, and you can’t help it but laugh.

“Yeah? And how?” You ask stupidly.

“Ohhhh, remember earlier in the kitchen?”

Your eyes snap to hers. Is she..

"Wait, you’re talking about doing it in the sho-"

She yanks your arms - pulling you forward into a kiss, and your foot slips so hard on the tub floor that you have to catch yourself on her shoulders. Her laughter rings out through the bathroom.

"Oh stars, Y/N falling into my arms? I never thought-"

"Shut uuuuuuuup," You groan, glaring at her. The thought of the two of you, here, fucking in the shower is swirling inside your head. Both of you are wet and pressed together, and you are screaming internally. "You're the one that caught me off guard, asshole."

"Maybe I just wanna see you swooning, for once. Or squirming. I'm not too choosy." The grin on her face mixed with her words has you feeling some kind of way, and you try to still your rapidly beating heart. She wants to see you squirm?! You're flattered, and also embarrassed..

"I don't swoon, Spinel. You know me better than that by now. And if you couldn't make me squirm before all this, when we weren't even friends, then good fucking luck with trying that out now that I'm familiar with you." You spit out, hoping the nervousness in your voice doesn't give you away. She doesn't need to know that you like it when she's a little aggressive and grabby. That would give her too much power.

Her eyes flicker across your face, catching onto something within your expression; her grin widens.

"Then why do you seem so nervous now?"

"Uh," Your heart jumps into your throat, and you feel the red creeping back onto your cheeks. Curse your now-pink complexion. "Pffft. What? I do not! Why the hell do you think I'm nervous!?" You lie, and it comes out of your throat an octave higher you think, which is fucking embarassing really.

"Well," She chuckles briefly, and then her face drops considerably into an expression you'd deem nearly sinister if you didn't know her.

"Um-"

She pushes you back against the shower wall behind you hard - a squeak comes out your mouth - as the air leaves your lungs, her hand splayed out on your chest into holding you there. It feels almost like silence has filled the room, when it's quite the opposite actually - the sound of the water hitting you both is quite deafening as you stare at each other. You think she can feel your heartbeats. Like, her hand is RIGHT THERE. Her thumb even rubs the skin there a little.

"I'm starting to think you like it when I manhandle you." She says, voice low. Her fingers are pressing into your sternum.

You take the time to breathe in some air, and try to blink like a normal person. A droplet of water runs down your lower spine and you fight off a shiver. Are you really that easy to read!?

"Your silence is speaking volumes right now." She chuckles, eyes watching you like a hawk.

You have no idea what your face is displaying, but it's probably something similar to mortified shock - how can she keep hitting the nail on the head?

"Oh, shit, am I hurting you?" She quickly pulls her hands away, nearly looking frantic as her face twists into worry at your silence.

"No, of course not-" You stop, getting a weird look on your face. "-I died, remember? You can't, pfft, - I mean you can, but. Spinel." You try not to laugh, because her being worried about this is extremely endearing, and you love her so, so much. "You're not hurting me, and if you were, I'd make sure you knew."

"Okay, good, because I was really worried there for a second that I had-"

"It's fine." You reassure her, and she's looking at you intently. "Seriously."

"Like, you know that I'd rather poof myself than ever put a finger on 'ya, right?"

"I'm aware, and you know that I trust you, yes?"

"I was 'kinda worried, but, it's clear now." She's so very close to your face, and she's warm. Her eyes take in your features as if she's burning them into her memories, and you can't help but stare back.

She kisses you again, wet lips pressing against yours so easily - it's as if she had been coordinating this as soon as she stepped into the shower with you. Or maybe this was her entire reason. Bastard.

She slides one of her legs between yours - yeah, okay, she was definitely planning this - and you find yourself groaning into her mouth; hot water spraying onto the both of you. You tear your face away from hers momentarily to take in a gasp of breath and she grabs your jaw, her vibrant pink irises locked onto yours.

"Breathe through your nose." She demands, not giving you any kind of opportunity to get away as she kisses you almost roughly. You feel like your entire body is on fire.

Her body's pressed against yours; and at this angle you can see her gemstone shining in the light above you, glistening with water. She slides her knee up to put pressure between your legs, and as to not make it so easy for her you attempt to slam them shut - only making the situation worse for yourself.

You moan as you feel her pressed against your clit, and you feel her grinning against your mouth. She slides her tongue in then, and the combined sensations has your head feeling a little light. It actually irks you enough to attempt to push her off of you to get some kind of leverage over her, but she clearly anticipated some kind of fight because she growls against your mouth in resistance, and uses both her hands to slam yours against the wall behind you with an iron grip.

What a brat.

The harder you struggle, the more she presses all of herself against you. Her grip on your forearms get a little tighter; and you find that this just makes all of your current problems worse. She rips her lips away from yours to give you some kind of smug, shit-eating grin. "You're really trying this time, aren't 'ya doll. I'll give 'ya that."

"Why won't you let me touch you?!" You spit out, but it comes out all breathily and not at all aggressive like you'd hoped.

"If you're good, maybe." She laughs, and you wish you could disappear on the spot at will. "But this is your turn."

"IF I'M-" You hiss out, Spinel switching her grip so she's got the both of your hands in one, making the other completely free to grope your breast. Her palm rubs over your nipple. "You are such a shithead!!"

"You knowwww, if you don't like it you could always tell me you wanna stop," Her eyelids lower enough to still see her irises glued to your face, and she leans in to whisper into your ear. "But we already know that you want this, Y/N."

You snap your mouth shut and she chuckles darkly, and you would like to die now, thanks. If there's a god out there, you hope he's merciful and smites you on the spot.

She immediately attacks your neck, and she doesn't give you any kind of say about it either. She's using so much teeth this time that you're worried you're going to look like a spotted leopard tomorrow, and oh god, you almost forgot.

"Leave any marks and I'll attempt to poof you myself, Spinel." You shudder as she sucks hard near the crook of your neck, hot tongue against your skin, and when she looks at you her eyes have some kind of suspicious glint to them.

"Wear a sweater." Is all she says before going right back to your neck, and the only thing you can really do is bite back a moan as she continues. You're going to kill her for this. You're going to find out how to embarrass her in front of her new friends, or SOMETHING. How the fuck are you going to cover up these marks before your class tomorrow?! The several shades of pink blush you picked up from the drug store a few days ago from your previous shenanigans barely managed to cover the lighter marks she left last time!

You feel her slide a hand down your torso to reach between your legs, and with the last of your strength you try and slam your legs shut just to make this difficult for her.

She chuckles into your neck, and her warm breath lights your nerves on fire. It's so steamy in here now, and some kind of jazz oldie is playing that you can kind of hear over the sound of running water. And then she drops your hands just to grip both of your thighs and spread them apart forcefully, and there's nothing you can really do about that. You know that you're heavily aroused, and you hope it isn't too obvious to her.

Holding you open, she presses her palm against you, tips of her fingers hesitating at your entrance. Like she's waiting for something.. your legs start to tremble, then she slides two fingers into you and you slam a hand over your mouth to stop yourself from moaning.

"No one's going to hear us, 'ya idiot." You hear her say, and you nearly laugh. She immediately curls her fingers upwards, and you're seeing stars at the edges of your vision.

"You think I care about being loud? I just don't want you to think you can drag anything out of me too easily," You say in between breaths, and she makes some kind of displeased grunt in reply.

"Asked for this.." Is what you hear from her before she adds a third finger; you take it quite easily, embarrassingly enough, and starts to really finger fuck you as she watches your face.

A strangled moan comes out of you, and you see the corner of her lip curl enough to show her teeth. You hate that she can do this to you. Your hands are free though, and you think you can fuck with her a little as payback. One of your hands shoot out to touch her gem, and she lowers her eyes to glare at you and the offending appendage.

"Whaddya' think you're 'doin, Y/N?" She asks, lowly. There's a darker pink that bleeds onto her cheeks quite rapidly here, and you swipe a thumb over her center facet in spite.

"Whatever I want." You reply. Her eye twitches.

"I don't think so." She hisses and slams her lips against yours - roughly pushing your hand away from her gem, like how dare you have the audacity to even think about touching her right now. She presses you against the wall with her own body, and you moan into her mouth.

Your thighs are shaking, and the hot steam mixed with the noises of her roughly pounding her slick fingers inside you makes it apparent that you're actually not going to last like this at all. She drags moan after moan from you relentlessly, unable to stop herself from biting down into the crook of your neck like she's trying to claim you for herself. As if you'd let anyone else touch you like this.

And then she lifts up her head enough to warmly whisper something about how much she loves being in the middle of your thighs like this into your ear, and you start to see stars as your orgasm violently wracks through your body.

She holds you, watching your face as you come down, leaving small kisses upon your lips.

"Was that okay?" She mumbles the question, looking at you to make sure you're alright. The water is starting to lose heat, which means both of you should finish this up soon.

"I'm going to make you regret ever taking me as a hostage." You answer with a grin, and her eyebrows shoot up into her hairline.

"Are 'ya sure about that?" She replies, withdrawing her fingers from you ever so slowly.

You think you're in the clear, and then she slides them back in, and you can't cut the gasp that comes out of your mouth. You slam a hand on her shoulder, glaring at your girlfriend.

"I'm sensitive, you jerk." You spit out at her, and she grins cheekily. She then actually pulls out her fingers for real, and you really, really want to make her pay for this. "Let's finish this up, the water is getting colder by the minute."

The both of you quickly finish your bathing routine, and you're almost annoyed that Spinel can just vanish water from her completely while you're still soaking wet, and trying to dry yourself with a towel.

You put on your sleepwear and drag your girlfriend to bed, where you pay her back tenfold. You honestly hope the walls aren’t thin.

You're tired, and sleep comes to you easy with thoughts of what tomorrow will bring.

#spinel x reader #spinel #steven universe #su #spinel steven universe #home #my fic #revised

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baekhypnotized · 4 years

Text

my love

ღ Genre: fluff, romance, slightangst

ღ Pairing: Baekhyun x You/Reader (First POV)

ღ Summary: “I will be with you. Always, my love for you.”— My Love, Baekhyun (2020). Going through all the hardships and beautiful moments together with Baekhyun will always be the special ones in you life. From an annoying strangers to best friends, to lovers and finally as married couple. He’s the love of your life, the one’s that will bright up you day with his light. No other guy like him can do the same thing. My one and only, Byun Baekhyun. Always, my love for you.

ღ A/N: A Baekhyunee birthday fic from me is up!! I came out with this idea as an initiative for me to do at least something for him and for the readers too. I asked the prompts at my friends and I compiled it into a one shot story!! Please ignore minor errors because I didn’t proofread them properly. Do give a lot of support and endless love to our forever light, Byun Baekhyun✴

ღ Word count: 10,027

19 years old…

It has been days that an annoying person came to disturb me at school. I don’t even know why he chose me among the others but I’m really pissed off with him. Well, I’ll be fine if he only bothers me a few times. Instead, he bothers me every single time. From the very first step that I enter the school compound, our classroom and even during the lunch hour. And guess who is this guy?

Byun Baekhyun. The highschool’s delinquent despite having an attractive face that makes almost all the girls gone crazy over with his charms. Almost. Not all of them since I hate him for pestering my life right now.

“Hey,” He jogs from behind to catch me up as I’m trying to get away from him. Despite that, I failed to do so since Baekhyun blocks my way by standing right in front of me, leaning over the locker with both of his hands tucked in his pocket. “Where are you going? The cafeteria? How about we go there together?” He throws endless questions, making me sigh in frustration.

“Baekhyun, how many times should I tell you that I’m tired of your games? Go away and stop interrupting me, please.” This time, I request him and at the same time, I was begging him silently. I may look really upset with Baekhyun right now so when I think that he finally understands, I walk away and leave him.

Two steps. He’s not following.

Four steps. Still not following.

A satisfied smile stretches on my face when there’s no sign of Baekhyun. As I breathe in relief because he finally obeys to my instructions but then, he comes again, walking backwards right beside me. Sighing once again, I give him a fiery glare straight into his eyes, hoping it will knock him off, at least.

Instead, Baekhyun flashes a smirk once he notices and succeeds to make me annoyed with his endless teases as he trails me everywhere. I really don’t like being around people especially him because obviously, there would be a quite amount of eyes witnessing me with a troublesome boy. As we arrived at the cafeteria, I went straight to buy food and I simply bought egg sandwiches and a carton of milk.

I don’t bother to ask him even though he’s been following me everywhere but when it’s his turn to buy his food, I quickly try to run away from him. As fast as I can, I head upstairs until I reach the rooftop. No one really knows that I love hanging out here during lunch hour and I do hope that I get to make him lose his way to find me. After assuring that he’s not coming, I take a seat on the floor and unwrap the plastic in order to eat the sandwich.

As I was about to take my first bite, suddenly the door flies open and reveals the one and only Baekhyun. I give him an unbelievable expression because how on Earth did he know where I am? Rolling my eyes at him, I ignore Baekhyun and finally take a bite of the egg sandwich. He walks towards me with a smug smile on his face.

“What? You really think that I don’t know about you hanging around at the rooftop? Absurd,” He chuckles, taking a seat right beside me. Baekhyun busies staring at me eating silently that makes me feel uncomfortable with his presence. I was about to scold him but I don’t know why I almost choke myself right at the moment. He panics for a few seconds and when he sees the milk, he opens it and offers it to me. Quickly, I grab and gulp it right away.

“You okay?” Baekhyun asks me in a worried tone. I nod my head as a reply. “You sure?”

“Yeah. Thanks,” I thank him for the first time for trying to save myself from choking. Instead of replying to me with words, his lips quirk upwards into a soft smile. I look into his eyes, I suddenly feel my heart skip a beat. Then, it starts to beat faster. My whole body starts to heat up when realising that Baekhyun’s staring at me adoringly and before risking myself into anything, I scoff lightly to break the silence.

I continue to indulge the sandwich but his stare continues to burn my skin and makes me nervous. “Baekhyun, what are you doing here? If you don’t have any matter here, just leave.” I say at him with a stern voice.

“Well, I do have one. And it’s you.”

I scoff lightly at him and suddenly he takes out a plastic container that is filled with fresh strawberries. “Let’s share this together!” Baekhyun takes one of it as he bites onto the small fruit, offering them to me. At first, I was hesitating to accept it but his adorable eyes successfully hypnotized me to take one.

“Thank you…” While I was busy finishing up my sandwich and milk, the school’s bell suddenly rings as it indicates that our break finally ends. In which, we’re gonna be very late for the next class plus the journey to the classroom is quite an adventure.

“Baekhyun, we’re gonna be late!! Hurry!!” I eat the whole strawberry and gather all the rubbishes, throwing them into the nearest bin. I rush to the classroom when a hand slides to grab onto mine, he pulls us to run to the classroom together. I couldn’t believe it’s quite fun hanging around with Baekhyun even for a while. And thank God we get to arrive at our seats before our homeroom teacher comes. Then a few moments later, Mrs Kim finally enters the class.

She abruptly starts the class with the new syllabus as the whole classroom begins silence. But, I’m still annoyed that Baekhyun and his friends are currently peeking, laughing silently at me as if there is something funny or odd happening at me. I decide to ignore those dorks, trying to search for a textbook in the drawer when suddenly I feel something squishy and moist. As I take it out, it’s a freaking LIZARD.

“SHIT!!” I curse loudly, jump away from my desk and also make my chair fall on the floor. Everyone in the room including Mrs Kim averts their attention on me. I am extremely shaking right now because I really hate lizards so much.

“What’s the problem?” My teacher asks me, her gaze turns into a stare. All of us know that she really hates when someone is disturbing her during her class which most of them will end up in the detention room. I gulp nervously, knowing that I’ll probably be one of them now when I realised that the ‘lizard’ is a fake one.

“I-I…” Stuttering, I still couldn’t bring myself to answer her in words because if I do explain her about the lizard, the whole class would think it’s just a childish matter but to me, it’s not. They would definitely laugh at me and later, I need to think where I should hide my face from humiliation. “N-Nothing, Mrs Kim… I f-forgot to bring the textbook today.” Then, I decide to lie.

“You know that you can share with your deskmate instead of cursing loudly, right miss?” She emphasizes the word as her voice indeed sounds like she’s irritated with me. I nod my head slowly, trying to not fight her back because it is obviously rude for a student to do such a thing.

“Detention room. Leave now,” Mrs Kim commands and I obey her without saying anything. I pack my stuff with me, tidying up my desk as she continues her teaching back. When I’m about to leave, I can see that Baekhyun’s friends are laughing with each other and I guess this is all their work. I leave the class silently, grudging on them because why do they need to prank people just like that. And why Baekhyun didn’t stop them?

Sigh. The detention room for a first-timer and here we go.

“Dude, did you see her face when she saw the fake lizard? Damn ugly,” Joohyuk asks Baekhyun, laughing with the scenario still wandering in his head. On the other hand, Baekhyun still keeps his mouth shut, staring outside at the hallway.

“Well, no she’s not ugly.” He says, eyes still checking on the hallway. Joohyuk realises that Baekhyun is being extremely strange right now and most probably checking on me.

“So, you’re saying that she’s pretty?”

“Yes,” Baekhyun confesses right away. Joohyuk was surprised with his answer and started to speculate that Baekhyun likes her.

“No. I mean yes but you kno- Whatever. I’m not in the mood for today’s class. See you later, bro,” Baekhyun bids goodbye to him before leaving the classroom quietly as all the teachers know how problematic the student is and they can’t stop him from doing that. He goes straight to the detention room, feeling quite giddy to meet the person he’s searching for.

And I’m all alone, sitting by the empty desk while staring blankly at the window. I was shocked when suddenly the door’s wide open, revealing the guy that I hope he disappears from my life one day. Baekhyun comes inside the class, a smug smile etched on his face.

I roll my eyes at him, placing my head back on the desk. Why does he need to be here wherever I go? Obviously that I’m still mad at him for putting a prank on me and got me into detention. But then here he is, effortlessly trying to annoy me still. He pulls and turns a chair, taking a seat right in front of my desk. I continue to ignore him.

“Hey, are you asleep?” He pokes lightly his index finger on my skin, poking it by following every syllable word he says. Flinching away, I groan softly.

“Go away, Baekhyun. You and your friends made me end up here so why are you bothering me?”

Baekhyun senses that I’m angry with him but he continues to disturb me as he places his face right in front of me. As I open my eyes, his charming face with the soft smile appears. Once again, my heartbeat quickens realising that our faces are only a few inches away. My cheeks start to burn up, probably flushes with some red hues on it.

He brings his hand to tuck a strand of my hair that has been covering my face slightly behind my ear. He chuckles softly as Baekhyun slowly brushes his knuckles on my cheek that makes my heart drop right away.

“Are you blushing?” He questions and at the same time he teases. I shake my head to deny it, gulping a large lump in my throat. I don’t know that having the most problematic person here can actually turn me into a nervous state. I swear, out of all guys I’ve met, Baekhyun’s the first one that successfully makes me feel all jittery.

“Go away, Baekhyun. I don’t want you here.”

“But I want to be here with you!” He grins widely at me, as I thought he must be hoping that I allow him to stay with me here. “Since this sweetheart got frightened by a fake lizard, let me accompany you throughout your detention hours.”

And guess what happens next? Baekhyun and I end up conversing throughout the time until my detention time is finally over. He tells me about his dreams and a little about his family too. I never thought he insists to open up about himself to a complete stranger like me. But, after hearing the story of his life, I don’t really think he’s that bad. As time passes by, I’ve realised that the way he’s been smiling at me differently.

Silently, my heart grows fonder to him.

22 years old...

No one ever thought that Baekhyun and I would end up being best friends ever since high school. The most problematic student with a normal girl. Well, we don’t have any special relationship aside from the best friends title. We haven’t really talked about our feelings to each other but I’m just glad I get to be with him this long.

Baekhyun has become a trainee in music entertainment, counting days to debut as an artist in a group while I continue my study in which I enrol into a good university. Also, I’ve been living with my boyfriend in a small studio apartment in thoughts that we both will end up together.

But shits happened.

The day I went back home from a group discussion, I found out my boyfriend’s cheating on me as they made out on the bed that we shared. The moment I witness the scene, my whole mind went blank. I couldn’t do anything and I feel that I can’t move at all.

“Babe, listen to me. I swear that this is all a mista-” As he tried to explain, I ran away from the house with such a heavy pain on my chest. I dig out my phone quickly and dial for Baekhyun’s number. It’s almost 12 AM but I hope that he’s still awake.

“Hello? Why are you calling me at this h-” Baekhyun doesn’t get to finish his sentence when he senses that something’s wrong. “Where are you?” He asks.

“Can you m-meet me at the park near my apartment? Please?...” I beg him softly, stuttering while trying so badly to not cry. Baekhyun says that he will be there right away before he ends the call. I arrive at the park, taking a seat on the unoccupied wooden bench. The park is eerily silent and there’s only me, all alone with a heartbreak.

A few minutes later, Baekhyun finally arrives and quickly sits right beside me without hesitating. The two of us don’t utter anything when he suddenly pulls me closer to him, hiding my face in his coat. Unconsciously, my tears start to flow like an overflowing sink.

“H-he he…” Sobbing like a mess, the words aren’t able to come into a sentence. Baekhyun just simply caresses my hair to soothe me while he hushes softly. “He cheated on me, Baekhyun… They fuck on our bed…”

I can feel that his body gets a bit tense but I grip his shirt tightly, hoping he will never leave me to do anything at him. I don’t want him to end up in a fight. I don’t want Baekhyun to get hurt too.

Baekhyun wraps his arms around my body, he places his chin on my crown. “Let it all out… I’m here and no one will see your ugly face. Don’t worry.” He tries to comfort me with his words and at the same time, he mocks.

“Hey!! That’s rude of you, Baekhyun!!” I move away to smack his chest lightly, causing him to laugh. Baekhyun plasters a wide smile at me, satisfied that he is able to make me smile at least as I do. Then, I have myself back in his warm embrace as I think.

I never thought to have Baekhyun in my life would make me feel like my life is finally complete. He was always there with me especially at my worst and basically, he was there as I went through various episodes of life.

He always makes me smile with his jokes, calms me down when I’m in a mess and provides protection. Baekhyun is like a light that has been shining my gloomy days and also my knight and shining armour.

And I’m in love with him. Deeply in love with him.

Hearing his calm heartbeat that helps to soothe me, I finally realised that Baekhyun has been extremely transparent with his feelings towards me. He sometimes confesses ‘I love you’ even when he says that he only loves me as his best friend. But, this time, I’m pretty sure that he loves me more than that.

Since the incident when my ex cheated on me, I moved out of the apartment and Baekhyun let me move in with him. It was really awkward at first but after a few months after that, he finally confessed his feelings towards me. I never thought I could recover that fast from my heartbreak and decided to just date with him. Because of deep down inside, I know that he will cherish, protect and love me unconditionally.

I joined a dance club because I love to dance even though I’m not as good as Baekhyun (since he’s a trainee in music entertainment). Our club will be holding an end semester performance and we’re inviting the entire college to come and watch it. Speaking of performance, almost all the practices end late nights which at first, my boyfriend dislikes about it.

I convince him slowly about letting me join it and at the end, he does. But, he insists on picking me up in the practice room because he is scared of my safety if I go back home all alone.

As the members are trying to take part in the performances, I will have to do a duet performance with Sihyeon, the so-called cute guy that everyone has labelled him. Honestly, he is cute but obviously, my cheek Baekhyun is the cutest among all the guys. I go back home that night, informing him about it and his reaction is extremely, should I say adorable?

“Babe, can you ask anyone else to replace you instead?”

“Wait, there might be some steps that he will have his touches on you… Am I right, baby?”

Baekhyun has been trying to make me change my mind. And he fails. I assure him that he doesn’t need to feel jealous because I will never avert my attention to Sihyeon. Well, I do tease him a bit. “You know, my friends told me that I’m lucky that I got to duet with the cutest guy in the dance club.” His eyes dilate bigger after listening to me as I continue, “I’m just saying though.” I giggle.

And there’s one night, he’s being super jealous and annoying. I think he saw me talking to Sihyeon while I’m on my way to his car after my practice and as I call for his name, he doesn’t answer at all. His grips on the steering wheel are tighter than usual, his face looks extremely mad. I guess that he’s upset seeing me get along with Sihyeon.

I’m definitely right about it.

Baekhyun hasn’t talked to me at all since that night. Even on our bed, he had his back facing me for several nights and when I tried to approach him, he simply ignores me. In which I’m super annoyed with him for being such a baby. But since I’m his favourite girl, I still do good things in the hope that it will coax him from sulking. The result? Nothing.

“Baekhyun,” I call him. “I cook lunch for us so let’s eat, hmm?”

He doesn’t say or nod his head at me even though it has been a week. I’m getting out of control and patience when suddenly I burst it out at him. “You know what, Baekhyun? Fine. I’ll quit from the dance club if you dislike me so much being around guys. Now, happy?” Then, I head straight into the room, slam the door and practically lock myself the whole day. A few hours later, waiting for him to coax me, Baekhyun doesn’t come. Instead, he sent me a message.

I’m going out to meet the others for practice.

After I guarantee he’s not home, I head out to have a quick lunch and right after eating, I come back into the room without doing anything. Laying on the empty bed with mixed feelings, I realised I’ve been missing him so much. Baekhyun never fails to make me smile and laugh but since he’s giving me a silent treatment, I can only dream of it.

Baekhyun arrives home around 10 pm and I was still in the room, wrapping my body securely with the duvet. I can hear a few faint knocks on the door before the door is open with a creaking sound. His footsteps can be heard coming towards me, the bed sinks a bit when he sits at the edge of the bed.

“Babe…” He brings his hand on top of my body, caressing me slowly. Then, he shows me a box of chocolates which is my most favourite ones. “I brought you your favourite chocolate!...”

Later, he finally says the word that I’ve been waiting for. “I’m really sorry, babe…” Baekhyun hops off from the bed, kneeling right in front of me and he slowly pulls the duvet from covering my face. I purposely act like I’m asleep but truthfully, after I saw the chocolates and also I miss him, my lips stretch into a smile.

“So, my baby girlfriend isn’t actually sleeping, huh?” Baekhyun mocks me, caressing my cheek with his hand that makes me moves away slowly from his touches. The touches are cold and it makes me tickle.

“Stop, go away, Baekhyun. I’m still not talking to you,” I say, turning myself to face the other side but as I halfway turn, Baekhyun hovers on top of me. He attacks my tummy with his tickles that make me gone wild with waves of laughter. “Okay, Baekhyun! Stop! Stop!!”

I beg, trying to push him away but he’s much stronger than me so the tickles continue for a few more minutes. Later on, Baekhyun leans over to pepper my face with sloppy and wet kisses. And when he finally stops, he smashes his plump lips onto mine, sliding his tongue into my wet cavern. I extend my arms to wrap around his neck, pulling him closer to me so I can kiss him deeper.

“Gosh, I miss you so much, babe. Sorry for being such a dick.” He apologises between the kisses.

“Apology accepted because you do have one,” I bite my lower lip, feeling satisfied when I mock him. Baekhyun scoffs lightly, continues to devour my lips as he nibbles onto my bottom lip.

“Can I have you?” Baekhyun politely asks.

“Then take me.”

He doesn’t wait any longer when his lips start trailing on my jawline, slowly down to my collarbone. In a glimpse, the two of us are already naked, feeling all wild and in love all over again. We make love in the bed, recover back the moment that the two of us missed for the past days.

Baekhyun shows me the love he has on me and I never thought I feel alive again to have him.

"Baekhyun, I’m studying…”

It's the weekend but that doesn’t mean I should not study since my exam is literally next week. Even though my friends said that I’m fully prepared for it, I feel really uneasy and it’s worrying me to death. The qualms make me have no appetite to eat or even to have some good sleep. But, as I’m trying so hard to focus, Baekhyun insists to disturb me.

“Babe, let’s make popcorn and binge Netflix!!” Baekhyun’s being a kid he is, he invites me. Shaking my head to resist his invitation, I continue to focus my attention on the study materials on the table. My study table right now doesn’t look like one. Papers scattered everywhere.

“Then, how about we eat a tub of ice cream together! We can eat your favourite flavour this time,” He tries again to lure me to stop studying. Baekhyun then comes closer, softly placing his hands on my shoulders as he starts to massage the tense muscles that are cramping.

As I insist on ignoring him this time, Baekhyun tries again and most probably he wouldn’t stop until I give in. “Okay, but can we at least cud-”

“I swear to God, Baekhyun. Can’t you see that I’m trying to focus here??” Swatting his hands away, I finally lash it out at him as I’m really fuming in anger. Why can’t he understand that I don’t want him to disturb me especially at this crucial time? It’s a simple thing but Baekhyun’s being such a childish one right now and I couldn’t stop myself from getting mad at him.

Baekhyun flinches away after hearing me increasing my tone. He slowly marches out from the study room and leaves me finally alone in peace with a sad puppy-like face. This time it’s a success to me that I get to actually kick him out from here because my examination is really important at this moment. Sighing in half-relief, I get back to the exercises and past year questions without wasting any time.

After approximately an hour, there’s really no sign of his presence at all. The apartment is really silent as if there’s no one at home except me. When I suddenly remember about Baekhyun, I feel really bad at him. I didn’t think that my actions and words can actually hurt him because if he’s giving me a silent treatment, it really means that I did hurt him.

I put my laptop to sleep mode, deciding to search for him. As I leave the room, I can see Baekhyun's sitting on the couch while watching Netflix with such a low volume. He must have lowered it down since he didn’t want to annoy me again.

Again, I feel awful and guilty.

After taking a seat right beside him, it seems that Baekhyun scoots away from me. He's pouting his lips and this time he’s trying to ignore me. I slowly get to hold one of his hands but as he tries to pull away, I grab on it strongly.

“Baekhyun…” I call his name, my other hand cups his cheek. “Look at me, hmm?” I coo. He’s attempting to avoid my eye contact but I force him to look at me. He gives in but he still rolls his eyes at me since he’s probably upset that I lashed out at him previously.

“I’m sorry…” I apologise.

“I’m really, truly sorry for scolding you. I was just too scared and worried about my upcoming exam. What if I fail? I don’t want to disappoint my parents and you too… I’m sorry…” Putting my feelings into words, I explain to him slowly as my eyes start to swell in tears. I was stuttering to hide from sobbing and when I feel a tear fall on my cheeks, I quickly hide my face as I look down on the couch. Crying silently, I hope that Baekhyun’s able to forgive me for being mad at him.

Baekhyun cups my chin as he lifts up my head. His gazes are comforting and adoring. “Babe, don’t cry…” He wipes off the tears away with his thumb. “It’s okay… I forgive you.” Humming softly, he lifts me up and places me on his lap. I land my head on his broad chest, sobbing silently with his hand caressing my hair as he soothes me.

The guiltiness towards Baekhyun was still there creeping in my heart but when he’s assuring me that he’s fine, I feel calm. It takes a while for me to calm as the two of us stay in this position. He secures me tightly with his hands wrap around my waist. His chin rests on the top of my head while he caresses my back continuously.

“I’m sorry too if I annoyed and disturbed you, baby. But I was about to invite you for a rest. You’re gonna be fine with your exam too. You’re worrying too much,” He lands a kiss on the top of my crown. I silently smile because Baekhyun knows that I’ll always be stressing too much when the exam season is coming.

“You’ll do well. You’re gonna ace it like you always do, right?” Baekhyun speaks as he tries to comfort me with his supportive words. Slowly, I lift my head to see his face as I nod my head for a few times.

He leans over to give an affectionate kiss on my lips. “Now, that’s my girl.”

Baekhyun questions me whether I have any plan to do for today but all I want is to cuddle him throughout the day. Because he gives me comfort and I feel so much safe being in his embrace and also it’s like a way of gesture for me to ask him forgiveness since I still feel guilty.

And yes, we do end up cuddling until we go to bed.

24 years old...

I jolt in surprise when a pair of arms suddenly wrap around my frame from behind as the person lands his chin softly on my shoulder, kissing my hair. Smiling in contentment, I continue to stir the chicken soup while Baekhyun back hugs me. Finally, he’s home. He doesn’t utter any words but his breathing is audible enough to indicate that he’s tired after a long day. And of course, I’m worried about him. As long as he’s here, I’m grateful enough.

“You’re home, baby?” My hand is lifted to cup his cheek and Baekhyun just simply hums. I chuckle softly and while waiting for the soup to sim for a while, I lift and turn my head a bit to face him. His hair is dishevelled and even from this limited view, his dark circles and eye bags can be clearly seen. A comforting smile appears across my face, jutting out my lips to him.

Baekhyun upon seeing it, he chuckles in disbelief before leaning on to peck his plump lips onto mine. After I’m satisfied with the kiss, I turn around back to stir the soup for the final round. Without any warning, his lips land a kiss on my sensitive spot in between my neck and collarbone that makes me shiver. His one hand starts to roam freely from the waist, trailing down to my buttcheek as he massages one of them. His touches are addictive and if I give in, we would probably end up for a quick session here.

Turning around, I stop him by pushing an index finger on his chest to warn him. “You need to take a shower, mister. We’re not gonna do it here,” I say. He plasters a pair of pleading eyes as he continues to seduce me with the touches. Despite that, he fails this time when I shake my head a few times to resist it. Baekhyun sighs in surrender and before he’s leaving for his shower, he gives a peck on my cheek.

While he takes his quick bath in order to freshen him up after such a hectic day, I busy preparing the table by serving the chicken soup and also put the rice into small bowls. I cook chicken soup purposely to help him to regain strength and calmness as this recipe was shared by Kyungsoo since he’s an expert in cooking too. Even the other members agree that he’s a professional chef among them.

Right on time, Baekhyun comes closer when I finish setting up the table. “Let’s eat so that we can go to bed early tonight, hmm?” I request and a single hum can be heard from him as he takes a seat at his usual chair. I take a seat right beside him and when he begins to dig in the food, I watch him diligently, hoping that he likes it.

“How was it? Is it good?”

“Of course it is. My sweetheart’s cooking is always delicious,” He praises, taking another bite of the rice. My face flushes a bit after hearing his appraisal before he starts eating my own part. Since I know that Baekhyun had a tough day, I decide to not ask him regarding his activities because I’m afraid it will spoil his mood. Instead, the two of us end up eating without creating any topic to converse.

On the other hand, I’m happy that his appetite for tonight is unbelievable. He asks for more rice and chicken soup which causes me to smile in amusement and satisfaction. I’m already full even by witnessing him eating deliciously. Right after the two of us (technically him) done eating, we help each other to clean up the mess which he offers to give his hands to wash the dishes while I clear up the dining table.

Then, we head straight to bed as I switch off the lights before throwing myself to lay right beside him. Baekhyun pulls the thick duvet to cover our body and being such a clingy baby, he pulls me closer to him. I offer myself to pat him to sleep when he caresses my hair at the same time. I begin to feel sleepy but he is still wide awake while his face is plastering all his qualms.

“Hey…” Bringing my hand to brush his puffy cheek, a worrying question escapes from my mouth. “Do you have anything to share with me, Baekhyun?” I softly ask him, hoping it successfully makes him confess.

He sighs lightly. “I’m so afraid…”

“Afraid of what, Baek?”

“A lot of things…” He continues as he sighs again. “What if I’ve become a failure? Fail to achieve my dreams, fail to make everyone proud, fans, my family and even you?”

His eyes begin to brim with tears when he looks at me. “What if one day, I’m gonna lose you?”

I hush him right away. It has become the moment where his mind has filled with negative thoughts that make him worry on his own. But despite all of that, Baekhyun never fails to make people amaze with him. Being the main vocalist in the group makes him shine brighter, being the soloist who managed to secure every chart has made him who he is right now. He is such a talented one and everyone is grateful for his presence in their lives including mine.

“Baekhyun, listen here. You will never lose me and I will never leave you. I promise you that.”

I try to make him trust me with my words as he nods his head. “And everyone is already proud of you, Baekhyun. Okay, it’s absurd if your family isn't proud of you because you’re such a childish, puppy-like person. Even Mongryong is much more mature than you.”

“Hey!! I’m not childish, okay??” Baekhyun denies it and I only giggle at him.

“Yes, you are!! Anyway, as I said, everyone is proud of you, Baekhyun. Don’t let your fears overtake your confidence. This is not the Baekhyun that I know. You told me to be cool, happy, strong and fearless. You make every impossible possible, baby. And I love you for who you are right now.” I express everything to him as long as it can help to comfort him. He replies to me with a soft and endearing smile.

“Gosh, why am I so lucky to have you, babe?” Baekhyun’s peppering kisses continuously on my lips makes me giggle with happiness.

“I love you so much,” He confesses. Even if it’s a simple confession, I know that it brings thousands of feelings. His love for me is beyond words and only by the way he treats me throughout our relationship, I really know that we are meant to be together until eternity.

I was about to doze off to sleep slowly when Baekhyun suddenly calls, “Babe.” I hum to him as a reply. “Marry me.”

Abruptly, I’m stupefied with his impromptu proposal. “W-What?”

“Marry me, would you?” He proposes again.

“Babe, don’t you have anything to say or wish at me?” Baekhyun curiously asks, caressing my hand as he drives the car. I shake my head to deny it. I can hear clearly he’s sighing and probably disappointed which makes me laugh silently.

Today is finally Baekhyun’s 24th birthday and he will arrive at the airport from his solo oversea schedules. And since I don’t have any work for today, I offer myself to pick him up. Also, I’ve planned a surprise birthday party where I invite his family and also the other members. The guys offer to set up the party because his flight arrived around 7 pm.

Also tonight, I’m gonna give my answer to his proposal too.

The journey back to our apartment didn’t take that long. Baekhyun became extremely upset as he didn’t talk much. After receiving a text from Chanyeol that they are already hiding, I do my part which makes Baekhyun go straight into the bedroom without stopping anywhere. He then goes straight into the bathroom to take a shower which I run to the living room, greeting his family and friends softly.

When everything is finally set up, I head back to the bedroom and see Baekhyun strides out from the bathroom. He goes into his closet to choose short pants and a plain T-shirt to wear before he throws himself on the bed with a soft grunt. I chuckle, laying right beside him as I scoot closer to be in his embrace.

“Tired?” I ask him. Baekhyun nods his had while his eyes are shut. I give him a soft peck on his cheek and when my phone vibrates, it’s a sign. “I’m going to the kitchen to grab a glass of water,” I say as he hums. I head out to the living room slowly. All of us wait almost 10 minutes to finally listen to Baekhyun’s calling for me.

“Baby? What took you so long?” And when he opens the door as he walks towards the living room, all of us shout.

“Surprise!! Happy Birthday, Baekhyun!!”

Baekhyun’s face was expressionless. He was really shocked by the surprise and now he knows why I didn’t wish for him at all. We sing a happy birthday song, letting Baekhyun make a wish before he blows the candles. All of us cheers in excitement as we clap our hands too.

“Now, it’s time for you to unbox your presents.” Baekhyun obeys to our instruction as he opens one by one. He receives various types of gifts from the members and family and when he’s finally done unboxing everything, it’s finally my turn to give my present to him.

I cuddle closer to Baekhyun on the couch as the tv’s screen turns on. It’s showing a compilation video I’ve made and there were all of our beautiful moments that we have created. From day one we became friends, best friends and into lovers. Baekhyun has become an amazing and special person in my life as I’m really grateful to have him. As I peek at him who’s watching the video diligently, I can see that his eyes are already swelling with tears.

“To Byun Baekhyun, happiest birthday to you, baby!! You’ve made me the luckiest girl on Earth to have you by my side and we’ve gone through such a roller coaster ride together as one. You always protect me, cherish me and give all your love to me. I love every part of you even though you were pretty annoying back then in high school. So Baekhyun, it’s a yes.”

The video ends right away after my speech as all of us including Baekhyun look at me curiously. It takes him a few moments when he finally gets the idea. “OMG fuck… Baby, it’s a yes???? I’m not delusional, right?” Baekhyun asks for my confirmation and I nod my head. His face has brightened and the tears finally escape from his eyes. He lifts me up in the air, twirling me around in happiness in which it makes me giggle. The others are happy too as they congratulate us for the engagement because they know, the two of us are meant to be together.

Baekhyun places me on the floor back, cradling me in his arms before he gives a long and passionate kiss on my lips. The kiss is overwhelming us too much and when he breaks the kiss, he whispers to my ears. “Gosh, my wish finally came true and this is the best birthday gift I’ve ever had.”

25 years old…

That night when I accepted his proposal to be his wife, everyone is beyond excited especially Baekhyun. As I say excited, we got married a month later because he was too eager to make me as his legal wife. I didn’t object since we’ve been waiting too long to finally have the title, husband and wife. Our wedding day turned out to be pretty sorrow thanks to him though. He cried when he saw me walked down through the aisle and he made me teared up too with his wedding vow.

Then in October, I found out that I’m carrying not one, but two beans inside my womb. Well, we didn’t actually plan to have kids right away but yeah, things happen when we’re talking about Byun Baekhyun. How did I found out? Basically, we’re moving out of the apartment to our new house as he bought it for our future big family. As we’re on our way to the new house, my throat felt really uncomfortable in which I asked him to stop by the roadside because I’m getting a headache. When I’m feeling much better, he continued to drive but with a faster speed.

After the car stopped right in front of the main door, I quickly unlocked it, finding the nearest toilet as I threw up everything into the toilet bowl. Kneeling in front of it as I continued to puke, Baekhyun came to me a few minutes later, caressing my back. Since he was really worried about me, he brought me to the clinic to get a check-up. So that’s the day when we knew the two of us became parents.

The first trimester was really like a hell. Morning sickness almost every time and I really didn’t have any appetite to eat. But, Baekhyun took care of me throughout my suffering moments, always reminding me that these were my sacrifices for the twins.

I’m now 34 weeks and my tummy is really huge. Please don’t compare it with a watermelon because it is bigger than that. My feet are all swollen, backaches and I could go to the toilet almost every second. At the same time, I still cannot believe that the 25 years old me and Baekhyun are going to have kids within a few weeks. It’s undeniable that a childish guy like him is ready to be a father, right?

We are currently hanging out at the living room, I lay on my back on the couch while Baekhyun extends his hand to caress my bulging tummy. “Am I the only one who thinks that our beans are quite active today?” He averts his attention from the television screen to me and his question sounds a little bit of worry.

“Yeah, I think so too?” Placing my hand on top of his hand, I caress our hands together when suddenly we receive a strong kick. I grunt softly because it gives me quite a pain. The two of us decide it’s just a normal movement came from one of the twins. After a few minutes, my lower part feels gushy and wet. As I try to touch it with my fingers, I assume I peed myself a bit.

“Baekhyun, I’m gonna go to the toilet since I think I peed a bit at here,” I giggle, acting innocently as he replies me with chuckles. The moment I stand up, more liquid flows out, trailing down to my thighs and instantly, I clutch my stomach because it hurts.

Baekhyun’s being the overprotective one, he grabs me in his arms. “Hey, you okay?”

I shake my head slowly, looking down when I finally see a small pool of liquid on the floor as I gulp nervously. “I think it’s time, Baekhyun…”

Baekhyun brings us to the hospital right away and I get to admit into our private room where at first, the doctor came for our last check-up before I finally going into labour. As Dr Kim spreads the gel all over my tummy, she then brings the probe to start the ultrasound.

“The babies are very ready to meet the world,” She chuckles, followed by Baekhyun too. After the ultrasound, the nurse helps me to wear some sort of belt that detects the fetal movement and the whole room begins to fill with the heartbeats’ sound of our little babies.

While I’m still inducing, I take some rest to prepare myself for the labour later. Baekhyun sits right beside my bed, holding and caressing my hand in his hold. I face him, a soft smile spreads across my face. “How are you feeling, daddy-to-be? Excited?” I brush my knuckles onto his bulgy cheek.

“Yeah and worry too…” He expresses it with a soft tone.

“Hey, you don’t need to be worry, Baekhyun. Everything will be alright,” I try to comfort him because apart from the eagerness to see our little juniors, he’s so worried about the excruciate pain that I need to handle while in the process of giving birth. I admit it, I’m worried to death knowing that my life also depends on it but knowing that we’re gonna see our little angels, everything will be absolutely worth it. “And you’re gonna be by my side right?”

He nods his head, getting off from his seat to peck on my lips before landing a long yet endearing kiss on my forehead. Baekhyun lets me take a rest while waiting for my cervix to dilate. Legitly, I couldn’t sleep at all with the number of contractions that are attacking me. Tossing, laying and sitting on the bed, all the positions wouldn’t make rest at all. Instead, he offers to massage my back because it’s aching so much.

Approximately 3 hours later, that’s the moment when everything’s gonna change. I was brought to the labour room with Baekhyun’s hand tightly in my hand while we’re on the way. The pain is beyond words. My forehead starts to sweat hard, tearing up with him comforting me by my sides.

“You can do this, baby. I’m here, okay?”

His supports, his presence and his love help me a lot throughout the session. With endless pushing, a shrill sound of a baby crying makes the two of us smiling so bright to each other. “Our first princess is out, mommy. One more, hmm?”

Using my strength all out, I give a hard push and finally, our youngest daughter is born. Haerin and Hanbyul, our little angels. Baekhyun peppers my face with his kisses while he chants thousands of thank you. And now, our little family is finally completed with Baekhyun’s cute girls. I wouldn’t ask for anything but I only need them in my life.

Baekhyun whispers into my ears, “Thank you so much, babe. For carrying our girls and for the hard work to give birth to them. I love you and it’s always you, my love.”

My husband, Byun Baekhyun and the small princesses, Byun Haerin and Byun Hanbyul.

30 years old...

“Promise me that my two little princesses will continue to behave until mommy’s come back home, okay?” I softly calm and ask the twins through the video call since Haerin and Hanyul have been missing me for days. I went for a business trip and Baekhyun was left to look for the twins while I’m gone but I’m grateful he can handle our 4 years old girls. The two of them simply nod their head at the same time, hugging their dolls in their arms. Some of the tears are still there in their adorable eyes that makes me laugh over their cuteness.

“Be good girls to your daddy too, okay? Mommy loves you both so much!” Throwing flying kisses on the screen, hoping it will at least make the twins feel the love that I’m trying to convey. The two of them move their faces closer to the screen, taking turns to kiss on the screen with their cute small lips. While the girls are busy giving me kisses, I can hear Baekhyun’s chuckling behind the phone. Because for sure, he must be falling in love with the devastating scene of the twins’ crying as he’s holding his phone throughout the video call.

Baekhyun brings the phone as he faces the screen and I finally get to see his face. “Bab- woah,” He was about to say something when suddenly the two princesses come to stand in between his thighs. I titter as I feel my heart is full right now seeing them together on the screen. Baekhyun shakes his head, chuckling before giving pecks on their heads. “Call or text me when you’re going back home tomorrow. Don’t leave anything behind and your meals too. We’ll wait for you, right babies?”

He asks Haerin and Hanbyul as they nod their head. Then, he bends over to land kisses on their cheeks that cause them to giggle cutely. Once again, I’m falling in love with Baekhyun and no doubts that I will love him until the very end.

Haerin starts to yawn, eyes swelling in tears as she finally feels sleepy and it’s their bedtime. “Okay, it’s time for the princesses’ bedtime!! I’ll see you guys tomorrow. I love you guys.” I begin to bid goodbye and goodnight to the three of them.

“Goodbye, mommy!! Hanbyul loves you so much!!” Hanbyul confesses as I nod my head.

On the other hand, Haerin in a sleepy state wishes me goodnight with her droopy eyes. “Goodnight, mommy!...”

Baekhyun brings his phone closer to him to look at your face clearer, “I’ll see you tomorrow, then. Goodnight, babe. Talk to you later.”

“Thank you, Baekhyun, for taking care of them for me,” I thank him and he shakes his head as his reply. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” He replies. And after a few goodbyes, I end the call. Baekhyun puts his phone into the pocket of his pants before wrapping his arms around the twins. “It’s bedtime, babies. Let’s tuck you both in bed!” He announces but as he checks on Haerin, she’s half-awake.

Baekhyun lifts her up and carries her over his shoulder while Hanbyul holds onto his other free hand. They walk upstairs towards the master bedroom, which the girls had been overnight for days since I’m not around. When they finally arrive, he slowly places Haerin on the king-sized bed before he takes Hanbyul to lay right beside her sister. He tucks the two of them as he covers them with the duvet.

He lands kisses on their forehead before he slides to lay right beside Hanbyul and switches off the main lights. Haerin is already asleep and most probably in her sweet dreams while Hanbyul is still awake. Stretching his arm to wrap around the girls’ small bodies, he’s surprised when the still awake twin turns around to face him. Hanbyul places her small hands on his cheeks, revealing her sparkling eyes at him.

“Aren’t you sleepy, baby?” Baekhyun concernedly asks her with his soft voice.

“Daddy,” She calls as he hums. “Do you miss mommy?” She questions him.

Baekhyun chuckles silently, leaning over to kiss her pouty lips. “So much. Does my little star miss mommy too?” It’s his turn to ask her and the little one nods her head.

“Now, Byullie needs to sleep so mommy can come home fast,” He tries to persuade her to sleep, which he succeeds since she complies. The little girl scoots closer to his chest, shutting her eyes close before she slowly dozes off to sleep. When Baekhyun checks on her, a soft smile spreads across his face seeing his princesses soundly asleep.

He pulls Haerin slowly into his arms and it’s his turn to have a nice sleep after a tiring day taking care of the twins. “Daddy loves you both so much.” He whispers softly. Having them in his arms for tonight, Baekhyun will definitely have a good dream and will wake up with a very loving and adorable view. Digging out his phone from his pocket, he takes a few pictures of the girls’ sleeping with their dolls in their arms. A smile creeps upon his face.

- Baekhyun -

[attached pictures]

Mission accomplished for today, mommy!

- Me -

Good job, daddy!

- Baekhyun -

Looks like they’re having a goodnight dream

I miss you already

Come home fast, okay?

- Me -

Awww Baekhyun

I miss you too

I’ll be back tomorrow okay?

Now go to sleep

Muah, I love you

Baekhyun doesn’t have to reply since honestly, he’s really exhausted after a tiring day. Trying to balance between the house chores and taking care of the twins’ were really another hard level. Also, he really can’t believe that a woman like me can actually handle them. And that’s why he’s proud of me being a wife and a mommy of two beautiful princesses.

His life has been beautiful and full of happiness with this small family.

The next day, Baekhyun wakes up early in the morning with such a beautiful sight of his daughters’ sleeping peacefully. Before he starts the day, he always leaves kisses on them. He still couldn’t believe that the two of us actually made such adorable princesses. He starts the day by working out in his private area and after that, he will take a quick shower before preparing breakfast for them.

Since he can’t cook and prepare a special meal for breakfast, he is only able to make pancakes and it’s a bonus because of the twins’ super love with his pancakes. The process to prepare it didn’t take much longer and right on time he’s finally done, a soft and cute voice calls his name from upstairs.

“Daddy? Where are you?”

Baekhyun rushes to check on her, smiling widely seeing his little Haerin searching for him while rubbing her eyes with her hand. He walks upstairs, carries her in his arms and pecks onto her cheek. “I’m here, baby. Good morning, princess!”

“Good morning, daddy,” Haerin yawns cutely but he is able to cover her mouth with his hand. As he chuckles, they enter the master bedroom and realise the other twin is finally awake with such a bedridden hair. She tosses and turns her head on the pillow before she finally sits up to greet her other twin and her daddy.

“Good morning to my little star,” Baekhyun sits at the edge of the bed, inviting Hanbyul for a hug as she crawls slowly to her daddy. Once the two of them are finally in his embrace, he hugs them tightly and gives a kiss on top of their crown.

“Mommy’s here?” Hanbyul asks him. He shakes his head to answer her question. As to avoid making her disappointed with his reply, Baekhyun lifts them up in surprise.

“My two stinky monsters need to take a bath!!” Baekhyun imitates a cartoon voice and dashes properly to the bathroom that makes them giggle in amusement. Their petals of laughter surely make him the happiest person on Earth. He doesn’t realise that the three of them have been spending almost an hour in the bathroom. Right away, he brings the girls back to the room and drying them with the towels.

“So, what do my girls want to do today?” Baekhyun kneels in front of them, both bodies wrapped cutely with pink towels. He finds they are cute as they look so fresh and adorable. The two of them places their index finger o their cheeks, reenacting on how people in the cartoons behave when they were thinking. He chuckles softly, waiting patiently for their answers.

“Can we have a tea party where Byullie and Rinnie be princesses, daddy?” Haerin cutely suggests an activity. Since Baekhyun has nothing to do today except taking care of them, he’s going to make all their wishes come true.

“You two are already daddy’s princesses!!” Baekhyun tickles their tummies that make them giggle loudly. “Let’s go and choose your princesses’ gowns then, shall we?” He lifts them abruptly, causing the girls squealing in excitement as he brings the two of them to their room. After he places both of them on the floor, they run cutely towards their closet and each of them chooses the gowns to wear. Soft pink for Rinnie and soft purple for Byullie.

“My two princesses need to have their breakfast first or not you’re gonna get a tummy ache,” Baekhyun holds onto their hands, guiding them down the hall as they slowly walk downstairs and head to the dining table. He lifts them one by one and places them on their high chairs.

“Byullie wants to eat!” Hanbyul says in exhilaration.

“Rinnie too!!” Then, Haerin follows. He’s chuckling softly while cutting the pancakes into pieces so that the girls can eat them easily. After placing them on the plates, Baekhyun brings the two plates to the table. The girls’ smiling widely when they see the pancakes with their sparkling eyes.

“Pancakes!!!” They squeal.

Baekhyun places the plates in front of them and he can see that their cute legs are wiggling in the air. “Princesses, do you guys want daddy to put honey syrup on your pancakes?” He asks. They nod their head at the same time, showing their plates to him. Pouring the honey syrup around their pancakes, suddenly Haerin butts in.

“Strawberries?” She tilts her head slightly on one side, waiting for the answer. Baekhyun chuckles, going to the fridge to grab the ones that his girl is searching for. Haerin and Hanbyul smile brightly. He proceeds to cut them into bite pieces then he brings it to them. All three of them begin to eat their breakfast together, but most of the time they’re playing around in which their giggles make the whole house alive. But, it’s still incomplete without my presence.

After breakfast, the girls straightly invite Baekhyun to play tea party right away as he complies. They bring out their tea party toys set, setting it on their cute small table. “Daddy!! Sit here!!” Hanbyul pats the empty seat and he slowly sits on it. The seat’s quite small for him but he will restrain it for the sake of the girls.

“Daddy, daddy!! Can you braid our hair like mommy?” Baekhyun becomes clueless when Haerin requests something from him in which he doesn’t know how to braid their hair. But since he doesn’t want to make them upset, he spends a lot of tutorials on Youtube on how to braid. Almost an hour, he finally has done and believes that he can at least braid their hair even though it will turn out bad.

Baekhyun takes turns in braiding their hair, inhaling the strawberry scent and assumes it came from their shampoo. I took him 30 minutes because they insist on having braids like how princesses have. He even used some clips to secure their hair neatly. And when all of them is finally satisfied, he places the twins’ crown on top of their head as they continue to play along with the tea party theme.

I finally arrive home, smiling widely knowing that they will definitely wait for my arrival. I unlock the door and begin to search for them. “Baekhyun? Girls?” I call them but there’s no one answering. Pulling the luggage into the house and closing the door behind me, I walk straight to the living room.

I have a view of my husband and my twins passed out on the couch, cuddling close to each other. By seeing the girls’ wearing dresses and crowns, they definitely had a fun tea party. Despite that, I just realised that their hair was braided messily and it must be his work. Baekhyun also has some hair clips on his hair.

As I chuckle softly and after seeing this beautiful sight, I married the right man that would love me endlessly and be the great yet loveable daddy to our princesses.

And he’s my one and only, Byun Baekhyun.

#exowritersnet #exo fanfiction #baekhyun fanfiction #baekhyun scenarios #baekhyun oneshot #exo scenarios #exo oneshot #fluff #baekhyun fluff

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bethagain · 3 years

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I saw a post the other day lamenting that Din probably hasn’t felt the sun on his skin in years, and it reminded me that I never did share a tumblr version of this fic.

So, here's part III of my series On From Here. In which Din moves some rocks, eats some cake, and sits in a sunbeam.

Honest Work

The inn has a mechanical lift. It’s a small square box that lowers on a pulley. A thin cable rises from its roof and disappears into darkness above. Din looks at it skeptically and then takes the stairs. They’re narrow and dark, the treads shallow.

“Leave the key!” the innkeeper calls after him, as he strides across the dimly lit lobby toward the exit.

Making an enemy of his host here is not a good idea.

He pauses to lay the key on the counter. The dull brass shank of it clinks against its worn metal fob. There’s nothing in the room to steal, anyway.

The town center consists of a handful of low-slung buildings, all with the same tile roofs. Din pauses at the window of a repair shop. Everything inside looks old, mechanical, un-streamlined. They’d probably know exactly how to fix up the Razor Crest, with its pre-Imperial control system and antique wiring. If there were still a Razor Crest to fix.

Next is a general store, with bolts of fabric, tools, and fresh produce all for sale together. There’s a four-legged riding beast tied outside, a simple saddle on its back. A woman is choosing meemfruit from a bin near the door. She turns to watch him walk by.

There doesn’t seem to be a proper drinking establishment. At the end of the row is a small cafe, with a handful of tables and a bar at the back. Several of the tables are occupied. Some people on their own, some groups of adults, a couple of families. Most have plates of food in front of them. A shelf above the bar holds an assortment of liquor bottles.

This place will have to do.

He orders a glass of whiskey, for the sake of manners, and settles in at the bar to wait. The armor serves as its own advertisement.

"You're not going to find what you’re looking for here."

He turns toward the voice. The words are from a grizzled man seated at a corner table.

Din doesn’t bother answering, just squares his shoulders back toward the bar again. Every place has someone who’s hiding. And someone else who wants them found.

The man has come over to the bar, now, and is sliding onto the stool beside him.

Great.

"This is not that kind of town."

"Every town is that kind of town."

"Not here." The man signals to the waiter, who pours something from a spigot and sets it down. Tiny bubbles break its surface, making a faint sound of static. He takes a drink. "We didn't hold with the Empire. We don't hold with the New Republic. We live and let live, around here."

"Fine." Maybe if Din agrees, this man will go away.

"You try to bring somebody in, the whole town's going to stop you."

"Look," says Din, "I have no quarrel with anyone here. I'm just looking to earn a few credits."

The helmet’s interface lets him know that someone’s taken the barstool on his other side. The screen fills the gaps in his peripheral vision. It’s a woman, long hair in a braid, sleeveless top and arms of solid muscle.

“Not here,” she says.

The other tables are emptying, more townspeople coming to form a semicircle behind him. Even the children are glaring at him.

Damn.

“All right.” He knows better than to move his hands without a warning. “Let me pay for my drink, and I’ll be on my way.” He reaches slowly for the pouch at his waist, keeping his hand well clear of his blaster. “What do I owe you?”

The bartender names a figure. Din doubles it, setting down the small stack of credits before rising to leave.

The bartender tries to give the extra back. “That’s too much.”

“You keep it,” Din says. “Payment for the trouble.”

“Hold on.” It’s the man on the barstool beside him again. “You really just looking for work?”

Din waits, standing there by the bar. The townspeople stay there in their circle, but hands are starting to drift away from holsters. The weapons here seem to be mostly slugthrowers. Mechanical things, not blasters with their circuitry and electrics. Interesting.

“Any kind of work?” the man asks.

There are limits, even for someone like Din. “Honest work.”

The man grins at him, white teeth flashing through his unruly beard. “You look strong enough,” he says. “If it’s not beneath you, in your fancy armor there. I need somebody to move some rocks."

The job is not at all what Din had in mind, but it does, indeed, sound like honest work. And he’s not in a place to be picky.

He’s sitting next to the bearded man on a plank across the front of a high-wheeled wooden cart. The cart is pulled by two solid-looking beasts, four-legged and shaggy. Their pace is sedate and steady, the cart rolling easily over grassland. They’re headed toward a row of trees in a valley, between rolling hills.

The trees mark a stream, the man says, and on that stream is an old stone dam that diverts the water. “We’re opening up new farmland. Need to get that water back in its proper course. Get it down to the right place on the land. My regular crew could do it, but it’s heavy work. They’re not itching to volunteer.”

“Why not use an antigrav lifter?” Why pay a man for a whole day’s work, when a simple machine would cut that down to a couple of hours.

“We’re not big believers in tech around here. Parts have to be imported. Electric’s complicated to repair. We don’t care to be dependent on anyone, any more than we have to.”

That explains the shop in town, then, with its antique machinery in the window. And the hotel lift, and the drying jets that don’t work anymore.

“That’s why the slugthrowers?"

“You noticed. That’s right.” The man chuckles. “Keeps things calmer, too. If you have to forge a new bullet every time you use one, you’re a little less likely to draw.”

The cart trundles along. The sky overhead is a clear blue, the sun warm. Din nudges up the cooling system in his armor.

They go along a little way among the trees, until they’re beside a narrow stream of clear water. It emerges from a low pile of stones at the edge of a pond.

From his seat on the cart, the man points to a smaller valley that runs off to the right. “The pond drains over that way, now. Pull the dam out, and it’ll run the way it should again.”

Din takes in the clear stream, the small oval pond, the branching valley. “Who’s using that water now?”

“The folks over yonder were a little too friendly with the Empire,” the man says. “Town asked them to leave.”

“Did they leave?”

“I thought you bounty hunters had a rule about asking questions.”

“This isn’t a Guild job,” Din says.

“Suppose not." The man turns to reach toward the back of the cart, and Din tenses. But he’s just picking up a wooden box by its leather handle. He hands it to Din. "Here's lunch. We're not fancy but our crew eats well. Water in the stream's safe to drink. And don’t worry, there’s no one left to come bother you.”

He waits while Din climbs down from the cart. “You could walk out when you’re done, but it's a long way after a day's work. I'll be back to get you at sundown."

Din watches the cart make its sedate way back through the trees, the shaggy beasts pulling at their traces, the man humming off-key as he goes.

He finds a flat rock to put the lunch box on. It contains a dented metal cup, a stack of wrapped sandwiches, some pieces of a fruit he doesn’t recognize, and a generous slice of cake that smells of ginger and dark sugar.

He closes the box back up again and goes over to inspect the dam.

This certainly isn’t his usual kind of work. But a ship needs fuel and a man needs food, and pushing on to the next port with just the credits he has on hand feels reckless. Unwise. Plus, being in debt to Boba Fett is like a deep itch under his skin. It’s not comfortable. He wants it gone.

Din is no engineer, but piloting a ship means he’s used to thinking in three dimensions. He considers the shape of the dam, the way the rocks are stacked atop one another, the chinks where the water flows through. The thing looks like it was hand-built, the stones large enough not to move with the water but small enough to be picked up. The original stream cut a gully into the soil, but it’s shallow, the dam itself only a bit over knee-high.

The forest floor here is carpeted with broad, leathery leaves. Wide-trunked trees are spaced far apart, with little undergrowth between them. Their canopies cast shade across the ground. Here and there, a few sunbeams find their way through.

If he starts at the far side, removing the rocks in vertical columns, the stream should come slowly back to life. His gloves will protect his hands from the roughness of the stone. His boots are already sticking in the mud at the edge of the water. They’re water-resistant, good for a while in a rainstorm, but they’re going to be soaked through by the time he’s done.

At first, muscles complain at being asked to move in ways they’re not used to. This steady pattern of bend, lift, bend is very different from the sudden, sharp quickness of a fight. His daily workouts are rigorous but they’re precise, prescribed patterns. Each of these stones has a different shape, a different weight. Keeping his feet out of the water, keeping his balance on the slight slope makes each one its own physics problem, its own little challenge.

Soon enough, though, he’s settled into the rhythm of it. He remembers to use his legs when lifting, to save strain on his back. He kicks up the cooling system again, as sweat begins to gather under the armor.

The armor’s physiological monitors are simple, but they register heartbeat, breathing, temperature. Normally, he ignores the ping that says it might be time to take a break, to drink some water and catch his breath. Because normally, when that ping goes off, taking a break would either be desperately stupid--in the middle of a firefight?--or stupidly desperate, like during the hours walking the Tatooine desert back to Mos Eisley, carrying the wreckage of a speeder bike, no water at all on board.

This time, he gets the dented cup from the wooden box and carries it over to the stream. It’s already flowing faster, but his work has kicked up sediment. Din goes back to the box, grabs one of the wrapped sandwiches, and sets out to find the pond’s other outlet.

It’s not far. The other stream burbles over a few rocks at the edge of the pond, then curves through another shallow gully and off down a gentle slope and away. One of the great trees rises nearby, a couple of its wide roots undercut by the water.

He’s starting to feel chilled as the cooling system interacts with sweat-dampened clothing, so he switches the cooling circuits off. The helmet’s interface tells him the air outside is still warm.

Din considers, sandwich in one hand, cup in the other. There is a sunbeam crossing over the tree roots, making the water sparkle.

The forest around him is quiet.

Decision made, he dips the cup in the stream, then chooses a spot to sit on one of the wide tree roots, back against the trunk. He balances the cup on the leaf-covered ground, sets the sandwich down beside it. Then he lifts the helmet from his head, setting it in his lap as he rests his head on the tree’s rough bark, eyes closed against the brightness of the sun.

When did he last feel sunlight on his skin? It’s been a while. Before he picked up the child, surely. It hasn’t been safe to let his guard down. How long before that, though? He thinks back, but it’s a blur of work, the halls of the Nevarro covert, the streets of strange towns.

Din knows better than to stay in the sun for long. Skin that’s always covered has no defense against UV rays. After a few minutes he shifts to the shade, sitting crosslegged on the forest floor. The water from the stream is sweet, with a slight mineral taste underneath. The sandwich isn’t bad either, fresh bread dotted with different kinds of grain, slices of some kind of tender meat and crisp green leaves with just a hint of bitter.

He makes his way back around the pond to continue the work. Wiggle each stone free. Lift, carry. He’s building a sort of stone cairn, setting each one down neatly, just because it feels good to see the thing take shape.

His gloves are soaked by now, as he has to reach into the water to get at the lowest rows of stones. The water can’t be good for the circuits in the vambraces so he sheds those, too, setting them down on the flat rock beside the wooden lunch box, where his helmet already sits.

He could keep the cooling system running, but it’s not designed for this kind of exertion. The constant movement will keep the power cell charged, but he’s sweating in spite of it, and the chill from the beskar is a distraction instead of a comfort.

He’s already vulnerable without the helmet and the vambraces. He lays out cuirass, pauldrons, hip and thigh plates on that flat stone. His hand pauses on the blaster, but if it’s waterlogged it’s not going to work at all.

He looks down at the thick fabric of the flightsuit, already wet at wrists and ankles. He's got another layer underneath it. May as well leave that too.

He makes a detour through another sunbeam on the way back to the dam.

Without the armor to filter the outside world, he’s aware of the warmth of the sun on his back. Of the change in temperature between sun and shadow.

Without the helmet’s interface, he marks time by how the patches of sun creep slowly across the forest floor.

When a rush of water takes him by surprise, soaking him from elbow to wrist and chest to hip, he sheds his shirt, laying it out on the stone cairn to dry.

The air is still warm. The water that splashes his wrists is cool. He pauses again for food, then sets back to work. At one point he cups his hands in the running stream and drinks, then runs wet hands through his sweat-soaked hair.

Clearing the last few stones means sinking his hands into mud to wrest them free. When he’s carried them over and set them atop the neat pile, he looks down and finds he’s covered in mud from chest to waistband.

His employer said he’d be back at sunset. Din looks up, judging the height of the sun in the sky. Late afternoon, he guesses, edging into evening. It’s unpleasant fitting the helmet back on over wet hair, his face still damp with sweat, but he does it. The chrono built into the interface tells him there’s a good two hours until sundown.

He turns a slow circle, heat and motion sensors overlaying his vision, sound turned up high. There’s birdsong high above him, but otherwise the forest is still.

He fetches his shirt, piles the armor and flightsuit into his arms and carries it all to the edge of the pond. Then, thinking what the hell, he shucks boots, socks, and leggings and wades on in.

Din doesn’t know how to swim. It’s not a skill he normally needs in his work. It’s not a skill he particularly needs now, either. But the mud is pleasantly soft against his feet, the water soothing to tired muscles. He ducks his head under, scrubs at the dirt on his chest, rinses away sweat.

For the second time today, he uses his shirt to dry off. The approach of evening is bringing a slight chill to the air, so he pulls his other clothes back on, fastening the flightsuit over his bare chest this time before setting the pieces of his armor in place.

Back at the flat stone he considers another sandwich, decides on the cake instead, and then sits there a while, licking sugar from his fingers and watching the stream at its full strength now as it sparkles its way down the valley.

True to his word, the man is back with the wagon just as the sunbeams finish fading. He takes note of the neat cairn, and of the unfettered stream. “I wasn’t sure you’d really do it,” he says. “Guy like you. Work like this.”

Din just looks at him, impassive behind the helmet. He’s pretty much done with dignity these days, but this man doesn’t need to know it.

“Well,” the man says. “We’re clearing more land tomorrow. If you want another day’s work.”

“I’ll take my pay for this one.”

“Of course.” He counts out the amount they agreed on and drops it into Din’s hand. “I mean it. We can always use a strong set of hands.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Where are you staying?”

Din names the inn.

The man nods. “I’ll drop you there?”

“That would be fine.”

The first stars are out by the time Din steps down from the wagon, credits in his pocket and the last two sandwiches in his hand. He picks up the key from the innkeeper, climbs the narrow stairs, locks the door of the room behind him. He hangs his wet shirt in the shower room, lays out his wet gloves and socks to dry, strips off the armor and sets it carefully on the floor. His skin smells faintly of mud and minerals, but he can’t be bothered to shower. He sits by the window to eat, watching more stars emerge from the clear, dark sky.

The money in his pocket won’t buy much. It’s a little more fuel, another day or two of getting by.

He’ll leave in the morning. Probably.

He still has no idea where to go.

#the mandalorian #fanfic #din djarin #my fic

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the-regal-warrior · 4 years

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Cadre Weaponry: The Fluff

Guess who’s back with more Cadre Weaponry content?? Surprise, it’s me! Okay, it’s time for some good old-fashioned fluff for all of our babies.

Summary: Welcome to Cadre Weaponry - the shop for all your weapons needs, both antique and modern! Join the boys of the Cadre as they become friends and tackle this thing we call life. Maybe, just maybe, they’ll even find love along the way.

We all know that our boys are crazy about their girls. Now let’s take a closer look at how they show how much they love their girls!

Warnings: Maybe some language, but I don’t even think you have to worry about that.

TWO MONTHS LATER

“Hey, Luca!” Gavriel greeted as he walked into the lobby of Main Street Automotive. “How’s school?”

He was a sophomore in college, but whenever he wasn’t in class he worked the desk of the garage. His father, Malakai, owned the shop, and Gavriel knew that Luca was taking business classes so he could eventually take over.

“It’s going,” Luca replied, grimacing at the snort that slipped through Gavriel’s lips. “I like it and all, but Business 220 is kicking my ass.”

“Darrow still teaching that?” Gavriel asked, remembering how much of a hardass the man had been when he’d taken the class. When Luca nodded, he gave him a sympathetic grin. “I know he’s tough, but just keep pushing. Do well in his class and he’ll be the best reference you could ever ask for.”

Luca just sighed, though he did mutter a quick “thank you” before a sly grin lit up his features. “I know you’re not here just to ask me about school,” he joked. “Could you possibly be here to see your wife?”

Gavriel felt a giant smile spread over his face, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. He and Lin had been married for almost a month, and every day still felt like a dream. “Of course I’m here to see my amazing wife.”

Luca just laughed at him and pointed toward the office/breakroom. “She’s back there somewhere. Just go on back.”

He waved and ducked around the counter, walking through the door just as Malakai came in from the garage. “Gavriel,” he nodded. “She’ll be right in - she was just under the hood of a ‘67 Impala.

Gavriel nodded at him, and opened his mouth to reply just as Lin walked through the door, a towel in her hands to dry them off. His voice died in his throat, and he heard Malakai chuckle at the awestruck look he felt slide across his face. Her dark hair was pulled up in a messy bun, pieces of her hair framing her face where they’d come free, and there was a black smudge across one cheek - probably from when she’d tried to brush a chunk of escaped hair off her face. She’d unzipped her overalls and left them hang around her waist, and the white tank top she had on underneath clung to her with sweat.

He decided he’d never seen anyone more beautiful.

Tossing the towel toward the laundry bin, she caught sight of him standing there. “Gav,” she smiled, eyes bright as she made her way across the room. She wrapped her arms around his waist and grinned at him. “What brings you here, husband?”

“You, my beautiful, forgetful wife.” When she gave him a confused look, he held up the water bottle in his hand, at least half a lemon sliced and floating inside it. Lin only liked lemon-water (she absolutely hated regular water), and he knew she’d be upset when he saw it sitting on the kitchen counter after she’d left that morning. “I thought you might want this.”

“Aww, thanks, baby,” she cooed, leaning up to give him a gentle kiss as she took the bottle from him. “You came all the way here just to bring me my water?”

“Lin, you work two blocks away from me,” he chuckled. “It’s not exactly far.”

“Still, your effort deserves a reward.” She winked at him, a happy laugh bubbling from her throat.

Gavriel pulled her closer, pressing his lips to her forehead. “Getting to see my gorgeous wife isn’t reward enough?”

Lin shook her head, though she did lean into him. “No, because not only did you bring my water, but I also got to see my wonderful husband. So, you get another reward.” She gave him a look that stopped his heart in his chest, and then she was kissing him like they hadn’t seen each other in weeks.

He cupped the back of her neck with one hand, bracing the other on her waist to keep her steady as she rocked up on her toes to kiss him harder. He tilted her head, allowing him to take control of the kiss, and he’d just swept his tongue into her mouth when someone cleared their throat behind them.

Breaking apart, Gavriel turned his head in time to see Luca leading Emrys, his other father and Malakai’s husband, into the room, bags of food in both of their arms. Emrys owned the Mistward Diner, which was right next to the garage. He’d been the one to clear his throat, though it was Luca who yelled “get a room” as he set his bags on the table.

“Breakfast is served!” Emrys announced, pulling every breakfast food imaginable from the bags. Malakai greeted him with a kiss and a smile before heading out to collect the rest of his employees from the garage, and Emrys turned his eyes on Gavriel. “You might as well join us, lad - you’re already here.”

“Yeah, just quit making out with Lin where we can see it!” Though Luca sounded disgusted, Gavriel knew he was happy for them.

Emrys smacked his son on the back of his head, making him wince theatrically.

Chuckling at their antics, Lin took his hand and led him to the table. They sat down just as everyone came in, smiles on their faces at the sight of the food Emrys brought for them every morning.

Lin reached for the plate of bacon, but she paused when Gavriel placed a hand on her shoulder, turning to give him an inquiring look. Dipping his napkin in the cup of water someone had placed in front of him, he used it to gently wipe the grease from her cheek.

She leaned into his touch, whispering “I love you” before pressing her lips to his palm.

“As I love you,” he murmured back, kissing her temple before turning back to the table, grinning at the soft looks everyone was giving them.

TWO MONTHS AND FIVE DAYS LATER

Lorcan breathed deeply as he walked through the door, the scent of books filling him with a sense of peace. He’d always loved to read, had always been calmed by just being around books, and he loved them even more now that he was married to the owner of a bookstore. Lady of Perranth Book Emporium was Elide’s pride and joy, and he loved everything about it. She’d used part of her inheritance from her parents to pay for college - she had degrees in business and marketing - and to buy and start her own business. And business was booming - she sold new and used books, which people loved.

Looking toward the till, Lorcan waved when he saw Ghislaine standing behind the counter. Another member of the Thirteen, she and Elide had become close when Elide moved in with Manon on her eighteenth birthday to get away from her uncle. She had always loved to read, and he knew she’d been thrilled when Elide had offered her a job.

“Hey, G,” he greeted, nodding at the book in her hands. “Jeffrey Deaver?”

“Lorcan, hey,” she replied. “Yeah, I thought it was time for a Bone Collector reread.”

“Always a solid choice. Any idea where Elide might be?”

Ghislaine chuckled. “Well, last I talked to her, she was checking inventory upstairs, so I’d start there.” Elide tended to multitask, which meant that she was all over the store all day long.

He just laughed as he made for the stairs. “Thanks,” he replied, her response echoing behind him as he climbed toward the second floor.

Catching sight of her as soon as he turned to face the room, he couldn’t stop the smile that spread over his face. Her dark hair was secured in a messy bun on the top of her head, most likely to keep it from falling into her face while she organized the books. She was halfway up a ladder, a box resting on the top of it as she made space on the shelves.

Setting the bag he was carrying on the floor, Lorcan wrapped his arms around her thighs from behind. “Hey, beautiful,” he murmured, pressing his lips to the strip of bare skin on her waist where her shirt had ridden up.

Though she’d tensed at his initial touch, Elide relaxed into his arms at the sound of his voice. “Hello, handsome,” she replied, turning to face him. She started to say something else, but it turned into a squeal when he lifted her off the ladder, sliding her down his body until her feet were on the ground.

“Hi,” he said again, lips brushing her forehead before he pressed them to her lips. Lorcan often thought that kissing Elide was his favorite thing.

When he finally pulled away, her cheeks were flushed. “Wow,” she breathed, shooting him a smirk. “What brings you here in the middle of the work day?”

He motioned to the bag on the floor. “Well, it’s my lunch break and I was hoping to have lunch with my lovely wife.”

Her eyes lit up, and he felt his own smile growing. They’d been married for three months, and Lorcan was convinced he fell more in love with her every day.

“Aren’t you the most thoughtful husband?” she replied, fingers dancing over his jaw. “If you brought what I think you did,” she continued, “then I will most definitely have lunch with you.”

“Sandwiches from Cafe Terrasen - made by Aelin herself because Lysandra was supervising every move and I harassed her into doing it - and your favorite desserts, too.” Lorcan laughed as she practically started drooling at his words. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders after grabbing the bag, he began leading her toward her office.

Tangling her fingers with his, Elide leaned up to kiss his cheek as they walked. “G!” she called as they walked down the stairs. “I’m taking lunch with my wonderful husband.”

Ghislaine just nodded from her spot behind the counter, more than used to their antics.

Ducking out from under his arm at the bottom of the steps, Elide grabbed his hand again and started pulling him along, a happy smile on her face.

Lorcan knew he was grinning like a fool, but he didn’t care. His heart belonged completely to this woman - his amazing wife - and he wanted to show her that every single day. As she opened the door to her office, he said, “I’m so in love with you.”

“I’m in love with you,” she responded, kissing him one last time before they sat down to start eating.

TWO MONTHS AND TEN DAYS LATER

The Keep was busy when Vaughan opened the door, though it seemed that most of the customers were gathered around tables instead of flocking to the bar. The restaurant was full of laughter and chatter, and he smiled at the relaxed atmosphere of the room. This had always been one of his favorite places in town, and not just because of the gorgeous woman tending to the bar.

He grinned as he watched her shake a drink, a wide smile on her face as the couple she was waiting on laughed at whatever she’d said. She caught sight of him as she was pouring the drink into a glass, and the smile on her face got even brighter. She finished what she was doing and made her way toward him, doing a quick sweep of the bar as she did. “Hey, babe,” Sorrel practically squealed as she rounded the bar. “What brings you here?”

“I can’t just want to see my beautiful fiancée?” They’d been engaged for just over two months, and Vaughan woke up in awe of that fact every single day. “But,” he continued as she saw what he was holding, “I will admit it’s not the only reason I stopped by. I know it’s a late night for you and I thought you might like some coffee.”

“Well, aren’t you just the sweetest?” she murmured, taking the cup he extended her way. A breathtaking grin lit up her face when she took a sip, and the little moan that escaped her throat made his breath hitch. “And you even remembered how I take it!”

She’d been leaning up to kiss him, her coffee resting safely on the bar behind her, but Vaughan pinched her lips between his thumb and index finger. “Really?” he murmured, voice low as her hands danced across his thighs. “We’ve been together for five and a half years now - did you really think I wouldn’t know your coffee order?”

She nipped at his fingers when he finally pulled them away, and he smirked at the gleam in her eyes. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that you’re so good to me and I appreciate it.” She kissed him, just the softest brush of her lips on his, and Vaughan cupped her cheeks as he rested his forehead against hers. “Though it does make me curious about something.”

“And what’s that?” he breathed, eyes falling shut as she stroked her fingers over his spine.

“If you’re this good to your fiancée, how will you be with your wife?”

“My wife,” he replied, one hand tangling in her hair as the other slid down her body to rest just above the swell of her ass, “will be spoiled rotten.”

Sorrel didn’t have a chance to respond before he was kissing her, tongue sweeping into her mouth as he backed her against the bar. She fell apart beneath him, a gasp sliding into his mouth as he kissed her harder. Her fingers knotted in the fabric of his shirt when he tilted her head to kiss her with a deeper, claiming sort of fire. He forgot where they were - he forgot everything but the taste and feel of Sorrel as he lost himself in her.

“Vaughan, if you don’t stop distracting my bartender I’ll have to throw you out.” He was distantly aware of a voice talking to him, but it wasn’t until Sorrel pushed on his chest to break their kiss that he realized it was Edda who had spoken.

He took in the flush spreading across Sorrel’s cheeks before he lifted his head to smirk at Edda. “I don’t think your bartender would be too happy if you threw her fiancé out.”

“Okay, we get that you two are all ‘in love’ or whatever, but the rest of us don’t need to see it.” that was Briar, walking up to flick the side of his head. The two Blackbeak cousins owned The Keep Pub and Grille, and, despite their threats, he knew they found his relationship with one of their closest friends (and fellow member of The Thirteen) adorable. “So don’t tempt us - one of these days we’ll really do it.”

Giving her a hurt look, he turned pleading eyes on Sorrel. “You wouldn’t let them throw me out, would you, baby?”

She kissed his jaw quickly and walked back behind the bar, coffee in hand, before replying. “I just might - you’re very distracting.”

He winced theatrically and clasped a hand over his heart. “You wound me, baby.”

She just giggled and blew him a kiss before taking a lap to see how her customers were doing. He watched her work with a smile on his face, struck by how incredibly amazing she was and how lucky he was to have her.

Sorrel caught him watching her, and she tilted her head in a silent question at the look he was giving her.

Vaughan just shook his head, mouthing, “I love you.”

She smiled, the happiness in it bringing her eyes to life. “And I love you,” she mouthed, waving and holding up her coffee in a silent thank you as he turned for the door.

TWO MONTHS AND FIFTEEN DAYS LATER

Connall couldn’t help the smirk that crossed his face as he walked through the front door and saw the way Petrah narrowed her eyes at him. Petrah Blueblood was the owner of The Wastes: Tattoo and Body Piercing, and she loved to give him a hard time. Even though he was engaged to one of her artists, he’d always gotten his tattoos at Doranelle Ink, which was owned by Rowan’s cousin, Sellene. It was also where Essar worked, and she and Lorcan remained friends despite their past, so all of the guys had been going to both of them for years.

“This shop is for customers of The Wastes only,” Petrah quipped, chucking a balled-up piece of paper at him. “No Doranelle Ink patrons allowed.”

“I guess you’ll have to stop letting Elide get tattooed here then,” he replied, tossing her paper right back at her. “You know Essar did her first two.” Though Vesta did all of Elide’s ink now, Essar had indeed done the first two, since Lorcan had drawn them with Essar’s help.

“That’s different.” That came from Rhiannon Crochan as she walked out of her suite. She was the other artist who worked there, and, as she was Manon’s half-sister, she knew Elide and the Thirteen very well. “We’ve converted her - she’s ours now.”

“Oh, so that’s how that works?” He raised an eyebrow at the two of them. Rhiannon cracked, a chuckle slipping through her lips, but Petrah held firm.

“That’s exactly how this works.” She looked like she wanted to say more, but Vesta chose that moment to walk into the room.

“Okay, you two,” she started, red hair tumbling around her shoulders as she pulled it free from the bun it had been piled in. “Leave my fiancé alone.”

That was what finally broke Petrah, giggles falling from her lips. Connall laughed with her, grateful that Vesta had such supportive friends - and that they liked him. He had always been worried that he wasn’t enough for her, but he had started to believe he was when he realized her friends approved of him.

Once he finally stopped laughing, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. “Hey, baby,” he murmured into her hair.

“Hi, love,” she replied, her face against his chest. “How come you’re here?”

“Well,” he started, pulling back enough that he could see her face, “I know you have a late appointment tonight, so I stopped at The Keep and grabbed us some dinner.” He lifted his other hand to show her the bag he carried.

Vesta smiled at that, happiness making her eyes light up. “Thanks, my love - that was really sweet.”

“Well, anything for my future wife.” Connall watched a faint blush spread over her cheeks at his words, and he leaned down to give her a soft kiss. “All this time together and the thought of being my wife still makes you blush?”

“It’s because I can’t believe how lucky I am.” She was smiling when he pulled away, twining their fingers and leading him to the small kitchen at the back of the shop. “I really appreciate this, Con. I was just debating if I had enough time to run out and grab something.”

“I’m glad I caught you before you left then.” Connall was pulling food out of the bag as he talked, watching as Vesta grabbed silverware from a drawer. “How much time do you have?”

“She’ll be here in about an hour and a half.”

Connall pulled out a chair for her, making sure she was seated before he joined her. “Seems kind of late for a tattoo appointment.”

“That’s because it is.” Vesta took a bite of the burger he’d brought her before she continued. “But Kaltain is a friend from college, and we’ve been designing her tattoo for months, and we were both too excited to wait.”

He nodded at her words, a small chuckle escaping him. That definitely sounded like her - designing was her favorite part of the whole process and she was always so excited to see the finished tattoo. When she raised an eyebrow at his laughter, he said, “I’m glad you love the design process so much, because I have an idea.”

“Yeah, and what’s that?”

Connall grinned at the suspicion in her tone as he took her hand in his. “Well, I’ve been thinking that I want another tattoo, and since you are my fiancée and all, I was thinking you could do this one?”

He’d watched her eyes get brighter as he talked, and he couldn’t help but smile at the sight of tears beginning to pool in them as she realized what he was saying. “Really?” she squealed.

He nodded, and she launched herself into his lap, her face buried in his neck. “Oh, Connall, I’m so excited! And I’m so honored, baby.”

“I’m the one who’s honored, Vesta. You’re so talented. I’ve been meaning to ask for a while, but I wanted to find something perfect for you to design.” She kissed him before the words had finished leaving his lips, and he could feel her joy practically radiating from her.

The kiss was hard, and he was breathing heavily by the time she pulled away, though he noticed that she was, too, as she breathed “I love you so much, Connall Moonbeam” against his lips.

“I love you just as much, Vesta Iarann.”

She pulled back enough to look into his eyes. “Does this mean you have an idea?”

“It does.”

She squealed again, kissing him quickly before climbing off his lap. “Let me get my sketchbook and we can get started!” she called, already out of the room before she’d gotten halfway through her sentence.

Connall felt his smile grow as he realized, once again, just how much he loved her. And how much he couldn’t wait to be married to her in eight months.

She was his whole world, and he couldn’t wait for everyone to know it.

TWO MONTHS AND TWENTY DAYS LATER

Walking into Blackbeak Gym was a lot like walking into his college gym, though on a much larger scale. The main room, which was situated behind the front desk, was full of rows upon rows of equipment, treadmills lined along one wall and weights along another, with an open space in the back, the floor covered in mats. There was a hallway just to the right of the front desk that led to both locker rooms, and he could just make out the office door in the back corner. The second floor consisted of smaller rooms (equipped for the various classes taught in them) ringed by an indoor track. He knew the door to his right would take him to a huge climbing wall, and the one to his left would lead him to the pool.

It was the door on the left that Fenrys moved toward, waving to Imogen as she stood behind the desk, where she was most likely checking her appointments. As a personal trainer, her days were never the same. She waved back just as he walked through the door, and then his eyes immediately locked on the golden-haired figure moving through the water.

Asterin broke through the surface, hair slicked back and her black one-piece clinging to her in a way he could describe as sinful. She blinked the water from her eyes as she reached for the edge of the pool, droplets clinging to her lashes as she caught sight of him. “Hello, love,” she grinned. “I wasn’t expecting to see you!”

“I just stopped to admire the view,” he quipped, raking his eyes over her as she floated in the water. “Now I finally know why you guys have such a booming business - you look positively sinful, baby.”

Asterin scoffed and splashed water over his legs, though the giggle that escaped her mouth told him she was only playing. “I’ll have you know that people come here because our gym is awesome.” She’d started climbing out of the pool as she spoke, but she stopped at the top of the ladder to give him a look. “Getting to see me like this is an added bonus.”

“It certainly is,” he murmured, handing her the towel she’d pointed to and pressing his lips to her forehead. “It’s a shame none of them can ever have you now - you’re mine for life, lovely wife.”

“And beyond even that,” she whispered before continuing at normal volume, “I guess it’s a good thing I love you so much then, my husband.”

Fenrys chuckled at that, wrapping one arm around her shoulders as she began walking toward her office. They’d been married for a month and a half now, and their honeymoon stage was still going strong. “Well, you’re about to love me even more.”

When she only gave him a confused look, he held up the hand he’d been keeping hidden behind his back, allowing her to see the real reason he’d actually stopped in. “I thought you might want a smoothie after your swim.” She’d come into the gym early sometimes to use the pool before it got too full, and she always said smoothies were her favorite way to start her shift on those days. He knew she usually ran out to grab one, so he figured he’d surprise her.

Asterin beamed and took it from him, all but moaning as she took a sip.

He couldn’t help but laugh at her reaction. “People will really keep coming in if you keep making noises like that.”

“Shut up,” she quipped, leaning up to kiss him quickly before letting both of them into her office. “Thanks for this, baby - it’s exactly what I needed.”

“Glad to be of service, my love.”

She gave him an innocent little smirk, setting her drink on her desk before she pushed him down into the chair behind it. Climbing on his lap, she murmured, “let me thank you properly.”

Fenrys smirked up at her, a low whistle falling from his lips at the sight of her damp hair framing her face. “I don’t know what I did to get so lucky, Rin, but I’m glad I did.” He pressed a soft kiss to her jaw, heart fluttering when he saw tears spring into her eyes at his words.

“Damnit, Fen, stop making me cry when I’m trying to be sexy!”

“Baby, there’s never been a single moment that I didn’t think you were sexy.”

More tears spilled down her cheeks at that, but it didn’t stop her from kissing him once, twice, three times. “I love you so much.”

She kissed him harder then, tongue sliding into his mouth. He was losing himself in everything that was his amazing wife, hands settling on her hips, when someone flicked the side of his head.

“You know,” Manon drawled, one eyebrow arched, “some people are trying to work here.”

“That’s why you have your own office!” Asterin whined, dropped her forehead against his while he laughed at her.

“And how exactly am I meant to go over finances with you if I’m in my office and you’re in yours?” Manon gave her a hard look, though Fenrys could see the teasing glint in her eye.

Asterin sighted through her nose. “Send me an email and schedule an appointment.”

Even Manon laughed at that, their combined chuckles filling the office. Fenrys was still laughing as he stood, Asterin’s legs wrapping around his waist. Sliding his hands under her thighs to support her, he pressed one more kiss to her lips. “As much as I’d love to stay, I do actually have a job to get to.”

Untangling herself from him, Asterin pressed her lips to his chin. “Okay, babe. I love you.”

“And I love you,” he replied, hugging her and nodding at Manon on his way out.

TWO MONTHS AND TWENTY-FIVE DAYS LATER

He walked through the double doors to Cafe Terrasen, a wide smile on his face as the quaint atmosphere of the coffee shop washed over him. Aelin had poured her heart and soul into this place when she’d bought it, and he could see her love for her home and her history reflected in every single part of the building. Despite the fact that she’d never been the best cook - she tried, but something always seemed to go wrong - she managed to own and operate an incredibly successful coffee shop. Although, part of that was probably because Aelin only made the drinks, since she was an excellent barista - Lysandra handled the food.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, Lysandra came out from the back carrying a tray of muffins, the blueberry scent wafting through the room. She was whistling as she worked, waving to their regular customers as she slid the muffins into the display case. Looking up, she caught his eye and her face broke into a wide smile. “Hey, Rowan!” she greeted, wiping her hands on her apron.

“Hey, Lys,” he replied, resting his arms on the counter by the till, the duffel bag slung over his shoulder thunking gently against the wood. “Busy morning?”

She shrugged, a wry look on her face. “You know how it is. The early morning rush is a lot, but it’s slowed down now - gives me time to stock the bakery case.”

“And, let me guess,” Rowan interjected, “it gives Aelin a chance to take a chill pill?”

Lysandra only arched an eyebrow. “Have you ever known her to calm down?”

“Not really, no,” he chuckled. “Speaking of my frazzled wife, where is she?”

She waved a hand toward the kitchen. “She’s in the back, arguing with the espresso machine - well, I assume so, anyway. Maybe seeing you will get her to chill out.”

Rapping his knuckles twice on the counter, he nodded his thanks and walked around the counter, grabbing a cup from the shelf and pouring some of Cafe Terrasen’s signature dark roast into it. Stirring two spoonfuls of sugar into it, he snapped the lid into place and walked into the kitchen - and was greeted with the sight of his wife scowling at an espresso machine, just like Lysandra had said.

“Hey, baby,” he murmured, kissing her cheek as he walked up behind her. “Get into a fight with another piece of equipment?”

“Ro, hey.” She knocked her temple against his chin gently, her brow still furrowed even as she turned to face him. “Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

Nodding, he handed her the cup of coffee in his hand. “I’m on my way there now, I just wanted to stop in to see you on the way.”

“Aww, that was sweet.” Aelin offered him a small smile, kissing him gently before turning back to her latest project. “And thanks for the coffee, love - you always know exactly what I need.”

He snorted, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. “Well, I’d like to think that after three years of marriage, I know my wife pretty well. Now - why the frustration with the espresso thingy?”

She chuckled at that, which was what he’d been hoping for. “The filter just got clogged and I’m trying to clean it - I’m not even that frustrated with it. Lys just likes to be dramatic.”

“I know, baby.” Rowan kissed the side of her neck, working his lips up to her jaw and over to her lips, pressing soft kisses to her mouth, one after another after another. He didn’t stop kissing her until she was laughing against his lips, her own curled into a smile.

Aelin slipped her hands over his shoulders, pausing when her fingers caught on the strap of the duffel bag he was still carrying. “Why do you have a duffel bag?” she asked, pulling away to stare at him in confusion.

“Oh,” he murmured, almost forgetting the reason he’d decided to stop by the coffee shop on his way to work. “It’s yours, actually.”

“Mine?” Her nose scrunched up as she tried to figure out what he was talking about, and Rowan couldn’t help but laugh at how adorable she was. He leaned forward and kissed the tip of her nose, squeezing her sides gently when she swatted his chest.

“Yours,” he confirmed. “You remember our plans for this afternoon?”

She offered him a tentative smile. “Yeah, we’re going to The Gap to go hiking. What does that have to do with anything?”

“Well, Fireheart, I know I might have distracted you a little this morning when you were trying to get ready.” He broke off as she poked him in the stomach, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she laughed, and he couldn’t help but join in. He’d joined her in the shower that morning, and he’d kept her moans echoing throughout their bathroom long after the water had run cold. “Anyway, I noticed that you forgot your hiking boots when you left. So, I thought I’d drop them off on my way to work today.”

Though she’d looked a little upset about forgetting her boots, her face lit up when she realized he’d brought them to her. “You’re a lifesaver, baby - I can’t believe I forgot them.”

“It’s not a problem, love.” She cupped his cheek, rubbing her thumb over his bottom lip. Kissing the pad of her finger, he added, “I mostly just wanted to stop in and see you, and this way I have an excuse to keep the boys from giving me too much shit.”

Aelin pulled him into a hug, resting her chin against his chest even as she laughed. “They still like to tease you about going soft - just because you were the first one to get married?”

“Yeah,” he chuckled, kissing her forehead. “But if having you in my life means I have to go soft and get teased by the guys? I’d do it without a second thought.”

“Oh, love.” She kissed the side of his jaw, nipping him gently with her teeth as she pulled away. “You were always soft with me.” Kissing him with a kind of tenderness that promised so much more, she added, “it’s part of the reason I fell so deeply in love with you.”

“I love you so much, Fireheart.” Rowan kissed her again, this one lingering and and just a little teasing. “To whatever end.”

“To whatever end, Ro.”

Okay, that’s that! Stay tuned for more new CW stuff!

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hadestownmodern · 4 years

Text

Fight (2/?)

Hi! Here’s part two! You can find part one here

-Danielle

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

“This is ridiculous.” Persephone paces back and forth across the empty bar, a force of anger and unruly curls. Junie lay asleep upstairs with Orpheus, who’d asked to take her for the night to keep him company. She’d pictured him doting on her, singing her special bedtime song and tucking her in with a kiss on the cheek and his forehead pressed to hers. She’d felt maddened-distraught that her sweet boy had been dealt the card of a runaway girl who chose to pick fights.

Where she once held absolute belief in Eurydice now lay only distinct anger.

“Seph,”

“What?” She whips around on her heel, stares Hermes down with darkened eyes and crossed arms. “You said yourself that you saw her leave with a bag. I came here and you were watching him try not to cry. Hermes, you have to agree with me here.”

“I’m not doing anything, Persephone.”

“Yeah, no kidding.”

“You think I like to watch him be so upset? You think I wasn’t worried when he was late today? My eye’s on our boy every day-I can notice a change in his mood faster than I can with myself. But he’s an adult now; he has to learn how to handle these things on his own. If we keep doing things for him, he’ll never learn.”

“What, like pay his rent?” It’s the first time Persephone’s eased up on her facial expression, smirking at Hermes in a teasing sort of way.

“He pays heat and electric. I’m teaching him while letting him live comfortably. What about his full ride to college?”

“I was teaching there long before he decided that’s where he wanted to go. I might have nudged him a little bit but am I ashamed? No. And his wallet isn’t either.”

“Which is why he’s the best choice of parent for this child.” Hades speaks up from his place at the counter, where he’s been exceptionally silent-brooding. Persephone hadn’t seen a look like his since college, when he’d unintentionally been the ‘mysterious, intimidating’ figure on campus. Papers are spread out along the bar top, books and bound stacks of research.

“I thought you weren’t doing any work tonight. We’re talking about our boy, Hades.”

“And I’m trying to help him. Who says she’s not just going to up and run fully? Who says she’s not going to try and take that baby with her? I’m building a solid case for him, and if this continues I’m bringing in a friend from the district. He’s not about to lose this baby.”

“Both of you sit down.” Hermes raises his voice just slightly, enough to get Hades tow swivel in his stool, for Persephone to hop up on the bar, nursing a glass of ice water. “We can’t go assuming things just yet. She’s just a girl. She’s young. And whatever she said to Orpheus…you’ve seen how closed-off she is. Persephone, you know her better than both of us. We don’t even know what she did to Orpheus. Is going after her with every weapon we have really the solution we want to teach him?”

“If it gets him his baby, then yes.” Hades speaks up, gathering his paperwork from the bar and stacking it neatly back into his bag. He rises, shaking his head. “You be the one to tell that boy we have to fight for him to keep the only thing he’s ever wanted.”

“I’m going to talk to him.” Persephone makes a beeline for the stairs, but makes it only a few steps before Hades and Hermes stop her in her tracks.

“Just let him have his time-talk to him in the morning. He’s got your baby sleeping, and I’m sure at this point he’s sleeping too. Let him process things.”

The next day brings Persephone back into her classroom, shuffling papers around and writing the beginnings of discussion points on the board. She doesn’t hear the young girl make her way in, find her seat quietly. She doesn’t even notice Eurydice until she turns around.

Her face is ghostly, distinct dark circles and the slight twinge of nausea twisting her lips. She has her head in her hand, her eyes only rising once to offer a hesitant, silent greeting.

“I’m working.” Persephone bites, and Eurydice lowers her head again.

Class passes painfully slow, Eurydice attempting to focus and answer questions with a hand in the air that never gets called on. It’s unusual-typically there’s a long string of banter between them, discussion based on facts and intellect that the other members of the class witness as an open space of time to relax and take note. After half an hour of attempting to participate, Eurydice lowers her head again. The nausea seems to be worse in her second trimester if possible, and the panic within her isn’t helping the situation. She stays seated dutifully against her own body’s will to get up and wander, to attempt to quell the sickness. She’s sure Persephone knows what happened-has already cut her off with a painless ease. Time moves forward. Eurydice’s notes are scattered, gaps within them indicating the places she’d shut down, unable to focus on anything more than breathing-fighting her lurching stomach-attempting to convince herself that everything will be alright.

“And my office won’t be open other than my designated office hours. That’s all, you can go.” Her words are short and precisely aimed. Eurydice feels their sting as she gathers her bag, ignores the crowd of faces that have clearly picked up on the change in energy.

The extra early morning shift she’d picked up at the diner had brought her just enough of a tip for a sandwich at the coffee shop.

She keeps the crumpled bills in her pocket and sits alone in the common instead, attempting to read through notes for her next class. A folded up square of paper falls into her lap as she flips through her notebook, and she knows what it is before she chooses to unfold it, bracing herself.

Orpheus had written her a song in the coffee shop one morning early on; before the news of a baby, when they’d been more naïve to how quickly they’d become so unintentionally serious. He’d been so shy, scribbling in the music manuscript journal. One hand covered his work-the other brushed occasionally against hers. She’d asked him teasingly to show him her work and he’d refused, blushing, it’s not done yet his most-used phrase until they’d had to go their separate ways.

She’d found the music in her backpack later on, tucked within the deli paper and twine of a sandwich she hadn’t ordered-her favorite that the shop carried. He’d drawn a little heart on the white wrapping, and she’d smiled at the carefully thought out gesture. She’d learned back then that these things were common with Orpheus, yet they never ceased to take her by surprise.

Reading the song again after months of seeing him-after the news of a baby and a ring on her finger-Eurydice swallows back the lump of emotion in her throat. With two more classes left in her day, she packs up her things and walks away from campus.

Eurydice can barely keep herself together as she hops from stop to stop on the subway, suddenly hyperaware of her stature and her youthful face combining with the obvious symptoms of her pregnancy and the fact that she’s very much alone. When she’d executed this trek as an older teen tasting freedom for the first time it had felt exhilarating. Today, there is sadness-humiliation.

She lowers herself down to her bed with shaky arms, the distance from standing to floor level nearly too much for her to handle. Eurydice covers herself with her scratchy sheets and closes her eyes against the world.

---

Orpheus paces. The world around him is quiet, lonely. His thoughts are trained on Eurydice-if she’s eaten, what she’s doing on her own. He hasn’t felt this sense of isolation since Hermes had moved out, taken his things uptown and instructed Orpheus in paying heating and electric, working the little fuse box in the backroom of the bar. This is different; he cooks her favorite meal, forgets to make far less than he had been. He doesn’t need to pack the leftovers, although he’s tempted to leave them with Persephone for her anyway. He talks himself out of it, keeping a Tupperware of extra food in the fridge. A piece of him holds onto the hope that she might come back tonight. The newer bit of himself works to talk himself into reality; she needs time. She needs space.

He wonders if she’s still wearing her ring.

Persephone stops by, Junie in tow, with a box of warm cookies.

“Hades made these,” She nurtures. “He thought you might like them.”

Orpheus is unable to bring himself to sit, even after Persephone asks Junie to find her bin of dolls he keeps in the spare room. Instead he paces, doing the dishes leftover from dinner. Persephone is uncharacteristically quiet. She leans against the counter, feigning a casual mannerism as she watches him. He’s heavier on his feet, more methodical in his labors. Gone is his typical chatter, replaced with the sound of utensils against the metal of the sink.

“Do you want to talk?” Her deep alto is low and sweet, and he turns to her with misty eyes.

“She didn’t come home last night. She’s not coming home tonight.” The thought sinks in as he puts his head in his hands, sinks his tall body down to the couch in finality. “What if she never comes home?”

“Then we fight as hard as we can for your baby.”

“It’s…what? She would never do that to me. Why would you even say that?” He’s so sure of himself-so sure of her-that Persephone feels herself cringe at the sentence. She’d watched him struggle through his shift at the bar just the day before. He doesn’t seem to take that into account. “What I’m worried about…what if she decides she doesn’t want to be with me anymore?”

“If she decides she doesn’t want to be with you anymore than that’s her own loss-it’s her own problem. And I’m telling you that of course we’re going to fight. If it came down to it-and it could come down to it…Orpheus, what happened yesterday?”

He recounts the situation to her as if it were a dream-in a way, he still feels as though none of this is real. He’d been so focused on her feelings in the moment that what she’d been saying hadn’t completely registered until he’d taken the time to replay it. Living the situation over again, he recounts the way Eurydice’s expression had dropped when he’d mentioned Persephone’s offer to take them shopping, the way she’d completely folded in on herself before turning cold, unresponsive. He mentioned the way she looked at all the frilly little dresses with adoration first, and then a passive sort of sadness.

“And then she said something about us not being thirty year olds with a perfect life. She told me she’s sorry I’m stuck with her. And then-it’s my fault, it really is,”

“-it’s not your fault.”

“I asked her if she only said yes to marrying me because of the baby.”

Persephone’s eyes widen, thought flooding with each potential answer Eurydice could have given. By the way Orpheus had been so distraught the day before she immediately goes to the worst answers-wonders what sweet, gentle Orpheus would do with the ring once they got it back for him. She anticipates a long conversation with Hades and Hermes, gets herself set for battle. For a moment, she feels bad for the young, frightened mother that had become so close to them-she wouldn’t be able to win, not against Hades and his airtight logic. However, Eurydice had hurt her son; Orpheus came first.

“And she told you the baby is the only reason.”

“She…she didn’t answer. And then I got upset that she couldn’t just say no. Why would she have to think about that? If she married me for more than just the baby shouldn’t she just be able to say that to me?”

“My sweet boy,”

“I’m tired.” For the first time Persephone can recount, Orpheus brushes off her affection. “You can stay as long as Junie wants to play. Can you just lock the door when you go?”

She watches as he dips into the spare room, brushes a gentle hand along Junie’s hair, kisses her forehead. He waves at Persephone before shutting his bedroom door, and the only sounds in the apartment are Junie’s tiny footsteps.

#hadestown #hadestown fic #hadestown au #hadestownmodern #orpheus #eurydice #orphydice #danielle writes

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calumcest · 4 years

Note

I thought I was the only one who absolutely loathes the way luke says "regretting it" like honestly any rights he has go out the window every time I hear that. also for ur prompt thingy, how about malum and "why would I ever do that?" -arbor day

its so upsetting its like hes at the dentist and they’ve stuck all those cotton wool things in his mouth and then he’s remembered he has to record an album

It’s pretty much a universal truth that grocery shopping is no fun. Having to take at least an hour out of your day to drive to the shop, find everything you want, inevitably pick up a few extra things that you didn’t want but have been psychologically manipulated into wanting, spend far too much fucking money and realise you forgot your points card at home (again), and then drive back home and spend ages playing an unwanted game of Tetris trying to fit everything into the fridge is, Calum thinks, probably something most people would rather do without.

But, he thinks darkly, nobody else has to contend with Michael while grocery shopping.

“Hey,” he says idly, like he knows he’s on Calum’s mind. He’s holding a jar of pickles, turning it this way and that in his hand. “What d’you think of pickles?”

“We’re not buying pickles,” Calum says, on principle.

“I didn’t say we should,” Michael says. “Just wondered what you think about them.”

“I don’t like them,” Calum says.

“Hmm,” Michael says, and puts them in the shopping trolley. Calum sighs, exasperated, and takes them out again.

“You don’t like them either,” he says, putting them back on the shelf.

“I know,” Michael says, having moved on to the tins of beans. “But they look kind of cool, don’t they?”

“No,” Calum says, half to what Michael’s just said, half to the four tins of beans Michael’s just scooped up.

“We need beans,” Michael says, a little petulantly. “They’re on the list.”

“Not four fucking tins, though,” Calum says. Michael puts one back. “Or three.” Michael rolls his eyes, and puts another one back.

“We should make fajitas tomorrow,” Michael remarks, eyeing a fajita box kit.

“You said two minutes ago that you wanted bolognese tomorrow.”

“Yeah, bolognese for dinner and fajitas for lunch,” Michael says, picking up a box and putting it in the trolley.

“You won’t be able to stomach that,” Calum says knowingly, taking the box back out and putting it back on the shelf.

“I will,” Michael says, putting the box back in the shopping trolley.

“You won’t,” Calum says, taking it out again. “You snack too much.” Michael pouts.

“I snack a normal amount,” he says, making grabby hands for the box that’s still in Calum’s hands. Calum holds it even further out of reach.

“You couldn’t even eat a sandwich for dinner yesterday because you got too impatient and ate four bags of popcorn at five o’clock,” Calum reminds him, and Michael rolls his eyes.

“One time,” he says.

“You ate three big bags of crisps the night before and couldn’t eat dinner,” Calum says, “and last week there was that night you ate all the chocolate in the hou-”

“Alright, fine,” Michael says, a little moodily. “I won’t snack tomorrow.” Calum arches an eyebrow at him, and Michael widens his eyes, all butter-wouldn’t-melt. Calum knows where that mouth has been, though, and he’s not buying it for a minute.

“No,” he says. “I’m not spending our money on food that’s going to go to waste.”

“Fine,” Michael says, and leans over to snatch the box out of Calum’s hands. “I’ll buy it myself.”

“Fine,” Calum says, because Michael can waste his money as he damn well pleases, and pushes the shopping trolley to the end of the aisle. “Is that everything?” Michael glances down at the piece of paper in his hand, and nods.

“Did you remember your points card?” he says, as Calum pushes the trolley in the direction of the checkout, and he groans.

“Fuck,” he says. “I told you to remind me.”

“I just did.”

“What fucking use is it here?”

“Well, in fairness, you never specified where I should remind you,” Michael points out. Calum’s going to kill him.

“I’m going to kill you,” he tells Michael very seriously, as they round the corner to the checkout. Michael grins, tossing a few packs of butter and some milk onto the conveyor belt.

“At least wait until the life insurance papers go through,” he says.

“Did you send them off?”

“I thought you were sending them off?”

“Jesus Chr- Michael, the deadline’s tomorrow,” Calum says, pausing with the carrots in his hand to give Michael a look that’s halfway between disbelief and irritation.

“It’s fine,” Michael says, waving his hand dismissively and almost sending the oranges he’s holding flying. “I’ll go to the post office as soon as we get home.”

“You’re just saying that to get out of putting the groceries away,” Calum says, because he knows Michael, and Michael grins shamelessly. Calum sighs, and shakes his head, but those papers really do need sending off and Michael’s always more of a hindrance than a help when it comes to putting the groceries away, so he lets it slide.

The cashier makes idle small talk with them as he scans their groceries, and Michael throws them haphazardly into bags, ignoring the glares Calum’s sending his way that are very much communicating did you just put the fucking milk on top of the croissants. The fajita box ends up going with the rest of their groceries, as both of them had known it would, but Calum pretends he doesn’t see it, and Michael pretends he doesn’t see the small, fond smile on Calum’s lips when Michael grabs it gleefully and hugs it close to his chest.

“Oh,” Michael says, when they’re almost halfway to the car, like he’s just remembered. “I’m not going to be home for lunch tomorrow. Or dinner, probably.”

“Why not?”

“Luke wants to play golf.” Calum presses the button on the car key, and turns to Michael.

“Golf?” he says sceptically. Michael shrugs and nods, and opens the boot of the car.

“You’ll have to eat the fajitas for me,” Michael says.

“They’ll keep,” Calum says, nodding at the box Michael’s still holding.

“But I’ll forget about them.”

“So set yourself a reminder.” Michael sighs, and blinks up at Calum beseechingly.

“I won’t want them after tomorrow,” he says. “They’re a fleeting craving.”

“That sounds like a you problem,” Calum tells him, picking two bags up out of the shopping trolley and placing them in the car.

“Eat them for me,” Michael says pleadingly.

“Why would I ever do that?”

“Because you love me?” Michael tries. Calum rolls his eyes.

“Nope,” he says.

“Please?”

“You’re the one who wanted them,” Calum says. “I don’t even like fajitas.”

“You do,” Michael says.

“Well, not those ones.”

“You’ve never had them,” Michael says. “You’ll have to eat them to find out.” Calum rolls his eyes.

“No,” he says firmly. “You wanted them, you eat them.”

“If you loved me, you’d eat them,” Michael says.

“Good thing I don’t have to eat them, then,” Calum says, and Michael sighs, and chucks the box on top of the rest of their shopping.

(When Michael gets back the next evening, there’s an empty fajita box wedged in the top of the recycling bin.)

#arbor day #malum #drabbles #this fic is brought to you by me getting really frustrated that i cant equalise lock all the doors to hear the vocals properly #i hate when artists do that i dont want to hear your fucking cymbals i want to hear the MELODY #Anonymous #helen answers

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27-black-pink · 3 years

Text

Introduction:

Hi, I am Choi-Ara and I am a person with special needs. I cannot talk, I couldn’t when I was little and I still can’t,I can only write or use sign language. This is how I look like:

My dad loves me to hell and so does my mom.

This is what he looks like:

And This is my mom:

Me and my mom use to talk for hours about all my dolls and all my toys.....,until she got her job and got busy.But she still loves me and I know that for a fact.

The bully:

I got bullied a few times because I could not talk.This is how the bully looks like:Kim-Jisoo

He bullies me because I cannot talk and I cannot tell the teacher, well I can but the teacher does not understand my sign language and it takes me a long time to write, so the teacher does not have time.

music class

In our music class, I have to sit on the corner and read, because I cannot sing.

So it was a fine afternoon,and I was reading as usual, Kim-Jisoo decided to throw an aeroplane on the teacher....... “who did this?”shouted the teacher. “Miss,I think I know who did it.” Jisoo looked over to me.It was obvious that he was going to say it was me. “Yes,Kim-Jisoo who is it?”she was curious. “ I just saw Choi-Ara do it. Look she even has paper on her desk.” He was completely wrong.I don’t even know from where I got that paper. I only had a book to read, then I looked behind me and saw one of Kim-Jisoo friends that were on his gang.They were smiling at me. “What,choi you use to be my best student! How could you?” She was doomed. “Go to the principal’s office right now!” I was crying and I could tell that Jisoo was feeling sorry for me too.

Family friend

After that day, I saw Choi-Soobin, my family friend.Any way,this is how he looks like:

I asked him in sign language that :what are you doing hear and hi? “Well I just moved by and this is my new school.”he said. Then I got a peace of paper because I was to tired of sign language.

“Well who do we have here ,a new child huh.”said Kim-Jisoo. “Who are you?” Asked soobin. “I am the bully ,which you are going to get very often.”he tried to threaten Soobin. “will see about that.” He was still smiling. “Does he bully you.”he asked. I nodded.

Prank gone wrong.

The next day, Soobin and me were talking in sign language,Until Soobin noticed that there was slime and did not tell me.When I opened the door he hugged me and the slime when on him! After I got so mad at Soobin for getting himself dirty for me.Obviously I was mad at Jisoo too but what could I do? I wrote done that :why did you, you are such a ........... . I could not say anything because last time I did it he got really upset and did not talk to me for a whole week.

“ You do not deserve to be pranked or bullied.”he was really kind.I wrote: so what? This is not the first time ok.You don’t need to be worried about me .I am fine. You are in trouble because of me.”I was crying by now(without a noise).

Every day, me and Soobin found mean comments in our lockers.I hated it the most weather Soobin ignored them.One day, we were having lunch and we found cockroaches in our food.Now, I knew that it was Jisoo because he was smiling the whole time. “ It’s ok, I’ll get you another lunch, and talk to somebody.” I had no Idea who he was going to talk to,because he didn’t make any friends yet (except me).So to find out I followed him to the cafeteria,as soon as I saw him come back I ran to where we where sitting,and he bought the lunchs. “I need the toilet ,I’ll just see you in here or in class.”now Soobin was getting suspicious.Then I followed him behind the school, the toilets were not there. Was he meeting up with a girl? Or was he embarrassed of me? Or maybe he didn’t like the lunch? Or is he running away? Random thoughts came to my head,Until I hid away and saw Kim-Jisoo come to him. “Stop doing those stupid pranks, no one likes them!” He was talking calmly. “Who are you stopping me to do them?” Jisoo,was being sarcastic. And then Jisoo was about to punch Soobin when I came on front of him.Kim-Jisoo stopped.“Darn it!”he was furious. “Let’s go Ara.” Soobin held my wrist.

“What’s your problem?” I signed languaged Soobin. “ You are, I can’t just let him bully you like that, I will keep bothering him until he stop to bully us.” Soobin was wrong. “ well that is not gonna work. If you want it to work then you need to make him jealous that you are in a relationship with me, and let him get jealous.”I sign languaged him. “But if this doesn’t work ,then we will do my thing.” Soobin said. I nodded.

The other day, me and Soobin were holding hands and he even tied my shoe laces for me.Kim-Jisoo was confused.Me and Soobin spied on him and his prank was to splash water on me from the top of the window. So me and Soobin ,sat on the chair purposely. When he splashed the water, Soobin go out an umbrella and it worked. “ You look good with an umbrella on your neck and I rested my neck on his shoulder.

Later that day,Kim-Jisoo called me in our class room, I was really scared and was worried. I told Soobin about it. He said that he will hide behind the teacher’s desk and he did .I got a peace of paper out because Kim-Jisoo didn’t know sign language. “You know, I am sorry I bullied you, you are now really special to me. And I think we need to make our relationship a bit further.” He was so nervous. “Will you be my girlfriend?” I was shocked. “I”ll think about it.” I wrote down. And as soon as I wrote that I left the room.

The next day

The next day Soobin was acting weird. He kept distancing me. He smiled sometimes, and at lunch he sat with other people. Jisoo sat with me. “ Hey did you think about it?” I stood up and left the place. I went to the library, that’s where I always go when I am upset. The next part suprised me. Soobin came. “Hey what’s up?” By the time he was here, I was crying. “ don’t cry it’ll be ok , what ever you are crying at.” Then he was rubbing his hands on myback.Kim-Jisoo was here. “What are you doing!?” He was shocked. I got a piece of paper and then wrote: “I never said yes to you, so pls. You are just making things up between us. We are just friends. And Soobin right here has been my best-friend since I was in kindergarten. He knows everything about me. All you know is too bully and I know you asked me that because you wanted my money not love.” I wrote really fast.As soon as he left. Me and Soobin talked about stupid things as usual.

“Hey I don’t think you should be so rude to him.” I didn’t answer.

Kim-Jisoo

Jisoo did not look at me for 2 days until third day I left a peace of paper saying:you now the other day and the question ,my answer is no, I guess there is some one in this class I think is suitable for me.Kim-Jisoo looked at me with anger.He scrumbled the paper and then threw it in the bin.

That didn’t make me upset ,it made me rather happy.Soobin was confused.

At lunch

At lunch Soobin showed pics of his parents when they were young:

Mom then:27 now: 39

Dad age then:28 now: 40:

We were laughing so much. “What is it like to not have a voice?” He asked me. Then I put sandwich down and I sign languaged him.This what I said: It feels like you have so much to give someone but you never get a chance. He was confused. Then this what I said by paper: It just feels stressful,because when ever you want to tell someone what’s inside you no one can listen.If you wanna confess something the’ll say no.

Note from the Author:

Sorry the chapters are so small I don’t know what to write, But there will be a lot at the end . back to were we are.

Art

We had to draw portraits this afternoon and Soobin drew me. He was so good at drawing. I drew him the same way.

This is my portrait:

His portrait:

His was so better than mines (except he made my hair look short, he thinks short hair suits me). “That looks like me”he was suprised.I sign languaged him: well, this is you. Is that me? “ yeah.” We were laughing but Kim-Jisoo was frowning.When I went over to wash my hands he drew himself. Well, I might not like Jisoo but he is really good at art.

This is what he drew:

Well he messed it up from the top. I guess he was trying to make those style portraits but was unsuccessful. I don’t know why Kim-Jisoo was so upset and frowning.Do you know?

The next day

The next day,Kim- Jisoo left another note saying:You are really mean, and this is really gonna hurt you so come at the back of the school at the evening and do remember to look pretty.

I was shocked. I had so many what ifs in my head.I turned over to Jisoo he grinned at me.That evening, I was about to go to him ,when I saw Soobin, he was really suspicious and he was going the same direction as me,I was behind him.The thing that really shocked me ,was that he was meeting Kim-Jisoo too.Well why did he not tell me about it. Maybe he thought that I would follow him. Actually I would.

“What do you want?” Questioned Soobin. “I want Ara! Stop getting in to our relationship,or you will be dead!” He was trying to threaten him again. Before he could hit Soobin, I quickly ran in to him and pushed him away from Soobin. I tried to drag Soobin away , but he did not even budge. Kim-Jisoo punched Soobin in the face, by that time ,I started to cry. Soobin was bleeding so then I dragged him away while I was crying.We went home and on the way home he did not say a word.When we got to my room, I first aided him. He held my wrist and said “ There is something I really wanna tell you, I had this feeling about you for a very long time. I don’t want you to be Jisoo’s so, I really like you. Will you be my girlfriend. I nodded. He hugged me and I hugged him back.

1 year later:

After our graduation, I became a makeup artist and Soobin (my boyfriend) became a journalist. One day, Soobin decided to surprise me and took me to a date on Valentine’s Day. He was so sweet to me, and even pulled the chair for me. When the food was served, I felt something hard in my mouth.I tried taking the hard thing out. And I saw a diamond 💍 ring. It was outrageous. “ Choi-Ara will you be my bride and live with me for ever?” I nodded. IT WAS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!!

At the end of the date, he took me out side and told me to close my eyes. When I opened my eyes he bought me my dream car which was a Bugatti I suddenly screamed! I could not believe it I could talk. Like how? He was so confused and so was I was like “ I can talk! Yay.I loved it soooooo soooooo much my voice and the Bugatti.

We got married and Kim-jisoo even came to our marriage. He was with his new girlfriend. Sorry I could not take a pic because I had to stay by Soobin.

Note from the author: Hi ,am the author and the Idea of this was made by my sister *********. I hope you love my stories that I have written now and am going to write next. Bye😘😘😘

#oi felix

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cocochannel00 · 5 years

Text

Surprise on Set

(Y/n) takes the kids to surprise Harry on the set of his new film

Kids Ages: Connor (5), Rebecca (3), Grayson and Riley (1)

You hated the California heat. Ok, that was a lie, what you hated was running behind your kids in the California heat. You could feel the sweat dripping down your face as you raced down the escalator chasing Connor as he tried to escape your grasp. The saving grace of this trip was Harry's sister Gemma who came along to help you take care of the kids on your surprise visit to go see Harry on set. Scooping a giggling Connor into your arms you turned around to see Gemma walking behind you with the twins in their stroller and Rebecca holding her hand as she drags her blue blanket across the airport floor.

Walking towards baggage claim you grab a cart and sat Connor in it as you waited for your bags. Loading the three suitcases onto the cart was a struggle but after a couple grunts and the help of a stranger you were all ready to go. Pushing the cart slowly while Rebecca hugged and latched on to your flowy pant leg.

"Connor where are we going?" Gemma asked him as she tickled his belly while pushing the twin’s stroller towards the exit.

"Daddy, daddy" He yelled as he jumped up and down in his seat. You grinned at him and kissed his head before walking towards the doors. You passed Connor and Rebecca a pair of sunglasses while Gemma covered the twins’ stroller with a blanket to hide them from view. As the automated doors opened you heard piercing screams and the flash of cameras which could only mean that someone had found out about your visit. All of Harry's fans were waiting behind the metal fence as you walked past. You waved and smiled at them as cameras flashed from every angle as you rushed towards the waiting car.

You prayed that Harry was working so that he couldn't go on his phone to see the news and spoil the surprise. Connor loved the crowd, always blowing kisses and smiling at the fans but Rebecca was much shyer, choosing to hide her face in your leg as you made it to the car where Jeff was waiting. He grabbed the cart of luggage from you and greeted you with a smile. You hugged him quickly before putting Connor and Becca in their car seats before helping Gemma get Gray and Riley in. Once everyone was buckled and secure Gemma got in the front seat alongside Jeff while you squeeze in between Gray and Riley, making sure you could see the other two in the far back.

"How was the trip?" Jeff asked as he looked at you through the rear view mirror.

"A little hectic with the twins crying during security, but other than that I think it was ok. How have you been? I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

"Not since Christmas when I stole Harry from you. Perhaps not one of our finest memories but the last none the less" he replied as he made a left at the light.

"Oh yes, I think I owe you an apology for whacking you with the candy cane, sorry" you replied giving him an innocent look.

"What! When was this? How did you let me miss this! Please tell me you whacked Harry too!" Gemma chimed in as she turned to look at you with both a look of shock and amusement.

"Yeah, it was a bit of a rough send-off for both of them. Harry had to go back to filming and we had just spent the day after Christmas together when Jeff here showed up with his suitcase telling Harry that they had to go. Harry had said he be home for at least a couple more days, but the filming schedule got moved around so he had to go. I was so mad that I threw a candy cane at Jeff and it left a pretty nasty bruise on his arm from what I remember. The one I threw at Harry stuck to his hair," you stated with a smirk.

"Well I can't say you didn't deserve it, Jeff," Gemma said with a chuckle.

"At least I was only hit with a candy cane, Harry got the worse of it. I had to get him to give me his phone for the week cause he was going insane with (Y/n)’s silent treatment." Jeff said as we continued to drive down the narrow dirt roads that were leading to the set.

"Yes Well, that's what he gets for ruining my Christmas and for breaking his promise. Not to mention he missed the twins birthday party which we had been planning for weeks" you retorted.

"Ah, I remember that part. Harry called me so much at the party asking how you guys were that I forced you to call him back" Gemma replied as the gate in front of you slowly opened.

"Ok so Harry doesn't know you're here and he still has some filming to do so I'm going to bring you guys to his trailer and you can wait there till I come and get you," Jeff said as we all nodded.

"Daddy daddy" Becca and Connor screamed as Riley and Grayson slowly woke up from their naps. You guys pulled in to what looked like a garage and slowly got out of the car. As Jeff helped Becca and Connor you opened up the twins' stroller.

"(Y/n) we can leave everything in the car for now. I’m sure you all are hungry so why don’t you grab a quick bite to eat before I show you Harry’s trailer." He says as he grabs the stroller from you and begins to push the twins towards the large tables of food.

After you all grab a bite to eat which consisted mainly of you munching on a sandwich while grabbing a plate of cookies for your kids to eat later. Once you had grabbed a couple of water bottles Jeff began to walk your group to Harry’s trailer. As Jeff knock cautiously on the door you prayed that Harry hadn’t made to much of a mess like he does at home on a daily basis. When you didn’t get a response Jeff opened the door and Connor and Becca rushed in to jump on the bed as Gray and Riley began to squeal and shimmy in their seats.

For the most part, Harry had managed to not destroy the small two-room trailer however he had clothes scattered across the various pieces of furniture along with a pile of empty water bottles lying in the overflowing garbage bin. He had always been lazy when it came to garbage so you weren't at all surprised. Sighing you watched as Connor and Becca continued to jump up and down on the bed while Gemma played with the twins on the floor who were now occupied by two stuffed animals they had both brought on the flight with them.

After waiting in there for an hour you decided to take out his trash and go get yourself a cup of coffee to hopefully wake you up a bit. Connor and Becca both jumped at the opportunity to leave and decided to join you.

"You both are staying right next to me the whole time, do we understand?" You stated firmly.

They both nodded their heads and slowly walked next to you. You chucked the bag into a nearby garbage bin and grabbed both of your kids' hands as you walked back to the table of food. You could faintly hear Harry's voice as he filmed a scene nearby but you ignored it and continued towards the table in the corner of the room. You grabbed three water bottles and a bowl of fruit to bring to twins.

"Ok guys let's head back we don't want-" you started saying until you realized both your kids were gone. You cursed before dropping everything you had grabbed onto the table and ran out of the room to search for them.

"Connor! Rebecca! Comeback here this instant" you yelled as you ran around set looking for them. Crew members stared and some even tried to help out by calling their names but you still couldn’t find them. Just as you were about to panic one of the lighting technicians yelled your name and pointed towards two large doors. You thanked her quickly before running towards the doors. When you turned the corner you caught a glimpse of Becca's shirt as she ran behind Connor.

"Rebecca Anne you stop right there" you yelled as she giggled and ran around the next corner. You heard their sharp squeals as the director yelled cut.

“Fucking hell” you swore as you slowed down your run and sighed as you took a deep breath and brushed your hair quickly with your hands. As you turned the corner you saw the look of shock on Harry's face as Becca and Connor ran straight at him. He bent down quickly ready to receive the impact of their hugs. You realized it was too late to fix the surprise now so you walked towards the director, Jim, who Harry had worked with before to apologize.

"I'm so sorry Jim, I tried to keep them in the trailer but they slipped out when I was grabbing water," you said softly.

"That's alright we were going on break anyway. (Y/n) it's nice to see you again. How is everything with the twins? They've both gotten so big since last time I saw them. I'm sure Harry is glad to see them and most importantly you" he said as he wrapped you in a hug before calling for a ten-minute break. You gave him a quick goodbye before you made your way over to your kids as they animatedly described the entire trip to Harry. As they continued to explain everything from the plane ride to the paparazzi encounter, Harry spotted you and gave you a soft smile. You returned the smile and walked up to him as he carefully stood up and opened his arms for you to walk into his embrace while squeezing in a chaste kiss before your kids began pulling on his pant leg.

"I missed you so much (Y/n) you have no idea," he mumbled into your ear as hugged you tightly to his chest and placed a soft kiss to your temple.

"I missed you too, H" you replied as your kids began yelling again.

You looked down and ruffled Connor's hair before separating from Harry and telling him to follow you to the trailer for the rest of his surprise. Becca and Connor quickly caught on and grabbed Harry's arms before dragging him to the trailer. Harry hadn't seen the twins since the last visit nearly two months ago and now they had both become absolute rascals since they learned how to properly walk on their feet.

You and Harry walked hand in hand as your kids began to race to the trailer. As you got closer you could faintly hear Gemma talking to the twins inside. Harry’s face lit up once he realized who was on the other side of the door and he quickly walked up the steps to open the door. Ever so slowly Harry walked towards the twins as they sat on his bed with Gemma, bouncing up and down on the mattress.

"Hello loves," Harry said as both twins turned the attention towards the door. Once they saw their dad Gray and Riley began to shout animatedly.

“Dadda Dadda Dadda” the twins squealed.

Riley was the first to get up as he balanced on the bed and Gemma carefully placed him on the ground so he could race towards Harry as his brother followed close behind. Harry quickly picked Gray and Riley up in both arms and hugged them tightly laughing as they screamed “dadda” numerous times. Tears brimmed your eyes as you witnessed the encounter and you quickly grabbed your phone to record the moment.

Quietly you came up behind Harry and rested your head on his back, giving him a soft kiss on his cheek. He smiled down at you and kissed your forehead before continuing to talk to the twins as he grabbed Gemma and wrapped her in a bear hug. Connor tugged on your pants and raised his arms as he sat on the floor waiting for you to pick him up. You crouched down and groaned as you carefully picked Connor up from the floor.

"Come you guys get together," Gemma said as she grabbed her phone off the counter.

Harry grabbed the twins from the bed and walked over to you as you scooped Rebecca up from the couch where she was munching on a cookie. You laughed as Connor grabbed for Harry's arm as he smiled up at you. You stood next to Harry as Rebecca decided to place her hands over your eyes as Gemma tried to get everyone to look at her phone. You chuckled at this as you couldn't see anything due to the tiny chubby hands in your way. Harry took the opportunity to place a kiss onto your cheek as the click of Gemma's phone sounded.

"Please use one of these for your next Christmas card," she begged as she scrolled through all the pictures from today.

“Oh we definitely will now come here and join the Styles family selfie so we can send it to mom” Harry stated as Gemma laughed and walked over.

Harry took far to many selfies which mainly consisted of his head getting in the way of everyone else’s and taking up half the screen but after what felt like the 100th one you finally got one where everyone was visible and smiling. Harry sent the picture to Anne and began to get ready to go back to finish filming his last scene of the day.

After Harry's filming was over for the day you all went back to the car as Jeff dropped you all off at the hotel you were staying at for the next week. Gemma agreed to have a “sleepover with her favorite niece and nephew” so Connor and Becca were sleeping in her room while you and Harry set up two cribs for the twins in your room. Once everyone was settled down, you and Harry went straight to bed, tired from all of today’s surprises and adventures. That night you slept soundly in Harry's arms as he hugged you tightly to his chest.

"I love you (Y/n)" he whispered as he placed kissed along your collar bone.

"I love you too Harry" you reply back as you drifted off to sleep.

#harry styles imagine #harry styles one shot #harry styles fluff #Harry Styles #harry styles preference #harry styles blurb #harry styles concept

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cilliansaccent · 4 years

Text

The Peaky Designer - Cillian Fanfic, Chapter 5

Hello, welcome back. Below is the next instalment of my fanfiction!

Leave a like or a comment if you liked it, or if I can do anything better! Please, it would mean the world and to understand if anyone is enjoying my writing. Also, sharing/reblogging would be even better.

PLEASE READ:

I will not be including Cillian’s family as it’s kinda weird since he has children lmao. Just a mention of his parents and a previous lover.

I will indicate in a chapter if there is smut in the beginning and before the actual scene!!

I will add trigger warnings if there is any!!

There is a variety of levels of swearing during a chapter, I will not hold back, everyone swears.

The timestamp for the Fic is now 2016 and onwards!!

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Background: Gabrijela Babic is a Croatian girl from Sydney, Australia. She is born in the year 1991 on the 24th of December. She studies a Fashion degree in a University with a major in Game Design as well. Her teacher in the fashion designer class managed to nail an Internship on the set of Peaky Blinders with the shows very own Costume Designer, Allison McCosh. There, she travels to London for under a year to learn how to be one, working alongside the actors as well the man she admires, Cillian Murphy. But, her platonic feelings for the man begins to grow into something more, and she wonders whether she should pursue them or let him go for fear of her strict parents and her three older brothers…

Characters:

Swantje Paulina as Gabrijela Babic (swalina on Instagram)

Cillian Murphy

Word Count: 2,234

!!Warnings!!: None.

Date: March 2016

Chapter Name: We Need to Talk, Gab.

Brief Chapter Outline: Waking up a little sore, Gabrijela avoids Cillian all day, spending time with the crew and getting to know them better.

Sorry for a short chapter, didn’t have much inspo today!

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When morning came, it was weird for Gab to wake up. She was sore between her legs from how hard Cillian had fingered her.

But her body never felt so... Relaxed. Content. She couldn't lie to herself, what happened last night was wonderful. She loved how he touched her, kissed her.

It was something she would remember.

She rolled on to her back, he wasn't beside her but in the little kitchen area making coffee. She groaned softly and sat up, rubbing her eyes. She checked her phone, it was about seven in the morning and she had a million messages from her father and her friends.

Cillian heard the soft groan that emitted from Gabrijela and began to make another coffee. He could hear the clicks of her typing away, a little giggle came from her.

He gripped the edge of the counter, sighing through his nose. Last night was still very clear in his brain and he had woken up with a throbbing hard-on. He had satisfied himself in the little bathroom, unable to hold back the soft moan of her name, visualising those perfect red lips around him.

The mere thought sent him again and he shook himself, trying to rid the growing need.

"Good morning," Gabrijela said, walking out and startling him.

"Oh. Morning." He said, giving her a pleasant smile. He looked away hastily, not wanting to stare at her too long at those long legs and the protruding curves that were her breasts. "Coffee?" He asked.

"Sure. I'd love some." She said as she took her seat.

He turned and placed the mug before her before he slowly sat across from her, his own steaming mug in his hand.

Silence.

It weighed heavily in the air and Gabrijela was getting fidgety about it. She hated this kind of silence. They both needed to talk but she had no intentions of starting it. Not yet.

"Gab-"

"No," She cut him off.

"We need-"

"No, we don't. Nope." She shakes her head, sipping her coffee.

"Gabrijela we have to. We need to-"

"Cillian. Stop. What happened, it will not happen again. One time thing. Forget it." She set her cup down not to kindly.

He sat back, staring at her with absolute annoyance. "You know we can't just push aside. We have to-"

"No!" She raised her voice, meeting his eyes finally. "No." She downed her coffee and got up going into the bedroom, closing the shutter.

Cillian sighed, resting his elbows on the table and holding his head as he shook it. He could hear her moving around and she came out, dressed and had her bag in hand.

"Gabrijela, I'm sorry. I don't want to make you upset-" He looked at her.

"You did. I don't want to talk about last night. I don't." She shook her head and headed out, but bumped into Paul who played Arthur.

"Hello, morning Gabrijela. Didn't think I'd find you here." He raised a brow.

"Don't worry, you won't next time." She walked past him, heading to where she needed to go.

"Damn, woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Paul muttered before he entered the trailer to chat with Cillian.

Later that afternoon...

She kept her game face on the whole morning as she worked with Allison and the other cast members. Today she was made to dress the other members, which meant she was able to stay away from Cillian.

But, in the dressing rooms, she always caught his eyes. She didn't react, staying focused the best she could.

There were times in the morning when she was to clean up outfits or make sure there were no faults before bringing them out for Allison and her little team. She was thankful for the change, she was able to stay in the back.

And while they filmed, she stayed back to write her report and chat with Allison.

Then it was back to work once more, rushing around to get things for the cast or repairing things quickly.

She hadn't even realised lunch came and people were given a break for a bit. She was going to go into Manchester with Logan to grab food.

As she crossed the set, Cillian had caught her and came into her pathway. "Hey." He said.

"Hello." She stopped, looking up at him.

"Do you have a moment?" He asked.

"Uh..." She frowned.

"It'll be quick." He insisted.

She knew what he wanted and she shook her head, "I have to go get lunch." She said.

"Please, Gabrijela. Just- Please." He frowned.

"Gab! Hey!" Logan called from afar, waving.

Cillian turned around, seeing the man.

"I have to go." She said and walked past him, not looking back but she knew he was watching her leave with Logan.

"You seem rattled? You good?" He asked as they left the set together, heading into the main district.

"Yeah. I'm okay. Just tired." She laughed softly.

They talked on the walk and she learned they had the same interests in TV Shows and even books.

They ordered something from a sandwich store, both of them excitedly chatting about their favourite characters in a book series.

Once back on set, she joined him with the other crew members. She learned their names and what they did and they all talked excitedly about this and that.

"Hey, I know it may be soon but, I'd like you to come with me and some of my friends this Saturday night in London to celebrate my birthday," Logan said with a swoon-worthy smile.

"Uh, alright." Gabrijela said excitedly, "Didn't you say to a pub here?"

"Yeah. But decided to go to a club instead. Besides, most of us live in London so it'll be easier." He said as he scrunched up the wrapping of his sandwich and chucked it into a bin.

"Okay. Here, I don't have your number." She said and they exchanged numbers, "Now it'll be easier for us to talk."

"How about Facebook?" He asked, "I got a group of all of us on there."

She gave him her name, but since the other young crew members overheard it began a swapping game and giving each other numbers and social media.

She had Logan's Snap, "Only certain people may have that." He said with a smirk.

"And you think I'm already special enough for it?" She asked, looking into his eyes. He was so fucking handsome. It had to be illegal.

"I do think so." He winked at her. "You catching the train home tonight?"

"Yeah. I am. You?" She asked, his smirk and wink made her stomach do a flip.

"Yeah. London. Let's catch it together." He said, "We finish nine tonight or hopefully around that time."

"Okay sounds good. I'd like someone with me on the train." She said before the parted ways to resume their busy work for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening.

Nighttime...

Gabrijela helped some crew around to move things into place or cleaned up. It was a hectic day, a lot of repetitive stuff, running around. She had somehow lost focus and messed up a few times, copping an angry lecture from Allison.

Now, Gabrijela waited where Logan had said to wait as he spoke with the director.

And it gave Cillian a good opportunity to seize it as he came to her, "We need to talk, Gab." He said, voice hard and no room to argue.

"You are so persistent, huh?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Yeah. And what happened last night," his voice went low, "Where do we stand with it?"

She pressed her lips together, "I don't know, Cillian. Where do you stand?" SHe shot back.

He gave it a thought, "I don't want it to ruin our friendship, that is for sure." He said.

"Then we won't let it ruin what we have. Let us put it aside as a... drunken night fuelled by deep desires and alcohol. Alcohol does that to people, especially red wine." She said softly, looking up at him again.

He nodded, "I agree. Next time, we lay off on the red." He gave her a small smile.

"Yeah, we will, Cilly. We back as friends, and no more." She murmured, giving him a quick hug.

He returned it, "You going somewhere to stay?" He asked, changing the subject. He seemed better now that he knew where they stood.

"Nah, heading back to London with Logan." She said Logan was almost done talking by the way his body language was.

"Logan? The Set Designer?" Cillian asked with raised brows.

"Mhm. Hopefully, I can go home with him most of the time I'm here." She smiled. "But I'll pack my bag properly." She giggled.

"Good idea. You take care yeah? Call me when you get home, please." He said, that concerned expression back.

"Of course. Keep your phone on you, Peaky Boy." She nudged him.

"Okay. Let's head off, Train leaves soon." Logan said as he came over. "Hey, Cillian! Good job on today, splendid as always."

They shook hands, "Keep her safe, okay?" Cillian gave Logan a look, but she wasn't sure if it was a threatening manner or just teasing.

Logan laughed, taking it as a teasing way, "I will! I will don't you worry." He said and with that, they parted.

The trip home was about two hours and Logan stayed with her all the way through.

He got out, letting the cab go.

"Why did you do that?" She asked, blinking.

"You would not believe it, but I live down the block in a studio. Literally ten minutes." He said.

"No way?" Gab gasped.

"Yeah. We can... hang out and stuff if you'd like?" He smiled.

"God yes! We can binge-watch Supernatural since you gave up on Season two." She said, nodding excitedly.

"Sounds like a great plan. I'll see you here at six?" He said.

"Yep. Six O'clock. Goodnight, Logan." She said, waving and went into the apartment building.

It was a wonderful relief to be at home. She dropped her bag on the bed, turned on some music through her boombox and undressed. She prepared herself a bath, lit some candles she had bought today.

She let her clothing fall on the floor and got into the bathtub after the bath bomb had dissolved, she let out a soft sigh as the warm water surrounded her.

She picked up her phone and gave Cillian a call, "Hey." He replied.

"Hi," She smiled, his voice made her shiver. He sounded sleepy.

"You got home safe?" He asked she could hear him getting comfortable.

"Yeah, I did. Good to be back here, having a relaxing bath as of now." She giggled.

"Oh, lucky you." He huffed, "I have to suffer a small shower."

"Whiny baby. If I can fit in there, so can you." She laughed.

"You calling me small?" He gasped.

"Maybe! Small, Irish boy!" She taunted.

"No Gab! Not nice." He was laughing softly. But then it died down and he sighed.

"What's wrong? Did I hurt your feelings?" She asked, worried she may have.

"No uh... I... I just miss you." He murmured.

She shut her eyes. Going silent.

She heard a shift on the other end, "Gab? You still with me?" His voice had gone softer.

"Yeah, still here. I miss you too." She replied, her hand slid up her thigh. "But I'll be there tomorrow morning. I'll bring you coffee?"

"That would be nice, get me an americano." He said.

"Americano with extra care for a little Irish boy." She giggled like a little girl.

"I'll make your coffee extra strong and bitter." He threatened.

"So mean! Nothing for you then." She growled.

"Fine. Nothing for you either." He bit back.

They laughed before they went quiet again.

Her hand had paused close to her slit, "I should get going." She finally said.

"Ah... Okay." Cillian said in a way that he didn't want her to go yet.

"We'll see each other tomorrow," She reminded him, "You get some sleep, goodnight."

"Goodnight, Gab. Rest well." He said and hung up.

She smiled a little to herself, settling back into the bath to contemplate.

She didn't spend long in the bath before she got out and dried up, drying her hair, then packed her bag for tomorrow, shoving two sets of clothing in.

She crawled into bed, groaning, "Much better." She mumbled into the pillow. But it didn't smell like Cillian which made her sad.

She heard her snap go off and she sat upright to grab her phone. It was from Logan.

She opened the message and let out an audible gasp. He sent a picture of himself shirtless and in his boxers. In bed. He was toned. The caption said goodnight with a winking emoji.

She bit her bottom lip, holy fuck, she thought. She replied with a picture of the balcony and a winking and a blushing emoji.

He replied back with 'I'd rather see you' alongside a heart and a winking face again.

She rolled her eyes, "Goodnight." She murmured and typed the message.

He didn't reply back and she set her phone down and turned it on silent.

She laid back, staring up at the ceiling. It took some time for her to fall asleep, her thoughts drifting to Cillian, alone in his trailer.

#cillian murphy #thomas shelby #peaky blinders #fanfiction

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smallmediumproblems · 4 years

Link

Sic Transit

Summary: Jon wants to take a shortcut.

The excitement of the night’s activities was doing a decent job of keeping Jon awake. It also involved a lot more walking than he was used to. It occurred to him that he didn’t remember the last time he’d slept. He wasn’t even considering a full night’s sleep, that was well out of the realm of possibility. He’d struck an uneasy truce with the process, timing his work around when it might be most convenient for him to pass out at his desk for an indeterminate amount of time. His instinct was not to say anything now that sleep was catching up with him. When he found the tailors over an hour away, though, something broke inside him.

“We’re taking a detour,” he told the group. An odd look was passed around, but no one argued when he led them just a couple intersections away and started squinting around for what he’d been looking for. They should have been right on top of it, but were instead sandwiched between a closed segway rental shop and store pronouncing itself as ACME Water Slides. “There's sort of a tram system in this section. There should be cars somewhere? I don’t think it’s on a rail.”

“Like a funicular,” Nick suggested.

“Yes, exactly,” said Jon.

“Would this funicular happen to be ferret-based,” Nick asked very seriously.

“I literally cannot imagine how or why that w-” Jon started to say, stopping himself short with a sigh when Nick pointed towards the ceiling.

Two thick metal cables ran the length of the Arcade parallel to the hallway, criss-crossing at each junction like an enormous loom. As if on cue, something four-legged and furry and approximately the length of a VW bus bounded down one of the cables away from them, moving quickly but surprisingly quietly. Jon could just barely make out a vehicle cabin harnessed to its back.

“Of course,” said Jon, who was about ready to take his rock and go home right then and there. “At least it’s not spiders. What now?”

“We could try to lure one down,” said Morgan. She inspected the contents of her Joann’s bag thoughtfully. “Ferrets eat meat right?”

“Awww, come on,” said Static Man, leaping immediately to whatever conclusion she had reached. “I liked those ones.”

“I told you, they’re already going stale,” said Morgan. She pulled out what looked at first like a very large chew toy, but which Jon realized with horror was a human tibia covered in blunt, decorative spikes. As she did so, she jogged over to the nearest intersection to wave it at something she spotted in the distance. A massive ferret slowed to a stop in front of her, arching its back to sniff at the offering. After a brief appraisal, it slunk to the floor and wiggled expectantly.

“Thank you, Morgan,” Static Man commented with mock sincerity as they piled into the cabin. “Hey, we should get one of these.”

“I’ll look into it,” said Nick, and sounded like he meant it. “The food wouldn’t be cheap, but imagine the cuddles.”

The cabin was, not surprisingly at this point, bigger on the inside. They had to duck past the door, but the ceiling extended up several feet into the space the ferret should have been occupying. There was a booth with six cushy seats across from a screen of scrolling pink text.

“Uhh,” Nick hovered by the screen, poking it experimentally. The text was packed so incomprehensibly tightly that it was impossible to read while it was in motion. “You guys might want to get comfortable.”

“Here,” said Jon. He touched something that looked like a scroll bar on the side of the display, dragged it to a very precise point, and selected one of the items. The screen darkened to make way for an animation of some cartoon leaves, revealing a minimalist logo that read Birch & Co. Jon gave Nick a supportive pat on the shoulder before settling himself into the booth.

“Hey,” Static Man whispered loudly to Nick, “We should get one of those, too.”

Jon stifled a laugh as he relaxed back into his seat. “You’ve already got the food budget sorted. But I’d prefer we stay clear of any snuggle-related services.”

"You're not even in the same ballpark of how cuddly a giant ferret would be," Static Man reassured him.

The interior was cozy, in a touristy sort of way. It looked like someone had transplanted a pub booth into a ferris wheel compartment. There was a dizzying moment when the ferret wriggled back up onto its cables, inexplicably not rotating the cabin at all, but soon enough they were headed at a swift pace towards their final stop in the Arcade.

“I thought we were in for another rest stop,” said Morgan, peering out of the window. “Maybe hang out in a bookstore for a while. This is way better.”

Jon shuddered. “I really don’t want to see what kind of books this place has to offer.”

“Really?” Nick said, not hiding his surprise. “I figured you’d be kind of a bookworm.”

“In a general sense,” said Jon. “I’m not fond of titles with special effects. Have you heard of Jurgen Leitner?”

Nick tilted his head thoughtfully. “It sounds familiar. I’ve probably seen some of his stuff, but I wouldn’t recognize it.”

“Like the band Kiss,” Static Man added helpfully.

“He had a book collection,” said Jon, deciding to ignore this comparison. “It got loose several years ago, and its constituents have been making themselves a nuisance ever since.”

“Again, like Kiss,” said Static Man.

“You’ve-” Jon was about to say to Morgan, when he realized that she hadn’t actually told him about her encounter with a Leitner. Judging by the panicked look on her face, she also hadn’t told Nick or Static Man. “You’ve not heard of him, either, I take it.”

Morgan relaxed. “Doesn’t ring a bell,” she shrugged.

“Count yourselves lucky, then,” said Jon.

“I’m not so sure,” said Nick. That recognition on his face was resolving into a suspicious look that made Jon’s hair stand on end. Nick unsaddled his bag and started to rifle through it. “Could you identify something for me? I know we’re behind a statement, but I’m sure we could work out some-”

“Nicholas, what I want most in this world right now is a nap and a granola bar,” Jon said tersely. “Show me the book.”

Nick retrieved a slim brown paper bag closed at the top with painter's tape. It looked for all the world like he'd gotten a postcard from a gift shop. Inside was a travel brochure decorated with badly photoshopped pictures of planes and buses, with text that asked boldly "WHERE WILL YOU GO?" It took Jon a second to notice that the text was in Arabic. Judging by the lurid colors and the way the vehicles seemed to judder and shift, Jon guessed it was something to do with the Spiral. The side of the brochure was also taped shut. Nick made no motion to remove the restraints.

"Where did you get this?" asked Jon.

"The same place I got you," Nick said reluctantly. "I found it right next to the ritual that summoned you. I haven’t tried it yet, it’s… sort of a beta tester. Any good vendor has a few in the back. Most will cut you a deal if you’re willing to take a chance on one. They’re more dangerous, since what comes out the other end is purely theoretical, but potentially very valuable.”

The supposed Leitner seemed well secured, so Jon decided to stop and address this new detail of his situation.

“Are you saying you found me in a discount bin?” he asked.

Nick opened and closed his mouth, trying to find a way not to answer the question. “Technically, they are paying me.”

“Good lord,” Jon muttered.

“Wait, this wasn’t tested?” asked Morgan, “Nick, you said it was safe.”

“It is. He is,” Nick insisted tiredly. “The guy’s scared of spiders, for Christ’s sake.”

“You had no way of knowing,” Morgan exclaimed.

“Were you, like, not there when he lobotomized half a dozen swamp monsters?” said Static Man. He made an apologetic gesture to Jon. “No offense, dude.”

“No, that’s exactly what I mean,” said Jon. “You’re only putting yourself in danger dealing with these powers. Some of the others would have hurt you quite badly by now.”

“What’s this ‘others’? Are you dangerous, or not?” Nick drawled. He gave Morgan and Static Man a dissatisfied look. “I did plan for that. You two at least should know better.”

“This isn’t about me,” Jon started to argue.

“Then we’re having two different conversations,” Nick said sharply, cutting him off. “I trust the untested rituals exactly as much as I trust the tested ones, which is not at all. That works both ways. I can’t trust things like you until I’ve stared down their throat and gotten a good, long look at what makes them tick. I’m sure you think you’ve been very gracious this whole time. But you’re not the only one who’s pulling punches to get through this a little more comfortably. I can assure you, Archivist, that this would have been a very different experience for you if I’d wanted it to be.”

Jon caught the edge of the thoughts Nick was dancing around, and was in no mood to respect that privacy anymore. Nick’s very first statement had risen to the front of his mind again, the one he thought he’d had the decency not to touch. He unfolded a memory of heartbreak, of trust and hope that had been broken beyond all reason or repair. He could have pulled the whole thing from him like a stray thread from the hem of a jacket.

Instead, he awoke several minutes later in a darkened room.

“Heyyyy, discount bin,” said a shifting assortment of shapes at the edge of his vision. “How many fingers am I holding up?”

“Gbvfhnh,” said Jon. While this wasn’t what he’d intended to say, it conveyed vital information about how the inside of his skull was melting all over his brain.

“Cool, cool,” said the shapes. “FYI, we’re at the place. Doing the thing. And now we’re in the waiting room, cause it has niiiice comfy couches.”

“I was not aware that you had fingers,” Jon told the shapes, which sounded an awful lot like Static Man.

“Yeah, ‘fingers’ is kind of a strong word,” Static Man agreed. “What’s like, appendages, but for your appendages? Appendageages.”

“Digits,” Jon whimpered. The noise - any noise - made his blood pound distressingly, forcing his skull up against the other, more tender parts of his head. There was a distinct gray ache in his stomach that told him it was well past time he asked after that statement he was owed. He managed to move a hand up to his temples and started poking around to see if he could massage the pain away. “Wh… What happened?”

“Beats me, man. You guys had a psychic fight or something and you passed the fuck out,” Static Man failed to explain. “Nick said you were poking around in his head. That true?”

Jon let his hand settle over his eyes. “Yes. That was… An extremely poor decision.”

“...yeahhhh.”

Even if he’d been able to see Static Man’s face, it wasn’t likely that Jon could have read his expression. Judging from the length of the silence that followed, it was not a favorable one.

“Morgan was pissed,” Static Man spoke up again. “She thought you were dead for a second.”

“That’s kind of her to be concerned,” Jon muttered. “Where are they now?”

“Inside. They left me out here to guard the door, and our ride home.” A certain energy had drained from Static Man’s voice, as well as a good amount of volume.

Beyond him, Jon could hear faint sounds of nature. Water flowed over rocks, and something small rustled through foliage. Jon painstakingly adjusted to a sitting position and got a good look at their final stop. It didn’t look like a forest had invaded an expensive spa, so much as the two environments had grown up in tandem and arranged a business partnership along the way. Hardwood flooring snaked a path through beds of dark, loamy earth. Plants of varying size but uniformly good health spilled out over the dirt. It was hard to see the walls or the ceiling through the tree canopy, a problem that was not helped by the tastefully dimmed lighting.

Jon looked up to see Static Man lounging against a tree by the end of the bench (which was in fact very comfy) that had housed his head. He attempted an excruciatingly awkward smile.

“I hope you’re not still worried that I’ll run off,” said Jon.

“Honestly, dude, I don’t know what to worry about you,” Static Man commented. “You just attacked my best friend.”

“I am sorry about that, and I intend to tell him as much when he comes back,” said Jon. There was a tight sort of helplessness in his chest, and it trickled down into his gut as a deep, queasy feeling of disappointment. He’d had all the means in the world to get this right, and he had still managed to make himself hated and feared. Perhaps that was really all the Archivist was good for.

“Hey, you know what happens when I apologize?” Static Man replied, “After I attack someone?”

Jon stared at him hopefully.

“Usually, they’re still dead,” Static Man told him.

Jon glanced down again. Someone had laid his tape recorder discreetly on the floor, next to where the group’s belongings were piled at the head of the bench. A very small corn snake was observing him from atop it. It declined to skitter into the underbrush when they made eye contact. It also declined to put a good word in on his behalf.

“Would you believe I was scared?” he asked very quietly.

Static Man laughed. “That’s what you’re going for? You’re the scary one. That’s literally your whole thing.”

“Not really,” said Jon. “If anything, it’s my job to be scared. A passive observer to things that frighten and disturb. Everything else is rather ornamental.”

“That’s… Yeah, okay, that sucks,” Static Man said, shifting uncomfortably, “Still not getting why the hell you think it’s okay for you to act like this.”

“Because you’re good people, and it scared me to think of you getting hurt,” said Jon. “I’ve seen so many people die because of things like me, and the powers that made me what I am. Hearing him talk about it like it’s some kind of tool, another magic trick to add to his collection, I just… I panicked. No one encounters these forces without a price. The kind of people who go after them voluntarily tend to get someone else to pay on their behalf.”

“Oh, fuck you,” Static Man spat. “You don’t know a goddamn thing about Nick.”

“I know he’s not like that,” Jon shot back, “Which leaves the alternative: he has no idea what he’s getting into. There’s no coming back if he finds out the hard way.”

They both looked away sharply at the sound of the front door opening. Jon’s heart sank to see a familiar woman with a brown hemp apron and a face full of piercings taking in the interior with a polite, disinterested smile. She wandered to the empty front desk, and made a show of pretending to notice Jon and Static Man only as soon as she neared the benches.

“Am I interrupting something?” she asked, “Please. Don’t stop on my account.”

“What do you want?” Jon snapped at her. The pierced woman looked surprised, almost offended.

“Just taking a walk,” she said breezily. “I needed some time to think about our conversation. I thought maybe you did too. You’re about done here, right? Do you have a minute to circle back, rethink my offer?”

“I think I made it very clear that I’m not interested,” said Jon.

“I don’t think that’s what you said,” she told him. “You said, you made a deal with these people. And you implied pretty heavily that, when they’re gone, you’ll be free to go.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” said Jon. He leaned down to pick up the tape recorder before standing beside Static Man.

“I definitely wouldn’t warn you ahead of time,” said the pierced woman. “What I would do is wait for a dramatically appropriate moment to drop in and let you know that all hope is lost, and your friends are surely dead by now.”

An extremely sad mechanical noise came from the other end of the room. Morgan stood in the doorway to the rest of the store, clutching a bloody hunk of fabric to her shoulder with one hand, and her weaponized instrument in the other. The bottom half of the instrument was a splintered mess. She looked between the three of them. Her eyes settled on Static Man.

“Go,” she said hoarsely, “Get Nick.”

Static Man barreled past her into the room beyond with a roar like a passing semi truck. Morgan limped over to Jon, who reached out quickly to steady her.

“Guess he decided not to eat you,” she said.

“I am your ride home,” Jon pointed out. Morgan smiled.

“He’s pulled worse stunts,” she said. “I’m glad you’re not dead.”

“So I heard,” said Jon. He helped her onto the sofa to secure her makeshift bandage, and tried not to look too closely at the messy gouge that it was covering. “That’s better than I usually get.”

“Are you two finished yet?” said the pierced woman irritably. “I’ve got some murders to commit, and I’d like to get started.”

Morgan glanced over at her with an almost palpable disdain before returning her gaze to Jon. She stretched to hook a shopping bag with her foot from the pile next to the bench. “Think you can get this one? Just need to catch my breath.”

“You want his help?” said the pierced woman with a laugh. “Sorry to break it to you, but the only thing he’s well-equipped to hurt is himself.”

“That’s a bit harsh,” said Jon. “Speaking of hurting yourself, why don’t you tell me about some of your jewelry?”

The pierced woman winced, and gave him an annoyed look. “We both know that’s not going to work on me, Archivist.”

“Perhaps not in your own little nest,” Jon argued. He stretched the limits of his focus on her, drawing on the growing, insistent hunger that was tying his insides to knots. “You said yourself that this is neutral territory, Ms… Daria, that was it. You wanted to talk, Daria. Let’s talk. Let’s hear about your last love, before the spiders. The sweet taste of poison on your lips. The holes driven through your body, your mind, your very being, by small and loathsome creatures you called friends. Tell me, Daria, did the spiders ever fill that space inside you after they collected what was left? Or is metal all you have to show for it?”

“You’re only slowing the inevitable, Archivist,” Daria said quickly. She shook very slightly, as though trying and failing to get away.

“How dare you threaten me with longing for my home,” Jon continued, “When you still dream of the hive? A love fermented into acid so sharp and vile that you’ll never taste anything so strong again. Not til the day your own corpse begins to rot around your tongue.”

“Ugh, Jesus,” Morgan exclaimed quietly next to him, but the words weren’t coming from inside Jon anymore, and he could not turn to look at her face. Every part of him was enraptured by drawing out whatever dark memories would keep Daria at bay. A noise like a tuning fork began to ring out from somewhere near Morgan’s voice. He wouldn’t have to hold her much longer.

“Mine will come for me,” said Daria. Tears were streaming down her face, leaving deep, steaming gouges in her skin. “And they’ll come for you, too. You’ve lost already. It doesn’t matter what you do to me.”

“Oh, I didn’t think it would,” Jon agreed, “But I’m pretty sure it’ll make me feel better to watch.”

Unfortunately, when Morgan cleaved Daria’s head from her shoulders with a red-hot violin bow, Jon felt no such thing.

#tma #the magnus archives #fanfiction #hiiiii guuuuuys #if anyone's still following this I promise you won't have to wait a year for the next update #work has calmed down #@thestudyofbasements #*eyes emoji*#I heard that comment #and I very much appreciated it

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emperorsfoot · 5 years

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New one-shot while I procrastinate on the latest chapter of my serialized fic.

Hordak and Entrapta will keep working on the portal until it's perfect. After all, Hordak can't go home until it's perfect.

Catra chose to stay in the Crimson Wastes with Scorpia. To rule the desert as Warlord and her Princess. They got their happily ever after.

Adora was not dragged back to the Fright Zone.

No deus ex First Ones Runesword was ever thrown at Hordak and Entrapta’s feet.

The portal was never opened.

Reality was never unmade.

As Entrapta suggested, the pair just kept working on their project. Refusing to declare it ‘Done’ until it was perfect. It could not be done until it was perfect.

Hordak could not go home until it was perfect.

…

“I’ve added new grounding stabilizers.” Entrapta was explaining.

Hordak watched how her prehensile hair moved as she spoke. Pointing out on the diagrams and animations of the displays what the truly important details were. How the tendrils would curl around to frame one image, or thrust out and straighten like pikes to point out other details. No one in the Horde Empire possessed a physical attribute like that. This was something that could only be found on Etheria. This was something that could only be experienced with Entrapta.

Once he left, he would never get this animated and enthralling briefing experience again.

“That should prevent any future overloads and explosions, and also allow us to hold it open longer. Maybe not long enough for solid matter to pass through. But at least long enough for you to get your signal out. That way, at least- Hordak?” She paused in her rambling explanation. Hair stopped coiling and undulating around the computers display and instead frizzed out slightly with her sudden frustration. “Are you paying attention?”

He cleared his throat. Hordak hadn’t realized he was staring. Staring with an absurd expression of dreamy admiration on his face. “Ah, ahm. Yes. Your improvements appear sound in theory. We shall implement them immediately! I cannot return home until it is perfect!”

Off to the side, Imp fluttered down from the rafters to perch next to Emily. Both deamon and robot exchanged a look. As if they somehow knew more than their masters did.

…

Talons clacked against the keys of a lab console as Hordak typed furiously. Line, after line, of complexed coding. In the peripheral of his vision, he saw a shadow of lavender and violet slink up around him.

“What’cha doing?” Entrapta asked from above him. Her hair lifting her up to suspend her over the console so she could both examine the lines of complicated code, as well as look down into his face to read his expression.

“I am composing the message we will send through the portal for Horde Prime.” He supplied easily enough.

“Oh.” Entrapta looked at the lines of code again. They filled the whole screen. “I didn’t realize it had to be so complexed. I thought it was just gonna be a series of beeps. Like ‘SOS’ or something.”

Hordak’s taloned fingers paused, mid-typing. He looked back up at the lines of text he’d already composed. Then he looked away again, refusing to admit that he might be embarrassed. “The Emperor of the Known Universe does not answer to random beeps without context. He must know it is form me.” He informed her. “It must be perfect. I cannot return home until it is perfect.”

…

Entrapta set down her welding torch and lifted her mask to smile at her work. Using her hair to lift herself off the floor. “I think we’re ready for our next test. Pull the lever!”

But Hordak wasn’t looking at her. He had picked up something from the floor of her work station. Something on the floor suspiciously close to the waste bin, as if she tried to throw it away but missed. An ivory colored envelope bade from heavy cardstock. He opened it to discover an invitation to a gathering of some kind.

“Oh, that.” Entrapta had slunk up beside him, her hair never making a sound as she moved. “You can just throw that away.”

“What is this?” He asked, genuinely curious. It was not an invitation to any event in the Fright Zone. The fact that no paper so nice existed in the Fright Zone aside, the invitation stated that the event would be held in Plumeria. A territory of Etheria that was in open resistance of the Horde. Why would they be sending invitations to gatherings to someone they knew was working in collaboration with the leader of the Horde?

“It’s just the traditional invitation to Princess Prom.” Using a single tendril of hair, Entrapta snapped her welding mask back down over her face –although, there was nothing left that needed to be welded. “They only sent it to me because I’m a Princess. They have to. But I wasn’t going to go.” Hordak watched her pitter around the lab, her mask down over her face. A coping mechanism he noticed she did only when she was about to feel difficult emotions. It hurt her to receive the invitation. Why? Because she had placed herself on the other side of the line. Because she was in league with the enemies of the Hostess and probably every other Princess there? Was she afraid they would ostracizes her if she did attend? If they did, they why invite her at all? Because of the convention of ‘tradition’.

“What do you do at this… Princess Prom?” He heard himself asking slowly, turning the invitation in his hands.

“Me? Mostly I just people-watch.” Entrapta explained. Then lifted her mask to smile at him. “Princess Prom is the best social experiment on Etheria! So many people all shoved into one room together. Competing motivations and desires, everyone’s the same rank and royal status, but social hierarchies form, relationships are formed or destroyed, it’s very exciting!”

It sounded like an average political affair to Hordak. Not unlike some of the state dinners or court hunts Horde Prime hosted back when Hordak was in favor as top general at the Emperor’s right hand. But that wasn’t the part that he focused on, all Hordak heard was that nobody interacted with Entrapta. Even before she took up residence in the Fright Zone.

For some reason, that made the dark Lord’s hackles rise. How dare they snub so brilliant and clearly superior a creature as Entrapta! This would not stand!

According to the invitation in his hands, Entrapta was allowed a plus-one. She could bring one guest of her choice. His thin lips curled into a smile. “Imagine how much more exciting the experience would be if you were to arrive with the Lord of the Horde as your companion.”

Her eyes lit up, excited. She did actually want to go, and his offer to go with her made her happy. Hordak felt an off warm fuzzy feeling in his chest when she smiled and he feared his implants, or perhaps the new exo-suit might be malfunctioning.

“Really? You’d come with me?” She said through a smile. “I’ve never had a date to Prom before! One year I tried bringing one of my robots, but they made me check him at the door. Apparently, robots and non-sentient constructs count as ‘weapons and accessories’, not guests.”

“They cannot make you leave me at the entrance.” Hordak proclaimed. “I will not allow it!”

She was smiling so wide now. She was so happy. But then Entrapta’s smile faultered, her mile-a-minute mind reminding her that they had other priorities. “But what about the portal? If we go to Princess Prom, we’ll lose a whole day of work.”

“An acceptable delay.” He assured her. “When Horde Prime comes through the portal to collect me, he shall see the state of things here. He shall see that I am… delayed in my conquest. Since the militaristic approach has not worked, diplomacy must become a viable option. Everything must be perfect when we open the portal. I cannot go home until things are perfect.”

…

The look on the Princesses’ faces alone made the break from the portal project and the trip from the Fright Zone worth it.

Hordak did not like Plumeria from the first moment he set foot within its borders. It was early evening by the time they arrived at Princess Prom. The event was held outside. With delicate tiny fairy-lights strung between the trees, tables draped in natural linen with sage burlap table runners, the music was lutes and harps playing a gentle –bland- melody, and all the offered food was not only vegetarian but vegan as well.

As per custom, Entrapta and her plus one approached where Perfuma sat under her Heart Blossom tree, to give the traditional greeting to their Honorable Hostess.

Hordak gave a measured bow of the appropriate depth and held it for the appropriate count of seconds. He had been a general on the Imperial cabinet, he studied the rules of etiquette for this event the same way as he would any pertinent intel prior to a military strike. When he raised his head, it took every ounce of carefully drilled military discipline not to smirk at the blond tree-hugger Princess.

Brown eyes wide with shock, freckles colored red emotions she was trying hard to conceal. As Hostess of this event, she had to maintain composure at all times and not offend or alienate her guests just as much as her guests could not offend or alienate her. “Uh- I-“ She cleared her throat. “I welcome you under the Ancient Rules of Hospitality. Leave conflict at the door and please enjoy the Ball.”

She chewed on her bottom lip nervously. Hordak wanted to wait there a moment longer just to make the Princess more uncomfortable.

“Thanks!” Entrapta wrapped tendril of hair around Hordak and pulled him away from Perfuma, almost pulling him off her feet as she did. “I can’t wait to compare the data of this year’s Social Experiment to last year’s!”

She pulled Hordak over to the buffet table. A long spread of cucumber and non-dairy cream cheese sandwiches, radish rosettes, avocado toast, stuffed mushrooms, spinach puffs, and a boring vegetable tray with a dip. There was absolutely nothing on the table Hordak could eat –Horde Clones being carnivores by nature.

But Entrapta filled a side pouch of her overalls with spinach puffs and tiny sandwiches. All the while talking into her recorder. “Tensions are already high and we’ve only just arrived.” She narrated. “Perfuma was visibly upset by my choice of guest, but under the Ancient Rules of Hospitality couldn’t turn us away. Results to follow.”

She switched off the recorder and beamed up at Hordak.

He couldn’t help smiling back at her.

The recorder was slipped back into another pocket of her overalls. “Thank you for coming with me. This is… I’m so used to coming to these things alone, and I just-“

“I can’t believe you!”

The angry shout drew both their attention.

Glimmer, Princess of Bright Moon stood in a ball gown, flanked by former-Force Captain Adora, and the Rebel Archer Bow –similarly dressed in formal wear. The Princess’ shoulders were hunched, her eyes hard, teeth bared as if she were readying for a fight. Glimmer fumed at them. “How could you bring him as your plus one!? After everything he’s done!”

The recorder was back in Entrapta’s hand as Hordak just stood there, unsure as to what he should do. His base instinct as a Horde warrior was to dispatch the hostile element with extreme prejudice. She was very clearly threatening his… companion. But the calculating general part of his brain had to hold him back, remembering that conflict within the ball was expressly forbidden. Besides, he was here for Entrapta and Entrapta did not seem to feel particularly threatened.

“Hostilities rise as old grudges bubble to the surface.” She narrated into her recorder. “More than just Perfuma are upset by my Guest’s presence.”

“Do you even care?” Glimmer demanded.

Entrapta tapped her chin, looking up in thought. “Well… you guys didn’t seem to care all that much when you left me in the Fright Zone, so…”

Glimmer could only growl.

Adora stepped forward. “We didn’t mean to abandon you!” She insisted. “We thought you were dead!”

“Based on what evidence?” The tone Entrapta used when she demanded that was almost regal. Hordak knew she was a Princess and ruler of her own Queendom of Dryl, but that was the first time he’d ever actually seen her act or sound like a Queen.

“We saw you die!” Adora insisted.

“But I didn’t die.” Entrapta reminded her. “So what did you see?”

“Well, the blast door slammed shut behind us before you could get out, then it was purged and- we just-“

“So, you didn’t see anything.” Entrapta crossed her arms over her chest with the conclusion. “You just assumed I was dead and wrote me off.”

“That’s not-“

But they were cut off again when the crowd breathed a collective gasp. The latest guests to arrive and pay their respects to Perfuma as the Honorable Hostess were two people they did not expect to attend either. Hordak thought they were dead. Adora thought she’d never see them outside of the Crimson Wastes again.

Scorpia, with Catra at her side, were just straightening from their ceremonial bows to Perfuma.

Hordak had to suppress a snort of irony. “This event is just full of reunions.”

“Catra!” Entrapta went sprinting over to her friend. “You’re alive!”

Before the others were even aware of it, Glimmer, Bow, and Adora were left alone with Hordak. The trio stared up at the Lord of the Horde. He was tall, but somehow seemed less imposing hallowed by the fairy lights of Plumeria’s trees.

There was a pregnant pause in which no one said anything.

The Bow, ever the arbiter of peace, gave an awkward little chuckle. He lifted the veggie tray off the table. “Carrot stick?” He offered to Hordak.

The Lord of the Horde just brushed past him to rejoin Entrapta as she caught up with her other friends.

“Yeah…” Scorpia was saying. “Things were just going so great for us in the Crimson Wastes that Catra and I just decided to stay. She’s practically Warlord of the Wastes now. And I’m her Princess. We’ve ever got a kid!”

“Really?” Entrapta’s eyes lit up upon hearing that her friends were no only alive, but also happy, healthy, and thriving.

“Yeah!” Scorpia reached into her clutch purse and pulled out a pocket holo-projector. She pulled up the image of a tiny baby, with fuzzy pointed cat ears and a scorpion tail. “She’s only six weeks old, it’s hard being apart from her. That’s why we’re late, and we’re gonna leave early too. I just wanna hold her all the time! Ya know.”

Catra caught someone else approaching their group and turned to face them, a scathing smirk pulling at her lips. “Hey, Adora.”

The former-Force Captain stopped short. “Catra.”

There was another pregnant pause in which nobody said anything. Adora’s eyes flicked to the picture Scorpia was holding. Of a new born infant, balled thus far, with Catra’s fuzzy brown ears, and Scorpia’s red poison tail. They did not have pincers, but the fingers of the hands were fused together to give the appearance of pincer claws. Scorpia and Catra’s daughter.

Adora’s eyes flicked back to Catra. “I’m glad you finally found happiness.” She said. Then ran back to Bow and Glimmer.

The recorder was back in Entrapta’s hair. “Ooh… feelings are hurt as old friends move on from past rejection.”

“Still stealing food and spying on people.” Catra observed, smiling at Entrapta. “Nice to see somethings never change.”

“Oh, but something has changed!” Announced the eccentric scientist. She wrapped one tendril of hair around Hordak’s arm and pulled him closer to her. “I have a date!”

Catra looked up at him. Just as tall as he always was, but somehow less intimidating in the soft lighting with the gentle sound of lutes and harps wafting around them. “Lord Hordak.”

“Force Captain Catra.” He nodded back, wondering if he should bring up the fact that she and Scorpia basically deserted the Horde and remind her that they had penalties for desertion.

“It’s ‘Warlord Catra’ now, actually.” She corrected him. “I’m ruler of the Crimson Wastes.”

“Hey! Maybe the Crimson Wastes could make a treaty with the Horde!” Scorpia suggested happily.

Hordak paused before shooting the idea down outright. He did tell Entrapta before coming here that the military approach hadn’t worked. That he needed to try diplomacy instead. The Crimson Waste was as good a place as any to start. He could not face Horde Prime as a failure. Everythign had to be perfect when they opened the portal.

He could not go home until it was perfect.

…

The day after Princess Prom they both rested for the majority of the day. The only time spent in the lab was when Entrapta had to recalibrate Hordak’s exo-suit. All the pollen in the air in Plumeria hadn’t done any favors for its filtration systems.

Aside from that, the majority of the day was spent in restful relaxation.

“Are you sure you don’t mind that we didn’t work on the portal at all today?” Entrapta asked when a soldier brought their dinners to the throne room.

Hordak waited until the soldier was once again out of the room before answering. “It is fine. You are of no use to me if you are exhausted from yesterday’s frivolities. We shall return to our work tomorrow. The portal must be perfect.” He reminded her. “Otherwise I cannot return home.”

Imp fluttered down rom the back of the throne to sit on Hordak’s thigh. Opening his mouth, the little deamon threw the dark Lord’s last word back at him. ‘Home, home, home.’

…

“We should move it outside.” Hordak suggested.

“Huh?” Entrapta blinked at him. She was about to switch it on so he could send his signal though. “Why?”

“When Prime opens it from his side, he will send his army through.” Hordak reminded her. “I cannot have dreadnaughts and capital ships materializing in my lab. The portal needs to be moved outside.”

Hard to argue with that logic. After sending the initial signal, whoever was on the other side would seek out their portal as a sort of ‘receiver’ to connect to the other side. The portal could not be inside the central Horde command building when things started coming through it. “Okay.”

They spent the entire rest of the day moving the delicate equipment outside, enlisting Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio to help them.

By the time it was done, everyone was exhausted and Hordak’s exo-suit needed to be tuned again. They did not switch the portal on and send the signal through. The soldiers were dismissed for the night and Hordak retired to his Sanctum to be attended to by Entrapta.

But that was okay. Hordak was not frustrated. Taking their time and doing things right just means that, when they finally did switch it on, it would be perfect. Hordak could not go home until it was perfect.

…

They didn’t work on the portal the following day either, because the party from the Crimson Wastes arrived to negotiate their treaty with the Horde.

Hordak spent the entire day sequestered in lengthy meetings about weapons exchange, technology sharing, intel on She-Ra and the First Ones, what benefits the Horde got out of the arrangement, what benefits Catra expected out of the arrangement.

Hordak didn’t even get to see Entrapta all day, never mind work on the portal with her.

But the next day… the next day found them both outside, at its new location.

Entrapta double checked the connections to the power source, while Hordak ran one final diagnostic of his transmitter and message.

He looked up at Entrapta, focused on her task. Eyes bright with enjoyment of her craft. Hair undulating with her motion, deftly moving at their detailed work.

He could not take Entrapta with him when he returned to the Horde –to the real Horde, the Empire. She wouldn’t have a place there. They had their own scientists. They had no use for small alien tech-gremlins with no concept of fear or personal preservation. Entrapta would not last a week in Horde Prime’s court.

“Wait!” He found himself barking at her.

“Huh?” She looked up at him, confused. “Something wrong on the diagnostics?”

Hordak froze, unable to put these strange alien feeling he was having into words. “I can’t-“ He faltered. The Horde did not teach vocabulary to describe these symptoms he was feeling. “The color. The casing.” He said instead. “The portal looks cobbled together out of garbage!” Because it was cobbled together out of spare parts. “The Emperor of the Known Universe cannot come through this! It must be prefect. I cannot go home until it is perfect.”

…

The next day, Entrapta cornered Hordak in his private chambers, before he even rose out of bed.

“Morning!” She hung half out of an air vent above him, shocking him awake.

“Entrapta!” Hordak pulled the blankets up around his chin to cover himself. He wasn’t sure what rules of modesty she was used to on this backwater mud ball of a planet. But where he was from, males and females did not just drop in on each other in their bed clothes! (Or lack of clothes.)

Swinging on her hair, Entrapta dropped down from the vent to land on the foot of his bed. “I painted the casing on the portal.” She informed him. “It’s red. Red and chrome. It should be fine for your Emperor. We moved it outside so the capital ships don’t destroy your base. You’ve already got your signal coded and ready to go.”

He blinked at her. “Your efforts have gone above and beyond that of a-“

“So, it’s perfect.” She cut him off. “You can go home any time.”

It was perfect. He could go home.

Hordak stared at her. Fuchsia eyes bright with anticipation. Hair frizzed out with excitement. Perching on the foot of his bed on her toes. Usually Hordak abhorred shoes on his bed. But, when it was Entrapta… he seemed not to mind so much. It seemed… right, somehow. Her. Here. In his most private chambers, where he slept, and took off his exo-suit, and allowed himself to be most vulnerable.

He had already allowed himself to be vulnerable around her before. It was that very vulnerability that prompted her to build him the exo-suit. It was a level of safety he could never and would never find in the Horde. Being vulnerable around her even made him stronger.

In a sparkling moment of horrifying clarity, he realized, all this time he spent saying he could not go ‘home’, he was no longer thinking of the Empire as ‘home’.

“What if…” He began, doubting himself. But she would just hound him until he finished his thought. So Hordak pressed on. “What if I decided I was already home?”

Home was wherever Entrapta was.

It was perfect.

…

END

#entrapdak #entrapta/hordak #hordak #entrapta #portal #procrastination #concept of home #home is wherever Entrapta is

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